And so it seems... now that the Opposition Parties (of DAP, PKR and PAS) have managed to deny BN the sacred 2/3 majority in the Parliament and unexpectedly won the rights to form 5 state governments (Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan).. Frankly, I have never felt so deeply for Malaysia since Malaysia won the Thomas Cup against Indonesia in 1992.
Now it is the chance for the Opposition parties to make good their promises and utilize their expertise to manage those 5 state governments. Show the people that you can walk the talk. Show the people that you really are able to do a better job than BN. Only then would the people continue to support you. Do not engage in power hogging and money politics that is so easy to slide into when you are in power. Don't be the Pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farms. The people could put you in office, they too could take you down.. You saw what happened to BN this election, so be on your toes and work for the people cos the people has woken up to their rights. Makkal Sakti!!
On hindsight, I think BN's strategy to hold the election before DSAI is eligible to contest has backfired. Because DSAI is unable to contest in any seats, he is able to travel the whole of Peninsular and campaign for ALL. He holds the trump cards, he has all the moral standings and he wasn't able to be proven wrong by BN.
With this major upset, it is very easy and understandably normal for everyone to get carried away and think that all the country's problems would now go away since the BN has been denied the 2/3 majority.. This is not the end of the problem, but the start of a painful treatment for the ailing country. Inflation would not be curbed overnight as the market forces still controls the price fluctuation. FDI would not come gushing in just because BN only won 140 Parliamentary seats from a total of 222. There are much to do for the YBs and more bitter pills to swallow for the rakyat. I would not be very surprised that within this new 5-year term the Opposition Parties could only do so much to remedy the damages done by the BN for the past 50years. But at least I am hopeful that finally the country is moving down the right path, that is to embrace globalisation and work on the country's competitiveness to grow the economic pie for all Malaysians instead of fighting over who gets how big a slice from a 50-year old pie.
When I am in overseas (whether in Singapore or now in Tokyo), people would asked me if I planned to go back to Malaysia to work, and I would always answer them, "Never". But now, with the latest development, my answer has changed to a "Maybe". If things do improve a few years down the road, I believe my answer would eventually become "Sure, why not".
MALAYSIA BOLEH!!
Mar 9, 2008
Earth Hour 2008
Join the Earth Hour 2008 and pledge to switch off all electricity in your house at 8pm on 29 Mar 2008 for just ONE HOUR, regardless of where you are.
Everyone can do their part, however small, one step at a time starting with just an HOUR.. Click HERE to join in this global movement and spread the word.
Mar 4, 2008
My Fortune for 2008
As mentioned in my earlier entry, I went to my favourite Buddhist temple and ask for my fortune for 2008 and this is what the wheel of fortune has to say...
So from the look of this, 2008 should be a good year for me.. Frankly, I am more interested on the "prosperity and wealth will come and whatever you wish will be granted" portion, cos who won't want more MONEY!! I could use some (more) spare cash for me to travel around.. :D :D But I think my parents would be more excited about the "your suitor will come to you" part.. :p :p
I will just wait and see what actually turns up this year.. :) :) :)
The Wheel of Fortune says all your trouble will vanish and time of prosperity and wealth will come and whatever you wish will be granted. Should you wish for a suitor he will turn up and marry you; should you wish for business it is sure to prosper. Your fate is comparable to Pra Temiraj, the wisest sage, when Pra Amarindra invited Him to Heaven while still in flesh and blood. You will find heaven on earth, do not be too hasty, your suitor will come to you.
洪湧泉源用不穷,更新换旧改门风。
主人不问自来到，管取生涯大道通。
解曰：
家宅平安，婚姻和合，患病无防，行人必至，勿心急，不宜远行财自至，六畜兴旺，官司遇贵人，谋事有得，生意兴隆，田蚕大吉。
So from the look of this, 2008 should be a good year for me.. Frankly, I am more interested on the "prosperity and wealth will come and whatever you wish will be granted" portion, cos who won't want more MONEY!! I could use some (more) spare cash for me to travel around.. :D :D But I think my parents would be more excited about the "your suitor will come to you" part.. :p :p
I will just wait and see what actually turns up this year.. :) :) :)
Back to Singapore: Day 01
Okay, it is kinda late, but I will be writing about my experience and thoughts during my 6 days-5 nights' visit to Singapore in late February.. :)
This entry was written on the night of 22 Feb in my hostel..so it is kinda long and has more vivid descriptions of my feelings.. :p
---------------------------------------------------
Yes, I used the word “back to”, as I still consider Singapore as my home.. maybe it might sound weird or maybe you think I am unpatriotic, but that is my true feeling..
When I boarded the coach (PFW2882) at Simpang, Taiping, I felt like I was going to go home.. I could say for sure for now that Singapore is where my heart belongs, but I can say for certain that my mind and body felt most at home in Singapore.. even when I am staying in a backpackers’hostel!!
Anyway, the coach reached Singapore around 5:30am, just in time to “join in” the daily mass exodus of Malaysians flooding the causeway on their way to work in Singapore.. Some statistics put the number of people crossing the short bridge separating Singapore and Malaysia at 200,000 a day, including workers and students!! Imagine how early these people would need to wake up everyday and how late it would have been when they got back from work/school every day!!??!! Yet, they did it anyway.. so that shows how much Singapore and Malaysia are connected.. Singapore benefits from the brawn and brains of these Malaysians, while the Malaysians capitalised on Singapore’s need and irk a better life for themselves.. Symbiosis..
By the time we cleared the customs, it had been 6:30am.. this time, instead of alighting at the Woodlands customs, I am alighting at Beach Road.. as the hostel that I booked is in Lavender Street.. I had to either take a taxi or walk there, I decided to walk, since the day has yet to break and the temperature is still quite cooling.. so I walked.. with my laptop (in a backpack) over my shoulder and dragging a luggage, I walked more than 1.5km to the hostel.. It was located at the cross-junction of Lavender Street and Serangoon Road..
As I had arrived way too early (the usual check-out timing is 11am, thus the earliest I could check in would be 1pm), I decided to leave my luggage at the counter and go visit the Buddhist temple at Farrer Park. First I went to wash up a bit.. Washed my face and changed in another pair of (shorter) pants as the weather is getting hotter by the hour.
Then I left the hostel and walked along Serangoon Road.. I passed 2 Indian temples and then I reached the Farrer Park Mrt station. I went into the station and top-up my EzLink card, just in case I wanna go somewhere else that requires bus or train. In Japan, we have something similar too, it is called the Suicca, which can be used for trains only, and Passmo, which can be used for both buses and trains. But in Singapore, we only need Ezlink to travel on train and bus.. :)
I bought a kong-ba-pau on my way there… haven’t eat a thing since last night’s supper.. still have some water from the bottle of mineral water given last night before boarding the coach.. then I went to Sakamurni Temple.. I liked the place as it is so unlike the other temples. It is quiet and clean.. simple yet magnificent.. it has a big statue of Buddha at the center of the temple, and a statue of the 4-handed Buddha at the front.. after paying $3 for the joss-sticks, prayer papers and candles, I went praying.. I went around donating money after that.. not much, just a little token of appreciation.. I like talking to the auntie there.. she has seen so many people come and go, and is able to give sound advices. I spend about 2 hours there.. I also went to ask for a “qian”.. and it turns out to be a very good one.. While there, I received a phone call from Sok Fang. She cant make it for tonight’s dinner, so we arranged to meet on Sunday noon at Orchard MRT instead.
Then I decided to go to Suntec City, as I still have some time before check-in… I didn’t want to be carrying so much cash on me.. I brought some Japanese Yen to be deposited into my DBS account, so I wanna changed them into Sing Dollars. The most convenient place to do that is in Suntec, where the money changer gives the best rates (as far as I know) and the bank is just around the corner.. the rate I got was okay, SGD1.29 for 100yen.. after changing the money, I still have some time left, so I went for my foot reflexology at one of the Wan Yang outlets in Suntec.. Aaaa.. it was truly a relaxing indulgence.. then I went to Carrefour hoping to buy a pair of slippers to be used in the hostel later.. didn’t find any that I liked.. so instead I bought a packet of Milo and some Mars bars.. went to Sports Shop and paid 29.90 for a pair of comfortable slippers.. reached the hostel around 1.30pm..
Checked into a single room, named Tulip.. it comes with an attached shower.. not too bad.. I took a video of the room.. Paid $96 for 3 days.. will be changing to another room for tomorrow and the night after.. tonight’s bill is $20.. not bad, don’t you think? A short video of my room today..
Quickly took a bath, change my clothes and went out again.. this time, I wanna go to AMK, to get my hair cut.. took a bus there, Bus 130 which went to Whampoa and Ballestiar and Thomson.. places that I have only been to less than 3 times in my 13 years stay in Singapore.. it was quite an eye opener.. :p Got off at AMK bus terminal.. wow.. before I left for Japan, the Bus terminal has yet to be officially opened for business.. went to have a late lunch, had “Ban-Mian”.. was starving.. and in the process burnt my tongue eating that bowl of hot hand-made noodles.. took a bus to my hair stylist..
Told her to tidy up my long hair, which was the longest I ever had in my life.. I just let her cut and dye as she pleased as I trusted her professionalism fully.. although I did told her not to dye it too bright as it would be quite ugly if I didn’t get it cut a few months down the road.. spent about 3 hours there.. even had my eye brows trimmed.. :P
Was late for my next appointment..the first of my many dinner dates with friends and ex-colleagues.. got there 30min late.. :P Only 4 turned up from Visa, Handy, Sara, Mui Cheng and Bernard.. the rest of them cant make it due to some reason or another.. We had dinner at V8 Café.. the food there was nothing to shout about.. we talked and chatted during the meal.. then we left.. and I went back to my hostel room and wrote this entry..
Side note:
The phone I brought with me died, or more precisely the battery died.. I had to change another one.. and it too died within 2 hours.. I gave up and swapped to an older version that dad had the foresight to ask me to bring along.. and from the SMS that I received from SingTel and maxis, every SMS I send out would cost me RM1 and RM5 for every minute of phone call!! What a daylight robbery! As my prepaid phone had only RM20, I didn’t make any calls home.. instead I send SMS sparingly..
This entry was written on the night of 22 Feb in my hostel..so it is kinda long and has more vivid descriptions of my feelings.. :p
---------------------------------------------------
Yes, I used the word “back to”, as I still consider Singapore as my home.. maybe it might sound weird or maybe you think I am unpatriotic, but that is my true feeling..
When I boarded the coach (PFW2882) at Simpang, Taiping, I felt like I was going to go home.. I could say for sure for now that Singapore is where my heart belongs, but I can say for certain that my mind and body felt most at home in Singapore.. even when I am staying in a backpackers’hostel!!
Anyway, the coach reached Singapore around 5:30am, just in time to “join in” the daily mass exodus of Malaysians flooding the causeway on their way to work in Singapore.. Some statistics put the number of people crossing the short bridge separating Singapore and Malaysia at 200,000 a day, including workers and students!! Imagine how early these people would need to wake up everyday and how late it would have been when they got back from work/school every day!!??!! Yet, they did it anyway.. so that shows how much Singapore and Malaysia are connected.. Singapore benefits from the brawn and brains of these Malaysians, while the Malaysians capitalised on Singapore’s need and irk a better life for themselves.. Symbiosis..
By the time we cleared the customs, it had been 6:30am.. this time, instead of alighting at the Woodlands customs, I am alighting at Beach Road.. as the hostel that I booked is in Lavender Street.. I had to either take a taxi or walk there, I decided to walk, since the day has yet to break and the temperature is still quite cooling.. so I walked.. with my laptop (in a backpack) over my shoulder and dragging a luggage, I walked more than 1.5km to the hostel.. It was located at the cross-junction of Lavender Street and Serangoon Road..
As I had arrived way too early (the usual check-out timing is 11am, thus the earliest I could check in would be 1pm), I decided to leave my luggage at the counter and go visit the Buddhist temple at Farrer Park. First I went to wash up a bit.. Washed my face and changed in another pair of (shorter) pants as the weather is getting hotter by the hour.
Then I left the hostel and walked along Serangoon Road.. I passed 2 Indian temples and then I reached the Farrer Park Mrt station. I went into the station and top-up my EzLink card, just in case I wanna go somewhere else that requires bus or train. In Japan, we have something similar too, it is called the Suicca, which can be used for trains only, and Passmo, which can be used for both buses and trains. But in Singapore, we only need Ezlink to travel on train and bus.. :)
I bought a kong-ba-pau on my way there… haven’t eat a thing since last night’s supper.. still have some water from the bottle of mineral water given last night before boarding the coach.. then I went to Sakamurni Temple.. I liked the place as it is so unlike the other temples. It is quiet and clean.. simple yet magnificent.. it has a big statue of Buddha at the center of the temple, and a statue of the 4-handed Buddha at the front.. after paying $3 for the joss-sticks, prayer papers and candles, I went praying.. I went around donating money after that.. not much, just a little token of appreciation.. I like talking to the auntie there.. she has seen so many people come and go, and is able to give sound advices. I spend about 2 hours there.. I also went to ask for a “qian”.. and it turns out to be a very good one.. While there, I received a phone call from Sok Fang. She cant make it for tonight’s dinner, so we arranged to meet on Sunday noon at Orchard MRT instead.
Then I decided to go to Suntec City, as I still have some time before check-in… I didn’t want to be carrying so much cash on me.. I brought some Japanese Yen to be deposited into my DBS account, so I wanna changed them into Sing Dollars. The most convenient place to do that is in Suntec, where the money changer gives the best rates (as far as I know) and the bank is just around the corner.. the rate I got was okay, SGD1.29 for 100yen.. after changing the money, I still have some time left, so I went for my foot reflexology at one of the Wan Yang outlets in Suntec.. Aaaa.. it was truly a relaxing indulgence.. then I went to Carrefour hoping to buy a pair of slippers to be used in the hostel later.. didn’t find any that I liked.. so instead I bought a packet of Milo and some Mars bars.. went to Sports Shop and paid 29.90 for a pair of comfortable slippers.. reached the hostel around 1.30pm..
Checked into a single room, named Tulip.. it comes with an attached shower.. not too bad.. I took a video of the room.. Paid $96 for 3 days.. will be changing to another room for tomorrow and the night after.. tonight’s bill is $20.. not bad, don’t you think? A short video of my room today..
Quickly took a bath, change my clothes and went out again.. this time, I wanna go to AMK, to get my hair cut.. took a bus there, Bus 130 which went to Whampoa and Ballestiar and Thomson.. places that I have only been to less than 3 times in my 13 years stay in Singapore.. it was quite an eye opener.. :p Got off at AMK bus terminal.. wow.. before I left for Japan, the Bus terminal has yet to be officially opened for business.. went to have a late lunch, had “Ban-Mian”.. was starving.. and in the process burnt my tongue eating that bowl of hot hand-made noodles.. took a bus to my hair stylist..
Told her to tidy up my long hair, which was the longest I ever had in my life.. I just let her cut and dye as she pleased as I trusted her professionalism fully.. although I did told her not to dye it too bright as it would be quite ugly if I didn’t get it cut a few months down the road.. spent about 3 hours there.. even had my eye brows trimmed.. :P
Was late for my next appointment..the first of my many dinner dates with friends and ex-colleagues.. got there 30min late.. :P Only 4 turned up from Visa, Handy, Sara, Mui Cheng and Bernard.. the rest of them cant make it due to some reason or another.. We had dinner at V8 Café.. the food there was nothing to shout about.. we talked and chatted during the meal.. then we left.. and I went back to my hostel room and wrote this entry..
Side note:
The phone I brought with me died, or more precisely the battery died.. I had to change another one.. and it too died within 2 hours.. I gave up and swapped to an older version that dad had the foresight to ask me to bring along.. and from the SMS that I received from SingTel and maxis, every SMS I send out would cost me RM1 and RM5 for every minute of phone call!! What a daylight robbery! As my prepaid phone had only RM20, I didn’t make any calls home.. instead I send SMS sparingly..
Now you see it now you dont..
The general election in Malaysia is at its final stretch.. all kinds of funny stuffs are happening..
At first the EC (Election Committee) wanted to use indelible ink on all voters when they want to cast their votes to make sure no double voting.. They had even placed an order of 48,000 bottles of ink from India at the cost of RM2.4 million!! WOW.. so easy, can just write off a few millions just like that??!! Maybe they didnt really care about these few millions, since they had written off amounts hundred times far greater than this..
Anyway, I am just curious about the order now.. Have those bottles of inks been shipped over to Malaysia?? What is one going to do with 48,000 bottles of indelible ink?? Sell it to the tattoo parlors?? :p
At first the EC (Election Committee) wanted to use indelible ink on all voters when they want to cast their votes to make sure no double voting.. They had even placed an order of 48,000 bottles of ink from India at the cost of RM2.4 million!! WOW.. so easy, can just write off a few millions just like that??!! Maybe they didnt really care about these few millions, since they had written off amounts hundred times far greater than this..
Anyway, I am just curious about the order now.. Have those bottles of inks been shipped over to Malaysia?? What is one going to do with 48,000 bottles of indelible ink?? Sell it to the tattoo parlors?? :p
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