Cameron Highland-Simpang Pulai Double decker bus crash

Yet another devastating bus crash @ KM15 of the  Cameron Highland-Simpang Pulai road which killed 27 people of which 25 Thai nationals . The bus was a double decker. Honestly speaking, i don't like double decker buses, especially the one in Malaysia, they look thin and fragile, in my eyes. I almost feel it gets easily swayed because of its tall nature which look so unstable to me. Leaving my perceptions aside, of course at this time we don't know what caused the accident to happen but its very heartbreaking to digest this tragedy, especially en route to one of my favorite holiday hill stations in Malaysia!.

Kuala Lumpur International Motorshow 2010

I was impressed with Proton and Perdua's showcase of its hybrid and concert cars. I liked Tuah. I hope to see it on the road than in exhibits :) There were few other big names too cool display of Ferrari, Jaguar, Maserati, Peugeot,  etc. But where is Merc, BMWs and Audis...would have been a cooler exhibit as well with these brands on showcase.

Nice Proton Inspira

I like the Mitsubishi Lancer, no I meant I like the Proton Inspira

To get me to give thumps up for a proton cars is hard. But Inpira looks nice@sexy . Probably the most sexiest  proton cars. (cause it got some lancer ‘kacukan; no?). However I wont be buying one, since their tags says smart guys will get it. I suppose guys  refers to boys/man etc?. I am not a guy.  (Gender bias though) I like it in white)

Links:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/11/nation/7407689&sec=nation
http://paultan.org/topics/cars/proton-inspira/

Simpang Ampat - Seremban North South Buss expressway crash : Do something about it.

The latest tragedy involving an express buss and several cars on the north south express highway near simpang ampat is prompting me to write this.

I am writing this not based on the particular tragedy but in general referring to all similar tragedy that happened in the past. 

Okay we all know there is always going to be some express bus drivers that will do same mistake and get involved in a crash.  I belief the majority of bus drivers are responsible lots who have families of their own that they are not willing to jeopardize by driving recklessly.  Why on earth we cant put a clamp on them?. What is the problem?.  How much longer can we tolerate to seeing such blatant loss of life due to unscrupulous drivers, faulty bus, lack of enforcement, irresponsible bus operators, etc?.

Most often we hear from victims that survived a crash that the bus was speeding or being driven dangerously. Why not have numbers displayed in the interior ( and exterior) of the buss together with a specific code number unique to the bus so that passengers that feel uncomfortable with the way the driver is driving ( tailgating other cars, overtaking without signal to many times, zig zagging, speeding dangerously, speeding in the overtaking lane, talking in the hand phone, look tired and sleepy as he drives) give an opportunity for the passenger to sms to the traffic center  and have an immediate response from the traffic police or which ever authorities that can respond to a distress call and book the driver immediately? 

Why not make use of many existing technologies or that needs little modifications to have a control system in place , such as  an automatic detection of speed that alert the security centers and notify traffic controllers to swung into action to stops dangerously driven buss?. 

Give an opportunity to passengers to rate the driver after each trip and have to sent to the relevant authorities for evaluation.

What about seriously looking into using buses that conform to highest safety. Its is so common that we hear the buss roof get ripped off and the passenger thrown out. Why not make it compulsory to buckle up the buss passengers?. ( check and see if the safety belt is in working condition, half of the time they aren't!)

If it is not the bus drivers fault.

All busses must go though stringent assessment of its road worthiness. This system need to be reviewed if it is deemed not sufficient. Even if all this means higher cost of maintenance be it.

It is high time to look into the remuneration of passenger express bus drivers. Look into the mind of the drivers. What is their back ground? Why are they tempted to speed. Why are they rushing? Is speeding correlated with their income? This is serious matter. Look into this. There should not be a direct correlation between speed and income of buss driver. 

If nothing is done, now. Nothing is changed for the better now. Do u think this is the last ? 

Nicol Ann David

Never in my life i was a fan of a sports personality.
I do now - Datuk Nicol Ann David in squash!.
You bring great honor to our country.
You are the best. Go for it !.

Sugar as ussual

Will I be cutting sugar now that it cost 25cents more?. This was a poll being carried out by the star online.

Sugar is an essential item for most people and maybe for some its just a ‘no’ item. . Someone who loves coffea probably will have kopi o (coffee without sugar) or kopi kurang manis (coffee with less sugar) or kopi biasa (coffee with normal sugar). And no matter what price you have to pay for sugar, people are going to have coffee as per their preference stated above. So I think its not going to matter if it is going to cost a bit more now since most people will be able to adjust to the price. Perhaps people in business probably would feel the pinch. Like those in confectionery etc.  It would be unlikely they would want to reduce the sugar to make confectionery since the taste will be different. Follow the recipe right? 

Raavanan 2010 - Review

Release Date: 18 June 2010

Language: Tamil

Genre: Action

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Director: Mani Ratnam

Music: AR Rahman

Cast: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Prithviraj, Prabhu, Karthik, Munna.

Synopsis: Raavanan is a modern day adaptation of the great Indian epic Ramayana, which tells the story of Rama (Prithviraj), whose wife Sita (Aishwarya Rai) is abducted by the demon king (Vikram) king of Lanka, Ravana.

The movie was somewhat high quality but ‘eccentric’. I was not feeling bored. Yet, it is not the kind of movie that will keep you glued on and not wanting to miss any scenes.  (At least for me, I went outside to grab something to eat and eat because the cinema was hall was damn cold!)

This movie is for those who can understand the artistic and intrinsic value. It’s an awesome, creative and realistic movie which touches on psychology, the human mind and emotions. There is just no one clear divide between evil and good. Like the mist in the harsh forest, your psychic are blurred and confused. Was it love between Ragini and Raavanan?. I think not, its probably one way love from Raavanan and sympathy from Ragini!. Here is why. Ragini asked God to give her strength to be remain in  anger and not succumb to her captors kindness; she was willing to exchange her self to stay on so that her husbands life will be spared and finally she only returned to look for Raavanan, to get an explanation and truth from him on her husbands allegations about her chastity!. It is certainly a very loose adaptation from the Ramayana story. No disappointment and worth the sacrifice missing the World Cup Match between Uruguay and Ghana that evening. Honestly speaking, for this sort of Tamil movie is what i will find time to watch in the cinemas. If anyone wants to watch it, just say no to piracy and watch it only on the big screen. 

No Licence for sports gambling

Finally the government has decided not to issue a football betting license. It cited reasons ‘the majority was not in favor’. The Star

Gambling is hard to get rid of, because this is in existence since the evolution of mankind.

Instead, I think there is a need for consistency. Either gambling of all sorts and forms are banned or let it be. On a view that it’s a non Muslims right to gamble, well I think non Muslims are 'allowed' to gamble because it is ‘perceived’ as part of their culture which of course includes anything from ways of life, ways things are done and carried out over times,  ancestral practice  etc. However, not everyone’s culture endorses gambling. I suppose what is perceived as being taken away if it’s banned is the ability to make a concise decision to gamble and the willingness to take a risk. My point is, there isn’t any justification to legalize gambling. Yes, I would say it’s just a perception. Downright we know gambling is not productive. Also, I didn’t like the idea of using the profits from legalized sports gambling for the charity for non Muslims. After all someone’s gain is obviously from someone else’s pain. 

100 year old Pudu Jail wall coming down?

Hari ini dalam serajah, dinding Pudu Jail akan dirobohkan!.

I am not at all impressed with the recent decision to demolish the 100 year old Pudu Jail wall. It will be demolished today (Monday) 10pm. It is strange why the government feel is not the right thing to do which is to preserve the site as a heritage.Yes, locking up people  in prison are nothing to be proud of, yet, it is a unique site with its own historical value which need to be preserved. If not the entire stretch, the least some part of the wall has to be retained and any development has to be worked out away around it. What a shame this cannot be done!
Are we having a land scare like some countries that we need to make way the site for new developments, crushing away historical site?.Otherwise,  plant trees and make the place greener.  Its a prime land inst? And prime land cannot be left idle. Economical waste, yeah right! Really sad, the wall should be preserved like the Germans did to their Berlin wall. If everything negative abt history is erased than what do we have in History ???.

One or two facts abt Pudu Jail 
The Pudu Jail is know formerly as Jalan Pudu , Pudu Goal.
The wall mural on the 384m wall stretch is the world longest workpiece done by a former inmate  Khong Chong Yen early 1980s.
.

New Parliament in Putrajaya?.

The Cabinet is considering building a new RM800mil-Parliament building in Putrajaya and preserving the existing one here as a heritage building?. The Star

It makes sense to move parliament to Putrajaya, Malaysia administrative capital. It did not make sense when parliament is still in KL when Putrajaya opened.

If the plan goes ahead, I hope it is build cost effectively and efficiently. Above all, I hope the project is awarded in a transparent manner and to a competent party with good track records in building and constructions. Inbetween, RM800million sounds expensive.

Otherwise, it will be very embarrassing to have a new parliament building with leaking roofs if it happens! :)

Sugar Shortage: Woes or just a blessings?

Why sugar woes? The star today. Sugar shortage, well say hell with it!. Rejoice. You don’t have to add an extra table spoons of that darth thing. !. Yeah, tell me what direct benefit is sugar?. Okay, your favourite proceseeed food may cost more, because they are going to do less cookies with less sugar, definitely its not going to be less sugar in cookies?. Yeah, that’s what I meant, we better train our tounge to go sugar fee for health..No one should hold us ransom for sugar. Yeah, go ahead read the star paper today! If you want to know what am craping about!.


Note: Other than your habitual cravings for sugar, your body actually gets enough of that from a healthy balanced diet. Than consider the food that requires you to add sugar, can you modify the receipie?. You can than drop the receipie!. Caveman, survived without a sugar jar on their dinner table…..why we need it?.

Just say good ridence sugar!.

Saving unwanted babies in Malaysia -Baby Hatch is about time!

Malaysia recently launched its own Baby Hatch . Thumbs up. It is definitely a good move. I just hope anyone with an intention of getting rid of their babies will at least consider and take the trouble to drop them off safely at the Baby Hatch, otherwise, u are as good as the beast)  just because you don’t want your baby that doesn’t mean you can discard the baby in an inhuman way. As for the critics of the baby hatch, well, sorry to say this, might as well you just shut and sit, and count your blessing that ur momma did not trash you in the bin….cause ur lucky your parents wanted you but the truth is there are many babies out there who being thrown away!. Just look at the picture from the star, this baby was adopted by someone who wants a baby and can’t have their own. At least  now this baby is in the care of someone who would love the baby as their own.

Pacman's 30th Aniversarry is certainly a pleasant surprise!

Pacman on google's homepage! I went on and on playing pacman over googles homepage forgetingwhy i logged on to the net in the first place. I used to play pacman when i was a kid. Really its really cool, i like it !.

Malaysia should rethink its decision for a nuclear plant, pls.

Why am I so bitter about nuclear plant being build in Malaysia?. Its simply too risky and there are other reasons too….

I don’t think we are having problems with energy and whatever energy source that we have should be managed sustainability  and efficiently.

What about the hydro damn that is being build over east Malaysia (Bakun Damn)?. Last time it was said that the energy generated from that damn will be more than enough. We may be on track towards industrialized nation but that does that mean we need nuclear power plant ?. What about other friendlier source like solar energy?

My biggest concern is SAFETY. I am really sorry to say this, but I think we have a bad maintenance culture. And this is NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, we are talking about risk from RADIATION. This is no small matter!

Here are some facts that i dug up from the net. (the disadvantage side of perusing nuclear energy )

The Cons of Nuclear Energy

There are six main arguments against using nuclear power, though each one can be debated.

• Expense: Mining and processing uranium is costly, as is the building and operation of the power plants.

• Waste: Though nuclear fission does not release harmful gases, it does produce harmful waste products. This radioactive waste must be stored for as many as a thousand years before it is safe.

• Accidents: It is debatable that the risk of a nuclear accident is less than or equal to that of other fuel productions. Yet, two nuclear accidents continue to cause many people to fear nuclear power: 1) the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979 2) the devastating Chernobyl explosion in 1986 and the resulting contamination of over 750,000 square miles of land surrounding the plant. The fact that these incidents were most likely caused in part by, respectively, poor procedures and poor plant design, they highlight the factor that human error plays in the dangers of nuclear power.

• War and Terrorism: The plutonium produced in uranium fission can be used to make devastating bombs, like the ones dropped in 1945, which killed over 100,000 people. As well, the plants themselves could be targets for catastrophic terrorist attacks. However, many plants are specifically designed to control the possible damage associated with such an attack.

• Non-Renewable Resources: Uranium itself is a non-renewable resource. Though technology is available to dramatically reduce the amount needed for energy production, uranium can eventually be used up.

• Limited Energy Source: Nuclear power only produces electricity. Thus, it cannot solve all of our energy needs alone

Source: http://internationalaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/nuclear_energy_the_debate_about_future_power



My questions:-

If it only produces electricity, do we really need that much???

Wehave poor maintenance culture…are we ready to take on responsibility of taking extreme care of a nuke plant???

Do we have the highly professional  and extreamly committed manpower to run this plant???

Do we have a place to dumb the toxic waste??? Isn’t that it self is BAD for the ENVIROMENT???

And again, isn’t Hydro Bakun  Damn not enough??.


I really hope our 1malaysia goverment can understand people's worries.

All Malaysians, are stakeholders to Pulau Redang

I want to express my dismay about plans to make Pulau Redang an exclusive gateway for the rich and famous. All Malaysians, are stakeholders to Pulau Redang, one of mother natures precious gift.


Reason given was to protect the islands environment due to overcrowding.

Firstly i think the idea sounds discriminative. Discriminating between the rich and not so wealth to do.

I find the intention rather confusing, which is which?. To protect the Redangs environment or the need to create an exclusive gateway?.

I am not against the creation of an exclusive gateway for the rich and famous. However to choose Redang which is an established and popular gateway island for Malaysian from all walks of life seems rather bad.

Look at pangkor island which is open to all and Pulau Pangkor Laut which is an exclusive gate away island. Got to take a similar approach. I am sure there are many remote islands surrounding Redang to be considered.


In terms of protecting Redang from overcrowding, well the only sensible approach is to limit the number of people at any one time at the island. ( Yet, that does not mean limit to the  rich only, because i think there thousands of people who are rich all over the world, get my point?) Otherwise consider starting a conservation fund, whereby all visitors are required to contribute a certain sum of money to the fund. A compulsory donation. The other pestering problem, pollution and contamination by accommodation operators, well the solution is simply don’t renew the their operative licenses if they have gone against the law. What do we do in mainland when factory's are polluting the rivers with their manufacturing waste?. There is a need to increase enforcement. Conduct spot checks. Do hire more people do this lack manpower to do this. What about infrastructure, to ensure there are proper disposal of sewage, maybe here the state government can do its bit a bit. Work hand in hand with enviromentalist, marine experts, etc to find a right workable solution to perserve Redang if must.

Also create more awareness that environmental protection is everyone’s responsibility.

I really hope the goverment would re consider its decision.

Telekom Malaysia please do not waste my time.

I dialed 100 to get in touch with their customer service representative but in vain. Yesterday and as well as today. How frustrating. How long am I suppose to hold on to the call?. Though its only five minutes, today it’s the age speed, and five minutes is simply too long. In five minutes I could have get a lot of things done…I could finish eating a burger…

Look if you can’t get to the customer in time, or your system shows that you have a long queue already than you should program the system to let the customer know that. Think out of the box la. If I am not mistaken some other Telco’s allows you to leave a message so that a customer service representative could contact us later. Do you know that a recent survey shows that Malaysians are voice people? Mobile phone growth is 100% and the internet is around 20% or so. Big corporations may want to set a trend but do not forget that eventually it is the customer that will lead to success if you realize their needs and they way they behave!. Telekom Malaysia, please buck up. This is so mundane.

Lets talk about health.

The major cause of declining health is our lifestyle - to be specific our eating habit. I for once had stop eating fast food and consuming carbonated drinks for a long time now. Not only I lost substantial weight, I got my self back on shape. Not that I was obese, I for sure I knew I was not going towards good health. That’s when I decided I need to do something drastic. The first thing I did was, cut that sugar and salt from my diet. Than, minus fast food from my vocabulary. And if I had to eat out its only when I am sure I am going to die of hunger.Roti canai is no more my breakfast, neither is the nasi lemak or the tosai. If I need to have it, I’ll cook it myself. That way I am in charge of the ingredients.

Next exercise. Starting and sticking on to a good exercise program isn’t easy. Especially when you are not able to see the gradual improvement. Looking back a year ago, when I first started amidst with a struggle, I count my blessing I haven’t given up since then.

Thats not all, mental health is also equally important. Meditate or take up something spiritual or what ever based on a person religious or belief that can be uplifting to one’s soul should be pursued.

Relaxation is also important, yet work is double the important. Weather you are employed or self employed, or not in any employment, make sure you have always something to do. In short what ever that you is the summed of your life that need to be taken care. Ensure that you are happy about it, otherwise it will be the cause of stress. Just like to saying, a happy bees makes a lot of honey.

Fireworkes light up the skies.

Fireworks banned in Malaysia? Yes or No? Seriously i don't know. Lame of me. Of course its banned.


However people still play fireworks over here. Loads of it. I think the popular ones are the mini fire works. It must have cost them a lot of money.  Its sad that people do defy the law. Even sad is when the law is not effectively enforced?. Yet, looking at it from a cultural point of view, playing fireworks has been very much been part and parcel of a communities way of celebration which explains why even an Act of law is not able to put a stop to it. If i am not mistaken, year after year the thunderous noise of fireworks being played is only getting louder. Looks like many people are forgetting of the ban despite the governments friendly reminder not to play with banned fireworks.


Alright, i better get some sleep now that the noise from fireworks has subsided. No joke, it was an 'awesome' one hour and 30 minutes of noise pollution. Awesome because its beautiful to watch the colorful crackers being played in the skies horizons from my window.

Water crisis in Kluang?.

Okay i did pack my bags and went away for the short CNY holidays to Kluang Johor.  I tell you, it was so hectic. Its the heat that was so unbearable. The worst was when we have to deal with water cut on first day of chinese new year. Seriously had i known about the water problem i would not have gone there, but not so much of running away from a problem, sometimes it can be quite a bit of a situation that we just dont want to be in.
I understand that many parts of Johor is still experiencing drought. Kluang is affected too. I hope my relatives there got their taps running!. Lets hope and pray for some rain.

Chinese New Year- Ushering the year of the tiger

I dont know what the chinese belief about the coming year of the tiger. I was told though its going to be 'fierce' year as far as ecomomy is concern. Some is expecting severe economic downtown too. I thought we are bottoming up?. I also undertand it is not a good year to tie the knot. Especially, Valentines Day is coinciding with 1st day of CNY on the year of the Tiger. Roar!.
I love holidays anyways, dont we?. Still no idea where to go, strangely plain lazy to paln for a trip. partly because of the hot weather. I dont want to get soacked up in the sun. I want to go to the beach, i dont want to get sun burned. Malaysia has got lots of pristine beaches, minus port dickson unless you want some oil bath. My choice is always the beaches in the east coast of malaysia.

Happy Chinese New Year!.

This is my first blog entry

My first blog entry.

It is indeed. bright sunny day.
Long chinese new year holidays around the corner.
Where to go for the holidays?. Its a peak season. Surchages is the word that will be too common. Packed and crowded holiday spots.