GOODBYE CAPTAIN

When I read about the demise of Capt Yusoff's mother, I thought I would cheer him up by compiling a CD of Oslan Hussien's old songs in minang. When finished compiling and burning the CD, I asked Pak Idrus for the Capt's phone number. Pak Idrus sent me the Captain's email instead.

This afternoon Pak Idrus phoned me and told me about the passing of a dear blogger friend. It was confirmed at http://rockybru.com.my/

I have nothing to say except to recite the Al Fatihah for him and to convey my deepest condolonces to his family.

VOICES OF HOPE

"Voices of Hope" is the charity arm of the TTDI-based Young Choral Academy. So far they have staged performances to collect donations for Nanyang Press Foundation (the underprivileged and single mothers), Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund and the latest, Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Kasih.

Many people missed the delightful performances yesterday (Sunday 28th June). Not many people know of the Choralton. There wasn't enough publicity. Those that came to the Multipurpose Hall of SEGI University College, Kota Damansara yesterday mostly heard about the event through word of mouth. They were entertained by more than 300 singers comprising of preschool kids up to adults. Even the audience sang during a special singalong segment.

The repertoire was eclectic. There were Malaysian patriotic songs totally different from what you hear on radio and TV, Japanese songs, Chinese songs and a tribute to P.Ramlee and Sudirman. There were choirs, duets and solos from 10 am to 5pm.

Part of the Young KL Singers delivering "Lagenda"

The biggest choir of the day from Malaysian Institute of Art with Ms Susana Saw conducting.

In spite of the lack of publicity, Choralton managed to collect RM12,000 for a good cause.

CLOSEUPS

When I suggested to Pak Idrus that he gets a Macro lens for his Nikon DSLR, I was already contemplating on getting one for my Olympus E500. Alas, Mimi's scholarship did not come so I had to adjust my budget accordingly.

Until I get my Macro lens, I had to prevent my Olympus from getting depressed due to inferiority complex. Luckily the Olympus E500 has a close up mode which is sort of a replacement for the Macro lens in a pinch. Here are the results of the shots I took today:

This is something a vampire-hunter should not be without - a clove of garlic.

This mandarin orange came during Chinese New Year. It really has a long life.

Rosebuds in the bouquet that Mimi got from an admirer. The dew is artificial, the flowers are real.

SUSU KENTAL

I have ranted about the shortage of sweetened condensed milk as early as August 2007. You might want to visit it here .

I still do not understand why Sweetened Condensed Milk is not available in Malaysia. After making do with black coffee for a while, I got my sweetened condensed milk from Singapore and Indonesia. Do tell your friends/relatives coming from those places that they will not be allowed to hand-carry the milk on the plane. Check them in together with the checked baggage.

For susu pekat manis addicts without relatives or pliable friends travelling overseas, there is good news. There is a shop in Jalan Chow Kit importing Susu Kental Manis Indomilk.

The regular white version is sold at RM 3.90 per tin while the chocolate version is cheaper. So diehard condensed milk lovers, make your way to MK Toys and Snacks shop and ask for Ms.Lee. If you cannot locate the shop, call her at 03-2693 6328 for directions.

Cheers!

THE PAINT JOB

To the residents of Vista Angkasa, the scruffiest condominium along the Federal Highway, the best thing to happen this year was the PM's visit to the place during his first week of becoming PM. I was not around during this visit but I was glad that the PM ordered the place to be repainted.

In the last week of May, they started the paint job. Instead of using the old-fashioned bamboo scaffoldings, the contractor uses electric gondolas.

One side of Block 7 is cleaned using water jet...

...before one coat of paint is applied.

The painters take long and frequent rests between jobs. At the moment, I have not seen them touching any of the blocks. The gondolas are on the ground. It has been days of no activity. I just hope that the buildings are repainted in time for Hari Raya. I guess if we can wait for 12 years for the paint job, we can wait for a few more weeks. Amin!!!

BROADBAND BLUES

When Mimi went off to UiTM on Saturday, she took along the Maxis Broadband modem that her Kak Long gave us. So I had to find a broadband service to continue surfing.

I wanted P1 Wimax but my area was not covered. I compared Digi and Celcom. Digi gave a bigger monthly download limit of 10 GB, double that of Celcom. Celcom do offer a Daily Unlimited Plan but the salesman could not explain how the plan works. So I went to a Digi outlet in MidValley. Unfortunately, they ran out of modems so I had to look for another outlet. The nearest is at Bangsar. A few nights ago, there was a temporary stand selling Digi Broadband outside the mamak restaurant. I asked the salesperson whether I can download torrents with Digi. The salesperson did'nt know what torrents are. In the permanent Digi shop, I made sure that there are modems available before giving my ic card to start the registration process. I was lucky that the salesperson is a thorough person. He checked the Digi coverage. He told me that there is coverage in my area but when he saw my address on my ic card, he told me that coverage is up to 4th floor only and I am on the 12th floor. Dang! I thought that the higher I am from the ground, the better the reception is. Is the Digi transponder or transmitter in my area right at sea-level?

I had no choice left but to go for Celcom Broadband. So immediately after saying goodbye to Mimi who is going to me proud at UiTM, I rushed to Digital Mall. The Blue Cube outlet ran out of modems too. Broadband is doing a roaring business huh? While walking to the car which was in front of the Maybank, I saw a Celcom stand. They have modems. So I got one.

I went home and excitedly plug in the modem to surf but I could not get any network. My account was not activated yet. When I phoned the salesperson who sold me the modem, he told me that I have to wait until Monday to have connection. I got my connection past 6 pm today. What took them so long? Celcom trumpeted that they are the fastest but their dealer's service is real slow. It was only after threats of sending back the modem that they rushed to activate my account.

THE ROAD TO 1MALAYSIA

The road to 1Malaysia would be shorter when
- People do not grumble that there are no cabinet ministers from their state. Aren't ministers supposed to serve all Malaysians? Is there a difference if they come from Perlis, Perak or Pahang?
-When Amanah Saham is offered to ALL Malaysians, some people demanded that a portion is allocated to their ethnic group. Just go and buy. What is the problem?
-All interviewees on TV speak Bahasa Malaysia on BM news bulletins. And proper BM too. Stop using "mereka-mereka". How long have you been a citizen of this country? In other countries like the US, you have to pass an exam to be a citizen and that includes understanding and speaking the official language.
-Everyone ACCEPTS the diversity of the population and not just tolerates. There is a limit to tolerance. There is no longer a limit when you accept. So, DBKL stop making a fuss about temples burning incense just as non-Muslims should stop complaining about the azan. Understand and accept.

There are of course more. I am sure you can add your own to the list. Go ahead.

THE DINNER AT SERI MELAYU

I was invited to dinner hosted by Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim not because I am a prominent and influential blogger. I was there, I think because I attended Language Institute together with Dr. Rais and he was my minister in 1980. His wife, Datin Masnah was once our artist at Radio Pendidikan in her bachelor days.

In spite of feeling under the weather I decided not to miss the event. I am glad I did not because I got to meet up with old bloggers like Pak Idrus and Capt Yusoff as well as the younger ones like Rocky, Noraina, Elvisa and Ruby. There were of course famous and inflential bloggers present such as Dato' Kadir Jasin, Nobisha, A Voice, Mahaguru and Syed of Outsyed The Box.

The food was good, the company, excellent. I got to pick the brain of Dato' Dr. Halim of MCMC who kindly volunteered to look into my phone line problem.

Pak Idrus giving Valentino and Dr. Halim his opinions.

My friend Capt.Yusoff with Syed.

Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim giving his speech.

I did not take that many pictures, being stoned by my medication most of the evening. I tool a lift home from Capt. Yusoff. I think the walk to to parking lot put a strain on my muscles that night and added more days to the recovery. But I think It was worth all the pain.

WATCH AND WONDER

I want to share a Power Point presentation with you.

My Favorite Philosophy

View more presentations from Pokku.

I have no idea who the author is. If this is your work, do come in and take a bow.
Thanks to Dato' Abdullah for sharing this with me.

FAITH

Faith is something that drives you to doggedly do something in spite of the odds. I guess the 13 Independent candidates in the Bukit Selambau By-Election have plenty of faith. After all, nobody goes into a fight intending to lose.

My post today will not be about politics or running dogs. It is about a real dog and about faith.

This is 'Faith'

This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 3 legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which need to be amputated. He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.



His first owner also did not think that he can survive. Therefore, he was thinking of 'putting him to sleep'.
By this time, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.
She is determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself. Therefore she named him 'Faith'.


In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfing board to let him feel the movements. Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him to stand up and jump around. Even the other dog at home also helped to encourage him to walk. Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward. After further training in the snow, he now can walk like a human being.

So folks, whenever you think that the world is coming to an end and things look lost, think of Faith.

Thanks to Dato' Abdullah for emailing me this story.

EARTH HOUR 2009

If you have been watching National Geographic Channel or other channels on Astro you might have seen various ads on the forthcoming Earth Day 2009 on March 28th. On this day, you are urged to join million others to switch off your light from 8.30pm to 9.30pm to reduce Global Warming.
Although I have read that some Malaysian corporations such as TNB and NST are supporting this effort, I am not sure if Kuala Lumpur is joining 680 other cities worldwide by switching off all the city lights on March 28. You need not wait for Kuala Lumpur to make her decision. You can switch off your own lights from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm on that night.
What do you do for one hour in the dark?
I believe that electricity will still be available so TV can be on. Just do not tune in to NatGeo during that hour. They will be suspending transmission. How I wish all other channels follow suit. So what else can you do?
If you are somewhere close to a beach, go take a nice walk. If you are in the city, it is not advisable to take a walk in the dark. The city nowadays are dangerous even if it is not dark. So stay home. Tell a story or listen to a story or many stories. If you have someone to cuddle with, by all means cuddle up. That would make an hour go by pleasantly.
Now you tell me what else can you do for one hour in the dark while helping to save the earth.

MRS. MALAPROP

My youngest daughter Mimi was warned about the evils the city can bring. She was told to be "More absorbent". Of course Mimi knew that the speaker meant "observant".
This kind of brain fart is known as malapropism where a wrong word that sounds very much like the right word is used with comic effect. The root word is the French "malapropos" meaning "inappropriate" or "inappropriately". Richard Sheridan named one of his characters in his play "The Rivals" Mrs. Malaprop with lines like these:

"He is the very pineapple of politeness."
"as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile."

Long before "The Rivals", Shakespeare had a character called Constable Dogberry in "Much Ado About Nothing":

"...you shall comprehend all vagrom men..." (i.e., apprehend, vagrant; Act 3, Scene III)

"Comparisons are odorous." (i.e., odious; Act 3, Scene V)

"Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons." (i.e., apprehended, suspicious; Act 3, Scene V)

Thus another word for malapropism is dogberryism.

Malapropism is used to great effect in TV. Archie Bunker (remember him?) in "All In The Family" made many people laugh when he said:

"I've gotta consecrate myself on this newspaper."
"Patience is a virgin."
"A witness shall not bear falsies against thy neighbor."
"groin-acologist" for "gynecologist"

and more recently:

"Why not? Play captains against each other, create a little dysentery in the ranks."
(Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos)

"There's no stigmata connected with going to a shrink."
(Little Carmine in The Sopranos)

"The ironing is delicious." (i.e., irony) - Bart Simpson, after finding Lisa in detention

"Because I like you, I'll even do it pro boner." (i.e., pro bono) - Bart Simpson agreeing to help Seymour Skinner with his love life.

Of course there are unintentional malapropism in real life:

"Oftentimes, we live in a processed world, you know, people focus on the process and not results." (George W. Bush)

"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child." (Dan Quayle)

"I really dig Hannibal. Hannibal had real guts. He rode elephants into Cartilage." (i.e., Carthage) — Mike Tyson

Closer to home, a popular singer when asked what was her best facial feature answered "My nipples". (She meant dimples)

My favourite is the answer a friend gave us when asked why he goes to the toilet so often:
"It's my photostat problem lah!"

Now share your favourite malapropism, dogberryism or acyrologia.

DOING THE RIGHT THING & DOING THINGS RIGHT

I am not sure whether the owner of this signboard did the right thing or whether he did things right. Robinson would be amused.

I am sure that many of you are not too amused by what is happening in the country lately. Let us take an example.When the "insulated box" was decreed, fishermen all over the country were far from amused. Consequently, when the price of fish went up, consumers were not amused until the Minister rescind the ruling, which is the right thing to do. Whose idea was it to specify the fish container in the first place? Is it terribly wrong for fishermen to transport their catch in barrels, plastic bags or wooden crates? They know best what is best for their livelihood. Maybe the authority concerned thought that it is the right thing to introduce new methods. Maybe the intention is good. They forgot that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and the fishermen gave them hell indeed. Lessons learnt I hope. Do things right. Think thoroughly. Research and research again. When you think you did the right thing, stick to it. Do not flip-flop.

How do you know that you are doing the right thing? First, you have to believe that what you are doing is right. Then you convince others with facts and figures that you are on the right track. Sane and reasonable people will agree with you and you will have less problems afterward.

You can think of many other instances where people in the administration are not doing the right thing or not doing things right. Once upon a time, the government thought that people involved in village handicraft should also be taught a bit of bookkeeping to keep track of profits and losses etc. In one village in Sarawak, one old Dayak lady was reluctantly inducted into one of the courses. At the end of the course, the course leader asked her whether she understood what "debit" is. This was her reply:
"I know Debit. He is my second grandson. His brother is Michael."

BOOBS WITH YOUR BREW?

Mr. Crabtree found a way to cope with tough times by opening a topless coffee shop, Read more here.
Apparently, the venture is successful. Mr.Crabtree did not wait for any economic stimulus but stimulated his customers instead. Would our kopitiams follow suit? I doubt it. I would not want to drink my Hai Peng coffee and bite into my roti kawin after catching sight of the waiter's armpit hair and there are laws on public nudity in our country.

So let us leave the topless stuff to clandestine bars and karaokes and let us see how the stimulus packages can help our kopitiams, other businesses and their customers (which include us).

FREE READS

Go to any big bookstores and you will find people in the reading rooms or on the floor reading books that are not wrapped in cellophane. You can do the same in libraries.
If you are not a speed-reader but want a free read, why not try ebooks? There are free ebooks that you can read on your pc, laptop, pda or on some mobile phones.

Ebooks or electronic books come in various formats. Those that can be read online are mostly in html formats. Some are pdf (Portable Document Format) files that can be read on your browsers if you have Acrobat Reader© installed. You can also save pdf files. There are also ebooks that come in .exe files. They are self-contained and ready to read although I would advise caution when opening any .exe files. Check for virus, worms and spyware. Anyway, the pages that offer free ebooks will tell you if you need a software to read the books. The software needed is usually offered free. Of course, if you are well-heeled you can also opt for the many dedicated ebook reader machines that you can take everywhere. For people already with iPods, pda or sophisticated phones, I do not think you should spend more money buying the ebook hardware, buy the not-free ebooks instead.

What can you expect from free books? Plenty. If you browse the links I am giving you at the end of this post, you can see that many subjects are covered. Go browse while I try to get used to Sir Richard Burton's translation of "1001 Nights".

Hey, I do not have to lick my fingers to turn the pages on my ancient Zire 71.

http://www.free-ebooks.net/
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.e-book.com.au/freebooks.htm
http://www.freeebooks.info/
http://www.ebookdirectory.com/
http://www.getfreeebooks.com/
http://www.ereader.com/

MORE MONEY

Hackneyed or cliched they may be, these words have truth in them and should be remembered by us all. Those that worship money should commit these words (in addition to their bank account numbers) to memory.
Please wait for the slides to load. Click for the next slide.

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by Pokku

MONEY,MONEY,MONEY

Unlike some people that can get lots of cash just by switching camps, mere mortals like us have to get money the hard way.

For Senior Citizens, Bank Negara Malaysia (Malaysia's Central Bank) will be issuing The 2009 MERDEKA BONDS very very soon. If you missed the announcement, go here to read (and print) the Press Release.

So, on the 18th of February, go to your bank and apply. Please do not sneeze at the 5% annual dividend offered or the monthly amount that will be credited to your account. Even if you stepped on that amount of money on your morning walk, you would pick it up wouldn't you?

Dig up the stash from under your mattress or mistress (whichever is applicable) and go buy the bonds.

TEA ON THAIPUSAM

While devotees thronged Batu Caves on Sunday, I made my way to Ampang Jaya to meet Zaharan Razak, a blogger and a fellow Terengganunian. Zaharan rode his new kapchai ( that's a small Honda bike, Louis) all the way from Kuala Ibai to KL and Pak Idrus invited him to tea. Pak Idrus invited a few other bloggers as well but they could not make it.

They missed the scones. Yes, genuine English scones with butter and jam, No crumpets or strumpets but Pak Idrus also laid out wajik, fried noodles, fruits and my all-time favourite, caramel custard.

The spread

Caramel Custard for dentally challenged dudes

Pak Idrus is bent on collecting as many gadgets as he can. So far he has 2 laptops, 1 Netbook. pdaphones and a new Nikon DSLR. After Zaharan did justice to the scones, Pak Idrus fired up his brand-new Toshiba laptop and buzzed a blogger friend in Seattle via Skype. Even though it was the wee hours of the morning in Seattle, Louis sounded cheerful on the mike and he looked cheerful and friendly on the screen. All three of us chatted with Louis. I am surprised that he reads my blog (Di Bawah Rang Ikang Kering). I would be even more surprised if Louis understand most of the patois.

Louis on line

Pak Idrus would not let me go home but wanted me to have dinner with him first. He took Zaharan and I to Cozy House at Great Eastern Mall. The place was packed but we were lucky to get a table where Pak Idrus resumed his discourse on various topics.

Pak Idrus wanted to think. Zaharan wanted his dinner.

Tea in a bottle

Among the topic of the conversation during dinner was the breakdown of taboos for the sake of marketing. You know what I mean - kway teow served in wok and drinks served in jars.

I got back in time to watch the second half of the Arsenal-Spurs match. In spite of the score line, it was a nice evening.

WE HAVE THE NUMBERS

I hope I am not attracting 4-Digit punters to this blog. You know who they are. They are the ones slowing down traffic on our highways and byways not to help unfortunate motorists but to jot down the vehicle's numbers.

The numbers I am giving you today are statistics that you might not be aware of and once known hopefully will make you think deep and and long thoughts.

Go here.

Thanks to Dato' Abdullah Mohamad for the link.

AN "A" FOR DEFECTION

As a naive non-partisan senile old man, I am a little bit amused at the media's (old and new, mainstream, upstream and downstream) preoccupation with members of political parties changing horses abruptly.

Defectors are labelled weak, traitors, Judas, ingrates, katak and other uncomplimentary names by the abandoned party while being hailed as a hero, principled, patriot or whatever else by their new bedfellows. Now, for would be defectors, let an old man give you unsolicited advice. Do not ask me if I have ever defected. I do not have a political party. I haven't died either so would that disqualify me from advising you about dying? If dying is too morbid for you, let us go to the opposite side. Birth. One of my daughter's gynae never got pregnant but he gets money giving advice to pregnant people. Ok, now that you get my drift let us get on with this defection thing.

For would be defectors, the English nursery rhyme
Sticks and Stones
Will Break My Bones
But Names Will Never Hurt Me.

is good to repeat to yourself unless they really start to throw sticks, stones, terompah and other missiles. When that happens, you either recall your silat/kungfu/kalari payat lessons on evasive moves or locate the fattest cat in your new-found group to hide behind.

There is a better way though. I shall call this the toma'ninoh way. I shall not explain what toma'ninoh is simply because I am on a borrowed wireless broadband which has the habit of disconnecting me at irritating intervals. The less I stay online, the safer. If you are not familiar with the word, go get a Muslim worth his pioh lembik to elaborate. The toma'ninoh way is to do it in stages. If you change your mind in politics or have your mind changed for you because of your principles (assuming you have some to begin with) do not switch parties immediately. No toma'ninoh there. If you cannot reconcile your principles to what your party is doing or subscribing to, you speak your mind. No go? Resign. You cannot beat them, leave them. Join another party to continue your struggle after taking the time to identify which party suits your objectives best. People have short memory. Give them time to forget. Of course you cannot apply this if the repossessors are at your electric gate waiting to take your SUV away. If you change parties for monetary gains, you deserve all the contempts you can get, including mine.

For political parties suffering defections present and future, here is my 2 sen. Get an "A" and put it in defection. You get defecation. No defecation and you are not regular. Waste must be discharged at regular intervals otherwise you get constipated and lose elections. So let the other side have the shit. Do not blame me for bringing the toilet into this but I read a politician writing in his blog that leaders are elected in the loo. Isn't "purge" a political term too? Chew on that.

(I am using IntenseDebate commenting widget for the first time. If you cannot get the comment icon/link to work, try clicking on the Links To This Post. Otherwise just email me.)