I am so happy when I saw the news today. Chew Mei Fen got the boot from the MCA council! PADAN DIA PUNYA MUKA!! I fully support this move. Her recent spat with Ong shows that she is no longer in-sync with the party’s objective. Anyone who is either with Ong, or against Ong. Yeah, yeah, Ong said that this has got nothing to do with her move to have an extra EGM on 28 Nov, but even the blind knows what his agenda is. But in any case, I still support him. His style might be dictatorian, but that is how China grew to be so big in the first place!

People, I urge you NOT to be pitiful to MF Chew. As Soi Lek  mentioned yesterday, MF Chew is indeed very “talented“. She is the only one among 7 million chinese in Malaysia who got a portfolio in the ministry even though she lost her constitution. (Chua, you forgot about Koh Tsu Koon )  MF Chew deserves it, and if she knows better, she had better resign from all her post in MCA. Nobody wants a loser in the party.

Looks like MCA is regaining back its shine after all. Let’s hope this stays

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There are a few reason the notorious jam happens. One does not need to be a highway engineer to figure that out. The poor people in Serdang gets no fucking exit in the MEX, while Damansara / PJ gets 7 highways (Federal, LDP, Kesas, Sprint, NKVE, Penchala, NPE)! What, people in Serdang not worthy of the attention of the Malaysian Highway Authority? The jam in Serdang has been going on for aeons! I remember the condition was already very bad during my brother’s graduation, back in 1999. All because of the lousy exchange in front of South City Plaza / Mines area. Heck, there wasn’t even South City Plaza at that time! And at one point, the authorities had one chance to make things right when they upgraded the Balakong interchange in front of Mines. But being their fucking usual “tidak-apa” attitude, everyday minum kopi makan roti, they chose to ignore the worsening condition of traffic going into Balakong from MRR2 and Serdang. Fuck you, the MP of Serdang at that time Datuk Yap Pian Hon! Oh I forgot, you are from MCA, and you’re supposed to shut the fuck up when the corrupt UMNO goons says so.

Then there is the condition of the wet market in the centre of town. It’s been there since the town was established and frankly it has way expired! MPSJ promised to move the fucking market elsewhere. That was even before I moved to stay in Seri Kembangan. Nothing much changed since.

The booming city where I stay isn’t helping the situation. Apart from Jusco, there is now a coming Giant and an entertainment hub at The Atmosphere. It’s right next to a tolled LDP, so people who wants to go to KL without paying the exorbitantly priced highway toll have no choice but to go through Serdang town. Even if they want to pay toll, the exchange going to LDP / Cyberjaya in front of The Atmosphere gets jammed up every morning and evening. A big turn off!

So the people staying here cannot do nothing but just endure this, day in and day out.  X-(

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YUCK!! The mere mention of that name brings a bad taste to my mouth! That name has never sound good to me after she lost to Tony Pua in the last general election. It only means one thing; that she cannot be trusted to do things. And her latest remarks in the media sealed her demise.

Everybody by now should already know about the ruckus that is hitting MCA. Her first statement that deserves my boo is her announcement that a fresh election be carried out to elect a new president and vice president for MCA. Okay, I know she is not the only one making that decision, but I hated that decision anyway. To me, I don’t care what is happening inside that stupid MCA, but I still feel for both Chua and especially Ong. I salute Ong’s brave resolve to his stand. I believe that he is a man of his words, and it is hard to find faults with him. The other guy, Datuk Liow, despite his goody-two-shoe looks and soft-spoken demeanour, is no better than the other corrupt government officials. His wife was “alleged” to have received a half-a-million ringgit Toyota Alphard VeilFire from a contractor who just won a project from Datuk Liow. Who stands to benefit when a fresh re-election is called? Datuk Liow of course. And who is supporting him? Our beloved Datin, the subject of this post of course.

The second Boo came from her other remark about a certain potong commercial that she feels is sexist. Ehh hello Datin, since when potong lanciao is derogatory against women? The most is that it qualifies as hamsap (but even that is a long shot). How does it offend you lar Datin? You mean you know how it feels to kena potong is it? She even has the balls (ehh, really?) to call for all women to boycott the company. Please lar Datin, you live in Malaysia, but the rest of us live on Earth. Please grow up and follow the development of the rest of part of the world. If you cannot accept that kind of mild sexist joke, you should just go back and live in the forest.

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1. Automatic car are useful in city drivings because of the stop-and-go situations involved. But they are getting more and more useful in highways.

2. Why do we use the highways? What is the basic thing that you expect in return of paying a hefty sum at the bloodsucking toll booths? The convenience, the time you save, the assurance that you will arrive IN TIME for that 8 am meeting in JB. What if you cannot get that? What if you are stuck in a stupid jam from KL to Ipoh for 5 hours? Who will pay for the lost of time and opportunity? PLUS should give us a rebate for every hour that we are delayed in our journey!

3. I agree with those who drives in the emergency lanes. “If I do not drive in those lanes, somebody else would anyway. It might as well be me.”

4. Speed limits are only beneficial to the police who radar-scans us.

5. Elsewhere in the world highways are used to divert traffic from a heavily congested area and maybe make a little profit, just enough for general maintenance of the highway. Malaysian highways are designed from a profitability point of view.

That said, safety on the road is still necessary. Make sure you are in physical fit condition before you undertake that 300 km exodus back to your hometown. Have a safe trip everyone and SELAMAT HARI RAYA!

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BWUUUAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

I can only afford an uncontrollable insane laugh! Come on Malaysia! Not another one of your tasteless jokes! Can this be one of your publicity stunt again? I mean, seriously, what do you expect to put in your machine? A 1.6 litre turbo CAMPRO engine? Well, here’s news for you! CAMPRO engines are lousy, inefficient and unsafe! Just the other day, a poor young mother burnt to her death when her Gen-2 fitted with the CAMPRO got hit on the engine compartment and caught fire! And this is not the first time I heard of such news. And don’t get me started on the potential driver. The son of a big-shot. Ring a bell? The last Malaysia F1 joker driver was also a son of someone influential who pushed him into the game, and look at the mess he has made for Malaysia!

For you who bought Proton cars (my poor self included), it’s time you stop supporting Proton and start buying from a REAL car company.

Popularity: 1% [?]

*Sigh* ….. the worst has happened. Against the will of Tun Dr Mahathir, and legions of parents around Malaysia, the stupid Muyiddin has announced that Science and Math be taught back in Malay. This is a 180 degree turn back towards the prehistoric era. The Malaysian education system is going the way of the dodo.

As mang0 has already summed it up, I have either the option of teaching my girls in English myself, or sending them to an international school. I think I am more inclined towards the latter. Malaysian Educational system just don’t have the edge anymore to remain competitive.

This harks back to my early schooling days when I remembered a very important event in life. It was the early nineties. I applied, went for interviews, and was finally offered a scholarship, the Asian Scholarship to go study in Singapore. Naively me and my parents turned down the offer. I can understand their reasoning. My dad was afraid to let me go that far. I was only a teenager about to go into the wild puberty stage. Letting me go there alone would have exposed me to all kinds of vice. (Hey, isn’t that great?! HAHAHAHA!!! ) Thinking back, I felt kinda regretful. I would have enjoyed a better life there in Singapore. I mean, come on, I hate the life in Singapore, but I don’t mind the 5 times more purchasing power the Singapore Dollar gives me! My life would have turned out differently. I could have married another girl, or maybe even still be single. But I would have missed having Kit Yan and Hui Yan

I got lucky in my years of schooling. I have been schooled in a Malay / English medium all my life. Nevertheless, my grasp of the English language was not very strong. Blame it on the education system, only academically strong but no real world exposure. I got my break when I became close with Vinod Nair, of mixed Indian and Chinese parentage. I owe my English to him. I later found out that he had wanted to learn Cantonese from me, but turned out he landed on the losing end of the deal!

I also had a lucky break in St Michael’s Ipoh, where I did my Form Six. There, EVERYBODY speaks English as the main medium, even the Malays. Our physics teacher, Mr Ng, encouraged us to learn physics in English, although STPM was conducted in Malay. He told us that in order to prepare ourselves for the university and subsequently to the world, a full grasp of the scientific term in English is compulsory. Come on, the “hardware = barang keras” joke is an exemplarily example of the silliness impracticality of using Malay as a technical language.

All hail the Dark Ages of education in Malaysia!

Edit 13 Jul 2009: It seems that certain factions of the chinese and indian community also wants to abandon the English as a technical language too! I am deeply aghast!

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I am sure you have read this already through some forwarded mails before. This is really classic! Just a case in point for how absurd a direct translation from a decent terms in English can go haywire in Malay:

Hardware: barang keras
Software: barang lembut
Joystick: batang ria
Plug and Play: cucuk dan main
Port: lubang
Server: pelayan
Client: pelanggan

That server gives a plug and play service to the clients using either hardware or software joystick. The joystick goes into the port of the client.

“Translated”
Pelayan itu memberi pelanggannya layanan cucuk dan main dengan mempergunakan batang bahagia jenis keras atau lembut. Batang ria itu dimasukkan ke dalam lubang pelanggan.

Have you also seen how silly the translation in cinemas can be? They are better off not translating at all! Tell me a few examples if you have any.

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Lots has been said about the language and its uses in Malaysia. The latest development saw our former Prime Minister to urge the government not to forsake the future of our children by denouncing the importance of English. I am totally aghast at the action of some parties who chose to childishly ignore the use of English to increase the competitiveness of Malaysians as a world-class citizen. English is, after all, the 3rd most spoken language in the world after Chinese and Spanish. Note that Malay, or its nearest variation Bahasa Indonesia is nowhere near the top 10.  And this decision came from no other than the seniors in our very own Menteri Pendidikan! And today the news says that majority of the people do not want English to pass in SPM! What the fuck are they thinking?

Let us just step back for a while and look at the Malaysians now as a whole. Throw a stone anywhere, chances are the person you hit knows a smattering of English, at least to be able to communicate properly with any English-native speakers. Last Sunday I went to the zoo, and I stopped at a bus-stop to take a rest. There was an old Malay grandma there, probably in her 70’s, looking after her young toddler grandchild. To my surprise, she speaks in English with us, refusing to converse in Malay even when we sprinkled some Malay into our conversation. She even spoke in English with her young grandchild, who is no more than 14 months old! There was a bit of typical Malaysian slang, but the point is that everywhere, people have no problem talking in English. So why the decision to lower English to second-class status?

Have you ever been to Thailand? Indonesia? Vietnam? Japan? Korea? How do you communicate with the most common of all people that you see; the taxi drivers? Do you have problems communicating with them in those countries? If you only speak Malay, then the answer is most probably a big YES. Do you think tourists to Malaysia will have problem communicating in English with our taxi drivers? Other than the quarrel about the use of meters, chances are that most if not all taxi drivers in Malaysia can speak good English.

We have been so long into allowing our SPM test papers to be answered in both Malay and English. Just as when we are almost seeing the result out of this, they have to revoke the importance of English. Wouldn’t it be a waste of effort? Come on, get real. For those who still insist on the purity of the Malay language, let me ask you this question. Can you speak purely in Malay without ANY influence of foreign language, especially English? What is the word “komunikasi“, “satelit“, “implikasi“, “dansa“, “televisyen“, “radio“, “komputer” doing in the Malay language? How do you pronounce chlorofluorocarbon in Malay? Or the mezzanine level? How about phobia? Tell that in Bahasa Baku to my face, you hypocrites!

I am not saying that Bahasa Melayu is of lower status. I cannot ignore its importance in Malaysia. I speak fluent Malay, and it’s the second language that I picked up after my native Cantonese. I had a very close Malay friend in primary school. But it just annoys me that some people choose to ignore the importance of the English language, and that they can live with just Malay in their daily lives. For those people, go live in an island and good riddance with you!

*Sigh*, what has our education system come to now? My poor girls……

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4th June. Today, a very important piece of history happened in the world. But sadly the very people who was supposed to know this history, has been denied knowledge of it.

Excerpt from Baidu's History Search

I can’t read chinese, but I know one important year is missing.

1989

It’s a sad truth, the people do not know the truth, nor will they be able to know the truth. It really does not concern me personally, but as a mortal, we deserve to know the reason WHY we are here now, so that we may know where we need to go in the future.

My hats off for them…..

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My heart sank when I saw the picture in the news. A thin fragile looking puppy clinging helplessly on a mangroove root!

A wet and hungry looking puppy

How can the people of Pulau Ketam do that to such helpless creatures? I can understand their predicament, their logic that the island “ain’t big enough for the both of us”. Throwing them on the deserted island seems the easiest and most economical way to dispose of them. I’m sure that there are no SPCA in Pulau Ketam!

But do they even think of the consequences? Dogs are not naturally good at climbing these awkwardly shaped mangroove roots. Their paws are not made to withstand such salty soil. I’m sure that they will get in a pretty big mess in that island. Canibalism, survival of the fittest, nature’s cruelest ways to ensure that the dogs live a long suffering life, IF, they survive at all.

I do not know any way that I can help. (I’m a cheapskate, don’t ask me to donate money! ) so I guess the best way is to spread the news around. Please help this dogs as much as you can! Click on the picture above to learn more about their plight.

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