Bee Stink

For now

2010-08-10T15:35:00.000+08:00

news that the keys to the condo will be handed over some time this month.. here's hoping that things are still in good order, since it's been a long time.

if you're into bikes, particularly choppers or bobbers, do head on to beeskneesbobber.

Easy Riders

2010-03-08T18:23:00.002+08:00

So, I've been looking at lots (and i mean LOTS) of chopper and easy rider mags lately.

I've been thinking very much about embracing the life of a biker. So I've been doing my research and even made a trip to the local Harley Davidson dealership to talk to a few bikers there.

As a beginner though, I think I will start on the lower price scale and go with a Japanese easy rider before I dump in major moolah on a HD. Am only prepared to use RM30-odd thousand on my first bike.

Mind you, I still need to get a bike license first! Hahahaha!

The frontrunners at the moment are:

1. Yamaha Dragstar (also known as V-Star Stateside);

2. Yamaha Royal Star; and

3. Kawasaki Vulcan 800.

(Click the links above for the best Malaysian example that I've come across so far).

tak tau kah?

2010-01-13T18:47:00.001+08:00

how can the learned judge not know of this:

"THE 1988 non-Muslim Enactment already prohibits non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” and there should be no dispute now, Utusan Malaysia reported."

read on here.

brain drain

2010-01-13T10:35:00.003+08:00

dah lah epitome of brain drain, so proud to make claims like this summore ah?

Source: theStar online

Malaysian girl tops in S’pore O-Level exam

SINGAPORE: A Malaysian who studied in a Singapore school emerged tops when she scored 10 A1s in the 2009 Singapore Cambridge General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level) examination.

Lai Kai Rou, 16, who hails from Selangor, studied at the CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School (SNGS) which was also the best school as 14 of the 42 top scorers who scored nine A1s in the country were its students.

The Singapore Cambridge GCE O-Level Examination was conducted jointly by the Uni-versity of Cambridge Inter-national Examinations, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board and the ministry.

A total of 37,424 school candidates sat for the 2009 O-Level Examination and 37,380 or 99.9% had been awarded certificates, the ministry said.

Lai entered the Singapore school four years ago after completing her primary school in a Chinese school. – Bernama

double standards - can't get any more apparent than this

2010-01-11T11:14:00.001+08:00

Police warn against holding demonstrations

KUALA LUMPUR: Police today issued a warning against any demonstrations planned at places of worship, especially one rumoured to be held at the Assumption Church in Petaling Jaya, on Jan 13.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said any illegal demonstration would not help ease the situation. Instead it would only make it worse.

"I have been informed that an SMS was being circulated, inviting people to assemble in front of the church next week, so I urge the public to discard any such plans.

"Let us carry out the investigations... let us handle it... do not take any action that may raise tension and aggravate the situation," he told reporters after visiting the church.

He added that police would not hesitate to take stern action against anyone who broke the law, including participating in illegal gatherings.

On claims that a mosque in Klang Jaya was attacked, Khalid said: "No such thing happened. Please do not listen to rumours, and please do not speculate."

He, however, confirmed that stones were thrown at a surau in Klang.

Khalid said apart from the three attacks on churches in Selangor, no new cases were reported.

"No new cases were reported except for one case where a church was robbed," he said without giving the name of the church.

"We are still carrying out investigations to identify those who attempted to burn down the three churches," he added.

Last Friday night and Saturday morning, firebombs were thrown at the Assumption Church and Life Chapel Church in Petaling Jaya while the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur was set on fire by unknown assailants. — Bernama

cakap kosong

2010-01-11T08:55:00.001+08:00

“We must not fan the fire. We must put the fire out. We do what’s best for all.”

“I would like to deny the statement blaming Umno and the Government because it is such an irresponsible statement when we have a track record of administrating the multi-racial country.”

- Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein

damn straight

2010-01-06T19:38:00.003+08:00

I saw this interesting article written by Saudara Hafidz Baharom in the Malaysian Insider website and thought it'd be a great read to share with you.

Bad habit of not speaking up

JAN 6 — I have a problem with people spewing health advice at me, particularly about this bad habit I have.

I’m a chain smoker. I smoke a pack of Marlboro’s for a period of 24 hours. And, of course, some friends are against me doing this for health reasons.

Recently, a close friend basically decided to comment on my smoking by stating that a person’s body is a temple, and it should be well taken care of.

This, of course, coming from a gym bunny who wants me to help him get laid, drinks a bottle of wine by himself and expects me to drive his drunken ass home from time to time.

And sadly, he’s straight.

So when I lit up the next cigarette in front of him, I basically gave the excuse that my “temple” needed “joss sticks”.

And honestly, when you see a gym bunny snorting out whipped cream from his nose, you know a joke was worth it.

There are many things in life that we may not agree with. Bad habits are one of them. Smoking’s a bad habit, perhaps even an unacceptable habit based on location, such as a maternity ward, a cancer ward or perhaps a playground.

But certainly there’s a time and a place where smoking is considered not a threat to others other than the individual himself. Like in a bar, or a designated smoking area, or even in his car when he’s driving himself.

This goes for alcohol too. There’s a time and a place, unless you’re in Selangor because they’re lagging on the designation for locations that are allowed to sell alcohol. Honestly, if Ronnie Liu could get Section 8 as a designated area as well, I’d toast to him myself.

And if you’re in Shah Alam, chances are you’d probably have to drive to Subang Jaya to get a drink.

Sure, these are acceptable bad habits that people can find leeway with and probably the less religiously anal retentive people and leaders of this nation wouldn’t even give a damn about.

Then, of course, there are the bad habits that which I personally consider to be the cause of stress and blood pressure issues among Malaysians.

One of the major bad habits Malaysian’s have is queuing. It’s bad enough that these people won’t queue at a restaurant, but to cut queue in their cars right in front of a toll gate or during a traffic jam? Seriously, suspend their licences.

And, of course, there’s speeding. Now, personally I don’t have an issue with people who drive their personal cars over the speed limit. They can deal with their own summonses, and I’m sure they can pay it on the spot if they wanted to with their “letters from the governor”.

However, for an express bus carrying 40 paying customers, perhaps with no insurance whatsoever?

Perhaps the driver would like to supply body bags below each seat to make his point clear that safety’s not his priority.

However, there is one bad habit that we, as a nation of 27 million and counting, are guilty of as a majority. This bad habit is what has allowed this nation of ours to regress into one that is so racially and religiously divided that we don’t entirely see unity as a must, but merely allow politicians to use it as a propaganda piece to win votes.

Most of us, dearest readers, are guilty of not speaking up.

In fact, we’re guilty of being the ones who “closed one eye” when we hear politicians making racist statements, making religious and racially-biased decisions and making derogatory and discriminatory quotes in Parliament, in ceramahs, and even in protests.

We have failed to apply pressure to those who we voted for to carry out what we want done, instead of now having them follow what their party wants them to do.

We have failed to highlight our own thoughts on the matter, and instead focused more on what our leaders think. Truth be told, I think the rakyat has more EQ nowadays when talking about issues on religion and race than our politicians give them credit for.

So please, speak up, people!

Don’t wait for a camera and microphone to be shoved in your face!

Go blog (not goblok), attend talks, attend ceramahs, and write out what you heard and your thoughts on the matter. Everybody’s opinion, while may not be agreeable to others, still matters.

You see, the advantage to write and speak up for us as Malaysians is not only a right. It’s a privilege.

While smoking perhaps darkens my lungs with tar, by not speaking up we’re basically allowing the spread of something more severe.

We’re allowing the ability of inconsiderate people, regardless from which political side, to abuse this nation altogether.

what's in a name?

2010-01-04T16:24:00.002+08:00

An extract from Marina Mahathir's blog.

Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.

.. Read on..(click here).

BODOH SOMBONG

2009-12-28T11:21:00.003+08:00

Orang yang bodoh sombong hanya bercakap mengenai sesuatu perkara tanpa mengetahui perkara yang sebenar DAN tidak langsung mahu belajar dan diajar.

Jadi, sebagai hajat tahun baru ini, jomlah kita beramai-ramai berazam supaya tidak lagi jadi bodoh sombong.

Sekian, terima kasih.

Court orders developer to build temporary road

2009-12-22T15:28:00.004+08:00

Another great news and perhaps a perfect Christmas present for us.

SHAH ALAM (Dec 21, 2009) : The High Court here today ordered Sri Aman Development Sdn Bhd, the developer of Paramount View Condominium, to continue building the temporary access road in Jalan SS1/25 to the condominium until the permanent access road in Jalan 22/44D is completed.

The decision was made in chambers by Judicial Commissioner Datuk Hinshawati Shariff after an agreement was reached by the company and the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) following an oral amendment to the original suit by the developer.

Counsel Joy Appukuttan, for Sri Aman Development, made an oral amendment to the application to retain the original 2005 plan approved by MBPJ which was for the developer to use Jalan 22/44D as an entrance and exit road, and Jalan 21/27 as an exit road.

The court allowed the amendment and made the order after counsel R. Sivarasa, who represented MBPJ, did not object.

Hinshawati also ordered that the stop-work order by MBPJ on the temporary access road be lifted and that both parties bear their own costs.

The dispute between MBPJ and the developer began early this year when the latter applied to MBPJ for an alternative access road to the 233-unit condominium, namely Jalan SS1/26, with the use of Jalan SS1/25 as a temporary road to build the main access to the condominium.

However, the proposed access road to Jalan SS1/26 was to run next to Tenaga Nasional Berhad's (TNB) high tension cables and TNB filed for an injunction to stop the developer from building the road through its reserve land.

MBPJ then issued a stop-work order as the temporary access road, SS1/25, was being turned into a permanent access which was supposed to be SS1/26.

On June 26, Sri Aman Development filed a suit against MBPJ claiming that the council had given approval for the access road, Jalan SS1/25, to be built but had later revoked it and issued a stop-work order.

This caused a delay in the issuance of the certificate of fitness (CF) for the condominium which was fully completed in May. -- BERNAMA

Source: theSun

Paramount View Condo coverage in theStar Metro today

2009-12-16T16:29:00.004+08:00

THE developer of Paramount View Condominium and the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) have to find an amicable solution with regards to the access road.

According R. Sivarasa, who is representing MBPJ, Judicial Commissioner Datuk Hinshawati Shariff had asked the matter to be resolved as soon as possible.

Some of the condo buyers: (from left)Jason Loh, Arshad Marsidi, Christina Alphonsa, Ong Khian Hock and James Teoh at the Shah Alam Court yesterday.

“We are looking forward to a solution as the case has been postponed to Dec 21,” Sivarasa said at the Shah Alam Court yesterday.

The 233-unit condominium has been completed since May this year but buyers were not allowed to move in as it does not have an access road. Residents had also protested against the use of Jalan SS1/25, SS1/26 and SS1/39 as the access road because that would ressult in congestion and parking problems in the neighbourhood.

Early this year, MBPJ introduced some changes with a temporary access road (Jalan SS1/25) and a permanent road (Jalan SS1/26).

Tenaga Nasional Bhd had obtained an injunction as the proposed Jalan SS1/26 runs near the high tension cables.

The condominium buyers are urging for the intervention of the Sultan of Selangor in the matter as they are at their wits’ end.

They said they had approached all possible avenues but to no avail.

Developer Sri Aman Development Sdn Bhd had filed a suit against the MBPJ, claiming that the council had given approval for the access road, but had later revoked it and issued a stop-work order.

This has caused a delay in the issuance of the certificate of fitness (CFs) for the condominium.

Source: theStar online.

Court orders dispute to be settled by Monday

2009-12-16T16:22:00.001+08:00

To view it on your browser, please click on this link.

Paramount View Condominium - update

2009-12-15T16:31:00.006+08:00

Good evening.

There is good news. A sort of early Christmas present for us (irregardless if you do or don't celebrate it).

Apparently at the court hearing just held this morning, a consensus has been met between the developer, Sri Aman Development Sdn Bhd ("the Plaintiff") and MBPJ ("the Defendant") on the issue pertaining to the access road for Paramount View Condominium, a 233-units development in SS1, Petaling Jaya.

Temporary access will be granted vide Jalan SS1/25, while Jalan SS1/26 has been identified as the location for the permanent entrance into the condominium.

However, the Plaintiff has been requested by the right honourable judge to resubmit their application to the court incorporating the mutually agreed conditions and thereafter, the court will confirm this mutual agreement when it sits on Monday, 21 December 2009.

This perhaps, is the best news I've had all year long.

It's still too early to celebrate, but I cannot thank the pro-tem committee enough for all their sacrifices, contribution and hard work.

Meanwhile, a nod to the effort by the pro-tem committee was highlighted in this article. However, I must stress and clarify that the ad was not funded by the developer. It was fully paid for and was entirely out of the effort of the pro-tem committee on behalf of the 233 unit owners.

This is because we are tired of leaving our fate in the hands of others who have failed to deliver one time after another. We are not stooges being manipulated by Sri Aman Development (borrowing Rusman's words).

Update: A recap was printed in the papers today (28/12/2009). Click on link to check it out.

lawak punya orang

2009-12-09T16:00:00.003+08:00

Deputy Prime Minister and deputy chairman of the leading coalition in Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday warned that BN leaders should not get involved in open debate as this will make them appear weak and will lead to in-fighting and consequently fall for traps set by the opposition.

He added "I'm worried that there is an effort by the opposition to bring down all the institutions and agencies so that the people will have negative perceptions towards the Government."

Well BeeStink says, I'm sorry Mr. Deputy, but methinks that these so-called "institutions and agencies" are doing fine bringing discredit to themselves without the need for anybody's help, just in case you didn't already realise.

Read the article here.

image courtesy of dinmerican.wordpress.com

Anyone who isn't a fool should read this following piece

2009-12-09T15:01:00.002+08:00

Please Arrest These Men

Ahmad Mahayuddin Abdul Manaf and Ibrahim Sabri should be arrested for inciting racial hatred. If there is a racial riot, the blame is squarely on the heads of these moronic idiots and their cahoots. The leaders of the cow-head protestors, in front of the district police HQ in Shah Alam, courted more controversy by saying non-Malays are second class citizens.

To read on, please click here.

In defence of DVD Pirates

2009-12-07T17:35:00.007+08:00

This post is a reproduction of an article written by Eric Paulsen featured on The Malaysian Insider today. I couldn't have said it better myself. Read on.

DEC 7 — I refer to the government’s latest plan to curb video piracy — “Armed to fight piracy” (Sunday Star, Dec 6) where Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the government was considering a proposal to take action against the private owners of even one pirated video.

Tell you what minister, if you agree that you will enforce the law across the board, consistently and without exception, then I will support your proposal and stop buying pirated DVDs. May I propose that you start enforcing this new strategy by raiding the homes of all your ministry staff (including your own — think of the photo opportunity) as after all I am sure you would like to set a good example by cleaning your own house and ministry first before going to the homes of private citizens.

I would even wear a 1 Malaysia badge and salute you if you are able to extend the raid to cover the staff of the other ministries as I am sure they too would like to support your endeavour.

Did I hear “no”? You don’t plan to raid homes? Surely you are not suggesting that you plan to snoop and arrest only those devious individuals caught in the act of purchasing pirated DVDs? But wouldn’t it be easier to just shut down the DVD shops instead of targeting the individual buyers? Has it crossed your mind that perhaps the ineffective enforcement drive against the retailers has been largely due to corruption?

In any event, the thrust of this article is not to belittle your latest strategy but to point out that when it comes to video piracy in Malaysia, the situation may not be as simple as say curbing video piracy in the UK or other similarly developed states. There is basically less demand for pirated DVDs in these states, simply because they can afford to buy the originals due to their higher purchasing power based on the prices and earnings. For example, a primary school teacher in London earning US$31,300 (RM106,000) net per annum will be able to afford a newly released DVD at £20 (RM116) while a similar teacher in Kuala Lumpur earning US$8,400 net per annum will unlikely pay RM70 for the same DVD. Therefore, lowering the prices of DVDs to match earnings would be a good first step.

That is not to say that I support wholesale piracy as long as the prices of the DVDs remain beyond the reach of average Malaysians. I would grudgingly agree if cornered, that exceptions may be made for legitimate local business concerns — where the pirated materials affect local movies (we should support them no matter how bad) or movies that are currently being shown in cinemas (we should support them as the prices are still affordable).

But what about circumstances where there are no legitimate local business concerns i.e. movies that are not being shown or available locally on DVD? I think we should thank our very enterprising video pirates for bringing otherwise unavailable and unaffordable DVDs to our shores as if not, where are we going to watch such wide-ranging movies? And here I am not referring to the sleazy stuff (you can ban them for all I care) but all sorts of movies — from all film eras, genres and sub-genres, high or low brow, critically acclaimed or panned, from all over the world — that are not shown or available in the country and do not hurt any local business interests.

Why do you care if we watch say, for example, DVDs of Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Pierre (and Luc) Dardenne, Jean Cocteau, Jean Renoir or even Jean-Claude Van Damme? With the exception of JCVD (which incidentally is also the title of his 2008 film which was surprisingly inventive and funny — who would have thought!), none of the films by these great directors will see the light of day in Malaysia as they are certainly unlikely to pass the twin evils of censorship and the business bottom line.

Speaking of films that never see the light of day, if we can just look at the Cannes Film Festival listing over the last couple of years, how many of them actually made it here whether in the cinema or on video? “Hunger”, “Che”, “Three Monkeys”, “Better Things”, “Il Divo”, “Lorna’s Silence”, “Thirst”, “The Class”, “Gomorra”, “Synecdoche”, “New York”, “Of Time and the City”, “A Christmas Tale”, “Looking for Eric”, and “Waltz with Bashir” — all critically acclaimed or award winning but yet none of them made it here. But guess what, I have seen them all and they were great.

Okay, occasionally films like “Inglourious Basterds” do make it here but when I do watch them at the cinema, I am invariably disappointed as obviously there will be cuts — what’s the point of having ratings 18PL, SG, PL, SX, PA then? I will be further annoyed by the subtitling — usually bad and lost in translation that ruins the frame. So I guess in order to appreciate fully the genius of Quentin Tarantino’s latest offering, I will then have to wait patiently for a good DVD copy.

The only recent exception I recall was the brilliant “There Will Be Blood” where it was shown uncut (and proudly advertised as such) to an empty cinema, an unsurprising reception I must say. I can only guess that the local distributor showed the film because it was nominated for the Academy Awards and thought that might be enough to attract cinemagoers. So, pardon me if I don’t have high hopes that uncensored art-house and independent films will soon feature regularly in our cinemas.

And let us not start with the Film Censorship Board. Really, who are these old men (probably repressed) who decide what the rest of the country can or cannot watch? How are they chosen and who are they accountable to? How can the board, which saw fit to censor the kissing scene at the end of “Slumdog Millionaire” (when the star-crossed lovers were reunited), in this day and age be taken seriously? Do they mean to say that Malaysians do not kiss or do not have access to kissing scenes? Or do they mean to state that Malaysians will start kissing at railway stations and then start dancing Bollywood-style and therefore incompatible with Malaysian culture? Isn’t it absurd that that as an adult, one can vote, get married, start a family, purchase a property, drive a car, work and travel anywhere but is still being told what to watch?

I can bet that if you conduct a survey among Malaysian filmmakers, all of them will have a decent collection of pirated DVDs. So, far from harming the local movie industry, I would even venture to state that the recent successes and recognition accorded to several local productions at international film circuits were to an extent due to the wide availability of films that otherwise would not be accessible to them.

So pardon me if I don’t feel like going to the cinemas tonight; now showing: “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”, “2012”, “Ninja Assassin”, “Love Happens”, “Couples Retreat”, “Phobia 2” and “Scenario the Movie Episode 2: Beach Boys”.

Hmm, how tempting; or I could just stay home and put on a DVD.

Najib doesn't understand economics or tak tau ilmu hisab..

2009-11-10T16:36:00.003+08:00

Does Najib really understand economics? — Kim Quek

NOV 10 — I bet not a few among the participants at the 21st Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia Implementation Council meeting were aghast when Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that Malaysia was aiming for a nine per cent annual GDP growth until 2020.

In an opening speech at the meeting held in the morning of Nov 9, Najib said:

“We aim to be a developed nation by the year 2020 and we are looking to more than double our per capita gross national income from US$7,000 (RM24,500) to at least US$17,000 by then in order to qualify as a high-income nation according to World Bank classifications.

“This would also mean that Malaysia has to grow its GDP by over nine per cent annually until the year 2020.” (The Malaysian Insider, Nov 9.)

Playing with the totally unrealistic growth figure of nine per cent at a time when Malaysia and the world are still going through one of the worst recessions in memory with no definite light at the end of tunnel yet did sound surreal indeed. More so when Malaysia’s growth record in recent years have been anything but robust.

Obviously advised by his aides that his gung-ho expectation was way overboard, Najib scrambled to control damage via a press conference several hours later when he denied having said nine per cent He said: “I did not say nine per cent, I said around six per cent as nine is not realistic.”

But of course, Najib’s denial came too late, as several news media including Bernama and the Star had already quoted him at nine per cent. Though these media dutifully replaced the figure of nine per cent by six per cent in their updated versions in the afternoon, some betrayed their clumsy amendment by retaining the incongruous per capita GDP growth from the current US$7,000 to US$17,000 in 2020.

If indeed Najib had quoted six per cent, then compounding US$7,000 at the increase of six per cent per annum can only bring us to US$13,000 by 2020. Only when we compound it by nine per cent can we reach the figure of US$17,000. Figures tell no lies. It was clearly a deliberate statement, not a typing or reading error.

So the big puzzle: How could a finance minister, who is supposed to be the economic czar of a country, make such an unforgivable blunder?

Granted that a man of Najib’s position is expected to have his speech writers to lighten his work, but he should remain the master as policy formulator and decision maker, not a robot reading out speeches he could not fully comprehend.

Chairing over such an important meeting which deliberates the agenda of MSC Malaysia, which in Najib’s words, serves as “a foundation to build a world-class technology sector to kick start a vibrant Malaysian ICT industry”, I would expect Najib to be in full possession of a macro view of the nation’s economy, the direction it is going, and the specific role the budding ICT industry is playing in relation thereto. And central to all these is, of course, a realistic assessment of the current and potential strength of our economy.

As finance minister, Najib is sitting at the apex commanding a vast bureaucracy of economic and financial experts and planners, and he should therefore be the best judge of our economic realities.

In fact, he should be the first one to spot any gross irregularity in major economic figures. If he is a competent finance minister, he should be the final arbiter as to what growth figure to adapt for policy making purpose. Even allowing the fact that he is new to the job, he should at least be able to discern when a wildly unrealistic target is presented to him. Not to be able to sense that nine per cent growth is way out of the reasonable realm is a horrible admission of ineptitude.

Under the circumstances, it is not unreasonable to surmise that this could be a case of an economic novice writing out a speech which was read out by an equally ignorant financial boss.

That may not be a far-fetched assumption, given that Najib’s premiership so far seems to have been one gigantic public relation exercise and void of substance, to create the impression of change when in fact nothing has been changed. Not in our hopelessly decadent institutions nor in our utter lack of rule of law.

Source: Malaysian Insider

RM22mio. allocated for study on GST

2009-11-03T16:35:00.002+08:00

RM22 mio. apparently has been set aside by our generous Government to study the impact of Goods and Services Tax. Very good la I tell you.

You want a cheaper way, call me la. I can google 1,000 different impact from the implementation of GST in less time than it takes for you to spell CORRUPTION (even with the slow Streamyx speed).

Plus, have any of these fools tried looking for such studies or reports being churned out by economic analysts, rating agencies, accounting firms etc? You need not allocate more than RM2.00 for an hour in the cybercafe retrieving all these la!

These so called committee members will most likely be paid handsomely to carry out their study on the impact of how GST will affect the Rakyat and how our national coffers will be boosted, blablabla...

It's bewildering how blatantly the money is bleeding out of the system when the same money can be put to better use such as helping the poor, helping the less fortunate, the sick, the single parent, the abandoned children, the orphans, the elderly, etc. etc.

RM22.0 mio. give to me la. Me and my buddies can come up with something similar to what you normally expect from such "studies". I promise I will employ the money for the greater benefit of all Malaysians.

Court decision postponed to December

2009-10-29T18:06:00.002+08:00

My boy, my boy... court decision regarding the Paramount View Condominium case has been postponed to December.

Lanciaou.

Why I hate the newspapers!

2009-10-29T12:00:00.011+08:00

My parents, my peers and people in general ask me why I don’t read the newspapers. “Your general knowledge is terrible,” my father tells me. He enjoys quizzing me on things like who is the minister of this and that. I look at him with a blank face and make a silly guess or I don’t answer him for he is right. I don’t know. “How are you going to know what’s going on in your own country if you don’t read the papers,” my well meaning colleagues ask me. “Didn’t you read the papers about the girl/boy who….” or “did you read what so and so said in the papers…” type questions are hurled my way frequently and I repeat the blank stare or mumble something in response or on occasion provide a stupid excuse as to why I have not read the papers.

I am sure reading the papers for my own knowledge or more like “to be in the know” is vital especially in the field of communications that I am in. It’s oh so important to know about that merger, that acquisition, that new launch, that new regulation passed, the new budget, the state of the economy the person who… and blablabla.

Yet each morning when the pile of newspapers land on my desk I feel sick to my stomach and I dread flipping its dirty gritty pages. Why this sick feeling you wonder? Why is she being such a drama queen? It’s after all just a paper which provides you information about the world and the country you live in and everything else in between right?

Wrong. The newspaper I believe is full of crap! Yes crap! The kind that you can find at the bottom of the dustbin. The kind that you can find growing in your drain. The kind of things you can find collecting underneath your shoes. Now if you take some time and flip through the grimy papers, you will note that every other page has columns or full pages or shudder, even creative buys like blurbs, stickers or callouts offering you to purchase something or other. Ads ads ads! The very things that drives the newspapers to its mammoth growth. *Note: I admire the creativity of certain ads but really, who needs so many ads in their face each day?

Now besides this sickening ads that yell at you to purchase a product that will make you look slim and beautiful with a whole head of hair in 10 sessions so that you become the object of everyone’s desire, or the dream driving machine with some super duper technology that will instantly alleviate your status amongst your peers and make you the envy of your neighbors and nosy competitive relatives or the latest mobile phone plan for your favourite people which could save you heaps of cash monthly, you would expect to at least get some brilliant piece of journalism right? The kind of article so well written you would sit up and take notice. The kind of article with a call to action so strong you automatically feel that you should do something that can change the world or make a difference. The kind of article that informs you and makes you more knowledgeable, that increases your intellect. The kind of article that makes you take a step back to think. Well, sorry to disappoint folks. You will be hard pressed to find an article of such caliber or perhaps it is me again with my high lofty expectations.

Before I continue my tirade about the deplorable state of the newspaper sans the advisements which are merely marketing tools sadly driven by our own needs and insecurities which are also needed to bring down the costs of the printing of the grubby papers, there are a handful of decent articles in the papers albeit more often then not, syndicated articles or weekly columns which do pique my interest and who entertains me to a certain extent. Perhaps I am being too harsh and judgmental about this, viewing things through my own narrow viewpoint, but really when was the last time you read an article which has changed your life or propelled you to greater heights? More often then not, you will find articles that are just what I would like to call “so what?” articles. The kind that you just read so that you are “in the know” or which you can make a half baked comment about but which generally adds no value to your life.

Moving along to the deplorable bit of print called the newspaper. With each page that I turn, starting with the cover story with its big bold headlines that scream something new and “wow”, to the next few bits of news about the country, government, latest collaborations, politics, business, world, sports and features about the latest it girls/guys, hit movies, singing sensations, over exaggerated fashion from Europe and the states which no one can even wear let alone afford and blablabla, I feel like ripping the pages to wrap the vegetables my mother bought from the market or to line the cages of some pet or to just toss it in the bin. It’s just so full of crap!

Have you read the kinds of things our people in power say? It will make you laugh and then cry because you realize that these are the people who hold your very welfare in their hands. Who holds the fate of the country in their hands. The half truths, the stupidity, the twisted words, the promises made and then forgotten, the pretty photo op pictures, the beautifully crafted words inserted with the proper key messages by PR people are all there for the world to see in glorious neat columns of black print. So many campaigns are launched with pomp and glamour whilst fueling and lining the pockets of others. I can hear the applause as the speeches are made as these people stand up and deliver speeches crafted by minds and hands of people you will never know. The promises made and the words said will be forgotten, swept away and discarded – the only evidence is the rows of print that will be thrown away and hopefully recycled.

Very few brave people have voiced out and even challenged the things that have been said while most seethe in silence afraid of repercussions. Try writing a letter to the Editor about something which is controversial and you can be sure that the letter will never be printed or if printed, edited to something that is unrecognizable. Oh of course it is edited, they need your article to fit into the “X” amount of space (usually 2 pages) allocated for the ‘readers say’ however, in the process they just might take out the important bits which are usually the crux of the issue. No surprise there really.

Then there is the news about the crime and the evil in this world – the sections that depresses me the most. I read about the horror of gang rapes while people pass by and watch without doing anything to help the victim. I read about fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, neighbors and strangers who rape young children who should be innocently watching Spongebob on TV, who rape unassuming young women or even old women who go about their own lives, who are just there are the wrong place at the wrong time - Keep it in your freaking pants or sarongs man! I read about many women who are raped by people in the villages. I also read about males who are raped. The cases are never reported because, shudder men’s egos are at stake here and whowever heard of this preposterous thing… but it happens.

I read about wars. The numerous people that are displaced, who have no food and who have died. The numbers of the dead or missing printed in huge bold numbers. I read about the starving people in Africa. I read about HIV, H1N1, AIDS and cancer. I read about famine. I read about natural disasters. I read about the extinction of certain species of animals and plant life. I read about global warming. I read about racism or perhaps the fact “that there is no such thing as racism”. I read about murders. I read about injustice. I read about terrorism. I read about kidnappings and ransoms. I read about bribery. I read about school shootings. I read them all.

Why do I torture myself with such news when my life is already filled with its own share of drama and misery? Who needs this kind of news really? Sure it makes you reflect and thank your lucky stars that you aren’t them but then really, reading the papers in the morning is so freakingly depressing. How is anyone going to have a good start to the morning with this load of crap in your hands?

Here’s another thing. All the news that you read may not be newsworthy and your wonder… hmmm… “Why is this bit of news included in the line-up of riveting articles today?” Easy! It is paid for or has been paid for with advertising. In my line, I beg for coverage for my organization but it’s hard when your organization seldom has the budgets to buy all that ad space necessary to get the best coverage in the papers. So what if your organization rocks or has achieved something really great, you will just get a small column measuring half a slice of bread for all your troubles. Lo and behold if you should a series of full page full coloured ads… you have prominent coverage with coloured pictures thrown in for extra effectiveness all because your news is “newsworthy”.

Maybe I am jaded, or again overacting. Maybe its just who you know that gets you prominent coverage… oh no… perhaps that’s not it. Maybe just maybe I suck at my job and the news that I generate are just utter nonsense. However, I honestly doubt that is the case simply because of several calls and blatant emails that I have received informing me that the said newspaper would not come to my event or cover my event simply because it has been 6 months since we placed an ad with them. Another newspaper, one of the country’s pioneer paper’s even told me that they had boycotted another organization in my industry several months earlier because they did not advertise and did I want the same fate as them. Besides that, don’t forget that so and so is friends with the big boss at the newspaper… a phone call can easily ensure your news will never see the light of day! Talk about newsworthiness. Don’t give me that feces!

So what’s there to like about the papers? Perhaps the occasional weekend pullouts with feature stories and of course the funnies, the classifieds and the cinema listings page. Other than that, I hate the papers. In the ideal world of which I idealistic hope for and dream about, there will be real feats of journalism that will win awards. There will be justice, there will be hope, there will be truth laced in all articles. There will be no fear in the written word. There will be no hidden agendas. The articles will be featured based on newsworthiness not on dollars spent. It will be about the wants of the everyday people. Reviews will be frank and honest and brutal if necessary regardless if you get a free meal or if they are advertising with that publication or if you know the person who owns the company that you tasked with reviewing. The ads will be minimal and not splashed on every other page.

Yes I am ever hopeful. Yes, I am a dreamer.

I wait for that day with baited breath.

Case closed, ah? Correct, correct, correct..

2009-10-22T11:17:00.002+08:00

Source: theStar online

KUALA LUMPUR: The case against Datuk V.K. Lingam in connection with the alleged brokering of judges, which was featured in a video clip, has been closed with no further action.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz said in a written reply to Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) on Monday that the investigation showed no criminal offence had been committed in the appointment of judges.

“After ACA officers investigated those involved in the video clip, it was concluded that there is no abuse of power.

“The Attorney-General (A-G) has decided that no further action is needed,” he said.

It was reported that four investigation papers were opened in connection with the Lingam video clip.

Three were sent to the A-G’s Chambers while one remained with the then Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), now Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Of the three with the A-G’s Chambers, two were closed due to insufficient evidence while the remaining one was awaiting further investigation.

Nazri said the remaining paper was later classified by the A-G as “no further action” as there were no suspects who could confirm the handling of documents in the appointment of High Court judges.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry was conducted in the Lingam video case which showed the prominent lawyer purportedly involved in brokering a deal that manipulated the appointment of judges.

The video implicated five people, including Lingam, former chief justices Tun Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan and the then Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who was in charge of legal affairs.

Updates on Paramount View Condo

2009-10-21T11:17:00.003+08:00

Dear readers,

I apologise for the lack of updates lately. I've been pretty tied up with work recently which requires much of my personal and immediate attention.

I will, nevertheless continue to keep you abreast with the latest developments as and when they arise. However, for as long as I've been away, there is little that has changed though this is not a fair assessment of the amount of effort and work that the core Pro-Tem Committee members, representing all the 233 unit owners of the controversial Paramount View Condominium ("PVC"), have taken up upon themselves for the benefit everyone else.

There is a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday, 27th of October 2009. We brace ourselves for the outcome. Meanwhile, we are still awaiting for YB Tony Pua's feedback from his meeting with MBPJ and the residents of the surrounding area. For first hand information, please join us in the Paramount View Condominium google group. Please e-mail me personally for guide on how to gain membership into this group. However, I must stress that this group is solely for buyers of PVC.

Also, I urge you to help out with a small contribution to sustain the activities carried out by the dedicated members of the Pro-Tem Committee who have sacrificed much of their own time and money for the benefit of so many people. Their selflessness is highly commendable, especially when their effort sometimes goes without much appreciation. Your contributions along with mine will go to pay for the expenses incurred on the mailing of updates and letters from the pro-tem committee to buyers, SMS, calls etc. To remove all doubt, I have absolutely no interest in this money personally and they go to a joint-account to be managed by a member of the committee. For details on how to contribute, please e-mail me personally.

Thanks again!

Tiger Dog

2009-10-19T14:16:00.002+08:00

The history of the Chinese Zodiac is very interesting! It is said that Buddha invited all of the animals in the world to join him for the New Year celebrations, but only 12 animals bothered to turn up. As a great reward, Buddha named a year after each one of them and they actually run in the order that the animals arrived to celebrate with Buddha, starting with the rat and ending with the last guest, the pig.

It is believed that those born during a year of a particular animal would inherit some of the good and bad personality traits of that animal. Also, each year is influenced by whatever animal it falls in. The Year of The Tiger begins on February 14th 2010. Drama, intensity, change and travel will be the keywords for 2010. Unfortunately, world conflicts and disasters tend to feature during Tiger years also, so it won’t be a dull 12 months for anyone.

The Year of the Tiger will bring far reaching changes for everyone. New inventions and incredible technological advances have a good chance of occurring. For all of the Chinese horoscope signs, this year is one to be active – seizing opportunities and making the most of our personal and very individual talents. Everything happens quickly and dr! amatically in a Tiger year – blink and you could miss an important ch ance of a lifetime! Let’s take a look at year of the Dog and what the prospects are for 2010, the Year of the Tiger.

The Dog

The Dog is wonderfully hard worker, a perfectionist and someone who loves the small details. He is also a bit anti-social, pessimistic and stubborn. They are one of the most honest and loyal signs of the Chinese zodiac and will always go to bat for a worthy cause.

The Dog is a fantastic listener and his advice is usually very intuitive. Forecast for 2010 The Year of the Tiger will be an excellent one for all Dogs with a significant improvement in fortune all year long. They must leave the past behind, for the Ox year was a challenging one, and look forward with optimism and determination. There will still be challenges this year for the Dog, as for all the signs, and it is important that he talk over any potential problems and worries rather than bottling them up.

Socially, this is the Dog’s year to shine and many new strong friendships and alliances will be formed. The Year of the Tiger will see increased finances for the Dog with many receiving bonuses or even gifts throughout the year. However, it is important that he takes his time regarding financial matters, checking details and ensuring that he has read all the fine print.

May to August will be very significant for single Dogs and all invitations should be carefully considered! September throug! h November will have crucial career opportunities – don’t miss them! Recreational activities and hobbies will also feature strongly, with some able to turn their hobby into their career with great success.

* We look towards the year of the Tiger with anticipation and hope.

Call to accelerate racial unity.. fuck this shit!

2009-10-16T11:12:00.004+08:00

Pardon my french, but I am an angry person.

I must be living a very sheltered life. I find it bemusing that every other day, at any given convention or event where our ruling government officials are present, there are calls for national unity amongst the rakyat berbilang kaum in Malaysia.

Is it not our main draw and main selling point whenever we are promoting Visit Malaysia to the citizens of the world? Why is it then that we are constantly reminding people to live in harmony? Are we not living in harmony already? How often is it that we are facing disharmony or living with a grudge with fellow Malaysians of a different race or religious belief?

I personally get along very well with many of my colleagues and friends without even considering whether they are Chinese, Indian, Malay or dan lain-lain. I consider myself colour-blind in this manner. But whenever something like this (see article extract below) appear in the newspaper, I question myself on whether my life is sheltered and I do not see the REAL MALAYSIA, where Chinese are against the Malays, the Indians are against both Chinese and Malays in Malaysia. I mean, WTF right? We are Malaysians. We see ourselves as Malaysians first and not a Malay, Indian or Chinese person in Malaysia.

The way I see it, it appears that this call for unity and to accelerate racial harmony is just to stir shit. Come on. Get the freaking focus right. Instead of dwelling on struggle for power and votes, fix the fucked up economy. Fix the income imbalance. Fix the freaking crime rate and the deficiency in our crime prevention/policing system. Rid us of all the corrupt practices and corrupted politicians. Fix the freaking gap in the education policies. Fix all that and you will see everyone living happily without grouses. Your greed for power and money is what causes all the dissatisfaction, Fool!

I live happily with my neighbours. We get along well. We do not see any disharmony. But maybe that’s just my neighbourhood. Maybe Datuk Seri Samy’s neighbourhood isn’t as cozy as mine. Macauhai!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Malaysians must accelerate national unity initiatives as the way forward for the multiracial society, MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu said.

He said the 1Malaysia concept had energised Malaysians to reignite the spirit of national solidarity and move forward with "one vision and one mission".

"It has moved all Malaysians to rally behind the government to strengthen racial harmony," he said in his Deepavali message.

In wishing Malaysians a Happy Deepavali, Samy Vellu said this year's celebration was distinctive as it would be celebrated in the spirit of 1Malaysia.

"We have to put whatever differences behind and work together as one nation to achieve our goals," he said, adding that 1Malaysia must form the basis for all social activities, including the celebration of festivities such as Deepavali.

He said there was now a new ray of hope for the Malaysian Indians under the present government.

"We have heard and seen the many opportunities and initiatives introduced by the government for the Indian community. It is now for the Indian community to translate these into actions," he said. — Bernama

being taken for a ride?

2009-10-05T19:34:00.004+08:00

Apparently the purchasers of Paramount View Condo were given false hope by a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department by making false claims, giving rise to false hope to the 230-odd excited owners of units in the said development.

YB Tony Pua is refuting the claims and "good news" that Datuk Murugiah bore claiming it to be "utter bollocks!".

Whatever it is, all we hope for is an amicable solution. Not cerita dongeng just for show in front of the press.

We have been more than patient with this and we continue to hope for an end to this fiasco.

To read more on the press report click here.

Serving the People

2009-09-27T15:10:00.004+08:00

I was rather impressed when i was going through YB Lau Weng San's blog, seeing what he has been doing for the people in his constituency and the part he has played in improving Selangor. I fully commend his effort and contributions.

However, there is still much to be done. There are still issues that he hasn't been able to resolve since taking up office as the Kampung Tunku State Assemblyman, such as the Paramount View Condominium fiasco.

The same can be said about YB Tony Pua whose outspoken character and charming personality has won him many supporters.

I'd like to just remind them about their promises to us to try negotiate for an amicable solution to the Paramount View Condo stand-off which leaves many parties at the losing end, be it the existing residents of the surrounding area, the purchasers of the development, the contractor or the developers.

As the Raya festivities wind down, I strongly hope that they will continue their pursuit to remedy this ugly issue with all the power that has been vested upon them. The problem may have been unfairly inherited by them, but we all hope that with their leadership, this issue will soon be resolved rather than prolonged until we see another change in administration.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

2009-09-19T19:02:00.001+08:00

To all my readers, I would like to wish you a very happy salam aidilfitri, maaf zahir dan batin. May this raya bring so much joy and happiness to you and your family.

Selamat hari raya!

Horny Orang Minyak on the prowl..

2009-09-18T09:31:00.004+08:00

A HORNY orang minyak is on the prowl in Sungai Petani, terrorising about 300 families as the apparition seemed to pick on homes where young women are staying in.

A teenager known just as Nurshahirah, 17, told Kosmo! that she was awakened at about 5.40am on Monday as she felt a warm sensation on her left ear.

She opened her eyes only to discover an apparition with curly hair and thick moustache standing by her bed.

“I was even more shocked when the ghost took off his kain pelikat and started to fondle himself,” she said.

Nurshahirah, who lives in Taman Keladi, said she felt powerless to ward off the apparition who started to grope her body.

It was as though a charm had been placed on her, she added.

As for housewife Fatimah, 42 , she said two of her daughters cried when they were woken up by dark apparitions that molested them at about 5am on Monday.

Her 15-year-old daughter told her that she had been “violated” by a ghost.

“At first I thought she was talking in her sleep but she insisted that she was molested by a ghost before it moved to the kitchen,” Fatimah said.

She said her 14-year-old, too, cried and ran from the living room, saying she had been molested by a dark apparition.

“My 14-year-old daughter said she managed to kick the ghost who wore a kain pelikat and black singlet when she felt her body being touched.

“She screamed and the ghost ran out of her room.”

Fatimah said she gave chase with a parang but the apparition disappeared.

She said the apparition could have placed a charm on her family because none of the neighbours heard their daughters’ screams.

Source: theStar online

_____________________________________________________________________________

The Orang Minyak is one of a number of supposed ghosts in Malay culture. Orang Minyak means 'oily man' in Malay.

There exist several different versions of the legend and the creature. According to one legend, popularised in the 1956 film Sumpah Orang Minyak (The Curse of the Oily Man) directed by and starring P. Ramlee, the orang minyak was a man who in an attempt to win back his love with magic was cursed. In this version, the devil offered to help the creature and give him powers of the black arts, but only if the orang minyak worshipped the devil and raped 21 virgins within a week. In another version it is under control of an evil bomoh or witch doctor. Another movie based on Orang Minyak was produced in 2007 ^[1], showing this theme remain popular until now. As at 24 November 2006, a burglar was arrested, stark naked and covered with oil, reminiscient of orang minyak in Malaysia.

In the 1960s, the orang minyak supposedly lived around several Malaysian towns raping young women. The orang minyak of the 1960s was described as human, having a naked body covered with oil to make it difficult to catch. However, there were also stories of the orang minyak where it was supposedly supernatural in origin, or invisible to non-virgins (possibly from the oil) or both. The mass panic has also led to unmarried women, typically in student dormitories, borrowing sweaty clothes to give the impression to the orang minyak that they are with a man. Other defences supposedly include biting its left thumb and covering it in batik.

In short, the orang minyak is a supernatural serial rapist that is hard to see and hard to catch. Some have speculated that the orang minyak is a regular criminal who uses black grease as a night-time camouflage. Due to the use of black grease, it makes the orang minyak hard to catch, as pursuers would not be able to hold on to him. However, in some encounters with the orang minyak, the situation is not explainable from a non-supernatural angle.

It is possible that different versions of the legend were used as a cover for things other than actual rapes. Reputed sightings of the orang minyak, or events later ascribed to it, have continued with reduced frequency into the 2000s.

In 2005, there have been cases of rapists covered in oil roaming around, armed with knives.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Orang minyak merujuk kepada seseorang yang menuntut ilmu batin bagi tujuan menceroboh masuk ke dalam rumah mangsa bagi tujuan mencuri/membuat onar.

Salah satu cerita mengatakan orang minyak ini telah tersalah menuntut, menyebabkan dia menjadi hitam dan hanya akan pulih selepas memperkosa 40 orang gadis. Mangsa akan menjadi terpukau dan ditanda dengan dipangkah pada mukanya selepas dinodai.

Orang minyak bertujuan bagi memudahkan menceroboh ke dalam rumah bagi matlamat tertentu. Orang minyak mampu memasuki rumah yang berkunci dengan mudah. Selain itu ia dikatakan dapat menghilangkan diri dengan mudah sekiranya dikejar. Mampu melekat pada siling seperti cicak. Mampu juga naik ke atas dengan sehelai benang dan mampu menggunakan pelesit. Sekiranya seseorang itu tidak mahu diganggu oleh Orang Minyak pada waktu malam terutamanya gadis, sekeliling tempat tidurnya harus ditaburi dengan kelopak jantung pisang dan daun keladi bira. Untuk menangkap Orang Minyak, apabila Orang Minyak itu telah dikepong, ia harus diselubungkan dengan kain batik lepas untuk melemahkannya. Hanya setelah diselubungkan dengan kain batik lepas baru boleh digigit ibu jari Orang Minyak itu untuk menghapuskannya.Kemungkinannya ia bermula dengan pencuri yang melomorkan dirinya dengan minyak agar sukar ditangkap kerana licin. Minyak yang gelap juga akan menjadikan dirinya sukar dilihat pada waktu malam, sunggupun ia membahayakan dirinya ketika memanjat. Pada 24 November 2006, seorang pencuri yang melomorkan dirinya dengan minyak telah di tahan di kampung Tawas, Malaysia.

Paramount View Condominium - Extracted from the press release

2009-09-17T18:32:00.003+08:00

PETALING JAYA, Saturday: A group of 45 disgruntled owners of Paramount View Condominium, representing 233 purchasers who have been deprived of moving into their fully completed units, attended an hour-long meeting yesterday evening to express their grouses and pleas to Y.B. Tony Pua (MP of Petaling Jaya Utara) and Y.B. Lau Weng San (ADUN Kg. Tunku) at their service centre.

It has been three months since the completion of Paramount View Condominium in Seksyen 22, Taman Aman, but purchasers have not been able to occupy their respective units due to a dispute involving a handful of neighbouring residents who protested to the construction of the condominium’s access road along Jalan SS1/25 and Jalan 22/44.

Consequently, the developer of the project, Sri Aman Development Sdn. Bhd., was instructed by MBPJ to build a new access road adjoining Jalan SS1/26, which involved running parallel to electricity pylons on TNB reserve land.

According to the property development division general manager of Sri Aman Development, Mr. Ang Wan Hai, the new SS1/26 access road was approved in the MBPJ council meeting and the layout plans were endorsed. However, while the new access road was being built, a stop-work order was issued by TNB.

“Since we have been denied access to SS1/26, MBPJ should allow us to revert to the original plan that the council had approved in 2007, which involves building the access road on Jalan SS1/25”, added Ang.

In view of the current quandary, the 233 Paramount View Condo purchasers are helplessly crying foul as they now own a parcel in the air with no way in or out of their unit. This is the first and only investment property for a majority of the purchasers – many of whom have started servicing their bank loans. Some purchasers who are paying additional rent for their current accommodation are barely making end’s meet, while they anxiously wait for this issue to be resolved.

“If MBPJ had not denied us the access road that they themselves had approved in 2007, the developer would have been able to perform its contractual obligations and we would be in our respective homes today”, said Melvin Reynolds, president of the pro-tem committee for Paramount View Condominium purchasers.

“Clearly, we are the main victims in this unjust matter and have been suffering in silence. Being at our wits’ end, we can only be hopeful that the MBPJ councillors, Y.B Tony Pua and Y.B. Lau Weng San will consider the emotional and financial strain that every purchaser is going through”, added Melvin.

It is understood that the pro-tem committee have personally communicated with several MBPJ officers but to no avail. The pro-tem committee hopes to have a three-way meeting between MBPJ, the developer and the purchases [sic] to amicability resolve this matter as soon as possible without any adverse effects on either party.

Paramount View Condominium - waiting for the access

2009-09-17T18:13:00.002+08:00

Just a quick update.

Last week, there was a meeting scheduled between the purchasers of Paramount View Condominium, a 233-units condominium development by Sri Aman Development, with Tony Pua and Lau Weng San (MP of Petaling Jaya Utara and ADUN Kampung Tunku respectively).

To my surprise, eventhough most of us purchasers have been going through a lot of hardship due to the inability of the developer to deliver a completed development, caused primarily by a dispute regarding the location of the access road which will be the entrance to the condominium, there were a lot of calm heads and logical reasoning during the discussion.

To cut a long story short, from what I can recall, YB Tony Pua had spoken to Sivarasah (acting as the Legal Counsel for MBPJ) and he had promised to try meet with MBPJ and the residents of SS1/25 and SS1/26 to present a possible solution to them regarding this dispute. The developer, Sri Aman Development, via their legal counsel, has also conveyed that they are willing to seek an out-of-court settlement on this issue, provided that a solution is reached.

YB Tony Pua promised to update the representative of the pro-tem committee on the outcome of his meeting by Thursday, 17 September 2009 (today).

Meanwhile, if you are keen to follow the developments of this saga more closely, I strongly urge that you join the Paramount View Condominium purchasers’ Google group and try to join and attend the frequent meetings, discussions and meet-ups.

I believe there may be parties who are monitoring this blog on the latest developments and I feel it is not safe for me to divulge too much in my future postings on this matter until the dust has settled. I will try to keep most of what I write on this matter more general so that it will not create opportunities for others to defeat our cause.

I thank the hardworking members of the pro-tem committee and also all other future neighbours for their dedication and contributions so far.

This one goes out to all the vocal members, all those that had sacrificed their time and money and those that are constantly working behind the scene to organize frequent meetings for us.

A special mention to Mr. Chong for creating the Google Group, to Melvin for being the chairing the pro-tem committee, Christina for her constant pestering of YB Lau and YB Tony, Ruby and Harjit for all the SMS notification and the rest of you whose name I didn’t manage to catch. I am proud to stand amongst you last week and I will endeavor to continue highlighting our plight on this site and continue our struggle until justice prevails.

Paramount View Condominium purchasers meeting with YB Lau Weng San tonight

2009-09-11T09:24:00.004+08:00

I was informed that YB Lau Weng San, the Pakatan Rakyat's Kg. Tunku State Assemblyman has agreed to meet with purchasers of Paramount View Condominium ("PVC"), condominium development in the SS1 - Paramount Garden area, tonight.

The main objective of this meeting is for all the purchasers of PVC to convince YB Lau to assist in arranging for a meeting with the Petaling Jaya City Council ("MBPJ") and the developer of the development, Sri Aman Development and to negotiate for a amicable solution to the crisis pertaining to the stop work order and the retraction of the approval for the access road into PVC to be completed.

The meeting will be held at 7pm to 8.30pm. The venue of this meeting is:

77, Jalan 20/9,

Taman Paramount,

46300, Petaling Jaya,

Selangor.

Tel: 60-3 7875 4724

Faks: 60-3 7873 8017

I strongly urge all my faithful readers, especially to the purchasers of PVC to join me and the hardworking members of the Pro-tem committee to highlight our plight to YB Lau tonight and push him to work for us, his rightful constituents.

PKFZ - one day an award winning movie and book deal can be made from this story.

2009-09-10T10:55:00.005+08:00

ARTICLE 1 below is an extract of from an article entitled “Scrutiny on rating agencies” which was printed on theEdge Malaysia on the 28^th of August 2009 and ARTICLE 2 was MARC’s response entitled FAQs on Port Klang Free Zone-Related Debt Ratings posted on their website on the same date.

ARTICLE 1

Nearer home, four papers amounting to more than RM2.5 billion issued by special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to raise fund for the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project have come under scrutiny.

The SPVs are owned by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), the main contractor for the PKFZ project that has hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons. The project, that was initially budgeted at less than RM3 billion, received government funding to the tune of RM4.6 billion.

But the cost to the Port Klang Authority (PKA), the owner of the PKFZ project, is estimated to be between RM8 billion and could go as high as RM12.5 billion due to interest expenditure.

All four papers were rated by Malaysia Rating Agency (MARC) and given top-notch triple A rating, an indication of its low risk. MARC gave the rating based on an implicit guarantee of the PKA in meeting the debt obligations in letters signed by two former transport ministers.

But both the ex-ministers have stated that the letters they had signed cannot be construed as guarantees.

On top of that, there are other issues that have surfaced. They are:

Letters of guarantee from the government can only be issued by the Treasury and;
Bonds backed by the government are normally issued by government-owned entities and cannot be issued by third parties. In this case, according to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the debt papers should have been issued directly by the PKA and not KDSB.

Why were the parties responsible for issuing the papers, including the investment banks and MARC, not aware of such regulations?

In its opinion on the debt papers, the rating agency primarily premised the AAA rating on the government guarantee. But was there any scrutiny whether the transport ministry or the PKA can issue letters that tantamount to a guarantee? Was there a risk assessment whether such letters carry weight?

MARC, since the developments of the PKFZ fiasco, has downgraded the papers but maintained the ratings because of the government guarantee. But does it really matter now? Wouldn't bond holders suffer if the government decides not to honour payments?

So far, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has been meeting obligations in relation to the four bond issues related to the PKFZ project.

But there is a claim by the PKA that it had been over-billed by between RM500 million to RM1 billion. What happens if there is a delay in settling the dispute?

Irrespective of what happens, the opinions of rating agencies have so far been viewed as essential in helping investors arrive at a decision in relation to debt issues. This is on the premise that the agencies themselves are said to have some insightful information that is not available to the public eye.

But what happens when vital information that premises the rating agency's opinion is flawed? Who pays for the lapses in such instances? At the moment, it is only the bond holders. But over time, the relevance of opinions by rating agencies will suffer.

ARTICLE 2

The Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project has been thrust into the spotlight following continuing revelations in the press and task force reports of significant project cost overruns, poor governance and weak project management. The purpose of this announcement is to educate the general public and to clarify MARC’s rating perspectives on the issues.

The four PKFZ-related bond issuances that are currently rated by MARC listed below have come under increased scrutiny:

1. Special Port Vehicle Berhad’s RM1,310 million Asset-Backed Serial Bonds;

2. Transshipment Megahub Berhad’s RM1,095 million Fixed Rate Serial Bonds (FRSB) and up to RM360 million Commercial Papers/Medium Term Notes (CP/MTN);

3. Valid Ventures Berhad’s RM510 million FRSB and up to RM85 million CP/MTN; and

4. Free Zone Capital Berhad’s RM410 million FRSB and up to RM70 million CP/MTN.

MARC has attached a negative outlook to its AAA and MARC-1/AAA ratings on the above debt issuances since its announcement dated August 8, 2009

Modelled after the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, the PKFZ project had the government’s endorsement with the Malaysian Cabinet’s approval of the project in March 1999. Port Klang Authority (PKA) was entrusted to undertake the operation of the project and in turn, PKA appointed Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), a local turnkey contractor associated to Bursa-listed Wijaya Baru Global Berhad, to undertake the development of the project.

The PKFZ-related debt issuances are backed by securitisation of progress and deferred payment receivables due from PKA to KDSB pursuant to agreements signed between both parties in relation to the development of a free zone/transhipment hub project. Special purpose vehicles or funding vehicles were established as part of securitisation transactions to ring-fence the legally binding receivables and isolate specific assets to provide the source of repayment for the financing raised through the bond market.

In the following series of questions and answers, Sandeep Bhattacharya, Head of MARC’s Project and Structured Finance Ratings, comments on the primary rating considerations behind the issuances, the credit implications of recent developments and the rating outlook revision for the four debt issuances.

Q1. What are the primary drivers of the PKFZ-related debt issuance ratings?

A1. The key rating drivers behind the PKFZ-related debt ratings are the ability, willingness and capacity of the obligor, which in this case is PKA, to meet timely repayments of its obligations which are securitised to meet payments of corresponding debts.

PKA is a statutory corporation established under the Port Authorities Act 1963 and comes under the purview of the Ministry of Transport. MARC’s assessment of PKA’s credit worthiness as a federal government-owned agency encompasses qualitative judgement with respect to the likelihood and level of government support to meet its on-going obligations. At the onset, the ratings had incorporated a high level of implied government support for several reasons, including PKA’s status as a government-owned entity and the perceived strategic importance of the PKFZ project not withstanding PKA’s weak stand-alone financial position and credit profile.

The national importance of the project is evidenced by the letters of support issued by the Ministry of Transport. Accordingly, the ratings had reflected a very low expectation of credit risk in respect of the securitised progress and deferred payment receivables due from PKA.

Q2. Is government guarantee the only way the government supports a project?

A2. Government support is given not only in form of guarantees but in variety of forms such as support letters and long-term subordinated loans with deferred payment streams and grants in certain instances. Such government support is present in the PKFZ-related debt issuances where letters of support issued by the Ministry of Transport to the project as well as a soft loan of up to RM4.63 billion subsequently provided by the Ministry of Finance to PKA in meeting its debt obligation. A written indication by a federal government agency or sovereign body on the importance of a project is taken very seriously by credit rating agencies even if in legal terms it may or may not be a guarantee.

The letter of support in itself suggests high implicit support while the soft loan eventually extended by the Ministry of Finance is viewed by MARC as a demonstration of explicit support by the government towards meeting obligations in relation to the project.

Q3. How common is the use of Letter of Support in bond issuances?

A3. The use of Letters of Support is not unique to the PKFZ-related issuances. It is a common feature in many bond issuances and in banking practice. Private corporations also extensively issue Letters of Support or its variants such as Letters of Comfort or Letters of Awareness usually to financiers to assist their subsidiaries in securing financing.

The purpose of such letters is to assure financiers of the high level of financial and management support extended to government subsidiaries or statutory bodies under government’s jurisdiction by the party issuing the letter. Some letters are strongly-worded to the extent they are tantamount to a guarantee in the court of law.

Q4. Why is there no scrutiny whether the Ministry of Transport can issue letters that can tantamount to a guarantee?

A4. MARC has accepted the Letters of Support in good faith and relied on the apparent authority of the Ministry of Transport to issue the support letters in its ratings of all four debt issuances. Verifying procedural compliance is not within the scope of a typical rating engagement and would not be feasible in most circumstances.

It is standard requirement for a due diligence exercise to be undertaken by a working group comprising the lead arranger, legal advisor, reporting accountant, trustee and issuer prior to the issuance of bonds. MARC believes that the due diligence exercise would be the most appropriate platform at which to undertake a review of the legality of all documents, including support letters.

If a letter from a government body which commits the government to a contingent liability has not adhered to the standard government procedures, this could suggest a lapse in the government’s compliance and control processes.

Q5. What has the rating agency done to ensure that the project is properly managed and there are minimum chances of the project being reneged because of mismanagement/ overbilling/corruption?

A5. For the PKFZ-related issuances, MARC’s rating mandate is limited to evaluating the credit strength of the government receivables and does not address the adequacy of PKA’s governance practices, the competence of its personnel that are involved in the progress certification processes and their compliance to government operating procedures. Identifying corrupt practices and fraudulent acts are usually well beyond the scope for which the credit rating agency is employed.

Q6. Why were the so called government-backed bonds not issued by government-owned entities as suggested by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)?

A6. A bond having cash flow streams supported by the Government (which is what the four bond issuances are) does not necessarily have to be issued by a government-owned entity. Government receivables-backed securities and the establishment of a special purpose vehicle to facilitate issuance of the securities are common in the bond market, in Malaysia as well as other parts of the world.

Such issuances provide an effective means of raising funding for public infrastructure projects without straining the government’s balance sheet. This is essentially a means of off-balance sheet funding by the government to manage its fiscal performance.

Furthermore, the setting-up of special purpose vehicles to facilitate the ring-fencing of an identified stream of cashflow is a common feature in project financing, be it via bond issuances or bank loans.

Q7. If the PKFZ-related bonds are issued by special purpose vehicles not related to PKA, Ministry of Transport or the government, how can a default of these bonds affect Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating?

A7. The sole reason for the occurrence of default would be non-payment by PKA. Given its weak credit profile, it is public knowledge that PKA’s payment capacity derives wholly from financial assistance extended by the government support. In the same vein, a default of the PKFZ-related bonds will be associated with the act of non-payment by the government. There is a high likelihood that this will lead to adverse perceptions amongst bond investors regarding the government’s capacity and willingness to meet its payment obligations, particularly as PKA is a wholly-owned agency of the federal government of Malaysia. A probable implication would be a loss of credibility on the part of the government which may prompt international credit rating agencies to review their sovereign credit ratings on Malaysia.

Q8. What is the reason behind the revision of ratings outlook to negative?

A8. The negative ratings outlook reflect possibility of downward rating pressure following increased event risk on the part of PKA’s reduced willingness to honour its contractual obligations arising from the debate over the legal implications of the letters of support issued by the Ministry of Transport and the contention surrounding contract sums and award.

Q9. What could lead to the ratings being downgraded?

A9. Any actions or intentions by PKA which are perceived to run contrary to honouring its contractual obligations in full and in a timely manner would heighten the vulnerability of the issuances to negative rating action. If such actions or intentions result in a change to our rating assumption of strong government support and intention to protect the position of bondholders, the assigned ratings will likely be lowered.

Not a game anymore

2009-09-09T16:14:00.004+08:00

I’ve been a big basketball fan since I was a scrawny teenager. Back in the day, Michael Jordan was the player that everyone wanted to emulate. It was around the time when Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were on the brink of their 2^nd 3-peat.

I was not particularly good in sports, as I am not athletic by nature and I was easily discouraged whenever I missed a shot. I struggled to be comfortable with my own body as a basketball player, not tall enough, too skinny, moves weird. And then, the Bulls signed one the most flamboyant basketball star ever to play in the NBA, Dennis Rodman.

Rodman became my basketball idol. He did everything else except for scoring (such as rebounding, playing amazing defense, passing, etc.) and was absolutely amazing at it. He didn’t need to score much as they had players like Scottie Pippen and His Airness on the same team. I took it upon myself to improve other aspects of my game while others were preoccupied with being the star of the team, wanting to score every basket and take every shot. I was happy to be the role player who played hard, rebounding, passing to the shooter as I slowly become a more confident player.

My best friend, Mike helped me grow as a player and find my confidence to be come better at what I do. He was always the better shooter and always had been the more athletically gifted one. Having him play on the same team allowed me to do what I liked doing best and while he continued to encourage me to take shots more often. We played very well alongside each other and the chemistry and knowledge about what each other was about to do or where the other person is on court was great. Over time, I did become a better shooter while still doing what I did best on the court and I did become a more confident player and playmaker.

Things are rather similar now in the office. I feel like I am going through that same passage again to discover myself. However, this time, it’s not a game.

3 guys after a fishing trip...

2009-09-07T14:14:00.004+08:00

Guy in the middle: Last weekend, I went fishing. I just cast the pancing only, fooyoh.. say also you don't believe. The fish jump up and bite the bait la. This big one you know? I summore wait what? I start reeling him in la. Very good fight one, fish. I pull here, pull there oso got struggle wor.. So big one la. I never bluff one. But he got away la. Bit off the hook oso. cilakak!

Guy on the left: Cheh, this kind of story oso can tell one meh.. I summore woke up so early to come here just to hear him brag about how big his fish is ah?

Guy on the right: Why he never said that the fish was acheli mine? I caught it. It was my rod. He took it away when the fish bit the bait. He caused me to lose a big fish. Now he wants to gloat summore! Bleh!

Conservative or extremist?

2009-08-27T14:43:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia) - MALAYSIA'S government has barred Muslims from a concert by US hip-hop stars the Black Eyed Peas next month because the event is organized by Irish beer giant Guinness, an official said on Thursday.

The prohibition comes amid a clampdown on alcohol consumption among Malaysia's Muslim majority.

A Muslim woman who drank beer in public was sentenced to caning by an Islamic court last month, though authorities this week agreed to review the penalty. Officials also recently curbed retail sales of liquor in a central state.

In family and personal matters, Muslims in Malaysia are governed by Syariah or Islamic law, which forbids the consumption of alcohol.

The Black Eyed Peas will perform at a theme park near Kuala Lumpur on Sept 25 as part of worldwide celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of Guinness' flagship brewery in Dublin. Malaysia's largest city is one of five places hosting Guinness' concerts.

The Malaysian show's official Web site said 'the party is only open to non-Muslims aged 18 years and above.' Previous major pop concerts in Malaysia, including one by the Black Eyed Peas in 2007, have always been open to Muslims.

'Muslims cannot attend. Non-Muslims can go and have fun,' an official at the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture told The Associated Press.

She said the concert would not have been permitted at all under normal circumstances because government regulations forbid alcohol companies from organising concerts.

But authorities made an exception on the hopes the event would boost tourism, the official said on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to make public statements. Guinness must not use its logo in concert publicity material, she said.

It was not immediately clear how the ban on Muslims will be enforced. Concert organisers did not immediately respond to a request for comments. -- AP

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/SE+Asia/Story/STIStory_421953.html

A comment from a reader..

2009-08-24T15:02:00.002+08:00

I received a comment on a recent posting I made about Paramount View Condo from Dina.

Dina is a mother of 2 who had to use her EPF savings to make the downpayment and had sold her car just to have enough money to make payments for a condo unit at Paramount View Condominium, a project by Sri Aman Development Sdn Bhd in the SS1 / Kg. Tunku, Petaling Jaya Area. She is currently staying at a rented place near to her children’s school in order to save on traveling expenses.

She is facing hardship having to pay for her monthly installments on the housing loan for the condo unit, and also to make rental payments too.

She is one of many faced with such a predicament in this 233 unit condominium development which has substantially been completed save for the construction of the access road, electricity and water connection. The final legs cannot be completed because MBPJ, the Petaling Jaya City Council, has issued a stop-work order because of objections raised by near-by residents of SS1/26 and SS1/25.

How has the YB Tony Pua and YB Lau Weng San helped the innocent purchasers of the condominium development who have been victimized because of the “ping-pong match” decision making by the authorities?

Mr. Pua and Mr. Lau, if you read this, I strongly urge you to respond. Read my blog and see for yourself all the comments that have been posted regarding this issue by my readers.

Suffering in silence..

2009-08-19T15:23:00.002+08:00

An extract from the Star dated 14 August, 2009..

THERE have been a number of reports in the press regarding the access road to Paramount View condominium in Seksyen 22, Taman Aman, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. A handful of residents near the condominium site have protested; the assemblyman and MP have commented on the issue, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has issued a stop-work order on the project, and the developer has also come out to defend itself.

But what about the buyers of the condo units? We have been suffering silently, hoping that the authorities and the developer will arrive at a solution quickly.

However, we cannot keep quiet any longer as we realise that nobody is thinking of us. We are the innocent victims here. We signed the sale & purchase agreements three years ago. We had confidence in this project since it had the approval of MBPJ. Who would imagine that three years down the road we would own a parcel in the air with no way in or out!

The buyers had made an appointment to meet the mayor on July 24 to get first-hand information on what MBPJ was doing about this problem. We only received news either from the developer or through the press and the impression that we get is that MBPJ is not able to resolve the access road issue logically. But alas, the mayor was not interested in meeting buyers.

We have a right to an explanation from MBPJ on why the access road is denied, and why it is denied so late at this stage when the building is already completed.

Of all the stakeholders involved, we are the ones with the biggest losses if the project is further delayed or abandoned.

We appeal to MBPJ to honour its approval and let the developer fulfill its obligations to the buyers.

We also call on Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San, Petaling Utara MP Tony Pua and Selangor state executive councillor Ronnie Liu to consider the plight of the buyers in their deliberation on this matter.

PURCHASERS OF PARAMOUNT VIEW CONDOMINIUM.

Paramount View Condominium

2009-08-18T17:50:00.001+08:00

I feel like falling asleep right now. In fact, if the MBPJ had not put a stop work order on the completion of the final touches to my condominium, perhaps I would already be fast asleep at my humble little unit in PARAMOUNT VIEW CONDOMINIUM.

How can you help me, Mr. Tony Pua and Mr. Lau Weng San?

fools aplenty...

2009-08-11T15:46:00.004+08:00

I must apologize for the scarcity of posting of late. There are of course things that still irks me and i still, unashamedly, am an angry person... hahaha.

one particular case in point being the freaking fool who proudly claims to be the only person who made it to the palace gates to hand in his memorandum to the DYMM Agong on the ISA matter.. his fugly smug face made the papers for 4 straight days, wei!!! can you beat that? check out the racist statement on his t-shirt too!! since when does the ISA discriminate based on race? what a revelation!

KNN.

Racist remarks, kinkybluefairy, Yasmin Ahmad...

2009-07-28T13:43:00.004+08:00

If I may, I would like to share an article from Joyce Wong’s kinkybluefairy blog and the ensuing response which irked me…

Don’t condemn them just because of difference. (click on link)

One weekend, RowdyRudy and Tianna invited me to spend a family day with them at their club

And me being me,
happily threw my bikini into my bag and went without thinking twice.

Who knew i’d be kidnapped for 8 hours of:
big Japanese lunch (with Kampachi fish! NYUM. Thank you uncle!)
sipping whiskey all day long
dipping in and out of the delicious pool
get to know shortcuts in the clubhouse
listening to their dad tell stories (now i know where Rudy gets his humour from!)
drinking more whiskey and eating chicken wings at the club bar
singing along to the band and doing the twist

There were loads kids playing at the pool and i noticed one boy that acted very differently
Through his mannerisms and speech, one could tell he was obviously autistic

I was sitting on the bench outside the changing rooms
when he waved and yelled a sort-of hi to me
Since there was noone else around me and a wall behind
I simply smiled and waved back
Then he went back to doing his own thing and playing with the other kids

While we were drinking by the side of the kiddy pool,
we marveled at how energetic they all were,
and decided that the only time adults get like that is when they’re high

Anyway, something happened after that, that made me kinda sad for awhile.

I was walking back to our table when i overhead two young malay wives standing at the side of the pool,
and commenting how they didn’t want their children to be near the autistic boy
They’d just arrived and wouldn”t allow their kids to go into the pool
till they got the club staff to ask the boy to leave the kiddy pool and go to the bigger one

These two women had two maids to carry all their things,
but no class when it comes to being respectful to other human beings

Hearing things like that really make me angry and upset
That boy wasn’t doing anything to anyone
He didn’t go near or disturb anyone
Most i saw him do was splash water (oh NO, you’re in the pool and someone splashed you? Must be terrible -_-)

And it’s also the mentality that they bring with them
Imagine their kids will grow up thinking it’s OKAY to react that way towards someone with a mental disability

I understand the club staff had to do that to keep the clients happy.
But still!

flora

Jul 28th, 2009 at 9:37 am

dun mean to b racist but sometimes they capacity of thinkin limit is within their covered head (even wen it comes to driving =p)..for all they know their kids wudve had much more fun wit dat boi..

It is sad that there is such primitive thinking still prevailing in this day and age, especially with how proudly we claim technology has changed and shaped our lives (having the latest 3G mobile devices and internet, etc.) but still we are able to live such an uninformed or unenlightened state when it comes to mental handicap and autism.

While what happened is a very sorry event, what is even worse is the bigot mindedness of the comment made above. We are Malaysians. Stupidity knows no boundaries, age, race, gender... you get the drift? And being a racist bigot, despite claiming to NOT be so, doesn’t change the fact that you are being presumptuous and a racist nonetheless, my friend.

Both the unenlightened people in Joyce's article and the comment above are classic examples of how cave-man we still are. Before we go about changing how others think, do reflect on our own shortcomings when it comes to our mindset. Isn’t it a shame that the people making racist statements like the above are also the same people who go around proclaiming their adoration and admiration for the late Yasmin Ahmad’s work in promoting the semangat silaturahim through her advertisements and movies. Hypocrite sungguh. Jangan kerana setitik nila, rosak susu sebelangga.

Al Fatihah.

Paramount View Condo... would this be my greatest regret?

2009-07-28T11:18:00.003+08:00

A letter from the Chairman of the Pro-Tem Committee for the purchasers ofParamount View Condominium..

Yesterday, I received a letter from the Chairman of the Pro-tem committee representing the buyers of the said development in SS1, PJ. In the letter, the Chairman updated the buyers on the status of the proposed meeting with the PJ City Council and PJ Mayor, Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman. It was said that the City Council and our esteemed Mayor declined to meet with the Committee citing that this case is currently pending hearing in the local court. Apparently the developer, Sri Aman Development S/B has filed a lawsuit against MBPJ and in this, and for that, they cannot meet with the property buyers.

However, I wonder how they would distinguish me, a long-time resident in PJ who also bought a unit in the said development, from just another Jack or John Doe who happened to purchase a condo unit there? So now, as a resident of PJ, my rights to voice my concerns and seek clarification / help from the Mayor about a development in which I have interest in has been taken away all because of a lawsuit by the developer against the Council?

What now happens to the 128 petitions that was received by the Council’s PR Officer, Puan Zainun Zakaria?

I now refer you to this article featured in the Malay Mail, dated July 2^nd, 2009:-

Paramount View Condo ACCESS ROAD DISPUTE faces more hurdles

PAULINE ALMEIDA

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 07:20:00

PARAMOUNT VIEW CONDO: Access route to the condominium shot down by residents

IT is back to square one as far as the access route for the Paramount View Condominium in Petaling Jaya is concerned.

Many thought that the matter was settled with Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd's recent findings - proposing Jalan SS1/39 as the route to the condominium.

But at a meeting yesterday, the Petaling Jaya City Council had discussed Ikram's proposal with residents, but it was shot down by the residents living around Jalan 22/44 in Taman Aman and neighbouring SS1/25 in Kampung Tunku.

The residents had initially expressed support for Jalan SS1/39 to be the main route given it is a long and wide stretch.

But now they are opposing it. Now they want Jalan 21/27 to be the access route for the condominium.

The meeting also raised some old and new issues like cracks in the low-cost flats due to the construction work of the condominium and its lack of parking lots that is not in accordance to Local Building By-Laws. Residents also questioned the approval for the laying of sewage pipes that will be running across the low-cost flats, another exercise disapproved by the dwellers.

Like a bloody ping-pong match la, this. Are the “residents” happier to have the 15-storey condominium remain erect and untenanted and be a potential hotspot for insects, druggies, and a host of other negative activities instead?

YB Lau Weng San, the State-assemblyman for Kampung Tunku has refused to appear at a meeting with the buyers, in which he confirmed his attendance, for fear of the developer pursuing him to retract his defamatory claims and issue an apology to them with all the buyers and press in attendance.

YB Tony Pua (MP for PJ Utara) has been pretty quiet on this too. I remember him blogging about this once but since then, what follow up was made by his good office?

Who is protecting my rights? Maybe I should be looking to the former MP, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun for help? Is she in talking terms with Mr. Pua? Maybe Datuk Michael Chong would like to help too, since he is very much in touch with the plight of the people.

I sincerely hope that the powers-that-be and the residents can make up their mind and let everyone move on. We want a win-win situation. MBPJ makes the call on where the access road is to be built. Developer completes access road. Developer makes good of promises to residents to repair and remedy whatever damages was caused during the construction of the condominium. Condo owners play their part in not obstructing the road and causing a traffic nuisance to the residents. Residents, don’t be such arseholes. Stop being so fickle. Try and please be nice neighbours. It is very simple acheli.. If one way or another the project is completed, you are going to be faced with 255 new neighbours whom you have caused much hardship to. Think about that. Like it or not, there is a completed condominium erected 15-storeys high in front of your eyes. Do the right thing la.

Spine tingling, hair-raising, freaky stories..

2009-07-27T10:22:00.004+08:00

Spine tingling, hair-raising, freaky stories..

Found these in today’s theStar..

1) 2 women filed for divorce in the Syariah Court for husband’s unusual sex drive in 2 separate cases. The weird thing is that it was believed that the person the women had been sleeping with may not be their husband after all!

Religious leader Datuk Abu Hasan Din Al-Hafiz claimed that it was not impossible for a man to have sex many times in one night if he was “friendly with the devil”.

“It is not impossible for the devil to have carnal intercourse with the man’s wife.

“This happens because the devil can appear to look like the husband,” he said.

He said that while it was normal for a man to want sex two or three times a day, anything more than the usual would most probably not be the husband but the devil.

I heard that middle-eastern man have VERY high libido. Could this be associated to being “friendly with the devil” too? Also, with the existence of so many UBAT KUAT around, who is to know whether it’s the MOJO JUICE or the DEVIL at work, no?

Source:

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/27/nation/4396710&sec=nation

2) Meanwhile, in Port Dickson, a 32 year-old security guard, while making his rounds, was slapped by ghosts! Having noticed noises coming from an abandoned bungalow, he shone his torchlight towards the window and saw a mysterious figure with red eyes and long hair.

When ran for his life and headed back to the guard-house, his colleagues noticed that his face had scratches and that he was bleeding.

Local residents and the police raided the empty bungalow and found nothing amiss and was all astounded when the scratches disappeared after the security guard washed his face!

Source:

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/27/nation/4396719&sec=nation

And I find peace again

2009-07-26T16:31:00.004+08:00

On Thursday, 16 July... My house got violated. To read about the whole sordid incident, please refer to BeeStink's post

I do not have the mood or the patience to write about it again... or perhaps I just don't want to recall what happened. I don't want it to torment me anymore. Eveytime my parents go out and I am alone at home, they tell me that I don't need to lock all the doors in the house. They tell me that no one is going to come. I don't know if they tell me this to find their own comfort, or to give me comfort... I think they refuse to think about the what-ifs 'cos they too are afraid.

Anyways, I finally have the time to write some of my thoughts down about this incident.

~*~*~*~

Fear drips from my pores
Lingers in me and around me
But I hide it carefully under layers of skin.
Every sound rocks my core
Pushes me to the edge of anxiety.

I replay scene after scene in my mind
Trying to figure out if things could have been different
If I could do things better.
I wonder why it happened?
Why here? Why now? Why us?
I torture myself with what-ifs,
The kind that make your skin crawl
That make salty tears roll down
One after the other in quick succession.
The kind that leaves a metallic taste in my mouth.
That makes me want to regurgitate everything inside of me.

It torments me.

Every creak and groan of my house sets me alert
And I am tired but I cannot rest
Cannot find peace.

Sleep eludes me.
I wake up from my light slumber
Every time the wind blows,
Or the house creaks.
I imagine them lurking in the dark of night
And I am filled with unwanted fight.

I search for a way to ease my troubled soul
To write, to speak to churn out these thoughts. B
ut I find no one around me,
I find no inspiration.
I only find the metallic acrid taste.
Of fear.
Of worry.
Of torment.

Then I remember the one place
I can could truly feel safe,
And that was in Your tender arms,
Your tender embrace.
The only peace I find
Are in Your words
That comfort my troubled soul.
And I turn to You
And I find the calm and solace
That I have been searching for.
I find You.
You soothe me,
You saved me from drowning,
My foot from slipping.
You hold out Your hand,
I take it.
And I find peace again.

Gadoh - Aku Bangsa Malaysia

2009-07-20T14:53:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, JW and I went for KLUE's Popcorn & Soda screening of Gadoh - Aku Bangsa Malaysia at Laundry Bar, the Curve.

After an hour's delay caused by technical problems (basically, one cable being inserted into the wrong jack), the screening proceeded, but not without a few opening word by Namron, the film's co-director and co-writer, who also acted as Azman, a theater activist, in the movie.

The movie is filled with subliminal messages about Malaysia, Malaysians and the Government of Malaysia. The apparently typical and simple plot is cleverly used to depict exactly how we are all frustrated with the system and how we are all cleverly divided and used against each other by the powers-that-be. Kudos to KOMAS, Brenda Danker and Namron for brilliantly using a simple situation to tell a complex tale.

JW and I and the majority of the Malats also strongly commend this film and recommend that you try watch it too. Please do support this film by checking it out at their website, or buy their DVD (it's only RM15 a pop!)...

Below is an extract of the synopsis from their website.

Gadoh tells a story of a group of teenagers who fought each other along racial lines; a cycle of hatred and violence further escalated by their environment and school system.

What was to be a quick resolution to improve the school’s bad image, was taken as an opportunity for one teacher who believed that real change was possible. She ropes in the help of an old friend and reluctant maverick theater activist for this arduous task.

Is there hope amidst the cycle of discrimination that surrounds us?

Watch Gadoh for their story, and what it may very well tell us about ourselves.

Movie Info:
Duration: 70 mins
Director: Brenda Danker, Namron
Producer: Anna Har
Production Company: Big Pictures Productions
Supported by Pusat KOMAS
Starring: Namron, Nicholas Liew Davis, Zahiril Adzim, Amerul Affendi and Maya Tan Abdullah
Language: Bahasa Malaysia with English/BM subtitles
Poster design by: Alexdrina Chong, Lucid Design Collaborative Studio

My condominium makes the news again..

2009-07-20T14:02:00.003+08:00

Just this past Thursday, a press conference was held and below is the reproduction of the article taken from theStar.com.my Saturday, July 18, 2009..

Company wants Kg Tunku assemblyman to retract statements made against it

By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ

SRI Aman Development Sdn Bhd, the developer of the Paramount View Condo in Petaling Jaya is demanding an apology from Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San for making defamatory claims regarding the condo project.

DutaLand Bhd property development division general manager Ang Wan Hai said the condominium project and details of it were approved by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) in 2005.

Don’t push us around: Ang (left) speaking at the press conference. Also present are buyers of Paramount View Condo.

He said the issue pertaining to the access road to the condominium, which was fully sold out to 233 buyers, was wrongfully dealt with by Lau.

Following a report that appeared in the Sin Chew Daily on July 11, Ang said Lau accused the developer of not having a proper access road, and using Jalan SS1/25 as the access road would increase traffic volume and affect the low density luxury homes along the road.

“He also said that the condominium was too near to the high- tension cables and did not meet the requirement that states that the distance must be between 60 and 100ft.

“But our plans are approved and our distance is 66ft away from the cables. So the claims are not true. He also cannot say that the project was approved by the previous Selangor Government.

“What does this mean? The MBPJ is still the same local council which approved our plan. The same people who approved our plans are still there.

“Why should we be pushed around when everything was endorsed by the MBPJ and we have our documents. We have our commitment to our buyers, too,” he told a press conference at Menara Olympia recently. Also present was a group of buyers on July 16.

DutaLand lawyers will be sending a letter to Lau to retract the wrong statements made against the developer.

Ang added that the company had also engaged a reputable traffic consultant to study the access road and the report, which was also submitted to MBPJ, stated that the road was able to contain the 233 households from the condominium.

“We had incurred an additional RM300,000 through the shifting of the access road from Jalan 1/25 to Jalan 1/26 over the years,” said Ang, adding that the company had invested all RM40mil from the buyers into the Paramount View project, and if the project was stalled then the company may face financial problems.

Apart from the access road problem, the condominium building work is fully completed. The developer is also still not given approval for the sewer connection and telephone trunking due to the issue.

Meanwhile, an ad-hoc committee will be formed by the buyers to fight this issue.

Buyer Jayeswari Balasingham, 30, said it was unfair for the unit owners as they had been waiting to collect the keys to move into their new homes.

“We have been servicing the loans and paying everything that needs to be paid, but because of an access road issue everything has been delayed.

“Why can’t MBPJ just stick to the approved plans?” she said.

Sanctuary infiltrated...

2009-07-17T12:08:00.003+08:00

JW's house was broken into yesterday morning. Thank God she is safe and nothing was lost. Below is her narration of what took place. We should all becareful and perhaps consider installing proper security alarm system, if we don't already have one.

Note that locks and alarms won't stop them from trying to break in, but they may deter and alert the right people (ie. security / police) in the event of an attempted break-in. There is no price too high for the sake of our safety.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Dear All,

People always talk about people knowing people knowing people who have had their houses broken into. Well my home in Damansara got broken into yesterday!

I was home alone on sick leave and sleeping when I heard the loud sounds of someone hammering my front door. At first I thought it was my brother who had come back for something he had forgotten since he just left the house about 1-2 minutes ago and I didn't think much about it... only on the second loud thump did I realise something was amiss and got up to see what was going on but it was too late since there were already people in my house.

I heard voices though I could not hear what they said. They were walking up the stairs and I quickly locked my bedroom door and my toilet door. Once they realized my room door was locked, they started to ram down my bedroom door - I believe they still did not know that anyone was in the house at that time - But by this time, I had already opened my window and by the grace of God (I was having flu and sore throat), I started shouting "tolong" "tolong" "help"! It was a miracle my neighbors were still at home, and answered my shouts for help and responded.

When the idiot robbers heard the shouts and heard my neighbors responding, they ran out. My neighbors saw them leaving – the 2 Chinese guys who had entered my house and the driver, a Malay/Indon guy. They got into their new grey Honda Accord with the license plate WRL 1686 (they were probably fake plates!) and sped off.

After they left, I walked through my house and found that nothing was stolen as they did not have time although one of my parents drawers was opened and rifled through. They also took a pillow case in the hopes that they could fill it up with valuables but they discarded that at the front of my door while leaving. We also found a lighted cigarette burning by the side of my door, placed carefully at the edge of the shoe cabinet – can you believe they had time to freaking smoke!

Well, we called the police. They were slow as usual. The four of them didn't come into my house to check if anyone was still inside until we asked them to – idiots! They instead, huddle outside on my front porch taking notes on a tattered green 60 sen notebook. A policeman (the kind that has had too many goring pisang and kuih lapis) even asked me about my dad's fish and where my dad had bought them as he too wanted to buy the “ikan guppy yang berwarna-warni” for his house. There were no dusting of prints, or taking of photos or collecting evidence like we see on TV. They just asked us to go to the police station to make a report and that was that. After thinking about it, I guess that was all I could expect. After all, who was I? No one famous, not someone with a “name or a pangkat”. I am just another face in the sea of millions. There were of course more important things to do like finish their nasi lemak, kuih and teh tarik.

So, here I am back at work. My doors are being replaced along with security alarms. I wish this didn’t happen but it did and this is my hope for all of you, to go home and to take a look at your homes and at the doors. As you may notice (see photos attached), they didn’t touch the locks. Locks don’t deter them. They went right for the gates/grills/doors. So make sure your gates/grills/doors are of quality and if you don’t already have an alarm system, perhaps this is the right time to get one. This is one investment that will not let you down. I dread to think of my bedroom door breaking and of my wonderful neighbors not coming to my aid. I doubt I would be here sending this email out but by the grace of God I am here.

So, you know the drill, pass this on.

- Joanne Wong –

another joke?

2009-07-15T11:32:00.000+08:00

For a nation that is reknowned for setting up committees and royal inquisitions at the drop a hat, I find it amusing how this time around, the decision is made first, then feedback is sought and studied instead of the other way around.

Joke la, this…KNN!

Cabinet to study feedback on the switch

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/15/nation/4322417&sec=nation

KUALA LUMPUR: The concerns over students who have to suddenly switch to Malay for their Mathematics and Science lessons when they enter Form Four in 2012 will be brought to the Cabinet’s attention.

Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was expected to bring the matter up.

“He has received many views on the issue concerning the teaching of Maths and Science in English,” he told reporters after presenting awards under the ministry’s Nilam programme.

Students in Form Four in 2012 would have studied Maths and Science in English for nine years (six years at primary level and three years at secondary level).

They would then have to sit for the subjects in Bahasa Malaysia for their SPM exams in Form Five and then revert to English in pre-university and university studies.

Alimuddin said teachers would be encouraged to include terms from both subjects in Bahasa Malaysia when teaching from next year.

“This will ensure that students would have a ‘soft landing’ when the classes begin in Bahasa from 2012,” he said.

Meanwhile, a group of about 100 urban mothers feel so strongly about the reversal of the policy that they have called on the Education Ministry to try and set up a meeting with Muhyiddin.

The children of this group of Malay, Chinese and Indian friends from around Petaling Jaya speak English as their main language and attend either national, Chinese or private schools.

One of the mothers, Pearly Teh said the policy reversal only helped rural children.

“As an example, my Year One son is in a Chinese school and he speaks English at home, and struggles to keep up in Chinese at school, but he’s doing all right.

“But once he goes to Year Four in 2012, he will have to learn everything completely in Chinese, and then, in Form One when he goes to a national school, everything will be in Bahasa,” she said.

Meanwhile, Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the group has set up a blog (www.pagemalaysia.blogspot.com) for parents who want the PPSMI policy to be maintained.

“When the decision to abolish PPSMI was announced, we were devastated as none of the five roundtables held by the ministry last year talked about secondary schools reverting.

“We were all in agreement that secondary schools would remain in English,” she said.

PPMSI

2009-07-14T17:52:00.002+08:00

PPMSI - Perlahan-perlahan mati, Subjek Ingerris...

Read an interesting article in Marina Mahathir's blog, which is reprinted here for your reading pleasure..

Hi folks, below is an article by Dr Bakri Musa, a Malaysian surgeon residing in the US, who ften writes about education. I think this is one of the more erudite essays on this very emotional subject of the PPMSI.

Chaining The Children of the Poor

M. Bakri Musa

The ancient Chinese bound the feet of their baby daughters so they would grow up with deformed tiny feet, thus limiting their mobility and participation in life outside the little world of their homes. These women would then be totally dependent on their men.

In rescinding the policy of teaching science and mathematics in English, the government is likewise binding the intellectual development of our children. They and future generations of Malaysians would grow up with warped intellect. They would then be totally dependent on the government, just as ancient Chinese women with tiny feet were on their men.

My friend and fellow commentator Azly Rahman has a more apt and colorful local metaphor; we are condemning future generations to the Pekan Rabu economy, capable only of selling pirated versions of Michael Jackson albums. That would be the extent of their entrepreneurial prowess and creative flair. They are only subsistence entrepreneurs and ‘copy cat’ creators.

Make no mistake about it. The government’s professed concerns for the poor and those from rural areas notwithstanding, reversing the current policy would adversely and disproportionately impact them. The rich and those in the cities have a ready escape; the rich through private English classes, urban children from the already high levels of English in their community.

The most disadvantaged will be the poor kampong kids. That means Malay children. Thus we have the supreme irony if not perversity of the champions of Ketuanan Melayu actively pursuing a policy that would ensure Malay children be perpetually trapped economically and intellectually. I thank Allah that I grew up at a time when the likes of Muhyyuddin were not in charge of our education system. Otherwise I would have been trapped in my kampong.

The idiocy of the new move is best illustrated by this one startling example.In 2012 when the new plan will be implemented, students in Form IV will be taught science and mathematics in Malay, after learning the two subjects in English for the past nine years. Then two years later when they will be entering Sixth Form or the Matriculation stream, they will again have to revert to English.

Pupils in the vernacular schools would have it worse. They would learn the two subjects in their mother tongue during their primary school years, then switch to Malay for the next five while in secondary school, and then switch again, this time to English, in Sixth Form and university!

Had these policymakers done their homework and diligent downstream analysis, such idiocies would not crop up. Then again this is what we would expect from our civil servants. They have been brought up with their minds bound up; they cannot think. They have depended on others to do the thinking for them.

Najib Razak’s flip-flopping on this major national issue eerily reminds me of similar indecisiveness and lack of resolve of his immediate predecessor, Abdullah Badawi. No wonder he supports Najib in this policy shift. Najib should not take comfort in that, unless he expects a similar fate as Abdullah’s. Abdullah was kicked out by his party; with Najib, it would be the voters who would be kicking him out. Public sentiments are definitely against this policy switch.

Failure of Policy Versus Failure of Implementation

The cabinet reversed course because it deemed the policy did not produce the desired results. However, in arriving at this pivotal decision the cabinet failed to address the fundamental question on whether the original policy was flawed or its implementation ineffective.

It just assumed the policy to be flawed. Muhyyuddin and his senior officers relied heavily on the 2005 UNESCO Report which suggests that “‘mother tongue first’ bilingual education” may (my emphasis) be the solution to the dilemma of members of minority linguistic groups in acquiring knowledge.

Muhyyuddin and his advisers seriously misread the Report. It was concerned primarily with the dilemma at the societal level of members of a linguistic minority having to learn the language of the majority (“national language”) versus the need to maintain linguistic diversity generally and minority languages specifically. UNESCO was rightly concerned with the rapid disappearance of languages spoken by small minority groups. The report was not addressing specifically the learning of science and mathematics.

Malay language is not at risk of disappearing; it is the native tongue of literally hundreds of millions. To extrapolate the UNESCO recommendations for Malay language is a gross oversimplification and misreading of the report.

The UNESCO Report does not address the issue of when and how best to introduce children to bilingual education. Later studies that focused specifically on the pedagogical and psychological aspects instead of the sociological and political have shown that children are quite capable of learning multiple languages at the same time. Even more remarkable is that the earlier they are exposed to a second language the more facile they would be with that language. They would also learn that second language much faster; hence second language even at preschool.

The acquisition of bilingual ability at an early age confers other significant cognitive advantages. These have been documented by clinical studies with functional MRIs (imaging studies of the brain). Malaysia should learn from these more modern studies and the experiences of more advanced societies, not from the UNESCO studies of backward tribes of Asia.

The other basis for the cabinet’s decision was ‘research’ by local half-baked and politically-oriented pseudo academics. They should be embarrassed to append their names to such a sophomoric paper. The quality is such that it will never appear in reputable journals. As for the Ministry’s own internal ‘researchers,’ remember that they came out within months of the policy’s introduction in 2003 documenting the ‘impressive’ improvements in students’ achievements!

The one major entity that would be severely impacted by the cabinet’s decision is our universities. Yet our Vice-Chancellors have remained quiet and detached in this important national debate. They have not advised the cabinet nor lead the public discussions. Again that reflects the caliber of leadership of our major institutions.

Had the cabinet decided that the policy was essentially sound but that the flaws were with its implementations, then measures other than rescinding it would be the appropriate response. This would include recruiting and training more English-speaking teachers and devoting more hours to the subject.

What surprised me is that when Mahathir introduced the policy in 2003, he was supported by his cabinet that included Najib, Muhyyuddin, Hishamuddin, and over a dozen of current ministers who now collectively voted to reverse the policy. Likewise, the policy was fully endorsed too by UMNO’s Supreme Council then. Like the cabinet, many of those earlier members are still in that body today. Yet today the Council also voted to disband the policy. Muhyyuddin, Hishamuddin and the others have yet to share with us why they changed their minds. The conditions that prompted the introduction of the policy back then are still present today.This reversal will do not change that.

Najib, Muhyyuddin and Hishamuddin are “lallang leaders,” they bend with the slightest wind change. Unlike Margaret Thatcher’s famed resolve of “This lady is not for turning,” with Najib, Muhyyuddin, et al., all you have to do to make them undertake a U turn would be to blow slightly in their faces. Blow a bit harder and they would scoot off with their tails between their legs. These leaders will never lead us forward.

This reversal will not solve the widening achievement gap between urban and rural students. The cabinet has yet to put forth new ideas on ameliorating that problem. So, just as ancient Chinese women were physically handicapped because of their bound feet, rural or more specifically Malay children will continue to be intellectually handicapped by their warped and small minds, the consequence of this policy shift.Perhaps that is the real objective of this policy reversal, the shackling of the intellectual development of our young so they will forever be dependent on their ‘leaders.’

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p/s I am away on holiday with only sporadic internet connections. So please forgive the relatively long gaps between posts. Thanks.

Managing Anger - A Quest to Find Peace

2009-07-13T10:30:00.006+08:00

I realise that for awhile now, I’ve been experiencing anger management problems. This, I believe, stems from dissatisfaction with my career, financial worries, and generally the slow pace of how things are progressing. This anger is then further fueled by people’s ignorance, arrogance, idiotic acts, and my general dislike about people in general.

I am a very passionate person and this is very obvious in the way I speak, more so when the topic is something I believe in strongly. Sometimes the emotions shown may lead others to think I am angry. But I think sometimes, they may be right.

I think I need to get to the root of this problem before it explodes and hurt that are dear and close to me. I would like to share this article I picked off the interweb with you. After reading it, I realized that I do indeed have a problem. The signs are all there though I’ve always pointed towards other factors to causing the emotions to flare but I now realize that there are issues from within that are the main cause of this anger. I hope it will help me calm down and address the root issues in order to deal better with this anger problem.

Click here for original text.

We all know what anger is, and we've all felt it: whether as a fleeting annoyance or as full-fledged rage.

Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. But when it gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems—problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality of your life. And it can make you feel as though you're at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion. This brochure is meant to help you understand and control anger.

What is Anger?

The Nature of Anger

Anger is "an emotional state that varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage," according to Charles Spielberger, PhD, a psychologist who specializes in the study of anger. Like other emotions, it is accompanied by physiological and biological changes; when you get angry, your heart rate and blood pressure go up, as do the levels of your energy hormones, adrenaline, and noradrenaline.

Anger can be caused by both external and internal events. You could be angry at a specific person (Such as a coworker or supervisor) or event (a traffic jam, a canceled flight), or your anger could be caused by worrying or brooding about your personal problems. Memories of traumatic or enraging events can also trigger angry feelings.

Expressing Anger

The instinctive, natural way to express anger is to respond aggressively. Anger is a natural, adaptive response to threats; it inspires powerful, often aggressive, feelings and behaviors, which allow us to fight and to defend ourselves when we are attacked. A certain amount of anger, therefore, is necessary to our survival.

On the other hand, we can't physically lash out at every person or object that irritates or annoys us; laws, social norms, and common sense place limits on how far our anger can take us.

People use a variety of both conscious and unconscious processes to deal with their angry feelings. The three main approaches are expressing, suppressing, and calming. Expressing your angry feelings in an assertive—not aggressive—manner is the healthiest way to express anger. To do this, you have to learn how to make clear what your needs are, and how to get them met, without hurting others. Being assertive doesn't mean being pushy or demanding; it means being respectful of yourself and others.

Anger can be suppressed, and then converted or redirected. This happens when you hold in your anger, stop thinking about it, and focus on something positive. The aim is to inhibit or suppress your anger and convert it into more constructive behavior. The danger in this type of response is that if it isn't allowed outward expression, your anger can turn inward—on yourself. Anger turned inward may cause hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression.

Unexpressed anger can create other problems. It can lead to pathological expressions of anger, such as passive-aggressive behavior (getting back at people indirectly, without telling them why, rather than confronting them head-on) or a personality that seems perpetually cynical and hostile. People who are constantly putting others down, criticizing everything, and making cynical comments haven't learned how to constructively express their anger. Not surprisingly, they aren't likely to have many successful relationships.

Finally, you can calm down inside. This means not just controlling your outward behavior, but also controlling your internal responses, taking steps to lower your heart rate, calm yourself down, and let the feelings subside.

As Dr. Spielberger notes, "when none of these three techniques work, that's when someone—or something—is going to get hurt."

Anger Management

The goal of anger management is to reduce both your emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes. You can't get rid of, or avoid, the things or the people that enrage you, nor can you change them, but you can learn to control your reactions.

Are You Too Angry?

There are psychological tests that measure the intensity of angry feelings, how prone to anger you are, and how well you handle it. But chances are good that if you do have a problem with anger, you already know it. If you find yourself acting in ways that seem out of control and frightening, you might need help finding better ways to deal with this emotion.

Why Are Some People More Angry Than Others?

According to Jerry Deffenbacher, PhD, a psychologist who specializes in anger management, some people really are more "hotheaded" than others are; they get angry more easily and more intensely than the average person does. There are also those who don't show their anger in loud spectacular ways but are chronically irritable and grumpy. Easily angered people don't always curse and throw things; sometimes they withdraw socially, sulk, or get physically ill.

People who are easily angered generally have what some psychologists call a low tolerance for frustration, meaning simply that they feel that they should not have to be subjected to frustration, inconvenience, or annoyance. They can't take things in stride, and they're particularly infuriated if the situation seems somehow unjust: for example, being corrected for a minor mistake.

What makes these people this way? A number of things. One cause may be genetic or physiological: There is evidence that some children are born irritable, touchy, and easily angered, and that these signs are present from a very early age. Another may be sociocultural. Anger is often regarded as negative; we're taught that it's all right to express anxiety, depression, or other emotions but not to express anger. As a result, we don't learn how to handle it or channel it constructively.

Research has also found that family background plays a role. Typically, people who are easily angered come from families that are disruptive, chaotic, and not skilled at emotional communications.

Is It Good To "Let it All Hang Out?"

Psychologists now say that this is a dangerous myth. Some people use this theory as a license to hurt others. Research has found that "letting it rip" with anger actually escalates anger and aggression and does nothing to help you (or the person you're angry with) resolve the situation.

It's best to find out what it is that triggers your anger, and then to develop strategies to keep those triggers from tipping you over the edge.

Strategies To Keep Anger At Bay

Relaxation

Simple relaxation tools, such as deep breathing and relaxing imagery, can help calm down angry feelings. There are books and courses that can teach you relaxation techniques, and once you learn the techniques, you can call upon them in any situation. If you are involved in a relationship where both partners are hot-tempered, it might be a good idea for both of you to learn these techniques.

Some simple steps you can try:

Breathe deeply, from your diaphragm; breathing from your chest won't relax you. Picture your breath coming up from your "gut."
Slowly repeat a calm word or phrase such as "relax," "take it easy." Repeat it to yourself while breathing deeply.
Use imagery; visualize a relaxing experience, from either your memory or your imagination.
Nonstrenuous, slow yoga-like exercises can relax your muscles and make you feel much calmer.

Practice these techniques daily. Learn to use them automatically when you're in a tense situation.

Cognitive Restructuring

Simply put, this means changing the way you think. Angry people tend to curse, swear, or speak in highly colorful terms that reflect their inner thoughts. When you're angry, your thinking can get very exaggerated and overly dramatic. Try replacing these thoughts with more rational ones. For instance, instead of telling yourself, "oh, it's awful, it's terrible, everything's ruined," tell yourself, "it's frustrating, and it's understandable that I'm upset about it, but it's not the end of the world and getting angry is not going to fix it anyhow."

Be careful of words like "never" or "always" when talking about yourself or someone else. "This !&*%@ machine never works," or "you're always forgetting things" are not just inaccurate, they also serve to make you feel that your anger is justified and that there's no way to solve the problem. They also alienate and humiliate people who might otherwise be willing to work with you on a solution.

Remind yourself that getting angry is not going to fix anything, that it won't make you feel better (and may actually make you feel worse).

Logic defeats anger, because anger, even when it's justified, can quickly become irrational. So use cold hard logic on yourself. Remind yourself that the world is "not out to get you," you're just experiencing some of the rough spots of daily life. Do this each time you feel anger getting the best of you, and it'll help you get a more balanced perspective. Angry people tend to demand things: fairness, appreciation, agreement, willingness to do things their way. Everyone wants these things, and we are all hurt and disappointed when we don't get them, but angry people demand them, and when their demands aren't met, their disappointment becomes anger. As part of their cognitive restructuring, angry people need to become aware of their demanding nature and translate their expectations into desires. In other words, saying, "I would like" something is healthier than saying, "I demand" or "I must have" something. When you're unable to get what you want, you will experience the normal reactions—frustration, disappointment, hurt—but not anger. Some angry people use this anger as a way to avoid feeling hurt, but that doesn't mean the hurt goes away.

Problem Solving

Sometimes, our anger and frustration are caused by very real and inescapable problems in our lives. Not all anger is misplaced, and often it's a healthy, natural response to these difficulties. There is also a cultural belief that every problem has a solution, and it adds to our frustration to find out that this isn't always the case. The best attitude to bring to such a situation, then, is not to focus on finding the solution, but rather on how you handle and face the problem.

Make a plan, and check your progress along the way. Resolve to give it your best, but also not to punish yourself if an answer doesn't come right away. If you can approach it with your best intentions and efforts and make a serious attempt to face it head-on, you will be less likely to lose patience and fall into all-or-nothing thinking, even if the problem does not get solved right away.

Better Communication

Angry people tend to jump to—and act on—conclusions, and some of those conclusions can be very inaccurate. The first thing to do if you're in a heated discussion is slow down and think through your responses. Don't say the first thing that comes into your head, but slow down and think carefully about what you want to say. At the same time, listen carefully to what the other person is saying and take your time before answering.

Listen, too, to what is underlying the anger. For instance, you like a certain amount of freedom and personal space, and your "significant other" wants more connection and closeness. If he or she starts complaining about your activities, don't retaliate by painting your partner as a jailer, a warden, or an albatross around your neck.

It's natural to get defensive when you're criticized, but don't fight back. Instead, listen to what's underlying the words: the message that this person might feel neglected and unloved. It may take a lot of patient questioning on your part, and it may require some breathing space, but don't let your anger—or a partner's—let a discussion spin out of control. Keeping your cool can keep the situation from becoming a disastrous one.

Using Humor

"Silly humor" can help defuse rage in a number of ways. For one thing, it can help you get a more balanced perspective. When you get angry and call someone a name or refer to them in some imaginative phrase, stop and picture what that word would literally look like. If you're at work and you think of a coworker as a "dirtbag" or a "single-cell life form," for example, picture a large bag full of dirt (or an amoeba) sitting at your colleague's desk, talking on the phone, going to meetings. Do this whenever a name comes into your head about another person. If you can, draw a picture of what the actual thing might look like. This will take a lot of the edge off your fury; and humor can always be relied on to help unknot a tense situation.

The underlying message of highly angry people, Dr. Deffenbacher says, is "things oughta go my way!" Angry people tend to feel that they are morally right, that any blocking or changing of their plans is an unbearable indignity and that they should NOT have to suffer this way. Maybe other people do, but not them!

When you feel that urge, he suggests, picture yourself as a god or goddess, a supreme ruler, who owns the streets and stores and office space, striding alone and having your way in all situations while others defer to you. The more detail you can get into your imaginary scenes, the more chances you have to realize that maybe you are being unreasonable; you'll also realize how unimportant the things you're angry about really are. There are two cautions in using humor. First, don't try to just "laugh off" your problems; rather, use humor to help yourself face them more constructively. Second, don't give in to harsh, sarcastic humor; that's just another form of unhealthy anger expression.

What these techniques have in common is a refusal to take yourself too seriously. Anger is a serious emotion, but it's often accompanied by ideas that, if examined, can make you laugh.

Changing Your Environment

Sometimes it's our immediate surroundings that give us cause for irritation and fury. Problems and responsibilities can weigh on you and make you feel angry at the "trap" you seem to have fallen into and all the people and things that form that trap.

Give yourself a break. Make sure you have some "personal time" scheduled for times of the day that you know are particularly stressful. One example is the working mother who has a standing rule that when she comes home from work, for the first 15 minutes "nobody talks to Mom unless the house is on fire." After this brief quiet time, she feels better prepared to handle demands from her kids without blowing up at them.

Some Other Tips for Easing Up on Yourself

Timing: If you and your spouse tend to fight when you discuss things at night—perhaps you're tired, or distracted, or maybe it's just habit—try changing the times when you talk about important matters so these talks don't turn into arguments.

Avoidance: If your child's chaotic room makes you furious every time you walk by it, shut the door. Don't make yourself look at what infuriates you. Don't say, "well, my child should clean up the room so I won't have to be angry!" That's not the point. The point is to keep yourself calm.

Finding alternatives: If your daily commute through traffic leaves you in a state of rage and frustration, give yourself a project—learn or map out a different route, one that's less congested or more scenic. Or find another alternative, such as a bus or commuter train.

Do You Need Counseling?

If you feel that your anger is really out of control, if it is having an impact on your relationships and on important parts of your life, you might consider counseling to learn how to handle it better. A psychologist or other licensed mental health professional can work with you in developing a range of techniques for changing your thinking and your behavior.

When you talk to a prospective therapist, tell her or him that you have problems with anger that you want to work on, and ask about his or her approach to anger management. Make sure this isn't only a course of action designed to "put you in touch with your feelings and express them"—that may be precisely what your problem is. With counseling, psychologists say, a highly angry person can move closer to a middle range of anger in about 8 to 10 weeks, depending on the circumstances and the techniques used.

What About Assertiveness Training?

It's true that angry people need to learn to become assertive (rather than aggressive), but most books and courses on developing assertiveness are aimed at people who don't feel enough anger. These people are more passive and acquiescent than the average person; they tend to let others walk all over them. That isn't something that most angry people do. Still, these books can contain some useful tactics to use in frustrating situations.

Remember, you can't eliminate anger—and it wouldn't be a good idea if you could. In spite of all your efforts, things will happen that will cause you anger; and sometimes it will be justifiable anger. Life will be filled with frustration, pain, loss, and the unpredictable actions of others. You can't change that; but you can change the way you let such events affect you. Controlling your angry responses can keep them from making you even more unhappy in the long run.

here we go again

2009-07-10T11:51:00.003+08:00

Do rural students actually perform better in Science and/or Maths when taught in Bahasa Melayu?

sourced from the edgemalaysia.com

Mark the date July 8, 2009, when the government abandoned its six-year-old policy of teaching Science and Maths in English.

This watershed event will be remembered as the day we began to backslide in our quest to become a high-value economy. Indeed, the irony is that the policy was introduced when the government recognised that the deteriorating standard of English of the workforce was a growing handicap for attracting investors.

The cabinet has now decided that the policy was a failure because a mere 19.2% of secondary school teachers and 9.96% of primary school teachers are sufficiently proficient in English, as Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told the press yesterday.

This situation points to two differing responses: raising the competency of teachers or switching the medium of instruction to the students’ mother tongues.

The government chose the latter, and for sure, this will make life easier for the majority of the students and their teachers who have struggled to cope with technical subjects in a language they are not comfortable with.

But the harsh truth is that English is most in demand in the commercial world. In the international arena, businesses will pay a premium to operate in a country where communication with workers, suppliers and in the market is a breeze.

We could have faced up to the challenge of improving ourselves and thereby ensuring a brighter future for the next generation.

So, it is good that to improve the standard of English, Muhyiddin announced that more emphasis would be given to the teaching of the language. More hours will be dedicated to English, new subjects introduced and the number of English teachers substantially increased.

In the light of these measures, it is strange that Science and Maths will once again be taught in Bahasa Malaysia and the vernacular languages. It is as if the government gives due recognition to the importance of enhancing the quality of English, but felt it necessary to accommodate the language champions.

The cabinet should have just bitten the bullet and kept the sciences firmly in the fold of the English language.

After the initial pain, the future generations would have thanked it for enhancing their marketability in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Indeed, we are likely to continue seeing rural students left behind by their urban peers, who have myriad opportunities to enrich their command of the language through total immersion in the medium. The key to helping the rural student population is to ensure that they get an equivalent dose of exposure to the English language.

Protecting the rural students from the reality of a globalised world is not going to help them one bit.

Pi Mai, Pi Mai Tang tu...

2009-07-09T15:30:00.004+08:00

(Utusan Malaysia) - Langkah kerajaan memansuhkan dasar Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) adalah satu keputusan yang amat tepat dan mampu memuaskan hati semua pihak di negara ini.

Profesor Diraja Ungku Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid berkata, sepatutnya tidak ada lagi mana-mana pihak yang tidak berpuas hati dengan apa yang telah kerajaan lakukan itu kerana ia mengambil kira kepentingan negara dan kemahuan majoriti rakyat.

Katanya, langkah itu memperlihatkan bahawa kedudukan dan martabat bahasa Melayu sudah dikembalikan ke tempatnya yang wajar.

''Saya ingin mengucapkan tahniah kepada kerajaan dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin kerana membuat kenyataan yang hampir boleh memuaskan hati semua pihak," katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia di sini hari ini.

Keputusan memansuhkan PPSMI diambil oleh kerajaan selepas kajian mendalam mendapati keputusan pelajar dalam subjek Sains dan Matematik memperlihatkan penurunan sejak beberapa tahun ini.

Dasar PPSMI diperkenalkan pada tahun 2003 dan mendapat penentangan dari pelbagai pihak.

Tambah Ungku Aziz, pemansuhan dasar PPSMI adalah sesuatu yang sangat baik bagi perkembangan bahasa Melayu di negara ini.

Beliau berharap, kerajaan selepas ini akan memberikan penumpuan yang lebih meluas terhadap aspek memperkukuhkan pengunaan bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa perpaduan di negara ini.

''Perpaduan adalah asas kepada segala-galanya, tanpa perpaduan tidak ada apa pun yang boleh dicapai di negara ini," katanya.

Jelas beliau, pengukuhan bahasa Melayu itu hendaklah merangkumi aspek-aspek seperti memastikan penggunaan bahasa itu dilakukan dengan nahu dan tatabahasa yang tepat.

Beliau juga menyarankan kepada masyarakat agar bahasa Inggeris tidak dilupakan terus tetapi turut diberikan perhatian yang sewajarnya.

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24110/84/

Artikel di atas dipetik dari laman web Malaysia Today berkenaan keputusan pihak kerajaan untuk memansuhkan pengajaran dan pembelajaran subjek Sains dan Matematik di sekolah dalam medium Bahasa Ingerris, bermula dari tahun 2012.

Saya berasa amat duka cita terhadap keputusan ini yang mana pada pendapat saya adalah satu tindakan yang menunjukkan pemandangan dan penilaian yang amat cetek.

Saya tidak pasti adakah apa yang dikata oleh Profesor Diraja Ungku Aziz itu dalam konteks yang menyindir atau memang beliau bermaksud untuk memuji langkah kerajaan ini. Akan tetapi, saya amat bersetuju dengan beliau di mana beliau berkata bahawa tindakan ini adalah suatu yang dapat memuaskan hati sebahagian besar rakyat berbilang kaum di Malaysia. Namun demikian, kita harus jujur bertanya adakah ini suatu tindakan yang wajar?

Keputusan yang popular ini tidak semestinya suatu keputusan yang terbaik untuk kebaikan anak-anak muda kita. Keputusan yang berbaur popularis tidak semestinya suatu yang logik dan mampu untuk meningkatkan mutu kekuasan bahasa ibunda mahupun bahasa kebangsaan.

Apa yang tidak dapat saya memahami adalah kenapa semenjak pilihanraya lalu, setiap tindak-tanduk dan keputusan yang diambil oleh pihak kerajaan (di peringkat persekutuan mahupun negeri) semuanya mengambil kira kemahuan rakyat. Memang kemahuan rakyat perlu diambil kira, tetapi, bukankah keputusan ini perlu dibuat dengan objektif untuk kebaikan rakyat dan bukanlah kemahuan rakyat? Saya mahu sebuah kereta lumba yang mahal dan di luar kemampuan saya. Tetapi jikalau pihak bank memberi pinjaman kepada saya supaya saya dapat memiliki kereta ini dan justeru itu saya tidak dapat membuat bayaran ansuran bulanan, maka tindakan ini adalah tidak baik untuk kebaikan diri saya sendiri.

Saya berharap setiap menteri dan juga wakil rakyat akan lebih bertanggungjawab dalam menjalankan tugas mereka sebagai pemimpin rakyat dan bukannya terbawa-bawa untuk memuaskan hati rakyat sahaja. Saya berasa amat hampa kerana golongan pemimpin rakyat kini tidak berani mengambil risiko untuk melaksanakan sesuatu yang mungkin kurang popular tetapi mempunyai objektif yang dapat membentuk negara ini untuk terus lebih berjaya dan berkembang untuk generasi hadapan. Adalah perlu pemimpin-pemimpin kita ingat yang merekalah yang dipilih untuk memimpin. Mereka jugalah yang sepatutnya membuat keputusan yang paling wajar kerana mereka mempunyai segala informasi yang perlu untuk mendapat perspektif sepenuhnya dalam membuat setiap penilaian dan keputusan.

Walauapapun, saya berharap ini adalah suatu keputusan yang terbaik untuk anak-anak muda kita setelah YB Menteri membuat penilaian terperinci. Saya mengucapkan moga jaya kepada beliau.

Sekian terima kasih.

blame game

2009-07-08T14:26:00.002+08:00

"He said the government should stop shoving its responsibilities to the previous state administration.." read more here.