The Reader

Al-Fatihah for Dato' Ahmad Basri

First,let me offer my condolence to the family of the late Daot' Ahmad Basri bin Mohd Akhil who passed away yesterday.I am writng this note to put on record of my personal gratidue to the man whom I consider the icon of Kedah Civil Service.May Allah swt bless your soul and accept you as His servant in Al-Jannah,insyaAllah.

I was transfered to JKR Kedah as District Engineer for JKR Kota Setar/Padang Terap,Kedah in January 1981.At that time the late Dato' was the SFO(State Financial Officer).I was a young officer then(in my late 20's) and I looked up to him for guidance especially in dealing with politicians and the Istana.Despite his senior and powerful post,the Dato' was a humble man and gave time and space to a young inexperienced officer like me.

Let me share my experience explaining to him that our JKR Quarry at Gunung Keriang needs RM30,000 to replace the "capacitor bank".This was a bit technical for an administrator like him, but he listened and asked a few questions.Within less than a week,I got the approval.(Those days,RM30,000 is a lot of money.My Honda Accord 1600cc cost only RM24,000).He demonstrated to me as a boss one must listen and make fast decision.Later, I reported to him that with the installation of capacitor bank, the power factor was reduced and the electrical charges reduction for six months had paid back the capital cost.

A few years later, when I resigned from JKR, I went back to see him and he was very helpful in giving me the opportunities to start a new business. Thank you,YBhg Dato' Basri!

Hutang emas boleh dibayar,hutang budi dibawa mati...

NB: You can read more about the late Dato Ahmad Basri in the newspapers today about his roles and contribution to Kedah Football.

Flash mob,anyone?

You are invited to visit this link.See you there.I plan to attend and snap a few interesting shots of the reading crowd.

DAY, DATE & TIME: 5pm Saturday 12 July

VENUE: Carpark on Jalan Ampang, Opposite Dang Wangi Putra LRT Entrance

WHAT'S REQUIRED:
*To participate, just be there. Bring a book, magazine or newspaper.
That is all.

The photo shown was taken using my camera phone of large crowd going to a PC Fair.Below is a photo of a family reading at a bookshop.More photos of people reading,click here.

Speed limits

Let me share with fellow readers of what happened to me yesterday.My car was flagged down for speeding on the 3-lanes dual carriageway a few kilometres before I reach Putrajaya.Almost all the cars at the time were stopped and given traffic summons.I was doing about 90km/hr and I was told by the police officer that the speed limit on this highway is only 70km/hr.In my opinion, only those who go for sight-seeing travel at less than 70km/hr.

If you travel across the country, you are bound to see some ridiculously low speed limit imposed on certain stretches of our roads.With the improvement of the roads over the years,the authorities should review the speed limits.Otherwise,everyone will break the law.

I know I broke the law,so I have to pay for it.But to my friends in JKR/Bandaraya,do take some time to review those road speed limits. Some, you may discover that the roads speed limits were gazetted more than 30 years ago or even before Merdeka(Independence Day).

Sickness bug found in tap water

Bugs are every where.Not only they creep and destroy the data in our computers, but they are also swimming happily in our tap water.Please read about water parasites in UK today here.How about our Malaysian water that flows from the taps to our houses?

So far,I have not heard anything bad about parasites(cryptosporidium) in our water supply.But for my household drinking water,we only drink boiled water or bottled water-either mineral water or RO water.By the way, our bottled water is much cheaper compared to petrol nowadays.A few years ago, mineral water was more expensive than petrol.

Talking about parasites in water supply,you are invited to read a fiction I wrote about it some ten years ago here.Enjoy the story if you have not read it before.

Below is one of the Malaysian rivers that looks nice.Clean?I have yet to see the test results.One fine day,I hope to see all our rivers look nice and clean.The other one remains dirty for the last umpteen years..

24 Long-Photos-Trailer

KL Flickr will be showing their work of art at KLPAC from 12noon  to 2pm on 28th June, 2008.Here is the link to youtube.InsyaAllah ,my photography sifu Nazley and me will be there.Thanks to the organiser for two free tickets for me.This is the reward for my photo submission to 24 Hour KL.

Below is a photo I took along Jalan Tun Perak(formerly known as Mountbatten Road) in Kuala Lumpur.During my photo walk,I was looking for a bookshop I used to buy books in 1970.It was called MS Ally(if I could remember correctly) but I could not find it anymore.It was converted to a money changer shop.I am very impressed that this type of sundry shop still survives today.It reminds me of the bookshop I used to buy comic Beano in Tanjung Malim,Perak in mid-60's.By the way, this shop also sells Indian mango!

The Curse of Oily Man

Anyone remembers the film Sumpah Orang Minyak? I hardly could recall the title and the time I watched the movie.One thing I remember was that this oily man went around the kampung  looking for virgins to rape! The fear struck the whole village...

Fast forward to the present time,not only a village but the whole nation is living in fear not of the oily man, but the recent price hike of petrol and diesel.Almost everything we use or consume,somehow the price of oil has gone into the price of everything.Last Wednesday,my son came home complaining that his usual fried chicken rice seller had increased his favourite nasi ayam from RM2.70 to RM3.50! I am scared to think whether my son can afford a nasi lemak when the oil price goes up to USD200 per barrel???

A lot of views and discussions can be read in the media and blogs.It is not my intention to give further views as I am the least competent to discuss the topic. But I wish to share something about purchasing power.When I was a young executive in early 80's earning RM3500 a month with a wife and two young boys to feed.At the time, the petrol cost only about RM 1.00 a litre and my brand new Honda Accord 1600 cc cost me RM 24,000. Now, compare to what to the cost of the same car and the price of petrol nowadays.Without using complex financial model and formula, I know for sure that my purchasing power is at least twice what the present young couples are earning.Not to mention that the same terrace I bought 20 years ago has cost twice if my son wants to buy now.

As in a plane ride when the weather report is bad,we better fasten our seat belts.Anything can happen along the turbulence route...

PS: On second thought,I may have to take the advice of our politicians to  change my lifestyle-sell my MyVi car and buy this cute antique Vespa;-)

16% rise in deaths on KL roads

The figure of 16% is shocking!

When I read this newspapers report as shown below,my mind flashed back to what I have seen a week ago on the roads-right in front of me.As I was about to release my brake when the traffic light on my side turned green,I was shocked to see taxi,bus and motor-cycle still passing in front of me.While travelling on NSE, as I came to Kajang exit, I saw two motor-cycles were racing against one another.The rode their machines like a snake being hit by a stick-competing with one another and showing off to us.On another occasion in my own neighbourhood(about 3km from KLCC), I saw a pillion-rider changed placed with the rider of a moto-bike while their machine is moving.Real stunning show for me!

The evil in me said these people wished to die,let them...but sometimes I du'a so that Allah change their attitude.What was reported below is all true and I am the witness on KL roads everyday.

16% rise in deaths on KL roads

By STEVEN DANIEL

KUALA LUMPUR: The city saw 78 road users killed in 77 accidents in the first four months of this year, a 16.4% rise over that in the corresponding period last year. Motorcyclists accounted for 51 deaths, or 65% of the total.

City traffic police chief Asst Comm Abdul Wahab Abdul Rahman said most of the road deaths were the result of serious head injuries.

He attributed the higher fatalities to the negative, reckless attitude of motorcyclists, and their love of speed.

“Motorcyclists love to ride dangerously and to speed through red lights (at road junctions). They have no regard for the safety of other road users,” he said after launching a road safety campaign together with Pos Malaysia and the Kuala Lumpur traffic police on Tuesday.

Snatch thieves hit my street!

Previously,I only heard  about snatch thefts.Now,it hit home to my neighbours along my street.Nowadays, our ladies are gripped with fear every time they leave home or arrive at their homes.All the victims were ladies.

Over the years, we have seen and read reports on the increasing street thefts and violences.The police said they donot have enough manpower and the government now is taking steps to improve the public security. In the mean time,what do we do to protect our family members?

Who are these thieves? Most people blame the foreigners, but the statistics showed that the locals to foreigners is 2 to 1.IMHO,policing is not good enough and only a short term measure.We must get to the roots of this evils.Just look at the dadah[drug] menace in this country.Have we succeeded to contain it  or is it getting worse?

Writing this note reminds me of the latest incident in Perlis where a man was hit because he was accused of being Peeping Tom.Later, the man died.Is it possible that the people cannot take this nonsense any more that they have to resort to street justice?

Cars crazy

It is mind boggling to read that a few Malaysians has 700 cars each.Below is the excerpt from The Star.Some 78,000 drivers possess five cars each while another 1,589 drivers own 10 cars each.

One car is more than enough for me and my wife.Two cars are normal if husband and wife are still working.On the lighter side, I suggest a list of Malaysians who have more than 5 and 10 mobile phones.Or people who have more than 5 or 10 blogs?By  the way,I have only two mobile phones-one for business and the other for family communication.Below is a collage of the photos of cars I took(I can only afford to take photos ):

From The Star

Wednesday April 16, 2008

Some own 700 cars each

ABOUT 30 rich men in the country own between 100 and 700 cars each, reported China Press.

Quoting sources from the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the daily reported that these men registered the vehicles under their names for collection purposes.

One of the sources believes the owners had bought the cars to avoid paying income tax. Most of these cars were not used as some owners did not even renew their road tax.

He also questioned the roadworthiness of such cars since most of them seldom appeared on the road.

Of the 10 million registered car owners in the country, one-third of them owned more than one car, based on JPJ statistics for the first quarter of the year.

Some 78,000 drivers possess five cars each while another 1,589 drivers own 10 cars each.

To blog or Not to blog..

I plan to celebrate my 10th year of blogging on 31st August this year,insyaAllah. By now, a few thousands postings,short and long,had been beamed to cyber-space,read or waiting to be read.Most of my blogs are related to my profession and my hobbies-all apolitical.

Lately,I read that new aspiring leaders of UMNO youths were told to blog;otherwise they cannot contest in the next party election.Please read it here.That is a good pre-requite to give some basic lessons for future leaders to learn how to articulate their ideas other than to introduce themselves to the party members/general public. From my 10 years experience in this subject matter, writing made me think and at the same time it keeps improving my writing skills and style.Even with 10 years experience online,I am still learning,far from being a guru but just an older student.

Before I started writing my first blog using geocities.com as my website/homepage,I was asking myself why did I want to write.From my reading,I discovered these wise words as follows:

"You don't write because you want to say something - you write because you've got something to say." --F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." - Cyril Connolly

At first, I was worried whether I can keep writing.As a Chinese proverb says: Anyone can open a shop, but not anyone can keep the shop open. This aptly applies to business, but it also applies to blog. Honestly,I can't make a comment whether it is the right reason to blog because one wishes  to contest and get elected.Whatever the rationale is,blogging is good for the soul.

My first blog is called The Perigi.(Some of the links are missing).Below is what I wrote then on why I blog:

The Perigi is dedicated to writings,mostly mine with a few from others.It is my personal experiments in writing both in Bahasa Melayu(Malay) and English.For the past 22 years I have been avoiding writing unless I had to.With the web,I found it quite convenient to write and share my opinions,feelings,knowledge and experience.

I write to express my views and feeling toward certain issues or events that I feel important for me to record and to tell others about it.My views are not necessarily right, however it is a view from my window.Please check with others' windows as well.It is also an avenue for me to  release my feeling/ emotions.It is mainly for me,but if others can share and benefit from  my writings,why not.

I also write on something that I like or enjoy-like reading,mathematics, travelling and cycling.Taking advice from the guru,I will focus on something that I know(actually only God really knows), my personal experience and also about my culture.It may appears to be mine,but actually it belonged to   and shared by others as well.


Since I am new to this part of the world,please accept my apologies if I happen to step on any body's toes.In trying to get the feel of the place,I may touch on sensitive parts.In that case, please sound the alarm!

And according to Ernest Hemingway:

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master".