The Roof is Leaking

Remember how the parliament building was leaking so badly, it probably cost our dear Samy his job? The last I could recall, it was still leaking. Then it was Lim Guan Eng's official residence leaking and apparently some government officer estimated the repair to be hundreds of thousands. Well, I don't really care if it's Pak Lah's home leaking or even the famous 1151 condo! But it so happens, it's now my own apartment which is leaking! Yes, it was raining heavily today (but not really the extremely heavy type). I returned home after the rain has turned to drizzle and lo behold, I found my living hall flooded. Darn, and it's a Saturday - the apartment management is not working. SHIT!

The good thing was, the dripping rainwater missed my TV, DVD player and camera. Lucky, lucky me! Now I hope it doesn't rain over the weekend. At least till Monday when I get the management guys to settle this leak!

State of the Straits

Presenting the Straits of Johore:

Seafood anyone?

I was walking around by the Straits of Johore, and found the invasion of some kind of foamy stuff in the straits. Indeed, this is a daily phenomenon. And I've not even taken pictures of the 'gifts' Malaysians pour into the sea - plastic bags, shoes, containers, even chairs! God knows, how long our sea will survive this plunder??

JB - The Southern Gateway

Johor Bahru – the southern gateway to Malaysia. This is the first sight of Malaysia for visitors coming in through Singapore. Of course, as an entry point, the authorities have indeed done a good job in making sure that the city greets its visitors with enthusiasm, warmth and the likes. Of course, in true Malaysian culture, we have the famous traffic crawl on the causeway and greeted by a superbly rundown piece of architecture called the ‘JB Kastam’. Also, the road conditions after the architecture is sure to entice all first-time visitors. As you travel along the main street of JB, fondly called ‘Jalan Ah Fook’, you’ll have a great sense of security, that it is absolutely safe to roam around town and not be mugged by some small-time thief, which they call ‘Ah Chak Ko’. Of course, as I say it is safe, and therefore I’ve never met an ‘Ah Chak Ko’ before. The town is teeming with life as night falls. There is lots of ‘Kedai Minuman’ aka pubs and nightclubs. These healthy nightspots are sadly often mistaken for being dens of sins. However, for KL-ites, it’ll be quite difficult to get any good Mamak stalls here.

The roads are marvelous in JB. Try the Pasir Gudang Highway. This state-of-the-art highway has potholes of all sizes, guaranteeing you a free horse ride all the way. Surely tantalizes the taste buds of all horse-loving creatures. The bushes, lalang, weed and voids all along the way provides a scenery not to be missed. In fact, you may want to try driving at night. This will surely give you a complimentary test on your eyesight. Do note too, that there are streetlights along most of the highway, which are interestingly seldom lit. Also, don’t bother much about nice people who seem to like to cross the road at various stretches.

When it comes to shopping, you are in shopper’s paradise. Drop by at the most happening mall – Giant Hypermarket… Wooo! In fact there are three Giants in JB, and counting. Or if you like something more quiet, visit the Waterfront, Best World or Pacific Mall, which are all famous for empty lots. No crowds, no parking charges… what else do you want? Then for all those Taiwanese-fashion-sense-inclined people, a stop at Holiday Plaza is a must. Duty-free liquor? Try Eden Garden!

As you see, there are so many things to see in JB. So grab your bags and visit this truly beautiful city. Ohhh… have I mentioned the beautiful beaches, the ones that you’ll never know what you can see when you are in the sea? So… come on down for a fun-filled holiday.

Gravels and electricity

Have you ever wondered why the compound of an electrical substation is usually covered with stones or gravel? I have always thought that it is to avoid water retention when it rains. I also know that it has something to do with step potential and earthing resistance. But I also found out that there are more to it.

During rain, water seeps through the gravel and avoids flooding in the substation. (Water and electricity don't really go together!) After rain, the gravel does not allow the soil to dry as sunlight cannot penetrate through. This improves earthing resistance. People in the electrical line knows the importance of low earth resistance in substations.

Of course, the presence of gravel slows weeding. So the gardener need not go into the substation with a lawn mower every month. By the way this is not allowed as we don't want grass to be splattered all over the HV equipment.

But of all, the most interesting bit of info is that gravel helps to deter snakes! Apparently, snakes are attracted to corona sound (that kind of crackling sound you hear sometimes near high voltage lines). Snakes prefer to slither along on smoother surfaces like roads. However, the pointed edges of gravel makes it difficult for the snakes to move - hurts their belly! So gravel is a snake deterrent! Good idea as our technicians wouldn't like to move around in the dark at night with snakes around.

A Malaysian no more...

The fuel rebate exercise recently has created a mad rush for Malaysians throughout the country with the post offices being stormed over the weekend. Personally, I had a pleasant experience and breezed through the process. It is thumbs up for Pos Malaysia on this.

However, I could not say the same for a friend of mine who left the post office sad and disappointed. The worst part is, he left with a feeling that he has been stripped of his rights as a citizen of Malaysia. This friend of mine was born in Singapore but is a citizen of Malaysia all his life, well, at least that’s what his MyKad and passport indicate. Like many others, he made his trip to the post office to get his share of RM625. He did this a few days after the start of the exercise. However, the post officer informed him that he is not eligible for it. This is because a circular has been sent to the post offices on 16.06.08 to halt disbursement of the rebate to foreign citizen holders of IC with the numbers 7X, 8X or 9X in the seventh and eighth digits. My friend happened to have the numbers 71 on his MyKad since he’s born in Singapore and was automatically deemed a foreigner. Since when is a Malaysian only a Malaysian when he’s born in Malaysia? Does this mean that all Malaysians born overseas (including children of diplomatic officers) are in fact stripped of their citizenship? Can foreigners actually hold MyKad?

How come such a directive was not made public? I did not see any such announcement in the newspapers or any other media. The officer at the post office was kind to show proof of the circular but did not allow a copy to be taken by us. I think the circular was issued by JPJ. Why must there be so much secrecy in this circular? Is it because many people would cease to be Malaysians? I only hope that there has just been some mistake in implementation. After all, isn’t Malaysia famous for grand plans which inevitably fail due to horrible implementation.

I hope the relevant departments would sort things out and return the rightful rebates to all eligible Malaysians regardless of whether they are born on this soil or not. Remember, they are Malaysians, not foreigners!

Outrageous Places

Found these road signs from another website. Talk about giving places outrageous names!

Camels in a flooded desert

Yes... it can get flooded in the desert!

All over a bunch of rocks.

Kudos Malaysia! The verdict is finally out. Our southern neighbor has finally gotten the big rock stained with white bird shit. We made it to wrest control over a bunch of small rocks. What remains is to figure out what to do with the two rocks that disappear during high tide. After decades of dispute, we arrived at a 'win-win' situation. This sorta proves my theory that the winner will always be the one who runs the structure on the islands. This happened for Pedra Branca (can't call it Batu Puteh anymore). It happened to Sipadan, thus Malaysia prevailed. And it is a fact that all countries (even Malaysia) are building one structure or another on Spratlys. Anyhow, we have to accept the decision no matter how sad it is. After all, it is only a bunch of rocks.

The whole incident reminds me of a joke I heard years ago. (DISCLAIMER: Only a joke - no truth in it!!) According to the joke, Samy Vellu was once asked to comment on the dispute over Batu Puteh. He replied with his usual self, "Batu Puteh kah, Batu Hitam kah, I don't care.... as long as nobody touches my Batu Caves. If Singapore wants Pulau Batu Puteh then please take it as long as they return us our Singapore!"

Well the news over Pedra Branca was a break from all the Dr. M - Pak Lah saga. At least we get a change in headlines! That is probably a good thing.

Now that we are done with one dispute... we have finally removed one item from the long list of problems with Singapore. What others do we still have now??

• Water rates still at 3 sen per thousand gallons. (Broad daylight robbery!!!)
• KTM rail line and rail station in Singapore.
• CPF money owed to Malaysians (specifically Peninsular Malaysians). Some say the amount is big enough to cause jitters to Singapore if withdrawn!
• Air space for Singapore air force (is this solved already???)
• Land reclamation works on Straits of Johore (is this done?)

As our ministers try to solve the above over another round of golf, I will pay a visit to Singapore this coming weekend. It's the Great Singapore Sales!

Hot... hot... it's getting real hot.

HOT is the theme nowadays! It's been bloody hot the past week in JB especially two days ago. I checked on the control room terminal and found that the ambient temperature was 37 degC! Can you imagine that? It's almost like summer in the Middle East! And with the humid weather outside, I was sweating from early in the morning. Is this really global warming? I remembered when I was younger, I had no need for any A/C for a good night's sleep. But nowadays, no A/C, no sleep. It's definitely warmer nowadays.

Since we are in the subject of global warming, I would also like to promote a YTL initiative - "Climate Change Week". Catch screenings of 'The 11th Hour', get a copy of 'Wastenomics' or participate in a business conference entitled "ENERGY SECURITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY". For these and more details please visit http://www.ytlcommunity.com/climatechange/ .

It is also getting all heated up in the parliament this week as the first parliament session after the elections commenced. We can definitely expect a more interesting and heated debate nowadays. I only hope we have less of the stupidity and monkey acts that we had in the last term. But somehow I'm not so sure. With some MPs who can hardly speak proper Malay and many who were conveniently voted into parliament, I'm afraid our expectations would not be met. Like some said, the last election, you could have placed a log as a candidate and he would've won as long as he was not on BN's side. But who knows? This is the best chance to see something positive coming out. And if not, at least it would definitely make interesting news every day in the papers.

Pictures from Vietnam

Just before the Chinese New Year, I was in Hồ Chí Minh City and Vũng Tàu. Here are some pictures from this beautiful land. Missed the place very much.Definitely a much better place to live in than Abu Dhabi.