Flashback – 2007

(Picture source: http://agrowknow.org)

It’s the time of the year again – to reflect how the year has been for this blogger. Overall for country, it was not good but I managed to travel to new places and got busy with work, family and blogging.

The recap of main blog posts – month by month basis:-

January 2007

What is a New Year without a New Year Resolution? I managed to do up one.

I finally read on the Great Mahatma Gandhi and I learned that he had his ups and downs before becoming a saint.

Attack on bloggers started but the question is whether the buggers who calling for the attack has moral grounds to even call bloggers to be responsible

With just 4 years to go from 2008, will it be the end of World in 2012?

Start of many things to change for my beloved car this year

February 2007

If one is working in the IT industry, it will be a matter of time before one buys a laptop – whether it is for work or personal use, it is a big decision indeed

Threaten them or silence them – that is the policy of the Government of today

After change of car battery, shock absorbers was due next

The first flight out from the country for this year – next stop: Dubai

March 2007

In the hustle bustle of daily work, sometime we don’t realize how hard some people do their work. I felt humbled.

300 Spartans – bloody battles will not be the same anymore

April 2007

I never imagined this but I made history when traveled to Kabul

What! There is no chilly sauce in Kabul? I am screwed!

May 2007

It is just a matter of time before I see this in Kabul – convoy of foreign troops. The first was the French Army Convoy, then was the Turkish and later US troops

What is TDS? I never learned about it when I was in Malaysia but when in foreign country, knowing TDS levels was crucial between being healthy and being sick

New to Google Earth – I spotted my Grandma’s house from space. When I send her the snap shot, she got a shocked

I had an inspiration for a story based on the story line from “On the Lot” series

Far away from home and family – I missed my son’s 3rd birthday

June 2007

I held a fully loaded AK 47 in Kabul – a first in my life

Inspired by “On the Lot” series, I got an idea to direct a short film on the team from Kabul for my company annual dinner

Highlighted the lack of security in Astro website – all personal information on an unsecured website without a care from Astro

Some good things have to come to come a stop at one point of time. Perhaps uninspired with lack of settings on my digital camera, I stopped posting in my photo blog – it is a temporary stop of course

Singapore is not a real country – another foot in mouth statement from the well known moron in the Government

My wife’s tooth problem started – little I realized that this will have a bearing on her health for the next few months especially when the dentist gave a gastric deducing medication

July 2007

More sites unsecured – earlier I highlighted on Astro but more sites are found to be unsecured. When will the Malaysian corporate ever learn? After a full swing attack from the hackers and untold theft of personal information?

God is great, so does religious beliefs but when it comes to religion lunatics in Malaysia, there is no short supply of them. God is watching them very closely, so does the Satan

Partly inspired by old photos and comments from old school mates, here is a shot of my first day in school – old memories

Started to post some old photos – from an era where life was peaceful and easy-going

The Government and the never ending blogging paranoia from the Mis-information Minister

August 2007

My showcase have arrived and it made the living room more “presentable”. I finally had a place to put all the souvenirs from my travels from abroad

Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia – there is no doubt of that!

Old memory – my dad’s old car, missing the ride on peppy small car

Bailout in sugar coating – the Transport Minister was out from the country and a lot of things seems to be swept under the carpet

Another bus tragedy – as usual, a lot of finger pointing and recommendations

Hectic journey had started – KLIA – Dubai – Kabul

September 2007

Tried not sleeping for 3 days? I have and the outcome is ugly!

Budget 2008 – Oppositions get into the act. Interesting development for the country

RPK started the petition to Agong, the catalyst for BERSIH rally and the subsequent HINDRAF rally

I updated the RSS URL for this blog

October 2007

Samy Vellu wants higher toll from 1st Jan 2008 – someone is making a huge profit somewhere and it is not the average Joe public

More money wasting ideas up in space – What do you expect of the money wasting government?

Harjit – the guest blogger, it is great to get in touch with old school mates, no matter which year they were in

November 2007

The extremists were at it again – a Hindu temple was demolished but little they realized that this sparked the Hindraf rally couple of weeks later. Samy Vellu was boo-ed off from the demolished temple site

Just in time to celebrate Deepavali in Malaysia – after all these years, did a small gathering for close friends & family members

Bersih, RPK and the Army – need to say more. Power to the people and let those in power for far too long that their days are numbered

My first post on Hindraf – a big impact on Indians despite it was played out by those in power

I almost fell on a slippery bathroom – one wrong hit on the head and rest would have been history!

Corruption goes extra wild – RM40,000 for a car plate number. Buggers in power are getting bolder and more arrogant

December 2007

No shortage of morons in the Government – trouble makers who often got scot-free every time they open their filthy mouth. Citizenship is not a bargain for Malaysians and if so, plenty of them from the ruling party would have lost their citizenship

MBPJ’s latest act of “Napoleanism” – we almost forgot about these power abusers until it is too late

After mulling about it, Government pressed the ISA button. So much so for the cheap talk of getting the trouble-makers to court but ISA did well to silence the opposed voices. That is democracy Malaysian style

New venture for the blog – my current read column. Something for the new year

Final Hindraf post for the year. A lot have happened and it will be a waste of human sacrifices if we have not learned our lessons and work towards a better Malaysia in the New Year

Happy 2008 New Year to the readers of this blog (thanks for keeping the blog alive), fellow bloggers (hope we make a stronger impact on the “opposed” voices) and fellow Anak Bangsa Malaysia (remember we are in this together irregardless of the color of our skin, culture and religion)

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Flashback – 2006

My First True SLR

I had cheaper cameras before – RM100 point & shoot camera (no auto focus) was my first camera which my aunt bought for me after I did well in my exams. But unlikely these days, that camera only “came out” on important days like birthdays.

One fine day, I was passing by PS (Petaling Street) when I noticed an old lady with a small table with some items on it. A small crowd gathered in front of her, going through the items. Curiosity got better of me and I too stopped to see what the interesting items were. She had a couple of cameras, telescopes and other small items – all Russian made. One item stood up and had me drooling thinking – it was a classic Russian SLR camera.

I nervously asked the lady – “Berapa ini (how much is this)?” Her answer was RM100. RM100? That was a bit hard to believe at first because it cost the same as the point & shoot camera that I had but buying things in Petaling Street had me thinking whether the camera was a genuine one or not. I grab hold the camera – it was heavy and well built. But in the end, I gave it a pass – I did not have the money anyway.

Couple of weeks later, I was passing by the old lady again. This time I had the money and a strong urge to buy the camera. I just wished the price of the camera had not gone up. To my surprise, the lady quoted me RM60 – perhaps it was the real price of the camera or she just have gotten desperate to sell the items off. At RM60 – it was a bargain. I quickly bought it without any further thought.

Zenit 122 was a manual SLR that came with camera kit (body and a simple lens), ISO 16 to 500 , shutter speed between 1/500 seconds to 1/30 seconds (pathetic compared to today’s standards but it did get something interesting night shots) and an auto timer. One very plus point about this camera is the built. It was built like a rock – heavy and sturdy (internet checking indicates 820g – Nikon D40 in comparison weights approximately 450 g).

The “Russian” stayed with me for couple years until the time where digital cameras got cheaper and more advanced than the aging Zenit. The cost of film and development of the film eventually killed my interest to continue using it. It found itself in my storeroom and I completely forgotten about it until my son managed to get hold of it and use it as a toy. He will link his Lego set into one long line and take the camera in the pretext of catching a snake on camera.

HINDRAF – a year end thought

The closing posts for 2007 would not be complete without a post on one of the main event of this year – rally protests in the streets of the Malaysian capital city.

Started by BERSIH and eventually erupting during the HINDRAF’s rally, it probably has changed the political landscape for Pak Lah and perhaps Malaysian political field. What was portrayed as “Mr Clean”, Pak Lah’s image has been shaken up by these street protests and it was timely so too – the election is around corner, daily expenses has gone up, the public been imposed with high toll & petroleum charges and the fight against corruption is still bland as before.

Let’s talk about Hindraf – it probably had more implications when it comes to street protests more than the also successful BERSIH protest.

Indian & Street Rally

We have to say that it was unprecedented!

It is not that Indians had never protested before – they have done it before especially when it came to betterment of life in rubber estates and demolishment of temples but probably never on a larger scale. But when HINDRAF organised the street rally, it was unprecedented because never before Indians had ignored the threats of arrest and strong actions by the police to walk down the streets facing water cannons and tear gases to highlight their stand.

It was unprecedented because it was not done on such a big scale and well organised. By then, the Government should have realised that there is a need to listen to these grievousness. But unfortunately, those who were participated in this rally were labelled as criminals and hard actions were taken thereafter.

Impression on MIC

At the end of the day, MIC ended up looking like a total failure and probably they are – they still unable to resolve the temple demolishment, something that very sensitive to the Hindus and probably the factor that sparked the Hindraf rally. MIC did try to do some damage control by highlighting the “work” that it has done for the Indians but the fact is the rally has eroded some support that it has among Indians.

MIC has guarded its “Indian turf” rather viciously starting with its long time President. When Mahathir and Lim Leong Sik retired gracefully, Samy Vellu marched on. It seems that the Indians in this country will be “lost” without the MIC supremo firmly in power. It seems like there was “unfinished work” by Samy Vellu when it comes to the betterment of the Indians in Malaysia.

For some of us, “unfinished work” simply means someone clinging on to the power for personal gains and nothing more. A wise man will simply allow someone else to finish the work if it has remained “unfinished” under him, right? So when HINDRAF rallied, it did shatter MIC’s invulnerability and perhaps made it to work harder to convince the Indians that MIC was still relevant in the community. Tough job boys!

Then again, to blame it on a political party maybe a bit extreme because achievements in education, business and socio standing at the end of the day, still rely on the individual shoulders. Being used to the “Ketuanan Melayu” crap that is grossly unfair to all Malaysians, the Indians should have by now built up their resilience to meet challenges both locally and internationally. To continue to hand out for Government intervention makes it no different to the ones handing out their hand under the “Never Ending Policy”.

Indians have realised this by now and they are better off than before but the question is – was it due to MIC or due to the individuals who were convinced that it is up to them to better themselves?

I.S.A

The question was why the Government was so inclined to stop street protests violently and why the unnecessary need for water cannons and tear gas against harmless citizens? When threats did not stop the rally, then idea of terrorism was cooked to justify the actions against the rally. I have to say cooked up because till this day, no one (from the police or the Government) had actually proved the link between HINDRAF and terror groups.

The main stream media continued to carry out unproved statements linking HINDRAF and terror groups but where is proof? When someone linked the actions of the government to ethnic cleansing, Pak Lah banged the table and shouted “where is the proof”. So it is ironic for the Government talking about the links with terror group without producing proof.

 

The Government acted by imposing the ISA on the Hindraf leaders. If Hindraf was indeed linked with terrorism, then why the Government did not prove it in court and why the Government had to silence the Hindraf leaders with ISA. Why the big secret?

Government’s Flip Flop

Coated unnecessarily as illegal rally (and for some as racists rally), Hindraf rally did bring up the weakness of the Government in managing the welfare of all Malaysians. Whilst it may not have achieved the targets that it was meant to be achieved in its memorandums, it (for right or wrong) created awareness among the Indians (and probably for all minorities in Malaysia) that there is something wrong with the government and that the Indians should start looking for a better alternatives and strategy.

The Government itself helped to fuel up street rallies by their inactions and flip flop statements.

In respect of HINDRAF, the call for discussion was not new. HINDRAF did try to talk to the Government in August way back before they came down to the streets in protest. The government shut them down back them but when street rally did eventually erupted, the Government tried to look like angel and call for a face to face talk with HINDRAF. Once again HINDRAF tried to meet up with the Government but once again, the Government went back on their words and shut HINDRAF down – a clear case of flip flop decision from Pak Lah’s end.

And what about the talk of setting up a committee to look after the non-Muslim’s affairs in this country? After several cheap talks, it eventually went up in smoke. Pak Lah announced that there is already enough things in place to take care of non-Muslim’s affairs. In other words, it was back to status quo.

DAMAI

“The silent majority” – a name that Government calls on those who did not participated in street rally. Criminals, instead, was painted on those did. How ironic? If one noticed that the “silent majority” speak out after the rally, it seems to say that the street rally was wrong. But was it? Certainly those who participated in the street rally were no criminals either. They were just ordinary people who have gotten frustrated.

 

And talking about DAMAI, if you think they are representing the “Silent Majority” then you are dead wrong. They are nothing but the Government stooges put in place for damage control. The fact that the “majority” of those representing are from political party, it does nothing but only dilutes the very credibility of those who claim representing the silent majority. Besides if we wanted for someone to represent us, we would vote for representative in the general election (we should vote for real representatives instead of those political party “yes man” now crowding the Parliament House).

Poor People

At the height of the HINDRAF issue, one politician said that there are poor people in every community. Whilst it is true, one cannot ignore the Government’s role in making the rich to be richer and the poor to be poorer. It has channelled resources to the wrong persons and wrong agendas making the poor to remain poor.

Never End Policy (NEP) is one of the main culprits and the Government is dead on to continue to sustain this grossly unfair policy. Why?

Shouldn’t this apartheid alike policy be replaced with a policy that looks at status of income rather than colour of the skin to ensure uniform distribution of wealth? HINDRAF did not question the rights of the Bumiputera but rather questioned the denied rights of the minority Indians. And why they are not far off from the truth? If a rich Bumiputera has been accorded a special discount to buy an expensive house, tell me how this helping the poor Bumiputera?

A continuation of a policy that looks at the colour of the skin rather than state of income will ultimately will cause a pool of poor people in every community. For those who have not been directly “covered” under the policy, the pool is even bigger.

Conclusion

The call for change and frustrations against the Government eventually boiled over and spilled to the streets. If the Government decides to ignore it and choose to sweep it under the carpet as it was done many times before, the Government may writing their doom themselves.

Malaysians are coming to an age where they are no longer considered mindless dummies for political parties to continue to be in power.

Political parties should know by now that for every wrong & corrupt action condoned & acted by them is now clearly registered by Malaysians and in time, these will be represented into voting out the corrupt, wasteful and arrogant out from office.

Story Time

 

(Help! The language is ”killing” me) 

Sometimes you get jewels like this in your inbox:-

My dear, I am miss Angela from Asmara, Eritrea, single and 21 years old. After accessing your details in the internet site i copied out only your email address. Immediately after going through your information i made up my mind to contact you for long term relationship, because you are my choice of trust and i see nothing wrong with the choice that i have made in you. Now that i am in a state of absolute confusion I must let you know that my daddy was the Financial controller to the Common Wealth North African Region.

About my parents; My mummy died in labour when she was giving birth to a baby in the hospital in Asmara, and both my mummy and the baby died together, then i was only 11 years of age. My daddy died in a car accident and the car driver that jammed my daddy’s car ran away and my daddy’s lawyer and my daddy’s brother are among the suspects, and they are all against me because of my daddy’s properties in Eritrea.The following information is my purpose of choosing you. Before my daddy died he made me the beneficiary of the amount of 14.5 Million gbp£ in his account with Citi Bank in Dakar, Senegal. On my way travelling to Dakar, Senegal i arrived this Gambia on transit, on the same night i arrived Gambia i was attacked by 2 big boys in my guest house (hotel) room, they robbed me, collected my hand bag that contained all my money, as if that was not enough, they tried to rape me so i collected the nearest object in the room and heated one of them on the head and screamed to the hearing of the neighbouring compounds and people came out and descended on the criminals, the next morning the police came to the guest house and arrested me, since then i have been kept under awaiting trial here in this central prison Gambia because the criminal i heated paralysed as a result of the severe beating given to him by the neighbourhood.

I am among the girls newly appointed to head the girls sector in this prison, hence i have the advantage to use the prison computer to communicate with you, and i will be very glad to also have a detailed information about you. From here i communicated with citi bank and they said that because of the written agreement that my daddy signed with them that i must be present in their bank to withdraw the money by myself OR that i should appoint a foreign partner who will receive the money on my behalf. the money is my only hope in life. as soon as Citi Bank transfers the money into your bank account, you will use some of the money to get me a lawyer or lawyers to fight for my case and get me out of here, then the same week of my release you will fly down here in Gambia and i and you will depart to your home in your country together. I want you to help me receive the amount and also be my finance and investment manager.

Reply me only on email: Angelakenn777@hotmail.com ONLY. In your reply do give me your name and house address and your mobile phone number so that i will keep it. With all my Love – Miss Angela Kennedy

Getting “I have the money but need foreign partner” kind of emails is nothing new for most of us but one with ugly English is something new. And getting one with a fairy tale like twist is even rare. I don’t know about you but reading a statement like “i and you will depart to your home in your country together” gives me goose bumps.

Bad English but good creativity!

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Belated X Mas

Sorry but I was away…belated Merry Christmas for friends and readers (here’s some snow)