Author Archives: B.Joe

2012 Updates: Doomsday Survival in Malaysia

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Read these first:-

(The essentials for a bug out bag – How many of us have one similar in case we need to grab the essential items from the house and had to go out to somewhere safe and had to survive on our own without getting rescued? Image source: http://americansurvival101.blogspot.com)

We are almost half way there…

A question. How many of you think that we need to get prepared for the unexpected that may or may not happen in the next few months? Most of you? A handful of you? And mind you, I am not even asking you to think about the so-called end of the world prophecy by the Mayans. It is not necessarily have to be that particular scenario.

I read this a couple days ago:-

Leaders of the opposition party may resort to using prolonged violent demonstrations to win the 13th general election as the democratic approach would not yield them victory if general election results in the past is anything to go by, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

(Source)

In Malaysia, the politics of fear has remained the politicians strategy to ensure continued votes to keeps themselves and their cronies in preferable position and I am not saying this is something new. It may not even wrong to say these things out now as fear can be great motivator and make people think twice of the consequences. Violent demonstrations is one example of disruption to our daily routine – food & other essential items may be rationed if businesses are closed for longer terms.  The same goes to the belief that the world may come to an end on 21st December 2o12. Those who fear that the prophecies may come true have started to make preparation for doomsday survival (and there seems to be many of them).

Let’s take the worst case scenario for argument sake. Let’s assume that something will happen in December this year and how one survives that event depends on how one had prepared themselves.

If it comes to the country that you want to be to survive if the world comes to “an end” on 21st December 2012, Malaysia may not be the best choice out there. Don’t get me wrong, Malaysia is a great country and with very little natural disasters to contend with (we don’t have earthquakes now but it may change in the future), we have one less thing to worry about. But then again it may also prove to be our Achilles’ heels – we may feel safe here but being too safe means we get complacent on issue of readiness and survival actions.

Just consider some of these factors that any survivalists in this country have to contend with (in no particular order):-

1. Basement or attic is not a norm in this country.

Just check around – how many of the houses on sale in this country comes with a good size basement or attic? At the most, you have a pitiful size storeroom at the bottom of the staircase (like the one in my house) or a storeroom cum maid’s room in some of the bigger houses. Admittedly houses in Malaysia is still cheaper than some of the houses in the countries that I have travelled to in the last few years but land portion is still a premium – not even enough to build a small garden shed, basement or other structures.

As survivalists, we may not have basements or attics but we have small storerooms (or spare bedrooms) and unfortunately this is what we have to use as storage to build the all important emergency food & other necessity items. It is not enough to hold emergency water storage (those large water tanks) and any food stored in the pitiful sized storerooms would not be enough to last your family for a few days. And certainly without a good sheltered basement, it may not provide a good protection from harsh weather.

There seems to be only one solution for this – buy your own land and build your own disaster proof basement. In Malaysia, most of us can only dream about this.

2. There are not that many survivalist tools & equipment suppliers

Ask this simple question – how easy it is to buy say water purification tablets or well-stocked bug out bag. And our so-called hardware shops around the country is nothing to shout about – it is more accustomed to large scale constructions and if there is a DIY store anywhere, it is not really user-friendly (yes, some of them are well stocked and plenty of Santa’s helpers around to assist).

I know because I have been visiting them quite frequently lately (I am revamping my store-room to be a food & emergency items storage place) and I did not get some of the items on sale. First, the size of the store does not means it is well stocked – despite my high & low search; I have yet to find a float for my water containers. Secondly just how many of the DIY items comes with proper instructions? Not many and that could be a problem – we may not have the solution to all our problems. Thankfully there is one’s resourcefulness and the internet to get all that important guide.

(Yes, you can opt to keep that huge collection tank at ground level but it is not convenient and is not efficient. It has to be lower for gravity to work its wonders. Image source: http://www.constructionresources.com)

3. Rainwater harvesting system is new and only for a privilege few

I am not sure how the rainwater harvesting system in Malaysia really works but from what I have been reading on the net, for the rainwater harvesting system to really work, you need a proper basement. Then again, see the problem here? No basement means insufficient storage space for the rainwater collected (where else you want to keep your water tanks, the complex filtration system and the water pumps?)

It gets worse if you are living in high-rise apartments – you can only rely on one source of water.

You can try to create some kind of storage with the little space you have in your garden but expensive items laying around on the outside in this country may not be laying around for long. You would have spent thousands of ringgit and time to get that installed just to wake up the next morning to find someone with itchy hands had dismantle it for the scrapyards. Such system had to be inside the house where it does not take up space on the garden and it can be safe from unwanted attention.

4. Solar system is new and no framework to allow home users to utilise alternative energy source

It is the same situation as the case of the rainwater harvesting system – the technology is so new and it is only available for a privileged few (a few who have the space and money). And even with the proposed feed-in tariff (FiT) implementation, the energy generated by the solar panels on your property will not necessarily mean that you will be able to be self-sustain on the energy available.

5. It is not easy to get a gun in this country

I think this is crystal clear to all in this country – there are strict gun laws in this country. Well, it could be a good thing and also a bad thing. The good thing is that we can expect less people to be walking around with guns in their hands at doomsday. Consider this:-

The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in Malaysia is 370,000
The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in the United States is 270,000,000

The rate of private gun ownership in Malaysia is 1.5 firearms per 100 people
The rate of private gun ownership in the United States is 88.8 firearms per 100 people

(Source)

So, how else we can defend ourselves and the family when lawlessness rules the day and enforcement agencies are out of commission? Perhaps I may have watched too many zombie movies but it would not wrong to be holding a powerful shotgun and start to clear a couple of crooks out to injure you and your family and grab whatever little resources that you may have. It is a nice to have scenario but perhaps only in the movies. Not in real life and certainly not in this country.

But having said that, it does not mean that Malaysia is the wrong country to be in – we also have other advantages compared to other countries – there’s plenty of sunshine and rain to keep surviving in bad times. It all depends on individuals on how they want to proceed from there. Let’s start with the easy ones – build proper food & water storage for the family and start growing own vegetables and fruits in whatever space we have (even if we are living in high rise buildings). If this is not possible, then at least equipped yourself with the right knowledge in survival, medicine and DIY skills.

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“K”, “P”, “R” and Schools

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Let’s talk something serious this week…

(All you need is mutual respect on each others beliefs, culture and religion and we can get along just fine no matter what happens. Unfortunately we sometimes forget this and make a fool of ourselves by teaching our kids to be the same low-life idiot as we are. Image source: http://www.ausgamers.com)

Damn, I have talked about schools being safe for our kids and it seems that the need for it is fast becoming crucial from another type of danger.

Read this first:-

Racism has reared its ugly head in schools again and sources claim that there is an attempt to cover up the latest incident. Last week, a teacher at the secondary school had allegedly scolded a group of Indian Form Five students, calling them “Hindu Pariah.”

She also allegedly ticked off two other Indian Muslim boys for befriending the Indian students. Sources claimed that education authorities and headmistress Farah Shikh Abd Rahman attempted to cover up the matter and defended the teacher when confronted by parents of the affected students.

Sources claimed that the officials, comprising Mohd Raffie Bachik, Huzaid Ibrahim and Daud Shaari, warned the students and witnesses to “keep their mouth shut” over the incident. The students were warned of dire consequences if they were to disseminate any information on the issue to outsiders, including their parents.

Farah, who became the school’s headmistress some four years ago, was also accused of uttering derogatory remarks against Indian teachers and parents previously.

(Source)

It is very disturbing when we read about racial segregation and abuse at school level. It is even more disturbing that no serious attempts have been made to punish those who have uttered these racial laced statements and curtail this dangerous trend at the bud. Whatever happened to Najib’s 1Malaysia crap?

Anyway, the reason why I am writing this is because in addition to incidents of fellow Malaysians calling and being called “K” or “P” (and it seems that calling Indians “K” or “P” is not limited to non-Indians as well), there seems to be another disturbing trend in school these days. A couple days ago, my son told me that a classmate told him that he could not be my son’s friend because my son is not a Muslim and this is what his parents had told him to do (at this point, I went like WTF and had hoped that my son had seriously misunderstood his classmate).

If we are already alarmed by the acts of stupidity of some teachers (no matter what is their sorry excuse) towards their young students who are from different race, culture and religion, just imagine the shock we get when we learn that some dumb and shit-thinking some parents are actively teaching their innocent young ones on racial and religion segregation. Just imagine what will happen when these children grows one day and faces others who are not in the same colour of their skin or religion. Wonder who would be the bigger losers then?

Calling each other names among schoolmates is nothing new – I still recall calling some of my friend funny names (like my friend, we teased him by calling Bunsen Mouth because he had large lips or another, Bulu Man because he had thick hairs on his body and then we had the usual “Pendeks”, “Panjangs” and “Gemuks”) and I have been called names by others but it does not last for long and is usually done for fun. But I don’t recall calling anyone any names that bordered on racial or religion slurs. And certainly I don’t recall any one instance we do not want to friend anyone because they are not in the same stream of religion that we were in. Perhaps we were too innocent or perhaps our parents had done things right in instilling a sense of respect and understanding of others’ culture and religion. But things are seems to be different now.

Despite our trust on national school (and the hope that we will finally implement the one school concept), on our belief that national unity starts at school level and our patience on the revamped education system, such incidents even though may be isolated, does raise some serious alarms. Is it a tip of the iceberg or is it something we can simply ignore and move on? What are we doing to instil a sense of respect and unity among our students? Where are the neutrality and the better judgement of our teachers (on how and when to punish the students) and the fun of going to school like what we experienced in 1980s and before?

Coming back to my son, I took a deep breath and told my son to simply ignore them (since there is nothing much we can do), focus and do what he need to do in school – soak up whatever positive knowledge he can get, pass the exams with flying colours and enjoy his schooling days whilst it lasts and if he is hard-working, polite, respectable and sincere to all regardless of colour of the skin, culture or religion, he will find great friends in school. He seemed to be wiser than me – he told me that it is what he has done and spends more time with his closer circle of friends at school (who I know are very kind and simply brilliant in their studies). And he has a bigger circle of friends (from all races and religion) at the neighbourhood (one reason he goes to the playground on a daily basis) and already have major “plans” for his future studies.

Finally, I don’t know about you but I feel that calling others “K” or “P” will only make it offensive if one chooses to respond to it the wrong way. The “K” and “P” words are not new words and it has been used historically to connote a certain group of people or caste. Sure, no one complained about it back then but as society evolves and the barrier between group of people – race, religion, caste, etc – breaks down, the use of “K” or “P” is no longer appropriate. There is no justification to continue to utter those words in public especially after it has been made clear that such words are deemed derogatory. The same happened to the “N” word. How do you explain to young children that these are not nice words to be uttered to others and how you get the other young children to ignore them? All the sudden, all that hoo-haa on the Interlok seems to make some sense now (my apology).

We can continue to talk about racism in this country and on the implications of “K” and “P” (or other derogatory) words and the extent of religion & racial adherence creeping into our daily activities & even national policies and hope that things will not go from bad to worse. And no doubt race and religion is sensitive issues in this country but it is a high time we wake up to reality – let’s keep racism and religion segregation out from our schools – it does not matter what we adults think and do on these issues but the young innocent mind is too precious to be wasted on such things. Let’s not act dumb.

Have a nice weekend…

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GE 13: DAP’s Early Irreplaceable Loss?

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Gosh, I hope DAP have not scored their own goal…

(I am not sure which one is more damaging – a senior politician resigning from the party due to opnion difference or a group of old ex-soldiers doing a butt “exercise” in front of Ambiga’s house. Image source: NST)

Read this:-

PETALING JAYA: Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim has announced his resignation from the DAP, citing “irreconcilable differences” with the party leadership. His resignation comes days after his criticism of the recent Bersih 3.0 rally and the announcement that his senatorship, which ends on May 31, would not be renewed.

During an interview aired on NTV7 last night, the party vice-chairman said he would advise the DAP of his resignation “within the next few minutes”.

“I think the time has come for me to take a hard, very serious look at my own position within the party. Given the very wide differences now, which are irreconcilable, there is no alternative but for me to seek to withdraw, with some dignity left. “I will therefore resign my membership from DAP and I will be advising the party within the next few minutes,” he said.

A man of strong principles, Tunku Aziz is among the few Malays who joined the Chinese-dominated party and was immediately made a DAP vice-chairman. In 2009, he was nominated as a senator for Penang.

Tunku Aziz said he had already been warned by friends and colleagues to be prepared to be sacked.

(Source)

From the start, I have been very supportive of the opposition in this country for a simple reason – without them, you can kiss goodbye to rule of law, enforcement of human-rights, abolishment of double standard and better governance in this country. You know how things went before 2008 when arrogance and abuse of power & trust ruled the day. And since 2008 (thanks to BERSIH 1.0 and Hindraf rallies coupled with the general feeling of frustration even at BN level) the opposition got just a bit stronger with the capture of 2 important states (at one point we had 3) and denying BN the two-third in Parliament and things have improved somehow. It is not perfect though – there are still areas where both BN and PR need to work especially on national unity and governance.

But still, you get this strong feeling that despite capturing 2 states and making a stronger impact in the Parliament, the opposition has not matured enough to handle valid criticisms and dissenting voices within the party tactfully. Yes, there is dissenting voices within the opposition parties especially within PKR in the past – not all made in the best interest of the people but when it is, they either do it openly in the public – throwing mud at each other at the expense of the party image, ideal principles and the public trusts or they simply indirectly force the other resign or to keep their mouth shut. It seems to have affected DAP as well now

Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim was one of the few politicians who had the right charisma and conviction on what need to be done right in this country (the other is Tengku Razaleigh) – after all, he was one of the founders of Transparency International-Malaysia (an NGO that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption). And just because he did not agree on breaking the law to have street protests which did not go along with the hard-cores in the party, he was heckled and abused to the extent of he gracefully resign from the political party.

Perhaps the cause for resignation could have been due to some other reasons which is not made known to all (some are saying that DAP forced the resignation, others are saying that Tunku decided to resign on his own free will) but still, the resignation of a respectable politician from DAP could not have come at the worst time for the DAP and the opposition even if DAP is not in the wrong.

It is apparent now that DAP is doing a serious damage control whilst the pro-BN bloggers and media is having a field day (a massive one with some even bordering stupidity) painting DAP as just another Chinese chauvinist party or a party who dislikes dissenting voices (with the elections just around the corner, who wouldn’t?).

It’s good that Lim Guan Eng was quick to make the statement that DAP still needs Tunku but they not only need to only show that they are sincere in calling Tunku to reconsider his resignation but also that they are matured even to accept and consider valid dissenting views positively (valid and not the usual stupid ones like this). This is necessary if they want to show that it is truly a multi culture, multi race political party. This could be easier said than done for DAP considering now Tunku is unlikely to heed Lim Guan Eng’s appeal to reconsider his resignation – not when he had said this:-

Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim has openly attacked Lim Guan Eng, saying he does not trust the DAP secretary-general and ending any hopes of bringing the former party vice-chairman back into the fold after his resignation on Monday. Tunku Aziz, who was the party’s most senior Malay leader, said Guan Eng “had no sense of decency and was biadap (uncouth).”

“Kit Siang and I are old friends. I trust him but his son (Guan Eng) is a different kettle of fish,” he told The Star in an interview published today, referring to DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

(Source)

Strong words indeed from the ex-DAP man (very damaging to PR and another bullet for BN to shoot on PR’s creditability). What is done is done and it is good that Lim Guan Eng decided not to retaliate these strong words – there is no point trying to pacify those have decided to resign and moved on but continued the personal attacks on the leaders and the party. The same shit happens in BN too (still remember Dr M’s attack on Pak Lah?) and expect more with elections around the corner.

And considering the whole country is readying for the next general elections and when BN is determined to win back the key lost states of Penang and Selangor and have recently gained substantial grounds, it is hoped that the opposition treads more carefully when it comes to address political issues in and out of the party. Calling Lim Guan Eng biadap may have cause some dents on DAP’s stronghold in Penang.

It is not as bad as some dumb “ex-soldiers” doing a butt exercise but still a bad publicity is the last thing we need now. I just hope that the party have learned their lessons and act wiser next time – Tunku has decided to resign and nothing much DAP can do about it – it’s time for them to move on and focus on more important things.

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The Week Has Been….

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Let’s talk on something that you may be facing but failed to recognize it…

(When is the last time you had depression? Or you are having one right now but failed to recognise one? Have you asked for help from someone or have you decided to face it all alone and end up more depressed? Image: http://www.bipolardisordertestonline.com)

Whilst I finally managed to resolve the Ubuntu upgrade problem and upgraded to 12.04 LTS, this week has rather a stressful one. A couple days ago, I had to bring my Dad to the hospital for check-up (he has not been well since the last weekend) and after a long 4 hours wait for the doctors to complete their observations and diagnostics (discount 1 hour in between on waiting for the doctors), they informed that my Dad is undergoing bouts of depression (it seemed serious though).

Depression, damn I have heard of it and I am pretty sure I have experience it myself when I was far away from home, family and Malaysian food.

Wikipedia defines depression as:-

“….a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person’s thoughts, behavior, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless.

They may lose interest in activities that once were pleasurable; experience loss of appetite or overeating, have problems concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions; and may contemplate or attempt suicide. Insomnia, excessive sleeping, fatigue, loss of energy, or aches, pains or digestive problems that are resistant to treatment may be present.

Depressed mood is not necessarily a psychiatric disorder. It is a normal reaction to certain life events, a symptom of some medical conditions, and a side effect of some medical treatments. Depressed mood is also a primary or associated feature of certain psychiatric syndromes such as clinical depression…”

My dad is reaching 65 years old starting line and based on the national average of 71.8 years and that is considered old but depression not necessarily affect old people. I guess everyone reaches this point at one point of their live except a few mortals like my Grandma who in her late 80s can still see far without glasses, can speak clearly (including fluent Bahasa), can walk unaided, travels a lot and have a great expectation of life. I hope to follow on her footsteps as well.

The doctors have prescribed some medications for my Dad and it seems to be working – he finally had a good long deep sleep last night compared to the last few days. He had opted to stay at home to rest instead of going to work although he admitted that he can’t wait to go back to work once he has recovered. Of course, there would be follow up therapies to ensure a complete recovery from depression but this may take some time. It is not possible to keep my Dad locked up at home and closely monitor him – he is not the type.

PubMed Health recommends the followings to keep depression at bay:-

  • Get more exercise
  • Maintain good sleep habits
  • Seek out activities that bring you pleasure
  • Volunteer or get involved in group activities
  • Talk to someone you trust about how you are feeling
  • Try to be around people who are caring and positive
  • Avoid alcohol or illegal substances at all cost

Kids Health further suggests:-

Exercise – People who are depressed may not feel much like being active. But make yourself do it anyway (ask a friend to exercise with you if you need to be motivated). Once you get in the exercise habit, it won’t take long to notice a difference in your mood. Two other aspects of yoga — breathing exercises and meditation — can also help people with depression feel better.

Nurture yourself with good nutrition – Depression can affect appetite. Proper nutrition can influence a person’s mood and energy. So eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and get regular meals (even if you don’t feel hungry, try to eat something light, like a piece of fruit, to keep you going).

Identify troubles, but don’t dwell on them – Try to identify any situations that have contributed to your depression. When you know what’s got you feeling blue and why, talk about it with a caring friend. Talking is a way to release the feelings and to receive some understanding. If there’s no one to tell, pouring your heart out to a journal works (hmm, like how I usual do by blogging?)

Express yourself – With depression, a person’s creativity and sense of fun may seem blocked. Exercise your imagination (painting, drawing, doodling, sewing, writing, dancing, composing music, etc.) and you not only get those creative juices flowing, you also loosen up some positive emotions.

Look on the bright side – If depression has you noticing only the negative, make an effort to notice the good things in life. Try to notice one thing, then try to think of one more. Consider your strengths, gifts, or blessings.

Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish from normal stress, anger, mild depression and serious depression but I guess if one thinks positive and trust others to help out when the going gets tough, things will turn out just fine. And that is what we planned for my Dad on his road to recovery. After all, he has come this far in his life – putting his kids through good education and who now working in stable, good jobs. He have lived well enough to see 2 grand kids (including the Big Boss who is very, very close to his Grandpa) and is likely to see another 2 in the coming months.

For now, for the family (me and my siblings and my Mom), we probably entering a whole new phase and making sure he continues with his medication and therapies – I am very positive of this.

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Preparing for BERSIH 4.0

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Just a quick one…

(Out of the many images of BERSIH 3.0 that I have seen (including the overturn police patrol car), this has to be one of the most moving one – a Malaysian lying down in front of the police water cannon truck to stop them. It reminded me of the lone protestor who stood in front of the tanks during the Tiananmen Square. Image source: Lim SK @ Flickr)

We had BERSIH 1.0 in 2007 which was unprecedented (together with Hindraf rally), 2.0 in 2011 was better and forced the Government to appoint PSC to look into the electoral reforms and last week, we had 3.0 which saw the police getting some beating from the protestors (and a larger number of protestors and reporters getting the same from the police) and you can be rest assured that if the electoral reforms are not implemented in time or with the right and sincere thrust, we will have BERSIH 4.0 and more.

Whilst we all agree that there seems to be some kind of steps taken by the Government to address the electoral shortcomings and come up with a list of reforms, it means nothing if these reforms is not implemented in time before the next general elections especially when BN is just too eager to wrestle back the state of Selangor and Penang. Look at this way – election reforms passed by the Parliament is not something that the current Government is too eager to implement and if it is not for BERSIH 1.0 and 2.0, we would not even come close to any kind of electoral reforms. So, when the Government announces PSC to look into the electoral reforms last year, we were not sure whether it was to silent the calls for electoral reforms (the usual wayang kulit) or if they were indeed sincere to make the positive change (but it is a long shot indeed).

Thus BERSIH 3.0 was mooted because it was evident that many of the recommendations cannot be implemented soon. If the general election is indeed called in June, there is no way for the EC to implement all of the PSC’s recommendations in time. And if EC indeed proceed to implement the reforms sometime in the future, it may be too late. So, it is possible that we have not see the end of BERSIH rallies but hopefully if they have the next one, the organizers should look for a better solution on crowd control (whatever happens, the last thing we need is for the ordinary people to be fighting the police on the streets) and ensuring that political parties do not hijack the rally.

Yes, we need to keep up the pressure on the Government and on the EC not much on coming up with the list for electoral reforms (BERSIH have done the same way before PSC was appointed) but it should be more on the implementation of whatever reforms that has been proposed. And whilst we do that it should not at the expense of breaching the convention of a peaceful rally and violence against the police and making the rally ending up the oppositions’ rally. If we do that, you can expect that the next BERSIH rally will be more effective than the one we had last week and with a greater participation as well.

I will catch up with you next week…

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