It was time for our car to be sent for servicing. Reached 51,000km and according to the manual, the car needs servicing. When I was still working, the practice was to drive to the service center and leave the car there. The service center people will send you back to the office and when the car is ready, they will send the car to you.
Things are different when you are retired. You don't have to go to work. You have plenty of time so you can wait at the service center for the car to be ready. I went around 9.30am and told the guy I wanted the car to be serviced plus to check the brakes as they were making squeaky noises when I applied the brakes. He said no problem and invited me to the customer waiting room. There was a receptionist there to assist you should you need anything. I surveyed the room and noticed a TV, an automated coffee machine and an ice cream 'box'. Everything was self-service of course.
I am not used to serving myself, so I asked the girl if she could turn the tv on. She said no problem but informed me that there was some problem. She didn't mention what the problem was but turned on the TV anyway. As she was trying to get into the many channels offered by Astro, I asked her to click to the sports channel. Everytime there was a message, 'you are not subscribed to this channel'! Then she turned around and told me they (employer) may not have paid the Astro bill for this month. What a bummer! She said I could watch some movies from their VCD collection if I wanted. She brought the list of movies available and I quickly chose 'Pirates of The Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest'.
While I was waiting for her to get the VCD, I looked around and saw two other customers sitting at a table and deeply engrossed in the local newspaper. When you have a lot of time on your hands, you tend to read everything in the papers, from the news, the advertisements, the sports section right down to the obituaries. I didn't bring my reading glasses so I didn't have to do that. After she started the movie going she asked if I wanted a drink. I said yes and asked for 'Nescafe'. She was kind enough to get me the cup of 'Nescafe'. I settled down for the next one and a half hour wait, watching 'Dead Man's Chest' with a steaming cup of 'Nescafe'.
The film was not as good as the first one. Too much slapstick and couldn't quite get the plot of the story. Anyway, the car was ready before I could finish the movie. The bil came to RM 338.50. Cost for changing the engine oil, oil filter, brake oil, power steering oil, spark plugs and services charges. When you own a car, you have to get prepared to pay for the upkeep.
The squeaky sounds have dissapeared, and the car is running smoothly.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Stop Snooping
"Stop snooping" was the instruction given to the Terengganu State Islam Hadhari Committee chairman Datuk Rosul Wahid by the Prime Minister. The PM said there was no need for the policing of the morals of muslims. He went on to say that instead of devoting too much time and effort trying to police the morals of Muslims, state religious departments were better off concentrating on programmes that could strengthen the Islamic values and morals of the community.
Finally there is a voice of reason from the government. Such activities gives a bad image of our country. Such practices must be curbed at the beginning. If it is allowed to bloom then it will be too late and we will end up with situations like in the middle-east and some other muslim countries where the religious police are more powerful than the regular police.
We should be concentrating on strengthening our economy, racial intergration and eradicating the quota system giving equality to every Malaysian. This should be the target of a fair and democratic government. As it is we losing tons of money due to the ridiculous system of awarding contracts based on race. It is time for a rethink for the good of the nation as a whole.
Finally there is a voice of reason from the government. Such activities gives a bad image of our country. Such practices must be curbed at the beginning. If it is allowed to bloom then it will be too late and we will end up with situations like in the middle-east and some other muslim countries where the religious police are more powerful than the regular police.
We should be concentrating on strengthening our economy, racial intergration and eradicating the quota system giving equality to every Malaysian. This should be the target of a fair and democratic government. As it is we losing tons of money due to the ridiculous system of awarding contracts based on race. It is time for a rethink for the good of the nation as a whole.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
How To Murder
I read in the New Zealand Herald that kiwis are a heathy and active lot but don't feel safe on city streets at night. Many reasons were given for feeling scared which included dangerous people, media reporting on crime, alcohol and drug problems and badly-lit streets. One reason that they left out could be because it is the latest to emerge.
Howick College has given it's students a special assignment to stimulate their thinking. How to carry out a perfect murder and dispose of the victim's body. Only one parent complained about this gross assignment and insisted the college give an apology. The principal, Bill Dimery, said the aim of the assignment was to get students reading the Roald Dahl book Lamb to the Slaughter, in which a woman kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, which she then serves to the investigating police officers for dinner.
He then acknowledged that, setting such an assignment was probably poor judgment.
"The intention was to get kids thinking about people and their actions and their motivations and there was an assignment which was couched in terms of plotting your own murder." The teacher later apologised to the parents.
What about the rest of the kids who completed their assignments? What would be their conversation during break? The one who got an 'A' would be in cloud 9 and pleased with himself that he can get away with murder. What would happen if his classmates think that his plan would not actually work and dare him to prove it. Things like this always happen in school compounds. I heard someone's child jumped off their apartment after watching Superman! So what's to stop these kids from carrying out the 'perfect' murder? Who will be the unfortunate victim?
Schools must be more careful on what they put inside impressive minds of the young. Do they really need to learn how to kill to stimulate their minds? This kind of teaching method is carrying it a bit too far. I am glad my sons are not in that school.
Howick College has given it's students a special assignment to stimulate their thinking. How to carry out a perfect murder and dispose of the victim's body. Only one parent complained about this gross assignment and insisted the college give an apology. The principal, Bill Dimery, said the aim of the assignment was to get students reading the Roald Dahl book Lamb to the Slaughter, in which a woman kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, which she then serves to the investigating police officers for dinner.
He then acknowledged that, setting such an assignment was probably poor judgment.
"The intention was to get kids thinking about people and their actions and their motivations and there was an assignment which was couched in terms of plotting your own murder." The teacher later apologised to the parents.
What about the rest of the kids who completed their assignments? What would be their conversation during break? The one who got an 'A' would be in cloud 9 and pleased with himself that he can get away with murder. What would happen if his classmates think that his plan would not actually work and dare him to prove it. Things like this always happen in school compounds. I heard someone's child jumped off their apartment after watching Superman! So what's to stop these kids from carrying out the 'perfect' murder? Who will be the unfortunate victim?
Schools must be more careful on what they put inside impressive minds of the young. Do they really need to learn how to kill to stimulate their minds? This kind of teaching method is carrying it a bit too far. I am glad my sons are not in that school.
Religious Zealots
When will the politicians in Malaysia come to their senses? This is a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural society. We have lived in harmony for so many years because we respect each other and are tolerant to each other's peculiarities. Even our religious differences didn't keep us apart. We learnt to live with each other and have prospered this far.
Lately there seems to be an emergence of relgious fanatics who think they are championing their faith by introducing laws and rules based on their religion and want to implement them on the rest of us.
An example would be the dressing of women(it always is about the women for these zealots). The various heads of government depertments started warning the public that they won't be entertained if they didn't dress properly! Properly according to whose standards? Then came the stupid rule about the fine of RM500 for sexy dressing in Kelantan. The next one was about the suggestion that women should wear chastity belt to 'protect' them from rapist! Nothing is mentioned about any study being done on why the men resort to rape. The victims are not always beautiful, sexually attractive females. Little children and even grandmothers are not spared. Shouldn't they start looking at the men for a change to look for the reason?
If that wasn't good enough, now one of the so-called 'elect' among the Muslim society has decided to set up a group which he termed as 'Mat Skoding'. Their job would be to spy on unmarried couples who are having sex and report them. Basically I would describe them as peeping toms. These people in religious departments have never been voted by the people but they seem to be progressively gaining more power as the years go by. Very soon they will have their own religious army! This is bad for the nation.
Politicians can be voted out but these religious zealots hide behind their 'holy books' and once they have power they are almost impossible to be removed - short of a bloody revolution. Our leaders must wake up and put a check to these zealots before it is too late.
Lately there seems to be an emergence of relgious fanatics who think they are championing their faith by introducing laws and rules based on their religion and want to implement them on the rest of us.
An example would be the dressing of women(it always is about the women for these zealots). The various heads of government depertments started warning the public that they won't be entertained if they didn't dress properly! Properly according to whose standards? Then came the stupid rule about the fine of RM500 for sexy dressing in Kelantan. The next one was about the suggestion that women should wear chastity belt to 'protect' them from rapist! Nothing is mentioned about any study being done on why the men resort to rape. The victims are not always beautiful, sexually attractive females. Little children and even grandmothers are not spared. Shouldn't they start looking at the men for a change to look for the reason?
If that wasn't good enough, now one of the so-called 'elect' among the Muslim society has decided to set up a group which he termed as 'Mat Skoding'. Their job would be to spy on unmarried couples who are having sex and report them. Basically I would describe them as peeping toms. These people in religious departments have never been voted by the people but they seem to be progressively gaining more power as the years go by. Very soon they will have their own religious army! This is bad for the nation.
Politicians can be voted out but these religious zealots hide behind their 'holy books' and once they have power they are almost impossible to be removed - short of a bloody revolution. Our leaders must wake up and put a check to these zealots before it is too late.
Monday, February 12, 2007
First Time For Everything
We have never opened up our home for any function before. So, when I was nearing 58, my wife said now would be a good time to try it. We planned to invite a small group of close friends. That itself was a big headache. When you sit down and write the names, the list is not so small anymore. This was one of the many obstacles that we had to cross. Somehow we trimmed it down to 12 and duly informed our 'victims' that they were required to present themselves at our residence for lunch. When all had confirmed their participation after trying their best to find out what the occasion was for, we started to plan the menu.
There is no cooking in this house so everything has to be catered. We wanted to keep it simple so we ordered chicken and mutton (Indian restaurant). There will be no rice this time, so we ordered 'capati' and 'idli'. We also ordered fried chicken (Chinese restaurant) called 'inchi-kibin', whatever that means. That looked very simple. After a few days someone told us it is better to have more food than less food, so I rushed to the Indian restaurant and increased the chicken quantity and the 'capati'. I checked with him three times to make sure he didn't forget my order and to make sure there was sufficient salt in the curry. I also told him none of us was diabetic. I remembered the last time I ate there the cook didn't put enough salt. He reassured me everything would be fine.
That morning we went to the market to buy some fruits. We managed to get 'nangka' and 'papaya'. At 11.30 I took my wife to the restaurant to collect the food. The man told us everything was ready except the 'capati'. The person who makes the 'capati' hasn't turned up for work! I told him my guests will be arriving very soon. What are they going to eat with the curry? My wife settled for rice. Lucky fellow. I would have made him sweat longer. She also ordered 'papadom', fried fish and vegetables that she said looked good. We collected the 'inchi-kibin' from the Chinese restaurant and went home to wait for our guests.
They all arrived on time and soon everybody was enjoying the meal. We were all 'yakking' away so much that I forgot to bring out the 'papadom'. I went in to open a bottle of wine but was having some trouble with it. Fortunately an expert wine bottle opener was present that day and she opened the wine bottle with ease. The wine was sipped slowly by some while others just gulped it down. No matter. As long as the bottle was emptied. Then someone, who had found out that it was my birthday, had brought a cake and I was made to blow out the candles(there was not enough candles though!). The 'yam cake' was delicious though.
All in all it was a good time for all who were present and a very good experience for us in organising such an event at our home. Maybe we might do it again for my wife's birthday, God willing.
There is no cooking in this house so everything has to be catered. We wanted to keep it simple so we ordered chicken and mutton (Indian restaurant). There will be no rice this time, so we ordered 'capati' and 'idli'. We also ordered fried chicken (Chinese restaurant) called 'inchi-kibin', whatever that means. That looked very simple. After a few days someone told us it is better to have more food than less food, so I rushed to the Indian restaurant and increased the chicken quantity and the 'capati'. I checked with him three times to make sure he didn't forget my order and to make sure there was sufficient salt in the curry. I also told him none of us was diabetic. I remembered the last time I ate there the cook didn't put enough salt. He reassured me everything would be fine.
That morning we went to the market to buy some fruits. We managed to get 'nangka' and 'papaya'. At 11.30 I took my wife to the restaurant to collect the food. The man told us everything was ready except the 'capati'. The person who makes the 'capati' hasn't turned up for work! I told him my guests will be arriving very soon. What are they going to eat with the curry? My wife settled for rice. Lucky fellow. I would have made him sweat longer. She also ordered 'papadom', fried fish and vegetables that she said looked good. We collected the 'inchi-kibin' from the Chinese restaurant and went home to wait for our guests.
They all arrived on time and soon everybody was enjoying the meal. We were all 'yakking' away so much that I forgot to bring out the 'papadom'. I went in to open a bottle of wine but was having some trouble with it. Fortunately an expert wine bottle opener was present that day and she opened the wine bottle with ease. The wine was sipped slowly by some while others just gulped it down. No matter. As long as the bottle was emptied. Then someone, who had found out that it was my birthday, had brought a cake and I was made to blow out the candles(there was not enough candles though!). The 'yam cake' was delicious though.
All in all it was a good time for all who were present and a very good experience for us in organising such an event at our home. Maybe we might do it again for my wife's birthday, God willing.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Just A Thought
I always wondered why someone could not come with a design for cell phone batteries that would last for , say 1 week before it needs to be recharged. Wouldn't that be wonderful? It could also trigger a chain reaction leading to greater inventions!
For example, we already have solar cells that convert the sun's rays into energy that can be utilised for lighting and heating of water in the house. What if we had such small batteries that could last for more than a week. Some brilliant or crazy person could come up with a device that could magnify this source of power so that it could be used to move pistons! If that could be done we would be driving cars using small batteries that would need recharging about once a week. There would be no pollution of the atmosphere. The noise pollution would also drop. Best of all, this invention would break the oil cartel that is controlling the world economy and giving so much power to a few families in the middle-east.
Once everyone is used to moving around in a noisless, pollution free environment, another brilliant or crazy person might come up with the idea of using the gravitational force around us. A vehicle that uses gravity to propel itself will be the beginning of the space age. Not rocket fired, fuel guzzling monsters that we are familiar with. We must have a design that uses the natural environment around us without destroying or depleting it. This is the real space age. The moon has its own gravitational force around it. A vehicle that can use such natural forces can also operate over there.
That day will come, but when? I wish it would happen within my lifetime. Imagine the possibilities. It could go places even a helicopter cannot reach. There would be no need to cut down trees to build highways! We can only hope and wait.
For example, we already have solar cells that convert the sun's rays into energy that can be utilised for lighting and heating of water in the house. What if we had such small batteries that could last for more than a week. Some brilliant or crazy person could come up with a device that could magnify this source of power so that it could be used to move pistons! If that could be done we would be driving cars using small batteries that would need recharging about once a week. There would be no pollution of the atmosphere. The noise pollution would also drop. Best of all, this invention would break the oil cartel that is controlling the world economy and giving so much power to a few families in the middle-east.
Once everyone is used to moving around in a noisless, pollution free environment, another brilliant or crazy person might come up with the idea of using the gravitational force around us. A vehicle that uses gravity to propel itself will be the beginning of the space age. Not rocket fired, fuel guzzling monsters that we are familiar with. We must have a design that uses the natural environment around us without destroying or depleting it. This is the real space age. The moon has its own gravitational force around it. A vehicle that can use such natural forces can also operate over there.
That day will come, but when? I wish it would happen within my lifetime. Imagine the possibilities. It could go places even a helicopter cannot reach. There would be no need to cut down trees to build highways! We can only hope and wait.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Police Efficiency
It's a feather in the IGP's cap as it was reported that the police took only nine hours to crack the Saturday night jewellery heist at the Subang Parade shopping mall. That's a job well done. The next step the IGP should take is to send some of those efficient police officers to tackle the snatch theft problem that is still rampant in all the states.
These punks are not working in the dark. They are doing it in broad daylight and sometimes in busy areas. I am sure these officers can come with a plan to nab these scoundrels. It only takes a few success stories which will be highlighted in the papers to act as deterent for the other crooks. As they say, 'Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done.'
These robbers prey on defenseless people causing bodily harm and sometimes even death. It is time the police took a more serious look at these crimes even though they may not look so glamourous. Neverthless they are criminal acts and many lives have been lost even though the financial losses are small.
If the IGP can solve this problem which affects the people on the street, I am sure a lot of people will feel safer to go out in Malaysia and he will not only receive accolades from the PM but from all the 'rakyaat'!
These punks are not working in the dark. They are doing it in broad daylight and sometimes in busy areas. I am sure these officers can come with a plan to nab these scoundrels. It only takes a few success stories which will be highlighted in the papers to act as deterent for the other crooks. As they say, 'Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done.'
These robbers prey on defenseless people causing bodily harm and sometimes even death. It is time the police took a more serious look at these crimes even though they may not look so glamourous. Neverthless they are criminal acts and many lives have been lost even though the financial losses are small.
If the IGP can solve this problem which affects the people on the street, I am sure a lot of people will feel safer to go out in Malaysia and he will not only receive accolades from the PM but from all the 'rakyaat'!
Costly Blunders
I read in the New Straits Times regarding costly blunders in awarding contracts. These facts were revealed yesterday by Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop and deputy Auditor-General Anwari Suri.
The article was about contractors who were incompetent, who lacked expertise but yet were awarded government contracts. These contractors didn't have the finance, the skilled manpower and didn't have the equipment in the first place. How was it that they were able to get the government contracts? You don't need Agatha Christie or Hercule Poirot to solve this one.
The government has itself to blame when the 'give to bumiputra contractors only' policy came to effect. Why would the bumiputra contractor be bothered about competency, or doing a good job or even finishing it. The subsidy mentality is in existence. The government will bail him out all the time. He would have got 15% as advance payment to be used to start the contract. So, when he gets the advance, the first thing is to get an E-Type Jaguar to be used for site meetings among other things. Then get a second wife although maybe not in that order. When things are given out, the welfare mentality takes over. In the beginning the suppliers will agree to supply the required materials and the banks might give loans based on the Letter of Acceptance. When the money doesn't come in, the supplier and the banks will turn the screw tighter. The supplier will demand cash for the building materials.
The contractor will go crying to the government that the non-bumis are not helping him! The little 'Napoleons' in the Finance Ministry and the Works Ministry try to help the 'poor helpless' contractor by getting him some money from the revolving fund meant for the deserving bumiputra contractors. That money will also dissapear. The contract will be terminated with some poor civil engineer who happened to be in charge of that project having to write out a full detailed report on what happened. It will then take months for the contract to be retendered. The cost of the project of course would have gone up. Is this really news? This has been going on for a very long time.
Poor management in the various government departments is also to blame. This is because of another unwritten policy that the head of any section must be a bumiputra and it doesn't matter if he or she is inexperienced. This state of affairs will go on until the government wakes up to the fact that non-bumiputras can manage the department and manage it well too. The government has to stop playing the races against each other just to stay in power. It was announced that RM2.1 billion has been reserved for 32,000 class F contractors. Who are the class F contractors? Bumiputras. What about the rest of the non-bumiputra contractors? Who is being marginalised here? The government must come up with a plan that will include everybody regardless of their race or religion.
There must be a paradign shift in the minds of the executive from being fearful of other races to that of working together for the good of all. Take a look at the Chinese muslims in Malacca. Just to allow the Chinese muslims to build a mosque for them to worship is a big problem for the Malays there! "Mosque for Chinese Muslims unnecessary, says Malacca CM" screams the headlines. When are the politicians going to grow up in Malaysia?
The article was about contractors who were incompetent, who lacked expertise but yet were awarded government contracts. These contractors didn't have the finance, the skilled manpower and didn't have the equipment in the first place. How was it that they were able to get the government contracts? You don't need Agatha Christie or Hercule Poirot to solve this one.
The government has itself to blame when the 'give to bumiputra contractors only' policy came to effect. Why would the bumiputra contractor be bothered about competency, or doing a good job or even finishing it. The subsidy mentality is in existence. The government will bail him out all the time. He would have got 15% as advance payment to be used to start the contract. So, when he gets the advance, the first thing is to get an E-Type Jaguar to be used for site meetings among other things. Then get a second wife although maybe not in that order. When things are given out, the welfare mentality takes over. In the beginning the suppliers will agree to supply the required materials and the banks might give loans based on the Letter of Acceptance. When the money doesn't come in, the supplier and the banks will turn the screw tighter. The supplier will demand cash for the building materials.
The contractor will go crying to the government that the non-bumis are not helping him! The little 'Napoleons' in the Finance Ministry and the Works Ministry try to help the 'poor helpless' contractor by getting him some money from the revolving fund meant for the deserving bumiputra contractors. That money will also dissapear. The contract will be terminated with some poor civil engineer who happened to be in charge of that project having to write out a full detailed report on what happened. It will then take months for the contract to be retendered. The cost of the project of course would have gone up. Is this really news? This has been going on for a very long time.
Poor management in the various government departments is also to blame. This is because of another unwritten policy that the head of any section must be a bumiputra and it doesn't matter if he or she is inexperienced. This state of affairs will go on until the government wakes up to the fact that non-bumiputras can manage the department and manage it well too. The government has to stop playing the races against each other just to stay in power. It was announced that RM2.1 billion has been reserved for 32,000 class F contractors. Who are the class F contractors? Bumiputras. What about the rest of the non-bumiputra contractors? Who is being marginalised here? The government must come up with a plan that will include everybody regardless of their race or religion.
There must be a paradign shift in the minds of the executive from being fearful of other races to that of working together for the good of all. Take a look at the Chinese muslims in Malacca. Just to allow the Chinese muslims to build a mosque for them to worship is a big problem for the Malays there! "Mosque for Chinese Muslims unnecessary, says Malacca CM" screams the headlines. When are the politicians going to grow up in Malaysia?
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