A Visit to MATIC

Sunday,Nov. 1. With nothing on the agenda for today, I went out to the Malaysian Tourist Information Center for breakfast, especially since some kind of a show was going on there. The many stalls in the area were just getting ready for business and so I went to the Mamaks' stalls behind the Condorde hotel to give my tummy a job so that it'd stop grumbling. The roti canai, teh tarik and nasi lemak there looked fantastic from the way the clients attacked their food. The stalls were pretty crowded.

Well, at least now we have something for the people of KL to look forward to on Sunday beside going to the Zoo or the Shopping Malls. The under-the-tent stalls offer not only all sorts of food and goodies for visitors but also household items and everyday wears at very reasonable prices, certainly below the Shopping Mall price tag. Hey, there will also be karaoke entertainment and some dancing towards afternoon, I understand.

For now I'm stuck at this Information Centre where information booklets,phamplets and fliers abound. What's more we can have internet facilities for free with more than seven PCs available. I don't see all of them being utilized for I guess few people ( especially the computer buffs) know about these facilities. The place is very cozy and the ambiance is fantastic. Let me google for some pics of this place, if available.







No. I dont seem to be able to get any good shot of this place, inside Matic or outside it. I've scanned the various sources of info availabel and what seems most lacking are good pictures that visitors to the info site can copy and transfer into their files.
Google images on TDC, Malaysia don't give much to atract attention to the MATIC and the pic that I got from Malaysia Tourists Information Center webpage is an image of the original PM Seminar Center building. The small pics shown on the webpage don't appear to be attractive at all to me. Even a tourist with little knowledge of photograhy can take more exciting shots, I believe.Many information pieces are just too wordy. Who wants to spend hours just reading promo materials? As Confucius say, one picture tells more than a thousand words.

So, Matic. Get the wonderful photos that I see on posters, t-shirts and shopping bags into the Google website so that people can browse through them. The Malaysian TDC website also needs some serious reworking to keep up with the image of Malaysia as a hot tourists' center.

They leave more wonderful memories than mere words.

Negeri Sembilan: A Rebirth

As an 'anak Negeri' I've always taken pride in every new development that I see in the state. Yes, there were developments in many aspects of life, especially in Seremban, Senawang, and Port Dickson, particularly from the economic pov. But aside for the development of the Senawang Industrial estate and the new road to PD, nothing can be called spectacular for several years. Until these last few years.....

I think YAB Dato Seri Mohamad Hassan has accomplished a lot since taking over as the MB. Seremban has suddenly become more lively and colourful with Senawang rapidly growing into a satelite city. PD has shown some transformation into a major seaside resort area as it should be with all the new hotels and spruced up picknick areas. What is required is of course more entertainment events throughout the week and not just during weekends.The private sector should be allowed to organize those events on a commercial basis.

This week, in conjuction with the installation of the 11th Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, the most spectacular event took place, ie. the opening of the new road through Bukit Putus. I think it's as historiacal and momentous as the installation of Tuanku Muhriz as the 11the Yang dipertuan Besar itself (see poster pic).



As long as I can remember the only route between Seremban and Kuala Pilah had been through the winding and torturous road called Bukit Putus ( Broken Hillchain), where it takes only a heavy truck to cause a long chain of slow moving vehicles to climb up or go down the hills. Erosion and landslide had all but bring down the hillside and the amount of patching up and plastering with cement and mortars had been tremendous. It can take anywhere from three quarters of an hour to a few hours to just pass through Bukit Putus.



Now it is a smooth glide up with ample room to overtake any slow moving vehicle or come down the hills with some scenic views to boot (see pic taken during a drizzle). I have no doubt that it's going to be a favourite elevated passageway while just down the hill from Seremban will be the Ulu Bendul Recreational area. For now when the road from Seremban to Seri Menanti is heavily decorated with posters and buntings to commemorate the Yang dipertuan Besar's installation, the travel down to Kuala Pilah feels like a procession.

Just before entering the road to Seri Menanti at Parit, Terachi ( another entrance to Seri Menanti is after Tanjung Ipoh town if you're coming from Seremban), located to the left in an open space that used to be an extensive ricefield, is the Restoren Warisan that serves some of the best Negeri Sembilan food. It's a must stop if you want to sample the best of 'masak tempoyak', 'daging salai', 'sambal petai' etc. The free 'janda pulang' drink ( the window who retuns), is succulent and most refreshing (see pic of wife sampling the food).


The lower pic shows the open space of green and fresh air which one can enjoy while sitting in the balcony with wood railings.

Finally, Negeri Sembilan has something unique to offer to visitors. The travel from Seremban to Kuala Pilah or visa versa and going through Bukit Putus, no longer promises a headache to weakheaded drivers and passaengers but a pleasant glide through the top of lush green hills and wide valleys.

Yes, Negeri Sembilan has been reborn with the new elevated road connecting the state capital and Kuala Pilah, Bahau and on to Kuala Lipis or Kuantan in Pahang.

After the Festivities.....

Now that the big 'makans' are over, we must all check our weights again. Those who have added too many lbs or kgs must enter a vigorous weight-shedding program or face the need to change their wardrobe. A few cms or inches extra around the waste may require some pants to be put out of commission. Nothing looks worse on a lady than an undersized or overfilled blouse. (See pic
with thanks to Kimberlycun).



Some say that too many people are getting too fat in Malaysia. Obesity is on the rise in number and mass. I donno lah. If you go to the supermarket in US or UK and see the ladies piling up food in their shopping carts, you'll think that many Malaysian ladies are still underfed. I can't find any good shots of them at the supermart but original models are aplenty. See pics.





Hey, they're just not ladies only. Men too. Let's see them in contrast.


Oops, still a lady at work gorging a whole cake. Give me another chance to find the fat machos.






There we go. I've no shots of fat Malaysian men here. Maybe some readers interested in the subject can contribute. I myself do not qualify to be in the group although a little overweight according to the BMI scale.

Has my weight increased after puasa and hariraya. Hmm..not much plus or minus. I wonder what happened to some of our bloggers, especially the few that I know who follow my posts but would not make any comment. I take it that u agree with all that I say. Otherwise check me, babe, or I 'll continue to blabber in a shoksendiri fashion. Ooooh, I hate to think that another makan time will be around soon - hariraya aidil adha or hari raya haji. To our friends in Kelantan and Trengganu, this hariraya is even more important and therefore more hectic than hariraya puasa. Let's wait for it,

Living up to a Slogan Or Pulling together an Ideal

Everytime a new leader takes on the helm of the State or renewed his regime we hear new slogans. Thus we have had 'Muhibbah', ' Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah', 'Malaysia Boleh', ' Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang' and now it's '1 Malaysia', ' Rakyat didahulukan, Prestasi diutamakan.' Once the slogan is ushered in with all pomps and ceremony, the media and all government agencies clamored to interpret and fill in the slogan, so that we all live up to it, interpret everything we do in its term and forever extend its meaning. The government media - newspapers, radio and tv - will even change the usual form of greetings like 'assalamualaiakum' to 'salam muhibbah', 'salam Malaysia Boleh' and NOW...salam 1 Malaysia.



It seems that we are forever trying to fill in the slogans so created, giving them a meaning and a significance beyond what they originally covered. There will be reverberating enthusiasm at first, everyone marvelling and praising the genius of the originator. Then it becomes a cliche and given a kind of token respect. Soon enough people begin to turn it into a kind of joke..and later... given a cynical or even a derisive connotation. The diehard critics of govenment will, of course, find all sorts of ways to redicule the slogans, teasing them through songs and video clips as had happened even to Jalur Gemilang, the National Flag.

Is this a normal thing or is there something unsavory about slogans? I think people begin to tire about a slogan as soon as it's given a meaning and significance beyond what the concept it embodies can carry. The slogan may not even be that inspiring to begin with and is capable of being interpreted in several ways - a strength maybe but also a weakness! If so when the newness of the slogan wears off its strength disappears and the weaknesses begin to take roots. The slogan than becomes bandied about and splashed around like spoilt cream. ' Malaysia Boleh' for example had captured the imaginantion of the Malaysians for a long time( during Tun Dr Mahathir's time) but now, it's cynically applied even to corruptions and arrests under the ISA.1 Malaysia has begun to be used to highlight the stark contradictions as shown by the divisiveness between political parties, between leaders within each party itself, and among the multiracial groups in Malaysia.

What Malaysia seems to need is not more slogans to be filled in by aligning all our actions towards it achievement, but motivating ideas to appreciate and rope in all the assets that we have as an assurance to the achievement of the dreams that all Malaysians share - ie a peaceful and properous society where each individual can strive to realize his ambition in as far as his (or her ) capability permits. Yes, we do need rallying calls and national symbols to bring our efforts together but they must be more
intellectualand inspirational or even philosophical ( second only to religious injunctions), not cheap slogans which are the war-cries of political parties.

Consider fpr example J.F.Kennedy's soul-thumping words: ' Ask not what the nation can do for you but what you can do for the nation?' What about some conscience-pricking words for the rich in Malaysia such as " You acquired your wealth in this county; how about returning the favour by making this country wealthy." Or " You're already rich, can you help your poor neighbour or some poor family to get out of poverty?' Another thing: why don't we stop decorating those dignitaries who are already bedecked with honarary awards and give those awards to the ordinary man or woman who helped his/her neighbors to
overcome their problem. A Datukship means nothing to a Tan Sri or Tun but to a farmer who cleared several acres of forest and turned them into a productive fruit orchard, it would be a great honor.

On a similar vein, the award of honorary Ph.Ds has now become a laughing matter. At the current rate of awards made by various universtiies and colleges in the country, the country will soon be full of Ph.D holders ( no distinction made between the
real award for postgraduate work and the honorary without even a basic degree or a Master's). Plus Ph.Ds purchased at a price from overseas' institutions. With such cheap degrees, why should students slog through years of study to earn a Ph.D? Take up politics and provided you hang on to a powerful boss, you can become rich and learned (with a Ph.D) at the end of the day. Is that the philosophy that we want young Malysians to adopt for the future?

A final point. Those who know how to get rich and have made themselves filthy rich do not necessarily know how to make the country rich and prosperous. They are good at assets acquisition, NOT distribution. Their methods may not be socially acceptable and only good for themselves. I hope our national leaders can take note of this fact.

DEEPAVALI-RAYA OPEN HOUSE

The closure of the month of Ramadhan saw deepavali and hariraya festivities merging. There was bright colorful lights illuminating homes and lots of food and delicacies laid out on the tables. The crowd circulates around the laden tables then find a convenient seat among friends to tacle their gatherings.

What makes the difference is whether the crowd is just interested in the food and delicacies or the chance to meet new and old friends, cement broken ties and repair strained relationships. The common problem is that we get tied down to the table we first sat at from the beginning to the end of the visit, without adequate opportunities to move around and meet people with a drink in hand. Why not? Because the syrup drink or fruit juice that is served is taken together with the food in substantive gulps rather than sipped a little at a time like the prohibited type (alcohol).

Hence the preference for the buffet style 'makan' where we can walk around and choose our food. But still we have tables for the real strenuous work to deal with the wet messy stuff like curry, cassarole, masak asam pedas, lemak pedas etc.You can hardly deal with the Malaysian dishes without sitting down, especially when using your fingers to dig in ( see pics).



The way to get around this problem, therefore, is to have some participatory shows, where guests could move around and join the fun. But to get the guests to do so, as in joining unscheduled dancing or singing, is still a problem. We tried this at our open house gahering recently and had some success. For the singing we had to rely on Nasir Wahab and Karen to get the action going (see pics).



But still. it isn't easy to get the guests involved. Everyone suddenly gets so shy. Perhaps it would be necessary to dim the light but that would throw the gathering into a different kind of ballgame. And there were the more religious members of the community in attendance ( see pic).



As such it is necessary to get popular and friendly TV personality like Nasir Wahab to move around and mix with the crowd, take photographs and shake hands to make them feel at ease and ready to join the fun a frolics. Nasir belted out a few popular numbers to the cheering crowd makin the evening a memorable one. While the food served were the usuals at such fectivities we also had something different including 'satay tulang' ( it's more fun to eat than the usual satay) and some fresh durian although 'pengat durian', roti jala and pulut were already served.



Our Indian friends and neighbors also joined us later in the evening though they had their guests to attend to. Peter and Ivy represented our Chinese friends and neighbors to complete the multiracial mix while Dr Jagjit only managed to pop in a brief moment because of prior engagement. . Shariff the DJ, was wonderful and frequently made everyone chuckle and laugh with his ready wit and humorous presentation.

I do hope that everyone enjoyed the evening.To those who could not make it, let's wait for the next hariraya.

Know Somebody Anything Can.

It's the hundredth time I heard someone said, " You know someone in there, anything canlah. Otherwise wait until next election." This implies that to get anything done in the government, you must know someone inside dealing with the matter. Now I hear from scribes like Dato' Kadir Jasin himself that even the GLCs and Banks could be very tardy about entertaining application for loans ( Wed.Oct.14 post). Many responses suggest that he should arrange for a private discussion with someone inside. You knowlah what "private discussion" means.....

Before retiring I also applied for an Express Bus licence plying between certain points in KL. I applied as a private person with the letter addressed to the Secretary of the Licensing Board ( no one in particular). The letter was not even acknowledged, not even on a preprinted slip of acknowledgment or rejection. Since it was my own application and not from a member of the public, I just kept quiet about it. If a member of the public had complained to me then, I'd have traced the letter and the officer who chucked it to one side along with hundreds of others perhaps.

Something is certainly wrong with the attidue of some Malay officers who have reached the top of the pyramid. As a Malay I must admit that senior officers from other races, let alone the top bosses, are more responsive and concerned. Some senior Malay officers just couldn't be bothered to check on the performance of critical functions under their charge. They don't feel the urgency to get certain things done, unless it involves their own salary, allowance or promotion. Especially if they're the blue-eyed boys of the bosses. I think members of the public who're not happy with the attention ( or lack of attention) received from a govt officer should now demand to see the boss or send his or her complaint to the Bureau of Public Complaint. That has been done now. But to whom can you complain about the cold-shoulder treatment received from an executive or a functionary in the private sector? Especially in the GLCS or Autonomous Bodies.

I remember inquiring from PETRONAS if it was prepared to build a gas station on a piece of land that I owned. I've done a viability study of such a station and wanted the company to help with the construction and installation of the facilities. I wanted to operate the station myself. A reply came that I would need RM900,000 plus to build the small station that I planned.
But PETRONAS was ready to buy over the land. I didn't have the heart to continue the project. Is there a study to show who owns the green gas stations around the country. I believe most of them have relatives working in PETRONAS. They know somebody inside and that's why they succeeded in owning a station.

I'll very happy if my suspicion is proven wrong, You must either know somebody inside to get your application seriously considered or can arrange for a 'private discussion' outsied the office, with all the attractions thrown in. Well, that's business, I guess. No wonder Dato' Kadir Jasin said, "Sebenarnya saya tak suka berniaga..."

Politicians vs Statesmen

In his blog dated 29.9.09 Tun Dr Mahathir extolled the "open house" festivities as a Malaysian invention which could really bring the people together, irrespective or races. Seeing how Malaysians really mixed, exchanged greetings and well-wishes at such gatherings, he insinuated that it could be the politicians 'who stoke the fire of racialism' in this country and said (with a tongue in cheek surely), "It makes we wonder whether the country would not be better off if we don't have politicians." He went on to lament the "racial ghettoes" that Malaysians have created for themselves, suggesting that the different vernacular schools our children go to might have caused or exacerbated the process.

The reaction was fantastic. Everyone supports the view. But where does that take us? Have more open houses all the year through, perhaps financed or subsidized by the government? Let the open house festivities do what our education system has failed to do? Throw all the politicians into the sea? As it is they have the license to broach and exploit racial issues but an ordinary member of the public who does it will face the ISA.

Open houses can indeed show how Malaysians really live together and celebrate their religious festivities together. Except for the community leaders and the wealthy, invitees to the open houses are often limited to relatives, neighbors and friends The gatherings certainly cannot fulfill the functions that the education system should undertake. And it's only a one-day affair when satiating the taste buds becomes more important than discussing social or community affairs.

As for the politicians, at best they are the representatives of the people, articulating their interests, integrating them and presenting them to the government. We can't have every man (or woman)-in-the-street presenting his or her own interest to the government for there are too many people in the country. Hence the representational approach. What goes wrong is that politicians fight to become that representative wooing supporters to his (or her) camp or party and pitching their support against his (or her) enemies. In doing so he (or she) uses racial issues, communal issues, national issues or whatever, to raise the emotions of his (or her) supporters to a pitch.The politicians will do anything to get the commitment of his (or her) supporters, including paying them money or through other forms. That's when racial issues become a sure-fire bullet for catching the interest and gaining the support of the would-be voters.

I think it is such politicians who should be made to walk the planks or thrown into the sea. That include those who misuse their power of representation for personal benefits or gains or resort to buying votes. Where do they get all the money if not through some devious and surreptitious methods. Those who really represent the interest of their supporters, see how those interests can be integrated and coordinated with the interest of others in the nation, seek a harmonious and an equitable way of resolving conflicting interests, stop their supporters from mounting a "war" against the supporters of other would-be-representatives, and think of the interest of the nation more than just his (or her) supporters', are statesmen. We need them to represent our interests to the government.

The question now is how do we do away with the politicians and give our support to the statesmen ( or stateswomen, of course). The MCA seems to be approaching the problem in a very positive though aggressive way ie by doing away with leaders who create rather than solve problems. What about UMNO, MIC and other members of the BN? With all the talks about transformation, changing attitude and doing away with the corrupt and tinted characters, is it really being done? As for the PR, component members seem to be in the process of identifying their own statesmen versus the politicians. Let us see whether Malaysians are ready to make the distinction between politicians and statesmen , throw the latter out and usher in the leaders and representatives that have the statesmanship qualities and can give our country a new image.