Patriotism or money-wasting?

I'm 28 and I've voted twice in the UK but not even once in this country. So, excuse me if I am a lil' excited about the forthcoming 21st of March. However, I've noticed a different trend here compared to the UK. I've seen 2 'bilik gerakan' in my neighbourhood and boy, they really know how to decorate!

I really wonder...
1. What is the actual purpose for 'wrapping' the places with layers after layers of posters?
2. Where do the money come from? (well, both you and I know the answer to that one!)
3. Who is responsible for cleaning up (the posters) once the election is over?

When I was a kid, I somehow got involved with this so-called poster war. They paid some unemployed boys to go around putting up these election posters in the middle of the night(and sometimes tearing up the oppositions'). These boys made some pocket money, got endless supply of cigarettes and drinks and get to stay out late. It was actually illegal for me to join them (I know!) but at 10 years old, it was really hard to resist being surrounded by good-looking boys! ;P

Almost 20 years have passed and I thought we are now mature enough to move on from the poster war. I guess I was wrong. New batch of candidates, new generations but same old tactics (and same old posters too!)

Now...A couple of possible answers to my first question:
a)to remind us that the election is coming
b)to remind us how BN/PAS/Adil symbols look like...

which brings to my fourth question:
Do they really think we're stupid??

I hate to compare Malaysia and UK (for the fear people calling me ungrateful) but we really can learn a thing or two from them. One thing for sure, they don't litter their streets (and street lamps) with unnecessary election posters. What happen over there is that the local candidates actually send out their own manifesto to our home addresses so that we (the voters) can actually read them at our own leisure so that we know who and what we're voting for. Sometimes their manifesto are simple ones such as ways to reduce the traffic load in the neighbourhood but these are the ones that really matters to us, the common people. Here in Ampang Jaya, the road conditions are really bad that you can find roadholes almost every 50 meters you traveled (I'm not exaggerating). These holes have been there for donkey years but do our MPs really care? I doubt they even noticed it... how many times do they actually come over to visit? And when they do come (to officiate some functions or something), these roads get repaired hastily beforehand only to get damaged again a couple of weeks later since they were badly done.

Now, come to think of it...will I still be excited to practise my rights come the big day? Probably not anymore... I will probably become disillusion with the whole poster saga and prefer to be under the hot sun in Sepang to see some real actions. If I can get free tickets again this year that is!

A piece from Daily Mirror

It's really tragic if these tapes are for real...

Diana: The secret tapes

Puduraya oh Puduraya

I would normally stay away from Puduraya if I could but because I didn't want to drive to Ipoh last week for a conference, taking the coach was my only alternative. Anyway, my opinion of Puduraya hasn't changed at all... it sucks!Where do I start..

1 It was so smoky that I felt dizzy just after 5 minutes I got. That must be my brain telling me that I overdosed myself with carbon monoxide!

2 The coach operators must have made a pact to treat customers like pariah. One traveller was harassed in the coach before we left KL just because he 'dared' to ask whether he got the right ticket. And this was not the first incident I saw. The last time I tried to buy a ticket for Nada to go to Cameron Highland, I felt like I was talking to a mute. He answered all my questions by just pointing randomly to the poorly-written posters without even muttering a single word. As if I was talking in a totally foreign language!

3 We bought tickets for 'Super VIP Coach' to Ipoh (Executive Coach doesn't go there) thinking that we can relax ourselves on our journey there...
Surprise..surprise... the coach was in a very bad condition that I was just relieved that I arrived in Ipoh safely!

I heard from the news a few weeks back that the Plaza Rakyat project is going to be resumed. But from what I could see last Thursday, nothing has changed at all. The eye sore remained, no sign of construction workers or builders there.. unless I was blind that is.

It's really a wonder to me how 'they' can build the tallest building in the world in time and yet struggling to provide a much needed public transport centre and services. Is this their way of saying that corporate and rich foreigners are far more important than the working class citizens and backpackers who use puduraya everyday? Something to think about especially with the general election just around the corner, isn't ?

The wonder of nature

I'm not very good in finding time for blogging lately. But since I'm on leave today, I thought of sharing this picture with all of you. I found this amazing florescence blue fern during the canopy walk in FRIM last month (It was my third visit to FRIM in the last 2 months!). The canopy walk was a struggle this time (I'm so not fit anymore!) but well worth it. And Gaby did overcomed her fear of heights... well done mate!

Bird Flu

On of the hottest news nowadays is about the Avian Influenza or bird-flu. Malaysia has so far been certified clean of the virus but we can never be so sure can we? So, here's the fact sheet of the virus from WHO website.

I feel like having chicken rice today but am wondering where my local chicken supply is actually from... How can I be so sure that it's not those smuggled from Thailand?

Selamat Hari Raya AdilAdha

A belated wish to everyone.

And happy birthday to Nurul Adha. Welcome to womanhood...hehehe..

Langkawi Island

A number of people have been asking for photos from Langkawi. Truth to be told, we have not even send the films to be developed yet! Wanted to do so today but our local photo shops were closed.

Since I now know how to put the pics taken from my PDA on-line, I thought I just put some here until we get the 'real' ones!

Pulau Dayang Bunting (Pregnant Maiden Island)
One of the islands that we went to during island-hopping. There's a lake in the middle of the island (which reminds me of Lake District). The myth says if you drink from the lake, you'll be able to conceive .. if conceiving is a problem that is!


Pulau Beras Basah(Wet Rice Island)
A small island but with superb white sand beach



Sunset at Burau Bay
A priceless experience... just surreal!




Sunrise at Awana Porto Malai
Just beautiful... without even having to leave the room!




View from the room during the day

Cuti-cuti Malaysia (part II)

Thanks to azid, I have finally figured out how to convert pictures from my CLIE into jpeg forms. So, here are some of the photos that I took during Nada's visit.
p/s For better viewing, check out community.webshots.com/user/ryzah


National Mosque


Sultan Abdul Samad Building
A view from Merdeka Square



Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Building



KL Twin Tower
A view from afar


Melaka Sultanate Palace
A replica!



Cheng Hoon Teng Temple in Melaka
The oldest chinese temple in the country


Waterfall at FRIM
FRIM: Forest Research Institute of Malaysia

Lost comments

Sigh... I've lost my comment section 3 times now. So I've decided to finally change the provider from Blogspeak to Haloscan.

Hope this will be better.

Birthday wishes

I'm 28 today... 2 more years to the big 30.. what a scary thought!

I don't normally bothered about age and birthdays apart from enjoying the outings and gifts ( I just like to be at the centre of attention you know!) But so many things happened in the last few months that made me start thinking of my own life. I'm more aware now how life can be so fragile and vulnerable...one day you might be sipping coffee at a trendy cafe yet the next day, you might be attending your own funeral. One day you might be driving a mercedes but probably struggling to even afford a decent meal in the next week.

Flashing back, I couldn't decide whether I was better off in the last year comparing to the year before or not. On one hand, I've got a new job in my own country, closer to my family, as well as fortunate enough to have new friends that I can already call bestfriends. On the other, I'm still missing the country where I've grown up the most (emotionally that is)... where I learnt the meaning of independence, self-belief, true friendships and yes,back-stabbing and heartbreaks too. A country that have seen my lowest and highest points in life so far. In the last year too I've lost a number of people that were once closed to me.. Not an easy thing to take in considering that the last death I've encountered was in 1979 when my granddad passed away ( I was only 3!).

Anyway, I just realised that when people asked what I wanted for this birthday I didn't once give a definite answer. I guess for this year, my birthday wishes are...

to have the best of health
to lead a peaceful life with the person I love

May sound corny, but hey, it's my birthday!

Happy New Year

Hope it's not too late to wish all of you a happy new year. Hope 2004 will bring us happiness, success and the best of health.

Sorry for not updating this blog for quite some time as well as for the delays in replying your emails. I promise all will be back in order soon...

Welcome 2004!