I slept through it all

I slept through it all.

I normally wake up to check the windows whenever there is a thunder storm in the night. Sunday morning, I was so knocked out that I slept like a log. Having just drove back from Singapore after visiting my brother who is striken with lupus (SLE) and is now in ICU, I went to bed early, at about 9.30pm.

I was still not aware of the flood until I went online at about 3pm. Then I asked my wife, "Was it raining heavily this morning?" "Very heavy," was her reply. Even my 6-year old son complained that he couldn't wake me up when he wanted a drink of water.

The flood isn't on my list of concerns.

Lupus has gotten to some of my brother's major organs. He is on life support and right now, I am praying for a miracle to take him through this critical stage of his life. He doesn't have much time left unless Providence intervenes.

And today, he goes through another operation to replace his contaminated blood. One more try from the doctor who is also his pastor. This is perhaps the greatest consolation we have during this trying time; that my brother is in the good hands of the doctor, sent to him by his Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you, Dr. Yuen, whom I didn't even get to meet during my short visit to Singapore.

As I See It

ADUN Subang Jaya Datuk Lee Hwa Beng has started a blog - As I See It, hosted in his own web site.

The YB's first entry, Independence of Local Authorities, in which he writes;

Lately there have been moves by Federal leaders to take away these autonomous power of local authorities. The reasons given are to streamline the government or that local authorities do not know how to manage. Putting aside all these logic, we must ask ourselves whether the autonomous power is good for the residents. As a councillor for many years, I am not in favour of such moves.

What do you think of his reasonings?

New Assignment for Noh

The newly appointed Deputy Education Minister Dato' Noh Omar has a new assignment. Time for him to show his true mettle in the case reported via The Star:

KUALA PILAH: In a fit of rage over the refusal of a Form Two boy to give him money, a senior student rallied his friends to beat up the younger boy and eight other juniors at a residential science school here.

It is believed that as many as 15 Form Four students had bashed up the juniors in the 3am incident at SM Sains Tuanku Jaafar here last week. Full story in Students beat up juniors over money."

Let's play a guessing game on what the YB has got to say. Will he tell the victims parents that "if you do not like the way we run our schools, you can take your children home?"

Or will he simply send the bullies a police station in Petaling Jaya for disciplinary action?

Don't worry, no human death yet!

Singapore has suspended poultry and egg imports from Selangor. Read AVA's media release. And via Bernama:

SINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Bernama) -- Singapore's food security authority, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), has suspended poultry and egg imports from Selangor with immediate effect after receiving what it said is "information on the detection of H5N1 in kampung chickens" at a village in the state. Full report.

Across the causeway, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin says Bird Flu Case Isolated, Assures No Cause For Alarm.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 (Bernama) - The death of 40 free range chickens from the H5N1 avian influenza virus at Mile 4 1/2 Jalan Genting Kelang here last week was an isolated case, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Monday. He said the public did not need to worry as there was no death involving a human from the virus. Full report.

What the F**K is this idiot talking about? ARSE****, you don't wait for someone to die before you show any concern although while H5N1 does not usually infect people, human cases of H5N1 infection associated with these outbreaks have been reported (see CDC website); mainly through direct or close contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces.

The wayang gets better today, with Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek chipping in, via Bernama:

"We will abide by the prime minister's call for transparency and openness. So, no one should speculate or make assumptions," he said. Full report.

Good lord, forty chickens died of the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu last week. No public announcement was made then. Why? Why do it only after the Singapore Straits Times breaks the news? This is what you call transparency and openess? If you are unable to practise what you preach, please just SHUT UP!

Orang Kurang Ajar!

Friday morning, 17 February 2006, MPSJ was seen going around USJ 18 in a truck, collecting garden refuse from the roadsides.

Sunday morning, 19 February 2006, this junction at USJ 18/4 was turned into a dumping ground AGAIN. The culprit? Someone living nearby!

A resident who stays right in front of the junction is obviously not too happy about this. He retaliates by putting up this sign for the world to see - ORANG KURANG AJAR, BUANG SAMPAH DISINI.

Tell me, when is this problem going to end? MPSJ cleans, you dump!

Shame, shame, shame to the KURANG AJAR fella. BIG house, SMALL brain.

An Expert Tracker

An Indian guide who displayed uncanny skills in navigating the rugged regions of the Southwest was asked how he did it. "What is your secret of being an expert tracker and trail-blazer?" a visitor asked him.

The guide answered: "There is no secret. One must only possess the far vision and the near look. The first step is to determine where you want to go. Then you must be sure that each step you take is a step in that direction."

A dream is what you would like for life to be. A goal is what you intend to make happen. A goal is the near look; what, specifically, you intend to do on a daily basis to get there.

By Dennis Waitley

The streets lights have been repaired!

The streets lights were repaired last night, according to a resident.

And surprise of all surprises ... this morning, MPSJ workers were seen going around USJ 18 in a truck, collecting garden refuse from the roadsides. To be fair, the culprits of this problem are the residents themselves. They just dump everything out, a distance away from their houses! They are usually from the better to do corner lots with big gardens to tend to.

Neighbours, if you are reading this, you shouldn't be doing this for the same reason you do not dump the same rubbish outside your gate!

Still, why has it got to take this, this, and this and two months to act?

Eight People Duped in Fake $1M Bill Scam

I have two pieces of nicely framed US$1M notes if anyone is interested. Will also consider if anyone can connect me with the 8 Japs. ;-)


Via Associated Press: Eight People Duped in Fake $1M Bill Scam

TOKYO - Eight people in southern Japan forked over 150 million yen ($1.27 million) to a man who promised huge returns involving fake American $1 million bills and then disappeared with their money, a news report said Thursday.

The United States Treasury does not make $1 million bills.

The eight, including three who have filed for personal bankruptcy because of the huge outlays in the scam, are considering filing a criminal complaint with police, the national daily Asahi Shimbun said.

Police in Kumamoto, 567 miles southwest of Tokyo, could not immediately comment on the report.

The unidentified investors first heard of the $1 million note from a 52-year-old construction material company president in early 2003, according to Asahi, citing several investors.

The president told them about a "rare" $1 million bill that was for sale in Chengdu, China, and invited them to pool money to buy several such notes promising a return 10 times of their investment, the report said.

The investors were told that the U.S. government printed the bills in 1928 when Chiang Kai-shek was still in power in China to allow Americans to bring their assets back home, Asahi said.
The president showed them a thousand of the $1 million notes featuring a portrait of George Washington at a Tokyo hotel, according to Asahi. The investors were told the notes could be exchanged for smaller denominations in Hong Kong, but no exchange ever took place, it reported.

"We continued to fork over money because we were promised, 'You'll get several hundreds of millions of yen in three days,' or 'You'll get that amount in a week,'" one investor was quoted as saying.

By last March, the eight had paid a total of 150 million yen ($1.27 million), but the company president said the bills would be exchanged by the end of April and he disappeared, according to the report.

The largest U.S. denomination ever produced was $100,000 between 1934 and 1935, according to the Treasury.

Crime Alert

This crime alert comes from the local newsgroups in USJ on 16 Feb 2006. Take care, folks.

I would like to inform you of an attempted robbery at my house at No. x USJ 16/2B on Tuesday afternoon at 2.00pm.

My wife was returning home after fetching my son from school on Tuesday at 2.00pm and as she entered our porch to park (we have an auto gate), a gold coloured Toyota also followed into our porch halfway preventing her from closing the gate. My son and wife realised something was not right and she immediately pressed the horn non -stop. Two well dressed Malay men were in the car and one of them alighted holding a knife and signalling to her to be silent putting his finger to his mouth. Fortunately my maid was upstairs and as she took her time to come down, the main door was not opened.

I believe that realising that the sound of non-stop horning might alert the neighbours, they quickly reversed and left. (incidentally non of our neighbours came out to check ). In the panic situation she forgot to note the car number.

Kindly forward this to all our neighbours to be on the look out and to be careful when opening the gates and I feel that their targets are ladies returning either from sending or fetching children from school tailing them home and moreover it is quite quiet during this period.

Tragedy waiting to happen

An email from Chris Fletcher re JALAN USAHA and this is the #$%*ing upper middle class USJ that everyone speaks about!

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:12:15 +0800
From: C & C Fletcher
Subject: Jl Usaha heavy trucks using Petronas Gas pipe line crossing - Tragedy waiting to happen.

Hi, I am the traffic chairman in Zone 3, i desperately need your support in stopping the overweight trucks using Jl Usaha as their personal back way, the Petronas gas pipe crossing this street has a maximum safety limit of 20 tons, yet despite this street being signposted a 5 ton road heavy trucks and 40' trailers are using it hourly of every day, some are well over 30 ton! This pipe line is situated beside the USJ13 school and when (AND NOT IF) this pipe eventually cracks due to the pressure of these heavy trucks the explosion would level everything in a 500 meter radius, If you care then i need your signatures on a MPSJ complaints form urgently. I have 500 copies ready for your signature so those interested in helping out email me and we can meet up and get this done asap! MPSJ are currently conducting a traffic impact study so stand up and be counted!

Now is the time to act, support a safer USJ12/13/16/17/18 and all those who live, work or go to school there!

Chris Fletcher Zone 3 Traffic Committee
fletch8@streamyx.com

Councils need to be shamed

This letter to The Star was a follow-up to my earlier blog entry:

THE call to the municipal councils in Selangor to buck up on their services is long over-due, “Councils told to shape up” (The Star, Feb 9).

A simple request to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council to repair the unlit street lights in USJ 18/2A and USJ 18/2B has yet to be acted upon even after almost two months.

So it was not surprising to read about its low score of below 58.5% in the performance survey.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo was quoted in the report as saying that a state executive councillor would be seconded to each municipal council to monitor its performance and submit a report to the state.

But how is a state executive councillor going to do that considering the state duties that come under his portfolio?

What makes the Mentri Besar think that what the full force of the council cannot do, a state executive councillor can?

I would suggest the Mentri Besar visit the Hall of Shame hosted by the Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya at www.panducermat.org.my and take it from
there.

The Two Choices We Face

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives. The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.

To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing at all.

Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to stretch upward and outward to the full measure of our capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment that we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability and desire will permit. To settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in this worthiest of undertakings.

Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! And if our results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of who and what they have become.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Selangor Exco watching over local councils?

Reported via the Malay Mail that:

"The Selangor executive councillors will be watching over local councils in the State. They will now go on rounds to take pictures of clogged drains, potholes and illegal dumpsites to be submitted to local council presidents or heads of department for immediate action."

Is that a serious directive from the MB or is someone just trying to score brownie points? Or maybe, that thought originated from someone's posterior!

How the heck is an Exco member going to do that considering the state duties that come under his portfolio? Has anyone thought of that?

Consider MPSJ alone. Its jurisdiction covers an area of approximately 161.8 square km; divided into three main zones, i.e. Damansara (Subang Jaya & Bukit Lanchong), Puchong & Seri Kembangan (Serdang, Seri Kembangan, Universiti Putra Malaysia dan part of the Air Hitam forest reserve).

What makes the MB think that what MPSJ cannot do, our super-Exco member can?

I would suggest that the MB visit the Hall of Shame hosted by the Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya and take it from there. Put your LA21 into practice by inviting the rate payers to contribute their photographs.

Then we monitor together in a public domain. With transparency. Not just behind doors between the Exco member and the local council.

They are from the same acuan (mould), aren't they?

An old joke

You've probably come across this old joke many times. Try listening to it in audio form. It's much funnier.

Just click on this link.

I want peace but I am pissed

By accident or by design, this list of projects surely deprived other areas that needed the funds. Like this damaged pergola in USJ 18.

Surely any blind idiot can see the danger that the loose struts pose to children who frequent the payground. Why wasn't it included as an urgent need?

Really, I want peace but I am pissed. Wouldn't you be?

Atun definitely is, I was told, but for other reasons. He is upset with stomach poisoning from the poison administered by Dr. Chap Pa Sien.

Well, who the heck cares!

Before anyone forgets, this one still outstanding!

Where in the heavens is USJ 29?

Backgrounder: Every JKP zone in MPSJ receives an annual allocation of RM87,000.00. This is for the purpose carrying small and immediate projects without having to go through the bureaucratic procedures of the council, insofar as urgent maintenance works are concerned. This arrangement has to be applauded.

For the year 2005, a certain JKP zone submitted the following projects to MPSJ for implementation:

• Cadangan Kerja-Kerja Membaikpulih Alat Permainan Kanak-Kanak di USJ 26/1:
  Anggaran Kos - RM19,900.00
  Kos Diluluskan - RM7,200.00
  t
• Cadangan Membina Trek Jogging & Naik Taraf Gelanggang Badminton di USJ 17/3:
  Anggaran Kos - RM19,995.00
  Kos Diluluskan - RM14,502.40
  t
• Cadangan Membekal Konkrit Slap Mengecat & Membekal Pokok Pagar & Lain-Lain Kerja Yang Berkaitan di USJ 16/3:
  Anggaran Kos - RM19,950.00
  Kos Diluluskan - RM8,850.00
  t
• Cadangan Membaikpulih Longkang, Batu Tuman, Menampal Jalan & Lain-Lain Kerja Yang Berkaitan di USJ 29/1:
  Anggaran Kos - RM19,900.00
  Kos Diluluskan - RM19,900.00t

Although the guildelines issued by MPSJ requires all projects to be endorsed by the JKP committee, the list above was never tabled for review and endorsement! How it finally got approved, god knows.

It is also stated that no single project should exceed RM20,000.00. The proposed costs, however, does show some glaring but curious numbers, doesn't it? Or are they just coincidental?

Even curiouser is that all the proposed costs were slashed except for the last one in USJ 29/1. Truly, I hope this is a typo because I cannot find USJ 29 in the map. I also asked around but no one knows.

So, where in the heavens is USJ 29?

Developed state, underdeveloped councils!

Now that someone is talking,

He said the seven – Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Selayang, Klang, Ampang, Kajang and Sepang – scored below 58.5% in the evaluation. Shah Alam was given an 80% score.

“We assessed them on collection of garbage, responding to public complaints, counter service, staff discipline and even on their expenditure,” he said.

Is anyone listening?

Interestingly, the MB also touched on discipline ...

“The Selangor Housing Developers Board, State Legal Affairs Department and the
respective state assemblymen will help in lodging the police reports.” Dr Khir said this was to “discipline the errant developers”.

Why the resolve to discipline one while the other needs only to pull up theirs socks?

Dr Khir has asked the local authorities to “pull up their socks.”

What if they do not even wear socks? What to pull up then?

By the way, ini masih diambil tindakan!

A Definite Purpose

"Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment." - As A Man Thinketh

In her book, Unstoppable, Cynthia Kersey writes that a prominent psychologist asked 3,000 people, "What have you to live for?" An amazing 94% answered by saying they had no definite purpose for their lives - 94% percent!! With those kind of results, is it any wonder that there are so many unhappy people in our world today?

James Allen also tells us on this subject that, "They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to worries, fears, troubles, and self-pity." When I was part of the 94% without a purpose, my life was constantly dark with all types of worries, fears and troubles. I was a ship without a rudder floating aimlessly in a raging sea. Nothing in my life seemed to go right.

I believe we were created with a purpose in our heart, and part of our journey here is to discern that purpose and to act on that purpose.

Purpose puts power and excitement in our lives. It keeps us from looking at the little picture of "me" and causes us to look at the big picture of "we."

Ralph Marston, who writes The Daily Motivator, says "Your wishes, desires, hopes, dreams, opinions, likes and dislikes, at their very deepest level, revolve around a purpose. You can sense it. It is there. Pay attention to the times you really feel good about yourself. Ask yourself why this is so. Keep asking until you touch a purpose so fundamental it cannot be explained in any other way."

Napoleon Hill, writing in the classic Think and Grow Rich, said that having a purpose was so important to success that people would have a different (and better) story to tell about their lives "if only they would adopt a DEFINITE PURPOSE, and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming obsession!"

And that's worth thinking about.

This above article is a reproduction from James Allen's eMeditation, a free subscription service.

Launching of Edwardian website

Tigers, the Edwardian Web-Site is scheduled to be launched on:

Date: 15 March 2006 (Wednesday)
Time: 3.30pm to 6.30pm
Venue: Mandarin Court Hotel, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur

The Hi Tea is chargeable at RM 35 per person.

For more information, please contact:

Raja Abdul Rahman bin Raja Mohammad Dain,
No. 7 Jalan SS 3/25 ,
Kelana Jaya
47300 Petaling Jaya.
H/P 017-8780978

or any of the Old Edwardian EXCO members.

Magni Nominis Umbra.

Sedang diambil tindakan

MPSJ seeks answers from its officers on why their superiors were not informed when a 14-day notice sent to a discotheque at the USJ Summit Shopping Centre in January expired.

Don't just stop there, Mr. YDP. Please also ask your officers why the street lightings along USJ 18/2A and USJ 18/2B are still not attended to after more than one month of complaints from the residents.

Does this problem, which appears to be caused by burnt blown fuses (since all the lights are not working), require a hugh allocation that requires the calling of tenders? This seems to be so, according to the two officers I followed up with. That MPSJ is still in the process of selecting the contractor for this year!

Hello, it is already February 2006 lah.

Sedang diambil tindakan, what crap!

Moronic Driver

This moron did not only deprived two other vehicles of a covered parking lot at the IOI Mall in Puchong; the car was also obstructing the smooth flow of traffic at the car park. What should be done with cretins like him or her?