Hard luck

The petrol price rise has really affected the ordinary Malaysians in so many ways. Every guy wants to make up for the extra buck used up for petrol. Some, car-pool to their working places, sharing petrol money. Some, use the public transports, take the bus or train, adjusting their time to keep with the schedules. Some, keep their cars at home, ride a motorbike to work. Consumes less petrol than cars and can wiggle through most traffic jams. Some, who only own a motorbike, mostly low-wage earners, got no other choice. Pay more for petrol. Why not cycle to work ? No need to fill petrol and good exercise too. Sure, but do you think its worth it, if your work-place is 5km or 10km or more from your home ? Can you feel safe when you are side-tracked into the road-side ditch by bullying trucks and busses ? The most popular mode of transport in Penang is the motorbike. Second-hand bikes are being sold like hot cakes here. Just be careful when buying these second-hand bikes, you might end up buying a stolen bike, you might be buying my stolen motorbike. No, I kid you not, my motorbike was really stolen last Thursday night. I never dreamed this could happen to me, only to other 'unfortunates'. Now I'm an 'unfortunate'. That night, there was a pasar malam in town. Just before maghrib I drove my bike down there to buy some food for the family (wife and daughter were fasting that day). I bought some laksa, pasembur ,murtabak and chicken rice. Got home, parked my bike in the porch, I just closed the front gate,unlocked. I was just in time, the bilal had just begun the azan for maghrib prayers, and my wife and daughter can break their fast. After the prayers, dinner, I went out to the porch for a smoke. I noticed that the gate was opened. Did I or did'nt I close the gate just now ? Hey, why am I feeling some barrenness in the porch, like something's missing. Then it dawned on me, my motorbike,PFS 496 is not there. Who moved it ? Have I been careless or not, I'm not sure. My motorbike has been stolen right in my own porch. And no one heard any unusual sound or noise. My two boys Fadzlil and Shafiq were watching tv in the living room. They did'nt hear anything. My nearest neighbors did'nt see or hear anything .They had closed their doors and windows, same as us. Its just circumstances, every Muslim household would close their doors and be indoors when its maghrib. And the thief took advantage of the situation. After I had calmed myself , my daughter Lina accompanied me to the police station, down the road to make a report. You know, this place Tasek Gelugor, every public building (police station, govt clinic, post office,BSN, Agro Bank, market, schools) is easily accessible by foot. Its already been a week, no news from the police. And I don't expect my bike to be found or returned intact. These thieves would strip the bike and take the parts that can be sold to the scrap-iron shops. Now I'm looking for a replacement. Its a necessity.

No Muzakarah with Umno

Badawi admits that he has had 'muzakarah (meetings )' with some PAS leaders. I wonder who those PAS members are, but its definitely not Tok Guru Nik Aziz. Tok Guru is very sceptical about Umno's invitation 'untuk bangsa dan ugama'. When Umno talks about kehilangan kuasa Melayu it is actually about kehilangan kuasa Umno. Now Umno needs PAS to get back its two-third majority in parliament and also to get back its power in Selangor,Perak ,Kedah and Kelantan. I'm sure those wayward PAS fellas must have been promised high government positions (say DPM, ministers,deputy ministers, exco and GLC chairs). Tok Guru Nik Aziz (also Tok Guru Hadi) has experienced what happened to PAS when Asri brought PAS into the BN after being invited by Tun Razak. The union did not last very long. Tok Guru Nik Aziz does not want history to be repeated. He said its okay to muzakarah with individuals but not the party (Umno).

Damn these price hikes

Fuel price gone up and will be going up again.... maybe. The knowitalls say take a bus. What ? Bus fares are going up too. And the gas suppliers are raising their prices for domestic gas cylinders. You can bet the roti canai and nasi lemak will increase some more. The RM625 for cars and RM150 for motor bikes refund is easy money for con-men. Today Che' Lah proudly announced that his ministers will take a 10 percent cut off their entertainment allowances, not their bloody salaries.What a cheek ! When workers asked for a minimum wage to be set, it was disallowed. How are these lowly paid workers going to manage ? I'm sure they have school-going kids and bills to pay. Me, I am suffering too. I'm just a pensioner with two schooling kids, and one son in college without scholarship. I have to maintain a car, a motorbike, and a house for which I am still repaying the housing loan. Did I mention, the special expenses for my two children with disabilities ? My two working sons cannot support me, their mum and younger siblings, for they too are struggling with their own finances. Thank you BN govt, I hope you guys will be replaced soon.

Ezam joins leaky ship Umno

Why is all the media making such a big deal of that ex- Youth leader of Parti Keadilan, Ezam Mohd Noor rejoining Umno. Did you see the 'staged' handing over of his membership forms to none other than Captain Paklah of the leaking ship called Umno. One wonders why Ezam wants to join this crew, and why Captain Paklah was so eager-beaver to welcome him with open arms. Ezam said he wants to help Captain Paklah rebuild Umno back to its former stature. Retired skipper Tun Dr M has lost confidence in this new skipper and wants him removed. Can this Ezam do what Tun M has tried vainly to do, to bring back Umno's former glory. My personal view is that, Ezam has all the 'dirty little secrets' of Umno officials in his pocket, so Umno has to take him in, for their own security.

Man overboard !

I just want to add my few sens worth about Tun Dr Mahathir quitting Umno. I don't know if that's a wise decision or some kind of strategy on Tun M's part. Tun, if you don't like the captain, you should'nt jump overboard first, just throw the captain (Pak Lah) overboard without a lifeboat. That is, if you really love your ship and shipmates.

Mothers Day & National Service

Its Mothers' Day today. The world pays tributes to mothers everywhere. As usual the medias will spotlight the 'celebrity moms'. Offsprings expressing their love and affection for the world to view. Meanwhile, in far flung places of the universe, unsung ' heroines ' toil and sweat and bleed to put a decent meal on the table for their young ones. Here, in our own developed country, on Mothers' Day, a mum is broken hearted. Her tears will never bring back her daughter, who she had entrusted with the government program called the National Service Training. That incompetent organisation failed to take immediate action when her 18 year old daughter complained of illness. That poor girl died after suffering her pain for several hours. Before that, 15 (maybe more, I'm not sure) other teenaged trainees, had died during the national service training, set up since 2003 for 5th formers, while waiting for their SPM results. Their mothers are crying too, on Mothers Day. Read what Malaysian Medical Resources blog has to say. Should we allow more of our teenagers to suffer in this failed training program. I want the government to dump this program immediately. I have a daughter who's sitting for SPM this year.I pray that she will not be selected. I wish all mothers, young and old, have a good Mothers' Day. And I advise all children, young and old, especially my own, love , cherish and protect your mom, as she is the only one you'll ever have.

Tun Dr M Go Blog

Former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed has joined the blogging community. Read what he said about the government's plan to set up a Judicial Commission on appointment of judges. There's a lot for Pak Lah to ponder upon. I'm going to visit there quite often. Should be very interesting.

Monorail derailed

On Tuesday (22/4/08) Pak Lah told Penangites that the 32 Km Second Penang Bridge project will be delayed for another nine months due to problems in buying land (land acquisition), design and the rising cost of building materials. (Pak Lah should be consulting the ex-DCM Rashid about the land part.He was the wheeler-dealer on land matters with the previous state govt.) Any developer knows that land acquisition should be cleared up first before planning any project. micro or mega. Land-owners are smarter now, not like their grandpas in the old days. Hope that our bridge contractor from China is not hopping mad for being made to wait to start work. Original estimated cost RM3.6 billion, now shot up to RM4.3 billion.In nine months time RM 10 billion ? (I say, if you can't get the site or you don't have the money, drop the project, or move it to a shorter route.) On Saturday (26/4/08) MOF2 Nor Mohamed, told the state Federal Action Council meeting that some proposed mega-works in Penang have not been approved yet, namely the mono-rail and Penang Outer Ring Road. (I hope the islanders can live without these projects. I'd be very glad if both these projects are dumped.) On Sunday (27/4/08) Ex-CM Tsu Koon clarified that he had stated that federal projects commited to before elections will go on. Today, Nor Mohamed came down off his high horse and said the Federal govt is sincere about working with the Penang-PR govt and has no intention of cancelling projects under the 9th Malaysia Plan. He said the purpose of the Penang FAC meeting was to call for more cooperation from the state govt. (Well now, who's the next minister to come and punish Penangites for voting PR ?)