Letter to YB: stupid reasoning & blind loyalty

Do you have to be a rocket or nuclear scientist to understand that any power generated by coal is harmful to the environment? the answer is absolutely NO!..even a standard six student nowadays can tell you the fact easily. Now..lets refer to the comment made by our very own Yang Berhormat which was published in Daily express 22/12/2009-under the heading "Palm City' nickname for Lahad Datu'. That 'very smart' Yang Berhormat argued that electricity power plant based on the coal energy is not something new because many states such as Perak, selangor and sarawak had generated electricity power using coal. I cant help but laughing at this brilliant reasoning. When will be our Yang Berhormat learn to do more smart, intelligent and articulate reasoning? Since this Yang Berhormat gave such a silly reasoning it deserved a dumbest response too, I am not going to waste time to argue in a very scientific manner which they will never understand.

Dear YB,

I am agree with you that coal-fired power plant is not something new in this country, you even shows that you know this subject well by saying that other states also had generated electricity power using coal. But have you ever bother to look at the impact of these coal-fired power plant to the environment of the area surrounding them? If you havent and I bet my money you didnt then I say that your reasoning for defending the coal-fired power plant suggestion is worst than the ability of reasoning by a standard three pupil. Are you aware that by giving this type of reasoning you also saying that the muslim malay also can eat pork because the non-muslim chinese eat pork and you see this non-muslim chinese who eat pork are all wealthy and healthy? While the malay muslim who didnt eat pork constitute the largest group of poor people like in kelantan. (sorry for my chinese friends). Or perhaps you also trying to say that muslim malay overseas can drink alcohol to keep their body warm in a freezing winter just like the 'mat salleh who drink alcohol and can stand the freezing cold winter. Are you really trying to say that way?

YB, you are elected into your position now by the people not by the party you are representing. Democracy is all about the government of the people, by people to the people. I am sure you are well aware of this, if you not then just treat this as a gentle friendly reminder! Have you ever consulted your constituent before come out to the media and defending this project by saying that it was badly needed and from the way you argue it seems that the coal-fired power plant is the only answer or in my word the world will come to an end / kiamat if this coal-fired power plant is not built. Well, I respect your right to defend the policy of your own party and that is what you should do as 'a loyal member' however I do hope that you wouldnt forget the people who put you in your position today.

Driving & Accident : Driver & Government

Salam,

It was approximately 9 years ago when I first got my driving licence..pass in my first attempt. Proud? Yup, at that time was really proud because I've heard many stories about people having to take and re-take their driving test several times and I was lucky to pass it at my very first attempt. Okay, I am not going to talk about my previous 'achievement' it was a history. enough.

In Daily Express (www.dailyexpress.com.my) 22/11/2009 Sunday it was reported that a young mum-to-be died in an accident on the way to deliver her very first baby at the Likas hospital. The accident was not caused by the driver of the car she was travelling in, but by another car from the opposite lane who carelessly lost control of his big 4WD car and ram to this ill-fated perodua kancil on which this mother to-be travelling in with her brother-driver, her sister in-law and her mother which are all seriously injured. As usual we can do lots of interpretation from this very sad and touching real life cases.

First, the government have done very well and I believe will continuously conducting safe driving campaign to educate and to remind road user-driver to be very carefull when driving not only for their own safety but for another road user too. There have been countless media advert about this, many approaches of the campaign have been utilise by the government but still the graph of road accident keep on increasing.

What went wrong here? Does the government did not do enough? Every festive season in Malaysia (aidilfitri, chinese new year, deepavali, christmas etc etc) the police traffic, the road and transport department staff will have to sacrifice their leave in order to make sure that the road users will follow the rules while on road. Does this sacrifices did not enough? Perhaps the government also need to pay attention to the following and stop wasting the tax payer money into launching useless road safety campaign;

i. Drivers who get their driving licence before the age of 30 should be retrain and re-test once every 3 or 5 years. For example, If I got my driving licence at the age of 20, in order for me to continue enjoying my driving privileges I would need to be re-test by the age of 23/25 and another re-test by the age of 30. After the driver reach the age of 30 then the interval of having to set for re-train/re-test could be aroung 7/10 years. Now you might think that this suggestion is unnecessary burden and unjustified. Wait. Most of us who have been driving for years tend to develop our own habit of driving, and in most cases these habits is the bad habits of driving. Human being human always tend to forget and need to be constantly reminded. If you dont believe in me, go and try it for yourself..take the driving test again and see what mark you'll get. I bet if you still remember your mark during your first driving test will be much better than your second test. I am saying this and believe in this concept of re-train and re-test because currently am being re-train in order for me to pass the driving test to get the UK driving licence. And, guess what in my very first driving lesson the instructor says that the way am driving is way below the standard mark of passing the driving test in UK and it is all because of my bad habit of driving. Now I am in my second lesson and it seems that it is a bit hard to get rid of these bad habit, hopefully will be able to get rid of them and pass my test.

ii. Apart from human factors another major cause for road accident is the technical aspect including the road worthiness of the car. I've come accross an accident where a big lorry ram into an incoming FWD, the driver and the passenger of the FWD died instantly while the lorry driver suffer minor bruises. The lorry driver says that he lost control of his vehicle because the hydraulic brake of his lorry did not work. am not saying that the UK has very good system in place but it is certainly proven that the annual testing of a vehicle roadworthiness for car that is more than three years old has play its part in reducing the number of road accident in UK cause by technical aspect. In Malaysia we do have this system - PUSPAKOM which if I am not mistaken make it compulsary for commercial vehicle to undergo this annual testing. However, it is an open secret that with certain amount of money you can get a PASS Certificate for your vehicle and to make it worst to the extent that they dont even physically checking your vehicle. So there you go.

iii. In the early years of car being invented (honestly I have no idea in what year motorised car being invented) the main purpose of the car those days was to transport people from point A to point B. The concept of safety car for passenger was not the priority. Nowadays car safety is a must. In certain developed country it is a must that every car must fulfill minimum requirement for safety. Back in Malaysia this safety requirement seems not in the priority of the government. If, the safety of people in car is the priority of the government and the government are seriously wanted to reduce the number of road accident casualty then why on earth perodua kancil with no airbags (airbags have been proven to be able to reduce degree of injury in car accident) allowed to be on our road? I remember buying my very first wira aeroback, the salesman asked me to choose between leather seat or driver airbag? and he try to persuade me to go for the leather seat rather than the airbag because the leather seat will add value to my car, and they you go..I choose leather seat.:P

iv. road design and road label/warning. I am not going to elaborate on this. Like the PUSPAKOM classic case, the road design and road label /warning is also an open secret of major contributing factors in road accident.

So, I need to stress again that I am a firm believer of the need for our driver to be re-train and re-test from time to time because human being human we tend to forget and over time develop bad habits in driving, not to mention our mentality of putting safety as a non-priority. Am also believe that the government still did not doing enough to reduce road accident and casualty which I will discuss further in my next post.

in the name of development.....

In the 60s, 70s or even in the 80s when people have to choose between development and environment the answer will always be the development. The argument those days were very simple, you need to sacrifice in order to develop and to fulfill the endless needs of human being. The basic needs of foods required lots of land to be cleared and turned into agriculture plot to produce foods. The basic needs of shelter required massive land to be cleared so that houses can be built. To make human beings life become easier, tools such as cars and electronic equipments have been invented to fulfill the endless neccessities of human being.

However, it is worth noting here that while the population consume the energy of the earth, new technologies were produced every day to minimise the effect of these 'life saving apparatus' towards the environment. Thus, the buzz word of green technology or the environmental friendly technology has become a daily vocub in the society. It seems a necessary nowadays that every products offered to the population/consumer should be labelled 'environmental friendly product' it is akin to the label of 'halal' product to the muslim. So, my point here is that there is and there will always be a way of creating and producing something for the human being which will bring minimal if not zero effect to the environment. And, to make it more interesting, it was proven!

Now, back to the real issue..today it was reported in a local newspaper (Daily Express) that in order to overcome the shortage of power supply in Sabah the people of Sabah did not have choice but to accept that a coal-fired power plant that has been rejected before will now proceed. And, this solution was coming out from our very own prime minister who promised that 'people will be his first priority'. Well, it is indeed very true that if people want uniterrupted power supply then people need to accept coal-fired power plant is the only answer. If this reason were given out in the 60s,70s or 80s then we will not have problem with it. Ironically, the same reason was again used in this so called 21st century where all the alternatives, environmental friendly technologies is available.

why resort to the short term measure and ignoring the long term effect of this solution. Am sure our very own PM know and well aware about this but WHY he still to choose the short term measure? I've been attending countless leadership courses and seminars and all these courses and seminars emphasising that it is very important for a very good leader to think of long term effect rather than short term gain. In this case, it is very clear that our leader choose short term solution over long term negative effect. So you decide.

The hydro-power of Bakun in nearby state of Sarawak was said to have the capacity to generate more than enough power supply to the whole country. And, yet when a suggestion was put forward to the government that Sabah should be connected with this vast power supply it was rejected citing the reason of very high cost. You see, again the short term measured were used rather than the long-term effect.

Am so saddened and feel sorry for all my fellow sabahan who fought hard not to have the coal-fired power plant in order to give the future malaysian sabahan better environment to live on. It seems that your fight and struggle for the environment worth nothing in the name of development and in the name of power.

C.R.A.Z.Y

I have mixed feelings today. In one minutes I wanna cry, cry out loud as loud as I can, in another minutes I think I would laugh, laugh as loud as I can, in few seconds after that I feel very very upset, angry and if I could I wanted to meet that guy and spit on his very ugly face, punch his pig-like nose and kick his balls only if he has balls. That guy must be very lucky because of the distance that keep me a part from him.

Nah this is what you would think crazy. Yup I do feel very crazy but I think and I am very sure that I am crazy for the future of my country. I feel crazy with this mixed feelings because I love my country very much. And, my crazy and love for my country were spoiled by the existence of this very ugly pig-like nose alien creature that proudly call himself a human being. Ok..stop all these cursing and rants towards this very un-civilised, un-patriotic, close minded creature, lets go straight to the cause of my crazinees feeling in this summer weather of autumn. You see, I just cant stop cursing this pig-like nose alien creature.

You need to read a news article from The Star titled REDUCE FEDERAL AID TO PAKATAN STATE GOVTS, GO STRAIGHT TO THE RAKYAT. This article is the main caused for my crazy feeling in this hot summer weather of autumn.:) Okay, that guy have his point in his argument. I dont and I wouldnt condemn him because he has the right to express his view and at the same time I would expect that he wouldnt condemn me for expressing my view.

As a Malaysian Sabahan I have felt the suffering from this very uncivilised practice of politics. Sabah was once under the administration of opposition party and because of that the federal government reduce the annual aid to Sabah. It was the Sabahan who suffered because of this stone age practice of politics. And, after the rakyat have given their signal to the party which this guy belongs to in the recent general election and with all the nicely worded oratory by the leadership of this very party to change and listen to the rakyat this very guy choose to revert to the old style of politics. When will they change?

Why they just cant understand that the federal government wealth or money is contributed by the states that makes the federal and in turn it was the responsibility of the federal government to distribute this money back to the states which in turn will be channelled to the rakyat regardless of political background. Have they ever found a clause in federal constitution that only the states that govern by the party who form the federal government would be given the federal aid, while the states which govern by opposition party need to find their own money. I dont think so.

I need to stressed here that am not the supporters of opposition party nor I am the fans of the party that are given the responsibility to govern the country. I am writing this because I love my country which will be the place for my kids to grown up and I wanted my kids to grown up in a lovely country govern by a more civilised, gentleman/women politician.

For that very guy please change your mindset and please accept my appology for calling you with all those un-pleasant word or perhaps you may deserved it for ruining my excitement in enjoying the hot summer weather of autumn. thanks.

Ramadhan, Bazar Ramadhan and ...

Salam,
well, most of us already know the 'hikmah' behind ramadhan. Physically it help us to improve our health, spiritually ramadhan teach us to become more closer to GOD. Am sure you are much better than me to explain all the surah/hadith about ramadhan hence am not going to discuss about that.

Ramadhan-Bazar Ramadhan.
Am not sure about another place around the world, but in Malaysia Bazar Ramadhan is a must. A ramadhan without Bazar Ramadhan is like eating ketupat pulut without rendang tok. From one perspective Bazar Ramadhan bring lots of benefits. Bazar Ramadhan provide a place for the part-time entreperneur to earn extra income (much much better rather than begging on the street), bazar ramadhan is very handful for the 'overworked private/public worker', it provide an alternatives to get something to eat during iftar without having to cook at home after working the whole day.

However, there are also some negative elements about Bazar ramadhan. First, I remember my ustaz told me that fasting teach us to feel the hardship faced by the poor. But, here in Bazar Ramadhan we tend to spent lots of money buying lots of food due to our weaknesses in controlling our 'nafsu makan'. Even myself also would not be able to resist the temptation of ayam percik, air bandung soya ais, bihun goreng etc etc, in average I used to spent RM10 on each visit to Bazar Ramadhan which eventually most of the food were thrown in the bins afterward. What a waste. So there you are..., we torture ourself of not eating and drinking the whole day, we really behave during ramadhan, we control our anger, we did not swear during ramadhan..in brief we did all the noble act during ramadhan, but all these 'heaven reward' acts easily dissappear when we visit Bazar Ramadhan. Am not saying that you shouldn't visit and buy food from Bazar Ramadhan, but then this are the most likely consequences you will get from visiting Bazar Ramadhan. Moreover when we talk about the very unreasonable price of food let alone the terrible taste of the food which we will certainly swear the seller of his/her terrible food. Gone are the pahala puasa!

Here in Scotland there are no Bazar Ramadhan, well I do miss the Bazar Ramadhan back home. However, I think without Bazar Ramadhan we will be able to avoid all the above negative elements of bazar ramadhan. Am not saying that my fasting here is much better than fasting in Malaysia but at least I do have the chances of reflecting what a waste fasting the whole day getting all the pahala which later on we turn it into bala after a short visit to bazar ramadhan. Salam.

Naik Gaji during recession.

Malaysia boleh. Sabah boleh. It was historically a catch phrase coined to motivate our national badminton player during the very memorable thomas cup final in 1992, I was in form five that time. There was also a song created with the theme 'Malaysia Boleh'. Each and every Malaysian can sing that song. "Jika kau fikirkan kau boleh, kau hampir boleh melakukan, jika kau fikirkan kemenangan kau hampiri kejayaan". Then, the word become 'a national catch phrase' to motivate malaysian that they can do if they have the will to do. And it was certainly proven, because we have a very strong will and determination, we believe that we can do, then we come out with 'the world tallest building' later on categorise as 'the world tallest twin towers', we have the best airport in the world..and list goes on and on.

While the world struggling to cope with the latest recession there was one part of the world which seems very prosperous and seems did not affected by the worldwide recession. some economist might wondering as to why this particular part of the world has a very good economy and probably the economy adviser of this particular part of the world could be awarded a noble prize. However, it is not a surprise one though. It is all because of the 'Malaysia Boleh spirit'. We can do whatever we want because we can and we have the very strong will to do it.

so, based on the above spirit of Malaysia Boleh, the Sabah government has just passed the bill to increase the salary of its cabinet members, speaker and the assemblyman. (look at the Daily express, 07/08/09 report). The reason given is that it was about time and it was long overdue because to serve the people better, these assemblyman/woman need to be given better salary. Well, if they deserve to get it..then be it. However you might want to consider the followings;

1. Sabah is still the poorest state in Malaysia. Most Sabahan have to leave sabah to find job in peninsular Malaysia/Singapore. Then you might argue that it was the local who did not want to work in our huge palm oil plantation hence we need to bring Indonesian/Filipinos to work in our plantation. My response; it was because the plantation company wanted to maximise their profit hence resort to cheper labour. But, why cant these 'overworked cabinet members/assemblyman' make a rule that plantation company in Sabah must hired at least 80% local to work in their plantation and make a mandatory to these companies to provide not only better salary but also better condition. If these so called cabinet members can do this then am more than happy to hear that they get naik gaji!

2. The infrastructure in Sabah still the worst compared to another state in Malaysia. Inadequate electricity supply is becoming worst. You might argue that it was a sign of good and improving economy, more and more factories being open hence inadequate electricity supply. My response, it was indeed a false economy, if there was demand then for sure there will be enough fund to provide better infrastructure or there was enough funds indeed but it only cater for certain group of people only. Why cant our 'overworked cabinet members' push for more fund from the federal to provide its own rakyat with better infrastructure. If they can do this then I'll dance on the street happy for them because they get naik gaji!

With due respect to our assemblyman/woman they should have in the first place put on hold for the plan to increase their own salary until the recession is over. If they can do this then they truly uphold the true spirit of Malaysia Boleh. They will be remembered as genuine assemblyman/woman who fought for their constituents. But, hey this is 21st century, a century for the opportunist which is actually the idea that we borrowed from darwin-the survival of the fittest. If you are not fit enough you will not be able to survive in this century.

Congratulations to the people of Sabah, because it was us who voted these assemblyman/woman to the State assembly to represent us. It was us actually who put them in this or that position that they can used to enrich them first. We, who voted them is their 2nd or maybe the lowest in their priority. Some of you might feel offended reading this entry..but then this is Malaysia Boleh, Sabah Boleh. You can do whatever you want to do as long as you have the will to do, and I am certainly uphold the true spirit of Malaysia Boleh and Sabah Boleh in writing this entry.

Malaysian Muslim are I***t

salam,

wow! what a word to choose from to be a topic for this entry. Before you get angry and upset let me tell you something. Am also from Malaysia and i am also a MUSLIM!. So? Why did a Malaysian Muslim like me saying that kind of word? well, you have the right to feel angry, upset and maybe disappointed with me so much I have the rights to feel angry, upset and disappointed for the following events;

events no 1. orientation week (ragging week)? for new first year student.

as usual, one of the 'ritual' in this orientation week -which later 'renamed' as 'minggu suai mesra' to get away from the negative connotation associated with it- the new students were 'required' to get a number of signatures from their seniors. I don't have any objection with this. The 'funny' thing is that as a muslim (well i have to admit am not really a good muslim) we use to give salam to another muslim brothers/sisters. But this one senior, pull me aside and said " you chinese can not give salam, its only for the muslim". (It was because my 'oversized' name tag was written with my chinese name). Then, they you go..I have to explain that I am a muslim. and another question arise, 'why didn't you put your muslim name then'?... well at that moment I cant give my response. never mind.

Events no.2 attending 'kursus bina negara'.

Actually I am attending this course twice. Don't have to explain the reasons here. As a normal procedure we were required to fill in few forms and to be submitted to the organizer few days before the course begin. As in any other formal document, I'll use my chinese name, which is I consider my formal and legal name as it was stated clearly in my ID. For those who have been attending this 'kem BTN' knows very well about the procedures, the do's and don'ts..and one of them is that you are required to put on your name tag all the time ( luckily this time around the name tag was in a normal/acceptable size). So they you go...imagine, a man with his kopiah, loose baju melayu and kain sarung with a name tag bearing a chinese name went to surau for prayer. You can imagine after that...silly question came up.."are you muslim"? Dont you think it was a funny question? why on earth a non muslim would take all the troublesome to join a prayer when he/she can utilise this time to take good rest a.k.a short nap? Don't you think those who asked that question is SILLY?..and the worst is that they are lecturers - the so called 'brilliant, intelligence people'.

Events no.3 the twins birth certificate.

Imagine a father of a newborn twins who is still on cloud nine, out of the world feeling with his proud went to the registration department to register the twins. As a matter of tradition, typical chinese blood, I purposely put the family name at the end of my daughters name and without the normal / traditional / conservative 'binti'. The officer who attended to my application as usual ask few questions. First; why you did not put in 'binti' into your daughters name? - my diplomatic answer was "I think, by putting in my family name at the end of their name would be enough". Second: why you did not put 'binti abd. latif' into your daughters name?- my diplomatic answer was " my chinese name was the legal name, it was clearly stated in my birth certificate, my IC as well as my passport". well you can guess, the officer seems to be unhappy because twice he tried to persuade me to put all those 'binti' into my daughters name and twice I politely refused.

Deep inside my heart, the answer should be like this: My late father has choose that name to be my name and am damn sure he choose the right name for me, why on earth do I have to 'delete' the name that has been given to me by my late father after I converted to Islam?..should that answer came out from my mouth that day..God knows what will happen.

Events no.4 applying for International Driving Permits.

This events experienced by my sisters-in-law. It was because we already here in UK and we forgot to bring in the International Driving Licence, so we asked my sister-in-law to help and act as a representative. Okay, straight to the point; The officer in-charge (JPJ)asked my sister-in-law, who is this 'Lai Che Ching', and my sister-in-law answer, 'my brother-in-law'. The following questions; 'Is he a muslim'?..oh my God, If I am not a muslim, how could I married to my wife (a malay muslim), this is not Indonesia, this is Malaysia. Third questions; 'Why he (that's refer to me) did not change his name to a malay name'? Now you tell me don't you think those questions are SILLY? or should I write in more harsh word - STUPID?

Events no.5 a story of political campaign in the tri-election

well, let me put it straight and clear. I DID NOT TAKE SIDE IN ANY OF THE POLITICAL PARTY. I SHOULD DECLARE MY SELF AS APOLITICAL. But, there is this some very special moment that attract my attention. Few individual and NGO's have been reported in a newspaper saying that they have make a police report about another politician (chinese, non-muslim) was humiliating Islam by quoting verse from the Quran in his speech. They claimed that this chinese, non-muslim politician make fun of the verse or 'mencemar kesucian quran'? what ever the reasons was is not of my interest.

What I wanted to stress here is that, is it wrong for a non-Muslim referring to the quran to substantiate his argument? Well, for some reason there could be some sort of mis-interpretation. But, wouldn't it be the duty of the Muslim to help and clarify things if there are any miss-interpretation? Doesn't this serve as a good da'wah? Why resort to legal action (police report) when the chances of doing 'da'wah' was open up wide?

Does Islam exclusive to Malay only, hence I have to change my name to a Malay name? Do I have to cut all my relationship to my late father by not putting in the family name into my daughters' name? I don't think Islam is that 'cruel'. Islam is a religion to all, that was what the ustaz told me. But, why here in Malaysia, all those things still exist. Am sure I am not the only one who experience all the above events.

So, my last questions, do you still fell upset, angry and disappointed with my decision to say that 'Malaysian Muslim are Idiot' or perhaps I should say it like this 'Malaysian (some of them) are Idiot'.

salams.

A DeJa Vu weekeNd

awatif hannah lai
athirah hannah lai

the twins....

After almost four weeks in Stirling, today is the 'finest' weather we have. Sunny throughout the day! with 'mild' temperature between 5 - 7 degree. I said it 'mild temperature' because the twins seems having no problem adapting with 'the scottish weather'. Sunny day in the freezing Stirling is something rare hence need to enjoy it to the fullest. So, we decide to go around Stirling and it become easier since we already bought a second hand mercedes A class.

Our first destination was the "Good Green Fun' a charity shop which sells recyled baby/kids stuff for a very cheap price. This shop sells items that being donated by individual who are concerned about conserving the earth. Its more like 'rumbingan' in Sabah. The only differences is that the items in this shops have been clean up and was selected carefully, means the condition is almost new. The income from this shops were used mainly for promoting recyle culture. Well, after spending about 15 minutes inside the shop we leave with a steriliser and two jackets for the twins.

We proceed to the Thistle Centre. Thistle centre is the one and only shopping mall in 'the small city of stirling'. It looks small from the outside but it was huge inside. Walking from one end to the other end especially with a growing baby inside the carrier makes it even 'harder'. As i mentioned earlier, sunny day is very rare in the freezing weather of stirling. So it was not a surprise to see car queueing to enter the thistle centre car park. We have to be in the queue for almost 10 minutes before we manage to get into the car park, luckily once we enter the car park there is a car leaving an empty space for us.:)

Now come the dejavu feelling. Once inside the thistle centre I see my self and a good friend of mine-Dr Shafiek, walking around the thistle doing window shopping. That was 7 years ago. I was still single that time and so is Dr Shafiek. It feels like me and Dr. Shafiek were here yesterday.
And, now after 7 years, here I am, coming back doing the same thing-window shopping. The shops are still the same, Mark and Spencer, Dabenhams, Primak, Tie Rack, JJB, still there. The only exception is there is no more Dixon.

The differences now and 7 years ago are; (1)-now am coming back here with my wife and the twins. (2) 7 years ago we (me and Dr Shafiek) can spend lots of time doing window shopping but now I cant do that anymore. After all our main mission into coming to the Thistle is to go to the Argos which is located just outside the Thistle. We need to buy a Sat Nav (that's what the local call it, actuallt in full it means Satelite Navigation), a device which is very helpful in providing direction if we wanted to go to another place which we are not familliar with. I saw my friends using it when we go for 'car hunting' three weeks agi. After that we went to Primak just to look for the twins socks.

Next destination..TESCO. after two weekend we bought our groceries at Sainsbury, today my wife says that lets visit Tesco. We reach home after shopping around 2.30pm..the twins looks tired-sleepy. But when we tell them that we'll visit auntie and uncle A, they look excited. Around 4.30pm we move again. I started using the Sat Nav and it was very helpful, it help a lots, every turn and corner there will be clear direction. we reach our destination with ease. After enjoying 'bihun goreng' and 'Grill Chicken' we go back to the Uni.

Guess what? the twins looks happy, because for five days (weekdays) they only saw and hear their mama's and papa's faces and voice and today they have been to many places, seeing more new things, meeting another people and hearing more different type of sound (good for developing their learning skills). However, at the same time they also looks tired. Tgk lah kat gambar the twins...selepas balik dari rumah auntie and uncle AA.

I Dream of....

Everyone has their own dream. People who doesn't dream or says that dreaming is bad then they better go and meet any qualified psychiatric for them might be diagnosis with some sort of abnormality. In brief, people who doesn't dream or did not have dreams are 'crazy'. However, people who are dreaming a lot are also in danger of being categorized as having 'mental problem', they are far worst than the people who doesn't dream. Sorry for my boring introduction of dream, but this post is all about dreams. OK, you might think that I'll talk about my dream last night or what are the meaning of certain dream. NO, I am not gonna talk about that.

I dream of my undergraduate student back home (Malaysia) can initiate changes. When i mentioned 'change' it doesn't means that it need to be revolutionary in nature. It doesn't have to be like that. Evolution can do. Slowly but consistent. There is no use to have the 'instant noodle' culture. It bring no good to the society. OK, some might started bored reading all this philosophical sentence. Hang on!

My point in this post is, I dream of some changes in the way the student election on campus in Malaysia being carried out. For the last few days, there is an election campaign going around in the campus here in stirling university. Being a post grad student, this election has nothing to do with me. But, what interest me a lot is the way the election being carried out specially the campaign part. I happen to drop by in a election rally conducted in 'the atrium'-the open space outside the library where student normally hang out while enjoying their fish and chips, coffee or sandwich- after performing friday prayer at the chaplaincy.

It was a semi formal event. Few chairs with full audience, many of them just standing listening to their aspiring candidate debating. There are this two young man standing in front. It just like the presidential debate. This two gentleman will take turn in expressing their views, or their manifesto. From my own calculation (i might be wrong in this), each candidate were given about 5 minutes to say their points. After that, they were given another round questioning each other manifesto, while in the third round, this two gentleman have to answer question from the chairperson which i believe was a question from the audience. OK, so you might argue that it is very simple. we can do it here in Malaysia. Fine. That is only the first part.

What concern me a lot is the ability of this aspiring candidate to debate with facts in hand! I say it again, with FACTS! in hand. The very facts that being mentioned by one of the candidate was based on a survey which was conducted in stirling uni campus. To make things more interesting is that the survey was conducted by an independent body commission by the student.

If this group of undergraduate students can say something or can argue with facts, I did not see any problem with our own students to do the same. But. I means a big BUT with questions mark hanging around this BUT is the situation back home. I don't think the situation in our very own campus will permit this kind of debate. I wouldn't elaborate further on the meaning of 'this situation'. I leave it to you to find it out by yourself.

Again, I have to admit that I can only dream about this. When I say, I can only dream, means it wouldn't be a reality in any near future. Until then, you who agree with me and myself too can only dream. Hoping that we wouldn't be categorized as a dreamer who needed the psychiatric attention!

WeLcoMe

WeLcoMe.

Seven characters word. seven is a mystical number associated in most society around the world. This seven character word is the first word i type in my very first posting for my very first blog. This blog also created and born on a windy and cloudy spring sunday morning. the seventh day of the week. What a coincidence. Luckily i was not born on the 7th.:). Do not ask me why i choose this seven characters word to be appear as a first word in my very first posting.

Perhaps, it was embedded in our culture (typical malaysian) to say welcome to our guest. I am also aware that 'welcome' can be interpreted differently by different group of people. For me, 'welcome' means you are most welcome to visit, read and give your response to my future posting. 'Welcome' means you are most welcome to express your own opinions. 'Welcome' means you are allow to say anything you like, however it must come with responsibility and respect to others. That is my definition of welcome.

Shameful and FunnY!

Its a shame as well as a funny things to admit. First, as a lecturer in media studies I've been discussing about blog with my undergraduate students, few of them took the extra miles by choosing blog as a research topics in writing their academic exercise. You may say, well there is nothing shameful and funny about that. Tell you the truth, the funny things is I don't even have my own blog!

Second, I love reading my wife blog! I envy her because she can write interesting topics no matter how small the subject is. Again, you may say, what a big deal about that? The truth and you may find funny is, I teach my undergraduate student how to write!, not only how to write news but also how to produce fantastic articles! but at the same time I only write occasionally.

Perhaps, this two admissions serve as a very good ice breaking for myself. With this blog (again, shame and funny because it was my wife who teach me how to create this blog!..poor me), first, I can now tell my students proudly..'look, i do have my own blog'.Second, I don't have to envy my wife anymore.:)

MySpectacles.

I choose this as a name for my blog. MySpectacles, i means from my own perspective. That's it!

This blog created for few reasons;

First to serve as a platform that I believe may help me in my research. I'll post anything about my research from my very own perspective and hoping that someone out there that include you who is reading this blog right now, to give constructive comments that will very much help me.

Second, I'll use this blog to share my perspective about Scotland. I'll be here for three (3) years which I think a plenty of time to explore and understand about Scotland. I'll write about its people, places, weather and anything that I think interesting.

God willing, I'll be able to do that.

last but not least..., welcome to Myspectacles and please 'welcome' me to this blog world.