Long Merdeka Weekend

31st August was our nation's 55th birthday, but it did not feel much of a celebration to me. I remember when I was small, Merdeka Day was a very big affair. Because it is a holiday, I get to watch TV and the parade that was going on live. I loved the different costumes and the crowd cheering and I have always wanted to grow up and go there to witness it live. 

But somehow, after growing up and living so close, this desire died off. I am not sure if it is because of other things in my way, or Merdeka Day does not seem to be an event anymore. More so, when I look at the state of affairs in the country. Sometimes I wonder if it was better to have been ruled by the British and not gotten our freedom. 

Look at how Hong Kong has flourished under their rule. Small tiny dot on the map of the world, and yet they have so much riches. By comparison, we have so much more, yet our country has little significance to the outside world. 

The main inheritance from the British which is the English language itself has been politicized by the ruling party, what a shame. To deprive its citizens of learning the language used by the world in favour of a language used mainly in Malaysia. Isn't that interesting now? 

And what about the famous changes which happened to our country's history in our kids' text books? 

I did not even bother to switch on the TV and show my kids any parade. It is such a pity. All the fights our nation's leaders did over 55 years ago seems to have been forgotten. 

What about you? How has the long weekend been? My kids had lots of fun. We went to 1Utama, got to do plenty of rides and toy shop visits. Saturday was a day at the hospital for Megan and drama class for Ryan. We had church service and my parents came to visit. Today we had water play at home and Hungry Ghost festival air pollution happening. 

The kids are all tired out. I am too. It has been a long weekend. Thank you Malaysia for the holiday, I hope next year we will see some changes. 

Learning about other cultures in school

Although Deepavali was celebrated over a week ago, Ryan's school only had the affair yesterday. He was looking forward to it with much excitement although he does not really understand what it was.

When he came back home, he was telling me all about how they ate on the floor and he also ate with his hands. I actually was wondering if he actually got anything into his mouth seeing that this is not something which we do at home.

Nevertheless, he finds it interesting and I am sure some exchange of culture has taken place.

Ryan's school is indeed good in this sense. For every major festival, the school ensures that the children will celebrate it with food, customs and for those who have, costumes.

I honestly cannot remember if we did this in school. I only remembered having Children's Day and that was the day we looked forward to bringing our own food and that was also the day I get to eat all that junk without my mum giving me a hard time.

And then I find out Ryan also eats junk (some, at least) on his festival celebration days. Sigh.

Having said that though, I think it is great to have this exposure so early in school. Certainly helps in building 1 Malaysia, well, at least until the day our politicians spoil all of it!

Looking forward to Christmas now ...

52 years of independence

Tonight I came back from my parents' house with the kids so that I can catch the Merdeka's fireworks at midnight.

But you know what? I was bitterly disappointed.

I am not sure if it is because of the virus or it is because of the puasa month. But whatever it is, this is the last Merdeka we shall be spending in our current place. I am not sure if we will be seeing any in our new place.

I had kept Ryan up so that he can see it too. Sigh, no such luck and so, he went to bed after seeing some small fireworks up for display at Genting.

And I am not disappointed for not seeing the display, I am just disappointed because Ryan did not get to see it. Arghh.

Hazy hazy days

This photo was taken from my balcony.

On an ordinary day, we can see KLCC clearly and it is even more beautiful at night with the lights blinking and all. On clearer days, we can even see the lights at Genting.

Now, I cannot even see the development area behind my place. Look at all the haze. Some may even think that it is mist if they do not know where I took it from.

All this haze is making me quite agitated. All the heat and stickiness, not to mention the tempers flying too. And they say we will see 3 degrees higher in temperature and may last till September.

Today, they say we may be heading for water rationing.

I am at my mum's now and even sitting still and blogging will make me sweat! Air-conds are switched on all day. I think I am partly to be blamed for the global warming saga, but if I don't switch on the damn air-conds, my kids will be screaming and my tempers will flare.

How la?? Hazy hazy days, please go away.

Streamyx and their never ending problems

My house uses Streamyx. And I really dislike them. If other providers are there, I would just switch. I am looking forward to moving to my new place and hopefully connect to Maxis or Celcom, whichever is faster. On top of their already slow problems, I received this mail today.

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) will be performing their network upgrading exercise from 11.00 pm, Friday, 12th June 2009 until 6.00 am, Saturday, 13th June 2009.

As a result, Streamyx customers nationwide may experience a disruption of service during the stipulated period.

Customers can call TM at 100 and select “Internet Services” or e-mail them at help@tm.com.my for any Streamyx related problems.

For further information, please visit the announcement published at TM official website.

http://www.streamyx.com.my/whats_new/whats_new.php?id=article_20090605

I wonder if this upgrading exercise will improve our services. And I wonder if they have to pay each of their customers back if they have a downtime, will it help improve their services? Arghh!!!

The English language

When I was young, my mum used to speak to us in English and insisted that we do not add in the "lah" when we speak.

When I was in primary school, our teachers spoke English to us and it was spoken very well too.

When I was in secondary school, I had my first taste of school mates not being able to converse in English. I also had teachers who could not speak the language well.

When I was in university, I was horrified to learn that some of my fellow uni mates could not speak this language well, let alone write it. Forget about conversing, some could not even understand some basic words I use.

At work, thankfully, most could speak this well. Although I did come across candidates at interview sessions who could not understand our line of questioning.

And then, I read our DPM has this to say in The Star, should I laugh or should I exclaim in horror?
"... surprised to learn that English is not a “must pass” subject for SPM and wants public feedback on the matter."
"...it was a revelation to him as he had always thought that it was a prerequisite since students had to learn English in school."
"... shocked to learn that national schools no longer taught English grammar."

And apparently, a pass in English has never been compulsory for SPM. Since 2000, a pass in Bahasa Malaysia was sufficient to get the SPM certificate. Previously, a credit was a must. And one wonders why we have people who cannot speak nor write the language well.

To top off the whole fiasco, he has this to say "...he wondered if rural students would be at the losing end if a pass in English was required in SPM."

wtf??

Megan is a recognized Malaysian

2 days ago, Megan is officially a Malaysian. I think I have not written about this before, and so, here goes. Beware though, that this is going to be quite lengthy.

Megan was born on 9th January 2009. We were to have registered her within 42 days. As usual, hubby and I were fashionably late and I learnt (again) that procrastination never pays - big time!

We went to the nearest NRD and were told that they could not register her as she has already passed the 42 days. We had to go to the KL HQ which is in Maju Junction Mall. In the paper that accompanied the registration, it was mentioned that after 42 days, we were to pay RM15 for processing fee and a RM50 fine. Check it here.

When we got to Maju Junction, the lady at Counter 12 told is that there is a list of forms and requirements we have to get in order to have Megan registered. This include the forms that we had, a form to paste all of our passport photos and a 4R photo of Megan, Megan's immunization records as well as a copy of Ryan's birth certificate. And we also had to go see a Commissioner of Oath to swear and for him to sign another form. And to top it all off, we were told that we had to go for an interview!! And that was a good 3 months away! I am still thinking why they could only interview 3 people a day when the lady there told me that there is a whole bunch of people out there waiting to have their registration done.

After 3 months, we finally went for the interview on 26th May 2009. It was a stupid interview really. We brought Megan and I thought that they would at least give her a good look to see if she resembles us or something. But all that happened was that the lady told us that we have to be interviewed separately - me and Megan and hubby by himself.

The questions asked included when we were married, where we were married, when Megan was born, where she was born, who delivered her, whether I went for my pre natal check-ups, who did them for me, why we were late etc. The exact same questions were asked of hubby, made me think that they were actually checking to see if we were genuinely married. Poor Megan was left out.

After completing the interview, we were told that we had to wait 1.5 months to see if my application was approved before I get her birth cert. And then, I have to wait another 1 month to get her MyKid. I could feel my blood boil in my face when I heard that. And the bloody lady was downright rude too. She did not display any empathy towards Megan not having a birth cert.

When I said that I needed her birth cert to buy an insurance plan, she said "Tak payah belilah, siapa suruh lambat! Ini bukan saya buat punya proses!' I swear, I could have slapped her face, but then, Megan was watching me ...

The next day, I went into a writing rampage, to 3 main papers' editors as well as to the DG of NRD and the Pengarah of KL HQ. The whole day I was thinking about whether any of my emails were read, I was not sure if my emails were going to help the situation or was going to make our application buried even deeper.

So, you can imagine my surprise when the very next day after all those emails, I got a phone call from the Pengarah of the KL HQ NRD!! He said he was trying to see if I could meet up to receive Megan's birth cert! Wow! I almost could not believe it! He was even asking me if I could come up to his office to have some coffee. After some negotiations on time, he finally said that he will come by personally to my office to deliver it to me!! Yipee!!

When I met that guy, he was all apologetic, although he did defend all the stupid procedures they had. And he told me that I will be getting Megan's MyKid in 10 days! Yay!! When I got back to the office, I saw an email from his boss in Putrajaya, stating he was all sorry and sad and regret, and have directed the Pengarah to take care of this problem immediately.

While I am relieved that I got all my documents in place, I still cannot help but think about why all these procedures needed to be in place. It is not like we are immigrants, we are bloody Malaysians and although we are late, should we make a poor child suffer? Why not just impose a higher fine? Why not just come clean with the procedures on the Net? Why spring the surprise? And why bring the baby? Was it to prove that we have a legit kid and not bought? What makes them think that if we had reported it within the 42 days, then it would have been a legit kid? Honestly, all these procedures really do not make sense.

Anyhow, thankful we have solved this. And Megan is a recognized Malaysian. Yay!

Government doctors and hospitals

Now, before I go on, I just want to say that I have the highest respect for the medical profession. I think that they are just God sent, seeing that they are performing miracles everyday in trying to cure and treat us ordinary humans.

However, there are some doctors who are really bad apples and they have caused the entire profession to be a mockery.

Just read here, where the government doctor had prescribed paracetamol in excess and resulted in the death of a 7 year old boy. Come one, two 500mg of paracetamol 4 times a day? Why, that is what I am taking! But for a 7 year old boy? Come on! I bet you the government fellas will come out to say that there were no mistakes made. For sure.

Just as what our dear Health Minister also said when doctors as a government hospital were said to be doing their own thing. Apparently these doctors were actually performing their tasks up to mark and were not lacking in professionalism. Sigh, dear Health Minister, you really have to go pay the hospitals a visit. You need to know how the ground people are operating la dei.

And you know what the joke was? He said this "the waiting period to see a doctor at the non-critical zone was less than 15 minutes." 15 minutes my foot la. Ok, so maybe University Hospital and Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia is not fully government, but it sure as hell does not take 15 minutes to clear. I should know, hubby is always here with his parents, and it bloody takes like hours and hours to clear the poor guy.

Sigh, the medical profession has long been thought of as a niche profession. In Malaysia, it is a joke. Which is why I would not encourage my kids to be a doctor, especially in Malaysia. And they were talking about how to attract the Malaysian doctors abroad to come home ... what a joke.

Taxes, taxes, taxes

Darn, I am sitting here in the middle of the night, tyring to figure out my taxes and trying to see how much IRB owes me.

Darn, darn, and everyone is already sleeping. I should not be sitting here doing this damn thing!!

Darn, darn, darn, why do we have to pay taxes anyway? I am not convinced I am actually getting much out of it. And I think if I dwell on it, I would need the entire web space and eternity to elaborate.

Nett nett, I really hate doing my taxes, just reminds me that I am paying money to the government for giving me nothing in return, crap.

Damn internet

This post is just to make a note of how darn slow the internet is of late.

At first I thought it was my laptop, then I found out from my friends that the whole damn Streamyx is slow!!! Arghh!!!

Damnit, I just lost my IRB e-filing page because the internet connection "got lost" - what the heck does that mean???

Anyone out there with the same problem too??

Is there something wrong with this photo??

I was driving to work one day and saw this .... and this was right beside a tourist hotspot where photos are taken with KLCC in the background.

I am speechless. Malaysia Boleh!!

Government reviving canning in schools

Gov't to revive caning in schools Apr 7, 09 1:51pm

The Education Ministry is to revive caning in schools to curb discipline problems among pupils, three years after making moves to ban corporal punishment, a minister said today.

The government made the decision to revive caning last month and it will issue specific guidelines on how to implement the punishment, deputy education minister Wee Ka Siong told AFP.

"We will allow the headmaster or anyone who has been authorised to execute the punishment, while parents will be notified and invited to witness the caning to be done in a confined area," he said.

"We need to take precautions because students nowadays are not like students those days - they are 'too creative' in breaching the rules now," Wee said.

In 2006, the government said it was planning to ban public caning in schools, where the punishment is administered on the buttocks or the palm of the hand.

The education ministry also said a year later that it was considering allowing schools to cane unruly girls to curb an upsurge in discipline problems including gang fights and bullying. -AFP

I just read this on Malaysiakini. And I am deepy disturbed. Yes, kids nowadays are difficult to handle, they are not like us in "those days" where technology was a luxury. Today, our kids are moving in such a fast pace, we parents have to run and sprint to keep up.

And I do admit that kids can sometimes test our patience and we parents are constantly challenged. But still, how many of us will truly say that we would resort to caning them? I am not sure if I have not reached that stage yet, but I can safely say that I will not use a cane on my children. I firmly believe that talking them will solve the problem better than using the cane.

You never know what they will do or how they will react to the cane. And here, this so-called minister says it is appropriate to deal with the rising discipline problems in school! This is so outrageous. Who is he to say that our kids need to be canned? And apparently there will be guidelines on this too from the principal to the parents to the child.

I do not know about you, but I am damn pissed now. To think that I gave birth to my 2 babies and they are subjected to some stupid ministry's rules. I dare them to lay a hand on my babies, even if they are really naughty, it is the parents who should be thinking about the discipline and the appropriate punishment, not some stranger who thinks canning is the best route!!

Niaseng!!

Our news

Since the last election, I have been reading less of the main stream media (MSM). It's not that there are no news, it's just that the news are so ridiculous and embarrasing even. Every other day you will read about what some policy maker said/ did but then it will be openly challenged by their own people, or there will be some cop who will say something (like there is only 1 cop for 800 people in KL, so we are short handed blah blah blah, some stupid excuse for their incompetencies) that will only highlight their stupidity etc. Nett nett, I have pretty much given up on the MSM. If I ever buy the newspapers, it is only to read up on the latest joke in Malaysia.

Today, I happened to read the online version of The Star and what do you know, this made it to the news - "Abdullah trapped in lift for 30 mins". Yeah, something like this made it to the news. And it is not like his 30 mins made a difference to the lives of other people. He was just fashionably late for some event which, again, does not make much difference to the majority of the people.

Ahh .... one just need to pay RM1.20 to read about all the jokes that we have in the country, sure beat the money you have to pay to watch a stand-up comedian!!!

Paying more for Hollywood movies

In today's papers, there was an article saying that movie goers may have to pay RM20 for a Hollywood movie versus RM12 for a local production.

The reason? To protect the local film industry. The Malaysian Film Producers Association thinks that by hiking the prices, Malaysians will then go watch the local films. And apparently all the 6 locally produced movies released during the school holidays under performed because they had to compete with Hollywood blockbusters.

Don't you just find this hilarious?? We are comparing movies like Wayang, Selamat Pagi Cinta, Antoo Fighter, Los & Faun, Cicakman 2: Planet Hitam and Histeria against Hollywood big-budget movies such as The Day The Earth Stood Still, Bolt, Twilight and Madagascar 2. Now, really, is there any comparison??

And to a question on why not decrease the ticket prices of local movies instead - it was deemed to be unfair wor. And someone from the association thinks that this move is timely because "... some of today's locally-made movies are on par with foreign movies in terms of quality." Haha ... really ah?

For me, I would NEVER pay even RM2 for a local production. I once went to one for FREE and walked out 30 minutes later. The standards are just not the same and they think that we will switch over once we have to pay RM20 for a Hollywood blockbuster?

Now, don't mistake me for bashing up the local film industry, I am all for the support of the local guys. And there has been some better ones made in recent years. It's just that I find it ridiculous for people to come out and say "let's hike the prices so that the movie goers will come watch us!" I mean, really? Will you go and watch Cicak Man instead of Bolt if you were made to pay RM20 for Bolt? I know I won't.

What I will probably do is to head down to the nearest DVD joint and get one copy for a fraction of the price and then get me and the family some popcorn and drinks and shut the lights and behold! a little cinema for ourselves, minus the insult these guys are trying to inflict onto me.

Another Jusco related post ...

Ok, I am not sure if they will remove/ ammend this link, but at the moment, it is hilarious. Click here to see what I mean.

I was trying to see what I could redeem with 10,000 points seeing that they will expire by the end of the year and I found that their item descriptions do not match the picture.

So, what they have done is to call an item 15kg Chrome Dumbell Set for 12,000 points, but showed a picture of a pink hair dryer. And another item called VALENTINO Ladies Handbag w/Purse but is a picture of a cordless phone.

Now, you would have read about my ordeal with them, plus something from Shopping & Sales Queen and now, I found out that even their website is stupid.

Honestly, someone should whack some sense into them about upkeeping their image perception because at the moment it sounds something like this - slow staff, silly policies, incompetent, badly managed website etc.

Hmm ... should I still venture to their store in an attempt to exchange my points? Wonder what stupid policies/ treatment will I be subjected to??

Reply from Jaya Jusco

Jusco replied to my mail which was sent yesterday after my unpleasant experience. Read here for the previous day's incidence.

Their reply was standard and it goes like this ...

Dear Sir/Mdm,

Thank you for contacting AEON Careline.

We have receive your email and we appreaciate for the suggestion/feedback.

With regards to the matter that you highlighted, on behalf of Jusco Mid Valley we sincerely apologise for the inconvinience caused.

Pleased be assured that the relavent department will look into this matter, and to ensure such incident would not be repeated again.

We appreciate if you could furnish us with a few details as required below in order for us to assist you better in future. 1) Contact Number 2) JCard (If any)

Rest assured that your best interest is our utmost priority.

For futher enquiries, please contact us at feedback@jusco.com.my or 1-300-80-3535.
We looking forward to serving you better. Thank You.

See, the Engrand also wrong. My boy can speak better tenses than that.
I have already given them my contact number and JCard number ... let's see what they do about it.

And apparently, our best interest is ther utmost priority. Does that explain why I was told to go to their HQ to apply for a supplementary card for my husband??

I am sending this to Jaya Jusco

I had met with a friend for lunch just now and then proceeded to pick up some stuff at Jusco.

I have to say that when Jusco began its operations, the perception was that it was a mid to high end brand, what with being Japanese and all. Some even said that it was an expensive brand.

However, I thought that it was worth going there despite the reputation in exchange for a wider choice of products and brands. I was also convinced that the customer service was better.

Through the years, they have evolved to being a more mass brand. They even have their own house labels and the prices of these items, esp. the kids' PJs were good. Some of the promotions they ran were at prices cheaper than Carrefour or Giant. Great, all these savings are great for us consumers. But then the service standards also dropped.

Just now at the Mid Valley branch, the Jusco was a circus. First I went to the fruits section. There were 2 guards standing in front of the mango shelf. I was standing like half a foot from them attempting to choose my fruits. They did not even looked at me and proceeded to talk and talk, until I said "Excuse Me" and then, only did they got their fat bum away. Really, I am not sure if being thick skin and blind are criterias which were used to employ them.

And then I went to the supermarket and did my shopping in less than 30 mins. However, when I hit the queue section, I was shocked. How can there be such a long queue at 4.30pm? There were an average of 5-6 loaded carts at each of the 5 opened lanes. And the cashiers were taking their own sweet time to charge and bagged the stuff. On lanes with one person working was even more ridiculous. I am not sure if that is the fastest they were trained to work, or they just do not care.

At this particular Jusco, they have a PRIORITY LANE for the pregnant, wheel chair bound and the elderly folks. But there were a huge crowd there which DID NOT fulfill any of these criterias. And here I am queuing with the rest of the folks who really did not gave a damn about these priority lanes.

When I questioned why they cannot open more lanes (and it was clear that there were sufficient staff to operate them since they were hanging around their closed lanes), the person there just shrugged! And then I also asked why the priority lane is not serving its rightful customers ... the person told me that "Kita sudah ada papan tanda, tapi semua orang masih pergi sana." OMG, I almost smacked her - "Of course la, you have to enforce it ma, else what is the point of having a priority lane??" And the cashier there, together with another more senior looking cashier, just looked at me - without a note of apology or explanation!!!

Ok, I can accept that Malaysians are sometimes rude, illiterate and downright selfish, but that does not stop a company like Jusco to tick them off and only get the appropriate people in the priority lane!

Then I went to the kids section to buy some PJs for Ryan. When I asked where the boys' PJs are, this Malay sales girl just waved her hand, indicating it is somewhere at the end, near the cashier. I asked again if it was right, since I did not see it earlier ... she sighed loudly and then went to show it to me. Besides walking too fast, she actually took me a round - because she did not actually know, she had to ask. And this is despite her working at the kids' section.

And when I did see the PJs, it was in a total mess. All sizes and age groups were mixed up and we had to dig all of it up to get the sizes we want. It was pretty dusty too, so imagine what this will do to someone with a sinus problem?? And the queue at the counter is another story altogether ....

I think Jusco needs to do something to beat their staff in the right place. Cashiers who are sullen looking, working like they just started to handle a plastic bag or those who don't know where things are should be re-trained. Jusco has to know that there are plenty of choices today for us consumers and something like this will turn people away.

I know I will not go to Jusco again unless their diapers are dirt cheap, else I would be glad to pay a premium and shop at places like Isetan, Village Grocer, Jaya 33 etc. where the crowd is thinner and prices are slightly higher, but at least their customer service is relatively better. Also, I will not be subjected to a fictitious priority lane which does not work.

Selamat Hari Raya

Today is Hari Raya for the Muslims in the country and around the world. We are very fortunate here in Malaysia as we get to have all the holidays of our major festives and this is one of them.

Recent developments in the political scene has prompted us to remember those who are unlawfully detained in the Kamunting lock-up. My wishes to their family and their loved ones who could not be there to celebrate together.

And today, our PM said that this is the time to forgive and strengthen ties. Well, Mr. PM, why not show that by releasing all those in there whom you think is a threat to national security, but in reality not so??

Selamat Hari Raya indeed.

Permatang Pauh by-election results

I am extremely happy with the results of the PP by-election.
I am very sure that a lot of people has been looking forward to this day with a greater anticipation that the March 8th elections. Simply because the comback kid is the candidate.

I must admit that I neve really liked him, but then 10 years out of action and some years in prison could have changed a man.

I am hoping that his return to Parliment will make Malaysia a better place for my kids.
Here's to you Anwar!

wtf?!

Bloody AAB said " ... that Tenaga Nasional Bhd would be raising electricity rates by 18% for homes and 26% for business users."

wtf???