The First Day of Parliament

It's getting exciting. I couldn't wait for time to look at the news on the parliament debate and yes... it's like the first day of school. And a shameful one. From what I gather,

1. Rembau MP, the famous KJ justified his Oxford-degree by letting us know how to count. He noted that Dr. Wan Azizah's question is more than the allowed-40-words rule.
2. The "kangaroo" Ibrahim (frog is too small an animal for this creature) of Pasir Mas MP ask Karpal Singh to stand up and told others to shut up, and Karpal Singh is wheelchair-bound.
3. The Speaker Amin from Sabah disallowed supplementary question after PM answered the 1st question from Muar MP (BN) - the typical praise and glorify type of tailor-made Q&A but after some main mata, allowed a few questions. So much for a biased Speaker but what to expect from another froggie from Sabah???
4. The Ong fella who "rejected" to be part of the cabinet who recently said felt liberated by being a backbencher proposed a motion to thank the King for His Royal Address - no offense to the King but we should do without all this nice pleasantries and the froggie Speaker said time is not enough blah blah blah..... but the motion proposed by Terengganu PAS MP on the petroleum royalties was rejected.

Malaysian Insider has some in store....

MORE TO COME......

Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi (MECD)

Wow......
I was reading Khoo Kay Peng's Straight Talk and he asked is Noh a minister of a single race only? in his post on Malay Supremacy and his reader, WhatALulu (one of my fave bloggers in my link) answered YES in her comment. See Khoo's post here. And click on the comments for WhatALulu's (WAL) response. WAL posted a link from the MECD (the ministry which Noh is attached) and WOW....... below is copied from the site.

Penubuhan MECD
Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan & Koperasi (MECD) telah ditubuhkan pada tahun 2004 berperanan sebagai agensi utama bagi pembangunan usahawan Bumiputera. Sejarah MECD bermula dengan penubuhan Kementerian Penyelarasan Perbadanan Awam (KPPA) pada tahun 1974 yang kemudiannya ditukarkan kepada Kementerian Perusahaan Awam (KPA) pada tahun 1976. KPA bertanggungjawab untuk mengawas dan menyelaras agensi-agensi perusahaan awam seperti Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Perbadanan Pembangunan Bandar (UDA) dan Perbadanan Kemajuan Ekonomi Negeri (PKEN).

Penubuhan Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan pada 8 Mei 1995 bagi menggantikan KPA bertujuan untuk memberi tumpuan dan penekanan khusus terhadap pembangunan usahawan Bumiputera untuk mempercepatkan pencapaian matlamat pewujudan sebuah Masyarakat Perdagangan dan Perindustrian Bumiputera (MPPB). Penyusunan semula kementerian sebagaimana pada 27 Mac 2004 memperlihatkan Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan telah diberi nama baru iaitu Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi dengan tambahan tanggungjawab terhadap Jabatan Pembangunan Koperasi, Maktab Kerjasama Malaysia dan Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Berhad.

OBJEKTIF
Objektif utama Kementerian adalah untuk menyediakan persekitaran yang membantu dan menggalakkan pembangunan usahawan tulen yang berkualiti, berdaya maju, berdaya tahan dan berdaya saing dalam semua sektor serta memupuk budaya keusahawanan dan koperasi di kalangan rakyat Malaysia.

MISI
Membantu merealisasikan sebuah Masyarakat Perdagangan dan Perindustrian Bumiputera yang berkualiti.

VISI
Kewujudan masyarakat perdagangan dan perindustrian Bumiputera (MPPB) yang berkualiti untuk membantu mecapai Wawasan 2020.

copied from the website of MECD.


Let's change this. Our country's resources should be distributed to all who need them irregardless of race. But even if Bumiputera is helped, I would like to see the list of the success stories and fund allocations to any of the Orang Asli in Peninsula or the indigenous ppl in East Malaysia. Or it's actually UMNO-related only???

Exciting Beginning

The parliament starts today....

Tomorrow news will be VERY interesting.

Guest Movie Critic Blogger - My Buddy Sherry Lee

I loaned a few DVDs to my buddy during her trip back to Sandakan and here's her verdict of those movies.

the great actor, Lang Xiong 郎雄 teamed up 1st time with Ang Lee in his big screen debut. a touching family-centred story (1992)

the movie that propelled Ang Lee to stardom in the Chinese cinema. two formidable star unearthed, Zhao Wen Xuen and Jing Shu Mei, who both went on to be a respected actor, famous for portraying Sun Yat Sen and Jing went to to become a Parliamentarian in Taiwan (1993)

Star-studded cast of the Taiwanese cinema and some HK actors in this superbly crafted family comedy with a good twisty ending (1994)

This trilogy was bought in Taipei Eslite Bookstore in 2007

Tan, I finished most of your DVDs already. I love Ang Lee's collection. My fav is still the wedding banquet bcos of the comedy elements in it. Pushing hands is heart-wrecking to me, the old man live by himself & has to earn his own money by teaching tai-chi. As for eat, drink, men, women, I like the eldest sister. I hate the eldest sister's bf/husband. His P.E. attire is way beyond my acceptance.

the immensely erotic performance by Zhang Chen and Gong Li in this Wong Kar Wai short film; VERY SEXY without much nudity, that's masterclass

Eros - what can i say? WKW, gong li & Zhang chen at their best. Zhang Chen can be quite wooden sometimes but he excelled in this when he practically made love to gong li's qipao. Gong li is a powerful actress. Only she can pull off character like this. They should get a Oscar for this short film. Robert Downey Jr excelled in his role in the 2nd film. I like him. I think he's another great actor despite all his addiction problem. His stare is quite similar to al pacino's. As for the first story, it's too deep & I'm too shallow to enjoy it.

you gotta hand it to David Lynch for eccentricty and strange plot. Naomi shines here (2001) bought this in Taiwan Eslite Bookstore near Taipei 101 last year

Mulholland Dr - Though I cannot fully explain the movie but somehow it's so powerful that I have dreams abt it. Naomi & the other gal are so comfy with each other. Naomi tends to make nude scenes quite a lot.

Half nelson - it's not as good as I imagined that it would be. I don't really like it.

great Laura Linney vehicle. bought this in Hanoi, Vietnam.

P.S. - Can't play ur dvd. it happened that i bought this long time ago but misplaced it somewhere. found it during the weekend. love it. topher grace at his best. he's too baby face to play other good roles. laura, as usual, performed well.

after yearssss of searching, finally found this in Hanoi, Vietnam. earliest work of the Coen brothers and Frances McDormand, one of my fave actress.

my after thought here

Fargo - can't play the dvd which is my main frustration. just watched a bit in the beginning. william h macy is great at his role.

javier was sinfully ignored from The Best Actor in Oscar for this but luckily he got the consolation of Supporting Actor in No Country for Old Men 2008

the sea inside - javier is good. i love him. i googled the real ramon. after the make-up & everything, javier looks like him. i like how the director's way of portraying how ramon dream/imagine flying outside. i can't imagine being him. and the priest! Gosh, so hateful. I love this movie & his line that he mentioned that with his condition, he had learnt to cry by smiling when ppl asked him why he smiled a lot. it's so sad!

Thanks! Looking forward to get ur other dvds. hahah

My other posts on movies are here

For You, A Thousand Times Over

"there is a way to be good again"

"FOR YOU, A THOUSAND TIMES OVER......"

Adapted from the best selling novel by Khaled Hosseini, "The Kite Runner" directed by Marc Forster.

GOT IC??????????? NO EYE SEE!!!!!!!!!!!

To us Sabahan, Project IC is something very close to our heart, TOO close for our comfort in fact. You have to be here only then you will know. You have to live here only then you will know. And to my surprise, when I browse RPK's Malaysia Today, I saw a special report titled Project IC, I was surprised that Project IC was even in Wikipedia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read here. Talking about pride of charting the world map.

Any local Sabahan uncles or aunties who chatting passionately in the coffee shop in the immigrant-densed town in Sandakan will be able to tell you how they predict the population of the Project IC generation will be more than the local Malaysian. Of course, I have no proven statistics as the only official statistics may look dubious too. You can't simply believe anything now.

To those non-Sabahans who would like to "feel" the real ground, come to Sabah, especially the East Coast, i.e. Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau.

Also, please read the post by a fellow blogger working in Sabah, on his account of his experience. Some of them here, here and here.

Congrats Jenny

UPDATED :

The pic above was sent to me by Erin, who had sought the permission from the mother, Jenny to be put here. It's a baby gal....notice the "I'm A Gal" card at the top of the photo? Her name is 尤悯. So, X7's uncles and aunties....when's ur turn??? Especially directed to Mr. Jeff. Well, only you qualified at this moment among us.

Congratulations to Jenny for having a baby gal today!

May Jenny's family blessed with lots of love and abundance of health and happiness.

Another "BN=gomen, People Money=BN Money" Example

UPDATE : Read here as Nades continue to write some follow-up on this.

BALQIS - I remember Datuk Siti Nurhaliza has a song or album with the name (stand to be corrected) but here, it refers to BALKIS, the charity organization of wives of the assemblyman and MPs in Selangor. Read from Eli's blog (Yang Berkhidmat of Bkt Lanjan) that Balkis had an EGM 3 days after the GE12 and shut down the organisation, transferred the 10mil from their bank accounts to the Federal version of the organization BAKTI. Read El's account here

Also not forgetting that the Sgor assemblyman almost finished up their 2008 development allocation fund in the 1st 2 months. Why? Last minute grab or trying to patch the hole for GE12?

Further reading led me to Citizen Nades' revealation of the whole thing in The Sun, which I think should be the MUST-READ for every Malaysian every Monday & Wednesday. Read Nades' account here

This was the way BN gomen handled our money (technically, not my money cox I'm not from Selangor though it reflects on the whole system which I personally think my homestate is not anybetter IF NOT WORSE) and if you ever wonder you made the right choice not voting for BN, DON'T, cox YOU MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE : DON'T PLAY WITH PEOPLE'S MONEY!

Flip-Flopping Again.....

not only needed when you are frolicking on the beach but you gotta have one when you are in BN gomen

I previously used the flip-flop pix above when Pak Liar conveniently flip-flopped when he told the press no dissolution of parliament Feb 13 and then dissolved it the next day on Feb 14. And I have to say Pak Liar is consistent here and to keep up with him, I will consistently use this pix to depict his flip-flop flickering quality.

It's Makkal Osai, the newspaper which was not renewed its permit short of a week ago NOW was given the renewal of its permit. Of course, I am happy for the employees of the paper, who will be spared from enduring the pain to get new job amid the struggling market marred with inflation and price hike of almost everything but I can't help but wondering if the BN-gomen is playing sand (Cantonese version of main pasir, 玩泥沙)??? NO detailed reason was given when i's decided not to be granted renewal, just plain "threatening national security" and suddenly short of one week later, the gomen found out the threat was neutralized?

Well...nothing logical can be expected from the gomen on this. Let's hope Hamid won't pull off another stunt by saying some unbelieavable darnest thing but then again, he's one of the BN minister right? Who say he won't?

Blog I Read : The People's Parliament

OK, this is the 1st time I wrote specifically about other blog. I posted a few times on secular state and islamic state and I remain saying no to the latter.

The latest post in People's Parliament with the post title "Secularism is not against Islam. Being a zalim or tyrant certainly is" is an enlightening read. Haris is open enough to post the comments he got in his blog on "Who Needs An Islamic State?" and I find that the discussion is interesting and informative. Read here.

Haris is championing the campaign to boycott MSM. Err... I stopped buying but still reading when it's available free. It's kinda fun to see how the spindoctors work but at the same time it cause heartattack to see the extend they go. However, I tend to agree with an opinion I read somewhere that, we should leave the MSM as it is and championing for rights to abolish the restricting publishing act and urge for more newspaper to be printed, to encourage more reporting angle. Closing a newspaper will lead to huge loss of jobs which affect the workers for that particular paper.

Those Days.................3

This was taken in Miri. A bunch of us were industrial trainees in Shell. Why I posted this? HuiHui who's in my link of friends is here too. Hmm.... forgot some of them already.

Those Days.......... 2

This was taken at our friends' house in Vista Angkasa. We had a small steamboat with electric rice cooker. Liangmoi reminded me that after the dinner, we went to Puduraya to fetch a friend from UUM who reached early morning. We had early breakfast, porridge in Petaling Street.

Those days...............

The blackened face was done because I think he would not allow it.

Those Days........... 1

Liangmoi is here loaning my streamyx to watch her idol Federer playing and we chatted about the old days and out of the blue we decided to search the old photos and having fun laughing our hearts out.

To those who want their pix removed, do inform me and I will remove them as a respect to your privacy. Meanwhile, laugh!!!!

This photo was taken when we drove up to Ipoh and paid Sophia a surprise visit. The pics was taken in Bercham at the famous steamboat restaurant. We drove Jenny's car and managed to surprise her with our visit. She's there to undergo a training for her 1st job and it was a great weekend spent. Too bad Steph couldn't join us.

Those days...................

Cruel Angel's Early Years in Football

Cruel Angel (CA) boasted about how good his company's football team now. Let's revisit his earlier budding years where his bakat (talent) dicungkil (unearthed) in Benildus House. CA, now it's ur guessing game. Remember your team mates?

This post is done with insistence from liangmoi hahaha.....

Childhood Memories II

This is the place where I spent most of my time Standard 2 - Std 4. My parents opened a coffee shop. Exact location is the one with the Hotlink signboard. It's the light industrial area with a lot of workshops.

I remembered waking up very early in the morning about 3am getting ready to the shop with my parents. Then my parents will start boiling water and preparing for business for patrons who come for breakfast. I normally sleeps again but most of the time help out here and there.

After school time, that will be my playground as well. I always skip my lunch and would always made my mum to buy me bread from a nearby bakery. (yes... there's a bakery in the midst of car maintenance workshops with oils and grease clogging the drain etc...).

I remembered there's a time when I saw a goat giving birth at the carpark near to the stairs. That's the first time I know the word 羊胎素 (placenta).

That's also the place I had my first cigarette. It's an unpleasant experience and I'm gladful that it was. And that allergy to the cigarette still carried till now.

Those days......

Childhood Memories I

The memory can't be bought back. The proof? I bought the biscuits above and found out that it didn't taste the same. Or is it my taste bud deteriorate? Or my memory lost already?

American Idol - Top 6 Result (5 left)

Wow..... my prediction WAS wrong!!!! Though I accurately expect that some surprises will spring up.

CARLY was eliminated. Again... it's not REALLY a surprise. Brooke was safe due to the switch of the votes from Kristy's supporters I think. Jason has his huge galley of screaming teenage girl fans voting with their paid-by-parents mobile. The Double David are obviously strong enough to garner votes irregardless of their performance in that particular week.

So, the casualties are Carly and Syesha in the bottom 2.



Carly being eliminated despite a good performance with the difficult and demanding performance of Jesus Christ Superstar from the musical of the same name. Yes, I have to remind myself, it's the competition of popularity. What to do?

Anyway, pasted the YouTube here for your comparison. Carly or Brooke?

In Search for the Black Sand Beach 黑沙滩

Sandakan is a boring place, with limited place to hang out. So, what you gonna do during the weekend? The old mantra of SDK ppl will be "wat else? watch Astro or play mahjong loh!!!"(no wonder Ananda so rich!!!). I had been hearing a lot from my mother about this mysteriously-hard-to-find place called Black Sand Beach 黑沙滩, which in my mental mind map, is a nice cool beach with BLACK sparkling sand. And I remember 10 years ago, with my uncle's family, we did try to look for it, also as a weekend actiovity.

Recently, my sister went there with her group of friends from church and she declared she know the direction, so off we went to search for the Black Sand Beach 黑沙滩.

To those of you who know Sandakan quite well, it's actually around Mile 10. Apparently another entrance will be from Sg. Manila.

The first thing that greeted us just before we embarked on a long journey of non-asphalt road is the mosque. Big and new right? Hmm.... wondering who will go pray in the mosque built deep inside the palm oil estate? Hehe... thought of the Tganu BN's "shouted-achievement" in building more mosques in Tganu than PAS did.

Only then I know the place is called Kg. Dandulit. The whole journey from the main road to the "beach" is about 40mins.

Yeah.... I know, I know.... It's nothing like what I imagine at all!!! With the swamp nearby, no wonder the sand was "black-ish". Hmm....mom misled us!!!

This part is quite nice though and I think it will be even nicer during sunset.

Another rocky spot.

Another rocky spot.

Of course, there were houses near the beach and coconut was planted. You guys remember the coconut was touted to be the tree of 100-uses when we were studying last time? Well, tat had been replaced by oil palm I guess.

The black sand under scrutiny.....

The last shot before leaving.

Hm....go if only

1. You guys are REALLY bored in Sandakan, ur ASTRO is down and u dun play mahjong or rummy or any form of gambling.

2. You have a robust-sturdy 4-wheel drive.

Bank Negara Tak Buat Kerja?

Why Bank Negara did nothing on the report that a government-owned bank is losing millions on non-performing-loans? Politicians and royalties involved?

Read Jed Yoong's article here.

UPDATE
RPK in his website Malaysia Today said that the report in Asia Sentinel is making things look bad for the Terengganu royalties. His post here http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=15544428

Jed said that her report is based on documents. So, if the "real" situation is not as what it appears to be, like what claimed by RPK, then I think the royalties should offer their proof. Fair game.

Whether the news is intentionally leaked or not, if it happened, it happened!!! When it leak should not be the question. We don't want selective reporting. We don't want to be MSM right?

American Idol - Last 6 (Andrew Lloyd Weber Week)

It's the week of the Andrew Lloyd Weber's theatrical music and yes... it will spell trouble to those weak voices. Weber classic collaboration with the famous lyricist Tim Rice had yielded lots of memorable songs that not only complement, but characterised the musical. Think Evita, you will remember Don't Cry For Me, Argentina (Thank God no one did that number) and Phantom of The Opera will remind you of the haunting title number.

1. Syesha - One Rock n' Roll Too Many (from Starlight Express)

She opened the show with a bang and yes, it's good. Suit her playful side of her personality and yes, it defied the stereotypical perception that theatrical pieces are always powerful ballads. She scored points with the whole performance and Simon said she's sexy and I agreed. Hope she's not blooming too late now.

2. Jason - Memory (from Cats)

OK...he tried to do things different by choosing one of the most recognisable number from Weber's archieve or maybe that's the only one that he know. I think it's not that bad as he managed to use his advantage in shooing in support from his huge galley of female fans.

3. Brooke - You Must Love Me (Evita)

If memory serves me right, this is not in the musical theatrical originally but was composed to be sung by Madonna when they make the movie version. And I would say Brooke chose it wisely because it's the least demanding number of all the other sung by the like of Sarah Brightman, Elaine Paige, Kiri Te Kanawa etc. However, she screwed it up because she forgot the lyrics the first few words and restart. She will be out tomorrow.

4. David Archuleta - (err.... couldn't get the name but from Phantom)

Maybe I don't know the song, so no specific feeling. He can carry any tune, that's right but again... I think he's facing the risk being boring, for me. But yes, he has big voice and I hope next week's theme allow him to shine again.

5. Carly - Jesus Christ Superstar (from Jesus Christ Superstar)

She's the superstar tonight. Weber saved her, asking her to change her song choice from All I Ask Of You (from Phantom) to this and yes IT ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!! She has big voice and what other song that can bring out the big voice and work the audience up??? Great song choice. It's one of the best songs from Weber, catchy and theatrical.

6. David Cook - Music of The Night (from Phantom of the Opera)

Last week's better for him though his performance still ranks high among the other. I agreed with Simon that he made the best out of it and he injected his brand of soulful voice and some authenticity especially when the song is clearly owned by Sarah Brightman and Michael Ball in the theatre version.

My bet?

Brooke will be out. And since it's been a while no shocking result, maybe Brooke will be joined by Syesha and Archuleta in the bottom three? Hehe... just joking but I think BROOKE is DEFINITELY out.

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day

Don't Let This Happen

Let's Go Green

pics from Getty Image

The Best Selling Item in Sabah

Introducing to you............... the best selling item in Sabah!!!!!!!!!!!

Not prepaid reload card due to tonnes of sms voting reality TV show

Not the latest CD from Datuk Siti Nurhaliza

Not the soon-to-be-no-more sepuluh tiga smuggled beer from Phillippines

Not the also-smuggled Gudang Garam from Indonesia

BUT

Diesel Generator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bet Sabah has the highest portable diesel generation per-capita (err..... not inclusive of unofficial Sabah's PR, PTI-PTI sekalian, Project IC participants etc....) in Malaysia!!!

You can dind it anywhere!!! Almost 70% of the shops have them. And don't be surprised if you find the residential areas in Sandakan will be buzzing with the generator's noise when there's a blackout at night. Well... how to spend the night without TV????

So, it's a good business selling generator in Sabah.

Interested????

boleh bah kalo ko

I Saw The Moon Last Night

pic from Getty Image

OK... was thinking of writing a post titled Romantic Sabahan but when I blog-browsing this morning, found out that Edi-Son wrote a similar one already!!!!

Anyway, I now story you all...

I was driving back from outstation, after spending the weekend in Tawau, back to Sandakan. Time was about 7pm and there was no streetlights at all, even when I reach Mile 8. So, another blackout. No surprise huh? To those non-Sabahan, in particular non-Sandakan ppl, err... blackout is the normal event in our lives. We live with it as long as we remember. In fact, it remains a mystery why the SESB still operate and no one has to resign/sacked after whacking us for so many damn donkey years.

I remember there was a time when there's a chain email being forwarded among Sandakan people, written to the GM or manager of the Sandakan SESB complaining about the situation.

Also, there was a time when one of the transformer station exploded a certain industrial area in Mile 3 was out of electricity for more than a week and caused tremendous loss to the frozen seafood factories.

Also who can forget the irony of the day when Sandakan was declared the Nature City when there's no electricity and water supply on that day????? So aptly happened right?

Frustrations aside, it's a rare opportunity to see the moon, so bright and clear. No stars sighted though. Hmm..... it will be good to have a love one to sit next to me at the balcony enjoying the moon and the warmth of the company next to me.. See???????? Sabahans are romantic hahahaha!!!!!!

Comment Moderation

As you may or may not notice, I started comment moderation after I found that some reader left racist and inflammatory comment in my blog.

To those who manage to caught a glimpse, I apologize to you.

To the commentators who left about 100 words each in 3 separate name i.e. coolooc, vesewe and konek, in the short span of 4 mins interval each, I understand your frustration but I seriously think we have to think and act as citizen of a nation and with the racist tone that you wrote, it would not help at all.

:)

courtesy of GettyImage

No Miri International Jazz Festival for Me

Above was taken during my 2005 backpacking trip in Venice, Italy (went to Florence and Rome too). As I was only roaming around in Venice in the daytime, the jazz club above was closed, only open at night. Accomodation in Venice itself is VERY expensive and at that time, I was staying at a HC member, Naila's house in Padova, about 1 hr from Venice, so no chance chilling there. I can only imagine it's like No Black Tie in Jln Nagasari last time. It took me quite some time to search for Novocento Jazz Club in Venice and it's damn fun getting lost and finding new ways in the alley-fested Venice.

As the title of the post said, I have to give the 3rd Miri International Jazz Festival (MIJF) a miss this year as my work fill up the schedule in May; a disappointment especially I managed to go to the 1st and the 2nd one. Read my post on the 2nd edition in 2007 here and here.

To those who will go, a tips for you. Don't leave the Everly Hotel so early after the show finish on the first day. Linger around at the hotel lobby or the lounge because it's VERY likely the performers are still having lots to give and they might give some unrehearsed-spontaneous sets and that's what you call JAZZ, improvised and spontaneous to the max!!! And do share your stories and photos or links here after you that!!!

Mad Detective (2007) - Lau Ching Wan 刘青云

Lau Ching Wan 刘青云 was nominated for this in 2008 after snatching The Best Actor Award which had been elusive to him despite he's known as the actors' actor in the HK cinema world. His 2007 win was something akin to Martin Scorcese's win for The Departed.

His turn as the mad detective is one of his best performance recent years (he acted in a bunch of silly slapstick e.g. Himalaya Star （喜马拉亚星）, Shopaholic etc... - which is quite a norm for good actors in HK, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Chow Yun Fatt also has their fair share of these, if you scrutinize their career choices). I really got the chill in some scenes just looking at his facial expression.

As usual with the Johnnie To and Wai Kar Fai flick, be prepared for the complex plot and twist but getting past that, it's an enjoyable movie.

Lots of notable extras if you are familiar with them. It's good to see Lau Gem Ling and Flora Chan here too.

And if you are familiar with Lau's work, I feel that this reminded me of another work of his, Victim or Muk Lou Hung Gong 目露凶光 (his 1st movie with his real-life spouse, Amy Kwok) though Mad Detective is more layered and twisty.

His other memorable role is the HK modern classic tearjerker with Anita Yuen, C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri 新不了情. This movie is blessed with great acting with great cast such as Chun Pui 秦沛, Ng Kar Lai 吴家丽, Fung Bou Bou 冯宝宝, Carina Lau 刘嘉玲 etc and not forgetting the hauntingly beautiful theme song by Wan Fang 万芳 (which by the way was sang to death in tonnes of reality singing competition, thanks to 1st One Million Star from Taiwan).

I also like his movie with Cecilia Cheung 张柏芝, Lost in Time or Mong bat liu It's the first time I think Cecilia can act and the little kid is sooooo adorable. Yeah....another tear-jerker as well. Lau's role here was easy for him but it's fresh to see him in good role after lots of forgettable slapsticks during those years.

P/S : Stranded in Tawau, have to make do with the WLT and thank god they show Mad Detective, which I had been longing to watch.

Accident

I am outstation (by the way, a lot of angmoh don't understand this. Manglish ah?), YES, working on the weekend again. Some commissioning job and on the way back, driving from Merotai to Tawau, nearly got into an accident myself and there's one happened when I drove by.

The nearly-happened; it was small kampung road, not main road and the road turns to a 90 degree bend. I slowed down as usual and there's this motorcycle sped in. He's gonna barge into my lane and I immediately stop there and then. He couldn't control his motorcycle doing the cornering and start to bergolek. Luckily he was not thrown up. His motor went into the road side and didn't fly to my direction, something I felt lucky till now. The driver was not those young rempit but about 30-40 years of age. He apologized (I was glad he did, means that 1.he's ok, not injured & 2. he know it's his fault, he's rational) and pushed his motor away.

The accident I happened to drive past by, a proton silver metallic (I used to drive that in KL) and a motor. Both landed in the drain next to the road. I don't know what's the status but there was a small jam cox about 20 cars parked near the roadside and ambulance was there.

Drive safe everybody. Thanks for the caution msgs in my previous post on the speedometer. Though sometimes you can't avoid reckless drivers but we do our part by being one.

Tiada Ketuanan Untukku, Tak KuIngin Bertuankanmu

Di abad ke-21 ini, tiada sesiapa yang berfikiran matang yang ingin bertuankan sesiapa. Perhambaan tidak lagi sah dari sisi undang-undang. Justeru itu konsep ketuanan patut dikenang SAHAJA sebagai sebahagian daripada sejarah silam and kita perlu bergerak ke hadapan dan bersaing dalam era globalisasi.

Kepada mereka yang bertuankan segelintir manusia yang rakuskan kuasa dan wang yang diperoleh daripada perbuatan umpama menyangak di awal pagi, jangan libatkan orang lain.

Tuan? Tulan!!!

Saya BUKAN hamba, TAK berTUANkan sesiapa (manusia).

Dan kita semua juga sedemikian, tiada bezanya.

Jangan memilih jadi HAMBA kepada sesiapa (manusia).

P/S : Tidak berniat untuk menyinggung perasaan sesiapa yang namanya bermula dengan Tuan, e.g. Tuan XXX.

UPDATE : 451pm 20/4

I am not focusing on the royalties only, it's all those people who feel that they are TUAN, so way above others. Remember we use to call all police Tuan but lately, I think last year, we were asked to call them Encik, which I think more appropriate. Regarding royalties, we need more like Perak Sultan, Sultan Azlan Shah and Perak Regent, Raja Nazrin. Tengku Faris? Sorry.

Cotton-y Cloud

From My Balcony

The Old Engine

I went to Padas for whitewater rafting in 2006, yes, with life jacket, as I do not know how to swim. One of the train coach that plunged into the Padas River is still not found yet. I guess it was "fished" out and dismantled into valuable scrap metal by now. When I was on it for the rafting trip I thought the ancient and palpable condition of the train is something unique, it's just like those we saw in typical TVB drama depicting the old Shanghai with no window and extremely loud engine roar. But I guess it's more than unique but safety is paramount when a lot of people depend on it to travel from Tenom (last station) to KK.

Madai Waterfall, Kunak, Sabah

This waterfall is easily accessible, on the way from Lahad Datu to Kunak. It's just next to the road!!!!!!!

Backbenchers?

Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing and Kinabatangan MP Bung Mokhtar Radin were confirmed as the Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively.

It's bloody obvious this is a step taken to console the Sarawakian and Sabahan MPs for their recently strong showing for Pak Liar's government.

My take?
OK, MP Tiong did a notable good job of bringing up the gangsterism issue in Sarawak in the Parliament, led a shake-up in the chronically ill police force in Sarawak.

And Bung???????? It's an INSULT to the August House at the HIGHEST LEVEL. Go google and YouTube the parliament proceeding and note his PERFORMANCE.
It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame.

Let's Start from Here - Joanna Wang

LET'S START FROM HERE

giving up why should i

have come too far to forget

beautiful just got lost

somewhere along the way

so much was missing when you went away

let's start from here lose the past

change our minds we don't need a finish line

let's take this chance don't think too deep

all those promises we couldn't seem to keep

i don't care where we go

let's start from here

standing here face to face

a finger on your lips

don't say a word don't make a sound

silence around us now

even when you were gone i felt you everywhere

let's start from here

i've never been the one to open up

but you've always been the voice within

the only one for my cold heart

let's start from here lose the past

change our minds we don't need a finish line
let's take this chance don't think too deep
all those promises we couldn't seem to keep
i don't care where we go

let's start from here

ok... since liangmoi and sophia already blogged on Joanna Wang, I guess it would be logical to be my turn. it's a great album and yes, i might be biased since i recommended it to everyone since early days already (look at her post of her videos on You Tube in my previous post here )

Not Safe Anymore.. Again

UPDATE : How can I wrote SAVE instead of SAFE previously??? Paiseh... amended.

KK or rather the whole Sabah used to be the heaven for PTI (pendatang tanpa izin). Well, with the prospect of getting IC by participating in the Project IC, no doubt. Crime on the rise and soon after some serious actions taken, you find PTI less especially in KK.

However, recent events showed that the fear is creeping back in AGAIN. A UMS student from Sibu was kidnapped in her residential area in Taman Kingfisher by 2 men who were under the alcohol influence to Keningau and the car in which they travelled was involved in an accident after a high speed car chase, overturned and the police fired some gunshots. One suspect arrested. The 2nd one managed to escape.

Yesterday, the police managed to nab the 2nd suspect in some dramatic plot. 2nd suspect was in a bus and the police was conducting roadblock. The driver of the bus recognize the 2nd suspect in his bus and he FLASHED the light to alert the police who's conducting the roadblock. 2nd suspect nabbed.

Plenty of drama right? It's like some typical "HK triad-police-spy-mole you call it" movie. And when I read the local Sandakan Chinese newspaper, it was written that the suspects were influenced by the movies they saw.

Expect to see some politicians trying to cover their ass or taking opportunity to meraih untung politik after this. But my prayer goes to the victim. Hope she's recovering from the horror of the kidnap and she'll be well soon physically and mentally.

Report in New Sabah Times here and here.

Machai/Konco-konco Tak Dengar Cakap

It just showed how weak Pak Liar is.

He made a "promising" speech at the dinner with the Bar Council, the ex-judges and their family admitting fault on the judicial system but his konco-konco cannot sit still and ban a Tamil newspaper. Bloody obvious he can't control his machai anymore.

I agree with jefus' comment in Mave's blog on the attention diverted from the excruciating decline of the economy to the present Drama Negara Ini proudly presented by Pak Liar, UHMno and Co. Later we will be caught off-guard when the economic crisis can't be camourflaged anymore.

Again, God bless.

Not Cancelled, Just Not Extended

now they ban Makkal Osai (a Tamil newspaper). OK, my 2 cents-worth opinion here:

1. They are EXTREMELY stupid not knowing doing this will provoke the public on violating the press freedom.
2. They don't bother AT ALL of any of our response or reaction as they think they OWN the country.

Of course, being money eater for soooooooo long proved that they're not stupid at all so it's definitely option #2.

and Syed Hamid (Home Minister) even had the audacity to say this, "that there is no question of the permit having been cancelled, it is merely not being extended"

i call this blatant display of arrogance and twisting the truth. it's on par with the keris waving and recent Kelantan Crown Prince's BS speech.

Do you know what's the name of the famous ex-DJ Partick Teoh's blog? NIAMAH!!! (with all due respect)

god bless malaysia.

AI - Last 7 (Result Show)

If only my prediction is that accurate in any 4D or lottery!!!!

Kristy was eliminated. She made a graceful exit and performed the song without losing control of her emotion.

And ...... of course Mariah performed as well!!! New album coming out soon.. who wanna miss the opportunity to promote? She sang an aptly titled song called "Bye Bye" dedicated to Kristy I guess.

Reality Singing Show & American Idol 7

Yes, I watched these shows. From the start when there're just American Idol, Astro New Talent (Chinese), then to Malaysian Idol (now defunct), Akademi Fantasia (I just watched the finale of the 2nd installment) to the Taiwan's One Million Star. There're more that I didn't follow, just watched a few episodes e.g. Project Superstar, One in A Million etc.

Reasons to watch?

1. Some great wannabe-singers belting out nice songs.
2. Some great songs given new lease of life or unnoticed songs/singers getting their overdue recognition...well, underdogs/under-appreciated artists' stories are intriguing
3. FUNNY esp the audition time.
4. CONFIDENCE has nothing to do with capability.

American Idol is one that I try to follow and watch whenever I can. However, my constant travelling didn't help at all. So, since this week I'm gonna be stationary, I made a point to watch.

American Idol - Last 7

The mentor this week is Mariah Carey. Yes, the Ms. Carey which her 5-octave range of voice, which can communicate with dolphins if I remembered correctly read from somewhere. Previously it was known that both Carey's and Houston's (Whitney) songs are not allowed in the competition, or rather in the audition cox a lot of aspirants will KILL the song and the judges at the same time haha....

So, when it's announced it's Mariah, I was surprised and expecting a great show. Her songs will give a chance to the contestants to showcase their voice and of course, it will be a test to those less gifted ones. Another big obstacle is the comparison with Mariah herself so it's extremely vital to be original and authentic to avoid it.

David Archuleta scored with When You Believe. He's tackling two diva in the same song and it's a good way to start the show with higher benchmark, said Simon. I think Archuleta starts to felt boring for me. He has to do things differently, diversifying his genre and style.

Carly Smithson's version of Without You was OK. It's very evident that she wanna do something different to the songs, being one of the most sang in the competition. Oh.... tat reminded me of my previous post, a clip of the audition in Bulgaria Idol, "Ken Lee" hahahahaha......

Syesha sang Vanishing. She took a risk albeit a calculated one, choosing a less known song of Mariah's huge vault of immensely popular hits. The song was difficult, technically like Simon said and I think she did a good job. Being a mass-vote show, I hope she won't be in the bottom 3 singing tat lesser known number though I think she'll be safe.

Brooke came out playing the piano and sang Hero. She depended on the talented musician card playing the piano. It's done lovely but I think she has limitations.

Kristy couldn't shake off her country-music persona which is not really a bad thing. Look at Carrie Underwood, though Carrie won the Idol and I don't think Kristy will. She sang Forever, which Mariah said not a lot of people know. Hm... I thought that was one of her popular hits?

The night DEFINITELY belongs to DAVID COOK!!!! I know he's gonna rock the show when he chose Always Be My Baby. I mean, the song is a cheesy love song with sweet saccharine lyrics and I still have this mental picture of Mariah's MTV swinging on a tyre hang on the tree in her usual trademark skimpy clothes and it's really interesting to see how can David man-nified the song and he did. I think Chris Daughtry will do the same thing as him as well, injecting some band sound and manly-rocker style. Wow.... For me, it's one of the best performance in the season along with Michael John's (eliminated last week) version of Dolly Parton's It's All Wrong But It's All Right.

Jason still sporting the dreadlocks and he sang another lesser known Mariah's song I Don't Want To Cry. He will be safe.

My bet? It will be Kristy's turn tomorrow to be eliminated.

Learning from TV (#4) - Cashmere Mafia

Lucy Liu's character was adamant in getting the dog which she temporarily housed as her permanent life companion. She argued with the officer-in-charge of taking the dog away to care centre metaphorically.

"I don't think having an animal companion is about are you ready or not, who you live with, how much you earn, how long hour you work or how many pets you had" - those questions were the std questions asked by the officer as adoption criteria

"I think it's about feeling sth..I mean, how do you explain the bond I had with this dog that I just met 3 days ago. He just lies there, like a lump and he smells bad but I do feel it....." - the dog just normally lies there silently and didn't entertain her attempts to teach him tricks etc

"I just think that the feeling's so rare, with a man, with a friend, with a dog, with a job, anything.. that.... when you find it, you just can't let it go"

She got the dog finally.

Missing It

Taken with hp on the way leaving Tawau 7am few weeks ago.

Reminded me of the recent trip to Taiwan. The cloud in Sun-Moon Lake was something like above, only more dramatic and contrast.