When You Can't Afford To Buy, You Hijack It

The Somali sea pirates are showing their boldness and teasing the NATO warships which are patrolling the international water just outside of Somalia's boundary. They have powerful speedboats that even warships can't keep up with it. How in the world are the warships going to shoot at them even though they have powerful weaponary on board.

Somalia's citizens are living in poverty and going through long term civil wars between internal warlords who are fighting for supremacy of the country. Ego problem I would say. Most of the citizens can't afford simple goods in the country and a certain group of civilians decided to gather together to overcome such shortages. They started to hijack and demand ransoms. As locals won't be able to pay them, this group of people became international hijackers.

Their hijacks of ships that by pass their seawater have looted many ransoms in terms of money and are enjoying it as they have been successful all this while. They even have about thirty three T-72 Ukranian battle tanks in capture on board of MV Faina ship.

One of the latest hijack is this MV Sirius Star oil supertanker that belongs to Saudi Arabia. This supertanker is transporting two million barrels of oil that is worth up to US$150 million. Ransom was requested at US$25 million which has been reduced to US$15 million few days ago.

But this nonsense has got up the nerves of Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud Al-Faisal. In view of all this, the Prince has contacted his good friend, Peter Pan, to help out.

The Prince was convinced of Peter Pan's ability as seen in his success against Captain Hook all this while.

Peter's ability in negotiation techniques which include flying, never growing up, tricking pirates into being eaten by giant crocodiles and believing in magic will enhance his chances.

Peter has boarded the supertanker and negotiation is in the process. A picture has been emailed to Saudi Arabia's royal family as proof.


Reading: Pirates move ship towards hotspot - BBC News/Africa
Reading: Peter Pan Recruited To Deal With Supertanker Pirates - Daily Seagulls

Related post - Somali Pirates Testing Superpowers
Tags: MV Faina, MV Sirius Star, Supertanker, Saudi Arabia, Somali Sea Pirates, Somalia, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Peter Pan

Indian Bloggers at Mumbai Forefront

The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Mumbai is under sieged by terrorists from the unknown Deccan Mujahideen (what a nonsense group for whatever cause you are fighting for). The world is condemning your action and you are a coward by being fully armed going against the innocent public.

And you dare to claim responsibility? Something must have gone wrong with your brain as you grew up.

This hotel was built in 1903 and seeing it being burnt like this is a heartache.

Tried booking a room for tomorrow night at this hotel and the website is fully updated as it has stated "Note: No Rooms Available / Hotel Sold Out".




Other locations affected so far are:-
* Leopold Cafe, Colaba
* Oberoi Hotel
* Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
* Chabad Lubavitch Jewish centre
* Mazagon Dock
* Vile Parle suburb, North Mumbai

Indian bloggers based in Mumbai, e.g. Mumbai Help and Mumbai Metblogs, are gathering and putting their hands together to assist during this tragedy time. They have put up requests for blood donation and helpline numbers to check on latest updates.

CNN even used photos obtained from an Indian blogger who took photographs just seconds after Mumbai incident. Another blogger was reporting via live blogging on the incident. This is the new era of blogging.

Thank God that Malaysia is peaceful and if it does happen in Malaysia, I'm sure Malaysian bloggers are also ever ready to help.

My thoughts are with the family members of those people who have been killed / injured in Mumbai.

Reading: Tweeting the terror: How social media reacted to Mumbai - CNN
Tags: Mumbai, Bombay, India, Deccan Mujahideen, Terrorist Attack in Mumbai, Indian Bloggers, Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Taj Mahal Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Colaba, Oberoi Hotel, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mazagaon Docks, Vile Parle Suburb

Bad Times in Kuala Lumpur

This is a true account that happened after a heavy downpour on 16 Oct 2008 to a friend's friend who's working in Cycle & Carriage Bintang Berhad, Petaling Jaya. Time is bad and the day you take for granted on your safety, that could be the day you'll live to regret it.

Praying to God for his protection is definitely a need but our neglectful lifestyle should be looked into.

--------------------------------------

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to share my experience with you on what actually happened last night while on my way back from the office alone.

It was raining heavily while I left the office about 7.00pm and I was caught in the traffic jam along the way home. On reaching Kampung Tunku, I noticed some bikes tailing me closely. My reaction was bikes riders will not be so gentle on the road, even on rainy days, they often speed. As I could not view clearly in the downpour, I activated my rear windshield wiper to have a better look.

I saw three bikes behind me. Following that, one rider moved in front of my car towards the left and two riders were behind me for a while. And I heard a very loud crashing sound at the rear of my car.

I did not stop to investigate but accelerated and continued my journey home despite whatever damages I have to incur for repairs. After a while, the three bikers went missing and guess what next. A breakdown tow truck was behind me next. Along the way, my drive was not comfortable as I felt that my car was not moving in the right way.

I continued my journey, whatever, and on reaching home, guess what, two tires, LH Front and Rear were punctured flat.

We always read and heard that such incidents are happening daily, and this time I experienced this myself.

Please inform all your wives and loves ones not to stop the car while driving alone, just carry on the journey.

With regards,
Irene Kok

--------------------------------------

My personal advise upon reading this email is for you, if you suspect anything amiss, to drive to the nearest relative / friend's house to check on the damage. Never continue driving too far. Seek help at the nearest place that you are familiar with.

Imagine the assailants were to pursue further and you went ahead to accelerate. It would be a devastating end .........................

Tags: Kampung Tunku, Petaling Jaya, Cycle & Carriage Bintang Berhad

Construction Mishap

BOSS!

I think there is a small water leakage in front of the excavator.
We have installed a small pump to get rid of the water.










BOSS!

There is a strange groaning sound emanating behind the small water leakage area.

But don't worry boss, we will check it out.

Just a small matter.

BOSS!

I think there is a small crack on that retaining wall.
BOSS!

A pool is just as good.

No???
Tags: Boss, Construction Mishap, Dubai

Beware Of This Con Woman!!!

During times of economy downturn, fraudsters will be going all out to con whoever that is in a desperate situation. They don't care whether you are from a well-to-do or an average background, just as long as they can rip some amount from your hard earn savings. There are lots of such fraudsters out there right now and you have been warned!

-------------------------------------
BEWARE OF THIS CON WOMAN!!!
Posted by: "Suseela" suseeni@yahoo.com Fri Oct 3, 2008 10:37 pm (PDT)

Good day everyone.

I would like to warn everyone out there about this lady who goes around claiming to have contacts with people who can get anything done for those who are blacklisted or not able to get a loan from banks.

I approached her because I was not able to secure a housing loan due to the simple reason that I needed a co-borrower as my income was insufficient.

This ladies's name is Sham (016-3851244) who was introduced to me by my long time friend Mala (017-3174850) who assured me that Sham is a very genuine person and can be trusted.
Sham is a stout, short lady who is rather manly in her demeanour.

Sham took me to CTOS Sdn Bhd ("CTOS") to check for my financial status and said I have to pay RM250.00 cash and RM30 Digi reload card to get a clarification which will show that I am not blacklisted in any way.

After that we went to Bank Negara Malaysia ("BNM") to get the CCRIS details of my existing loans.

However, along the way to these two places she was going on and on about how my financial status does not matter as she has a friend Ravi who is able to prepare any sort of documents required in the application of the loan.

All he requires is my identity card. He can even prepare an appointment letter and salary vouchers which will elevate my financial status.

I was quite sceptical about her as she was bragging and bragging about all that she can do and all the people she knows, but because my long time friend Mala assured me that she is genuine and being a Hare Krishna devotee she won't cheat anyone, I trusted her.

That was the last I saw Sham. After our visits to CTOS and BNM and taking RM250 cash and RM30 Digi top-up from me, I never saw her again.

She is not answering my calls or SMS's and so I called my friend Mala and asked her what happened?

Apparently, they have seen the guy Ravi and he has asked me to be patient and he will look into my loan application.

But it is me who has to continuously call her to find out what's happening. Sham is missing and Mala does not call me about this at all.

Obviously there is no such person called Ravi. These ladies are probably just satisfied with taking RM250. Imagine RM250 a day is a lot of money. There are prying on people who are desperate.

I blame no one but myself. As long as there are people like me who, inspite of life's incessant lessons, continue to trust so easily, there will be cheats like Sham.

Please people be aware. Don't get cheated like me!!

Sincerely,
Suseela
Tags: Sham, Mala, CTOS Sdn Bhd, Bank Negara Malaysia, CCRIS, Housing Loan, DIGI Reload

Scammers Used Malaysian Bank Without Fear

The following article depicted a Malaysian's predicament involving scammers who partly operated within Malaysia. Malaysian banks have been used by pro scammers in accepting victims' money.
--------------------------------
I wish to share this experience with all Malaysians, so they know what the banks actually do. Also to share details of scammers and their bank details.

A friend of mine was scammed by someone she met online. This person had been communicating with her and later claimed to want to marry her. Obviously he was from the UK with a UK mobile number. During their last conversation, he told her that he would be coming down to Malaysia to meet her family in two weeks and in the mean time, he was sending her some gifts. He claimed that the parcel contained a laptop, a diamond ring, flowers, perfumes and 5000 pounds. He also gave her a fake website for the so called courier company that would be handling the delivery. The name of the so called company is ‘GLOBAL EXPRESS SERVICES’ supposedly based in Sabah. If you check out the website, it does not have any land line or fax line, all the numbers listed are local handphone numbers. I know, I know my friend was stupid to actually believe the guy was genuine. Many have tried this scam with me before but I knew it was a scam and never bothered.

Anyway to make the long story short, she was given a personal bank account number to bank in a total of approximately RM8,000 supposedly for custom clearance and insurance. Which she stupidly did. The account number provided was as follows :-

Name : HUZAIDAH BINTI HUSSIN
Bank : CIMB A/C 12510075365528

Unfortunately for my friend, I only knew of this after she made a police report when despite banking in the money, she did not receive the parcel. In fact she did not even realize that the person she had been communicating with is involved in the scam and the person supposedly from the courier company was actually an African/Nigerian which I told her after calling the mobile number and pretending to ask for someone else. From his accent, it was obvious but she never realized it.

Anyway I took her to the nearest CIMB branch to make a report and to try to get the money back. I requested the officer to hold back the funds and do not allow any withdrawals as the account holder is a scammer and we were also informed that the RM8,000 plus is still in the account. She tells me that since the account does not belong to her branch, she is not able to do that. She informed us that the branch is their Kepong branch and so I asked her to call up the branch and ask them to immediately stop withdrawals and we will go to that branch and provide all the evidence and make our claim. That done we went to the kepong branch and provided all the evidence to the officer and requested that the money be refunded as there is clear cut evidence that it’s a scam. Even the police report was given with the deposit slips.

This happened on the 3/9/2008. The officer tells us that he will get his managers approval and call us if approved. After several days, I call the said officer only to be told that the legal department is handling it and they are investigating the case. I informed him that why should the case take that long to investigate as all evidence confirming the account holder is a scammer has been provided including write ups from other people who have been scammed by the same group. He tells me I am not able to speak to the legal officer handling it and can only liaise with the branch concerned.

Anyway again to make matters short, after making lots of noise and telling of the operator, I finally get to speak to a legal officer who tells me to call a Miss Rajesh based at the kepong branch as she is handling the case. I called her and she tells me nothing just that she does not know when it would be resolved and when I asked her to at least give me a date, she says she does not know and is very rude. I tried to explain to her to speed up the refund as my friend had borrowed the money from a money lender and thus paying a high interest as she thought that she would pay back once she received the parcel which also contained money. This Miss Rajesh tells me rudely ‘the bank is not bothered about that’. This of course pissed me off and I gave her a good piece of my mind, telling her yes I know the bank could not be bothered, only when people are doing well, they will run after them like a dog begging them to take loans etc. I had also spoken to the National Cosumer Complaints Center and provided all the details to them. Thus I told this Miss Rajesh as she was very rude and not helpful at all that from now the NCCC will communicate with her.

I even called BNM and have written to them about this. BNM says they have given CIMB 2 week to respond. BNM also tells me they have no procedures to deal with scammers, and that it falls under the police jurisdiction to take action. Despite the fact that so many people are being scammed, should not BNM be proactive and come up with proper procedures requiring all banks to report any scam accounts and all banks to be forwarded the report so they should blacklist this scammers and not allow them to open the account. BNM tells me that scamming comes under fraud and thus the police would have to get a court order to freeze the account, which could take weeks of not months considering how slow our judiciary works.

Despite making a police report and the police having all the scammers details including phone number, addresses, bank accounts etc, they have not bothered to apprehend and arrest these scoundrels. Instead they waste their time going after innocent citizens like Raja Petra.

As for CIMB, Miss Rajesh calls my friend and asks her who I am and why am I calling on her behalf. The reason for this is actually because my friend is young and naïve and does not know how to handle these things, so I was helping her out with her authority. Miss Rajesh then tells my friend that they are trying to negotiate with the scammer to allow them to refund the money to my friend. When I my friend told me this, I was shocked. CIMB is negotiating with the scammer instead of getting them arrested. She also tells my friend to call the scammer and negotiate with her.

Can you guys beat that. Is it the banks duty to negotiate with those who scam and commit fraud or are they suppose to get such people arrested.

Till todate, the police has done nothing, probably put the file away and neither has the bank done anything and have just asked my friend to negotiate with the scammer.

This friend of mine has another friends who mixes with some African/Nigerians and she was informed by him that the banks and the police are working hand in hand with the scammers as they are paid a commission, hence they money will never be refunded as neither will the police do anything nor will the bank.

Its almost a month now and there is no news from either. Why should the refund take so long, if the bank wants to negotiate with scammers, then they should request the scammer to provide evidence that the parcel containing all the stuff was delivered. If they cant provide such evidence there is no reason for the bank to hold the money.

It is obvious that the bank and police seem to be working hand in hand with scammers.

I'm writing this to create awareness among all Malaysians as to what is really happening and how bank staff are cheating customers and working hand in hand with scammers just for a mere commission.

For everyone’s information, all the other details of the scammers involved are as follows as they have many bank accounts and a whole group of them involved:-
1. Huzaidah binti Hussin
Public Bank a/c 4886411429
RHB a/c 1-12189-0016454-3
CIMB a/c 12510075365528

2. Julianah Binti Jaleel
Alliance Bank a/c 640960020020577

Contact Person involved in the scam claiming to be from Global Express Services:-
James Ruben 013-3260247
Michael Coleman 013-3260245
Benson White 013-2693782
Aini 013-8697255

I hope this letter will highlight to the authorities how important it is to ensure there are proper rules and regulations set out by the relevant bodies on how to deal with scammers immediately and not just keep pushing the buck. This is something important which affects all of us who are cheated of our hard earned money. These scammers have got no compassion for people who suffer to makes ends meet and they try to lure them with such deals. I know its stupid for anyone to believe such scams. But then again, there are many young people around who may not realize whats going on and take people at face value not realizing they are being cheated.

As a community, it is all our duty to ensure that all citizens are safeguarded from such unscrupulous people and action should be taken against such irresponsible bank staff who work with scammers and also the police who do absolutely nothing to get rid of these scum.

Anti Scam
--------------------------------

After reading the above article, I googled Global Express Service Ltd and found another two articles written by victims:-

* Global Express Services Ltd. Don't be fooled or else you'll regret later Kota Kinabalu Malaysia Internet - Scam Fraud Alert

* Report: Courier Services A Scam (Global Express Services Ltd) - Rip-Off Report

This phony Global Express Services Ltd seems to be operating from two addresses:-
* Avon Valley Business Park, Nationwide, United Kingdom

* Block E, Ground Floor, Damai Point Commercial Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

What are CIMB Bank Berhad and Alliance Bank Malaysian Berhad doing about this? Are the banks really negotiating with the scammers?

Reading: CIMB in Cahoots With Scammers - Malaysia Today
Reading: Syndicate behind courier scams, warns Customs - Daily Express
Tags: CIMB Bank Berhad, Alliance Bank Malaysian Berhad, Scammer, Global Express Service Ltd, Huzaidah binti Hussin, Julianah Binti Jaleel, James Ruben, Michael Coleman, Benson White, Aini, Avon Valley Business Park, Damai Point Commercial Centre, Courier Scams

Rapid Train Crashed in Kuala Lumpur

This accident has now been recorded in the Malaysia Book of Records for being the first Light Rail Transit ("LRT") accident in Malaysia (LRT is only found in Kuala Lumpur).

A manned LRT can crash into another LRT which has stopped further in front at another LRT station. Time of accident - 6.30pm, which was still very bright. This is incredible!

Six poor souls were injured in the mishap. That operator in that train, if found to be reckless, should be penalised as if he was driving a car / bus. Otherwise there is no law against them besides being reprimanded by his employer, RapidKL. Will they tell us the truth?

Although RapidKL did provide buses from the Bandar Tasik Selatan station to the last three stations, affected passengers who would have alighted at the three remaining stations still have to pay for the bus services even though they were holding the monthly travel pass. No refund? And the bus was packed like sardines as experienced by a victim, Vialentino.

Our Malaysian Transport Minister said that immediate attention and treatment was provided as the injured passengers were brought to hospital. Somehow he was caught by his words again. Politicians!

Noticed that the picture is already showing us a night scene which was definitely way past 7.30pm. Mr. Minister, I think it's better that you wait for the investigation report before you say anything else.

Reading: Six injured in LRT accident - Star (source of pics too)
Tags: LRT, Light Rail Transit, Kuala Lumpur, LRT Accident, RapidKL, Bandar Tasik Selatan, Sungai Besi, Bukit Jalil, Sri Petaling, LRT Station

MRR2 Cracks Up Again

The Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) in the Kepong has reared its ugly head again. Cracks have appeared one of the pillars. This stretch of the flyover starts from the nearby Taman Daya all the way to Taman Bukit Maluri. It cuts down waiting time at a number of traffic lights which are below the flyover.

Time and again, cracks have appeared and the government has spent approximately RM70 million for such repairs. This new crack will bring many smiles on the faces of many (you know who I'm referring to).

Consultants have cited before that it was design deficiencies and improper anchoring at the crossbeams. What now? Bar heavy vehicles indefinitely? Limit usage of flyover?

The construction of the flyover in the first place was due to its importance for that area as traffic is sooooooooooooooooo heavy. With the closure, many could imagine the chaos it will bring on Monday morning, the first day of work. For those of you living in Kepong, Selayang, Sri Damansara and Sungai Buloh - be prepared for the worst. Pump in more fuel, just in case you get stuck in traffic longer than what you had expected.

There is this detailed blog posting of Middle Ring Road 2 - Repair to begin? by Risk, Safety & Health. It has listed the first incident since year 2004. Hopefully the following consultants, who were involved from the beginning, in between and thereafter, would be able to highlight the real happenings:-

* Maunsell, Sharma and Zakaria
* Minconsult Sdn Bhd
* Flint & Neill Partnership
* Kohler & Seitz Engineering Services
* Halcrow Consultancy Ltd

Even the Anti-Corruption Agency got involved in the later stage when they sent their Enigineering Forensic Unit. In fact, I'm sure no one will be held accountable because unless the warranty period is still effective. If there's a crack, just approve the money allocation and pay to whoever that will be appointed to do surface touch up lah. Simple as that. No?

Reading: Cracks confirmed on MRR2 - Star
Reading: DAP Dares Samy To Bare ALL in MR2 Fiasco; Shocking Disclosures: Contractors awarded lack expertise; Incompetent; Ready For a Quick Buck - Present Power Point

Tags: Middle Ring Road 2, MRR2, Kepong, Flyover, Anti-Corruption Agency, Engineering Forensic Unit, Maunsell, Sharma and Zakaria, Minconsult Sdn Bhd, Flint & Neill Partnership, Kohler & Seitz Engineering Services, Halcrow Consultancy Ltd

Sorry, Wrong Number!

'Hello? 'Hi, honey. This is Daddy. Is Mommy near the phone?
'No Daddy. She's upstairs in the bedroom with Uncle Paul.
After a brief pause, Daddy says, 'But honey, you haven't got an Uncle Paul.
'Oh yes I do, and he's upstairs in the room with Mommy, right now.

Brief Pause.
'Uh, okay then, this is what I want you to do.
Put the phone down on the table, run upstairs and knock on the bedroom door and shout to Mommy that Daddy's car just pulled into the driveway.'
'Okay Daddy, just a minute.'

A few minutes later the little girl comes back to the phone.
'I did it Daddy'
'And what happened honey?'
'Well, Mommy got all scared, jumped out of bed with no clothes on and ran around screaming.
Then she tripped over the rug, hit her head on the dresser and now she isn't moving at all!'

'Oh my God!!! What about your Uncle Paul?'
'He jumped out of the bed with no clothes on, too.
He was all scared and he jumped out of the back window and into the swimming pool.

But I guess he didn't know that you took out the water last week clean it. He hit the bottom of the pool and I think he's dead.'

***Long Pause***

***Longer Pause***

***Even Longer Pause***

Then Daddy says, 'Swimming pool?

'Is this 486-5731?'

'No, this is 486-5713....

'SORRY WRONG NUMBER !'
Tags: Wrong Number, Jokes, Funny, Humour, Tragedy

Did The Roadblocks Served Its Purpose?

On early Monday morning, as early as 7am (I was on the road that early too), I was soooooooo puzzled as to why was the Federal Highway soooooooo empty when I came onto it from Old Klang Road. Where are the rest of the people? Was it a last minute public holiday announcement done on Sunday night which I didn't know about it?

No cars (got lah, less than two dozens of them in front of me) on the way down to city centre.

Not knowing that major traffic jams were occuring at the same time at many other places. When I reached the foodcourt, one by one of my colleagues walked in. Some of their faces were black. Later on in the office, many complained about the stupid roadblocks. Only then many people found out that there were many roadblocks being conducted at the same time which is during the peak hour.

Why were the roadblocks put up? Why weren't the public informed so that they could avoid those roads or come out earlier? Who organised those stupid roadblocks during peak hours?

Time passes by and Malaysia's Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, came out to say that he was sorry. Sorry????? Just sorry? After causing a mayhem during peak hours and you are just sorry about it. It caused many people to be late for work, appointments, expensive petrol burning away, tempers rising amongst drivers who were not obeying traffic, queue jumpings, disorder throughout Klang Valley, businesses disrupted ....... and he was just sorry about it.

Definitely, this guy by the name of Ganesh will remember Syed Hamid for the rest of his life. The government's decision to conduct the roadblocks has caused Ganesh to be late for his CLP legal exam. By missing one paper, he has failed the whole examination.

Syed Hamid Albar has every reason to believe that there was to be a major demonstration involving the opposition parties. One probable reason for having the demonstration was due to the fact that the opposition parties tabled the no confidence motion in parliament. The government felt so insecured that they have gotten the police force at full force out on the major roads coming into the city centre.

But Lim Kit Siang and his DAP friends have denied meeting up with PKR and PAS to plan for this so called demonstration.

And it caused this terrible traffic jam. It was human made.

Right after knowing about this unfortunate event, I asked many people from morning till night. Gathered their comments as follows:-

* government is so insecured
* government is so worried
* stupid government
* police got nothing better to do
* trying to frustrate klang valley voters?
* punishing klang valley voters for letting opposition wins 10 of the 11 parliamentary seats in KL
* the public is even more pissed off with the government
* can't they (government in this case) do anything right?
* can't they block nearer the parliament area if demonstrations were to be held there?

I couldn't agree more with the person who posed the last question. Why were the roadblocks conducted throughout KL? Ok, let's say it was for safety reasons and they wanted to prevent the demonstration, did they nab anyone in that process. If nobody was arrested, it meant to say that they can't even detect any single demostrator who intended to demonstrate. If there were none, where did they hear that there was going to be a major demonstration.

What a farce they have made it out to be? The newspapers are out today blaming the opposition parties for causing all this. Come on!!!!!!! The government has made a major blunder for being to pro-active and ended up with nothing. Now, they are playing the blame game, yeah ......... blame others, don't admit.

Many people that I have came to contact with since Monday morning agreed that the government was trying to frustrate the public into believing that demonstrations will bring chaos to the nation. The government was trying to paint the picture that the public will be the one to suffer for the opposition's antics. The opposition parties are nothing and useless and will bring problems to the nation.

Do you know what? The people are now more frustrated / angry with the current government for employing the roadblocks. The plan has backfired. Please note that the people that I have asked for comments are just plain ordinary people trying to make a living.

Reading: The Real Reason For The Roadblocks in KL - Margeemar
Reading: Roadblocks needed to keep order, says Pak Lah - Star
Tags: Roadblocks, Kuala Lumpur, Syed Hamid Albar

Don't Worry, I Can Do It

A friend of mine who's based overseas in the construction field do enjoy his work even though far away from home sweet home.

When he asked the locals to do their work, their standard reply is always "Don't worry, I can do it" or "No problem, will do it accordingly". Similar kind of response at your workplace too?

One fine day, he went to the project site and he almost had an instant heart attack seeing the end result of a construction work.

How in the world that they can build a staircase that has no links from the ground floor up to the second floor just like what you see in the attached picture?

After some investigations, he found out that two teams did the work at the same. One team began from the upper floor and another team started from the bottom.


This is a pure case of lack of communication even though they were working on the same side of the building.
Tags: Construction, Construction Method, Lack Of Communication

18,000 Brought to Prisons in 11 Days

Bangladesh created an all time world record for pulling in 18,000 persons into prisons countrywide in a space of 11 days beginning from 28 May 2008. Reason given was to ensure safe communities in view of the upcoming general election to be held in December 2008.

Totally dictatorial situation in Bangladesh. No democracy at all even though it was supposed to be one. Human rights organisations such as the Human Rights Watch and Democracy Watch said that such arrests have no basis and it was political driven. The situation started when two major political parties, Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, decided not to co-operate with the military-backed caretaker government in the upcoming general election.

The two political parties said that those arrested by the caretaker government were in fact their members. In applying the Emergency Powers Rules, it allowed the caretaker government to make the necessary arrests without police warrants and place the person in prison till the caretaker government felt it is right timing to release them.

But the caretaker government said that those arrested were actually criminals. Wow, that's certainly highly efficient on the part of the Bangladesh police. They would be the best police team in the whole wide world with such arrest ratio in eleven days.

The Malaysian police contingent has lots to learn from their Bangladeshi counterpart.

Scotland Yard would be sending a team to Bangladesh to learn a trick or two from the police force in capturing so many criminals without any of the criminals being tipped off on the police actions.

All this sounds like those disputed arrests under my government's Internal Security Act ("ISA") where people held under the ISA were detained without trials and released upon the government's approval and not the courts. Under ISA rulings, as long as the government felt that they have enough suspicions of you, they could place you under ISA detention for a minimum two years.

Reading: 18,000 held in Bangladesh 'political crackdown' - CNN Asia

Last but not least, I really wonder whether Bangladesh has enough prison cells to fit in the 18,000 human beings. Or how many human beings are being squeezed into one cell?
Tags: Prison, Jail, Lock Up, Bangladesh, Political Crackdown, Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Human Rights Watch, Democracy Watch

Car Jacking in Damansara Jaya

Received this frightening news from my friend's friend.
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Last Sunday morning (25 May 2008), my immediate neighbor's father in law was robbed of his car (Toyota Altis 1+ yr old) at 9.30am in broad daylight. We live in Damansara Jaya and this is suppose to be a decent neighborhood. We have our own security guards (DJROA) patrolling the neighborhood. Even so, such violent crime still happens.

I was in my home packing my golf gear as I have an afternoon golf game. I heard screaming coming from outside and it sounded like an old man's scream. I looked out my front window and saw a car outside of my house. Couldn't see very much as my gate was closed. My immediate thought was that there's been a accident and my neighbor is hurt. Then I heard my neighbor shouting and it sounded angry. I quickly got my autogate remote and went outside. I opened the autogate and saw a new silver Honda CRV outside my house with 2 guys in there. When I walked out towards the gate, on my left, I saw my neighbor trying to pull his dad away from his car. His dad was still screaming and holding on to the open passenger car door.

Then I saw blood dripping from his right wrist. There was blood on the road too. I saw a guy in the Toyota starting his dad's car. At that point one of the guy got down from the CRV with a pistol drawn walking towards my neighbor whose back was towards him. Only at this point I realized it was a robbery. I shouted at my neighbor to get back into the house. He was still trying to pull his dad away from the car. He was holding on to the door not letting go. Then his accomplice in the Toyota started driving the car away and the guy with the pistol retreated back to the CRV and they all sped away. Luckily that happened or else that guy may have used the gun on my neighbor had his accomplice not driven the car away. Everything was over in seconds from the time I opened the gate.

I saw the wound on my neighbor's wrist which was very deep. He was slashed by a parang when he went to help his dad. The robber hit his dad with the blunt side of the parang to get him to drop the keys as he was walking to his car which was parked outside the gate. He was visiting his daughter and they were getting ready to go out for breakfast. After quickly tying a towel around his arm and another towel to press on his wound to stop the blood, I rushed him to the nearest hospital, i.e. Damansara Specialist hospital. He was operated on the same day to join back the severed tendon of his thumb.

At the hospital, in the emergency ward next bed was another elderly man in his late 50's who had both his wrist bandaged up. He told me he too was a victim of car jacking a short while ago. The description he gave me of the robbers that attacked him and the get away car is the same as what I saw. He lives in SS2, which is just across the road from Damansara Jaya. That means the robbers were on a prowl of the neighborhood. They were not successful in robbing that guy of his car, a Mercedes Benz. So they continued cruising and probably spotted my neighbor's dad's car parked outside the house and when they saw an old man they thought it would be an easy target.

According to my neighbor's wife, it took the police 30mins before they showed up by which time the car could already be on the highway towards Thailand. Their lackadaisical attitude really disgust me.

I've also seen a snatch thief in my neighborhood right before my eyes in front of a popular clay pot chicken rice shop in the early evening. Everything happened in a split second and the guy on a motorbike was gone leaving the wife speech less and her husband dumbfounded.

My other neighbor just a month ago was also almost car jacked by two guys on a motorbike that tried to break her car window when she was waiting to pick up her mom who was at the bank in Damansara Jaya. She was smart enough to drive off with the robbers chasing after her car. She drove to the police station and they stopped following.

I'm really sad and disappointed at what this wonderful country is turning out into. I really have no trust in the capabilities of our police force and I can safely say I speak for many Malaysians. Our safety have been truly compromised. I am living in fear. Now that the robbers have seen my two cars, will they come back for it next??!

It is not that the police and the government are not aware of the very high violent crime rate in this country. They are and the rate seems to be increasing to the layman. Looks like it will come a time when we Malaysians have no choice but to live in gated communities. When will our government take heed that safety of its citizen, its tourist visiting this country, and visitors living/working in this wonderful country are paramount and a responsibility that they should take seriously.

Here's some advice to everyone:-
(1) Be extremely conscious of your surroundings esp when you are getting into your car or driving in/out of your home. If there are any suspicious cars or people, then drive away and make another round just to be sure. Same precaution before you open your autogate. Lock your car doors the moment you get in your car.

(2) If you are confronted by robbers, give them the car or your handbag. Do not fight them. You life is worth much more. You don't want to injured, maimed or worst still killed for something that is replaceable.

(3) Robbers tend to attack older people and females. So be much more alert if you are in that category. Go out in pairs or group. Stay away from walking along road sides, walk on the inside pavement.

(4) Don't save the few ringgits by parking your car by the road side for free if there is inside parking available, esp female drivers. There could be somebody waiting for you when you return to your car.

(5) If you are in the car and still able to drive away if confronted by robbers, drive away to the nearest police station or patrol station where there's a lot of people. If you can't drive away, then I suggest you get down and run away from your car, leave everything and run. They will want your car more than they want you.

Go to the following websites and read up on what you can do to protect yourself. The Malaysian police certainly is not your answer, neither is our government whose struggling for their own survival. They've got no time for us:-

* Travel Safety Tips For Women Travelers (http://www.kevincoffee.com)
* Precautions for Women Travelling Alone (http://www.itis.com.my/itis/safety-tips-1.jsp)

Remember, my wife, family and friends rather I be an alive chicken than a dead hero. Take care and be cautious always.
Tags: Car Jacking, Damansara Jaya, DJROA, Safety Tips, Toyota Altis, Honda CRV, Mercedes Benz, Travelling Alone, Snatch Thief

Socio-Political Bloggers in Cuba

Socio-political bloggers are found everywhere including the nation of Cuba, located in the Central America region.

Cuban socio-political bloggers do face problems with their goverment, just like in Malaysia.

Can we compare Malaysia with Cuba as they are still a communist country?

Besides that, t's not easy to access the internet in Cuba for a chance to blog. Individuals are not permitted to have an personal internet account. Corporate users don't have fast internet access. Who were allowed internet access then? Only foreigners and some government employees and academics are allowed where their account are being monitored by the government.

It's not surprising with such restriction where common folks in Cuba had their first taste of buying or using mobile phones (or cell phones or handphones) during end March 2008. That's really shocking in this era of high technology.

The famous socio-political blogger in Cuba is 32 years old, Yoani Sanchez, who blogs under Generation Y. In order to blog, she had to dress as a tourist to enter a hotel compound which has wi-fi internet access. That too, she has to pay around US$6.00 an hour.

This doesn't stop another Cuban blogger by the name of Eva Hernandez who blogs under Sin Evasion.

Reading: Cuba muzzles popular blogger - MSNBC
Reading: Bloggers offer glimpse of uncensored Cuba - MSNBC
Tags: Socio-Political Blogger, Cuba, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Eva Hernandez, Sin Evasion

Most Awesome Earthquake-Surviving Car

A Citroen car which was damaged extensively in the recent Sichuan earthquake was still running on the road.

If not mistaken, it's a Citroen C5 model.
The car owner may not have gotten proper insurance to replace the car. I would say it is beyond repair also (Picture sourced from KDNet). At least it has proven something, that the Citroen C5 was really tough as the engine was still functioning.

Related post - Sichuan Earthquake
Tags: Earthquake, Sichuan Earthquake, Citroen, Citroen C5

The Sichuan Earthquake

In the previous day, TV news coverage did mention that two high schools did tumble down due to the strong earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter Scale that happened in Sichuan, China.

It was mentioned that there was an estimated 900 students / teachers that could be trapped in a middle school. By listening to it and seeing the TV news anchor person reading out the news doesn't really hit me yet.It didn't hit me until I saw the following picture that was taken while rescue effort was being carried out at a school.


This picture tore my heart into pieces and tears gathered in my eyes. I'm lost without words. My condolence to the people of China.

Donations:-
* How can you help - China Daily
* China Earthquake Relief - Network For Good

Reading: National death toll rises to 14,866 two days after quake - China Daily
Reading: The Sichuan Earthquake - EastSouthWestNorth
Tags: Sichuan, China, Sichuan Earthquake, Tragedy

Impatient Driver

Was approaching a toll booth and drove towards a particular lane to pay for toll. In front of me was a green Nissan car. Out of a sudden a navy blue Honda dashed pass me, trying to jump queue instead of wasting time lining up.

The Nissan car driver noticed it (I think via the rear/side mirror that a car was trying to squeeze itself into its lane). The Nissan car sped up at the same time with both cars going into the toll booth area and soon ............................................................................. BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Both cars were stucked in the same lane and the drivers couldn't come out from their cars too.
Tags: Impatient Driver, Tragedy, Toll Booth, Honda, Nissan

Cyclone Whacked Myanmar Devastatingly

Was Burma ready when Cyclone Nargis hit its shores four days ago? Why weren't the general public warned? Such severe cyclone do not hit the land immediately as it would be a slow built-up over a number of days.

Were the army officials sleeping when the storm was ravaging strongly day by day?

The wind not only came in strong but a tidal wave of 12 feet high came upon the shore, hitting the Irrawaddy Delta where millions built their homes.



The Indian Meteorological Department, that was commissioned to alert the surrounding countries on any dangerous cyclones or earthquakes coming along the way, had managed to track the Cyclone Nargis on 2 May 2008 and alerted Burmese government agencies but somewhere somehow, such news were not disseminated fast enough to warn the general public.

Today, the cyclone aftermath has brought about 50,000 deaths, tens of thousands missing (would only be considered dead once body is found) and at least, a million homeless. This is just as bad as the 2004 tsunami.

The vast land comprise many paddy fields have been destroyed as well. Considered as the main rice bowl for many Burmese, life could be really hard if the military ruled government doesn't act fast.

The not-so-easyto-penetrate country of Burma (or Myanmar) due to its tight control by the military junta have called on international aids. The call was made quite late as the military found it hard to access certain places to assess the situation. After realising that it was really really bad, they knew that they were ill-prepared for it. Foreign reporters are rarely found in Burma due to restrictions and this has resulted in lesser news updates on the cyclone tragedy. Nobody really knew how bad it was except for the military and the citizens caught in it.

On one hand international aid agencies need to supply medical supplies together with their rescuers / medical personnel but visas weren't approved as fast for such personnel to enter Burma. So how?

It was reported that there was already a shortage of rice largely in Asia and this has to happen to Burma, where it does export milled rice too. This will surely drive the commodity's price upwards. Thailand's plan to form a rice cartel similar to OPEC, seeing that rice will be a much sought after food, has been dropped due to this tragedy happening in Burma.

Will Burma's military junta be awakened or the Burmese will finally rise up to demand a much better life?

Reading: The Irrawaddy News Magazine
Tags: Burma, Burmese, Myanmar, Cyclone Nargis, Irrawaddy Delta, Rice Cartel, OPEC, International Aid Agency, Military Junta, Military Ruled

Why Bother Waking Up at 3am to Study?

I'm labelling this particular blog posting under "Tragedy". Why tragedy of all labels? Read the following write-up by a SPM leaver (SPM is a secondary school's final exam that would determine where you would further your studies i.e. either to ).
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I refer to the letters A daughter devastated, a mother with no answer and Education system quota abused.

To ‘Schoolteacher, I would like to share with my case which is very similar to your case. I am a SPM leaver with an SPM result of 11A1s and I have a mother, whose is also a teacher in a government primary school. I am also the eldest daughter and I have two more younger brothers. With my family middle-class income, it's impossible for me to further my studies at a private college/university or overseas unless with a scholarship. I am pretty confident with my achievements as I hold extra-curricular posts eg, ,vice president, secretary, school prefect and I even went for the National Service programme.

I understand your daughter's feeling pretty well because I also was rejected for matriculation also for most of the scholarships that I've applied for (Petronas,Yayasan TNB,Yayasan Telekom,Yayasan Khazanah). Until now, I've only been called for an JPA interview.

Honestly, I don't really feel surprised I got rejected for those GLC scholarships and matriculation. As we know, matriculation is only open 10% for us, the non-bumis. Just imagine, out of 100 students, there are only 10 seats for us, the non-bumis. Frankly, I would feel surprise if I got an offer for matriculation.

In my school, there are about 20+ straight As scorers and they also did not get any offer for matriculation or other scholarships. We have only gone for the JPA interview so far. Even for the Petronas interview (they called it Petronas Educamp), out of the 20+ top scorers, only two managed to get selected. (One of them scored 11 A1s and one A2, another scored 11As and one B3, both non-bumis)

However, some of my Malay got an offer to do matriculation even with an SPM result of only 5As. I felt so hurt. I am so sad because I seem to be discriminated against. Nobody appreciates my talent, nobody appreciates my ability. As if our country has more than enough talented scholars.

So, to our country’s leaders, don't blame those talented scholars who do not want to come back to serve Malaysia. Don't forget who ‘threw’ them away before treating them as if they were rubbish. Frankly, sometimes I do question myself, why bother to torture myself? Why bother to wake up at 4am, sometimes even 3am to study? Why bother to score a straight A1s?

My mother once told me she is so disappointed with the Malaysian education system. Although I strived hard to score well in the SPM, but in the end, I ended up with no scholarship offer. Well, I am left the one and only hope- JPA. But my mother advised me not to put to much hope on this government scholarship.

Come on, after 51 years of independence, racism still exists in our country. We, the non-bumis, are like the blacks in US. In the past, US white people detested and discriminated against the blacks. They even put notices like,’No dogs and Blacks allowed’ in public places. Now, our government is putting up notices like ‘Only 10% non-bumis are allowed’ for matriculation.
(And who knows if the figure of ‘10%’ is true? They might take 7% of non-bumis only, who knows?)

Our government also puts up notices like ‘These courses are only reserved for the bumiputera’ for IPTA course with SPM qualifications. For your information, courses like,’Asasi Sains’, ‘Prepatory courses for medicine’ at local unisare only for bumiputeras. Non-bumis, wait until your next life!

Most of my friends and me will choose to challenge of the tough STPM if we really don't get any scholarship offer.And I believe, STPM is the last choice but is it is also the choice of most non- bumis after a series of disappointments. I observed a few batches of my own Form 6 seniors and there were almost zero bumis in the Form 6 Science Stream. Of course, since they got into matriculation with 5As,or even with 2As from SPM, why bother to take the STPM?

My last word to ‘Schoolteacher’ is that all those moral values and history they teach in school is really rubbish. My friends and I knew this when we started on those subjects. To ‘Hamisu’, my mother has already advised me to be a Pakatan Rakyat supporter.

By Disappointed Student

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And the government expected the current students to be supportive of the ruling government with all this biasness / discrimination on-going? I have seen this since my schooling days 20 years ago.

This type of biasness / discrimination will certainly cause anger / deep hatred harboured deep inside many people. The political tsunami hasn't really affected the government enough to change for the better.
Tags: SPM, STPM, Form 6, JPA, Matriculation, Discrimination, Pakatan Rakyat

Tunnel Not So Smart After All

Upon reading the news article "Smart Tunnel closed indefinitely", it was shocking to me. One being that I'm a regular user which would cut down my time spent in traffic jam, to and from office.

Secondly, it would cause major traffic jam again during peak hours at Jalan Sungai Besi, Jalan Chan Sow Lin, Jalan Tun Razak and the domino effect it would have on other roads leading to it.

I found that the Smart Tunnel operator should disclose the real issue behind the closure as the reason stated (which was - used to divert floodwaters to prevent flooding in the city centre) in the news article cannot be accepted at all.

The Smart Tunnel was built with three levels with the lowest level being used to divert excessive rain water to a retention pond near my residential area before being released to a nearby Kerayong river.

Unless the lowest level couldn't accommodate the excessive rain water, the upper two levels would be used for rain water diversion too.

I doubt at my highest level that both the traffic levels would be used for the diversion exercise as any flooding of those two levels would cause extensive damage to all fixtures and fittings, electrical wirings, cameras and signboards, etc.

Even if it was true, why closed indefinitely? Closed during heavy downpour or few hours after that would be well understood but still closed even 12 hours after the heavy downpour?

Or was the real reason being that the Smart Tunnel operator dare not guarantee the road users' safety if the lowest level was used for rain water diversion while heavy traffic were still on-going at the above two levels???????

Related posts:-
* Malaysia's SMART Tunnel
* Rain Water's Not Free in Malaysia
Tags: Smart Tunnel, Rain Water, Traffic Jam, Heavy Downpour