All Malaysians To Attend Course Prior to Marriage

Muslim friends in Malaysia must go through a pre-nuptial course before they can get married. The courses are organised by the respective State Islamic Religious Department.

Non-muslims are not required to attend such course. I know that churches do have their pre-marriage counselling in preparing each couple-to-be on the expectancy of a marriage and what is a marriage. I would say it's useful and normally the church pastors or a church elder will conduct such courses, free of charge of course.

Out of a sudden, a memorandum has now been submitted to the government calling for all non-muslims to attend such compulsory marriage courses before they are allowed to get married. This is on compulsion???? Why compulsory now? Which organisation or groups are calling for it?

If the government somehow agrees with the memorandum, will a church's pre-marriage counselling be counted / accepted? Who's authorised to conduct such courses? Will such courses be organised by government agencies such as National Population and Family Planning Board only at no charges to the public?

I really hope that no cronies will benefit indirectly on organising such courses at the expense of the public (referring to the non-muslims now since the memorandum is referring to non-muslims) paying for it. Actually there's more to gain in attending such courses but I really hope that it would not be manipulated for selected people's pockets.

In future, make sure you keep your certificate of attendance of the marriage course in a safe deposit box because if it's lost, you can't say your vows on that big day of yours ........ haha

Reading: Memo on marriage courses for non-Muslims - Star
Tags: Pre-Nuptial Course, Pre-Marriage Counselling, Marriage Course, Marriage, State Islamic Religious Department, National Population and Family Planning Board

Viable Legoland Park in Malaysia?

The secret is out at last ........................ no Disneyland at Bandar Nusajaya of Iskandar Malaysia area.

Iskandar Malaysia managed to rope in Legoland to set up an entertainment park. It was rumoured that there will be two theme parks, with one being the anchor and the other is the secondary park. Nobody knows except for those in the top management .......... maybe they are in a blur too. Maybe Legoland is all we get after all.

When will we get to see it? Construction will begin in year 2010 and will be opened to the public in 2013. Long way to go man. The construction of Legoland will be at a cost of RM750 million (US$214 million).

Hopefully the Legoland operator, Merlin Entertainment Group, will be able to manage the park and draw many tourists to Malaysia. MEG is the world's second largest theme park operators ..... now that's a good start.

The Legoland will have 40 interactive rides but mainly catered for families with kids up to 12 years old. No adults' rides? Then will the operator of Tokyo Disneyland, OLC Group, get their wish to construct a theme park at this Bandar Nusajaya? I hope so.

Malaysia's Legoland will be targetting around 1 to 2 million visitors per annum which is a far cry from 15 million visitors targetted by Singapore's Integrated Resorts, namely Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World.

With worldwide financial institutions feeling the credit crunch, the funding is not going to be easy. Looks like the government of Malaysia is willing to provide a RM500 million loan to the joint owners, MEG (20% interest) and Iskandar Investment Berhad (80% interest). Will this be a viable investment by the joint owners?

(Picture sourced from Star)
Tags: Disneyland, Bandar Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia, Legoland, Merlin Entertainment Group, Tokyo Disneyland, OLC Group, Iskandar Investment Berhad, Theme Park

Guaranteed Seats in Public Buses

Going to Putrajaya, the Federal Administrative Capital which houses majority of the government agencies, is quite smooth nowadays.

You can get there by cars, bikes, bicycles (if safe), public buses, taxis and also the high speed ERL train.

The public buses serving Putrajaya area is currently operated by Nadi Putra, owned by Pengangkutan Awam Putrajaya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Putrajaya Corporation, of which is a government agency under the Ministry of Federal Territories.

Just back in June 2008 after the ridiculous petrol price hike, Putrajaya Corporation was of the view that many people would be opting for public transportation to cut down cost of living.

They estimated that 9,300 passengers are hopping into their buses daily and believed that it would grow tremendously. At that point of time, there were 55 buses already. With 9,300 passengers and 55 buses plying the routes, the ratio is 169 passengers per bus per day. A bus could fit in 40 passengers and that works out to be 4 bus loads of people per day. You are definitely guaranteed a seat in a public bus for sure.

That was in June 2008. Six months down the road in December 2008, there are 70 buses now and say there was an increase of 10% bus passengers which works out to 10,230 passengers daily.

With 10,230 passengers and 70 buses plying the routes, the ratio is 146 passengers per bus per day. That is less than 4 bus loads of people per day. Some passengers could even lie down and sleep.

But the Ministry of Federal Territories thinks that you are not comfortable enough and they are very thoughtful of you.

They think that the ratio of passenger per bus should be even much lower. In order to achieve a much lower ratio, they have decided to purchase another 104 buses at a cost of RM70 million (RM673,076 per bus) over the next two years. 70 buses plus 104 buses = 174 buses.

Say another increase of 10% bus passengers which will have 11,253 passengers daily. With 174 buses plying the routes, the ratio will be down to 65 passengers per bus per day. You only require 1.5 buses to fit the 65 passengers per day.

Even though Nadi Putra is making a loss of RM1 million per annum, the passengers' comfort is their highest concern of all. Well done! This is what I call priority customer service. You won't find it anywhere in the world.

Reading: Not enough passenger volume - Star
Tags: Public Bus, Putrajaya, Federal Administrative Capital, Nadi Putra, Pengangkutan Awam Putrajaya Sdn Bhd, Putrajaya Corporation, Ministry of Federal Territories

Eyesight Test

How do you know when your eyesight is getting worse .................. do you check it out with the opthalmologist?

Or you try to test it out on your own? In times of economic downturn, I'm offering you a free test.

Can you read the following words?



Come on, don't tell me you can't!

Still can't decipher the words? ........... hint hint ...... two words only!

If you still can't read the two words ............ try the following step - close your eyes almost 90% so that you can actually read it.
Tags: Opthalmologist, Eyesight

New KFC Sponsorship Deal

After watching sales falling off for three straight months at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Sanders calls up the Pope and asks for a favour.

The Pope says, "What can I do? "
The Colonel says, "I need you to change the daily prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken'. If you do it, I'll donate $10million to the Vatican."
The Pope replies, "I am sorry. That is the Lord's Prayer and I can't change the words."

So the Colonel hangs up. After another month of dismal sales, the Colonel panics, and calls again.

"Listen your Excellency. I really need your help. I'll donate $20 million if you change the words of the daily prayer from 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken.'
And the Pope responds, "It is very tempting, Colonel Sanders. The church could do a lot of good with that much money. It would help us to support many charities. But, again, I must decline. It is the Lord's Prayer, and I can't change the words."

So the Colonel gives up again. After two more months of terrible sales, the Colonel gets desperate.

"This is my final offer, your Excellency. If you change the words of the daily prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken' I will donate $50 million to the Vatican."
The Pope replies, "Let me get back to you."

So the next day, the Pope calls together all of his bishops and he says, "I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is that "KFC" is going to donate $50 million to the Vatican." The bishops rejoice at the news.

Then one asks about the bad news. The Pope replies, "The bad news is that we're losing the "GARDENIA" account."
Tags: Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC, Colonel Sanders, Pope, Bishop, Vatican, Gardenia, Funny, Humour

Potential Landslide in Medan Damansara?

With the recent Bukit Antarabangsa landslide fresh in the minds of all Malaysians and as I have guessed, those staying in Medan Damansara would be fearing for their lifes as well. The Damansara 21 hillslope project undertaken by SDB Properties Sdn Bhd is just lingering above the few rows of houses at Medan Damansara. SDB Properties Sdn Bhd has requested the authorities to give them six months to facilitate them to strengthen the hillslope in which they are investing RM30 million to stabilise the hill.

If it requires as much as RM30 million just to do that ............. what does it tell you?

The residents, under the Medan Damansara Residents Association, has objected to the hillslope project. I wonder what the association had done that has given an avenue for SDB Properties Sdn Bhd to sue the association's current and past presidents and two other office bearers.

Not only they lived in fear but have to think about the law suit as well.

The residents have a blog for their cause too - Save The Hills, Please.
Tags: Bukit Antarabangsa Landslide, Damansara 21, SDB Properties Sdn Bhd, Medan Damansara, Medan Damansara Residents Association, Save The Hills, Please

Sudanese Friend's Wedding

We were supposed to go for a dinner on Thursday night at a hotel, invited by a Sudanese. We thought it was one of those Hari Raya Haji celebration dinner again. Off we went. Upon arrival, the security at the hotel entrance told us that the hotel was closed for a wedding. Huh????? We tried calling that guy but he wasn't answering his phone.

We made another call to his friend and this fella told us that it was Abdullah's (the person who so-called invited us to a dinner but didn't say it was his big day) wedding at the hotel that we weren't allowed to enter. Goodness, what a trick he played on us.

Eventually we told the security that we are also the guests and we parked within the hotel compound as we were early (around 9pm plus).

In Sudan, all weddings that I have attend thus far or seen are held at open field and surrounded with gigantic cloth being put round the whole function area. The entrance to the wedding was decorated with colourful lightings.

When we entered, some of the guests were already dancing to the tune of the music that was played by a live band that comprise of a trumpet, trombones, drum, rymthmic guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and violins. This is considered a high class wedding in Sudan context.

The arrival of the king and queen for the day.

Food was served and each guest will be given a plate only. It's not a eight course dinner that comes in eight different big dishes but all-in-one plate here.

I was fortunate to have gotten a drumstick, a piece of mutton, a piece of bread, two rolls of small croissant style bread, two pieces of dates, a small chunk of white cheese, a piece of sweetened biscuit and soggy crackers.

The classic was ........ you are given a bottle of Pepsi. Yes, it was in a bottle. You won't get to see it in Kuala Lumpur nowadays.














We were seated waaaaaaaaaay behind the main stage.

Good thing they have put up LCD TVs around the place so we could witness what was going on waaaaaaaaaay in front.

Then, from 10pm onwards, the king / queen for the day came near to the live band and danced till 11pm. As everyone was leaving, we only went up to greet / congrats the king. He was definitely happy to have three foreigners attending his wedding.

As I'm the only chinese fella around, people will tend to stare ....... giving the curiosity look and asking "Who's this fella?".
Tags: Sudanese Wedding, Sudanese Custom, Sudanese Tradition, Pepsi