Lately

What interesting things have been happening lately?

1. Going to Atlanta soon. I've been receiving "orders" to bring back various items from Atlanta, e.g. Taboo game set, something from Victoria's Secret, porn DVD with signature of the actors, a bottle of Atlanta air, glucosamine tablets, music from a not so well-known composer, fridge magnet, photos. Please don't ask me who asked for these items. I do not reveal identities of guilty parties. Besides, some of these things I definitely cannot do. Those that I can, I will try my best. Photos will be the easiest.


2. CopaIBA last Saturday. Woohoo! What a day! Reports here and here. Photos here. The match against Sunway was classic. If there are fewer photos of that game, it's because I was too engrossed by the suspense that I forgot about the camera. This was my first time shooting a sports event with the new camera. Lighting conditions were pretty tricky -- bright background with dim indoor light + super high and dark ceiling + fast-moving action. I ended up using direct flash most of the time, but I was experimenting with various shutter speed and aperture settings, on shutter-priority, aperture-priority and manual modes. I don't think I got it all right, but it's OK for a start. Maybe I should have used a higher ISO and gone without flash. Next time.


3. I attended the public hearing on the proposal by Sime UEP to develop "part" of the Taman Subang Ria. Judging from the responses from the audience, Sime UEP and MPSJ are up against their biggest foe of all time. Subang Jaya folks are not going to take this lying down. One of the residents appointed lawyer Derek Fernandez to argue on his behalf. Dun play-play. Two main objections I have regarding the project are this: (1) the land is zoned for recreation, so Sime UEP has to convert it to commercial and housing first before going ahead with this proposal. The strange thing is that Sime UEP has been holding the title since 1988 -- a case of a private entity owning public property for 20 years!!! This deserves an explanation. (2) The proposed development will "only" take up 25% of the park area. They didn't mention that 50% is water, leaving only 25% of the land left. And out of that 25% remaining land, a big chunk will be taken up for the access road. And mind you, the access road is not primarily for the park. It's for the 3 blocks of 29-storey condos and offices. So despite the promises of upgrading the facilities at the park, and assurances of traffic studies having been carried out, my feeling is that residents are close to 99.9% against the project. Another salient point raised is that the new guideline for open spaces in urban areas is 2 ha per 1000 persons, and no longer the standard 10% of development area. The MPSJ president, Sime UEP boss, Member of Parliament and State Assemblyman present on stage were all put on the hot seat. Let's hope they make the right decision. Perhaps with some advice from the residents.