chromazoe

RFS

2011-04-03T23:53:00.002+08:00

For your listening pleasure.

Radio Free Sarawak.

Young scientists

2010-07-04T23:59:00.002+08:00

Classics from kids:

Here are some interesting interpretations of nature from test papers and essays submitted to science and health teachers by junior high, high school, and college students around the world. Spelling has been left as is.

"When you breath, you inspire. When you do not breath, you expire."

"H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water"

"To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube"

"When you smell an oderless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide"

"Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water."

"Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars."

"Blood flows down one leg and up the other."

"Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, and then expectoration."

"The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader."

"Artifical insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull."

"Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire."

"A super-saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold."

"Mushrooms always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas."

"The body consists of three parts- the brainium, the borax and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowls, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u."

"The pistol of a flower is its only protections agenst insects."

"The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana ."

"The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have ben taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to."

"A permanent set of teeth consists of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars, and eight cuspidors."

"The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water in the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight."

"A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is."

"Equator: A managerie lion running around the Earth through Africa ."

"Germinate: To become a naturalized German."

"Liter: A nest of young puppies."

"Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat."

"Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away."

"Planet: A body of Earth surrounded by sky."

"Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot."

"Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative."

"To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose."

"For a nosebleed: Put the nose much lower then the body until the heart stops."

"For fainting: Rub the person's chest or, if a lady, rub her arm above the hand instead. Or put the head between the knees of the nearest medical doctor."

"For dog bite: put the dog away for sevral days. If he has not recovered, then kill it."

"For asphyxiation: Apply artificial respiration until the patient is dead."

"For head cold: use an agonizer to spray the nose untill it drops in your throat."

"To keep milk from turning sour: Keep it in the cow."

The beguiling ideas about science quoted here were gleaned from essays, exams, and classroom discussions. Most were from fifth and sixth graders.

"You can listen to thunder after lightening and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind."

"Talc is found on rocks and on babies."

"The law of gravity says no fair jumping up without coming back down."

"When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions."

"When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting."

"Rainbows are just to look at, not to really understand."

"While the earth seems to be knowingly keeping its distance from the sun, it is really only centrificating."

"Someday we may discover how to make magnets that can point in any direction."

" South America has cold summers and hot winters, but somehow they still manage."

"Most books now say our sun is a star. But it still knows how to change back into a sun in the daytime."

"A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go."

"There are 26 vitamins in all, but some of the letters are yet to be discovered. Finding them all means living forever."

"There is a tremendous weight pushing down on the center of the Earth because of so much population stomping around up there these days."

"Many dead animals in the past changed to fossils while others preferred to be oil."

"Genetics explain why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should."

"Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they're there."

"Some oxygen molecules help fires burn while others help make water, so sometimes it's brother against brother."

"Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun. But I have never been able to make out the numbers."

"We say the cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on."

"To most people solutions mean finding the answers. But to chemists solutions are things that are still all mixed up."

"In looking at a drop of water under a microscope, we find there are twice as many H's as O's."

"Clouds are high flying fogs."

"I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing."

"Clouds just keep circling the Earth around and around and around. There is not much else for them to do."

"Water vapor gets together in a cloud. When it is big enough to be called a drop, it does."

"Humidity is the experience of looking for air and finding water."

"We keep track of the humidity in the air so we won't drown when we breathe."

"Rain is often known as soft water, oppositely known as hail."

"Rain is saved up in cloud banks."

"In some rocks you can find the fossil footprints of fishes."

"Cyanide is so poisonous that one drop of it on a dog's tongue will kill the strongest man."

"A blizzard is when it snows sideways."

"A hurricane is a breeze of a bigly size."

"A monsoon is a French gentleman."

"Thunder is a rich source of loudness."

"Isotherms and isobars are even more important than their names sound."

"It is so hot in some places that the people there have to live in other places."

"The wind is like the air, only pushier."

Dine in or tapau?

2010-04-23T00:31:00.003+08:00

We all know that some restaurants serve "exotic" meat, i.e. protected wildlife species that are illegally hunted and sold. If you didn't already know, poaching of endangered wildlife is one of the two main causes of our natural heritage going extinct.

Check this out for an interesting step-by-step tutorial on how to "tapau" (shut down) those restaurants that serve illegal wildlife meat.

Earth Day

2010-04-22T00:58:00.003+08:00

Today is Earth Day.

What can I do to appreciate God's creation?

The first thing I should do is to thank God for providing everything that I need here on my home planet, Earth.

Then I must remember that I am sharing this planet with more than 6.8 billion people, and a few thousand tigers.*

I must take only what I truly need so that others may have enough for their needs.

*Note: the human population continues to increase while the tiger population continues to decline unless we do something to help tigers survive and rebound.

Wanted:

2010-04-21T00:16:00.007+08:00

DEAD, NOT ALIVE.

Most unfortunately, a dead tiger is worth more than a live tiger.

See these pictures.

Tiger's 13

2010-04-20T00:00:00.007+08:00

Figure from Wikipedia

As you can see from the map above, the tiger's natural range has shrunk tremendously from what it used to be. It's still shrinking. At the present rate, Habitat loss and poaching will wipe out wild tigers forever, unless we reverse the trend.

There are only 13 countries in the world where tigers roam in the wild. These “tiger range countries” (TRC) are:

1. Bangladesh
2. Bhutan
3. Cambodia
4. China
5. India
6. Indonesia
7. Lao PDR
8. Malaysia
9. Myanmar
10. Nepal
11. Russia
12. Thailand
13. Vietnam.

Malaysia has an estimated 500 out of the 3,000 tigers remaining in the wild worldwide (i.e. in the TRCs). That means Malaysia hosts 1/6 or 17% of the world's wild tiger population! Imagine, one out of six tigers in the wild is found in Malaysia. What a privilege. What a responsibility.

Of course, there are many other countries where tigers are kept in captivity. But these don't count towards the natural, wild and native biodiversity. Sadly, there are more tigers in captivity than in the wild today. It is estimated that there are 5,000-10,000 tigers in captivity in the U.S.A. That's more than the total wild tiger population of the whole world!

TX2

2010-04-19T22:16:00.005+08:00

Click on the above

Do or Die

2010-04-19T02:59:00.013+08:00

Our Malayan tiger population is dwindling and dying due to entirely preventable causes. If the tiger becomes extinct, it would be our fault.

Here are some things we can do to give our tigers a fighting chance of survival in the wild:

1. Value and cherish our national living heritage. If we don’t care whether our tigers continue to roam our forests, or end up in a cooking pot, then half the battle is already lost.

2. Protect tiger habitats. This means maintaining large swathes of natural forest areas and not fragmenting forests into patches here and there.

3. Stop consuming tiger products. Don't eat tiger meat, penis or bones. Don't wear tiger skin or teeth. Kill the demand for tiger products, especially in China.

4. Protect tigers' food supply, i.e. deer and other tiger prey. If we overhunt deer, the tigers will have no food.

5. Improve wildlife protection laws. Plug all loopholes and increase penalties for violations. Give the law more bite.

6. Increase enforcement of wildlife protection laws. Patrol tiger habitats. Monitor border checkpoints, especially to Thailand. Impose maximum fines and jail sentences on offenders.

7. Eradicate corruption among enforcement officers. They should be protecting tigers, not colluding with poachers.

8. Assist communities affected by human-tiger conflicts. Educate villagers on how to live peacefully with tigers. Compensate those who have incurred losses due to tiger attacks on them or their property.

9. Increase the economic value of tigers alive in the wild. Promote eco-tourism and increase the existence value of tigers. The problem is that right now tigers are more valuable dead than alive.

10. Collect a licensing fee from every person and organization that uses the word "tiger" or any picture or icon of a tiger for their commercial gain.

The tiger is our national animal. Our heritage. But today only less than 500 of them remain in the wild. As Malaysians, we need to stand up and protect our heritage. Speak to your children. Speak to your leaders. Every one of us can make a difference.

For further information, please visit MYCAT (www.malayantiger.net), WWF Malaysia (www.wwf.org.my) and the Department of Wildlife & National Parks (www.wildlife.gov.my).

This blog post is made in conjunction with the Tiger Blogfest 2010 initiated by Planet of the Monyets.

MB vs MB

2010-02-20T17:52:00.005+08:00

I've been wanting to do this for some time, but never got round to doing it until yesterday. I downloaded the Perak State Constitution and read it. OK, I didn't read all of it, since it is a lengthy document (~70 pages) filled with legal language, which tends to be convoluted in its attempt to be precise. But I did read the first half of the document, which contains the important and relevant sections that were the points of contention in the recent Zambry vs Nizar case. I wanted to read and interpret for myself the Constitution in order to examine the Federal Court's decision in Zambry's favour.

The following are the two articles that were the main bones of contention in the court case. The bold text are those that I think are the focus of the argument.

Article 16(6):
If the Mentri Besar ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly, then, unless at his request His Royal Highness dissolves the Legislative Assembly, he shall tender the resignation of the Executive Council.

Article 18(2):
His Royal Highness may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions (in addition to those in the performance of which he may act in his discretion under the Federal Constitution) that is to say-
(a) the appointment of a Mentri Besar,
(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly,
(c) the making of a request for a meeting of the Conference of Rulers concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities of Their Highnesses or religious acts, observances or ceremonies,
(d) any functions as head of the Muslim religion or relating to the custom of the Malays,
(e) the appointment of an heir or heirs, consort, Regent or Council of Regency,
(f) the appointment of persons to Malay customary ranks, titles, honours and dignities and the designation of the functions appertaining thereto,
(g) the regulation of royal courts and palaces.

Here are my comments and observations:

1. The Federal Court judges ruled on Article 16(6) that if the MB loses the confidence of the majority of the Legislative Assembly, he automatically has to resign. Their interpretation of the phrase "he shall tender the resignation" was that it is mandatory and automatic, i.e. whether he likes it or not, the moment he loses the confidence of the majority.

2. The Federal Court judges interpreted the Perak State Constitution purely on the letter of the law. I agree with their interpretation of Article 16(6) in this case. It's just too bad that the spirit of the law got sidelined, and the principles of democratic government could not (or, would not) be addressed by the court. Could the five judges have gone the extra mile and tempered their judgment with the overriding principle of democracy? Did they deliberately confine themselves to the narrow scope of the letter of the law? Or, were they confined by external forces?

3. I cannot find any article or clause in the Perak State Constitution that defines how the MB's command of the "confidence of the majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly" is determined. Perhaps some more learned folks out there can help me on this. The Federal Court judges said that it was not absolutely necessary for the Legislative Assembly members to cast their vote of confidence in whichever MB or party. The "confidence of the majority" could be determined by unspecified "extraneous" means. I wonder what those means are.

4. The only other alternative to automatic resignation is for the MB to request His Royal Highness to dissolve the Legislative Assembly and, in effect, call for fresh elections. However, Article 18(2)(b) states that His Royal Highness can refuse to dissolve the Assembly. It is noted that His Royal Highness does not have the power to directly dismiss the MB at any time.

5. So, the MB has only two options, which are not really options at all, because he has no choice in the first, and His Royal Highness can refuse the second. Thus Nizar was removed from office, not by direct sacking by His Royal Highness, but by His Royal Highness' refusal to dissolve the Legislative Assembly.

6. In the final analysis, there are two conclusions. Firstly, Pakatan Rakyat came into power in Perak by the people's choice in the March 2008 General Election. Secondly, Barisan Nasional came into power (or rather, took over) in Perak through the defection of three of the ex-Pakatan assemblymen in February 2009. That's katak (frog) politics for you. Oh, I should add that some of the defections occurred under dubious circumstances. You go figure.

By the way, Article 29 says "The Legislative Assembly shall consist of fifty-two elected members." However, the current Perak Legislative Assembly consists of 28 BN, 28 Pakatan and 3 BN-friendly independent assembly members. This makes a total of 59, which is seven more than the 52 members stated in Article 29. Am I missing something here? Am I referring to an outdated version of the Constitution?

Download a pdf copy of the Laws of the Constitution of Perak here.

See a chronology of the Perak political upheaval here.

10 Reasons

2010-01-16T19:05:00.006+08:00

10 Reasons Why I Don’t Wash My Car

1. My car usually gets dirty again within three hours of washing. So what’s the point?
2. Rain can do the job.
3. Leaving the layer of naturally deposited dirt on the car will prevent more dirt from sticking.
4. Once in a while, if I feel that I need to give the wheels and undercarriage a wash, I’ll drive through a puddle.
5. My car is grayish-silver in colour, which is strategically designed to mask dirt.
6. My car never complains that it is dirty, or sticky, or uncomfortable. It still performs as usual.
7. I show love to my car in other ways, e.g. I service it at regular intervals, I brake gently, I don’t accelerate hard, I take corners slowly, etc.
8. Car washing is a wasteful use of water, which is a precious natural resource that is better used for drinking and bathing.
9. Car washing consumes chemicals and energy which are finite resources. These chemicals (car shampoo, detergents, polishes, etc.) are then washed into our rivers and groundwater.
10. Washing a car merely transfers the dirt elsewhere – into the drains and rivers and ultimately to the sea. The dirt and chemicals then recirculate in our planet’s ecosystem, and we drink water from the same rivers and eat sea food from the same sea into which we dump our dirt.
11. OK OK, I do wash my car – on average once a month when I notice that the colour has changed from silver to gray.

If you wish to take this post seriously, just read points 8, 9 and 10.

:)

Stuff

2009-11-12T00:18:00.002+08:00

Here's something interesting about how we're impacting our world.

Watch this video.

STOP

2009-08-22T18:39:00.005+08:00

ICU

2009-07-30T12:44:00.008+08:00

I regret to announce that this blog is currently under sedation in the intensive care unit for treatment of inactivititis. Recovery is expected to take a while. In the meantime, a Loyal Commission of Inquiry will be established to determine how this blog deteriorated to its current moribund state. A full and impartial investigation will be launched, leaving no stone unturned. I hope the same will happen with the investigation into the late Teoh Beng Hock's death. It's sad to see that one critical thing that the government needs now is what it lacks: credibility.

On another note, I was in Tioman three weeks ago, and I saw more impressive sea creatures while snorkelling than while diving*. I was pleasantly surprised that the house reef just off the beach at the southern end of Salang bay hosted bumphead parrotfish, a moray eel and some razorfish, which are creatures we normally see only when diving at less accessible sites. There was a turtle too, but I was most pleased to see the small school of five bumphead parrotfish, each about one metre long. They hung around the reef in usually in the late afternoon and allowed us close encounters. We went snorkelling on Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, and all three times we saw the bumphead parrotfish. The only other times I've ever seen bumphead parrotfish were while diving at Perhentian and Sipadan. I guess I'll have to change my impression of Tioman. I previously assumed that since Tioman was getting very developed and well-visited, the nearshore marine environment would have deteriorated and become rather lifeless. So I was proven wrong, apparently.

*[ We dived at Chebeh and Malang Rock. Chebeh had nice swim-through passages under the boulders, plus colourful sea fans and nudibranchs. I caught a glimpse of a blacktip shark at Malang Rock but the visibility was too poor for us to spot any whale sharks. :P ]

But, I must still say, the conditions on land are not very appealing. The little river flowing to the sea at Salang is filled with untreated or minimally treated wastewater from restaurant kitchens and chalet bathrooms. The river bed is mucky with an awful black colour, and there's a foul odour at certain times. It's only because of the incoming and outgoing tides flushing the river mouth that the river doesn't become more dirty. At high tide the river stops flowing and the icky water acculumates. Then at low tide, the river drains out to the sea, taking with it all the dirty water. The next high tide brings in (relatively) clear sea water. But that just means that the yucky river water is being diluted into the sea. Well, the river condition is not THAT bad (not like the Klang River), but it's certainly not befitting of a tropical marine park island. It gets worse during weekends and peak tourist seasons when more visitors result in more dinner plates washed and toilets flushed.

In the bigger picture, there's some sort of trade-off. If visitors want cheap accommodation and food, then I suppose the operators won't be able to afford the investment in proper wastewater treatment systems. But I'm not sure if the chalet operators are earning lucrative incomes or scraping by with the minimum. Some visitors would say that they are already paying so much for their spartan chalet and restaurant food on the island. Well, price is relative, but is value relative too? Would you be willing to pay more for your visit if you knew that the money is used to take care of the wastes that you generate? There's no free lunch, and no free toilet flush either.

Indah Water is planning to build a proper extended aeration activated sludge centralized sewage treatment plant at Salang and Tekek. The EIA was approved in July 2008, but I'm not sure when the project will start and be completed. Let's hope that the project will do good and not cause more damage, or become a white elephant (new species on the island). Indah Water will probably be charging the chalet and restaurant operators for sewerage fees... and I wonder if the operators will pay the fees or even connect their sewerage pipes to the treatment plant in the first place. Do you pay your Indah Water bills?

met⋅a⋅mor⋅pho⋅sis

2009-05-23T23:02:00.008+08:00

Which one are you?

Image source

Another nice image here

Resurrection Sunday

2009-04-12T00:19:00.008+08:00

I love this song.

LOVE CRUCIFIED AROSE
Scribbling in the Sand: The Best of Michael Card (2002)

Long ago, He blessed the earth
Born older than the years
And in the stall, a cross He saw
Through the first of many tears
A life of homeless wandering
Cast out in sorrow's way
The Shepherd seeking for the lost
His life the price He'd pay

Love crucified arose
The Risen One in splendor
Jehovah's soul-defender
Has won the victory!
Love crucified arose
And the grave became a place of hope
For the heart that sin and sorrow broke
Is beating once again!

Throughout Your life, You felt the weight
Of what You'd come to give
To drink for us that crimson cup
So we might really live
At last, the time to love and die -
The dark appointed day
That one forsaken moment when
Your Father turned His face away

Love crucified arose
The One who lived and died for me
Was Satan's nail-pierced casualty
Now He's breathing once again!
Love crucified arose
And the grave became a place of hope
For the heart that sin and sorrow broke
Is beating once again!

TGIF

2009-04-10T11:10:00.002+08:00

Today is Good Friday.

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Passion.CoM

2009-04-06T20:58:00.005+08:00

This is the Passion week. Here's a reenactment of Simon of Cyrene's experience, as imagined by Ray Boltz...

CoM = Christ our Messiah

Diver Identification 101

2009-04-03T19:31:00.004+08:00

I don't know of any diving courses that teach this. I haven't seen it in any syllabus. I'm talking about diver identification underwater. How do you recognize your buddies and fellow divers while you're all underwater? You can't talk, obviously, and you can't hear very well. You can hear sounds but they're all muffled and you can't locate the direction of the sound source. One of the most dreaded sounds is the drone of a ship or the buzz of an outboard motor overhead. You don't know where it is coming from, how near it is, whether it is headed your direction, whether it's going to pass over you, whether it's going to hit you as you ascend... it's definitely not a nice feeling to be hit by a boat propeller. It's like, see you in heaven, and make sure you get there (but it's already too late to do anything about it at that time anyway).

Anyway, I was just making the point that it's really difficult to communicate by sound, and impossible to speak unless you have those funky underwater radio communication systems. It doesn't help that tank bangers and shakers sound the same. So when you hear a sound and look around, how do you recognize your buddies? It's important to know who is who so that you know where your buddies are, if anyone is lost, or just so that you can "talk" to the right person.

Thus divers rely on visual communication such as hand signs. And to identify my buddies, I look for visual cues and identification features as follows:

1. Bubbles

The #1 telltale sign of a diver is the bubbles, which can be seen from far away. This is the first step, to identify that a diver is present. Bubbles reflect light, and stand out as silvery trails rising upward against the backdrop of blue or green or whatever colour the water is. The only problem is when visibility is bad, then you have to really strain your eyes to spot the bubbles.

It's easy to spot a diver once you trace the source of bubbles. Even if there is a visual obstruction in between the other diver and you, such as a boulder or coral outcrop, you can still see the bubbles rising above the obstruction. Another thing about bubbles is that they are the only way to spot a diver from above water, unless the water is so clear that you can see to the bottom.

Bubbles tell you that a diver is there, but it's almost impossible to tell who that diver is, unless you know that diver's bubble pattern! Like I said, it's almost impossible, so to identify a diver you need more definitive clues...

2. Tank

Scuba tanks are big and usually bright yellow, or shiny aluminium. So they're really useful for spotting a diver from afar, such as in situations when I have lagged behind the group to play with a cuttlefish and I need to locate my buddies to regroup. I know, diving mantra #1 is to always dive with a buddy, but sometimes the buddy wanders away, or I linger while the buddy moves on. Ah, well. Just look for the bright, shiny tank. Sometimes the dive operator has different colour tanks, so I can identify who's who by matching the tank to the diver, but I would need to remember before the dive who is using which type of tank. For example, Diver A = yellow tank, Diver B = silver tank, Diver C = yellow tank with badly peeled off paint, Diver D = silver tank with sticker, etc. The problem is, usually the tanks are changed for each dive, so you have to recalibrate the ID before a dive. But if the tanks are all the same colour, then, too bad.

3. Fins

Fins are really useful identification clues. As there are many brands and models of fins on the market, usually each diver would have a different type. Fins are also very visible from far especially as many types of fins are brightly coloured and have distinctive patterns, except the black ones. I find this one of the most useful identifying features. I usually look for the fins first. A positive ID of the fins and wetsuit (below) is usually enough to identify who's who.

4. Wetsuit

The wetsuit is useful for identifying a diver as wetsuits come in different patterns, designs and colours. The designs on the legs and arms are the most visible, so I look out for them too while looking at the fins. Some wetsuits are full length, some are shorties. Wetsuits are visible from far as they cover most of the body of the diver. But if everyone is wearing similar wetsuits, e.g. they're all rented from the same operator, or if everyone is wearing black, then you'll have to look for other ID features. Some divers wear beanies over their head. Some wear sleeveless vests. Some divers don't wear wetsuits.

5. BC & Regulator

It's easy to identify a diver based on the buoyancy compensator (BC) a.k.a. buoyancy compensating device (BCD). BC's are visible from far, and have different designs, patterns and colours. The problem is when divers have the same model of BC, or similar looking BCs, as is often the case with rented equipment.

Another identifying feature is the regulator, but this is not so obvious because it is rather small. You could also look at the arrangement of the hoses, e.g. how the octopus is attached, the colour of the octopus hose (yellow or black?), whether the pressure gauge is clipped on or dangling below and leaving a trail of destruction as it drags over the corals. (In such cases you should swim over and politely help the diver to tuck or clip the gauge to their BC. If he/she refuses, turn off his/her air. Haha. Just kidding.)

6. Mask / Snorkel

This is a bit harder to use as an identifying feature because you can't really see the mask until up close, in which case you would already be able to see the diver. But if the diver has a snorkel attached to the mask, then it's a pretty conspicuous item visible from far. It also helps that snorkels tend to be brightly coloured.

7. Other Gear

Some divers wear gloves. Many wear dive computers nowadays. You can also look for other clipped-on gear, like the reel, or sausage, or torchlight, or pointer, or any other device. A photographer will be carrying a camera, so you know who he/she is. If there is a whole group of photographers, then you gotta figure out which camera belongs to whom. It's pretty easy as cameras and their flashguns are big, chunky items. Yea, you know for sure that a photographer is around when you see a flash firing.

8. Personal Traits and Habits

What I mean is, each diver has his/her own characteristic diving traits and habits. It's like, on land you recognize a person's body shape, or a person's gait, or the way he sits, or the way she folds her arms, or the usual hangouts of a person. Same thing underwater. Look at the diver's body shape (I shall not comment on this, except to say that divers look different from fish). Each diver also has his/her own style of diving. Some divers like to zip around here and there. Some like to move slowly. Some look like they're lost. Some look like they know where they're going. Some lead. Some just follow. Some hover horizontally. Some hover vertically (I notice that it is generally easier for ladies to maintain a horizontal hovering position while motionless). Some like to swim close to the bottom, while yet others like to hover above everyone else, like a helicopter mothership. Photographers will usually be glued to one spot for a while, or be crowding around one poor little creature at the bottom, or nowhere to be seen. Photographers also tend to get left behind, so if someone is missing, it's probably the photographer. Thus you can tell who is who by observing where they are. You can also watch out for a diver's fin kick pattern. Some fin hard, some fin slow. Some use the frog-style kick, some use the up-down kick. Usually beginners will use their hands and arms a lot, but as you get more experienced you hardly use your arms.

9. Anything Else

Whatever you can find. Anything unique.

In short, use a combination of the above to differentiate and identify each diver. Happy diving, and appreciate your uniqueness. :)

9 Island

2009-03-25T23:20:00.009+08:00

Sunrise over the Straits of Malacca...

...and

Sunset over the Straits of Malacca.

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
Psalm 113:3

Kegersangan kata

2009-03-24T22:32:00.006+08:00

The blogospheric pressure has been dropping lately. It has been getting harder and harder to crank up the creative cranial juices to churn out a decent blog post. The juices are drying up. This is partly due to the fact that one of my favourite topics, i.e. politix, has been getting too predictable. It's the same old story -- BN big boys using their financial and political big sticks to whack the Opposition, the judiciary, Parliament, royalty and the media into docile submission. And we the people quietly watch, because we're afraid to rock the boat. Hello, the boat is leaking. It's time to make some noise. If you are not making any noise, at least pray lah. Yea, I need to do more of both. There are really exciting events waiting to unfold.

Hmmm, what can I say about the ekonomi? I'm just glad they didn't privatize Bank Negara. It just boggles my mind that the folks who should know what they are doing are now telling us that they didn't foresee this global economic mess. My heart goes out to President Obama and his team as they try to fix the terminal illness of corporate America. Perhaps it's not corporate America that started the problem. It's plain old human nature.

What if I talked about another favourite topic -- diving. But I'm afraid I don't have enough time to start and finish a proper story. I haven't even started writing about my Sipadan dive trip in May last year, and it's already the end of March this year. Oh well, since I'm on it, I would just like to say that Sipadan is still easily one of the best dive sites in the world. It's one of those places where I would (gladly) wake up at 5AM to go diving, and do six dives a day. Oh yea, last year I finally saw the legendary school of barracudas at Barracuda Point. On my first trip to Sipadan in 2005 I dived at Barracuda Point four times but didn't see a single barracuda. So, seeing the barracudas swim by in the hundreds was truly a sight to behold. Too bad they didn't swim around us in their signature vortex formation. Perhaps next time? Haha. And I'm still waiting to see the nudibranch vortex that our one-screw-loose divemaster was raving about. ;P

OK, another diving story. I was at the Pulau Sembilan group of islands two weeks ago. I got a nice sunburn despite staying (or, trying to stay) in the shade. The diving was OK lah. Visibility was terrible, but we saw seahorses and one frogfish. Some of us thought we felt a whale shark swim by, but the viz was too poor for us to see clearly. Haha. But the food on board the Kaleebso was superb. The only thing I don't like about the live aboard dive boat is the waste management. It cuts my heart to even think about how they disposed of our sewage and garbage, so I shall not talk about it. Oh man, and to think that I was one of the sources of the problem.

I think that's enough for now. Till the next post, I bid thee farewell. Drink lots of water and eat fruits.

Parlez-vous français?

2009-03-06T14:46:00.007+08:00

It's amazing that a French journalist has unearthed more "evidence" in just three months of investigation than the Malaysian mainstream media has been able to figure out in three years. Well, perhaps they've known about this all the while, but were just too chicken to publish it. I guess now we can C4 ourselves a little bit more of what went on behind the scenes, thanks to Monsieur Journaliste. Merci beaucoup.

Mais prenez garde! Il est explosif!

One for the count

2009-03-05T00:42:00.006+08:00

There are two kinds of BN politicians.

The corrupt, and the incompetent.

There are three kinds of people in this world.

Those who can count, and those who can't.

Eco-Assembly

2009-03-03T19:33:00.008+08:00

I read with incredulity that the Perak state assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar convened a state assembly meeting under a rain tree (Samanea saman) in the state secretariat car park. Whatever the outcome of this current debacle, I must say that today's meeting will go down in modern history as the most eco-friendly state assembly meeting ever. Outdoor, under a tree, natural lighting, natural ventilation.

Hmmm, perhaps they should do that once in a while for Parliament sessions too. Conserve energy. And even if it rains it won't make much difference.

OK, I must remember to take a picture with that tree the next time I visit Ipoh.

Perak Boleh!

Maximum returns

2009-02-24T18:29:00.003+08:00

I do not understand why Umno has to send someone all the way to London to seek the advice of a Queen's Counsel on the Perak political quagmire when there are so many lawyers back home in KL. But since they're already asking the QC, I thought it would make cents if they also threw in a few other questions just to maximize the returns on their consultation time. Questions like, What was the original intention and spirit of the ISA, since it was the British who started the idea of preventive detention? Should the ISA be used against Communist insurgents only, or against anyone in general? Where have all the Communist insurgents gone?

Farewell, Markus

2009-02-09T01:09:00.014+08:00

Gazing at the late Markus Ng as he lay in peace in the casket, I couldn't help but notice the poignancy of the items that lay there beside him: A bilingual English-Chinese Bible, a black cap with the words "Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia" proudly embroidered in gold across the front, a box of his name cards with the credentials "Anak Bangsa Malaysia", and some colourful guitar picks. No doubt, they were symbols of his passion and purpose in life, and even in death.

I thought to myself... What can I take with me when I go? What will I leave behind?

In his "short" life of 23+ years on earth, Markus has made a big impact in many people's lives. It's ironic that many of us who were touched by his life didn't realize it until he was gone. He leaves us his legacy.

I do not understand why God called Markus home so early and so suddenly, but I know God's ways are higher than ours. God's will is perfect, so we rest assured. Yea, Markus' life was short, but definitely full.

Markus, you were one of those guys I would have liked to get to know better. Your youthful passion tempered with mature ideals belied a man beyond your years. Your burning desire to see a diverse yet united nation of Malaysia was visionary and exemplary. Truly, you were more than qualified to carry the title "anak bangsa Malaysia". Your love for God was as great as your love for your neighbour. Your commitment to the cause of justice shone as bright as your friendly smile. I was impressed by your poetic eloquence in Bahasa Malaysia, in those pantun that you often posted on Facebook. It's a pity I only found out at your wake that you had so many other accomplishments, and played the guitar and sang so well. And I'm sorry I still haven't attended any of those anti-ISA candlelight vigils which you talked excitedly about.

Markus,
You have fought the good fight,
you have finished the race,
you have kept the faith.

I know you are in an incomprehensibly better place, the best place ever. But those of us who linger on here on earth will still miss you, because we're just human. I know some will miss you much more than others will, and the grief may wash in and out of our consciousness over time. We'll meet again, but in the meantime, you are not with us, and that hurts.

I thank God for your life that you have shared with us. I thank you for inspiring us.

Now, I am challenged to live another day, and to make it count for eternity. Live with no regrets.

Markus Ng Chung Yau
06 May 1985 - 04 February 2009

Anak Bangsa Malaysia

Climate change

2009-01-29T12:40:00.005+08:00

In a recent survey of more than 3,000 scientists in the US, 97 percent of climatologists believed that humans play a role in climate change. However, only 47 percent of petroleum geologists and 64 percent of meteorologists believe humans contributed to climate change. It figures. Petroleum geologists look at things on a geologic timescale and are probably biased to the oil and gas industry, while meteorologists study short-term weather and not long-term climate.

Al Gore is pushing the US to do more to combat climate change. He says the US needs to join international talks on a climate change treaty. He says we will soon reach a point of irreversible damage to the climate if we don't do anything now. It might already be too late anyway. The global climate is going bonkers just like the financial system.

I just drove to Ipoh and back for the CNY celebration and burned over 30 litres of petrol for the return trip. I haven't calculated how many kilos of carbon dioxide I generated. Oh well, family time takes precedence over saving the planet, no? Besides, our dependence on fossil fuels is simply all-pervasive. What do you expect me to do? Cycle to Ipoh?

Don't buy any property near sea level unless you want a waterfront. Imagine, places like Penang, Klang, Melaka, Johor Baru, Kota Baru and even Shah Alam could be underwater if the sea level rises.

Ecownomics 201

2009-01-28T23:40:00.006+08:00

SOCIALISM : You have 2 cows, so you give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM : You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you
some milk.

FASCISM : You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you
some milk.

NAZISM : You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM : You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION : You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM : You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION : You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION : You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION : You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION : You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION : You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows because you're sobering up and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION : You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINA CORPORATION : You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

A BRITISH CORPORATION : You have two cows. Both are mad.

I received this forwarded in my email sometime ago. Consume at your own risk.

GXFC

2009-01-25T12:28:00.003+08:00

Happy 牛 (Niu) Year!

May you be beefed up in the year ahead as we moove into a new era of challenges and opportunities.

Avoid ox-orbitant expenditures unless you're spending on other people.

Please respect one another, and try not to bulldoze your way ahead just to milk your profits.

I will not be cowed by your ox-ymoronic bovine intentions.

Put your trust in God and not in bullish markets. The golden cow is just a parad-ox.

Political Signs 101

2009-01-18T15:39:00.005+08:00

The nation of Israel:

a. is still the chosen people of God (God still has special plans for them).

b. has been replaced by the Church in the New Covenant.

c. is public enemy #1 of the Arabs and Palestinians.

d. is just another country on Earth.

This is not a trick question. Your answer will determine how you respond to the present crisis in Gaza and many other events in the Middle East throughout history.

Boycott yourself

2009-01-13T23:08:00.005+08:00

There have been calls by certain quarters to boycott American and Israeli products in protest of their duplicity and complicity in perpetrating the crisis in Gaza. But I'm wondering how to boycott. Should we throw out our Dell and HP laptops? Rip out our Intel chips? Uninstall Microsoft Windows? Throw away Sunkist oranges? Stop using Pantene shampoo? Resist Pringles potato chips? Lose the iPod? Cut up our Citibank credit cards? Resign from FedEx? Just don't buy Nike? Sell off our Chevrolets? Not fly United? Not love McDonald's? Dump Motorola phones? Stop drinking Coke? Don't watch CNN? Avoid Hollywood movies? Flush away Starbucks? Withdraw from Facebook?

An iPhone is designed in America, made in China, most probably using Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese components.

In this globalized world, I wonder who is boycotting who.

To bee or not to bee

2008-12-19T20:57:00.007+08:00

I just felt like putting up some pictures...

Money for nothing

2008-12-13T15:28:00.004+08:00

And I thought corruption was bad in Malaysia...

One of the things about the now-global economic crisis that befuddles me is that the experts don't seem to know how the crisis happened or "didn't see it coming", and they don't know and can't say who is responsible for the mess. Thus far, I have not heard of anyone being prosecuted for causing this financial disaster.

How could it have "just happened"? Who authorized all those sub-prime loans? Who came up with those "creative" investment instruments? Who fudged the accounts and the numbers? What were the regulators doing for the past years? Why were banks allowed to lend money they didn't have, to people who couldn't repay, for property and investments that were not worth the money?

Is Wall Street operating as the world's biggest casino? If you think about it, the US dollar is nothing but paper and promises of IOU. Scary huh? Is there any free market that is free from human greed? I am stumped by the fact that money can just disappear like that... vanish into thin air. Poof! Which means that all the wealth is merely on paper. Wealth destruction can happen just as wealth creation can.

Proverbs 23:4-5 says, "Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle."

And 1 Timothy 6:9-11 says, "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

A very high calling indeed.

Well, today I saw this piece of news that the former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff has been arrested for an investment scam that could amount to losses of as much as $50 billion (that's $50,000,000,000!!!). That's a stupendous amount of money. At least he confessed.

There is hope. :)

Light FM?

2008-11-11T22:58:00.006+08:00

I was gonna choose this song to sing in church last Sunday, but Uncle YKK beat me to it... oh well... God works in mysterious ways :)

This is one of my favourite songs.

Go Light Your World
Chris Rice

There is a candle in every soul
Some brightly burning, some dark and cold
There is a Spirit who brings a fire
Ignites a candle and makes His home

So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to
Light his own candle some other way
See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to
Still holds a candle without a flame

So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Cause we are a family whose hearts are blazing
So let's raise our candles and light up the sky
Praying to our Father, in the name of Jesus
Make us a beacon in darkest times

So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world

Carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless, confused and torn
Hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world

Go Large

2008-10-30T21:34:00.004+08:00

Yes! It's happening!

No, not at Selfridges, but at KLPac.

Presented in partnership with Focus on the Family Malaysia, and supported by KLPac, Empowerment, Domino's Pizza, POS AD Group and LiteFM.

Dates:
6-16 November 2008

Times:
Thu-Sat 8:30 pm / Sat-Sun 3:00 pm / Mon-Wed no show

Venue:
Pentas 2, The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), Sentul Park,
Jln Strachan (off Jln Ipoh), Kuala Lumpur

Tickets:
RM30 adults / RM20 students, senior citizens and disabled
Available from KLPac Box Office (03) 4047 9000
or Actors Studio @ BSC (03) 2094 0400

Websites:
http://www.klpac.com/Welcome.asp?c=whatsontheatreview&theatreID=262&theatrecatID=5
http://www.footstoolplayers.com/current.htm

Pictures adapted from photofunia.com

Undilah Obama

2008-10-23T12:37:00.004+08:00

Obama for President :)

Photos from barackobama.com/photos

Click here to see Barack Obama's position on issues

Deep water faith in the shallow end

2008-10-19T23:06:00.009+08:00

I drove down to Johor Bahru over the weekend for a good friend's wedding. To accompany me on my climate-unfriendly solo trip, I popped into the player the Casting Crowns CD "The Altar and the Door". The song "Somewhere in the Middle" seemed to grab me with one of its lines -- deep water faith in the shallow end. It kinda struck a chord within me. How can I say my faith is deep when I'm only playing in the shallow end? I gotta go deep man.

Anyway, I listened to this CD all the way to JB, and all the way back. Yea, I was too lazy to change CDs and it was raining all the way, so I had to pay extra attention to the road and not fiddle with CDs. Well, I really liked the songs, so I was fine listening to it 10 times. :)

Somewhere in the Middle

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle,
caught in the middle

FunnyMoney

2008-09-30T21:48:00.007+08:00

In the wake of the recent crisis rocking the US financial system, the government has decided to redesign the dollar bill as a gentle reminder to all...

My dream exchange rate:

RM1.00 = USD4.00

Hard Talk

2008-09-22T22:41:00.004+08:00

Which is harder to say?

I love you

or

I am sorry

?

Guilty until proven innocent

2008-09-15T21:03:00.002+08:00

Sorry folks, another political post.

I just read with incredulity the news about the police explaining the recent ISA arrests of the eminent blogger RPK, MP Teresa Kok and Sin Chew journalist Tan Hoon Cheng. The way I read it, the police are saying that these three are guilty until evidence can be found to prove that they are innocent. What the??!!!

And I'm ever bemused by the excuse given that May 13 could happen again. I quote the Deputy IGP who warned that "racial and religious unrest can be triggered over small matters and escalate into situations that are damaging and irreversible." That's right. That's why they should be going after UMNO lackeys instead of Members of Parliament and journalists.

Remember the advertisements for Sensodyne toothpaste? The scene with the lightning bolts zapping the poor fella's sensitive teeth as he ate ice cream? The toothpaste was formulated to cure sensitive teeth. Yeah, Malaysians need a good dose of it. There's still too much sensitivity going around even after 51 years of independence. For goodness' sake, how are we going to live in this globalized world if we're so hypersensitive? Every little knock seems to bruise. And it's an excuse exploited by BN politicians to divide and rule the country.

Malaysia is on a downward spiral. It's time to wake up. Don't be mesmerized by the melodious tunes played on the deck of the Titanic as she started sinking. No amount of sweet music could save her.

My prayer now is for the downfall of BN, especially UMNO. It would be good for BN to sit on the Opposition bench for a while. Give Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar a chance. Who knows? Maybe the same katak BN politicians will hop over to Pakatan... uh, which would not be good either, but what have we got to lose?

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

2008-09-03T01:35:00.010+08:00

The old song says that “love is a many-splendoured thing”, but reality tells us that “love” can be bittersweet.

Through the medium of live theatre, touring theatre company Footstool Players explores the themes of love, courtship, marriage and family relationships in their new production Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

The play is a collection of sketches, a mix of comedy and drama, but all thought-provoking in some way in highlighting issues pertaining to relationships. There’s innocence, idealism, joy, humour, reassurance, hope, regret, heartbreak, sorrow, and more – everything that comes with that “crazy little thing called love”!

You’ll laugh, you’ll weep. But most importantly, you’ll also think – and perhaps also discover.

The play runs for approximately 120 minutes, excluding a 15-minute intermission, and is suitable for ages 10 to 100!

******

Come and watch me perform! Haha. Yea, right. I'll be one of the men-in-black scurrying around to move stage props in the darkness between scenes. I got roped in as a special forces replacement agent as the company is short of stagehands (the stage manager will be going overseas for a few days). But I'll be "performing" only in the debut show on 6th September and the following night.

I've had the privilege of sitting in and watching the past two rehearsals, and I must say that the production is very good. They practice really hard. Imagine rehearsals from 5PM to midnight. So, go watch CLTCL. They'll be touring a number of churches in September and October, and performing at KLPac in early November.

P/s. Try to spot me in the poster above. :)

Merdeka

2008-08-31T00:08:00.005+08:00

Negaraku, tanah tumpahnya darahku,
Rakyat hidup, bersatu dan maju,
Rahmat bahagia, Tuhan kurniakan,
Raja kita, selamat bertakhta.
Rahmat bahagia, Tuhan kurniakan,
Raja kita, selamat bertakhta.

Selamat Menyambut Hari Merdeka!

Recharge recharge recharge

2008-08-30T01:14:00.006+08:00

This space is due for an update... but in the meantime, I'll just tell you what happened at the finale of the Malaysian International Fireworks Competition.

Well, I got there at 9:45PM. I thought I would be late, since the show on the opening night started at 9:30. Anyway, a kind soul with hot wheels offered to drive to Putrajaya while I navigated. We left Amcorp Mall at 9:10PM and thanks to the wonders of modern toll highways and Malaysian speed limits, we were at the foot of Putrajaya Convention Centre in half an hour. If you're wondering which way we went, it was the NPE and KL-Putrajaya Highway combo. One way toll = RM1.60 + RM2.50.

We got to the Putrajaya Convention Centre through the back route at the southern end of Putrajaya. People were still milling around, which was a good sign that the fireworks wasn't about to start just yet.

We had to park a distance away from the vantage point at the lakeside. As I walked there, I switched on the camera... and the battery meter started blinking. In other words, dead battery. It couldn't even display the menu on the LCD screen. OK, I have another battery. So I switched the batteries... and whaddaya know, the other battery was gone too. Arrrggghhhh! I had forgotten to recharge the battery after running it dry during the World Vision 30 Hour Famine event last weekend.

I went around asking the other photographers nearby if they had an extra battery to lend me. There were only three other photographers in the vicinity. One guy was using Canon, so, too bad. Another guy offered me his spare battery, but it was for a different model (I think a D70) so it couldn't fit my D80. Another girl didn't have an extra battery. I was stuck with a camera, tripod, remote control and two dead batteries.

So I just stood there and watched the fireworks, for the first time without having to tinker with a camera. Then I realized that my mobile phone could take video! And so I recorded the last 11 minutes of the pyrotechnics on video. It's very low resolution, but better than nothing.

The fireworks were really good. Me thinks it was better than last year's finale. The profusion of colours and lovely patterns filled the night sky. It was a dazzling display of artistic chemistry and creative explosions. The musical accompaniment was heart-moving, or perhaps that was because I was standing just a few feet from the booming, oversized speakers.

In the end, I had zero photos to show, but I went home with videos! 10.9MB worth of low res video.

Moral of the story: Always recharge your batteries immediately after they run flat. But even if your camera batteries are dead, life goes on.

The real moral of the story: There are other more important things in life. So, this Merdeka, let's pray for justice and righteousness to prevail in the land. Pray for God-fearing leaders who will do right. May our nation be recharged with life and passion. Right now, too many people are jaded by the political machiavellianisms, perversion of justice and suppression of truth. It's time to change (repent). God bless Malaysia. :)

Pictures of the MIFC 2008 opening night here.

Mimpi Obama

2008-08-06T18:24:00.003+08:00

I had another weird dream two nights ago.

I dreamed that Barack Obama was visiting one kampung (village) somewhere in Malaysia, and I happened to be there too. So I shook his hand.

Later on, my mom showed up too, and I told her I shook hands with Obama but she didn't believe me. Just then, Obama, who was mingling at a house across the road, turned around and my mom was surprised to see him there (yup, just like I told her).

Suddenly, Obama's bodyguards started rushing around. There was a commotion, and people were running down the street. I heard some sirens, and saw Malaysian policemen on their white police bikes coming down the road. Obama and his bodyguards were walking briskly in single file along the side of the road, in my direction.

Amidst the commotion, it appeared that the police were there to arrest Obama. I'm not sure if there were 15 police bikes, but the scene was getting too weird, so I woke up.

How rich are you?

2008-07-17T18:33:00.006+08:00

I got this forwarded in my email. I don't know how accurate it is, but it's an interesting exercise. Try it. You might actually be richer than you think. So count your blessings.

Ctrl+Alt+Del

2008-07-14T20:55:00.003+08:00

U.S.A.

2008-07-10T21:26:00.006+08:00

This mighty nation evokes all sorts of feelings... I both like it and dislike it... a love-hate relationship.

I seem to have a lot of links with the US of A. My mom and dad both did their graduate studies there. My sister did her degree there. My two brothers are studying there now. I went to school there for two years when I was 11 and 12, when my whole family moved over to join my late dad who was in seminary there. I can still recite the Pledge of Allegiance, their version of the Rukunegara.

Why I like the USA

1. It's the land of the free... except in the airports.

2. It's probably the only country in the world where a citizen born of a foreign (Kenyan) father and local (American) mother, and growing up in another country (Indonesia) with a stepfather, can run for presidency. Yup, Obama, you have my vote.

3. The nation was founded on fundamental principles of liberty and justice. Whether or not the Constitution was based on Christian values is now being debated, but I'd say yes, it is. The founding fathers separated church from state, but they wisely did not separate God from state (see this).

4. It's where I learned the English (or American) language properly. I was taught pretty technical linguistic stuff even in elementary school. I read the dictionary for fun. I also lost most of my Mandarin there. Pity.

5. You don't have to fill in your "race" in official forms. Within two generations, most immigrants are effectively assimilated Americans regardless of their origin. Oh well, to some people this is a problem.

6. Innovation flourishes in the climate of freedom and openness. Americans have given us the Internet, Facebook, Google, Intel, Windows, etc. Oh wait, you have to pay for Intel and Windows.

7. They develop technology that changes the world... thanks partly to the thousands of other nationalities that conduct research in American universities and labs.

8. They are so patriotic.

Why I dislike the USA

1. They are the biggest debtors in the universe, yet live the most lavish lifestyle. The world economic system is overly dependent on this one nation. When they go down, everyone goes down. The US owes China trillions of dollars. It's mind-boggling.

2. George W. Bush... Many Americans think the universe revolves around them. They go round picking fights on other hapless nations.

3. Too many guns everywhere. But to their credit, it's still a relatively peaceful country even with all the guns. I can't imagine the chaos if guns were available over here.

4. Racism still exists albeit not officially nor overtly. African Americans got their right to vote only about 50 years ago. The legacy of slavery still haunts Americans.

5. The US is the biggest energy and resource consumer on the planet. It's obscene how much Americans use and throw away. Unfortunately the rest of the developing world aspires to attain that same standard of living. It's impossible. There's not enough resources on this planet to sustain the American dream for everyone. The European or Japanese model of development would be more sustainable.

6. Freedom is being stretched to its limits. With such freedom there is bound to exist both the good and the bad. Fundamental core values are being challenged. The definition of family and marriage is under siege by liberalists. But of course, there are Americans who are defending their core values and traditions.

7. They are overly reliant on technology. And remember, lots of that technology came from the military. You may not agree with military spending, but it's part of our technological and economic system. Everyone who uses GPS must thank the US Department of Defense for their satellites.

8. They are so patriotic.

The USA is paradoxical. So perhaps I shouldn't judge on the basis of "like vs dislike", for we all fall short at one point or another. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. But I still believe in absolute principles and standards. On this note, I think the fundamentals of the USA are solid, but the implementation is getting shaky.

I must qualify myself by stating that I am commenting as an outsider, and I'm not an "expert" on American affairs. I must also say that I personally know some very friendly Americans. It's such a diverse nation that you are bound to find very nice as well as nasty people. But overall, they're nice. :)

This post was supposed to come out on the 4th of July... belated happy birthday to Uncle Sam. God bless America.

does not, but was

2008-07-04T18:09:00.005+08:00

I found the following statement in today's Malaysiakini report:

However, the lawyer’s office clarified that "Arulampalam does not represent Balasubramaniam, but was just his representative."

OK, I'm not so good at the Legalese language, but this one left me befuddled... A does not represent B but was just his representative... ??? Perhaps they mean that A is not the official legal counsel/representative, but just a stand-in representative. Or it was another misquotation by the press.

Maybe they'll clarify tomorrow. Or maybe they'll issue another statutory declaration. Commissioners of oaths must be making good money these days.

Gajah vs pelanduk

2008-07-01T18:07:00.004+08:00

There is a Malay saying that goes something like "gajah sama gajah bertempur, pelanduk mati di tengah" which, translated, means "when elephants fight, the mousedeer that is caught in the middle gets killed."

The way I see it, the present unfolding drama that is gripping the nation is a four-cornered fight between four big elephants:

1. PM/SIL
2. PM wannabe #1/Najib
3. PM wannabe #2/Anwar
4. PM wannabe #4/Ex-PM/Mahathir

And, ladies and gentlemen, we are the mousedeer.

But mousedeer are known to be smart, as portrayed in Malay folklore. Even Parameswara was impressed.

So, still got hope la. :)

*I refer to pelanduk and kancil both as mousedeer, though some people might argue that the two are not the same.

Sipadan Mabul

2008-06-07T20:48:00.006+08:00

Sipadan Water Village, which is ironically on Mabul Island

Dusk

Sipadan Island

More pictures:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

p/s I'm not a lawyer, but I think Malaysia won Sipadan from Indonesia for pretty much the same reasons that Malaysia lost Pedra Branca to Singapore.

Oceans will part...

2008-06-07T20:43:00.003+08:00

Up up and away

2008-06-04T22:37:00.005+08:00

I was amazed at the long queues of cars radiating from every petrol station that I passed by this evening. Obviously the drivers were rushing to fill up their tanks while the petrol price still remained at RM1.92 per litre. In true Malaysian fashion, the news/rumours of the price increase of petrol was spread via email and sms since early afternoon. It later transpired that the PM had made an announcement in the evening that the petrol price would increase to RM2.70 at midnight. That's a 40% jump.

What I don't understand is why people would go through all the hassle just to save a few bucks. I mean, it looked like some of those drivers would have to wait at least half an hour before they could even enter the petrol station. My tank was 90% full so I didn't bother to top up the last 10% just to save a few Ringgit.

I figured that even if I filled up a tankful of petrol, I would save about RM30, and just for this one time only. From tomorrow onwards every full tank of petrol would cost me at least RM100. It would be a slightly different story if I were a truck driver with a 200 litre tank. But still, I would save only this one time.

I really don't mind paying market prices for petrol. Let it be RM4.00 per litre. If it's market price, it could go up, and it could go down. What I have a problem with is paying an artificially inflated price for my car, just because the entire auto industry in Malaysia is subsidizing Proton. I don't have any personal vendetta against Proton but I do have objections to our gomen's policies.

In Thailand the petrol is more expensive, but the cars are relatively cheaper. That means that consumers have a real choice of vehicle ownership and usage. It's good, because people can afford to buy a car and not feel bad if they don't use it everyday. Lower cost of ownership, higher cost of operation. That's OK, because then it encourages the use of public transport during weekday commuter rush hours, but still leaves the car owner the choice to drive during off-peak hours.

In Malaysia cars are ridiculously expensive, and public transport is inadequate, so the car owner feels compelled to maximize the utility of their car. In the past, the subsidized petrol offset the high price of car ownership. High cost of ownership, low cost of operation. But now with the fuel subsidies being gradually lifted, we are hit on both sides. High cost of ownership, and high cost of operation. It sucks. Here I am paying RM80,000 for a Toyota Vios when it should only cost RM60,000. And now the petrol price is going up to match market rates. On top of that, the public transport is still unsatisfactory.

My bottomline is: If the government wants to remove the petrol subsidies, it should also remove the Proton and local auto industry subsidies. If the government wants to help the lower income group, it should tax the expensive cars and subsidize the public transport, motorbikes and small cars regardless of the make or model, i.e. not only Proton.

I blame Dr Mahathir for much of this mess. Firstly, his grandiose vision of industrialization has led us up this dead end road called Proton. Secondly, his handpicked successor seems to be unable or unwilling to tackle the root problems of the economy. And don't forget that it was under Dr M and Dr Ling Liong Sik that KL's Light Rail Transit system was established -- a system consisting of three different companies operating totally different and mutually incompatible hardware, separate ticketing and train stations that do not integrate. So you can see now why we're stuck, since these disparate LRT systems are literally cast in concrete.

The Malaysian economy is riddled with systemic inefficiencies. Many of these stem from abuses and misuses of the NEP. Which means that overcoming our handicaps will be doubly or triply difficult. Not impossible, just more difficult. Don't we all love challenges? We also take heart in the fact that there is no perfect economic system on Earth, since we humans are inherently imperfect. Since I am part of the problem, I should then be part of the solution. Forget about saving a few Ringgit worth of petrol tonight. Look at the bigger picture.

Tagged again

2008-06-03T00:14:00.010+08:00

Aduh, aku dah kena tag lagi. This time by Charis.

I'm a *ahem* nice guy, so I shall play along. :)

1. What time do you usually wake up?

Depends on what time I go to sleep and for what purpose I have to wake up. It can be any time between 4:45AM and 11:30AM. Usually around 8.

2. What’s the first thing you do?

Hit the snooze button, unless there's a gorgeous sunrise photo opportunity.

3. Breakfast?

My breakfast tends to coincide with lunch.

4. Do you go to work/school?

I try to...

5. Do you like it?

Yes, sort of, more or less.

6. If you stay at home, what do you do all day?

Review my photos, view other people's photos, nap, mop the floor, sort my credit card statements, try to read, think about washing the car, stare at guppies in the basin, play a CD, etc.

7. When’s lunch and what are you eating?

Any one-hour block between 12PM and 2PM. I eat anything as long as it is not an endangered species.

8. What time do you get home from work/school?

Between 6:30PM and 8:30PM depending on atmospheric precipitation conditions and road traffic.

9. What do you do?

I help people comply with environmental legislation and not destroy the Earth.

10. Dinner: When and what?

Why so many questions about food? I'm not a fussy eater. I just eat. Any time between 6PM and 12AM.

11. What do you do to unwind?

Reply tags on my blog.
I used to climb some mountains. Now I climb hills.
Jump into the sea.
Listen to music.
Play the piano, although that might stress out people around me.
Sleep/nap.
Read other people's blogs.
Read/browse through books.
Review photos.
Take photos.
Wander around.

12. What's your favourite part of the day?

Sunset. And sunrise when I happen to get up early.

13. Who's your favourite person(s) to interact with?

You.

14. When's bedtime?

Usually later than I would like it to be. A good indication is after I brush my teeth.

15. Who's bedtime with?

Er, my pillow?

Sermons for my soul

2008-06-02T18:48:00.007+08:00

This verse has been darting in and out of my mind over the past months...

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21

The meaning has only recently been sinking in really deep, despite the fact that I've heard it repeated countless times over the years. Maybe it's because I wasn't really fully alive, and I wasn't 100% switched on to life. My body was here, but I was stuck somewhere else. But that's another story for another day. :)

The key to unlocking my heart, mind and soul to this verse was when I heard Stuart Briscoe speak at PJEFC one evening in April.

Stuart said that this verse is talking about is a win-win situation in life. What Stuart said somehow rang a bell in me. No matter what happens, I will only stand to gain since my life is lived in and for Christ. If I live, I live for Christ. If I die, I go to be with Christ. Now, what a positive dilemma, isn't it?

Contrast that with the oft quoted dilemma by Shakespeare's Hamlet, "To be or not to be, that is the Question."

Stuart explained that what Shakespeare was referring to was the despair and hopelessness of someone who didn't want to continue living because life was dreadful, and yet couldn't bear to kill himself because he didn't know where he would end up on that one-way journey to the next life. He wanted to escape this life, yet could not bear the risk of the unknown. What a sad state of affairs.

But we don't have to despair. Just think about it. What is the worst that could happen to you? Even if you dropped dead tonight?

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (read Phil 1:20-26 for context)

Life is worth living, because there is something worth dying for.

Woohoo! I'm famous!

2008-06-02T18:23:00.004+08:00

Yeah, right.

Well, you can check this out. It's the NST feature of my recent Reef Check survey at Tioman. There are some factual errors in the article, like, I am mis-identified as Richard Tan in the photo. But it's OK. :)

The Big C

2008-05-15T19:40:00.002+08:00

There is one thing many Malaysian politicians lack: Credibility.

Too many of our politicians have told outright lies or stuck their foot in their mouth one time too many, to the point that I don't know who's telling the truth anymore.

Like the boy who cried wolf, we don't believe them anymore. The only reason they are in leadership is because of their position, not their character. We follow their lead because we have to, not because we want to.

It's a sad situation when you can't trust a person's word, because there's nothing left in the relationship but the shell.

Which is why the ninth commandment says, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour."

Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah

2008-05-13T17:59:00.003+08:00

Something very significant happened in KL on this day 39 years ago... that changed the course of history.

What really happened? Who was involved? When? Where? How? Why?

Time heals, but only if we treat the injury properly.

What we need is truth, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Question is, Who will make the first move?

Yangon or bust

2008-05-12T23:59:00.003+08:00

The Myanmar/Burmese military junta is getting on my nerves. Firstly, I think they are a bunch of idiots. Secondly, they will go down in history as complicit murderers of their own people if they don't get their act together and start allowing the international aid to reach the stricken victims of Cyclone Nargis.

I'm not sure how to pray for the situation. Should I pray for a change of heart among the paranoid ruling generals? Or should I pray for a change of heart of President George Bush so that he will order a covert operation against the junta? Send in a couple of squadrons of special forces to take out the junta, reopen the airport and ports, and deploy a massive airdrop of supplies to the isolated villages. Piece of cake for the mighty U.S. of A.... if only they wanted to. They did it in Iraq -- liberty and justice for oil. They can do it in Myanmar too -- liberty and justice for all.

I think I'll just pray for the first scenario.

Kingdom matters

2008-05-11T18:29:00.004+08:00

Jesus did not preach about religion. He did not preach about becoming a Christian. He preached about entering the Kingdom of God.

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matt 5:1-12

KL Sux

2008-05-06T22:40:00.003+08:00

Specifically, I am referring to the KL traffic. I am increasingly convinced that the KL road traffic system was designed by a bunch of chimpanzees at Zoo Negara during their free time. And the road signages and arrow paintings were done by a bunch of pre-schoolers with big white brushes and UHU glue.

This evening I took 50 minutes to drive from Hotel Maya on Jalan Ampang to Kar Long restaurant on Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah, which is just off Jalan Pudu -- a total journey of 5 km. That's an average speed of 6 km/h, slower than walking. Jalan Imbi was at a standstill for minutes on end. I didn't manage to find out why.

On top of that, the road signs were exasperating. The new "road signs" that have been put up tell me everything except what I want to know. They keep pointing me to other roads which are many many turns away, e.g. every other sign points to Jalan Tun Razak or Jalan Bukit Bintang, but there's no sign telling me exactly what road I am on, or the name of the road at the junction I am approaching. I keep wondering, am I on Jalan Kia Peng, or Jalan P. Ramlee? I see a sign that points ahead to Jalan Imbi, but when I arrive at the junction of Jalan Imbi itself, there is no sign confirming that it is what it is. Have mercy on me, I am still new to this mish-mash of one way streets in KL.

Why can't we just do it like the Americans, and signpost EVERY intersection with big bold signs telling me the name of the road immediately in front and left and right of me. They should mount the signs on the traffic light posts, and not tuck the signs somewhere in a shady corner. How do they expect motorists to see the microscopic signs while negotiating traffic and avoiding other manic drivers.

I think seasoned KL folks just memorize the turns without referring to road names. Ask any KL dude for directions, and he'll most probably say turn left, turn right, go straight straight straight, turn right at Shell, then turn left at the mamak. No mention whatsoever of proper road names. So what's the purpose of road signs then? They are just put up by advertisement companies who sell the ad space on the reverse side of the road signs.

The other thing that nearly killed me was arrows on the road. They are all painted at the point of no return, i.e. by the time I see the arrow, it is too late to change lanes. And for goodness' sake, why do they keep painting straight arrows on turning lanes?! If it is a turn-only lane, then the turning arrow should be painted 200m before the junction, to give motorists time to change to the correct lane. But that still wouldn't solve the problem of queue cutters.

In the end the thing that saved me was the Rimman UBD Street Directory that I was flipping through while stuck in gridlock, coz I made a wrong turn no thanks to the street signs, but quickly regained my bearings after consulting the Street Directory. I made an accidental "detour" down Jalan Kia Peng, then righted myself at Stonor and Conlay before rejoining Raja Chulan and turning right to Imbi.

I was also praying that God would teach me true patience. Notice I said "true" patience. It's easy to be patient when one is not tested. I did let a total of eight cars cut in ahead of me at various junctions, but I also almost got rammed sideways by a taxi driver who didn't believe in braking early although I was already halfway across the lane. He did flash his headlights at me, like, that would help to prevent a crash??? Well, there was one nice guy in a brand new S Series who waved at me and let me merge ahead of him along Jalan Raja Chulan. It's good to know there are still some nice people left in the world. :)

But anyway the food was very good, and it was a treat by my uncle's friend from Singapore. So, for now, I am appeased. :P

Sunday musings...

2008-05-04T23:48:00.007+08:00

The Word of God to me today (as shared by Jon):

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9.

Amen.

* * * * *

On another note... I have been repeatedly reminded of my new official status as "uncle". Yes, my brother and sister-in-law became proud first-time parents on May 1. Oh, the beauty of life. :)

I've also been pondering over my own epic recollection of my Reef Check experience in the previous post. While I really appreciate the beauty and wonder of God's creation of the natural world, I still remember one incident when a wise guy challenged my concept of "appreciating God's creation". I was talking about going to Taman Negara to enjoy God's creatures, when he pointed to himself and declared, "I am God's creature too."

That got me thinking... yea, people are God's creation too. In fact, humans are the crown of creation. We are infinitely more valuable than tigers and turtles. So, yes, while I enjoy coral reefs and montane forests, I need to remind myself that people are more important. Having said that, the reason we protect and conserve our environment is for our own sake, and for our neighbour's sake. It's for the health and well-being of humanity, because we are inextricably interconnected with the natural world around us. And we're responsible as stewards of God's creation. It's for us to use, but not abuse.

Reef Check!

2008-04-24T20:52:00.060+08:00

Day Zero, Wednesday night

With latent excitement, my buddy Colin and I made our way down to Mersing late in the night on Wednesday last week. Our goal was the Embassy Hotel.

Earlier that evening, I had arrived late at Colin's abode in Puchong to pick him up for the southward journey. Apologies to the ever-punctual Colin. I had a quick dinner before we launched off in my Silverado, hitting the North-South Highway with a vengeance. We made a quick pitstop at Ayer Keroh rest area to refuel the car and offload some wastewater from our system. Before we knew it, we had crossed the border into Johor.

A hop and a skip, and we reached the exit to Kluang. Beep beep went the Touch N' Go box at the toll plaza. It was raining, but rainwater stoppeth no man from his tireless journey, more so when his car is shod with Goodyear tyres. My wipers were a bit streaky, said Colin. Yeah, it's time to change them. We made a wrong turn in Kluang town, but soon regained our bearings and returned to the right path. The town seemed eerily quiet, but it was midnight after all.

I like driving at night. It's the cool wind of night, mixed with the mystery of the dark, that beckons me onward along the road to our destination. The road from Kluang to Mersing cuts through rural plantations and scattered villages. At midnight, it's pitch black where no street lights illuminate. The heavy rain clouds cut off all moonlight. I flick on the high beams and fog lights, and tear down Federal Route 50, heading due east to Mersing.

I overtook about five cars and one wild boar on the 100km journey from Kluang to Mersing. Otherwise, it was just me, Colin and the swooshing of the wind. Our nocturnal flight glided on the twisty country road through oil palm plantations and lowland rainforest as each bend and turn of the tarmac unfolded in the swath of light ahead of me. There was absolutely no traffic on the road, so I took the liberty to drive on the opposite lane of the road because my side was overly bumpy due to some bad resurfacing job. Anticipating the corners as they emerged from the darkness, the yellow-and-black chevron signs helpfully pointed in the direction I should travel. I went a bit too fast around some bends, but the Silverado's road-handling and the Goodyear rubber did not disappoint. Did I say I like to drive on lonely country roads at night?

We arrived at Mersing at 1.30AM. After a quick "tour" of the town, we find our rest stop for the night -- the Embassy Hotel. We quickly "check-in" with the guy at the door and find our way to our room. Not bad, for 55 bucks a room a night. We're soon in dreamland, a quick recharge for the wake-up call at 6AM. And I don't even wake up this early on a working day...

Day One, Thursday

I'm not a morning person, so Colin is up first. The buzz of his shaver reminds me that I need to shave too... whatever little I have to shave in the first place. I shower, to wake me up. Then we're off! Where to, you ask? Where else but to the jetty to catch our ferry! We made a wrong turn but soon realized that the jetty was on the other side of the river mouth. Guys have such a great sense of direction. :P The parking lot is right beside the jetty. We unload and look for the ticket counter where our prebooked ticket awaits us. Then we wait. Breakfast takes the form of orange cupcakes that my mom lovingly baked the day before. Thank God for moms. Otherwise, there was absolutely no one serving breakfast near the jetty.

I bump into Daniel, who works with Reef Check. Oh wait, did I mention where we were going? Pardon the long-windedness. We were in Mersing to catch the first ferry to Pulau Tioman! And why were we going to Tioman? To participate in a Reef Check survey.

The gates open to usher us passengers on board the ferry Bluewater 8. She's a nice boat. Capacity 122 passengers. We were greeted by the super chilled air in the cabin. The air-conditioning was blowing a full blast, and misting up all the windows. I couldn't take the cold, and promptly clambered back on the docks to take some photos of the morning sun on the sleepy riverine scene.

The captain soon gunned the ferry's twin engines and we were off skimming across the blue. By then the sun had risen a fair bit, and we climbed up to the upper deck to soak in the view and the soothing morning sun rays. The Jalur Gemilang fluttered regally on the mast as the big boat took on a pretty quick pace. Click click click went the camera. I still have some problems getting the horizon level in my pictures, but I was more engrossed by the saturated blues that the pictures were promising.

The jagged peaks of Tioman loomed larger and larger against the bright, rising ball of celestial fire in the eastern sky. I soaked in the UV radiation, while admiring the rock-solid mass rising from the South China Sea. Tioman attracts rock climbers too, and offers many challenging climbing routes for adventurous souls who dare defy gravity. Me? I was there to go the opposite direction. Underwater.

After dropping off passengers at Kampung Genting and Paya, we soon arrived at Kampung Tekek, our base for the following three days. The smell of sea spray invigorated my mildly phlegmy sinuses, which were recovering from a flu attack. Nothing like seawater to kill the germs! The last time I was at Tioman was in April 2006, so it was good to be back on familiar ground, although I must say the face of Kampung Tekek has changed since the beach nourishment and river works were recently completed. It looks pretty good. Time will tell whether the sand stays where it is supposed to stay. But I didn't have time to linger around as the van was waiting to take us to the Swiss Cottage chalets.

Our cottage sounds exotic but it's actually just like your average seaside wooden chalet. No frills but comfortable. Anyway, I wasn't there to pamper myself. I was there to dive and dive. And dive we did! We dumped our stuff in the rooms, changed into trunks and boardshorts and by 10AM we were reporting at the dive centre with all our gear.

Barb, our Australian instructor, briefed us on the procedures at the Tioman Dive Centre. Where to put stuff, where to get stuff, where to get new tanks, where to put used tanks, etc. There's a system, and life is easier when everyone follows it. OK.

We're soon gearing up for the checkout dive, which will also be our buoyancy skills training dive. Oh boy, was I looking forward to it. You see, I hadn't dived in the whole of 2007. In fact, my most recent dive was in September 2006. Colin said that was too long ago. I was kinda wondering if I still had the touch. It was good to know that I geared up the tank without any problem. No regulator on the wrong side. Didn't forget to connect the BC inflator. It was all coming back to me...

Then, the walk down to the beach and into the water. Ah, the feeling of comfort as the seawater slowly seeped through my boots. A few steps forward into the knee-deep water, and I sit down to slip on my fins that had been lying dry for more than one and a half years. As I lean back the water engulfs me and I realize I'm floating. I start the long surface swim out to the point of descent in about 5m of water. My other buddies Colin, Azahar, Richard and Thiagu are ahead of me. We regroup at the descent line and Barb gives us some last instructions before the OK and descent. And down we go, with the hiss of the air as it escapes from our BCs.

Underwater, we swim towards a sandy patch where we will do our exercises. Along the way we spot a juvenile Napoleon wrasse. Wow! I hope it grows up big and strong, and not end up on someone's dinner plate. Buoyancy is a critical skill for the Reef Check survey, as we need to stay off the coral reefs to avoid damaging it, while needing to go in close when necessary for a closer look. I was worried that I would not be able to perform the horizontal hover, coz in the past my legs tended to sink whenever I tried to hover horizontally. Well, I managed to do it this time. Yay. Maybe it was the practice, or maybe it was the weight distribution. We also had to practice swimming through a hula hoop without touching it. Whaddaya know, I managed to get every part of me and my gear through, except for my fins, which were arching too far upwards and caught the top of the hoop as I glided through. I thought my fins were always sinking, but now they were too high?! I think I was overextending them upwards. But the most interesting skill we learned was the head-down hover, where we hovered in an upside down position, head down and fins pointing up. It was weird at first, but I got the hang of it. We gotta really exhale to get our torso down and legs up. But it's cool. We were told we need to do head-down hover once a while during the survey in order to examine something deep in a crevice on the seabed, without touching anything around us. Barb made us simulate the maneuver by making us go head-down to copy onto our slates some text from a little card she placed on the sand.

Lunch was scrumptious, but I was careful to restrain myself from eating too much, lest it all came out during the dive later... a la my previous puke dive experience. So, anyway, after lunch, we proceed to have some lecture on reef fish and invertebrates. Our mission is to do a survey, so we need to first be trained to identify the various indicator species. There are nine fish groups and eight invertebrates we must be able to identify. So we were flashed pictures of groupers, snappers, parrotfish, humphead parrotfish, Napoleon wrasses, moray eels, barramundi cod, sweetlips and butterflyfish. I kept mixing up the wrasses and parrotfish, and sweetlips and snappers. We also had to know which species were not included in our survey.

After the theory, we embarked for the real thing. We went out for our fish and invertebrate identification training dive. Our dive site was Pulau Renggis, which is a tiny rocky outcrop just about 200m off the shore of Tioman. We hopped back on to our dive boat, geared up and back-rolled into the warm, inviting waters. Oooh, the training dives were fantastic! Barb would point to a particular fish and we had to indicate to her what category it belonged to. We indicated by hand signals or pointing to a picture of that fish on a laminated picture card that we brought along. Besides identifying the nine categories of fish that were in the Reef Check survey list, we also saw other interesting creatures. There were two reef cuttlefish hanging around the corals, a mean-looking giant grouper (1m long), pufferfish, schools of sleek barracudas and trevallies, and some really friendly and curious batfish. We saw some nudibranchs too. Renggis is a really nice dive site. Very nearby but in good condition, with lots of live corals and teeming with fish.

We came back for a debriefing and to flip through the fish ID books, and to de-nitrogenate our blood before our third and final dive of the day, which was the fish and invertebrate identification test. This was pretty cool. Barb went out ahead of us to place laminated picture cards of various fish and invertebrates along a tape laid on the shallow seabed at the house reef right in front of the dive centre. Each card was numbered and had a picture of a fish or invert. After she had placed the cards, we went down to sit for our test. We were required to swim along the tape and write down on our slate the corresponding number of each picture that matched the name printed on our slate. It was my first ever underwater written test. :) I must say it's easier doing in seated in a classroom, but it's much more fun underwater. The idea was to simulate the actual survey, when we would have to identify fish and inverts while following the transect line and maintaining neutral buoyancy in shallow water (<8m).

Day Two, Friday

As dawn broke, we were soon up and about. Of course, Colin was out of bed before me. Breakfast consisted of toast and jam. Ultra basic stuff. I quickly gobbled it down with some orange juice.

No time to linger over breakfast. The dive centre beckoned, and we had work to do! I could hear the clanging of metal as the staff rolled out freshly filled tanks of life-giving air. And the telltale hiss of air as divers tested their regulators and BC inflators after gearing up the tanks. It's music to the ears. Hahaha.

Today Colin and I were going to learn about substrates, i.e. the stuff on the seabed. Reef Check has classified substrates into ten categories, namely hard coral (HC), soft coral (SC), rock (RC), recently killed coral (RKC), sand (SD), silt (SI), rubble (RB), nutrient indicator algae (NIA), sponge (SP) and others (OT). We had to remember what belonged to which category, and how to recognize each substrate. First we had a lecture and powerpoint show with pictures of each substrate. But the thing about looking at slides is that we can't see movement. Testing the movement of each substrate is the most helpful method of identifying it. Hard coral doesn't move when we waft the water, but we can observe the coral polyps retracting into their hard skeleton. So that helps to identify hard corals which look like soft corals or anemones when the polyps are extended. Soft corals and sponges both move when we swish the water with our hands, but sponges have the distinctive holes and patterns while soft corals have polyps. And then we had to differentiate between soft corals and anemones (classified as "Others"). Usually anemones will have anemonefish residing in them, while soft coral don't.

Well, enough of classroom theory. The best learning happens out there in the field, or sea, in this case. We were off to Pirate Reef for our substrates identification training dive. Like we did with the fish and inverts, Barb would point out to various substrates and tell us what they were. And we would go, "Oooh, Aahhhh, I seeee" in our underwater sign language. It was really helpful to see for ourselves what the pictures had been trying to tell us. I learned that sponges were much more prevalent than I had previously realized. Many of the sponges I used to mistake for soft corals. I also learned that some soft corals look like hard corals but they are actually soft, e.g. zoonanthids. And I also learned to differentiate different types of algae. Wow. It was information overload. But I'll never look at a reef the same way again.

I noticed that Pirate Reef had a large patch of coral rubble. Pirate Reef sits atop an underwater mound that rises up more than 20m from the seabed, and the top of the mound is only a few metres deep. I later found out that a few years ago, a barge had run aground on the top of the reef, probably during low tide, and shaved off one whole patch of corals. A bit like what happened at Sipadan two years ago.

We had the privilege of riding on a yacht to our dive site! The yacht Chinook 1 is a marketing tool of the Crocs company. Crocs is supposedly in talks with Reef Check to sponsor or collaborate on some reef conservation work, so they were there to do some brand promo. The Crocs representative, Grant, from Singapore flew in to join us on the yacht. Grant is American but he's been living in Singapore for the past four years. Anyway, the yacht is a beauty. Sleek in white, and generously equipped with all the basics and luxuries of a seagoing vessel. She had GPS, digital nautical charts, auto-navigator, windspeed gauge, depth gauge, and motorized winches for the main sail. In the below-deck cabin there was a fully equipped kitchen with oven and microwave, bunks for about six people, radio, computer workstation and a nice little toilet and bathroom. But we spent all our time on the deck, except for occasional forays to the toilet. OK, enough about the boat.

We went back for lunch, and then prepared for the substrate identification test, which was like the fish identification test. Barb would point to a substrate and we would have to identify it by pointing to the correct picture on our card. Again we went to Renggis, also aboard the Chinook 1. Crocs was really spoiling us.

The substrate ID test was great. Barb gave us 40 "questions". I learned the hard way that one should not waft a seemingly soft coral too closely. You see, Barb pointed to a patch of polyps swaying in the water. From far, it looked like soft coral or even anemone, but upon closer inspection it looked suspiciously like the polyps of a hard coral. The definitive test is to swish or waft the water with my hand and see the reaction of the polyps. So I wafted the water... and the polyps retracted a bit... so I wafted a bit closer and closer... I could see some coral skeleton underneath... so I wafted just a little closer... ZAP!!! I felt a sharp pain shoot through my hand. Stupid! I had just scraped my middle and fourth fingers on the sharp coral. Ouwwwccchhhhh!!! It left six clean cuts across my fingertips, like the last time I accidentally cut my fingers on my razor blade. Slowly the blood oozed out into thin wisps in the water. Underwater, blood is brownish in colour as the red spectrum of visible light is filtered out by the water. Oh man, my fingers were stinging like mad for the next 20 minutes. I had to continue the test in pain. But it slowly subsided, and by the end of the dive it was pretty much OK. Lessons learned: (1) If it cuts, it's definitely hard coral. Stupid. (2) Do not waft a hard coral too closely or you'll get a nice cut on your finger. The next day during the survey dive I inspected another similar hard coral and I discovered that the coral skeleton took the form of sharp-edged ridges, like a multiple razors. No wonder it went straight through the skin, leaving multiple parallel cuts. Oh yea, we also saw a stonefish along the way, although it wasn't the focus of our attention.

Back on terra firma, later that afternoon, we sat for the final exam, which consisted of 50 fish questions, 50 invertebrates and 100 substrates. The passing mark was 80%, failing which we would not be certified to conduct the Reef Check survey. I was apprehensive about the fish test, because I was still getting snappers and wrasses and groupers and sweetlips mixed up. But thanks to some last minute revision on fish ID, and mentally running through the previous training slides ("past year questions") I managed to pass with 46/50! Hallelujah. And I even impressed myself with the invertebrates test by scoring full marks. Haha. OK, I admit, it's much easier to identify sea cucumbers and sea urchins. But it was the substrates test that really drained me in the end... we had to identify 100 pictures of soft corals and hard corals and rocks and sand and sponges and other deceptive stuff. We were allowed to ask questions like "Will it move if I waft it?" or "Does is wobble?" or "Does it retract or contract?". Instructor Barb did not make life easier for us. She only answered specific questions, but as we went along, we got the hang of what questions to ask. At some points we even got down to counting the number of tentacles on the coral polyps, because soft corals have 8 tentacles, while hard corals have 6 or multiples of 6. Our test ended at close to 8PM. Well, I passed with 86/100 correct. What a major confidence booster! I'm now a certified Eco Diver.

Dinner that night was delicious. But the restaurant served us a juvenile grouper, just like the ones we saw during our dives. The menu was pre-ordered by our resort management. We just showed up at mealtimes. But I felt a bit bad eating the grouper, though it was very delicious. But it was just a kid, with a whole life ahead of it. If we keep on harvesting juvenile groupers there will be no more next generation to reproduce. As it is, there are hardly any more adult groupers on the reefs, which explains why we didn't see any big groupers (>30cm long) on our dives, except for the solitary giant grouper at Renggis. Reef Check's criteria is to count only groupers >30cm because this indicates whether there has been overfishing of a reef. If all the big groupers are gone, then the population cannot reproduce itself. And the fishermen will start going after the smaller groupers until there are none left. So I have decided not to order grouper anymore. Farmed tilapia and siakap is OK, but not grouper caught from the wild. And definitely not Napoleon wrasse @ humphead wrasse, which is severely endangered due to to overfishing to supply swank seafood restaurants in places like Hong Kong where it fetches 300 Ringgit per kg. I'm just gonna order catfish next time.

Day Three, Saturday

The eventful day dawned. On this day, I would get seasick, conduct my Reef Check surveys and dive the 100th dive of my life. As usual, Crocs hosted us on board their yacht. We walked over from the dive centre to the new Tioman marina. It costs RM80 per day to park your boat here. Clearly, it's for yacht owners with extra cash.

The wind was gusting that morning, and kicking up the waves. It was great for sailing, and our captain Francis soon hoisted the sail to begin our journey to Pulau Tulai, about 11km northwest of the marina. The spinnaker (large triangular sail at the bow of the boat) was also unfurled for extra speed. We picked up speed and were soon riding the waves, with the yacht leaning hard against the wind. Needless to say, the pitching and rolling soon induced a certain amount of uneasiness. I had weathered similar rough conditions at sea before, and I thought I would be OK. Oh boy, was I wrong. By the time we got to Pulau Tulai an hour later, I was feeling seasick. Not terribly sick, but still a bit wonky. And I still thought I had it under control. Colin was smart. Before we left he downed a Novomin motion sickness pill. Remind me next time. Anyway, we transferred from the yacht to our dive boat where our gear was. And there on board the rocky dive boat I finally could take it no more. I excused myself to the stern of the boat and let out whatever remnants of breakfast that would be kind enough to volunteer as fish food. There wasn't much to vomit, since I had only two slices of toast that had probably already left the stomach and entered the intestines. But I felt so much better after wrenching out the oily, gooey, gastric juices. I think the oil was from the butter on the toast. Yea, avoid oily and greasy food when diving.

I felt good enough to dive! Yay. My mission was to conduct the substrate survey with Barb at this dive site called Batu Malang. Basically what happens is this: One diver would drop a plumb line (a sinker or lead weight tied to a string) every 0.5m along the 100m transect line and the other diver would record on a slate the type of substrate that the sinker lands on. Of course we drop it gently so as not to damage whatever it lands on. Buoyancy skills are crucial here as we have to hover in a horizontal position closely over the reef throughout the survey, without even our fins touching anything. Barb and I took turns to drop the plumb line and record the substrate. We switched roles every 20m along the transect. I started off doing the identification and recording, as Barb wanted to show me how to drop the plumb line in a consistent way. It was not too difficult to identify the substrates, as the plumb line fell mostly on hard coral (HC), which is a good sign. There was not much dead coral. However, Colin, who was doing the fish survey, recorded very few fish, which is not a good sign. This was a case of a reef in good condition, but with very few noteworthy fish. Why?

Oh yea, this was also my 100th dive! Woohoo! I wasn't in much of a celebratory mood though, with my head still woozy from the seasickness. After the dive, we moved straight to the next dive site at Kador. We decided to proceed to do the survey and have lunch after that. Good idea, coz I was in no shape to eat anything.

This time I did the fish survey with Richard, while Colin did the substrate survey with Barb, and Thiagu and Azahar did the invertebrates. Barb went down first to lay the 100m transect tape. After she released the buoy to indicate "OK", I was first in the water, since the fish surveyor goes first. This is to avoid the other divers scaring away the fish. Immediately after jumping in my stomach started to wrench again. Arrgghhh. There was nothing left to puke but gastric juices and mucus. Eewwww. I must have vomited about six times while I was doing the surface swim to the descent line. But I felt much better after letting it out. Gargle with seawater, insert regulator into mouth and down we went for the final dive.

It was a shallow dive, not more than 8m. Average depth was about 6m. The fish count was dismal like at Batu Malang. I spotted zero groupers larger than 30cm. The most numerous fish in the survey list that I spotted was the butterflyfish. There was a bit of a surge halfway through the survey, which pulled the transect tape left and right. That would make the substrate survey more challenging as the plumb line and transect tape would be swaying around. But for fish, I just had to remain a quiet as possible and go slow. Still, there were very few fish. Maybe it's the wrong season? After completing the fish survey I hung around while waiting for the rest to finish. I went back to check out the nasty crown of thorns (COT) starfish that I had earlier seen "walking" right under the transect tape. It's the meanest creature on the coral reef. It eats corals, and its thorny spines deliver excruciating pain to any soul who has the misfortune of getting poked by it. It even looks mean. I keep a respectful distance from the COT.

Back on board the yacht, we chilled out for the return journey. The others took out their packed lunches and started to chow down. I was still in no mood to eat, so I went around snapping pictures. We "sailed" back with engine power, as the wind had died down by then. About 15 minutes from the marina, I finally determined that I was sound enough to eat lunch. A sudden wave of hunger engulfed me, as I inhaled the aroma of the fried rice, fried chicken and fried egg. Notice a pattern here? But it's irrelevant anyway. I ate up every last grain of rice and stripped the bones bare. Good food, good scenery. A good way to end the trip.

Back at the marina, we disembarked for the last time and said our thank you's. We took a photo for the record, and then walked back to Tioman Dive Centre. There we had the joy of washing and rinsing our gear. Oh joy. Better get rid of the salt before the salt wrecks our equipment. We also wanted to hang up everything to dry so that it would be easier to pack for the return trip. It's no fun lugging wet and heavy and stinky equipment. Then we sat down to update our dive logs and upload the survey data into the databases. Nowadays with laptop computers and Internet access, we can crunch the numbers right at the beach. The results showed that the reef had not changed significantly since the last survey last September. But the fish counts were highly variable, depending on the season and even the time of day.

Richard, Azahar and Thiagu (and wife) had to hurry to catch the 4PM ferry. Colin and I stayed another night. Later that evening after dinner (no grouper served, though there were unidentified fried fish fillets), we strolled over to the cargo jetty at the marina to chill out with a drink in hand. There were some folks fishing. But isn't this a marine park?!? They had caught some cuttlefish which were laid pitifully on the concrete pavement of the jetty. How graceful and beautiful they swim underwater... how forlorn and deathly they look on the dry pavement... how delicious they taste on the dinner plate. It's a matter of perspective, no? :) Well, there's definitely enough in this world for every man's need, but not every man's greed.

The stars twinkled, the breeze gently whispered, softly the moon glowed, bright shone the lights from houses across the bay... and I forgot to bring the camera... oh well.

Day Four, Sunday

Same breakfast, again. We packed up, said our farewells, and were soon on our way home. At the jetty, I shot some final frames before the 10AM ferry arrives. The morning sun was rising to its zenith, and the sky was deep blue.

As you can see, I am getting worn out telling this story. Our return journey was pleasant, retracing the same route we took on the outbound journey. Colin and I had a good chat about stuff. You know, stuff. Yea, like, stuff. :)

The return journey took slightly longer as there was more traffic in the daytime. More lorries. But we got home safe and sound. It was good spending a few days doing what God first told Adam and Eve to do, i.e. take care of His creation. We counted the fish and creepy crawlies and corals. And had a pretty good time at it.

More pictures here:
Day 1 & 2 ; Day 3 & 4

Tagged

2008-04-22T20:35:00.007+08:00

I got tagged by Kat...

Real name: Lee Hwok Lok
Nickname: Lok, Loki, Loky, Lokkie, Coca-Cola, Warlord, Warlock, Hot Dog, Hot Rod, Hard Rock, Leng Chai (that's what people at the coffeeshop call me)
Married: No
Male/Female: Male
High school: SMSJ (best school in the universe, until I left)
College: UPM
Short or long hair: Short to medium long
Are u a healthy freak: Yes. I am healthy, and I'm a bit of a freak
Height: 177cm
Do u have a crush on someone?: Like, right now? Hmmm... no
Do u like yourself: Yea, I suppose.
Piercings: Through my heart
Righty of lefty: Righty

First....

Surgery: Wisdom teeth extraction when I was 21, or was it 22?
Piercing: Shot through the heart by a cute girl
Person u see in the morning: My mom or sister, or anonymous driver in the next car on the road
Award: I won some prize in Standard 3 or 4... can't remember what
Sport u join: Riding my tricycle around the living room
Pet: I think it was a snail or millipede in the backyard. I put it in my mouth.
Vacation: Pangkor Island. I was about 3 months old. Can't remember much of it though.
Concert: Some Christmas concert at Bannockburn School, Illinois. I played the bass clarinet.
First crush: My American classmate in Grade 6 and 7. She had the cutest dimples.

Currently...

Eating: Nothing
Drinking: Nothing
I’m about to: Go home as soon as traffic on Jalan Ampang clears

Your future...

Want kids: Yes. It's good to personally experience the joy and pain I brought to my parents.
Want to get married: Yes. I don't have "the gift".
Careers in mind: World's best husband, father, son, friend, brother, co-worker ;P

Which is better?

Lips or eyes?: Both. Stupid question.
Hugs or kisses: Hug, then kiss. Stupid question.
Shorter or taller?: Just nice
Romantic or spontaneous: Romantic with a streak of spontaneity
Sensitive or loud: Sensitive, but not hypersensitive
Troublemaker or hesitant?: Neither

Have u ever....
Kissed a stranger?: No
Drank bubbles: No
Lost glasses/contacts: I broke a few pairs of glasses in my younger days but never lost any
Ran away from home: No, I walked. Duh.
Liked someone younger: Yes
Liked someone older: Yes... her name is Meg Ryan ;)
Broke someone's heart: Yes
Been arrested: No. I'm a good boy.
Cried when someone died: Yes, I'm human
Liked a friend: Yes

Do u believe in...

Yourself?: Yea
Miracles: Yes
Heaven: Yes
Santa Claus: No
Magic: Yes, depends on what type
Angels: Yes

Answer truthfully..
Is there someone you want to be with right now?: Yes

Do u believe in God?: Yes, my statement of faith is summarized in the Apostle's Creed

Tag ppl:
Go ahead...

Amazing

2008-04-04T18:28:00.003+08:00

The cheering by the audience does get a bit annoying. Just ignore it.

Easter baby

2008-04-02T19:03:00.004+08:00

This year's Easter came and went without much traditional fanfare for me. It's because I was away in Hanoi that weekend. I think this was first Easter in which I did not go to church. Well, OK, maybe not the first.

You see, I spent my first ever Easter in hospital. I was born on a Saturday, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. So Easter does have some special meaning for me. It's about birth and new life in the midst of death and gloom. The cross ends with the empty tomb.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes sense to me. It means my sins are forgiven when I believe in Jesus, not because I deserve to be forgiven, but because God so loves me. It means salvation is not something I earn, but receive graciously from God. It's not "rational", but requires faith. It's free but it's not cheap. It cost the life and blood of Jesus, the Son of God. And it will "cost" me a lifetime of surrender and submission to God who saves me.

It's good to be an Easter baby. :)

Hanoi-Halong

2008-03-31T23:32:00.011+08:00

Treasure Islands

Dire straits

Schooner

Ripples

Onward

Finally, some colour

Oryza sativa

Zig

Zag

At rest

Arkitekcher

Twin Towers

Streetwise

Que sera sera

Flurry

Scoot

Toyota is king, especially in black

Sundown

Metamorphosis

2008-03-31T21:31:00.001+08:00

(meta·mor·pho·sis) (met”ə-mor´fə-sis) [meta- + morphosis] Change of shape or structure, particularly a transition from one developmental stage to another, as from larva to adult form.

I wanna be a butterfly.

Jalan AMpang

2008-03-29T13:48:00.011+08:00

Don't you just love Jalan Ampang... when it's not jammed with traffic... which is almost never.

Here are some views seen through the glass wall of my office. It looks pretty, until you have to drive through it. Or it rains.

Landmark

Jam

Movin'

Public transport

Countercurrent

Cityscape
If you zoom in, you can see the reflection of the Twin Towers on the car.

Family stroll
Top speed: 5 km/h (about the same as driving)

In between

HelloMoto

Still movement

Post-election happenings

2008-03-25T18:38:00.005+08:00

Wow, many happenings have, uh, happened in the past two weeks. We have new "opposition" governments in Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. Malaysians have shown that we can vote for opposition parties and still survive. People voted across racial lines. We coloured out of the box. I think the best thing to come out of this general election is not that the opposition parties have won big-time, but that Malaysians have overcome the fear of change. So the next round, we can vote in whoever we want, whether BN or BR.

The spectre of May 13 has been decisively exorcised. OK, maybe there are still lingering vestiges of racial overtones and undercurrents in the socio-political landscape, but it's good to know that there were no riots in the so-called aftermath of the elections.

Come to think of it, the word aftermath only applies to the BN's colossal loss. To the BR coalition, the "aftermath" is in fact their victory. If not for the support from Sabah and Sarawak, Pak Lah would probably now be the Opposition leader in Parliament. Or maybe not. Food for thought.

The elections seemed quite "free and fair", considering that the opposition parties won so many seats. But there were still a number of dubious results and unbelievable winning majorities in certain constituencies. The postal votes still remain unaccountable.

Another interesting development is the fact that the Umno fellows have been demonstrating and protesting out in the streets. But weren't they the ones who condemned the Bersih and Hindraf folks for illegal assemblies? Hello? If peaceful public assembly is "not our culture" then they should just stay at home and wait four years for the next elections to voice their grievances through the "proper channels".

I am also astonished at the mainstream media's 180 degree change of tone. The difference is almost like night and day. Pre-March 8, they were ludicrously caustic towards the "opposition" parties, and denying them any coverage. Post-March 8, we suddenly see full page interviews with people like Lim Guan Eng. There's so much openness now. The mainstream media chiefs have proclaimed a time of "soul searching" for themselves. Like, duh, what do they think the rakyat has been doing all this while?! But, oh well, better late than never.

And it's interesting to note that the state with the most problems appointing their Menteri Besar is not the opposition-led states, but Terengganu, which is under BN. The bickering is within Umno itself, not so much among PKR-DAP-PAS. So much for the much touted "stability" of BN.

So, there's hope for a new dawn for Malaysia. But we still have ground to cover. The journey is not over.

Oh yea, on another note, I just came back from a whirlwind tour of Hanoi and Halong Bay. I have too many photos now. Maybe I'll tell some more stories later. Like, the Vietnamese drivers' Hanoi-ing (annoying) habit of honking every 30 seconds or at every junction. They seriously use the horn like nobody's business. They drive with one hand permanently glued to the horn button. I guess that's their way of communicating with other drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians on the road. It's not to scold or tell off someone, but just to say "Hey, I'm here, watch out". But I don't really get it.

Halong Bay was nice, but I expected a bit more. Maybe it was the cloudy weather that dampened the photo opportunities. Hanoi was chaotic and interesting. A place of great contrasts. Old and new. Rich and poor. Gleaming BMWs jostling with old bicycles on the narrow streets. Bustling capitalism flourishing right under the nose of Communism. US Dollars are as widely accepted as Vietnamese Dongs. Oh, Vietnam has elections too, but there's only one party to vote for. Cool huh?

Prophecy

2008-03-09T21:49:00.009+08:00

I asked this question on Facebook on 23rd September 2007:

How many seats will BN win in the coming general elections? (The person with closest/ most accurate answer gets a Starbucks pastry and drink from me).

***

And these are the answers I got, in chronological order:

JamesL: 12 (answered on 23 Sept 2007)

EdwardLSM: 189 - provided the seats remain at 219. This means opposition wins about 30 seats. Currently non-BN holds 198 seats. Pas 7, DAP 12, Keadilan 1 and independant 1. I predict opposition/independant to win 9 more seats making a total of 30 non-BN MPs in the p (answered on 23 Sept 2007)

JTLeong: my lulu take on this - 188 (answered on 23 Sept 2007)

SWong: hmmm, for the sake of the starbucks pastry and kopi, i'll take a guess.... 170 (answered on 24 Sept 2007)

GrayT: 60% majority... (answered on 24 Sept 2007)

(There were no more answers after 24th September 2007)

***

The stunning results of the general election that happened yesterday:

BN = 140 seats (63%)

BR = 82 seats (37%)

I'm referring to Parliamentary seats only.

***

And so the winner of the Starbucks pastry and drink is... *drumroll*

Mr. Gray Tan! With an astonishingly accurate answer!!!

Mr. Tan, please call me to claim your prize*.

Terms and conditions:
* Prize must be claimed before the next general election.
* Not exchangeable for cash.
* Not transferable.
* Not valid with any other offers or promotions.
* I choose which Starbucks to go to.

BTW, it's no longer useful to simply refer to "BN" versus "Opposition" as we used to, because BN is now the opposition in five states. Thus, the term "opposition" can also refer to BN, depending on which state we're talking about. And the "Opposition" is now the ruling government in five states, so they shouldn't be given the blanket label of opposition.

Full-time Fools

2008-03-08T01:00:00.003+08:00

Abraham Lincoln said, "It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."

But God knows everything all the time, so I rest assured.

X marks the spot

2008-03-02T23:20:00.002+08:00

Vote.

Don't sit on the fence.

People who walk the middle ground get run over by traffic.

Don't be road kill.

Marilah mari, pergi mengundi,

Jangan lupa kewajipan pada negara.

It's time to party

2008-02-21T20:10:00.006+08:00

I've been hearing a lot about "How to Vote" or "How to Choose Your MP" in the run-up to the coming general elections on 8 March.

My stand is that we have no choice but to vote based on the party, not the candidate. This is the unfortunate state of affairs in Malaysian politics. The system is like that. There is no room for independent voice in the parties. MPs are all subservient to their party leaders. They are nominated by party leaders, not by the people. So if you want your MP to speak out against the establishment, it has to be an Opposition MP. Forget about open debates a la US Presidential election campaigns. This is not Obama vs Clinton. This is BN vs Opposition.

Even if you vote a "good guy" into the BN, he/she still has to follow the party stand. So, if you like BN, then vote for a BN candidate. But if you don't like BN, then vote for an Opposition candidate. (But please don't do a sissy thing such as casting a spoilt vote.) I do not believe there's any hope for a "good guy" to make a change from within BN -- just look at people like Loh Seng Kok or Shahrir Abd Samad or Bernard Dompok or K Devamany. They speak out a little bit too much and *Wham!* they get clobbered back into their little pigeonhole. They are totally constrained by the system.

Sure, some of you will say that the Malaysian way is to resolve issues quietly and behind closed doors. But I also know that a lot of corruption and monkey business goes on behind closed doors.

Another major problem with the Malaysian political system is that too many voters judge an MP's performance based on minor and trivial matters like fixing broken street lights or clearing clogged drains. For goodness' sake, that is the job of a municipal councillor, not a Member of Parliament. This problem is compounded because some MPs or state assemblymen are also appointed as municipal councillors.

But I certainly expect an MP to operate at a higher level, not bogged down by local issues. An MP should be debating national and international issues like global warming, or human rights, or religious freedom, or education policy, or foreign investment, or global competitiveness, or free trade, or oil prices, etc. Instead, the MPs spend their time picking up litter, cutting ribbons, giving boring speeches and toeing the line. Sure, they "serve the people", but this is not the type of service I'm looking for.

The Malaysian political system is not perfect. In fact, it kinda sucks. So until such time as the system changes, voting a parliamentary candidate based on his "performance" will not make much difference. It's time to vote the party.

CNY 2008

2008-02-19T20:51:00.007+08:00

This is a bit late, but at least it's still before Chap Goh Meh. I don't have the energy nor time to ramble like last year's CNY. So I shall let the pictures do the talking.

OK, maybe some short notes will suffice...

1. Traffic back to Ipoh was good on Wednesday. It was like normal, 110 km/h all the way.

2. No captainball this year. Instead we had rounders. My team lost, despite me hitting two *ahem* home runs.

3. Didn't climb Keledang Hill this time. No time. No motivation.

4. We went white water rafting at Sg. Kampar. The water level was low due to the dry season, thus the rapids were not as wild and challenging. But we still had some excitement, like, my uncle nearly fell out of the raft. It was fun hearing all the screams and squeals from people like my mom as we went tumbling over the rapids. :)

5. The lunches and dinners prepared by the cousins seems to be working well. The aunties are much more relaxed, having passed on the stress to the younger generation, although supervision is still necessary. :P

6. Some of us went bowling at Ipoh Parade, again. Yay. I got my highest ever score in living memory... 137. I could have scored higher if not for the dismal score of only 3 in the final frame.

7. The mini sermon during the family thanksgiving service was on "What is new for you this year?" based on Isaiah 43. My uncle noted that this year is the first year after the Jubilee of 2007. So it is a time of new beginnings, both symbolically and literally.

This is what the LORD says...

"Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland."

Victory dance

Pristine Sungai Kampar

Ipoh slugger

Sunset swing

One for the album

More pictures here and here.

Aqueous Parliamentarius

2008-02-13T14:10:00.003+08:00

Parliament has been dissolved, paving the way for the 12th General Election.

Our chance to use this "proper channel" to speak up has finally come.

It's time to teach the corrupt and incompetent BN politicians a lesson.

BN's two-thirds majority must not be allowed to continue.

Vote for Opposition. Make the change.

I love coral reefs

2008-02-05T13:00:00.000+08:00

Steven Spielberg should be thoroughly spanked for creating the Jaws movies and demonizing sharks and instilling a phobia of the deep sea in a whole generation of people. Some of that damage was repaired through recent cartoon movies like Finding Nemo which romanticized marine life and made the reef fish look so cute. I thought that would make people want to protect the marine ecosystem even more. But, the spotlight on coral reefs may have actually worked against the reefs' favour, for the increased attention and popularity of marine fish increased the demand for marine aquariums.

Yes, marine aquariums are a threat to the world's coral reefs and marine ecosystem. I just came back from my neighbourhood aquarium shop where I went to buy some fish food for my mom's guppies. I knew for many years that the shop existed. But only today I discovered to my horror that this shop was specialized in marine fish.

The shop had rows and rows of tanks filled with all types of marine species. They probably had half of the number of species in our National Aquarium. There were moral eels, ribbon eels, stonefish, lionfish, parrotfish, bannerfish, Moorish idols, dotty backs, gobies, blue-spotted rays, bamboo sharks, seahorses, pufferfish, anemonefish, surgeonfish, damselfish, remoras, angelfish, octopus, hard corals, soft corals, anemones, giant clams, etc. I even saw nudibranchs (Hyselodoris apolegma and Phyllidia sp.) and little shrimps.

Now, I have a thing against private marine aquariums.

Here's why:

1. Marine aquariums are very delicate systems that are a man-made attempt to replicate the natural saltwater environment of the sea. Marine aquariums are much more difficult to maintain than freshwater aquariums. The fine balance of salt, ammonia and minerals in seawater has to be maintained 24/7. I don't think most people have the commitment to maintain their saltwater aquarium for the long-term. As a result, the fish they buy will not live long and just become another sad case.

2. Marine aquariums should be kept only by those who have the resources to maintain them, i.e. public aquariums, hotels, shopping malls and serious hobbyists who are willing to spend hours maintaining the tanks, pumps and filters. However, who among us part-time petkeepers is willing to devote such time and money? In most cases, the fish will just die and we soon forget them. How sad.

3. Marine aquariums rely on fish harvested from the wild. This is hardly regulated, and results in overharvesting and depletion of the natural stocks. I noticed that most of the fish sold in the shop were juveniles, which means they do not have a chance to reproduce. When you kill off the children, you're basically killing off entire future generations. No wonder there are less and less fish in our marine parks like Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian.

4. Harvesting of marine species for aquariums reduces the opportunities for tourists to see them in the wild. That's a dent to the tourism industry. Of course, tourism itself also harms the environment, but that's another story.

5. Mortality rates of marine aquarium fish are high, because we're trying to sustain their life in an artificial environment. At the shop, I saw a worker casually scoop out a dead lionfish from the tank and dump it in the rubbish bin.

6. The trade of certain protected species is regulated by international law. In case you didn't know, laws are not made to be broken, nor rules to be broken. And, ignorance is not bliss.

7. The survival and health of the marine ecosystem and coral reefs directly and indirectly impacts our own health. Our fish comes from the seas. Coral reefs are fish breeding and feeding grounds. If we kill off the fish, we kill off our own food supply.

I almost thought of boycotting that shop, but I still bought the little bottle of fish pellets which cost RM4.50. I'll save my battle for another day. Maybe I'm just biased, but I prefer to see marine life in their natural habitat.

But if you're into marine aquariums, you must ask the shopkeeper where the supply of fish and corals come from. Ideally, make sure it's only from sustainable, farmed sources, and not from the wild. But if it's from the the wild, make sure they have a permit for it.

Inside Out

2008-01-31T14:04:00.001+08:00

We hear many promises of change, but what we really need is a change from the inside out. External changes last but for a moment. Only internal change from deep within our heart of hearts will last forever.

God, change us from the Inside Out.

Blast from the past: Part 2

2008-01-30T00:14:00.001+08:00

I received some feedback that I missed out some big names in the previous Blast from the past. I'm so sorry. Yea, I notice that the previous blast featured mainly pop artistes. So now I shall attempt to balance the equation by including some of those I missed earlier. Viewer discretion is advised.

Dire Straits

Bon Jovi

Guns N' Roses

The Police

Extreme

Mr. Big

Michael Jackson

Scorpions

Debbie Gibson

The Bangles

Paula Abdul

MC Hammer

Alias

And,
U2

Take a break

2008-01-29T16:48:00.001+08:00

Let's take a break from the Lingamgate debacle, and enjoy some breath-taking sights from the top of the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge a.k.a. Bukit Tabur.

The reservoir that supplies drinking water to downtown KL

The jagged quartz ridge, weathered by the elements

KL in the distance

Top 5 Ways to Evade Telling the Truth

2008-01-23T17:50:00.000+08:00

1. I cannot remember

2. I don't know

3. I was drunk

4. He was mad or drunk

5. It looks like me and sounds like me, but...

Amnesia Attack

2008-01-22T13:56:00.000+08:00

Amnesia seems to be latest epidemic to hit senior Malaysians, especially those with legal and political backgrounds. I've been sporadically following the proceedings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Lingam tape controversy, and I'm just getting sick and tired of all this nonsense.

It's incredulous that so many bright minds have suddenly gone dim, and can't remember names or events from a mere six years ago. They're making a mockery of the judicial system. At best, they're plain comical. At worst, they're downright contemptuous. They should be whipped for their blatant lies.

Yea, I'm a bit ashamed to call myself a Malaysian when I see such debacles unfolding in the halls of justice of the land. I certainly hope truth will prevail in the end, because right now truth dies a thousand deaths each time one of the "witnesses" takes the stand.

People, it's time to make a change. Deny BN their two-thirds majority in the coming elections. No, the nation will not crumble into racial riots, anarchy and chaos if BN loses. On the contrary, we will grow stronger when we get rid of the self-serving old fogeys who have been in power for too long.

Blast from the past

2008-01-16T19:42:00.001+08:00

Some of the hits back when I was a kid... I can't believe we listened to some of this stuff... hahaha.

Milli Vanilli

Fine Young Cannibals

Vanilla Ice

Tommy Page

Belinda Carlisle

New Kids On The Block

Joan Jett And The Blackhearts

Roxette

Hmmm, I don't know why I posted this, but I hope you enjoyed it... :)

Lunchtime musings

2008-01-14T13:49:00.000+08:00

Nothing significant to report here, except that during the lunchtime conversation I discovered that the name of the legendary Swedish group ABBA is an acronym of the four members' names -- Anni-Frid, Benny, Bjorn and Agnetha. And we talked about how advanced Finland is, for a nation of just three million people. Since we were talking about Finland and Sweden and that part of the world, I remembered that my new Nokia 6300 is from Finland. And I also remembered how lousy Malaysian customer service is.

You see, I just collected my new phone from the dealer yesterday after sending it in for repair last week -- the headset jack wasn't working, the silent mode shortcut button (# button) wasn't working, and there was dust inside the screen because the top panel didn't seal tight after I dropped the phone once. It's still under warranty, so I thought they would fix it properly. Result: The headset jack is back to working condition. The silent mode shortcut still can't work -- it's a worldwide firmware bug which can't be fixed. They cleaned the screen but left some streaks inside, and the top panel now has a larger gap than when I sent it in, which means that MORE dust can now enter. Sigh. And on top of that, the phone came back in different language and display settings (meaning that I had to spend a few minutes resetting everything), the display now has two blue bands on the top and bottom which were not there before, and the calculator function has TOTALLY disappeared from the phone. To top it off, this is what they call an AP phone, i.e. not distributed by authorized Nokia dealers, which I didn't realize when I bought the phone. So I can't take it back to Nokia directly.

This is just a small matter, but I think God is testing my patience... which is a good thing, actually. This is really not like me to complain like this, so thanks for bearing with me. :)

Have a good week, everyone.

Malaysian Conspiracies

2008-01-14T01:43:00.000+08:00

Just doing some promotion for a local production. I helped to take some photos at the premier last Wednesday at Pavilion, and got to watch the show. I was impressed. It's definitely better than The Golden Compass or many of the other overrated foreign flicks.

JARUM HALUS is the directorial debut of talented young Malaysian filmmaker MARK TAN. It is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s classic play "Othello", set in modern-day Kuala Lumpur and using a mix of Malaysian English and Malay (with English subtitles).

Starring RAZIF HASHIM, CHRISTIEN NEW, DATO RAHIM RAZALI, JULIANA IBRAHIM, JUSTIN CHAN, MEGAT SHARIZAL and FARAH PUTRI.

Also starring STEPHANIE CHAI and HILMY NOR, with cameo appearances by YASMIN YUSUFF, DOUGLAS LIM, COLIN KIRTON, MONTI and LAVIN SEOW.

Performance direction by COLIN KIRTON. Director of photography AARON CHUNG. Original music by SAN WENG ONN and RABBIT with vocals by MARIA YASMIN. Produced by ELEANOR LOW and MARK TAN.

Now showing at GSC Mid-Valley, Pavilion, 1 Utama & Gurney Plaza
Watch the trailer here.

*****

I have been asked about my thoughts on the recent Chua Soi Lek debacle. I think he deserves to be sacked for his gross lack of judgment, and I'm glad that he resigned (voluntarily?). But before we point fingers and wag tongues, we must remember that he who is without sin should cast the first stone. We all have our secret sins and skeletons in the closet. I know mine. However, sin has its penalty and someone has to pay. Admission of guilt does not absolve the sin. My hope is that more ministers would either be sacked or voluntarily resign, as they are as guilty of similar or worse sins. Not only "private" sins, but criminal breach of trust against the nation. But sometimes I wonder, is stupidity a sin?

*****

The person who was present at the recording of the Lingam tape has gone public with his revelation. Read about it in Malaysiakini. I have given up on the mainstream media to report the truth. I haven't bought any mainstream newspaper for more than two years, and I urge you to boycott them too. It's time to send the message that we the people do not condone the lies and manipulation that the BN newsletters are feeding us. If you can read this blog, then you can easily access the online versions of the media. Save your money. Or better still, subscribe to Malaysiakini.

First week of 2008

2008-01-06T22:37:00.001+08:00

Here's some pictures from the first week of this year. I know, my life does get kinda mundane after a while. Same old pictures... :P

First limau ais of 2008

Critter

Nervous koi

Aquarium at the mamak restaurant

The Curve

Cineleisure

And then I went to Cameron Highlands over the weekend...

Spider in Tanah Rata

Morning spider

White

Orange orchid

Azure

Hello?

Purple fence

Dewy poinsettia

Up the hill, through the woods

The gate on the narrow way

I've got some more pictures, but it's too tedious to upload them here. So, they're all in my Facebook album.

Up up and away!

2008-01-04T18:32:00.000+08:00

I'm going up to Cameron Highlands tonight, and returning tomorrow night. Just a quick visit. It's for a mission trip briefing session at the Residential Bible School. Yay.

I like Cameron Highlands, except for the rain and the long journey. It's been raining lately, and the road is still as long as before. What an adventure...

Gotta go!

Cameraphone pics

2008-01-03T19:52:00.000+08:00

Here are some recent pictures taken with my 2 megapixel camera on the phone.

I spotted this juvenile toad at the car park near my office one evening last week. The light is from my car headlights. At first I thought of having frog legs for dinner. Then I thought of kissing it. But I realized that would be too risky. What if it suddenly "poofed" into Jessica Alba. I mean, that would be too much glamour and high maintenance for me. Nope. I just drove off.

Kermit lost in USJ 21

But, of course

Resolutions 2008

2008-01-01T23:00:00.000+08:00

The standard question that follows the "Happy New Year" greeting seems to be "So, what's your new year resolutions?"

I've thought about it just a little bit, and so here's some of mine...

1. Love like I've never been hurt
2. Dance like nobody's looking
3. Eat like there's no cholesterol
4. Sing like nobody's listening
5. Run like there's five pit bull terriers chasing me
6. Learn how to use Photoshop to transform bad photos into nice photos, and nice photos into drop-dead gorgeous photos
7. Take photos like Bernard's
8. Decide once and for all whether to go with C or N, or both (crazy?!?)
9. Get my rescue diver certification
10. Read the whole Bible
11. Walk closer and more obediently with God
12. Rise on the wings of eagles

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

How to renew your road tax in 10 steps

2007-12-31T20:26:00.000+08:00

I tried to renew the road tax for my car today. I went to the bank branch in Taipan USJ during the lunch break. The traffic congestion was horrible, as usual.

1. Enter bank. Take a number. There were very few customers.

2. Approach counter as my number was called.

3. Whip out my insurance cover note and tell the lady that I want to renew the road tax for my car.

4. Lady tells me that I should go to the bank branch where my loan account is, which is the Shah Alam branch. What?!

5. Lady says that I can renew the road tax at the Taipan branch but it will take one week. What?! And they can't courier the road tax sticker to me. I have to go back to the bank to collect it. Huh?!

6. Lady says if I go to the Shah Alam branch on Wednesday morning, I can get the road tax sticker back by 2PM on the same day. I have to pay 10 bucks for a runner to go to JPJ to do the processing. What the?! If I renew from the Taipan branch, I have to pay another 10 bucks to courier the sticker back from the Shah Alam branch. *jaw drops, speechless*

7. Ask lady if I can also request for the vehicle registration card to be released to me. Lady says I have to go to the Shah Alam branch. And the bank retains it for the first two years, so I gotta wait another year. *breathe, stay cool, be patient*

8. Finally decide it's easier to go to the Shah Alam branch and get it done with in one day rather than wait one whole week for the bank to do it for me. Besides, my road tax already expired (that's another story), so I need to renew it like, yesterday. Uh-huh. So, yea, this whole debacle is partly my fault.

9. Make mental note to ask more questions if ever getting another loan from this bank. There's no fine print. You just gotta dig the information out of the bank officers, assuming they know the procedure in the first place, and assuming you know what to ask. The car salesman said this bank is good, because they approve the loans fast. Yeah, right. Fast approval, but tedious road tax renewal procedure.

10. Walk out of bank and go for lunch. Thank God my car loan is not with the bank branch in Ampang or Port Klang.

I don't get it. Tell me I'm naive, but...

Why does the bank keep my vehicle registration card? Are they afraid I'm going to run away with it? Or commit some fraud with it? Doesn't the bank trust me? Or do they not trust the JPJ?

If I had the registration card, I could have renewed the road tax by myself at the nearby post office within 15 minutes.

In this day and age, when the records and documents are digital and we have e-government and e-this and e-that, why do I still need to pay a runner to do something that I can do faster and cheaper? It's not like I'm going out of my way to renew the road tax. I can just do it while going for lunch.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year to all of you loyal readers, anonymous and known, near and far.

Scenes from a Saturday afternoon

2007-12-30T00:59:00.001+08:00

* * * * *

Tap dance

H2O?

I believe I can fly...

Don't bite

Forlorn

SMS

Smelly feet?

I've got da power

Mona Licia

Peel

Bark

Zap!

Keep yer eyes on the ball

Wood

Ridges

Time to go home

Feather

* * * * *

"I believe I can fly" pic by PG
Dentyne pics by Christina
All others pics by me

From the garden

2007-12-29T14:22:00.000+08:00

Lots of chlorophyll and pigments... and post-processing

* * * * *

* * * * *

Happy Birthday

2007-12-28T18:56:00.000+08:00

She turned one today.

It seems like just yesterday when I brought her back from the showroom on that fateful evening of 28 December 2006...

...still wrapped in plastic... smelling "fresh" and new... with less than double digits on the odometer.

The feeling as I pulled away from the showroom was one of expectant excitement and nostalgic sadness.

Excited at the new possibilities and adventures that my new one could provide me.

Saddened by having to part with my old faithful that had served us well for so many years.

I've clocked 20,000 km in this first year. She's performed very well. There was some minor rattle from the door, but it was fixable. Her appetite is very modest. On a long haul journey, I've managed to hit about 700km on a full tank.

Let's see where we've been together... Penang once, Cameron Highlands twice, Ipoh twice, Port Dickson twice, Melaka once.

There were some anxious moments, as she got kissed on her behind twice within one month (some people find her too attractive). Thankfully the trauma was not major. She survived after a few hours of treatment in the outpatient clinic.

She's a tough one.

Here's to many more years to come.

But first I gotta pay off the dang bank loan.

Nose

Butt

Distant relative

Colours of the heart

Another weird dream

2007-12-27T19:17:00.001+08:00

I had a weird dream last night or this morning just before I woke up.

I normally don't remember my dreams, so this one has the unusual honour of sticking in my memory. Nevertheless, I only remember very sketchy bits.

I dreamt I was at Pulau Perhentian with a bunch of people whom I can't remember, except for Rudi. We decided to go diving, but I didn't have any equipment. We got on a boat and went to Tanjung Basi dive site. Or maybe it was Batu Nisan, I'm not sure. But it was somewhere off the Perhentian Besar island.

When we arrived at the dive site, we looked for the mooring line. We soon spotted it and Rudi dived in to retrieve it. There were some other boats with people nearby, but none of them were divers. They just looked at us and then went off. The next thing I remember, two guys with their wetsuits and full gear backrolled into the water from our boat.

Unfortunately I was just in my t-shirt and shorts and therefore could not dive. I do not know why I went out on a dive boat without any equipment whatsoever. The rest of us decided to leave the two guys floating in the water while we went to the nearest dive centre to rent equipment and tanks. I think we intended to return to the same site and join those two guys for a dive. As we sped off, the two guys were just floating there, looking lost. They did not descend for their dive. Again, I do not know why. I felt a bit bad for "abandoning" them there. I thought they might get run over by a passing boat if they continued to just float around like that.

And that's as much as I can remember.

RefleXions

2007-12-26T00:50:00.001+08:00

I know it's not so good to get into too melancholic a mood, but I was just thinking, more than half the world celebrates Christmas under the blazing sun or torrential rain. No winter or snow whatsoever. So our "traditional" Christmas is clearly set in a very Northern Hemisphere-ish Euro-American culture. Well, just a thought. But it would be nice if it snowed in KL though. I mean, maybe just once. Aye?

Overall, this year's Christmas has been good, although I did not get a Canon 40D. Either Santa Claus doesn't exist, or I've been a naughty boy. Yeah, right.

OK OK, let me get my perspective right: Christmas is about Jesus Christ, not about me.

I've been listening to Bebo Norman's Christmas album over the past two weeks, and I like Track #1 the most. It's "Come and Worship". I also like Track #2, "Born to Die." I think that sums up the message of Christmas.

And, as I dwell on some preliminary end-of-year reflections, I can only say that it has been a good year for me. Praise the Lord. However, I also realize that this year has been a time of deepest grief and anguish for some.

If I could live this year again, I wouldn't do anything differently, except perhaps I would make the time to do at least one dive trip. :P OK, even that's not such a big deal after all. I've found that the lack of nitrogen saturation in the bloodstream does not cause serious mental or physical impacts. I can live without it.

I also wonder if the world would have turned out different today if I had bought Canon instead of Nikon. Haha. Again, trivial issues, in comparison with the incomparably more important matters of life and death that have filled the pages over the past year. My heart is more deceitful than I realize...

I shall search my soul a little bit more in the coming days as the new year approaches.

Christmas child

2007-12-25T02:21:00.002+08:00

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned...

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:2,6,7

* * * * *

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Luke 2:26-38

* * * * *

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

* * * * *

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:1-20

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Music of the soul

2007-12-23T21:28:00.000+08:00

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Pictures from Anderson & Joanna's wedding 15.12.2007

Creative Lighting

2007-12-22T14:03:00.000+08:00

I recently figured out how to use the flash commander mode on my Nikon D80. This is a cool feature which allows the camera to control an off-camera flash wirelessly. Nikon calls this the Creative Lighting System. It opens up new possibilities for flash photography, as the flash does not have to be attached to the camera. I can fire or bounce the flash from the side or from behind the subject.

I first saw sifu Bernard do magic with his Canon fitted with a wireless flash commander. I'm not too sure, but I think the difference between Canon and Nikon is that Nikon has the commander built-in to the camera while the Canon requires an external commander to be attached to the flash hotshoe. And the Nikon commanders can control up to three sets of flashguns. Very cool.

Here's my initial attempts at using the remote flash...

Old photos

2007-12-19T23:36:00.001+08:00

I have a love-hate relationship with old photos.

Some old photos I love.

Some old photos I hate.

I love those old photos that remind me of a time when I was young and innocent. Haha. But seriously, they take me back to those happy moments in my life which have silently slipped away through the gaps in my memory, crowded out by the onslaught of today's information. I like to be reminded of my past, as it tells me a lot about who I am now. It is a good thing to remember the past. Many times in the Old Testament, the LORD God commanded the Israelites to remember what He had done for them, lest they become proud of their own effort.

But I hate those old photos that remind me of a time which I would rather forget. Perhaps "hate" is too strong a word, but at least it grabs your attention. I remember the days when ultra large spectacles were in fashion. I cringe when I see photos of myself wearing those spectacles with lenses as large as scuba diving masks. What were people thinking back then?! Some old photos bring back memories of embarrassing or painful moments that I'd rather leave in the trash bin of history. But can memories be erased just like that? Surely we grow through both the good and bad times. In fact, the "bad" times teach us more memorable lessons.

Here are some old photos that I love.

I wanted to be a rock star or a boxing promoter (Don King)

Cute huh?

Paternal grandmother

Maternal grandmother

My affinity for Toyota started young

Doing the waterfall thing with mom and dad

Perhaps I should have been an architect or engineer...

or a pilot...?

Yes, I should have been a pilot :P

Clueless and the Beach Boy

Out on a limb at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Horse ride in Fraser's Hill

Jungle boy at Taman Negara

Cats have featured prominently in my life. This one in Temerloh, Pahang.

Another cat in Miri, Sarawak. I love cats, but the feeling is not always mutual. :P

On the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, June 1987

Wrynose Pass, Lake District, England, June 1987

Warwick Castle

Heidelberg, Germany

You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. Deuteronomy 8:17-18

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"-... Ecclesiastes 12:1

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Pedal Works

2007-12-18T22:19:00.001+08:00

I was at Subang Parade yesterday evening for a lightning-strike purchasing operation (i.e. last minute shopping), and I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of my photos had been used for a promotional poster displayed at the information counter.

You see, last month Maestro Bernard and I helped our friends to shoot some pictures of their products and shop at Subang Parade. The management of Subang Parade then used the pictures to produce their promotional materials.

Well, I don't have a copy of the poster, but here are some of the pictures I took.

The shop is called Pedal Works and, as you can see, they sell ladies' shoes. You can find them at the East End, right in front of Uncle Lim's kopitiam.

They also do nail art

Pedal Works at Subang Parade

Same old same old

2007-12-18T00:57:00.000+08:00

Here's a non-political post for a change. Hahaha.

It's comforting to know that some things don't change.

I was at the Chefoo Methodist Centre in Cameron Highlands last week, and I looked up an old friend called Bell.

I had taken a picture of Bell in December 2003, and so I took another shot last week, for old time's sake. The composition this time was slightly different, as I couldn't find the previous stone backdrop. I think it had been demolished. The lighting was also different -- harsher and more direct this time.

Canon EOS 1000FN, Fuji Superia Xtra ISO400, exposure unrecorded, 200mm, Dec 2003

Nikon D80, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, f5.6, 170mm, Dec 2007

Which one do you prefer?

I still like film. My first love.

Or maybe my photo editing skills just suck.

Mutually exclusive?

2007-12-17T19:21:00.000+08:00

Our politicians are still living in the dark ages when they perpetuate the notion that public safety and freedom of expression are mutually exclusive, and that we have to choose one over the other. Hello? We need both. We will never be a truly "developed" society if we continue to portray a mask of stability that is merely held in place by oppressive laws.

I quote M. Bakri Musa, "There is no safety without freedom. Suppressed, humans will ultimately erupt like a volcano, and with equally unpredictable devastations. Freedom without safety is anarchy. Safety and freedom are two sides of the same coin; each complements the other and both are hallmarks of civilized societies. “Safety” without freedom is illusory." You can read the full letter in Lim Kit Siang's blog.

Well, to be fair to our PM, he is put in a very difficult position. Managing the internal power struggles in the highest echelons of power is no joke. Let's pray that he turns over and really stamps his foot down on nepotism and corruption, and this time for real.

p/s Sorry for the recent spate of political posts. I shall endeavour to make my next post "softer" and more reader-friendly. Haha.