Death Hole

On the evening of the 18th September a motorcyclist was killed when his motorcycle hit a manhole with the cover missing. It was dark and he probably could not see it and one cannot blame him. A very unfortunate incident. Lots of manhole covers, the one made of steel, were nicked in recent times. That leaves a dangerous situation of holes where there isn't supposed to be. Can't play the blame game here, the authorities must replace the missing covers as soon as possible and make our roads safe. The missing steel covers would land in some scrap metal dealer and then to the steel factories. This chain should be fairly easy to be identified, and should the authority is serious enough to tackle the problem it could be solved or significantly reduced. There is a way if there is a will to do it.

Katrina

Katrina’s Fury.

It has been more than 2 weeks since the Hurricane Katrina passed through New Orleans in the USA ( I think it was around August 28^th). On TV and the print media we are still being shown the devastation and misery of the people affected, not least politicians trying to save their own skins. Nothing can prevent the fury of nature. It is hard not to feel for the people affected, many lost their family members - more than 600 lost their lives – lost all their possessions, house etc. i.e. lives severely disrupted and won’t know where to start. Though the USA is a rich country and can provide for its own people, half a world away, I can almost feel the shock, sadness and the hardness the those people have to go through to build their lives again. Only today in the papers that I read some people are allowed to return to their homes. God help those people!

North-South Highway to KL

11 September 2005.
Pride of the nation, this North South Highway. Reputedly one of the longest, if not the longest, stretch of privatised toll highway in the world, 800+km long from Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah at the Thailand Border to Johor Bahru at the southernmost part of the peninsular. So today I travel part of this highway 550 km of it, from AS to KL. My impression? Bone shaking! Its the car one might say, but if the road is nice and smooth why would the car shakes so much, mind you I just put in a new set of tyres about 3 months ago. Really, many parts of the highway need resurfacing, which they are doing in places but does look like maintenance work on the road surface is lagging behind. Also saw people patching the road surface plugging potholes. What kind of maintenance is that? This is not some road going to rural Baling or Sik. The standard of road surface maintenance practised by the highway operator is a shame, they do a better job maintaining the toilets and grass on the verge. And as a result users like me travelling on rattling cars suffer - until I could get myself an S-Class :-)

Upon reaching KL, somehow I always get this excitement feeling and tend to drive like crazy like way locals do. Crazy means like accelerating and braking hard and overtaking left and right through traffic to get to my destination faster. It’s all these cars around you and you don’t want to be left behind, I think that is crazy.

Passing through Bukit Tunku, the short cut from Jalan Duta to The Mall, one can see construction being carried out for what looks like luxury condominiums. The place is fast losing its greenery.

Dream Car

A dream car parked beside mine yesterday and a gorgeous lady (but rather sour looking) came out of the front passenger seat to go to the flower shop nearby, didn't see the driver, must be a car freak, otherwise, there are a lot of other choices if you have RM200+k to play with. This is the car that I really would like to have though given the choice I rather go for the the other equivalent by Subaru. Buy, beg, borrow or steal this Mitsubishi car someone said in the motoring column of some newpapers, and one could even outrun a Ferrari in it! Driving down to KL in a little while, this car would do nicely!

To Prai and Back

Rush off to Prai at 8.30am and back to A.Star at 5.00pm. So that's the end of the week for me and what has been done this week? Seems like this week has passed by extremely quick! Piles of paperwork to be done so it looks like I have to be back at my desk during the weekend. Have to go to KL on Sunday for the seminar on Monday, so really MUST do some work tomorrow or Saturday or both days. I don't mind as long as things get done.

Merdeka!

30 August 2005. 12 Midnight.

48th year after Merdeka. I’m home but I can hear fireworks faintly from where the countdown is in the center of town about 4km away. 48 years sounds like a long time but in the history of a nation 48 years is relatively short period of time. The elders of the country are worried that the younger generation might forget or worse not know what merdeka is all about. In school, history is not a favourite subject for most pupils so the details about the struggles of leaders of the country then trying to gain independence largely escaped them. Nevertheless merdeka celebration in recent years takes on a new dimension with the Merdeka countdown is being carried out very much like the new year celebration with live concerts and fireworks. People like that, especially young people. Unless you are VIP, you'll need a lot of energy to brave through the big crowds celebrating at various spots. To go the first question asked would be where are we going to park the car.

Flags everywhere in many places this Merdeka day, but it does seem that this year there aren't that many flags around. In my street the only big flag on show is on my gate and another one at the end of the road, certainly no atmosphere here where I live