Sg.Muda at Bukit Selambau.

Rain early in the morning as one goes out to join the rest of the working population to go to work really dampens your day and not a good start to any day. It's cold, got a little a bit wet as we get into the car, and the traffic jam, even here in Alor Star.

The biggest, longest and most important water source for Kedah and Penang is the Sg.Muda. But the state of the river at this point is very disheartening, pain to the eyes, pain to the heart also. Sakit hati memandangnya. It's not pollution - no floating rubbish like many rivers in urban areas in the Peninsular - it's the unnatural state of the river as a result of uncontrollable mining of sand from the river bed. The river bed has been mined too deep such that it threatens the stability of a bridge and the river banks are steep in many places much like the Grand Canyon and unstable. The water is brown, keroh, not much water flowing. And sand is still being mined in many places all along the river. It is a sad view and certainly not something we can be proud of or one of those things we can show to tourists. We failed as a nation if we can't take care of our own assets.