Emporium Blog

As always I was having my meal alone again, at some food court in some shopping complex. I was not in my best of mood. It is more like a state of mood I am in most of the time.

There is this lady who came near my table asking for permission to take some empty chairs over to her table.

Lady, pointing to the empty chair: Ada orang ke? (”Is there someone?” *in Bahasa Malaysia)

Me: Lei kong mat chat? (”What are you talking about?” *in rude Cantonese)

In Malaysia, most Malays cannot understand the Chinese language. However, most other races can understand and speak fluent Bahasa Malaysia. The Malays are often very reluctant to speak in other languages than theirs. Even if they speak in the English Language, they will have accent, with their own flow and generous fare of lah’s. I am not in the mood to make her understand, not this time.

The lady was taken back slightly and looks quite surprise at my response. Somehow she summed up her courage to ask again.

Lady, pointing to the empty chair: Ada orang ke? (this time much louder)

Me: Ni Mah Ter. Ni suo seh meh? (Some vulgarities and “What are you talking about?” *in Mandarin)

She scoffs and walks off.

Moral of the story? There is none actually, just fed up.

This post is not meant to be biased or sexist. It is just an observation. It is about the general Chinese women in Malaysia who went overseas for further studies.

Those who are Chinese educated will normally get married to a foreigner there or when they are back.

Those who are English/National educated who went overseas will normally come back single and then get married to locals or they don’t get married at all.

Why like that? How would I know? Hence the title.

I am having my meal at KFC. I am alone. I sit at the furthest corner of the restaurant. As usual my order is the Snack Plate, consisting of two pieces of chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and a small bun.

It is boring having to eat alone. Looked around, there are couples, families, friends, all eating together and chatting happily. My mood sank lower. Well, fine, I just have to finish my meal quickly and get out of there.

Somehow someone must have noticed my new haircut that day. A nice pretty little lady walks toward me and she looks happy to see me. I am sure she is smiling at me because I have my back to the wall and there is no one behind me.

My heart beats faster as she comes closer. Uninvited and in a most gracious way she sat beside me.

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Inconsiderate motorists, who hog the fast lane on highways, hear this!

You may drive slowly, you may even stop if you want, but make bloody sure you are not in other people’s way when you do that.

These road hoggers are selfish and oblivious to the dangers and the inconveniences they are causing other road users. I suspect they are somewhat blind and deaf. They could not care less about the flashing lights or blaring horns from the cars behind. I must add they are also bad tempered and ill mannered. The moment you overtake them, often by using the slow lane, they will give you the “I-own-the-road” glance. Some may even give you the middle finger.

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Magnum 4D, Sports Toto, Da Ma Cai number for you to punt on. There is this funny habit of Malaysian motorist which is more common than not amongst the Chinese community. They like to punt on any set of four numbers.

Simply called the 4D Game, it is a simple game of chance. It is simple and easy to play. Just place a small bet on any combination of four numbers and if it is drawn by any of the three lottery operators in the country, you strike a prize.

Often if there are any road accidents, most motorists will slow down, take out a pen and jot down the number plates of the car/s involved in the accident. They believe the more severe the accident, the higher the chance the numbers will come up in the lottery draw.

I have heard of many types of reasoning, if the car is rammed from behind, buy the set of numbers backward. If the car overturned, then six (6) becomes nine (9) and vice versa, etc etc.

There you go, good luck!

Disclaimer: No one is hurt or harmed in the above picture. Numbers may or may not come up in the lottery draw. Please bet within your means. Thank you.

Paypal now allows or so it seems, for Malaysians to withdraw their funds via credit-card management system. Namely the Visa and MasterCard machinery.

This system is often put into place when negotiations with the banking or financial body in certain country failed to make any progress. It is a last ditch effort made to enable users to transfer funds without being subjected to the rules and regulations set by the regulatory body. In Malaysia, that body is called Bank Negara.

If you log on to your paypal account, click on “Withdraw”, you will now see two options. The “Transfer funds to your card” is a newly added feature. It costs 5.00USD per transaction with a limit of 500.00USD.

Initial attempts to withdraw funds this way have not been successful. I am using credit cards issued by the local banks. I made a quick call to their customer service asking for clarifications. Their credit card officer revealed that all local banks have barred this kind of fund movement also used by online sports betting bookies.

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Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia.

Malaysia will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary of Independence on this coming 31st August, 2007. Much has happened in this span of fifty years and much is still left to be desired.

In his recent speech at the First Student Leaders Summit, Raja Muda of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah emphasised the rule of law and the inviolability of the Federal Constitution. It is a noble move to remind those who has taken the Constitution for granted. His speech has in a way awaken many to the fact that the citizen of this country has forgotten and forsaken the true motive and meaning of it.

Meanwhile, the following statement from a fellow Malaysian hits it where it matters and deserves special mention.

The Constitution of our country, apart from being a sacred document, is also a road map established to promote justice, insure domestic tranquility, secure liberty for our posterity and us and uphold the general welfare of our people irrespective of race, colour or creed.

It is the supreme law of the Federation and any law passed after the Merdeka Day that is inconsistent with this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void (Article No. 4.1).

Any law that is in any respect repugnant to this Constitution or any provision thereof shall not be enacted.

Without any doubt, non-compliance with this obligations will impede progress and peace.

For parlimentarians especially, this is a heavy responsibility to shoulder.

Knowing the Constitution alone is not enough; upholding it and whatever it stands for must be religiously treasured.

–Noel F. D’Oliveiro

This blog is created initially to document and put to writing the misdoing of my apartment’s Evil Developer and their Maintenance Company from hell. This is the place to bring to bring to light all their evil doings, as no other place is appropriate enough.

This blog serve as a place of sort to vent my pent up anger and frustrations. This is necessary as all kinds of complains to all levels of authority fell on deaf ears.

The Authority that has the authority to do something often refuses to address and tackle the problems many dwellers of high-rise apartment and communal living places are facing.

More often than not, laws and rules are created to address issues but they are loosely enforced if at all. Let’s see how long they will take this time.

Board to handle strata title grouses

PUTRAJAYA: The soon-to-be-formed Strata Titles Board will handle all complaints regarding strata titles.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid has informed the Bar Council that he was in the midst of appointing members to the board.

The council’s conveyance practice committee chairman, Roger Tan, said this was provided for in the amended Strata Titles Act, which came into effect in April.

Tan said condominium owners could take their complaints to the board and its decision would be final.

-Excerpt from The Star Newspaper

However, I realized that many can complain and whine but not many can actually do something to end the woes. We need more action than just talk. Complain letters and discussions held with proper diplomatic channels do not work. If the proper ways do not work, what choice do we have?

The direction of this blog is vague for now. I can see a faint light at the end of the tunnel.

Make money online by writing a blog, it is not to be, at least for the moment for this blog. Those who tell you can make money easily by writing a blog are telling a lie. It is possible but it is not easy, far from it. It would take as much effort as it takes to start a business in real life and make it make profit. No luck is involved in this. Planning, promotion, rapport and even connections play a part in your blog’s success. Even the reliability of your webhoster will play a part.

If you put as much effort into writing a blog so much so that it will make you a decent income to enable you to forgo your regular job, you would be a doctor in real life with the same amount of effort put into your studies. Those who are still skeptical can proof me wrong by starting a blog now and talk again after six months.

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Astro got new channels - Astro on Demand. I guess everyone knows about it already. The channels will feature Chinese serial dramas at about the same time as they are aired in Hong Kong. Viewers will have to pay per episode.

It is a big deal, really. Malaysian viewers are normally served with stale and outdated programmes by Astro without them knowing it. Astro always comes out with new channels and products and I admire their innovation and creativity for sucking the people’s money.

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I have seen one and I have seen one too many. Drivers who smoke while driving will often flick the cigarette butt out of the car when done. Maybe it is out of convenience, may be it is just the wind. Having a bad habit like smoking is bad enough, add another simply throw rubbish habit and you have the nasty drivers who smoke. To add to insult, it is not illegal in Malaysia to smoke or eat while driving.

I have seen many types of rubbish being thrown out of a moving car. Tissue papers, unwanted bits of papers and wrappers, packets of drinks, plastic bags and tins, rambutan peels, glass bottle from obviously drunk drivers who throw just to break it and you just name it objects. I would not be surprised if someone were to throw some durian skins out of the car during this durian season.

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I used to be a chain smoker. I started smoking since college, partly due to peer pressure and I thought it is cool to be seen with a cigarette. Boy, was I wrong.

Movies and unrealistic advertisement back then depicts smokers as idol and cool dude. I still remember the advertisement where the bald eagle of America flying over the outback plains. Two cowboys then emerges and brew coffee on a bonfire while smoking. Smoking represents the free spirit, peace and style. That is the power of advertisements.

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Sambal Belacan is an immensely popular condiment in Malaysia. It is spicy and is often used in many types of dishes. Some people just cannot do without it at meal time. My neighbour one floor down is one of them. So much so that I can hear them making sambal or rather banging the floor every morning without fail. Sometimes I wonder whether they eat the thing for breakfast.

In the preparation, chili is pounded with belacan in a stone mortar or “batu lesung” (picture). The pounding can last from ten minutes to as long as half an hour. It is believed the longer the ingredient is pounded, the tastier it will be, much to my disgust.

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Everyone wants the best for themselves and their children. I have seen parents going to great lengths to ensure a bright future for their children. Somehow they forgot and do not bother to keep this planet clean, safe and habitable for them.

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The block of apartment I am currently living in is twenty seven floors high. It has three lifts serving eight units of household on every floor. There are two normal sized ones and one larger Bomba Lift (Fire Fighter Lift).

The middle larger Bomba Lift is not working since six years ago. It has been scavenged for spare parts to repair and maintain the other two lifts (note the door, missing buttons and floor indicators in the picture). The Evil Developer does not seem to want it to be operational again. The lifts do not even have certificate of fitness issued by the Fire Department. It is illegal but the authority is not taking any action.

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There is a meeting scheduled for tonight that I did not attend. It is a meeting between the resident’s association of my apartment and the maintenance company.

They are to discuss about the implementation of an autogate system with CCTV surveillance camera. Security is bad at the apartment where I am staying. There has been a constant spate of break-ins. Car thefts are rampant too. All the residents are very angry and demanded something to be done in order to prevent further incidents.

The autogate system is something that should have been implemented more than ten years ago. It is in the brochure when the developer launches the property. Somehow the Evil Developer did not deliver what they promised and gets away with it.

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The other day I went to KLCC Suria Shopping Mall, it is not a planned trip. I had wanted to go somewhere else that day but the road is too jammed and I detoured instead. I am sure all Kuala Lumpur dwellers know that “if it rains in Kuala Lumpur, the roads will be jammed”

KLCC Suria Shopping Mall is a six level shopping mall near Petronas Twin Towers. The place is unusually crowded on a weekday.

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I live in an apartment and I have to use the lift everyday. Today is quite a memorable day. The lift opens up and there’s this young, petite and beautiful lady inside. I don’t remember seeing her before. She is definitely not from my floor.

I live high up and there will be some time before the lift hit ground floor. For the moment, there’s just the two of us, alone in the lift. I took my position and stand behind her. She has this almost perfect curvature, clearly outlined waist and hips. Her almost blemish free complexion and great features would make any man drool in lust. Read the rest of this entry »