The kid blogger...

Yesterday our five years old grandson call and said that he wanted to start a website and ask me to scan a few of his drawing so that he can post to his site. Without wasting time I drove to his home and got the two drawing and got it scanned. In the afternoon I took it back to him and transferred it to his dad’s laptop and then went home.

Today we are in Malacca after arriving here just after one in the afternoon. We would be staying at our apartment here until Sunday. Just a while ago I got an SMS from my son in law saying that Azib, his youngest son has just start a blog. Immediately I surfed the net using my cell phone and saw the blog azibart. His dad help him to do that. He got a numbers of his drawing in the blog. Indeed he now has a website of his own. He is just five years old. What a way to go for this kid, our youngest grand kid.

I call him a while ago and congratulate him of his success and told him that he got a great blog there. He just laughs his usual self and said that he would be posting more of his drawing. Well folks, it looks like blogging is in our gene. He has yet to get to the normal school and at present in the kindergarten. And he is a blogger already!. Probably the youngest blogger around. What a way to go for our grandchildren, a generation that are born into the world of ICT. So it is not strange to see this generation get into cybersphere like duck into the water. Well folks, that is our world today. Have a nice day.

Of blogsphere and the Malaysian Election...

Blog the new media is surely going to made some impact in this coming election. Before Blogging the only information one get about the campaign is through the mass media, like the Radio, Television, the Newspapers and attending rallies. Now with blogging the society are slowly and surely been bombarded by more information about the coming election. Candidates who are not getting their views into the Newspapers, the Radio and Television are doing it now via Blogging [The citizen Newspaper] and its sister media the YouTube [The citizen TV]. With the new generation of Malaysian voters who are slowly becoming more Internet savvy, these new media are I believed going to made some impact in this coming election. It is interesting to note that even the ruling party the BN [The National Front] have set up what they call the Cyber Troopers to monitor the political development in cyberspere. So it look like from now onward the fight for political power would not only be in the real world but in cyberspere as well.

I think when voters get to hear both side of the story, they would have a better understanding of whom to vote. In a way this is good because in a democracy the people are the real power and the elected official are their representatives. By electing the right people to represent them they are actually transferring their power to their representatives in Parliament and the State Assemblies.

Campaigning is going on all over the country to influence voters and political blogs are doing the same, so now voters are getting more information then never before. With that I believe there would emerged a better quality of voters and this would translate to a matured democracy. The 2008 Election I believe is the beginning of the changes that would continue to happen in the next fifth years. So friends do vote with wisdom and made democracy works for us. Have a nice day.

Atuk Bloggers...

Once again senior bloggers are featured in the mainstream Newspaper. This time in the New Straits Times, in the Tech&U Section. Last year the Star another Malaysian mainstream Newspaper did a piece on this subject. Thanks to Rozana Sani of NST for narrating well the ways of blogging by the Malaysian senior bloggers which includes Me. Thus in some ways it gave more ideas and information to the masses on why blogging is important to the Malaysian society. To me blogging is a new media that has yet to be understood by the society. It is just like when Television was invented and first introduce to the society and became the New Media after the Newspaper.

In the beginning no one thoughts that the Television would became such an important media in our world today. Our culture are shaped by the programmes on the TV. We get news at the speed of light via the TV and get entertained in our own home by the TV. So in a way the Box do become a part of our lives. Just imaging a day without the TV. I know that for a fact. Sometimes long ago when our TV stop working and had to be send to the shop for repair, we were for sometimes were 'lost'. Even though at that time there was only one or two channels and the programme in black and white, our family without the TV became sort of despaired. We seem to lost somethings that we just took for granted while it is there. To get to a normal life again I had to borrow a TV and used it while our TV was been repaired. So that was how the TV affects our lives. And now we just could not live without it. We now have more then one TV in our home and hundreds of channels to select, so that everyone could enjoy their own channels as they like.

Coming back to blogging eventually there would be millions of blogs in this country just like we have TV set now. The government do not want the society to miss the ICT revolution so the Internet became one of the tool for that. With the Internet and now with Broadband blogging came into being. Before blogging the venue for the dissemination of ideas and information to the society were limited. Only the Newspaper, the Radio and TV could do that but with blogging the Pandora box on the freedom of expression is open wide. With a computer you could created your own 'Newspaper' in the Internet by way of blogging. Since ideas and information are important for an informed society in a democratic country, in a way bloggers are playing a very important role in keeping the society informed. An informed society means a knowledgeable society, which is a very important component in a democracy. It is also good for the authority in power, for it provides sort of feedback which would in a way help in good governance.

With this new found freedom of expression comes responsibility, so to bloggers do be responsible of what you blog. Blogging is still in its infancy and like any new media it would takes time to matured.. Happy Blogging.[Atuk mean Grandpa]

Of furniture and its owner...

Good furniture are made by good craftsman who love doing a good job of it. It is actually a work of art. A priceless item indeed. It is said, probably one of the Wisdom of the Old, that a furniture is made and then it wait for its owner. Eventually it would find its rightful owner. I have always admired good workmanship in furniture making, so always kept looking for one that I would eventually take it home to be mine. Somehow I know that woodwork is in my gene for I seem to be able to create beautiful woodwork once I set my mind in doing it. I got myself a set of tools for woodwork and would from time to time sat to create simple furniture. The about furniture that you see in the image above is part of my own creation that I am proud of it. It is also a piece of furniture love by everyone in our home. The Kopitian table, that has a history of its own. The marble top is a piece that I got from an old table that was in my late father coffee shop. The original base made of wood has since gone from neglect when my younger brother who inherit the shop decided to close the business. Most of the old furniture in the shop was carted to his home in the Kampong [village] and left everywhere and soon with the introduction of new furniture, these things of the old were just left to rots. What a pity.

One fine day some years ago when I was at my brother's house in Kempadang, Kuantan. I ask him of the whereabouts are those furniture of the past that was in father's shop. He just pointed to me to the junk in his store at the back of the house. I look and found a piece of the marble top lying on the ground and covered with dirt and sand. I drag it out and saw that it is still in one good piece but slightly damaged. He told me that if I want that piece I could have it. Without much hesitation I got one of his son to help me get that piece into the boot of my car. And brought it back to my home in KL. With the help of a friend of mine who is also a craftsman, the marble top was brought back to its original shape again. Over times I got the help of another craftsman to do the base of Jati wood for me and Voila!! I eventually got a new Kopitian Table which is unique in a way, with its own history. The four chairs you see in the image are that I bought after doing a search in the market. It is made of Rubber wood, a Malaysian own. Well, just like the old saying, these furniture, the Kopitiam table and the four chairs have found its owner in Me.

Another Word of Wisdom about furniture that I would like to share with all is that Get a really good furniture that would last and it would be part of the family forever and ever. Just like this marble table top of Kopitiam table. The whole family love it and I believe it would stay with the family forever. Have a nice day.

Of Leong and the Market on Wheel...

While the political scene is getting hotter day by day and with the high election fever, soon things would get delirious and the real world would be forgotten for a while . That is the reality of politic. While the politicians are up in the air in their world, let us turn down to earth to the reality of the everyday happening. But do not forget the Polling Day this March 8, 2008 which is around the corner and get to the Polling Station early to make your choice. But before that do check and see whether you are eligible to vote. Go here for that.

For today let me bring to you to the reality of our lives in the suburban of Ampang Jaya. The happening that I am relating could be of anywhere in the modern Malaysian society. That is the reality. For a while let us leaves the politician to their world and we to our world. This story is about Leong, or Mamat or Mutusamy or Christopher or any Malaysian for that matter. He is part of our lives. No, not our lives alone but in a way the lives of the community as well. In fact Leong and his father Ah Loy before him has become a sort of an institution to us, not only in this community of Ampang Jaya but other housing estates as well. Let us just say that 'Leong' is everywhere where there are people living in this suburban environment, the housing estate that most of us call home.

It has been a really hot and humid day but as usual without failed Leong arrived. The Store on Wheel that has been a familiar sight as long as I could remembered. He announced his daily arrival with the peculiar sound of his car horn. At times my spouse would alert me if need be when she hear the sound of the horn. As usual folks would come out of their home and soon crowd around that small mobile store. Chatting with one another while buying whatever they wanted for the day's meal. Leong always brought varieties of fresh fish and as usual I would buy fish and chat we him. He inherit this mobile store from his father, Ah loy and took over when his father pass away some years ago. The late Ah loy was not only a regular feature who brought the store to our house but over times he became a friend as well, that you would want to exchange notes of the happening while doing your purchase. He was a good businessman and now his son Leong is carrying on that unique business. The Market on Wheel.

I got most of my seafood like fish, prawn, cuttle fish and other seafood from Leong, whereas for meat and chicken I got it from the wet market at Datuk Keramat. The reason I got all my seafood from him is that he always brought in fresh seafood and of high quality. I always bought extra and kept it in my freezer, so that it would be easy on my spouse to think of what to cook on any days. Now with the cell phone I would just SMS him to made an order, or when I need other things urgently I would just call him and ask him where is now at that moment in time or has move from his particular location on one of the road to to another location around the housing estate and told him of what I wanted. And if he is not that far away I would drive and get the goods or he would deliver it on his way home. His shop on wheel stored almost everything that you need for your daily cooking and that includes Chicken, Fish, Vegetables, Fruits and other cooking essential like herbs and the this and that of Asian cooking. In fact his mobile store is just like the retail store or the supermarket but on a smaller scale. But this one move around. In a way instead of you going to the store, the store comes to you. Actually it made things easy for the housewives, for they do not really have to leave their home to shops. It is also becoming a place to meet the neighbors for a short chat while doing the purchases. In short this store on wheel has become a sort of an institution that we can't live without. It is becoming a culture of a sorts. A truly Malaysian one. BTW do you have a 'Leong' around your place!!. What a great service this 'Leong' did to the community. Have a nice day.

A beautiful day..

I sat here at the patio and trying to blog of what's in my mind while my other half browsed the Sunday papers. I had done it a while ago and saw there are no new developments that I had not known already. It is full of stories of the election, mostly of that of the ruling parties, The Barisan Nasional or the National Front. Only one or two articles on the oppositions parties. Well that is politic. So I decided not to read it anymore but to sit here and blog.

It is a a beautiful Sunday morning with clear blue sky. In front of me are those orchids that I posted in my last posting and as I write this I could hear the flows of water from the fish pond nearby. The greens and the sound of dripping water bring back memories of my childhood. In those days being around pool of water in the village are very common but now living in the city it is not the same anymore. The roads are well laid and there seem to be no pot holes anymore. If there are any, folks would write to the local authority and soon it would be repaired. The stream nearby is not that clean any more. It look just like another drain beside the roads. For me who grew up in the era gone by, the scenes of greens, clear water streams and stretch and stretch of scenic beaches as far as the eyes could see are common sights to wonder. It was indeed beautiful days indeed. In the early morning on the way to school carrying the only tool for studying, the Slate. I would throw it gliding on the surface of the grass covered with the morning dew. I pick it up and wiped it clean. By doing that the Slate became smooth and fine, making it much easier to write on with the Slate pencil. It is almost the size of the present laptop. Funny! both have the same function that of writing, one of the past and the other of the present, the era of electronic and the Internet. Who would have dreamed that we would be doing our writing on a laptop computer now. That Slate is history, a very important tool for writing some sixty years ago and now this laptop, the tool of the present generation. What the present generation, that of our grands would be using in the next fifty years would be just something that we have just to wonder. Perhaps one did not have to use the keyboard but speak to it and the words get printed just like we do now with the keyboard. For now let us just wonder!!.


Nearby a political party, [PKR] Party Keadilan Rakyat, the People Justice Party, a multi racial party that is contesting the present election has sat up an Operation Centre. This party is headed by the spouse of Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar Ibrahim the former Deputy Prime Minister is prohibited by law to participate in politic until April this year. Anyways he is doing the campaigning for the party. So it look like the opposition parties are well prepared this time and if they wins sits in the election, there would be some changes in the political arena of the country. It would surely bring some good. For I believe that changes would bring reform, thus it would be good for the political development in this country. By this time next week we would know who are the candidates that would be standing for election come March 8, 2008.

I am not that sure as yet of what to do the rest of this Sunday. Maybe we would just go out for a spin around the city and come back after dinner. Have a nice day..

Of Orchids and politic...

Orchids always inspire me to look at life in a colorful ways. So while the politicians battled it out, to get nominated to contest in the coming election, let us enjoy this simple posting of images of the glorious orchids from our garden. I believe in a small ways it would light up our lives during the following weeks when the Malaysian atmosphere would be super charged with politic. Let carry on with living for we all know too well that Politic is the Art of the Possible. Have a nice day..

Election in Malaysia..

The Election Commission has just announce the date of the coming election. The nomination day has been fixed on February 24, 2008 and the Polling Day on March 8, 2008. So let us wait for the nomination day and see who the candidates are. Then we all shall go to Vote on March 8, 2008. In the meantime Have a nice day.

Parliament dissolved..

As has been predicted by many, the Prime Minister of Malaysia has dissolved Parliament. This made way for the General Election soon. I believe the Election Commission would soon announce the date for the nomination of the candidates as well as the Polling day.

Well, I was right when I said that the election is going to be held soon. With this announcement the speculation as to when the election would be held can be put to rest. Friends, we are going to the poll again, so do not miss this opportunity to vote the person or the party that you want to manage this country for the next five years. Have a nice day.

The Election...

From the look of it the general election is going to be very soon. Some indication that it would be held in the month of March. I read that the Parliament would be dissolved soon and with that The Election Commission would announce the nomination date and follow with the date of the Polling day. We have been that way before so after going for eleven elections since we got our independence in 1957, we are matured enough to understand what our votes means.

I personally believe most Malaysian has already made up their mind of whom or which party to vote in the coming Election. The former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir advice the voters to vote for the good and clean candidates, so I hope that all political parties do take notes to put good candidates for the coming Election. By doing so we would get good people into our Parliament and this would augur well for democracy in Malaysia.

We have been an independent country for fifty years already and most Malaysian voters of today are post Merdeka citizen, mostly well educated and already matured in their thinking, thus I believe they would go to the poll with an open heart and vote with a clear conscience. I have been through the election from the first one in 1955 and all the elections throughout the years. This coming election is going to be the Twelfth Election. So let get it going and together we could continue to made this great country greater.

This coming election would saw some major changes like the using of Transparent Ballot Box and the marking of the finger with the black indelible ink. In the past the voters were only verified with their Identity card. So with this new introductions it would surely made the coming election better then before. Have a nice day.. So When is the Voting day!!!.

Cool...

It all start with a burst pipe. Have you been in a situation where your pipe burst and water just gone to waste. Did you panic or was it you just stay Cool!!!. I did. It did happen to me sometime ago. I was at the garage and while trying to pull the lever of the faucet, the joint to the PVC pipe snapped. It just broke and water rush out in force. In that moment in times I just did not know what to do. Sort of in a state of panic!!. I did try to stop the flow of water but it just did not works. The only way is to turn off the supply of water to the house. I did that but then it cut the water supply to the whole house. I call the plumber but before they arrived I got the solution to it. If only I had stayed cool, I would have not call the plumber. I drove to the nearest hardware shop and bought a PVC stopper. With that I did some works with the joint that burst and put the PVC stopper and that's it. I then turn on the supply to the house and it works perfect. The pipe that burst is now OK and it does not leak anymore. Hurray Happy Me!!!...

That incident kept me thinking of what to do in a situation like that. One must not panic because fixing a PVC pipe is not that hard. What you need are some simple tools, PVC pipes and sealer/gum for PVC and you are on your way to be a good plumber. One more thing is that you must also have knowledge on plumbing. At an early age I am always curious of how things works and love to watch workers do their jobs. One thing that I learned over times that for a job to be done perfect the worker my first love doing it and have the skill to do a good job. In those days when they were using lead pipe, it is a bit hard but with the proper tools it was just as easy.

One thing that I notice that they are always cool in doing their jobs. They are patience and do not rush in doing the job. They did it with confidence, thus they do not waste unnecessary time. I have been watching plumber works whenever I call them to the house from time to time. But now with all the times in the world, I told myself that why not I do it myself. I think I have learned enough from watching those plumber do their works and I am ready to do that. So from time to time I just did that. As to that burst pipe, after a week I decided to fixed a new faucet there and with a proper planning I got it done perfect. In fact better then it was before. So friends when the plumber next at your home do take the trouble to watch and learn. There would be time where your little knowledge on plumbing would get handy and of course save your pocket as well.

That day before I start to do a little bit of an adventure on plumbing I assembled all the tools and the parts in front of me and decided to take a snap of it. Voila! it turn out great!!. What an images it turn out to be. A reminder that plumbing also has the other side as well. Sort of a works of Art. Friends much as I had enjoyed the plumbing that day, the image above add to that sastification. The whole project did made my day. Do have a nice day as well.

Gong Xi Fa CAI...

It is the Chinese New Year today, so Happy Chinese New Year to all and Have a nice day..

Happy Chinese New Year...

Comes the Chinese New Year the market would be flooded with the Mandarin oranges or Kum in Chinese. In fact you could smell the Chinese New Year is around the corner if you began to see this oranges first made its appearance. First in small quantity and as the days progresses it would be everywhere from the Mama and Papa shops to the major Supermarkets. We love this oranges, for its sweet and special flavor. It is so different from the other oranges. Unlike the other oranges the skin of the Mandarin oranges come off easily. If the skin is flatten and spread it would look sort of like the world map. In the days of our childhood, the elders would says that if the juice of the orange get to your eyes, you would see China. Maybe so. There is some truth in this. Indeed it is the produce of China for the world market. Every years without failed it made its appearance at the right time of the year for us to enjoy.

Gong Xi Fa CAI (Mandarin) and Gong Hey Fat Choy (Cantonese) to all. It has been a great year, so let hope that the New Year bring greater prosperity and happiness to all especially us Malaysian. Let us continue to work smart in whatever we do and continue to live in peace and harmony. We have a great country Malaysia where we could celebrate all the major festivals of the world's people in our own way and enjoying it. Above are some images of the CNY atmosphere at the KLCC Mall in Kuala Lumpur and the Alamanda in Putrajaya. Every malls all over the country are decorated in the atmosphere of Red, the vibrant color of the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Rat. According to the Chinese astrology it is going to be another good year. This year the celebration start on February 7, 2008. Have a nice day.

A fusion call Joy...

The evening was hot and humid. It was one of those day when you wish that the weather would be just a bit cool. But been in the tropic one can expect that kind of weather any day. Despite the heat I went out to my patio to enjoy the fresh air at my little garden. An orchid that has just started to bloom draws my attention. I took a little steps and went to admire it. At that moment in times it struck me that it would be great if I could just immortalized that scene and share it with all to enjoy. Got my camera and took a few snaps and got one that I think worth sharing. I am not sure what to name it, since it is not only the image of that orchids but other elements as well. The orchids soon became a part of the whole well in harmony with the rest, the plant, the Terracotta pots, the bamboo blind and the this and that, that made my little garden a special place of my own. A place where nature do give me its best whenever I am there and today it give me the above image, that the I shall call Joy.. Have a nice day..[Note: The above image was taken on January 31, 2008 at 8.53pm without using flash]