...a picture of dejection...

precariously close to

the edge

A picture of dejection

Tue 29/12/09. 9.30am. Taman Miharjah LRT Station.

As I was waiting for the train to arrive a red and beige dot scurrying on the far side of the platform precariously towards the edge suddenly caught my attention. As I squinted to focus my sight the little dot turned out to be a little boy.

He wore a red T-shirt and kakhi shots. Standing close to the edge of the platform, with his head dipping downwards towards his tiny chest as if deep in deep thought and his two hands clasping and resting on the small of his back he was a picture of utter dejection. Apparently he had wandered off from his mommy who was seated on the bench. Mommy was desperately trying to coax the naughty boy to retreat from the platform edge but he was in no mood to comply. With more rebuke from mommy the more the little boy inched towards the edge, until he stopped about 15 cm from the edge.

...the little dot scurrying in

the background...

Although the train was still far away from the station I was getting a little apprehensive about the boy and was wondering whether I should intervene by pulling the boy away from the edge. Then after this picture was taken the little boy appeared to have come to his senses and started to walked away from the edge towards the open arms of his desperate mommy. By this time mommy was getting up from the bench and hastening towards her son.

As I stood beside the other commuters in the train heading towards Bandaraya Station where I would get down I reflected upon what would happen to the boy or what would I have done had the train zoomed by while the boy was standing on the edge of the platform. Luckily for me the dreaded scenario didn't materialise.

"Phew! What a day of high drama," breathing a sight of relief I got down from the station in a peaceful frame of mind.

Missing friend report

Empty mansion 28/12/09Where's the lord of the house? Mon 9.30am 28/12/09. At a construction site off Jln Tun Razak

Expecting to seeing Joe Swinger sitting in a playful pose in front of his mansion to my disappointment I saw an empty plastic bag perching incongruously on the ledge at the entrance to the mansion. The leash that was used to secure him at the neck to his house was also no where to be seen.

"Perhaps not in the mood to come out he must have been sleeping inside the house," I comforted myself.

Joe sitting in front of his mansionPic taken on 23/12/09 Peering through the door way I saw nothing but empty space inside the dark interior.

"Anybody see Joe this morning?" I asked around and nobody in particular. "I saw the monkey sitting on a branch this morning but don't know where he is now," volunteered the site supervisor who was sitting beside me. Probably he sensed my anguish and despair. Naturally I didn't believe a word he said.

Joe has gone missing and nobody seems to know where he has gone to. I hope Joe Swinger, my new-found and then lost furry friend of 6 days has run away to the forest where he truly belongs.

Read about the story of Joe Swinger posted on 23/12/09 in this blog.

Monk eating curry noodles

Enjoying curry noodles Sat 26/12/09 Food stall near the Kajang wet market

I noticed this monk eating curry noodles in a roadside stall in the neighbourhood of the Kajang wet market. Nobody seemed to take notice of him as he hungrily chomped down the noodles.

In accordance to traditional Theravada monastic practice at dawn the monk will go out  bare-footed on alms-round and will have the only meal of the day before noon by eating from the bowl by hand. This one is acting like normal folks taking their morning meals and eating out of chopsticks in the hawker stall. From his body girth he looks well-fed, in stark contrast to monks who follow the teachings of the Buddha strictly who are usually ematiated due to ther ascetic lifestyles. How can you be fat when you only consume one meal a day?

In modern time it is not feasible to adhere strictly to the traditions of yesteryears likely eating out of the bowl on the alms begging rounds. Besides due to the modern materialistic lifestyle and the loss of interest in dhamma pactice there is little or no community support from laity to preserve the traditional practice of the dhamma. So sad. Interest in the dhamma among young people is definitely on the decline.

Christmas visit to Mines Shopping Mall

Xmas tree decoration Christmas Fri 25/12/09 Mines Shopping Mall 2.30pm

Taking advantage of the holiday and the festivity the three of us, mother, daughter and me decided to visit the Mines Shopping Mall.

With all the buntings and other Christmas decorations being displayed in the mall, the Christmas tree and the wooden themed house beside it at Centre Court were the centre of attraction. The tree was at least 2 storey high, decorated with all kinds of lights and gifts hung on it. I saw many visitors posing for photographs standing beside the tree. Of course I heard that the Christmas decorations at Mega Mall and the Pavillion in Kuala Lumpur were much grander. Nevertheless still a sight to behold.

The mall's waterfront The mall was crowded with shoppers and strollers. Hven't seen such a large crowd since the new management took over the mall. Compared to the time when it was under the old management the mall is much jazzier, brighter, customer friendly and more spacious with many branded names making their appearances. The range and choice of F&B outlets have also increased tremendously.

Our shopping purchases...
Wife: she bought a new frame for her spectacles to replace the worn out one, bought some vitamin supplements and toiletries from Guardian.
Daughter: Upgraded her Sony Ericsson memory card with a scanD 2GB microSD card.
Me: Upgraded my Nokia memory card with a ScanD 2GB microSD card, installed Garmin navigator software in my Nokia, bought a 4 port USB hub, (later to my horror found out that my PC could not detect the device.)

Later ate dinner at the Sushi King restaurant before leaving the premises.

Meet Joe Swinger my new found friend

Wed 23/12/09. At a construction site in Jln Tun Razak



May I present you my new found furry friend? He is Orang Hutan's cousin. Unlike Orang Hutan who lives in the great rain forest of Borneo this guy is a city slicker, lives better than most people in his own private mansion located in an affluent Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood somewhere off Jalan Tun Razak. This lucky guy doesn't need to earn a living like you and me and he never goes a day hungry as he gets his bananas served on him like a royality surrounded by servants.

No need to worry about making a living he likes to show off his mansion by happily posing for the camera. Always mischievous he likes to clamber up the tree and swings merrily from its branches. It is his way of telling the world that not only is he the master of his mansion he also has his own private tree to play as he fancies. If he likes you he will break into a dance as if to show off his manly assets (or girlie assets.. not sure if he is a guy, a gal or whatever in-between...)



The truth is he is a cute monkey that I met in a construction site this morning as I was sharing a meal with my colleague in an Indon konsi canteen. .Someone told me that he was rescued from an uncertain faith at another site and brought to this site by some Indon workers. At that time he was just an infant separated from his family and found wandering aimlessly along the roadside. If he had not been picked up he would have been knocked down by passing motorists.

At first they just chained him to the tree with a rope and left him alone. Then later some kind hearted workers built him a timber monkey house (his mansion) to provide shelter from the rain and the sun. After some time the Indon and Bangladesh construction workers started to notice his playful antics and began to feed him bananas.

The monkey doesn't seem to be afraid of humans. I guess he his so domesticated that he has gotten used to having humans around all day. I saw him eating a banana calmly and leisurely off the out-stretched hand of a Bangladeshi worker. When I approached him with my camera phone in hand he was completely at ease and even invited me to snap still and action pictures of him in various playful pose. As I asked around nobody seemed to know what is his name or even has one other than the derogatory term "Monyet."

As I shall be seeing more of him with my daily visits to the site I shall just call him Joe Swinger since he likes to show off his ability by swinging from the tree branches.

I hope some day Joe Swinger can be set free of his bondage from humans and be returned to his natural habitat in the forest where he really belongs.

Morning sickness

Spirulina7.30am Breakfast at home before going to work.

"Take 7 tablets. They are good for your body," wife pointed at the bottle of spirulina supplement resting on the shelf in the kitchen as she rolled a thin slab of margarine on the bread.
Morning sicknessAccording to the misses spirulina can help the body get rid of toxins. I took the 7 tablets with my morning coffee together with two slices of gardenia wholemeal bread.

Half an hour later as I was getting ready to leave the house, I suddenly felt giddy, light headed, vision gone blurry an upset stomach and a headache. I couldn't stand up without feeling dizzy and a loss of balance. So I had to lie on the sofa to rest for about 15 minutes before regaining control over my body sensation. By this time my stomach was bloated due to congestion and I had this urge to visit the toilet for relief.

Sick After arriving at the office I gulped down about 1 litre of water and went to the toilet immediately. After flushing out all the toxins in my body I felt much better though the giddiness and blurry vision had not yet  receded. However compared to breakfast time I had a much better control of my faculty and body. I was ill for most of the whole morning and only started to recover gradually after lunch time. In fact at one point I wanted to take the day off to go home and lie down on the bed. If not because of a few pressing assignment datelines coming up I would have taken the day off.

I guess I was undergoing an internal cleansing crisis triggered by the consumption of the spirulina supplement. The giddiness, blurry vision, loss of balance and stomach spasms were probably symptoms of the body going through a cleansing processing. Maybe my illness has nothing to do with the spirulina tablets, but just a bout of food poisoning. On the other hand I vaguely recall such a similar episode when I first swallowed some spirulina tablets some years ago.

Frustration

Boo! boo! boo!

Wed 16/12/09 9.30am. Attending a progress meeting at the site office

"Any matters to be raised?" the fat lady chairperson raised her shrill voice looking at everybody around the table with a condescending attitude. Typical snotty behaviour of high ranking government servants in position of authority, I thought to myself.

The day before I had received a letter from the government client specifically addressed to me as the ARE (Assistant Resident Engineer) asking me to file a report on among other things some shoddy sanitary plumbing  work. As the structural guy I always thought that my responsibility is to look after the building structure only. Other people's stuff like plumbing, water supply, electricity, architectural work are none of my business.

"Puan, the consultant for the sanitary services should comment on the sanitary system. As the ARE for the building structural work, other services not related to my scope should be handled by the respective consultants." I said factually when it was my turn to speak.

Then came the bomb shell. "You are not hired as the ARE for the structure only. You are the ARE for the WHOLE project!" the fat lady chairperson said flashing a sinister smile and gesturing impatiently with her hands.

Wow! The implication is that I have to play nanny and take care of everybody's problems. My boss said that my scope is limited to the structural building work only when she assigned me to look after this project.

"No way is the company going to take responsibility for other people's problems! I, you and the design engineer will thrash this thing out with the contractor tomorrow," my lady boss said rather annoyed after I related my encounter with the fat lady client when I got back to the office.

Brave words indeed. Let's see if boss will walk the talk when we meet up with the contractor tomorrow. Bear in mind that the contractor is the company's paymaster and the client is a government agency.

Heart breaking and gut wrenching sidewalk freak show

Sunday Star December 13, 2009

Syndicates rake in profits

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A disfigured beggar at the Kg Lapan night market, MalaccaSat 12/12/09 LRT Station at Plaza Rakyat, Puduraya

3.00pm after work. The afternoon scorching sun was so hot that I felt my skin being fried as I hurriedly walked under the shade of the covered walkway towards the direction of the Plaza Rakyat LRT station.

After work I usually board the LRT at the nearby Masjid Jamek station to disembark 3 stations further down the line at Taman Mihajah  where I would then collect my car at the car park for the hour drive back to Kajang. This has been my customary routine as the Masjid Jamek station is within 15 minutes walk from my office building. However on some days when I have to go to Chinatown for some errands then I would board the LRT at Plaza Rakyat Station where the Puduraya Bus terminal is located.

On this particular Saturday after clocking out of the office and with time on my side I suddenly had the urge to visit some book stores in the Chinatown area. After browsing around for about half an hour in a book shop and my feet and body growing weary and sore by the minute I decided it was time to go home.

The nearest LRT station from the Chinatown area is the Plaza Rakyat station situated next to the Puduraya bus station. The LRT station is located above street level and to get to the station you have to walk along a covered walkway including a long flight of staircase.

As I was climbing the stairs along one of the landings I saw an armless young man sitting on the floor begging for money from the public. His two hands from the arms down were missing and a big horrible looking open-wound covered one side of his face. The shirtless man didn't look like a local as he had fair skin and despite his horrible disfigurement looked well-fed and nourished. Sitting on the floor he was lying down half prostrating with a cup in one hand and the most miserable and sorrowful look on his face begging for money. Touched by the pitiful sight of the half-human some passerby tipped the begger with notes and coins. Then there were others aghast and shaken by the sight of the disfigured begger turned away their faces and continue their walk towards the station.

Begging near the entrance ofBukit Beruang in Malacca

I instinctively reached for my camera-phone hoping to capture the scene for record. Then I thought about this pitiful half-human and asked myself what was the purpose of snapping the photo. Was it for my own selfish amusement and entertainment to post his picture in my blog so other people can enjoy the misery of the less fortunate? Already suffering so much pain and injustice I should not add on to his indignity by exposing his identity for the whole world to see.

I didn't snap his picture and as I was riding the LRT I was still troubled by what I saw. As a able person all my miseries and sufferings if any are really nothing compared to his and instead of whining and bitching about them I should count my blessings.

I have heard of horror stories of how criminal syndicates after kidnapping young boys and girls cut off their hands and legs and inflict other bodily disfigurements to force these people to earn money by begging on  city sidewalks. Could this young man be one of these victims forced to a life of slavery to beg for a living by these merciless criminal syndicates?

The next morning the Sunday Star front-paged a story on syndicates earning thousands of ringgits a day by bringing in foreign beggers with severe deformities to beg for money. The Sunday Star also posted pictures of these foreign beggers with severe disabilities begging for money from the public in Malacca. The shocking images that you see here are downloaded from the online version of the Sunday Star. I decided to post the images here as with the publishing of the story by the Sunday Star these images have become public domain material.

As for the miserable, young, handless and shirtless begger that I encountered on a hot sunny afternoon in Kuala Lumpur, I did not snap his picture and even if I did I would not publish the pictures in this blog to honour what little is left of his dignity as a human being like you and me.

Tiger Woods quick fall from grace

Tiger Takes 'Indefinite' Break From Golf

Sat Dec 12, 3:32AM PT - ABC News 4:26

Woods is leaving the pro tour to focus on being a better husband and father.

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Behind the squeaky clean image that the rich and the famous tries to project and wants the public to believe often lies a scandalous lifestyle of infidelity and deceit... with all that fabulous wealth, fame, public adoration and power at your disposal it is difficult not to succumb to temptations...somehow one day the truth will always come out to haunt you in ways that you least expect....

In the case of Tiger had he not mysteriously wrecked his Cadillac Escalade at 2:25 in the morning as he was coming out of the driveway the world would not have known of the ugly skeletons hidden in the closet.

PC tantrums

My PC has been acting weird and testing my patience with its erratic behaviour for the past few weeks.

Sometimes when I switch on the PC early in the morning before going to work, nothing appears on the monitor screen. The green and red LED indicators will blink for a while indicating hard disk activity and then the red light would abruptly disappear leaving the green indicator to power on indefinitely with no blinking. However nothing registers on the screen as if the process is not transmitting data to the monitor. Even after a few resets although the process boots up the screen is still blank, empty of any messages and images.

Out of exasperation I would shut down the PC until evening when I return home from work. Then when I power on the PC the screen would magically come alive with the Windows welcome screenshot and the PC
would operate normally.

Last Sunday the monitor refused to power up even after I had repeatedly switch on and off the machine a few times in the morning, and afternoon. Thinking that the machine had finally died on me I sent it to the local computer service shop for service and repair.

When the technician switched on the machine the monitor screen immediately fired up, like everything was back to normal. The stupid PC was taunting and ridiculing me in front of the technician!

"What is wrong with the PC? Everything looks normal and ok," said the technician with an unbelieving look in his eyes. With a sheepish grin I explained the PC's weird behaviour. Not convinced with my explanation the technician successfully rebooted the PC three consecutive times without a hitch. "Since the operating system and the hardware are operating fine there is nothing to fix,"proclaimed the technician with an air of finality.

"Why don't I leave the PC in the shop for a day. You test run the machine a few times in the morning, afternoon and evening to see what 's happening?" I quickly suggested to save myself from further embarrassment and humiliation as I was already starting to feel like a prankster in the eyes of the technician. I hurriedly left the shop after receiving the customer order slip from the shop.

This evening I went straight to the shop at 7.30pm after returning from work. Fully expecting a technical diagnosis of the problem the technician ushered me to his work station, patted my back with a smile and proclaimed. "Your PC's fine and in good health. Nothing wrong with it. No hardware and software malfunction. Why don't you take the machine home!"

The stupid PC sure knows how to humiliate me to the maximum in front of other people. There's a limit to my patience. Heh, heh Mr big-shot PC watch out! When I loose my cool I am going to buy myself a brand new notebook and you are history!

Close Encounter With A Geisha In Metro Plaza

Konichi Wa!

This afternoon I bumped into a geisha as I walked into a store selling Japanese-made trinkets at Metro Plaza.

With a trace of what appeared to be a faint smile on her red lips accentuated by the white makeup and porcelain-like smooth skin of her melon-shape face, holding a shopping bag at the same time expertly balancing an umbrella on her delicate hands, standing with a respectful curtsy as if to greet the visitor and the most exquisite kimono dress she was indeed a stunning beauty to behold. But alas she was not a flesh and blood woman, a human, but just a mannequin, a life-size dummy doll dressed up as a geisha at the shop-front to draw potential shoppers to enter the shop

Turning my head around and cranking my neck to the back and the side I was slightly disappointed that none of the shoppers appear to notice the presence of this lonely beauty standing by the shopfront begging for attention. Well I was not a shopper going into the store to buy stuffs but her exquisite beauty stopped me in my track and enticed me to capture the image on digital photograph. "I'm going to google the internet on the world of the geisha," I made a promise to myself after returning her smile with one of my own as I headed for lift that would take me to the roof-top car park in the shopping mall.

A geisha is a Japanese female entertainer who is skill in the traditional Japanese performing arts such as classical music and dance. Although geishas are sometimes regarded as a prostitutes by non-Japanese  unfamiliar with Japanese traditions and culture, legitimate geisha do not engage in paid sex with clients. Their purpose is to entertain their customer, be it by dancing, reciting verse, playing musical instruments, or engaging in light conversation. Geisha engagements may include flirting with men and playful innuendos; however, clients know that nothing more can be expected.

The traditional makeup of an geisha features a thick white base made from rice powder with red lipstick and red and black accents around the eyes and eyebrows. The white makeup covers the face, neck, and chest, with two or three unwhitened areas (forming a W or V shape, usually a traditional W shape) left on the nape, to accentuate this traditionally erotic area, and a line of bare skin around the hairline, which creates the illusion of a mask. The lip colour comes in a small stick, which is melted in water. Crystallized sugar is then added to give the lips lustre. The lower lip is colored in partially and the upper lip left white for the apprentice geisha in her first year, after which the upper lip is also coloured. Newly full-fledged geisha will colour in only the top lip fully.

Geisha always wear kimono. Apprentice geisha wear highly colorful kimono with extravagant obi. Always, the obi is brighter than the kimono she is wearing to give a certain exotic balance. Older geisha wear more subdued patterns and styles (most notably the obi tied in a simpler knot utilized by married women known as the "taiko musubi" drum knot").

The shimada or hairstyles of the geisha are varied. There are 4 major styles of shimada: taka shimada a high chignon usually worn by young, single women; the tsubushi shimada, a more flattened chignon generally worn by older women;the uiwata, a chignon that is usually bound up with a piece of colored cotton crepe; and a style that resembles a divided peach, which is worn only by maiko. These hairstyles are decorated with elaborate hair-combs and hairpins.

Removing sugar subsidy is a bad idea for the ordinary consumer

The Star Online Wednesday December 2, 2009

Government planning to end sugar subsidy to promote healthy living

Cut sugar intake for good health

There is no doubt the intention of the government to encourage the people to consume less sugar is good. However does the government realise the economic consequence of cutting the sugar subsidy to industries?

Ending the sugar subsidy will raise the price of sugar. The consequence is that manufacturers and traders of food produce will pass the cost increase to the ordinary people by increasing their prices. As prices of food go up the cost of other services will also rise in tandem, thus further causing hardship to the public who is already burdened with the escalating of the cost of living. Even people who habitually don't consume sugar are also directly affected by the price increase of food and services

It is better to let the ordinary citizens to decide for themselves how much sugar that they want to cut back rather than to force it upon them by cutting the subsidy.

Beauty and the Beast: Stone pillars of elegance and beauty

Front view of the old high court building

Tue 1/12/09 Site of the old high court building in Kuala Lumpur

IN THE OFFICE
"Mr Ng, do you have any appointment in the afternoon?" lady boss asked approaching my corner and gesturing with her hands as I was peering into the pc monitor at my desk. Without turning my head I said nonchalantly "I have scheduled a meeting at the Balai Seni Lukis Negara site."

"There is going to be a meeting at 3pm at the old court house building. The architect has requested that the structural engineer tag along with the mechanical engineer, electrical engineer and the quantity surveyor together with the client to inspect the premises," the boss's voice trailed off as she made a u-turn back to her office. Taking the hint I promptly canceled my scheduled site meeting.

AT THE OLD HIGH COURT BUILDING
There were about 8 people consisting of the the architect, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, quantity surveyor and representatives from the owner gathered at the site.
View of the gallery & skylight

The facade of the building still looked elegant considering that it is about 90 years old. However inside it was completely dilapidated, dusty, dirty and just an empty shell. All the furnishing, wiring, fittings, fixtures were gone, an indication of widespread looting. Even the ceiling had been ripped off exposing the air-condition ducting and some parts were hanging dangerously down from the ceiling. The air inside was stuffy and we had to use flash lights to find our way around. The floor was strewn full of rubbish eg empty cans, bottles, rags, cardboards, material fallen from the ceiling, etc. The architect told us that during his first visit he saw used condoms, broken syringes and all sorts of drug paraphernalia piled up on the floor. Due to long years of neglect the dilapidated building has become a drug haven. View of the stone piers in the court yard

THE BEAUTIFUL, MAJESTIC & ELEGANT STONE COLUMNS
Surrounding all the filth and dilapidation we found a court yard that is surrounded by beautiful stone columns spaced at close centres all of them with elaborately and intricately sculptured Roman style pedestals and capitols. In the centre of the courtyard is a sunken plaza and overhead is a viewing gallery roofed over with a skylight. It is the only lighted spot in the building as the the skylight invites the sun light to beam into the building.
View of the stone piers from the top

In the midst of all the gloom, filth and dilapidation the beautiful stone columns acting as silent sentinels guarding the court yard and the the sun bathing the sunken plaza with glorious light and warm is such a stunning sight that I had to capture it on camera. This incredible contrast reminds me of the story of the Beauty and the Beast, the stone pillars, plaza and the gallery representing the Beauty and the delapidation all round the Beast. I am so glad and gratified that the looters didn't touch the plaza and the columns as they are priceless and irreplaceable. The architecture of this heritage building will surely regain its former glory after the refurbishing and make over work is completed.