Don’t let anyone hold any part of your life hostage. Your life is YOUR destiny and no one has the power to judge.
I came across this poem on the net and it touched me enormously. Most of my readers are ‘young’ so they might not have seen life from the angle pictured in the Aging poem. One day the moment will come when we least expect it.
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| From elderly people |
But it is not a pleasant prospect or it could also be a marvelous moment to look back at what has passed and then to look forward to what is yet to come.
I saw this when I was surfing the net yesterday. An insurance agent was recounting her ordeal in the country.
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I was invited out by friends last night for a drink. Instead of the usual Rest and Relax ( R&R ) or Green Pub we met at a coffee shop near Dewan Suarah and had some Chinese tea.
It was husbands and fathers night. Every body was married and had children and was deeply worried. They were worried about balancing the cash account every month. Every body was wondering where to cut the fats and luxuries from their lives. With housing loans and car loans to cover, the task was daunting. Two wheelers are dangerous when ferrying around more than one child. It doesn’t help that one of my friend’s wife is pregnant.
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I am totally stunned as the dimensions of the human suffering unfold in Burma as its military junta steadfastly refuses to accept or is unable to accept the scale of the tragedy within its own borders. Aid agencies say supplies are urgently needed in affected areas.
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I received this comment from Saewei. I have read her blog and she is a charming person. This obviously is an issue close to her heart so she commented on this post. I will try to reply her comments as best as I can.
Her comment: in plain text. my reply in italics
For God’s sake, Penang is not the only place where those selling souvenirs have a fucking attitude. Go back to your own tourist place and visit your own tourist souvenir place and see how they treat the tourist.
How it is like in other places is irrelevant.It is just like saying brother doesn’t do his assignments too to your mum.
And Penang food, everyone around the world said that it’s good. You are the only saying that is not good.. so I guess you are the ONE with no taste at all.
I never said it was not good. I said the food was good. It is something to be proud of. It is the direct result of Penang being a fusion pot of so many different communities in the past when it was a thriving port. You missed the point. The food poisoning incident was at the hawker stalls near Gurney Drive. It was an isolated incident.
And pardon me, Penang dirty? I admit it’s not as clean as Singapore, but heck.. I bet KL is just AS DIRTY as Penang.
If MPPP keeps thinking like that, there is no room for improvement. Think big. Think how you as a blogger can highlight issues to make Penang a better place for everybody.
So you think your money very big? Paying such small amount of money and you expect 5-Star treatment from the hawkers?
How much I spend and how much you spend is irrelevant. The point is that it is money and hard earned. We deserve the best deal. Would you pay RM36.00 for an item sold for RM5.00 in Batu Feringghi? You probably wouldn’t too. Does that make you a cheap-skate? We are consumers. Just like you. I have my rights as a consumer.
I think you are just one mutha fucker that do not know how to respect others so I’m not gonna give you the respect as well. If you bloody hate Penang, please don’t come again yah as we do not welcome assholes like you to our place.
For your information, this guy on whose behalf I am blogging is an educated person, father of three, extremely generous businessman who unfortunately is too nice and very respectful to others. Perhaps this is what made the hawker decide to take advantage of him in the first place.
Thank You.
P/s: You think Penang is horrible? I think you are more horrible than Penang. You CHEAPSKATE!
Thank you saewei for your feedback. It is most welcome. I hope I have replied your comments satisfactorily.
Thanks too to philters, Carol and Jeffrey
,Anthony, keeyit, Judy, jasmine, JJ whose link doesn’t work 
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Bengbeng says: I didn’t expect this post to generate so much comment. I even received sms from friends and a phone call from a long forgotten friend in Jalan Boundary. Hi! Ah Bee. And Miss Lim, Miss bless you for still remembering me. I thought I had long been forgotten.
It is amazing how word of mouth spread and how mylongkang readers are actually my own friends.
Let us not get over-excited over the issue. I vouch for my friend’s character. He chose to voice out his feelings which actually should be a welcome feedback to the state. In terms of profile, he should the type of tourists the state welcomes. He stays in the best rooms and spends generously. He is there for business and as a tourist.
He has a right to voice out his dissatisfaction. I forgot to blog that he liked the Penang Airport very much which he took a lot of photographs of.
He raised a few key points worth noting ( in my opinion )
The often neglected sector of the tourism industry- the local domestic tourist
Preferential treatment to foreigners
Pagoda hawkers giving the tourists ‘the harrassment treatment’. It could well be that for some, it is standard sales tactic to embarrass the tourist to buy. If it is, it is in very poor taste.
He mentioned the long journey from Rasa Sayang being jammed on rainy days. I don’t see how anything can be done about that in the near future.
As for the food poisoning incident, perhaps an occasional visit by the health department would keep every body more on their toes?
As for his statement, noisy, dirty, crowded, unfriendly and hot noisy. It is his perception of Penang after being away for 25 years. He had an image of Penang as it was and when he saw so much concrete and so little greenery, it upset him. Every square inch in Penang is fully utilized be it for commercial parking of cars, motorcycles or hawkers. Where are the trees, the flowers? The open spaces for the people to live in?
It is not just about daily maintenance of drains, repairs of pot-holes but the difficult task of the city fathers to get a delicate balance between preserving the cultural heritage and development and long, long term planning.
Many of the original buildings which made Penang unique and beautiful are gone forever. The tourist spots are over exploited, notably the Pagoda and the snake temple and commercialized. The Goddess of Mercy Temple administators in Pitt street have done a good job. The beaches have been taken over by the the hotels.
He is a well traveled man. He can see and compare. Indeed every one has a right to compare. Let us look at his honest appraisal and see how wrong he is or how right he is and then look for means and ways to make Penang a better place for every body.
Another question would be like what Saewei asked indirectly: In what way is Penang different from other places. If it is no different, after some time, it will lose some of its allure, glitter and shine. Even as it is, many tourists just stop over in Penang before spending their holidays in Langkawi. Millions and millions of the tourist dollar are at stake here.
It is naive to think that the Penang economy is totally independent of the contribution of the tourist dollar to the state coffers.
After the recent stint in the Asian cup, the national team conceded 12 goals in a total of three matches. China bt M’sia 5-1, Iran bt M’sia 2-0, Uzbekistan 5-0. Many reflect on the glory days in the past where Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun etc were keeping the fans excited and cheering the national team.
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I took some pics this morning but I didn’t bring my card reader. The haze is back. We were having supper at Muhibbah food court last night and i heard all kinds of anecdotes about it.
A sunset pic I took this evening.
All the government servants of Malaysia will be rejoicing today. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced today that effective 1 July, government servants will get a pay raise of between 7.5% and 35%. The cost of living allowance will also be increased by 100%. The members of the police and the armed forces will receive 20% over and above the announced increase in pay.
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DPM, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is quoted to have said that the government has yet to decide on Cuepacs request for a pay rise for civil servants. After all the hype in the press by Cuepacs of possible good news to be announced on Labour Day and then the end of this month, the civil servants must be feeling frustrated.
He said, “We’ll have to wait for the government’s decision. The government’s sympathetic to the plight of civil servants. Whatever it is, we’ll have to take into account the government’s capability and productivity of the civil service”. In my opinion this is double-speak carrying a vague meaning hoping to offend nobody.
The last salary revision was about 15 years ago. In the interim, there has been some salary adjustments.
The public sector has no choice but to await for an announcement from the Prime Minister. Inwardly, the civil servants must be seething with frustration. As it is, almost all sectors of the public sectors have been the first to tighten their belts, work harder to increase their productivity amidst increased paper-work and documentation which has nothing to do with productivity but makes their respective departments look good on paper.
A strike or industrial action is not on the cards. On the other hand, the government must consider the needs of the civil servants to exist with dignity in our nation. It is an open secret a big percentage of civil servants are resorting to double/triple jobs just to make ends meet.
Mr Prime Minister. The ball is in your court now. It is your call. Remember the back-bone of the government is the civil service. Appreciate all the toil and labour of this group through the years. Please do not take them for granted.
Public Services department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam who is supposed to be in the know has said that the 10% increase was mere speculation and for public servants to stop the speculation. This is a funny reminder if the matter is not so serious. How does one stop a camel from rushing to the water-hole when it is thirsty after a long trek across the desert? They are speculating about a bread and butter issue for them and not perks like membership in sports clubs or other luxuries.
Cuepacs has indicated it will not accept a 10% salary adjustment. Mylongkang fully supports Cuepacs stand. The civil service expects a salary revision and not a salary adjustment.
I have been following the suit brought by New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd and four others against Blogger Ahirudin Attan with deep concern.
Statement of defence was filed yesterday by Blogger Ahirudin Attan. Ahirudin Attan is a former Malay Mail editor. In his statement of defence, he denied the articles in his blog were defamatory to the NSTP, its deputy chairman, group editor-in-chief, chief executive officer and Brendan Pereira.
I hope ultimately justice will be meted out to Blogger Ahirudin Attan’s advantage. To me, a humble fellow blogger, this case worries me. Any blogger would have a big problem facing a suit by NSTP or any other organization with almost unlimited financial resources to pay legal bills. Whatever the ultimate findings of the judge on this case, it would have weighed heavily on the blogging community and resulted in self-censorship of most bloggers.
It is almost a David vs Goliath case. On the same breath, I hope the government will consider the call by The National Union of Journalists Malaysia President, Norila Mohd Daud to acknowledge the existence of Internet citizen reporting and blogging as a new media for disseminating information.
