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An amazing experience in Singapore

7.00 am 18th April 2011- Changi Airport

Having spent a great 4 days in Singapore, I was happily settled in the limousine on my way to the airport. I had made a special effort to get up early to leave the hotel by 6.30am (the Limousine chauffeur Mr. Dean Ong was punctual on the dot) to be at the airport by 7.00am for my flight to Penang at 8.05 am.

As I was alighting I discovered to my horror I had left my laptop behind. Panic button activated! Mr. Dean made the decision for me by saying calmly “I will head back for it”.

I proceeded to check in at the SilkAir Counter but was advised against it as I had check in luggage and it would be troublesome if I were to change flight. Wait for confirmation of retrieval of laptop and whether it could be delivered in time for me to check in at 7.15 am latest.

Immediate priority was to contact Hotel (oh dear no telephone contact with me), so I proceeded to look for ‘ Information Counter”. I happened to sport a lady wearing an uniform (bright orangy red top and purple skirt ) and holding a tablet. She looks likely to be airport official. I approached her , told her my predicament and my need for the contact number of Marina Mandarin Hotel. She promptly access the internet, found what I wanted and connected me to the hotel using her handphone. (At this point I didn’t who she was.)

The Hotel staff was most professional and efficient and the person at the concierge knew exactly when I left the hotel in a white limousine (he even knew the car number plate!). I told him that I had left my laptop behind but I did not know where. He could look for it in the room, reception, restaurant and the concierge urgently and keep it with him for the chauffeur Mr. Dean Ong to collect it. There was no time to lose as I have to board the plane by 7.55 am at the latest. He agreed without a murmur and said he would try his best. Continue reading “An amazing experience in Singapore”

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416: Sarawak, silent no more

By Adrian Chew

APRIL 15 — “Ladies and gentlemen, I am now locked up in a handcuff that has taken a British mechanic five years to make. I do not know whether I am going to get out of it or not, but I can assure you I am going to do my best.” — Harry Houdini, London Hippodrome, St Patrick’s Day, 1904.

There’s something heavy in the air in the hornbill state.

Take a walk in any of the cities and towns and you’ll feel that undeniable sense of unity and common purpose.

Thousands upon thousands throng political ceramahs every night. Our placid roads turn into long crawling lines of red brake lights. Normally frugal womenfolk readily take out RM10 notes from their purses to insert into donation boxes. Heavy rains don’t deter thousands from coming and staying.

Sit in any coffee shop during the day and you’ll notice everyone’s an overnight political commentator and connoisseur of oratory. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the same gripes repeated at every table.

Years of pent-up anger and frustration are coming to a boil. People come to hear all their dissatisfaction with the present government finally verbalised. You’ll empathise because as much as these are our problems, you’ll see that they’re also yours. Continue reading “416: Sarawak, silent no more”

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Sarawak – Baby steps for Change

Hello Uncle Kit,

I would like to bring a very serious issue of fear among Malaysians. Having lived in Switzerland for almost 5 years now as a single female Chinese lady, I am able to walk on the streets in Europe (any cities) at midnight ALONE without the fear that someone will attack me any second. Last week a Malaysian friend who has been living in Petaling Jaya for years came for a visit. While she was here, we walked back to my apartment from the train station on foot around 10pm. She told me, she would not have walked on her own without me. She said, on the way, there’s a man sitting on the bench along the sidewalk and she thinks he could pose a danger to her life. As a matter of fact, I hardly notice there’s a man SITTING ON THE BENCH and what more to say how can it be possible that this man could be a threat. When i mentioned this to my Mainland Chinese friend, she asked me, is the security in Malaysia so bad that my Malaysian friend is always thinking any man or human around her can be a threat? How can it be possible the security in Malaysia is worse than mainland china?

While this could be due to individual personality, then it just struck me, what have we become as Malaysian? Are we always constantly living in FEAR? I think it’s getting ridiculously extreme, the level of our fear. How could it be possible that fear is part and parcel of our society? Is this a new Malaysian culture in Bolehland? When my brother was actively speaking out on Facebook about his dissatisfaction about issues in Kuching or generally in Malaysia (not sensitive issue, like racism, but more on what could be done better by the government in terms of administration and helping the people in needs), my mother actually asked him to stop writing them, in fear of offending the government and the risk of being arrested under ISA. I cannot agree with her why we should refrain from voicing out just because the government is not able to accept any form of criticism. Growing up, we were brainwashed in our education that ‘you shall not criticise the government, you must thank Dr M, you are blessed, we are the best country in the world’, but reality sets in and we are shattered from our ‘dreams’. Continue reading “Sarawak – Baby steps for Change”

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Is Najib becoming another Pak Lah – a Prime Minister whose writ does not run in UMNO?

The question many are asking is whether the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is becoming another Pak Lah, the fifth Prime Minister whose writ did not run in Umno although he was also Umno President ending in his ignominious exit as Umno chief and prime minister.

This question has become more pronounced after Najib’s meek and completely unacceptable stance over Utusan Malaysia’s “1Melayu, 1Bumi” call.

Najib’s tame excuse is that the “1Melayu, 1Bumi” call was made by a columnist of a local daily and was the personal opinion of the writer concerned.

Najib’s excuse might be acceptable if Utusan Melayu is not the official organ of Umno, whose columns represent the mainstream opinion and demands of the Umno leadership in government.

Najib’s meek stance is doubly unacceptable because Utusan Malaysia’s “1Melayu, 1Bumi” call is an open challenge to his 1Malaysia policy in the past two years – tantamount to an open slap in the face of the Prime Minister’s signature concept.

Furthermore, if any Chinese newspaper had for instance called for a “1Chinese” campaign in the country, it would have been slapped with the full weight of the law, the press closed down and its editor/writer charged with sedition. Why the double standards in the case of Utusan Malaysia? Continue reading “Is Najib becoming another Pak Lah – a Prime Minister whose writ does not run in UMNO?”

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S’wak polls: Reality check for Pakatan

By Bridget Welsh
Apr 23, 11

The simple fact in the wake of Saturday’s polls is that Pakatan Rakyat has failed to dent the two-thirds majority in Sarawak and deliver the needed electoral gains to push Abdul Taib Mahmud from office.

Much has been made of the unfairness of the polls, the use of money and the electoral irregularities. While these issues were important, they should not be excuses that overshadow shortcomings.

The Sarawak polls serves to remind the opposition some its weaknesses and without addressing these problems, their own one-third in the Dewan Rakyat could be in jeopardy.

Unlike in Sarawak, there is no dominant Taib issue at the national level and Prime Minister Najib Razak has regained support, particularly among Malays and Indians.

Further, in many ways, the unbalanced nature of the results, with the DAP winning the lion’s share of seats, has also created a new set of hurdles and it points to a growing unevenness within the opposition itself.

In the aftermath of the polls, the opposition faces the stark reality that it needs to move from a campaign of promising “change” to actual delivery. Continue reading “S’wak polls: Reality check for Pakatan”