When Losing A Dollar Makes More Cents

Malaysians and oil prices are a very sensitive issue... For an oil producing nation who exports most of its production, we are spoilt by subsidised petrol and diesel for our daily use to the point citizens seem to think its their birth right to have cheap petrol for the rest of their life.

At the current world oil price.... The price of petrol in Malaysia stands at RM 1.90 per litre of RON95 (US$0.65 per litre or about US$2.50 per gallon) and about US$3.65 per gallon for RON97 or the supergrade petrol. It is ranked as the top 10 lowest in the world and it is largely due to subsidy by the government....now i'm not heaping praises just yet but the point is people don't see it as an outflow of tax revenue which can be used for other purpose.

Hence whenever the Govt tries to cut back on the subsidy in the weight of increasing world prices....it is drowned by cries from consumers and opposition who blame the govt for poor fund management and burden the people. Some even swear that they will reduce petrol prices back to low prices if elected into power..... Wonder where they gonna pull magic figures out from....

So to appease the people, the Govt decided recently not to hike petrol prices by 30 or 50 cents per litre (malaysian cents) and much to the relief of the citizens....

Instead they announced they will revamp the Malaysian Currency to give it a new look with extra safety features..... And lots of people are actually excited to know how it will look like.... What features it has and who will doing the new designs....

Mind you....if this goes through it will be the 3rd look for the currency which i will witness in my 30 years of life.....

Nobody seems to mind that it costs ALOTAMONEY to print currencies!!!!

Safety features? If someone wanna forge or make counterfeit...i think for the effort its better to make fake USD or UK pounds or EUROS....more value. For me the only security i need is if my notes goes into the washer and dryer....it won't be damaged beyond its use as a legal tender.....

In a nutshell.....lets save a few cents from our pockets to maintain petrol prices. Govt subsidise more for petrol. And we get new currencies at the expense of.....gasp! Our own pockets.......

New proverb....pound foolish, penny stupid

if you ask me...i prefer the old design

Landslide victory redefined

Only in Malaysia the term landslide victory can be put to very good use

Recent apocalyptic weather combined with the inter-monsoon period puts this part of the world very susceptible to increase rainfall. With it comes to very predictable phenomenon.

1. The infamous haze that is no longer seasonal but perpetual will be cleared for a while and its the best time to take photos of the famous Kuala Lumpur skyline and pretend its a norm all year round

2. Massive rainfalls will cause the combined problem of flooding and invariably landslides.

And landslides in this country is nothing short of spectacular........

The most recent spat of and slide occurred over the last weekend which saw a hill side orphanage being buried in the earthen rumble. The unfortunate event of these orphans being well neglected in life already saw yet another series of Lemony Snicketts scene befall upon them which left many dead and of the remaining survivors a traumatic scar in their life.

Yet through it all some will prevail.

For one the press had a field day covering the "event" like it was some red carpet celebrity show. Parents who were divorced and left the kid in the orphanage were "inspired" by the act of nature to have them reconcile and reunite to take home the "fortunate" survivors.... the list goes on.....

Investigations showed that the orphanage was an UNLICENSED premise. Built on a land gazetted only for AGRICULTURAL use and not for development or residential. Hence in short we could say that the premise owners were harbouring some Illegal Crops.....

And what was the outcome of these event?

1. Politicians rushed to the aid by providing RM1000 aid to each child (US$320)..... not bad considering it was only a brush of death and for not heeding their welfare, such "payoff" seemed almost....charitable

2. Politicians pledged to find a new piece of more suitable land to rebuild the orphanage and help the premise owners continue with their noble effort

3. The premise owners who built and run the place without a license on inappropriate land which exposed the orphans to such a disaster were.......not prosecuted.........given a new piece of land.......given funds to continue their efforts........and were not held accountable for the deaths of the children....

After all......it was an act of God that killed those kids.....

And from the premise owners point of view.....these kids were.......Illegal Crops to begin with anyway

It seems that doing a good thing means you don't have to always do it the right way.....

ick......did I fail to mention the Elections are around the corner? Let's hope the retaining party get their landslide victory at whatever the cost.

The Best Men

"And stand together, yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."

- Khalil Gibran

Congratulations to Boon Han and Chai Har on your wedding. 

Thanks for having me play a part in it as the Best Man though I still believe the real Best Man is the one who is getting married. ;)

May both of you live a blissful life together.

ps... Forgive the lack of photos and the unconventional angles and shots....

after all am not the Best Photographer... cheers!!

Test shot... LOL
Wedding Car. Have to blur out
the plates so ppl dont buy 4D

The Ancestral altar

Butterflies....

Ray of hope...

Looking good BH

Arrival to the Bride's house

Gatekeepers of BH's heaven ;)

Shadowplay

First glimpse of bride and groom

"Where you lead I'll follow"

Congrats to the Newlywed!

And not forgetting the people that make a wedding successful.....Friends

Seeing Setars

Walking the same path does not mean we see the same things.....

I've been to Alor Setar (The capital of Kedah, aka Rice Bowl of Malaysia) three times in total, of which twice were in this year alone. One of the few things I like to do when I travel and put up a night in any city or town is to jog around and see the sights on foot. Recently I've taken a notch by jogging with a camera so that I won't miss the essence of my trip.

Point is, it's amazing how much of discovery one can find while on foot. Things that we overlook. Things that we take for granted. Things that we never thought were there for a reason. Things we didn't care to ask. Things we didn't dare to explore.

We are allowed to choose. Seize the day, or let it slip.

Grand clocktower in the middle of
Alor Setar

Love the intricate design of a clocktower
entrance...

Didn't think it was wrong to be part of the
furniture... 

Jogging can be quite hazardous

Main gates to the old Royal Hall.
Located in front of the old Kedah Palace.
It was last used to host Royal functions and weddings.
Currently it is an annex to a museum.

The Emblem of Kedah. Lotsa rice grains

Closer view of the Royal Hall

The royal salute

Here's looking at you kid

View from the Royal Hall

Flag of Kedah flying high

Arch with Thai and possibly Chinese influence 

I had no idea what this pagoda was

Near or far, it looked more like a gigantic
furnace 

Right or wrong, decided to explore a little
since it didn't have a NO ENTRY sign

Surprise, surprise.... photo relics...
Sultan of Kedah 1882-1943

Shouldn't all these be in a museum??

Official Royal letters

The Queen of Kedah....no idea when?

HRH Sultan of Kedah

The Royal Band or "Nobat DiRaja"

So apparently the furnace looking ornament
that people drive by daily is actually
the practice tower for the Royal Nobat

Undated picture of a member of the
Royal Nobat in his official garbs

Nobat in full force

Another view of the "Royal Furnace"

Newspaper article to educate the current
generation on what the nobat is

Making a quiet exit before I get royally screwed

Not before I catch a glimpse of the casings of the
royal instruments