Deja vu: Another by-election in Penang

Heard this morning that the State Assemblyman for Permatang Pasir, which is one of three state constituencies within the greater Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency, has died. So there'll be a third by-election here very soon. Will the Barisan Nasional choose not to contest again, like what they did in Penanti?

According to the newspapers: Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman, 60, died at the National Heart Centre in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10am this morning. A two-term state assemblyman and former Penang Pas commissioner. In the 2008 general election, Mohd Hamdan beat Umno candidate Ahmad Sahar Shuib with a majority 5,433 majority to win the seat.

Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia or Firefly?

I am thinking about making a short trip from Penang to Kuala Lumpur next week and looking at possibilities of using Malaysia Airlines to jet into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or AirAsia and land at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) or be propelled by Firefly into the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (SAAS) Airport, formerly known as Subang Airport.

However, the problem I see with Malaysia Airlines is the rather high cost of the ticket. After throwing in the taxes and what not, a return ticket on my intended days of travel will amount to RM515, and I haven't even added in the cost of the KLIA Express tickets (another RM70) and the travel to KL Sentral to catch the train. It's going to cost something like RM600 for the round trip.

AirAsia, well, they are so much cheaper at RM161 for a return trip (could become more expensive if I delay booking my flight tickets) and the cost of a bus ticket from the LCCT to KL Sentral and back is only about RM14. However, the flight schedule does not really appeal to me. I'm only free to travel in the afternoon but by the time I get to Kuala Lumpur, the whole day is gone and wasted.

So, taking flight schedule into consideration, I think that Fireflyz is presently my best option. The return flight will cost RM239 (more than I expected, actually, but I don't get to waste the afternoon and evening hours) and I think that I shall need perhaps another RM70 for travel from Subang airport to my destination in KL. Total cost is around RM310.

According to the Firefly website, it only takes about 30 minutes of ground travel time from the airport to the Kuala Lumpur city centre. It doesn't elaborate but I think that Fireflyz meant the KLCC and not anywhere else. Where would the Kuala Lumpur city centre be if not the KLCC?

The website also has some useful travel tips for people who haven't flown by their new high-wing, twin turboprop ATR 72-500 aircraft before. I certainly haven't and I shall look forward to it. Anyway, I read that its capacity is 72 "seating" passengers. The interior of the ATR-72 500 looks quite nice from the picture, doesn't it?

(I just hope this description doesn't mean that Firefly - or AirAsia for that matter - is considering Ryan Air's controversial proposal to make some of their customers stand during flights.)

There are buses arriving at the Subang airport every 30 minutes between 6am and midnight: Rapid KL Bus No: U81 to/from KL Sentral/Central Market for RM2 (return) and the ticket purchased is valid for one day of use, and Metro Bus No: 9 to/from the Klang bus stand (near Kuala Lumpur's China Town) for RM2 (one way).

At the airport, taxi coupons must be purchased at the taxi counter near the Skypark information counter, and the taxi counter is open from 7am to 11.30pm. (I think it is a type error on the website because it says until 11.30am.) Anyway, cost per trip is RM35 to all destinations in Kuala Lumpur and RM23 to all destinations in Petaling Jaya, including the Kelana Jaya Putra Light Rail Transit (LRT) station.

I used to blog once about a shuttle bus service between the KLIA and the LCCT, and thought that perhaps there's a similar service servicing all three airports, but apparently there's none. Passengers between the KLIA and the LCCT should still take the shuttle bus but a trip from Subang airport to the other two airports and vice-versa has to be made by taxi. A one-way taxi trip to the KLIA will cost RM70 while to the LCCT, it will be RM75, that's what I've learnt so far.

From Subang, I'm tempted to take the taxi to the Kelana Jaya LRT station and thence to my destination in Kuala Lumpur but I don't believe the extra 40-minute travel time is worth saving me RM9 if I were to take the taxi direct.

Decisions, decisions .... Anyway, it's still early days to really consider my options.

Zoom Malaysia

I've just seen Zoom Malaysia's 2009 promotional video depicting some of the country's best tourism attractions. I think it's a kinda interesting video although I'm puzzled how the music of Joe Flizzow, Noryn Aziz and KLG SQWAD can be considered representative of Malaysia's culture and tourism programme....

Checked your eyesight lately?

An eye clinic is coming up in Bukit Mertajam and the owners are presently renovating the premises along Jalan Song Ban Kheng. However, the size of this humongously large banner advertisement took my breath away. Just compare its size with the person walking along the road. What an advertisement!

Heritage: Muslim influence in George Town

Here are three of the heritage sites that participated in the George Town UNESCO heritage celebration over the weekend. For once, I should feature the Islamic influences in George Town's 200-plus years of heritage.

This is the Syed Alatas Mansion in Armenian Street. Syed Mohamed Alatas was the leader of the Red Flag Secret Society that allied with the Khian Teik Secret Society to fight the Ghee Hin and the White Flag Secret Society in the 1867 Penang Riots. Today, it houses the Penang Islamic Museum.

Most of the visitors to the museum were non-Muslims. I guess we were rather curious to learn more about the Islamic influence in Penang and boy, I should add that the exhibits were very interesting, especially the ones on the upper floor. There was only a lady manning the information counter and she was friendly, sharing her smiles with everyone that walked in. But we were left pretty much to ourselves to wander through the building, which was what we wanted.

The Acheen Street Mosque was founded in 1808 by Tengku Syed Hussein Al-Aidid, a member of the Achehnese royal house who moved to Penang in 1792 at the invitation of Francis Light. He was followed by his clan and followers. Over the following years, the mosque became the centre of Islamic studies in George Town, frequented by traders from the surrounding Malay archipelago, Arab and India.

There were people but little activity going on in the mosque when we arrived. Basically, we were very much ignored. Taking into context that the Acheen Street Mosque was participating in the George Town heritage celebration weekend, nobody there acknowledged us or even offered any kind of assistance.

But what a difference at the Kapitan Kling Mosque in Pitt Street. We felt welcomed here but more about that later. First, I should say that this is the biggest and grandest mosque in George Town. It was founded by Caudeer Mohudeen Merican, a prominent trader and leader of the Indian Muslim community in 1800. The word Kapitan was a term that the British gave to him and contrary to popular belief, Keling is not a derogatory word. It just meant people from South India, just as the word Benggali referred to the people from North India. The original mosque on the 18-acre land was a single-storey structure but over the years, the mosque underwent plenty of renovation until this is how it looks like today.

The guards at the entrance into the building were friendly enough but we were pleasantly surprised when a chap - Mohamed, I think his name was - ended up as our guide. We donned some robes before being allowed into the mosque and we think it looks just as beautiful inside as well as outside.

Unseen side of St Anne's Feast

Year in and year out, this is typical of the ugly mess left behind by traders and worshippers at the end of the St Anne's Feast in Bukit Mertajam.

Click here to read my blog entry in 2007.

Avanza ignition problem

More than a week ago, my car developed an engine problem just as I was about to drive down to Kuala Lumpur. Every time I shifted into gear, the whole car would begin shaking like a vibrator. As a result, I lost a few precious hours at a car mechanic's workshop in Bukit Jambul on the island.

The mechanic was surprised to see that the spark plugs in the car had turned deep red. Spark plugs are never meant to suffer this discolouration, I was told. So obviously, there must be something wrong with the ignition for the plugs to be like this. Eventually, after a lot of (I suspect) trial and error trouble-shooting, the problem was traced down to a faulty plug coil.

There are four in the engine: one sitting on top of each plug and this one was suspected of causing all the problems. At first, I thought with the problem identified, it would be a quick matter for the workshop to order the spare part but no...it actually took more than three hours for the runner to deliver the part from the city. Talk about gross inefficiency! Three hours to have the spare delivered compared with 15 minutes for the mechanic to replace it in the engine!

But at least the problem was resolved. However, throughout the journey to KL and back, I wasn't feeling totally comfortable with the repair job.

So yesterday, I took the car to the authorised Toyota workshop in Bukit Mertajam for a lookover. Besides, the car was due for its regular service too. I showed the team leader the old plugs and the spoilt coil, and requested that he do a complete check on the ignition system. Two hours later, I drove away from the service centre feeling satisfied. I'm still guarded. I hope the problem is resolved once and for all because my wife and I will be driving to KL again in about two weeks' time.

Football king of Korea

There were many in Seoul's World Cup stadium for whom the game was something that could only be judged in relation to Park (Ji Sung). It would be hard to exaggerate his level of fame in South Korea. When United came here two years ago, he was voted man of the match, despite the fact that he did not play. This time, however, he was given 15 minutes which should be enough to guarantee him the Korean footballer of the year award. Every time the big screen in the sold-out stadium pictured him on the bench, the 64,000 in the stadium erupted. When he got up from the bench to stretch his legs, they gave him a standing ovation. "The guys on the bench were asking if I was the king of Korea," Park said. "They wondered how I could possibly lead a normal life here."

--- guardian.co.uk ---

St Anne's Feast

Around 11.30 pm on 25 July 2009. Sea of people in Bukit Mertajam, all congregating at the St Anne's Church. Where did they all come from? Meanwhile, as expected, the roads in the town were jampacked with cars and buses. That's what I was trying to avoid when I came back early from George Town yesterday afternoon. Anyway, there were not many cars going through my housing area. I must thank the residents' association volunteers for a job well done. They stopped cars from coming in and parking indiscriminately.

The old church from afar.

See what I mean? Worshippers by the tens of thousands.

Hundreds more inside the old church

Meanwhile, vendors tended to their roaring businesses

George Town UNESCO heritage celebration 2

It's time for the walkabout to begin. Well, it was due to begin some one-and-a-half-hours ago, but my wife and I begun ours from 2 o'clock, accompanied by my old school mate, Siang Jin.


we called it quits at about 4.30pm. Partly, it was because the day was too hot but partly too, we didn't want to be caught in any traffic snarl on the bridge or the mainland. Today is also the high point of the week-long St Anne's Feast in Bukit Mertajam and, well, our house is just a stone's throw away.

But coming back to the George Town heritage celebration, we couldn't cover all the 12 participating heritage sites but we managed to visit the Sun Yat Sen Penang base, the Syed Al-Atas Mansion, the Acheen Street Mosque, the Teochew Ancestral Temple, the Khoo Kongsi, the Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple, the Cheah Kongsi and the Kapitan Keling Mosque.

Our disappointments: the Arulmigu Mahamariamman Temple was closed while nobody knew anything about the rubber stamps at the Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple, the Cheah Kongsi and the Kapitan Keling Mosque. "Today's a half-day. The staff have gone back," someone told us at the Cheah Kongsi and then, wanting to feel helpful, added: "Come back tomorrow morning." However, we had a most wonderful tour of the Kapitan Keling Mosque. A bonus: we went into the Lim Kongsi which normally, is closed to visitors.

George Town UNESCO heritage celebration

Have you bought your copy of the George Town heritage passport yet? You should, if you intend to go wandering around the city today as it celebrates its first anniversary on the UNESCO world heritage list. To me, it's also an acknowledgement (and celebration) of the close shave we went through when UNESCO was re-looking at our status in the wake of the four hotels' height controversy. Anyway, with all that behind us, the month-long celebration continues in earnest today and really, the book should be a must if we want to commemorate our world cultural heritage status. It costs only RM8 and when you visit the 12 participating heritage sites listed within, you can have their marks rubber stamped in the booklet.

Anyway, the 12 heritage sites participating in this celebration will be the Syed Al-Atas Mansion and the Sun Yat Sen Penang base in Armenian Street, the Meng Eng Soo Temple in Rope Walk, the Kapitan Keling Mosque and the Kuan Yin Temple in Pitt Street, the St George's Anglican Church in Farquhar Street, the Arulmigu Mahamariamman Temple in Queen Street, the Teochew Ancestral Temple in Chulia Street, the Hock Teik Cheng Sin and the Cheah Kongsi in Armenian Street, the Acheen Street Mosque in (where else?) Acheen Street and the Khoo Kongsi in Cannon Square.

Except for the Meng Eng Soo, the rest of the participating heritage sites are located within a narrow corridor from the St George's Anglican Church at one end to the Acheen Street Mosque at the other end. The activities start at 5pm and should end at about 10.30pm. I also hear that there'll be a film screening of Road To Dawn at the Penang Chinese Town Hall at 8pm. For the uninitiated, this Chinese historical film is all about the brief sojourn in Penang by Dr Sun Yat Sen from July to December 1910 as he attempted to raise funds from the overseas Chinese to support his revolution. Nice show, set against an historical background, but not entirely correct. Besides, it's a drama, not an action movie.

There are also 13 heritage sites not participating directly in this celebration today: the Church of the Assumption in Farquhar Street, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Leith Street, the Logan Memorial in Light Street, the Town Hall, City Hall and Fort Cornwallis at the Esplanade Road, the Cantonese Tua Pek Kong Temple in King Street, the Chung Keng Kwee Ancestral Temple in Church Street, the Queen Victoria Memorial clock tower at the corner of King Edward Place and Fort Road, the Malayan Railway building in China Street Ghaut, the Clan Jetties at Weld Quay, the Yeoh Kongsi in Victoria Street and the Nagore Durgha Sheriff in Chulia Street. However, you can still get their rubber stamps from the Penang Heritage Trust office in Church Street. So that's it, all 25 of them.

Heritage: Two views from the Eastern & Oriental Hotel

I wonder what the Sarkis brothers would have seen when they looked out from their hotel in 1885. Would they have seen this?

Or maybe, they were just standing by the sea front and happened to look back to admire their hotel. Would this be what they saw?

No matter. It was a splendid heritage that they left behind.

Miami Vice and Hair OST

I was at the AmCorp Mall flea market on Sunday and picked up these two second-hand records from Joe's MAC.

The first was a double album: the original soundtrack recording of the musical Hair, starring John Savage, Treat Williams and Beverly D'Angelo. However, I'm not wholly satisfied with it because though it passed a visual check of the surface, the first tracks on one of the vinyls proved defective. But I can't really complain. This album sold for only RM15 and the rest of the tracks were fine.


But this second album was something else altogether. This is the ORIGINAL Miami Vice soundtrack. Pressed in Germany and in very good condition both visually and sonically. I've waited a long while to listen to the whole of Jan Hammer's original Miami Vice theme and here it is. In addition, music by Glenn Frey, Chaka Khan, Phil Collins, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Tina Turner!

Other impressions of ManUtd's visit

I'm still stuck in my Manchester United mode and there's still one more blog post to go before I'm through with it. It was a few months ago that I decided to give my son a treat with this surprise. I didn't tell him till about a fortnight ago and I had to make sure that he wouldn't be missing any classes. These pictures, then, are my other impressions from our trip to Kuala Lumpur.

The traffic jam

My tickets

The fans

The press photographers

The schwein fru

The sunset

A half dozen treat from Manchester United

van der Sar: "Mmm...do I place the football tee here?"

Rooney: "Let's just pretend that I'm not here, okay?"

Doing the Rio: Tony Manero would have been very proud

Scholes: "Wazzat that whizzed by me??"

The loudest cheer off the pitch was reserved for Giggs

Gosh, never thought I'd see him in a ManUtd jersey

Impressions of Red Devils match

18 July 2009: A sea of 100,000 red jerseys of all shapes and designs greeting the Red Devils at the Bukit Jalil stadium

As far as the eyes could see

The Red Devils' Starting Eleven

Here they come...

Help me spot a Fergie...

In the thick of action

After the game

Manchester United in Malaysia

Like my friend Colin would say, we touched the Cup before Steven Gerrard could even see his reflection in it. That's the real EPL truth.

I guess they'll have to wipe the finger prints off it later.

One for the album. That's us with Bryan "Captain Marvel" Robson at our Manchester United Supporters' Club Malaysia in Petaling Jaya last Saturday. It was a long wait for him to turn up, but it was well worth the wait. But he turned up eventually with some few burly detail who were guarding the English Premier League trophy.

Later, here we are at the Bukit Jalil stadium soaking in the red atmosphere.

And here they are, the full team, doing a publicity walk around the pitch after the match was over.

Lost touch

I was doing some cleaning in the house earlier this week to while away the boredom of recovering from my bout of food poisoning when I came across old letters from a pen pal from days long gone by. In the days without emails and the Internet, it was still possible to know people from across the globe and that was through air-mail correspondence. It was slow but every time a letter arrives, I'd open it with a lot of anticipation. We took the time and trouble to really put pen to paper. We thought before we wrote. And we discussed matters of the day frankly. For me, it was a window to the world. For several years, letters flew between us but sadly we lost touch decades ago.

Brian Philip Walters of Wavell Street, Adelaide, Australia, if you happen to read this somehow, thank you for your friendship during those years of the late 60s and early 70s.

On and off, he would send me a list of the Top 40 songs on Radio 5AD which I would presume was the top radio station there. I still have the collection. For the week ending 18 July 1969, the Top 40 songs comprised this whole lot below. How many have you heard of and what do you remember?

Bad Moon Rising (CCR), The Ballad Of John And Yoko (Beatles), Dear Prudence (Doug Parkinson In Focus), Hair (Cowsills), My Sentimental Friend (Herman's Hermits), Special Delivery (1910 Fruitgum Company), Where's The Playground Suzie? (Glen Campbell), In The Ghetto (Elvis Presley), Come Back And Shake Me (Clodagh Rodgers), Spinning Wheel (Blood, Sweat and Tears), I Threw It All Away (Bob Dylan), Big Ship (Cliff Richard), Ragamuffin Man (Manfred Mann), The Walls Fell Down (Marbles), Heather Honey (Tommy Roe), Friend Lover Woman Wife (OC Smith), Without Her (Herb Alpert), Gitarzan (Ray Stevens), Frozen Orange Juice (Peter Sarstedt), Marley Purt Drive (Jose Feliciano), My Way (Frank Sinatra), Get Back (Beatles), The Windmills Of Your Mind (Noel Harrison), Baby Driver/The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel), Bazza Razza/Have A Giggle-Go (Barry Ion), The Day They Freed The Noise (Doug Ashdown), Yesterday When I Was Young (Roy Clark), Israelites (Desmond Dekker), Tomorrow Tomorrw (Bee Gees), Please Don't Go (Barry Crocker), Little Yellow Aeroplane (Leapy Lee), Funny Man (Ross D Wylie), Love Me Tonight (Tom Jones), Give Peace A Chance (Plastic Ono Band), Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (5th Dimension), The Real Thing (Russell Morris), Snake In The Grass (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich), Think It's All Over (Sandie Shaw), Conversations (Cilla Black), One (Johnny Farnham).