The "tui nee" ceremony

I received a telephone call this morning from an old family friend. She was asking me how long it has been since my aunt had passed away. "It's one year already," I told her, and added, feeling rather surprised with the timing of her call, "actually, by the Gregorian calendar, yesterday would have been her first-year death anniversary."

But then, we had already observed her death anniversary a week ago, I added. Last Thursday was the anniversary date if you reckon with the Chinese lunar calendar. The "tui nee" ceremony, as we Hockkien Chinese would call it.

Unlike funerals which are all rather public occasions with friends and relatives coming to pay respects to the deceased on their final journey, the tui nee ceremony is very much a closed, private family affair, and we were my aunt's closest relatives in Penang. My daughter had come back from Kuala Lumpur to join the rest of the family to participate in the occasion.

Firstly, we picked up some vegetarian food offerings from the Happy Realm vegetarian food centre in Burmah Road before proceeding to the Buddhist Triple Wisdom Hall in Pangkor Road where we had arranged for two of their resident monks to chant prayers at my aunt's memorial tablet in her memory. That done, we went down to the Kong Hock Keong (Kuan Yin) Temple in Pitt Street to distribute the vegetarian foodstuff to the vagrants there.

My wife was telling me later that some of the vagrants were asking around themselves whether anyone wanted the vegetarian food. That surprised me! As vagrants, they should be thankful that anyone is giving them fresh food regardless of whether the foodstuff is vegetarian or non-vegetarian, but here are some vagrants who are beginning to get choosy. Well, beggars shouldn't be choosy, isn't it? Anyway, they did line up to collect the foodstuff from my wife.

That done, we proceeded to the Sri Mahindarama Temple in Kampar Road. This was the last stage of the day's occasion. We listened in to the monk's prayers before they partook their lunch, and I did the transferring of merits to the deceased by symbolically pouring water from one container to another. And that was that. My aunt's first-year death anniversary observed and done with.

After a quick lunch in the city, it was time for the four of us to go home, pack our clothes and head out to the airport for a well deserved vacation together.

As an after-thought, I should add that this old family friend wasn't the only person who asked about my aunt in recent weeks. At the beginning of this month, one of the vegetable sellers at the Kampong Baharu market here in Bukit Mertajam asked me whether it had been a year since her passing. A few days later, one of the stall owners at the same market asked me the same question. And only this morning, it was another stall owner who did so. My aunt must have had some good friends there when she was still alive....

Hanoi's Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre (Nhà hát Múa rối Thăng Long)

Right after visiting the Ba Đình Square, we were brought to the Nhà hát Múa rối Thăng Long (Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre) in Hanoi to watch their famed water puppet show. This is their showcase of Vietnamese water puppetry, traditionally performed in padi fields.

Initially, we had some reservations about having to sit through the whole performance at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, especially since we were all very tired from our flight from Kuala Lumpur and discovering that the show would take about an hour to complete. But basically, we were all quite tired and wanted to go check into the hotel.

Much to our surprise, the show came out all right. Quite entertaining, in fact, despite not understanding all the singing in the Vietnam language. But even without understanding their language, we could more or less follow the flow of the singing which was narrating the folk history of the Vietnamese people.

The part of most interest to me featured the legend of the turtle lake, how their national hero had received a sword from the gods in the lake and used it to defeat his enemies.

And then one day after peace had returned to the land and while on his boat on the lake, a huge turtle emerged to grab the sword and return it to the gods.

The water puppetry performance is played out in a huge sloping auditorium with a four metre-by-four metre square stage which was a pool filled with water until waist deep.

At the side of the auditorium sat the orchestra and singers. Behind the pool were curtains were the hidden puppet masters who would manouevre the puppets fitted on poles held beneath the water surface.

Knowing how much resistance there is when trying to move objects within the water, this can be quite a strenuous task indeed. And yet, the puppet masters went about it quite effortlessly. Very impressive indeed.

Lights were dimmed during the performance and photography was very difficult. So unfortunately, I don't have many pictures to share here.

Our tour guide informed us that the water puppet show was one of the highlights of any trip to Hanoi. He said that it was often full house at each performance - about five per day - and unless one wants to take chances with buying tickets on the spot, he recommended that tickets be bought in advance.

Around Hanoi's Ba Đình Square (Quảng Trường Ba Đình)

Our first stop in the afternoon was the Quảng Trường Ba Đình (Ba Đình Square) where the Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh (Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum) was located. I was reading somewhere that in 2012, CNN had termed this mausoleum as the sixth most ugliest building in the world. I couldn't agree more. Apart from its squarish shape and tall rectangular columns, there was nothing of particular inspiration to me.

The afternoon sun was unbearably hot and we took shelter beneath some trees that lined one side of the Ba Dinh Square. Our tour guide asked whether we'd like to take a walk in the Square itself. Serious? In the hot sun? Even with an umbrella, I wouldn't venture out into the wide open expanse, unlike some other tourists we found wandering aimlessly about the Square without any shaded cover.

So our tour guide was telling us about the Mausoleum, how it held the venerated embalmed body of their Uncle Ho, as they would call their Father of Independence affectionately, but because it was a Friday that we were visiting the Square, the Mausoleum was closed. Personally, I wouldn't want to file into the building to view his body in a dimly lit room.

Some bored looking soldiers were observing us from afar and as our tour guide kept going on and on about Ho Chi Minh, one of them sauntered over to our group to listen in. Of course, he kept a respectable distance away from us.

We took leave of the Square soon afterwards. The tour guide wanted to show us the Chùa Một Cột (One Pillar Pagoda). According to him, it is an iconic Buddhist temple in Vietnam, inspired by the shape of a lotus flower.

But when we arrived there, we found scaffolding surrounding the temple on all sides. The place was under restoration and there was nothing to see. And it surprised me that this tour guide took us to see ... nothing! What a disappointment.

We stepped outside and noticed the Ho Chi Minh Museum nearby but again, it was closed on a Friday afternoon. Ah, well....

The Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu), Hanoi

After departing from the Trấn Quốc Pagoda (鎭國寺), we were taken to the Văn Miếu Hưng Yên (文廟) (or Temple of Literature) which happens to be the most prominent and famous Confucian temple in Hanoi. The temple was once the site of the Quốc Tử Giám (Quoc Tu Giam or Imperial Academy), Vietnam's first national university from 1076 to 1779.

The Van Mieu was built in 1070 and is one of several temples in Vietnam dedicated to Khổng Phu Tử or Khổng Tử (Confucius), sages and scholars. There are altogether five courtyards but when we visited, the fifth courtyard was closed to visitors. We were told that the courtyard was undergoing some restoration. As far as I was concerned, I was a little disappointed as I had wanted to view up close its impressively huge drum which I had noticed from the road.

This was the third courtyard of the temple with the Constellation of Literature pavilion and the Well of Heavenly Clarity.

Our tour guide told us that these are known as the doctors' stelae (stone slabs), carved into blue stone turtles with elaborate motifs to honour talent and encourage study line one side of the courtyard. Through the centuries, they had provided scholars with an historical resource for the study of culture, education and sculpture in Vietnam. Of the original 116 stelae, only 82 remain. They depict the names and birth places of 1307 graduates of 82 triennial royal examinations.

On the day we visited, several groups of students had come to honour Khong Phu Tu and have their graduation pictures taken within their historical temple.

The Dai Thanh sanctuary is located inside the fourth courtyard. Here, Confucius and his four closest disciples - Yanhui, Zengshen, Tử Tư (Zisi) and Mạnh Tử (Mencius) - are worshiped. The sanctuary also hosts altars to Confucianism's 10 most honoured philosophers.

As usual, souvenir shops were aplenty in the large tourist spots like the Temple of Literature.

Hanoi Day One: Visiting the Trấn Quốc Pagoda (Chùa Trấn Quốc)

My family and I - all four of us - came back two days ago from a vacation in Hanoi. It has been such a long while since we have been on holiday together: not since my daughter started working in Kuala Lumpur and my son began on his tertiary education.

But with him finishing his studies, this was a perfect time for all of us to take off together before he finds a job. When he starts working, it may not be so easy for us to vacation as a family unit again. Anyway, we were supposed to go on a family trip during the Chinese New Year stretch of holidays in February but my hospitalisation had meant that it had to be postponed.

So there we were, on the ninth of May morning, jetting off to Hanoi on an AirAsia flight. We landed at their Noi Bai international airport slightly before nine o'clock in the morning, Vietnamese time, and were met by our tour guide.

First stop of the day was at the Chùa Trấn Quốc (鎭國寺) (Trấn Quốc Pagoda) on their Hồ Tây (West Lake). We were told that the Tran Quoc Pagoda was built in the sixth century, thus making it the oldest pagoda in Hanoi. The original location was beside the Red River but due to erosion of the river bank, the pagoda was moved to its present location on a small islet on the West Lake.

A small causeway links the islet to the mainland. When we arrived in Hanoi, the capital was in the midst of celebrating Wesak, thus all the Wesak flags were out on display everywhere in temples.

The famous pagoda 

Suddenly, I found my path blocked by this group of monks and devotees who were just about to begin their prayer session. Sensing that it could go on for quite a while, I had to pick my way gingerly through the crowd to get out of the chamber.

One of our rare family pictures in Hanoi.

An angler trying his luck at the lake. We didn't stop to see how successful he was.

And finally, this was the first of many pictures we took of everyday life in Hanoi. Small-time traders plying their wares to foreign and local tourists visiting the pagoda.

We need good service, not big favours

I'm so disappointed with banking services nowadays. Seems that the attitude of the staff is that they are doing us customers a big favour.

There I was at the CIMB Bank branch in Kampong Baru, Bukit Mertajam this afternoon to bank in a cheque through their cheque deposit machine. But the machine was not operable. Their operations officer said that their machine was jammed.

But never mind, she said. She could give me a cheque bank-in slip to fill in. "After you fill in the details, just come and give it back to me," she said. And that was what I did. She flipped over to the last sheet of paper in the bank-in slip, tore it off and returned it to me. Just like that.

I looked at her. Don't I get an acknowledgement from you? No rubber stamp to say "received"? Not even an initial from you? "No," she replied, "You are banking in the cheque before 4p.m. today and you can check your account tomorrow and see that it is in Hold One."

I told her, "no." I want her to acknowledge receipt of the cheque over the counter. "We don't do that any more," she replied. "Cheque receiving has already been outsourced to a third party and since the machine is jammed, we are only helping by collecting the cheques over the counter and passing them to the outsourced company when they come by later."

I told her again, "no." I insisted on an acknowledgement. Personally, I don't give two hoots whether their cheques receiving services had been outsourced or not. As far as I am concerned, I am dealing with the bank where I am maintaining my account. A bank and this branch can't simply ignore the time-honoured practice of giving an acknowledgement whenever a document of value passes hands to them.

She knew that I wasn't going to budge. "Okay, I will put the bank chop on the customer's copy for you," and she proceeded to do just that and for good measure, added a date chop as well. That's more like it. Was it too difficult to do just that in the very first place??

I wonder how the other banks will react to their customers if their machines are down for any reason.

My passion for music

I know that I am totally out of touch with the mainstream print media when I miss interesting stories such as this, which does not appear in the newspapers' main pages. This particular feature in The Star appeared quite some time ago on the 19th of April, which makes it, what, 17 days ago? Yup, 17 days ago and I just noticed it today. And I would have missed it too if I had not been trying to catch up with the stack of old newspapers in the storeroom before chucking them away.

And what's this particular feature that I missed? A story about how Record Store Day was being celebrated here in Malaysia. Record Store Day is a movement that is slowly gaining momentum around the world as more and more people are starting to recognise the versatility of music on vinyl records and getting around to adopt the medium again. Which, where I am concerned, is both good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there are now more people who are going to compete with me in searching for rare old gems among the second-hand record stores, and prices are bound to creep upwards as demand starts overtaking the supply. While the good news is knowing that the vinyl record revival can only lend credence to long-time hobbyists' reluctance to give up on his music format despite the challenges.

When I was still staying in Seang Tek Road at the peripheral of the city of George Town, Penang, my father and I started getting into music and buying records either in the late 50s or the early 60s.

I remember that one day, he brought home a radiogram which consisted of a PYE radio and a Garrard turntable. It was the pride of the family when we sat it in the hall. Our collection of records was very modest. Later, we bought a HiFi system comprising a Lenco turntable, a non-descript amplifier of unknown quality and two humungous speakers. In those days, we tend to impress people by the size of the speakers: the bigger, the better, never mind the sound quality.

When we moved to Zoo Road in Ayer Itam, there wasn't space to keep our HiFi system and we had to pack them away. At first, we were toying with the idea of throwing away the records as they were bulky and heavy but a voice in me told me to pack them up in a wooden crate. Thank goodness for that! But as a reminder of our music, I had brought along the Lenco turntable although I couldn't hook it up to any amplifier. The turntable followed us when we moved first to the Siakap area and then to the Semilang area of Seberang Jaya next. But it remained in the storeroom with the crate of records which was now back in my possession.

While living in the Semilang area, I decided to resuscitate my HiFi system and set it up in the master bedroom. I still didn't have an amplifier or a pair of good speakers, and resorted to channel the music through one of those Sony integrated music systems. Then I discovered that the age-old Lenco turntable was alread on its last legs. Perhaps not, if I had the presence of mind to bring it to a competent audio repair shop to service it. But the problem was, I did not know where to turn. So one day, I decided to simply throw it away. That was a big mistake and I really regret it now.

For a while I was searching for a replacement turntable and one day, I heard that an audio shop had a second-hand Rega Planar 3 available. That turntable eventually ended up with me. When I was in Kuala Lumpur for a meeting in the late 80s, I picked up a Bose Acoustimass 5 speaker system from their showroom in Petaling Jaya. Everything fell into place when finally, I bought a Technics integrated amplifier. My new HiFi system was complete. I could listen to my records again.

Of course, when I couldn't listen to my records in the 70s and 80s, I had turned to listening to cassettes. Like everyone else, I found the walkmans to be so convenient. I think that I may have played through, spoilt and discarded three or four walkman players. I also had those radio cassette players with attached external speakers that were starting to become popular. The Sony brand was of course the mainstay but other brands that I used included Aiwa, Denon and Philips. In particular, I liked the Denon best of all for its fantastic sound reproduction.

With the advent of the compact discs, there was no stopping me from buying a dedicated CD player. The first player that I bought was the Arcam One. It proved very reliable but I really disliked the noise from the transport whenever the CD tray opened or closed. But eventually, I had to have this CD player put aside when I couldn't get its laser serviced or repaired satisfactorily. CD tracks kept skipping and some of my CDs could not be read at all. My latest CD player is a second-hand NAD.

Oh yes, for a brief period, I was also caught up with the Minidisc craze and actually had a MD deck with me. And I also went through two or three portable minidisc players too. Unfortunately, the Minidisc never really caught on and I am now landed with a big box of unusable minidiscs because I've nothing to play them with and minidisc players are no longer in production. Sad.

What's that? A 488-page circular?

Gee, I've just received this package through the Post today. From upstairs, I had heard the postman coming but before I could go out to meet him, he had thrown something over the gate. It landed in the porch with a heavy thud. Letters don't go thud, and neither do fragile items. But this one did. 

And this was what I found after ripping open the plastic bag: a 488-page "circular" from cover-to-cover to shareholders from my old employment, JobStreet.com, calling for an extra-ordinary general meeting to discuss, among other things, the sale of the business in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and some other smaller interests to SEEK International Investments in Australia. 

So finally, this is it: the continuing saga of the disposal of JobStreet.com's main business to their main rival in this region. It needs shareholder ratification on the distribution of the proceeds. I may want to attend this extra-ordinary general meeting but I may not have the time to do so. Not when I shall be travelling back from a trip overseas and I would just want to get home as fast as possible, not break my journey.

Moreover, I do not expect a dissent or the resolutions to be rejected by the shareholders as this can be deemed a done deal already. I'm sure that the majority shareholders have a stranglehold on the en bloc votes even without my participation. So as a very minor minority shareholder, I shall just have to wait and see when the company will pay us shareholders our special dividend. That's all.

(Oh yes, there was sort of a note from the Post Office to tell me that the envelope was torn and had been re-secured by them. Personally signed as well. Nice of the Post Office to tell me that.)

How Poh Seng Tai Tay (保生大帝) cured the queen

There are some people who have been questioning why I am so immersed into the legends of Chinese gods and deities in my blog nowadays. Well, the direction of my writing does change with time and right now, I feel that it is necessary to share with others whatever little I have learnt about my Chinese cultural past, especially when this cultural past has connections with my clan association. And just so, the legends are documented for posterity.

Anyway, this is the final extract from the bilingual booklet found in the Cheng Leong Keong (Tai Tay Eah) temple in Jelutong, Penang. Like all my earlier posts on the deity, Poh Seng Tai Tay, the resident deity of the Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi, which can be read here, I have attempted to clean up the quaint writing of the original author.

Healing Queen Wen of Ming Chengzu During the reign of Emperor Ming Chengzu in 1409, Queen Wen suffered a serious breast disease which nowadays we know as breast cancer. All the available Court physicians attempted to treat the Queen but in vain. They were at their wit's end. The Queen's son, the heir apparent, made a public announcement to request for any competent physician in the country to come forward to treat the Queen. 

Tai Tay appeared as an avatar in the person of a Taoist priest and went to the Court to offer his service. The Prince ushered Tai Tay into the Queen's inner chamber. Although she was willing to receive treatment, she was nonetheless quite reluctant to be treated by a priest. In view of her embarrassment, Tai Tay said: "Don't worry. What is needed is to tie a silk thread to the affected area. I just have to stand outside the door and shall be able to diagnose the sickness". 

The Queen was quite sceptical and wanted to test his medical skills. She secretly ordered the attendant to tie the silk thread to the leg of a cat and requested Tai Tay to diagnose. After some careful diagnosis, Tai Tay said: "The pulse is not that of a bear. Neither is it that of a leopard. It must be that of a cat!!" Not fully convinced of Tai Tay's medical skills, the Queen then asked for the silk thread to be tied secretly to a door ring and requested Tai Tay to diagnose again. After some careful diagnosis, Tai Tay said: "This has a characteristic of wood or metal. It cannot be a human pulse." 

After these two tests, the Queen was very surprised at the correctness of the diagnoses. Fully convinced of Tai Tay's medical skills and treatment, she then tied the silk thread to the affected area on her body. Tai Tay's careful diagnosis confirmed that it was a breast disease and an acupuncture treatment was needed. 

However, the Queen was put in a quandary as she was not willing to bare the top portion of her body for treatment. Tai Tay then said: "It is alright. I could remain on the outer section of the partition and use a silk thread to administer the acupuncture treatment. The treatment would be as effective". The Queen agreed to the proposal and received the treatment accordingly. True enough, she was finally healed. After witnessing this, the heir apparent was very grateful to Tai Tay for saving the Queen's life. As a token of appreciation, he wanted to bestow Tai Tay with gold and silver, and offered him an important position in the Court. 

Tai Tay gracefully rejected both the gift and offer, and left the Court quietly and disappeared. Some time later, the heir apparent managed to learn that it was Tai Tay who came in the person of the priest to save the life of the Queen. 

Many years later the heir apparent ascended to the throne as Emperor Ming Renzong. In 1425, as an Emperor, he conferred on Tai Tay the tiile of Wan Shou Wu Ji Bao Sheng Da Di, meaning the Great Protector of Life for Limitless Ages and Boundless Places. A large-scale reconstruction and extension was also carried out to convert the old temple of Tai Tay in Tong Aun District into a huge palace. In addition, a Dragon Gown was also bestowed in Tai Tay's honour. This was how Tai Tay got his royal title of Poh Seng Tai Tay. Incidentally, Tai Tay is a title of the highest order that can be conferred on a diety.

Since attaining enlightenment, Tai Tay had, through the ages, appeared many times over to save those in trouble, help those in difficulties, protect the country and bless the people. Tai Tay's meritorious deeds would be indeed fully recorded in history and his name would forever be remembered.

Kok-kok noise, ook-ook noise

My Toyota Avanza is eight and a half years old already. This workhorse of a car has been quite reliable. In all these years, it has developed only two major problems with the engine.

In 2006 when the car was still within its warranty period - less than 30,000 kilometres on the meter - the automatic gearbox started giving me problem. Whenever I hit a certain speed, a roar could be heard above the engine's sound. I took it to the Toyota service centre and after their mechanics ran some road tests on it, they changed me a new gearbox. FOC. Free of charge. But I nearly flipped over when they asked me to sign on some documents and I saw that the cost of the gearbox was something like RM28,000 (I think).

Then in 2009, the engine started shaking violently one day when I was on the road. As I was no-where near one of the Toyota service centres - and moreover, the car was way over its warranty period by now - I drove straight to an independent workshop. The mechanic identified the culprit as a faulty plug coil and replaced it with a similar item that was used by the Perodua Myvi.

About a year ago, I went to a mechanic and had the rear absorbers on the car changed, seeing that they were already about seven years old and susceptible to wear and tear. At about the same time, my wife and I were wondering why our ride in the car was not smooth. Whenever it went over an uneven part of the road, the rear of the car became very hard, bumpy and noisy.

I couldn't detect the problem and neither could this mechanic friend of mine. We knew that the noise was coming from the back of the car but the mechanic checked and couldn't find anything the matter with the absorbers.

So reluctantly, I decided to visit the Toyota service centre. Surely, they would have a better idea. Their mechanic tinkered and probed the car's suspension and told me that the third-party absorbers I was using was not compatible with the Avanza. I would have to change to their absorbers if I wanted to eliminate the problem. What to do, but to agree with their recommendation?

Yesterday, I spent the whole afternoon at their service centre in the Prai Industrial Estate. The old absorbers have been removed and the new Toyota ones put in. Luckily, it did not cost me too much of a bomb. Riding home, I was marvelling at how much more silent the back of the car had now become whenever it went over an uneven road. But mind you, I'm still not satisfied with their work and shall have to consider when to take the car back to the service centre.

I was looking at the invoice just an hour ago and I was intrigued by their description of the car's problem and the solution. Here's what was written:

CONDITION: REAR PORTION KOK-KOK NOISE. REMEDY: REPLACEMENT PART - DONE. REMARKS: TEST REAR PORTION NO ABNORMAL KOK-KOK NOISE. ONLY U/CARRIAGE GOT OOK-OOK RUBBING NOISE.

Kok-kok noise, ook-ook noise. Indeed. I guess the sounds were beyond normal description and so, this must be the only way to describe the funny noises that came from below the car!

Too heavy for a Friday? Not at all

I was telling a friend about this video which I found on YouTube today and he said that the music was too heavy for a Friday. But with the Labour Day holiday over only just yesterday, today is almost like a Monday!

Anyway, I do enjoy Led Zeppelin on any day of the week, and this programme was recorded at the Gladsaxe Teen Club in Denmark for TV Byen/Danmarks Radio on 17 Mar 1969, supposedly their very first time appearing on television together as a group.

Here is Led Zeppelin performing four explosive songs from their first album, the self-titled Led Zeppelin. The tracks: Communication Breakdown, Dazed and Confused, Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, How Many More Times.

Travel between KLIA and KLIA2

With the opening of the KLIA2 budget terminal on 2 May 2014, the simplest and most direct connection between the KLIA main terminal building (MTB) and KLIA2 is the Express Rail Link (ERL). I would recommend that passengers take either the KLIA Express or the KLIA Transit services, both of which are operated by ERL. 

The ride takes a mere three minutes and the cost is only RM2 per person. The KLIA2 ERL station is located on Level Two of the Gateway@KLIA2 complex. But please note that you shall have to clear Immigration and Customs first upon arrival at KLIA2 before proceeding to the MTB if you have to catch a connecting flight from there, and vice-versa too. 

And if you need to travel to and from the KL Sentral in the city, the KLIA Express and the KLIA Transit services are also the fastest and most convenient modes of transportation available, although the bus shuttles and commercial taxis are also alternatives.

Below is a graphic that explains in a nutshell all the possible connectivity from the KLIA and KLIA2 terminals to Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere within the Klang Valley.

(This graphic originally appeared in The Rakyat Post on 15 May 2014)

Of KLIA, LCCT and the KLIA2

Like all Malaysians, my thoughts had gone out to the families of those that had perished in the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that went missing on the morning of 8 Mar 2014. Although I had not said anything at all previously, the fate of the flight had always been in my mind. I know how difficult it is to have lost a loved one. Especially for calamities like this, the grieving period will be long and painful, and full of unanswered questions.

Days after MH370 went missing, my wife and I were winging our way to Hong Kong on board another of Malaysia Airlines' flights. Throughout our journey to Hong Kong and back, MH370 weighed a lot on our minds. I was sure too that the missing flight weighed heavily on the minds of the aircraft's crew as well. But nobody dared to broach the subject with them. It was almost a taboo subject while in the air.

As long as the aircraft is still missing, the search should go on until some concrete evidence is found. Until then, there will never be closure for the crew and passengers' families. As much as I dislike the Chinese for their loudness and boorishness, I do sympathise with their pain. But we also need to share the same sympathy with the crew's families too. They may only be doing their jobs but in the last few moments of the flight going down, the crew were just as human as the passengers too. I think this is one aspect of MH370 that we should never forget. Anyway, this is all that I want to say about the missing aircraft.

On a slightly different matter, my wife was telling me that she has lost confidence in using Firefly when travelling to Kuala Lumpur. "There's always a delay," she huffed to me last night. Of course, her "always" referred to her two most recent flights from the Subang Airport to Penang on the seventh and the 28th of this month. I told her that the delays could be coincidental but no, she refused to accept my lame explanation.

She could accept the occasional delay in a flight. But to have her flights delayed twice consecutively, although they were a fortnight apart, she felt that they were way too much of a coincidence. Last Monday, her 8.10p.m. flight was delayed to 8.40p.m. and then delay to 8.55p.m. She actually marched right up to the Firefly counter at the Subang Airport and demanded a reason for the delay.

"That's a bit too much," she told me on arriving home all tired. "Next time, please book me on Malaysia Airlines." But the KLIA is more inconvenient for you, I reminded her. "Never mind," she said, "anything but a delay."

And on yet another slightly different matter, I've been reading today that the KLIA2 terminal - that's where the budget airlines will be operating from - will be open for business from the second of May. Malaysia-based Malindo Air, the Philippines' Cebu Pacific Air, Singapore's Tiger Airways and Indonesia's Lion Air and Mandala Airlines will begin initial operations from this budget terminal on Friday, while AirAsia and AirAsia X will shift their operations there only on the ninth of May.

Personally, I think that is a wise move for AirAsia to delay flying in and out of KLIA2 until a few days later. There is bound to be teething problems once a new terminal opens, and I do foresee flight delays to be quite the norm until the airlines and the control tower sought them out. Mind you, I wouldn't say that AirAsia's flights won't be affected by delays once the shift-over happens but a few days grace may mean a world of a difference to flight schedules.

I still remember when the KLIA first opened on 27 Jun 1998, my wife and I - and my aunt - were flying out to Hong Kong for a short. I wanted them to savour the experience of flying out from a new airport at KLIA and the thrill of landing at Hong Kong's old Kai Tak airport which was to close down within the week. The Malaysia Airlines flight left the KLIA in the morning, delayed by only about an hour or so, but while we were in Hong Kong, we heard that all other flights were subjected to horrendous delays for the rest of the day. Luckily, we were not affected when we flew back a few days later. Everything had been sorted out by then.

Time to reclaim the headmaster's residence

To me, it was rather ironical that while the annual general meeting at The Old Frees' Association was debating the continuing use of the Penang Free School headmaster's residence in the school compound as a homestay bungalow run by the Puspanita organisation, we did not know that the Police had raided the bungalow in the wee hours of the same morning and arrested 88 people there. The Star's story here.

It turned out later that of the 88 that were nabbed, 60 of them - including 15 students - had tested positive for drugs (cannabis and methamphetamine). So it was a drug den that the Police had uncovered, right under the noses of the people that were running the Puspanita homestay.

For at least three years already, The Old Frees' Association had been very unhappy that the headmaster's residence had been taken over by the Penang government and rented out to Puspanita. In the first place, this bungalow as well as the other bungalows on the PFS land do not sit on state land. There are documents to show that the title still vests with the Federal government, and this has been told to the Penang state secretary.

Also, the Penang Chief Minister is well aware of this, as well as the Penang Governor. But it seemed that they have been unable or reluctant to do anything. Was it because of the perceived fear of the powerful position of Puspanita? What's Puspanita, anyway? It stands for the Wives of Civil Servants and Women Civil Servants Association and in this case, it was the Penang branch of the nation-wide organisation. So it stands to reason why the Penang civil service was very reluctant, especially, to upset the aprons behind the senior civil servants in the state.

All this has changed since the raid on the bungalow premises on 20 April morning. Immediately after the incident came to light, the Penang deputy state secretary issued a statement two days later saying that the government was taking back the bungalow from Puspanita.

“The incident has tarnished the image of the state government and in accordance with the instructions from the Chief Minister, the state government decided to terminate all contracts made due to violation of the terms of the agreement with Puspanita. The State Secretariat has been instructed to take over the management of the building effective immediately,” he said in a statement.

That the state government had taken back the bungalow could not have come at a better time when the school's Board of Governors are clamouring for the headmaster's residence to be returned to the school.

Perhaps right now, the state secretariat will take notice of the Board's request and do what's right for the school. With the Bicentenary coming up in 2016, there were plans identified about two years back that the premises would be an ideal location to house the School Archives permanently.

Well and good if the school were to get the headmaster's residence back. But in the first place, how was it that the premises was not occupied by the headmaster? Since the Penang Free School relocated to Green Lane in 1928, it is a tradition that the headmaster would always stay here.

When I was a student here, Tan Boon Lin, Poon Poh Kong and KG Yogam stayed here. I would presume that their successors had also been residing here. So who was the last headmaster that stayed in this bungalow? It must have been many, many years already. Whoever was the succeeding headmaster that gave up the chance to live here should disclose why he did not choose to uphold one of the school's traditions. As an Old Free, I would be most interested to understand why for history's sake.

In Giggs, we should trust

Nowadays, very little disrupts my sleeping routine. In the past five years or so, my routine is to retire for bed at 12.30 a.m. at the latest unless there is something urgent concerning health or family matters to attend to. Not even football can persuade me to stay up and watch 22 men play with a ball in a field. I really do need my beauty sleep. It's such a precious commodity.

And so it was too last night. I slept at 12.30 a.m. but then at four o'clock in the morning, I was suddenly wide awake. No matter how I tossed and turned, sleep could not come back to me. In resignation, I knew that at the back of my mind, there must have been a tinge of regret in not staying up to watch the football game between Manchester United and Norwich City. It was the first game with Ryan Giggs in charge as the interim manager and I chose to sleep. And thus, missed it.

I reached out for the iPad and went to the sports section of The Guardian and the Manchester Evening News. Read the headlines: a 4-0 win against Norwich. Eagerly poured over all the news reports and looked over the pictures. The stadium erupting in adulation for a true son of Manchester United. Having satisfied myself with that, I tried to go back to sleep. But it was not until past six o'clock that I managed to nod off until about eight in the morning.

Samplings from the Penang World Music Festival 2014

I went unprepared to the first day of the Penang World Music Festival at the Penang Botanical Gardens a fortnight ago: I had not cleared up the old images in my camera, and thus the memory card was short on storage space. Often, this left me frantically deleting the old images and videos on the spot in order to accommodate the newer ones. But I was still grateful for being able to capture some video snippets of a few of the performances. Here they are:

The modern gamelan orchestra comprising students from the Tengku Abdul Rahman Secondary School in Nibong Tebal, Province Wellesley, Penang.

South Africa's Carlos Dje Dje performing African Children with guest guitarist Darren Rozells from Penang.

Guinea's N'Faly Kayoute and his tribal musical instrument known as the kora.

Oh, and here's one more video clip. Although it wasn't taken by me, I just have to share it here. It features a group of local musicians who called themselves La La Li La Tam Pong.

The many feats of Poh Seng Tai Tay (保生大帝)

There is no shortage of stories about the legendary feats of Poh Seng Tai Tay (Tai Tay Eah) (保生大帝), the resident deity of the Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi. You should pick up a copy of the bilingual booklet, Biography of Bao Sheng Da Di (Deity of Healing), published by the Cheng Leong Keong temple (Tai Tay Eah Ahm) in Jelutong, Penang. Here are three stories from the booklet:

Controlling the flood at Bai Jiao Xiang On one occasion, Bai Jiao Xiang (which was Tai Tay's home village in Tong Aun District, Quan Zhou Prefecture, Hock Kian Province in China) was badly flooded. The water current was alarmingly strong and swift, and houses were on the verge of being swept away. At this crucial moment, Tai Tay was seen appearing on a white crane in the sky, exercising his divine power to control the flood. In a short while, the flood water began to subside. The entire village was eventually saved without suffering much damage. As a token of appreciation, the people built a shrine to house his image and apotheosised him.

Helping Emperor Song Gaozong to escape from captivity (The legend known as Ni Ma Tu Kang Wang (泥馬渡康王)) During the time when Emperor Gaozong (高宗) of Song was still a prince, the Jin (金) (a barbaric tribe north of China) invaded the country. The Song defenders failed to stop the invading enemies from advancing. The Song called for a truce and surrendered the prince to the Jin as a hostage and the prince was subsequently kept in captivity in a Jin prison. One night several years later, the prince found an opportunity to escape under the cover of darkness. He ran as fast as he could to make his way home until he reached the Cuizi Temple (崔子廟). However, he still could not find a horse to ride. There, amidst his anxiety and fear, he suddenly heard a horse neighing nearby. He found the horse and rode off quick. As he reached a river side his captors were catching up fast with him. Feeling very worried and helpless, he prayed very hard for assistance. Almost immediately, there appeared in the sky an army of heavenly soldiers carrying the bearing with Tai Tay's name. The heavenly army quickly came and routed the enemy. The prince was quick to take this opportunity and hurriedly crossed the river and returned safely to the Middle Kingdom. Some time later, the prince ascended to the throne and he discovered that it was Tai Tay who had aided him at that critical moment. To show his gratitude, he issued a royal decree to build a temple named after Tai Tay in Bai Jiao Xiang and to hold regular rituals and praying sessions every year at the temple. This was the oldest temple for Tai Tay in Bai Jiao Xiang, known as Ci Ji Ling Gong (慈濟靈宮). Tai Tay was conferred the title of Da Tao Zhen Ren (大道真人). and was thus also known as Da Tao Gong (大道公).

Assisting Emperor Ming Taizu in battle During the period between the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in China, Zhu Yuan Zhang (朱元璋) (who later became Emperor Ming Taizu) was in battle against a warlord named Chen You-liang (陳友諒) at Lake Poyang. During the confrontation, a tempestuous storm suddenly developed and raged through the lake. The battleships of Zu and his army were badly hit by the storm and Zu was faced with an imminent defeat. At that very moment, Tai Tay appeared with layers and layers of banners waving in the sky, which changed the direction of the raging storm and saved Zu from the brink of defeat. Zu was finally able to beat the enemies and win the battle. Later, Zu successfully founded the Ming Dynasty and ascended to the throne in Nanking, declaring himself as Emperor Ming Taizu. In 1371, the Emperor conferred upon Tai Tay the title of Wu Tian Yu Shi Yi Ling Zhen Cun (吳天御史醫靈真君), meaning Great Royal Officer and Master of Healing.

As the third and final extract from this booklet is rather long, I shall reproduce it in a later post.

Moyes is history

I just got wind of the news that David Moyes has been sacked by Manchester United Football Club. And, Ryan Giggs is appointed as caretaker manager until a new permanent manager is identified.

What a relief! I used to think that the success of a football club was driven solely by the players on the field and that a manager's role would be peripheral but not any more. Ever since Moyes took over from Alex Ferguson, I have come to realise that a good manager is indeed always needed to push the team forward.

Unfortunately, Moyes has not been able to do that. The last 10 months under his guidance has been such a disaster for the club.

Knocked out of every conceivable tournament in England and Europe, in danger of missing out altogether from games in Europe the next season - certainly from the Champions League - and finishing in an absurdly low position in the Premier League.

An excerpt from theguardian newspaper summed up the feelings in the dressing room: "A lot of the analysis will inevitably feature on the way Moyes has "lost" the dressing room. The truth is actually that he had never had the dressing room. Not properly anyway. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, important players at Old Trafford, could never be won over. Ryan Giggs, who understands the place as well as anyone, has been thinking about not just retiring but also quitting his coaching role and walking away from the club altogether. When senior players rebel, younger ones follow. Danny Welbeck, the only other Mancunian in the squad, has just let it be known that he wants a move." And et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Anyway, it is time to look past this forgettable season and towards the future for my club's fortune....

The challenges of driving on Jalan Rozhan

My normal route from home to Simpang Ampat would usually take me through Machang Bubok because of the lesser traffic there, but because I was coming from a different direction this morning, I decided to use the Jalan Rozhan way.

Halfway through my journey, I realised suddenly that the road had changed tremendously in the last few years and the 5.5-kilometre stretch was now sprouting all sorts of developments, both residential and commercial.

TESCO already has a presence along this road for two or three years now and practically across from it, AEON is scheduled to complete its relocation from Perda to their new commercial outlet within the next two months or so. Jalan Rozhan will definitely become a very busy thoroughfare, if it is not already considered busy as it is now.

Travel along this road used to be a very leisurely affair. I remember that when I first moved to Bukit Mertajam about 10 years ago, I had driven along this road and it was only a single lane in either direction without much development in sight. Both sides of the road were lined with oil palms and night time was pretty dark as street lamps were dim and rather far apart.

And now, this road has been widened from the Permatang Tinggi junction until a bit after the Jalan Sejahtera junction. There is also a flyover over the Malayan Railway double-tracking project so that motorists no longer have to wait for the trains to pass by.

On my way back from Simpang Ampat, I deliberately used this road again. And I counted a total of nine sets of traffic lights from one end to the other. Two were still not functioning as the developments they will serve were not completed yet. But eventually, they will. And when they do, I can bet that driving here will become even slower and inconvenient with the frequent stops and starts. but then, progress does not come without a price.  

The ugly side of cowardice

Not long after I had written a short post today on my blog about yesterday's Annual General Meeting of The Old Frees' Association that I was surprised to retrieve a small brown envelope in my letter box. A small brown envelope with my name and address affixed on it, and post marked the 15th of April, 2014.

Inside was an anonymous, poison letter making an allegation that the land and building of the OFA premises in Northam Road, Penang, had been sold off to a well-known property developer. The anonymous letter made some further allegations of kickbacks and corruption, which I do not see fit enough to reproduce here in full.

Frankly, I am disgusted by anonymous letters flying around. If the sender had the guts to put his name on the letter, I would admire and respect him, but having chosen to hide behind a cloud of anonymity, making allegations which cannot be substantiated by ordinary means, that, to me, is a sign of great cowardice.

Of course, if this person's intention is to bring the matter up to the attention of all OFA members, he has succeeded, assuming of course, that he had sent this letter to everyone in the membership list. It would have cost the perpetrator of this letter a fair bit of money too to reach out to all the members. Postage alone would have cost him more than RM700, and that's not even taking in the time and effort, and the cost of envelopes and photocopying the letters. But it cannot hide the fact that only cowards resort to making such anonymous allegations in the first place.

And a final comment: I am wondering how on earth did this person manage to get my name and address? I am hoping that it did not come from the OFA management office. I would be very disappointed if it is proven that it had.