Andrew's WiFry antenna

You may be wondering what is this Chinese cookware that has an electronic device stuck in its middle. That electronic device, by the way, is a USB wifi adapter. A hole had been cut in the cookware so that the wifi adapter could poke through. Together, this is a homemade wifi booster and it's usually called a WiFry antenna.

I've heard of it before but never actually seen one. Now I have. Andrew was showing it to me when I was in KL last week for the Malaysian Chess Festival. We were at the far end of one of the halls at the MidValley Exhibition Centre. There was no direct wifi connectivity and his laptop could detect only two very weak signals from his work desk. But the moment he connected the Wifry to his laptop, the number of signals jumped to five. So the darn contraption actually worked! The signals were still very poor but at least, it detected signals that his laptop alone couldn't detect. I captured this second picture of Andrew hard at work without his WiFry turned on.

But there is a third photo as well. As I said, the signals were poor at the far end of the hall. Here's Andrew trying his best to capture some signals so that he could blog about the Festival. No luck!

You may think that the WiFry is funny or nerdy but there are people all over the world who swear by it. There have been claims that signals as far away as three to five kilometres could be received under ideal conditions.

Opening today: Province Wellesley's newest mall

After months of anticipation, this Seberang Prai City Shopping Centre is opening today. I'm sure there'll be lots of curious window shoppers that'll be thronging the place for the next few weeks. Questions abound. Will this place continue to draw in the crowd after the euphoria is over? Will this place succumb to the Malaysian malady and turn eventually into a third-rate pasar malam centre like the Midland One-Stop Centre or the Bukit Jambul Complex?


I think I'll take a recce around the block when I go home today and take a look at the crowd...if i remember, of course!

Datukship for Lee Chong Wei?

Is the Penang state government dead set on heaping a Datuk title on Lee Chong Wei? My advice is:

Don't!

Please don't do it because you are setting a very dangerous precedence. A bigger worry is that you may be destroying his career. He'll be put under immense pressure to perform and live up to the award. Chong Wei is not Nicol David. She is strong enough to handle it but can he too? So I say, let him be. Please let him be. Find other ways to recognise his achievement but don't give him this title.

Who won?

So who won the Big Debate?

AirAsia X goes to Melbourne

What's this fascination that Tony Fernandes has with Australia? I've just received a note from AirAsia that X is flying to Melbourne beginning 12 Nov 2008. This comes exactly one year after Asia Asia X began their inaugural service to the Gold Coast. Perth was added later and now, Melbourne. Some more, it's four times a week! I suppose AirAsia X would have already taken delivery of their latest aircraft by then or else they wouldn't be able to open up one route after another.

Melbourne, anyone?

No more conscience in the party

As you can see, I'm still trying to catch up with events in Penang in the last few days when I was away from home. My latest entry: the exit of Dr Toh Kin Woon from the Gerakan Party. I heard about it on Monday at about 6pm. I got a call saying he had resigned, that he would no longer be involved with the party to enable him to carry on with his own work and research.

Dr Toh, I salute you. Among all the people in the Gerakan and by extension, the Barisan Nasional, you were the only politician I knew personally who dared to stand up for the inequalities in the country when all others dared not do so. Though there was little that you could do in the face of obstacles, you continued to speak up. It was all the truth that you said, and the people in Penang are not blind to you.

I'll glad to have known you from the days at the Penang Chess Association.

Guan Eng - Tsu Koon debate

There's supposed to be a debate tonight, aired over national television, between DAP's Lim Guan Eng and Gerakan's Dr Koh Tsu Koon over the land scam issues plaguing Penang. I'm all for the debate if it can clarify the issue once and for all (although I'm totally without confident that we'll be anything but the wiser).

However, I'm unhappy over one aspect of the debate. This is a Penang matter for the heads of the present and previous state administrations to thrash out. But why is it that the debate is being held in Kuala Lumpur. Why can't it be held in Penang? It is just not right. This is where the alleged land scams are supposed to have taken place. This is where it must be settled, not some faraway TV studios in KL. They might as well hold the debate in Timbuktu. If you ask me, this is a stupid arrangement and this is an equally stupid agreement between the two protagonists to debate the issues outside Penang.

What, lah!

Homecoming

I'm glad that the residents of Berapit are organising a homecoming for Lee Chong Wei, our badminton silver medallist at the Beijing Olympics at 5pm today at the Berapit Badminton Hall. Local hero, all right, but I'm a bit disturbed that there are people who are trying to politicise the event. Why can't his homecoming be done without the presence of politicians? Sports should be above politics.


Note: Thanks to Lim Kit Siang's blog, I was alerted to an article in the New Straits Times. Sometimes, this newspaper surprises me. Here's the extract:

At Parliament House today, the Malaysian Olympic silver medalist cosied up with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister where he enthralled attendees with his winning exploits against his wily opponents, shuttlers leading up to the semis, though it was likely that his anecdotes against the great Lin Dan was minimal. It was already a known fact that coming in second in any Olympic sport meant a RM300,000 cash reward and a RM3,000 lifetime monthly pension, so we know Chong Wei will soon be, deservedly, filthily loaded.

What was NOT known was that the reward presentation will fortuitously be held in Penang tomorrow night. "Since he is a Penang boy, we've decided to have a cheque presentation in the state,” Datuk Seri Najib Razak said after a 10-minute meeting with Lee at his Parliament office.

Co-incidence? Crass political exploitation? Why not? Penang boy Chong Wei getting the award in his home state is the perfect setting, except for that little by-election gig where Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is heavily involved. It should be noted that badminton-loving Anwar did write a bit in his blog about how he missed watching Chong Wei’s bouts, seeing that the ex-DPM is super busy campaigning to topple the BN government with some tricky defection game, priming himself as the Prime Minister-in-waiting and devising strategies to win Permatang Pauh, not necessarily in this order.

It was inevitable: Lee Chong Wei has, unwittingly or not, been made a fodder in this by-election battle.

Malaysia Chess Festival 2008 (1)

I've been neglecting my blog during the last few days primarily because of chess. I've been away to Kuala Lumpur to document part of the Malaysian Chess Festival. It hadn't been easy to take photographs there because of such poor lighting in the tournament hall which the ballroom on the fifth floor of CitiTel MegaMall. Every photograph either turned our grainy or blurred and not to mention too, the interior lights are the worst nightmare. Everything is in a shocking hue of red. Absolutely no redemption with any photo editing program. Anyway, this is a quick shot of the playing area. It was elbow-to-elbow room only.

Battle looms in Kuala Lumpur

Battle No. 3. The Malaysian Chess Festival kicks off with the two-day Merdeka rapid open chess tournament at the MidValley Exhibition Centre and the Cititel MidValley ballroom. Chess is not a game for the faint-hearted. It has its own twists and turns. Do you know how to twist and turn? If not, come to the MidValley and watch 180 players do the twist and turn. It's a battle over two days and there are nine blood-letting rounds.

Battle looms in Manchester

Battle No. 2. Yes, there will be a battle this evening as the new Barclays Premier League season starts in England. Manchester United face Newcastle at Old Trafford. Who will win this opening encounter? As it stands now, ManUtd are hit by a spate of injuries in their first team and the club hasn't added anybody to the first team. Will they continue to perform as well as last season or have they peaked in winning the Champions League like has been insinuated by some quarters?

Battle looms in Permatang Pauh

Battle No. 1. It's going to be a no-holds-barred battle for Permatang Pauh. On the eve of nomination day, workers and volunteers in Seberang Jaya were getting ready for the battle ahead. Sheds had been erected by the road sides and motor vehicles were being readied. Here are a few photos:




Personally, I think the Barisan Nasional is pouring in a lot of money on this crucial by-election battle. You can almost sniff the wanton abandon in throwing away the money compared to the more conservative approach by the Pakatan Rakyat.

Truck drivers begin their unhappiness drive today

So today's the day that heavy vehicles and slow-moving vehicles are banned from using the Penang Bridge during peak hours. This morning, as I was at the toll plaza at 6.30am, I noticed a group of policemen and bridge staff getting ready to stop these vehicles from crossing.

According to a colleague who crossed about half an hour later, there was a heated argument between a truck driver and the authorities. No prize for guessing who won the day.

How can there be a plea of ignorance of this new ruling when the announcements had been made in the news media since two, three weeks ago? Even the trade organisations have written to their members to inform them that the ban on heavy and slow-moving vehicles would take effect from 15 Aug 2008. Anyone who chose to ignore the notices would have done so at their own peril.

Hoppers and cross overs

Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim keeps saying that he is still on track to form the new Federal Government by 16 Sep 2008 when enough Members of Parliament from the Barisan Nasional cross over to his side.

However, I wouldn't be much surprised if the first defection occurs the other way round. Why would I say that? The way events are developing, it's just a logical conclusion in the wake of the hoo-haa surrounding the recent Bar Council forum that was cut short by a mob of protestors.

Red FM: I love you ... pau

This is the pure-white, fluffy, innocent-looking pau. I couldn't help but buy one on my way to work this morning. I couldn't help myself after asking Shazmin where to find the Red FM pau song on their spanking new website. The first time I heard it on air, I was thinking to myself: gosh, what a nice, folksy tune. It ain't being performed live before a 300,000-strong audience ala Woodstock69 but hey, it reaching out to an equally large audience over national radio.

The song's so infectious. In fact, it's so ridiculously infectious that I am here in the office eating my hot delicious pau. Oh yes, I do take it with the skin off. Skin off but clothes on, by the way.

Come, have one with me too. And while you are enjoying it, why not look at JD, Dilly and Jeremy on YouTube singing their .... pau song, too?

Nor Mohamed: Read my lips

Really, ah? Yes, read his lips. He said it and it's reported in TheStar Online. Click here to read the full article.

By the way, the common rule of thumb used by economists to define recession is when real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is negative for two or more consecutive quarters.

Making mistakes

If a barber makes a mistake, it's a NEW STYLE
If a driver makes a mistake, it's a NEW PATH
If an engineer makes a mistake, it's a NEW VENTURE
If parents make a mistake, it's a NEW GENERATION
If a politician makes a mistake, it's a NEW LAW
If a scientist makes a mistake, it's a NEW INVENTION
If a tailor makes a mistake, it's a NEW FASHION
If a teacher makes a mistake, it's a NEW THEORY
If a boss makes a mistake, it's a NEW IDEA
If an employee makes a mistake, it's a ... MISTAKE

Chef is dead

Read about it yesterday. South Park's Chef died yesterday. Of course, Chef was Isaac Hayes. Or should I day, Isaac Hayes was Chef.

I first latched onto Isaac Hayes in the mid 1970s after he released the soundtrack to the film Shaft in 1971. Unfortunately, I don't own that record but I do own his 1975 work, Chocolate Chip.

Later, I acquired the Ultimate Isaac Hayes which was a double-CD collection of his most notable efforts.

BM Hill: the dusky leaf monkey

The population of dusky leaf monkeys at the Bukit Mertajam forest park is relatively small. And you don't get to see this monkey often at the park. So I was quite lucky to catch sight of this one during the weekend. There were several of them but all of them, except this one, simply climbed or swung themselves away from me. Very shy animals. All I snapped were their backs. Except this one, of course. It simply ignored me but still, it refused to look right at me. But it's a nice shot with the sun providing the back light to the animal.

Tale Of The Cities

I was just reflecting that on 8 July 2008, the weather conditions in both George Town (left) and Beijing (right) weren't that different: hot and hazy.