First impressions of Penang open 2012

About a year ago, I mentioned to Lee Ewe Ghee, the current and fourth president of the Penang Chess Association that the PCA should be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2012. The association had been founded in 1972 and is possibly the oldest surviving chess body in the country, being established even earlier than the Malaysian Chess Federation which was formed two years later. Obviously this significant opportunity had not been lost on Lee and his committee because the moment I stepped into the Grand Ballroom of the Red Rock Hotel in downtown George Town yesterday, this was the banner I saw:

Notice the "40th Anniversary" tucked away in the top left corner of the banner? Yes, that's the absolute fact that the members of the Penang Chess Association should be proud to mention to any other chess player friends from overseas or outstation. I can't speak for them, of course, but personally as one of the association's founding members, I'm immensely proud of the long journey which the PCA has covered so far. Long may the PCA still thrive.

The joy of experiencing the 40th anniversary is somewhat tinged by the revelation that the association's founding president, Fang Ewe Churh, had passed away only nine days earlier, on 2nd December. I wasn't around for the opening ceremony in the morning but I did hear that a one-minute's silence was called on the players and officials present to observe before the start of the first round. This is a fitting tribute to the man who galvanised the chess movement in the state.

The opening ceremony was officiated by one of Penang's most active State Assemblymen, Ng Wei Aik, who made the ceremonial first move on the top board game which was played on the stage, while the other games took place in the ballroom.

When I moved through the hotel and walked its narrow corridor before mounting the stairs to the first floor, I had not exactly prepared myself for the size of the tournament venue. I had to take a deep breath when I walked in. The ballroom was immense and suddenly I remembered that this was actually the old Gala Cinema. Years ago, this was one of newest cinemas that had sprung up on the island in the 1970s. Then it closed down and was used as a church premises for several years. The cinema hall had reverted back to the hotel when the new owners bought up the complex in 2007.

As I said, the size of the tournament hall was immense. Yet with the 200-plus participants here, the playing tables stretched from one end of the hall to the other and from one side to the other side. The players could not have asked for a better playing venue. It is a shame, though, that the PCA had to pay close to RM20,000 to use this impressive hall for five days. It is a greater shame that the hotel management had not deemed it fit to give the PCA a better discount especially since I heard that the association had also arranged to reserve 50 rooms for outstation players.

Definitely, I must comment on the hard work by these boys who were tasked with data entry from the players' scoresheets. They were so efficient that I was surprised to see all the games from the Open section already updated to chess-results.com within an hour or two after the end of the rounds. Great achievement, this. Do keep it up.

Now Music 1984

I dug out this double album yesterday to give it a listen, not having heard the music on it for quite a long while. It set off another wave of nostalgia for the sounds of the 80s. Here are the songs on the two records. How many do you recognise?

Side One: The Reflex (Duran Duran), I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Nik Kershaw), Thinking Of You (Sister Sledge), Locomotion (OMD), Dancing With Tears In My eyes (Ultravox), Pearl In The Shell (Howard Jones), Don't Tell Me (Blancmange), Against All Odds (Phil Collins)
Side Two: Two Tribes (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), White Lines (Grandmaster and Melle Mel), Nelson Mandela (Special AKA), Love Wars (Womack and Womack), You're The Best Thing (Style Council), One Love/People Get Ready (Bob Marley and the Wailers), Small Town Boy (Bronski Beat)
Side Three: I Want To Break Free (Queen), Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper), Love Resurrection (Alison Moyet), Young At Heart (Bluebells), Robert De Niro's Waiting (Bananarama), Doctor Mabuse (Propaganda), What's Love Got To Do With It (Tina Turner), When You're Young And In Love (Flying Pickets)
Side Four: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (Wham), You Take Me Up (Thompson Twins), It's Raining Men (Weather Girls), Dance Me Up (Gary Glitter), Susanna (The Art Company), One Better Day (Madness), Red Guitar (David Sylvian)

What's in a name, really!

During my last visit to the Bao Sheng Durian Farm last Friday with my brothers-in-law, I was asked to hold onto Jackie Chan's wife. And I obliged. But don't get me wrong. She wasn't there in person. All I was asked to do was to hold this durian which had been named after her.

So allow me introduce you to Lin Feng-jiao. Why it is so called, I don't know. But I do know that I won't be exactly happy if someone names a fruit after me, even with my consent. Will it be a credible honour? Or will it be a dubious honour? Anyway, now you have been properly introduced to the Lin Feng-jiao durian, you can start to get to know this fruit better. I know I did. And my brothers-in-law can vouch for me.

Let me add that the many varieties of durian on the local market have all sorts of exotic names. Maybe about 10 or 20 years ago, we would only hear of the D11 or D25 or D604 but today, you would get confused over the newer names. Okay, maybe some of the names are not really that new but they are there to trip you up nevertheless.

Going back even further, when I was young, life was even simpler. All that I was ever familiar with were the local durian kampung -- selling in heaps at the five-foot way of the townhouses opposite the Kuantan Road junction -- as opposed to the humongously huge Thai durian which we would all treat with utter disdain. "Thai durian? Nah! All sweetness with no particular fragrance. All volume with no particular taste. All noise with no particular melody." Yes, all noise with no particular melody, like some political parties in Putrajaya. As a child, I was already aware of the sub-standard Thai durian.

Over at the Bao Sheng Durian Farm, there are at least 10 different local varieties available at different times of the season with the D604 dropping earliest. Then there are the Centipede (Lipan), Kun Poh Ang Bak, Little Red, D600, Capri, D11, Hor Lor, Red Prawn (Ang Heh), Green Skin, D99, D15, Kunyit, Bak Eu and Ganja.

Despite having known TS Chang (Durian Seng) for more than 20 years, I have yet to taste all the varieties that he claims to have. But I can assure you that his D604, Centipede, Kun Poh Ang Bak, Hor Lor, Green Skin, Bak Eu and Red Prawn are among the best I've ever eaten. Give yourself a treat at his durian plantation on the other side of Penang Island, and then scoot on down to the quaint little Balik Pulau town for a bowl of steaming laksa.

At my last visit on Friday, after delighting me with the Lin Feng-jiao, he surprised me with another durian variety that was named Monkey Durian. "You haven't tasted it before? It's from my wife's family's estate. This fruit here is the last from that tree," said Chang.

See what I mean when I said that there are all sorts of exotic names for the varieties? The mind boggles...

Penang Chess League 2012

Results summarised in six words: We did not play particularly well enough.

 OFA A: Ronnie Lim, Jonathan Chuah, Evan Capel and Marcus Chan (guest player)

OFA B (left): Khor Shihong, Lim Cheng Teik, Colin Chong, Eoh Thean Keat (not in picture) and Chan Kim Chai; OFA C (right): Terry Ong, Quah Seng Sun, Eric Ooi (not in picture), S Kannan and Chuah Soon Pheng

Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin

Me with the displaced but legitimate Chief Minister (Menteri Besar) of Perak, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, whose office was hijacked by questionable tactics of the Barisan Nasional regime in 2009. Let not the people of Perak forget the injustice that had been wrought on them!

The Dandy Book 1966

LONDON, Dec 5 — Britain’s longest-running comic The Dandy produced its final print edition on its 75th anniversary on Tuesday and will relaunch as a purely online publication. 

In its 1950s heyday, The Dandy, featuring Desperate Dan, Bananaman and Korky the Cat, sold two million copies a week, but circulation has dwindled and is now around 8,000.


I must admit that when I read the above brief news item from AFP a few days ago, it brought a lump to my throat. The early 1960s was a time when the Dandy and Beano comics were my early exposure to life - albeit an unrealistic life - outside the cocoon of my home.

My father ensured that the two comics would be delivered to the house every week by the Indian newsagent stall that operated on Dato Kramat Road, opposite from the Kuantan Road junction.

Unfortunately, all my weekly Dandy and Beano comics have been lost because by 1966, I had completely outgrown them. The only evidence I have left from that era is this hardcover The Dandy Book 1966.

MPPP's response

Well, finally, I received a more appropriate reply from the Penang Island Municipal Council regarding the chopping down of the trees at that small patch of land outside the Fort Cornwallis in the city. At least, the MPPP now admitted that the trees had been removed, unlike that earlier email which tried to deny the fact completely.

Even though I still hold on to my conviction that the action, that is, the chopping down of the trees, was totally wrong, there is nothing more that can be done to salvage the situation. The trees are gone. Period.

Basically, what the MPPP said in their report were:

a) They trimmed the two Casuarina trees so that there would be a clear line of sight from the top of the lighthouse. I wouldn't want to argue with this as I do not know how high were the untrimmed trees in the first place.
b) The Council claimed that one of the Casuarina trees was dying and had to be felled before it became a danger to the people.
c) The Weeping Figs had been replanted elsewhere in the city. Really? I hadn't heard of this being done and anyway, I do not know when it was done or where the replanting took place. But I am not very confident that the trees will survive. I hope they do, but I'm not hopeful at all.
d) The new saplings on that plot of land are those of the Penaga Laut which the Council claimed is "more significant" without giving any further explanation. But I'm still puzzled. If the Weeping Figs were't that high in the first place, why bother even replacing them at all?

It's all very sad indeed.....

Dave Brubeck's last time out

I have just learnt that Dave Brubeck, the great American jazz pianist who broke new grounds with his time signatures, died yesterday from heart failure. He would have celebrated his 92nd birthday today. There are already numerous tributes to him on the Internet but I particularly liked this one as the writer described how Brubeck just managed to avoid being sent to the front in World World Two.

Side One: Take Five, I'm In A Dancing Mood, In Your Own Sweet Way, Camptown Races, The Duke
Side Two: It's A Raggy Waltz, Bossa Nova USA, Trolley Song, Unsquare Dance, Blue Rondo A La Turk, Theme From Mr Broadway

No smudges on my camera lens either!

My earlier posts appear here and here.

Before anyone even suggests that I've been, uh, rather creative with my words and camera, I would like to show these pictures, the BEFORE and AFTER pictures of the topic under discussion, just for comparison's sake. The BEFORE pictures were taken in July 2010 and the AFTER pictures were snapped just yesterday as I purposely drove by the Fort Cornwallis:

Question: Is my camera haunted??

Some two weeks ago, I happened to write a story about the chopping down of some nice trees that had been growing on a plot of land outside the Fort Cornwallis in the UNESCO cultural heritage core zone of George Town, Penang. My original story, with pictures, appears here.

Apparently, someone from the Penang government did read the story and referred the incident to the Penang Island Municipal Council (otherwise known as the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang, MPPP), requesting to know what had happened. As the writer of the story, I was of course informed.

Two weeks passed rather quickly without any further information from the other end. It so happened that this morning, I remembered my story and that someone was supposed to be looking into it. So I wrote in to ask for the results of their investigation. This was the attachment that I received through email:

To: "Farida-Hani M.Yacob"

From: Akbar Mustapha

Date: 11/20/2012 05:15PM

Cc: [six email addresses removed]

Subject: Re: Complaint from the public - Esplanade

Puan

Tidak ada sebarang kerja-kerja pemotongan pokok dijalankan di Esplanade, Padang Kota Lama sepertimana yang dilaporkan. Pekerja MPPP dar Bahagian Landskap hanya memangkas dan membawa turun daun-daun kering dari pokok Royal Palm di sepanjang Jalan berdekatan dengan padang Esplanade.

Kerja-kerja ini adalah kerja penyelenggaraan pokok dari masa ke semasa bagi menjamin keselamatan orang ramai.

Sekian, terima kasih.

HAJI MOHAMED AKBAR MUSTAPHA. 

There is no chopping of trees at Esplanade as reported. MPPP staffs had just cleared the dried branches and leaves from the Royal Palm trees along the road side at Esplanade. 

This is the normal maintainace of road side trees by the MPPP Landscape Department.

"There is no chopping of trees at Esplanade as reported." I (almost) rubbed my eyes when I read this. Despite the photographic evidence, this was the reply that was forwarded to me. Any right-thinking citizen would think that the MPPP, especially its Landscaping Department, are being run by a bunch of dolts who speak without thinking. So I wrote back to the Chief Minister's confidential secretary as follows:

Dear Ms Faridah-Hani, Thank you for your email and the especially interesting reply from the MPPP. Am I to accept that at least 20 to 30 trees, including one huge tree that must be at least 25 metres tall, have all magically disappeared from beside the Fort Cornwallis? Were the trees just figments of my imagination then? Was I dreaming that the trees were there in the first place? Thank you.

I'm so very curious to see what will happen next....

Waterproof, or not!

It is quite certain that my old faithful footwear, the Hi-Tec Altitude IV, are not as waterproof as they used to be. This pair of walking shoes has lasted me since 2007.

They have been well-used: my companions on my hikes up the hills in the country, including Mount Kinabalu. They have also followed me on all of my overseas trips to Australia, China and New Zealand.

On two or three occasions, they even triggered off some false alarms at the airports' security check points because of the imbedded metal bars that are part of the soles' design but still I stood by the shoes. It reached a stage where, even before I reached the security counters, I would voluntarily remove the shoes -- sorry, MY shoes -- and placed them on the counter so that the security officers could check them till their hearts' content without them having to ask me first. But they must have seen this type of walking shoes a million and one times before, because once they realised the source of the false alarms, they let me through without any more trouble.

But for the third time in the last two weeks when I wore these shoes up the hills in Bukit Mertajam and Taiping, water had seeped into them during the rain. The rains weren't particularly heavy and despite me using an umbrella as well, I had come home with my socks soaking wet. Yes, my walking shoes are not what they used to be. They are still fine for fair weather use but no longer waterproof in the rain.

On the subject of waterproof, this is my latest companion for wet weather walking: the HyperGear waistpac.

I redeemed the waist pouch recently after curiosity got the better of me. It is waterproof up to a stage because once it is secured properly, rain water can be prevented from spilling into it. So far, it has managed to keep my wallet, camera and mobile telephone dry during those rainy day hikes up the hills.

But don't blame the manufacturer (or me) if you choose to ignore the warnings and your belongings get damaged after you decide to jump into the sea or the swimming pool with it. There are other more suitable products for those sort of activities.

NZ travelogue: The 2011 devastation in Christchurch

So there we were, my wife and I being led by my old chess friend, Alan, into the centre of earthquake-hit Christchurch, as near as we could possibly get to the city's Central Business District.

All along the way, we were a bit awestruck by the amount of destruction to the buildings. We could imagine how much people's lives had been changed by the earthquake. It's not only the destruction, which was so widespread.

We stopped by the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Clearly, this was a very impressive building but it was now in ruins. Two of the domes had collapsed but there was still one dome basking proudly in the early afternoon sun. Just next to the cathedral, the Music Centre of Christchurch had also been affected.

We parked at Cashel Street and walked towards the Bridge of Remembrance. We crossed the Avon River. In happier times, people used to enjoy punting along the river. While we were there, all such activities had ground to a halt, including the tram service. We walked up to the barricade and peered into the distance. We could see the Hotel Grand Chancellor, once the city's tallest building. It survived the first earthquake in 2010 but after the tremblor in February 2011, it was shut down for good and would be demolished. I hear that it has been brought down totally by May this year.

We walked along the river bank towards Worcester Boulevard. More destruction everywhere we turned, such as this building:

We stopped at the Boulevard and looked into the CBD. Beyond the barricade on the left was the destroyed Municipal Chambers.

In the distance was all that remained of the Anglican Cathedral of Christchurch. Its most well-known features, the tower and spire on the building's left, had been reduced to rubble. I hear that until today, the whole building is still being dismantled slowly amidst opposition from groups that included the UNESCO world heritage centre.

After this, I told Alan, "Well, enough is enough. We came here hoping to see the happy side of Christchurch but instead, this is the unfortunate side of the city." My wife and I really hope that the city can recover fast from the earthquakes.

Obituary: Fang Ewe Churh

It is with deep regret that I announce the demise of Mr Fang Ewe Churh this morning at 3.45a.m. Fang, who was the country's first International Arbiter but had long been out from the chess scene for possibly around 25 years already, had been ill for quite some time. About two years ago, he underwent surgery for a malignant growth on his scalp and was thought to be recovering.

For those who are unaware of Fang's contributions to chess in Malaysia, let me say briefly that we consider him to be the Father of Chess in Penang. It would not be too far-fetched to suggest that he had played a significant contributory role to the development of chess in Malaysia as well.

In March 1972, he set in motion the founding of the Penang Chess Association at the Penang Library and became the association's founding president. Under his watch as the PCA president, the following chess activities were initiated:

• In June or July 1972, the first Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Pulau Pinang (MSSPP) Chess Tournament was organised at the Han Chiang Primary School where he was the headmaster;
• In October 1972, he captained the first Malaysian chess team that played in a Chess Olympiad in Skopje, Yugoslavia;
• In December 1972, he organised the first Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) Team Chess Championship at the Dewan Sri Pinang, George Town, Penang;
• In 1974, he organised the first Penang Chess Open Tournament;
• In 1974, together with other chess enthusiasts nationwide, he helped establish the Malaysian Chess Federation. At the inaugural meeting, he was elected as one of the vice-presidents;
• In December 1974, he was a key organiser of the first Asian Team Chess Championship which was held at the Dewan Sri Pinang n George Town, Penang;
• In 1975, he organised the first Malaysian team chess championship at Recsam in Glugor, Penang;
• In 1978, he brought the Penang team to participate in the first Asian Cities Team Chess Championship in Hong Kong. The Penang Chess Association was to participate in three or four more similar events there.

There were several other significant chess activities held in Penang under his tenure as the PCA president until 1989, but I shall not list them further. Suffice for me to say that the Penang Chess Association owes its successes in its formative years to this man. He remained a good friend to me until his final days. My thoughts are with his family.

Self delusion?

A lot of bravado and chest thumping. Bring on the GE13 and let's see whether you are right or wrong! Read it here.

Even clowns get hungry

In a coffee shop yesterday...

Remembrance Day 2012 in Penang

I came across these Remembrance Day pictures from BuletinMutiara in facebook. I'm glad that it turned out to be quite a ceremony. The date was 18 Nov 2012.

Just a question: why didn't someone (the organisers) give a poppy to the Chief Minister? Everybody seemed to be wearing one, except him, and he was the most important guest at the wreath-laying ceremony.

Another trip to Bao Sheng Durian Farm

It is still not too late to make a trip to the Bao Sheng Durian Farm in Sungai Pinang, about 10 kilometres either direction from Balik Pulau or Teluk Bahang. Still time to savour some of the most delectable durian fruit in the country. The end-of-year season will most probably last until the middle of December.

Just last week, I managed to pull along two friends to visit TS Chang (more popularly known as Durian Seng). I've been here countless times but this was the first time for Long Kin and Heng Swee. I don't think they were disappointed with the visit. I never am.

Despite it being a weekday, there were quite a number of other people around. That says a lot about the popularity of Bao Sheng, doesn't it? Its name is already known far and wide. For the record, we had the Green Skin Ang Bak, Hor Lor and Red Prawn. Good variety.

Durian Seng with Heng Swee, myself and Long Kin before the start of the feast. 

Durian Seng's son has obviously learnt well from his father. 

Me with the Ang Heh (Red Prawn) variety. 

Taiping revisited: Maxwell Hill

This was the second visit to Taiping in two weeks. While the first visit was primarily to visit the Sasanarakkha  Buddhist Sanctuary there with my family, this second trip was made with a friend from Singapore. The objective was to climb up Maxwell Hill along the tarmac road. As far up as we could afford ourselves to go.

We started off from the base at 11.40a.m. I must say that it was a very refreshing walk, a completely change of scenery from my usual hill treks at the Bukit Mertajam Hill. Different things to see every step of the way. Was very impressed with the huge trees growing perpendicularly up from the ground. Still can't put a name to these trees, however.

And it wasn't just the scenery that captivated me. There was also the smell of fresh greenery all along the way, enhanced by the rain during our trek down the road.

Ordinarily, I do not bother to walk or trek that far up a hill. The hill in Bukit Mertajam, for instance, is only about 450 metres above sea level and the distance until the peak is something like 3.7 kilometres. In Taiping, the elevation of Maxwell Hill is 1,250 metres and according to the markers, the hill road is about nine kilometres long.

But when the scenery is new and there's good company, distances become quite relative. Stephen and I managed to walk a good six kilometres until the Tea Garden. Two hours to get here. He wanted to go on till the top but looming dark clouds, coupled with hunger pangs and a deserted building at this Tea Garden, made us do an about-turn down to the base, which was another six kilometres of walk, that we reached at about 3.20p.m. Along the way, the government 4WDs were whizzing up and down, ferrying daytrippers up and down the hill. At times, I was tempted to flag one of them down but resisted the urge. Anyway, the 4WDs were always full of passengers and I doubt they would stop.

On the way down, we struck up a conversation with a Taiping resident. It was at about the time that we caught sight of a green snake. He was fascinated that we had come all the way from Penang just to go up Maxwell Hill. We talked of many things, including local politics, and my most interesting observation was the still seething anger in him regarding the three political turncoats in the state in February 2009 that caused the fall of the Pakatan Rakyat government. Especially, he heaped scorn on the former DAP assemblywoman.

Here is a small section of the pictures from the Maxwell Hill trip:

The starting point of our walk. According to the milestone, it is nine kilometres till the end, though not necessarily the top.

I was impressed with the size of some of the trees like, for example, this one.

Caught sight of this small red flower by the slope.

 One of the typical hairpin bends.

This is Resthouse Number Three. The road gets more deserted after this point.

The hairpin bend at Resthouse Number Three.

Wild orchid. 

Rain clouds in the far distance. Of course, it rained. What do you expect from Taiping?

The abandoned government building that makes up the Tea Garden. We had thought that there would be some sign of life here who could give us a warm cup of tea but no, the whole place was deserted despite it being furnished with chairs, fans, conference room, toilets and plush chairs. Heard from the Taiping resident that it was previously looked after by people but their services were terminated by the government. The place is not left to rot. Big waste of taxpayers' money, if you ask me, but then, that's always the attitude of the Barisan Nasional government.  

Came across this green snake slithering on the road as we came down. It was probably harmless but I wasn't going to find out.

J.R. Ewing (Dallas)

The greatest oil baron that never lived.

Larry Hagman

21 Sep 1931 - 23 Nov 2012