I am a bad driver
Sep 15, 2008 Rantings
But I am quite the FuelSaver.
Yes, it’s true. Last week, the main entrance of Menara Star where I work was buzzing because they brought a computer game into the office. Well, actually it’s a driving simulator but it looked like one of those Daytona arcade machines.
Except that there was someone jaga-ing the machine and we weren’t allowed to speed.
It was a Shell FuelSave Simulator which is supposed to test how well you drive, and how much fuel you waste based on the speed you drive at and the amount of times you have to change gear, among others.
As the area where I sit was only 10 feet away from the machine, I tried it three times.
Not once did I finish the course. Sigh.
The first time I went, I did quite well. I probably went empty on the tank with about 50 metres to go. And my FuelSave index was between Medium and High, which is good apparently. The second time, however, I had sort of an, umm, accident. Stupid lorry rammed into me from the back. The third time, I mati enjin at a traffic light. I missed it by like 5 metres! Grr!
So, I never finished any of the drives. Two times I mati enjin, and one accident!
I wanted to go do it once more before they left, but never made it. Now I have to run around town to stalk them. Grr.
Good thing it’s not 100% reflective of my driving skills. Or else I think I’d lose my drivers license kot.
8.01pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
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Tags: driving, Shell Fuelsave
Rationalism
Sep 10, 2008 Rantings
The very essence of rationalism is that it assumes that the reason is the highest faculty in man and the lord of all the rest.
Lyman Abbott (theologian, editor and author)
6.41pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: Lyman Abbott, rationalism
Lost for words (or can’t be bothered)
Sep 7, 2008 Rantings
Ever had a day when you just don’t know what to think? Or what to say? Or what to …
It seems that these days, everyday is like that. And as I read the papers today, I read it with dread.
It’s rather sad. News used to excite me, that’s why i chose to become a journalist. Don’t get me wrong, news still excite me - I suppose it’s the contents that’s becoming a little, well, blah.
This blog was never meant to be a political blog. That said, I have many friends who come to me saying that I keep writing about it. My blog has always, back when I first started blogging back in 2002/03, been about “issues of local interest, global interest and no interest whatsoever”. So I suppose, considering the political situation, needs to be reflected.
That said, I still at times wonder if I’m whining too much. But then I stop myself from such a sacrilegious thought. My friends will tell you I never whine. Never. Ahem.
But I enjoy discourse - mental masturbation if you must. I am hardly an intellectual, but I am a writer and I enjoy writing.
This blog is a reflection of that and I’m glad that you guys are still here.
This is post #301. Thanks for indulging me.
9.17pm Malaysian time (+* GMT)
(Dear Ahmad Ismail), I am a Malaysian
Sep 6, 2008 Rantings
The Jalur Gemilang on the wall in my room during my days studying in Australia, in this photo taken in 2000. A few years before, the very same flag was hung up in my oldest sister’s room while she was studying in New Zealand.
I am a Malaysian.
My father, however, was a British citizen growing up because, well, there was no Malaysia - or Malaya then. My grandfather died before Merdeka, and his father, my Ng Kong Cho, even had a British passport (he never travelled though). After Merdeka, he (like my dad) became Malaysians by operation of law.
That’s four generations of Malaysians - three of whom where born in the British Colony of Malacca. The two generations before Ng Kong Cho were also born in Malacca.
The two generations before them - father (Cheong Soo Keng) and son (Cheong Koh Boon) - were born in China and arrived in Malacca as a family in the late 1700s. Along the way, their descendents -ending with my grandfather - married Nyonyas (and who knows how far back that family tree goes on tha side).
The last migrant in the Cheong line of my family died in the late 1800s - that was over 200 years ago. The first of the Malacca-born Cheongs (my my ancestoral line, that is) was also born in the 19th century - the same century that the the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 and the Pangkor Treaty 1874 was signed; Before the formation of the Federated Malay States; Before the Japanese arrived; Before Merdeka. And before Malaysia was born in 1963.
My birth certificate states that I am a Malaysian.
I hold a Malaysian passport, and carry a MyKad with me everywhere I go.
I drive a Malaysian-made car, using a Malaysian driver’s license.
I studied for my degree in Australia as a Malaysian foreign student.
I pay taxes like all other Malaysian citizens.
No one in my family were ever squatters - not pre-Merdeka and definitely not after, and after six generations of Malacca-borns, we are definitely not migrants.
I was born in Petaling Jaya, Selangor and grew up in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur where I still live. I speak the national language, Bahasa Malaysia. Negaraku is my national song.
The Jalur Gemilang is my national flag.
I am a Malaysian.
1.55pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Postponed? Oh F.I.R. goodness sake!
Sep 4, 2008 Rantings
So, there was a small, itty-bitty news piece yesterday announcing Taiwanese pop-rock band -group F.I.R.’s concert in Malaysia would be postponed. It was scheduled for this Saturday.
The reason? Well, here’s a bit from the piece:
Concert organiser Star Planet said this was in response to the call by the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry to support National Day celebrations by not promoting major events featuring foreign artistes and cultures.
Like seriously? Organisers today annouced a new date - Nov 29 - but that’s not the point.
What happened to being truly Asia and embracing our neighbours? Are we so insecure about our own events and activities that we are afraid one concert like this would affect our Merdeka celebrations?
With Ministries like this, who can blame anyone for having a warped sense of pratriotism?
1.12pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
