Lower speed limits on federal and state roads

Somehow, they have done it again. In anticipation of the raya holidays and the current issue of accidents on the road, the transport ministry has come out with a new ruling. (source : The Star)

"The speed limit on federal and state roads will be reduced from 90kph to 80kph for 36 days effective Oct 6"

Is reducing the speed limit actually the solution to the problem? I am sure that reducing 10kph would help some what, but are we actually tackling the main cause.

Firstly, the roads are designed for the speed of 90kph, otherwise why in the first place is the speed limit 90kph. Secondly, how many accidents occured because motorist were speeding at 90kph. If motorist speeding at 90kph is the problem, then why was the speed limit 90kph in the first place again. Somehow this does not make too much sense.

This has been an ongoing issue and a big problem for such a long time. Almost every festive season, there are numerous operations undertaken to curb this problem and lower accidents rates. But over these years, have we solved the problem? and why have we not solved the problem yet?

Are we actually looking deep into the problem or are we just scratching the surface? Taking action like lowering the speed limit by 10kph or deploying police personnel to "monitor" is NOT the solution. We need to start looking deep into the problem at hand. Analyse what is the root cause of the problem and try to mitigate it.

Probably I am being too judgemental. Perhaps I am not the expert. Perhaps the ministry knows more. If so, why don't the ministry do something that's more effective? Lives are at stakes. If there's a problem, fix it. Do not wait for a tragedy to happen before taking action. Haven't we learned from that?

As a Malaysian, I want the comfort in knowing that everytime I go back home in Malaysia, I know I will arrive home safe and sound. I don't want to have to worry about unqualified bus drivers, mat rempits, unsafe roads, not-up-to-par vehicles or even someone waiting for someone else to buy him a cup of coffee.

My new antivirus

My anti-virus software is expiring this month. It means the software is not going to have live update of the new viruses. Why in the world must these software have to be renewed every year, apart of cheating us of more money?

Anyway, as I start on my search for a new antivirus (my current one is taking up too much memory), I asked a friend of mine for advice. He explained that there are too many in the market.

So I told him, I wanted the cheapest and the best.

He told me he's got one, that's foolproof and the cheapest.

This is what he reccommended ...

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The cheapest anti virus

Mooncake Festival Funfair

What has Mr. Bean got to do with Mid Autumn festival

Ian brought us to a funfair last week in Bishan. I think it was in conjunction with the mooncake festival (the funfair of course). Anyway, it was a small funfair, more to cater for the young kids. The highlights include.

The world's smallest merry go round

The world's smallest pirate ship as well

Bumper Cars - something I haven't seen in a long time

Something for the cheap thrill seekers

But there was one more thing that was more interesting. They had lifesize dolls of cartoon characters in the fair, such as Mr. Bean (as seen in the pix above), characters from Mr. Bean's cartoon.

But there was one other character there, ... the Crazy Frog. Got a picture of it.

The Crazy Frog

What's interesting is not the Crazy Frog doll, but what was on the doll. For those of you who did not catch it the first time, here's a zoom in.

What in the world is a doll like this doing in a childrens's funfair? Imagine kids running around the place when suddenly one of the them asks, "Mommy, mommy, what is that?"

"Errrr ... Well ... That is, err ... where they blow air in to keep the doll inflated ... "

or "Good question, go ask your dad ..."

Somehow strange things just happens.

Monday Morning Blues

It's Monday again. The weekend passed so quickly. Only yesterday I felt the world was blooming like a flower in spring. I woke up at 11am and squirmed around on the bed until I was fully awake.

Today I woke up at 7am, dragging myself out of bed reluctantly, asking why morning came so quickly. It was raining and the buses were late. Traffic was terrible and I arrived late for work. For one whole hour I was staring at the screen, unable to make sense of what I was doing. Finally I realised I had not turn on my computer. (Not that bad, it's on, but no application was running. I was staring at my wallpaper)

Anyway, one of the reasons for this hangover is because I went chor dai di with Ian, A.Ze and Douglas yesterday in A.Ze's room. It was another late night ... errr, actually we left early. Everyone went back early.

Time to get back to work. Need another cup of coffee.

New Shoutbox

Just installed a new shoutbox on the right side of the page. You can shout what you want, say hi to friends or just for you to exercise your fingers.

The shoutbox is especially for those of you who are too lazy to write emails, post comments, use msn messenger or even SMS. All you need to do is just type a short message and click go. If you are too lazy to even do that, ...

Frog Porridge at Geylang

Wednesday night - Ian & May took A.Ze and me to Geylang for frog porridge. Geylang is a very busy area. Cars flowing non-stop along the road. Shops were aplenty with food shops dominating the scene. There are crowds of people everywhere.

I know, most of you all, the moment we mention Geylang, you associate it with prostitution and such. That is partially true, you all can ask Ian (he's the expert). There's also plenty of accomodation, mostly charging by the hour (I wonder why), not that I recommend you all stay at any hotels there.

There are also plenty of restaurants, hawkers and kopitiam selling local delicacy. We had frog porridge for dinner. The restaurant had just been renovated and was very clean. Anyway, it seems the restaurant is quite famous, being featured on TV and newspapers (most of SG's food places have been on TV, papers, magazines, etc.) Anyway, the link to the restaurant is here.

Frogs cooked in a pot

You don't see the porridge in the picture huh. That's because the frogs are cooked in a pot and they serve you plain porridge in another pot. So you can order different style of cooking frog.

They have a promotion or some sorts. Order 2 frogs and get 1 free. We tried 2 different type of frog dishes. The food was great. We tried the kung pao (dried chili) style and the white pepper (only available here). It was spicy and very tasty especially when you mix it with the porridge.

If you decide to come and try this dish, feel free to call Ian. I think he's becoming a regular there.

East Coast Park

Tuesday night, Ian brought us all to East Coast Park. A place by the beach where there are restaurants, hawker food, camping (that's right, camping), sports, etc.

Waterboarding in the lagoon

There was also this place where people practice water skiing or water boarding whatever you call it. They surrounded an area and made a lagoon in the beach. Then pulled a cables around the perimeter of the lagoon and allow you to ski around the lagoon.

This is where they launch off

As the cable circle around the lagoon, you launch off when the cable you are holding on to gets hook on. And then you go round, and round, and round. Once in a while you get someone who thinks he's damn good and start doing tricks. Then you hear us laughing when he falls off.

Some fellar who thinks he's damn good at waterskiing

They charge by the hour. It gets cheaper the more hours you buy, up to a maximum 4 hours. How the heck do you hang on for four hours?!!! Anyway, maybe I'll give it a try one day. I'll bring a chair and see if they can pull the chair instead.

Night out at Makan Sutra

A.Ze arrived in SG yesterday for a 2 week working trip. We went out for dinner along with Ian and May at Makan Sutra next to the Esplanade. We went in Ian's new Toyota Yaris. Nice semi-compact car. Even with 5 of us, it was still comfortable. It was raining when we arrived, but still managed to get a table under a big umbrella.

Makan Sutra is a "semi-tourist" attraction, according to Ian. It has the hawker food of Singapore but situated next to Esplanade and the sea with a view of the Marina coastline. Place is clean and the food was great. 3rd time I've been there so far. Recommended for anyone who is visiting SG.

Will call A.Ze tonight, see what plans he has.

Ratatouille (rat-a-too-ee)

My wife and I went to watch Ratatouille with Ian and May at Vivo City on Saturday night. I had heard some raving reviews from a lot of people. Ratatouille is from Pixar and after success with Toys Story and A Bug's Life, this should not be too bad.

It started out with a short animation about a alien trainee taking a test to abduct humans. Short but sweet. The cinema was filled with laughter.

On to the movie, needless to explain; I think most of you have read about the movie, most would have seen it before me; but I will just go on. It is about a rat who loves to cook and how he found his way into a famous French restaurant in Paris, of course, and how he team up with a young boy in the kitchen to make magnificent dishes.
Kudos to Pixar for the great animation. Together with Disney, they always manage to make the film as heartwarming and attractive to the viewers. Typically, you have the good guys and of course some bad hats that are trying to make life hard for the heroes.

Although it was really good, but somehow the thought of a rat cooking still send shivers. Pixar made Remy, the rat that cooks, looks cleaner and cuter. But after watching movies of dirty rats in the sewers or rats in the rubbish, the idea of a rat cooking is still hard to accept.

But overall, it was a good movie. Had a good laugh. Been some time since I saw a cartoon in the cinema. I would say worth the money I paid for the tickets.

Happy Birthday Malaysia

Happy Birthday Malaysia. Happy 44th Birthday Malaysia. Perhaps many have forgotten, but Malaysia was actually formed on 16 September 1963 together with the states in Penisular and East Malaysia.

Our National day remains on 31 August. This is because independence was gained on 31 August 1957. But Malaya was formed and consist of the states in Penisular Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak only joined in 1963. Thus the official date for the formation of Malaysia is 16 September 1963.

Our nation seems to have forgotten this date, with yours truly needing to be reminded as well. We should take into account the feelings of our comrades in East Malaysia as they are a part of our nation as well. If 100mil was spent on our Merdeka Celebration, what celebration was actually planned for the nation's 44th birthday?

Somehow, the actual date of our nation's birthday have just come and gone. How many of us actually celebrated the big day? How many of us actually remembered the date?

Perhaps if the government truly wants one Malaysian race, we should embrace this day as the birthday of the Malaysian nation; the birthday of all Malaysians; the birthday of one Malaysia; the birthday of one Malaysian race.

Happy 44th Birthday Malaysia.