Emergency lanes

This is quite common scene when you drive around Federal Highway. There are cars especially taxis taking advantage of the the emergency lane when other lanes are clogged up with heavy traffic. Just take a look below.

Someone even blogs about it with TheStar. Road Safety Department director-general Suret Singh told reporters in his press conference recently that emergency lanes were meant for the use of authorities such as the fire and rescue department, police and ambulance, which provide services during emergencies.

What he didn't say is that it is not illegal to use these lanes. Only that these lanes are reserved for emergency purposes. Anyone knows?

Time Tower

You can find this Time Tower along Jalan Mahameru, somewhere in between PWTC and Parliament building.

Honestly, who doesn't have a watch with him/her. Moreover, most cars are equipped with a digital clock either on the dashboard or on the radio display. Additionally, many folks have mobile phone that comes with a digital clock as well. This country doesn't even have a day-light savings adjustments to begin with. Time is constant in this country.

And then, in a tropical country where we enjoy constant temperature all year, does it matter to common folks how accurate the temperature is? 'Weather' it is 24C or 28C, it just doesn't matter. Just turn on CNN, Kuala Lumpur's temperature is always between 24C to 33C depending the time of day. To add insult, I think the temperature shown above on the Time Tower is highly inaccurate. On a hot sunny midday, it's showing 25C. Even a 3 year old kid will tell you that it is obviously above 30C.

I think it is a total waste of taxpayer's money to built such thing as there are no real value-add/cost-benefits or justification to the cost of building and maintaining such structure. I'll be glad to hear from DBKL officers to tell me otherwise!

EPF office at 9.45am

I was having some problems with EPF where rightful two months contributions amount was not debited to my account accordingly. The issue when unresolved for one year. Calls after calls that went on for few months to the EPF customer service do not seems to solve my problem nor there was any accurate update on the status of my complaint. Hence I decided to drop in to EPF headquarters at Jalan Raja Chulan. As usual, after being directed from point A to point F in 45minutes, I ended up with the right department. I stepped in the office, and this was what I saw.
It astound me! The office was almost empty. I can't help it but to take these two pictures!

It was almost 10am, on a mid-weekday and there was not even any public holidays in that week! I waited for someone to attend to me and there was, after another a 10minutes wait. I explained my dilemma to this person, and she went off to do some checking on her PC. Another 10minutes's wait, she came back and told me that she can't resolve my problem and ask me to call back!! I told her that I have called numerous times and it has been a year already, and I'll like to know what are the next action to be taken and who is in charge of these problems. What she told me next, I really felt like I want strangle that person. She told me she was new!!! She has the guts to tell me she was new but not to try asking for help from her colleagues!! Helooo, I am sure Alexander Graham Bell invented telephone a century ago. I think that was not really a good excuse to say, "I am new and now please bugger off" because I think she's running away from responsibility.

Anyway... my conclusive point upon his horrendous experience was... now I know why EPF is paying a freaking low 5.8% dividends for year 2007 !!! Mind you, LTAT is paying 16% dividend for the same period. That's way more doubled of what EPF is paying! A bunch of people in EPF should just get fired and put the LTAT guys at EPF. Honestly, we're talking about our retirement funds!

Plaza Damas: Self-Pay Machine

Supposed you buy some goods and when you are about to pay with your Ringgit notes, the cashier rejects your legal tender perfect notes. How would you feel? I think your brain/head will probably boiled over 1000°C.

Bank Negara Malaysia in its website states, "The value of ringgit is legal tender and is backed by gold and foreign exchange held by Bank Negara Malaysia. Legal tender means the ringgit is recognised by law for settling of a debt or paying for goods and services within the country."

So when all Ringgit notes are recognized by the law as legal tender for settling of paying services within the country, then why does this self-pay machine located in Plaza Damas Parking Bay-2 does not recognize RM5 ringgit notes for the last 6 months? Last 6 months is a lot of time to fix whatever the problem is.

It seems that the management of Plaza Damas are not interested to rectify this issue any sooner though. To add further insult, this self-pay machine does not issue any receipts!

Yes, this problem has been ongoing 'moment' for the last 6 months as of this writing. What a bummer!

Emergency Services, where are the police outriders when you need the most?

Most drivers encounter a distressed ambulance making an emergency route to a hospital nearby sometime or another. Like everyone does, drivers pull aside their vehicles to make way for any distressed ambulance to go through. However, sometimes due to traffic circumstances, most cars could have been locked down and unable to provide the path for this ambulance to pass.

In these distressed situation where it usually involves life-and-death, I always wonder why these ambulance does not have the assistance of police outriders in opening up the route for this distressed emergency services. I cannot comprehend why police outriders are used for/by VVIPs to help and cut through traffic but are not used/assisted to those who really needed these assistance.

Seriously, who is/are more in need of the police outriders assistance in opening up traffic to a desired destination than the distressed ambulance in making these emergency route? These VVIPs with YB titles should be ashamed of themselves. It seems that these VVIPs have forgotten the meaning of being a wakil rakyat.

10 SIM cards per telco?

TheStar reported, "Mobile phone users are not allowed to buy or have more than 10 SIM cards from one telecommunication company effective Tuesday. On the restriction for sale of not more than 10 SIM cards to a customer, Commission chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie said the MCMC had traced one man who had more than 400 SIM cards."

While it may sound right, I think such restriction goes against the principles of democratic right/country. That is why MCMC issued a compound against the service provider and not the user who is/was holding 400 SIM cards. MCMC can't touch that guy.

Heck, it's not even a law! Hence, why compound the service provider?

So what if I have 400 SIM cards when i pay off all those bills promptly?

McCrap, I'm NOT loving it.

I drove to a McDonald's DriveThru recently and ordered a BigMac Value Meal. Instead I got an aliened-abducted mixed-up burger. The guys who made this burger must be pulling some prank. Does this look like BigMac to you?


I'm loving it? I doubt so.

ChipsAway, what a con job!

If your car windscreen is chipped or cracked, dont go to CHIPSAWAY. Why? read on.

Last October 2007, I had a star-like crack with 5-6 crevices on my windscreen due to a rock falling off from the lorry and hitting it on my windscreen. I called up the boss of ChipsAway in PJ. Although the shop was closed, I feel fortunate that the boss said he will repair the crack by himself. Impressed, I went to the shop and have it repaired. I went back to office as a happy man.

An hour later, something happened. The initial 1.5inches star-like crack now turned out to be 14inches long appearing from the 2 crevices just an hour after the ChipsAway repaired it. Not being satisfied, I called up the boss of ChipsAway and told him what happened. He said there is nothing much he could do. I don't buy that stupid excuse. I know he could have fixed this mess up if he wants to. If he had done his job properly (and professionally), this crack wouldn't happen. Just ask any vendors in this industry and they will tell you that.

Before deciding on ChipsAway, I gave at least two prominent windscreen repair vendors a call prior to inquire their availability and fees. I decided to go with ChipsAway since the boss said he will be getting his hands dirty to fix this crack up. The price of these prominent windscreen vendors charges more or less the same as what ChipsAway charges (RM150). One of them even go to your workplace/home to fix the windscreen.

Wanting to get this crack fixed, I called up these two vendors to seek solution to my car windscreen problem, and they basically advised me to go back to ChipsAway. I tried, but the boss of ChipsAway didn't budge. I wrote and send my letter (and fax another copy too) to ChipsAway on my dissatisfaction but to my surprise, there was no reply. The boss has given me an impression that he was a professional in his trade. I was wrong.

I'll like to warn anyone who has cracked car windscreen, please do not go to ChipsAway. Why?
1) poor and shoddy workmanship,
2) no warranty on repaired car windscreen (the other two has lifetime warranty)
3) misleading marketing gimmick (ChipsAway claims to be the first to do windscreen repair which means they are experience hands to fix these cracks)

I've wasted money on ChipsAway and I hope non of you will be in my position. I went to one of the other two car windscreen repair. They came to my office and did a good and satisfied job and I have no qualms in recommending them to you. Do drop in your comment here in this topic if you like to know the other two windscreen repair vendors contacts.

Cheers.

* I am a genuine customer who just got conned. I am not affiliated or related to any of these windscreen industry/business. I don't run any competing business with ChipsAway nor i personally know the boss or/and this company prior to my visit. I am just dissatisfied with this sort of crap which I was at the receiving end and wanting others to be aware of this guy's 'professional' trade.

This is where the scum is located:
Chips Away Auto Refinishes (M) Sdn Bhd
Chips Away (M) Sdn Bhd
Chips Away (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
Lot 1A Jalan 19/1
46300 Petaling Jaya
Malaysia
Contact: Felix Lim
Tel: +603 7957 1618
Fax: +603 8945 6908

Who's Esso Samy?

Spot the tiger(ess?) ... grrrrwl !
Check out the tiara!

Well, if you need to replenish your cylinder stove gas for your kitchen, you'll know who to call.

Napping on dangerously

If you think being a rubbish collector is a safe and no-brainer's job, then you're half-wrong.

If you can't see him, try clicking on the picture.

I was driving along Jalan Kuching today and caught this picture with a guy napping dangerously on a moving Alam Flora's rubbish collection truck. I pity this guy. Not only his poor guy had to suffer the stench of the rubbish (and what not) and lowly paid scheme, he has to sit/squat dangerously on a truck that is not meant for such. Not to mention the heat generated from the truck's engine and exhaust, there are some mechanical movement that is part of the engine that can rip a body to pieces at where he was sitting.

It is an accident waiting to happen, clear as a day. I hope Alam Flora buys insurance for their employees especially for this course of work. I hope there's a union to fight for these guys, otherwise, i think they ought to form one. Else, go to this ministry to seek for these worker's justice.

I don't know if this applies to this situation but try to check out Malaysia's National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health website.

My experiences going to 7-11

Seven good reasons why going to 7-11 is such a pain.

1. they don't initiate the effort to greet you.
2. they don't have the energy to smile to you.
3. they don't know the meaning of being courteous with good manners that goes together.
4. they don't have the mood to answer your questions.
5. they don't answer your questions intelligently.
6. they don't make you feel that you are welcomed.
7. they don't like doing business with you.

These are good reasons enough for me to make a u-turn.

Orders for new cars cancelled but there was glut elsewhere...

TheStar reported that the new Penang government has cancelled an order for five new Perdana V-6 cars worth RM623,000 which were ordered by the previous administration for its exco members.

That's RM623,000 for 5 new Perdana V-6, which means each Perdana would cost about RM124,600. The Proton website listed the car at RM101,500.25. That's RM23,000 difference for each car!! That is a lot of money to 'refurbish' the car!!

These order were cancelled but there was more glut elsewhere...

I drove by DBKL's HQ at Jalan Raja Laut and there were at least 25 brand new Nissan XTrail 2.5 liter under DBKL's vehicle fleet. The local Nissan website listed each of these 4WD SUV at RM144,000. With 25 brand new SUV, these fleet would easily cost RM3.6 million. That's crazy!

Here are my questions to DBKL.

1) Why would DBKL need such luxury SUVs? Why SUV in the first place? Why not just plain Perdana or any national car so that there will be less monetary outflow from the country?
2) Why do they need to purchase a 2.5L car when a 2.0L or less will be much more better choice for efficient use of fuel consumption?
3) How does these SUVs fits in DBKL's or Government's role and responsibility when these government agencies are asking city folks to take public transportation and car pooling to lessen traffic on the road?



I am not against upgrading or modernization of DBKL's vehicle fleet, but the manner and choice of these expenses that could have been better managed on assets that have lower maintenance and fuel consumption cost. Don't you think so?

Law enforcers breaking the law

I was in Bukit Bintang area last Saturday morning and I drove pass this truck while looking for a legitimate parking near KL Plaza. What I don't understand is why does a truck from DBKL parked on a walkway? Is that walkway made specially for DBKL truck to park?

It's not really like life-and-death situation that these law enforcer were in anyway. You can see these men in uniform were just chatting around and take a peek at who was walking by. And this person in the second picture below was forced to walk on the roadside instead of the walkway, away from the truck, possibly to avoid any potential accident coming from the truck.

Are there any provisions in the local by-law that allows DBKL to be exempted from 'any' laws while on 'official duty'? Is this a case where the priority of discharging 'official duty' are placed above the law? And now I know why 10 out of 11 parliamentary seats in the city are from the opposition parties. The public is just frustrated with DBKL inefficiencies!!

If I am a tycoon...

My colleagues and I were just discussing over lunch on what if one of us is a tycoon.

With the talk of BN MP hopping to the opposing parties, one of the colleague suggested that this tycoon to back the PM-to-be financially and pay each of these MPs RM5million to hop over. With 30MPs needed to form a new government, a pay off of RM150million would be needed to 'buy over' these MPs. These MPs can then use this monies for their constituencies welfare services etc. Not legal and no moral etiquette you may say? Yeah, the last time I remember was that Umno used federal funds/taxpayer's monies of RM 600 millions windfall for 191 Umno divisions. Two wrongs doesn't make one right? Hey, this is politics we're talking about and politics always involves money and power :P

Anyway, with 30 MPs in the 'bag', a new government will be formed and a new Prime Minister will be appointed. I'm pretty sure the tycoon's investment in RM150million will be well spent on. Not only the tycoon business interests are protected, the tycoon's business could probably be expanded. Not a bad deal right?

Keep a look out for these tycoons who were sidelines by the current administrative ;)

Still bitter or just being sore... ?

The NST carries this insignificant news, "Si Pin still bitter over loss".

This first timer in this election as a candidate also said, "I hope they see what type of MP they have voted in. I doubt he can serve the people well." He said this in response to PKR's approach to Gerakan for assistance in certain land dispute.

In the same article, he also said he just took over the party's service center in Sentul. Wait a minute, what was that? He hasn't served before?? Not only he is a first timer, he is also inexperienced. This is like the kettle calling the pot black.

The people knew what type of the previous Gerakan MP was. He was simply ineffective. In addition to that, the people doubted Si Pin because they think that Si Pin cannot stand on his own without his father around. According to my mom, when Si Pin campaigned through his visits to the local pasar, both of his hands were held close towards his navel, seems uninterested to make handshakes or contacts with minders around him watching closely like fearing some bacteria outbreak might break this boy-boy. Smiles were the only thing he could afford to give and to many locals, they felt that this was nothing more than just a lip service, a speciality like any other politician gleefully do. Yes, that was what Si Pin's campaign was projected upon, spineless and unapproachable. To be fair and frank, Gerakan failed to serve and address the constituency's issues, needs and interests.Those were the reasons why Gerakan was voted out. Now, the people has spoken and it is time for another elected MP to be given the opportunity to solve the problems.

Yes, this inexperienced guy who tried to ride on his father's shadow in this election failed to win. The article by NST was nothing more than a cheap publicity. I am sure there are more quality news to write about than this. Who cares if Si Pin is bitter? Unless Si Pin has impressive CV on his communal achievements in this constituency, I doubt Si Pin has the right to say anything about someone else's achievements. Action speaks louder but maybe an empty cans do more. Like father like son. The newspaper went on saying that politics was in his blood. I think the newspaper also forgot to mentioned that both Lims have really got big mouth (and big head) and are just plain sore loser. Don't you think so? Si Pin has no interest on the people except his own interest. Otherwise he would have checked out who were the locals and help them to resolve on the land matters. So please stop whining like a cry baby, and dare I say, it runs in his blood too.

No Surprises

Taken from theSun newspaper, Selangor Umno Youth Chief Abdul Shukur Idrus asked Khalid Ibrahim (Selangor Chief Minister) not to even consider a non-Muslim for the number 2 post in Selangor Deputy Chief Minister.

What more can I say, what a racist bum.

Even the highly respected figure from Umno that I used to hold up high, I didn't expect he was so tainted. You can read more about him* here.

It just goes to show that the interest of this bunch of group is nothing more than self-serving with personal agenda.

* Anyway, did you realise that the house of this respected figure is almost a carbon-copy of the White House? Not just the exterior but the interior as well.