buckets of water

banjir di shah alam... again..

well, actually
bukan la bende baru..

selalunya, berita banjir berkait dengan
terengganu, kelantan and pahang...
especially musim tengkujuh..

however, nowadays..
(no) thanks to world climate-changed
there is no more specific period
for any seasons in particular

banjir di Shah Alam
actually.. tiap tahun jugak
or tiap kali hujan lebat sangat
selalunya kat area batu tiga toll

(bayangkan, dah la bayar toll,
then tak leh lalu pulak,
tak ke double bala tu..
tolol and tak berhati perut betul...)


sebelum ni selalu gak dapat liputan
di media massa...
tapi tak la meluas sangat
serpih serpih je..

but, i think,
tahun ni... the worst yet..
sebab area sekitar lain pun kena
banjir dah melarat teruk..


i called my parents
rumah kami tepi sungai

syukur, mereka selamat..

as always,
memang tempat and takuk tu jugak
yang selalu banjir
not their neighbourhood

memang, hukum alam
hujan turun
nak buat camna kan..

but, apa yang manusia boleh lakukan?

well.. ianya berlaku kerap
dan banyak kali dah..

read the statistics
and do the neccesary la patutnya

malas nak ulas panjang
banjir dah surut
harta bende dah punah
nak kena buat pembersihan jugak

orang utara kata;
pi mai pi mai.. tang tu jugak...

malas nak berdebat panjang
hidup memang penuh cabaran
nak tak nak kena hadapi jugak..

para exco negeri maju tu
semuanya duduk kat seksyen 2,8,9
tempat tanah tinggi
sure rumah mereka
tak kena limpahan air kotor tu

hamba marhain yang lain
kakitangan dan pegawai yang lain
yang bergaji ciput tu (termasuk bapak aku)
rumah kos murah/sederhana/setinggan mereka
terletak di bawah lembah yang lembab tu

majlis pembandaran pulak
bukan reti nak tolong pun
tapi, cukai tanah naik jugak
cukai pintu naik jugak
tarif air dan api naik jugak..

but oppsss..
now lagi teruk
minyak pun naik gak..

nasib baik
air dan minyak tak boleh bercampur...

syarikat tol?
tetap kutip tol
walaupun jalan yang depa jaga
tu tak boleh lalu 100%

bukan la salah jadi orang kaya ni
orang miskin bukannya dengki sangat

but selalunya,
bila tiba musibah begini dan lain-lain lagi
orang miskin jugak yang tolong orang miskin lain
mana orang orang kaya ni??

sebab???
hanya orang yang (pernah) miskin sahaja
tahu dan boleh rasa,
betapa peritnya susah
betapa sukarnya miskin


bukan senang nak senang
bukan susah nak susah

orang miskin memang nak jadi kaya
orang kaya mana nak jadi miskin

hello jumbo bonjour ahlan

back in 2002, 2003 and 2004
i had visited the African continent
and made several stop-over at some European cities..

Ethiopia; kita sangkakan amatlah daif,
namun, ianya tidak lah sungguh begitu..
bandarnya lebih kurang bandar Kota Bharu..
mostly berbahasa Arab dan Amharic..
ada musim sejuk.. tapi memang sejuk bandar Addis Ababa tu
sebab faktor ketinggian mukabuminya
aku sempat melawat sebuah masjid
yang pernah dikunjungi Rasulullah s.w.t.
semasa Baginda diancam org Quraish dahulu..
teksi di sana jenama LADA lama from Russia..

Eritrea; dulunya part of Ethiopia, merdeka pada 1993,
juga kira bersih bandarnya dan mempunyai iklim sejuk..
bandarnya seperti Kajang, cuma less the traffic jam..
tersusun dan menarik.. teksinya jenis Kia macam Sephia..
baru.. bas pun Daewoo from Korea

Chad; amatlah sukar, robust and rough sikit..
namun, apa yang menakjubkan, org Islam di sana,
apabila masuk sahaja waktu solat,
tarus berjemaah di mana jua yang sempat..
teksi, Peugeot 504 lama..

Kenya; reminded me of K. Terengganu 10 tahun lepas..
koboi sikit namun sibuk dengan perniagaan..
teksi, sama macam Chad and Ethiopia..

Paris; wanted to do shopping..
tapi matawang Euro yang kini tinggi drp USD..
membuat barangan mereka lebih mahal..
walaupun tengah sale..
personally, the city it much more historical
and sceneric from London..
teksi.. mercedes, peugueot and renault..
the people drive like in KL..
or some might say vice versa..

Frankfurt; nice calm city..
below 5 degrees masa tu..
in Paris in was 7 degrees..
nothing much that i could do,
lepak kat hotel je, so cold and it was weekend..
on sunday (Frankfurt and Paris).. semua kedai tutup...
teksi, all kind of mercedes.. even the new clk 200.. perghhh

Doha; everything is big... house, land, car
all new model of cars are there..
you just name it.. teksi, toyota camry and chevy caprice..

to compare with Dubai and Abu Dhabi;
teksi di Abu Dhabi are mostly Toyota Corolla
teksi di Dubai are mostly Toyota Camry

i like to compare
the type of taxis as an indicator

raindrops keep falling on my head

hari ini cukup gembira
cukup terpesona juga

sebab...
hari ini, HUJAN TURUN

sepanjang aku duduk kat UAE
inilah kali pertama,
aku rasa, proper HUJAN
siap kilat and guruh lagi tuuuu..

bukan la selama ni tak de hujan langsung
ada.... tapinya... alahai
macam orang simbah je..
sikit sangat...

yang ni.. memang realllll punya..

and plus, selalunya hujan turun
kat kawasan lain je..

syukur pada Tuhan
memang aku rindu nak rasa hujan

di UAE ni,
kalau hujan je..
mula la...
accidents tak tentu pasal
macam semua jadi kalut

yang paling best..
sure banjir..
yupp... banjir kilat

bukan la sebab hujan tu lebat sangat pun
or lama sangat turunnya

semuanya sebab..
mana ada drainage system
ala... longkang la kata orang kampung

hence, the water have to drain itself
it usually will take days...
harapkan panas terik matahari..

cerita pasal air ni..
orang selalu kata
'Air Lagi Mahal Dari Minyak di negara Arab'

well.... it's a myth..

harga segelen petrol di UAE
now, since Sept 2005 (naik 30%)
adalah AED 6.25 per gallon (takde subsidi or tax)

harga air di UAE pula
adalah, AED 0.01 per gallon
(kat sini subsidinya)

harga air mineral dalam botol
adalah AED 1 per 125ml...

anda semua pandai ilmu hisab
boleh congak sendiri..

murah??? sebab? pendek cerita..

i) the process to desalinate sea water
into drinking water.. is very cheap
compare to other countries

ii) duit / revenue diaorang banyak
and depa tak kedekut untuk spent lebih
for people's welfare and social needs

confusion and conclusion

terbaca berita di bawah di sebuah akhbar..

rasanya dan harapannya,
orang ramai dan pihak yang berwajib
jangan lupa untuk memikirkan bahawa
selain daripada sangkaan dan siasatan lain,
ada satu lagi fakta yang perlu diambil kira

iaitu,
jubin-jubin tersebut sebenarnya
untuk jubin dinding

jubin tersebut sepatutnya dipasang
untuk di dinding, bukan d ilantai

di rumah-rumah Arab
memang banyak terdapat design sepertinya
jubin ini dipasang di dinding, tiang dan pintu

oleh itu, pada pandangan saya
ianya hanyalah salah dan ketidak-perihatinan
designers / tukang jual / tukang pasang / pembeli
semasa dalam perbincangan / pembelian
jubin-jubin tersebut..


KUALA TERENGGANU: Seorang ibu tunggal...
tidak menyangka lantai jubin di dapur rumahnya
yang disiapkan lapan bulan lalu, tertera kalimah Allah.

..di sini, menyedari lebih 100 keping jubin
yang dibelinya di sebuah kedai jubin...
tertera kalimah mulia itu.

...tiga minggu lalu, ... lelaki menghantar
tabung gas memasak ke rumahnya... menegurnya
mengenai kewujudan kalimah Allah pada jubin berkenaan
selepas mengamati lantai itu.

..lelaki itu menyatakan...
sama dengan lantai jubin rumah bapanya
sambil menunjukkan empat kalimah Allah
pada setiap keping jubin berkenaan.

... selepas menyedari keadaan itu,
dia melaporkannya kepada Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Terengganu
untuk tindakan selanjutnya.

...kes ini kemudiannya diambil alih
Kementerian Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (KKDN)
(Bahagian Kawalan Penerbitan Dan Teks Al-Quran),
cawangan Terengganu,...
mengesahkan kesahihan jubin berkenaan.

.. sejak itu, kehidupannya menjadi tidak tenang
dan dia bersama beberapa anaknya terpaksa
menggunakan laluan kecil pada jubin berkenaan
bagi mengelakkan daripada memijaknya setiap kali ke dapur.

...sementara itu, Pegawai Penguatkuasa KKDN,
berkata pihaknya mengesahkan menerima laporan berhubung
jubin kalimah Allah berkenaan.

..pihaknya kemudiannya menjalankan pemeriksaan
di beberapa kedai jubin di bandar ini,
semalam dan mendapati tiga kedai di sekitar bandar ini
menjual produk berkenaan.

..tindakan menghentikan jualan produk berkenaan
dilakukan serta-merta sebelum keputusan dibuat pihak atasan
dan jika ada peniaga berdegil menjualnya, tindakan tegas akan diambil.

..kami tidak menafikan ada pihak tertentu
yang sengaja mencetak kalimah itu semata-mata
untuk memesongkan pemikiran masyarakat Islam.

berdasarkan siasatan,
kami mendapati produk jubin rekaan terkini itu
di keluarkan oleh kilang di Johor

...jubin yang berpaten gabungan bunga di tengah
yang dihiasi tompokan awan di sekeliling bunga berkenaan
tidak mampu menampakkan kewujudan kalimah itu
jika tidak diperhatikan dengan teliti.

...kami percaya kehadiran produk jubin sebegini
mula berada di pasaran sejak lima dan enam bulan lalu
dan ramai pengguna terutama masyarakat Islam tidak menyedarinya

..jika sabit kesalahan, mereka yang didapati menjual
produk berkenaan akan dikenakan tindakan
mengikut Seksyen 7, Akta Mesin Cetak 1984.

hoot over booth

bila sebut pasal cuti,
orang sebut balik kampung
bila sebut balik kampung,
orang sebut pasal kena lalu Tol

mengenai TOL...
selalu kita dapati
kesibukan dan traffic jam kat tol ni
sebab proses pembayaran dan pengambilan tiket...

antara inisiatif yg diambil
oleh syarikat pengendali tol
adalah memperkenalkan konsep prepaid card
utk membayar tol,

malangnya, dulu..
setiap satu tol yang dikendalikan
oleh berlainan pemaju...
mempunyai prepaid card nye sendiri,
ada yg touch n go, ada fast trak,
apa macam-macam lagi nama...

ianya tidak memudahkan pengguna,
malahan akan menyebabkan dalam sebuah kereta tu,
ada empat lima macam kad nak bayar tol..

now, okay la sikit..
semua orang cuma perlu pakai Touch N' Go

kemudian, booth yg disediakan
untuk pengguna prepaid card ni
hanya dua atau tiga sahaja
daripada jumlah keseluruhan booth
yg sedia ada di disitu...

suka diingatkan bahawa konsep touch n go tu
untuk memudahkan pengguna,
dan seterusnya menghapuskan terus
sistem di mana
"mesti ada orang yang perlu duduk kat booth
hanya utk bagi tiket dan ambik duit"..

kenapa tidak, terus dan sekaligus,
jumlah booth tu diterbalikkan?

maksud saya, jumlah booth utk touch n go = 8,
manakala booth biasa 2, ataupun,
semua booth terus... touch n go..

pada pandangan saya,
(please correct me if i am wrong),
masyarakat di Malaysia ni,
selagi di bagi booth yang boleh pakai siling,
dia tidak akan nak pakai touch n go...

tapi jika, semua dah touch n go
or smart tag,
kita akan terpaksa pakai touch n go
or smart tag..

in average,
di Malaysia ni semua nak kena paksa, baru jalan..

sebab tu jugak,
banyak law kat Malaysia ni org tak ikut
dan pandang remeh,
sbb enforcement tak kuat,
tak de org atau tak cukup org
nak 'paksa' kita ikut law tu...

sebut je, law berkenaan apa
yg tak de kat Malaysia ni..

kita cuba ambil contoh Singapore,
sistem tol mereka memang dah lama
tak menggunakan cara booth ni...
semua nya scanning system
(lagi advance dari system smart tag PLUS),
so tak de masalah nak beratur nak ambik tiket,
dan kemudian nak kena queue up untuk bayar pulak
bila dah sampai tol destinasi..

memang betul,
nanti org akan kata, buat apa nak tiru org..
especially Singapore
yg asyik tipu kita pasal harga air..

namun, perlu diingat,
yang baik tetap baik, yg jahat tetap jahat..
apa salah nya kita tiru benda yg baik..??

lagipun, macam-macam bende kita boleh tiru
untuk kebaikan kita..

beli vcd 'tiru' tak pe lak..
hehehe...

and pretty sure, ada yang akan kata
alangkah bagusnya kalau sistem tol
dibuang ke longkang terus..
well, that's another topic altogether

who's the cartoon

been following the Jyllands-Posten’s cartoon issue,
very angry myself..

the Danish government still want to uphold
their too-proud-to-admit-it stance
while the Muslim countries demand
their rights to be honoured

out of the many newsprints
i like this particular newspaper's report
on this particular paragraph

"PM Rasmusssen of Denmark quoted as saying;
freedom of expression is the very foundation
of Danish democracy and the Danish government
has no means of influencing the press.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson
warned Saudi Arabia that it would seek action
from the World Trade Organisation
if Riyadh supported a boycott of Danish goods.

Mandelson told a Saudi official that
any boycott of Danish products
would be a boycott of the European Union.

The Saudi official said his government
had not encouraged the boycott."

hehehe.. very funny statements
i meant the EU's and Danish's

come on.....
you would tell on them???
it's so childish..
can't you stand and fight your own battle???

well, they never will and were anyway..

on another note,
this is not about freedom
this is about respect..

this also shows, one of the flaws
in total freedom...
people will lose respect over others
no control is another..

and i really have to applaud
the response by the Saudi’s official..
tit for tat, huh?

all we want is an official apology
and not to commit the same mistake
never ever again..
is that so much to ask for?

i quote from Wikipedia..
"The newspaper has apologised for offending Muslims,
but maintains its right to print whatever it likes."

you see, this is where i always
do not understand
and do not believe entirely
and always cynical to
the doctrines/principles of international human rights...
vis-à-vis it must be universal, inalienable and absolute

for the record, i do believe in rights..
just not the 'internationally'..

what i meant to say is.. among others..
how could one's right must be unconditionally
to be accepted by others?

we have almost 7 billion people populating the world
we are ALL DIFFERENT in nature
be it language, background, race, religion, etc
the variation goes on..

no way...
it could be International and Universal..

for example..
lets say.. the right to smoke in public

the smokers will say that
"it's my individual and human right to smoke,
whenever and wherever"

ever wonder what the non-smokers will say?
"whatever..."

Quote to Ponder

"only a fool will let him/herself to be bitten
by the same snake, at the same pit.. twice"

interstate 60

just finished watching
this movie on the local telly,
and it was a great one

i surely would recommend
if anyone want to watch it

will try to get the dvd copy too

it started kinda typical, very sketchy..
but after 10 minutes,
it got interesting, funny and better..
it makes you think, sigh, laugh...

in short, i'm glad that i decided to watch it
instead of the repeated Friends sit-com
i love it, it's now one of my favourite

***********************************************

Interstate 60
(2002)

Type: Features
Distributor: IDP Distribution

Rating: R (Adult Language/Sexual Situations)
Running Time: 117 Minutes

Starring: James Marsden, Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd
Directed by: Bob Gale

PLOT DESCRIPTION

At the beginning of Interstate 60,
Neal Oliver (James Mardsen) has more questions
about his future than answers.
Though he would rather pursue a career in art,
Neal debates whether or not he should
set his goals towards a law degree,
as his father would greatly prefer.

He has a girlfriend, but he wonders
if he should search for
the mysterious woman (Amy Smart)
who visits his nightly dreams
and inspires his artwork.

By the time his 23rd birthday roles around,
Neal is no closer to choosing his life's path.
He feels empty and unsatisfied,
despite lavish birthday gifts,
and wishes only for clarity
as he blows out the candles on his cake.

Rather than instant answers,
Neal is given the opportunity to take a journey
on a highway that doesn't exist on any map;
a highway where the past, present, and future converge.

Alongside him is One Wish Grant (Gary Oldman),
the immortal offspring
of a leprechaun and Cheyenne Indian,
who has the unique ability to grant wishes
to those he believes deserve them.

Thus begins Neal's surreal road trip
through the uncharted territories
of his own potential destiny.

Interstate 60 features a stellar cast
with supporting performances
and cameos from Kurt Russell, Michael J. Fox,
and Christopher Lloyd.

Bob Gale, co-writer/producer
of Used Cars, I Wanna Hold Your Hand,
and, most notably,
the Back to the Future trilogy, directs.

i don't want to be

By Gavin DeGraw

i don’t need to be anything other
than a prison guard’s son
i don’t need to be anything other
than a specialist’s son
i don’t have to be anyone other
than the birth of two souls in one
part of where i’m going
is knowing where i’m coming from

i don’t want to be anything other
than what i’ve been trying to be lately
all i have to do is think of me
and i'd be somebody

i’m tired of looking ‘round rooms
wondering what i gotta do
or who i’m supposed to be
i don’t want to be anything other than me

i’m surrounded by liars everywhere i turn
i’m surrounded by imposters everywhere i turn
i’m surrounded by identity crisis everywhere i turn
am i the only one to notice?
i can’t be the only one who’s learned

i don’t want to be anything other
than what i’ve been trying to be lately
all i have to do is think of me
and i'd be somebody

i’m tired of looking ‘round rooms
wondering what i gotta do
or who i’m supposed to be
i don’t want to be anything other than me

can i have everyone’s attention please
if you're not like this and that
you’re gonna have to leave

i came from the mountain, the crust of creation
my whole situation made from clay to stone
and now i’m telling everybody

i don’t want to be anything other
than what i’ve been trying to be lately
all i have to do is think of me
and i'd be somebody

i’m tired of looking ‘round rooms
wondering what i gotta do
or who i’m supposed to be
i don’t want to be anything other than me

i don’t want to be
i don’t want to be
i don’t want to be