It's February!
What's so cool? Yupp! It's the months when the torrential rain is at its dreadest moment in Kuching and termo readings aren't that hot. We've witnessed in the past couple of years that the threat of floods in this city was greatest around the Chinese New Year celebration. I remember when our local press printed a photo of a swine took refuge on the roof of a house during the worst flood hit in years. Wonder whether the piggy was rescued... My friends' citrus at their hobby garden, albeit assisted by the government, were lost too after inundated for weeks by the flood. I joined them the year after that worst flood, and this year's new year saw another flood at those gardens, yet again!!
Well, today it is the CVLB again in our press. I kind of like the stuffs laid out by the rethorical chairman but there is no end to the supposed problems and best solutions to things at hand are not within sight. Lecturers and professors renting cars in Desa Ilmu? I think there are not the only ones to be singled out. The students want to rent cheap and available nearby. The basic of economics of demand and supply counts here. Should they be regulated? Once regulated there is no enforcement? CVLB is not an enforcement body said the chairman, then will the police, RTD or councils take up the cases? Complicated. May be let the biz runs and become successful first and let them apply for premises instead of the home biz where they are operating now (I've seen some). But these kind of biz is kind of a neede at most campuses in Malaysia. I've use some before and also seen similar activity done near the Sabah public uni. My niece used to keep an agent's Kancil at her campus in Bangi. She told me that she utilize the car when not out on rental, clever girl.
The consortiun of bus service in Kuching hinted they want a fare rise. Apparently to finance their new ventures of acquiring new fleets and refurbishment of old ones. They claim that 50% of their fleets are 'old' and need facelift. From my observation, those old ones are not fit to run on our roads. But then, I guess, our society tolerate old vehicles and old drivers. Kuching is well position at the back of the que in term of a modern cities. Even though the city emerged winners in healthy and safe city status, still the public transportation is very poor.
I don't know why we want to keep those too old buses around town. I think the drivers are driving them in pain and discomfort as well as to the commuters, an estimated 20 to 30 thousand peoples daily. May be the consortium make some biz sense into this and invest in new ones, make proper routing and serve the routes with right sized vehicles, though not to imitate the minibus experienced by KL in 1980s. If the service is good may be the number of users will grow and a lot of biz sense will hinge to it.
But again, we go back to other related issues, where is the proper bus station and stops?? Hard question. The bus companies have to wait again. There is no station to call home. We have a regional bus station that is so poor and look like "sabung ayam" makeshift building. At the same time extra modern shophouses and hypermaket are being developed nearby.
I always look forward to a proper public transportation that works well in Kuching. We never know what holds the future, fuel price may go up beyond our reach and cost of holding cars and other vehicles would be unbearable for government service peoples like me. We may switch to the buses, minibus, van or cable car (if Kuching want to use the Genting Resort style of mass transportation from offices in Petra Jaya to city areas). Or else, buy the Kancil made for rent at Unimas. H h
Hope for good public transport.
Bye now.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
The heli crash, the boy's death and Tiger & Federer won again
Hello there!
It’s a week of misfortune for Bintulu. After the death of the boy allegedly as a result of assault by fellow boarding students, it is the heli crash at the vicinity of D-35 offshore platform. Just now, I called my brotherto check whether he was offshore and he is not. He is an employee of the contractor that supplies manpower to the same platform and the missing fella is their colleague and believed to be trapped in the submerged Super Puma. Thank God for those guys who survived and that shows the reality of the compulsary survival course.
Noting the death of the student in Bintulu, it is tragic, of course. I agree that the students involved are big enough to understand their responsibilities towards the death. I was once a boarding student in the 80s, and did involved in such fights in the hostel for petty matters but had never been assaulted by many vice versa. The condition may be like “gotong-royong pukul satu budak untuk dapat sesuatu” whereas the boy might be beaten by many at the particular point of time till he went unconscious and died. No one knows for sure until the police conclude their job. However, this is a true result of our changing schooling system. From the point where teachers were really respected and remembered for their disciplining regimes, to where we are now, so liberal and even to the point where parents or relatives come to school and threaten teachers with legal action over petty student cases. I think we are thankful for our discipline teachers that worked so hard to keep us at our world of school. Kalau tidak, jangan mimpi nak main komputer sekarang.
Well, at the international sporting scenes, Tiger Woods won the Buick again last weekend as well as Federer at the Aussie Open. My family followed most of the Aussie matches, thanks to the time zone. The final games of both men and women were anti-climax, I guess, due to the intensities of the games at quarters and semis. We are retired tennis players whom never make it even to represent school clubs, but understand that the game those guys are in is very hard and physically demanding. That is a pure example of will and precise skills. They can make those shots! Those are not fluke but results of years of endeavour on the circuits.
By the way, Tiger is one kind of golf monster due to his perfectionist and winning attitude. I took up this game few years back, not an easy game as well. The PGA guys are pretty admirable on how they handle the year long seasons with almost weekly competition. Imagine hitting thousands of ball per day at the range even immediately after tournaments! That is how their determination works to achieve those desired shots. I tried once to complete 8 trays per session, I got stiffed back latter. It is not an easy thing to hit thousand ball per training day, but they managed.
All those attitude and kind of determination works for our own things we are doing right there, to be better at it.
Best regards.
It’s a week of misfortune for Bintulu. After the death of the boy allegedly as a result of assault by fellow boarding students, it is the heli crash at the vicinity of D-35 offshore platform. Just now, I called my brotherto check whether he was offshore and he is not. He is an employee of the contractor that supplies manpower to the same platform and the missing fella is their colleague and believed to be trapped in the submerged Super Puma. Thank God for those guys who survived and that shows the reality of the compulsary survival course.
Noting the death of the student in Bintulu, it is tragic, of course. I agree that the students involved are big enough to understand their responsibilities towards the death. I was once a boarding student in the 80s, and did involved in such fights in the hostel for petty matters but had never been assaulted by many vice versa. The condition may be like “gotong-royong pukul satu budak untuk dapat sesuatu” whereas the boy might be beaten by many at the particular point of time till he went unconscious and died. No one knows for sure until the police conclude their job. However, this is a true result of our changing schooling system. From the point where teachers were really respected and remembered for their disciplining regimes, to where we are now, so liberal and even to the point where parents or relatives come to school and threaten teachers with legal action over petty student cases. I think we are thankful for our discipline teachers that worked so hard to keep us at our world of school. Kalau tidak, jangan mimpi nak main komputer sekarang.
Well, at the international sporting scenes, Tiger Woods won the Buick again last weekend as well as Federer at the Aussie Open. My family followed most of the Aussie matches, thanks to the time zone. The final games of both men and women were anti-climax, I guess, due to the intensities of the games at quarters and semis. We are retired tennis players whom never make it even to represent school clubs, but understand that the game those guys are in is very hard and physically demanding. That is a pure example of will and precise skills. They can make those shots! Those are not fluke but results of years of endeavour on the circuits.
By the way, Tiger is one kind of golf monster due to his perfectionist and winning attitude. I took up this game few years back, not an easy game as well. The PGA guys are pretty admirable on how they handle the year long seasons with almost weekly competition. Imagine hitting thousands of ball per day at the range even immediately after tournaments! That is how their determination works to achieve those desired shots. I tried once to complete 8 trays per session, I got stiffed back latter. It is not an easy thing to hit thousand ball per training day, but they managed.
All those attitude and kind of determination works for our own things we are doing right there, to be better at it.
Best regards.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
LaGi-laGi la Bahasa Inggeris
Buat tatapanku,
Hari ini, di halaman pertama The Borneo Post (akhbar harian Sarawak yang masih kekal, tak pernah diharamkan?) Naib Chancelor Universiti Malaysia Sarawak mengatakan bahawa para cendikiawan (macam cendawan pulak) seharusnya mencontohi pemandu teksi di Beijing untuk menguasai Bahasa Inggeris. Sedihnya kita. Nak kuasai BI pun kena tengok stail drebar teksi, amacam diorang pandai cakap punya.
Seperti isu yang aku tulis beberapa hari lalu, generasi berumur bawah 40 tahun adalah mangsa keadaan dan perubahan polisi kerajaan pada masa itu yang menyebabkan budak-budak kita belajar BM berhabis-habisan. Untuk apa, aku pun tak faham. Tapi aku punya BM boleh tahan gak lar. SPM dapat 2 beb.. Tapi itu untuk syarat dapat keja kerajaan je (dan masuk IPTA). Tapi bila aku datang keja, semua koresponden dalam BI. Bingung lar. Kena lar bip ap (beef up) dan tak boleh gip ap (give up). Teruk gak kena perli pihak atasan dalam hal penguasaan bahasa inggeris, apa boleh buat, aku dapat keje ni pun melalui SPA, bukan aku tak layak. Diorang tak leh cakap apa. Tapi bila buat surat, kertas keje dan lain2, ada-ada je boss cakap "you've got to improve your English." Dalam hatiku, boss ni nak jadi cikgu bahasa inggeris ke?
Apa yang penting kat sini? Kekadang boss tertentu cakap "don't ever discriminate any staff because of language obstacle," aku tak percaya punya. Mungkin ada udang dalam mihun tu.. Nak jaga kawan sendiri yang tak terar sangat BI dia. Yang penting, kita kuasai lah BI tu sebab ia penting untuk perhubungan glokal.
Berbalik pada isu cendikiawan (atau CENDIAKAWAN?? mana-mana lar) tadi, aku pun tak paham sangat diorang tu. Setahu aku kebanyakan bebudak yang mengajar kat IPTA ni dihantar buat Masters, PhD dan post grad yang lain ke luar negeri (pastinya bukan Indonesia atau negeri Arab). Macam mana ni? Pi dok kat US ka, UK ka, Aus ka, NZ ka, bertahun-tahun pun tak kuasai BI?? Apa yang dtiorang buat kat sana?? Yang tu aku tak setuju lar. Duit kita dah banyak dibajetkan kepada diorang, bawak family sekali ke sana, sampai bawa balik kereta mewah bila kembali ke Malaysia, tapi BI belum gak berabuk. Tak setuju. Sekarang, diorang mesti kuasai BI sendiri, tak boleh guna duit rakyat lagi. Kan gaji dah beribu-ribu lepas dapat Ms, PhD (pening lalat aku mengeja nya), bayar tuisyen BI sendiri la.. Ikut bebudak kat tuition centre di King Centre atau Batu 3 (untuk kes orang Kuching je). Kat Bangi tu banyak lagi Bi tuition centre untuk korang di luar KL. Sendiri cari lar..
Walau apa pun, syabas lah kepada Prof Datuk Abd Rashid kerana rajin nak keluarkan isu ni untuk tatapan umum. Aku ingat bahasa pengantar Unimas BI?? Dok hal tu lar aku tak layak nak tutor kat sana... sedih la
Bacalah penulisan BI.
Dari kampung di dalam hutan Borneo.
Hari ini, di halaman pertama The Borneo Post (akhbar harian Sarawak yang masih kekal, tak pernah diharamkan?) Naib Chancelor Universiti Malaysia Sarawak mengatakan bahawa para cendikiawan (macam cendawan pulak) seharusnya mencontohi pemandu teksi di Beijing untuk menguasai Bahasa Inggeris. Sedihnya kita. Nak kuasai BI pun kena tengok stail drebar teksi, amacam diorang pandai cakap punya.
Seperti isu yang aku tulis beberapa hari lalu, generasi berumur bawah 40 tahun adalah mangsa keadaan dan perubahan polisi kerajaan pada masa itu yang menyebabkan budak-budak kita belajar BM berhabis-habisan. Untuk apa, aku pun tak faham. Tapi aku punya BM boleh tahan gak lar. SPM dapat 2 beb.. Tapi itu untuk syarat dapat keja kerajaan je (dan masuk IPTA). Tapi bila aku datang keja, semua koresponden dalam BI. Bingung lar. Kena lar bip ap (beef up) dan tak boleh gip ap (give up). Teruk gak kena perli pihak atasan dalam hal penguasaan bahasa inggeris, apa boleh buat, aku dapat keje ni pun melalui SPA, bukan aku tak layak. Diorang tak leh cakap apa. Tapi bila buat surat, kertas keje dan lain2, ada-ada je boss cakap "you've got to improve your English." Dalam hatiku, boss ni nak jadi cikgu bahasa inggeris ke?
Apa yang penting kat sini? Kekadang boss tertentu cakap "don't ever discriminate any staff because of language obstacle," aku tak percaya punya. Mungkin ada udang dalam mihun tu.. Nak jaga kawan sendiri yang tak terar sangat BI dia. Yang penting, kita kuasai lah BI tu sebab ia penting untuk perhubungan glokal.
Berbalik pada isu cendikiawan (atau CENDIAKAWAN?? mana-mana lar) tadi, aku pun tak paham sangat diorang tu. Setahu aku kebanyakan bebudak yang mengajar kat IPTA ni dihantar buat Masters, PhD dan post grad yang lain ke luar negeri (pastinya bukan Indonesia atau negeri Arab). Macam mana ni? Pi dok kat US ka, UK ka, Aus ka, NZ ka, bertahun-tahun pun tak kuasai BI?? Apa yang dtiorang buat kat sana?? Yang tu aku tak setuju lar. Duit kita dah banyak dibajetkan kepada diorang, bawak family sekali ke sana, sampai bawa balik kereta mewah bila kembali ke Malaysia, tapi BI belum gak berabuk. Tak setuju. Sekarang, diorang mesti kuasai BI sendiri, tak boleh guna duit rakyat lagi. Kan gaji dah beribu-ribu lepas dapat Ms, PhD (pening lalat aku mengeja nya), bayar tuisyen BI sendiri la.. Ikut bebudak kat tuition centre di King Centre atau Batu 3 (untuk kes orang Kuching je). Kat Bangi tu banyak lagi Bi tuition centre untuk korang di luar KL. Sendiri cari lar..
Walau apa pun, syabas lah kepada Prof Datuk Abd Rashid kerana rajin nak keluarkan isu ni untuk tatapan umum. Aku ingat bahasa pengantar Unimas BI?? Dok hal tu lar aku tak layak nak tutor kat sana... sedih la
Bacalah penulisan BI.
Dari kampung di dalam hutan Borneo.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Malaysian Bloggers
Hello again,
This week, we are 'surprised' by the court procedures initiated against bloggers in this beautiful country. Many thought that this action will deteriorate the already poor level of freedom of expression in Malaysia.
Being new to blogging, am not sure where are we standing at this juncture. This action may be an ideal of a developing country like Malaysia, where alternative opinions are rarely taken in a good taste; or a sign that our country is at par with developed nations where "see you in court" is the best way to settle disputes as well as claim for damages. Nevertheless, as the Malay saying goes, "Kalau tak ada angin bertiup, masakan pokok bergoyang" is believed to apply in those cases. If not the wind, may be many monkeys are found there, doing there chores on the trees. The more the monkeys swing between branches, the trees will be swaying further.
Back to to the blogs, who really read them and what kind of hit are they concern about? Well, may be the stack are huge that the fellas involved couldn't just ignore the issues.
As the PM said latter, the bloggers must be responsible on whatever is written. Agree 100 percent. After all, anyone must show restraint when comenting on sensitive issues, practicing self censureship and taking into account the sensitivity of the various cultures around them. However, the readers must also be responsible for their own perception and responses toward any issue found on the blogs or the net in general. I guess, rationalisation of things will keep a better society rather than getting emotional over any issues that hits. That shall be the nature maturing nation and populace. Well, dah 50 tahun merdeka da... albeit, the borneon states baru je 44.
This week, we are 'surprised' by the court procedures initiated against bloggers in this beautiful country. Many thought that this action will deteriorate the already poor level of freedom of expression in Malaysia.
Being new to blogging, am not sure where are we standing at this juncture. This action may be an ideal of a developing country like Malaysia, where alternative opinions are rarely taken in a good taste; or a sign that our country is at par with developed nations where "see you in court" is the best way to settle disputes as well as claim for damages. Nevertheless, as the Malay saying goes, "Kalau tak ada angin bertiup, masakan pokok bergoyang" is believed to apply in those cases. If not the wind, may be many monkeys are found there, doing there chores on the trees. The more the monkeys swing between branches, the trees will be swaying further.
Back to to the blogs, who really read them and what kind of hit are they concern about? Well, may be the stack are huge that the fellas involved couldn't just ignore the issues.
As the PM said latter, the bloggers must be responsible on whatever is written. Agree 100 percent. After all, anyone must show restraint when comenting on sensitive issues, practicing self censureship and taking into account the sensitivity of the various cultures around them. However, the readers must also be responsible for their own perception and responses toward any issue found on the blogs or the net in general. I guess, rationalisation of things will keep a better society rather than getting emotional over any issues that hits. That shall be the nature maturing nation and populace. Well, dah 50 tahun merdeka da... albeit, the borneon states baru je 44.
By the way, we went picnic at a stream near Samarahan months ago. We caught some small fish (may be seluang type) and cooked them in this manner. Habis jugak la ikan tu. See the fella getting 'tougher' over the years for consuming such fishes from polluted waters.
Dengar khabar, ada mangsa rogol dibunuh dan dicampak kat sungai tu baru-baru ini. Entah apa hal, kita selalu takut benda cam tu huh.. So kitorang pun pindah tempat picnic ke sungai lain. Ada jala dan pukat kecil (beli kat Batu 7, sebelah pasar Dayak) boleh dapat ikan kecik kat semua sungai ni.
Keep a healthy lifestyle. Berkelah dekat-dekat kampung Bidayuh dan majukan ekonomi mereka dengan membeli hasil tanaman diorang. Pasti sihat. Tak payah nak tunggu ke Bali, Bangkok etc. Kalau Tony Fernandez bagi tiket free, pergilah. h h
Bye for now.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
English in Malaysia
We are again caught in the battle of language supremacy and control at school level?
I am one of those 'victim' of government policy in language changes in our schooling system. Our seniors in school are very fluent in English while us being the first batch in Sarawak to go BM are the slow catcher, even till this day. While keeping abreast with Bahasa Melayu is very manageable (owing to the fact that it is our national lingo) it is rather difficult for English. One got to keep practicing it no matter what. Forced yourself to read only English papers, watch English films, company English speaking friends all those things...
English should remain the lingo of the teachings of those subjects in school and we should not revert as that would be a draw back and 'gostan' for the Malays and other Bumis if we want to say so.
Why can't the bumis learn many languages? Those non-bumis are fluent in their mother tongues, mandarin, english and proud of their mastery of national language, while the bumis are succumb to the national lingo (also in limbo). How to compete in the open arena?? They will remain jaguh kampung and continuously dependent on the non-bumis for biz and shares of the economy. They will become beggars in this country of bounty. I am sharing my own inadequacy in the usage of this global lingo here. We are the victim of policy makers that switched to BM some four decades ago.
When will we learn from all these mistakes? I remember one character publish in the paper decades ago (may be by the celebrated cartoonist Lat??) that goes something like this, "Dia dok sibuk kempen suruh orang cintai Bahasa Malaysia tu untuk apa? Anak dio hantar sekolah di luar negri, cakap omputih." It was a character commenting on our politicians that drum up this issue propogated by lingo nationalist but they themselves are sending their kids to study overseas, learning in English and mastering it, cause they know it's important for their future.
Allow me to to guess that most of those high level staff of Petronas are overseas grad and fluent in English. Petronas is one flagship that represent Malaysia everywhere in the world (thanks to the first discovery of oil in Sarawak) and without mastery of English, they won't go anywhere. Idris Jala, one of the most recognized face in Malaysian corporate world is one from the 'humble borneon jungle village' that studied in English and succeeded, making it to the 'proudest of cosmo concrete jungle.' Thanks to the old, proven system. What good things comes out from our current system? It is not proven yet, but we change them too often.
May our leaders tell the people the truth. I think most of them studied overseas... and master English well. Look at Najib, Hisham, Taib Mahmud etc., how many of them studied locally?? and read law in BM???
It is also astonishing to note here that it become an issue for the lack of English mastery among the 'staff' of public higher institutions. We all know it is the product of our policy four decades back!! Why now we want to question them. They were pure BM student and English was just one subject taught in school then!!
However, some were sent overseas for graduate studies. Still couldn't master the language?? That one, let them answer for themselves.
Disappointed with the many changes. Let's stick to the English teaching, may be for all subjects and BM a separate single subject must pass by all for the sake of our unity (and for own use when talkking secrets at international events).
I am one of those 'victim' of government policy in language changes in our schooling system. Our seniors in school are very fluent in English while us being the first batch in Sarawak to go BM are the slow catcher, even till this day. While keeping abreast with Bahasa Melayu is very manageable (owing to the fact that it is our national lingo) it is rather difficult for English. One got to keep practicing it no matter what. Forced yourself to read only English papers, watch English films, company English speaking friends all those things...
English should remain the lingo of the teachings of those subjects in school and we should not revert as that would be a draw back and 'gostan' for the Malays and other Bumis if we want to say so.
Why can't the bumis learn many languages? Those non-bumis are fluent in their mother tongues, mandarin, english and proud of their mastery of national language, while the bumis are succumb to the national lingo (also in limbo). How to compete in the open arena?? They will remain jaguh kampung and continuously dependent on the non-bumis for biz and shares of the economy. They will become beggars in this country of bounty. I am sharing my own inadequacy in the usage of this global lingo here. We are the victim of policy makers that switched to BM some four decades ago.
When will we learn from all these mistakes? I remember one character publish in the paper decades ago (may be by the celebrated cartoonist Lat??) that goes something like this, "Dia dok sibuk kempen suruh orang cintai Bahasa Malaysia tu untuk apa? Anak dio hantar sekolah di luar negri, cakap omputih." It was a character commenting on our politicians that drum up this issue propogated by lingo nationalist but they themselves are sending their kids to study overseas, learning in English and mastering it, cause they know it's important for their future.
Allow me to to guess that most of those high level staff of Petronas are overseas grad and fluent in English. Petronas is one flagship that represent Malaysia everywhere in the world (thanks to the first discovery of oil in Sarawak) and without mastery of English, they won't go anywhere. Idris Jala, one of the most recognized face in Malaysian corporate world is one from the 'humble borneon jungle village' that studied in English and succeeded, making it to the 'proudest of cosmo concrete jungle.' Thanks to the old, proven system. What good things comes out from our current system? It is not proven yet, but we change them too often.
May our leaders tell the people the truth. I think most of them studied overseas... and master English well. Look at Najib, Hisham, Taib Mahmud etc., how many of them studied locally?? and read law in BM???
It is also astonishing to note here that it become an issue for the lack of English mastery among the 'staff' of public higher institutions. We all know it is the product of our policy four decades back!! Why now we want to question them. They were pure BM student and English was just one subject taught in school then!!
However, some were sent overseas for graduate studies. Still couldn't master the language?? That one, let them answer for themselves.
Disappointed with the many changes. Let's stick to the English teaching, may be for all subjects and BM a separate single subject must pass by all for the sake of our unity (and for own use when talkking secrets at international events).
Friday, January 19, 2007
Speed limit at Jalan Tun Jugah vs Jalan Tabuan
Hello Kuching Road Users,
I think most of the drivers taking a daily route via Jalan Tun Jugah and Jalan Tabuan knows the speed limits of the two sections. I came to realise that there is a stark difference when I went to Simpang Tiga Traffic PS to pay a parking summons, when a guy was mentioning that he got to pay a few speeding summons because the speed limit signboard could not be seen at the road sides. Furthermore, he claimed that the speed limit is unreasonably low.
When I drove along the sections from the airport, I noticed that the speed limits for Jln Tun Jugah is 70 km and 80 km for Jln Tabuan. It make no sense. It should be the opposite. No wonder our friend got to pay a few speeding summons on that stretch.
Another thing, the speed limit reminder is displayed only once after each traffic light. Why not put on reminder at every 50 or 100 meters? Aren't we suppose to look to the front when we exit a traffic light stop? Who really bother to look to the roadsides at that juncture?
I think the road planners need to test drive by themselves on the stretches of roads to ensure a better placement of speed limits signboards and other things. Signboards are not proper at all.
We shall talk about that in the Kuching-Miri stretch experience at other entries.
Suka speeding, Kuching.
I think most of the drivers taking a daily route via Jalan Tun Jugah and Jalan Tabuan knows the speed limits of the two sections. I came to realise that there is a stark difference when I went to Simpang Tiga Traffic PS to pay a parking summons, when a guy was mentioning that he got to pay a few speeding summons because the speed limit signboard could not be seen at the road sides. Furthermore, he claimed that the speed limit is unreasonably low.
When I drove along the sections from the airport, I noticed that the speed limits for Jln Tun Jugah is 70 km and 80 km for Jln Tabuan. It make no sense. It should be the opposite. No wonder our friend got to pay a few speeding summons on that stretch.
Another thing, the speed limit reminder is displayed only once after each traffic light. Why not put on reminder at every 50 or 100 meters? Aren't we suppose to look to the front when we exit a traffic light stop? Who really bother to look to the roadsides at that juncture?
I think the road planners need to test drive by themselves on the stretches of roads to ensure a better placement of speed limits signboards and other things. Signboards are not proper at all.
We shall talk about that in the Kuching-Miri stretch experience at other entries.
Suka speeding, Kuching.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Batang Lassa is the Terubok River
I was in Kampung Sawai for some official function for the Batang Lassa project in August 2006. The serenity of the village is shown from the jetty of the Dewan Masyarakat. Across the river is the main village made of mainly Melanaus and some Ibans.It was early in the morning and some villagers were still doing their washing and obvious biz at the river bank. At this time of the year, water sources is scarce and little choice.
They are dependent on the rain for drinking water. When we were there, we got to draw some from the villagers tank for cooking. We realize their supply runs dry at that time and praying for rain was a must. We bought so many 5 liters mineral water from the village shop. Apparently they do have lots of supply of that at their disposal. I wonder how often the locals purchase those bulky bottles. Imagine staying at these low-lying rural areas when all your surrounding being developed into agricultural activities and no more river to supply your natural source of water. No wonder they resort to purchasing bottled mineral water. But for how long they will have to do that and what kind of income will be able to supplement that? When our guys were there, only a few can take it into brushing their teeth with the river water. The rest resorts to the bottled water as well, including me. heh he.
Yet their nationalism spirit flying sky high as evidence by the flag raised at the jetty.
We also visited SK Batang Lassa at the confluence of Batang Lassa River. See the boys play soccer on that kind of field. No wonder our level of football never depart from such standard. Our national team also plays like that - macam main dalam lumpur kat bukit jalil di Kuala Lumpur. Sungguh kesian. But this kind of area couldn't be any good for football field. I saw all the mud mounts made by delta creatures sprouting all over the place. However, credit to them for keeping a fighting spirit and to help themselves with an outdoor and activity no matter what the hazard. Agi idup agi ngelaban, wai!Batang Lassa is the Terubok place (the salted fish you guys get from the Satok market, wrap carefully and bring back to Semenanjung by airasia tu lar) where fishermen trap at the river itself. The fish is believed to grow at sea and return to this river to breed. There is an effort to conserve the place as a spawning area for terubok and other sources of seafood like prawns (Seafood lovers must be thankful to the government efforts - jangan lebih, nanti kena ghout).
The small long boat in the middle of the river is commonly used by fishermen in this area. The river is quite wide and brackish. We manage to jump in and swam a little bit, albeit, at the kampung jetty only. Can't imagin what's inside the murky water. Including large living things. Hey! Air yang tenang jangan disangka tiada buaya. There was reasons that Malay parable was ever mooted.
I believe the peoples had learnt to live side by side with such a montrous creature over decades and centuries of settlement.
Myself, being from the highland interior couldn't have a place like this to live. I still prefer the mountains and the uprivers. May we carry on with our quest for development carefully and taking into account all aspects of sustainability.
Hidup politik pembangunan yang bersepadu dan mampan! Jangan merosak kampung orang.
Kuching, Sarawak
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