Get your priorities right!

Snatch thieves MUST be punished!

It really angers me to read in the paper where innocent snatch victims died and the these killers are enjoying their 'rewards' while the police are busy catching political activists!

Again, another innocent live was lost; this time in Kota Baru. What is even sadder is that she got a baby in her womb. You can get the details here and here. It's just so damn fucking sad to see innocent lives being taken away by scums that are even lower than animals! My heart aches to read these distressing news; looking at the loved ones that are left to ponder what hits them. Husbands loss a wife, sons and daughters are left without their mommies. Is there any hope for them when they see what a cruel world out there?

We have read about a deaf girl being robbed by a gang of scums at a petrol station. We read about a cop that was robbed in his own house. For god's sake! A policeman robbed! These scums are getting so bold, they felt invincible!

The police MUST do something! Confiscating the bikes is a good move; at least something to deter these scums from roaming the street for a short while. Maybe our laws needs to be amended to make tougher against criminal; especially snatch thieves. More time in jail AND more whippings to those caught. However, as the first step, the PDRM must double or triple their effort to combat crime. Nowadays, it seems like the men in blue are only visible when there are by-elections only.

The recent arrest of a political activist also gave the police a very bad image. It seems to be easier and less risky to go after these 'target' rather than real criminals. Let the politics be politics. We do not need people to tell us what we can or cannot wear. What colour to choose.....

What we need are real protection against those scums! Call them what you like but to me these are just low-life dirt that don't deserve any name attached to it. Calling them the glamorous 'Mat Rempits' will only make them feel prouder!

So, buck-up Mr Police! Don't focus too much and try to be seen as the 'protector' of democracy. We just want you to protect us........

Boost for our Tourism?

Eradicate them!!!

This morning, I've received a SMS from my partner in crime KK to tune in to AI FM, 9:15am to listen to our newly minted Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen. Well, given the recent hoohaa on female guides having to share rooms with 'male colleague' that actually reads drivers, I faithfully did just as told during my drive from home to office.

Datuk Seri started the talk with her first implementation of revoking licenses of Tour Agencies that fails to adhere to the 'No-Share-Room-With-Male-Colleagues' for the female guides. She explained that she has asked her DG what can be done or is there a provision for the ministry to do anything against TA that flaunts the laws. She was told that there were nothing in the ministry law-book that can do anything on this issue; until she noticed that as a Minister, she has the authority to revoke licenses of errant TAs! Wow! That's a very powerful tool to be granted to a Minister! I just hope this will not lead to abuses....

Back to this topic, I'm really glad that DS Dr Ng appointment is really like a breath of fresh air to our tourism industry. The previous one has done practically zilch and embroiled herself in controversies over the Pempena issue. Kicking the bad ass of the industry that only think of its profits while ripping off the guides and tourists is one helluva job and we must be relentless in this matter. It'll take lots of hard work to put us in the world's map (at least in tourism) but a few rotten apples will definitely spoils every body's hard work. DS has on air emphasized at least three key markets; i.e China, India and the Middle East. While the Arabs are known for the spending powers, China and India are targeted for their sheer volume!

Good beginning if you ask me. To refocus on the bread and butter issue rather than just cosmetics (giant billboard of Ministers welcoming you). She planned to hit the road and use her influence and network especially in China during her previous posting as the Deputy Minister of MOCAT. She used the term to visit old friends and get them to sell Malaysia!

Before I could finish listening to the interview, I reached my office..... so the rest, i don't really know what was talked about. Anyway, from the brief talk, I gather that the new minister will want to be seen as the one that revive to tour industry after a few years in the wilderness. Additional challenges when the world economy is now in the doldrums. If we put all our efforts in, I'm sure we can overcome all obstacles!

This only augurs well for the industry but I want the ministry to tackle the never ending problem of rogue TAs. They are like cancer to the industry. I doubt they will follow the 'no-share-room' ruling; threatening the ladies they face the 'ice-box' treatment if they pursue this matter. What we need is that the Ministry to announce or get the industry player to implement a minimum guide fee of RM180.00/day for professional guiding services. Engage respective Tourist Guides' Association for ideas or opinions. Real actions taken instead of just paying lip service on complaints against bad apple TAs. As the Chinese saying goes, "Kill one to warn many"; or "Won't cry without seeing the coffin". These rogue (especially Chinese market) TAs must be taught a lesson.

Just hope that Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen can really and possess the will power to fight for the industry, fight for us, fight for Malaysia!

For a better tomorrow! To Know Malaysia, Is To Love Malaysia.... my fav!

Ban on Female Guides on room sharing

The snakes are choking us all!

I read this news report from the Star with great interest, Female Tourist Guides welcome ban on twin sharing since I'm directly involved in the tour industry.

With a new Minister taking charge in the Tourism Ministry, Malaysian Women Tourist Guides Association (MWTGA) has 'succeeded' in their push to have ladies/female guides to have a room by their own. Well, I must say Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen has issued a very stern warning or ultimatum if you like it that Tour Operators' licenses will be revoked if they failed to fulfill this requirement come 1st June 2009. I used 'succeeded' because looking at the industry, this will bound to fail and nothing but blowing hot air IF the root cause is not tackled by the MoTour.

The problem of female guides having to share room with their male colleague has been an issue for many many donkey years. We heard of horror stories about ladies being harassed by their male colleagues but many chose to suffer in silent. Mind you, that mostly female guides that faced this problem are those dealing with Chinese Markets (HK, PRC, Taiwan). These are real problems but not the only one faced by guides and by guides, I mean male and female tourist guides. Why? Because the main issues here is that Tour Operators a.k.a rats a.k.a snakes in these markets usually operated on a very low tour cost, zero cost tours and some even do a kick-back to the wholesale agents in China! Imagine taking in a group of tourist with negative profits! That's loss making to you and me!

First, don't just talk about rooms. I'd really like to see Datuk Seri issue an ultimatum to operators to PAY PROFESSIONAL GUIDE FEES TO ALL GUIDES or else risked their license revoked! Have a minimum professional fees; let's say RM180.00/day imposed. There are majority of guides that do guiding without getting paid, lucky ones get paid RM75.00/day while a minority of guides still gets RM180.00/day. How do they survive? By becoming salesman la! I know I may sound exaggerated, but it is the truth! As a whole, the whole tourism industry (in Chinese market) suffers. We are salesman on board the coach, we bring tourist to eat in restaurant that you normally don't see even a fly goes there, we checked in 'Hotels' that cockroaches called home! That's what you get when we have operators that still do KB/zero cost tours!

Unless these are tackled with real effort to eradicate 'Ali-Baba' tour agents, don't even talk about a separate room for the ladies. The operators can't even give a minimum of RM180.00/day!

So, Datuk Seri, please help the industry especially the Chinese Market to go straight again. Too many Ali-Babas doing hit and run. They change company name whenever their debt reaches Mt Everest level! Anyway, I support the 'No share room' ruling. It's a good start, just hope the females won't be boycotted.

Until the rats die, there always be salesman around in buses!

*The male colleagues stated in the papers refers to DRIVERS! Why MWTGA so scared to emphasis this?

Let's go to school again!

Let's go to school again, shall we?

Well, he dug a hole.... too deep to get out and now he blamed someone else for digging that very hole for him to be trapped. He stepped on a pile of his own shit and he blamed someone for not cleaning up his own mess.

He gave a comment during an interview that the Chinese voters were ungrateful and swung their votes to the opposition despite being granted allocation for schools and what not. Since the news broke out, he was under tremendous pressure for those remarks given his position as the N0 2 in the country; a country where racist or hurtful remarks can be sensitive issues.

Put the blame on BN loss at the by-election on the the Chinese shoulders? Calling us ungrateful for all the BN government did? Now, isn't it the duty of the government to give out allocation to all and not just during elections or by-elections? Aren't these our right as citizen to enjoy the benefits? To vote for or against you is a different story all together.

Now the No 2 has tried to squirm out of this hole by (again.....) saying the Chinese media twisted and misrepresented him. He lashed out to the irresponsible reporting, barking " If they don't understand the Malay language, then we can send them to school".

Let's all read into what he said during the interview with Utusan Malaysia....

Q: Tetapi bukankah setiap kali pilihan raya kecil, permintaan kaum bukan Melayu dipenuhi, malah di Bukit Gantang walaupun peruntukan RM1juta diberikan tetapi kaum Cina tidak juga menyokong BN?

[..........]

Ini yang mungkin menyebabkan sukar BN mendapat sokongan walaupun kita fikir bila mereka hendak sekolah Cina dibantu, kita bantu, sepatutnya mereka membalas budi. Pada waktu itu, kita pun tidak berharap sokongan kaum Cina akan meningkat 40 peratus dan sebagainya cuma kita berharap ada peningkatan sedikit tetapi apa yang berlaku ia mencatatkan penurunan, macam tidak ada penghargaan terhadap apa yang kita lakukan.

Now, you make your own assumption on this. Maybe our newly installed Ed Minister needs to go to school again!

Pempena's Biz Venture

Today when I read theSun paper, it really makes my blood boiled. It's big headline that can't be missed "RM18million failed Taxi Venture" with the RM18m in bold red print sure attracts attention!

Now the RM18m wasted by Pempena Sdn Bhd who is the investing arm of Tourism Malaysia, is either because they're really stupid and dumb in business dealings or rampant corruption is the main cause. RM18m reads OUR MONEY! Taxpayer's hard-earned money that goes to the Government coffers are meant for building and developing the country; not for self-enrichment programmes!

For details or the story of this screwed up venture, get a copy of theSun or surf the net. There's details and mind boggling numbers hard for someone like me to digest. From what I read, most probably some smart Alec got duped on a 'sure fire' money making venture with Dalamasa Sdn Bhd.

One of the listed figures are to purchase 5 cars with RM7mil! Yes.... you read it right! A cool RM7mil to be 'invested' in 5 cars (average RM1.4mil/car); most probably a Rolls, Beemer or a S-Class Merc as taxi/limo. Well, to those who are lucky enough to catch a high-end cab to the airport, good for you. The rest of the population like myself, I have never even seen or know such high-end models to be use as cab in other parts of the world I've been to. Maybe we want foreign tourists to know that we are so rich we can afford to ferry passengers in such cars; never mind there are still some poor souls living in poverty! Maybe Pempena carried the 'Malaysia Boleh' motto a bit too far..... Only them can answer.

If you go to PWTC and park your car opposite (at the bus station), you'll see some Naza painted as taxis lying there in sorry state. Some are with puntured tires. Some looked like scraps though you know these cars are quite new. These taxis are painted with blue and with Pempena's permits. A look at these 'junks' tells you how well Pempena can be in business dealings.

Being stupid and duped is one thing. To use taxpayer's monies and be stupid and duped needs to be answerable. Maybe to some, its tidak-apalah.... not my money ma. I suspect, someone might have siphoned part of the mils to their Swiss Bank account. If not for corruption, then what else? I really want to see MACC take some 'real' action on this.

Just hope the MACC can shed some light on this. The rakyat has the right to know. We want someone to be accountable for all these shoddy business dealings. Don't just go after cows and cars....

Rakyat IS demanding answers!

What's Next after Earth Hour?

Mac 28, 8:30p.m is the day where we're all urged to vote for mother earth by switching off all unessential lights and power. well, I did that and my kids had loads of fun playing with candles. I think we did something good for the environment but the question is... what's next?

To me, the follow through is just as important as the 'publicity stunt'. Yeah, you can call EH just that; a publicity stunt but to me if the stunt can do something and means well, then why not?

So what have we learn from this stunt? It shows that if the people around the world were to be united and stand up for something, we can do and achieve something massive. What begins in Australia has now gone global. For this, I salute all who have actually had made a decision to switched off and spend an hour of their night in darkness.

Global warming is a real threat to mankind. We see droughts destroying crops and lives. Flash floods take away lives. We need to wake up and take heed to all this warning. Putting the blame on God is so unfair to Him. So, the next time when you hear politicians telling us that a landslide is 'An act of God', tell him to fuck off! God is compassionate not like dirty and corrupted politicians!

Here, I vowed to at least switch-off the lights at my home once a month; the 1st Saturday of each month. I want to have at least 720 Earth Minutes in a year. I can save a little money, my kids can learn something about going green and hopefully Mother Earth can smile back to me again. Let's us all do a small part for Earth. After all, we have only one real home.

I hope I'll Never Walk Alone in this.

Earth Hour

Heard of this Earth Hour thing? Well, it's a effort by cities around the world to make a statement on global warming by switching off lights for 1 hour at 8:30pm, 28th March 2009. This global effort has been dubbed as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming when 1,429 cities and towns in 80 countries have pledged to VOTE FOR EARTH in Earth Hour 2009.

Below is a brief history and write up about how the Earth Hour started: (www.earthhour.org)

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness. In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday. We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations. VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour. Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

So, people.... tell your families, tell your neighbours and friends to VOTE for EARTH! We can make a difference. Use our votes, use our switch!

MOTHER EARTH DESERVES OUR VOTES!