A decision has been made to discontinue this blog service. Don't worry, I'm not 'retiring' from writing on the net, yet. I'm just changing to a new blog: xurfnet.blogspot.com :)

It was part of a plan to integrate the website with the blog. Therefore, in order to meet my increasingly over-demanding requirements which Bravenet could not accede, I'll be moving on to a new blog service by Blogger.com.

For all its good, XurfNet BraveBlog has achieved its intended purposes which started in 2005.

Thanks to all who were with me on Braveblog. Special thanks to Red October, Dean, Adrian and Alohan. Not to forget my enemies who were out to sabotage me in the beginning with verbal abuse, rubbish postings and indecent links, and the recent rise of spams in my tagboard could in some part be their 'works'. Too free I think.

I will keep the blog open for some time after which it will be deleted.

So, it's goodbye to Braveblog but hello to Blogspot!

Time comes and go, just like that, leaving only memories to reminisce the traces of its past. The year 2006 had been monotonous to me.

Well, I did make new friends, signed-up a facial course (yes! I do facials), 2 romances with 2 women (one bitter, one sweet), stranded in Pasir Gudang until mid-night due to flood, first time to Kukup, back to playing futsal after rested for more than a year due to broken leg and ankle, found new hobbies - blogging, developed a personal website, small-time photographing and video shooting. All these, as I realized, doesn't count much, actually.

What I find most regrettable was missing the chance to visit Beijing in September. And the most disappointed would be failing to achieve or realize my personal and political ideals. I think I have wasted a lot of time playing games and sleeping!

Some of the best and worse moments were captured on my mobile phone. Below are my two favourites:
http://photos.bravenet.com/291/471/909/2/17302DA285.jpg
http://photos.bravenet.com/291/471/909/2/2C9F2418C3.jpg

Here are some of the images selected for this entry:
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/KempasLandslide.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Kampungbanjir.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Flood4.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Flood3.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Flood2.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Flood.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/kenarionfire.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/crimescene.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/pgjam4.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/pgjam3.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/pgjam2.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/pcfair2k6.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/mypd2.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/mrob.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/mfentrance.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/fsm2.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/fsm.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/frmlmm.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Viewersb.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Viewers2b.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Todaksampah.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Restodak.jpg
http://xurfnet.bravehost.com/myPictures/Mgame.jpg

More on:
http://xurfnet.spaces.live.com/photos/

This shall be my first entry in 2007.

p/s: The connection speed to my blog is still very slow...

Rain in the last 24 hours has flooded Xingshan again. Three relief centres have re-opened to take in evacuees.

This came as the situation in the north of the state is improving. Victims who escapes the north by settling down with family members or relative in the south are finding themselves caught in flood again.

RM4,000 per family
Racism still prevails in times of crisis! Many people who've gone to help out their family and relatives on the weekend, tells the story of extortion by rescuers.

A colleague says his relatives promised to pay RM4,000 to be rescued. Once safe on the ground, the victims beat up the 'rescuers'. There are claims that many Chinese boat owners from other areas went to rescue Chinese victims who are left behind by the racist rescue personnel. My colleague's in-laws were not saved by the government's rescue personnel. They were saved by a neighbour after giving up calling the 'bomba' line which was not answered.

More updates on the situation of flood in Xingshan and areas around it.

While the condition around Xingshan is improving, areas in the central and northern part of the state remain critical.

64,000 are displaced with 7 people died. Parts of the state are effectively crippled without water and electricity. Segamat, Kota Tinggi and some villages have been cut off in recent days.



Five other states are also affected which resulted in a total of 80,000 evacuees in relief centres nationwide. The 'Red Stage' warning remains as further torrential rains and storms are expected to hit other parts of the country.

The relief efforts are, however, far from satisfactory as rescue operators are slow to react which prompted many to take action on their own, driving back to hometown, to save their trapped family members. Whilst the people are lamenting incompetence and disarray in the rescue efforts by the government emergency services, the Deputy Prime Mini-star Najis Rojak had turned down several offers by countries wanting to help.

Lootings are widespread. Many have complained of uniform personnel and 'ordinary rescuers' of asking flood victims to pay to be rescued while they screamed out for help. I think these people should be locked up!

The MCA has setup relief stations around Johor with about 500 volunteers delivering aid and rescuing victims. Those interested to contribute food and other supplies may call: Ong See Tian at 012-7232 991 and Jason Teoh at 019-7111 516.

Ma Ji (Ma Shuhuai), right, a renowned crosstalk comedian master best known for his mastery of puns and satirical dialogues with other performers, died Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006 in Beijing of a heart attack. He was 72.

He learned the traditional performing art of 'Xiangsheng', or 'crosstalk', established as an independent art form in the late Qing Dynasty, from the prestigious Xiangsheng performer Hou Baolin when he was a child. The humorous and highly satirical talking performance is still popular nowadays in Beijing, Tianjin and other regions in northern China.

I remember the time when he came to Singapore in 1992 with a fellow Beijing partner Zhao Yuan, to perform in a  talkshow, "Xiao yi xiao, Shao yi shao", and it became very popular.

Lam, a friend of mine attended Ma Ji's talk in Xingshan during that period which saw the master raising concern about declining interest amongst youngsters in 'xiangsheng' performing art. He left a caligraphic art work upon request by a student.

"I the one who help him carry the paper. Now I think that paper worth many money" said Lam, relating his personal experience of meeting the master.

In memory of Master Ma.

Nearly 30,000 people have been evacuated in what is seen as the heaviest rainfall in a century.

According to the Drainage and Irrigation Department records, this phenomenon of heavy rains which hit central Johor directly only occurs once every 100 years, where the monsoon rain comes from the north-east instead of the east. The state's rainfall reading recorded a 35cm or 350mm average measurement in just a single day. The total average of Johor's annual rainfall is usually around 240cm.

IN THE NEWS:
- Two km stretch of the North-South Highway between Jasin Malacca and Tangkak Johor has been closed due to flood.

- Proving the theory of Rayleigh Wave, a pet cat’s odd behaviour, scratched, meowed and run in and out of the house several times, saved the lives of five family members in the nick of time. The family took that as a message that they should follow the cat outside.

- The KTM train services between Singapore and Johor was disrupted by landslides which occurred at Km630 of the Labis-Bekok route, Km754 of the Xingshan-Kempas route and Km769 of the Bukit Timah-CIQ Woodlands (Singapore) route.

- Puteri Pacific Hotel is offering free stay for up to three nights with meals to families forced to abandon their homes because of the floods. Flood victims must provide identification and they may call 07-2199999 for details.

NOTE: State flood operations room:- 07-2254454.

Xingshan is flooding. The Pasir Gudang Highway near Taman Daya is inundated with water. A colleague who was stucked on a overhead bridge, unable to move, described the situation as 'oceanic'.

As I get nearer to the site, on my way to work, the traffic was getting slower and a massive jam was in sight. So I turn into Kempas, trying to bypass the congestion in front of me. It's equally distressing! Small floods, a car broke down and an accident have all contributed to a worsening traffic jam! And a small landslide seemed imminent.


Days of heavy downpours have caused several areas around Xingshan to flood. Masai town had begun flooding a day earlier. Johor experiences wet equatorial weather with monsoon rain from November until February blowing from the South China Sea. Average annual rainfall is 1,778 mm with average temperature of between 25.5 °C (78 °F) and 27.8 °C (82 °F).

Passing by the accident, I went up the North-South Highway. The route to Pasir Gudang is totally hopeless! Vehicles halt to a standstill. At 9 am, colleague told me to go home. I thought so too. Even if we managed to reach the office, we'd still be caught in jams later after work. Might as well not go at all. So, I took the right lane to the city. Just a short distance ahead, I met the same problem - jam! So, from the overhead bridge, I took some photos of the flood:


Terrible innit?!

Finally, I reached the city centre. It's much better despite having to ride through the streets like crossing some small streams.



After 3 hours of arduous journey from 7 am, I'm home. I feel much better now!

Will the ambition to reinvent Xingshan into another version of Hong Kong or Shenzhen be successful?

This was the question I ask wherever I go. I personally 'polled' the peoples around me, Singaporean included, and 'interviewed' some of them to gauge their confidence of the plan. Surprisingly, not one individuals are feeling confident and supportive of the idea thus far. All I met are pessimistic of the outcome.

Perhaps, I posed the wrong question. To be as successful as Hong Kong or Shenzhen? Hardly. But this was the goal stated by our Prime Mini-star Bodolah. He wants to turn southern Johor into a prosperous metropolis SIMILAR to Hong Kong or Shenzhen. Although Xingshan to Singapore is akin to what Shenzhen is to Hong Kong, it is not very likely to achieve equivalent status as Hong Kong for a very long time. No wonder I get a unanimous "No".

So I rephrased it. This time, I focus on how they feel about the proposed 'project'. And the responses are equally underwhelming. There were criticisms of the plan whether it would be efficiently implemented and fully completed as we have witnessed countless government projects being delayed and abandoned half-way. There's also concern of corruption intent. Clearly, a preponderance of the citizens are doubtful.

One blogger, Aisehman, questions the imperative of spending huge amount of money to carry out the projects. I think he had raised a very relevant issue which implies the designs for graft.

One thing that missed the general public is Singapore's participation in the grand development of south Johor.

Officials from our island republic neighbour was here at the Pulai Spring Resort to meet our delegates to discuss the 'development plans' for SJER (South Johor Economic Region). The two-and-a-half-hour meeting touched on 'collaboration' between the two countries. This indicates that Singapore will play a significant role in Malaysia's mega project.

As Genting (Yunding) had been chosen to build a casino resort project which will help generate around S$2.7 billion to Singapore's economy annually, surely, the latter would reciprocate and Malaysia would gladly welcome its investments to help lift our per capita income from US$14,790 (RM54,700) in 2005 to US$31,000 (RM115,000) in 2025. Singapore's involvement would greatly render the development project more credible.

With this consideration in mind, will the people reassess their judgement? Come this January in 2007, when the development projects kick-starts, it might fill the air with optimisms.

Wherever you turn in the internet these days, when discussing issues about Malaysia politics, there bound to be calls by a minor few to leave the country. The reasons? Racial discrimination and rampant corruption which are getting worse by the day.

Many of these voices which suggests quitting the country comes mainly from those who are currently living abroad and foreign nationals outside the country - or are they?

I for one have no issues with people migrating out of the country. I see no reason to be unduly worried about people encouraging more to follow their footsteps to other places which they call the 'greener pastures' they so highly recommend. It is simply ludicrous to conceive the idea that all 6.2 million people should move out en masse. But I find it extremely difficult to take when those who favours emigration start blaming the ones who stays and that they deserve what has blighted them today.

People stays for many reason: feeling indifferent, unable/unqualified to leave, patriotic, or had chosen to stay to help fight for the people's rights to equality. Whatever the reasons are, the quitters cannot guarantee us there will be no more inequality and discrimination elsewhere for eternity.

And that begs the question: Is leaving the best option?

Throughout the history, we've faced discrimination and bullying. Our ancestors experienced that in China. The northern tribes - Sanrong, Di, Xiongnu, Jurchen, Mongol, Manchu, Japanese; and the westerners - Dutch, Portuguese, British, French, Russian, German, Austria-Hungarian and American; have all attacked and humiliated our people. Do we see them all leaving the motherland? Instead, they re-grouped and fought back! Each time, they emerged victorious.

So, when the Malay extremists shouts "Get out! This is my country!" (Najis Aziz) and "You tak suka, you keluar dari Malaysia" (You don't like it, you get out of Malaysia - Badut Amiruldin), shouldn't we rightly hit back as we're on the moral high ground? After all, we've got used to that familiar racist slur "balik Tongsan" (go back China) in the past, so it doesn't make sense to succumb to infantile yellings now.

It makes one wonder whether those who advocated 'abandoning' the country or rather the people, in the internet are actually those UMO fanatics in disguise. Surely, there are some others who suggested it out of genuine concern and belief. Instinctively, I believe there are sinister intention too.

The blame game is obviously misplaced. The ones at fault are those who second-classed their fellow countrymen. It is ironic that some people could justify the action of scoffing at victims of hate.

I am of the opinion that we stand a better chance to make positive change over here than in some other 'foreign lands'. We have one of the biggest concentration of Chinese population, we have the largest Chinese political movement outside of China, right here in this country and we have build up the economy. So why must we give up without capitalizing on these conditions not found anywhere else? Moreover, we're not standing up for our rights only. We fight for EVERYBODY's right to equality and freedom. It is a noble cause that many have struggled to uphold.

This few days, the morning sky has been very clear and beautiful. Too clear and beautiful, the sun just shines through my body. Look at this beauty (borrowing a quote from Steve Irwin):


It glares right into me eyes. I don't know how the Pasir Gudang Highway was designed. A few sections of the road places the car going directly at the sun at this time of the year. I can't see what's in front of me. I have to put on my sunglass clip onto my spectacle. So, the sun looked good. So am I.

Imagine how's the sky was like few weeks ago:


Interesting country I'm living in.

Few days ago, I worked until over 10pm. On my way home, I passed by a freak accident. A lorry went into the drain. No vehicle collision. Just the lorry skidded off the road. I think the driver was asleep.

The next morning, on my way to work, the lorry was still there!

Now, that is something!

Somehow, I find it amusing The tow truck workers don't work at night. If you get into trouble, wait until morning.