Pleasure Principle

The authorities have been making their rounds to raid and seize shops selling specialty condoms, vibrators and other forms of "sex toys".

Frankly, I don't understand what the big deal is to sensationalize these raids. I think the authorities should channel their efforts and time in rounding up illegal immigrants, reducing piracy and keeping the city, instead of depriving normal folks of some sexual enhancing experience.

What's so lurid about purchasing objects for sexual enhancement for private pleasures?

What's so wrong with wearing a sexy thong, with the help of a little vibrator between consenting adults?

Is sex just all about in and out movement, spew your load in the hope of hitting the jackpot of procreation?

Nobody gets hurt, nothing gets stolen, so why do they always have to dictate what's right and wrong, and what's moral or not, what's sinful or not, for what things that are done behind closed doors?

Get Serious!

I was surprised that I received a telephone call from a research consulting firm this evening. The interviewer claimed that the research firm is currently representing a client who wants to conduct a survey of Malaysian citizens on their perception of quality of life in Malaysia. And the interviewer had randomly chosen my name ~ apparently the interviewer picked my name from the telephone directory listing which I didn't know existed ... This is the second time my name was randomly picked for a telephone interview since 3 years ago on the quality of gym services ~ ish! If only I was so lucky to have been picked to win RM3 million jackpot lottery!

The interviewer, a girl, quickly launched her interview and bombarded me with questions .... but I had to stop her to verify that she was genuine and not some form of scam. She seemed to be in a hurry to want to finished her questions ... probably over exhausted from calling hundreds of people up! So I interviewed her back first, asking her details of her firm, the purpose of the survey and her client. She didn't know who her client was and I am sure it must be some form of confidentiality involved... but I didn't push it further, as her interview questions seem to be serious in nature.

So there were questions on how I would rate selected serious issues in Malaysia, and what I think if the government of the new PM would be able to make significant improvements on these issues in the next couple of years. Issues such as corruption, taxes, public transport, environment, health services, education system, race-based politics, etc etc.... I only have to give simple "yes" and "no" answers, and give ratings on importance of each issue. I can't help but suspect that her anonymous client was a political entity, rather than an NGO or a commercial enterprise.

Dollars, Ringgit and Sense

I cannot understand why people keep saying that the cost of living in KL is low.... "the lowest in region" they say.

Well, true if you earn your money in other countries and spend it here. Unless you're a visitor/traveller, you should never convert the currency. But what if you earn in ringgit and spend it here like the rest of us do? Then, it becomes a lot more expensive to live and spend here!

I did a rough random comparison of costs for supposedly "cheap" KL and "very expensive" island nation down south.

But first, income. You earn a lot more in SG than in KL. For example in the company I worked in, a fresh grad in KL earns only RM2 K /month, while in SG, the grad would get paid up to S$ 2.5 K /month. I am certain that this is the case for all jobs - you get paid more in SG than in KL.

Now what about costs and expenses? Here's a very brief and random comparison.

S$ RM

Economy Rice (3 dishes) S$3.80 RM5.50

McD Breakfast Meal S$5.50 RM8.10

Spaghetti (restaurant) S$15.00 RM22.00

Sunscreen S$12.70 RM31.90

Long Sleeve shirt ~S$50.00 ~RM80.00

Car ~ $50 K (exclude COE) ~RM85 K

Petrol price S$1.5–1.6/liter RM1.8/liter

Gym membership ~S$110 /month ~RM175/month

Club cover charge ~ S$20 /entry ~RM35/entry


As for local transport, you don't need a car in SG. My friend spends S$100 /month on transport, while I spend RM 400 /month (inclusive petrol, parking fees, car maintenance, but excluding toll).

What about housing? This is a little more complicated to compare, as it depends on location, age and size. Yes, houses in SG are apparently expensive. Flats are priced from S$250 K. But the condition of a flat is equivalent to a medium cost condominium in KL which also fetches a price of at least RM200-280 K close to the city.

It is obvious that KL is not "cheap" after all. You spend a higher percentage of your income on your daily expenses. At the end of the month, you have a lower disposable income... less to save/invest. And I heard income tax in SG is much lower also!

Did I miss something? Have I miscalculated? Do these make sense?

* ps. I bought a prepaid card for S$28 which has a credit of S$28 for international calls and S$100 for local calls. By dialling a special access number, you get extremely cheap rates. I noted that an (international) call I made back to KL .... spoke for 18 minutes but costs S$1.44 only!!! I don't normally chit-chat with friends on the phone here (expensive ma!), but I was happily chitchatting with them for hours when I was in SG!!!

Of Course We Boleh!

So, did you get stuck in the massive, massive, massive peak hour traffic jam Friday morning? Oh, yes, the powers that be, felt it necessary to block of at least 5 km of two major suburban highways and an arterial road at 815 am. All to make way for thirty-something cyclists.


But what are the doing in KL and PJ? They're supposed to be in Langkawi anyways! Ish!



We heard an announcement on the radio the day before, warning that the Sprint Highway, a road in Taman Tun and the LDP will be affected. So we checked the website of the supposedly state-of-the-art transport information system. I expected up-to-date information, showing detailed route of the "cycling tour" and roads affected in fancy colourful maps. Instead, we were provided with a pathetic badly scanned google earth image ... showing only one small section of the route!

Hmm let's see, what was the impact of the 1.5 hour road closure?

- Traffic jam all over Petaling Jaya and surrounding areas, including roads and highways leading to Jln Damansara, Sprint Highway and LDP. The traffic even backlogged right up to the Bukit Jelutong interchange on the NKVE!

- The traffic at the Jln Abu Bakar-Sprint Highway intersection only cleared at 11am. That means almost 3 hours. What a waste of time for those poor motorists!

- Assuming a conservative 100,000 road users and commuters were affected that morning, meaning that up to 300,000 manhours lost. Convert that to ringgit, assuming an average rate of RM25/hour, RM7.5 million worth of useful work not done.

- What about important business meetings and deals?

Le tour boleh! The transport information system boleh! Malaysia boleh ma!

p/s: I was lucky I wasn't stuck in the jam.

Yup, It's Free!

How about that!?!?!! Free electricity for me!!!! Yeah!!! Hopefully, this will offset rising food costs a little bit.

Jawi

Kebelakangan ini, saya mendapati bahawa papan tanda nama jalan raya di sekitar Kuala Lumpur mula digantikan dengan papan tanda baru yang mempunyai penterjemahan nama jalan dalam tulisan jawi. Apakah tujuan sebenar pihak berkuasa memaparkan nama jalan raya dalam tulisan jawi? Untuk segelintir pelawat-pelawat Arab? Namun jalan raya yang ditunjukkan di dalam gambar foto di bawah terletak di kawasan perumahan yang kebanyakannya dihuni oleh penduduk-penduduk kaum Cina dan India. Tindakan ini sememangnya langsung tidak ada kena-mengena dengan mana-mana polisi kerajaan negara atau kebudayaan tempatan. Ia tidak masuk akal, dan membazir wang pembayar cukai sahaja!

Tindakan pihak berkuasa sebegini amat membimbangkan sekali...

Election Fever

Damn! Apparently, the old joker Gerakan president was at my condo for an election ceramah on Thursday. His son is contesting at the Batu Parliamentary seat, so he was there to lend his support. Yes, we always catch a glimpse of his antics on TV, but it would have been great to see him speak in person, live. Where was I? I was in Singapore la.... for work, and as usual I would pay customary visit to OneSeven, since Towelclub is now closed. It was crowded in the dimly lit maze. Unlike MY and TH, SG guys are not shy at all; they walk around with pride and don't cover themselves, they moan out loud unashamedly (which sets the mood), plus the maze area isn't exactly pitch dark.... which is good for free live show. A couple of guys seems to sniffing something, ... what do they call it? Amyl nitrite? It smelt like somekind of chlorox detergent... hmmm... sorry, i've digressed.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, elections.... today, it was the opposition candidate who made his rounds. Got nothing to do, so go and listen lor.

I've pretty much made up my mind who I'm going to vote for, although I'm not voting in Batu. I'd like to urge my fellow friends to seriously exercise their rights and responsibility as a citizen to vote. If it's too late for you to vote because you hadn't bothered to register, then make sure you register yourself for the elections after this one. If you think the current government is doing a great job, then vote for it as a sign of encouragement. If you think that things are not right about the way your neighbourhood, your state or this country is being handled and managed, and you want change, then vote for the opposition, or the best man to do the job. If you are not bothered to vote, then don't ever complain about the economy, about rising prices, about corruption or lost opportunities or discrimination etc etc because you have essentially no right to complain because you didn't exercise your rights to vote.

Never Too Careful

In the recent sex DVD scandal involving a senior cabinet minister, I noticed that majority of people were critical of the morals of the minister. But I think most importantly the main issue here that everyone should be concerned about is the invasion of privacy, the fact that cameras were installed in a hotel room and the videos were captured. It could happen to anyone of us. Instead, we, pious Malaysians felt that the extra-marital affair was a bigger issue. As expected, Malaysians were so quick to condemn the minister, as if we are all angels. Yes, shame on him for having sex with another woman. But come on, give the man a break. He’s only human. Everyone of us have a little weakness or secret. Quite a handful of married men I know have had sex with a prostitute, or have had extramarital affair. I am certain that most men probably have cheated on their wives at least once in their lifetime. My view

As gay men, we should also exercise extra care the next time we:

• Have webcam sex – you’ll never know if the other person is recording your hot sessions.
• Go over to another guy’s place for sex after chatting at Gay.com.
• Attend a sex party in a hotel room or at someone’s place.
• Visit our local gay sauna – perhaps there are “hidden cameras” in the private rooms or activity areas (too dark? There’re night vision cameras you know!).
• Take a shower or have a quickie with a hot guy at the local pool shower or public toilet.
• Or simply playing with yourself in a hotel room.

Careful, you’re being filmed!!

50 years on

Yesterday the country celebrated it's 50th anniversary of independence from British rule. But I came across a letter to the editor under the Man in the Street column in The Straits Times, August 28, 1957:

If a constitution were lopsided so that one section of the population were unfairly benefitted, the section that received the benefit would certainly declare that the constitution was best and that all the other sections should "shut up and accept" it.

Now 50 years on, despite the apparent superficial harmonious relationship of the peoples of this country, there lies a certain dormant divisive force underneath. Everybody talked about it behind closed doors. A few politicians occasionally risk bringing the subject up in parliament only to be told to "shut up and accept it".

We talked and read about it in the papers in 1957. Now, 50 years on, we can't talk and read about it in the papers. 50 years on, has anything changed? Have we really moved forward and matured? Was there really a reason to celebrate?

The Sweet Escape!

OK. Well, according to some people who called for a ban of Gwen's concert, I had committed a big sin: I attended Gwen's concert last Tuesday nite. Apparently Gwen's costumes and stage performance were deemed too sexy for the Malaysian public. These people claimed that it was inappropriate for youths to mix "freely" and watch such an ungodly stage show. It was believed that attending the concert will cause moral decay among Malaysian youths. Unfortunately, for some reason God who is omnipotent could not stop the tour, so as usual the same group of people absolutely had the moral duty and responsibility to intervene and try stop the show on God's behalf. Phuh!


Poor Gwen!! I really did wish that she shouldn't have succumbed to such nonsense and resorted to explaining herself and justifying the sort of person she really was.

Gwen, we love you and we all know that you're a nice and responsible girl, and your music and show were just artistic expressions of a very talented musician and entertainer.

Gwen Stefani

The Sweet Escape Tour

Stadium Putra

21 August 2007

Fable and I had decided to purchase the most expensive tickets (RM385) in anticipation that we would get good seats and enjoy the show. After all, we loved Gwen and it wasn't like you get to see her live frequently. But by the time I bought the tickets last month, the front 25 rows were already taken up. Wah, so laku! When we were seated, we were somewhere in the middle of the stadium liao. We still got a good direct view of the stage, but because the chairs were all placed on the flat floor, our view was somewhat blocked by people seated in front. But it didn't matter really, because when the lights dimmed and music started, everyone got excited and stood up. And stand we did.... till the end of the show!! And oh, we also stood up for a few minutes before the show started when the Negaraku was played. A bit strange and out of place, but I suppose it was one of the guidelines that Gwen had agreed to follow. Whatever la.

The show was great although the sound system was quite a disappointment. Gwen's performance and showomanship were excellent, albeit no skin was exposed (she duly complied with the ridiculous regulations by wearing black leotard underneath her crazy costumes). The stadium was packed, full house. Everyone was on their feet, jumping and dancing to her upbeat songs which were powerfully delivered by her great vocals and supported by eight equally crazy dancers.

The audience was mad, the screams were deafening, bodies moving around to the beat of the music uninhibited; everyone was just simply having a good time. I was screaming/cheering and singing most of the time. It was almost like a screaming/cheering competition. There was this strange girl who came and sat on Fable's chair halfway through. At one point, she looked at me when I screamed, and she smiled and then she also decided scream! A few girls behind me screamed and screamed and when we exchanged glances, we all smiled, and screamed even louder as we all nodded our heads in approval. Such madness!

At one point, Gwen ran by the side and towards the opposite end of the hall where the audience at the back were. She mingled with the crowd and held her hand up to let the audience touch her. How awesome is that! Aiya, how lucky these people are, paid the cheapest and got so close to her and even got to touch her hand! Cheh! Very emm kam muoan. So jealous!!! She stayed there a while longer as she sang Cool.

We spotted quite a few celebrities/TV personalities from where we were: Alex Yoong and his wife (Arianna Teoh?), Marion Caunter, a few people who dressed up and looked like celebrities, and of course this lady in the picture below. No prizes for guessing it right!

It was an unforgettably beautiful experience. A blast! But some people did believe that the whole thing was indeed sinful and against their God's wishes. I can almost hear them waving their finger in disapproval and condemnation at all 10,000 of us: Absolutely immoral!

Whatever! It was nonetheless, a Sweet Escape!

Another Potential Assault on Maxwell Hill

Another piece of horrifying news today. The company that built the G. Machinchang Cable Car in Langkawi has proposed once again to build a cable car link from the Taiping Lake Gardens to Maxwell Hill (ie. Bukit Larut). The project was viable as they were trying to cash in on the success of the Taiping Zoo, which reportedly has 700,000 visitors per year compared to the Langkawi project which attracted only 100,000 people annually. At present, there is only 1 mode of transport up the hills apart from hiking up yourself: by the land rover. The thrill is all in the ride up and down as the land rover negotiates hairpin bends while trying to not hit on the unsuspecting joggers or going down the ravines.

Proposals to develop Maxwell Hill has met with great opposition in the 1990s by Taiping residents and conservationists. We don't need another Cameron Highlands or Genting Highlands or Penang Hill. In fact, Maxwell Hill is the only hill resort that has remained untouched and undeveloped since the early years. It is the only hill resort that you can look up afar and never spot a building, road or a landslide scar. All you can see from Taiping town at its foothill are thick dense tropical forest. Time and again, the Menteri Besar would give assurances that the hill will remain as it was. But this time round, it is on the verge on another assault by the greed of a profit-making company and possibly corrupted approving authorities. We all know that any kind on development, whether it is just a cable car or a small hotel, is damaging to the environment, particularly on the extraordinarily steep slopes in the area.

And I can recall that the company who proposed this idea doesn't really have a good record of maintenance either. During my last trip up G. Machinchang by cable car last year, I noticed that facilities have deteriorated quite significantly although it was only opened to the public less than 5 years. The wooden walkways has rotted somewhat, and the metal parts had rusted quited badly. This is Malaysian style maintenance and quality.

Why is it that in Malaysia, we always have to be building and building in the name of development? I am very sure, if Mount Everest were to be in Malaysia, some smart asshole will certainly propose to build a cable car and five-star hotels at the summit. And I'm also certain that they'd probably think of building a four-lane expressway up the summit as an alternative to cater to the needs of tourists.

I hope there is a strong opposition to this proposal. We, Taiping folks, do not want to see ugly towers and cable lines when we look up the hills. We just want to see green trees and unspoilt natural beauty. Leave us alone!

Very Sensitive Malaysians

I was horrified! I hope Gwen is not going to appear in a simple grandma top and hipster jeans on stage! I paid good money for the show and I expect colourful costumes and grand artistic stage performance.

“She will abide by the Malaysian authorities’ guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities,” the statement said. Under the official guide to performing in Malaysia, a female artist must be covered from the top of her chest to her knees.
No jumping, shouting or throwing of objects onstage or at the audience is allowed. Performers cannot hug or kiss and their clothes cannot have obscene or drug-related images or messages.

This is stupid. I remembered a friend once said that previously, Mariah Carey, during her tour in KL a couple of years ago, purposely wore a simple top and jeans throughout her show and made sarcastic remarks about her the regulations that she had to abide. I reckon people who are overly sensitive about this kind of stuff should just not come and watch at all and spoil the atmosphere for other people. Just stay at home and read the bible or koran or whatever else that you read.