GIMME MAAANEY

I am quite a fan of Malaysiakini's Letters Column...

Today, there are two diagonally opposite views from readers on the housing discounts for bumis...

'Jan' says that 'most middle-income earners like myself cannot even afford the house prices here even with the five percent discount!'.

And he prods...

'Part of being Malaysian is to not only think of oneself but also to think of the fate of others.'

On the other hand, 'Non-bumi Average Joe' says that he wouldn't be so upset if this is a scheme to help the lower-income group.

But he finds it 'revolting' that it is applied based on ethnicity... the 'colors of our skin'...

Hmmm...

Hmmmmm...

How... like that?


*** *** ***

PS: Shall be bringing a big busload of foreign students for a two-day one-night Kyoto trip tomorrow.

What else, but to go for the standard touristy spots like Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, and Kiyomizudera.

Also visiting the Asahi Shinbum (Newspaper) Osaka Head Office and Suntory Yamazaki Distillery.

Heheheee... might just get high on one tiny glass of whiskey at the Distillery...

BLACK SPOTTED MORAY

Before every dive holiday, can't wait to hit the ocean...

And, immediately after checking in, almost always want to just jump in...

This time, was rewarded with a beautiful view of a black spotted moray eel...

Got to about less than a meter for this close-range shot...

Returned to the same spot for two more dives...

But in its place were two huge sea cucumbers...

The cave was too small for three, apparently...

Size: about that of a man's wrist...

Length: estimated to be one and half to two meters...

Location: Panuba Inn House Reef, Tioman

MUSHROOM CORAL FEEDING

I enjoy diving the house reef of Blue Coral Island Resort at Pulau Lang Tengah...

Entry is pretty easy and I can do long dives without having to look out for the guide...

There is a huge blue coral that starts at about 5 meters, sloping towards 10 to 12 meters deep...

I often see a turtle there...

A huge moray eel resides there too...

And, nearby is a patch of mushroom coral garden...

This specimen has its feelers out and I believe it is feeding...

Size of a small plate...

BICYCLING, ONE AUTUMN MORNING

Finally moved all our stuff to the 'new' house.

So quiet and peaceful, this place...

Could hear the sound of the waves although we are quite a distance from the shores of Sea...

The air, so cool and refreshing...

But the mosquitoes, so fierce...

They pierce through the socks and the cotton shirts...

Eeeeiiii... no joke...

Made a trial run cycling from our house to the university this morning...

All my friends and acquaintances and friends had laughed at my suggestion...

My sweetheart hahahaa-ed at me to no end...

So, I woke up at 5:00 this morning...

I washed up and returned to the second floor to watch the sun rise over the Japan Inland Sea...

The neighborhood is called Gokenzan (literally, Five Swords Mountain)...

True enough, I had to scale five sets of ups-and-downs on the 18-kilometer stretch to the university...

Took me almost 1 hour 30 minutes to touch base...

I had wondered if I should get an off-road Honda motorbike...

But I think I shall go for the Giant mountain bike now...

I just love to cycle...

All the way through the Five Swords...

Perhaps except in summer, when I will certainly melt...

RED-BANDED WRASSE

Taking pictures of fishes while they are swimming is no easy task.

Most often than not, we get fishes turning their tails as we take aim.

The red-banded wrasse is a beautiful fish.

It is commonly seen in locations of mixed corals, as in the photograph.

My reference says, that this specimen 'often follows divers to prey on invertebrates exposed by divers fins'.

Huh?

That's new to me...

Will try to observe them more diligently next time...

Size was about 30 centimeters.

Dive site: Pulau Soyak, Tioman

HOUSE-MOVING

Woooh, I love the cool autumn weather...

Spent almost all of last weekend moving our stuff to the new-old house...

Don't have much stuff, but ooohh... my muscles...

There were some surprising finds in the cabinets...

Souvenirs purchased years ago and hand-carried from faraway lands...

Packed and stored in boxes and never exhibited...

Boomerangs... coffee mugs... Egyptian papyrus paintings...

Ahhh... old photos...

Had a good laugh seeing the 'fashion' of times gone by...

That load of a hair I had...

And, ahem... who was that 'good looking' young man in the picture??

A most unanticipated find was my two wisdom teeth...

I had planned to turn them into earrings but never did...

Also spent time shopping for a solid dining table set for six...

Weed (past tense?), fertilized, and prepared the vegetable patch

Letting it go fallow for about a week or two before sowing the vegetable seeds...

House-moving to continue next weekend...

VICTORIA CITY, BC, CANADA

I like this night shot of the Legislative House.

As darkness falls, this segment of the city comes alive...

It is probably the most interesting area to hang around.

On the left, there are street musicians entertaining the mostly tourist crowd.

The boats parked in the bay are also a joy to gaze at...

Lovely place... this City of Victoria...

GLOCAL MALAYS TALK BY DR. ASMA ABDULLAH

In 1998, Dr. Asma Abdullah gave me an autographed copy of her book 'Going Glocal: Cultural Dimensions in Malaysian Management'.

I see Asma as my elder sister as she hails from Baling, Kedah.

Through the years, we did some work together but I have veered away from studies in culture and management lately.

ISIS has invited her to give a talk on this subject.

You can read more about this event in Malaysiakini (September 14th) and also in Screenshots.

We keep in touch quite regularly and today she asked me for some opinions on the subject.

I take the liberty to post my response to her (CC-ed to several individuals, too) below...

...

Hello Asma, and to folks whom I have not met, 'hajime mashite' ('Nice to meet you' in Japanese).

It is an honor to be asked... and I hope my humble opinions can be of some use. Otherwise, please disregard them.

I presume we are talking about Malays as well as 'Bangsa Malaysia'.

I start with the Malays.

I think there is no secret recipe here.

If we want the Malays or anyone for that matter to be competitive, resilient, or self-supporting, we just have to create conditions that would allow, lead them to, or even 'compel' them to do just that.

My take is, with the way sweeteners (privileges and special rights) are being doled out, how in the world would anyone want to work hard.

There are some exceptions of course, such as Bakri and Asma, and of course folks like Din too, whom I have not met yet.

I respect these folks and do not wish to belittle anyone on this.

But we are talking about the motivation of 'masses' here.

Subsidies, quotas, and assistance are essential, but we have got to be very careful in monitoring their delivery, time span, and effectiveness.

Are we?

As it is, we have this polite term called 'leakages'.

Abuses, that is.

Why do we have them?

Which brings me to ask, are the so-called authorities sincere in this?

Do they really want to see Malays uplifting themselves?

Call me skeptical, but I sincerely doubt their sincerity.

Furthermore, we should not just talk of rewards.

There should also be some form of disincentives for failures when we use the sweeteners.

Next, Bangsa Malaysia.

I realize we are a complex society.

I would like to pose this question.

What is Bangsa Malaysia all about?

I see it as the Malaysian race... the Malaysian people...

We may be black, green, or white, but there must be some thread that holds us together, some thread that makes us identify with one another as Bangsa Malaysia.

Do we have this thread?

If we are serious about Bangsa Malaysia, we have got to come up with policies that are more inclusive, as opposed to exclusive, so that citizens from different backgrounds can feel a sense of belonging and togetherness.

Again, sadly I should say, the politicians are the only ones who can bring out this Bangsa Malaysia. (More of this later...)

Where do we start?

I suggest that they dump the race-based political system and go for issues based political parties.

Yes, I know I am asking for the moon.

*Throws in towel...*

I also agree with Bakri (in his writings) about the role of English.

I see this language as the prime unifier of the Malaysian people, a 'common thread' that all Malaysians can look to as a shared super-ordinate element.

We probably can't do it with food barring the lovely nasi lemak... certainly not with religion... so, the only option is language.

Imagine... Malaysian kids mingling with each other in English (Manglish if you wish...)

This will form the basis of friendships among our kids, which will hopefully continue on to their adult lives.

Back to the point on politicians being the only ones who can bring out this Bangsa Malaysia...

This is a most unfortunate setting.

Why is it like this?

Nation building is such a monumental endeavor and politicians certainly cannot do it alone.

We need all the skills from all the experts in all the areas we have to build our nation.

On this count again, I see the politicians hoarding all the authority for themselves.

Academicians, architects, and lawyers, among others... these are the people who can contribute just as much if not more than politicians, to the creation of Bangsa Malaysia.

But, in reality, are they permitted to do so?

(I feel this is a rather ridiculous notion because they shouldn't be asking for permission from anyone in the first place. But in our Malaysia, they have to.)

Ok, I shall stop here before I get carried too far away.

Good luck and please keep me posted on the talk.

Best wishes to all.

PHALLUS @ REDANG

It was our last dive at Redang.

The sea was very calm...

But much of the corals we saw were dead...

The marine life was pretty regular stuff...

And the dive was getting to be quite boring...

Then, woaaahhh...

The size?

Just about a 'regular' size of the human's...

Location: Stingray City at Pulau Kerengga, Redang

CONFESSION

Something must have happened during my last vacation back home.

I feel it, but I am unable to tell what exactly that is.

The reason is...

Yes... I have a confession to make.

That is, I don't feel like working.

I have lost the 'fire', the motivation to sweat it out...

Why?

I already have a house... quite pretty but a humble one at that...

Some savings... not much but perhaps sufficient to last a few days...

I am 47 and I want to relax for the rest of my life...

I don't need much nor do I have expensive desires...

I don't smoke...

I don't womanize... (I think...)

And I don't go to the races...

I don't crave for fancy clothes or designer wristwatches...

I get high on just one glass of beer...

I avoid pachinko or any form of gambling...

Except possibly the occasional stock investments...

Golf is certainly not my idea of fun...

And baseball turns me off like a switch...

All I want for the rest of my life is three modest but sumptuous meals a day...

A little land space to do vegetable and herb gardening for my sweetheart...

And, as I mentioned to Geauxpottery...

Four or five scuba diving holidays a year at top spec destinations???

Heheheeheeee...

Hmmmm...?

I am requesting for too much?

So I asked my better half...

Can I quit my job and start goofing off from today?

She let out an instant piercing shriek...

Komarimasu!! (We will be in trouble!!)

Oops, sorry!

So, I limped back to my office...

Tail neatly tucked in between my legs...

But... I still wonder...

Now, what was it that happened during my last vacation back home?

THE SUN SETS OVER THE STRAITS

The sun sets...

A distant tanker glides by...

Gentle waves touch the shores...

In the Straits of Melaka...

BABY JELLYFISH

This little jellyfish looked so cute I wanted to bring it home...

It was wobbling in mid-water...

Floating aimlessly...

Size was like a ping-pong ball...

Location: Malang Rocks, Pulai Tulai, Tioman

KARIBAUS ARE FOREVER

Came back to Japan hoping to see a change in regime.

But I shouldn't be surprised by the landslide win of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Why not, when they are talking about more privatization, this time being the postal system.

This last election however, opened my eyes to one clear reason why Japan is a mature nation, quite like a mature human adult.

That is, there was not one single claim of election foul play, barring some local, minor 'bribery' cases.

This, in a nation of 125 million people, compared to the mere 25 million of one 'adult-wannabe' nation we know.

(You may wish to factor in the respective voting populations and the actual voting percentages.)

Meanwhile, we hear of Bolehland politikusians boasting about revamping the education system, and about bringing in foreign scientists.

Duh!

They are daydreaming, or worse, peddling falsehoods to themselves and the nation.

Yet a most hilarious prospect was Kedah, my home state, proclaiming that she wants to be a developed state by 2010!

Eeeeeiii... that's a mere five years from now, braddaaa...

Meanwhile, I see thick, black smoke gushing out from vehicles...

Vandalized public telephone boxes...

Phones that don't work but yet take your money.

(Yes, I do use the public phones when I am back.)

And open, stinking drains...

Infested with mosquitoes...

Ugly...

Revolting.

Selangor was a joke enough...

Penang was yet another comic...

What now with my beloved laidback Kedah?

I say...

Relak lah, bradaaa!!!

(Inspiration to write this post was received from Can Kedah reinvent itself in time? By Salleh Buang. NST, 10th September 2005, page 8, Property Times. He takes a polite yet skeptical view on the subject.)

TUNICATE CRAB IN TIOMAN

I wonder why these are called Hermit Crabs.

Would have liked to call this guy, Tunicate Crab instead.

The only other time I saw such a crab was in Manado, also on a night dive.

This crab camouflages itself by carrying something on its shell, in this case, tunicates...

Pretty, pretty, little, light blue tunicates...

The one I saw in Manado carried a rather ugly beige colored sponge on its shell.

This one was on the move as our torches caught it...

I took this shot with my head positioned over my extended torso and limbs, shooting from below, upwards...

The magnitude of the tunicates was about the size of a human head, and the crab, the size of a clenched fist...

Location: Panuba Inn House Reef, Tioman, on a night dive

BACK IN ACTION

Just crawled back to my office...

Had to kick my own butt out of the house this morning, and literally dragged myself to the university...

Felt so groggy from the travel...

Must be the age catching up on the creaking bones...

Spent some precious moments with my 83 year-old mum...

Whacked three durians (heavenly!) and made a glutton of myself with other goodies...

Enjoyed 12 dives at Tioman, two of them night dives, and took some pretty decent underwater shots

Then, met up with some buddies at KayEL for more glutton-related activities... yaaak!

In other words, KPIs fully accomplished...

Back on the routine now... gaaah!

Lucky that there is not so much of a mountain of work waiting to pounce on me...

Phew!

Yet, that load of pre-travel, postponed and piled-up work do add up to quite a hill

And man, the hundreds of emails, mostly trash, that needed clearing...

Fortunately, sitting on top of the heap are some gems that brought hearty smiles to my wrinkling face...

Gems... also known as the many wonderful messages left by my pals (you folks, that is...) on the last post

Thank you, thank you...

I am back, in action...