Impact Of A Soul To A Soul From A Soul

I got my windscreen replace last Thursday. The process took about half a day and so. It was really scary the day before. It was like nothing the night before and then suddenly in the morning you see a two to three inches crack on the windscreen, what’s the big deal right. Then when you go for lunch in the afternoon, the little crack spreads like a spider’s leg which span to about six to seven inches. It very scary to think that you would be sitting just behind the crack. What happens if it suddenly decides to break apart? I just do not want to think of consequences.

Apart from that, I have submitted the claims for my windscreen and it will take about 14 days to process and stuff like that. I would say that it’s quite convenient, you just get the pictures taken and the bill and you submit by hand at their office. Submission is like a fifteen minute job maximum including parking and transportation to their high rise office, cool.

Apparently I learnt something new and important with this entire ordeal going on. First of all is that there’s two main types of windscreen out there. They are the layered windscreen and the chemical windscreen. The one that was originally fitted and replaced on my car is the layered windscreen. This type of windscreen will only crack and apparently will not break into pieces. The catch with this layered windscreen is that it’s twice the price of the chemical windscreen.

As for the chemical windscreen, this type is the ones that will break into small pieces the size of five cents coins. If you have seen in accidents some of the windscreen which are smashed and you can see a web of small pieces sticking to the windscreen, those are chemical windscreens. It’s actually still sticking there most of the time is because the windscreen has been tinted with film which is a hot item in the market now. It reduces heat and UV rays and other stuffs like that. If the film is not present then the windscreen will just break apart and all the small pieces will fly in the car, or out depending on the impact.

It’s just something I just thought I should share. It’s something that might save lives and it’s some information that we should all know as a driver or a passenger. Any how getting the windscreen replaced is no fun at all. First of all I had to make sure I send the car in the morning to ensure that I can get it back the same day. Apart from that I had to make sure all my out of office job is settled before hand as I do not have my car around in case of emergencies. The worst part is that I need to rely on public transport or beg someone to send me to and fro from the workshop for me to send the car in and to get my car. And then after all that hassle, the smell of glue in the car is still there until now, almost a week after the replacement. Now I know what it means when they were so hot on the topic of glue sniffing. I’m actually doing the same, in the comfort of my car with the air conditioning on, rather than those punks sniffing it from cheap red plastic bags.

And all this happened because of a stone the size of a ten cents coin. But alas, I am thankful that nothing serious happened or this place will be lifeless for a while or forever…

Drive carefully and beware of stones/rocks/whatever that’s hard enough to hurt your windscreen…

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There was a fight. Two were in the fight. One left alive, the other fell to the ground, lifeless.

Sorrows filled the air, as a life has been taken away, taken to a better place. This is not the first time, but the second time. I lost a baby then and now an older one.

Parting with them is a hard thing to do, but knowingly that they will are at a better place seems to comfort my soul. As for the other, I have given it a new place to live in, which I was supposed to give to both of them.

I hope it will have a better life in the new place. Parting with them is not easy, but I guess it means better for them. I saw him off and swimming happily in his new place and I was contented.

I will always remember the times we had together. Just watching you feast or sleep just make me stop for a while and relax. You calm me when I am in a rush and you taught me there is so much more important things than material stuff. I remember when you were just so small and all the cute stuff you did…

Parting is never easy, be it for the living or even the fallen. They will always be in my heart. I may be able to see you next time I visit, but I doubt you would recognize me…

A moment of silence for the departed… Kat Chai & Yee Chai.

For a better life… Cheong Chai

In memory of
Kat Chai & Yee Chai
My red eared terrapins

Be strong
Cheong Chai
My red eared terrapin

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Last week and this week did not really fare well for us back in the office. It’s just not feng shuily good judging from what happened. I’m not a die hard feng shui fan, but then sometimes you just have to believe a little in the chi, angles, stones, and other stuffs feng shui has to offer.

Firstly, a colleague of mine got crashed from the back by a motorcycle and it tore his bumper apart and broke the tail lights. He fixed it with a cost of more than a thousand. Then after two days, he lost his phone after having lunch at a five star hotel very near to KL Tower. He lost his nokia 6280 which was another thousand plus gone in the drain.

Secondly, a colleague’s motorcycle’s radiator spoilt. We were then jokingly telling him to do what Macguyver used to do on the TV, use an egg to fix the problem. Then the next day, his tyre punctured. The next thing was that he got sick and his son was admitted to the hospital. I’m not sure what’s it about but I pray that his son and he himself good health.

Then I had the same experience of bad feng shui. I was driving back yesterday while it was still raining. I drove like normal on my normal route. Suddenly a stone flew by and hit my windscreen, oucchhh. It was still raining, so I kept driving and when I reached home, I just went upstairs and totally forgot about it. This morning I found out that one of my tyre was in the dilemma of lack of air. It was still dark as I was trying to get to work, so I started my car and headed off to the petrol station just outside my housing area. This “P” station just pisses me off, I tell you. Both of the air station did not have the tube and when I asked the attendant, they just told me that they don’t have “air”. I’m not saying it’s all their fault as it could be you, you, you and you that did the vandalism, but then again aren’t the person in charge suppose to make sure it’s fixed so customers can use it!

Then as the light turned brighter, I noticed the crack, “a bit line about two to three inches”, carved on my windscreen. It must have been carved by the flying stone yesterday… oh my windscreen.

Now I have to check on my insurance policy to check if I can claim my windscreen and how much. Another thing is that now I have to wait till noon to make sure the air in my tyre is still inside and not out.

This are the times when someone like me looks at feng shui, and then have the doubt that feng shui might be at work here. It’s just bad luck I guess, but then it could just be coincidence. I guess I should not think too much bout it. It’s another new day and let it be a meaningful day. Then again, I’m keeping my fingers crossed, touch wood, four leaved clover, and please if you got any other good luck charm, please pass it to me…

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I thought bout this since last week where a colleague of mine told me her experience. The more I thought bout this the more curious I got and made me think bout it. It’s just not right. Is it a scam, a new scam? Here’s how it goes…

Apparently my colleague was driving to work in the morning. So as usual she stopped at the traffic light when it turned red. So like what normally happens is there will be lots of motorcycles stopping in front of you when you are the first car by the traffic light. So when the light turned green, she drove on, but she being a slow driver, she would drive after most of the motorcycles and cars have even moved. And this is the interesting part, when she started to drive, a motorcyclist yelled at her and then moved to the sidewalk and was holding his feet. Apparently my colleague drove over his feet… and he was yelling in pain. So my colleague stopped and this chinese guy demanded money for the hurt caused. My colleague gave him about RM 70 but he insisted that it was not enough. He even asked my colleague to go and withdraw money from the ATM machine. My colleague refused and left.

I have been pondering about this matter and I the more I dwelled into it, the more questions popped up in my mind. First of all how can anyone be stupid enough to put their feet in front of the tyre. Another thing to note is that motorcycles are never slow when it comes to traffic lights, they will normally the first move even when it’s still red. I’m just puzzled by the fact that this guy got run over on his foot.

To me this certainly looks like a big scam and a new one. The fact that I am saying this is that he asked for money, then more money and then even ask to withdraw money from the ATM. I’m just glad that my colleague did not go to the ATM, who knows what will happen then.

I guess we are facing more and more challenges everyday. I don’t mean all cases are fraud and it’s a scam, but then again, these people are preying on our soft side. They are preying on our humanity values. We intend to help but then they prey on it and left us insecure. I believe this is one of the cause that our society is getting cold hearted. We are just not willing to stop and help not because we are evil or cold hearted but because we do not want to be a victim in return for the kindness that we have in our hearts.

If there’s similar cases that you people have encountered, do share with me so I can let my friends know. It’s not that I want to see a cold hearted society, but if this sort of thing goes on as it has been, the chances for a cold hearted society will soar high. I do not deny the fact that even I think twice or thrice to help someone I don’t know. It’s just getting dangerous to help others. And they say helping others is a blessed thing, which is true, unless it turned out ugly.

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The papers today have posted so many posts on the release of the SPM examination results. There are so many posts on students getting a lot of As and stuff like that. They were interviewing students and other stuffs like that. In the midst of all these articles, one caught my attention and it’s still about the results but it has a twist to it. The article was about this girl who fell from the third storey of her school after obtaining her results.

We always put our interest and attention on the top scorer and how they achieve their almost humanly impossible to obtain results. The less As students just seems to vanish into thin air, not to speak of those obtaining poorer results. To me I guess this bit of news should have been in the front page rather than the top scorers.

We are putting so much attention to top scorers and the message that has been portrayed is that the results will determine the rest of your life, whether it will be good or bad. Or at least to me it is. Another sad story is that some parents are taking this message as a rule, as a guidance, as the ultimate truth. All parents want their child to be successful, who does not, but is getting 10 As, 15 As, 20 As, or even may be up to 100 As in the coming future means that they will be successful? What is the measure of successful? How do you even measure success?

As for me, I am very fortunate to have parents who gave mi a very good guide line. My dad often looks at my results and he did not scold me, even when I drop from getting position like 8 or 10 to 20 or 30 plus. Here’s what he used to say to me:

“You have improved but you did not improve enough”
“You study for yourself and not for any one else”

I was never pressured to get straight As, though it would be nice to have straight As… but then again, I was happy it turned our as it did. I did not do extremely well in my examinations, but I did good enough to land me through my six form and then college.

Today, the purpose of education has just been misinterpreted. Every one just seems to look at the results of examinations to judge a person whether he/she is clever, but in reality, we find this almost just the opposite. The less literate seems to be the majority of the business owners while a lot of scholars are jobless. I’m not sure if those jobless includes these straight As students or not, but I believe they include some of the not so straight As students which, in the eyes of their results, should have been very successful and not jobless.

Apart from that, the pressure that parents are putting on the child is just immense. Some child are publicly mocked and interrogated for getting 99 marks out of 100. It seems that parents are taking pride in the child’s result where they boast about, which misleads the children that they are studying and getting good results so their parents won’t scold them and be able to boast about them. They are just not aware that they should study for themselves and not for their parents and the knowledge they gain are their’s alone and not their parents.

I think we should stress the purpose of education which is to educate the society as well as empower them with the power of knowledge. It’s not wrong to measure the success through examinations but when examinations are taken to be the life or dead situation which almost caused the death of another promising teenager, we have to ponder upon this seriously. No doubt getting good results means that you have achieve something and it’s a milestone/stepping stone, but to survive in this world that is just a small and minor part. The attitude and character plays a big part in being successful.

We should be able to educate our children with knowledge and love, not bombard them with tuition and scolding every other hour. We should help them balance their lives with both education and play as well.

They have a life you know, the life of a child.
Don’t take that away from them with your hopes.

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I hate it! I hate it! Well, not exactly I guess. I don’t really hate the rain, but I guess when it brings devastation as it is accompanied by lightning and strong wind, is what makes me become all hatred fueled. I think rain is good. I believe rain is good. Rain helps us cleanse our earth and reduce pollution.

I was caught in the thunderstorm which poured and terrified those in the area of Subang and Shah Alam. It was a terrible storm I tell you, some even compared it with the movie “Twister”. I did now watch that movie so I could not comment on that but the storm did rate as the worst I have ever been caught in. It was certainly a frightening experience which I hope I do not have to relive it again, anytime soon or later.

I was basically driving less than fifty kilometers an hour my visibility was real low. I could only see the shadow of the car in front of me. Visibility caused me to drive at a lower speed with my eyes straining to make out where was I and the surrounding structure which I have only one word in mind “wet”.

As I drove along to reach my destination in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, the rained caused havoc along the path. At some parts of the federal highway, flooding started to occur, which some what is disturbing as it was just less than ten minutes since it poured. Imagine another sixty minutes, it could go so much higher…

Apart from flooding, I noticed that the barricade which the construction workers uses, those thing in white or red, where all over the place as you exit Subang. These plastic structures where flown all over the street by the mighty wind, but it was lucky that no accidents happened there, at least while I was using that route. I had to salute the workers who were collecting these plastid structures back to prevent further traffic jam and mainly to avoid accidents. They were fighting with the fury of mother nature during that fearsome time which I believe they deserve our salute.

Then as I turn towards Glenmarie, more flooding occurred, which left only one lane useable. Then another fright of my life happened as I stopped at one of the traffic lights. Sitting in my car I could hear the pounding of water against the body and the windows of my car. It was not something you would often hear, unless you like to sit inside your car during car washes or you often drive through to machine car washes. That was the sound I heard, like the water gun used by car washer to clean cars, imagine the force. Then I took a peek at the traffic light and to my surprise, the traffic light was wobbling like a vibrator as the wind hits it on its course. It was scary, scary to think if it might just give in to the force of the wind and just fall down like a fallen tree. At that moment, I heard a loud noise, something like crushed metal. I glanced quickly and I saw a big bill board crashing to the side like a piece of paper being blown away, but the three steel pillars holding it secure made it crashed down like a plane.

Then further along the road, fallen trees barricaded one lane. As I drove along, I could see more fallen trees, some on the road, some to the pavement damaging structures as it fell and some just everywhere on the road. I was shocked as I have never come across such atrocities. I was thinking to myself that I could have been killed at any moment at that time, be it fallen bill boards, fallen trees or even flood. What is happening? It was lucky that the thunderstorm subsided after about thirty minutes, if it were to go on for an hour or two, the devastation would be unpredictable. The damages done were reported on Friday, which was yesterday.

Sometimes it just makes me wonder, these are things that never happened or very seldom happens. I mean we are in a place where we escaped the landscape of earth quake, volcanic activities, hurricane and other types of disasters. Now that it starts happening not just here but the climate and weather of the world has started to change as well. Could this be a sign? A sign the earth is trying to tell us that it has had enough? Enough of our selfish behaviors! Enough of our pollutions! We have been taking it for granted for so many years, polluting the air, water and earth. This could be a way the earth is punishing us for trying to kill it. Or it may be god is punishing us as well, for all the nonsense we have created, such as war, crime, inhuman acts, etc.

I guess we should not ponder on those during these times, but to ensure we lend a hand to help those in need. Unity will help us survive through these bad times and in hopes it will join us all together and stop all unhealthy acts. I hope that life would be better with less natural disaster plaguing not only our society but throughout the world. Let us all pray that such monstrosities does not happen again.

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With the increase in petrol, government has been mocked and the idea of using public transport has just emerged once again. The government has urged the public to use our public transport to save cost due to the increasing in fuel price. I do agree with this idea, but then again, I still remember the hell I went through with public transport years back before I started riding a motorcycle.

I remember I have to wake up a little past five in the morning just to get ready and leave the house in time to catch the bus at six which sometimes comes before six. I know that the buses now are better, but then how much better is it and does it match up with the standard that we are looking for. Buses are just one type of transportation and then again it is still subjected to the traffic jam everyday. If the time you spend in the bus is equivalent or more than the time you would spend in a car during such hours, which would you choose? Furthermore, it’s more flexible driving as we have more control on our time rather than depending on the schedule of the buses which is irregular, not for all routes, but certain routes. I know it’s not fair to say this to all as I know some places do have regular buses, but still some place does not, especially during my time. I believe they have improved a lot now, which I believe is a very good thing indeed.

Apart from buses then we have the light rail transit (LRT) and the Putra light rail transit. It’s really a delight for areas with these facilities but then for those who do not, it’s not an alternative at all. Imagine driving for thirty to fourty five minutes just to reach the LRT station, park and then use the LRT system, but if you were to continue driving, you only need another five to ten minutes to reach your destination. I know I wouldn’t rely on the LRT as I have more control of my time driving. Another problem which I see is that, the route for the LRT is just not wide enough, where it only services certain areas.

A big problem which I see as well is the interchange of such services. The interchange stations are just not located in strategic areas, furthermore some of the interchange stations are just far away. Another matter which I experience in one of our neighbouring country is that there are discounts for interchanging mode of transport and not to say that their interchange stations are well constructed and you do not even need to leave the building or the interchange stations are linked underground or something like that. But the services there are provided may be by one company and governed by the government which s unlike us where we have different company for each service.

I guess to have an efficient and systematic public transportation system, careful planning and execution is needed. But then again in our country where we produce our own national car, it’s a bit of an ironic situation. On one hand we wish to boost the sale of our national cars as we produces them, but then on the other hand, we are encouraging the public to use more public transportation. So the conclusion for this matter is it that we should still support the national car by purchasing more cars but then to support the governments urge to use more public transport, park them at home and use buses and LRTs?

It’s hard to judge for people like me who has left public transport behind for about ten years. The most utilized public transport I have been using is the ERL which connects KL Sentral to KLIA, which I can say is expensive by a very fast and comfortable ride. Though I do not use public transport now cause of the horror of yesteryears, but the feedback from those using them now are actually better than back then. But then, it is better than before but it is still not ideal in replacing our own transportation as there are so many places that does not have public transport that we deem are convenient enough. We should help the government by supporting as much as we can, but of coz not at the expense of our convenience.

If you were to ask me, I will still prefer to drive because I need to move around rapidly around which public transport still pose a threat in terms of time for me. Another reason is that if I were to get stuck in a traffic I would prefer it be in the comfort of my car rather than a standing ovation in the bus which will obviously be at least twice the duration.

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I just recovered from my battle with the infamous flu, so you can say I was fit to fight a tiger. In fact, I was really fit to fight a tiger. Without the influence of drugs, I was in full form to table out all the work I have cut out for me for the day. There’s lot’s of work to be done as which I would have expected, and it’s killing me…

I was running around the whole morning, from the 8th to the 9th to the 7th to the ground to the 7th again and basically blood rushing activities the whole morning. But then after the first two hours of running around, I felt dizzy, so I sat down a while and my whole world seems to be spinning like a spinning top. After a while, I went back to my place and the work for me for the day was piling up like no body’s business. I lied down for a while to rest my head in hopes that it would be better later.

I went out for lunch with my colleagues in hopes that the fresh air would bring me to a better state to continue my work after lunch. But alas, it did just the opposite, I was now not only feeling dizzy, but I have the urge to vomit. With that circulating around my veins, I just sat there watching them eat while I skipped lunch. Went back to the office and lied down for a while.

I thought I was up to it again as the dizziness subsided a bit and was bearable, which it has always been. So I thought might as well finish up the work which I had to do alone. After completing some of the tasks, I felt really uncomfortable, vomited some white liquid and dizziness started to become a little more serious than I have hoped. I then told my boss that I could not really continue working and it was already 1630 which was another hour to go. He said yes and I hurriedly home hoping to avoid the jam.

I was unlucky too during the drive home, as the jam has already started. For the first time, after mocking for so many years, I find one good thing about driving an auto car. Imagine that you want to vomit, with a small plastic bag in one hand, steering with the other and then WHICH HAND ON THE GEAR! So I guess if you have the urge to vomit and you need to drive, auto cars is the one you should choose, but then again, it was not easy to hold one plastic bag with one hand, steer with the other and lookout for traffic during the after office hour jam with dizziness plaguing your head.

I thought I would be able to manage it, drive home and then see a doctor and get rest, but alas I was wrong. At one time, my whole stomach ached and it got numb until my chest. During that time too, both my hands got numb until I could not feel the steering wheel. At that moment, I was lucky that my vision did not blur with dizziness, if not bang… the headlines: Boy with stomach discomfort hit… something like that.

I was really lucky that it soothed after a few minutes and my feeling came back. When I reach the clinic, I got down, walked like a drug addict and sat in front of the doctor. I barely told the doctor I felt like vomiting and dizziness and I vomited in front of him. I vomited three times and the last one was all yellowish which I guess is what we call “Wong Dam Shui”. My first reaction was apologizing to both the doctor and the nurse there. I create a mess for them. Then the doctor checked a few thing and then gave mi a jab which I still feel pain now.

I think I have always been taking lightly of my physical condition since young, which resulted in the mindset that I could take everything that was thrown at me. I guess I should be more careful next time as the last incident could have easily took away my physical and psychological abilities or even sad to say my life. I guess it’s just to big a gamble when it comes to illnesses as we do not know what it is capable to do coz we do not know what kind of illnesses it is in the first place.

I guess we often do this where we will belittle the condition as we do not know it’s actual cause and impact. I guess we are also in a way boasting. It’s so often that we would say it’s just flu or fever, nothing to worry about and it is so often that these are the symptoms that leads to bigger problems if unattended.

It is better to be careful than to be cared for later.

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The nightmare has just begun, with increase of petrol, diesel and natural gas up by thirty cents a liter or a kilogram respectively. It’s burden enough with the current situation and then boom, the news came crashing down like a heavy rock on this fragile shoulder.

The reason for such a big increase is that the government promises that there will be no more increment of such prices within the year, but then what happens when we step into the next year. I guess we will have to wait and see when year 2007 comes.

With the increase in such prices, the impact to consumers was felt immediately. Though I did not go out for lunch yesterday, but I guess most of the food would have increase in price due to the increase in natural gas by the kilograms. I am normally very naïve when it comes to such things like queuing at the petrol station for hours just to get a full tank, which I still am. I have never done such things coz normally it would be increment of cents and not in the twenty or thirty cents category. But still I don’t think I would queue with these people who would kill for a liter of petrol. No, not me.

When I reached near my home yesterday I noticed the new pricing of the famous “yau char kuai” which read 60 cents a piece from the sign a day before which was 50 cents a piece. I actually asked myself the question of should the price increase immediately? Or should it take its toll in a week or a month’s time?

I believe that most of the traders would have stocked up, not many but at least some supply, of natural gas which may still last for some time. But then, when the increase in price for such material is announced, the price increased immediately, where they are still using some of the stocked material. In this case I believe the increment of price is a bit inappropriate. But of coz there are always those who did not stock up or just finished their stock, which would be unavoidable.

I guess the increase in the 3 major elements has caused a chain reaction that will further burden the society. I know it’s not possible for the government to subsidize all the time, but then it’s also not possible for us to bear it as well. I believe many would agree with me that everything rises except one thing, which is our pay check. It seems that what we are earning nowadays is just not sufficient. From the looks of it, just like some of us may foresee, we may need at least two jobs just to survive in the years to come. It means that the pressure will increase and the city sickness will increase too.

Think about it, just increase in the main elements and you can see increase in so many others, such as food, transportation, and basically everything, excluding our pay checks. This chain reaction certainly raised some eyebrows among the society of all levels. Let’s hope that the future holds something more promising such as increase in our salary rather than just the increase in price, and let’s hope that our salary increases more than the price increments.

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