Makan in Singapore

The city where food from East to West, North to South converge... You wouldnt starve in Signapore thousands of food outlets available almost everywhere in the country

Ikan Pari with Sambal

Laksa

Sweet and sour fish with fried squid at the back

Never fogetting Burger King when going to Singapore (coz Brunei dont have it)

Then again, this kind of food is not good and there's a time when i get fed up of looking at the French Fries (or "freedom fries as some Americans would like to say it) - its fat fat fat

:-P

There's a law against....

Wasnt there a law in Singapore saying that you must give your maids off day at least once a week?

This advertiser seemed to be quite daring isnt he?

Garden Festival III

Singapore Garden Festival II

Hey, there's one entry from Brunei Darussalam! I dont really know that person is but the fact a participant from Brunei joined the event was quite significant.... heheh... Good attempt though but hope that more participants from Brunei will for the next Garden Festival to be held every 2 years thereafter...

Singapore Garden Festival, December 2006

Wanting to get more pictures of the "Festival", however, i was dissapointed with my 3 years old digital camera which i need to upgrade soon, since the battery doesnt last long - just like 10 shots!... the digital camera is apparently is already "old" hence finding the battery is a bit difficult and expensive (according to the shop, the manufacturer dont sell the battery anymore, so a imitation was sold).

Is it real?.... it looks like plastic!... but its really real

Holiday in Singapore I

The new shopping mall in Singapore, Vivo City

Supposedly the largest mall in Singapore?

I dont see how bigger it is when compared to Suntec City

Page One, the new Hong Kong (?) bookstore in Vivo City.

I still like the book arrangement at Koniya, Takashimaya, Orchard Road

Scenes at the entry of Vivo City on Sunday

Christmas mood, even the plate cleaners are waring the distinctive red hat

The Immigration Checkpoint in Miri

Usually you would encounter the "foreigner and local" lane in international aiports but now, in the Malaysian border at Sg. Tujuh, they has put up signboards to differentiate drivers and tourists alike. More queue for Bruneian cars this December then...

(Note: Exchange rate is B1 = RM2.30)

Of trains and "gifts" in Brunei

Trains

Countries build railways – specifically, LRT or MRT because there are demands for it and the traffic jams are unbearable, such as those in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong.

Several years ago, people talk about the possibility of building such train in Brunei, but its no so practical to built one. Whose going to finance such project has always been a main economic concern (note that the Pulau Muara Beser project as suggested has no real backers).

Transportation in Brunei is cheap, cars are cheap, locals don’t use the buses claimed some and taxis are charging high fees since no Bruneians would use them. So, to build a LRT or MRT, is not economical. It’s a nice dream but its not practical.


Gifts That Spell Evil
A gift is not always just a gift when given to an officer or a senior Civil servant.

The value of such a gift gets excluded from its real purpose, as it would be given with the idea of expecting something in return.

Religious leaders here called on the Ummah to be cautious when accepting such a gift from someone, as it could be categorised as bribery. - Borneo Bulletin, December 9th, 2006

----------------------------

From many experiences of the public, its always the public servants who wanted the gifts and some even specified such gifts to be given to them. The worse is during Hari Raya...

Who are willing to give anyway? Why always blame the public when its those in authority who asked for it, or else all things wouldnt get done. Having TPOR does not mean anything to some public servants...

Interesting News From Indonesia...

News from Indonesia, Thursday, 7th December 2006 (Jakarta Post)

Insulting the President No Longer A Crime
- As well as burning the picture of the president and vice-president (this is insults) and where previously violators faced a maximum of 6 years in jail

- These Dutch inherited colonial legislation was scrapped by the Constitutional Court

- Former critics such as Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, was jailed for 34 months for insulting Soeharto while addressing a seminar in Germany in 1995 and Fakhrur Rahman, 21, a student from Jakarta's State Islamic University, is the latest activist convicted of insulting the president during a protest against the Yudhoyono administration, welcomed the Court’s decision. The latter was sentenced to three months in prison

Indonesia may extend ban on polygamy for civil servants

The government's plan to extend the ban on polygamy for civil servants to cover all state officials could end up helping in the fight against corruption, a prominent Islamic scholar says.

Azyumardi Azra said widening the ban on polygamy, which is stipulated in the 1974 Marriage Law, would mean less male officials stole money from the state to keep their wives happy.
Currently, men are only legally allowed to take a second wife if their first wives are an invalids, terminally ill or infertile. The letter of the law, however, is rarely enforced and the practice is becoming more common among Muslims.

State Minister for Woman's Empowerment Meutia Farida Hatta Swasono said Tuesday the 1983 law prohibiting civil servants from practicing polygamy -- passed reportedly under pressure from the wife of ex-dictator Soeharto -- could be expanded to cover ministers, lawmakers and governors, regents and other officials.

The minister announced the plan after meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The move comes after charismatic Muslim preacher Abdullah "Aa Gym" Gymnastiar publicly admitted to taking a second wife. Aa Gym, who had a strong female following and often preached about family harmony and values, has had to weather a storm of criticism since his admission.

Masdar Farid Mas'udi, a leader in the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdhatul Ulema, said that every man was polygamous by nature.

"Islam only gives a standard of fairness, but it never prohibits it (polygamy). The perception that polygamy only benefits men is not right. Polygamous institutions actually fulfill women's desires and reproductive rights," he told The Jakarta Post.

"Not every man is up to being a husband, unlike women (who make good wives). Therefore, polygamy is nature's way of balancing the supply of women wanting to be wives, with the demand of men who are up to being good husbands."

The ban if implemented, argues legislator Misbach Hidayat, it would make infidelity more widespread and in turn increase prostitution.

Legislator Yoyoh Yusroh from the Prosperous Justice Party said as a woman, she believed polygamy was allowed by Islam to overcome social problems.

"Polygamy is better than infidelity. Think of a 25-year-old widow -- she will need a husband to finance her children. If polygamy is banned, things would only get worse for her," she told detikcom.

Meanwhile, Din Syamsuddin, who chairs the country's second-largest organization Muhammadiyah, thought it would be better not to talk about the subject at all.

"There are many more important problems faced by this nation. Polygamy is a matter of religious interpretation. The government should not develop this into a political issue and religious figures should not give responses (to the idea)," he told the Post.

---------------------------------

Hmm... Can Brunei do this, banning polygamy I mean... :-)

How to Change?

Cabinet wants religious status of dead man verified

BY SYED AZHAR. The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet has directed the Attorney-General to look into the case of Rayappan Anthony to confirm his religious status, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

He added that the Cabinet had discussed the issue and had agreed to hand over the case to the A-G as it was important that it be resolved.

“We want the A-G to find out his religious status, and if he is not a Muslim the authorities should hand over the remains to Rayappan’s family,” he told reporters after launching Malaysian Bio Industry 2006 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here yesterday.

Rayappan Anthony Abdullah was asked to comment on the issue of Rayappan, 71, who died last Wednesday, and whose body is caught in a tussle between the Selangor Islamic Religious Council and his family members.

Rayappan converted to Islam in 1990 following a second marriage, and was said to have converted back to Christianity in 1999, and subsequently confirmed his profession of the Christian faith by way of a statutory declaration before a Commissioner of Oaths.

The relevant documents prepared by a lawyer and executed by the Commissioner for Oaths were submitted to the National Registration Department, which accepted the declaration and reinstated Rayappan’s religious status to Christianity.

It was also said that the MyKad of the deceased (issued in 2003) had “Christianity” printed below his name.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday that the family of the late Rayappan Anthony should go to the Syariah Court and give evidence.

“They are being asked to give evidence. There is a precedent in the case of Nyonya Tahir; the family went to submit evidence. My personal view is that they should do this if they want a solution,” he said.

Nazri expressed optimism that the Syariah Court would be fair to the family of Rayappan and did not foresee any problem.

“It is clear he had gone back to his earlier faith, and the identity card does not state that he is a Muslim,” he added.

AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said all parties must respect each other's religion and should sit down and discuss the matter to reach an amicable solution.

“Let us sit down and discuss the problem. Solutions can only be found if all parties sit down and look at the problem in a fair and equitable manner.

“Everyone must respect each other's religion and try to solve it amicably without immediately taking any stand. I will be meeting with several Islamic religious bodies including the Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS),'' he said, stressing that he could only advise the religious bodies as he has no jurisdiction over the Syariah Court.

Abdul Gani said his role was to see that justice was done based on the law and facts and was sure the parties concerned would listen to good sense as was in the case of Nonya Tahir

--------------------------------

The problem with SIRC was that they took the body away, even though the deceased already took a statutory declaration before a Commissioner of Oaths to declare his religion and again, restated this in his Identity Card (IC) that he's Christian, SIRC still thinks he's Muslim.

I wonder, what is the HUKUM for those who bury a non-Muslim as Muslim and if one already state that he had already changed his religion and doing things against his previous religion, what is the HUKUM to those who insist that that person never changed his religion and insisted to bury that person as Muslim?

Foreign aid

The Philippines was struck by Typhoon Durian (or "Reming") and may have killed 1,000 people. Singapore sent US$50,000 in aid while Malaysia sent A C-130 transport aircraft with eight officers from the National Security Division, Foreign, Finance and Defence ministries and some 12 tonnes of aid, consisting of food supply, medicine and blanket.

Being a good ASEAN member, will Brunei send anything?

-------------------

Note: A new storm is brewing on the Pacific and maybe strengthened as a Typhoon and looks that it will hit the Philippines, again (!)

Brunei court air-con problem...

Sweating It Out In Brunei High Court By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan - There was "hot" news in the Brunei High Court once again yesterday as the judge, lawyers, the two accused in the dock, the court officials and those in the public gallery sweated it out.

The "sizzling" scene unfolded during the long drawn out trial of Brunei's ex-development minister and a contractor both accused of corruption. The hot air was not generated by the lawyers but for yet another day, the court's air conditioning packed up.

Technicians said the cooling tower had gone bust. Some months ago it was the compressor that was replaced eventually. Without air conditioning the atmosphere was unbearable in the afternoon.

Furthermore, proceedings came to a grinding halt later in the day as the necessary court interpreters could not be found. A temporary interpreter attempted to help but the place became too hot and apparently he became drowsy and dozed off momentarily.

The court could only sit in the afternoon because the official interpreter is a teacher and he had to attend classes in the morning. So, for the past three days nothing much happened in the Brunei High Court during this high profile trial for which top lawyers from Malaysia and Hong Kong have flown in.

Under these circumstances the case was adjourned till the following day. In the dock are ex-Development Minister, Pengiran Dr Ismail Pengiran Damit, and contractor Wong Tim Kai who ran Ted Sdn Bhd. They are pleading not guilty to the charges while Chief Justice Dato Mohammed Saied is hearing the case.

Prosecuting on behalf of the Attorney-General was Andrew Macrae, a senior council from Hong Kong, assisted by DPP Aldillah Mohd Salleh and Maggie Wong. Defending the ex-minister is Ahmad Basuni Abas while Wong has Balwant Singh Sidhu and Rudi Lee as legal counsels. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin.

-----------------------------------

Hmm.... still can't sort out the problem on the air-condition? Why cant they just replace the whole damned thing and stop all these embrassing problems from occuring again. Afterall, we have foreign top lawyers coming in for the case, this is not a good image that oil-rich Brunei would want to project.

Interpreter problem has been there for years and they still cant solve it. I'm sure its because of no budget to get a permanent staff but it would be good also to part-timers since they should be cheaper and you can replace those who cant really interpret. Its a cycle...

High-profile case and yet why only this ex-Minister was caught?... hmmm...

The Problem with Brunei's Immigration Form

The above immigration form belongs to Singapore while the bottom one, belongs to the Brunei immigration.

Has anyone even bothered to change the form so that its bigger, just like the Malaysian and Singapore immigration form? Bruneians may not care because they dont have to fill it in, but I invite Bruneian travellers to take a look on how "terrible" our immigration form is and hope that the relevant authorities would issue a bigger and clearer so that visitors dont have to write small and take out their eyes to read the fine prints.

And what is with the Ministry of Health form? all passangers have to fill it in, but other Asian countries are not even using, why should it be there? Too many being printed is it? Maybe they should use that form as a model for our new bigger and clearly printed immigration form :p

Christmas Mood in Kuala Lumpur 2006

Christmas Tree at Berjaya Time Square, Kuala Lumpur

Christmas Tree at Petronas Tower

Scene at Sungai Wang Plaza, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

My meal back to Brunei via AirAsia - the famous Nasi Lemak costs RM7 (even though in the menu, it was stated RM6) and the the mineral water costs RM4.

I was tempted to buy the miniture AirAsia Airbus plane model, but at RM49 each, it did stop me and make me think twice. I wish Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) has it so that I can start collecting :-)

Sites and scene of Orchid Garden, KL

The view from KL's Orchid Garden that overlook KL Tower


Above: Some orchids to be sold to the public

Orchid Garden, Kuala Lumpur

Below is the orchids sold at the Orchid Garden by orchid vendors
One ang-moh was so peeved that the Indian taxi drivers at Kuala Lumpur's Bird Park wanted RM15 for a ride to Damansara... not that I know where it was. I was charged RM18 from the Bird Park to Universiti Malaya.

I think if one stopped at Abdullah Hukum's station rather than Universiti station, one could go to Universiti Malaya faster... maybe next time...

5 Things I Dislike About Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Just back from KL recently and here's what I've got to say... The authorities better clean up their act before attracting tourists for the 2007 Visit Malaysia...

1.The dishonest taxi drivers - why cant the authorities do something about the taxi drivers who purposely block the taxi lane infront of the Bukit Bintang Plaza, and wouldn’t use the meter to take customers?. Usually when their mouth open, they would say more than RM15+++, even for a trip around the corner! What will be tourists impression of KL when encountering these dishonest drivers? Are the authorities powerless against these errant drivers?

2.The darn LRT transport – why cant those urban planners plan properly and link all the stations to one another? For example, from KL Sentral, if you want to go to Bukit Bintang monorail, you have to cross over a road and get your tickets before you can board the KL monorail. By the way, whose idea is it for the line to be curvy? I was scared when there were too many passengers, the cabin might overturn!

3.The lack of aircon in many of the shopping malls and food court. Even if one is installed, it wouldn’t be cool (nada service kali)

4.The cleanliness of the city and the food is not cheap!


5.The darn traffic jam!


P.s. Malaysians told us that they don’t use the taxi because they know the drivers are “highway” robbers. They say they feel more happy to board a taxi in Singapore as they wouldn’t be forced to pay unreasonable price.

So, Malaysia need to learn more from Singapore in terms of urban planning. What’s the point of being jealous and critical of everything Singapore does, when what you do sucks? Singapore is clean, reliable and whose transport system not only connects but are also CLEAN!

We saw someone fighting near Bukit Bintang area, and asked the vendor, are the police around. According to the Malay vendor, only when there are chairs, tables or plates are broken, only then the police will act, otherwise… tunggu lah…