Catch Cheating Spouse

Beware philanderers and two-timing partners! Spotted this cab in Puchong with a bold ad by a private investigator, providing his professional service to track down unfaithful partners.

Amidst the many uninspiring vertical skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur are some of the city's most artfully-designed buildings. The contemporary designs are definitely cool and refreshing and add to the city's verve and vitality. Here are some examples:

The SETIASKY Residence in Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, off Jalan Tun Razak.

The Audi showroom in Jalan Imbi.

Kuala Lumpur's fashion street in Bukit Bintang where you'll find Prada, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Christian Dior, and other international labels of high fashion and haute couture.

NTV7: Your Feel Good Station

This evening I was watching Ghost Stories on NTV7 and it was showing the silhouette of a psycho going about his grisly business, hacking off the heads of eight victims. At critical points in the story, it took a commercial break with this cheery tag reminder: good feelings coming back right after this. You wonder, a psycho chopping off the heads of eight people, where six victims were children, and you call that "good feelings"? Yes, those guys at NTV7 are telling you, "Don't go away! Stay put! or you're going to miss the "good feelings!" Then, just before the show came back on after the commercial break, the Home of Feel Good NTV7 rubbed it in with another friendly tag reminder: back to good feelings.

Chilling, isn't it?

The following info about NTV7 is taken from Wikipedia:

Natseven TV Sdn Bhd or better known as ntv7 is a terrestrial television channel in Malaysia. It was launched nationwide on 7 April 1998. Its mission is to promote a happier and more enlightened Malaysia. Believing strongly in the provision of wholesome entertainment, good family and community values, good corporate citizenship, and the promotion of national integration, the station works on an appointment-based programming concept reflecting its philosophy of being Saluran Ceria Anda ("Home Of Feel Good", “感覺美好“).

Moi at Musa

This is moi outside MUSA- Kuala Lumpur's latest fashion house located at Avenue K just across the KLCC Petronas Twin Towers. Looking at the pix, I can't blame you for thinking that I'm desecrating this chic "multi-brand" fashion house with my dowdy slacks and T-shirt. FYI, I was accompanying my daughter who has an art and fashion blog at http://berlin-fashionunplugged.blogspot.com. Since I was there I decided to also pop in to have a peek at the designer clothes:House of Holland, Peter Jensen,Cheap Monday; well, they mean nothing to a fashion dinosaur like me, unlike my daughter who went OOOHS and AAAHS over the clothes as well as the prices that are way beyond my shallow pocket. Besides designer clothes there are also accessories, watches and shoes. After trying out the clothes, you could adjourn to Musa's cafe which offers local favourites and selected dishes from around the world.

Peace Is Every Step

Whenever I am in the area, I like to stop by the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association to pick up some Buddhist literature. And I have picked up quite a few gems and they have a special place in my bookcase. One of the gems is world renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's Peace Is Every Step with the subtitle - The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. This is what the blurb says: "Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace".

While the book gives exercises on mindfulness for the individual, what impresses me are the 14 Precepts of the Order of Interbeing.Take the first precept:

"Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not the absolute truth".

I can see why this precept is placed at the very beginning. It's the nature of most religions to be idolatrous or to be bound by their religious doctrines or dogmas that is the cause of inter-religious conflicts.

Teh Tarik and the Corruption Perceptions Index

When I saw the picture of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sipping teh tarik in the Backbenchers' Lounge of Parliament House recently, I knew why Malaysia is now merrily ensconced in the 56th spot of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

Teh Tarik is after all Malaysia's de facto national drink and the front-page story of the two leaders having their cuppa- politics aside - serves as an unofficial endorsement of the status of the drink in our lifestyle.

Now, how can our leaders be expected to distinguish themselves or make healthy decisions if they make this frothy muddy mix their habitual drink considering the fact that it contains about "six teaspoons of sugar in less than 350 ml"? Not my words, but the findings of Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).

No wonder about 15% of Malaysians over 30 years old suffer from diabetes!

In Malaysia, our teh tarik kaki legislators even make sugar a staple food and a controlled item like rice and cooking oil. CAP president SM Mohamed Idris probably hit the nail on the head when he said tongue-in-cheek that "a sugar shortage is considered a national crisis". Sugar, as we know, has no nutrients, and Idris said that it was linked to over 60 ailments such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart problems, osteoporosis, kidney problems and allergies.

Now, you have it. Besides the sugar-induced CPI, I believe teh tarik is probably linked to many other ailments and social ills that are currently plaguing our society.

Perhaps our legislators should introduce a 1Malaysia cocktail of Teh Sabah, daun pegaga(Hydrocotyle or Centella Asiatica) and lemon grass with a dash of Sarawak pepper to give it that extra oomph. This should improve the overall health of the country - socially, politically and economically- and make us the envy of all nations.

Fuyoh!!!

Number Junkies

Malaysian politicians could well learn a useful lesson about the 1Malaysia concept from the many betting shops that dot almost every town and city in our country. Step into any of these shops run by Magnum, TOTO or Pan Malaysia Pools, you’ll see what I mean : number junkies of diverse social, economic, political and religious backgrounds converge at these kedai nombor ekor betting on their hopes three times a week. They speak the same lingo-money. And they have one common aim : to win money.

Ask any number junkie you know, they’ll have some stories to share with you about winning and losing – mostly about winning, of course. Here are a few stories from real winners:

“One morning, I got up and I found an egg under my car. I bought my car number and won first prize.”

“I was taking a walk in the evening when I came across a security pass lying on a kerb. I picked it up and it turned out that the pass belonged to someone I know. I betted on the number on the pass and I won.”

“I was holding the baby and it kept crying and pointing in the direction of a box in the living room. The box had a four digit number on it. The number won me third prize.”

“I went to a TOTO shop and I had no idea what number I was going to buy. I betted $10.00 on a 6-D number I saw on a box in the shop and I won a million.”

Here’s a near-miss story:

“Aunty sold her old jalopy and bought a new used car. She betted on the old car number for two consecutive draws. When she stopped, her number came up third prize.”
Here’s one lucky winner who never stops winning:

“A few years ago, I was driving a pick-up and it plunged more than 20 feet into a ravine. Thank god, I survived. That evening a friend persuaded me to go with him to see a Chinese medium. I had no intention of seeing the medium, but when I got there the medium called me over. Astonishingly, he somehow ‘knew’ about my accident and even said that the deity (Tua Pek Kong) with the long white beard in my house had saved me. He added that I didn’t have to ask him for any numbers because from then onwards I’d be blessed with winning numbers.”

There are countless other stories about winning and losing in this numbers’ game and they range from the pedestrian to the bizarre or supernatural. But one thing is for sure: the odds are always against the better. And there are more losers than winners.

On second thoughts, perhaps this is not the 1Malaysia that the country needs, where the majority are losers. We should instead aim to be a country where everyone is a winner. Then, it’ll truly be 1Malaysia.

Selamat Hari Merdeka!