dari kejadian

Ramli Sarip, in his yellow t and denim dunked a biscuit in his teh tarik and said:

ada yang menjadi,
ada yang terjadi
ada yang menjadikan
dan ada yang jadi-jadian.
Jangan jadi penyanyi jadi-jadian.

So he hope to shape the AF4 hopefuls...

Between the Butane Spheres and the Burning Tanks

The Petronas Dagangan petrol tank at Johor Port went ablaze after it was struck by lightning on the evening of April 28. Fire is a fascinating thing, I believe. People lined the closed down roads and walked up as close as they can to get the best view of the blaze as it licked the three petrol tanks. Smoke billowed, in the drizzling weather and smell of burnt rubber filled the air. Fear and fascination were written on the faces of the onlookers.

One of them said, "the butane spheres are very close. If the fire reaches the sphere, the whole Pasir Gudang and Permas Jaya would go up in flames."

Another said, "There are underground pipes loaded with flamable liquids linking Johor Port to Sembawang. If the fire reaches the sphere, the pipes would go all the way to Singapore."

How did they know? "Oh we have fire drills every year. The Firemen told us." Small wonder half of the residents at Kampung Pasir Puteh and Taman air Biru left their home helter skelter that night.

A week after the fire, the secretary of Pasir Gudang Local Authority said," oh there's no need to evacuate. The fire was under control. We didn't want to create panic. My handphone battery konged out, so I couldn't inform the relevant authorities to inform the people. They don't need to worry anyway."

Now, who actually cares if the butane spheres went up in flames? Only those, about 130,000 population of Pasir Gudang whose only access out of the town is the two lanes potholed highway.

Note: Some said it was the wrath of God on the 30 sen a litre petrol price hike.

when a life is lost

National Service trainee Haziq Jaafar died on 21 April 2006, allegedly being beaten by another in a not so friendly fellow in the tv room squabling over maybe the control of the tv remote buttons, a ciggie, 50 sen coin, name calling or some other reasons known only to those in the tv room. The next day the whole clan waited for his body at Kluang District Hospital. At some point a man walked up to the mother and said in the most inaudible voice, a trifle whisper told her, his name and that he is the Jurulatih Disiplin at the camp. And he said:

"Sabar banyak-banyaklah kak." then he walked away. Everybody just looked at him. Is that all he could offer? Obviously Haziq's family and relatives have good upbringing, else someone would have beaten the trainer to pulp.

The nerve of some people.

Bridge? What Bridge?

Johor Menteri Besar was ashen as he gave the news. The bridge project, which is supposed to link the spanking new Customs and Immigration Complex to Singapore, was null and void as announced by the Prime Minister by fax to all media and was flashed by Bernama at its website. Everyone, well at least those in Johor, was shocked. The MB, put on a brave face on the camera.

But the people thought the idea was unthinkable. The PM is talking about the country's sovereignity, sand and airspace included. So people, forget the bridge, don't be selfish, we need airspace and sand more than mere links. The Causeway still works, doesn't it?

tsk tsk tsk.

Sank

The Muar Sessions Court judge looked at the two accused, both are brothers, in the dock with disbelief. They have just pleaded guilty on two offences. He talked to the elder brother.
"Awak faham?"
"Ya." he looked bewildered.
"Kenapa awak melakukan kesalahan ini?"
He didn't reply, as if the words did not sink in.
The judge repeated the question.
He answered in a quiet tone. A matter-of factly, "Saya tengok VCD lucah."
The judge shook his head. He then delivered the sentence of 15 years jail and 8 strokes of rotan for each offence.

The 23-year old factory worker would be 53 after serving the sentecne for raping his sister 17 year old for the past two years. Then it sank. He shuddered and wept openly as the police took him out of the dock.

Rayaaa... Episode 1

To sum it up: This raya is one of the best holidays I've had for a long-long time, so here's the re-cap of the events.

My Raya Holidays began on Saturday 28th of October. It was the day that I received both good and sad news. On that day, all my plans for Hari raya took a different turn.

Two weeks before I didn't know that my leave started on the 28th, so I had planned to work right until Nov 1 (that was Deepavali) and would have two solid weeks of Raya Leave thereafter. It was only after the last week I realised that my boss had given me off days since the 28th, so the initial plan to drive home to Rawang had to change to taking the train from Kempas Baru at 9.35am on Sunday 29th.

And it was ten days ago I placed a booking on a Waja, hoping against hope that I would get a new car for Raya. As miracles do happen, I got the last registration number before the RTD counter closed on Friday and the salesman called me to collect a 'galaxy grey' Waja on Saturday morning. I was elated. All my life this was my first time buying a brand new car. My first very own car...

It was while waiting for the car keys that I received the sad news. Eton's father passed away. Eton is my schoolmate and once we used to work in the same office. Her father had suffered the aftermath of stroke for 11 years before he breathed his last. The phone call was from Idah, another schoolmate, shortly after Enid, another school mate phoned to tell the news. My mobile went crazy after I texted our friends about the death, most of them asking about the funeral and other details.

I should call Eton. I should offer my condolonces but words and empathy escaped me. What do I say to her? All I managed to do was quietly recite Fatihah in between signing documents and such. I figured it was better to wait for a while before calling Eton. To send text would be too impersonal.

I was elated for the car and at the same time deeply touched by the news. Kinda hard juggling the two ends of emotional spectrum. Driving home, it felt weird adjusting to the new machine (which actually swallowed RM100 worth of petrol) and deep down I knew this Raya is going to be different.

post raya blues

I guess after too much fun at hari raya, one has to suffer the adrenalin withdrawal, hence the post-raya blues.

I shall not elaborate the madness of the last day in KL which was Friday, and the quiet discontentment which follows onto yesterday and today. Nevertheless... after minimal deliberation, I dyed my hair red, perhaps a sign of the desperate need of liberation.

After three hours of the colouring and steaming (kinda complicated. Thank god I didn't try one of those home colour kits... I would have ended up looking like a lost in time Cyndi Lauper fan) I looked not bad at all. Groomed and somehow, it made me feel liberated.

what happened?

A lot. After my last entry, I attended a funeral, was hospitalised for two days and didn't come to work for 20 days, visited a mental institution, spent a night in prison, bumped into a total jerk of an ex-boyfriend, and just two days ago was in Singapore basking in the luxury of a five star hotel.

But of all things, since the last entry I have not been walking. It is, apparently, very easy to lapse into intertia.

Barongan@BP

Nasi Lemak Hantu

It rained again. I seriously have to think of Plan B or I will lapse into inertia again. The colleague, Zin, who is off duty today, proudly informed me that he did a 30-minute aerobics on the treadmill yesterday.

Iamsam posted a comment suggesting I should walk like an Egyptian, an ultimate weight control solution. Thanks for the suggestion, but I am tackling bigger issues here like boredom, mental and physical health. I gave up on losing weight, a long time ago.

Khairyn posted a comment today. Ha ha ha... I shall never forget the nasi lemak that almost became our staple dinner. It was one of the best nasi lemak in town but a cruel rumour has it that the food there is cooked by djinn. No joke. Harian Metro even carried the story. The pakcik's business almost collapsed by the vicious rumour. His customers are made up of those who do not believe in the rumours, Khairyn and me included.

Now I have cut down on Nasi Lemak. Maybe all this while I've been associating food with friends and outdoor activities. Now that I have less friends (everybody seemed to live in KL) and that I walk everyday, so maybe I think less of eating. Really?

Hanging out the clothes

Today I walked for 25 minutes, after a five-minute warm-up and finished off with another five minutes cooling down exercise. I re-gained my lost rhythm and it was a smooth walk. I often change my route to make my walk more interesting, new sight, new sound, that sort of stuff. Today I passed by a corner terrace house and saw a man was hanging out the laundry on the cloths line.

The moment he saw me he turned sheepish. He was wearing a baju melayu (traditional Malay tunic) with a pair of shorts. Oh well he was just doing laundry he need not be dressed to the nines, right? He eyed me if I was staring at him. I looked away pretending not to notice him but was actually dying to have a proper look of his sheepish expression. The sixpence song came to mind:

The king was in the counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey,
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes
and down came the blackbird and bit off his nose.

Was he sheepish because he might be viewed as the maid or for fear that a blackbird might come down and bit his nose? Dunno.

I walked fast and passed.

Late

I was late. When I opened my eyes this morning it was 8.40am. I freaked out. First because I have missed my favourite routine of walking about in the neighbourhood secondly I have an appointment at 9am. I scrambled off bed, into bath, into no-need-to-iron-clothes, gulped water (so as not to be dehydrated later) and off hopping like a Mad Hatter minus the pocket watch. Met my appointment and the rest of the day was as rushed as always. Then, I realised that my so-called sedentary life was actually a blinding rat race without a finishing line. good thing that I wlked, it slowed things down. At least I have time for myself.

I talked to Khairyn today. She's as bubbly as always. Kinda missed her company, when she was my colleague (now transfered to the Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur) we used to plan all sorts of activities mostly involving food. She was the one who introduced me to blogging and I find it quite useful as a journal. Thanx Khairyn.

And also Nisa advised me to join the aerobics dancing classes. Once, maybe five years ago I thought of enrolling into a tap dance class. Now why does Richard Gere tripping over poles comes to mind?

Tomorrow: Must walk.

Monday Blues

I was up early and fired up to walk after yesterday's heavy rain. Today was bright and sunny and I enthusiastically started my walk almost flying, which I found out later, not good. I was too ambitious. I made the mistake of skipping my warm-up 5 minutes walk and sort of flew into brisk walk. after 10 minutes, I panted and my legs were strained. I lost my rhythm and had to slow down. So I eased it off with my normal pace and walked home.

Lesson learned today: take it easy and do not get overzealous.

Milestone for the day: I beat the Monday blues. For the first time in many years, it was easy to get out of the bed without wishing it was still Sunday.

It rained

I woke early, did my subuh and it rained, cats and dogs almost throughout the day. I only managed to stretch.

I realised that I have no Plan B. How would it be during the monsoon, when it rained everyday? So I talked to a colleague who wanted, intended, but never got around to doing it, suggesting that maybe we should take our shoes and try the local gym, which only charges RM20 per month. He said yeah why not good idea. Several hours later I thought, the gym idea never took off because lack of drive and motivation. If I want this gym idea to materialise, I have to drag him out of the office. Not very attractive. I will definately think of an alternative.

For a week

I had a lie-in started to walk at about 8.30am and after 15 mins brisk walk it became too hot. The sun was quite storng so I had to change the route to somewhere more shady, and walked more leisurely. I am not working today so I was at ease and enjoyed the exercise better. After I completed the half hour walk. I realised I have just walked for a week now. Wow. It really feels good.

A secret diary

I was advised by the book I read, Fitness Walking, to keep a diary on walking, basically to keep track of the activity and to sort of motivate me. I mean, yeah, today is my sixth day of walking. Everyday is an achievement, maybe insignificant to others, but a mountain-moved kinda thing to me. This web log has been a secret which I shared with none of my friends or relatives until yesterday.

I told Nisa, a good friend, that I have been blogging. She asked my blog name, told her it was kuehpau. She laughed and said how appropriate. What is kuehpau? That will be another day's entry. Nisa, nevertheless has promised to visit this weblog and drop a line.

So Nisa, if you are here, welcome!

Today's progress: clocked a 30-minute brisk walk.

The buds of May?

I slept like a log last night and woke early today. I was up and ready for the walk and after the stretch, I walked briskly for a solid 30 minutes. My pace was regular, my arms swung in rhythm and breathed deep as if I have not breathed for days (not very good with similes). It may be an exageration, the part that I have not breathed for days, but today I filled my lungs with lots of air. I did a long cooling down stretch and felt completely relaxed. The stranger thing is, I looked forward to go to work, something that hardly happens since I first got this stressful day job for the past 15 years. Is there such thing as spring magic in a tropical country?

Still walking

And suddenly I asked the question, why am I doing this? Not that I don't know the answer, but I realised it is a sign of rebellion against change. I literally dragged myself out of the bed and promised myself it is just going to be a short walk. Maybe just 15 minutes. I stretched slow, then I walked slower than a funeral march (it felt like that). The speed picked up after a while but it dropped again and I finally walked home feeling almost defeated. I am so tired. I only managed a slow walk of 20 minutes today... but I am still walking.

the third day

The third day almost killed me. I am tired, and I almost succumbed to the warmth of the blanket. But the thing is, I have sort of signed a treaty in blood (in the name of good health) to walk. So I walked, at first slowly, then picking up briskly for a solid 30 minutes. At the end of it I was barely alive.

The photo? Oh it's just one of my fave. One of these days I should take a camera along.

A pair of red shoes

I bought a pair of running shoes after I heard a scary story about my sister's office mate. Her colleague is a hardworking guy on who has to meet crazy deadlines. One day he passed out while driving, lucky thing that his wife, who was sitting next to him managed to steer the car to the roadside. He was diagnosed as suffering from stress at work place. After the incident the office management organised a healthy lifestyle campaign.


My sister said it also got into her that health is a precious thing which we all took for granted until we lost it. Once she went to the gym regularly and hired a personal trainer to guide her on cardiovascular exercises, breathing exercises and dumbells. It cost her RM160 a month but she said it was all worth it, "I was really fit, had more stamina and more energetic." A job change forced her to quit her exercise routines and she neither have a trainer nor belonged to gym. Being an engineer with the R&D dept at a leading oil and gas company, she travels to Bintulu at least once a month. "But I always take my pair of jogging shoes with me. The hotels usually have a gym to work out," she said.

Her story made me buy the red running trainers. For one week at the end of March, I walked briskly every morning. Today is my second day of walking.