Archive for » November, 2008 «

Down At The Dumps

24
Nov 2008
By pummkin

I had the opportunity to pursue my second hobby last weekend as the dive season comes to a close. Unfortunately, the birding grounds happen to be at the dumps. Yes, the northern region’s landfill that is infiltrated with revolting and rotting rubbish. Yet hundreds if not, thousands of migratory birds transit here after flying their annual journey south from their respective countries of origin. Byram has a huge area gazetted as a landfill, a dumpsite for Penangites.

Anyone would be repulsed by the sheer whiff of the tons of garbage and the hotter it gets, the worse the smell becomes. The rotting garbage liquid seeps out from the ground to form a pond filled with maggots and scum that thrive in that kind of environment. You can see minute flies everywhere if you look closely but these are the grub that birds feed on! Fueling up for their journey, these birds perch on the fallen trees and branches in the still pond of vile fluids.

Staying in the vehicle, we appeared less threatening to the birds and could fire as many shots as we wanted without spooking them. It’s amazing how close I could get.

The heap of garbage is hardly a sight to behold and the pond looks like it would smelt your legs as soon as you come into contact with this contamination but just as we are in this world made up of people and the garbage that we have to put up with, despite the crap that they dish out to us and the propaganda in the media, God puts in an oasis of life designed to feed and allow a thriving population to exist at a place loathed by humans. No matter where we are or where we seem to be in life, if God can feed the birds of the trees, He can make an oasis for you in the dumps.

Category: Adventure, Issues  3 Comments

Titles Should Mean Something…

21
Nov 2008
By pummkin

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On Monday, I was featured in the Tech & U section of the News Straits Times daily. Friends started asking about my pageantry days. Ive blogged about it years ago here. It was a combination of excitement and frustration; not for the importance of winning the coveted titles but for the way the contestants were being treated. I bet those who were there would know what exactly Im talking about. I’m thankful I came away with a sash each time, some congeniality titles, clothes, prize money and my dignity. It opened doors for me but it didn’t make me favoured over the others who could probably do the job better than I could. I would never bank on beauty to get me through life because I know I can’t fight the signs of times. You are only as beautiful as how others see you, if you have no substance, no principles, no love, you have nothing at all.

When you fight for what you believe in, you are keeping your principles alive. Where does one build these principles? From life’s great experiences and God’s grace to know what’s right from wrong, what’s good from bad and what’s just from the unjust. In a time where people choose to sit on the fence to watch the battle, you can choose whether you want to be with the allies or the opponent. Whatever you choose, it would be a reflection of who you are and what you represent and to me, it speaks more than the many titles that one holds in their lifetime. What use would it be if a Datuk or Tan Sri acquire the title and not use their influence to make the lives of the people who are less fortunate a little bit more decent? Or what use would the CEO of the company be if he doesn’t influence his circle to give back to the society? What good would my titles be, if I don’t use what I’ve learnt to bring cheer and hope to those who are lost and joy to those who are sullen? It doesn’t even have to be a big effort. It starts with the sweeper on the street who keeps your driveway free from dry leaves, the rubbish man who diligently empties the bin for you, the stallkeeper who serves you drinks and the toilet cleaner who keeps the lavatory in your office building clean. Your smile and greeting would mean the world to them. Bringing them a drink or some cookies would let them know how much you appreciate them for their thankless service. Asking them about their day would make them get by theirs a little better. It makes you a better person for coming down from your self-raised pedestal.

Life is only temporary but life in Christ is eternal. What I sow I also reap, what is given away would be replenished and what is taken would be restored ten fold. What have I got to withhold from those who’s got nothing??? I have a roof over my head, food whenever I need, a Mac to keep me entertained, a camera to capture my fascination and a dog to keep me company at home, what else can I lack??? God has given me everything and it’s time to give back. Come join me in my little missions!!!

Note: You can read about the NST article here.

Category: Event, Issues  8 Comments

Huffing The Best Puffs in JB

18
Nov 2008
By pummkin

In the quest for excellent tasting curry puffs, I tracked down a seller in Johor Bahru who makes the best in town. Curious over a piece of puff, I decided to hunt for their mobile van in Taman Bukit Indah where they are located on weekends and finding the location on my GPS was a breeze. The bustling new township had modern amenities that could rival the country’s capital city anytime but what I didn’t expect to see was a refined, smooth complexioned, pint-sized lady, possibly in her mid twenties to be standing by the roadside selling these curry puffs.

Ung Bee Koon was the Associate Director of the Sports Council of Singapore for 8 years before she decided to return to her homeland to continue the legacy of her parents’ labour of love in making tasty treats of curry puff. Hailing from Penang, her family moved to Johor Bahru in her early years to open a restaurant business and they have lived there ever since. Each pocket-sized puff is handmade and always filled with flavoursome potatoes and eggs with generous amount of spices. I was absolutely delighted to sink my teeth into these delectable treats on a rainy Sunday morning. Aside from their signature treats, there are other sweet potato pastries and fritters to complement the stall.

As I marvel at this entrepreneur’s tenacity in foregoing a life of comfort in an air-conditioned office to slog it out under the hot sun deemed to be a harsh environment for the fairer sex, I couldn’t help but notice a perfect chemistry going on in the way her fiancé was helping out. The gentleman was huffing intermittently, “Curry puff! Curry puff! Curry puff! The best in town! Once you’ve tried, you’d come back for more! Curry puff! Curry puff! Curry puff!” As the customers rolled in to get pastries, he would select them and put them in paper-lined plastic bags with such ease that you wonder if he had been in food business before this. Chia Bok Kiong is a Computer Systems Engineer by day and accompanies the love of his life as a hawker on weekends. I asked him if he was getting paid for helping out and he beamed, “Only in kind!”

The history of this curry puff dates back more than 20 years ago when her dad was operating the restaurant while her mom sold her homemade delights. Curry puffs are made with fillings of potatoes, minced meat and hardboiled egg packed into a fluffly pastry and pinched to seal, then deep-fried. The curry puff business was a great addition to their income, which saw 6 of her siblings through school and college. When her dad wanted to go into semi retirement, they moved their restaurant to Taman Tasik where they had a minimalist operation and scaled down the business tremendously. From a fleet of mobile vans, they were down to three. The decision to slow down was challenged by Ung when she realised that this viable business was right under her nose. She and her youngest brother Shun Jin, decided to quit their jobs to concentrate on building the business to serve tasty snacks and crispy curry puffs to the community. That was three months ago.

Today, the Bee with the help of the Bok on the weekends is pressing on the pedal to bring the puffs and the treats to the people of Johor Bahru while the Jin works in the shop to maintain the quality control. Sinking my teeth into the puffy treats in the morning was a great addition to my iced milk tea and truly living to its reputation of being the ‘best in town,’ it was crispy to the last bite.


To find your way to the puffs, go past Sutera Mall in Sutera Utama and head to Taman Bukit Indah. Look for the Petronas Station and turn right. They can be found at N103.647235 E1.483836 on the GPS, or set your unit to find Jalan Bukit Indah 5/8.

Category: Adventure  4 Comments

4th Redang International Clean Up Day 2008

15
Nov 2008
By pummkin

No matter how many times I’ve been here before, Berjaya Redang Beach Resort has never failed to allure me to the tall swaying palm trees growing on the fringe of the beach. This amazing property has been built on its own private cove, away from any other development. Situated at the north of the island, Teluk Dalam is a bay that holds the romance for many a couple who chance upon the crystal blue waters in the Redang Archipelago. Every year since 2005, Berjaya Redang Beach Resort had been celebrating the seas held in conjunction with the Redang International Clean Up Day and Project AWARE. The dive centre has the PADI Gold Palm IDC Resort Centre status, which conducts regular Instructor Training Courses throughout the year.

Sitting onboard Berjaya Air’s Dash 7 Twin Otter plane, I was reassured with the cabin crew’s smiley face that the journey was going to be short and sweet and not bumpy as I had anticipated. Having flown in turbulent skies, I knew I could not fare that well above ground as I would be in water but Berjaya Air’s ground and cabin crew proved me wrong with the services rendered, making the experience from checking in my one ton equipment bag to boarding the plane, buckling up and landing, a very pleasant one that I forgot about my flying blues…. The flight took 1 hour and ten minutes as we sailed across the peninsula to the east coast through a patch of stormy clouds in Kuala Terengganu before breaking into blue and sunny skies. Summer is not quite over. 

Anticipating the arrival of 90+ divers the next day, we arrived a day ahead of the crowd, making sure there was ample time to set up our underwater video and camera gears for the initial testing on the first dive. We did the first dive off the house reef, checking out both the reef and the underwater camera housings. Between us, there were about 60kg of dive and photographic equipment. The General Manager of Reef Check Malaysia, Julian Hyde and his assistant, Ummi Haslinda, joined us for the dive to see what the house reef was all about. Project AWARE, an organisational focal point for IYOR 2008, is working with international governments, environmental and educational organisations to support initiatives that increase awareness about the value of coral reefs and reef ecosystems, increase understanding about coral reef threats and possible solutions and help implement improved management strategies, conservation and sustainable interactions with coral reef ecosystems. Reef Check is a methodological way of conducting reef surveys through the participation of volunteers who have been trained as Eco Divers. The team was present to conduct a talk as part of the effort of Redang International Clean Up Day 2008.

The following day of the event proper, when the hoards of divers arrived, they were quickly ushered to the Beach Restaurant for briefing and distribution of gift packs before lunch. Much to the disappointment of many regular participants of this event was the absent of the colourfully-designed emblem of Project AWARE T-shirt, which was somehow substituted by a Berjaya Corporate Polo T-shirt instead. The T-shirt is one of the most coveted piece in an event like this one especially it’s in the fourth year running. Many still kept it unwrapped in the hope of exchanging it for a project T-shirt in the future.

The dive centre was overflowing with people gearing up and preparing for their first dive of the day. With four to five boats at the floating wooden dock just outside the dive centre, everyone was getting armed and ready to pick up the menace of the reefs called Crown of Thorns. It’s a starfish capable of devastating corals if left unchecked as it devours huge areas of living colonies in the reefs. With all the good intentions of getting rid of this animal, there is a serious need at various sites while at some others, none at all. Moving the participants to action wasn’t the hard part but giving enough net bags and thongs for each of them is!

Before we launched the event, getting these enthusiastic, sporty people together to get a group photo was a feat for small cameras. To get everyone into view, at least three shots were obtained from left to right to stitch them into a panoramic photo. Photographers with mightier lens would have contained everyone in a single shot and just as soon as the pictures were taken, it marked the start of the Redang International Clean Up Day proper.

As divers gathered for the launch, non-divers gathered to clear debris off the island. Not that the island is littered badly but the rubbish littered by passing boats that is washed ashore by waves on different parts of the island warrants its own attention. Shutterbugs on land as well as underwater were snapping away to win the coveted prizes sponsored by Sony Malaysia. 

Last year, over 100 volunteers made up of a group of enthusiastic divers, professional divers and non-divers together with media groups from Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, United States and Germany participated in the Redang International Clean-Up Day, successfully collecting and removing a total of 707 ‘crown-of-thorns’ starfish (Acanthaster planci), 31 fishing nets, 20 non-biodegradeable plastic traps and 80kg bags full of domestic waste from major dive sites at Mak Simpang, Chagar Hutang, Turtle Bay, Berjaya Redang House Reef and Bahagia Wreck. Non-diving participants and volunteers cleared up the beach area at Chagar Hutang and collected over 75 plastic bo ttles, 45 food containers, 35 individual fishing lines, 15 shoes, 10 styrofoam crates and 2 buoys. The amount of trash and debris collected sent an alarming message that there is more to be done to educate the public on the importance of marine conservation. At the time of publication, the total amount of rubbish and Crown of Thorns collected was not documented yet.

Berjaya Hotels & Resorts has joined hands with Reef Check Malaysia to commemorate the International Year of the Reef 2008. The main objective of this collaboration is to strengthen the awareness on ecological, economic, social and cultural value of coral reefs and associated ecosystems. A ‘Reef Talk’ was conducted by Julian Hyde to enhance the understanding of critical threats to reefs and generate both practical and innovative solutions to reduce these threats. 

“It’s crucial for us to sound the alarm and send a message to the public on how easily humans can devastate the state of well-being of the environment. Aside from cleaning up Redang annually, we are also looking at promoting the island as one of the best diving destinations in Malaysia. There are more than 20 diving spots around the island; each spot with its myth and beauty to showcase. The resort houses a certified 5-Star PADI Gold Palm Instructor Development Centre which offers all levels of dive courses for both learning and advance divers. We believe everyone has a fair chance to experience the beauty which lies within the depths of the ocean.” says Mr. Sonny Lim, Assistant General Manager, Berjaya Redang Beach Resort. And what a resort it was! The newly constructed Hillside rooms had a perfect view of the ocean, unobstructed even with the presence of native tall palm trees. The rooms are equipped with bathtubs and a separate shower cubicle plus ample space of a walk-in wardrobe that shares the counter wash basin too. And with a king sized bed, I had more than enough room to share with my big, fluffy travel companion called Choffster. A highly recommended place to unwind and experience tranquil, resort atmosphere on these slopes.

The three days package we were on included accommodation in a twin-sharing room, 2 breakfast, 2 lunches and 2 dinners, coupled with 3 boat dives and a welcome gift pack and T-Shirt. The event had been endorsed by Project AWARE (dive industry’s leading non-profit organisation) and Malaysian Sport Diving Association (MSDA), aimed to cultivate and promote the importance of preserving and protecting the environment and ecological systems of Redang Island for the benefit of the future generation.

The two days of activities came to a close with the voting and selection of the winners of the photography competition. Kenneth Leong and Reynard Shoon took home the grand prizes of a Sony camera, Marine Pack and vouchers. Though many came with no expectations of what they would get out of a trip like this, everyone went home with a sense of fulfilment and the knowledge of having contributed in one way or another towards the betterment of the environment. 

Category: Adventure, SCUBA  Leave a Comment

The Seeds in the Carrot Cake

07
Nov 2008
By pummkin

Ignorant minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, and brilliant minds talk about ideas. Words that I’m echoing from a dear friend’s comment. How I wish those who have all the time in the world would follow these simple rules to live by and not go out of their way to find fault in others. Not only it makes the seeker miserable and hateful, they become despised by society for scrutinising others without cause. I truly feel sad for them, to have stooped below the scum to bring detriment upon others by the words they choose to utter. Worse is when they don’t value their bodies and dangle it like a carrot in front of the people they want to influence with the offer of a few minutes of pleasure. If one does not value one’s own body, how do you expect others to value it too??? How low can one go in the pursuit of malice???

Circumstances like that make you realise how many friends you’ve got when they stand by you to vouch for the person you are. Just a few entries before this, I blogged a piece about How To Become A Friend and I abide by what I wrote. In times when I’m bewildered by people’s actions, there’s nothing I like better than to enjoy a moment of solace with a generous slice of Cheesy Carrot Cake and English Breakfast tea. I’m in wonder amazement at what makes people tick and talk. I look at the cake and see pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dunno-what-seeds, carrot julienne, a thick layer of cream cheese and the filling beneath it. I began to pick out those seeds I wasn’t familiar with but decided to taste it all the same. Slightly bitter and piquant, I took a spoonful of the cake without it. Quite acceptable, I thought. Then I restored these strange looking seeds and tasted another mouthful again. Voila! It tasted real good!

Malicious people are put into our lives for a reason, just like the purpose of the dunno-what-seeds in the carrot cake. You may think they serve no purpose but without them, the carrot cake is not the same. Life is not the same. God teaches us to extend grace to them, the same grace that has been shown to us and the same grace that we will need when we trespass on others.

Category: Issues, Personal  One Comment

Website & Hormones Down

01
Nov 2008
By pummkin

You may have noticed the site being down much of yesterday while I was coding the backend to work with my new installation of Joomla on the main site but I missed a configuration file and crashed my blog instead. Thank you, Francis for coming to the rescue and reorganising the SQL database for me and slowly but surely, I got each component up and running again. I thought the links to all my pictures were gone for good. Thank God for friends!!! I thought I was surely going to sink into depression!

I’m trying to syndicate content into my main site and hopefully get it up by next week. Sorry for all the inconveniences but the wait will be worth it…….I hope…….

Category: Personal  3 Comments