KL Taxi Driver Numbers

I haven’t taken a Malaysian taxi for a long time. I think the last time I did, this dorky cab driver tried to con me of 30sen, for air-con. This was years ago. For 30sen, this guy risked losing his permit… real smart. And what was he thinking of, charging for ‘air-con’?

Anyway, have you ever wondered about those numbers stuck at the front of the cab? Usually it’s found above the glove compartment on the passenger side.

Its looks something like this:

TS 8xx
WC 67xxx
HWB 49xx

They’re usually black plastic letters on a white surface.

One day my brother asked the cab driver about it.

This is what he said: “Ini nombor hantu itu JPJ bagi punya lah!!!”
(Translation: “This is the ‘magic’ number given by the Road Transport Department!”)

Anyway, according to this really affable cabbie, here’s what they meant:

TS = ‘Tire Size’
WC = ‘Wilayah Cab’ meaning it operates mainly in the city area.
The last line is the car registration number. As found on the number plate.

By the way, the ‘H’ in all the taxi number plates stand for ‘Hire’.

One day if I take another cab again, I’ll ask the driver why its red and white in colour.

Simon Plugs Jolene’s Blog

For those who read this blog regularly (yes, all TWO of you) you’ll notice I don’t usually mention other bloggers and almost never talk about blogging.


Well, today I just have to mention Jolene’s blog (You’ve gotta be patient. It loads like a turtle).

Most regular bloggers would already know her, but I started reading her blog just before the PPS bash.

She’s currently undergoing National Service and the posting via snail mail to her brother Luzzio who blogs on her behalf. And guess what? It’s bloody good and I simply can’t wait to read more about her life there!

So for those who are done reading about the latest PPS storm in the teacup or big issue or whatever, try going to Jolene’s blog…

OK, that’s enough blog-plugging for me this week.

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Top Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Harry Potter

Over the weekend, the new Harry Potter book was released. I stayed clear of all bookstores and shopping centres. If Malaysia celebrated Halloween, it would look darn close to this.

For those who can’t get enough of Potter-mania, here are interesting facts you may or may not already know about the boy wizard and his billionaire writer:

Top Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Harry Potter by Simon

• The J.K. in ‘J.K.Rowling’ stands for ‘Janji Kaya’. Or ‘Just Kopy’.

• In Book 7, the Weasley family will trade in their Ford Anglia for a Proton Savvy.
• Before the first movie was shot, Tom Cruise turned the role of Harry Potter. He was rumoured to have said the book was ‘utter crap, just like me’.
• During the summer holidays, Hagrid puts on a mask and appears in the WWE as Kane’s brother Bongo the Insane Killer Giant.
  
• Garth Nix’s Abhorsen series beats the crap out of Potter any day.

• The Malay version of Potter books changed the name Hogwarts to Khinzir-warts.
• Michael Jackson is rumoured to be a ‘huge fan’ of Harry Potter. Why are we not surprised?
• Hermione bribed the Sorting Hat to put her in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. She says ‘Ravenclaw is for geeks and losers’.
• ‘Rowling’ is pronounced ‘rolling’, not ‘rau-ling’. Rowling is French Canadian for “sell your soul to the devil for a billion bucks.’
• Harry Potter is Malaysian. Hogwarts is in Malaysia. Don’t believe? Read this.

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AP & Naza: What’s That?

What’s AP?

• Approved Permit?
• Associated Press?
• Advanced Placement?
• Apasal Pulak?
• Audio Precision?
• Alternative Press?
• Asia Pacific?
• Ah Pek?

What’s NAZA?

• Nasimuddin & Zaleha?
• A new anti-HIV drug banned by the FDA?
• No AP, Zero Automobiles?
• Short form of NaZaK?

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First, ‘Winter Sonata’, Now, ‘Jewel in the Palace’

My wife is following that Korean series ‘Jewel in the Palace’ which is dubbed into Cantonese on Channel 30 (Astro). I’m not a big fan of these slow moving dramas, but apparently there is a lot of hype going around it and other Korean dramas.

I’ve no idea what the show is about, but I’m sure most Malaysian will remember another huge craze some years ago called ‘Winter Sonata’. Oh yeah, that one was so big even the malay ladies in my office were talking about it non-stop. Even my brother and sis-in-law went on one of those ‘Winter Sonata’ tours in South Korea for their honeymoon.

According to them, the tour also consisted of some Malay middle aged couple bent on taking photo of every location the show ever visited.

Again, I’ve never watched a minute of that show, but according to my Malay colleague, her 6 year old son can sing the theme song of the show in pitch perfect Korean. This coming from a kid who can’t speak a word of English, let alone any Korean.

Then I read somewhere that a local producer released a local series called ‘Cinta Sonata’. The storyline apparently, was almost similar to it’s more famous namesake. But according to this well-known local director, he thought of the name and love storyline even before ‘Winter Sonata’ was released. Yeah, sure. Malaysia Boleh.

Well, coming back to this Jewel in the Palace. Kind of reminds me of the show ‘Koo Sin Lian’ back in the 80’s. Wow, that was a long series, I think it was 60 episodes long, it was showed on Sunday afternoon. There was even a Japanese version, called ‘Oshin’.

For those who can’t remember it was one long, teary show about a hardworking farm girl who leaves home to work in a restaurant in the city. Every week there was at least one scene where the grandmother would wake up from a nightmare, run out of their wooden shack are cry, ‘Xiao Lian! Xiao Lian!”.

Seems like these Mandarin/Korean/Japanese dramas haven’t changed much all these years…



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My Dying Wish…

I’m watching this show on TV right now. OK, it’s Desperate Housewives, I’ll just admit it here and now. It’s that part where the hunk of burning love Mike Delfino mentions to Teri Hatcher (whatever her screen name is…Susan?) that his wife’s dying wish was for him to take care of Bongo her dog, an Alsatian.

That’s a tall order, taking care of a dog as somebody’s dying wish.


(Let’s just talk about dying wishes on the make believe TV shows, here, OK?)

But thankfully, for Mike Delfino, it could be a lot worse.

Like, imagine she said this:

• “Don’t ever forget me, darling. Promise me you’ll never marry again, or even lay eyes on another woman, or I’ll haunt you until you join me in hell…”

• “Promise me you take good care of Bongo the dog, walk him twice a day, bathe him three time a week (but not on Sundays, he hates that) and feed him only Alpo.”
• “Keep my side of the bed empty, Mike. I’ll come visit you every night.”
• “Make me a promise. Never open that jewelry box in the living room, no matter what happens…”
• “My dying wish… Mike… never forget these numbers… seven, three, eight, five…”
• “Never forget. Viva Tottenham Hotspurs 4 Life.”

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The Star Word Puzzle Is Back Again

I noticed the Star is doing that Word Puzzle thing again. I think this is the third time they are doing this. The first two years were in a form of a Crossword puzzle, this time round they’ve simplified it to a linear puzzle. All to achieve the sole purpose of selling more newspapers (as if they have any REAL competitiors).

I remember the last time they had this contest. Man, some people were really CRAZY about it. Some of my colleagues bought a bundle (yes, one BUNDLE) of the Star newspaper every morning. And they used like 5 different dictionaries and thesaurus (real and electronic) just to do one puzzle.

Then in some areas of the city, there were literally traffic jams in front of the roadside newspaper stall. Yep, all those ah peks and Indian boys sure did brisk business during those months.

The problem with the contest was that it was a set in such a way that every answer was a possibility between two or more choices. The clues given always vague and debatable. So the only way to have a better chance of winning would be – send in multiple entries. And to do that, you need… to… buy… more… newspapers.

Anyway, like I said the clues were really vague and iffy. If you’re expecting clues like these:

******

Clue:
“It’s the thorny, local king of the fruits”

Puzzle:
D U R I A __

Answer:
Only a moron would answer DURIAK.

******

Or if you were thinking something like this:

Clue:
“Lassie and Fido are examples of this faithful animal. Also, in Malay it’s called an anjing.”

Puzzle:
D __ G

Answer:
I’ll give you a clue. It’s not “DAG”.

******

What you’ll REALLY get is something like this:

Clue:
A strong emotion.

Puzzle:
__ __ __ E

Answer:
HATE? LOVE? DOTE? OGRE? MICE? PETE? Yeah, send 200 entries a week and you’ll cover all the possibilities.

*******

And they say these puzzles are to ‘reward’ the readers? Ingenious, aren’t these marketing people?



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Malaysia Lifts the Thomas Cup: The Story of ’92 (Part 2)

(This is a continuation of yesterday’s post. Please read it first before proceeding, thanks)


The scene was set. Malaysia had beaten the Mighty Indonesian House of Badminton in the two previous Thomas Cup semi-finals in the 80’s leading up to 1992, but each time, Malaysia could not match up to the might of the new force in world badminton – China.

The Great Wall of China, year after year produced dozens of cookie cutter champions – all poker face, emotionless smashing machines like Yang Yang, Zhao Jianhua, Xiong Guobao, et al. And yeah, they also had the formidable Tian Bingyi and Li Yongbo, the arrogant crack doubles pair.

But in 1992 Thomas Cup Finals in Stadium Negara Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia faced their arch nemesis Indonesia for a chance at glory. And so at 7pm, the battle started.

The first singles was between our ‘jaguh kampong’ Rashid Sidek and the Indon No.1, Ardy Wiranata. Everyone hoped Rashid to win for Malaysia to stand a chance of winning, but no one really expected him to be able to pull it off. Rashid won the first set, but lost the second. So we went into the rubber. And suddenly everything started going Rashid’s way. His smashes started going in, Ardy, uncharacteristically started making mistakes. Rashid won, so 1-0 to Malaysia. The hopes of the millions of Malaysians glued to TV2 started to rise.

Then it was Rashid’s elder brothers Razif and Jalani against their foes Bobby Ertanto/Gunawan. Malaysia’s tactic was to hope for a point from Rashid and the two doubles, Foo Kok Keong and especially Kwan Yoke Meng didn’t stand a chance against the Indon singles players. But on that warm night in KL, it nothing went right for the former All-England champions. They went down tamely in straight sets. It looked like the tactic had backfired.

Everyone watching at home and at mamaks across the country were down in the dumps. Now it was almost lost, the ageing Foo had never beaten his opponent Olympic champion Allan Budi Kusuma. But the old warhorse didn’t read that script. He ran, jumped, dived, rolled and almost threw up on ran his way to a shocking straight set victory.

It was late into the night already, and Stadium Negara was now shaking. The crowd, even the whole Malaysia, led by Dr. Siti Hasmah, Datuk Elyas Omar and Datuk Roland Fung were spurring our team on. On the court stepped the great white hope of the nation – Cheah Soon Kit and Soo Beng Kiang. On the other side, was Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky. What followed was one of the most heart-stopping matches in the Thomas Cup history. The battle swung back and forth, with the viewers pushed from exhilaration to utter despair with drop of the shuttlecock.

At almost nearing midnight, Cheah & Soo reached match point in the rubber. With Soo’s shaky hand he served, and with Hasbullah Awang annoying and ‘over-stating the obvious’ commentary, the nation watched with bated breathe.

And then Malaysia won. The euphoria was unbelievable. We had finally won the most prestigious trophy in badminton. The players and officials stormed the court and cried uncontrollably. And the whole Malaysia celebrated as one nation; nothing could describe that feeling I felt that very moment.

And so after 25 years, we had reclaimed the Thomas Cup, won on dubious circumstances back in 1967. In the years after that, we took a nosedive, and never reached the dizzying heights of 1992 again. Maybe it is perpetuated by the curse of Malaysian badminton, perhaps it would be another 25 years again before Malaysia lay get their hands on that silver cup again…

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Malaysia Lifts the Thomas Cup: The Story of ’92 (Part 1)

Lee Chong Wei just won the Malaysian Open badminton last weekend. It seems that our local tournament is the only competition our local shuttlers can win, aside from one or two obscure European tournaments here and there.

Thereby justifying the ‘jaguh kampung’ tag. Unless if we meet an Indonesian player in the final. Then ‘jaguh kampung’ also don’t have.

Actually Lee Chong Wei is just the latest in the long line of local boys from our academies to play in the international scene. This line stretched back to the early 90’s, with players like the Saha brothers, Lo Ah Heng, Roslin & Hafiz Hashim, Wong Choon Hann. Sometimes the story sounds like a broken record, a bright talent wins one title (like the Singapore Open) but in the end never really reaching his full potential.

But why the early 90’s, you ask? Because in 1992, Malaysia, after 25 long, tiring years in the wilderness, finally won the coveted Thomas Cup. I will tell that stirring story of Malaysian courage and unity tomorrow, and the 2 tournaments in 1986 and 1989 leading up to that momentous victory. Tomorrow, I promise the story of that victory over the mighty Indonesian House of Badminton.

But today, let me tell of that brilliant team of ’92.

(The format of play was simple, there were 5 matches: three singles alternated with 2 doubles. The first team to win 3 matches wins. So you either win 3-0, 3-1 or if it’s a close one, 3-2.)


First singles – Rashid Sidek. He was the most talented of the brothers, but yet somehow never eluded the ‘jaguh kampung’ tag. Rashid’s netplay was suspect, and his smash never possessed the killer instinct of the Indons, and his concentration was iffy at best. But as erratic as he was, on a good day, he could defeat anyone. And he was still by far, Malaysia’s best.


First doubles – Razif & Jalani Sidek. In the All-England champions, Malaysia had a solid defence team. Their understanding seemed almost telepathic, but for all their prowess, the brothers could not smash. Their strength was always in long defence rallies where the impatient opponents made mistakes, but how would they fare against the feared jumping smash batteries?

Second singles – Foo Kok Keong. With the retirement of bad boy of badminton (eww…!) Misbun and Ong Beng Teong, the never-say-die Foo was promoted to second singles. He was never blessed with much talent, but he made up for it with an immense fighting spirit. Sometimes until the point of throwing up on court or suffering leg cramps. But Foo had a long career and in ’92, he was staring at his twilight years, but for one more shot at the silver cup…

Second doubles – Cheah Soon Kit & Soo Beng Kiang. Malaysia’s secret weapon. The pair had everything, solid defence, sharp smashes and exhilarating netplay. But one problem. It was obvious to everyone watching the young boys could not really get along (in fact Soon Kit never got along with ANY of his partners!).

Third singles – Kwan Yoke Meng/Wong Tat Meng. Both were unspectacular players, but Malaysia hoped that the match could be settled by the doubles and Rashid, thereby not requiring the third singles to be played.

And so how did our boys square off against the likes of Ardy Wiranata, Alan Budi Kusuma, Eddy Hartono and Gunawan?

Tomorrow: That fateful night Malaysia finally lifted the Thomas Cup…




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We Trust You, Wenger, But…

Yes, we trust you, Arsene, but I hope you know what you’re doing. In all these years you have been at Highbury, we HAVE trusted you, and by and large, you have delivered. Not wildly unimaginable success, but more success than in the past 50 years.

But I hope you know what you’re doing. Patrick Vieira is our talismanic (as much as I dislike that cliche) captain. 9 years is an eternity in football, he stayed on despite the lure of bigger clubs and European glory, and he has matured into one of the best defensive midfielders in the world (yes, Roy Keane, that’s right).

Those who criticize Arsenal’s lack of real success always forget that this team is the only major European club that puts out under-23 players week in week out due to lack of financial clout like Real or Chelsea. Like Flamini, Fabregas, van Persie, Toure, Clichy and Cole. And by that measure, they are punching far above their weight.

And without Paddy, there is a huge gap in the middle of the park. Edu has left for the warmer Spain, Parlour is collecting his pension at Boro, Pires is updating his resume and Gilberto is still on back-pain medication.

When Bergkamp retires at the end of the season, an entire generation of players will have passed, Dennis is the last remaining player from the pre-Wenger, Rioch/Graham era, the remaining are from the tutelage of Wenger and the dorms of Colney. And Paddy was the very first of that generation.

And so, good luck Paddy in the catenachio of Italy. We wish you all the best, and thanks for the memories. Along with likes of Tony Adams, Liam Brady, Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp and David Seaman, you are one of our greats.

And don’t fail our trust, Wenger.

Gunner 4 life.



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