My Two Sen

I couldn't count how many times I had to restart my heart last night while watching the Thomas Cup Finals. So close, yet so far.

I had a couple of observations post-match.

Firstly, it was great fun and at the end of the match, one name stuck to my mind. And it wasn't Liew Daren.

Park Joo-Bong.

The great South Korean doubles specialist had been the Japanese Badminton head coach for a number of years and had revolutionised the game there, turning it into a super-power.

How Malaysia could do with somebody like him, plus the almost alien concept of political non-interference of course.

Don't get me wrong, we did well, and one thing we could take out of the loss was the fact we got some up and coming doubles players post Koo Kien Keat. The lack of singles player coming through the ranks was still a major headache. And it had been so for many years.

The second major observation I had was the unity sports brought to the nation. I wonder what ISMA's thoughts were when they saw throngs of Malays singing the name of Lee Chong Wei and Liee Daren during the match last night? How could we give so much face to these pendatangs? I meant the whole squad of it ....

Malaysians thrive in adversity and when it came to national event - the MH370 tragedy brought to mind - we glued together and rallied on as a family. Shame that it took these to unite the nation while certain parties kept using the racial card to gain political mileage. I bet they would be doing a police report against RTM for showing the match live after pleading the rights from ASTRO. Sigh!

Zoo Negara Part 1

The last time we visited Zoo Negara was back in 2008. I think it was the end of that year since both my boys were in their matching red England jersey then. And we still had our old maid with us. We lived quite close by, and during weekends, the place was full most of the time, putting us off from going there.

So, when the boys asked us to head over there during the recent Thaipusam break, I got interested. At least, I would be able to wipe off the cobweb on my 7D which had hardly been used since I got the X100, and the the X-Pro 1. Zoo Negara it was.

For a public holiday, the place was relatively empty. We were still to find a parking spot at the main carpark despite turning up close to 2 pm. It was also a bright sunny day, a Sunday. We were prepared for a long day, queues and all. But we didn't have that.

There were a few reasons for that. The entrance fees had just been hiked up from RM 20 to 30 for locals. And then you had to pay for almost everything. A simple little paper maps would cost you RM 2 and a ride on the tram - which was previously free would require a ticket purchase. RM 2.50 I thought.

But all the price increase did nothing to improve the sorry state of the zoo. In fact, it had gone downhill since our last visit. Shameful really, as this was supposed to be one of the main tourist attraction for the foreigners. Those visitors would be astounded at how bad things were there, and as local, I wouldn't impose such a trip to any of my friends coming over from abroad. A far cry really from Singapore Zoo. Even Zoo Taiping was in a better shape. And they charged a pittance to get in.

Continued in Part 2.

Am I Going Mad?

I'm glad that I do not have to go to school at this age.

I pity my children. They were burdened with exams from such young age. Look at Irfan. He is six, just done with his kindergarten. He had an exam at the end of it. And guess what, there were pressure on him to do well by a certain member of the family. Poor boy is only six for God's sake. And some of his classmates had been going to tuition since last year. We're talking starting at five years of age. To get them into the habit of studying? I hope not! I went to Med School because I like Medicine. Not because I like to read. I listen to books rather than read.

Then, there is the elder, Idlan. In Year Two. He did fine in the exam, but his Bahasa Malaysia was not the best. And he was given an essay to write? Have mercy. He speaks pristine English. In fact, his English is better than mine. He knows more Science and Maths than when I was at his age. The amount of pressure for him to do well was enormous. He got all A's apart from his Bahasa. I was more than happy. Unfortunately not for everyone.

When I was a Faculty Member at Universiti Malaya, I found hard to make sure that we have an interview on all the candidates coming into Medical School. I did when I went to Med School. And all I needed to get in was 3 B's in A level. But you have to have a certain soft skill to get in. That is more important than getting straight A's in my opinion. The ones which got all A's did not necessary became good Doctors, Engineers or Lawyers. They were just better at getting better grades in exams. I want people to get further educations because they wanted to, not because society tells them that they have to.

I tried hard not to emphasise exams on my boys. At a young age, they already had SIX assessment per year! SIX bloody assessment. I would go mad if I had to go through all that ....... In fact, I go mad just thinking about it ......

Unfounded Fear?

Touted as the next May the 13th, it ended up rather anticlimactic in the end. It was mainly a peaceful march, and to a certain extend, the Police manage to nip the problem at the bud with the lock-down of the capital. There were aggravation of course, but on the whole, emotion were kept in check.

Rather than focusing on the organizers, nor the Opposition's push for change, I want to focus on our boys in Blue, the Police. Forget about their leaders and top brass. Forget about the YouTube videos of them kicking the protectors. Forget about the water cannon, and the gas canisters. On the whole, judging from the first-hand report on twitter and Facebook, they were courteous and were just plainly performing their duties.

At the end of the day, they were only human and given the amount of aggravation they were facing, they may snap. And that applies to the protestors as well. There would be clashes when groups of emotional human beings came together like so. But believe me, the situation could been handled much worst.

Another element that helped was the fact that the group dispersed at 4 pm as agreed by A Samad Said and Agong the other day. This definitely prevented further tension. And the manner of which the protestor left should also be applauded. The Police basically let them go their ways - minus those who were picked up for questioning earlier of course. The photographs of the protestors shaking hands with the Police on their way home warmed my heart. Forget about Kamarudin Mape's on TV3 claiming that they dispersed because they lost their leadership - "hilang punca" was his exact words - it was preplanned.

Why don't we focus on the positives and move forward. The lesson which could be learned here was peaceful demonstration can happen in this country if both the demonstrator and Police were clear of their endgame scenario. There were even glimpse of 1Malaysia at work here with all the races going hand in hand.

The sorry tale here must have been the fighting words of KJ and Ibrahim Ali on the days leading up to 9th July. They sounded as if Ambiga was about to single handedly bring the country down. Maybe they have a thing or two to learn from A Samad Said. And he is not even a Politician.

To the boys in blue who did their job yesterday with responsibility and compassion, I salute you. The plaudits and Datukships would go to your superior we hid behind the mikes and whose only challenge for the day would be how to appear smart in front of the reporters - for which they had failed big time, look at the misinformed IGP's press conference yesterday. The once on the ground were the ones should be applauded. There would be photos. videos and claims of brutality, but to claim that all of you were responsible is just plain irresponsible on our part. You were the ones being provoked and cojoled, and on the whole, you passed the test in flying colours.

Harimau Malaya Reflection

It has almost been a week since the nation was hit by the Harimau Malaya fever. A very potent strain this, and no antibiotics can keep the heat down. TwitterJaya was abuzz, the mass media was in full swing, and of course, the politicians put their own spin on things. I was in PD during the first leg, and couldn’t believe it when we scored the third. All the fuss then was about the laser-gate! With the return leg in Senayan coming just three nights after, one can expect retribution from the Indonesian. Everybody was anxious on how things would play out.

Yes, it was a great night for the nation. So much so that the power that be thought that the nation deserved a day off. That reminded me of the time in school, when the headmaster in his closing speech during the annual Sports Day, would announce that the day after would be a holiday. And everyone rejoiced!

I had different take though on things. Well, a couple of things. The first being the underestimated togetherness amongst Bangsa Malaysia. Or at least on twitter. The majority of the players were Malay. Despite this, most of the buzz on TwitterJaya were coming from my non-Malay friends. How I wished that this phenomenon can be studied and formulated into a plan to garner in the new era in Bangsa Malaysia. Should Najib wanted to take credit for it, I would be sure he will name it Bangsa 1Malaysia, but that was irrelevant.

Similar spirit was observed when we were playing at the Thomas Cup. Imagine if we were to beat China and got into the Finals - another public holiday I was sure. But I was sure, members of the fairer sex would complain, as should Chong Wei won the match, they would denied the sight of Lin Dan doing the half-naked dance in the middle of the court!

Malaysians love their sports, and when it come to sports, everyone forget if they were Malay, Chinese, Indian, Punjabi, Iban etc. We all become one Bangsa.

Another thing I observed was how sporting the Indonesian were. Some of them even saluted our players and stayed behind during the prize-giving ceremony. Would we have reciprocated? Instead, all the news were about some Indonesian supporters camping outside the Malaysian hotel, interrupting their planned training session. Even during the games, at certain point it could have turned nasty, but all the players seemed to manage to put their emotions in check. Considering the stakes, the game as played with great sportsmanship. I think the Indonesian deserve some credit for this.

Well, that’s my two sen. All this got me thinking about what would happened should we made it into the World Cup Finals. Will it be a whole month holiday?