growing up in kubang pasu

It all started, well 16 years ago

2012-02-11T15:25:00.024+08:00

In 1995, Papa harboured the thought of doing his PhD research in Cambridge, but this dukacita letter dashed his hope somewhat.

To compound the disappointment, his application to his alma mater UNSW was also rejected a few months later.

Alhamdulillah, two days after my elder brother was born on Feb 11th at the Kedah Medical Centre, another bundle of joy sprang to life and was on its way all the way from the Midlands of England.

Although this unexpected gift may lend credence to the proverbial third time lucky phenomenon, Papa believes that Only He Knows What Is Best. With fresh hope and the promise of an exciting new beginning, on the new year 1997 my parents and my nine-month old brother began a new chapter of their lives in Coventry, England, a non-descript industrial city that is often sniffed at for its architectural muddle. The consolation is it is conveniently close to two beauty spots of England; the birthplace of Shakespeare and the city of dreaming spires which is built upon books - books being read, books being written, books being published - that exudes a rarified atmosphere.

Their first year together in the UK was a bliss, with fascinating visits to a slew of elegant and one or two decadent spots located in London, Brighton, Bath, Cambridge, Lancaster, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent and Bekonscot, as documented here:

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=348706978495074&id=692788566&ref=notif&notif_t=share_comment#!/media/set/?set=a.125972310767110.13714.100000630259563&type=3

And for that jolly memories with plenty more going forward, insyaAllah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABANG ARMAN.

Abandoned for 16 Months

2011-11-21T11:58:00.037+08:00

Good grief, Papa has abandoned this blog for almost 16 months, and has not updated dear readers on that exuberant London trip in June 2010, where I chased squirrels at Kensington Gardens (with Irdina, the youngest daughter of Papa's colleague who is now completing his PhD at Brunel). From the lush green gardens awash with biodiversity, Papa made a call to blogger Kak Teh, and subsequently we all met the much-loved Malaysian couple at that equally notable Malaysian restaurant in Craven Road, Paddington.

Lotsa things have happened since then. One thing, Papa has reestablished his connected thinking with his former A-Levels contemporaries (Amir, Neeta, Neme, Tati, Zul and others) for all to see here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=451407498566&set=a.451407438566.247536.692788566&type=3&theater

... and I have started schooling since January 2011, and made a promising start in my early education.

Mind you, it did not start auspiciously well between my class teacher, Mrs. Loh, and Papa as indicated by the snippet below:
******

Mrs Loh: You didn't bring Elham on the first day yesterday?

Papa: Sorry, yesterday was really hectic for all of us.

Mrs Loh: You're Elham's grandfather?

Papa: Speechless and could only muster to flash his senyum kemewek.

Do you think Papa knows it's coming, given that Mrs. Loh is a veteran kindy teacher, not a giggling primary school girl?
******

As 2012 promises to be replete with momentous events, going forward let us hope to see more actions here and in other related blogs. Ta ta for now.

Two Weekends and a Full Weekdays - Can’t Get Enough of England

2010-07-11T22:52:00.014+08:00

No, that is not Papa’s lamenting of England’s premature exit in the 2010 World Cup. When England’s wobbly group matches ended with a couple of draws and a mediocre win over Slovenia, her fate was sealed really, despite a plethora of optimistic headlines crafted by deluded sports correspondents on the eve of the last 16 clash with arch rival Germany. The Sunday Times screams “Our cunning plan on how to beat the Germans” and “Manager pledges: Rooney will be back to his best … and he’ll score”.

On the other hand, two weeks prior to the Sunday’s knock out duel, The Economist (June 12th) acknowledged the writings on the wall and was spot on in predicting four more years of hurt. The bankable Bagehot column forthrightly states that the England football team for World Cup 2010 is no better than the previous one, made up of the “golden generation” of superstar English footballers. Beckham-Owen-Lampard-Gerrard and the gang float in “a bubble of hubris and unearned kudos” and collectively exemplifies form over substance, or “swagger over authentic talent”.

As it turned out, England suffered the worst of the worst defeat, and the tone of the fawning media took a drastic 360 degree turn. Brutal words, some gratuitous, cram the pages: “lack of pace”, “lack of guile”, “fragile little minds”, “brainless, naïve, indiscipline performance” and “a fire engine going to the wrong fire” describes England’s woeful defence. Ouch! Notwithstanding all that, do Malaysians still can’t get enough of the English Premier League, going forward?

Actually, the title of this post sums up the splendid two weekends and a full weekdays we spent in England, which coincided with the 2010 World Cup group tussles. Thanks to Facebook, when friends got wind of our impending trip, they invited us to stay with them or at their unoccupied house. Welcoming their generous offers, we ended up not staying at a single hotel/travelodge/B&B during our sojourn in England.

Before arriving at London Heathrow, we had a 20 hour stopover in Doha, home to the Al-Jazeera Network, and took the opportunity to see the sparkling capital with its picturesque bay and wander around the grand 19th century Souq Waqif. The magnificent souq underwent bold restoration in 2004 to recapture its original glory. New but tatty buildings were pulled down and replaced with reconstructed people's market of yesteryear.

It is a huge market to explore by foot, and we spent most of our time crawling from one alfresco café to another, enjoying decent Qatari food and copious amount of sweet mint tea, and watching the Gulf world goes by. There is a Malaysian restaurant with a weird name, Sri Kebaya, which we understandably kept at bay. We loitered around the customer-friendly open-air pet shops. The pet shop boys did not mind when I fondled their disctinctively black rabbits and irresistable kittens.

Oh, needless to say, the hip souq has free wifi too, which Papa did not take advantage of, as there is a host of other more interesting distractions vying for his attention. All around us, we saw people were just happy standing for hours and hours to watch the World Cup matches on ubiquitous big screens.

Close by is a handsome hotel by the same name and the stunning Fanar Islamic Cultural Centre with its unique spiraling minaret.

The 15-hour (in total) flight to London gave Papa ample opportunities to watch delicious movies and TV series over and over again. Papa was rooted to Casablanca, The Devil Wears Prada and Glee. Papa is so impressed with Qatar Airways and following the unqualified success of the England trip, he has caught the travel bug. He is now plotting for the next trip away to Casablanca. Qatar Airways will get one there in October 2010 for less than RM2,600. So incredible. No wonder the airline is a conversation piece.

TO BE CONTINUED >>

Enter a Different World

2010-06-12T23:50:00.007+08:00

Papa is now in the throes of planning for my first and their homecoming trip to “this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England”. Almost thirty years ago, Papa was among a group of nine JPA scholars (including three girls) who were UK-bound to be trained as professionals in the various fields that the young country on the cusp of adulthood desperately needed.

Margaret Thatcher had completed the first year of her eleven Downing Street years. In Malaysia, the change of guard to a “tough, shrewd and practical” leader was less than a year away. Their first stop was Malaysia Hall, then situated in leafy and elegant Bryanston Square, a short walking distance from the Marble Arch tube station and the famous Hyde Park. During the early days in London, a few seniors took them to some of London must-visit places including Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace and the halal Indian food restaurants in Paddington.

On one occasion they bought Indian food take-aways and had a glorious picnic in the park overlooking the Royal Albert Hall. As for the food served in Malaysia Hall, breakfasts were invariably depressing. His face fell when he saw people all around him tucked not too keenly into their bowls of cereal. But lunch and dinner were a different kettle of fish all together, with young people enthusiastically and patiently lining up the stairs to buy 50-pence set meal of fluffy rice, daging masak kicap (or chicken dish) and vegetable (sometimes bean sprouts?), served by plump Caribbean ladies.

After a few blissful days in London, they made their way to a very archetype English market town in East Anglia to begin their A-Levels programme under the tutelage of some eccentric yet keen sixth form teachers.

For the impending homecoming visit, Papa looks forward to revisit the sixth form college and the house opposite the college where he lived at close quarters with other 17/18 years old former students of VI, MCKK, KGV, Anderson, MRSMs, SMSes, etc etc.

Alas, no such opportunity to revisit the great Malaysia Hall that we have lost. Wish us a safe, hassle-free and meaningful trip to the Old Blighty, will ya.

An atmospheric weekend in Port Dickson

2010-04-30T08:00:00.008+08:00

Last weekend was atmospheric, wasn’t it?. Especially for those who were in Hulu Selangor. Likewise, we had one atmospheric weekend recently at a resort in PD. Papa had to attend a workshop and we tagged along.

Opah came with us too as she wanted to see her other grandkids in Seremban, and buy a wedding present in Nilai, the shopping haven, for her splendid and amazing neighbour. “Nilai really lives up to its name – shopping wise” – so opined Opah.

The workshop was essentially work work work for Papa, with no shopping in store. They worked beyond Buletin Utama, believe it or not. One of the team members in the workshop, Gaz (sitting second from left in the 1985 photo below), happened to be Papa’s former coursemate at UEA, who is married to Zu (last row, also second from left), another UEA alumna.

For me, I enjoyed the touch-a-pet, feed-a-pet and bathe-a-pet sessions. We did chase-a-peacock too eventhough it is not included in the kids package.

Three days ago, I turned 3. I can now recognise most of Thomas's friends; Gordon, Percy, Hayold, Onri, Annie, Toby, Trevor, James, etc. I have stopped the bad habits of chewing my shirt and inadvertently revealing my navel, plus saying the T-word, tibai. Which means that the time is ripe to enrol me in a kindergarten. Shall I follow my siblings’ footsteps and march onto Tadika Superkids?

Penang Rawks

2010-04-07T22:34:00.005+08:00

Admittedly, on the entertainment front, Alor Setar is so so stale. Mercifully, Penang is able to fill the vacuum, and it is little wonder that all of us have a soft spot for the pearly island and its capital George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage City. In George Town, the dilapidated second-hand bookshops on the first floor of Chowrasta Market is one of Papa’s regular haunts. After several visits, the book dealer knows exactly Papa’s reading genre, and he often sets aside hard-to-find travel and lifestyle magazines to enrich Papa’s eclectic magazine collection.

Mama, on the other hand, loves to frequent Kenko to partake in reflexology and fish spa therapy. While both of them indulge in their simple pleasures, my siblings and I take the opportunity to spoil ourselves by watching the latest 3D movies at the Golden Screen Cinema, Gurney Plaza. The pamperings are invariably packed with a walk about the food trail and the heritage trail to savour Penang's glorious street foods and ogle at the old buildings, unravaged by time and the Barbarians.

In the later part of 2009, Penang's magnetic pull is bolstered by another irresistable attraction. The Hard Rock Hotel in Batu Ferringhi (formerly Casuarina Beach Resort), the third in Asia after Bali and Pattaya, is a highly sought after place to escape to.

The hotel is adorned with mosaics, statues and memorabilia associated with the Fab Four. They are all over the place; on the wall, on the roof top, in the teens club and even inside the guestrooms.

The Penang Hard Rock Hotel seems to translate the 1Malaysia concept to a tee, as reflected in the staff mix and the muhibbah local guests. The foreign visitors are also diverse and serbanika.

At night, when the poolside and beachfront are deserted, guests decamp to the Ferringhi night market, a walking distance from the hotel, for a bout of shopping. Here one can find DVDs of all time movie classics such as Breakfast at Tiffany's sell for a mere RM4. Rockers who find the pasar malam ambience tiresome make a beeline and converge to the hotel’s lounge lobby to listen to a lissom and energetic warga emas belting out Mick Jagger’s I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, with lips pouting, head banging and all, accompanied by sing along choruses from the appreciative young-at-heart audience. While we still can’t get enough of HRH, for our next trip to the revitalised Penang, Papa is already persuading us to try a new "fun" venue, next to the Methodist Boys School. Haiyaa.

And finally, for the record, here are my family members previous encounters with the Fab Four and Hard Rock, taken almost a decade ago in London.

Joy and Sorrow in March 2010

2010-03-20T16:10:00.006+08:00

The elegant and dignified Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong meets her match in Ruby Ahmad, an exceptional Malaysian who breathed her last on Monday March 15, 2010. Our deepest condolences to her family.

Last week during the one-week school holiday, my parents, my sister and I were in KL to attend a family wedding at the Subang Golf Club. My brother could not join us as he had to spend time at his college with his Robotic team to make the final preparation for the 2010 First Lego League (FLL) Malaysian Open Championship.

We spent our weekend at Wan Cu’s house in Cheras.

Immediately after the wedding of Wan Long's and Tok Long's youngest son on Monday night, we left KL and drove back up north.

On the way back, we made a stop-over in Ipoh and stayed at the Majestic Station Hotel aka The Taj Mahal of Ipoh.

On the wall of the hotel’s vintage lift is a sticker of a grand grand-pa pleading “Hi Dearest Girls & Boys… So Lovely Girls & Boys …” to treat him gently and kindly.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel’s huge verandah, and were quite surprised to see the kind of clientele the hotel attracts.

Before we left Ipoh on Tuesday, despite all the hassles, Papa could not resist the opportunity to take a photo of me with the impossibly handsome St Michael’s Institution in the background.

As we were leaving Ipoh, my brother and his Robotic team were travelling the opposite direction to KL. On Wednesday and Thursday, the team competed in the FLL at the Pusat Sains Negara. Although the team did not win any prizes, it was a good exposure and learning experience for them. In Facebook, LET'S MAKE KOLEJ SULTAN ABDUL HAMID "SEKOLAH BERPRESTASI TINGGI" BY 2015 has this to say:

Today is a sad day for the College Robotics Team. After 2 days of grueling competition in the FIRST Lego League Open Championship at the National Science Center, the team ended their challenge without collecting a single award. Sixty schools from all over Malaysia participated in this championship organized by SASBADI. It was clear that our team was outclassed on all fronts - team spirit, robot performance, teamwork, project, and robot design. Kudos to the students for giving their level best, but at the end of the day it is all about true preparedness and good management of the team. CLEARLY THE COLLEGE TEAM NEEDS HELP.

On reaching home, Papa learned the sorrowful news that the vibrant and unpretentious Ruby Ahmad had passed away on Monday. Many loving tributes instantly poured in from fellow bloggers. To Papa, she is the epitome of beauty, a gracious lady with beautiful heart and mind. The last time they exchanged ideas was on Feb 4, 2010 when the frightfully clever and incisively perceptive Ruby challenged the authorities to consider changing their silly ways:

Dato, Dato', Datuk, Datin Paduka, Datin, Toh Puan! Can't there be a move to standardise? It is a constant headache for letter writing & sending out invites, as people can be sensitive to spellings & accuracy of their titles …arghh ... so standardise lah, boleh?!

In November 2008, she wrote this profound reminder:

One should know, we are here only temporary.
One should know death is inevitable.
For, that, we continue slogging, as long as our integrity is intact.
There is no point, reaching a certain wealth status, when all one did was dipping into coffers that don't belong to you.
Better the sweat & toil, but, we did it with dignity.
The ONE above is All Seeing.
So grieve. But don't regret the good that one is doing.

Get busy living for the good of many.

Don't with this grieve, make society lose you.

You have done a world of good. Rest in peace our dearest Ruby Ahmad. Al-Fatihah.

Glimpses of Life in Riyadh 2006/07 - The Blessed and the Radiant Holiest Cities

2010-02-01T20:24:00.015+08:00

Glimpses of Life in Riyadh 2006/07- Child's Play

2010-01-30T02:03:00.021+08:00

DQ Apr. 2007

RAYA @ DQ Oct. 2006

DQ Oct. 2006

Anwar Al-Majd International School (AMIS) Nov. 2006

DQ Nov. 2006 - to AMIS

Camel Park March 2007

DQ Apr. 2007

Al-Hammadi Hospital Apr. 2007

Downtown Riyadh Apr./May 2007

Glimpses of Life in Riyadh 2006/07- Tanah tumpah darahku

2010-01-22T15:11:00.006+08:00

Nov-Dec 2009 Holiday Chronicle - Romantic Melaka vs. Slick Singapore

2010-01-04T07:30:00.008+08:00

The rise and fall, as the case may be, of Melaka (Malacca), Penang and Singapore as trading ports along the important trade route between India and China during the 15th to 19th century was partly attributable to the battle between two global companies; British East India Company (EIC) and the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC).

Of the three port towns, Melaka, founded at the start of the 15th century, had the head start and soon became the most prosperous entrepot in Southeast Asia. The Portuguese chronicler Tome Pires audaciously proclaimed “Whoever is lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice”. After the Portuguese seized Melaka in 1511, spice prices soared in Venice’s Rialto and Muslim merchants abandoned Melaka in favour of Aceh.

The establishment of VOC in 1602 with the objective of carrying out colonial activities in Asia led to the Dutch wrested Melaka from the Portuguese in 1641. However, the Dutch gradually marginalised Melaka in favour of Batavia (present-day Jakarta). With the opening of Penang as a free port in 1786 and the Dutch power ebbed away, Melaka slipped precipitously into obscurity. Following the collapse of VOC and Dutch defeat in the Napoleonic Wars in 1794, Melaka and other VOC possessions, including Batavia, were transferred to the British. When Melaka was temporarily under the British rule (1794-1818), Melaka’s inhabitants were encouraged to migrate to Penang. After the Napoleonic Wars ended, Melaka was returned to the Dutch, a move regarded as an anti-climax by a certain empire builder.

The decimation of Melaka as the foremost port “of such importance and profit that it ... has no equal in the world” was completed when Sir Stamford Raffles acquired Singapore in 1819 for the EIC in order to break the Dutch hold over trade in the Malay Archipelago. In 1824, Britain and the Netherlands signed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London whereby the Dutch gave up Melaka and their claims on Singapore and in return the British handed over Sumatra to the Dutch. The Treaty led to the establishment of the Straits Settlements, with Penang as its capital. By the early 1830s, Singapore had eclipsed Penang in terms of commerce, and became the new capital of the Straits Settlements.

On our way to the futuristic and slick city down south, we made a brief stopover in Melaka, a historical town with a glorious past. The UNESCO World Heritage City looks pretty amazing. We followed the heritage trails and stopped at a few architectural streetscapes and decorative shophouses for a closer look. In common with Penang and Singapore, Melaka’s Street of Harmony i.e. Jalan Tokong is ornamented with a fusion of houses of worship including an old mosque with pagoda-style minaret and pyramid-shaped roof in place of domes, not unlike the original Masjid Sultan in Kampong Glam.

We also tried the boat cruise along the not-so-murky Melaka River, and my parents felt a sense of deja vu when swamped before their eyes are lovely Dutch style buildings, well preserved Kampong Morten, immaculate Peranakan dwellings, palatial townhouses and delectable riverside cafes which somehow rekindled the old world charm of magical Amsterdam and Venice.

Nov-Dec 2009 Holiday Chronicle - Songs of the Sea

2010-01-03T17:00:00.001+08:00

Welcome to the New Year, and new start (ornamenting this blog with video clips that is). While in Singapore recently, we also had the opportunity to experience Singapore's multi-sensory extravaganza at the Sentosa Island. If you are still in celebratory mood, please click the following short video clips to view the moveable feast of flame bursts, water jets and laser lights.

May 2010 be better and more vibrant. Enjoy ...

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Nov-Dec 2009 Holiday Chronicle – The Runaway Singapore

2009-12-27T12:40:00.024+08:00

The 44-day school holiday which started on 20th November is nearing its end, with just a week more to go. So far, we managed to cram in a few travel activities in the year end holiday programme, including a visit to the roaring Lion City down south.

Singapore is one of the two cities in South East Asia which are featured in John Julius Norwich’s The Great Cities in History. We spent five days there recently and saw first hand how the

city-state is seriously transforming itself into a dazzling megapolis. The scenic Marina Bay along the Singapore River is set to sparkle even more when new glittering skyscrapers with sweeping one-hectare SkyPark are completed in a new integrated resort (IR) being developed by casino giant, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. A slew of new generation botanical gardens by the bay will leave many tourists and business visitors especially from the Middle East green with envy. The first Youth Olympic Games to be held in August 2010 will herald the brand new bewitching Marina Bay.

During the first three days, Papa had important business to attend to. After it was over, we all moved out from the posh hotel in Orchard Road to a delightful little hotel in Liitle India. And Papa spent the whole time with us exploring the city-state in the remaining days. Without doubt, the Singapore Government leaves no stones unturned in making sure tourists are well looked after during their stay here. The guides who are tasked to make tourists feel welcome go about their jobs with enthusiastic aplomb every single second.

Papa raves about the hip hotel in Perak Road as it provides ample reading material and is adorned with simple and tasteful décor and an array of objets de art. While the rest of us were soundly asleep, he woke up early to have a quiet and solitude moment, enjoying breakfast while leafing through assorted travel magazines including CNN Traveller, Conde Nast Traveler and our own Travel3Sixty. We joined him several hours later and by then the other hotel residents had occupied most of the Peranakan-style dining tables.

To maximise the sightseeing opportunities, we bought the Singapore Pass which entitled us to an unlimited ride on the open-top double decker bus which stops at all the major city attractions and the heritage sites including Suntec City, Botanical Gardens, Raffles Hotel and the Esplanade (aka the Durians) - the theatres on the bay with its signature spikey domes, inspired by microphone top instead of the affectionate King of the fruits. The Singapore Pass also gives us free entrance to a slew of museums including the ACM, free cruise down the Singapore River on an authentic bumboat, free ride on the Singapore Flyer Ferris Wheel and the one of a kind Singapore Ducktours boat-on-wheels experience.

"Our" favourite makan and lepak area is Kampong Glam. Although Gelam is a tree, it is perfectly proper to associate Kampong Glam with a glamorous Malay Village. Any visitors who walk around the Arab Quarter in Kampong Glam are almost certain to be mesmerised by the trendy cafes, designer and assorted bric-a-brac shops teeming with ingenuity and flair along Haji Lane, Arab Street and Bussorah Street which are bookended by the alluring Masjid Sultan. My sister adores the nasi lemak at the alfresco Kampong Glam Cafe, Mama is particularly fond of the nasi ayam penyet at Hajjah Esah, Papa can spend endless hours sipping latte at Sleepy Sam’s and my brother who is not really a foodie, is perfectly happy just to keep company with his more than two-year old PSP.

In Kampong Glam, they were reacquainted with a Singapore family whom they befriended in Coventry from 1997-2001. Dr Ameen Talib and his wife Fatimah now run a successful café in Arab Street. In fact, Café Le Caire, opened in 2001, is a pioneer in Middle Eastern style café in Singapore, and is mentioned in the International Herald Tribune WEEKEND when we were there. Lonely Planet - Singapore Encounter (First edition, Sept 08, p.92) describes it as an absolute must (well almost):

Blink and you’ll miss it during the day, but at night this alcohol-free Egyptian café becomes a miniature scene, especially at weekends, colonising both sides of the street with tables and rugs, filled with lounging shisha-smokers and eager diners gorging on kebabs and superb dips. A must.

Another unmissable attraction in Kampong Glam is the Malay Heritage Centre. Old film magazines and Bangsawan Opera are among the nostalgic items displayed there. We had our nasi padang lunch at Sabar Menanti, situated along Kandahar Street in the vicinity of the palace belonging to the last Sultan of Singapore. As you can see from my Zzzz (ahem) photos, Kampong Glam seems to be the place where everyone wants to be, except me. TO BE CONTINUED ...

Portrait of a Fortnight: Rialto, San Marco and The Grand Canal

2009-10-24T11:06:00.000+08:00

1. MORE OF MILAN

2. VENICE HIGHLIGHTS

3. HOME SWEET HOME

Portrait of a Fortnight: Milan Encounter with Beckhams, Hemingway and Ole-Kristian (who?)

2009-10-10T15:00:00.016+08:00

To the fashionistas, Milan is in the same league as Paris and New York. To the arty-farty and culture vulture crowd, Milan is the home of music and Leonardo’s The Last Supper. To the literati set, war-torn Milan is the city that inspired an anti-war novel, famous for its deeply moving opening paragraph. The vivid depiction of the WW1 landscape and the climate, where the ravages of war left everything “layu sebelum waktunya”, is quintessentially Hemingway:

In the late autumn of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.

I was here on a different mission, not in search of glitter or to ogle at Caravaggio or Mantegna, or to soak in the emotional outpourings of Verdi or Puccini. Not even to trace the footsteps of Hemingway. Rather to learn and seek knowledge from management gurus who are at the cutting edge of business research. They came from top schools in New York, Toronto, London, etc, for a meeting of minds at SDA Bocconi.

We landed at the Malpensa airport just before 3 pm on September 8th. As the KLM plane began its smooth descent, we got a bird’s eye view of the Alps. Not quite sure whether we flew above Mont Blanc, as the mountains look more brown than white.

From the airport, we made a mistake (with the benefit of hindsight) of taking the Malpensa Express, instead of the Malpensa Shuttle, to get to Mussolini’s Milan Central Station (Stazione Centrale). We decided to make Stazione Centrale our base since we were informed a few days earlier by MATRADE Milan through email that the halal restaurants are located in the vicinity of Stazione Centrale. The shuttle bus goes direct to Stazione Centrale, whereas by taking the express train, as we did, we had to change at Cadorna Stazione, and from there catch the metro to get to our intended destination. A real hassle it turned out to be. All the left luggage lockers at Cadorna Stazione were out of order, so lugging our bags from platform to platform until we found the elusive DEPOSITO/BAGAGLI was something we had to endure. A minor inconvenience to test our patience during Ramadhan.

Once we got off the metro at Stazione Centrale, we trained our eyes to look for signpost pointing the exact location of left luggage locker/office. We found none. Unlike Amsterdam, the poor signpost gives the impression that visitors are not courted here and left to their own devices. Instead, swamped before our eyes are the billboards of the insanely hot couple, Becks and Posh, stripped to almost practically nothing. They pout, they sizzle and they pose intimately to seduce scores of the innocent bystanders and onlookers to “tiru macam saya”. Everyone can be insanely hot when clad in dreamy Armani undie or lingerie, they make us believe. And not a few were misled.

After the heavy suitcases were safely tucked away in the portabagagli, we were footloose and fancy free to roam Via Vitruvio and Via Napo Torriani in search of an agreeable hotel. As we stepped out of the main railway station, the striking Pirelli Building beckons from a distance. After a few false starts, we eventually settled for Hotel Flora, which coincidentally is one of the hotels recommended by MATRADE Milan. Due to its convenient location, we stayed put here until we blew kisses Ciao Milan, four days later.

On our first day in Milan, we went to bed early, shortly after dinner at Caffe Panzera, to conserve our energy for tomorrow’s big walk, pregnant with anticipated visual delights. Caffé Panzera is almost as old as the station, with black and white photos taken during the Fascist era crowding its wall.

The next morning we ventured into the heart of the city. The early morning light poured through the stained glass of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and illuminated its ravishing mosaic floor. Michael Palin, writer, actor, comedian and train aficionado, described it as the mother of all shopping malls. I couldn’t agree more. Prada, LV and other chicest boutiques are all here, and next to the Galleria are the intricately carved Duomo Cathederal and La Scala, the revered opera house.

Before starting the Milan stroll, we visited the Tourist Information Centre. It has copies of the monthly free guide hello milano, which is an extremely rare English publication about the local happenings. Haughty Milan, sans a TimeOut monthly, is strangely behind subzero Kuala Lumpur, in the art of pleasing the visitors. As Lonely Planet succintly puts it “Milanese don’t have time to play nice for visitors”.

To be continued

Portrait of a Fortnight: The Art of Living in Milan

2009-09-28T13:40:00.003+08:00

No, that’s not the latest creation by our Jimmy Choo, incorporating art mosaic into his shoe design. It is a bathtub on display in a SICIS showroom located along Via Fatebenefratelli. Benvenuta/o to the art of living in Milan. But it is not all hunky dory here in this city where design is a way of life. Cheap tacky impersonation of our lovely heritage is on display too. Like this one.

More text later. Meanwhile, let the pictures tell a thousand words.

Portrait of a Fortnight: I amsterdam

2009-09-22T13:00:00.005+08:00

At the KLIA, before boarding the intercontinental flight, my parents purchased some essential items like the Euros, worldwide travel adaptor, rewriteable Sony DVD and soon-to-be elusive Malaysian food such as coconut juice and curry mee. Regrettably, they discovered much too late that the Euros and Sony DVDRW are much cheaper @ KL Sentral than @ KLIA.

Papa also made a quick call to Opah who just got back from her nightly tarawikh to seek her restu, as always. He got a taste of his own medicine, so to speak, when Opah sounded him “Din jangan tinggal sembahyang tau, dan jangan bawa balik H1N1. Kirim salam Wan kat Zura. Itu saja pesanan. Selamat jalan”. The rest of the I amsterdam story is narrated by Papa, for obvious reasons.

The 12-hour flight was pleasant, with no discernible turbulence. There was a host of in-flight entertainment to while away the time. The movies on offer were diverse, and I opted for never-seen-before romantic comedies; Tim Bevan’s Wimbledon and The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and an unfamiliar lead actor. Wimbledon is a huge disappointment unlike Tim Bevan’s previous work such as Four Weddings, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Atonement. Without exception, it is littered with obscenities fashionably spewed by the Sloane set; wankers, bollocks et al. The Proposal is so-so. For the final movie, I went for the tried and tested formula and clicked Atonement – an Ian McEwan’s adaptation, a movie I enjoyed with relish when viewed for the first time in Hong Kong, nearly two years ago. The central character, a man fitnahed by a fanciful 13 year old budding author on the cusp of the "complications of love", was played so delicately by James McAvoy, in sharp contrast to his peripheral role in Wimbledon.

We landed at Schiphol airport in the wee hour of the morning. After freshening up, surfing the internet and loitering around, we joined the 2 1/2 hours Amsterdam tour organized by Holland Tours Schiphol B.V. to get a glimpse of the Golden Age of Holland. There were six other transfer passengers from Russia, Canada and other countries in our group, plus Paul, the local driver-cum-tour guide. I had difficulty in understanding the baffling English spoken by Paul, as he sounded "knotted and guttural" at times.

Paul reminded us that in the 17th century, Holland was one of the world’s richest countries, and the tour took us to serene suburbs dotted with tantalizing summer houses with roofs made of straw, overlooking a picturesque tree-lined river. These mansions were once occupied by the wealthy merchants during the heyday of the Dutch East India Company. Paul made a few brief stops at the Rotterman wooden shoes and cheese factory which is a perfect one stop place to buy Dutch souvenirs and gifts at attractive prices, a private windmill, the Skinny Bridge and last but not least the Museumplein. Museumplein has a vast square dotted with brightly tattoed miniature elephants in various cheeky acrobatic positions. A clutch of Amsterdam’s grand museums can be found here: Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum and of course the Rijksmuseum with its enviable collections including the 17th century paintings by the Dutch Masters such as Vermeer’s The Milkmaid (1658), Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (1642) and Frans Hals’ The Wedding Portrait (1622). Alas, we didn’t have all the time in the world to ogle at these masterpieces.

At one point during the tour, Paul made a terse announcement “no photographs or video recording here please”. Immediately after he finished his sentence, the mini van veered into a magnificent district with attractive step/neck/bell/spout gabled shop houses along the canal displaying shapely ladies in luminous bikinis strutting their considerable stuff behind the large window. So savvy are the marketing gimmicks they unleashed to woo the predominantly non-Dutch customers, at barely 10 in the morning!. This is understandable as they have to cover the steep cost of renting the show rooms. From the window of the mini van, CREA CAFE in the vicinity of Amsterdam University looks inviting too as an extraordinarily perfect place to hang out and unwind.

To sum up, I amsterdam is an eccentrically beautiful city inhabited by generally tolerant and enlightened Amsterdammers with unorthodox mindsets who are always mindful to preserve their glorious past. Respect!

To be continued ...

Portrait of a Fortnight: Pre-Departure

2009-09-18T11:02:00.011+08:00

Where do I begin? To tell the story of a fortnight, of many firsts. Mama’s first unforgettable sight of Venice, Papa’s first nerve wracking plenary presentation to a select audience comprising eminent management gurus from the leading business schools in the US and Europe, and me and my siblings being deprived of their intimate attention for a week. One whole week.

On Friday, a fortnight ago, i.e. two days before their departure to Italy, they invited a few friends to Suasana Permai for iftar. They ordered the masakan kampung from their favourite stall in Hutan Kampung. Understandably the weight freak guests did not eat like crazy and so there were lots of left-over food for them to tapau. To help with the cleaning up, Mama engaged the service of a super efficient Myanmar lady.

On Sunday the 6th of September, after work and school, they drove all of us first to Alor Setar to meet Mama’s friend who has generously offered to look after my brother during their sojourn. Her son also happens to be a classmate of my brother at SAHC. During the process of transferring my brother’s personal belongings at the emotional handover, my brother realized that he forgot to pack his white Bata shoes. Papa gave him an additional pocket money to buy a new pair of shoes and reminded him profusely “Jangan tinggal sembahyang OK” as we said our goodbyes.

From there, we drove to Mak Su’s place in Butterworth for iftar. After iftar my parents had their shower, and just before they made their way to the Butterworth railway station, they decidedly left behind their smelly office wear in the care of Mak Su. As I so enjoyed my sister’s company, they made a prior decision that it’s best that my sister stayed with me throughout our stay with Mak Su. Which means that she had to be absent from school for a few days, excluding the UPSR leave.

And so we had our farewell on the railway platform , right at the door step of the KTM train, which was a wise decision as I could see right before my very own eyes how my parents were whisked away slowly and tenderly by the romantic Senandung Malam train amidst the chugging lullaby sound of sweet “tuut, tuuut, tuuuut”. Just before they disappeared into the still night, they cuddled and smothered all over me with their kisses and kept telling me in quick succession

“Mama dan Papa pergi kerja OK."

"Nanti Papa bawa balik Percy dan Harold OK."

" Nak tak?”.

And I just nodded and nodded.

They arrived at the KL Sentral the next day, just before imsak. Mama called Mak Su Suria and Mak Teh, and arranged for an impromptu meeting at the Mid Valley. Later she called Makcik Chah who spontaneously invited them to an iftar function near KL Sentral. Much to his protest, Papa was asked to join the main table, and sans baju melayu and songkok, he was the odd man out. If they had told him it was an official function, he could have borrowed the Hang Tuah baju melayu designed by Mak Su Suria and perhaps added more lustre to an already commendable event.

After performing the maghrib prayer in jamaah, the driver kindly sent them to KL Sentral and they boarded the KLIA express to catch the KLM flight to Amsterdam en route to Milan.

(To be continued)

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Selamat Hari Raya with families and friends and Maaf Zahir Batin.

Papa's Labour of Love (2)

2009-08-10T22:48:00.007+08:00

Today, on Mama’s birthday, Papa received another piece of scintillating news via email:

Dear XXXX and YY

Re: MS No. 1475

Title: SYMPOSIUM Remuneration Committee, Ownership Structure and Pay-for-Performance: Evidence from Malaysia

After careful review of your article "SYMPOSIUM Remuneration Committee, Ownership Structure and Pay-for-Performance: Evidence from Malaysia", we believe that your article shows considerable promise.

So we are pleased to inform you that your paper titled has been accepted for presentation at the ZZZZ Special Issue Symposium on "An International Perspective on Performance Evaluation and Executive Compensation" (on Executive Compensation and Performance Evaluation?), to be held at SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milano, Italy, September aa-bb, 2009.

....

....
Please note that publication in ZZZZ depends on further work as suggested by the referee and as (will be) indicated by the discussion that will follow the presentation at the Symposium

Alhamdulillah, the referee of that top-tier journal found it "to be an interesting and extremely clearly written paper. The literature survey is useful and the hypotheses fall out nicely from the development.”

Here is the introduction section of the paper, which is based on a nearly completed PhD thesis supervised by Papa.

Executive remuneration has become one of the prominent topics in contemporary corporate governance. The mainstream view, derived from the principal-agent framework, is that a well designed compensation contract helps to incentivize executives to enhance shareholder value (e.g., Jensen and Murphy, 1990; Murphy, 1999). Strong pay-for-performance sensitivity is seen as the key metric in aligning the divergent incentives of executives and shareholders. However, a more skeptical view sees compensation contract as a perverse instrument of greed rather than a shareholder-friendly incentive mechanism (Bebchuk and Fried, 2006). One form of managerial opportunism, or private benefits of control, is when CEOs and top management awarded themselves stupendous pay-without-performance to the detriment of shareholders. In other words, the board of directors sets compensation that deviates from arm’s length contracting. Negative coverage on grossly overpaid top management is regularly featured in the international financial press (Core, Guay, & Larcker, 2008). Malaysia is not spared. In 2007, angry shareholders of Transmile Group voted against the payment of directors’ fees for the financial year ended 2006 after financial irregularities were made public.1

The ample empirical evidence suggests that executive compensation is largely insensitive to firm performance (e.g., Jensen and Murphy, 1990; Garen, 1994; Barkema and Gomez-Mejia, 1998; Zhou, 2000; Firth, Fung, & Riu, 2007; Merhebi, Pattenden, Swan, & Zhou, 2006; Duffhues and Kabir, 2007). This low pay-for-performance sensitivity raises concern that executives pay arrangements do not provide sufficient incentives to deliver performance or they create agency costs in the form of excess pay (Bebchuk and Fried, 2003).

Given the observed decoupling of pay and performance, a number of studies have attempted to unravel how the pay-for-performance link can be strengthened in order to fulfill the promise of executive compensation as a mechanism to align the interests of executives and shareholders by investigating the role of remuneration committee and ownership structure. Conyon (1997) examines the influence of remuneration committee adoption in UK companies, and finds that, in some circumstances, the adoption lower the growth rates in top director compensation. Conyon and Peck (1998) investigate the affect of outside directors in remuneration committee decisions, and report that they enhance the pay-for-performance sensitivity. However, studies in the US by Anderson and Bizjak (2003) and Vafeas (2003) report insignificant results on the influence of remuneration committee independence towards level of CEO pay. A more recent study by Sun and Cahan (2009) attempts to provide explanation for the mixed findings. Using a broader and richer measure of remuneration committee quality instead of just focusing on independence, they show that the sensitivity of CEO compensation to accounting performance is related to the governance quality of the remuneration committee, for US companies with fully independent remuneration committees.

With respect to ownership structure, Gomez-Mejia, Tosi and Hinken (1987) and Tosi and Gomez-Mejia (1989) document that the responsiveness of CEO pay to performance is greater in owner-controlled firm than management-controlled firm in the US manufacturing sector.2 A meta analysis of CEO pay studies by Tosi, Werner, Katz and Gomez-Mejia (2000) concludes that firm size rather than performance is the strongest predictor of CEO pay in management-controlled firms, while performance-related pay is more prevalent in owner-controlled firms. Further evidence on the importance of ownership structure in the pay-for-performance linkage for countries in Asia is provided by Firth et al. (2007) and Kato and Long (2005). Their studies show that in China, the pay-for-performance link is weaker or insignificant in listed firms owned by the state bureaucracy. Meanwhile, Kato, Kim and Lee (2007) document that pay-for-performance link is significant for Korean non-Chaebol firms but negligible for Chaebol firms.

Denis and McConnell (2003) suggest that the interrelationship between executive compensation and corporate governance mechanisms remains a fruitful area for research worldwide. Bruce, Buck and Main (2005) suggest that country-level institution should be factored into in analyzing executive pay. Furthermore, Kabir (2008) observes that not much is known about how firms across the world reward their executives outside the US, primarily due to the lack of publicly available information on executive pay and very intensive data collection requirements. We continue this line of research and investigate whether internal governance mechanisms, particularly the remuneration committee structure and ownership structure, influence the pay-for-performance link using a unique data set on remuneration practices and directors’ remuneration in Malaysia.

In addition, this study is also motivated by Conyon (2006) who challenged researchers to distinguish between the two competing theories of executive compensation namely the principal-agent and managerial power. Thus, our study also attempts to disentangle the managerial power and principal-agent views of executive pay. As mentioned earlier, the principal-agent (or optimal contracting) view of executive compensation holds that a well designed incentive contract whereby managers are suitably rewarded for generating shareholder value helps to closely align the interests of managers and shareholders (e.g., Jensen and Murphy, 1990; Core, Holthausen, & Larcker (1999). However, Bebchuk and Fried (2003) argue that the promise that managerial incentive contract is a partial solution to the agency problem remains largely unfulfilled. Bebchuk and Fried (2003) are of the view that executive compensation exacerbates the agency problem by promoting rent-extracting on the part of the executives. In their alternative managerial power story on executive compensation, powerful CEOs have great sway over their own pay by capturing the board, resulting in rent extraction in the form of greater CEO pay, or pay-without-performance, to the detriment of shareholders.

Malaysia provides a unique setting to examine the applicability of managerial power and principal-agent views in the determination of executive pay. Following the introduction of the voluntary Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) in 2000, companies listed on Bursa Malaysia are required to make public the Statement of Corporate Governance incorporating disclosure on directors’ remuneration. The MCCG emphasizes the following principles on directors’ remuneration. Firstly, in the case of executive directors, remuneration should be structured so as to link rewards to corporate and individual performance. Secondly, companies should establish a formal and transparent procedure for developing policy on executive remuneration and for fixing the remuneration packages of individual directors. And thirdly, company’s annual report should contain details of the remuneration of each director. Under best practices in corporate governance, the MCCG recommends companies to establish a remuneration committee consisting of wholly or mainly non-executive directors. The committee is allowed to get an advice from consultant relating to executive directors’ remuneration and recommend to the board an appropriate remuneration for the executive directors.

By exploiting the enhanced disclosures on the activities of remuneration committees and directors’ pay, and whether the companies observe the corporate governance principle by linking executive pay to performance, we expect that companies are subject to the dark side of managerial power when they do not subscribe to performance-related pay scheme, and for such companies, at high level of managerial ownership, level of pay is an increasing function of managerial ownership. Specifically, the objectives of this study are (1) to examine whether companies that publicly disclosed that they subscribe to the MCCG’s principles in structuring the executive remuneration so as to link rewards to corporate and individual performance actually practice what they preach, (2) to examine whether strong remuneration committee structure enhances the pay-for-performance link, (3) to examine whether ownership structures influence the pay-for-performance link.

Using data from 2003-2005, our results show that companies that claim that their reward system is related to performance, generally ‘do what they say’, and companies with strong remuneration committees appear to design their executive pay packages so as to reward their executives for creating shareholder value. It appears that institutional investors are associated with higher pay-for-performance relationship. The pay-for-performance relationship seems to weaken when managerial ownership exceeds 35 percent, possibly due to the dark side of managerial power.

Our study contributes to executive pay-for-performance literature in a few ways. Firstly, we extend the measurement of the governance quality of remuneration committee by including the activities of the remuneration committees. And secondly, we show that in situation where managerial power is at its most destructive, i.e. when companies have very high managerial ownership and at the same time they do not subscribe to performance-related pay scheme, rent extraction by executives in the form of excessive pay is likely.

The paper is organized as follows. The next section summarizes the prior literature on pay-for-performance link and develops the hypotheses to achieve our research objectives. This is followed by a description of the pay-for-performance model. Next, we explain the sample selection and data sources. The penultimate section presents the results and the final section concludes the paper and discusses the implications of our study for the governance of publicly traded companies.

[1] Transmile Group, the air cargo carrier, attracted attention in the early part of 2007 when its external auditor Deloitte & Touche blew the whistle after discovering irregularities in prior years’ audited financial statements, involving unsubstantiated sales of more than RM600 million from 2004 to 2006. Subsequently, Transmile Group restated its financial statements from a profit of RM158 million to a loss of RM126 million for the year ended December 2006. In July and November 2007, its former CEO, CFO and two non-executive directors were charged in court with abetting the company in providing misleading financial statements. At the AGM held in September 2007, more than two third of the shareholders voted against the payment of director fees for 2006 totalling RM145,000. The non-executive Chairman of Transmile Group, who is an ex-Transport Minister, resigned shortly before the said AGM. He joined the board of Transmile Group in 2004 when the Kuok Group emerged as a new controlling shareholder.
[2] Firm is referred as owner-controlled when there is single equity holder who controls as little as 5 percent of the voting stock. Meanwhile, firm is referred as management-controlled when there is no equity holder with at least 5 percent of the stock (Tosi and Gomez-Mejia, 1989).

Obviously, Papa looks forward to showcase his supervisee's PhD work in Milan with pride, and Mama can also look forward to receive a helluva birthday present anytime soon. And we shall miss Papa for a week or so during Ramadhan.

Papa last visited Italy in 2004, where he spent a few days in Venice, and was aghast to discover that she's no longer the La Serenissima. The photo above taken during that trip prompted one of his schoolmates, an Oxford graduate, to remark that "you look like an Indonesian movie star attending the Venice film festival". Hmm, a film maker may be.

A Town School of Yesteryear

2009-07-05T23:57:00.022+08:00

Almost fourty years ago, Papa started his primary schooling in Sultan Abdullah School (SAS), Kuantan. He remembers the school’s centrepiece, a multi-storeyed timber building. The busy Wong Ah Jang Road along which the school is situated. The names of a few classmates that flicker intermittently; Khuzaimah, Kushairi, Michael and Razif. And not to forget one of the enduring distractions of his time there was the ocassional opportunities to turn his head away from the blackboard during lessons to steal a glance across the window at the deafening and dramatic Chinese funeral processions along Wong Ah Jang Road. Always replete with raw emotions.

This week, while rummaging through the photo albums kept at Opah’s place, Papa stumbled upon an old black and white photo taken in 1970. It shows the school’s Green House team (Papa’s elder brother was seated at the extreme left) that emerged as the overall champion during the Annual Sports Day. The ethnically diverse teachers, including the Sikh headmaster, all looked glamorous and respectable. Sports were the de rigueur and part and parcel of the school activities then, and the primary school boys were exposed to a slew of fancy games, including the hurdle race. That, and the whole experience at SAS, were oh-so-fun. As Papa reflected many moons ago in the decorous 3540 Jalan Sudin’s blog:

"The annual sports days were always a glittering event, with parents attending in droves. Same with the annual prize giving days. They were plenty of wonderful entertainments provided by the 10-12 year old boys on stage, sometimes in drag (no choice what?). We learnt to sing “kookaburra sits in the old gum tree”, and write the lyrics line by line in our exercise book, and between the lines we drew our own patterns. I was very good at this and drawing in general. I remember at one time, my teacher asked me whether I was interested to do illustrations to accompany a famous children book. Before she gave the responsibility to me, she asked whether I could draw a fairy. I lied and said yes, because I badly wanted it. A few days later I showed the product to her. And she said “how come your fairy is without wings and magic wand?”, but she accepted it all the same. The good thing is when my Wan visited the school during the Parent-Meet-Teacher session, she proudly showed my work of art to her. We experienced similar kind of situation in Anwar Al-Majd International School (managed by Lebanese) Riyadh where we enrolled our children Arman and Ainaa from Sept 2006 to June 2007. But now our roles are as parents, and of course no sporting, singing and dancing in public. Rather sadly we have yet to recapture the “feel good” sensation in Malaysian primary schools in the new Millenium."

All is not lost though. My elder brother’s secondary school, the Sultan Abdul Hamid College (SAHC), is still committed to churn out an all-round scholar, sportsman and gentleman. Way to go …

UPDATE: 6 July 2009

The photo below shows young scholars, sportsmen and gentlemen of SAHC waiting to receive their excellence awards from the affable and young-at-heart the Regent of Kedah during the Iskandar Hari Anugerah Cemerlang 2009 today.

UPDATE: 10 July 2009

In those days, parents had a choice whether to send their children to Malay-medium or English-medium schools. Papa's parents decided to send their eldest and third boys to Sek Bukit Galing, a Malay-medium school, and their second son and Papa to SAS, an English-medium school. Although Papa's cohort in 1970 was the first batch to learn Maths and Science in Malay at a formerly English-medium school, but he did well in his Standard One assessment, and was selected to fast-track to Standard Three (skipping Standard Two) the following year. In Standard Three, he learned Maths and Science in English, the last batch to do so, before the PPSMI policy was reinstated in 2003 (which has benefited my siblings). However by 2012, it's back to square one, and round and round the circle again, instead of moving forward in the 21st Century.

Why can't parents be given a choice like the good old days whether to opt for PPSMI or otherwise? I am pretty sure my parents want the best education for me that prepares me well to compete in the globalised world. We have no conventional private schools in Kubang Pasu. Even if we have one, I really don't know whether they can afford it. Assuming they can afford it, they would rather prefer me to have a balanced and complete social life, and not mingle exclusively with the children of the so-called elites of our society.

Read an erudite analysis on the dark side and "unintended" consequences of PPSMI here.

A Voyage Round the Taiping Lake Gardens

2009-06-14T13:40:00.028+08:00

When they were living in The Midlands of England, my parents took my two-something brother to Twycross Zoo for a close encounter with the lions. Before she turned two, my sister got the opportunity to be up close and personal with the koalas at the stupendously breathtaking Sydney’s Taronga Zoo. Needless to say, my brother tagged along too.

As some of you may know, I celebrated my second birthday recently. Alas, I have never been to any real zoos, until yesterday. My parents finally remedied their remissness just before they wrapped up the two-week school holiday. No, we did not fly to England or Australia to see the animal kingdom. We all went to Taiping Zoo, which is equally remarkable, although nothing can top the elevated Taronga Zoo with its panoramic view of the Sydney Cove, Opera House and the so-called coathanger bridge.

But, the bonus is, on the way there we stopped for buffet lunch at the Sarkies Corner. It is the same old story. The place has a distinctly Chinese feel. I ate lots of strawberries and other dainty deserts. My parents were complacent with the consistently perfect grilled salmon fillets, so much so they were not tempted to try the very long and slender Japanese fish.

In the middle of the long lunch, when I was getting restless, Papa took me out for a stroll along the promenade of the Eastern and Oriental Hotel. As usual, I had to strike a few poses. Not that I am complaining.

Now, back to the zoo thingy. It is situated in the picturesque, serene and verdant Taiping Lake Gardens, famous for its luxurious rain trees with fat trunks and shapely branches, near the foot of Bukit Larut (formerly Maxwell Hill). As soon as we entered the zoo, a long queue for the mini trains was already building up, despite the trains coming and going at frequent intervals.

Although the location is not as perfect as Taronga Zoo, the animals seem happy and contented here, especially the orang utans who monkeyed around mischievously. It is very rare to stumble upon unoccupied kandangs, unlike the “zoo” at the Terengganu State Museum that we visited in 2007. All the kandangs there were virtually empty. Have the animals too been mistreated, not unlike what happened to rambling and exquisite mosques in the land of keropok lekor? On our way out, Papa uprooted one or two exotic plants hoping that they will grow and bloom in the wee gardens or “conservatory” of our pondok in Suasana Permai.

We then drove slowly and leisurely round and round the Taiping Lake Gardens to soak in the atmosphere and indulge in a spot of people gazing, with intent. The invigorating place was teeming with serious joggers more focused on their power running than taking in the scenery, relatives and friends throwing shuttlecocks at each other playfully, peddlers exercising vigorously with their upper or lower limbs on the strikingly eclectic boats and grandparents (could be parents) indulging their cucus (could be children) at the many playgrounds scattered around the tranquil lake. Hmm, when people saw Papa carrying me on his comfy shoulder, did they perceive a young modern grandfather indulging/spoiling/taming his romping cucu too?

Another unmistakable vision of Taiping Lake Gardens is of course the scene of perfectly groomed young couples all dressed up in their glamorous wedding attires, posing for that obligatory wedding photos. That evening we saw a couple who came complete with hulubalangs and dayangs. Psst, in 1995, Mama and Papa also stopped by here before honeymooning in Cameron Highlands. But to an impressionable toddler like me, the most vivid sight of all at the Taiping Lake Gardens is the unbearable sight of monkeys consuming ice cream and that covetable fizzy drink enthusiastically, which Mama wouldn’t let me have a sip.

With the zoo outing out of the way, I am now harbouring the thought of dreamy Paris Disneyland and Windsor Legoland. Here are some old photos of my parents and siblings having a

whale of a time at the Twycross Zoo, Disneyland Paris and Taronga Zoo.

Guess, where we are holidaying?

2009-06-03T18:25:00.004+08:00

And looking forward to tomorrow's irresistable breakfast.

Uncluttered Days in Rustic Langkawi

2009-05-03T22:03:00.036+08:00

To fulfill Opah’s request, we spent a few uncluttered days in idyllic rural Langkawi recently. Our activities include celebrating my Second Birthday (a belated one) at Pantai Cenang, while ogling at the sunset and watching the boisterous local beach bums having fun. I had fun too stroking the gentle deers and feeding the cheeky monkeys with tasty maruku. When I was here six months ago, I remember I carried the rabbits by lifting their floppy ears, but this time to stop me repeating similar mischief, the operator of the animal farm had decided to cage the innocent rabbits. Poor, poor rabbits.

Did I hear Papa remarked “Itulah lain kali jangan pulas telinga si flip-flop tu. Sekarang tengok apa dah jadi”. That's Papa at his cheeky best. So cryptic, don't you think? At the Underwater World, I couldn’t bear to look at some of the scary marine species. I was so entranced watching a couple of aeroplanes quickly took off from the Langkawi International Airport while the others were busy salivating their laksa power under the huge cherry trees sandwiched between the airport and the Andaman Sea. After two days of fun and frolic, I was absolutely knackered by the time we took the return ferry to Kuala Kedah. Opah did not follow us back as she would prefer to spend a few more unhurried days in invigorating and soothing Langkawi.

Note: I had a teensy weensy bit of temperature while in Langkawi but thanks to Mak Su who suggested KOOLFEVER to Mama. It is a cool, jolly clever product, invented by the Japanese. Papa bought it in one of the mini markets in Langkawi. It stayed in place on my forehead, no matter how boisterous I was. The moisten gel is blue in colour, not unlike nila.

Papa's Labour of Love

2009-04-30T09:24:00.004+08:00

Today Papa received an advance birthday present in the form of a sukacita email titled MS-2323 ACCEPTANCE, from the US:

Dear Professor XXXX,

Congratulations! Your paper, “Impact of family firm and board composition on corporate transparency: Evidence based on segment disclosures in Malaysia,” has been accepted for publication in Volume XXX of the Journal. Attached you will find a copyright agreement for you to sign.

Also, please make sure to send to me your final version of your paper so I may prepare for English editing purposes.

Thank you for your contribution!

It has been a long, long road to publishing. Papa was asked to do two rounds of major corrections, and yet he was unfazed. Persevered, he did. Syukur, syukur Alhamdulilah, and syukran to all friends, colleagues and organizations who made this possible. The paper will be published at the end of 2009, but we suspect the article in press will be available online in the third quarter of 2009. For those who are suitably inclined, this is only the beginning ….. section:

Does this mean I can expect to have a grand belated birthday celebration anytime soon?

***********************
1. Introduction
An important area of accounting research, that has been receiving tremendous attention recently, emphasizes the influence that corporate governance may have on corporate transparency (Fan and Wong, 2002; Beekes et al., 2004; Ajinkya et al., 2005; Karamanou and Vafeas, 2005; Beekes and Brown, 2006; Wang, 2006; Ahmed and Duellman, 2007; Ali et al., 2007; Garcia-Lara et al., 2007). The dimensions of corporate transparency investigated include quality of earnings in terms of accruals quality, earnings informativeness and accuracy and bias of management earnings forecast.[i] Two internal corporate governance characteristics that are extensively investigated are ownership structures and board attributes. Given that the two extreme types of ownership structure, namely diffused ownership (widely held shareholder system) and concentrated ownership (controlling shareholder system), give rise to two types of agency problems; Type I (manager opportunism or misalignment effect) and Type II (owner opportunism or entrenchment effect) (see, for example, Gilson, 2006; Villalonga and Amit, 2006), recent studies have begun to focus more on the linkage between family firms and the quality of accounting disclosures (see, for example, Wang, 2006; Ali et al., 2007; Patelli and Prencipe, 2007; Chen et al., 2008).

The effect of ownership structure on corporate transparency is an unsettled area of research interest. For example, Fan and Wong (2002) argue that the entrenchment effect and proprietary information effect associated with concentrated ownership result in corporate opacity and low informativeness of accounting earnings. Wang (2006), on the other hand, argues that founding family firm with its unique concentrated ownership is “less likely to engage in opportunistic behavior in reporting accounting earnings because it potentially could damage the family’s reputation, wealth and long-term firm performance” (p. 622). When alignment effect overwhelms the entrenchment effect, family firm is inclined to report high quality financial information. Ali et al. (2007) show that the difference in Type I agency problem across family firm and non-family firm dominates the difference due to Type II agency problem. Thus, they observe that family firm reports higher earnings quality than non-family firm. This study contributes to the current debate on alignment versus entrenchment effect of family firm by investigating whether family firm is associated with greater corporate transparency.

The proxy used as an indicator of corporate transparency is the early adoption of an accounting standard that is associated with greater disclosure, namely the disaggregation of accounting information by business segments. Companies that adopt Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 114, previously known as Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (MASB) 22, prior to its effective date, are deemed to be proponents of corporate transparency. The standard on segment disclosure is chosen primarily because during the study period, there is evidence to suggest users’ dissatisfaction with the quality of segment disclosures as illustrated in the AIMR Corporate Disclosure Survey 2000 and OECD White Paper on Corporate Governance in Asia 2003.

In Malaysia, during 1987-2001, companies listed on Bursa Malaysia were required to comply with the original International Accounting Standard (IAS) 14. The revised IAS 14, which became effective for periods beginning on or after 1 July 1998, has not been immediately adopted in Malaysia. With the introduction of MASB 22 in 2001, listed companies in Malaysia are required to disclose segment data similar to the requirements under the revised IAS 14 for the periods beginning on or after 1 January 2002. The FRS 114-cum-IAS 14 (revised) presents major departures from the original IAS 14. The differences include the adoption of two-tier segmentation with either the business segment or the geographical segment as the dominant basis of segment reporting (primary), consistent use of accounting policies across segments and standardized measure of segment results across companies.

By electing to adopt FRS 114 prior to its effective date, companies voluntarily disclose more information especially for the primary basis of segment reporting. This is because they have to provide additional disclosures, such as depreciation and amortization expenses and other significant non-cash expenses by reportable segments, to enable users to "predict the overall amounts, timing, or risks of a complete enterprise's future cash flows". In addition, unlike the original IAS 14, FRS 114 also requires disclosures of segment liabilities in the primary segment reports and capital expenditure in both the primary and secondary segment reports, if any.

This study also addresses another tension in the corporate governance literature namely the efficacy of the two different types of non-executive directors. Various Codes on “best practice” in corporate governance around the world advocate, among others, that the composition of board of directors should have a mix of executive and non-executive directors (see, for example, Cadbury Report, 1992; King Committee Report, 1994; Bosch Committee Report, 1995). The presence of non-executive directors, who are presumably independent of management, provides the essential check and balance as they are expected to monitor and control the actions of self-serving executive directors on behalf of the external shareholders.

In the midst of call for “the more independent directors on corporate board, the better!”, a special report on non-executive directors by The Economist (20 March 2004, pp. 71-73) throws caution that the independent directors may not behave independently and thus compromise their objectivity and loyalty to the shareholders. In addition, the report also warns of the danger that ignorance may be the price of independence. The report, citing Carter and Lorsch (2004), further highlights a special breed of non-executive director who is not independent. This non-independent non-executive director is often known as affiliated or “grey” director. Klein (1998), Hermalin and Weisbach (2003), Matolcsy et al. (2004), Peng (2004) and Fich (2005), among others, highlight the distinction between affiliated director and independent director, who are both non-management members of the board. According to Klein (1998), apart from being a part timer, an affiliated director is usually an ex-employee, or related to the firm’s controlling family, or an interlocking director, or a professional with significant business or financial ties with the firm. Similarly, Peng (2004) defines affiliated and independent directors as “non-management directors who have family and/or professional relationships with the firm or firm management and non-management directors with no such relationship respectively” (p. 454). Since affiliated directors have prior associations with the firm, they often have intimate knowledge of the firm and its industry compared to many independent directors, and thus shareholders may feel affiliated directors rather than independent directors are better serving them.

Although a few studies on board composition and firm performance acknowledge the dichotomy between independent and affiliated directors (see, for example, Daily and Dalton, 1994; Dalton et al., 1998; Hermalin and Weisbach, 2003; Anderson and Reeb, 2004; Peng, 2004), there is a notable lack of empirical evidence on the relative efficacy of the two distinct types of non-executive directors in promoting corporate transparency. Past studies predominantly examine the monitoring role of independent directors or non-executive directors by treating independent and affiliated directors as a homogenous group. As a first attempt to assess the relative influence of independent versus affiliated directors in fortifying corporate transparency, and in response to the call for researchers to focus on how ownership structures shape accounting policies in emerging markets and transition economies (Fan and Wong, 2002, p. 404), this study is motivated to consider whether ownership structure (family firm versus non-family firm) and board composition (independent director proportion and affiliated director proportion) influence the timing of adoption of an accounting standard.

Malaysia provides an ideal setting to investigate the influence of family firm and board composition on corporate transparency. Firstly, family firms are prevalent in Malaysia. An article in the South China Morning Post (dated 28 August 2002, as cited by Jaggi et al., 2007) states Hong Kong has the third highest percentage of family ownership of listed companies in the region after Indonesia and Malaysia. This is further supported by Liew (2007) who concludes, based on evidence presented by Claessens et al. (1999) and World Bank (2001), that “companies in Malaysia are typically controlled by a small group of related parties and managed by owner-managers” (p. 726). Secondly, data on board mix is readily available since the annual reports of listed companies in Malaysia must include the profile of each of the directors and specify whether the director is an executive, non-independent non-executive or independent non-executive.[ii]

The results indicate that family firms (proxied by proportion of family members on board) and boards with greater proportion of affiliated directors are more inclined towards early adoption of FRS 114 in full (disclose all primary segments items) than delayed adoption. The research significance is as follows: Firstly, the finding that family firms are more likely to make greater segmental disclosures is consistent with Wang (2006) and Ali et al. (2007) who show that agency problem II is overshadowed by agency problem I. Secondly, our results show differential effects on the contribution of independent versus affiliated directors in enhancing corporate transparency. Thus, treating both independent and affiliated directors as a homogenous group may mask their equivocal influences on board monitoring and performance.

The rest of the paper proceeds as follows: Section two reviews prior studies and develops the hypotheses. Section three describes the identification of early adopters, procedure to match early adopters against non-early adopters, empirical tests, data collection and sample characteristics. The findings are presented in Section four, and Section five describes the main conclusions, practical implications, limitations of the study and suggestions of avenues for future research.

[i] Earnings informativeness is often measured by the earnings response coefficient (or earnings explanatory power for returns) and earnings conservatism (or asymmetric timeliness of earnings .i.e. speedier recognition of bad news than good news in earnings).
[ii] Paragraph 9.25 of the Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirements states that the particulars of each director shown in the annual report must include the name, age, nationality, qualification and whether the position is an executive or non-executive one and whether such director is an independent director. Among other particular to be disclosed of each director is any family relationship with any director and/or major shareholder.

1Malaysia Street @ Penang Old Town

2009-04-26T07:15:00.027+08:00

Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (formerly Pitt Street) in George Town is A Street Named Harmony. And not without merit. It is one fascinating street and has all the ingredients to be the real One Malaysia Street. The street holds a special memory for Mama and Papa. More than a decade ago, both of them visited an old jewellery shop located here to choose the engagement ring. Papa was thoroughly bought over when Mama cajoled him that “Cikgu Z, toke mah di Pasir Putih, soho dok ghoyak kat semuo oghe, di Habib Jewels ada belana cicing, gele, ghata hok molek-molek”. And as serendipity would have it, on the day they spent hours choosing just that one ring, the famous couple from Pasir Putih were there at the shop ordering this and that to replenish their rapidly depleting supplies.

Along this multicultural street, centenarian and meticulously-preserved houses of worship comingle harmoniously. The street intersects with Lebuh Light (or Light Street) in the north and connects to Lebuh Cannon in the south which in turn intersects with Lebuh Acheh. At the top of the street, near the Court Buildings, is the whitewashed St George’s Church with its Doric columns and conical steeple. A rotunda was subsequently erected next to the church to commemorate the centenary of the founding of Penang. The exterior of the church looks like a replica of the St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square, London, no?

As one moves further down the street, the next couple of temples one lays eyes on are the oldest Chinese and Hindu temples in Penang namely the Kuan Yin Temple, erected by the Hokkien and Cantonese immigrants from Southern China, and the Mahamariamman Temple, which is on the other side of the street. The grand procession during the annual Thaipusam Festival in Penang starts from here.

The next arresting landmark in Harmony Street is the flamboyant mosque with copper domes, for which the street is named. Masjid Kapitan Keling is one of the earliest mosques built in Penang and named after the leader of the Tamil Muslims community (aka Chulia). Scallopped archways embellish the interior of the mosque. Papa performed his Friday prayer here recently but couldn’t recall whether the sermon was delivered in Tamil. Hmmm ...

As one approaches the end of Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, one stumbles upon two other Chinese temples located on each side of Lebuh Cannon; the Yap Kongsi temple and the Khoo Kongsi temple, which is the most opulent of the lot. The Street of Harmony is bookended by the Masjid Melayu Lebuh Acheh. The mosque, founded by a well-heeled Achehnese prince of Arab descent, has a charming octagonal minaret that tapers at the top, and was a centre of Hajj sea-travel during the 19th century serving Muslims from North Sumatera, Pattani and the Malay States of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis. True to form, the Arab enclave in the vicinity of the mosque was formerly known as the Second Jeddah. The first Malay novel set in Malaya, Iakah Salmah, by Ahmad Rashid Talu, was born here circa the late 1920s. More on this HERE.

Parallel to Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling are two other enticing streets; Love Lane on the west and Lebuh Pantai (or Beach Street) on the east. Beach Street was the busiest street in Penang at the turn of the 19th century. A medley of handsome colonial buildings can be found here, as well as a slew of ongoing restoration work. Love Lane has rows of pre-war shophouses with butterfly-shaped air vents above the side windows on the ground floor. Some of these have been converted into cosy, delightful and hugely popular guesthouses. We were hard pressed to find a vacant room or two.

Psst, Penang was also a favourite pak tou haunt for my parents. The garden at Mutiara Hotel in Teluk Bahang (now closed) where long-legged pink flamingoes could be seen prancing around, and the poolside of Rasa Sayang in Batu Feringhi (now a superluxe resort) provided delectable ambience for them to engage in silly and idle chat. And whispered carelessly about “janji bara cinta”. Before both of them became an item, Papa also used to spend countless hours at the British Council Library in Green Hall (now closed), devouring the latest The Spectator, ILN, Country Homes and Interiors, Vanity Fair, Tatler etc before proceeding for a bowl or two of Laksa Wawasan near The Esplanade. Penang sustains the impossibly romantic tag till these days, as witnessed by all of us one fine afternoon in the late 2007. This is what Papa previously regaled to Kak Teh, the blogger with lunak-merdu voice and blissfully married to an ideal husband:

In Penang now. Bought GUIT at MPH Gurney Plaza. Couldn't find it initially. Checked with the Customer Service Manager. He's so on the beat .. he typed Growing up in Trengganu, and yes they have a few copies ... on the Hot & New shelf. Immediately after the purchase, I went to Kopitiam Cheong Ho (now closed) downstairs while the other family members loitered around the shopping and entertainment complex. Immersed myself in GUIT totally. Before I could finish my cup of Kopi Susu, a few tears were shed. Didn't want to create a scene, and so I left the cafe, and we then proceeded to Teluk Bahang. Found a picnic spot, and flipped pages after pages of GUIT. Oh Mrs. AG, it is impossibly romantic .. just like Penang.

****
At the Kopitiam, when I lifted my teary gaze away from the printed word to pause and reflect, I realized there’s a CCTV staring starkly at me. Instinctively, I thought “Oh No .. I’ve been captured at my most fragile moment” and left the place almost immediately to avoid further embarrassment. I then continued my foray into GUiT in a more agreeable surrounding, lying on a white sandy beach in Penang, and pausing after each segment of GUiT to tuck into the nasi bungkus bought from the Norman Nasi Melayu stall near the old Sheraton Penang or …to marvel at the sweetness and light spectacles unfolding infront of us involving a lovey dovey warga emas Malay couple who came all the way from Taiping. At one moment, we saw the lady scooped a handful of sand from the sea bottom, and loofah the bare back of her husband for the longest time. And the next moment, we saw her suap the husband slices of exotic fruits dipped in kuah rojak. Imagine all the frolics if she were to suap him lompat tikam ...

Last but not least, one of Penang myriad distractions is of course the majestic Eastern & Oriental Hotel, fondly known as the Grand Dame of Penang. The buffet lunch at Sarkies Corner is so agreeable. The lure of endless punnets of strawberries is enough to make me sits pretty on the high chair and behaves like a perfect gentleboy. My siblings adore the colourful marsh mellow dipped in fresh and thick hot chocolate. Suffice to say, the grilled seafood section is much frequented by my parents that it is sinful to talk about it.

Gripped by the invasive Akademi Fantasia

2009-03-14T08:44:00.018+08:00

UPDATE at 5.50pm 30 April 2009: The brutal AFUNDI system reared its ugly head once again during the 7th concert of AF7. Aril, the gedik boy with Rod Stewart’s sexy voice was eliminated despite performing admirably. The finale which saw the three girls performing Feminin’s hit song Untukmu, which contains the memorable line “janji bara cinta”, was a huge disappointment and an anti-climax. More vibrant photos of the concert HERE

Gee, the long-running and hugely popular Akademi Fantasia (or AF), a reality TV talent quest produced by ASTRO, is back. Now, in its seventh season, nearly as old as American Idol. And for the next three months or so we shall see who among the pop star wannabes have the raw talent and the drive to be transformed into top-notch entertainers.

When it kicked off in 2003, the sleek and glossy show caught Papa’s attention instantly. So much so when he received a phone call from a youngish CEO working for a respectable organization one Saturday night, while feasting his eyes on the weekly concert, he managed to steer the conversation away from exchanging ideas on ways to fortify corporate governance. Instead, he rabbited on and on about the groovy and fab performances that he had witnessed such as Vince’s Bunyi Gitar and Rosma’s Tragedi Buah Epal. And also some of the wretched ones like Misha Omar’s Halaman Cinta by Nana, now a radio DJ with a “serak-serak basah” voice ala Rubiah Lubis. She has indeed survived!

He also blabbed about how the vibrant and energetic students of the Akademi ran amok during the dance, drama and vocal classes. And of course the brutal AFUNDI system. Mama said on the night that Rosma was unkindly voted out, Papa's distress was palpable.

Of all the six series concluded so far, Papa reckons AF3 is the best. Not because of the Mawi phenomenon, although many Malays from all ages and walks of life went crazy for everything Mawi back then. But due the X-factor provided by the other AF3 contestants. Feast your eyes on these spectacular "basah meleleh" performances during the weekly AF3 concerts, and you will get the drift: Felix's Cinta Seorang Teman, Akma’s Cahaya and Idayu’s Tiada Lagi Tangisan.

Can AF survive the seven year itch? Surely, as people are still crazy for everything AF. Needless to say, Papa will be rooting for the underdog to win AF7. Do you have your favourite one, or someone whom you think is cut out to be a top notch entertainer?

Do enjoy tonight’s Konsert, an exuberant one Papa imagines. And brace yourself for the constant invasion of DailyDiary with AF fantastically glamorous “newcomers” in the likes of Tiara J and Ida Nerina, in the days to come.

Tales of Two Schools in Alor Setar

2009-02-01T21:43:00.019+08:00

Gosh, the first month of the new year 2009 has just ended. Time passed by so swiftly in January. Lots of exciting things have happened, and February promises to be even more exciting. My brother started his secondary schooling at Sultan Abdul Hamid College (SAHC) and this excites Papa no end. Yesterday, when my brother told Mama that his application to MRSM was not successful, I swear I heard Mama cackled so heartily. Papa reasoned out that there are many more deserving students who really really need the limited places in MRSM more than my brother.

Whenever time permits, Papa always looks forward to the trip to SAHC, either to send my brother off on Saturday morning for him to attend the replacement classes or to fetch him in the evening after the co-curiculum activities on a weekday. Apart from the banners and permanent writing on the wall of the Sultan Abdul Hamid Pavilion proclaiming 100 years of excellence, what struck him most upon entering the compound of SAHC was the overall feel good ambience, as narrated to a couple of SAHC blogger-alumni:

1. Mat Cendana (10 January): Gosh, early this morning I ventured into SAHC for the first time. And I wanted so much to spend time in Stuart Library, but the door was shut, or so it seemed. The atmosphere was enchanting and full of aura. Am crazy about the old trees flanking the road leading to the teachers’ room.

2. Kak Teh (24 January): I've been to SAHC twice now, and really enjoyed the exhilarating short drive along the Persiaran Tunku Abdul Rahman as we entered the compound, then passed the imposing Main Building overlooking the rugby field and the Menara Alor Setar at a distance, and finally made our exit via the Persiaran Tun Dr Mahathir, with Stuart Library on the left and the Pavilion on the right. And the countless majestic raintrees flanking both the Persiaran, what a sight to behold.

However, rather depressingly, he felt devoid of similar uplifting

experience when he visited another famous all-girls school on the

other part of town, in Jalan Telok Wanjah, near Istana Kuning

and Menara Alor Setar. Relocated since the middle of 2001, St. Nicholas Convent (SNC) is just a skeletal of her former self. The one-storey classrooms situated along the main road are now converted into one big kopitiam (yellow inside), serving almost everything under the Malaysian sun for breakfast; nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, and toast, baked beans and grilled sausage, if that takes your fancy.

And the double storey buildings where the teachers’ rooms

were located now lay abandoned, and unloved.

Was there a concerted effort to preserve that great school whose illustrious alumni include Dr. Wan Azizah, Malaysia’s first female Opposition Leader?

Mercy Malaysia's Palestine Relief Fund

2009-01-08T14:42:00.004+08:00

A compassionate blogger friend has put up a post, appealing for donations to help the Palestinians in their greatest hours of need. She writes:

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Whenever time permits, I volunteer at Mercy Malaysia Corporate Communication department, helping Sharmini writes a line or two about their relief activities. I believe in the purity of their heart to help this world free from war and disaster.

If your heart bleeds for the atrocities bestowed on Gaza by the Israelis, do lend them a hand. Let us part with whatever we can afford to help Palestinians in their time of grief.

Mercy Malaysia has, on 30th December 2008, formed an Emergency Response Assessment Team to face the humanitarian crisis in Gaza strip. The team has been promptly dispatched to Egypt led by President, Datuk Dr. Jemilah Mahmood and Exco Member Norazam Ab. Samah.
The air strike and ground offensive on Gaza - as reported by AlJazeera - have killed more than 700 Palestinians, 219 of which are children. More than 3000 have been wounded.

Therefore, Mercy Malaysia appeals to generous Malaysians to send it cash donations. Contributions will support Mercy Malaysia to procure emergency surgical kits, medicines and hospital equipments to help the hospitals in Gaza.

- Cheque is to be made payable to “MERCY MALAYSIA” and addressed to Mercy Malaysia, Level 2, Podium Block, City Point, Kompleks Dayabumi, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, 50050 Kuala Lumpur.
- Cash donations can be made via on-line transmission or deposit at CIMB Bank Account No: 1424-000-6561053.
- Donation form can be downloaded from here.

Further enquiries are to be directed to +603-22733999 or info@mercy.org.my
Let us make a difference by whatever little we have. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your generosity.

Written by elviza
Thursday, January 8, 2009

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Again, thank you dear readers for doing the needful.

To the West Side Story

2009-01-07T20:19:00.014+08:00

The East Coast between Kota Bharu and Cherating is Malaysia at its most Malay; charming, gentle, generous and always down to earth. From Cherating we drove westward to Kuantan and then Bukit Tinggi (or Berjaya Hills). One of the latest attractions in Bukit Tinggi is the Berjaya Hills Resort, which is styled after the 18th century Colmar Village and a medieval castle in France. We arrived slightly after 2pm. The temperature was hardly cold, despite the resort being 800 metres above sea level.

We ate enormously for breakfast at Mak Cik Dah’s stall in Cherating, and had no inclination to munch lunch just yet. We strolled leisurely along the cobblestone courtyard of the Colmar Square which was bereft of visitors, and watched the 3pm showtime, featuring Malay-looking girls and boys dancing to fast tempo Pop Latino music. Truly a rojak Malaysian ambience: Middle East tourists in abaya watching nubile Malaysians strutting energetically to Iberian rhythms amidst a Western European setting. Due to time constraint, we decided not to take the tram that ferries visitors to the other places of attraction such as the Japanese Village and the Rabbit Park.

We arrived KL at about 6pm without making hotel reservations. Tune Hotel and other hotels in the Golden Triangle were fully booked until the mid week. Fortunately a few snazzy budget hotels in the revitalised Changkat Bukit Bintang/Tengkat Tong Shin area had a few rooms available. We crashed in one of the pre-war shophouses that have been splendidly converted into contemporary, minimalist and sunny lodgings, a walking distance from the effervescent Jalan Alor.

While Papa went out to work that weekend, we followed Mama shopping in Bukit Bintang and Jalan Masjid India. On Sunday, after Papa finished his work, we had dinner at Coliseum Café - a legendary and enduring institution. This almost 90-year old magnificent café still retains its old world charm and is not showing signs of crumbling. The sturdy exterior is characterized by the swinging door and glass panel on each side embossed with letterings similar to that found at any cowboy saloons. The interior is divided into two equal-size areas; one for dining and the other the lounge bar. The décor is retro chic with burgundy lounge chairs and hat hanger for colonial planters to hang their pith helmets and gun belts, but now barely utilised.

Apart from being a popular haunt for planters to enjoy their time for a Tiger while exchanging horror stories on the terror unleashed by the communists, famous authors in the likes of Maugham and Burgess are said to have set foot here. Nowadays, Coliseum Café continues to sizzle new and regular customers with its signature gastronomic delights; classic local dish like the Hainanese seafood fried rice or western cuisine of steak, served by splendidly eccentric geriatric waiters. While my family was enjoying their dinner, I played with the carlsberg coasters in the adjoining bar and attempted to make them stand like a pyramid. Papa only looked for me when he heard me cried … I was bothered by the sound of miaw miaw coming from the lounge bar although the cats were invisible to us.

After dinner we stopped by at Wan Cu’s house in Cheras Jaya for a few cups of Kopi 434. An hour before midnight, Papa drove us back to Kubang Pasu. At Sungai Buluh, Papa handed over the steering to Mama, who drove non-stop to Gurun. Then Mama woke Papa up for him to continue the last leg of the 1-hour drive from Gurun to Kubang Pasu. Before resuming his driving, Papa asked Mama for the large flask containing Kopi 434 which Wan Cu has prepared to keep them awake while driving. Mama told him she had drank it all. We arrived home at about 6am. Papa took a short nap and left home at 8am for a meeting in Auto City, Prai, scheduled at 10am.

A Special Mention in Iskandarian

2008-12-31T22:09:00.019+08:00

I made a debut in Iskandarian when a brief article written by my brother about our experience living in Saudi Arabia was published in his school's annual magazine. The pre-Merdeka primary school in Alor Setar was founded by Master Mohamad bin Iskandar, the father of our beloved ex-Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir.

Sempena tahun baru 2009 yang bakal menjelang, kami doakan anda semua selamat panjang umur, murah rezeki dan sihat walafiat sepanjang tahun 2009.

Update on 1 Jan. 2009 (2.00 pm): Here are some photos which show the exterior of our Al-Kindi apartment in Diplomatic Quarter (DQ or Hayy Assafarat in Arabic). The apartment is adjacent to the central mosque (indicated by the two minarets) and the Al-Kindi plaza where my brother and sister used to cycle or skate, under the watchful eyes of Papa and Mama while sipping their latte. The apartment and the surrounding structures won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 1989. All images are taken from Archnet.

And this is how Papa waxed lyrical to the beautiful and kind-hearted Mithali blogger, Nuraina A. Samad, about those mesmerising days in DQ:

"Our two older children and I did a lot of cycling together when we were in Riyadh. But Arab drivers are even more notorious, I hear some of you say. True, but we're very fortunate to be provided a decent accommodation in the Diplomatic Quarter (DQ), which is conducive for cycling and walking ... security around the clock and the vibrant views that do not weary the eyes with sameness … boulevards flanked with kurma trees, contemporary buildings designed by world-best architects juxtapose with the arresting reproduction buildings that exude the old world charm of the Najd architecture, landscaped gardens after landscaped gardens, no Mat Rempits … oh I can just go on and on …"

Cherating Revisited

2008-12-29T13:14:00.015+08:00

Papa visited Cherating for the first time in the late 1980s, before he met Mama, and instantly felt like a modern day Robinson Crusoe, far from the maddening bright lights and big cities. He stayed in a spartan beachfront hut, and spent most of the day sleeping on the beach and daydreaming with eyes wide opened. The beach vista and the refreshing sea breeze induced him to sleep effortlessly. The night was spent listening to reggae music at the local bars scattered around the paradoxically conservative yet hip village, and at the countless cafes sipping Nescafe or teh tarik whilst flying on the magic carpet of Pico Iyer’s spellbinding Video Night in Kathmandu. That travel book singularly made him want to experience One Night in Bangkok, and the wild, wild world on the Prospero’s Isle of Bali, and more. But let’s not digress.

Back then, Cherating was popular among the globetrotting backpackers and hippies and local couples, married, soon-to-be married or unmarried. After he met Mama, they went there again and again, without and plus the kid(s). Although Cherating is now dotted with modern hotels and boutique villas such as top of the range Villa Tab, one can sense that the place has lost the magic that prompted Club Med to open up its first holiday destination in Asia.

We arrived here from Kuala Terengganu late into the night, and had to leave for Kuala Lumpur the next morning. So it was considered obscene to be splashing money just to have a modest bed to rest our tired bones, and not using all the other facilities including a well-maintained beachfront. My family decided to stay in a budget motel in Kampung Cherating Lama that provides the basic amenities such as clean bed, attached bathroom, air-conditioning and a TV set, which remained off.

At the crack of dawn the next day, while the others were happily dozing off, Papa strolled along the beach and later had breakfast at the stall located opposite the horse stable belonging to the Penn Endurance Equestrian Club, and across the private road leading up to Villa Tab. The stall is run by Mak Cik Dah, with the help of a lady assistant who was overly decorated so early in the morning.

Mak Cik Dah is a chatterbox and a repository of all the comings and goings in Kampung Cherating. While preparing the orders from the diverse customers, she engaged in small talks which led to who, what, when and where. By listening to their conversations, one is drawn, albeit unwittingly, into their dramatic little world; who are involved in the latest road accidents, who are tying the knots, etc. Alas, no tittle-tattle on local or national politicians.

A group of small boys and girls stopped by to order their breakfast of nasi lemak, nasi dagang and nasi minyak, with their specific likes and dislikes ”Jangan boh timun”; “Hok saye, boh telo mata kebau”; “nasi dagang lauk ikang, bukang ayang”; etc etc and concluded with a collective “Sipang dulu Cik Dah. Kite nok gi pata belake”. Mak Cik Dah, noticing an unfamiliar face among the kids, asked “Ni anok sape?” and his cheeky friend tartly replied “Anak Bangla”. Makcik Dah told him off “Sedaq ngata oghang teh. Kena keja anjing kak pata baghu pade muko”.

Then a group of lithe young surfers parked their car, and ordered their breakfast to be consumed at the stall. Although they hardly look Malaysian, but they all spoke in Terengganu Malay. The one with the darkest complexion and Bob Marley hairdo wore a t-shirt that screams “Horror unleashed, Terror unmatched. The ultimate in human agony”. Mak Cik Dah asked them “Tak main ombak pagi ni?”.

After serving them, Mak Cik Dah asked her assisitant “Ah sudoh la weh. Tok ingat budok-budok hok gi pata tadi orda lauk gapo”. Her assistant with lips painted so garishly, just shook her head.

Before continuing our journey to Kuantan, my other family members had their breakfast at Mak Cik Dah’s happening stall too, whilst I was busy doing tawaf round and round the stall, like a spinning wheel.

Dreaming of Morocco

2008-12-29T10:10:00.013+08:00

Selamat Menyambut 1-Muharam 1430H to all, from all of us.

"... sesunguhnya pada tahun baru ini aku memohon daripada engkau perlindungan daripada nafsu amarah yang sentiasa mendorong ke arah kejahatan dan melalaikan aku dengan perkara yang tidak berfaedah daripada mendekati diri kepada engkau ..."

A Short Visit to Terengganu

2008-12-25T00:54:00.020+08:00

The month of December is constantly filled with travel, lots of travel. On the second day of Raya Korban we drove to Kota Bharu. It was a Tuesday and a public holiday in Kelantan, like all the other Malay states of Perlis, Kedah and Terengganu. The traffic was surprisingly light. The damn famous White House cafe was not opened for business, and so we had our drink and snack at McD. On the top floor of McD, a few of the customers were simultaneously having their meals and surfing the internet .

The following day, we took the coastal road to Kuala Terengganu. which was almost a repeat of the trip we made last year to attend the riveting Monsoon Cuppa, and meet the late Datuk Razali Ismail there who we later found out was a neighbour of Mama’s Tok Ayah in Kuala Berang. Our first stop was Kuala Besut to enquire about the speedboat services to Pulau Perhentian but there were none at this time of the year as it was monsoon season.

Next, we stopped by the roadside stall at Rhu Sepuluh beach for a satisfying bite of the crunchy seafood fried in batter. We then checked out The Aryani Resort in Merang, and the place is secluded and really deserted. We did not see a single soul dining or sunbathing there. We spent the night in Kuala Terengganu at a brand new hotel overlooking the glittering Crystal Mosque by the Terengganu River. The iconic Burj-Al-Arab-Jumeirah-look-alike hotel is owned by a major plantation company whose Chairman is a politician from Terengganu. Our dinner at an almost full house restaurant in Jalan Hiliran, not very far from the hotel, consists of nasi minyak, rojok and laksa Terengganu.

The next day was spent mainly in the vicinity of Masjid Zainal Abidin, Istana Maziah and Bukit Puteri, which are all featured extensively in the best seller Growing Up in Trengganu, and at the newly opened Taman Tamadun Islam (TTI). Surprise, surpise, we actually spent almost 4 hours wandering aimlessly around TTI. Of all the 21 miniature Islamic architecture from around the world built in the Edutainment Park on Pulau Wan Man, we decided to spend more time at the Masjidil Haram and the Taj Mahal.

My brother and sister opted to cycle from one great monument to another, but we chose to ride on the tram. We overheard one elderly lady passenger telling another in local dialect: “Tepak ni best. Tak pahang bak pe oghang kutuk”. Papa is so glad the developer left the matured trees on the small island untouched. Before we left Terengganu for Cherating, my parents made sure I had my first taste of beronok, a bright red sago pudding coated with grated coconut. I loved the small portion Mama gave me as it is so like strawberry.

MERRY XMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.

Scrapblogging @ Belum Rainforest Resort

2008-12-07T15:53:00.005+08:00

We are now in this speck of a man-made island which is surrounded by man-made Lake Temenggor with Gerik in Perak to the West and Jeli in Kelantan to the East. Pulau Banding is home to the Belum Rainforest where the world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia, blooms, the extinct Sumatran rhinoceros roams and large flocks of hornbills can be spotted. Papa made a brief stop for the obligatory teh tarik (and scrapblogging, needless to say) before continuing the next leg of our journey via the scenic and tollfree East-West highway to Mama’s kampong in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan to celebrate Raya and Korban with all the folks there.

Papa remembers when he first travelled on the East-West highway in the early 1980s, during his A-Levels break and after his family has just moved to Kedah from Kelantan in 1981, the highway was closed to public between dusk to dawn, for safety reason. But now the highway has unrestricted access, and other attractions for the road users. For a brief history on Banding and the Temenggor Basin, please read here, here and here.

To all who celebrate Aidil Adha, Selamat Menyambut Aidil Adha 1429H dan Selamat Berkorban, from all of us.

Cameron Highlands - Now and Then

2008-12-02T08:47:00.016+08:00

The opening line of Joget Malaysia “Dato Panglima pergi membajak, Ke Tanah Rata senja pulangnya” echoed in Papa’s head as the sight of the ubiquitous sellers plying their agricultural produce by the roadside stalls became more commonplace as we approached the principal town in the cool hilly resort of Cameron Highlands.

And immediately after we passed the main thoroughfare in the town centre, we were greeted by the unforgettable sight of an imposing pre-WWII colonial building perched on the hill overlooking the vibrant town centre. It was once a British Military Hospital, providing services largely for the British Army personnel, but now converted to a primary Convent school for the local kids. The exquisite building, at times enveloped in misty vapour, does not look out of place, even in the cobbled streets of Chester or Sandringham.

We were here in Tanah Rata last weekend to bridge silaturahim with the families of Pak Ngah’s girlfriend who are the early residents of Kampung Taman Sedia. Kampung Taman Sedia aptly got its name when a group of pioneering settlers discovered that all the essential herbal plants like serai, kunyit, lengkuas, pandan, etc. were already planted when they first arrived here during the period of The Malayan Emergency (i.e. war against communism) in the late 1940s. Were these herbs planted by the Orang Bunian?

Pak Ngah is Mama’s younger and only brother. Our entourage includes Tok Ayah and Mama’s siblings and brother-in-laws from Kelantan and uncles and aunties who are living in Kuala Lumpur. Mama’s relatives in Kuala Berang could not attend the majlis menghantar tanda, a ceremony to mark the engagement of Pak Ngah and his girlfriend whom he has known for many years. We brought with us several trays of hantaran (gifts), including the engagement ring for the bride-to-be.

After the doa selamat, the spokesman for the bride-to-be asked our delegates our purpose in coming here, as a formality. Pak Teh, our spokesman, peppered his reply with flowery words like tanda ikatan, kumbang and bunga di Taman Sedia. After our indirect expression of interest through the usage of metaphors was understood, the tray containing the ring, as a marker of engagement, was presented. The families of the bride-to-be happily accepted it, and Pak Ngah’s girlfriend is now officially his tunang (fiancée). The representatives of the two families then discussed the preferred date for the wedding and the terms for the bride settlement and exchange, highlighting specific requirement such as hantaran serba satu. Alas, no pantun-memantun were exchanged. Papa had this little pantun in mind to wrap up the ceremony, but decided to keep it to himself:

Dato Panglima pergi membajak, Ke Tanah Rata senja pulangnya, Alhamdulillah kedua keluarga telah sepakat, Semoga ikatan silaturahim kekal selama-lamanya.

When it was time to menyarung cincin, Mama, Mak Teh, Cik Yin and Mak Su were visibly teary. This role of placing the ring on the hand of the bride-to-be is normally performed by the groom’s mother, but Tok Ma has left us to rest in eternal peace in August 2007. Wan Cu, Tok Ayah’s younger sister, did the honour. After it was over, the mother of the bride-to-be congratulated her eldest daughter “Tahniah Kak Long” and they were in tears too, but of immense joy.

A sumptuous lunch was then served. Later that afternoon, we took the 2km narrow and precipitous road to the Sungei Palas Boh Tea Estate, and were duly rewarded with breathtaking vista of rolling hills carpeted with manicured tea bushes. Visitors can enjoy fine views of the undulating valleys while sipping tea and nibbling assorted cakes and snacks at the spanking new tea centre. Before returning to Kubang Pasu, we stopped by at Wan Long's and Tok Long's cottage in Tapah.

Cameron Highlands is special in many ways. Thirteen years ago, Mama and Papa spent their perfect, albeit slightly delayed, honeymoon here. They only had each other then, as there were no blogs and adorable kids clamouring for their attention. And this time, with an enlarged group of five, no prizes for guessing who is the centre of attention. And right here in Cameron Highlands, I had my first taste of the dainty strawberries and could finish the full cup sekali hadap.

From Blogger to Scrapblogger

2008-11-28T09:18:00.008+08:00

This morning, slightly over one month after he stumbled across scrapblog in Kak Teh’s choc-a-bloc blog, Papa is fiddling with that creative thingy which was launched nearly 2 years ago. He rummaged through the family photographs taken in Cambridge, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, St. Andrews, Cornwall, Lake District, Stoke-on-Trent, Cardiff, Bath, Cotswold, Blackpool, Brighton, Bournemouth, Norwich, Leamington Spa and of course London, to name some of the fine cities they had visited in the UK during their stay in Coventry from 1997 to 2001.

After several attempts, he managed to figure out how to embed the scrapblogs with this post. These are a couple of UK scrapblogs he has designed so far. Alas, you won’t see me in any of them. But not for long, I hope. With Air Asia new KL-London services, more people can now fly to Europe. Yay!

UPDATE: At 10.30 pm, Papa has just completed a third scrapblog, which incidentally is my personal favourite - Day Out With Thomas.

An Unloved Planter's Bungalow in Jerai Estate (Harvard)

2008-11-22T10:34:00.026+08:00

Yesterday, on our way to visit Opah, Papa stopped at the Harvard Golf and Country Club, which is only 10 minutes' drive away from Opah's place. Papa was curious to see the bungalow that is briefly profiled in the delightful coffee table book The Planter's Bungalow. It once belonged to the Malayan American Plantations Ltd, the only US plantation company in the Malay Peninsula. At the time the book was published in 2007, it was occupied by the staff of the golf club.

In a brief span of less than two years, so much has changed for the worse. The bungalow lays abandoned, but the old trees near it are still standing tall with the leaves on the creeping branches and lush foliages of the epiphytes providing a welcoming shade. Papa went inside the dilapidated bungalow. It is in such a terrible state of neglect. He only saw the living hall and did not have the heart to see the kitchen, and the bedrooms upstairs. But he can imagine the view of the graceful Mount Jerai from the balcony bedroom.

What can be done to restore the hitherto low profile bungalow to its former glory? Surely its owner (a deep pocket corporation?) can think of a Corporate Social Responsibility project. Perhaps, it can be converted to a People's Restaurant with BBQ facilities for the public at its magnificent sprawling lawn overlooking Mount Jerai.

Note: In July 1925, 6,300 acres known as the Harvard Estates, were purchased in Kedah, Malaya. United States Rubber Plantation ran these estates under a subsidiary known as the Malayan-American Plantations Ltd.(MAP),which was incorporated into the Federated Malay States (FMS) in 1920. These acquisitions and the cost of their development were financed by the income from United States Rubber Company plantations in Sumatra, which by 1919 had the largest rubber plantations in the world.
Extracted from Yacob, Shakila. Model of Welfare Capitalism? The United States Rubber Company in Southeast Asia, 1910-1942

Enterprise & Society - Volume 8, Number 1, March 2007, pp. 136-174

Picnic and Feast @ Bujang Valley

2008-11-16T10:32:00.020+08:00

The picturesque country road to Bujang Valley, with green emerald paddy field, and the imposing blue Mount Jerai.

Tupah Recreation Park - my territory.

Tupah Recreation Park - encroaching the Big Boys and Sisters territory.

Anjung Muara in the villagey Tanjung Dawai - celebrating seafood dinner of lala in chilli and oyster sauce, steamed crab with lemon grass, grilled red fish, stir-fried baby kailan with salted kurau and teochew paste, and crunchy deep-fried squid in batter served with spicy sauce.

The soul of Malaysia probably resides in Bujang Valley, or Lembah Bujang as it is more affectionately known to the locals, opined the award winning travel writer Gavin Young. In Malaysia: Heart of South-east Asia, he categorically wrote:

“I am certain it is hovering very happily under Mount Kedah where Kamaruddin tends his ancient temples among whistling birds and rushing waterfalls.”

Yesterday, my family made a short visit to that place where the soul of Malaysia is crouching, according to the famous author of Slow Boat to China. Leaving Kubang Pasu at 4.30 pm, we first took the North South highway. From the Alor Setar South exit, we took the almost unbending country road that passes through the never-ending panorama of lush emerald-green paddy fields against the majestic backdrop of Gunung Jerai (also known as Mount Jerai or Kedah Peak). The road then snakes through little towns such as Yan, Singkir and Merbok.

The Lembah Bujang Archeological Museum which has received more than 100,000 visitors so far this year was already closed by the time we approached the site, so we headed straight to the nearby Tupah Recreation Park. When Papa dipped my feet into the refreshingly cold and surprisingly clear stream, I was not intimidated at all. Rather, I took to it like duck to water. However, Papa soon noticed my discomfort after submerging my feet inside the icy cold water, and water splashing with gay abandon, for 20 minutes or so. He quickly took me out of the water for Mama to towel me dry and put on my brother’s old clothing, for our (or my rather) next fun activity. Just when we were about to leave the place, we heard rustling noise in the branches above, and by the time we reached our car, we saw a group of monkeys rummaging through the rubbish bags left by picnickers, looking for scraps.

From the picnic spot we drove to Tanjung Dawai for fresh seafood dinner at Anjung Muara, the most popular eateries among the lot. All the seafood that we ordered turned out to be exceedingly delicious. It was fine dining, no doubt. Alas, it was not refined dining. I took the water splashing experience a bit too far, and attempted to splatter the juicy lala and crab with ladles and all. They all had to find other ingenious ways to keep me entertained and amused throughout the dinner.

For more information on Bujang Valley, please click here, here and here.

Alhamdulillah

2008-11-15T00:46:00.020+08:00

Today is the start of the long school holiday. Mama and my brother deserve a long relaxing break after working so hard over the last few months. Papa also has 22 days of paid leave still unutilised for this year. Since everyone is in a jolly mood, it looks like we are going to be doing a lot of travelling leading up to the New Year 2009.

On Thursday before the holiday, my brother made my parents proud by getting excellent result in the UPSR public examination. There are 46,640 other students all over the country who obtained straight As like him. In Kedah, the three top schools based on the most number of students with straight As are SJKC Keat Hwa in Alor Setar, SK Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin in Kubang Pasu and SK Ibrahim in Sungai Petani. My brother’s school, which is named after the grandfather of our Father of Modern Malaysia, is no longer one of the State’s premiere schools, which is rather sad really.

After he got back from school, his former Standard One to Three classmates from SK Bandar Baru Darulaman came over and later they all cycled to the eaterie by the murky river near our house to celebrate their exam success.

To kick off the holiday, on Friday we made a day trip to Penang, and had a jolly good time at the cinema. My siblings watched Madagascar 2, whilst my parents and I watched Wayang, and we were the only audience in Box 4 for the 4.30pm show. And that was a shame really because the movie is good, albeit the dialogue is almost exclusively in Kelantanese. It tells the story of Pok Awe, who keeps the dying art of wayang kulit alive in a quaint little kampong by the sea. Together with his wife, they raise up two orphaned kids, Awi and Melor, who have not only developed a special affinity with the fine art and each other, but are special in their own ways. Awi, the blind boy, is able to “melihat tanpa memandang” and Melor, the girl with sengau voice, later surpasses Pok Awe in the intricate craft of puppet-making.

The acting by the main casts is superb all-around. Particularly Ida Nerina, Best Actress at the 13th Malaysian Film Festival in 1997 for Layar Lara, who plays the loyal and serene wife of Pok Awe to the hilt. She is amazingly versatile as a Kelantanese Mak Cik and gorgeous without any make up. Papa chuckled when she uttered do-oh. Mama chuckled too at some other instances.

Unfortunately the movie has its fair share of cringe moments. The most glaring is the brief but unnecessary cameo appearance by the producer. The silly antics shown by the UiTM undergraduates during the fine art lectures given by Pok Awe, Melor and Awi are too much to bear. Their blur and terpingga-pingga (bewildered) looks are irritating, to say the least, and dredge the awful memory of Cinta Antara Benua.

One of the subtle messages that Wayang exudes is this: Do not be fooled by the lebai appearance (or tudung lingkup for that matter). The holier than thou appearance may be all wayang.

Note: Wayang kulit is a shadow puppetry play theatre. The two-dimensional shadow puppet is crafted from cow or buffalo hide and is gently presses on the translucent screen. The light bulb suspended behind the white cloth screen emanates a bright glow to project the shadows of the puppets on the screens. The shadow master cum storyteller, or tok dalang, conducts the whole show from behind the screen by sitting cross-legged and reciting the tale by moving the figures to the sounds of drums, gongs and flutes that, at dramatic moments, rise to a crescendo. Hearing the storyteller change his voice to suit the different characters is one of the highlights of the show. The puppet characters and stories are usually adapted from ancient epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, and thus the art is often associated with Hinduism. In 2003, UNESCO recognized wayang kulit as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. There has been call by Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, a spiritual leader and the present Chief Minister of Kelantan to “mewayangkulitkan” local personalities such as Tok Kenali, and perhaps Tok Janggut.

Hajj Akbar 1427H

2008-11-07T07:19:00.070+08:00

Children Enjoying Ice Cream After the Gruelling Tawaf and Sa'ee

Children None the Worse for Wear and Tear

As Malaysian pilgrims started leaving for the Holy land beginning last week, Papa’s mind constantly wanders off to that singularly absorbing, overwhelming and uplifting experience that happened nearly two years ago. The year 2006 was about to draw its curtain, and Mama had settled down into the second trimester of her pregnancy.

The family was about to embark on what is dubbed as “the once in a lifetime journey”. At 20+ weeks pregnant, and after consulting widely among the gynaecologists in several hospitals in Riyadh, Mama felt assured of the fact that the risk of miscarriage was considerably reduced during the middle trimester. I was comfortably ensconced inside Mama’s tummy – and could twirl like a little astronaut, and not tightly crammed into a ball, inside her. As Mama was not lumbering towards the finishing line yet, so to speak, Papa also felt pretty confident to bring along my brother and sister, who were respectively 10 and 7 then, for this gruelling but rewarding spiritual journey.

My family joined the Malaysian Embassy Riyadh Hajj Group, led by Ustaz Hassan Abdul Kadir of Patani, who has been residing in Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years and is co-owner of the Mutiara Malaysian Restaurant in Riyadh. The group comprised mostly of staff from Ahmad Zaki Resources Berhad who were constructing the swanky Al-Faisal University campus, designed by Hijjas Kasturi Associates, who also designed the exquisite 38-storey hour glass HQ of the Lembaga Tabung Haji (Pilgrim's Fund Board) in Kuala Lumpur.

A few weeks before the pilgrimage, they attended Hajj classes conducted by Ustaz Hassan at the Ambassador’s Villa in the charming Diplomatic Quarter, which is not far from where they lived. Essentially, during the classes, intending pilgrims were drilled on the rites of performing Hajj according to the Quran and Sunnah; what is Rukun and Wajib, what is Haram during ihram, the need to pay dam, the different types of hajj - ifrad, tamattu and qiran, and the realities and what to expect in Arafat, Makkah, Mina and Muzdalifah.

Alhamdulillah, they were so grateful that they could perform the Hajj with millions other pilgrims from around the world smoothly and witness the greatest gathering of humankind on planet earth. The tawaf around the Kaabah amidst a sea of humanity stood out as it symbolises unity in diversity - race, age, gender, language and culture comingle perfectly without any notions of superiority (or ketuanan, as some persistently insist).

In short, the 7-day Hajj journey can be distilled as follows. The group left Riyadh on December 27, slept in Mina – the Tent City the following day, and continued sleeping at the same venue until January 3. And during their stay, they observed the rituals of Wukuf in Arafat (which happened to be on a Friday), stoning the three Jamrats, circumambulating the Kaabah, walking briskly between the foothills of Safa and Marwah, and tahallul. On the day of the Eid-al-Adha, December 30, many Muslims were outraged when Saddam Hussein was hanged by the American regime in Iraq.

To all the Guests of Allah this season, may your Hajj be accepted by Him, and please remember us in your deepest prayers at Arafat.

For a complete narrative of the journey written by a member of the Hajj group, please read here.

A Pictorial Journey:
1. Days and the Night Before ...

Hajj classes at the Ambassador's Villa, The meeting place in Riyadh prior to departure, The exterior and interior of the bus, First stopover.

Day 1: Ihram at Miqat and our camp in Mina (8 Zulhijjah)

Day 2: Wukuf in Arafat (9 Zulhijjah)

Day 3: Stoning Jamrat Aqabah (10 Zulhijjah - Eid-al-Adha)

Day 4: Tawaf Ifadah and Sa'ee (11 Zulhijjah)

Last 3 days: Winding Down in Mina, Stoning the Jamrats and Tahallul

Luxe Life in Hong Kong - January 2008

2008-11-01T18:21:00.020+08:00

The Top Editors

The generous host

Gift for the host - Signed copy of Growing Up in Trengganu
and the resident pianist at the Peninsula

Some of the highlights of the Hong Kong visit in January 2008, as enthused to the classy Ruby Ahmad:

Met several outstanding thought leaders in the fields of accounting and auditing and attended presentations given by eminent economists from the top US universities. I also got the opportunity to do one of Hong Kong "must" - having afternoon tea at The Peninsula Lobby, while someone (who bears an uncanny resemblance to the talented playwright Alfian Sa'at) played What a Difference a Day Made and many other beautiful songs on the piano.

******

Ahh, the vintage 80-year old Peninsula Hotel and its breathtaking Lobby ... old world charm in the midst of slick modernity, with no sipping and gossiping Mak Datins in sight. A walking distance from Peninsula Hotel is a clutch of museums and the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade with its dramatic harbour view. I was at the Avenue of the Stars and was accosted by, not one, but one after another, fortune tellers in Sikh turbans with the same and tired chat up line "Sir, your fascinating face reveals bla bla bla" or something like that to make one feels good and generous to a fault. I did watch The Symphony of Lights but once is enough, methinks (err, not really the bright light and big city type).

And spent a bit of time at the Kubrick Bookshop and Cafe too to marvel at the eye-catching books and other paraphernalia before watching a couple of ahem/woohoo movies at The Broadway Cinematheque next door. Oh such Luxe Life in magical Hong Kong.

Chairing a plenary session, The Symphony of Lights, Avenue of the Stars, and The Peninsula Lobby

Strolling and Posing-Memosing @ Darul Aman Park

2008-10-29T09:14:00.016+08:00

Darul Aman Park, situated along the North South Highway, is a favourite public recreation area among families in Jitra, and visitors. It is also popular among students who are doing courses at the Polytechnic, Teacher Training Institute and other institutes such as ILP and Aminuddin Baki nearby. It becomes a landmark when it was chosen as the venue for the Rumah Terbuka Hari Raya Malaysia in December 2002. Various top artistes have also performed at its open concert during the Jom Heboh Extravaganza and other national events. It sure has many stories to tell, and many dramas are yet to unfold here.

Breakfast at Kashmir

2008-10-27T11:38:00.013+08:00

Opposite the Arked Mara Jitra, on the other side of the river stream, is a long-established watering hole known by the locals as Kashmir. Papa was introduced to this no-nonsense place by one of his contemporaries, an author of several books and published manuscripts on Auditing and the Political Economy, who is also a food fetish, many many years ago when Papa was a swinging bachelor, swinging between KL, Cherating, Penang, Bangkok and Sydney. During their courting days, Papa and Mama dined here a few times, as well as at Restoran Mustafa in Pumpong, Alor Setar, which used to serve the most scrumptious kari kepala ikan.

The owner of the place is a retired policeman. When he dukunged me, and I touched his white janggut, Mama chided me but he did not mind at all. Instead he told Mama "Tak pa. Itu pahala". The food is lovingly prepared by his wife Azizun (or Kak Jun) using the freshest ingredients and strictly non-import stuff, unlike the modus operandi in the ubiquitous Nasi Kandar restaurants all over the country. Her labour of love is widely appreciated by the locals and visitors, including Tabligh followers who regularly use the mosque adjacent to Kashmir as their markas. Below are some of the customers' cars parked at the huge parking lot next to Kashmir on Diwali 2008, indicating a brisk business.

Happy Diwali All.

Memories of Stamboul - July 2008

2008-10-25T22:23:00.017+08:00

As previously gushed, rather excitedly, to Elviza, the bookworm lawyer-blogger:

I know what a mıssed opportunıty not to start bloggıng when ın beguılıng and exquisite Istanbul. What better way to do ıt than when at the Grand Bazaar/Sultanahmet tea gardens ın the company of wise ladies and gentlemen and swotty students from Istanbul University in deep thought sıppıng copıus amount of Turkısh tea ın daınty tulıp shaped glasses and inhaling and puffing for hours and hours the fruity flavoured tobacco from the nargileh. The air is impregnated with apple and strawberry scented intoxicating breeze. I had my fair share of the odd puff, and surprised myself that I could do it non-stop and still felt insatiable. Is blogging and winding down in tea garden under the canopy of fruit bearing grape trees possible? (one day insya Allah)

Oh, and I haven’t told you the incomparable beauty of the 3-hour Bosphorous cruise which is better than the trips by Venice waterbus, Sydney Harbour Ferry, or Victoria Harbour Star Ferry. Nothing can top the silhouette of Istanbul at sunset, viewed from the mighty Bosphorous (the Strait that divides Turkey into East and West). One marvels at the minarets, Palaces, kiosk and yalis of the Sultans embroidering both the Europe and Asia shores in quiet relaxation and contemplation. Followed by people watching the swotty types bopping the nite away on the large private boat to the accompaniment of lightning and thunder in the forms of the majestic firework display and the Turkish belly dancing music. What a heady mix and an unforgettable memories …

Not the Mak Datin Dress

2008-10-25T22:00:00.004+08:00

Mama's Karang Kraf

2008-10-24T17:31:00.020+08:00

One of Mama's enduring hobbies is beading embroidery. She painstakingly transforms a plain baju kurung into something vogue with her deft hands. She can only do this when I'm sleeping, or else she cannot concentrate as I'm curious to lick the colourful beads to find out whether they taste like smarties. She is now finishing a dress for Auntie W, an up and coming 30-something, for her to wear to an exclusive Raya do tonight. Unfortunately my brother is away on a school trip to Genting Highlands. Otherwise I can ask him to show the work in progress here. Papa is just hopeless.

UPDATE: 25 October 2008
My brother just called from GH and described to Papa how to import the memory card from Lumix to the Toshiba Satellite. Quite elementary, although Papa was at his wits end on how to make the photo enlargeable. After numerous attempts, he managed to post the desired pix as shown in the next post "Not the Mak Datin Dress" which depicts Mama's kraftangan when it was half completed. Please click the image to enlarge.

Hari Raya and Spending Time with Opah

2008-10-20T21:27:00.007+08:00

I am Opah's youngest cucu. She is 70 years old. Opah was so happy this Raya because she could perform tarawikh prayers almost nightly at the neighbourhood surau. At the moment Opah lives all by herself in Bedong, a small town nestled between Gurun and Sungai Petani, and an hour drive away from our house in Kubang Pasu. She prefers tranquility to the sound of bickering, especially involving my brother and sister who bicker incessantly for the sake of bickering, which isn’t music to her ears.

Each time we visit Opah, she has to endure another nightmare, and her frail heart beats faster than usual (and Mama’s too). I may smile like an angel, but I am no angel either. I am susceptible to inflict damages to her washing machine, fridge, TVs whenever my chubby fingers strike with unintended force. These gadgets have been with her like forever, as most of her other personal belongings. And I enjoy mixing up her tablets for no apparent reason, which she arranges nicely in a Tupperware box.

Near Opah’s house is a dense pocket of jungle where monkeys roam freely. But it is so difficult to see them hanging out, and when they do, they are not as cheeky and gentle as their counterparts in Langkawi or Gunung Jerai. And they love to ransack the rubbish dump.

Another highlight of visiting Opah is the stopover in Gurun to buy heavenly jagung rebus from one of the many stalls, run under the Program Usahawan Mikro Mara, stationed along the trunk road from Gurun to Alor Setar. Opah loves these boiled corn which are grown somewhere in Perak because they are so perfect, the corn kennels are evenly sized with no gaping hole in between and taste oh-so-original.

Another favourite stopover is the Laksa Mak Su stall, also in Gurun. The stall, situated in front of Mak Su’s two-storey house, is nondescript, but behind her house, hidden away from passersby, is a lush garden of bunga kantan, blooming in the Gurun paradise, almost reaching the rooftop.

Which brings us to another weird revelation about Papa – his favourite vegetable dish is asam pedas bunga kantan.

Monkeying Around in Langkawi (and as Blogger)

2008-10-20T20:51:00.008+08:00

Sometime this month, we left Kubang Pasu by car at 4.30 pm, took the 5 pm ferry from Kuala Kedah and reached Langkawi about 90 minutes later. On the way to Telaga Harbour Park, we stopped by the road side to play with friendly monkeys. They took crisp from my chubby fingers. I saw eagles and rabbits at the Oriental Village. I carried the rabbits by lifting their floppy ears. But only for a few seconds.

Bon Ton, that little gem of a resort, has lots of cuddly cats and sleepy dogs. There is a lagoon covered with water lilies in bright purple, which they stopped me from plucking, just in time. Papa's favourite place in Bon Ton is of course the Chin Chin Lounge Bar. He can spend hours there browsing through the voluminous reading materials and leaving us to our own devices.

Although Papa has been monkeying around as a commentor in various blogs since late 2006, today, inspired by Kak Teh's delightful scrapblogging, Papa took the plunge and began blogging about my growing up in Kubang Pasu (in earnest, hopefully). So dear readers, do join us to shape up my growing up.