Raya Weekend and Malaysian Drivers (Especially Malaysian Drivers!)

Hello and welcome back to The Accidental Blogger!. First of all this is supposed to be 2 stories but since I am too lazy to split it, I shall just summarize it to one.

The Raya weekend was awesome. I was on leave for four days (including the weekend) and was in Butterworth and Penang for those 2 days. During my stay I managed to meet up with my form 5 batch of ’98 namely Areef and Sofian (who organized the event) and it was a good time reminiscing the past and how we used to be and what has become of some of the guys that I have not met.

It was a good get together as I have not kept in touch with these guys since form 5 and meeting them up was definitely great especially a day before the end of Ramadhan because once Raya has started, it would not be easy to meet up with all the guys as they would be busy entertaining guest since a majority of them are married with kids.

I also managed to hang out with some of my colleagues during the weekend as they came down for another colleague’s wedding and we chilled at Sunset Bistro in Batu Ferringhi. I enjoy that place as it’s by the beach and the music is not loud so we could hear each other speak and catch some football. I was there on the next day too with my sisters since they needed a get-away too.

It was a weekend well spent as my elder sister was back from the UK and it was good to see her as I had missed her and also my eldest sister was back with my niece and nephew so I got to spend time with them too and not forgetting my parents.

And that my friends, was the upside of the weekend. Now, the ugly side; this time around I drove down to Penang due to the onset of the A(H1N1) pandemic and public transport is not recommended. What I noticed was either Malaysian drivers are stupid, ignorant, busy-bodies or all the above. The character of a person can be very best described by the way they drive!

I have categorized the drivers based on these three groups; The Idiots, The Arseholes and The ones whom I cannot find a suitable cuss word for!

Let us take a closer look at these creatures based on their categorizations, shall we?

The Idiots

The idiots are creatures that own cars but do not know how to use it or are just too plain stupid to know what to do with a car. For example, a car is meant to be driven at a reasonable speed, such as 60 km/h not 20 km/h, that too on the fast lane. Also, since it was the Raya weekend, there were many cars parked by the sleeve of the road as some drivers may have been tired and the rest stops were full. That was not the problem; the problem was that other drivers slowed down to just look at these parked cars! Why in the name of god would you slow down to look at parked cars? I thought it was just accidents that caused these creatures to slow down… but NOOOO…they had to slow down to see parked cars! It is already absolutely ridiculous to slow down when there is an accident and not to offer help but to slow down to look at parked cars sounds even more stupid to me. This scenario went on all the way from Slim River to Bukit Merah (practically the whole Perak)

The Arseholes

These are the creatures that do not value life and drive at speeds up to “the speedometer cannot go any further” per hour! If you want to drive fast, fine, you want to pay the fine for speeding, fine, just do not do it by risking me and my family. These creatures drive so fast and they come right behind you and start flashing for us to move; look, I would move if I was not overtaking another car, so you would just have to fucking wait! Flashing would be a mere annoyance but TAILGATING is a no-no. What would happen if I had to slam my breaks, there is absolutely no way in hell that you could avoid crashing into me. If any of you reading this is a tailgater, I wish you would burn in hell (if there was one)!

The ones whom I cannot find a suitable cuss word for

These are the creatures that use the emergency lane so they can get home faster than the other tax-payers who are stuck in a jam. Now let me put this straight, an emergency lane does not mean that just because your balls are aching that you can use it, an emergency lane is to be used when your grandmother is dying and you’re rushing her to the hospital or if an ambulance is rushing your loved one to the hospital or if a fire truck is rushing too put off the fire that is consuming your home. If you use this lane just to get home faster to catch the match or if your meal is getting cold, then you cause a far more severe jam due to a bottle neck and the ambulance that is rushing your loved one would be trapped in the jam too causing your loved one to probably DIE or your house would have been burnt to bits or grandma has decided to go towards the light because her grandchildren are too dim that they used the emergency lane that was supposed to be used for an emergency for a non-emergency!
It gets even worse still is when they use the emergency lane and try to cut in when the guys who have been following the queue are expected to give way….well guess what, no way motherfucker! You wait in fucking line…and do not have the audacity to give me a stare because I did not give you way…you fucking deserve it….to you motherfuckers who cut lanes, I hope you go to hell and Satan waits to butt-fuck you with a pitch fork! YOU FUCKERS ARE A HAZARD TO “REAL” EMERGENCIES!

And there you have it, my piece for a well spent holiday but an undeserving driving experience to and back from Penang.

An act of carelessness that cost RM2000

Believe it or not, I have been donating to WWF (World Wildlife Fund) for the past 4 years without my knowledge. Yes, I did however consciously donate for the 1st one year since 2005.

Donations are indeed a good act and have to be lauded but not when you do not know that you are doing it. This article is not to put the blame on WWF but rather a lesson to the rest of you guys out there not to repeat the same mistake.

So the story goes like this. Some time in 2005 I was approached by these people from WWF to contribute some amount of money to the fund and they promised me a tax return and I thought “hey, why not?!” I mean the money is going to good use and it’s for the future of our children (actually the fact that it was tax deductible, weighed more than the future of our children…yes, that’s the bitter truth).

The volunteer told me that I could do this for just one year and I agreed as it was only RM40 a month and did not really feel the pinch. I remember that there was a section to tick only for 1 year but I could be mistaken (WWF has to get back to me on this as the lady I spoke to today mentioned that there is no such clause on their forms but they would check). So 1 year had passed and I received the letter from WWF to use it to do my taxes. So, at that time I thought ah well, 1 year has passed by now I do not have to pay already….I was far from right.

Today, I went to withdraw cash from the ATM and I could have sworn that either the bank was up to something because I remembered the amount I had in the bank when I withdrew the money and RM40 was not there anymore or if I got too drunk and could not remember withdrawing RM40 (the latter is very much possible).

So I checked online and I saw this term “debit advice” so I called the bank and told them that I had not authorized any standing orders nor am I contributing towards any charity. So the customer service dude told me that it was WWF that I was contributing to. So I told the customer service guy that, that was a long time ago and it should not be debited and I have only come to notice it now. The customer service rep said that this is something that I have to take up with WWF as this has been going on for some time and not only this month. I was dumbfounded.


I Googled up WWF and got their phone number and I was connected to this lady with a very firm voice and I did not want to mess with her because she knew her “shit”. She told me that I am a very much active donor and have been contributing since 2005…and I went like…shit, all the money that I could have used to get me stuff that I could not afford. But then again it was for good use but I decided to cancel the donation because I was disappointed of the fact that I was not given proper information in the first place when I decided to donate to the organization.

The mistake that I made was by being careless with my spending in the sense where I did not check how much money has been credited or debited or sticking to a budget. I am a lavish spender and bad at saving. But all this had come to an end when I got married because now I have a personal banker and a banking system built in together with my wife .

The mistake that WWF made was by not educating their volunteers on keeping potential donors informed on the clauses. With the letter that I wrote to WWF, I did also state this very same point so that people will be in the know of how much they will be contributing. Please note that I am not holding WWF responsible for what happened as the fault is mine for not managing my funds, if I had, I would have known about this earlier and also another mistake I made was by not informing WWF that I had moved as if I had done that, I would have been receiving the letter and the magazine from WWF and it would have served as an indicator that I am contributing to the society.

So, dear friends, please check your account balance if you are not doing it already and do not be as careless as I was where it had cost me close to RM2000.

Score:
WWF: 1------------Vixstarr: 0

My Racists Encounters

Disclaimer Note: This article was written for the Anak Bangsa Malaysia groups that I am part of. I would like to stress that what ever that has happened in the article below are real and just because the "race"* of a certain group of people is mentioned, it does not mean that all the people who belong to that "race"* are bad; on that note, I would like to remind you that I am not racist but the incidents below are to demonstrate that there are certain quarters of people who are still racists.

I had to mention the ethnicity of the people I was dealing with to stress the point I am getting at.

I personally choose to accept anyone as my friends, housemates and even family so long as they have an open mind as I do. So you may be of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Martian, Klingon ethnicity or dan lain-lain, You are still my "hommie".

The content of the post below is not to offend anyone (of any race) except YOU RACISTS out there!

Please feel free to comment.

*Race - I put it in quotes because if we stress to do away with racial profiling, we should first do away with referring to people on where their ancestors came from. I believe the proper word should be ethnicity. Because here in this beautiful country, there should be only 1 race, that is Malaysian.

Before I start, let me share some information about myself. I am 28
years old and have been working in KL for 6 years as I hail from the
"GREAT" state of Penang (yes, I am proud of it, they did not pay well
in Penang so I had to come here...different story altogether :D).
Anyway, when i moved to KL after I graduated I did not live with
relatives or whatsoever except for the 1st couple of days with my
close friend Hyzer (of whom had "emigrated" to KL too) since I had yet
to find a place to rent.

Okay, now to where I am getting at; During my search for rooms to rent
in the Klang Valley I was always asked the first golden question, "Are
you chinese ah?" and I was at the crossroads at that time as I did not
know whether to answer Indian or Malaysian as the next question would
be..."ya la...you Malaysian I oso Malaysian but what race are you?"

When I mentioned Indian, I always got turned down saying "sorry, for
Chinese only". These situations had deeply bothered me. But, the first
room I rented in PJ was from a Chinese national who has been living
here for some time. I will never forget her as she looked after me
like a mother! Can you believe a landlady who would offer to do your
laundry because she was subletting another unit that had a washing
machine and she saw me one day washing my clothes and offered to wash
it for me and mind you, she would fold the clothes too!

It saddened me that I had to move out of the place as I could not
afford the rent because I had other commitments and being a fresh grad
at that time, my pay was not that great especially when you're working
in the Klang Valley. My landlady was saddened too but she could not do
anything to reduce the rent because the rent for the apartment had
gone up too.

Once again I had to go out and search for rooms and again I was faced
with the same questions so much so that I had to swallow my pride and
put on a thick face and answer the questions because I was desperate
to get the room and just in a hope that even when I admit that I am
"Indian" they would still give me a place to stay; but talk about
wishful thinking...

Finally I got a place to stay and it was not with my fellow people of
Chinese ethnicity. Why did I not look for Malay house mates you may
ask, well there weren't any adds from my fellow Malay people (this is
just for those who might think I am racist for only looking for non-
Malay housemates) It was purely happenstance that I did not find any
Malay house mates to live with.

Then, I had to move from the current place I was living in at that
time too as I got a job in Cyberjaya. I was moving to Puchong this
time. Again, same questions over and over again. But, I finally found
a place and it was this very nice woman who was of Chinese ethnicity
who gave me a place. She did not ask for my race, religion or
whatsoever. All she wanted was to have someone look after the place as
she was leaving to work in Singapore. This is where I invited my best
friend and rap group member, Ishaq (Agip) to come and live with me
since I rented the whole place. Those were fun days as we used to have
LAN video games and such (again different story for a different day).

I went on to live there for a year until my contract ended. Then I
moved on closer to Cyberjaya. Once again, same questions but this time
I just mustered my courage and asked if it was a problem and the real
estate agent just told me that the owner is looking for "Chinese"
tenants. Okay, so anyway once again my friends and I managed to find a
place and once again it was this pleasant couple (of Chinese
ethnicity) who gave us place. They looked at us and just said..."ah
you young graduates, very good to see you people". See the situation
here is not that he looked at us as people of a different ethnicity
but just as young, decent and working men. I do not understand why do
other people not get that fact? Why does "race" always have to come
into the picture.

Wait, I am not done yet. This time, we were looking for housemates to
rent some of the extra rooms we had. So, we put up an add and I signed
the add with my name that I am most commonly addressed by; "Vick". I
had students call up and ask "are you Chinese ah?" I would be like
"what the %^&^* ?" firstly because I believe I have a distinct Indian
Malaysian accent and secondly "why the hell does it matter?" I am
renting the place out and I don't bloody mind of which creed, breed or
planet you're from. All I want is someone who is clean and tidy and
not noisy, that's it. I even had people call in and come to the place
to see the room and when they saw me they were like "eh, you not
Chinese ah?" on my face, yes!

So, those were the days of my bachelorhood. Then, I got married (in
February this year) and moved out and I am still living in a rented
unit but with a wonderful landlord who has taught me a lot in how to
look for a house and teaching me how to do basic repair work in the
house as he sees me as a young married man and prepping me for a house
that I would buy in the future and be ready for the little stuff that
can be done which would save us money instead of calling a plumber,
electrician, etc. Again, he is of Chinese ethnicity and again, he is
someone who saw us as a married couple and he was not concerned about
our "race" but shared his wisdom with us. Not many people are generous
with their knowledge regardless of "race"

Recently, I called a real estate agent who had placed an add in the
paper about a house for sale, and guess what? He asks me if I am
Chinese? "WHAT THE .......?" I am buying the unit not renting it...why
the hell does it matter. I am not buying it directly from them and
even if i default on payments if you think that's what other "races"
do, then it is the bank whom should be concerned! not the real estate
agent.

These are just some of the examples of racism that I have faced out of
many. BUT with the examples of people that I have mentioned above,
THERE IS STILL HOPE as most of the people who gave me a place to live were people of Chinese descent and I cannot stress more on how they saw me as a fellow Malaysian and not as someone of a different "race"! My request would be for everyone in this group to
please educate your friends, children, family members to see beyond
the colour of skin. I am not perfect, I grew up in a neighbourhood of
serious stereotyping and most of the time, I am the victim. I am
changing my mindset, I want my children to grow up in a non race
biased system, in a colour blind society and to keep it short and
sweet as an ANAK BANGSA MALAYSIA!

With Regards,
Vicknesharajan "Vick" Amarthalingam

Trams for Penang

Yea, yea yea.... I know this is old but i guess I would like to keep the discussion going on why we need trams, so here are my reasons:

1. Because I said so!
2. It does not and will not be a source of pollution (unless the passengers are the pollutants)
3. It is way more cheaper than a Light Rail Transit (LRT)
4. Ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto Subway system
5. Trams used to be Penang's heritage way before I was born.
6. There are still usable tram lines in Penang that can be salvaged and cost can be saved there too.
7. Penang drivers can save us the embarrassment of people calling us lousy drivers and just hop on a tram
8. Lesser congestion...lesser future heart, tension, high bp and mental patients on the road due to the jam
9. It is cool
10. Most advanced cities/towns in the world are using Trams.

The first time I saw a Tram was in the city of Manchester England. There were very little cars on the road and the trams were the preferred mode of transport. This is due to the fact that fuel is expensive there and the public transport system is quite reliable. Forget about the tube (subway) system in London because it is usually not that reliable because of unexpected strikes by the workers and repair works (because it is old) and not because of it being late...I don't know how to elaborate that point because I have no freakin' clue on why our public transportation system is not on time. So again....Trams would reduce the amount of cars on the road because trams need the whole road to move :D



The other time I saw trams was when i was in the town of Bydgoszcz (pronounced Bid-gosh) in Poland. There i saw how cars and Trams moved around in the town. It is almost similar to how trains cross roads here except there are no gates but there are traffic lights to indicate when a tram is about to pass. Cars can also drive over the tracks or even behind a tram (imagine it to be a bus on rail tracks. Except the tracks are not ON the road but embedded IN the road, so your car tires/suspensions are safe should you drive over one)

So there you have it, the beauty of Trams. The pictures above are from my personal collection. Should you want to use it, please let me know. Jangan cetak rompak...lol... :)

Check out Anil Netto's Blog For More Info

Anti-ISA Candle Light Vigil

This is a long awaited post indeed as I had to wait for the right mood to post this because I did not want to be stumped for words. So here goes. I will relate my share of the story on that blessed day.

The vigil was scheduled to begin at 8:00PM on Saturday the 27th of September. But being the people (Murali, Sriganesh and I) we are we only started driving to the Bukit Jalil LRT stadium at 7:30PM and reached there at about 7:50PM. By the time we parked and got onto the LRT it was already 8 and reached Dataran at about 8:20PM to find the field cordoned off by rolls of "police line, do not cross" tape around the who vicinity of the field.

Before we got off the LRT we saw patrol cars and a lot of people gathered near 7-11 opposite Puduraya. Therefore when we saw no people in dataran we figured that the crowd could have moved there since the field was cordoned off. Just to be sure Murali flipped out his "more canggih than my" phone and checked MalaysiaKini. It had been reported that the crowd had marched to the "Court Malai (Hill)" Vinayagar Temple to perform prayers and have a small gathering.

As we walked back from Dataran to the temple, droves of people were heading in the opposite direction i.e. towards dataran. We asked one guy and he mentioned that it was over and they were heading home. Sad but not that sad because I managed to bump into Haris Ibrahim who is one of my favourites in the field of blogging. It was an honour to meet him. We had a small chat and asked him if there was anything there near the temple. He said it was almost done but it was worth having a look and bid us to "keep the fire burning" and we followed the crowd. We kept the fire burning indeed as there were still people at the 7-11 holding candles.

There were many Hindraf supporters with their shirts reading "keep walking" and a silhouette of Mahatma Gandhi. There were also people with yellow shirts that read quotes such as Daulat Tuanku and Justice for Altantuya with a picture of Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) on it. They were still holding their half melted candles and standing there with the crowd from Hindraf.

We decided to light our candles too. Yes, we brought our own. As we were lighting it, along came YB Ronnie Liu and YB Chong Eng (DAP BM). They shook hands with the crowd and mingled with them like how friends would. I was impressed how the two MPs were very down to earth. Even we spoke to YB Ronnie Liu and YB Chong Eng. We managed to take pictures too. I had a lengthy conversation with YB Chong Eng as she is from my home state of Penang.

After conversing with the MPs we stood around for awhile and sang happy birthday to RPK with the crowd, chanted a few slogans such as "Hapuskan ISA" and "Free Raja Petra". After that the Police walked over to YB Ronnie Liu and advised him to advice us to disperse. The Police were indeed very co-operative and stood there without bothering the participants and were making sure that nothing got out of hand. They even shook hands with the "opposition MPs" and showed them utmost respect. KUDOS to the police.

YB Ronnie then advised us to disperse and to adjourn to the stalls at Petaling Street. He was willing to treat the small crowd that were gathered there.

Through the whole account and the crowd we saw, we estimated about no more than 500 people. When we read other news reports, they mentioned 2000. To our disbelief we saw the pictures by the press and clips on youtube, I would indeed have to agree that the crowd was equal to or more than 2000.

I would also like to comment here about the t-shirt i wore for the vigil. I was wearing a Bone Thugs n Harmony t-shirt. The first reason why i wore it was because when they had a gathering at the Masjid Jamek LRT station a few days before the vigil, to explain about the anti-ISA campaign, they advised supporters to spot a red and black dress code. I assumed that it would be the same for the vigil and the only red and black shirt i had was the Bone Thugs N Harmony t-shirt (I did not have a black pants but i had a red shirt....but that would defeat the purpose) The second reason I was wearing the shirt was because Bone Thugs N Harmony (BTNH) is my favourite rap group and they have presented a number of songs with positive messages (albeit their songs about drugs and street life, gangsterism, etc.) I really care a damn about what BTNH have said about the usage of drugs and all as I have a mind of my own and I am mature enough to distinguish the good vs. the bad. The third reason why BTNH came to mind was because they have this song called change the world. I have included the video for this song below and i hope you enjoy it. I have included an excerpt of the lyrics sung by Krayzie Bone in this song which roughly depicts the current status of our beloved country's political situation:

"Sometimes I sit and think about if I could change the world
Get in the mind of the little boys and girls
Show 'em that it is a better way
Satan got you trippin' don't listen to what the devil say
'Cause he can deceive ya
Play with your brain and mislead ya
But it won't be long
'Til the angels come
There's no where to hide but he'll run
Babylon the great has fallen
God is callin'
We all in y'all in
Souljahs go marchin' in bombin' 'em
But this time we ain't talkin'
We are tryin' to hit the target we launchin'
Police brutality got to cease
But I see the NYPD don't want peace
And the LAPD don't weant peace
So we'll never be free
So come on

We only got 'til the end of time (we got to the end of time)
To change the world (we shall overcome) change the world the world [x2]
It's a crazy mixed up world
It's the end of the world
It's a crazy mixed up world
'Cause it's the end of the world [x2]
"

Here's a video of the song (Krayzie's verse is at 3mins:55sec ) as well as other photos from the vigil...ENJOY :)
Till then it's your Boy VixStaRR (the Accidental Blogger)








Murali and Sri-G (Murali is obviously ecstatic to be there! :) )












Murali and I













The Crowd













More of the Crowd













Sri-G and YB Ronnie Liu

Hero but Still a Zero

Okay, so we were having some drinks at Ming Chu in SK new town. Whence the shop closed, we decided to head to 7-11 a few doors down to have a night cap. Whilst we were there (having our "last kopek" a suspicious dude entered the store drunk and was indecisive on what he should buy.)

We were still outside enjoying our brew before we wanted to disperse, but the dude who was indecisive was still in the store browsing, that made us suspicious and we decided to stay a little while because this was the 7-11 that we frequented and did not want anything unwarranted to happen.

The suspicious dude was most definitely drunk and was walking around the whole store and could not decide what to get. The store personnel started to get restless.

We were monitoring his every activity and got worried. I walked in to the store and asked the personnel if everything was alright, they were rigid. I told them to call the police and until the police came, we will wait. Finally the “restless dude” picked up a bottle of stout and walked out but did not leave. He sat on the stairs of the 7-11 store and did not move

The dude who was suspicious ( a foreigner ) was still seated at the stairs (drunk) did not move. We were still skeptical to move as well. Finally the Police came.

Whence the Police came, guess what?! We were the first suspects! Now the real suspect was seated no further than 8 feet away from us, the cops asked us “buat apa di sini?” we said “tak ada apa Encik”, they were like persistent on what we were doing there….finally we said…look, go into the store and ask them what happened…in whispers we told them…we were the ones who advised to call you in the first place. The cops still insisted on us to get lost and to sit near a restaurant.

Now the predicament that we are in is that the dude that was suspicious looked like a local (I am not going to mention the race!) the first person for the Police to question did not look like a local (us, who are of “Indian Origin”).

We explained to the cops that we are the ones who advised the 7-11 staff to call the Police BUT the cops still chased us away and only after that went into the store to get the details.

We were not seated too far away to see what the cops would do to the original culprit. After getting the full story from the staff is when the cops reacted to the situation by asking the “suspicious character” to leave the scene.

My question is, why come for a local first before questioning the complainant on who the culprit is? Is this not stereotyping? I shall leave the rest for you to decide. Thank you for reading 

From the Belly

Hello once again my ardent fans, or one or two of you....okay let's just be real...hello me...cuz it seems that i may the only one who reads my blog. Anyway, nothing much has happened since yesterday. Which brings me to the question; do bloggers blog everyday? I mean, i am no political blogger but those non political bloggers, do they actually blog everyday? What's so interesting to blog about? ah, nevermind...

speaking about political bloggers, there is so much to blog about Malaysian politics. I mean to those fans of Tamil dramas, I suggest you start paying attention to more Malaysian Politics. It is more interesting and the plot thickens every day. Imagine dramas like "Chitti", "Annamalai", etc are no match to our politics. Especially with Pakatan threatening to be the new government come September 16th.

At times i feel that our politics and politicians have become the laughing stock of other countries. It is blatantly obvious that the politicians are making a mockery of the people. Sometimes I feel that these politicians are thinking that the people of this blessed country are so stupid to realise their wrongdoings. They talk so much cock that you feel like screaming your lungs out, out of frustration.

I would love to blog more about politics people but i believe i need to stop here as i already feel nauseated speaking about the politics of this country. Maybe i will continue writing once i feel much better and less disgusted. Please do drop by and drop some comments too. Thanks.