.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

So the petrol price has gone up by 78cents, approximately 40%...that's a pretty hefty hike. I'm sure everyone knows about it by now.

Most people feel like this.

Judging by the horrific jams last night near every petrol station (3-4km tailbacks according to radio traffic reports) it seems like most of the country had heard about it.

I checked a few petrol stations and by 10pm they had actually run out of fuel, I didn't bother queuing to pump fuel. The price is inevitable and I'm not going to waste an hour or two idling to save RM30.

So what do I think? I think as a net exporter of petroleum products Malaysia should be able to afford to give subsidy to their citizens.

But then, if they remove the subsidy (believing the economy can support it) they will free up a LOT of money for development of health care, education and public transport.

Now if public transport was adequate I don't think anyone would be complaining about the fuel prices as you would have a viable option.

Also if car prices weren't ridiculously inflated less people would complain.

Honestly I think removing the subsidy is fine....IF and it's a BIG IF - the public transport system is effecient, effective and has enough spread to be available to everyone in the urban area (including suburbs) AND cars are sold at the true market price (around 60% of what they are currently being sold at).

I've seen the government propoganda showing fuel prices compared to other countries nearby - but when are they going to show the prices we pay for cars compared to other countries (and please factor in the pricing parity or economic strength).

Rumours have it that the price may go up again in August as the current 78 cent hike still has a 30 cent per litre subsidy.

The plan is to give those with cars under 2000cc RM600 per year back, that's fine if you pump petrol once a month, but for everyone else it doesn't cut it.

Even for those with 35 litre tanks a full tank will now cost around RM95 where previously it cost RM67.

Say on average they pump a full tank twice a month, they are losing out RM672 a year, so with the subsidy they aren't too badly off. I think on average tho mostly people will pump a full tank once a week, so they will be losing out about RM600 a year.

It's still an additional headache however and we have yet to see how effecient the system will be.

Interesting times, I want to see what they are proposing to do with all the saved funds.

So May 10th came faster than expected and everything seemed to come together just in time, World Lupus Day was here!

The first part was getting the Anything Butterfly Photography Competition running, which we got going with the help of the large member base on Shutter Asia, fellow bloggers giving it a mention and adverts donated by Nuffnang!

Plenty of entries came in, Thursday night was reserved for judging, how we did so is explained here:

Winners of the Anything Butterfly Contest

You can also view the winning pictures there.

Friday night was sticking the winning picks on the mounting boards along with the Lupus posters and information for the exhibition.

The exhibition is on until the 18th of May so please do check it out in 1-Utama near the Oval in the new wing on the 1st floor (You can also buy one of my framed pics for charity!).

Saturday was the event itself, after a late night out at Starbucks it was up and out to 1-Utama, the others had been there since earlllyyyy setting up the panels, carpets and so on.

Freaky was the main organiser + sponsor seeker + everything else + emcee for the day!

Along with the runners up and consellation prize winners we also had stories of lupus displayed.

Read more

It seems like this year is going to be the year of clashes...Things just keep happening on the same day, or the same weekend.

Starting with this week and a company dinner or Hannah Tan's gig at Somo on Thursday night.

Shortly followed by a Sailing Trip (7-9th), Tiesto (9 & 10th) and World Lupus Day (10th)...all on the same weekend.

Then Kite Runner movie and Sean Kingston at Zouk on the same night.

Before that MDG visit to the house clashed with something else..

The trip to Sabah clashed with the Nuffnang Pajama Party.

*sigh*

It could be looked on as a good thing I guess, at least I have plenty of things to do...just why do they all have to happen on the same days/weekends - then the rest of the time nothing! Oh well, I guess it's a good sign blogs are getting more important - we are getting invited to more and more serious events, locations and trips.

Power of blogs eh?

How do you decide which to do when you have a clash in your schedule? Does work come first? Or does the one that would benefit you most come first? Or the one that you would enjoy most?

Would you go on a sailing trip or go for 2 days rave with Tiesto? Or would you forego both to help out a charity endeavour you are involved with?

Decisions decisions...so far I'm swayed to Tiesto and rush back to KL for the charity thing then back to PD for the second night of Tiesto!

To all those that voted - whatever the pessimists say, you did make a difference.

5 states eh?

Samy out!

Kelantan retained, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Penang won most by a huge majority.

Tides are changing - let's hope the future is a positive one.

BN was denied the crucial 2/3rds majority.

I hope the opposition ruled states can function under the reigning government, if they cut off their funding again?

The opposition are working together, PAS, PKR and DAP - DAP get's Penang, PKR gets Selangor. Both will hope for input from PAS too.

It looks good, non-racially based politics should be coming - one nation ftw!

Well - let's wait and see, it's still early days.

Well as I'm sure you know now is the time for the general elections, voting in the powers to be to rule the country with a firm but fair hand for all.

There's a few major issues I have with the political system here and of course the voting system..I have been surprised as well with the lack of understanding of the voting system, the ruling party and the politics involved in Malaysia by the average Malaysian citizen.

It seems a lot of people just really don't care.

1] Racially segregated parties, why must everything be about race? Why must Chinese stick up for Chinese? Indians stick up for Indians and Malays stick up for Malays? Why can't Malaysians just stick up for Malaysians and everyone do what is best for the country and their fellow countrymen?

Why all the separation, racial bias and bickering about which races are anti whatever other races.

The paper is full of it today - if you vote for the opposite they won't look after the Chinese! Vote MCA it's the only way to safeguard the Chinese people of Malaysia! Blah blah blah..

When will Malaysia have a truly racially agnostic party capable of destroying the NEP in a realistic and non-drastic manner and running the country based on what is best for the rakyat - the word specifies no race correct?

Education and politics should be race agnostic, schools should not be governed by race or religion. There should just be schools, state schools shouldn't push any specific religious agenda, there shouldn't be Chinese schools.

Just schools with options for language, if you want to learn Chinese go ahead, if you want to learn Tamil go ahead regardless of your race it should be a choice.

2] Gerrymandering - this is a huge problem...but then it's based on the British system so I guess you can blame us for that..the incumbent party can move the borders of each constituency to either water down hardcore opposite conclaves with more votes for their party - or they can box in opposition strongholds by expanding borders to ensure they don't lose more votes in surrounding areas.

3] First Past the Post or Plurality voting system - ok this one is taken from the Brits too..it favours the incumbent unless there is an equally strong party (which Britain does have with the Conservatives vs Labour). The system will eventually 'breed' a two party race as it doesn't leave space for the 3rd place...any votes not for the winner or second place are wasted and are basically votes against the second place. (See Duverger's Law)

4] Lack of a Shadow Cabinet - I think this is crucial for check and balance, for the stability of the country. Basically every minister would have a 'shadow' minister from an opposition party. This means if the minister makes any stupid decisions the shadow minister can call him out and stop him wasting money/time etc. Not only UK uses this also France, Australia, Canada, Japan, Ireland, Poland, Scotland and even our neighbour Thailand!

5] Vote buying - this used to happen in UK as well of course a long time ago, it may still happen...it still happens in Taiwan, Mexico and even US according to some.

The use of money by candidates during campaigns has been a problem in some areas. The practice of vote buying in internal UMNO elections was openly acknowledged at the UMNO General Assembly in 1994 and specific cases were publicized in 1995 (New Straits Times, 9 August 1995). In the 1996 state elections in Sarawak for the seat of Bukit Begunan, the unsuccessful candidate successfully mounted an election petition in court to challenge the result using evidence of vote buying.

6] The disparity of constituency with 1 to 1 voting - it was supposed to be controlled at no more than 15%.

For the one-person one-vote system to function, the disparity in numbers of voters between constituencies (whether at state or parliamentary level) must be controlled. The original 1957 Federal Constitution provided such guarantees – it said that the disparity shall not exceed fifteen percent (15 %). However these fundamental guarantees have been removed by constitutional amendments. Today, opposition-supporting parliamentary constituencies in Kuala Lumpur have up to 100,000 voters whilst the smallest parliamentary constituencies may have about 20,000 to 25,000 voters. The difference intended originally to be limited to 15 % has now become 400 – 500 %! In 1990 for example, while Penang (which has traditionally been an opposition bastion) had an average of about 50,838 voters per constituency, Perlis had an average of 33,032 voters per constituency. Further gerrymandering occurs in the provision of state seats within parliamentary constituencies.

7] No serious contender - Similar to point one, there's no single, heavyweight, race agnostic opposition party that can give faith to the people they can lead the country. DAP seems to be the stronger, but alone it's still not large or powerful enough to topple BN. The other parties have minor followings. The FPTP system will eventually breed a strong enough second party, who it will be - time will only tell.

8] Campaigns of Negativity - BN is especially guilty of this, but most parties seem to be partaking. I'm not seeing a lot of positive stuff in the news, you should be selling your party on what it CAN do the country...not what the other party CAN'T do or what they've done wrong in the past. Seriously it's rather depressing to see all the fighting, insult hurling and allegations being made (Tony Pua is an economic failure? Teresa Kok is a loose woman?) Please, where are the ethics?

9] Lack of strong leaders - People don't want to vote for BN because they don't have faith in the people at the top - which is fair enough. But amongst the opposition are there enough charismatic people with a strong background to win the votes? Yes Anwar is a superb speaker - but who's going to trust him with his background?

Anyway that's enough rambling.

The point is please educate yourselves and those around you, I'm mostly preaching to the converted here as most blog readers know what's happening in the political world better than the average Joe due to rapid and deep dissemination of information online.

Read about the process here: Elections in Malaysia

So would I vote if I could - of course! In UK I voted for the Green Party!

This is a much discussed issue, especially with the recent tragedy at Slim River and the deaths of 3 young bright citizens (20, 21 and 23) of Malaysia.

I often wonder if having a system like we do in the UK would make much difference, in UK it's know as the MOT or Ministry of Transport test.

It's a test that EVERY vehicle has to go through every year after it's 3 years old or more, if you don't pass the test you can't get your roadtax - if you can't get your roadtax you can't renew your insurance. Everything is linked together.

If there's any failures on your test you have 10 days to retest, if not your vehicle is marked as unfit for the road, it's a fairly cheap test at £50.35 for a regular car but I think it really helps.

Australia has a similar scheme and so does the US I believe.

Some may say the developing economy of Malaysia can't support such a scheme as many people can't afford to keep their cars or buses in safe working conditions.

But is it really worth risking people's lives for? Surely these deathtrap cars shouldn't be on the road.

Buses and public service vehicles should be strictly monitored for safety along with the drivers, 13 outstanding summons? For someone that is essentially in charge of 30 peoples lives?

Any cars without roadtax that are parked on public property (note you don't even have to be DRIVING the car) can be towed away and crushed, yes not impounded but destroyed.

This is not the first incident with a bus in Malaysia, and it surely won't be the last until things start to change. Drivers must be paid and trained properly, they must be responsible and not overworked.

The buses and vehicles used to transport people around the country must be well maintained.

I have to say personally I feel quite safe on the LRT, but the buses in Malaysia in general are horrible. The only ones I feel safe on are those luxury buses which are very well maintained and have well trained and rested drivers (Plusliner, Aerobus etc).

But those aren't exactly affordable for the average student and are privately run, so not really considered as public transport.

If you feel that this is an important issue there's an online petition you can sign here which is going to be presented to the Ministry of Transport.

Bus Crash No More

You can also read more about the issues here:

http://buscrashnomore.blogspot.com

Sadlly it's most likely the bright young students of Malaysia that are going to be endangered as they take the cheap buses from city to city during festive seasons and study breaks.

This is something which can and must be addressed.

Strangely enough a day after writing about Corruption in Malaysia, I got stopped by a 'roadblock' on MRR2 at about 1.30am.

It didn't look particularly official and I don't think they even had a speedtrap set-up, they were just fishing for bribes.

I thought this when I pulled up, but it was soon confirmed..

The first guy came to me...looked at my white face and walked of summoning his colleague (in BM of course) "Eh come here la, I don't know what to say".

Then another guy came over, then finally the more senior guy came up. Luckily I wasn't going particularly fast anyway.

Eventually he managed to ask me how fast I was going...it was something like this..

Him: "Your licence?"
Me: (Passes him license)
Him: "International license?"
Me: "Yah"
Him: "You from where?"
Me: "Bandar Sri Damansara"
Him: "You er...."
Him: "You how?"
Him: "You er...how ah?"
Him: "You how long?"
Me: "Huh? Do you mean how fast was I going?"
Him: "Yah yah, how fast?"
Me: "Around 85-90km/h"
Him: "Speed here, 80km/h on bridge 60km/h"
Me: "Ok fine."
Him: (Leaning into car) "So you want summon?"
Me: "Yeah sure, give me a summon"
Him: (Looking puzzled) "Er ok..."

Then he ciaoed, got on his bike and rode off.

I waited a while whilst another few officers inspected me, my car, my license and hung around, asked me some more stuff - mostly the same questions again. Where am I from, where am I going, how fast was I going, had I been drinking etc..

One even breathalyzed me.

And eventually said I can go, 'last warning'.

They obviously were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing and were just fishing for bribes.

So in the end I drove off without paying anything, why? Because I'd done nothing wrong.

Everyone else around me was paying their hard earned 50 bucks for no reason, other than to support corruption. When you pay the bribe you can't be sure if they were really going to summon you or not.

Accept when you do wrong and pay via the proper channels, don't let them push you around

Now this is an interesting topic...and it comes back to the same old subject again sadly. Malaysia hypocrisy and apathy.

It's a fairly serious topic, but one that comes up fairly often. It's somewhat confusing as a foreigner in Malaysia, especially at first, trying to comprehend the Malaysian mind-set.

At first Malaysians seems like patriotic people who are passionate about their country and want to see positive changes in the bureaucracy and governance of the country. But later you realise they just like to talk about it, and aren't actually willing to do anything on a ground or grass-roots level to make the changes.

My case in point today is corruption.

You'll often hear someone or other whining about corruption especially with this $27 million cop splashed all over the papers, and even before that they'll moan about corrupt cops, corrupt politicians and corrupt business practices.

All you have to do is ask them...when you get stopped for a traffic offense do you bribe the police to get away?

95% of the time they'll say "Yeah of course la, what else to do?"

Which makes them just as bad as the people they are complaining about, it's their fault corruption still continues and is so blatant. I hold all people that pay police bribes on the street accountable for the corruption in this country.

Me? If I do something wrong, I take the summon and pay it like a good citizen. If I didn't do anything wrong, I won't allow the police to harass me into paying them just so I can get away easily.

Stand your ground if you didn't do anything wrong, don't pay just to get away faster. You are just making things worse and opening more doors for them to do it in the future.

If you did something wrong, accept the summon and pay it through the proper channels. If you get a discount in the police station that's fine. But don't bribe the man on the street.

When the police ask me if I want to settle I offer them RM10 - just to insult them and ask for them to hurry up writing the summons.

In a way you can blame it on the government for paying the police such pitiful salaries, they 'need' to collect kopi duit to survive...apparently.

And from what I know corruption on high levels exists in some form in every country in the World, according to the local cultural practices.

Business has opportunity cost as well which even in UK or US might have some kind of 'gift' associated with it.

It's just not so blatant and it doesn't effect the people.

The problem with the police on the street being corrupt is you have no faith in them solving important crimes or looking after the citizens, their first priority after all is collecting YOUR money - which YOU are allowing them to do.

It effectively removes the whole point of having a police force.

No doubt in UK the government is corrupt at high levels, but the man on the street be it a bobby walking the beat or a traffic cop is 100% corruption free and you can trust that whatever their interest in a given situation it's not according to money, bribes or sweeteners.

This makes you feel safe.

Stop bribing and the corruption will stop, the police will have to start doing their jobs properly and they will eventually get paid properly.

Well it's working to some degree, half of the images are missing and a bunch of other stuff isn't working properly yet.

Plus the last time I backed up the database was September 10th so all posts/comments since then have been lost.

I've gotten the Google cache from the front page, but those posts I was using the 'more' tag...I've lost the rest of the post.

I'll try and recreate them the best I can over the weekend if my original host really can't recover anything.

Apparently there was some kind of cascading failure, so when the hard-disk failed it also b0rked the backup server...and that was the end of that.

Everything is gone, all my important sites, money making sites...everything.

Luckily I was getting suspicious last month and did a quick backup, I'm not sure if I backed up the files though.

And now this site is hosted in Malaysia so it should be blazingly fast for people in Asia-pac.

Hopefully I'll get the latest SQL dump from the previous host and put all the images back and we'll be sorted.

If not I'll patch things back together the best I can do.

Another lesson - don't rely on others BACKUP REGULARLY...I wish I had got around to setting up the automated back-up for all the servers accounts like I kept meaning to.

It just goes to show procrastination is the mother of all fuck-ups.

Apologies for the late update today...some lessons to learn in life.

1) Look where what you driving over rather than just driving, there might be something sharp on the road.

2) If you hear any funny noises stop your car and check it out, because you might have a big piece of metal stuck in your tyre.

3) Always make sure you have the right tools to change your tyre, don't rely on the crappy wrench that Proton provides because it'll snap before it loosens the hydraulically tightened wheel nuts.

4) Always make sure your spare tyre has adequate air in it..because if you get a flat and your spare is also flat, it's somewhat annoying, especially when you have to drive up the NKVE at 40km/h looking for a petrol station to pump your tyre up

I call him Bobby Big Tyre

Correctly inflated to 37psi