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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Intra-Indian racism - Presana is not alone!

The current euphoria on the intra-Indian racist comments by the infamous Presana Narayanan seems to be burning bigger as the days goes by. There seems to be no end in sight for now, at least for the coming week. I tried not to talk about it much as there's already enough blogs, Facebook hate-page and comments that can even make her ancestors come alive. But then, as much as I tried to avoid, it seems the topic just hits you on the face with so much of attention, media coverage, threats, 'marriage proposals' and police reports against her. Her disqualification from the beauty contests further fanned the fire of hate towards this "inarticulate" girl, cementing the fact that she is very wrong for calling fellow Indians with derogatory names and hurling online abuses towards the largest south Indian ethnic group in Malaysia. One should not ignore the Likes & supportive words from other like-minded people as this girl.


So I did some reading about her, and in 2009 she apparently did this:
Courtesy of : http://www.makkez.com
To: All Malaysian Malayalees
I have comments and suggestions about this association and all Malayalees. There are few things that I need to say and hopefully most of you can take this, realize it and change for the better.
For our information and as we all know that Hindi is a national language for Indians (not only in India). In Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia & English is used for our daily routine. Malayalam is our Malayalee mother language.
As an Indian, we should fluent in Hindi language at least the basic. And the culture of Bollywood. As a Malayalee, we should maintain and modernize our culture (Such as Bollywood – modernized Indian culture). This is for the eye of global. What most people love to see and that is what we suppose to expose it.
I realize that many of our Malayalees are following “Tamil” culture and speaking in their language. That is why some of us who doesn’t know to speak “Tamil” are victims for the Tamil’s critics. Do not be surprise when they say “You are an Indian and must know how to speak in Tamil”. It always happens to me. In this case, they do not know what and who is Indian suppose to be. They thought us to be “Tamil” not as an Indian (actually). It’s their revenge, so that all Indians able to promote their language and culture since they are been rejected by the Malaysian society. They cause so many problems such as “Hindraf”, gangsters and more.
We Malayalees know that “Tamil” people are who and what are the problems will occur in future if we meet with them. They are not supposed to be allowed in our community and association. Even any of our matters. We can make a good partnership with those other Malaysians Race who is non-Tamils.
There are some Tamils in our association because the rules & regulations in our society are not strict enough to check every member’s identifications. This association is only and for only Malayalees. That is what we call All Malaysian “Malayalees” Association.
Every Indian race has their own association. For example; Punjabi / Telegu (Co-operate and good relationship among own community, maintain & modernized of culture & people). Take this an example to build our True Malayalees.
This is not a racism statement. But to protect our Malayalees name, culture, people and future. Hope for the best!
Thank you.
Regards,
Presana Narayanan

First few paragraphs got me thinking she's actually naive, for believing that Hindi is actually the national language of India. She's oblivious to the fact that, neither the Constitution of India nor Indian law specifies a national language, a position supported by a High Court ruling. So, her call for all Indians should learn Hindi looks like a big joke to many. Then came the part of modernizing Indian culture with Bollywood?? I did laughed-out-out on this 'wonderful' suggestion of hers. In the remaining parts of her 'letter', she exhibited deep desire to hate Tamilans, for reason only known to her. She feels that Malayalees must at all cost avoid Tamils, showing that racism is embedded in her mind.

Fast forward to 2012, the anger and hate of Tamilians towards this one Presana erupted, only this time larger than ever!! Her comments about Tamils, her ranting about their culture, origin got the majority of online Tamils fuming was captured here, here and also here. In just a few days, she became the instant sensation of the nation's Tamil community. Well, bad publicity is still publicity for her, unfortunately things turned from bad to worse for her, like her pageant disqualification.

Enough about Presana (I can hear you saying this), I agree. Now lets look how we (actually) look at ourselves. Predominantly the Tamils don't try to show them as different from other south Indian migrants in Malaysia, at least I don't see them doing so. But there are (small) percentage, who vehemently distinguish themselves from being collectively labeled South Indians. When asked by other non-Indians if they are Indian, they will reply I'm Malayalee, Telugu, Gujarati, Roti, Chapati or Ceylonese, Taiwanese, Japanese Tofu etc. Even among the Tamils are there so many 'classes' and 'levels' (others may call this caste). Although not openly discussed, at some point of our life we would have encountered these, particularly if there's a marriage function.

A couple of years ago, I experienced this first hand. While attending the annual Soorasamharam event at the Scott Road Kandaswamy Temple (run by Ceylonese community), a group of 5-6 Tamil youths were standing and talking in front of me. 1 of them proudly proclaimed that he's a Ceylonese Tamil, speaking in his 'mother-tongue' English. He went on for a good few minutes, condemning the south Indian Tamils in Malaysia. According to his logic, the British exclusively went and head-hunted the 'high-grade' Ceylonese Tamils from Sri Lanka and brought them to Malaysia in a chartered Airbus A380 (1st-est class) to handle the south Indians!! He also claimed that Indians are brought here for coolie work while Ceylonese are only brought for government, high profile jobs. He swear that the Ceylonese speaks the purest form of Tamil while the Indians copied and corrupted Tamil language. All this was spoken in English, mind you. 

So I tapped this complete stranger Ceylonese on his back and asked: are you a Tamil, he said he's Ceylonese, I asked again are you a Tamilan, he said yes. I asked him, why aren't you speaking in the 'purest form of Ceylonese Tamil'? He equipped he can't speak Tamil, not even the corrupted version of south India's. Then I started my 'V8 2.4L' Tamil engine in full view of his friends and others present, I told him my ancestors are from south India and I'm proud of that, even if you claim they are coolies. I'm also very proud of my Tamil people's heritage in Malaysia, speaking and upholding Tamil all our life. Finally, I have a place in India that I proudly call Tamil Nadu, and I can go and live at this place if I wanted at anytime of my life. I challenged him to return to his Ceylon and live with his 'high-grade' people. I told him, living in 'luxury' in Malaysia won't show you the suffering of your people in Sri Lanka, go down there and see, live, help those folks. I also told him, collectively the south Indian diaspora around the world have been collecting funds and rendering assistance to these displaced people in Sri Lanka, perhaps doing more than the 'original Ceylonese' like you. In conclusion, stop this 'excreta' of south Indians are lower class people than Ceylonese and go learn to live your life as human without labels. After all we are all from the same sub-continent called India!! All these were spoken in (copied & corrupted version) Tamil. The complete stranger didn't say a word. I continued to enjoy the event.

As we can see, even among the Tamils there are divisions of castes, levels, dialects, village, states, nations in between. I don't see that as a problem, until my community is 'trampled' by our own kind like above. We did saw the uprising of Tamils all over Malaysia condemning Presana for calling us 'P', did we do enough when Interlok did the same, in a bigger grander scale? Did we start a bigger movement to pressure the defiant group insisting to use the book as standard text in public school? Remember, there was once suggested that Tamil to be made compulsory for all Indians in public school like?? You can imagine how the other (fanatic portion of) Indian ethnics will protest this move, claiming Tamil is not their native language. 

The only saving fact is, in a group of Tamils, we have not reached a point where we distinguish ourselves openly by our self-inflicted divisions. We are divided, that's the fact. Once in a while, it gets front-paged like in Presana's case. I have to thank her for bringing together so many south Indian's, in one voice. Vanakkam, Vaalgha Tamil Valargha Tamilan!! வாழ்க தமிழ் வளர்க தமிழர்!!

[views here are my own experience and opinion, accept or reject at your own will]

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Driving for Dummies (MY version)


  1. If headlights flashed from behind, it means get the F out of the way, it doesn't mean show me your car top speed. 
  2. Aiming your car's windscreen water jets to hit the car travelling behind does not get any reward points, its just stupid way to waste water.
  3. Hanging a soft toy under the bumper is not stylish, its childish + dumb-ish
  4. Fixing a rubber strip under the PLASTIC bumber doesn't discharge negative charge, the 4 tires can do the job better.
  5. Having 2 metre high spoiler doesn't increase the car's downforce, it just spoils the air flow and cash flow.
  6. Having skirting around the car that almost touches road is cool, until you hit a hole, speed breaker or ramp like a fool.
  7. Having red & blue flashing LEDs on your dashboard doesn't instantly turn you into a police detective
  8. Having extra bright flashing LEDs that blinds the driver tailing you might get you a black eye or brick on the car!
  9. During extreme rain & strong winds, if you can't continue driving, don't crawl all over the road with your hazard lights flashing. It doesn't give a F'ing clue on what you're about to do. Instead, halt on the side, turn on the hazard lights and wait till you can drive.
  10. (turning/changing lanes): when driving on the highway, please stay on the right-most (overtaking) lane if your exit (on the left) is approaching. This will also give you bonus points.
  11. (turning/changing lanes): if you're honked at for changing lane without signalling, pretend like you're deaf or better if you can slide & hide under your steering.
  12. (turning/changing lanes): when you've signaled and given space to change lane, you don't need to wait till the space is enough for a Airbus A380 to fit in!
  13. (turning/changing lanes): when a car is turning into your lane from a junction, please prevent it by overtaking the car, even if driving into the opposite lane. This will give you extra points, redeemable soon in your afterlife.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Will Tamil feed you? - தமிழ் சோறு போடுமா?



You may have come across this question many times in various blogs, articles, debates or even during a casual tea talk among Tamil speaking Indian. I'll share my experience and opinion on this matter, which is close our heart, but seems to be ignored conveniently.


For a start, you may have heard me on MinnalFM's weekly tech review program "Athisayamai Avasiyamai". In that program, I and my co-host Mr. Paandian provide listeners with information on various technology. The program begun in the year 2001, and it is presented completely in Tamil. Many have inquired if I was Tamil educated in a Tamil school, due to my proficiency in the great language. In addition to that, in my workplace, I've been identified as the 'wholesale' editor for any communication in Tamil that are to be published in media.

I've never attended Tamil school in my life, the most I've only attended POL class in primary school. POL classes reminds me of days that we are enticed to attend the class by the teacher with biscuits, and there was a cute girl too. Honestly, I didn't manage to learn much during the classes (not because of the cute little girl), because it was after school, we were tired and mind is already begin cycling towards home on my 'chopper'.

I owe my knowledge and interest in Tamil, to my father Mr. Tharmalinggam. He was strict father, who wanted all his 3 children to be able to read, write and speak proper Tamil. He spent many evenings teaching us to write and read, in various (tough) approaches. My other 2 siblings, eventually broke-down and didn't carry on with his lessons. I did continue, simply because I was scared of any punishment for not being able to speak or write in Tamil. I'm glad that I did.

Over the years, after my father's introduction to the language, I took many efforts to learn it on my own. I'd (repeatedly) read old Tamil news papers, little magazine "Vanampadi" and flip thru books. I find Tamil has embedded poetry, rhythm and flow of its own. Its beautiful to be able to string sentences that sounds like song lyrics, but its also easy as speaking in colloquial manner. I realized that, I tend to stand out among my peers in Tamil.

My appreciation for learning the language increased many folds when I had the chance to present a program in MinnalFM, then Radio 6 RTM. They have particular standard in their programs that your language proficiency must be good. Our program have taught us to learn more and research on many new terms in Tamil for largely English contents on technologies. Over the last decade, we have acquired the unique ability, that is to read in English and speak in Tamil simultaneously during our program recordings. Now that's a giant leap for me, who've been learning Tamil the informal way.

Coming back to the title, will Tamil feed me or not? Well, I don't see how this feeding thing got into learning Tamil. Its like asking will learning how to walk make you a sprinter? It just doesn't gel. Learning a language that is our mother (or father) tongue is a matter of pride. Everyone should be proud about their own language, without thinking of reward for learning it. Learning the international language English is critical to our success, but ignoring own language is close to humiliating our culture. I know many 'modern' Tamils who boast about their inability to speak in Tamil. They think Tamil is not cool, and speaking it public makes them inferior. Sad truth is, some even say its estate language, while some spend time and money to learn other foreign language such as French, Spanish, Japanese or Russian.

Tamil may feed you, with the ability to write and speak better in other language. You don't see how? The way Tamil sentences are structured are often with a smooth flow of rhythmic words that links them to the message, giving us flexibility in using multiple words to represent any one thing. These vast vocabulary is not available in many other language. While speaking in English or other languages, we tend to seek and use uncommon, unique words that means the same, just like we do in Tamil. That itself is an advantage.

For those people who thinks that learning Tamil is a waste, they are not blessed with the chance to experience the immensely beautiful language, that has given birth to many other 'modern' languages. No one is saying English is not important, I'm just saying Tamil is no less important than any language that I know. After all, the Punjabis, Telugus, Malayalees are not questioning the importance of Tamil, but the Tamils are the one doing it :)

 p/s : I wrote this in English, as Tamil speaking, reading people don't actually ask தமிழ் சோறு போடும?

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mamak shop VS Macha shop

I'm writing this based on my own experiences, accept and reject at your own will.

We have been eating at both mamak (Indian Muslim) and macha (Indian) restaurants. Its safe to say, city folks will have at least 1 meal a week in any of these 2 places. Over the years, I've been patronizing many of these places and I do have some preferred and some 'I never come in here anymore' places. While most of the eateries share common cuisines, there's more to just serving food to the hungry souls.


Here are my observations:

Criteria
Mamak Shop
Macha Shop
Customer Service
When I enter, at least 1 staff will attend to me, at least will signal that I’ll be served soon
I have to call, raise my hand or voice to get their attention. I do notice that they are quick to serve non-Indians eg. Sri Paandis, Kader (Leboh Ampang)
Order Taking
Systematic, rarely makes mistakes. When busy, there might be delays
Systematically chaotic, always makes mistakes, sometime even got the guts to ask us to eat the wrong stuff given (staff was slapped by buddy in that occasion). Some are really good eg. Vishal, Sam’s, Betel Leaf, Saravana Bhavan
Food variety
Always the same, even their placing. You can order with your eyes closed. Lacks creativity in buffet section.
Tend to have variety changed. Makes effort introduce new recipe/items
Food quality
Well known places eg. Pelita, Ali Maju maintains quality, although some fluctuation is seen. Others cannot guarantee you’ll get the same quality every time
Typically 1st 6 months of opening, quality is maintained well, after making good $ and regular patrons, quality goes downhill in most places. There was a time another buddy punched the staff after being repeatedly served rudely with SPOILT curry, despite rejecting TWICE. Very few maintain same quality over years eg. Sam’s, Lotus, Dewis, Jai Hind, Santas
Note for non-Indian patrons, spicy & salty food is not necessarily authentic Indian food.
Food portion
Standard, you’ll get the same portion +- few grams here and there.
The longer they are in business, the smaller the portions are. If you take meat items, you’ll realise more bones & fat makes up the dish. eg. Seetharam, Vishal, Lotus, Ganesh PJ
Cleanliness
Same for both. Some are very clean, some are very dirty, most are so so. If you visit their ‘backroom’ you might not go there again. I make a point to visit their washroom before ordering. Yes, I’d leave if its filthy
Price
Acceptable for the food they serve, they’ve learned to increase their price steadily, but slowly in small increments. Very seldom you realise price has increased. If you ask them for itemised pricing, most of the time they can break it down from the total billed
Getting worse, with no control. Personally seen sudden jump in large increments in prices eg. Sangeethas, Seetharam. Worse, they tend to increase their price at the whims and fancies. Eg. A plate of mutton cost RM7 when opening, after 3 months its RM11 at Seetharam KL. If you ask them for itemised pricing, most of the time they can’t break it down from the total billed, you may even see you’re over charged from 50 cents to RM3!!
Attitude
Most of the places, you can expect mild-mannered staff, willing to smile and polite when attending to orders. You may also complain to the supervisors if things are not right, they are will to listen, at least they act like listening. They do remember their customers well.
Very small number of places have polite staff, most behaves like you’re eating for free or they are paying you to eat. If you complain to their supervisor, you’ll feel they are not interested to listen to your complains, heck they won’t even acknowledge the problem.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

தமிழ் சீரியல் நாடகம் - சமுதாய சபா கேடு (Tamil serial dramas, curse for the community)


இன்று பேப்பர் என்ன சொல்லுது? சீரியல் நாடகத்தில் வரும் வைளேன் (அதாவது வன்முறை) காட்சிகல் சமுதாயத்தை சீர்கேடுகுதம். உண்மை உண்மை உண்மை!! ஆனா இன்னொரு முக்கியமான விஷயம் எல்லா நாடகத்திலும் இருக்கே, அதுதான் அடுத்தவன் வாழ்கையில் எப்படி வகை வகைய வண்டி வண்டிய மண்ணை வாரி போடுவது!


எதாவது ஒரு நாடகம் உருபுடிய வாழ்கின்ற குடும்பத்தை காட்டுத்த? இல்லை!! எல்லா குடும்பத்திலும் பெறேசெனை தலை விருத்து அடூதம், அதை சமாளிக்க பல போராட்டம் நடக்குதம், நடுவுலே மானே தேனே பொன்மானே இது எல்லாம் போட்டு, ஒரு 2789 எபிசொட் ஓடுது. 


முதலில் இந்த நாத்தம் புடிச்சே நாடகத்தை தடை செய்யுங்கோ பா. டிவி ஒப்பாரி, குடியை கெடுப்பது, குடும்பத்தை நாசம் பண்ணுவது, வில்ல தனம் செய்து பெர்போர்மான்ஸ் குடுப்பது போன்ற கடுப்பேத்தும் கன்றாவியை புறகணிப்போம்!!

(எப்புடி நம்பே தமிழ் எழுத்து? ஹிஹிஹி)




English version (no guarantee you'll understand):


what does today's paper saying? many serial dramas showing violent scenes that are not healthy for indian communities. yes, yes & yes!! but there's another more important scenes that almost all serial dramas have, that is how to wreck havoc, destroy and probably kill the other person living with the character.


can you show me 1 drama that shows a happy family living in harmony?? Nope, none!! all families shown in the dramas has unimaginable problems never seen in the world before, there will be 1 or 2 individual (usually female character) going thru hell to solve those problem (created by themselves earlier), also facing the wrath of the rest of the crew.


first, ban all this shitty drama please. dramas showing continuous problems & crying, damaging another life, destroying families, villain get up idiots thinking they are giving superb performances and other things that makes our life miserable by watching the dramas should be boycotted!!


(my tamil how is it?? hihihih)




Wednesday, May 9, 2012

சாமியார் தொல்லெய் தாங்களைப்ப!!



நித்யானந்தா அப்புடின்னு சும்மா சர்ச் (search) செய்து பாருங்க, ஒரே காம கதைகள் கொட்டி கிடக்கு. இவர் மாதிரி பல சாமியார் இதுக்கு முன்னாலே வந்தார்கள், அபுறோம் சிறைசாலை உள்ளே சென்றார்கள்!

ஏன் இன்னும் நம் சமுதாயம் இன்னும் இது போல சாமியாரை நம்பி கேட்டு போகுது? நல்ல சாமியார் இருக்குறது தவறு இல்லை, ஆனா தன்னைதானே ஒரு கடவுள் மாதிரி காட்டி கொண்ட மனிதனை சாமியார் அல்லது மகான் அப்புடின்னு நாம் நம்ப கூடாது!


கடவுளை அடைய நான் ஒரு வலிநு சொல்லும் மனிதனை நம்பலாம், கடவுளே நான்தனநு சொல்லும் சாமியாரை நான் நம்ப மாட்டேன், நீங்க எப்படி?


Must watch ... 
Another blog ...

Why DBKL is not doing this to solve major traffic jam in KL?


If you're working or shopping or simply driving thru KL city center, I'm almost sure you have come across the infamous traffic gridlock at Bulatan Dato Onn, right under the flyover heading towards Loke Yew. 

Typical (daily) scenarios:
  1. cars heading north (towards Sentul, Selayang etc.) from Jalan Kuching have to stop at traffic light before roundabout.
  2. when cars from Jalan Kuching move, cars from Jalan Parlime entering the city will block.
  3. then cars stops again in front of Bank Rakyat, when moving block by cars from Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, by the time you reach BNM it will take at least 10 minutes on a good day, some time I have time to get down and jog around the Bulatan ;)
  4. Same issue for cars from Jalan Kinabalu trying to head south.
After driving, riding, walking thru this excreta situation for years, I wonder why DBKL have not created a simple solution right under the bridge?? A U-turn for light/small vehicle on both sides will solve most of the gridlock around the Bulatan (see picture above). To make things worse, place under bridge has some really unpleasant 'landscaping' crap, which is being enjoyed by drug addicts as their favorite sleepover location. DBKL is just across this traffic mess, I mean if they look out of their window, they can clearly see it, but why they have not done anything simple to solve this matter?

p/s DBKL spends a lot money to maintain the plants under the bridge, they have to water it even during monsoon rain, because the damn bridge covers the plant from rain and its elevated too!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

சோக தமிழ் பாடல்களில் இருக்கும் ரெண்டு-ஸ்டாண்டர்ட் (double standard)

இன்றைய தலைப்பு, சோக தமிழ் பாடல்களில் இருக்கும் ரெண்டு-ஸ்டாண்டர்ட் ;)

இது எனுடைய முதல் தமிழ் எழுத்து முயற்சி, வார்த்தை கொஞ்சம் ஓடி (lari) போக வைப்பு அதிகம் இருக்கு. ஓகே, விசயத்துக்கு வருவோம்.

நம்பே எல்லாம் அதிகம் தமிழ் பாடல் கேட்டு இருப்போம், அதில் சோக பாடல் ரொம்பே இருக்கு. இது ரெண்டு வகைய பிரிக்கலாம், ஒன்னு பசங்க பொண்ணு கவுத்து உடுறது, இன்னொரு பக்கம் பொண்ணு பசங்களை கலை வாரி உடுறது.





பொண்ணு செஞ்ஊட்டு பொண்ண, நம்பே எப்படி படுவோம்?
- அவள் பறந்து போனாலே
- காதலிலே தோல்வி உற்றான்
- எல்லோருடைய வாழ்கையில் பொம்புளே உண்டு

- காதல் ஏன் காதல் அது கண்ணிற்லே  
- வேணாம் மச்சான் வேணாம் போன்னுகே காதல்
ஒரே குத்தல் வரிகள்தான் இருக்கு இல்லே?





ஆனா, ஒரு அம்புலே பல பொண்ணு, ஏறக்குறைய முனு இல்லேன நாலு வாழ்கையில் கும்மி அடித்தல் படுவதோ:
- திரத விளையாட்டு பிள்ளை
- நான் அவன் இல்லை!
ஒரே ஜாலி லோ ஜிம்கான வரிகள இருக்கு

இதை பற்றி நீங்கள் என்ன நினைகிறேங்கோ?

தமிழ் தெறிக்க தெறிக்க எழுதுறேன்லே? ஹிஹிஹ்ஹி

Monday, May 7, 2012

Special song (Tamil) - Dedicated to all my dear (smoking) friends



This song is re-written by me for all my friends who smokes. Taken from the hit song Venam Machan Venam from Oru Kal Oru Kannadi movie, I dedicate this to my kais, to inspire them to quit smoking!


Ulta lyrics:
venam machan venam.. indha dam-u adipathu
adhu konjam pidikumpodhey.. un vayi naaruthu!
venam machan venam.. neeyum pugai pidipathu
unaku time-u irukumpodhey.. nee nirutha paartidu!

poison pola dam-u.. oru silent killer-u,
unaku sanggu oothum munney nee thukki pottudu…

dam-u adicha nee-onnum cool-u illadah,
nambeh usharpannum figure kuda talli pogumda
nalla irukum udambeh kedutha piragu,
inggeh kathari kanneer vittu labam illeda!

Original lyrics:
venam machan venam.. indha ponnuga kadhalu
adhu moodi thurrakkumpodhey.. unna kavukkum quaterru

venam machan venam.. indha ponnuga kadhalu

adhu moodi thurrakkumpodhey.. unna kavukkum quaterru

kadal pola kadhal.. oru salt water-u

adhu konjam karikkum.. podhey nee thukki pottudu…

mummy sonna ponna kattina torcher illada

neeyum davadikkum ponna kattina trouser avurunda

mummy sonna ponna kattina torcher illada

neeyum davadikkum ponna kattina trouser avurunda

kanna kalanga vaikum figuru venanda

nammakku kanneer anjali poster ottum nanban pothunda

 

What happened to car-pool campaign in KL??

Image credit: http://cedkocom.blogspot.com

If you live more than 2 decades in KL, you might remember there was an aggressive campaign for carpooling before. This was pre-SMART tunnel era, where KL city was already choking with single-occupant cars. Approximately 2 million vehicles drives through the city roads everyday, to-date this could be much higher.

After much fanfare launching, car sticker give-outs and creative TV ads, the campaign was slowly doused. I wonder if that is to address the sudden decrease of car sales those days. Well, it certainly worked as for the sales of cars have steadily maintained or increased over the last decade. Not enough with that, Better car sales expected in Q2?? (In Tamil we say kilinjathu poh).



KL is now choking with cars, more than ever. And everytime it rains in the morning, people gets frustration of the confusion of the congestion!! Aaah, don't forget to curse the SMART tunnel operators, for closing the tunnel. Yes, the tunnel has transit decks for vehicles, but its primary function is storm water management, to avoid flash flood in KL area. So when flash flood are eminent in KL, the tunnel plays an important role. People may argue, so what if KL floods, let me go to work via the tunnel-lah! Aha? So when you reach the flooded KL, your car becomes amphibious vehicle??


I've been living in KL all my life (more than 3 decades to be precise), so far nothing is done (enough) to improve the situation. Yes, there are many highways around KL, but they start/end outside the city, right??

Public transport?? 
  • Hmmm there's more than 32,000 taxi permits issued, unfortunately I was told they can't fly around city. 
  • More buses maybe?? Hey how can we travel on bus-lah bro, I got my super-power-mini-cooper-wannabe-kelisa-maah!!
  • Train?? Always late!! 
  • LRT?? Always packed!! 
  • Motorcycle?? Always rain-lah!!
  • Bicycle?? Aiyah damn hot-lah, sure die!!
  • Pssst 50 billion MRT?? Not passing my taman-lah kak!!
With more cars expected to be on our (small) roads, there don't seems to be light at the end of the SMART tunnel. When we compare with Singapore which imposes high price and toll for vehicles, people say "its a small country-lah, sure can do" ... how come Japan as big country can also do? For all the city folks who think/hope for a better traffic condition ... why not car pool, again ;)

Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Ancient Tamil "Traditions & Customs" and Science

This article compiles some scientific contributions by ancient Tamils for the world. Most of these practices are still followed, albeit without knowing the actual reasons. Read on and know why our ancestors practiced these in our culture. Vanakkam.

[ Click here to read ]

Credit:


Indiar maanathai kappal ethiya culprit-gal!

[this article is written in Romanised Tamil, no translation provided]

Indru kalai paper pathathum, mandeiku yeri potchi. Rendu [tadimadu] arasiyal gumbal putrajaya-leh street fighter game vilayadi, nambe manathai kappal yethi visa illamal akkaraiku anupitangeh. Oru gumbal solluthu 300,000 (lebeh kurang 3 latcham) peruku IC/birth cert illenu. Innoru gumbal solluthu, yengge dah anthe 3 latcham peru, kaatuda dei. Inteh gap-il kedah vettureh mathiri, pala arasiyal mandaigal, kondaigal sernthu pala mathiri arikkai udurange. Yeneku mandaiku mani adiceh sile kelvigal iruku:

  1. appudiye 3 latcham peruku document illamal iruntha, ivulo naal ennathey pudungikitu irunthangeh avunge amma appa?? avuloh muttalahva irupange/innum irukange?
  2. kariktta 3 latcham perunu eppadipa unaku teriyum? pattiyal iruka? engge iruku?
  3. seri 3 latcham peru illeh, verum 3 ayiram pernu vetchikuvom, innoru gumbal 50 varushama enathey senji kilichikutu irunthingeh? yen documents edukureh velei oru 30 varusham munnaleh seiyileh?
  4. yethukudah pothu idathuleh veri naai mathiri 'kadichikirengeh'? oru hotelleh room potu, kulu kulunu AC leh lepak panni, rendu munu pack potu savagasama peseh vendiyathu thaney?
  5. ippo ithunaleh yenna kidaichichi? verum kette peru thaney?
Kaduppethurange My Lord!!


Apdet: innaiku paper-leh anter balti adichi teacher ippadi solrange : Naan appudiyeh shock ayiten

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Kidnapping - are we supposed to be MORE worried?

By now you might have already heard the good news, the boy Nayati who was kidnapped near his school have been returned to his family, after a large amount of ransom is paid to the kidnappers.


If you remember, just in March 2012, our beloved & respected IGP has declared Kidndapping is not rampant, public safety intact. Rampant or isolated, aren't kidnapping is a major offense which can be punished by death under our penal code? Why there are still kidnappers roaming our street? Although Pemandu claims Malaysia is safer now, are we genuinely feeling safer?


We have savage killers who dumped a kids body after she was brutally assaulted and murdered after kidnapping her (Nurin). This case sparked major interest among the Malaysians, but the perpetrators are yet to be found, for years! With the recent kidnapping and killing of another poor kid kidnapped, murdered and burnt, it makes me wonder if the killers are not afraid of the law? For them to have an idea to kidnap and get rewarded with handsome ransom, makes me wonder if they think they won't be caught by the police at all? Are we losing confidence on the force or are the criminals staying a step ahead of police? 


Whatever KRA that have been achieved, police should not lift the feet of the pedal to continue seek ways to completely eliminate kidnapping cases in Malaysia. Help make Malaysia, truly safer.


Thanks to all the effort from everybody to secure the release of Nayati, hopefully there will be never another case.