Saturday, February 28, 2009

A Tree Grows In Singapore

Let me "copy & paste" an interesting article by one of my spiritual teachers. However this post has nothing to do with religion. So read on:

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[I have just finished the second volume of Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs From Third World to First. At 778 pages it’s quite a read and volume one is almost as long. Lee knew or met almost every world leader from the 1950’s onwards and his book contains interesting and sometimes amusing cameos of some of them. Katherine Frank wrote of Moraji Desi that he ‘had all of Gandhi’s fads and none of his virtues’ an impression confirmed by Lee. He writes, ‘In December 1979, in the car taking us from Delhi airport to the Rasthrapati Bhavan, he said that thousands of years ago Indians had made a space journey and visited other planets, which the Americans were then doing. I must have looked skeptical, so he emphasized, “Yes, it’s true. It is by reincarnation. It’s recorded in the Bhagavad Gita."’

Singapore has long been ridiculed for its various campaigns to change its citizens’ behavior – the flush the toilet campaign, the don’t spit campaign, the be polite campaign, the don’t litter campaign, the don’t chew gum campaign, the say 'thank you' campaign, etc - but Lee defends these campaigns convincingly. ‘They laughed at us. But I was confident we would have the last laugh. We would have been a grosser, ruder, cruder society had we made no effort to persuade people to change their ways. We did not measure up as a cultivated, civilized society and we were not ashamed to set about trying to become one…It has made Singapore a more pleasant place to live. If that is a ‘nanny state’ I am proud to have fostered one.’ Who could argue with that?
But being a tree-lover (not ‘hugger’ please note), it was the 13th chapter ‘Greening Singapore’ that interested me most. After two months in India your eyes crave to alight on something clean and green. Bangkok’s last pathetic trees are slowly chocking to death in the smog. There is a suburb of Colombo with the lovely name of Cinnamon Gardens. Even in the 70’s it was still a bit green and shady. Now it’s all asphalt, grime, billboards and glare with hardly a tree in sight.

Singapore by contrast gets greener every year. Lee describes his determination to make Singapore a garden city, how he brought in experts to test the soil to find out how to make the grass grow greener, how he carefully selected trees that would not just grow well in the Singapore climate but also flower and the early tree-planting campaigns. Now Singapore even has ‘heritage trees’ which can’t be chopped down and recently they even slightly changed the route of a new highway to save a lovely old tree.

This is Jalan Dusan, just across the road from me, a fairly typical shaded, tree-decorated Singaporean street in a heavily built-up area.]






[A little further along is the Pan Island Freeway. Just imagine what this would look like without the trees and the trimmed hedges! ]



[This is East Coast Freeway. ]



[No barren paved parking lots in Singapore! All of them are shaded with trees, like this one covered with orchids and moss. ]




[And this is my favorite Singapore tree and I think the biggest in the country, a true ‘forest monarch’ (vanaspati), to use the Buddha’s term, the majestic Ceiba pentandra growing in the Botanical Gardens.]




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Got the message?

Friday, February 27, 2009

Umbrella Tube



Is it a tube or a tent?

Don't do anything funny!


For it is transparent!!

Anyway, it is certainly value for money.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Internet Interlude


Picture courtesy of James Wong's blog
Nothing related to this post??

Just came back from TM Bhd.
Went to notify them of my impending change of address.
They told me that my internet connection would be disconnected in a few days' time.
It will only be reactivated one week after my new fixed line is connected some time after 10 March. So that would be at least 2 weeks.

So there will be a little lull within this period, just like those above!!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Highlighter on your bread !



You can choose the colours too!

Coming new product,
durian stick-on !!


Have a nice day !

Monday, February 23, 2009

Giant Catfish








Each year, a few people were drowning or disappearing mysteriously in Huadu's Furong Reservoir.

It was not until recently, when the son of a government official went swimming, in the reservoir and was drowned, that the secret was revealed.

It is a 3 metre long man-eating catfish whose head alone is 1 metre wide!

After cutting up the catfish, people were surprised to find the remains of another man inside!

Swimming in the reservoir is now forbidden because it is feared another similar man-eating catfish is still lurking in the waters.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Menteri Besar, Orang Besar, Orang Utan.


(Picture above may not relate to this post)
(To know more about orang utan click HERE)

"I am the menteri besar appointed by the Sultan of Perak, this is a clear process but some people are twisting it," Zambry told reporters after officiating a state-level nation-building programme today. This was reported in The Malaysian Insider.

Hey "orang besar" Zambry, why not go ask the voters of Perak?


The all-purpose hat.



The all-purpose hat you never thought of!!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Mind Your Own Business.




More pictures of Elizabeth Wong will be published?

I read this in the article posted in The Might Of The Pen.

The question is : Do we have the moral right to view the pictures, for whatever "good" reasons?

Just think for a while; what if these pictures were those of your sister/daughter/wife/mother/grandmother/great grandmother????

I made a comment in the" comment section" in my blog which I repeat here:

"As for me I will not take a look at the photos for whatever reason. It is not morally correct to look at these pictures."

What do you think?

This is from The Might Of The Pen which quoted Elizabeth:

[ “I plead to the media as well as my supporters to allow me some peace of mind, and to give me space. I urge the media to leave my family, friends and I alone. “Please do not continue to shame my family and I, so that we have a chance to lead a normal life as ordinary citizens,” she said.]

Can we just do that as decent and peace loving people?

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Three Bukits make a Mountain !


(Picture From Malaysian Insider)

Selangor executive councillor and Bukit Lanjan assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong resigns.

There will be 3 "Bukits" by-elections.

Let us ensure that the 3 Bukits become the most formidable mountain standing against the evil regime. May the 3-pronged attack be the "mother" of all by-elections. Let these 3 battles be the Wind, Fire, and Water; the Three Elements Of Nature. Let these three elements do their jobs to destroy the evils. Wind flattens, Fire burns, and Water inundates.

May the Good triumph over Evil.

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[ I have just posted a comment in Elizabeth's blog:]
335. Justin Choo - February 17, 2009

YB Elizabeth Wong,

You have my support. Nothing wrong or ashamed to sleep naked in private. These evil people will be crushed come next GE; but in the meantime the by-elections will send the warning message first.

[Please click HERE to give your moral support with your comment in her blog]



Text Color

Monday, February 16, 2009

I go to sleep naked; so what?



I go to sleep naked .

So what?



Want to take a picture of me?

Is this a trap?


(Picture "borrowed" from Anil's post)
The larger-than-life billboard of Badawi that has fuelled
speculation about his political future.

Is this an exercise to compile emails of friends and foes?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Israel's progressives need our help today.

Just received this email from AVAAZ. Israel may be on the path of aggression again.


ABOUT AVAAZ : Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Sydney and Geneva.


To contact Avaaz, write to info@avaaz.org. You can also call at +1-888-922-8229 (US) or +55 21 2509 0368 (Brazil) If you have technical problems, please go to
http://www.avaaz.org



[Dear friends,
A shocking new far-right politics is taking hold in Israel and it threatens us all -- let's help progressives in Israel organise and build a fresh new voice for peace:


It's a dark day in the Middle East: the right-wing has won the most seats in Israel's elections, and racist extremist Avigdor Lieberman is now the kingmaker in forming the next government.[1] Lieberman and his fellow leaders are promising to bomb Iran, re-invade Gaza and abandon any ceasefire, stop negotiations and crack down on Israel's large Arab minority.
This could kill all we've worked for in the Middle East. But many progressives in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) share our feelings -- and they desperately need our solidarity today.

Wherever extremists have triumphed, we have to organise to beat them. Many thought all hope was lost in the USA after the neo-conservatives' victory -- then progressives used the internet to come back from the wilderness, and achieved the unthinkable by putting Barack Obama in the White House.[2]


In Israel today, the despair of the old peace camp opens up a powerful moment to build a fresh new voice against hatred and for peace.Just $10,000 could help two young Israeli activists use the Avaaz model of internet organizing to reach and mobilise tens of thousands of other Israelis this year -- $5000 would buy billboards in Jerusalem to launch their first campaign with a splash.


Follow this link to watch our shocking short video of Lieberman's extremist agenda -- and let's donate now to help a new generation in Israel urgently speak out for peace and change:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/change_in_israel ]

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Monday, February 9, 2009

Justice will be done!!

The Star Online reports:

"The PAS Member of Parliament for Bukit Gantang Roslan Shaharum died of a heart attack on Monday morning, paving the way for yet another by-election."

"The Bukit Gantang constituency has three state assembly seats under it: Trong, Kuala Sapetang and Changkat Jering, whose assemblyman Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu quit PKR last week to become an independent."



"His resignation, plus that of two other assemblymen and the defection of a third, paved the way for Barisan Nasional to wrest Perak from Pakatan Rakyat."



"In the March 8 general election last year, Roslan had polled 20,015 votes against Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi’s (Barisan Nasional) 18,449 votes."

Hey, George is talking to me!!


GEORGE CARLIN (Who died in July 2008 and wife just shortly before him)………says

…….and isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent. and so very appropriate.


A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways
, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.


We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We
've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.


George Carlin

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George is talking to me. Are you listening??

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Dissolve Selangor State Assembly.


(From Flickr)


The battle is lost. Go lick your wounds. Now learn from mistakes and not to be "over-confident" the next time.

What about dissolving the Selangor State Assembly!!??

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Club Of No Return




Introducing the 4 founding frogs of the Club Of No Return.

JaMoRa, age 52 , former letter deliverer,
now high flier.

MoOsMoJa, age 57, former gun handler,
now shoot to kill.

HeYiFo, age 46, polio patient,
now standing tall.

NaHa age 58, former frog catcher,
now champion jumper.

See you come next Club elections!!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Let's throw shoes!







Let's throw shoes at all the politicians and their cronies!!

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, February 2, 2009

One for you, two for me.


Nizar finds himself in a dicey position following
political developments in the state.
(Picture by Choo Choy May : The Malaysian Insider)

Looks like the Third Wave is coming to Perak, after Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu.

One for you, two for me; according to BN (Umno).

Or is it "Game Over". Let's start all over again; according to Pakatan.

Let the Third Wave begin.

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