From an economic perspective, this hike is necessary because Malaysians cannot sustainably afford to live in an artificial environment where oil is at a low price level. This move to raise the price has got everyone thinking about how to save petrol consumption, which is vital in the current global economic and environmental climate. Without such a move, Malaysians will continue to be oblivious to the pressing issue of the scarcity of energy resources in the world.
The rebate and discount given further emphasises the government's intention to curb our petrol consumption so that only the most necessary energy consumption is made. I believe that the amount of the rebate is a gross indication of the right level of petrol consumption that should be made each person. If one insists on using more petrol, then obviously he/she needs to pay extra for it.
It is true that the country is a net exporter of oil but do not forget that the oil that is not sold to us, Malaysian users, will end up being sold to outsiders at the higher market rate.
On how the implementation of the price hike, I believe that it could have been better. But that is not the main agenda here. Malaysia is one of the only countries on earth whose national investment in less than its subsidies. In the long run, we will suffer from the lack of good visionary investments. The right thing to do is to lower subsidies and use the increased revenue from high oil prices to invest in better public transportation system and other infrastructure that will yield long-term benefits to the country and its people.
Nevertheless, I totally understand why most Malaysians would rather have the nation's revenue be ploughed back to subsidise petrol prices than to invest in the country's infrastructure - aside from the fact that a lot of Malaysians are myopic and ignorant, there is also not much guarantee that the money will be channeled to better the country instead of being embezzled by the 'project tycoons'.
Any comments are highly appreciated.
Please also join my facebook group 'Let Barack Obama Bring Sexy Back to Politics' to help end the oil-invading war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Peace xoxo
Friday, June 6, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
KL
I went back to KL for three weeks... It was real last minute... My boss at my internship told me that it was my last day at work on that day itself... I was really happy as that meant that I'd be able to travel back to KL to see my family who I havent seen in a year.
So the next day I was off... When I arrived, my bro was the only one there to see me as my family when back to Penang for the weekend... :P Well, nothing much happened in KL except that my parents had just moved into their new house in KL since they just moved back from Brunei for good... It's a lovely place and boy was I glad that I got back after most of the furnsihing work has been done
A couple of funny incidents took place when I was there...
First one...
My parents live in this gated housing estate and the developer decided to throw a concert during chinese new year for its residents... the artist who they invited this year was michael wong or better known as guang liang... so my parents especially my dad got really excited for weeks... even though he cant understand chinese n never listened to chinese music and had no clue who he was...
they were determined to go early to get the best seats and so my dad suggested my mum to cook and pack for them to eat there... the idea sounded crap to me cos it would be damn embarrassing especially with my funny father who would act weird so i and my brother decided not to go...
so come that day... my mum cooked to prepare very early... she dressed in new clothes some more... all made-up with containers of food they left early before five...
the concert was going to start at 8... at around 7 it started raining haha... it was drizzling... n not long after my dad came back... he said that he came back to get rain coats for them... when he reached home the rain started pouring very heavily... poor mum of mine got stuck in the rain alone... my dad refused to go back immediately to get her bcos he siad that the rain was too heavy... yea very evil... so finally my dad went to get my mum and she came back all soaked... make-up wiped out... with containers of uneaten food... i was laughing my pants off... apparently the singer sang two songs and had to cancel the whole show...
the second one...
as my parents live in a gated environment, there are no gates in the house... and its supposed to be quite safe since there are guards watching 24/7... but not! one day, my mum realised that someone stole our underwear... yes... women's underwear... n the most disgusting thing is that he only stole the pink coloured ones... sick right? the funny thing is that this psycho must have thought that he had stolen some hot young chick's panties only that he stole 3 of my mum's and one of mine hehe...
my mum was pretty pissed that she had to buy new underwear... i cant believe ppl do that... we suspected it was the construction workers next door... my parents are the first few ppl to have moved in so a lot of the other houses are stil under renovation
aside from that, i didnt do much except sleep, ate home cooked food, watched lots of chinese shows on astro and discovered a hokkien channel on astro called hua hi dai which is super funny...
just to update u all... i have cancelled my europe trip as i think i may have to start work in june :( so i have decided to go to hong kong for a week or so in the beginning of june... europe has to wait... plus my parents n bro werent hot about the idea of me backpacking alone around europe on min budget
So the next day I was off... When I arrived, my bro was the only one there to see me as my family when back to Penang for the weekend... :P Well, nothing much happened in KL except that my parents had just moved into their new house in KL since they just moved back from Brunei for good... It's a lovely place and boy was I glad that I got back after most of the furnsihing work has been done
A couple of funny incidents took place when I was there...
First one...
My parents live in this gated housing estate and the developer decided to throw a concert during chinese new year for its residents... the artist who they invited this year was michael wong or better known as guang liang... so my parents especially my dad got really excited for weeks... even though he cant understand chinese n never listened to chinese music and had no clue who he was...
they were determined to go early to get the best seats and so my dad suggested my mum to cook and pack for them to eat there... the idea sounded crap to me cos it would be damn embarrassing especially with my funny father who would act weird so i and my brother decided not to go...
so come that day... my mum cooked to prepare very early... she dressed in new clothes some more... all made-up with containers of food they left early before five...
the concert was going to start at 8... at around 7 it started raining haha... it was drizzling... n not long after my dad came back... he said that he came back to get rain coats for them... when he reached home the rain started pouring very heavily... poor mum of mine got stuck in the rain alone... my dad refused to go back immediately to get her bcos he siad that the rain was too heavy... yea very evil... so finally my dad went to get my mum and she came back all soaked... make-up wiped out... with containers of uneaten food... i was laughing my pants off... apparently the singer sang two songs and had to cancel the whole show...
the second one...
as my parents live in a gated environment, there are no gates in the house... and its supposed to be quite safe since there are guards watching 24/7... but not! one day, my mum realised that someone stole our underwear... yes... women's underwear... n the most disgusting thing is that he only stole the pink coloured ones... sick right? the funny thing is that this psycho must have thought that he had stolen some hot young chick's panties only that he stole 3 of my mum's and one of mine hehe...
my mum was pretty pissed that she had to buy new underwear... i cant believe ppl do that... we suspected it was the construction workers next door... my parents are the first few ppl to have moved in so a lot of the other houses are stil under renovation
aside from that, i didnt do much except sleep, ate home cooked food, watched lots of chinese shows on astro and discovered a hokkien channel on astro called hua hi dai which is super funny...
just to update u all... i have cancelled my europe trip as i think i may have to start work in june :( so i have decided to go to hong kong for a week or so in the beginning of june... europe has to wait... plus my parents n bro werent hot about the idea of me backpacking alone around europe on min budget
Sydney for Job IV
28th Feb 2008 - Sydney
By plane alone - transport expenses paid for
Purpose - Interviews with Lehman Brothers (American Investment bank)
Tiring trip with 4 interviews
Outcome - Success... got the job at Equities Research, Sales & Trading... therefore will move to Sydney in July... training in New York so wait for my blog to update you about that trip and about my new home and job in Sydney
By plane alone - transport expenses paid for
Purpose - Interviews with Lehman Brothers (American Investment bank)
Tiring trip with 4 interviews
Outcome - Success... got the job at Equities Research, Sales & Trading... therefore will move to Sydney in July... training in New York so wait for my blog to update you about that trip and about my new home and job in Sydney
Toowoomba (Part I)
21st - 24th Mac 2008
Purpose - Religious Retreat at Pure Land Learning Centre
By - Mini Bus provided by the learning centre
With - Karen T, Jenifer, Shiyi & Karen K
A few weeks before the trip, Karen T and I decided to be active in the UQ Buddhism Society. We found out that they were planning to have a trip to the Toowoomba learning centre during the Easter break so we were very excited about it. Toowoomba is a highland west of Brisbane. At first, I was just excited to get away from Brisbane for the break and since I had no plans and was too broke to go anywhere this free trip was perfect. So I really didn't know what to expect. And that was shown in the things I packed there... I brought short skirts, which were not allowed to be worn there... I brought perfume which was not encouraged to be used there since we are supposed to be in our purest presence
What surprised me the most was how intense it was...
When we first arrived there, we went into the dining hall to have lunch... First realisation was that the food was really good even though it was vegetarian. Second realisation was that everyone seemed to be happy and in harmony with one another. There were many pin ups of photos of the venerable Chin Kung and other prominent figures of Pure Land Buddhism.
Pure Land Buddhism by the way is the most popular form of Buddhism which involves the chanting of Amitabha Buddha's name so as to be reborn in his Pure Land, also known as the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
The dining hall appeared to me to be like a church, so I suspected that the building was originally a church but then taken over by this organisation.
After having lunch, we were taken to our rooms. Karen T and I were in a room with a pair of mother and daughter also from Malaysia. Jenifer and Shiyi were in a room with another two people who were already there from before. The funny thing was that there was a lady sleeping in between them who they thought was rather weird. When Shiyi was unpacking her pillow, the lady told her to take the pillow away from her as it had a stain and she felt like vomitting. Also, she was asking them whether they had any plans to leave the place for any activity as if she was locked up in the place for too long and needed to escape. So the two of them kept crashing into our room to rest cos they were scared of this lady. Haha...
Purpose - Religious Retreat at Pure Land Learning Centre
By - Mini Bus provided by the learning centre
With - Karen T, Jenifer, Shiyi & Karen K
A few weeks before the trip, Karen T and I decided to be active in the UQ Buddhism Society. We found out that they were planning to have a trip to the Toowoomba learning centre during the Easter break so we were very excited about it. Toowoomba is a highland west of Brisbane. At first, I was just excited to get away from Brisbane for the break and since I had no plans and was too broke to go anywhere this free trip was perfect. So I really didn't know what to expect. And that was shown in the things I packed there... I brought short skirts, which were not allowed to be worn there... I brought perfume which was not encouraged to be used there since we are supposed to be in our purest presence
What surprised me the most was how intense it was...
When we first arrived there, we went into the dining hall to have lunch... First realisation was that the food was really good even though it was vegetarian. Second realisation was that everyone seemed to be happy and in harmony with one another. There were many pin ups of photos of the venerable Chin Kung and other prominent figures of Pure Land Buddhism.
Pure Land Buddhism by the way is the most popular form of Buddhism which involves the chanting of Amitabha Buddha's name so as to be reborn in his Pure Land, also known as the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
The dining hall appeared to me to be like a church, so I suspected that the building was originally a church but then taken over by this organisation.
After having lunch, we were taken to our rooms. Karen T and I were in a room with a pair of mother and daughter also from Malaysia. Jenifer and Shiyi were in a room with another two people who were already there from before. The funny thing was that there was a lady sleeping in between them who they thought was rather weird. When Shiyi was unpacking her pillow, the lady told her to take the pillow away from her as it had a stain and she felt like vomitting. Also, she was asking them whether they had any plans to leave the place for any activity as if she was locked up in the place for too long and needed to escape. So the two of them kept crashing into our room to rest cos they were scared of this lady. Haha...
Sydney Part I
29th Dec 2007 - 1st Jan 2008
with Monica and Karen
by flight
This is my first real trip to Sydney believe it or not, after 4 years of being in Aus... We thought about the idea of going to Sydney over new year's over a dinner a few months before n before long we got the flights booked and accommodation sorted
Our flights were early in the morning at 5am... Monica's cousin and his friend who were out fishing (it beats me too... malaysian guys seem to love fishing :S and fishing at night as well) sent us to the airport... karen took a qantas flight while mon n i took a virgin one (how that happened i still dont quite understand... i think karen booked her flight n then realised that hers was the last one available so we had to take separate flights)
upon reaching sydney airport, the first thing we felt was unfriendliness... seriously, this is not even the typical villager complaining about how ppl in the city are not friendly... we were confused about how to get to the city so we decided to ask this lady at a counter who seemed to be the only available person to talk to n she was so rude n even lied to us that there are no buses to the city
we hopped on to a bus that's supposed to take us to our lodging... the second thing we realise... buses are bloody expensive in sydney... double the price of brisbane... well, this is a villager's whinge of how expensive cities are hehe...
we were staying at the malaysian hall... its the first benefit i have got from the malaysian government (except when i was called to serve the country and do my country honour in national service) it costs us 4 bucks per person per night... n the location is not too bad as well...
it was a hot day in sydney... hotter than in brissie surprisingly... we caught a bus to the city after putting our stuff in the room... third thing we realised in sydney, there is nothing to eat in the cbd... ok, this may seem like an unfair accusation but its true... aside from maccas, all shops were closed n even if they were open, i didnt think there would have been anything nice...
n being the girl with the highest metabolic rate among the three, i was starving and whining while walking up and down the streets of sydney... we finally found a food court at queen victoria building that was open... the food was not spectacular but i topped it up with an ice cream so i was happy again
so we started shopping around queen victoria building (qvb)... supposedly the shopping central of sydney... bought a little bit of stuff... sydney has way more shops than brisbane... lots of small retailers and not just the chain stores that care to operate in brisbane
as we walked out of qvb, we bumped into elise and julian... our friend from brissie who's doing her internship at morgan stanley... what are the odds of that... n we agreed to meet up the next day...
next, we went to paddy's market... nothing to fancy... lots of stalls selling junk... one part of it sells fruits... lots of very cheap fruits... 10 mangoes for 6 bucks... we didnt buy anything cos we didnt feel like it... well, i felt like mangoes but no one else wanted to share 10 mangoes with me so i had to give it a pass
then i saw this shop that was selling clothes n decided to try something on except that when i went in to the fitting room, it was a communal one... absolutely shocking... they dont even have those in asia... n i swear i was changing with some prostitutes cos they had tats all over n enlarged boobs hehe... it was quite an experience
with Monica and Karen
by flight
This is my first real trip to Sydney believe it or not, after 4 years of being in Aus... We thought about the idea of going to Sydney over new year's over a dinner a few months before n before long we got the flights booked and accommodation sorted
Our flights were early in the morning at 5am... Monica's cousin and his friend who were out fishing (it beats me too... malaysian guys seem to love fishing :S and fishing at night as well) sent us to the airport... karen took a qantas flight while mon n i took a virgin one (how that happened i still dont quite understand... i think karen booked her flight n then realised that hers was the last one available so we had to take separate flights)
upon reaching sydney airport, the first thing we felt was unfriendliness... seriously, this is not even the typical villager complaining about how ppl in the city are not friendly... we were confused about how to get to the city so we decided to ask this lady at a counter who seemed to be the only available person to talk to n she was so rude n even lied to us that there are no buses to the city
we hopped on to a bus that's supposed to take us to our lodging... the second thing we realise... buses are bloody expensive in sydney... double the price of brisbane... well, this is a villager's whinge of how expensive cities are hehe...
we were staying at the malaysian hall... its the first benefit i have got from the malaysian government (except when i was called to serve the country and do my country honour in national service) it costs us 4 bucks per person per night... n the location is not too bad as well...
it was a hot day in sydney... hotter than in brissie surprisingly... we caught a bus to the city after putting our stuff in the room... third thing we realised in sydney, there is nothing to eat in the cbd... ok, this may seem like an unfair accusation but its true... aside from maccas, all shops were closed n even if they were open, i didnt think there would have been anything nice...
n being the girl with the highest metabolic rate among the three, i was starving and whining while walking up and down the streets of sydney... we finally found a food court at queen victoria building that was open... the food was not spectacular but i topped it up with an ice cream so i was happy again
so we started shopping around queen victoria building (qvb)... supposedly the shopping central of sydney... bought a little bit of stuff... sydney has way more shops than brisbane... lots of small retailers and not just the chain stores that care to operate in brisbane
as we walked out of qvb, we bumped into elise and julian... our friend from brissie who's doing her internship at morgan stanley... what are the odds of that... n we agreed to meet up the next day...
next, we went to paddy's market... nothing to fancy... lots of stalls selling junk... one part of it sells fruits... lots of very cheap fruits... 10 mangoes for 6 bucks... we didnt buy anything cos we didnt feel like it... well, i felt like mangoes but no one else wanted to share 10 mangoes with me so i had to give it a pass
then i saw this shop that was selling clothes n decided to try something on except that when i went in to the fitting room, it was a communal one... absolutely shocking... they dont even have those in asia... n i swear i was changing with some prostitutes cos they had tats all over n enlarged boobs hehe... it was quite an experience
Noosa Part II
On the first night in Noosa, after we had gotten rid of the pesky Aussie kids who tried to pick Alice up, we all headed to the clubs in Noosa. There was only one or two good places in Noosa and the first one which was obviously the most popular had a long line and a hefty cover charge bcos MOS was there. So, we, tight-pocketed backpackers decided to give it a pass and headed to the place next door. It was quite a decent place actually. (Pictures soon)
We had quite a lot of fun for a few hours. One funny thing that happened was when we were out at the balcony smoking. There was a guy who came to us and started talking to us. He was with a chick that was quite hot. He started telling us how he is in love with this Scandinavian chick who he picked up from a bar a few days ago and refuses to be with him and will break up with him on boxing day (which is one day after Christmas)... this chick was there the whole time and refused to talk to us... we all concluded that she was a gold digger who was looking to stick around with him for christmas presents... what a biatch haha...
we left the place at walked back to our lodge... a night wouldnt be complete without a street fight... there were cops everywhere... a guy pinned down claiming innocence, paul nearing the scene trying to protect the guy... a bunch of bollocks really... but the guys enjoyed watching... we left the place when paul started to get involved in defending the guy to the police
Anyway, we headed back to our lodge at around 3am... And we re-convened at the courtyard when Freddy went to return Paul his jeans... Freddy didn't bring any long pants and Paul had two pairs of jeans which he wanted to trade with Fred for his shorts hehe...
So we started chatting away in the courtyard with this Italian guy and his French friend... This Italian dude knew almost no English but apparently had great stories to tell... Dan was the only one who humoured him. They talked for ages about animals in the zoo and what-nots... They made all sorts of sounds to describe the animals that they meant... it was quite comical
Then Fred, Paul and I started to get really hungry and we had no food... Fred n Paul tried to steal some food from the kitchen but it was locked... Then along came this foreign dude who had a bag of unopened Doritos in his hands... Immediately, we eyed him hawkishly
I was like "Hey the guy has food... let's make friends with him"... Paul was like "Hey the guy has food... let's knock him out and take it". Dan started talking to him and we were like ok... let Dan do his thing n in no time we'll have our hands on that bag of chips... Unfortunately, Dan couldn't stand the dude so he stopped talking to him shortly after... N the dude who felt that he was not welcome left the table... Damn! I was like... Dan, you knew we were hungry... why couldn't you talk to him longer? he was so gonna open his bag of chips! So in the end Fred and Paul walked to seven eleven to get some food...
At 4am, I came up with the idea that we should go out to the beach and watch the sunrise... So we went... Right after reaching the beach, Paul was like the sea looks good, i'm going for a swim and immediately he stripped in front of us and dashed out to the sea... boy, was i traumatised by his white full-moony ass... n we were like why havent u worn any underwear and he said sheepishly, today's laundry day...
when he got back, somebody came up with the idea of sand burying each other and paul, the crazy kid immediately volunteered... so we sand-buried him naked... it was pretty fun except i shoved a pile of sand into his eyes by accident (or not hehe)
then the sun rose... we couldnt really see it but before long, it was bright... took pics and then headed back to sleep...
woke up to a rainy day... food is a problem in noosa... we tried to find a place to eat and it took us forever... there were plenty of ice cream stands though... so i filled myself with lots of ice cream the three days
the day was dreadful... raining... paul, alice and dan left for fraser's island... alex, we never saw her again since the night before after she left with some of her frens... we waited till the rain stopped and we started walking the nature walk... it was really nice to see all the coastal sights... the scenery is gorgeous (check out the pics)
when we got back to the lodge, there were tons of new ppl... there was a bbq on that night... two swedish guys (which Fred had prayed for) arrived to share our room... they were nice but looked very tired and slept all the time
fred made a lot of new frens that night... while i just slept the night off, waking up for an occasional beer...
N we headed back to Brissie the next day
We had quite a lot of fun for a few hours. One funny thing that happened was when we were out at the balcony smoking. There was a guy who came to us and started talking to us. He was with a chick that was quite hot. He started telling us how he is in love with this Scandinavian chick who he picked up from a bar a few days ago and refuses to be with him and will break up with him on boxing day (which is one day after Christmas)... this chick was there the whole time and refused to talk to us... we all concluded that she was a gold digger who was looking to stick around with him for christmas presents... what a biatch haha...
we left the place at walked back to our lodge... a night wouldnt be complete without a street fight... there were cops everywhere... a guy pinned down claiming innocence, paul nearing the scene trying to protect the guy... a bunch of bollocks really... but the guys enjoyed watching... we left the place when paul started to get involved in defending the guy to the police
Anyway, we headed back to our lodge at around 3am... And we re-convened at the courtyard when Freddy went to return Paul his jeans... Freddy didn't bring any long pants and Paul had two pairs of jeans which he wanted to trade with Fred for his shorts hehe...
So we started chatting away in the courtyard with this Italian guy and his French friend... This Italian dude knew almost no English but apparently had great stories to tell... Dan was the only one who humoured him. They talked for ages about animals in the zoo and what-nots... They made all sorts of sounds to describe the animals that they meant... it was quite comical
Then Fred, Paul and I started to get really hungry and we had no food... Fred n Paul tried to steal some food from the kitchen but it was locked... Then along came this foreign dude who had a bag of unopened Doritos in his hands... Immediately, we eyed him hawkishly
I was like "Hey the guy has food... let's make friends with him"... Paul was like "Hey the guy has food... let's knock him out and take it". Dan started talking to him and we were like ok... let Dan do his thing n in no time we'll have our hands on that bag of chips... Unfortunately, Dan couldn't stand the dude so he stopped talking to him shortly after... N the dude who felt that he was not welcome left the table... Damn! I was like... Dan, you knew we were hungry... why couldn't you talk to him longer? he was so gonna open his bag of chips! So in the end Fred and Paul walked to seven eleven to get some food...
At 4am, I came up with the idea that we should go out to the beach and watch the sunrise... So we went... Right after reaching the beach, Paul was like the sea looks good, i'm going for a swim and immediately he stripped in front of us and dashed out to the sea... boy, was i traumatised by his white full-moony ass... n we were like why havent u worn any underwear and he said sheepishly, today's laundry day...
when he got back, somebody came up with the idea of sand burying each other and paul, the crazy kid immediately volunteered... so we sand-buried him naked... it was pretty fun except i shoved a pile of sand into his eyes by accident (or not hehe)
then the sun rose... we couldnt really see it but before long, it was bright... took pics and then headed back to sleep...
woke up to a rainy day... food is a problem in noosa... we tried to find a place to eat and it took us forever... there were plenty of ice cream stands though... so i filled myself with lots of ice cream the three days
the day was dreadful... raining... paul, alice and dan left for fraser's island... alex, we never saw her again since the night before after she left with some of her frens... we waited till the rain stopped and we started walking the nature walk... it was really nice to see all the coastal sights... the scenery is gorgeous (check out the pics)
when we got back to the lodge, there were tons of new ppl... there was a bbq on that night... two swedish guys (which Fred had prayed for) arrived to share our room... they were nice but looked very tired and slept all the time
fred made a lot of new frens that night... while i just slept the night off, waking up for an occasional beer...
N we headed back to Brissie the next day
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Welcome to my travel blog!
Hi there!
Welcome to my travel blog! I have decided that since I have graduated from uni and now am working and will be doing lots of travelling, I should write it all down so that one day when I'm old and grey (and still travelling of course!) I can go through all these experiences with my children n grandchildren...
Also, as I publish this, you all my dear friends are able to have a read of my experiences... So, I will be writing about my journeys, short or long on this blog from time to time... Hope you enjoy reading about them... I will try to be as explicit as possible
Ciao
Welcome to my travel blog! I have decided that since I have graduated from uni and now am working and will be doing lots of travelling, I should write it all down so that one day when I'm old and grey (and still travelling of course!) I can go through all these experiences with my children n grandchildren...
Also, as I publish this, you all my dear friends are able to have a read of my experiences... So, I will be writing about my journeys, short or long on this blog from time to time... Hope you enjoy reading about them... I will try to be as explicit as possible
Ciao
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