Wikipedia Blackout

Some posts were trending in 9Gag telling us about the blackout in Wikipedia. I checked it out and truly enough I was shown with this screen:

So what happened? Wikipedia has made its stance clear to go up against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act). Basically these Acts will censor a number of the content on the world wide web and prevent access to free and open Internet. They will not stay idle and allow such oppression on the flow of information to happen. Kampua4Life for one supports the cause to prevent SOPA from materializing. Information should not be manipulated nor only selected information be distributed lest we want to live in a fascist Internet age.

You can read more on what's really happening here.

Strange Rumbling Sounds in Samarahan, Sarawak

Finally some real X-Files material happening in Sarawak. Okay the full article is here but here's the summary of what happened.

During the wee hours of January 11 and 12 several people in Kota Samarahan heard strange ominous sounds apparently coming from the sky. The sound of unexplained nature, lasted from around 2-5am. Some managed to record it (although choppy due to phone quality) and the effort to find the source did not yield any answers. If you're not sure what to listen for, it sounds like someone snoring.

There are 2 theories. The first was the palm oil factory about 8 kilometers away was still operating yet a quick rush there showed the facility was closed and the sound persisted. The second is the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program or HAARP. The HAARP is a project by US and some other parties to develop ionosphere (the outer atmosphere) based technology. To conspiracy theorists HAARP allows manipulation of weather and earthquakes we see happening today. Either way the HAARP caused the sounds they heard in Samarahan.

Too bad the news came to me a bit late and the strange phenomenon stopped after 12 January 2012. Later that day there was a 7.3 Richter scale earthquake in Sumatra. So were the conspiracy theorists right about the HAARP or was it just a coincidence?

Apparently we're not the only ones experiencing this unexplained phenomenon. Strange ominous sounds have been reported all over the world since 2011. No worries these guys have different gadgets so the quality is better. Get your pop corns ready, we're going for a marathon of strange ominous bass-like sounds.

Czech Republic, unkown date

Kiev, August 8, 2011

Chile, January 12, 2012

Canada, 2012


Costa Rica, 2012

Hungary, January  11, 2012 (The loudest one)

Aliens? Government conspiracy? The incoming Planet X? Earth's tectonic plates movement? The angel blowing the trumpet to signal the end of the world as mentioned in the Holy Books? Or just a well orchestrated gimmick for the movie Cloverfield 2?

I think we'll find out soon enough... until then maybe one of us might be lucky enough to Shazam the sound.

What Did Gaddafi Do Anyway?

If I were on the wrong side of the 'good guys', the media would give me funny article titles too

As expected Muammar Gaddafi's death did not receive much respond by the world compared to Steve Jobs' passing. He was as a tyrant who deserved to be toppled violently by fellow Libyans. I, as a representative of the average Joes who only know the basics of the African conflict thanks to Internet, sees him as an evil dictator. The people were unhappy with his rule and desired to topple his regime. Then the power of the people prevailed and it was a happy ending...

Then again, was he really that evil? It's not like he conducted mass murder or threatened the world with nuclear weapons. A quick Google on "Is Gaddafi really bad?" contradicts the image portrayed by the media. Instead of a typical tyrant, he's one of the rare good dictator who changed the lives of his people. For example during his time literacy jumped by leaps and bound from 10% to 90%, free electricity, free farming capital and he approved free-housing policy to name a few. Do all these justify him being shot to his head and abs, paraded half nude and recorded on low quality phones? Something was not right.

Why was NATO so keen in helping the rebellion to bring him down? Why the investment and effort to topple Gaddafi's regime in less than a year when they could've done the same to other dictatorships and regimes like Myanmar and North Korea?

The answer may be Gaddafi's idea: Gold Dinar.

He wanted to use gold dinar to replace the failing and ailing currencies in a gold-for-oil policy, of which received negative backlash from certain proxies. The idea threatened the system the world was established upon and of course upsets those whose interest lie with the current system. Can you imagine how much paper money would devalue when solid honest money from the Earth is pitted against fiat money which is printed out of nothing? That RM100 in your ATM now might devalue to the price of a piece of paper. Hence, the uprising opened a window of opportunity for the proxies to bring him down and thus the intense support from major Western powers.

Now that the damage is done, we'll see how 'democracy' is bringing change to Libyans. Remember Egypt's revolution that toppled Mubarak? It brought change alright, for worse. Egypt is now rolling downhill, or down the Pyramid. Do Google and catch up on news of places where the proxies have invaded, toppled and 'forgotten' by the media. The proxies breaking the strength of African and Middle Eastern nations seem to fulfill the sea foam prophecy. We could be next.

And hey you can choose to listen to whom you think is speaking the truth. I may be the victim of the skeptical media targeting the mainstream media who might think its exposing the truth. Whoever controls the media is the good guy.

Choose your side wisely.

Cooking Oil Shortage!

First it was the chicken, now Sibu is facing a severe cooking oil shortage. Most supermarkets and kedai runcit have no cooking oil for sale and this could be blamed on panic buying which caused an artificial shortage. The theory is, large restaurants buy the small cheap cooking oils by the bulk, this leaves the regular household consumers with nothing. The near empty shelves make them think that there is a shortage and hence they buy as much cooking oil as they can. This panic buying leaves the other husbands and sons who like buy their groceries late with nothing.

So please, chill and don't panic. I'm not looking forward to eating expensive steamed chicken or waste my time going to 3-5 kedai looking for cooking oil. If you suspect the shopkeeper is hoarding or overcharging, quickly call the Consumer Ministry or Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri KPDN at +603-8882 5500, 084 329202 (Sibu) or go to their website.

Bumiputera SME High Mortality Rate

I've seen businesses come and go. In less than 5 years a shop lot in Bandong, Sibu may see 2-3 times of ownership change. From kedai kopi to car wash to boutique, many gulung tikar.

Let's take a simpler example: The new food court at Simpang 3. It was good, so good some people who are well-established wooden stall food & drinks operators could not get the approval to set up shop there. The ones running the new eateries at Simpang 3 are newbies and unfamiliar faces except for Koleksi Azza clothes boutique. Where's the Kedai Roti Canai and the corner Kedai Runcit? Gulung tikar...

They all ran well. Facilities were good and rental was around RM450 per month (whoa!). Then came Raya on 1st September. After the Raya holidays, 2/3 of the eateries never open shop again until now (10th October). What happened?

1. Cannibalism

Look at Taman Harmoni food court. I can see at least 2-4 eateries selling the same Nasi Lemak and Mee Goreng with similar prices with only taste to differentiate them. Basically this food court was a cannibalistic ground. Can you count how many food operators who managed to survive until today? How can one survive when your competitor is just 5 feet away and it all comes down to feng shui or where customers parked (or in most cases rely on friends to support the business). 

Recommendation: A law or accord must be set to allow Bumiputera SME to offer a set of different product or services within a certain commercial area. Anyone who wants to sell something similar, goes to another area. So far I'm just aware it's a canis canem edit world, every man for himself.

2. Low Market

Seriously, looking at the volume of customers I wonder how small businesses can survive. For example there was a furniture shop at a corner lot at Bandong. The market is low-middle income buyers from Kampung Abang Barieng, Nangka or maybe some economic outliers. Can you expect people from these groups to come and buy furnitures everyday? No. Some products and services are seasonal and furniture might only sell during Raya, Gawai etc. Then when they do buy some may go for loan. This is risky as the customers may not pay and default. Where's the Bandong furniture shop? Gulung tikar...   

Recommendation: There should be an initiative from existing agency like SEDC to help provide market research to SMEs. This way the SME can know where to locate their business for best profit and performance.

3. Lack of Skills

Businesses run on dreams, passion, money, customers and skills. Sadly most SME proprietors run on dream and passion, which is not enough. They open shop with high entrepreneurial hope but some have no basic business skills. For example there are those who do not know business and the owner(s) are two separate entities. Profit earned from business should not go into personal accounts. Marketing, PR and competitive skills? Mostly based on hunch and experience. Those who remain usually knows the selok-belok.

Recommendation: Enough with the kerepek pisang with photocopied Microsoft Word 2003-typed simple packaging. There should be an initiative to teach and train SME proprietors the basics to run a successful business such as marketing, book keeping, contingency plan, service etc.

4. Master Plan

Excuse as I will revert to Bahasa Sarawak for this important section. Okay kita mun berbisness mesti tauk long term juak, bukan nangga untung bulanan. Tuk contoh senario long term:

Tauk sik bus terminal lamak dekat RTM? Banyak kedai dekat commercial lot sekelilingnya nak? Plan membangunkan commercial area tok ada brutal sikit. Bila ada area commercial mok didevelop, semua bus terminal, lot, rumah etc dipolah sekelilingnya. Bila dah sik berkembang, sidak transfer bus terminal ya kat tempat nya baru nun untuk dibangunkan. Best kan area bas terminal baru ya banyak lot commercial besar dari area terminal lamak? Pas area ya sampe tahap tertentu agik, bas terminal ya akan ditukar agik gi area Salim untuk memajukan tempat ya gik. SME dekat terminal kinek tok akan terimak nasib sama ngan area RTM. Stagnant. 

Recommendation: Sometimes we need to know what the government or developers have in their master plan. If you know they are going to Salim next, invest there early on. Be dynamic. Be alert. Mok share nasib dan invest dekat area cam bas terminal lamak? No.

5. Killer Giants

The amount of giant players like big supermarket, fast food etc are killing the small SME everywhere. Have you seen what happened to the old Ngiu Kee? With each new Super or Hypermarket that opens in Sibu, the less market share one can get. If Ngiu Kee, Sugarbun (Cathay) etc are facing danger or already gulung tikar, what chance do small and new Bumiputera SMEs have? They are at the mercy of these invading superpowers and the only thing keeping them alive is either determination or luck. For now you might think "Oh kedai kopi ok eh, can invest", but what if one day Starbucks come here and the new market by then, the younger generation, prefer to go there? Gulung tikar la labu...

Recommendation: Will share with you at a kopitiam somewhere, just call my 017. We can still go against these empires.

Chicken Shortage In Sarawak

There's been a serious chicken shortage in Sarawak for a few days now with places like KL Farming or CCK not having any chicken meat for sale at all. I thought this was just Sibu exclusive case, but apparently it's all over the State. So you can say chickens are going extinct in Sarawak.

What started as an already high RM9.00, chicken meat are now sold at RM13.50/kg thanks to the shortage. What the heck? We're exporting chickens from West Malaysia and the crisis is expected to last until next month.

Oh well, seafood it is then. Or alternatively you can go to KFC and buy some uncooked chickens from them. Or uh... remember the sugar and cooking oil shortage crises? Maybe some are unethically hoarding the chickens and you can get them from under the table or the back door...

ISA Abolished

When the PM announced that he had an amanat or presidential address, I didn't expect this to be one of the issue. The Internal Security Act (ISA) was really useful when clamping down extreme communism but otherwise too much when used on media reporters, civilians or political opponents. And here's the catch, there will be a new revised system to replace ISA.

London Riot - Bleeding Malaysian Student Robbed

In what appears to be like a typical movie plot where humanity collapse like dominoes after the US market plunged all time low, we were served with the London riot after a father of 4 was allegedly shot by the police. People who were pissed snowballed the whole thing and voila we have a burning, looting, rioting fiesta in London. If you do have friends or family there (check the riots map here), do tell them to be careful.

Sadly a video appeared from the chaos showing a teenage boy, a Malaysian student named Mohd Asyraf Raziq Rosli or Asyraf Haziq (whichever news is correct), bleeding (after being beaten up by another mob previously) before being robbed. Video recorded by Abdul. Contains blood and decadents. For inquiries you can contact the Malaysian High Commission Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah at +44-020-79190242 or wzaidi@kln.gov.my

Read full news. And here's a complimentary song by Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come.

Dream Within A Dream

Best read while listening to this [OPTIONAL]


Dear blog.

I've ALMOST managed to control myself having a dream within a dream. This time I went four levels deep and I failed to wake up in time.

Not joking.

Thanks to the movie Inception some people might have tried this dream within a dream concept. In the movie we have a gang of dream infiltrators who "went deeper" into someone's dream by putting him or her to sleep to think it's just a dream if things get messed up. Then they infiltrate that dream and ask another subject to sleep again to access into another dream to be infiltrated. It sounds so complicated it's cool.

What happened?

It was very blue, could be early morning. I was standing amongst the ruins of an apartment complex with a few other armed people scouring the place. Something was really wrong here and I was on a mission to do something important. As I walked along the ledge I stopped and everyone started shouting or shooting. Then came plant/alien/tentacles hybrid creatures terrorizing the place. Phuck this I'm waking up. So much for playing Aliens vs Predator and watching Species.

I was at work and realized I was needed at another location at 3:30pm. I was dead late because it was already 3:30pm when I started driving my car. I was driving was ridiculously fast. By the time I was 80% near my destination, my tachymeter watch showed that it was already 3:50pm (it's a 3 km drive). I was going to be late. Then I got the kick. Today is June 2nd, still Gawai holiday. And why did it take me 20 minutes to drive 3 km?! This must be a dream. Then I woke up.

When I woke up I was still late. I looked at my watch and I was late for another task somewhere else. As I rushed (again) to the destination I looked at my watch. HANG ON. I don't own a tachymeter wristwatch! And my generic wristwatch was permanently dead last Monday. Today is June 2nd, Thursday. This must be a dream. So I woke up.

A sigh of relief. I woke up and I was still on my bed. Logic, compared to waking up and suddenly finding yourself with important tasks you didn't remember accepting. So I updated my Facebook status saying:

Had 4 levels of dream today.
1st Post apocalyptic aliens/plants/tentacles invasion.
2nd Late going to somewhere and woke up when I remembered it's Gawai holidays.
3rd Late again and woke up when I realized I don't own a tachymeter watch that told me I'm late.
4th

WAIT. I can't remember the 4th one. Why is my memory a blur? How did I end up typing with my laptop's keyboard when I was typing the status on my iPhone a few seconds ago? Oh look my dream is collapsing. Then I woke up.

This time for real. I woke up at 9:22AM. I was not late for anything because it was still the holidays. No alien tentacles thingy. No tachymeter watch. And my old watch is still dead. My Facebook too remained unchanged. This is the world as how I remembered when I left it.

How to Enter Multilevel Dreams?

It's rare but feasible. Work hard the whole day. Either you sweat it out or you squeeze your brains out. Drink warm water before you sleep. Non-alcohol or non-caffeinated. A mug would do. Then when you sleep, you'll face three possibilities:

1. You go into deep sleep. All you remember is just blackness.
2. You go into minimum 2 levels. What happens after that is purely your will to wake up.
3. I'm no neurologist but you might:

• Feel a 'tug' on you feet, forcing you to wake up. Your body's natural 'kick' alarm.
• You feel like falling, or dream about doing work. You'll wake up tired.
• Isn't that DiCaprio? And why is Ken Watanabe shuffling in my dream?
• You wake up late and miss your ride to work/campus.

On a side note you'll switch dreams when you are almost killed, when something decisive is about to happen, or when you realized it's a dream. Having "totems" or things to help you check if it's a dream is impossible. You'll only have logic to beat or get out of a dream. And time doesn't slow down in dreams. What felt like an hour of dreams, you'll wake up realizing it's been 2 hours. That's why "Mmmm just one more minute" ends up "Holy shrimp! It's 12pm!".

DISCLAIMER: I'm not responsible if you get killed and ends up in a limbo or unconstructed dreamspace.

More about dreams here.

Vlog001 - Hey It's A Vlog!

Too busy to type

Egypt in Conflict: Fun on TV

But not so pleasant if your family is in the conflict

Watching the news in anticipation of what the government can and will do.

This year's CNY eve was marred by the escalating conflict in Egypt. I don't have to explain what it is about as there's a whole Google for that topic. But if you've been hu-ha-hee-hee ing without knowing what's happening to the pre-apocalyptic world, the Arab Republic of Egypt is facing an uprising from its citizens who are unhappy with the way the old Mubarak's government is handling many things especially their silence on the Palestinian conflict (another long story, read this older post).

So anyways we have Malaysian students in Egypt trapped in the middle of the revolution to oust President Mubarak. News from them include food shortages, being looted, gun pointed to their heads, sleeping with knives and many expected news from a chaotic country. My cousin is one of the students in trapped in all that chaos. So basically I got a first hand experience of what's happening there and here in Malaysia.

Apparently the States and other countries have supplied planes to evacuate their own students but there had been almost no contingency or evacuating plan from Malaysia apart from sending a ship to transport the students to nearby Jeddah (through the pirate infested Gulf of Aden). One Malaysian student fled to Moscow and the rest scattered all over Egypt from Cairo to Alexandria with their friends to take shelter from the angry mob on the streets. Sadly not many students are rich and can purchase RM4,000 emergency flights back to Malaysia as many are sponsored.

So after a few days of planning (I think) Malaysia sent 1 C-130 (I think) military plane to bring the students home. AirAsia offered similar assistance and MAS followed suit. Sounds good, albeit a bit late, but it gets worst. Students are limited to carry 7Kg of luggage only. Heck, I came back from Australia with minimal 50Kg (mostly souvenirs). Laptop is already 2Kg, clothes maybe around 10 Kg so imagine the sacrifice the must do to get home. Hence some opted to go home via other airlines. Oh and some students may not have laptops as they were robbed off their electronics on the way to their airport.

But nonetheless I'm thankful my cousin and the rest of the students are on their way home from the troubled northern African country. Although still in chaos her lecturer told her there will be an exam on the 19th February and I guess she and her friends ditched it in favor of personal safety. Talk about job commitment.

While we wait for our students to arrive, let's just see how things in Egypt develop eh?

Hello 2011

Happy new year peeps! We're 1 more year away from the overrated 2012, we're entering the Year of the Rabbit, and well I'm not anticipating much to happen after seeing how 2010 went by. You can find many forecasts online saying this will be a better year with some difficulties (didn't they say that last year?). Well here are my predictions:

Economy:
The recession will go even deeper. And the prices of local goods and food will increase accordingly by 10-50 cents. Eventually going to have breakfast at coffee shops will be somewhat a luxury. RM5.00 kampua? Bring it!

Political:
There will be changes in power, although the new power in charge wouldn't do much because the already miserable state of everything. So despite the happy galore of new changes, there won't be much changes.

War:
North and South Korea go to war! Tension between the two will be unbearable and all their supporters and benefactors will be dragged into the war too. Eventually this will lead to a global war; World War 3 a.k.a. Armageddon. The prophecy will be fulfilled, wohoo!

Astronomy:
Whatever shit that was flying from Pluto towards Earth will be made official and undeniably get everyone in a state of panic. 2012 will be abuzz and trending the online world. The age of Pisces is upon us!

Culture:
Not much, since we're shifting everything to digital and online world. So that means we'll leave no culture whatsoever if there's a nuclear war. All our culture we made online from deviantart to LOLCats will be wiped out in the war. And our music? Expect more hedonistic party songs and Bieber's voice breaking.

Not a very optimistic forecast but it's based on trends from the past years. Live long & prosper!

Merry X'Mas & Happy Nuclear Power!

Freaking A haven't update in the longest time. Anywho, Merry Christmas and happy new year! Although it won't be a merry X'mas because a lot of BPL matches have been postponed due to extreme weather. So much for having a White Christmas in England.

Apart from that there's not much interesting issues that came up recently. There's the nuke thingy. The government wants to build a nuclear power plant in Sarawak (as if Bakun isn't enough to worry about) by 2021. Thankfully we have some sane politicians to sound some protest about having a potential Chernobyl in Borneo. We'll see if we can handle nukes by then ,but I myself do not wish to explain the logic of why the government is building all these seemingly unnecessary facilities to my three eyed grandchildren.

Oh and our Pehin got married again, this time discreetly to a 30s year-old Lebanese. Taib still got it for a 74 years old dude. Many may question the CM's decision of marrying someone almost half a century younger than him, but I guess it can be lonely at the top. And some may think this as a hypocritical move (government keep telling us to Belilah Barangan Buatan Malaysia but CM marries import). Looking at the trend, CM may want to avoid a longhouse of in-laws to come visit him in comparison to having foreign faraway in-laws. Anyways, congratulations Pehin.


As for the rest, well one may notice the sudden surge of developments around town. New roads. Contractors rushing to complete projects (they've just completed the Simpang 3 market. And it's Orange Yellow.) The election must be coming REALLLLLLY soon.

Erm. That's all I guess. Life in Kampua Town is really boring. Sometimes I question my decision to make Sibu my Kubu. Apart from work, nothing exciting happens besides the occasional races and karaoke sessions. Speaking of races, I finally saw African and Asian Mormon missionaries riding their bikes in town. A nice change of view besides the common white 19-20s males cycling around in their Mormon formals.

If any of you by chance are holidaying in Sibu just give me a call for any yumcha or limteh or movies. I'll be more than happy to go hang out within 24 hours after call to see people of my age range again. Number is in FB, cheerios!

Dam You

Bakun: Decade of Damnation

Remember Empangan Bakun? The very big dam that's supposed to power Sarawak's development? The first time you heard it should be from Kajian Tempatan textbook from Primary 4 or 5 (forgot already). Well for me I've read that book more than a decade ago. 10 years later Bakun is still a project overdue many times and used as the same school textbook reference of what Sarawak can offer, as well as the occasional cause for the displaced natives to be pissed about.

Still pissed. And confused.

Then recently Borneo Post stated that the Federal government pulled out from purchasing the dam for RM8,000,000,000 due to financial crisis (another story). So now the Sarawak state government can move in to buy it for RM6,000,000,000.

RM6bil is okay for this epic functional dam. Oh wait, this is 3 Gorges Dam. Completed earlier than Bakun. (Source)

RM6bil is a lot of cash. It will do good for Sarawak as the mega hydroelectric power will fuel Sarawak's Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) projects. BUT I will side with the political pundits this time.

WHY THE PHUOC DO WE NEED TO SPEND RM6,000,000,000 ON AN UNCONFIRMED-CAN-BE-FINISHED DAM? RM6bil could've been used on finishing many much-needed roads in Sarawak. Shock absorbers ain't cheap dammit!

And let's not forget about how cursed Bakun is. The Coxsakie outbreak that coincided with the dam's relaunch in 1997. The leptospirosis (rat fever, kencing tikus, Mickey's bane) at Bakun as well barely a month ago. And also rumors of black magic and other wrath incurred by the pissed off locals to stop the desecration of their ancestral lands (imagine Avatar, minus the blues).

Flaming online works too I guess...

The money that's apparently spent on the 2,400MW dam is never enough to complete it after a decade. It's like a black hole. No matter how much paper money you throw at the dam the Google images will show the same pictures of it 5-7 years, showing that the contractors do not have built-in cameras on their phones.

Apa ni?

I won't bash much as I'm respecting the month of Ramadhan. The rest of the things about Bakun are common knowledge based on how the government roll. And here's more readings on why you should be worried if you are a taxpayer.

Owh did I mention the government wants to make another 2 new dams? Damn, just think about all those new black holes, more displaced natives and superior government planning for energy supply enough for maybe 1/2 of China (not sure, I'm no Civil Engineer). We need transparent public spending report dammit!

Tension With Indonesia Again

Indonesian extremists threatened to 'sweep' Malaysians off Indonesia, again.

While Malaysia Barat is tearing themselves apart from the recent case of the racist principal telling Chinese kids to go back China, trouble is brewing with our neighbor to the south. Barely a year ago the Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat (BENDERA) announced that they will invade Malaysia to cause havoc with its 40 well-trained, bamboo-armed and black-magic-protected men.

And a few days ago, the action of Malaysia capturing 3 Indonesian maritime officers triggered another proxy war, with Indonesia 'silently' retaliating by arresting Malaysian fishermen. The whole thing snow balled into a crisis as protesters threw shit at the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta. The nationalist group BENDERA then declared another 'sweep' to kick off Malaysians allegedly violating Indonesia's sovereignty out of their country. It's officially the season to 'ganyang Malaysia' again.

Now at this point I share your blurness on what really pissed them off to the point of throwing human faeces at the embassy. This simple but crucial disclosure may reveal a bit why the tension between the two countries are on high again:

"...according to Malaysian officials, they received satellite photos that the 15 fishermen in five boats were indeed in Malaysian territory – their GPS clearly showed this. An Indonesian maritime boat which encroached into Tanjung Punggai in Kota Tinggi confronted the boats and arrested seven fishermen.

Good sense prevailed as Malaysia released the Indonesian maritime officers while Indonesia sent the fishermen home to Malaysia on Aug 17.

...the Indonesian government sent a diplomatic note to protest the arrest, claiming that Malaysia had violated Indonesian integrity because the incident occurred in Indonesian waters.

Indonesia’s Maritime and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said Indonesia freed the seven fishermen due to lack of proof...because he needs to pacify his countrymen to show that Indonesia is standing up to Malaysia (Kiasu la).

Malaysia has since quietly responded to the note and made it clear that the Indonesians had encroached into Malaysian waters"

Source: The Star

To summarize, there's a water border dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia. This dispute caused the clash of jurisdiction between the two countries who claimed the incident occurred in THEIR territory. BENDERA just jumped in to light up the fuels of war and all these protests came to be. What started as a hate-war accusing Malaysia of 'curi budaya' or stealing the culture of Indonesia last year is now made bigger with this recent events.

It all started with this...


Then this 'sapu Malaysia', roadbloacks to spot-check for Malaysians and ask them to GTFO...

mmm... she's hot

And we're supposed to fight with these BENDERA elites...


The Indonesian government does not endorse nor support these extremists' actions. BENDERA's October 8th 2009 invasion is way overdue by almost a year. And this fresh ganyang Malaysia thing is predicted to pass away with time. Malaysians in Indonesia should take care of themselves. If BENDERA's willing to grab shit and throw it with rage at the embassy, who knows what else they're capable of while ignoring all the don'ts during this Ramadhan.

Don't join in the fray, just be rational and let us get a move on with work, assignments, life etc.

Sungai Merah is Dead

Sibuians surrounded bridges along Sungai Merah to fish in dead fishes. Fish market sales and stomach ache cases increment predicted tomorrow.

Today's weather is hot and sunny. And the flood have receded in most places, allowing simple Sibu-folks to go around their business normally again. However today I stumbled a large crowd in Sungai Merah.

People here only crowd around bridges for fishing, pakto or if someone just jumped off the bridge. Curious if it's the latter, I decided to join in.

Turns out they are netting fishes. Dead and dying fishes floating downstream along the Sungai Merah lit. Red River.

Another person kepoh like me told me there were more of the floaters in the morning and several opportunistic Sibuians grabbed as much fish as they can, leaving virtually nothing for me to take pictures of by then (3pm). However some persistent fishermen caught whatever leftovers the river yielded. And for leftovers, some of the fish are quite a pricey catch. Keli, sepat, buris, and some more fish of which I'm not sure what their native names are.

Although it's a free for all free fishing, or simply netting, I'm wondering what killed these fishes. The very same kepoh person told me there's been some logging upstream that killed them, however the logic escaped me. I'm assuming the recent flood unleashed something in the river and killed all the aquatic life, the same thing that happened in 2009's January near Kapit (read the news here).

It looked like this in Belaga and Kapit last year and it could've been like this this morning in Sg. Merah. (Image source)

I'm predicting a huge influx of random fish from buris to empurau in the market tomorrow. OR a huge influx of people with dire stomach pain checking in the hospitals. My advise is to not buy any fishes for the next few days.

Sibu Flood August 2010

I keep seeing the anti-BN related video of the Sibu flood being shared on Facebook, which I think and believe is baseless. Sometimes some things in life are not caused by politics. As for this year's flood, it's the King Tide and the near full moon. Here, enjoy a video I made on this lazy Sunday. It's a personal tour around the flooded Sibu.



Owh for those who are not familiar with this lil' Venice hometown of mine, these kind of floodings are usual annual events.

Don't Change Sibu's Name

Lights off! Witch!

Apparently Sibu in Chinese is pronounced as "Shi Wu", lit. Witch. I'm not sure if it's the Left 4 Dead's witch variant, but it somehow caused a fuss lately.

Sibu's United Chinese Association (UCA) announced the intention to change the 'negative' name to something more 'positive' in nature to allow growth in Sibu.

Why now? After roughly decades the name has been fondly attached to this Leptospirosis-infected swamplands of gangsters and honest townspeople alike. And out of the sudden the name has to be changed now?

No, no, no dear sir. Shi wu is not as bad as the place called Lanchau (lit. penis) north of Sarawak's capital city Kuching. Now that needs some changing for the benefits of the Lanchau people. It's only mafan for everyone to change something that is unnecessary.

Why don't you guys focus on bigger things like sponsoring more mother-trucking parking spaces in the canned-sardine areas in town? Or quickly pull the strings to finish all the upgrading roads in time for the next state election? I don't like getting construction dusts in my cendol I dapao from the roadside Ramadhan stalls.

Iraq War Movie Reviews

This one goes kaboom!

The Hurt Locker is one of those rare movies that do not over-glorify Uncle Sam's occupation in Iraq. Nor does it rely on over-CG Hollywood special effects to WOW the audience. And it is definitely not as ridiculous as Delta Farce.

SPOILER ALERT!!!:
The plot is really simple, really. We follow a team of bomb-defusal squad of the US army in war torn Iraq, who defuses bombs planted by insurgents from the start to the end of the movie. What makes it interesting is the movie's attempt to make viewers 'be in the war' and grow attach to the small 3 members team. Owh people live and die in this movie, the violence of the war is portrayed with pure epic, and you'll question the ethics of the war. Kudos to the director Kathryn Bigelow for showing the world that females can make an epic war movie too.

See the trailer:


Ham rates The Hurt Locker:





The last time modern warfare got personal for me was Black Hawk Down that have set the bar high. Although not as epic as Black Hawk, Hurt Locker still manages to captivate me with the suspense of bomb-defusing in the streets of Iraq. Remember how the Hero of the movie always manage to defuse the bomb in the last 1 second? Well, none of those bullocks are available here.

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Hollywood celebrities in Iraq

Not often can we see famous Hollywood actors acting in movies of the Second Gulf War. This time Matt Damon geared up and set to go head on with not just insurgents, but his own country as well (oops spoiled).

SPOILER ALERT!!!:
The plot follows an ordinary US soldier Chief Warrant Officer Miller (Damon) who raids locations said to hold weapons of mass destruction. After a few raids with no clear signs of WMD in the locations, Miller begins to question the credibility of the intel report given to him. After doing some digging he uncovered a whole load of whoop-ass regarding conspiracies involving the CIA, US Army, Iraqi rogue general, and the US media that produced falsified information for their own benefits in the war. To help portray the spirit of the good Americans that want the war to end, Miller becomes a Hero and goes down to bring justice and show the world that not all Americans are barbaric war-mongers.

See the trailer:


Ham rates The Green Zone:






The conspiracy build up from the beginning to the mid of the movie is excellent, but too bad when Damon decides to kick ass the plot turns into an expected typical American-war-hero plot. You know the typical "I-turn-hero, everyone-betray-me, then-get-caught, then-kick-ass, then-kill-boss" plot. Meh.

Sibu Awakes!

Sibu people are not fond of money politics and death threats. Keep the RM5,000,000 because it's someone else's hard-earned money...

It's official. Sibu is now under DAP. The long 1-week campaigns from both sides has ended with these results:

Pakatan Rakyat's DAP: 18,845
Barisan Nasional's SUPP: 18, 447 (after additional +2,000 postal votes)
Independent: 232

I wasted 3 hours waiting with a lot of anticipation for the results to be announced at 9pm Sunday, 16th May 2010. I even paused all assignments to witness how a new history was about to unfold. Things looked bright for the party with the ideology of democratic socialism and social justice...

The Chronology
The Death

• The passing of the late Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew on April 9th 2010 left the Sibu constituent vacant. Wong Ho Leng from DAP and backed by Pakatan Rakyat, came forward to challenge for the seat.

• His main contender was BN's SUPP "fighting cock" Robert Lau Hui Yew (aka Robert Lau Jr. although they're cousins).
• Narawi Haron, representing himself as a Bebas or Independent party entered the fray to evaluate his popularity after his defeat in 1999 election.
  

The Vote-Fishing

• DAP used the 'Allah' issue as well as some native land rights issues to convince voters. Also they managed to slot in the Block L & M (off Limbang), two oil wells the government sold to Brunei in order to maintain Limbang.
  
• SUPP used how they have money and DAP is all talk. Surprisingly SUPP used the 'kampua will be banned" as another twist to gain voters because DAP supports PAS (another Pakatan Rakyat component party) vision of an Islamic state. I for one am offended by this offensive insult. There's halal kampua in Sibu la boss, 5 shops I know sell them e.g. Sunny Cafe near RTM, Mas Corner near Lau King Howe Memorial, that small cafe not far from A-Plus, that smaller cafe near the old Cathay road, and many more random roadside stalls.
• Bebas used, well nothing. The candidate just wanted to win back his pride after he lost in the 1999 election where he lost his deposit. Narawi Haron assumed he could get 4,000 voters and get his votes back.

The Epic Mistake BN Made:

• It is this speech made by PM Najib Tun Razak on Saturday night, less than 12 hours before polling begins. His blunder? Offering a bribe to the Rejang Park people RM5 mil if they vote for SUPP's Robert Lau Jr. That is taxpayer's money man... listen to his speech:
  

The Polling Day
Everything went alright and smoothly. But by 7pm ballot counting began. The ticker went up tremendously at all tweets, blogs, facebook groups and other online site Sibuians, Malaysians and others can access. The world was watching.

SPR (Election Committee) Controversy

• The results were clearly favouring DAP with a 3,000 majority lead (18,000 against 15,000). But the results' announcement was delayed without any clear notification.
• There were rumors of '2 missing ballot boxes' as well as 'miscounting of the postal votes'.
• Postal votes are basically BN's last resort weapon where the votes comes from Sibu government personnel (e.g. army) working outside Sibu. it's like a money cheat code because those outstationed did not get a chance to know how the vote-fishing was going. 2 hours passed with the results 2 hours late...
  
• Speculations about "dark magics" by BN occured with an ironic blackout at the ballot counting station in Dewan Suarah Sibu/Sibu Civic Center.
  

The Rocket Launches

• Finally, and officially, at 11pm DAP won with a majority of 398 even after BN's postal vote reinforcement.
  
• This was a miracle and a WTF moment for the Sibu people as a whole, both DAP and BN supporters.
  
• Drunks were sobbing by the roadside as they lost their bet, Najib and the Deputy Prime Minister left the polling scene, facebook saw a spike of several pro-progress youths and adults alike.
  

The Aftermath

• Sibuians now look forward to the new era of progress under the wings of Wong Ho Leng. Sibu is established as the second DAP base after Kuching.
  
• Despite their lost, BN intends to keep all the promises made by PM Najib Tun Razak (that means you still lose your taxmoney...). As a Sibuian said "u no need to sign that cheque on Monday la Najib"...
  
• No updates from Bebas candidate.

Sarawak Geo-Political Map as of May 2010 AD. With DAP getting a foothold in the south and the new central region, the future looks bright for the democratic socialist party.

• They now can face Sarawak's Pehin Abdul Taib Mahmud's stronghold in Mukah. To the folks in Mukah, please consider voting for progress, because the Sibu-Mukah road has been horrible (read) for many years. Despite the Pehin's presence in Mukah and the millions of RM the government has, I don't see much effort for the road.
• Hopefully our neighbors of Kapit, Sarikei, Betong, Sri Aman and Samarahan would join us in ignoring the money politic and go for progress.
• Bintulu and Miri is still a stronghold for BN in the north, where progress are clear but some are not known e.g. Senadin area, or the deadly e-Mart-Senadin road (read).
• This is just an analysis based on Total War experience.
  

Kampua 4 Life
The inappropriate threat of kampua banning by BN is no more. Kampua is safe again for now, both halal and non-halal. This just shows how we Sibuians cannot be separated from our beloved dry noodle. You have already politicized religions, don't politicize our food bro...

At the end of the day we stood united, no matter what race/religion, despite all the segregation propaganda gimmicks like what they have done in the West. I'm proud to be a Sibuian. Viva la Sarawak!