Malaysian Sports Schools (MSSM) 55th Field and Track Meet

The MSSM sports meet must be the oldest school sports’ meet in the country – almost as old as the country’s independence. The 55th meet was officially opened last night in Stadium Darul Makmur, Kuantan, Pahang. It was my first experience attending such a meet after such a long time. The last time when I was still in school in Seremban. The opening ceremony was officiated by by the DG of Education with the usual rigmarole of march past, parade,marching  bands, torch run, fire crackers etc.

It started to rain heavily during the students performance and I could see the DG was animatedly gesturing the students to end their performance as it was really pouring. But they persisted. I can understand their predicament. They have prepared for this for months, practicing for hours on end. Nothing could stop them from their moment of glory in the limelight. We were worried about their safety, especially with the rolling thunder and lightning. After much persuasion from the officials who had to come down from the stage in the poring rain to signal the students to stop only they started to file back into the tunnel.

For this 7-day event, we brought both of our outdoor broadcasts lorries. The OB 2 had to be driven in the dark for a few kilometres from the station as the wiring seemd to have gone kaput. It is an ageing lorry, almost 20 years old. The engine might be purring well but other pars are falling apart. Now I have to think of ways and means to transport the lorry back to KL once the event ended on Thursday. Another meeting with the boss is in order. With 85 people involved, this must be the biggest event we are covering in recent years almost as big as the ASEAN School Games in 2011. Much credit must be given to the production team which managed to streamline this logistical nightmare. Budget and time are very tight. We even had to start setting up at 2am last Friday immediately after the Teachers day event in Nilai. The same set of crew had to trudged to Kuantan immediately after the event in Nilai. To make  matter worse, the event in Nilai that was supposed to finish at 5.30 pm did not even start by 8.30pm. We finish our wrap-up meeting at 1am and the crew only reached their hotel at 2.00am. By the afternoon they had to repack their equipment and move to Kuantan. Tempers were thin, nerves were frayed but fortunately everyone was calm even with the OB2 problems. Much credit to the team.

On the first night, EduwebTV managed to obtain 1.3million hits. Maybe for the opening ceremony, many people were interested. I am hoping to get some sort of consistency in terms of viewing hits for the duration of the games. People has been accusing us of not optimising funds allocated for the us and the costs of recording events like this is too high. If we can consistently get more than a million hits per day, it would have been worth it.

For the uninitiated, for events like this, there are three or four simultaneous events. You need t least two cameras per event. Eight cameras would be required to cover all the events. At the same time we are also having a news gathering  team that sum up the overall happenings for the day. So thats explains why we have 85 people on site for this edition of MSSM Track and Field Meet.

 

I must take my hats off to our marathon commentator,  Hazrin, who single handedly do the running commentary  in every event day in and day out. He was also the compere for the three-day Hari Guru event in Seremban. The job is ardous and the pay is miniscule. Not many people are interested. Hazrin is one committed guy. He is not even in the education fraternity! He’s been helping us for years-compering events,  moderating fora, writing scripts,and commenting. His commitment is so strong, he even brought his own paraphernalia such as backdrop, bunting, binoculars for the event. Not to mention staying up till 3am and taking leave from his daily jobs to help us. Unsung heroes like this make it all worthwhile.

What is going on with our water supply?

Today is the third time in these few months water supply to the house is disrupted. Now I am beginning to believe that this is a ruse employed by Syabas to force the people to pressure the Selangor government to agree to the Langat II water project. But of course the argument by Selangor government has its merits. Syabas should in the first place reduce percentage of the non revenue water (NRW) significantly by plugging all those leaks. At the same time, the number of water thefts especially big time thefts should be curbed significantly. Just by doing these, the water supply can lasts us way past 2020. So said the Selangor Government. Syabas on the other hand disputed these, saying that they have done all they can to reduce NRW as per their contract requirement. Even if the NRW can be plugged to 20%, the demand for water would be so high in the Klang valley, the current supply of treated water won’t be enough to meet the demand. So the key point is treated water not just water. The dams maybe overflowing but the plants to treat them are not up to mark. We may build tunnel to draw water from Pahang but if the treatment plant is not able to treat the water, it will be pointless. I believe it is all about the scramble of the economic cakes. The billion ringgit Langat 2 project is a huge chunk of the cake and many parties want to get a slice. It is OK if it is just a slice, but a huge slice to be monopolised by a small few is not a good thing. To compound matters, water business in the Klang Valley is a complex business involving parties such as Syabas, ABAS, and Splash.

As a consumer, I don’t care. Be it Selangor government, Federal government, Syabas, ABAS, Splash or whatever. Please solve it ASAP. I want to take a bath, I want to pee, I want to ****k. I never shirked my duty in paying my water bill so why are being punished?

There, I have done it.

After months of speculations, posturings,  psyche war,lots of  money, finally the election day came today. I went to the polling station in Wangsa Melawati around 10am. As usual there are fleet of transport available for supporters of various parties to ferry voters to the polling station. Maybe due to the presence of armed police force close to the station, the situation is very peaceful. There was not any last minute cajoling and persuading  as i walked to the polling station. Only the guy from PKR booth was asking me to check my polling channel and serial number. I declined knowing that I can easily check that at the counter. I think this is partly due to new EC regulations forbidding parties canvassing for votes within 50m of the polling stations. Unlike in the previous elections where the last minute canvassing was intense, chaotic and boisterous. At the counter I was told to go to the second floor. By the look of it, i think the channel was assigned according to the age of the voters. Those past the retirement age and senior citizens would be in channel 1 in the ground floor. Younger voters would be assigned to the third floor on channel 4 and 5. Mine was on the first floor. The queue was already long.

 

 

 

Many were complaining that the EC should have done something to reduce the waiting time. All hot and sweaty. I had to wait for more than one hour before I came to  the police woman manning the entry and shown the first table to check my ID. No Bangla here.  Then I have to show my 10 fingers to the second clerk to check whether I have voted somewhere else, if that is the case, one of my fingers would have been tainted with the ink. I asked whether I can choose which finger to be inked. The lady said I can but mostly she would ink the forefinger of the left hand. So the dark blue ink was brushed on my left forefinger and the next clerk gave me the ballot paper. Only two candidates. I went to the booth, say Bismillah and pray that whoever I chose would be blessed by Him to help to bring peace, prosperity and stability to the nation. Crossed across the candidate name and party, fold the paper and drop it into the perspex box. We in the Federal Territory vote only for Parliamentarians, no State Legislative councils members. And I walked out of the room with the partly dried dark blue  ink smudging my wallet as I tried to slide my IC back into the wallet. So the quick dry ink  is not so quick after all. Curiously many voters tried to wash off the ink from their fingers at the the taps near the staircase. Maybe they were influenced by all these social media talks about the ink can be washed off. The ink stayed. I am sure the school would be paying extra water bill this month. So I have done my duty as a rightful citizen. Now for the results tonight. Whoever form the government tonight, please grant us a holiday tomorrow. Please.

What a boring season

Almost all the major leagues of Europe for the 2012-13 football season end up with with run away leaders clinching  their titles with games to spare unlike last season where the champions were determined by the slimmest of margins. Man U won the EPL with 4 games to go. Likewise, Bayern  won the Bundesliga as if the other teams were second class. In Italy,  juventus is almost certain to win the serie A and Barcelona despite their Champions League hiccup is also almost certain would run away with the La Liga title. Probably PSG is having a bit of a bother in Ligue 1 but on the whole they should be able to clinch it. Maybe that is the reason why the match between Swansea and Man City end up with 0-0. Very boring.Both had nothing else to fight.

Congratulations to Cardiff. I hope Vincent Tan would continue to insist the Blue birds  carry the word “Malaysia” on their kit. It is going to be a great advert fo Malaysia. With QPR relegated, at least Malaysia still has a rep in the EPL. I have no sympathy for QPR. They deserve to be relegated. My fervent hope is that Nottm Forest can win a playoff place and put up a good fight for promotion.

Final lap, one hour to go

Today is the last day of the GE13 campaigning period. I have never seen a more keen elections, at least in terms of poster wars. I was in Terengganu two days ago, the poster wars gave an air of festivities to the election campaign. Imagine the whole stretch of the four lane carriageway from Kuala Ibai to Marang was adorned with all sorts of posters and party flags molded into replicas of tanks, planes, helicopters, submarines and…a diamond ring!!!. I cannot imagine the joy filling the hearts of silk screen and poster printers, I reckon the jobs that they got for this election would surely tide them up until the next election in five years’ time. Not to mention the supporting industries like logistics, cranes (yes I saw a huge crane being parked in the middle of the road to hang all those fancy posters in various formations), strings, clothes, t-shirts, inks, caps etc. Actually the election campaign period is definitely good for the economy. The feel good factor is there, despite some overzealous supporters and troublemakers, the whole air of festivities prevailed.

The printers made a killing printing these party flags and buntings

A few minutes ago, I went to check on the last rally by the ruling party in my area. It was only about 700m from my home. I can even hear the loud speakers blaring and the streets were packed with cars bearing the party flags. Each candidate was given about 7-8 minutes to pitch his case. All the four candidates for Gombak, Setiawangsa, Hulu Kelang and Bukit antarabangsa (I think) came with their entourage of 4WDs, SUVs, MPVs and of course a cotterie of Mat rempits chanting party slogans. All in good spirit, even with the opposition PR team putting up its own booth 5m metres away, showing videos of UAI sermons with speakers blaring in full volume. All very civilised, albeit a bit playfully childish.

With the campaign period set to end in half an hours time, the campaign vehicles are still roaming the streets. Even during hari raya we do not have this kind of festivities anymore. I am just wondering where all the money for these campaign came from?

At last the silly season is here

I cannot help commenting on the current election fever that is gripping the nation. When I was in Lumut a month back, the scenic route back from Manjung to Sg Ayer Tawar, Bota, Kampong Gajah, Tanjung Tualang was bedecked with flags and bunting in deep blue, light blue, green and white  and a bit of red here and there. I wonder what happen to myriads of other colours available? I also wonder are our voters are so dumb that  they cannot recognise which symbol is for which party and there is an actual need to tell voters that this is the symbol for the various parties? How many percent of the registered voters do not know the symbols and colours of the main political parties in this beloved country of ours? So back to my question whether is any real need to adorn the roadsides to the brim until you cannot see the road signs anymore with party flags? After all the unofficial election campaign has been going on for years, voters should have recognised each party even with the flags were already torn to shreds. But my political friends tell me it is not so much for identification but it is a sign of presence and intention. Show of strength. Parties with a lot of flags and buntings all over the place indicates their strong presence in the area. “Look man we are here, take notice, we  seriously need your vote, do not forget us when you vote”  kind of message. For the life of me I think it is so 60s and 70s. Voters these days, I think,  will look at other aspects to decide not so much on flags and buntings alone. Maybe the funds for bunting and flags could be better utilised for a more meaningful vote getting purposes.

election posters – are they really necessary? 

Maybe that is why your Facebook pages has been inundated with all sorts of political postings. This is the new battle fronts especially  for the poorer parties. All  you need is several tech savvy cyber troopers who would do your battle in cyber space. After all many young voters spend so much time on line. Go and grab their attention.

With nomination day concluded today,  the day of “menang tanpa bertanding” due technical reasons is over. As it was announced at noon today, none of the seat was won uncontested. Kudos to the EC. So get ready folks, they don’t call it the silly season for nothing.

E-learning policy

Currently I am in Port Dickson preparing some discussions on formulating policies on e-learning (I know it is Saturday night, and it is a derby night, but then these days, government servants works a lot harder than others,  not necessarily smarter though). Ministry of Higher Education (MOH E) already had the policy back in 2011. We had to ensure, our policy would dovetail snugly into that policies so as our students would meet the demands of the policies when they enter tertiary education. Here is the link on some info on MOHE’s e-learning:

130406 Dasar elearning MOHE

A brief sojourn to Lumut

Last week, i was asked to attend a technology update meeting in Lumut. I have not been to that part of the world for many years. Driving alone gave me the opportunity to choose the route. I had the choice either to take the PLUS highway, exit Bidor and proceed via Teluk Intan or I could take the west coast road via Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernm, Hutan Melintang, Lekir and Manjung. I decided to take the slow west coast route. Since it was a working day, the road was pretty clear, after exiting LATAR at Ijok, I passed  Kuala Selangor, Tanjong Karang, Sekinchan, Sg Besar and Sabak Bernam. The road condition started to deteroriates as I entered Perak, albeit it was briefly fairly good at the Bernam bridge.  I almost got lost trying to find out the Damai Laut Resort since there is a palce called Damar Laut as well. The Resort was really isolated, almost 30km outside Lumut on the way to Pantai Remis. Fortunately it was daytime. I do not think i would be able to find the place if it was dark. Unless you are an avid golfer, the place has seen better times.

Part of the technology update was given in Pangkor Laut.  The place was an exclusive resort.  We had to take a privately hired boat to the place. Exclusive the place maybe but I found the food wanting. A typical international taste – neither here nor there. But then, you do not expect them to serve food that taste like our roadside stalls, that would be too much too hot for the international tourists who paid a minimum of  USD800 per night to stay here.

 

 

 

The journey back was uneventful. I chose to take the long road via Manjung, Ayer Tawar, Titi Gantung, Bota, Pasir Salak, Changkat Tin, and Kampar before proceeding south via the the old JKR route 1. I exited Route 1 at Batang Kali and took the Sg Tua route to Gombak and home. It was a pleasant ride despite the distance. I reached home almost 7.00pm.

 

 

Thank you City…Well done Wales…Heartbreak in Ipoh

Last night’s 0-2 defeat to Everton, virtually ended City’s challenge to defend the EPL’s crown. It must be  an absolute disaster if ManU were to drop 15 points from now till May. Despite labouring to beat Reading, ManU still maintained their winning ways. The title is as good as theirs. Now ManU can afford to lose four times and still win the Championship. That is unthinkable isn’t it? When was the last time ManU lose four times in a row? Not in recent times though. The EPL might as well go to the Etihad stadium and start tying the red and white ribbons to the EPL trophy. Next week sneak the trophy to Old Trafford and unofficially hand it to them.

http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/home.php

Fortunately, in rugby, Wales managed to beat England 30-3 to win the six nations Cup. What a performance. After a string of losses in the summer that culminated in 30-22 loss to Ireland, Wales managed to gather improvement momentum and won three next away matches and yesterday showed tremendous spirit to burst the England bubble. Now I am waiting and hoping Cardiff would be promoted. They already showing signs of nerves, their 12 points lead now cut down to five. With a few more months to go, I am really worried. It was like this for the past three seasons. Cardiff faltered at the final hurdle. Lets hope this time they would be able to replace QPR which I am quite certain would be relegated, more so with their 1-2 loss to Villa yesterday.

It was hearbreaking for the Malaysian hockey team to lose to Australia 2-3 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Malaysia relented the Australian wining goal with 4 seconds to go! Despite the heroics of S. Kumar to defend the Malaysia goal, he was beaten in the final seconds of the game. Somehow Malaysia start to lose concentration after Tengku Ahmad scored the equalizer. Instead of pressing ahead, the goal seemed to weaken Malaysia and they were punished with that heart breaking goal. The sight of a devastated Kumar after the final horn was blown was enough to tell the disappointment of the Malaysian team. Once again we fail to win the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Anyway, some sort of praise should be given to Paul Revington for taking the team to the final. Australia have won the tournament seven times and a firm favourite. We were the wooden spoonist last year. The team looks promising.

And finally shall I talk about our Harimau Malaya’s game against KSA? Maybe not.

No sir you cannot park here if you do not have a Rapid Pass card

At the Gombak LRT station, Rapid KL has built a massive parking complex and it was opened to the public a few weeks back.  So when I had to attend an event in the city, I thought it was a good opportunity for me to use the facility. I drove to the Gombak station and as i approached the parking entrance, as usual I took my Touch n Go card to gain entry. But it was not to be. The helpers who were manning the entry gate told me the facility only accept Rapid Pass card. No Touch n Go. I can’t even pay cash. Only Rapid Pass. Typical. If I can use TnG card to ride the train and pay cash to buy tokens to ride the train, why should they restrict the parking facility to Rapid pass holders only? You built a facility worth millions to help the public use your train  and then you impose such a condition before commuters can use the facility. It is really ridiculous. What should  i buy another card when  TnG card  is touted to be the all encompassing card? Even Mykad can be loaded with TnG. Or why can’t they accept cash or use token like the LRT rides? it was a really disappointing experience  and I had to park somewhere else.  I do not know whether Rapid KL understand the meaning of Rakyat didahulukan.