Your home is not here ...

Ong Boon Hua wants to return to the country of his birth. Now aged 82, he longs to see his relatives in Sitiawan, Perak. At the young age of 23 when most young men his age would be just completing their tertiary education, or going out to the discos with their girlfriends or drinking at the local pubs, this young man became the Secretary-Genenal of the Malayan Communist Party. Better known as Chin Peng, he and his band of followers terrorised Malaya for 12 long years.

Chin Peng is responsible for the death of thousands of the Malayan Military and Police, the British soldiers and civilians alike, and the many, many simple village folks that crossed his path. For years, his sanctuary has been in China and Thailand where, by the look of it, he is not welcomed there anymore. He has business in Haadyai where it is rumoured that the Lee Gardens Hotel belongs to him.

US Cheats - subsidising cotton farmers

Not satisfied with its refusal to participate in the Kyoto Protocol, US is now subsidising its own farmers in the marketting of cotton. US, the Champion of World Trade Organisation, is now facing cotton growing countries like Brazil who complain of unfair subsidies resulting in lop-sided prices of cotton. US has subsidised some USD 12.5 billion to their growers between Aug 1999 and July 2004 in order to maintain its No1 position as the world's largest exporter of cotton.

The Old Kassim Restaurant

This afternoon, I had a nostalgic lunch in the old Kassim restaurant in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur. The name has been changed to Bilal Restaurant. For years the shop has been closed until recently, that left me wondering why, for they served the best fried chicken anywhere in Malaysia. The fried chicken tasted the same as it did years ago; you can really taste the spices right to the very bones. Not only that, the prices in the menu seem to me like in those days. Really cheap by today's foods served in Syed's or in the Gazebo or in the many eating places in the Klang Valley. There is no dish that's more than RM 8.00, except for the big, hard-to-get prawns. For a good hearty meal comprising nasi beryani, fried chickens, and some dishes with bits of popadam thrown in, and ice-lemom teas it costs me RM 18.00 for the two of us.

Goodyear Tyres

Today, I fitted 2 new tubeless tyres for my car front wheels. The tyre brand is Goodyear Ducaro GA (made in Thailand): 205/65 R 15. The balancing is included in the price of the tyre which is RM 228.00 plus RM 3.00 for the valve for each tyre. Alignment is optional and the cost to align the tyres is RM 48.00. The shop that did the job is Subang Tyre & Car-Care Centre Sdn Bhd, Jalan SS 19/6 Subang Jaya, along Jalan Tujuan. The car mileage is 112,802 km when brought in to the shop. Anybody who thinks that the price is expensive or cheap or reasonable may tell me about it.

A grocery shop in Subang Jaya

I gave a piece of my mind to a shop assistant in a grocery shop. I noticed that in my past visits to the shop, the particular shop assistant had the habit of following me when I was looking at the goods in the shop. Previously I thought, it was merely coincidental that he happened to be behind me whenever I inspected the goods before making a purchase. This time it cannot be a coincidence, again. So when I walked past several shelves and went to a particular shelf he quickly followed me as though guarding his goods.

Until I really got fed up and challenged him by asking "Why are you following me ? You are afraid that I may steal your things here !".

As he was taken aback by my challenge, he meekly said that "I only do it if only I can help you".

I quickly retorted "Bullshit! This is not the first time that you do this. I came here several times before, and you did the same thing."

After that reprimand, he stopped tailing me when I went to the other shelves. Feeling utterly disgusted with the man's attitude , I left the shop without buying anything.

The name of the shop is Herbs & Pills. Its a grocery cum medicine shop no 116,118. Its location is just opposite the complex in Subang Jaya square .