Guide to be a likable woman

The house looks very nice now.

We worked very hard yesterday and this morning sweeping, moping and scrubbing it.

Wish can share some pictures of the house now but my mother already warned me against it.

"Can you not show off everything to the world? It's very irritating whenever you do that," she said.

Okay lah, I write about something else today.

Don't feel like writing politics....honestly, I'm losing interest.

Anyway, there's too many negative thoughts in my brain when it comes to politics.

I'm afraid, if I put in writings what are in my political mind, it will only sounds bad for the establishment which I have been supporting all these years.

So, I rather keep it to myself.

It's bad enough already that even now there are people who branded me with all sorts of not so nice labels.

After a bit of thinking, I decided that for today, I want to give a bit of advice to other women about how to be likable....at least to men la.

Not that I'm an expert but I think I have some common sense on the subject matter.

Hey, maybe we can have some fun discussing it.

Or maybe it can help some women who can't figure out why men shied away from them, do something about it...hahaha.

Let me put it in five simple points to make the whole thing easy to follow,

1. Be nice
All men like nice women. This goes without exception. Even when they said they prefer badass women, actually what they really meant was that they prefer nice women who occasionally behave like a badass just to spice things up a bit. End of the day, they still prefer women who are nice to them. That's why I tried my best to be nice...most of the time :-)

2. Don't be over bitchy
All women have a streak of bitchiness. It's women's nature. I have it too. But don't over do it. Exercise control, okay. Otherwise, what started as an ego thing may ends up being a habit. Men don't like a bitch. It's as simple as that. For instance, if we are jealous of another woman because she is more popular among men, don't la make it so obvious when badmouthing her. Men are scared (or repulsed) of women who display such behavior.

3. Try to be reasonably intelligent
Men actually like smart women. So try to be one. However, I need to caution the ladies that men also have very big ego. If you are smart, don't make the men feel stupid by trying to compete your knowledge with theirs all the time. They would not like you if you do that. Be moderate and diplomatic when you showcase your intelligence. Unless you are actually a hopelessly egoistical bitch who wants to win every argument even when you know that you are in the wrong. In that case you are doomed not to be liked by men.....and in fact women too, forever.

4. Have a pleasant appearance
Not all women are born beautiful, but we should make a reasonable effort to look good. If we are fat, try dieting and exercise. It will make us look better and improve our health too. Men like a healthy looking woman. Then there's the matter of what to wear. Invest a bit on reasonably priced clothes. Let's say you are a Chinese girl who is trying to win the heart of Malays or just Malay men by appearing in public in baju kurung. I suggest you buy a few and wear them alternately. Don't wear the same black and white baju kurung all the time as people will notice and think that you are either too stingy or just simply a bum. Also, do comb your hair and apply a bit of make up if that's not too much an effort for you.

5. Be hygienic
Men don't like smelly women. Really, I'm not exaggerating. Even if you look like a super model, men will not like you if you smell bad. Worse if you are....not so pretty. Here, perfume won't really help. Instead you should try to acquire hygienic habits. Please showers....at least in the morning and evening. Brush your teeth too. A mouth wash would be great. Bad breath is a major turn off, okay. After you do your business in the toilet....try not to just use the toilet paper. Wash a bit la if possible. It's so much better at reducing the possibility of you smelling like....err not so nice. Oh, in case you are an animal lover and let your pet such as a dog in the house, please be even more hygienic. Otherwise you may smell like your pet. That won't help you to be liked by men....or even women, I think.

Okay, I think that is quite a reasonable guide for a woman to be more likable to men.

Just basic stuff la that one.

I am trying to observe those five points myself.

Hope it helps you all ladies.

Well, need to get off now. I'm cooking dinner for this evening.

Maybe I will write about it later :-)

How they are losing the war

I'm tired but happy at the moment.

Hard at work the whole day helping clean up the house.

So, this is another brief one.

I once adviced that,

• Najib should learn from Nausicaa

Of course Najib didn't read it.

But his media handlers probably did.

By the way things are going now, they probably didn't get the message from that posting.

Probably they are too shallow to get it.

They think anime is just for kids.

Too bad for them.

Ahmad Maslan, as IT director, just great that one....great joke.

Since they are so thick to understand my subtlety,  here, let me give it point blank what's needed for those who want to fight and win ;

INSPIRATION

which is so lacking in Umno's effort to win the cyberwar.

Well, not my problem anymore.

I'm out of it.

To the thinking people who read this blog, here is where I got my inspiration,

Ok. I need to go play mahjong now.

Ciao.

Peace butterfly and the best curry puff ever

At home in Kluang.

Sat on the bench at the porch and saw a butterfly busy at work.

Managed to take its picture.

It made me felt at peace, which is good.

Earlier, I thought of taking my fight with a "former" DAP operative a notch higher.

I have all the ammunitions ready.

The "former" DAP operative and gang have been going on and on for weeks throwing all kind of bullshit at me.

They thought they can destroy me and my blog using the DAP's "repetitive technique".

I can actually go all out with it if I want to as my blog is not tied to any paymaster unlike those who were paid to fill up certain quota to whack others.

If you are smart you can differentiate between those who are paid to blog and those who blog from the heart.

And you can tell who blog in support of Umno for a living and who blog genuinely for the love of Umno.

Yes, I was ready for a long drawn fight.

I got less to lose anyway.

But then, seeing that butterfly just now made me think, why should I waste my space and time for them.

I should just carry on like the butterfly, minding my own business.

I'll be happier that way.

Umno now don't even want someone like me anymore.

I'm too independent minded.

They prefer people like that "former" DAP operative to defend them. Even willing to pay large sum of money for it.

They don't even care what's really in the heart of the person.

So, why should I bother.

Well that's about it.

Anyway, yesterday I found the best curry puff ever.

Bought it just before going to fetch my grandmother and aunt in Singapore.

I don't know why, but the stall operator called it "Karipap Penang".

I don't really like Penang, probably because of Guan Eng, but that curry puff is very delicious.

Should call it "Karipap Johor" instead....well, never mind.

The curry puff stall is in front of the market at Taman Perling, JB.

Okay, everybody are up and ready to start clearing the house and I better go join them.

I will write again later if I have the time.

Peace.

Another old friend

Got a call this morning from a friend who was a member of my Johor team during the 2013 general election.

Hadn't heard from him for quite a while.

The guy used to be a high ranking Johor Umno operative.

We chit chatted for almost half an hour. 

Nothing serious, just about what and how each others were doing.

He was especially curious about me being back in JB. Told him there's nothing to it, just some family stuff that needed to be taken care of.

The guy is now totally out of politics after the new administration took over in Kota Iskandar after the general election.

He now survives by doing a bit of business and tending to his small goat farm somewhere in Batu Pahat.

"Datuk rasa politik sekarang macam mana? (What do you think of politics now?)," I asked him.

"Eh, aku dah kat luar gelangang. Mana aku tau (I'm out of the fight. How would I know)," he said.

"Kalau engko tanya pasal kambing, aku tau la (If you ask me about goats, then I know la)," he added with a laugh.

But really, the guy was not bitter that now he is out of the political hustle and bustle of Umno.

He accepted the changing ways of the party and just moved on with his life. 

"Nak kecewa apa? Biasa lah tu, masa aku dah sudah. Sekarang masa orang lain. Aku dah buat apa yang patut. Kalau pun aku tak setuju apa benda dia orang buat sekarang aku malas nak tegur. Orang tengah ada kuasa mana nak dengar pun. Lantak lah," he said.

(Basically, he was not frustrated and accepted things the way it is, and if he disagreed with what is happening he rather not waste his time worrying about it as it wouldn't make any difference.)

"Rasa-rasanya BN masih boleh menang ke kat Johor ni Datuk? (Do you think BN can still win in Johor?)," I asked again as the guy, despite now out of politics, still have a lot of direct access to information on what's happening on the ground.

"Menang tu boleh insyaAllah, tapi sakit lah,(BN can win but it's going to be close)," he said.

Most of my old gang from those days are now something like that guy.

They were disengaged from politics and trying to make do with what they have in life now.

None of them became rich serving Johor Umno under the leadership of former MB TS Abdul Ghani Othman.

Like their boss, they served sincerely and according to the book.

Tak ada yang cari lubang (None tried to enrich themselves).

Even though I was not really part of the Johor Umno apparatus under Ghani's leadership, I consider myself a part of the team as for me it was an honour serving alongside them.

The speech in this video explains what Johor Umno stands for under Ghani's leadership,

Like my friends from those days, I also want to disengage myself from politics because I don't feel motivated to continue with it because the way Umno is now.

It's not that I want to go against it, but I just feel that I don't want to have anything to do with it.

But for now I have to continue as my attempt to get off the other day caused some butt-hurt people to accuse me of all sorts of bullshit.

Guess, I have to slowly ease off myself from politics bit by bit instead of abruptly ending it.

It's troublesome, but see lah how.

I promised my friend that I will visit him in Batu Pahat after CNY.

It will be great to see the old man again and talk about the good old days.

Once I'm done with this political nonsense, I want to be like him and my other gang members from those days - happy and free.

I don't want to grow old being full of hate, angry, bitter, bitchy....and smelly, just because the party which I love don't want me anymore...like some other people.

Okay, that's all for now.

I will write again once I reached Kluang.

Cheers guys.

Note: I specifically translated the Malay words in this posting for a Japanese reader of this blog who can't read BM. Y, see you on Feb 15 :-) 

Getting ready for CNY

Earlier in the day, someone took me for lunch at Warung SA.

It's at Jalan Abdullah Tahir.

I had Nasi Seafood Daun Pisang.

Very nice.

You all should try it if you are in JB.

After lunch I went to Taman Sutera to do a bit of CNY shopping.

Not much work so can ponteng a bit.

My mother told me to get some new year decoration stuff for our family home.

Actually it's my usual routine every CNY.

But this time I just bought what my mother asked me to get.

Normally I bought some stuff for my office too but now my new workplace has no Chinese.

It's an all Malay team.

My former work place have a few Chinese, so I had an excuse to decorate the place a bit for the occasion.

I enjoyed doing it.

Even though most of my colleagues then were Malays, they didn't mind me doing that.

My Chinese colleagues somehow didn't take the initiative to get the decorations, probably because they didn't feel comfortable doing so as it may look as if they were imposing their Chinese stuff on the others.

They were after all the minority in the office.

But when they saw me putting up the decorations, they seemed happy to help me do it.

Some of my Malay colleagues would then joined us and it was quite fun.

Last year, my former big boss even allowed me to paste the rhyming/spring couplets at the entrance of our office.

It made the place looking quite a bit like some Chinese establishment.

Actually, the wording of the couplets which I put up then were not really suitable for an office but none of my Chinese colleagues  can read the characters, so no problem there.

They were just happy to have the decorations which bring some CNY atmosphere to the place.

I do wonder who among my former colleagues who will take the initiative to decorate the place this year.

I think I'm going to miss my former colleagues quite a bit this time.

I'm driving down to Singapore to fetch my grandmother and little aunt after work.

We are going back to Kluang to clean up the family home and prepare it for CNY.

My mother is driving down from KL to join us.

It's going to be a busy weekend.

But we will enjoy it.

Especially the mahjong sessions at night

About OutSyedtheBox

I have been getting comments about Syed Akbar Ali's OutsidetheBox blog since last night.

This is one of them :

Mir Harris28 January 2016 at 00:26

Annie...dont you hv any comment on the latest development from our dear AG telling us that this generous najib has return back some of the derma back to saudi and that najib also do not hv any idea how come that rm42million is in his very own bank acct!!!we would like to hear from u also about this tppa things so we as rakyat will be enlighten...last but not least,what happen to ur friend blog outsyedthebox

And this is my answer :

Annie28 January 2016 at 00:36

I don't think my take on all that issues you mentioned really matter. Honestly, I'm not an expert in all that. I suggest you read blogs operated by credible bloggers who are experts in finance and economics for that. As for the blogger outsidethebox, I really don't know what happened to him because I'm not really his friend. Sorry, the guy doesn't even like me and had categorised me as a pre-paid blogger and told other ridiculous stuff about me. Thank you.

Just now I found out that Syed Akbar's blog, which as everyone knows is an anti-Najib blog, is indeed blocked.

I'm okay with Syed Akbar despite disagreeing with many things that he wrote and his abrasive style.

That's until just a few weeks ago when he accused me of some nonsense in his blog.

That really made me quite annoyed.

The guy can be quite a bastard.

But still, I don't believe it's the right thing for the authorities to block his blog.

To me, if someone is writing bad about me, I will fight back with my own writings, not by shutting him up.

After all, it's the audience who in this case the rakyat, are the judges of who is right and who is wrong.

If I'm having a debate and my opponent is shut up like that, then I suspect the rakyat will say this of me,

"Oh, that girl cheats. She can't argue properly against her opponent so she gets her opponent shut up. What a lousy stupid smelly bitch she is."

I definitely don't want that.

I don't see why they need to curtail freedom of speech and expression in cyberspace like that to win the fight against the anti-Najib people.

There are so many pro-Najib bloggers who can counter someone like Syed Akbar.

They are quite smart too and their blogs are very convincing.

Some got impressive charts too all the time.

Just ask them to counter Syed Akbar's every posting la.

I know one pro-Najib blogger who is good at that.

The blogger can hound Syed Akbar, DAP-style, until he gives up.

That way, the BN government don't come out looking like a bully for shutting down a blog.

If a DAP government do all these blocking thing, I can understand la, but this is a BN government.

BN government is supposed to be the good guys, okay.

Really, I'm with my blogging captain Rocky on this one.

You can read his take on this at this link,

OutSyed The Box, Outboxed

Told you all, Rocky is a fair guy even with people like Syed Akbar.

That's why he is my captain.

Movies, enjoy and learn

Don't know why but can't sleep till now.

It's 3.44am as I'm writing this.

Earlier I watched an old movie which I like on DVD.

Troy.

Starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Legolas...errr what's the guy's name...I forgot.

I enjoyed the movie despite watching it before.

It's like a bit of

Iliad

made simple.

The heroes are all very handsome.

You can also learn a thing or two including politics and warfare from the movie.

Okay la, it's a fluff but still it's good entertainment.

Since I have decided to be less political, I will promote the movies that I like.

I'm providing a column on the right of this webpage for me to feature movies that I just watched from time to time.

You can click on the column and learn more about the movies.

Okay, will try to sleep now.

Got to work tomorrow...today, actually.

Unite and move on - is it too late for that?

This is what PM DS Najib Razak said in his blog

3. This issue has been an unnecessary distraction for the country. Now that the matter has been comprehensively put to rest, it is time for us to unite and move on. 

You can read the full Najib's statement which was issued after the Attorney-General cleared him of wrong doing over the SRC and donation issues at this link,

Statement by the Prime Minister – 26 January 2016 

So, how are we to unite and move on?

Does this mean the "either you are with us or against us" dogma which I'm so much against is no longer applied?

Personally, I think it's going to be tough to reverse the trust deficit caused by the Umno civil war which swirled around those issues.

The fighting had been fierce and damages caused by it very severe.

I think the situation now is worse than in the run up to the 2008 general election where a rebellion against then PM Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi caused BN to lose its two third majority and started the slide in public confidence towards the coalition's government.

Throughout the height of the Umno civil war last year, I tried to take the middle ground in the hope of mitigating the fallout of the fighting.

Please check the archive of this blog to verify it. I'm too lazy to find the links of my previous posts for you.

Of course I knew that it's a futile gesture from the start, but I felt that it must be done.

My conscience wouldn't be cleared if I didn't do that.

As a result of that I was shot up by both warring sides.

The anti-Najib camp called me a pre-paid blogger while those defending the PM labelled me as a "Protun".

Well, they even shot me up after I stop trying to defend the Umno's middle ground.

Please read my last post as reference on that.

Now that Najib has once again called for unity, it would be interesting to see how his people will react to that.

Will there be a peace deal, or something like that in the coming days?

For me, the first indicator whether peace will come our way should be what is going to happen in Kedah.

Will the state have a new menteri besar?

I don't think Umno will "unite and move on" if DS Mukhriz Mahathir is to be ousted.

The rebels will continue the fight if it happens and with that the trust deficit is not going to be reversed.

Bear in mind, the general election will be just slightly two years from now.

Clearing up some nonsense

Left Kuantan after subuh and reached JB about 10am.

Was riding at normal speed with only a brief stop in Rompin to refuel.

Will only start working tomorrow and now just lepaking around.

It's raining here.

Had a short nap after shower and now feeling quite fresh.

Now I'm having tea at a cafe not far from where I'm staying.

Nothing much to do,  so I'm writing this post.

It's a bit of something which I need to clear up, I guess.

First, you all should watch this video at this link,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbRG9djAbQ0

Normally, I would paste the video here for your convenience but for this one you have to find it yourself in YouTube.

I don't want to dirty my blog page with it.

For you all who are too lazy to do that, it's a video of someone badmouthing the BN government, the police and the 1Malaysia concept of PM DS Najib Razak.

The video was uploaded in September 2010.

At that time I was busy on the ground in Johor helping Umno preparing the defense of the state for the 13th general election.

You can verify this with the Johor Umno war room director at that time....if you can find him lah, as I'm not really sure where he is now.

About nine months after that video came out, the person featured in it came out with a blog which has since turned to be very pro-BN and anti-DAP.

I was actually surprised at that time because I was familiar with previous literary works of the person, especially those which were featured in Malaysiakini.

But then I decided to give the person the benefit of a doubt.

When I joined my two friends Ai and Tinsel to set up the BIGCAT blog, which story you can read here,

• Story of a stupid blogger

we voted on which blogs should be included in the blogroll.

Ai and myself voted to include that person's blog while Tinsel was against it.

Tinsel suspected that there was something fishy about that person.

But the decision was made on majority and the person's blog was included in the Big Cat's blogroll.

I remember that Ai, who was the leader of our team was quite fond of the person.

After Ai left the team just before the general election, Tinsel took over our blog while I set up this blog after asked to do so by Ai.

Tinsel, who became largely inactive as a blogger after the general election kept that person's blog in the blogroll until recently when she can't stand it anymore.

Myself on the other hand had included that person's blog in my blogroll since day one and was supportive of it.

You can check this blog's archive to verify that.

My problem with that person only started last month after I disagreed with the "either you are with us or against us" dogma which some tried to drum in among Umno people following the party's civil war.

My belief was that, those who were not willing to take sides, such as myself, should not be treated as enemy and be cut off from the party. Their votes are after all needed for the next general election.

After all, some of these people have been with Umno all their life.

I don't think it's appropriate for someone, such as that person, who had not that long ago been so anti-BN and probably anti-Umno too, now calling for the party to get rid of them just because they choose not to take sides in the civil war.

Since then I had checked with those who knew more about the current thinking of Umno leadership and it was confirmed that the "either you are with us or against us" dogma is indeed the party leadership's stand.

For me, that's the right of the Umno leadership but I can't agree with such thing.

I had then decided that I don't want to have anything to do with it and felt that it's better for me to quit writing politics.

I have been mostly writing about some small stuff since I moved to JB.

But the bad mouthing by that person continues, complete with all sorts of ridiculous accusations attached to it.

Honestly, I'm not really sure where all the hate came from.

I have had quarrels with DAP people in the past but not even they had ever attacked me like that person.

Again, you can check this blog's archive to verify it.

This is I think the first posting which I recorded of my quarrel with the DAP people,

• In the Komtar's crosshair

It has always been the policy of this blog to exercise minimum censors as I believe in freedom of speech and expression.

That's why I let through most comments by the DAP people and even those who attacked me with vulgar words.

I think I have been fair even with those DAP people as I never used the term "red bean army" to describe them.

Check the blog archive if you don't believe me.

I refused to use that "red bean army" term as I know that many of those DAP people who attacked me were not paid cybertroopers.

But this particular person had accused me of colluding with those DAP people.

Well, what can I say? Let it be lah.

I know that some of you all find this whole thing quite entertaining.

This blog's stats counter had actually spiked up ever since it started.

Okay lah, I'm pleased to entertain you all.

I'm feeling like a clown, actually.

Whatever it is I hope this is going to be my last posting on this nonsense.

After this I will try to ignore it.

I need to do other things too.

Bad enough that my book project has to slow down now that I have to occasionally write politics again.

If I don't do that, all sorts of bullshit will fly again.

It's okay if the shit just hit me, but apparently there are others who have nothing to do with this nonsense were also affected such as my former boss as I highlighted in my last post.

Well, that's about it.

Sorry if this nonsense posting is a bit long.

Okay, need to meet some friends from Kota Iskandar in a short while.

Hopefully the rain will ease off soon and they can get here on time.

Annie will write politics again...just a bit, okay

This is irritating and tiresome, so I'm going to be brief about it.

Got a call from a friend who is a former colleague just now.

She was telling me that my former boss was very unhappy that there are people who are making up stories that he had banished me to Johor and banned me from writing about politics.

"It's not fair la. Boss said it made him sounds like a control freak," she said.

Well, boss, if you are reading this, I'm sorry for causing you the discomfort.

You have been very understanding about me quitting that day and for that I thank you.

I already wrote that I quit my job because I need to take care of some family matters and gave up being a stupid political blogger because I'm tired of it.

But unfortunately some people refused to leave me alone and continued to bitch their ass off about me.

Nothing I can do about it, okay.

There are other more ridiculous bullshit they said about me but I'm not going to even bother myself about it.

Real case of crazy stalkers, I think.

So, in order to ease the discomfort of my former boss, I'm going to write some political stuff again in this blog so that no one can accuse him of being a control freak, banning and banishing me.

But I'm sticking to my decision to be neutral.

I'm also not going to write politics everyday like some neurotic bitch hungry for sex.

Only if the issue is really worth my time to comment, okay.

See lah how it goes.

That's all.

I have a long ride back to JB tomorrow morning.

Need to sleep now.

Goodnight everyone.

Being on Rocky's blogroll

Just lazing around on this final day of a long weekend.

Somehow, I feel like telling you all a bit about blogging.

For a bit of background, please click on this link,

• Story of a stupid blogger

There are not many bloggers who are stupid like me.

We are the ones who really believe in what we write and happy enough if people could consider our opinion. Nothing more than that.

Others make a living out of it. They are the clever ones.

Actually, in the beginning, I never expected this blog to be what it is now.

I thought no one will really care to read the thoughts and ramblings of a stupid girl.

Well, except maybe other girls as they may relate to it.

Much to my surprise, it turned out that quite a number of people like to read what I wrote.

It's nice to have an audience.

Still, I don't believe they would have read it if my blogging captain Rocky had not listed this blog on his blogroll.

I'm not really sure why he did it.

Honestly, I'm not very close to him.

Being on Rocky's blogroll and categorised as one of the "Other blogs that rock" gives a blog the recognition it needed to attract serious readers.

Many blogs became famous because of it.

Rocky has always been fair, even to bloggers who tend to disagree with him.

You can see quite a number of them on his blogroll.

I actually closely followed the template of Rocky's blog.

The ethics and methods of operating this blog are mostly based on his blog.

For instance, it was supposed to be a platform of free speech and expression.

I hardly censored comments unless they are either really seditious, extremely vulgar, very stupid and out of topic or could cause harm to innocent people.

For you all whose comments were spiked off by me, let me tell you that it was because one of the above reasons.

I even allowed very bad comments about myself through.

Told myself that I must be able to take it as much as I can dish it out.

If we want people to know us for our thoughts, we must be able to accept criticisms.

Otherwise, we would be just neurotic pussies.

I also hardly engaged in debates with commentators as I believe they have the right to express their opinions the same way I have the right to write what I like in my postings.

It's also would not be a fair debate because I have the advantage as I'm the moderator of this blog.

These were also the practices when I first contributed contents to the now not very active Big Cat blog about five years ago.

This is what I learned from those early days of reading Rocky's blog.

Some people had accused me of taking orders from Rocky in the past, but I guess now they know that it's not true.

Otherwise I would not be branded as these and that by some people.

I respect and will never go against Rocky due to the kindness that he extended to me but I don't simply follow my blogging captain all the time.

That's because he once told me that I must write my blog according to my sincere beliefs and try to write it from my heart.

Otherwise people will not bother to read it.

I'm doing exactly that.

Friendship

Saw this video just now and decided to share with you all.

I think it's nice.

This is the message which goes with the video,

Friends, even though we are different. This is a movie reflecting on fun moments with my Muslim Uyghur friend who studied in America for a school year. 

Fun fact: I'm a Christian who covers; she's a Muslim who doesn't.

"If possible, as far as it depends on you, you be at peace with ALL MEN." Romans 12:18

I have a friendship like that too.

My best friend in JB is a Christian.

Friendship is better than hate.

A handsome gentleman blogger and a bit about pasar tani

Had a chit chat with my friend this morning.

Without warning she asked me something which never crossed my mind.

"Of all the bloggers that you know, who is the most handsome of them all?" she asked.

I was like...hmmmm...let me think.

After a while I concluded that the honour should go to SatD of Pure Shiite 

Really, the guy is indeed handsome.

A close second is Jebat Must Die

SatD won over JMD, at least in my eyes, because he's the taller guy.

SatD is also very intelligent and kind.

If you read his blog, you will know that the guy is smart.

From the little bit that I know of him, I think he also has a kind heart.

You see, I used to hang out with SatD and a few other bloggers.

We are sorts of buddies.

There were only two girls in the gang, myself and another girl whose blog is much more popular than mine.

However, the guys, with the exception of SatD were always mean to her.

They always bitch about her, probably jealous because her blog is very popular. All behind her back la, of course.

My blog is the least popular among the gang, so that's probably why they didn't pick on me. Also, probably because they think I'm cute. You know la how guys are.

Actually the other girl is also cute...in her own way. What to do, guys are blind, okay.

The few times we went out together, it was SatD who drove the other girl around. The others gave one excuse or another to avoid her from getting in their car.

"She smells la, I don't think she showers in the morning. Let SatD drives her around," one of them said once.

"You are terrible, you know that? That's a horrible thing to say, You are exegerating. She only has a bit of body odour, That's all," I said in defense of the other girl.

"Really, she smells like a wet dog. Let SatD take care of her," insisted the terrible fella.

SatD seemed to be oblivious to all that. He was always gentlemanly with the two of us girls.

It's nice hanging out with him.

By the way, SatD is married, so don't have funny thoughts, okay.

I think his wife is one very lucky lady.

Anyway, this morning I followed my friend to a pasar tani.

It was fun.

I normally shop at hypermarkets. They are boring compared to a pasar tani.

A lot of food stuff you can't find in hypermarkets are there.

And they are mostly fresh.

Here are some pictures I took this morning.

Clear blue sky

A pretty girl selling vegetables

Bunga Kantan selling at RM3 satu ikat

Banana heart....err, jantung pisang la

Freshly caught fresh water fish

You need to get a shopping cart like this for pasar tani shopping.

Relaxing time

Just watched The Revenant on DVD.

A very good movie.

Gritty.

Leonardo diCaprio, who played the main character was nominated for the Oscar's best actor.

I hope he will win this time after being nominated so many times in the past.

He's very good in the movie.

The guy has matured very well and now one of my favourite actors.

I'm just relaxing after dinner.

I love where I'm now.

Very calm and nice.

Can hear the girl playing bass in her room.

Not too loud and just nice.

Smooth.

Here's another girl playing bass,

Hope you all like it too.

Enjoy a good weekend guys. Take it easy.

Cheers.

Memories of Pekan and the time Annie asked Najib for money

By the time I reached Kuantan yesterday, it's already dark.

Now at my friend's place.

On the way here, I stopped in Pekan.

It's a quaint small town.

I have a lot of memories there.

I stopped in front a row of eateries facing Sungai Pahang.

Used to eat capati with mutton curry at one of the shops there

It's the only place where I had eaten capati made by a Malay makcik.

Very nice.

Walked across the street and found a place to sit.

It's peaceful there watching the river flowing by

Somehow, all the memories came back to me at that moment.

I was actually directly involved in helping the team of PM DS Najib Razak in his constituency there when he was still the deputy prime minister.

I was almost always present whenever Najib came back to Pekan every other weekends at that time.

I made friends with some of his people, but was very discreet about it.

Well, I'm not really the up front type as I always prefer to be in the background.

Najib never knew who I am.

I normally joined his team and we followed Najib around as he met his constituents whenever he's in Pekan.

Najib was always very natural with the people at that time.

At least that's the impression I have of him then.

For me he was a decent and responsible wakil rakyat.

It helped that among his people whom I know was a close aide, who is a good guy.

He has always been nice and helpful.

I actually knew him much earlier than that time in Pekan.

We considered ourselves as friends.

I decided to support Najib at that time for the most part because of him.

For me, someone who leads good people should be a good leader.

Among the memories I cherish most from those days was when my friend at one time took the trouble of fetching food for me at one of Najib's functions.

I'm a nobody while he was a Datuk and close aide of a deputy prime minister, yet he treated me as an equal.

We then ate together standing under a tree by the bank of Sungai Pahang because there was no place for us to sit as the venue of the function was packed with people.

It was Ramadhan and we were breaking fast.

There are many other such memories from those days but that one stands out the most for me.

I think I did my best to help Najib at that time.

In fact, I had continued to support him long after that, including via my writings in this blog.

You all can just check the archive of this blog to verify that.

I have to mention about my friend here, because I want to put it on record the only time I have ever asked for money from Najib.

This is important for me because there have been accusations that I'm being paid to support Najib all these while.

I'm going to tell you all this story and then it's up for you to decide whether what was accused of me was true.

It happened shortly before I left Pahang for Johor after the general election in 2008.

I was desperately trying to raise fund for a centre for special needs children in Kuantan.

Those who really know me would know why getting the fund was very important to me.

I was running out of options when I decided to approach my friend.

He was very understanding when I told him about it and when I showed him all the documentation for the fund request, he promised to show it to Najib for consideration as soon as possible.

He understood why I had to settle the matter before I leave Pahang.

My friend came back to see me a week later.

Najib had approved an allocation for the fund from a special budget in his capacity as deputy prime minister.

I will always remember that.

That's why it's very hard for me even now to go against the man.

I rather be neutral despite not being happy over what's happening now.

I will always be grateful to Najib and that close aide of his for extending me a helping hand at that time.

I wish I can name my friend so that those who have been going around calling me a liar can check with him whether what I wrote here is the truth or otherwise.

But I can't do that because he was not very happy the last time I mentioned his name in this blog.

So, all I can offer here is that I wish Allah will fry me in hell for eternity if the story I wrote above is a lie.

I have a very similar story to explain why I defended Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in this blog.

But let me save it for another day.

Whatever it is, I'm going to stick with my decision to sit on the middle ground.

I wish the warring Umno people will make peace and save the party before the next general election.

But since both sides now seem to be of the attitude that "either you are with us or against us", I decided not to get involve with any of them anymore.

For me, that's an attitude which will not only tear Umno apart, but will also ruin the country.

I believe that's why all those supposedly "former" opposition people now working for Umno and BN are cheering it on.

I don't want anything to do with that, thus my decision not to write about politics anymore.

Someone once asked me how to differentiate between a blogger who sincerely writes for agama, bangsa dan tanah air and a blogger who writes for selfish personal interest.

I told him to read carefully what the blogger wrote, try to know what kind of person he/she is and then ask what are his/her motives.

If we are sincere ourselves, insyaAllah we will know the right answer.

A bit on Tok Nan and the best trunk road stretch in Malaysia

A friend called from Kuantan last night.

"Are they going to get rid of Tok Nan after Mukhriz?" he asked.

My friend was referring to Pahang Menteri Besar DS Adnan Yaakob and the currently embattled Kedah Menteri Besar DS Mukhriz Mahathir.

"Eh, I'm not writing politics anymore lah. How would I know." I replied.

Still, my friend insisted that there seems to be a move to remove Adnan before the next general election.

"They are playing up the bauxite issue to get at him la," he said.

"Ish, they have been playing up all sorts of issues in Pahang all these while what, but Tok Nan is still there," I retorted.

Well, as far as I know Adnan has survived  all sorts of attacks in the past, such as during the great uproar over the Cameron Highland environmental fiasco and illegal logging issues.

The guy is a bit of a maverick and never shied away from confrontation with even powerful media organisations such as Utusan Malaysia and TV3.

He even once told Utusan to "go to hell" in the State assembly for what he deemed as "bad journalism" over reports of illegal logging in the state.

Adnan was also among the few Umno leaders who have been consistent in his stand such as opposing DS Anwar Ibrahim even during the letter's height of power as the party's deputy president.

I was actually informed that there's not much Adnan can do over the bauxite issue due to the "extra ordinary circumstances" which surround it.

Even his more "well informed" critics know about it.

It's one of those things that you know about but can't say aloud.

And of course, some seized the opportunity to attack Adnan, as usual.

Biasa lah....politik.

Anyway, I don't want to get involved in all that.

I have not even seen Adnan in person for quite a number of years.

He used to be quite nice to me.

Actually, I like the guy.

He may be rough round the edges, but has a kind heart.

A real orang kampung hero.

Later today I'm riding up to Kuantan for the weekend.

As I previously wrote, I wanted to go along the scenic coastal trunk road.

JB-Ulu Tiram-Kota Tinggi-Mersing-Endau-Rompin-Pekan-Kuantan

For me it's the best stretch of trunk road in the country.

It's challenging but fun.

To Singaporean readers of this blog who are keen on going for a weekend road trip, I highly recommend you all to try the stretch.

You wouldn't get the same experience driving or riding along other stretches in Singapore, Malaysia...or even Batam.

It's only for day time driving though.

At night, most of the stretch would be very dark and scary.

Some said even got ghosts one....hahaha.

Traffic along the stretch is relatively light after you passed Kota Tinggi.

Just cruise along instead of trying the twisty road too hard, especially for the stretch from Kota Tinggi to Endau.

It's better fun that way.

And do try to stop at the famous stalls selling udang galah (Macrobrachium rosenbergii ) dish at the junction to Muadzam Shah along the Rompin-Pekan stretch.

It's the best place to try the dish.

My favourite is the stall under a huge tree just before the junction.

Also be careful a bit along the Rompin-Pekan stretch because there were sometimes lots of animals crossing the road.

I had once hit a pregnant goat near the small settlement called Nenasi, a few kilometres from Pekan.

Luckily, the poor goat survived.

Even once saw a full grown cow flying over a car after being hit by it along the stretch.

Then there's the wild boars, which can be quite a nuisance once in a while if you are driving in the late evening.

But don't worry.

Drive or ride at a moderate speed and you should be okay and may enjoy the scenery.

Once you reached Kuantan, there are lots of very nice accommodation such as beach side hotels, chalets and such.

Just google and do your booking first, okay.

Cheers.

Encounters with Mukhriz

There was a huge spike in the number of people visiting this blog yesterday after I put up my last post,

• Mukhriz? No comment, okay

It was obvious they wanted to read about DS Mukhriz Mahathir following the demand of Kedah Umno leaders for the man to be removed from his MB and State party chief posts.

I felt quite guilty as I believe they must had expected more from me other than my no comment in that post.

But really, I'm out of politics and don't feel like commenting on it.

Furthermore, I'm not really an expert of Kedah politics, so, I don't think my opinion on the matter should be considered.

I don't have a "great mind" that I can use to comment on something I'm not really in touch with.

The last time I was in Kedah was actually when I was hanging around in Gurun in Nov 2013 at the height of campaigning for the Sungai Limau by-election.

That's quite a while ago and I'm afraid if I try to memandai-mandai (being clever) I may not give an accurate assessment of the situation there now.

However, I think I can share a bit about my experience of meeting Mukhriz a couple of times in the past.

It's just a bit of what I think of the man based on the few memorable encounters with him rather than about Kedah politics.

After all, I think these are going to be the last days of Mukhriz as a politician.

So, I guess it's no harm writing about him before he disappeared altogether.

I had previously wrote about my first encounter with Mukhriz which was sometime in the late 1990s.

But never mind, let me write about it again.

It was at a children colouring contest organised by a bank in KL.

I was observing the kids doing their things and seated next to me was this very ordinary looking guy.

He looked quite young and very well mannered.

I introduced myself and he did likewise.

"I'm Mukhriz," he said as he handed me his name card with a smile.

I can't remember exactly why he was there, but we talked quite a bit.

He even told me about his passion at that time which was scuba diving.

It was all very pleasant.

I only realised that he is the son of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was then still the prime minister after a friend had a look at his name card and told me so.

I had a few other encounters with him after that but they were just very brief.

He was always still the same, nice, soft spoken and extremely polite.

The next significant encounter I had with Mukhriz was a few months after he became the Kedah MB in 2013 and just a few days before nomination for the Umno elections.

A prominent blogger friend took me to his house in KL for the occasion.

As usual, he was nice.

But I sensed that he tried quite a bit to look more serious, probably because he wanted to project such an image due to his MB post. It didn't last very long though as by the end of our almost two hours conversation, he had reverted back to his usual cheerful and humble boyish self.

Towards the end of it, I asked him the question which I had really wanted to ask.

"Datuk, are you going to contest for the vice-president post or not?"

Mukhriz paused before answering me.

"It's quite difficult for me to decide. Those above don't want me to contest while on the ground, they keep pushing me to do it," he said, still with a smile.

Then somehow I became very bold and said something like this,

"Datuk, if even someone like you decided not to contest, and the Umno leadership remain as it is, what's there to inspire someone like me to continue supporting Umno?

"Please don't tell me we are going into the next general election with the same line-up and same strategy. We didn't do that well in the last one.

"We need someone fresh and untainted like you to be among the top party leaders so that we can improve the party's image.

"I'm not an Umno member but I support the party and is doing all I can to help because I believe in its struggle to unite the Malays for their betterment.

"There are many others out there like me.

"Datuk, you know that I'm not one of your people and will not gain anything for myself if you win. I just want what I think is best for Umno so that I can continue to support it."

Mukhriz seemed to listen to my little rambling but didn't react to it.

However, much to my delight, he announced his candidacy for the Umno vice-president post a few days later.

The odds were against him as it was clear from the start that the party leadership wanted a status quo for all the top posts.

I tried my best to help his campaign.

I even came up with an opinion poll, which results you can see at this posting,

• End of VP poll, start of Wanita poll

But it was not to be. Mukhriz lost a very close race to the incumbents.

Well, at least he tried.

I met him again during the campaign of Sungai Limau by-election not long after that.

I was with my big boss at that time when we met him as he was going on his campaign rounds.

He talked mostly with my boss but at one point he pointed to me with his usual smile and told my boss "You have to take care of this one".

I just laughed at that.

The last time I met Mukhriz was about a year later at the Umno general assembly.

We chit chatted for a while.

I remember asking how his father was doing as the elderly statesman was not very well at that time.

He told me that his father's condition was not so bad and he was recovering.

Then I did something for the first and only time in my life.

I asked to have a selfie with him.

He obliged.

It's the only picture  of me with a politician till this day.

Well, I wish Mukhriz all the best.

Maybe what happened now is the best for him, after all.

Less stress, I guess, after he quits politics.

Mukhriz? No comment, okay

A friend from Kedah called me just now expressing his unhappiness over the latest development that the state Umno had demanded MB Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir to be replaced.

I think the news is already all over the place.

So, I don't think I need to put the link of the story here.

My friend asked me to write something about it because I had went all out campaigning for Mukhriz when he contested for the Umno vice-presidency in 2013.

At that time I felt that Mukhriz was the brightest Umno star after leading the recapture of Kedah from Pas in the general election.

However, I told my friend I can't do such thing anymore.

I'm out of politics.

All I told him was that as an Umno member, he needs to follow the decision of the party leadership no matter how unhappy he is.

Orang Melayu pantang menderhaka.

That's all, I said.

It made me tired though.

I'm also lost for words when he asked me how I actually felt about Mukhriz being replaced as Kedah MB.

I said I got other things to think about.

Like improving my English.

I need to do that because I'm writing a book in English.

My English is bad.

Okay lah....enough of such depressing stuff.

Here is a fun video of Japanese learning English,

Errr...I think I may have the same ailment if I think of what's happening in Kedah politics now.
 
Better not.

Source of Annie's arrogance and vulgarities

It's been more than a week since I decided not to write about stupid politics anymore.

And you know what? I feel great.

I feel that my life is better now.

I got to do other more beneficial stuff like concentrating on the book I'm working on and be more focused at work.

Now I understand why some people say that writing about politics everyday can turn you neurotic.

Once or twice a week may not be so bad, but everyday?

Yup, I had been doing that for almost three years with this blog.

Actually, I did feel that it was affecting my brain even back then.

That's why sometimes I posted some of my personal nonsense from time to time, just so than I can take a break from the toxic environment of politics.

I don't know how some people can do it without taking a break.

They can write not just one heavy political stuff a day, but two or three...complete with fancy charts and everything.

Sometimes they repeated the same thing over and over again.

I do wonder what's their motivation.

Really crazy.

Whatever it is, I'm glad that I'm no longer part of it.

The only irritating part about leaving the whole thing was that some anti-Najib people had accused me of giving up because I'm no longer paid by the Najib camp.

They accused me of quarreling with the pro-Najib people over money.

To them, I have this message:

GO FUCK YOURSELVES ASSHOLES

That's for not knowing me yet passing judgement on me based on assumptions.

Real pricks.

As for those in the Najib camp who accused me of these and that, well, I don't give a shit about them either.

They are too shallow to even understand why I write this blog the way it is.

Well, they can fuck their shallow selves too.

Why should I care.

Yup, observing stupid shallow people believing they are so intelligent makes me feel arrogant...and vulgar.

Sorry for that. Once in a while I just can't help myself.

Need to let off some steam.

Errr....okay, I think I rambled too much here....

Need to chill off.

Anyway, here is an awesome video,

I kinda like this Superman-Batman thing.

Quite funny.

Definitely better than politics.

Well, I hope you all like it too.

A place where Malays and Chinese eat together

Someone bought me lunch at Hua Mui Restaurant today.

It's at Jalan Trus in downtown JB.

The place is pork-free and quite famous.

Quite a number of Malays were eating there.

The guy who bought me the lunch is also a Malay.

So, I guess the Malays in JB are still okay with the Chinese as quite a number of them seem to have no problem eating at such a Chinese restaurant.

As far as I know, there are many Malay makan places in JB where Chinese like to go for meals too.

Well, I believe race relations are not so bad if things are like that.

I ordered a plate of "Mee Hoon Singapore".

Quite nice.

Actually the most popular dish at the restaurant is Chicken Chop Hailam.

But today I don't feel like eating that.

Just had a chicken meal for dinner last night.

By the way, the weather here is quite hot in the afternoon of late.

The sky looked nice though earlier in the day.

I like the clouds like that.

Reducing political intakes

I removed several links of sopo blogs from here the other day.

It's not because all of those removed are bad, but it's just that I have decided to reduce my intake of politics.

There are still such as that of my blogging captain Rocky and friend JMD to keep me in touch.

I think reading their blogs is good enough for that.

Those cool guys are okay.

Smart some more.

I'm done with reading the writings of crazy people.

Don't want to be one myself.

I'm okay with intelligent people writing crazily, but genuinely crazy people writing crazy stuff is scary.

That's especially so when a crazy person was mistaken as an authority of what he/she had written.

I think there are lots of such cases among those who write politics in this country.

Then there are those paid hacks who write utter garbage just for money.

Also the hypocrites.

And many others.

Actually too many of them.

So, the best way is to avoid them.

Why should I continue to poison my brain reading them.

I just read the cool guys' blogs from now on.

Even that, was just to keep myself informed.

I don't necessarily agree with them.

As for my own writings, I think I will try to keep to current issues and what's happening around me rather than politics per se.

What I write, as it has always been, are merely my opinion based on my observations.

Unlike others, I never claim nor feel that I'm one of the "great minds", who knows everything and can never be wrong.

If I'm wrong, I will admit that I'm wrong.

I'm just a human with weaknesses.

So, if you read my writings, please think carefully about it instead of going straight into believing them.

Unlike some others, I don't demand for you all to believe me.

Just for your consideration, okay.

Anyway, this blog of mine was also meant as a platform for us to have some fun.

So, I don't think it's much fun if I'm the only one who is always right all the time, isn't it?

That's like being in a depressing communist or totalitarian country.

Anyway, I have also decided to increase the number of non-sopo ones in my blogroll.

These two are very nice ones on gardening and agriculture :

Kebun Bahagia Bersama

My Nice Garden

I find reading about flowers, vegetables and farm animals to be much nicer than reading about politicians.

Well, have a nice day everyone.

Lesson from a stupid attempt to be a racist

The past weeks were filled with stories of violence.

The latest were the attack in Jakarta and today's horror at Burkina Faso.

Honestly, I was not so sure where is Burkina Faso until I checked the world map.

Burkina Faso is in red

I think the news were all over the net, so there's no need for me to provide the links here.

Could the same bloodshed happened here?

Apparently it could.

Here is a story of terrorism in Malaysia today

Police foiled suicide bombing attempt in the country

Congratulations to the police for their success.

But how could this happened in Malaysia?

I think the answer must be due to racial and religious extremism.

Malaysia, being a truly multi-racial country is actually very much exposed to such extreme elements.

We are nonetheless lucky all these while because of our moderate ways.

Other then the communist insurgency and a few relatively minor racial clashes, we have been spared from an all out blood letting such that happened in other countries.

The May 13 incident in 1969 is relatively minor if compared to all those massacres and ethnic cleansing recorded throughout the world's history.

But still, the risk of one becoming an extremist is actually quite high among Malaysians.

Let me put myself as an example.

During the run up to the last general election in 2013, I was blogging in support of BN on the platform of moderation.

I was promoting a better understanding between especially the Chinese and Malay communities, so that moderate ways could be sustained for the betterment of the country.

It was in line with the campaign strategy of PM DS Najib Razak.

Then the Chinese tsunami happened on polling day of May 5.

I was angry and frustrated that the Chinese community actually succumbed to what to me was the opposition's tactics of racial incitement.

The election results devastated my belief that the Chinese would not turn their back on the moderate Malays who have been their friends, especially in keeping the Malay extremists at bay.

I did a series of postings to express my feeling at that time.

However, it was hard for me to sustain that anger for long.

This is a posting which I did less than two weeks after ranting and raving against the Chinese,

Guiltiness of being a racist 

You will probably laugh if you read the post, considering what happened to me recently.

Honestly, I felt guilty at that time for trying to turn myself into a racist.

Hard as I tried, it just didn't really work out.

Later on I even made fun of myself for being like that.

This is an example of it,

• Seven deadly sins of being a Malay racist girl

It's actually quite silly to hate the Chinese when being in love with one of them.

After a while I accepted the reality that I was just being stupid to be angry with the Chinese for the way they voted in the last general election.

It's just the reality of Malaysia's racialist politics.

I simply have to accept and deal with it without hating anyone.

Later on, I started to do postings such as this,

• Don't bully my patriotic Cina bukit friend

I was probably lucky because of my personal background which makes it hard for me to turn into a full blown extremist or racist.

But most other Malaysians may not be so fortunate.

It's easy to succumb to the easy but dangerous path of extremism, especially in these days of social media where any nut case with a computer may write something or another  to instigate and inflame racial and religious sentiments.

We simply can't afford to let such racists and extremists to take over the shaping of our mind-set in this country.

I hope the authorities could do something to stop irresponsible lunatics from continuing to fan hatred among Malaysians.

I believe it's the only way we can prevent those tragedies in other parts of the world from happening in our own  country.