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.