We were in the car at approximately 7.35 pm going to Mandy Villa to pick up Sasha from her house. When we turned into the junction from Jalan Kepong after Fajar, there was a sudden motorbike coming out from a junction to our left. We got a little shocked but then, luckily we weren’t driving very fast. Some people simply want to gamble away with their lives.

Then suddenly, we heard people honking behind us. We were looking at the back but didn’t see which car is honking us. Did our tail light malfunctioned? Someone was trying to notify us? We kept looking at the back and thought of what we have done wrong? We didn’t suddenly overtake anybody without a signal. We were driving at a normal speed and minding our own business in our own lane. We didn’t honk at people unnecessarily, etc. The honking got a little incessant and we got more worried.

As we slowly going to a stop when the traffic lights turned red, the honking kept going on. Since we were at the far left, which has a turning to the left, we simply couldn’t inch anymore closer to the front because there were many cars in front of us. So we were thinking, which asshole is that, who kept honking and honking even if all cars were blocking the front and not only our car.

Suddenly, a black brand new Hilux rammed over the pavement and pulled beside the Silver Vios behind ours. The driver in the black Hilux was gesturing angrily at the driver of the Vios. I think he shouted at him to ask him to pull over. We were already shitting in our pants and it wasn’t even us who had wronged the angry guy! And there was a child in our car! My sister told her husband to pull over to the side and don’t block the way of the two cars which were in dispute!

As soon as the traffic light turned green, the Vios behind ours overtook our car and dashed straight ahead! My brother in law immediately pulled the car slightly to the left to let the black Hilux overtake us. He said, if we didn’t move, probably he has rammed into us instead!

We witnessed a high speed chase in front of us. All along, our hearts were racing as these two cars weaving in and out of the cars in between them and the black Hilux tailgating the silver Vios. We went slow and in less than probably 15 seconds, these two cars were already out of our sight.

I wonder if the black Hilux caught up with the silver Vios. Seriously, if someone hit you, I think it’s best to take down their registration number and report to the police.. and not pulling a stunt like this, which not only endanger your own life.. but also other road users! It’s a totally irresponsible act!

And for people out there, please drive courteously and give way if you can. If you see a car coming really fast from far, it’s best to just let them past you, rather than trying to challenge them to a race. I know some guys really like such challenges and would not hesitate to try to race but think of other people on the road. If you win or managed to beat the other person – so what? Will you win a bloody medal? You are very lucky to stay alive and didn’t hurt anyone in the process to massage your big ego.

Drive using your brain and heart, not your ego.

We woke up early to have our last breakfast at Tae Gong Gak. We are definitely going to miss this place! It’s good to stay here because, the bus station on the compound of New Kyeongnam Hotel, which is just some 5 minutes walk away from our inn. We packed our things the night before and set off after a hearty breakfast at the pantry.

We took a bus earlier to the airport, waited a little, walk about Jeju airport. I like the airport compared to LCCT. They have water cooler almost at every spot, nice eateries, shops, etc and even a warm seat for the toilet! In fact, most toilets everywhere in the world, even a third world country like Cambodia has really clean toilets. I am not sure why in Malaysia, we simply couldn’t have a clean public toilet??

Again, it’s going to be another round of traveling far.. we took the subway direct to Seoul Express Bus Station and take a 3-hour bus ride to Sokcho, where we will spend a night. The journey took about 3 hours.The road towards Sokcho is flanked by budding cherry blossoms trees, small little houses and mountains of brown, withered trees. I heard the winter this time went on longer than usual, hence the spring has yet to return.

I was simply too tired so, I sort of slept throughout the journey and woke up intermittently to enjoy the scenery. We got to Sokcho and found out that, we got into the wrong bus terminal. LOL. After asking the ticketing counter, we were told to get on a cab to go to the bus station, which is supposed to be nearer to the guesthouse. So, we took a cab to a nearby bus station to the hostel. Should have asked the cabbie to take us direct to the hostel but.. communication is quite a problem here. Anyway, we just need to walk about 5 minutes to the hostel.

We stayed at this small hostel, called the House Hostel in Sokcho. Once we got there, we were received by Mr Yoo. He gave us a short briefing on the facilities in the hostel, as well as some makan tips. I think he knew by looking at our sizes, we are here for food! LOL! He also guided us on how to get to Mount Seorak, which is rather convenient.It was just a short walk to the bus stop, take bus no. 7 or 7-1 and pay only 1,100 won per person. The journey would take about 30 minutes to the foothill of Mount Seorak, which is the last stop for the bus.

Thinly sliced pork – yum!!

Ongoing BBQ

Since we arrived closed to dinner time, say about 6 pm, we decided to go for a feast! We took Mr Yoo’s advice to go try local Korean BBQ – pay only 10,000 won each person and eat to our hearts’ contend. Haha. It was a really nice little BBQ shop.

After makan, we took a stroll around Sokcho area. Since it’s a fishing town, there’s plenty of seafood around. We could have eaten the big crabs with long legs there but, we just had dinner so we didn’t.

The temple above the hill

Quiet Sokcho town, glittering in lights

Went a little crazy over this big orange moon!

One thing we didn’t like about House Hostel is the bathroom. I think it’s an old building, hence the piping is not working very well. The water pressure seemed to be too low that the water trickling out from the tablet is so small it made taking a bath difficult. I think my piss has more volume than that! Other than that, it’s pretty a comfortable inn.

Please submit to us the reports and other relevant papers (black & white – double-sided with page numbering) in PDF Format on or before [date].

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Have a good weekend!

We stayed in Tae Gong Gak Inn & Guesthouse at Seogwipo, Jeju. The hostess is really helpful, albeit a little on the OCD side. Haha. Sylvia is a an excellent hostess and made sure our stay is as comfortable as it can be.

What I really like about this guesthouse is the breakfast spread! We are in for a good treat! There are bagels, wheat bread, white bread, cup noodles, fruits, coffee machines, tea, home made tangerine jam, etc! We enjoyed the breakfast session very much. You may wear the sandals from your room to the pantry if you plan to go back to your room after breakfast to pack your things before going out. There’s a door towards the backyard, with a small wooden patio with chairs, overlooking a small orchard of tangerine trees. It’s really a quaint guesthouse.

From the guesthouse, you can actually walk to the nearest waterfall – I think some 20 minutes walk. I didn’t want to go because I was too tired the first night itself. Then we sort of procrastinated over going there during the 3 nights stay so we sort of miss it altogether. Haha.

I think Seogwipo is a rather nice town, with small cafe outlets sprouting sparsely, but there are plenty of restaurants surrounding the area. We were rather perplexed that the place is somewhat empty – most restaurants have only one table or perhaps, 2 tables filled with people the most. I wonder how these people stay afloat in their businesses with so few people around? Even the market – or perhaps, we went to the nearby market rather late, so there were fewer people around.

We didn’t try the black pork here Not sure why. Haha. During this trip, my brain sort of malfunctioned… perhaps of the too much walking. Haha. So here goes, some photos of Seogwipo. I love this place!

Tae Gong Gak Inn & Guesthouse

Many murals along the way as we walk about Seogwipo

Going to the market, a fruit stall

I simply love this shot!

Scooter.. is the way to go!

We decided to visit Udo Island on the last full day while we were in Jeju. We opted out from visiting the teddy bear museum, or the west side of Jeju – oh well, I’ve seen so many photos of my friends going to teddy bear museum, I guess it’s enough lah.

Amy said this place is also known as land of the yellow flowers. After the episode of camwhoring along the road to Seongsan Ichulbong yesterday, I guess we can never get enough of the beautiful, petite flowers! Our guesthouse host wrote a note on a piece of paper for us to bring along to the bus station, located some 15 minutes walk away. We got to the station, showed the ticketing officer the piece of paper and paid our bus fare. We waited for the bus and was gestured to get into the bus intending to go towards the harbour, for us to board a ferry to Udo Island.

It was a really bright but chilly morning. I could hardly open my eyes. The journey took more than an hour to get to the harbour. I don’t really remember how to get about it so I googled how to get there here for you – for ease of reference if you want to go. Here’s also another link.

The walk from the bus station to the harbour took us another 15 minutes. It was really freaking far (for me at least!)! Once we got there, we got our ferry tickets and took the 10-15 mins ferry to Udo Island. I was told Udo in Korean means a lying cow – lying down.. not telling lies kua? Haha.

As we got onto the ferry, almost everybody got excited with the seagulls. Since it was such a windy morning, the seagulls sort of “float” effortlessly in the wind, just like kites. They were waiting for us to feed them. So many visitors were feeding the seagulls till they actually sell prawn crackers on board of the ferry for visitors to buy and feed them to the seagulls.. imagine the amount of MSG these seagulls are taking! No wonder, they looked not so pretty now. Haha. There’s also a black little puppy on the ferry, and became an instant star. Everybody wanted to pat and feed him!

When we got down to the port, we were greeted by a mural of peanuts and lighthouse, made out of mosaic. I guess this is how we found out, this island is famous for its peanuts. So we will be eating some peanuts later! We didn’t rent an ATV because only one of us brought our driving license. As long as you show them your driving license, you will get to rent the ATV. So, we follow the majority of people and took a bus ride. We didn’t really understand what was going on because most explanations are done in their native language. We could hear laughter from local visitors and couldn’t help smiling ourselves to see that the bus drivers here take their job, rather jovially. I think we should just follow the crowd, as the buses come every 30 minutes to take us around the entire island.

Well, these are some of the snapshots taken on Udo Island. I love the coral beach the most! Seobin Baeksa! In fact, I brought back some of the sand which looked like rice grains back, as remembrance.

Seagulls welcoming us onto the ferry towards Udo-Island

Udo Bong – the cliff overseeing the sea

Tucking in the basic bibimbap

Dongangyeonggul Cave – where you get to ride a speedboat to visit, we didn’t

Must eat ice cream with peanuts!

My favorite beach, Seobin Baksa

Try spending more time near Seobin Baksa and have a cup of coffee, while watching the day goes by. It was worth it. There’s a Latte King facing the beach, so you can plonk your ass there and relax!

We didn’t buy peanuts to go back though. For other photos, please have a look here – Jeju and Udo photos.

Jeongbang Waterfall – it was said to be the only waterfall that falls direct to the sea

Fresh and juicy strawberries at 5-day interval market

Seopjikoji – Coastal view

On our way to Seongsan Ichulbong

Seongsan Ichulbong, where you get to see a volcano crater and also women divers, looking for oyster

Jeju Stone Park

Toppoki near Seogwipo, where we stayed

I can safely say, I think we covered most of the places. I think the place that I like most is probably Seopjikoji. It has a nice coastal line, kinda reminds me of Melbourne’s Great Ocean Road. The walk up the area is not so challenging, unlike Seongsan Ichulbong – well, we cheated. We didn’t go up the crater. See from pictures enough lah. LOL!

Also, remember to try the cuttle fishes there. They are very fresh, lightly smoked with salt. Most of the places we went were very well maintained and there’s hardly any rubbish around. The toilets are all so clean! Eventhough it’s spring and not supposed to be so cold, it’s best to bring along your jacket because the wind could be very chilly! I can’t imagine if it’s winter!

Try to plan your day by checking the weather forecast. Normally, it’s very accurate. Also, must try the strawberries there. They are sweet and juicy! I think you can ask them if you can pick the strawberries yourself because I think they put some not so fresh ones at the bottom of the box we bought.

The locals back at Seogwipo are rather friendly lot. When we asked an elderly ajusi where can we find toppoki, he was talking rather loudly and gestured us to follow him. I think the entire market people knew we were going to have toppoki for dinner. LOL!

All in all, it was a really eventful day. We came back sharp at 6 pm and went out to have a walk around Seogwipo area where we stayed and had some street food.

Hmmm… do you notice most of the places name start with a “S”. I wonder why.

Well, am going to write about Seoul, I guess. I think I try my best to recall everything as the great trip was organized by our buddy, Lilian and I felt so comfortable and at ease that I left my planning brains at home. Haha!

23rd April 2013, Tuesday

Kuala Lumpur – Seoul – Jeju

We took the midnight flight to Seoul at 0105. It was a packed flight. I guess if I were to travel to some place more than 5 hours, I would go for other airline. The seats on AirAsia is really too tight. Anyway, I guess I couldn’t blame them if I can’t even control my own weight right??? Haha.

It was not-so-eventful flight. I was trying to catch up with some sleep since there’s nothing much to do.. unfortunately, the lady sitting next to me – so peacefully asleep and yet, don’t know why she kept kicking my leg and the best part was, she seemed to know her timing to kick whenever I was about to slip into sleeping realm… sigh. I have a massive heavy head when we reached Incheon International Airport, Seoul sharp on time. After sorting out with the tourist information centre, we took a bus to Gimpo Airport to catch the next flight to Jeju.

Better pay attention when you are on the bus to Gimpo airport from Incheon. I was the one with heavy head but the rest went down when we reach “International Gimpo airport”. I thought I heard wrongly so I went down with them as well. We should have gotten down at “Domestic Gimpo airport” instead. It was a lucky thing that there’s a free shuttle bus from international airport to the domestic airport! If not, it won’t be very nice to be paying another fee! Also, we almost attempted to walk there ourselves.. it’s actually quite a distance from the international airport to domestic!! Haha. As a note – well, the domestic airport is probably the last stop on the bus route from Incheon to Gimpo.

Since we have too much time to kill – we booked a later flight, in case there’s a delay in the flight earlier and also give some “time” for us to “get lost”, we had our early brunch at the airport.

We took JejuAir to Jeju. It’s a flight to furthest down south. The trip was filled with plenty of local people, students as well as ahjummas in their colorful attire.

The moment I got onto the plane for the flight, I fell into a deep sleep. I definitely hope I didn’t snore. Even if I did, I thank God nobody knew me on the plane.. but I hope I don’t appear anywhere on YouTube lah. God forbid! Tagline: Grotesque woman snoring her lungs out on public flight! It would be super embarrassing.

When we got to the Jeju airport, I was somehow disoriented. I got a little impatient and wanting to get out from the airport immediately. I asked the rest, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” then proceeded to walk towards the gate.

“Your luggage leh?” asked one of my friends.

“Aiyoh.. oh shit. I really forgotten about it!”

I was so tired and brain dead that I totally forgotten about the luggage. We got onto another bus to get to our guest house. It was somewhat more than an hour journey there. I tried not to sleep because of the earlier incident of getting onto the wrong station. At the same time, enjoying the scenery and smelling fresh Jeju air, which is sort of permeated with a tinge of citrus. Yes, Jeju is well known for its tangerines.

When we almost arrive at the station near our guesthouse, the drizzling rain suddenly became heavier. I shook my head in disbelief. I hope we are not that “bad luck” throughout the trip. I brought an umbrella but I kept it in the luggage stored in the bus compartment below. Just what I need! Pffffff!!!

So, the moment we got to our station, we ran down and trying to get our luggage out from the compartment. It was so damn cold, could feel the chill seeping into my bones! Luckily, the guys gestured me to run to the opposite of the road to get shelter from the fruit stall. Wah lao! It was an experience! Luckily my luggage was not that heavy! Pre-shopping! So people, please keep your shopping till the end of your trip!

Lilian asked around how to get to Tae Gong Gak Inn & Guesthouse from the station – which is just a 5 minute walk downhill from the station. Thank goodness, it’s downhill and we don’t have to suffer more than rain!

The moment we got into the guesthouse, I heaved a sigh of relief. I couldn’t wait to get to the room to change into slippers because I don’t want my walking shoes to be wet as I only brought a pair!

After getting some information on where to eat, we were led to a shop selling local Korean dishes. Since we were famished after the long travel, we quickly eat whatever that were served. It was still raining when we walked to the restaurant. I didn’t bring my jacket too as I only have ONE jacket, so I wrapped myself in a shawl. Luckily the weather was not too cold, otherwise, it’s not wise to catch a cold or falling sick on the first day of the trip!

The dinner spread!

We ended the day by having some coffee at this place, Take Out. Well, I think it’s a chain store of coffee but the sweet potato coffee was really nice. It was also very nice to drink something hot on a cold, rainy night. Ah, wishing such night would never end.

We got back to the hostel and I really thank God for the heated floor! We could actually dry our clothes and bags on the heated floor! My backpack is not even waterproof so most contents inside were all wet, so I laid everything on the floor, crank up the temperature and leave them till morning… but please remember if you have sweets or chocolates inside your bag.. please take them out… my Sneakers bar was reduced to a packet of hot cocoa.. so I had to put the Sneakers bar back into the fridge to harden it. Haha! Since it was such a long day… we decided to call it a night earlier and be prepared for the next day.

I cried myself to sleep last night. I gave up watching tv as well as looking at the internet after the evil managed to form a government with simple majority (with magic tricks David Copperfield wouldn’t even be able to pull!). This is the new low in the history of our general election. I wonder how much lower one can get to do everything they could to hold onto power.

I questioned God – WHY? Why did You even let this happen? Isn’t the truth and justice should prevail? I heard nothing but only the beating of my heart and my breathlessness as I choked myself in tears to sleep. Then I realized that, it was the Devil’s doing to tear me away from the only God, so I revoked the Devil and proclaim Jesus’ blood. We may not understand what God’s plans are. But all we could do now, is to stay vigilant and be ready when He unleashes His wrath to the evil to make things right.

I woke up this morning, drag myself to wash my face and brush my teeth. It’s going to be another day for the next five years. I was touched when I read messages from friends around the globe, words of encouragement and feeling of togetherness. They are right. We have not lost yet. The battle has just begun. The people has managed to wrestle 7 more parliamentary seats compared to the previous election. This alone, is an achievement. I bet, without gerrymandering done despicably by the ruling party, the results would be reversed! 80% turn out is not a small matter. It took each and every rakyat to come out to stand for what is right.

When I was at the polling station yesterday, I spoke to some of the people there and everyone chatted like old friends eventhough we have never met. We are all for a cleaner and fairer government, to put an end to corruption once and for all, to vote for the future of our children. One lady even ask me to touch her head where she was knocked by a helmet in a robbery incident and I just met her like 5 minutes? We all talk like old friends. I bumped into some ex neighbours. Eventhough they have moved out more than 15 years ago, they came back to this old hometown to cast their votes! I saw old friends who had moved to neighbouring countries, and they all came back to vote!

I even saw all races sitting together at the entrance of the school to watch out for alien voters. It was raining in the afternoon and yet, the people didn’t budge. They stood under the trees and bus stop shelters while keeping their eyes peeled open, watching entrance like a hawk!

It matters because of this working together, we managed to wrestle the state seat and maintain the parliamentary seat! Kudos to the people of Selayang!

I would like to end this post with a status from a friend, Edmund JP in his facebook. It comforted me dearly and I hope it does the same for you. Let’s not lose hope. In darkness, we use faith to see with our hearts, not our eyes. We will continue this fight till our last breaths! Be forewarn!

Written by Edmund JP

I woke up with a heavy head this morning, still suffering from the Malaysia’s 13th election hangover. The election result really didn’t help to boost my energy level despite having a comfortable bed at home.

I bet many urban tech-savvy Malaysians had the same feeling too this morning. We didn’t get the change we wanted. Instead, we were raped and robbed by a bullish government with no respect to the Rakyat’s fundamental constitutional rights i.e. to make our voice heard with our votes.

But my fellow Malaysians, today let’s bury this 505 dark day behind us. When you walk out from your house, let’s hold your head up high. For the fact the you felt lousy when you woke up this morning, it shows that you are a REAL PATRIOT who love your country, Malaysia, a land we called home.

We might have lost a battle. But despite all the cheatings before and during the 13th election (Bangla import, sudden blackouts, gangsterism, money politics, last min dubious ballot boxes rushed into polling station etc) and billions of Ringgit spent by BN, I don’t think we lost, In fact we gained further traction as the Rakyat managed to reduce BN’s seats from 145 seats to 133 seats.

So did we lose? NO! THE RAKYAT DIDN’T LOSE! WE MADE SMALL LITTLE STEPS FORWARD. Great people like Mahatma Gandhi and Aung San Suu Kyi fought their respective war for years before they achieved what they wanted for the people.

One thing for sure, everytime when I see the government trying to oppress the Rakyat, we grow stronger and more united. I saw this beautiful phenomena in the Bersih rallies, Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat rally, GE12 and even GE13. We helped each other as MALAYSIANS without looking at our skin colours and religions. I saw the same beautiful scenes yesterday at the polling stations where Malaysians worked together to attempt to defend our rights. This is something that we should be proud of, and I definitely am proud of being a Malaysian.

So, to all the:
1. PACABA volunteers at the polling stations – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
2. “Ghostbusters” citizen – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
3. citizen who used their flesh to block suspicious cars carrying dubious ballot boxes into the polling stations – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
4. citizen who tried to protect other citizen from gansterism and intimidation – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
5. citizen who guarded the gate at the polling station so that no one was allowed to go in after polling hours- Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
6. 80% eligible voters on the electoral roll who voted – Malaysians thank you and we are proud of you.
7. Malaysians who returned hom from oversea to vote AND Malaysians who voted oversea – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
8. Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) and the elderly who braved the rain and physical challenges but still voted – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
9. bullies who used all sorts of dirty tricks to cheat and gangster to intimidate the Rakyat – Malaysians thank you because you made us stronger and more united between different races.
10. the 20% of eligible voters who didn’t vote and the rest of the Malaysians who didn’t even bother to register to vote – You are welcome.

So, my fellow Malaysians who still feel sad, the little small steps we made yesterday show that if we work together, we can move forward and make changes (small or big). Always remember, loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it. People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. In anything, once we give up on hopes, we have nothing. So, LET’S KEEP OUR CHIN UP AND NEVER GIVE UP!

Got this from Facebook, which has gone viral since 1st May 2013.

In the wake of the coming 13th General Elections, we have witness the onslaught of opinions and views. Many articles, posters, cartoons and videos have been flooding our Facebook news feed, each reiterating points on why we should vote for change or not.

To be honest, much of the stuff on my news feed are pro-change, which basically means a majority of my friends will be voting for an alternative government this coming elections.

But I have noticed a couple of my friends, whom I hold dear and very much respect, to be supporters of BN.

First and foremost, I believe that it is everyone’s right to vote for whom they think is worthy and I do not think those who support BN as evil or corrupt. Not at all. I know all of you well enough to know you are decent human beings and this is why we are friends. I have also heard your justifications on why we should give BN a chance and I completely understand where you are coming from.

If I may, I would like to state a few points in hope that I could offer an alternative view. Read with an open mind, my dear friends. I do not need you to agree with me and I will not judge if you don’t. We are all entitled to our own views. However, I believe there will be certain things that we will agree on.

ON BEING GRATEFUL

Many whom support BN continuously do so because they feel that we should be grateful for what our government has given us. We are given access to education, an economy and a space to thrive, our country is relatively safe compared to that of Cambodia or the Philippines, we have EPF, we are being given BR1M and BR1M2 and we have been a relatively peaceful country for 56 years.

Before I go on to say why I think this is a moot point, let us first understand the role of government. The role of government is to basically do just that, govern. It is to provide us with education, health care, a healthy economy, infrastructure, public safety and to ensure balance and harmony in the nation in which it governs. Obviously, to govern and to ensure all these things are in place, a government would need money. Where does this money come from? Well, yes, us, the people, the Rakyat.

So, very simply, we pay the government money, in the form of taxes every month, to provide us with these things we should be grateful for. Well, I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s like saying my boss should be grateful to me for coming to work every morning when I’m being paid to do it.

Let’s understand one thing. What we currently have; education, health care, EPF and etc, aren’t special things that BN has brilliantly thought of for us. EVERY country with a sound and solid government would have all these things in place, otherwise they would be considered failures. The point isn’t to be grateful that we have these things, the point is to judge whether our government has done its duty and done all it can to provide us with what we deserve. The answer is no.

Our education system has been failing to produce quality students. Crime rates has escalated so badly that no one dares walk out on the streets alone, even in broad daylight. Our infrastructure is inefficient and badly maintained. Our rural folks have no access to proper health care and basic amenities. The value of our currency has taken a huge plunge in the past 30 years. We are no longer as economically competitive as we were before, with the Philippines and Indonesia fast taking over our position and we are way behind Singapore in, well, everything. In the past 5 years, racial tension has been at an all time high and completely out of control with politicians (i.e Ibrahim Ali and his ilks) spewing racial hatred and offensive statements without getting reprimanded. And lastly, early this year, the Lahad Datu invasion and the unveiling of 800,000 illegal citizenships given to Filipinos and Indonesians in Sabah some 20 years ago.

All our lives, we have been told to be better. We go to school to be better, we study religion to be better versions of ourselves, we work hard to get to a better position in life. It is in our innate nature to want to be better. Therefore, when comparing ourselves to other countries, we can’t possibly compare ourselves to countries that are worse off and be grateful that we are not them. It is not about being greedy either. It is about wanting to be better and knowing that there is plenty of room for improvement and insisting upon it. Remember, we pay the government taxes to run the country. We have a right to want it to be better. It is also our duty to ensure that they be better. We owe it to our country. We owe it to our children. We owe it to ourselves.

ON CHAOS AND INSTABILITY

Many have cited this as the reason for sticking with BN. We fear that there will be riots on the streets and our economy will collapse should the opposition win. But that’s not very logical is it? If PR does indeed win the GE13, why on earth would they cause a riot? They have won! So think now, when you think of riots, who then do you think will be causing them? The losing party? BN? If that is so, if you think the party you are supporting would be sore losers and cause a riot thus disrespecting our democratic process, would you still endorse them as fair capable leaders? Is this how we were brought up? Kick up a fuss when we lose? Is this how we would bring our children up? To lose with no integrity?

And as for the collapse in the economy, for many years, our economy has been running on auto-pilot. I for one, do not believe our economy will collapse because I believe in our people. Our economy isn’t run by the government. They have a part to play, yes, but WE the people, play a bigger part. We are the building blocks and we are the ones that move the economy. Do you really think banks and MNCs will fail to function once the government changes? No, it won’t. Because come 6th May, should there be a change of government, we still have to go back to work! It is still business as usual and everything will function the way it always has. The many great businesses in Malaysia did not happen because of the government. It happened because our people are innovative and hard-working. We made this economy, not our government. We just need a stable space to go about our daily routine. So if BN doesn’t kick up a fuss if they lose, deals will still be made, transactions will still happen and trades will still be very much alive. But only if BN doesn’t kick up a fuss.

ON CORRUPTION

As urban folks, it is very easy to forget that in Malaysia, there still exists a huge portion of Malaysians that live in poverty. These folks are so poor that they cannot even afford food. Do we know what it is like to not be able to afford food? I am eternally grateful that I don’t. But does this mean that we forget about these people in the kampungs and rural areas and pretend that they do not exist? We are all Malaysians. Why are they still so poor? Why hasn’t anything been done to improve their lives? You’d think after being in power for 56 years, BN would have AT LEAST help these people afford food right?

But no, the poor are still marginalised while corruption is rampant within the government. The one thing I fail to understand, my dear friends, is how can you stand by a government so corrupt?

Every year, our Auditor General Report states ridiculous over-spending and yet nothing gets done. RM15,000 for a laptop. RM700 for a calculator. We all know this happens and we all know it is true. It’s been so ingrained into our system and yet, we close one’s eyes and let it be. We admit that corruption is a real problem in our government but which government isn’t corrupt you say?

Well, my dear friends, this is where WE have to change. I believe all of us are upstanding truthful people. This is why we are friends. Now, because we believe in the truth and we believe in what is right, we must reject corruption. We can’t allow it to happen nor give any excuse for it to happen. Some of us have children and some of us will have children. Will these be the values and lessons we teach our young?

I know for one that I will instill in my child, lessons of honesty, integrity, fairness and equality. To treat each person with respect and to help those who aren’t capable. To always be kind and to be a good person.

If I allow myself to turn a blind eye to corruption and not denounce it, I will be going against everything I believe in. If I support a government that has been so corrupt for 56 years, I am subscribing to those values. How else then would I be able to teach my child the lessons I want him/her to learn? How do I look my child in the eye and teach them the very thing I’m going against by endorsing BN?

Some of us are religious and some of us are not. However, I believe that all of us have common values and beliefs. How do we uphold these values and stay true to our paths while supporting a government that has been desecrating these values for years?

ON RACISM AND EQUALITY

I am a 3rd generation Malaysian. I’ve sung Negaraku every Monday for 12 years in school and I know the Rukunegara by heart. All my family is in Malaysia and I do not have any affliations to China. I don’t even know how to read and write in Chinese and my Cantonese is atrocious. I only love one country. This country. And if it comes down to it, will only shed blood for one country. This country.

My dear friends, we are the same. It doesn’t matter what our ethnicity is. We are Malaysians. We went to the same school. We played the same games. We enjoy the same amount of public holidays. We have the same memories. Most importantly, we share the same home. Neither of us are more Malaysian than the other. Neither of us should be made to feel that way.

Our parents, our grandparents, perhaps their views were marred by differences as they did not grow up together. Perhaps they felt distrust because they were not privileged like us to live in times of better integration. Perhaps they’ve told us things, from their point of view. But it doesn’t make them right. We should know better. We’ve lived it and we are still living it. We know we can trust each other. We are friends.

My dear friends, if you see me fall, would you pick me up? I am sure you would. How about if you see someone telling me I don’t belong here? Would you stand up for me? As friends, we must stand up for each other. If I see someone mistreating you or stripping you of your rights, I would stand by you. This is because we are equals. We do not need BN to tell us we are 1Malaysia. We have been like that for a long long time.

ON AN ALTERNATIVE GOVERNMENT

Many fear that PR would be no better. To be completely honest, I do not have an answer for this. I do not know if PR will be the solution to a better government. I do not know if they would indeed bring change upon Malaysia. What I do know is that we desperately need check and balance in this country. To have the same government rule for 56 years is not healthy. Let us use logic to analyse this. If you are the government and you have been in power for 56 years, wouldn’t you become complacent? If you know you’ll win every single time, would you try as hard? It is human nature to take things for granted and BN has taken things for granted. It has forgotten the role it is supposed to play.

We need this change because we need to restore the democratic process in our country. We need the power to shift back to the people. We need the government to fear the people and not otherwise. This is because only through fear would any government be kept on its toes and do its job well. We know what it is like to have a really scary boss. We naturally do a better job because we’d otherwise be fired. It is the same logic.

Power needs to be shifted back to the people. If we manage to change the government, we would have won half the battle. We would then know that we can pick whoever that is best to run the country. If this does happen, we can easily boot PR out after 5 years if they do a bad job and elect BN again if they prove to be better.

Think of this as helping BN to change. BN will not change if we still give it power to rule after being so inefficient for so long. They can promise us a lot of things and that they will change but we have given them 12 chances to change already. If we boot them out this time, they would have to restructure themselves and compete really hard to win the hearts of the people. Perhaps then, we would see better policies and better governance. Perhaps then, we would have two strong parties for us to pick. And perhaps then, we could have intellectual debates about policies and plans instead of the fear mongering and racial scare tactics we see in our election campaigns today. If we manage to change our political landscape to one which is that, then we, the Rakyat, would have won. Malaysia would be restored.

So my dear friends, please know that I am not voting for a change for the sake of it. I am doing this for you and me and our future. I envisage a Malaysia that is much better than the current Malaysia. I know our country has so much potential and I want it to be so much better. This is because I know it can be better.

I hope you have read this with an open mind and I hope you will give it some thought. If you know me, you know that I am not an extremist or a radicalist. I am just your ordinary Malaysian person who wants this country to be better.

Just like you.

Original note can be found here.

Seoul and Jeju simply amazed me. From the sight seeing, their natural wonders, how they managed to upkeep the place – keeping it spick and span, the efficiency of how they manage so many tourists or travelers both local and foreign, timeliness and efficiencies of their transportation system – you don’t have to go around the bush just to get to a place! Their quest for perfections – in terms of their appearance and projecting positive image, their people’s friendliness despite being unable to speak a word of English, everywhere we go, there’s a tourist booth providing information with officers who could speak Japanese, English or Chinese to assist you, their architecture, cleanliness of the area.. even the recycling area didn’t smell bad!

A friend even showed me an app on her phone which could track how long more we would be waiting for the next bus, as all buses are equipped with GPS on them and their frequency is every 2-6 minutes each, right on the dot. She even paid for her bus fare or train fare using her iphone – T money, they called it. And she said, you can just leave your handphone or ipad on the table and go to the toilet or even order your food at the counter without even worrying of your things getting stolen etc which is very rare in South Korea.

Everywhere I see pretty girls and boys walking with their eyes transfixed onto their gadgets on their hands with headphones plastered permanently into their ears. They walked without even holding tight to their bags and be alert at all times people might jump them. Some even let their handbags zip open with the least care in the world, even in a crowded MRT train, chatting away.

Old folks get priority in seats on buses and trains and, they are healthy folks who are independent, going about their passion for hiking with friends on weekends, in their chic jackets and pants in bright neon colors! A group of ajumas and ajusis can even walk faster than us when we were attempting to scale the steps in Mount Seorak!

Any beeline do not deter people from lining up to get their things done. They are fast workers and were very efficient. When we were at the airport, the staff even asked us if we need help with our tax refunds and patiently explained to us 2-3x till we understand.

Most shopping complexes charge you if you ask for plastic bags. They encourage you for bringing your own shopping bags, not only on weekends. Or they have many discarded boxes at the checking out counter for you to pack your own things to bring back home. They even separate their rubbish. Right from the guest house – they have separate dustbins for food waste, plastic, paper, glass and other waste. Cleanliness is so important, you don’t even believe how clean their public toilets are! They even shut down the escalators after 9 pm much to my chagrin to conserve energy!

I am no history buff or what but I remember reading a little about the Korean war 1950 – between South and North Korea in wikipedia as I was still contemplating on whether or not to go to Korea.. the war ended in 1953, which was just 4 years earlier than the independence of our country, Malaysia. And as they pick up pieces to mend their war torn country, we managed to obtain independence from the British with not much blood shed (saved for the communists and security forces, may their souls rest in peace), we didn’t develop to this level as yet. It does make you wonder, isn’t it? Seoul is already almost at par with the Japanese and yet, we are still comparing ourselves with countries like Ghana (My God!). Even Cambodia which I visited in 2006, it only took them 7 years to develop their Phnom Penh city from “Ipoh in the 1970s” to the “current Ipoh”! Yangon is also already catching up.. and I read somewhere that, Vietnam is soon going to lead the world in coffee exports!

This trip truly opened my eyes to the reality of the choices we could make. So, my fellow Malaysians, I urge you to please vote with your conscience. We all should vote to get rid of corruption, we vote for equal opportunities to education, we vote for basic security, peace of mind, safety of our loved ones, we vote for keeping brains and skills in our country, we vote for harmony that has been all along fostered over the years, we vote for rationalism, we vote for fairness and justice, we vote for a competent government who doesn’t take us as idiots, we vote for freedom of speech, we vote for freedom of religion, we vote for our fundamental rights as a human being, and most of all, we vote for a prosperous and peaceful future Malaysia. Together, we will bring the evil and corrupted to their knees in the presence of truth and integrity! Together, we shall fight for the future of Malaysia!