Trekking in Maliau basin – the land of leeches & waterfalls Seven of us explored the jungles of Maliau Basin from 5th to 11th of July. We trekked to Camel Trophy Camp, Ginseng Camp, Agathis Camp, Maliau Falls and a few other places of interest. The treks in rugged wilderness infested with leeches were tough but enjoyable. However, the services provided by the rangers and the maintenance of the camps left much to be desired…..read more

My First Visit To The Land Of Silk & Spices In India – Kerala Three couples went to Kerala on 02/06/10 and returned on 08/06/10. It was the first time that my wife and I had set foot in India. We toured Kochi and Munnar and cruised in a houseboat in Alleppey. The cruise was the most enjoyable experience in Kerala. The cities were crowded and dirty, particularly in Kochi and the food was too spicy and hot.... read more

The Scenic Splendours Of Huangshan & Hangzhou After two failed attempts to explore Mt. Huangshan in 2008, I finally made it this time; but not without some unforeseen deterrent. Though I explored only a small portion of Mt. Huangshan, I spent more time in touring ancient villages and also in Hangzhou.

Part One –    The last attempt to admire the beauty of Mt. Huangshan …read more
Part Two –    Exploring ancient villages around Huangshan ….. read more
Part Three – The scenic beauty of West Lake in Hangzhou ……read more
Epilogue ….. read more

A Delightful Tour Of North Vietnam Without much planning, my wife and I embarked on a 7-day tour of North Vietnam. The areas covered were Hanoi City, Tam Coc boat cruise, Sapa and Halong Bay. It was a delightful journey of discovery. ...read more

Diving in Bunaken & Lembeh Strait - The Good & The Bad I enjoyed my dives in N Sulawesi and was amazed to see so many exotic creatures found in the muck in Lembeh Strait. But I was concerned about pollution that would severely affect the continued existence the underwater life.  However, the main purpose of my dive trip was to test the new lens implant of my left eye…. read more

Bringing New Technologies To Malaysia Looking back at my whole professional career from 1965 to 1994, I can still cherish a few of my achievements, which have contributed to the advancement of civil and structural engineering practices in Malaysia. But not all were plain sailing. I encountered some obstinate resistance from authorities and private enterprises who were reluctant to innovate for some dubious reasons. <--Bota Bridge photo taken in 2008

 Chapter One – Pre-stressed Concrete Post-Tensioning System ---.read more;

 Chapter Two – Non-Revenue Water Reduction & Control --- coming;          

 Chapter Three – Pipeline Rehabilitation Using No-Dig Techniques --- coming and

The OLD........       The NEW.... & MORE! Epiretina Membrane

THE ODYSSEY IN SEARCH OF A REMEDY FOR My DIZZY VISION This is my life’s latest episode. It depicts my traumatic encounters with many medical practitioners in Malaysia and Singapore, including a Chinese physician in a T&CM centre in KL for a minor dizziness problem. During this period from early Feb to June 08, my liver was damaged due to consumption of Chinese medicines. My dizziness problem persisted even though I was advised by eye specialists that I had to adapt to wearing multi-focal glasses. Part A – A Wild-Goose Chase…read more Note: An abridged version of the above was published in Star Two on 2nd Sept 2008 ….read more But after trying to adapt to my new multi-focal glasses for more than four months my problem deteriorated. Finally, as luck would have it and in the nick of time I found the solution to my problem and averted a serious damage to my left eye. My lens implant in my left eye was found to be dislocated and my dizzy vision was due to its movement. Part B – Light At The End Of The Tunnel.….read more After the new implant was installed, I recovered from my dizzy vision. But my Left eye's vision was not as good as before. Six months after my new lens implant was installed in my left eye, I went scuba diving in N Sulawesi. After I returned I went for a follow-up examination and was shocked that the vision of my left eye had deteriorated and I had a “swollen” retina! Further tests by a couple of retina surgeons confirmed that I had “Epiretina Membrane” in my left eye’s retina! Part C - A Long & Tortuous Tunnel ..... read more CONCLUSION......read more

My Life's Recreation & Escape In life, one must have recreations and escapes to enhance one’s life in order to live it to its fullest. I am glade that I’ve many of these throughout my whole life and also have reasonably good health to perform and enjoy them…..read more * "Simple pleasures" Star Two 28/04/09 -- read more

A SHATTERED DREAM

This is an episode in my life depicting my involvement in taking over and managing a small plantation in Pagoh, Muar from 1997 to 2005. When I first took over from my second brother, it was my dream to spend a major part of my retirement away from the hustle and bustle of the city life; in a quite and peaceful countryside reliving my carefree and happy childhood years.

What happened during that period was something totally unexpected and my dream was almost completely shattered. It was the most dismal turning- point of my life.

Prologue ... read more

Chapter 1. The First Hurdle - The Saddest Epidode In My Life ... read more

Chapter 2. Bad Encounters With Fruit Farmers ... read more

Chapter 3. Daunted By Pests And Incurable Palm Diseases ... read more

Chapter 4. Other Unpleasant Episodes ... read more

Epilogue ... read more

Introduction ||  The Institutional Setup || Water Woes Under JBA || Water Woes Under PUAS || Water Woes After Privatization

LATEST ARTICLES ON WATER WOES

WATER PLANS NOT VIABLE - WATER RATIONING INEVITABLE
The water authorities have finally realized that due to the undue delay in implementing the Pahang/Selangor interstate raw water transfer project, Selangor, the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya would face water shortages from year 2009... read more

INAPPROPRIATE TO BASE TARIFF ADJUSTMENT ON REDUCTION OF NRW
The water tariffs in Selangor, Federal Territory and Putrajaya will soon be raised. The only basis for this tariff revision was that Syabas had reduced the NRW by more than 5% since taken from PUAS on 1/1/05. But many issues, like services and water quality still have not been dealt with and still remain poor. Two letters have been written on this. They are:
1. "Leakage control not the only criterion" (NST 18/08/06)
2. "Wrong to base tariff revision on reduction of NRW" (The Star 19/10/06)

AGE IS MIND OVER MATTER

It is heartening to note that the traditional Asian culture which emphasizes respect for the elderly is still quite discernable in the midst of the hustle and bustle of daily life in Malaysia. ... read more

DEBT COLLECTORS' SHAMING TACTICS
I sympathize with the businessman who had recently been threatened and humiliated by debt collectors because of a bill dispute... read more

HAPPY HOURS GONE FLAT
Lately I learnt that one of my regular groups of pub-friends who frequented one pub in PJ for over a decade had moved to another joint because they had been badly treated by the lady boss and her cashier. I am not surprised as the bad treatment is mainly due to familiarity breeding contempt! From bitter experience, I do not patronize just one pub. Read more... read more

ATTENDING CHINESE WEDDING DINNER - A PAIN IN MY NECK
It's that time of the year again! After all the drinking is done, and the hangovers have finally worn off, the start to a new year is the opportune time to reflect on one's experiences of yesteryear so as to plan positive changes in one's life for the new year... read more

A SAD ENCOUNTER ALONG N-S EXPRESSWAY
A sad experience where I encountered a fraudulent con artist disguised as a damsel in distress plying the North South Highway. read more

MOTORISTS GUILEFULLY LED TO USE TOLLED HIGHWAYS
I refer to the article by P. Gunasegaram "Toll concession and traffic lights", (The Edge Malaysia, March 20) and am surprised to learn that the traffic lights at the junction between Jalan Damansara and Jalan Datuk Abu Bakar and also at Jalan 17/1 are controlled by the highway concessionaire SPRINT... read more

WE NEED BETTER ENFORCEMENT AND NOT MORE LAWS
Harry Belafonte's letter "Driving is such a pain in Malaysia" (The Star, 23 Sept) certainly helps to ease the frustration and stress of some two to three million drivers who struggle their way daily to work and back in the Klang Valley, that is home to some seven million people... read more

WORLD CLASS DESIGN BUT THIRD WORLD MAINTENANCE
Our Works Minister recently stated that our highways and those in many developed countries have been deigned based on British Standards. Therefore the designs of our highways can be said to be equivalent to world standards... read more

NATIONAL SEWERAGE SERVICES
With IWK blatantly polluting our waterways and the authorities closing their eyes to its malpractices, it is no wonder that the privatization of sewerage services in Malaysia has gone sour.

PAYING IWK TO POLLUTE OUR RIVERS?
It is most heartening to read in The Star’s reports of April 2 “Khir: IWK main polluter” and April 25 “IWK the biggest polluter”. From the statements in these reports by the respective Selangor state and Federal governments it is clear that the authorities have finally woken up to the stark reality that IWK, a privatisation in Malaysia mired in controversies, confusion and consumer dissatisfaction, is a complete failure... read more

OUR OIL PALM INDUSTRY UNDER THREAD  

Malaysia is the biggest palm oil producer in the world. But I am shocked to find out that there are a couple of oil palm diseases, identified more than 50 years ago, that still remain today deadly and incurable... Click on the following articles to read more:

"Ganoderma threat to oil palm industry" (Malaysiakini, 3 March 2006)

"Under Threat" (Star Two, 7 Feb 2006)

TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH
Recently, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo commented that many local councils in Selangor had performed below the expectation of ratepayers. He also proposed that a state executive council member would be appointed to "oversee the operations" of each council... read more

PWD LONG PAST ITS GLORY DAYS
The recent failure of numerous public infrastructure projects has a lot to do with the current system of awarding contracts... read more

Collection of images from my travels:

Offbeat Travel Photos In my travels to out-of-the-way places for mountain trekking, scuba diving or adventures and escapades, I captured a lot of exotic scenery in my cameras. But sometimes when I noticed unique and mind-boggling signboards and posters, particularly in some rural areas in non-English speaking countries, I also tried to snap them. This post contains some of the snaps I took during my recent travels. …. See more

Canvas Series

Layang-Layang

Sipadan

THE MASTER VIEWS THE MODERN WORLD

The Master's View on Modern Capitalism

The Master's View on Modern Love

The Master's View on the English Language

The Master's View on the Modern Family

The Master's View on the Modern Military Commander

The Master's View on the Modern God Of Thunder

The Master's View of the Modern Manager

The Master's View of Modern Train Station Language

The Master's View on Modern Life and Work