My Bloggers!

pure ignorance?

I was talking with Alang just now and he gave me this link from utusan malaysia, a complain by a teacher (from kuala pilah) about the "ridiculous" price of ice coffee in putrajaya. read this funny shit here:

Terkejut kopi ais "sepuluh ringgit'' di Putrajaya

Saudara Pengarang,
PADA 29 Oktober 2007, saya telah membawa 36 pelajar saya ke Masjid Putrajaya sebagai program lepasan PMR. Sementara menunggu masuk waktu Asar, saya mencari tempat minum, maklumlah selalunya waktu itu masa untuk minum petang.

Setelah jumpa tempat yang dicari, iaitu di tingkat bawah sebelah masjid itu, terdapat banyak gerai atau medan selera yang agak indah menghadap ke tasik.

Saya terus ke gerai yang terpampang namanya iaitu nama yang terdapat di sebuah bandar atau negeri di Amerika Syarikat. Gerai itu dihias indah dengan susunan banyak tin kopi dan biji kopi di dalam balang yang belum dihancurkan.

Saya terus membuat pesanan kopi ais kepada dua orang pekerja dan dia tanya saya sama ada nak tambah perisa atau tidak serta mencadangkan nama-nama perisa seperti vanila dan bermacam-macam lagi.

Saya terus jawab bubuh sajalah apa-apa perisa dan kerana gerai itu layan diri, saya terus ambil minuman yang dah siap dan tanya berapa harganya.

Pekerja yang memakai cermin mata itu terus menjawab: "Sepuluh ringgit bang.''

Saya sungguh terkejut. Maklum sajalah orang kampung, biasa minum air seperti itu harganya tidak lebih RM1.50 sahaja. Dalam keadaan terpaksa saya terus bayar dan bawa air ke tempat duduk. Dua tiga kali sedut dah habis dan rasanya sama saja seperti Nescafe Ais yang telah saya minum di tempat lain.

Persoalannya, adakah patut harga kopi tersebut sebanyak itu dan tempatnya bukanlah di hotel-hotel atau restoran yang besar. Hanya gerai di belakang kawasan masjid. Adakah pihak berkuasa di situ seperti Perbadanan Putrajaya membenarkan harga tersebut.

Sebaik saja minuman mahal saya habis, lima orang pelajar saya datang mencari minuman di situ. Saya terus memberitahu harga kopi tersebut, mereka terus beredar ke masjid untuk sembahyang Asar. - ORANG KAMPUNG, Kuala Pilah.


wahahahaha i'm speechless. out of words. simply not right. not right at all. how can ORANG KAMPUNG be so ignorant? oh i love the reply by PENGHUNI PUTRAJAYA. nicely said:


Usah banding harga kopi ais Putrajaya dengan di kampung

Saudara Pengarang,
SAYA tertarik dengan komen yang diberikan oleh Orang Kampung, Kuala Pilah tentang rungutan harga kopi ais di Putrajaya. Gerai (taman selera) di belakang kawasan masjid yang dimaksudkan oleh Orang Kampung (OK) ialah Selera Putra dan saya dapat agak yang mana satu gerai tempat dia membeli kopi aisnya.

Untuk pengetahuan OK ada bermacam-macam gerai lain di situ termasuklah gerai mamak yang biasa.

Kenapa memilih gerai yang terpampang nama sebuah bandar atau negeri di AS? Jika gerainya nampak cantik sudah pasti menuntut kita berbelanja lebih.

Kalau OK melihat gerai mamak di situ, gerainya biasa saja dan harganya pun agak berpatutan. Gerai-gerai lain juga lebih kurang harganya.

Kita sebagai pengguna berhak memilih. Harga-harga di situ harga yang standard jika dijual di bandar-bandar besar. Bagi saya, harga minuman segelas kopi ais di hotel lebih mahal daripada kopi ais yang dibeli oleh OK di situ.

Janganlah salahkan pihak berkuasa kerana membenarkan mereka beroperasi dengan harga sedemikian. Lihat dulu papan tanda yang telah ditulis harga kopi ais tersebut. Pilih harga yang kita mampu dan jangan membuta tuli memesan minuman, kemudian apabila diberitahu harganya terkejut pula.

Saya tidaklah menafikan harga makanan di situ mahal sedikit, tetapi saya percaya kerana sewa dan kos penyelenggaraan tempat tersebut yang tinggi. Lihat saja tempatnya yang berhawa dingin, kerusi meja yang disusun dan pemandangan di kawasan tersebut.

Saya juga berasal dari kampung tapi tidaklah berasa hairan dengan keadaan tersebut. Kalau nak semuanya murah bawa saja bekal dari kampung.

Saya agak terkilan dengan pendapat OK kerana membeza-bezakan harga kopi ais di kampung dengan harga kopi ais di Putrajaya.

Tolonglah jadi orang kampung yang celik dan sedar dengan peredaran masa. - PENGHUNI PUTRAJAYA.

Happy new year everyone!!

Are We Really That Bad?

According to the article "Bad driving irritates us most" by Clara Chooi, "driving like a maniac, queue jumping and spitting in public – these are the top three peeves for Malaysians. According to the results of the survey, bad driving grumbled its way to the top of the list, with 86% of respondents agreeing that it should be the "winner".

Bad driving.

Are we really that bad? Most agree that Malaysian drivers have been synonymous with BAD DRIVERS. Even foreigners living in this country think so.

Do we know why?

During a conversation with some friends last weekend, a friend brought up a reason: LACK OF CIVIL AWARENESS.

Lack of civil awareness. Kekurangan kesedaran sivik. Well I can't agree more. For instance, when we see a pedestrian (a kid or an old woman using a freakin' cane to walk, who cares) crossing the road in front of us, we tend to hit the gas, somewhat "threatening" to hit the innocent pedestrian. When I was studying in the UK, from my observation, I can see that Briton drivers/motorists slow down, unexpectedly giving way to the pedestrians. It was a culture shock, really. Pedestrians and cyclists are given the priority. But perhaps that only applies in the rural areas, drivers in big cities like New York, Chicago and Bostons are impatient drivers too. We all tend to be impatient when we're stuck in long traffic jams eh? But still I strongly feel that drivers in Chicago are better drivers than us.

Nonetheless having said all this, I have another theory why we are such bad drivers. Why do we drive 160 km/h in a 110 km/h zone? Why do we hit the red lights? Why do we ignore the stop signs? Why do we overtake/pass other cars in double lines? Why we never bother to use the freakin' helmet?

My theory: The PRECONCEPTION that we can bribe Law Enforcement Officers.

Ah yes. Bribery.

The bribery issue in Malaysia may not be as terrible as India, but it's still a major problem we need to tackle, together. Okay how much is a speeding ticket nowadays? RM300? RM400? Depends. But would be a no brainer if we could settle the matter immediately with just as low as RM50.00. Easy. Simple. No hassle. We don't even have to go to court. Yes, it would be unethical, but sometimes that would be the last thing on our mind. Who cares about ethics if we could save hundreds of dollars on speeding tickets?

When we drive above the speed limit or break any other laws, we have these kinds of crazy ideas (PRECONCEPTIONS):

i) I've been speeding in this area for 5 years and never get a speeding ticket. Ever.
ii) The Law Enforcement Officers are never around anyway, so who cares? Good for me!
iii) Even if I do get caught, well, tough luck bro. But I still can get away with a RM50.00 bribe. These law enforcement officers need to "cari makan" too.

A relative of mine got his VALID motorcycle license for only RM60.00. He doesn't need to go through the hassle of driving tests and whatever. Can you believe it, there's even corruption in driving tests? No wonder there are so many unqualified drivers/motorists on the road! For merely RM60, we're allowing a young naive kid to be on the road legally, without the proper training and test. Well I gotta say my relative turned out to be a very good and careful motorist, thank God, but what about others? Do we dare to say thousands others, who bribe the officers to get valid licenses? Are we surrounded by hundreds of motorists everyday, who don't deserve to be on the road? What a thought.

You and Your Boss

You and Your Boss

1. When you take a long time, you're slow.
When your boss takes a long time, he's thorough.

2. When you don't do it, you're lazy.
When your boss doesn't do it, he's too busy.

3. When you make a mistake, you're an idiot.
When your boss makes a mistake, he's only human.

4. When doing something without being told, you're overstepping your authority.
When your boss does the same thing, that's initiative.

5. When you take a stand, you're being **g-headed.
When your boss does it, he's being firm.

6. When you overlooked a rule of ettiquette, you're being rude.
When your boss skips a few rules, he's being original.

7. When you please your boss, you're arse-creeping.
When your boss pleases his boss, he's being co-operative.

8. When you're out of the office, you're wandering around.
When your boss is out of the office, he's on business.

9. When you're on a day off sick, you're always sick.
When your boss has a day off sick, he must be very ill.

10 When you apply for leave, you must be going for an interview.
When your boss applies for leave, it's because he's overworked.

i'm out! =)