New Multi-Racial Hostel ?

Our PM has just announced a plan to build a hostel to house secondary students of different races to foster unity. Hello, is this the way to instil national unity? Is it necessary to go the extra length to create such a hostel?

Way back in my student days at Sekolah Menegah Teknik of Ipoh in the late 70s, I used to stay in the school hostel with fellow students of different races coming from every corner of Perak towns. We lived in a 20-bed double decker dormitory. We studied, ate and played together. We are like one big family and there was hardly any racial feelings and we could proudly said that it was "Truly Malaysia".

In those days, student intake for residental schools and hostels such as Sekolah Menegah Teknik, Sekolah Menegah Sains and Royal Military College were really reflective of the Malaysian population composition.

Sad to say that the current student population of these schools/colleges are overwhelmingly from a single race.

Instead of building multi-racial hostels, it would be more effective for the government to revamp the student intake of these residental schools with a view to accomodate students fairly from different races.

Growing Flowers From Seeds

I always derive greater satisfaction of growing flowers from seeds than buying fully grown flower plants.

Two weeks ago I visited a DIY shop and was fascinated with the prepacked sunflower seeds which shows the sunflowers with orange petals, rather than the normal yellow petals sunflower which we usually see in Malaysia. Also on dispaly is another packet of seeds showing cosmo flowers in pink color.I decided to buy a packet each to try it out.

As per instructions, I sowed the seeds in a flower bed and after a week, the seeds began to germinate. True to what was stated on the packet, the overseas company (Yates of NZ) which packed these seeds have given a "guarantee" that the seeds will germinate. I have tried local brand seeds before and unfortunately after sowing, nothing happened.

Now I have plenty of very young seedlings. I will have to wait for another week or so before I can transplant them on to the proper ground.

OTK VS CSL

The power struggle between the two will reach its climax at the EGM on October 10, 2009 (double ten). Given the strong personality of both, the loser is likely to disappear from the political scene.

It is interesting to note that PKFZ scandal was initially linked to the fight , somehow it has become a non issue now. Why? is it related to the PM who has set up a special task force to handle the scandal, thus by passing OTK?

At stake is not only the president's post but also the control over the vast financial resources of the party. The party has made several strategic and profitable investments including the STAR Publications & TAR College which generate millions of income annually. Compared to the 80's where it nearly sold off Wisma MCA, the party now has assets worth hundreds of millions.

From now till the EGM, one can expect many surprises as each camp tries to woo the central delegates. There will be a lot of under-arm tactics deployed to undermine the opponent. We have already seen the resurfacing of the notorious DVD. What else to come?

Post 308, Chinese community's support for MCA has been sliding fast. Despite the intense campaign and lobby by both camps and widespread reporting by the Chinese mainstream media, the reality is that the Chinese community at large does not pay much attention to this acrimonious fight, let alone bother about it. Influential organisations such as Hua Zhong and Federation of Chinese Chamber of Commerce have been rather quiet about the whole issue.

The fallout from the EGM could be immense, unless the winner is able to consolidate and regroup the warring factions. Failure to do that will further erode whatever little influence MCA has over the Chinese community.

Unlike the power struggle in the 80s or 90s where there wasn't any viable alternative for the losing faction to join (except the Gerakan?), in this new current political environment, the defeated faction could always hop over to PR.

Fish Spawning

I went back to my hometown a couple of years back and witnessed the phenomenon of massive number of fish swimming upstream to spawn. This is quite similar to the unusual sight of salmon ,which many of us have seen in the TV documentary, migrating upstreams in North American rivers to spawn. Every year during the rainy month of October, this remarkable phenomenon occurs along Sungai Rui. Many locals are seen by the riverside, catching the fish with nets. I have seen one local filled up one gunny sacks within 2 hours. According to locals, this phenomenon has been happening for as long as they can remember. The local authority has even organised competition with winners based on the total weight of the catch.