Going to Kuala Terengganu

I was in Kuala Lumpur a couple of days back and will be going to Kuala Terengganu by car on Easter Sunday. Though I heard that the roads leading to Terengganu is not good, I hope the ride will not be bumpy. I plan to meet up with our client for sports project over there and hopefully the sale can be closed on the same day. This will be my first trip to Terengganu, the only state that I have never been in West Peninsular Malaysia. Also, I have been to Bintulu, Sarawak before, leaving Sabah as the only other state that I have yet to visit. We plan to stay 2 nights there in Grand Continental Hotel.

I prefer to travel using the North-South Highway that is smooth and easy flow of traffic. Going to the East Coast gives me jitters whether the car will break down halfway in the God forsaken place. There is very little traffic and asking for help from PlusLine is almost impossible. So, I better pray for a smooth, unhindered drive down to Kuala Terengganu.

Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who

Just 2 days ago, I went to GSC cinema in Queensbay Mall to watch Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who in its debut opening day on the 13th of March 2008.

The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant who, on the fifteenth of May in the Jungle of Nool, hears a small speck of dust talking to him. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to a city called "Who-ville", inhabited by microscopic-sized inhabitants known as Whos.

The Whos ask Horton (who, though he cannot see them, is able to hear them quite well) to protect them from harm, to which Horton happily obliges, proclaiming throughout the book that "a person's a person, no matter how small". In doing so he is ridiculed and forced into a cage by the other animals in the jungle for believing in something that they are unable to see or hear. His chief tormentors are Vlad Vladikoff, the Wickersham Brothers and the Sour Kangaroo, and the small kangaroo in her pouch. Horton tells the Whos that they needed to make themselves heard to the other animals, lest they end up as part of "beezlenut stew", which they finally accomplish. The Whos finally make themselves heard by ensuring that all members of their society play their part. In the end it is the smallest Who of all, Jo-Jo, who provides the last volume lift to be heard, thus reinforcing the moral of "a person's a person no matter how small".

Now convinced of the Whos' existence, Horton's neighbors vow to help him protect the tiny community.

It's interesting to see a pretty big creature like Horton concerned with protecting the tiniest creatures of all...even if the others in the jungle of Nool may not believe that's he's right about all those tiny people on the speck (well, maybe Rudy, the Sour Kangaroo's son, may think he could be right...)

Lovable characters like Horton, who can be serious at times (and is truly determined) but also wild-and-crazy, full of imagination and whimsy. Like the mayor, who is determined to protect his city from the dangers they're now being exposed to (who will protect the protector? "A giant elephant, up in the sky!... Don't bother to look, he's invisible...")

Highly recommended! The look of the film is visually stunning, and a good voice cast (CBS Radio's Charles Osgood narrates; the mayor and his wife are Steve Carrell and Amy Poehler, and Jim Carrey of course is Horton.

Lim Guan Eng as Penang's New Chief Minister

It is a day of reckoning when DAP (Democratic Action Party) trounced Gerakan and BN in the recently concluded Malaysian 2008 General Election. Now we have a new Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who was sworn in yesterday to be the people's spokesperson. No longer do we have an academic Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon who was muted about the NEP (New Economic Policy) and could hardly fight for the Chinese rights. NEP was implemented by the second prime minister of Malaysia Tun Razak. It is biased and unfair to the Chinese and the Indians while enriching the Malays, more likely those in positions of political power.

To quote from Datuk Lim Keng Yaik, it is scary to see the UMNO Youth president, Datuk Hishamuddin wielding the keris (Malay sword) in their general assembly. This should stop. No wonder the Barisan Nasional lost quite a lot of seats. There has been much corruption, cronyism, and insensitive remarks made in the past by UMNO members. And we Chinese have to learn to bear with it and try to get along with them because they are in power. Hopefully with DAP in charge of Penang now, this will no longer be the case.

Tags : Lim Guan Eng, Penang's new chief minister, Malaysian 2008 General Election, New Economic Policy, Democratic Action Party, DAP, Barisan National, NEP

Reasons for the Malaysian 2008 General Election Results

The results of the Malaysian 2008 General Elections took everyone by surprise. Incumbent Barisan lost 4 more states - Penang, Kedah, Perak and Selangor to the opposition. What has really happened? There are some plausible reasons to this. When our former deputy prime minister, Anwar released the Lingam's video to the press near election time, it was very destructive for the goverment to know that a common lawyer like Mr Lingam could broker the appointment of judges in high court. There was much corruption with the 'Correct, Correct, Correct' lawyer offering free tours, houses, handphones to top judges. This show how corrupt the judiciary is.

Secondly, churches were not allowed to use the word 'Allah' in their printing materials and in their preaching. What the heck! The word 'Allah' was used before Islam came to Malaysia. It shows how narrow minded the government is. And Bibles were confiscated recently by the customs that belong to a Baptist church. Looks like the citizen's freedom is being eroded bit by bit.

People were also fedup especially the non-Malays of the NEP (New Economic Policy) favouring the bumiputras or simply the Malays. All government contracts are given to bumiputra companies only leaving out the other races, the Chinese and the Indians. No wonder Lee Kuan Yew said we were being marginalized just because we are more hardworking, diligent and rich. Most of the common Chinese in Penang have felt the pinch of NEP and they are not as rich as before. People are angry and therefore, don't expect the rakyat to vote for you when you are not fair to all races to begin with. You preach one thing, but your actions speak another.

Since Penang is now in the hands of the opposition, I hope future tenders will be fair to all races and not solely for bumiputras only. Hopefully my company will be able to participate in sports open tenders meant for anyone and any race on a fairer system. I also hope that goverment planned projects to develop Penang like the monorail, Penang's second bridge, Penang Outer Ring Road and the like will not be delayed any further by the government since the rakyat or citizens have chosen the opposition to govern them. Congratulations to Lim Guan Eng and Karpal Singh of DAP, Datin Seri Wan Azizah of PKR and the other victorous candidates.

Tags : Malaysian 2008 General Election, reasons for 2008 Malaysian General Election results, Democratic Action Party, DAP, Barisan National

Herbalife - an affordable direct selling program to join

I joined Herbalife, a multi-level marketing (MLM) or direct selling program just 3 days ago. It was so convenient. I paid by internet banking to my upline's Maybank account and the next morning, it was delivered right to my door step by Skynet from Kuala Lumpur. Above is are the items I have received from Herbalife. And I was introduced this by my upline who is also my Yahoo Messenger online chat friend based in KL. He has been doing this business for 3 years now since they started in Malaysia and have even gotten RM10,000 check in commissions from his 30 downlines.

I am happy I have made the right choice to reduce weight. As you can see, I love food too much and it is about time I need to reduce my weight for an optimum BMI (Body Mass Index). From the BMI chart, I am considered overweight but thank goodness not obese. So I bought Formula 1 nutritional shake of french vanilla flavor to replace my daily meals. Just 2 scoops with 250ml of water to replace my lunch and dinner. As of today, I have already lost 0.5kg after 2 days of drinking the vanilla shake. And it is delicious and not sweet at all. I have previously joined other MLM companies, all to no avail like Perfect Youth and Lampe Berger which cost a whopping RM30,000 just to be a count. I only paid RM98 for the business pack with distributor license and form. And another RM79.23, after 50% discount at cost price from my upline at a supervisor level, for the Formula 1 nutritional shake. For more details, check out here and see the pictures of consumers with slim sexy bodies from an otherwise obese body. By the way, F1 nutritional shake mix is the bestseller product of the company to help people reduce weight.

Herbalife was founded in 1980, a company that sells weight-loss, nutrition and skin-care products by multi-level marketing, also known as network marketing. In February 1980, Mark Hughes began selling the original Herbalife weight loss product from the trunk of his car. Mark started Herbalife with the help of physicians including a Nobel peace price winner for medicine after much research for the supplements. Herbalife started when Mark Hughes saw his own mother died at the young age of 36 due to efforts trying to lose weight from unworkable and sub-quality weight loss programs. The company now has grown by leaps and bounds, spread in 60 countries with multi-billion dollar profit. If you like to lose weight while earning money at the same time, drop me an email at diana [dot] tan [at] gmail [dot] com.

Stayed in Dorset Hotel for the Weekend

I had a very good weekend vacationing in Dorset Hotel in Larut Road, Penang. It was located just opposite Kentucky Fried Chicken's outlet in a colonnial bungalow. It was also conveniently located opposite my church known as Georgetown Baptist Church with English services at 9:00am, 11:00am and Hokkien service at 4:30pm by Pastor Yeoh Guan Hock. That's one of the reason why I booked this hotel instead of staying in Vistana Hotel like last weekend. Our church service venue has been changed from Relau to Larut Road in town. This is a much bigger place and better location which is quite established. Below are the photos taken from my camera.


View from our hotel room in Dorset Hotel.


See the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet at the bottom. Another view from our hotel room.


Writing table with lamp and mirror.


How comfortable the huge sofas in the lobby.


Bathroom of our hotel room. There's a basket of freebies like shampoo, shower cap, cotton buds, sewing kit and soap in the corner.


The huge kingsize bed.

Happy Chap Goh Meh

Chap Goh Meh represents the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese communities. The term is from the Hokkien dialect and refers to the fifteenth day of the first month, which is the occasion of the first full moon of the New Year.

The occasion is marked by feasting and various festivities, including the consumption of tangyuan. In traditional Chinese culture, it is also celebrated as the Lantern Festival or the Shang Yuan Festival. In Southeast Asia, however, it coincides with the Chinese Valentine's Day. It is also when young unmarried women gather to toss tangerines into the sea, in a hope that their future spouse will pick it up – a custom that originated in Penang, Malaysia. In the past, this was also the only day that unmarried ladies could be seen with their partners.

Tags : chap goh meh, chinese valentine's day, throw tangerines