Laksa Kaw Langkawi

My family is finishing up our pre-departure tea after a long weekend break in Langkawi. This is the second time we are enjoying the excellent Kuay Teow and of course famous Laksa that is Padang Matsirat's answer to Kuah's Laksa Penarak.

I actually enjoy eating here for another reason. This restaurant nicely showcases the evolution and growth of a family business that has remained practical and unpretentious despite its obvious success (from the steady traffic of clientele and the fact the Manager of Tun Dr M's Loaf happily recommended it).

From the pics which I hope uploads properly, you can see the point where the humble beginnings of a Laksa based restaurant with about 5 wooden table blossomed into a concern with more than double its capacity... ok ok, not sure whether it is the wooden tables that came later, but you can also see where the roof was extended.

It takes little imagination to see how this restaurant grew as Langkawi did and whilst I wish them continued success, I hope they maintain the atmosphere as it is. With the quality of food that complements all that is wprld class about Langkawi.

Laksa Kaw is in Padang Matsirat, near Langkawi Airport and can be easily found on the main road of the town across the road from the primary school.

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Tuduhan Sabotaj Konvensyen Pakatan Rakyat Di Alor Star

Malam tadi, antara topik lucu yang diperbincangkan di kedai kopi sekitar Alor Star adalah Tweet YB Azmin Ali yg begitu berang menuduh sedikitnya kehadiran ke konvensyen Pakatan Rakyat kerana sabotaj UMNO!

Pakatan berharapkan stadium tertutup Alor Star Suka Menanti penuh ke kapasitinya yakni 2,000, memandangkan majlis Tun Dr M tahun lepas sampai melimpah kehadirannya keluar. Malah penganjur acara Tun telah merancang 'limpahan' kehadiran dengan teratur.

Malangnya, walaupun yang hadir ke konvensyen termasuk tokoh-tokoh Pakatan seperti DS Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang dan Hj Hadi Awang, namun ternyata mereka semua tidak semenarik Tun Dr M kerana yang hadir sekitar 500 orang sahaja!

Tapi, macam mana Azmin nak mengaku Tun Dr M lagi menarik dari 'tokoh-tokoh' Pakatan ni! Maka dengan tak semena-mena beliau menuduh UMNO sabotaj pula. Nak sabotaj camana? Apakah mungkin UMNO menghalang penyokong Pakatan dari hadir tambah pada hari cuti di negeri Kedah pimpinan PAS!?

Dulu bila Anwar terbukti salahguna kuasa hingga dipenjara, tuduh UMNO juga, takkanlah bila mahkamah terbukti bebas apabila melepaskan beliau dalam kes Saiful, Azmin dan yang sehaluan dengannya dah ketandusan modal?

Pada saya, lebih munasabah jika kita katakan kehadiran ke konvensyen kurang kerana:

1 - Malam tersebut malam sebelum hari keputeraan DYMM Yang Dipertuan Agong merangkap Sultan Kedah yang dikasihi. Tentulah ramai lagi sibuk dengan aktiviti serta persediaan meraikan hari tersebut.

2 - Malam tu, Kedah dok main bola sepak di Stadium Darul Aman. Yang mau ternyata melimpah ribuan manusia yang lebih minat bola dari konvensyen Pakatan.

3 - Mungkin orang PAS di Kedah meluat dan tak ingin melihat kepimpinan Pakatan dari Selangor yang telah menggasak hingga tokoh popular PAS Dr Hassan Ali dibuang dari parti... yang ni Azmin tak berani kut nak mengaku...

4 - Akibat Hari Keputeraan DYMM Tuanku, cuti panjanglah di Kedah. Mungkin orang Kedah merasakan ada cara lebih baik untuk menggunakan hari-hari cuti tersebut?

Ada baik YB Azmin Ali tarik nafas dan mencerminkan diri dahulu. Sebelum menuduh orang, ada baliknya Pakatan mengkaji apakah sebab sebenar kegagalan mereka dalam mengendalikan usaha ini, demi masa depan mereka.

Maaf lambat sikit berita ni, tengah sibuk di Motorcross MAYC Beruas sebentar tadi... tengok le gambar tu...

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MAYC Global Relief... And MAYC: The Next Stage

I have been asked over the last 3 months why I have been quiet in the social media space on MAYC of late. Reason was simply that things were developing in the right direction, and it did not seem right to blog it in this space for the sake of our achieving the aims of reviving MAYC. I believe this blog's silence for the time helped us achieve the recognition of the rightful chairmen of the state organisations, Alhamdulillah, as the first step towards the revival of MAYC as a whole.

The Minister has given strict instructions to Mustafa Mat Arof when approving his leadership of MAYC to ensure unity especially ensuring the enfranchisement of all MAYC clubs in an AGM that will select a new leadership by March 2012. Seeing as Mustafa and many of his gang have expired their age as Youths, my team and I are happy to sit back and see him prove his claims of being a 'rightful' president by him actually being 'presidential', proving us wrong and at the same stroke reviving democracy in this most democratic of youth organisations at one time.

In the meantime, I will be busy with MAYC Global Relief. We are planning for a second relief expedition to Japan's tsunami hit areas in April 2012. Ya ya, I heard also that elections 'may be' in April, but why should this affect our plans? If we listened to the many elections 'may be' rumours since PRU12, we'd be caked with dust from immobility waiting for PRU13 now. So April 2012 we aim to send another 40 youth volunteers out to Japan and you can have a look at this Facebook page to see the stuff volunteers can expect to get up to. Our volunteers are made of better stuff than the fake 'hero' Adam Adli I dare say!

Will I run for MAYC's Presidency? Not my choice mate! Ask the MAYC leaders at club, district and state levels. Its for them to figure out if I am worthy. If they haven't figured this one out, they should just google...

Welcome Revival Of The Pain In The Arse

I was stunned over the last 2 days at how so many people are happy with the acquital of DS Anwar Ibrahim. The happy guys I mean here are not the pro-Anwar or sympathetic to Anwar lot. No no no... many of us, myself included, who are rather pleased that Anwar is still free are actually very much against him and his rather self-centric disruption of harmony in our country. OK, there is the matter of the appeal which I understand should come since the case was prima facie, but lets set that aside for now...

The reasons for this happiness vary, but for the more politically inclined, there is now a feeling that BN has a better chance at winning the next election, even if not achieving a 2/3 majority, as long as the current political lines are maintained and IF DS Najib's Transformation program actually begins to hit high level corruption. Notice the big IF on corruption here... certainly Malaysians want clearer resolution of the NFC scandal as opposed to the partial-scapegoating that is perceived to have happened / is happening with PKFZ.

Clearer Political Lines

Certainly BN will benefit from the lack of impetus now for DS Anwar and his people to back a re-alignment of political alliances that was planned should he have been imprisoned. It was an open secret in political circles that Ku Li and his camp were being courted as Anwar's replacement as figurehead of Pakatan should the later be convicted. The Amanah platform had sought to re-unite the old 'Team B' of the Tun Dr M vs Ku Li era of 1987 vintage, minus Pak Lah of course due to his continued lack of popularity.

There was clear movement to build ties with a couple of bloggers, most notably ferociously pro-Ku Li Aspan Alias' entry into DAP, which has resulted in quite a bit of confusion considering his ultra-UMNO credentials from the last century.

Would Ku Li as Pakatan head lead to a stronger Pakatan threat against DS Najib-led UMNO and BN? One will never know. This blogger actually believes it becomes 50:50 if the worse elements of UMNO, many associated with the Pak Lah regime and slowly being ostracised by the Najib Transformation (like KJ!), actually joining Pakatan with Ku Li. However, it would have the downside of confusing the electorate like mad, hence a disharmoniuos scenario leading up to an election - always poor for the incumbent party!

Ironically, PERKASA under Datuk Ibrahim Ali, i.e. the ultra-Malay elements in civil society, may end up holding the deciding votes in such a scenario, not the minority race power brokers! Most unpleasant I am sure to many...

Anyway, I am happy, and happy to hear if you are too, with DS Anwar's acquital! So happy that I am blogging again! Hihihihihi....

Wet Dream Of A Budget?

Did I catch your attention with the title of the post? Sorry, couldn't help myself ... hihihihi...

I begin writing this as DS Najib was outlining major increases to the renumeration or rather pay scheme for teachers, a much under-appreciated group within a much suffering public sector. The budget, including this part, appeals to me as even if it is not perfectly satisfying, I find many parts matching what I was hoping for for the country, such as:

1 - Introducing or in reality re-introducing mechanisms to curb property speculation which has led to houses being unaffordable especially for youths just starting with life. So we see the RCGT or Real Capital Gains Tax being revised again, the material component being a new setting of 10% for those who sell properties within 2 years of buying. I would have preferred something more extreme also for the initial 6 month window, but I suppose DS Najib needs to ensure the new tax doesn't deflate the property market.

2 - I wanted small changes to ease the cost faced by youths, especially those with young families, and am pleased to see sucj small changes such as abolishing the remainder fees for government school-going children.

3 - I am really pleased that the government is continuing their commitment to increase public sector pay, like for the teachers, and increasing the retirement age, as this will force the payscale up across the nation as the public sector remains employer of last resort for most new job-seeker. Inflationary my foot, we all need a salary adjustment!

4 - I am glad they are continuing to expand the Kedai 1Malaysia concept... though wonder what will ensure its future sustainability...

Anyway, I will have more words when joining the streaming forum at MobTV... have a peek?

PS - Wow, budget give RM 320 Million to Youths or Belia, even mentioning it should be channeled via Majlis Belia Malaysia and its subsidiaries! Question is, will the Ministry deliver the monies through these Youth led organisations?

Presiden MAYC Dan YB Tony Pua 'Rentap Minda' Tentang Bajet 2012

Sejak jurublog mula menyertai perbincangan dan debat di media layar kecil, memang ternanti-nanti peluang bertukar fikiran ataupun berentap minda dengan 'pakar ekonomi' dari Pakatan Rakyat, YB Tony Pua. Semalam alhamdulillah peluang tersebut sampai melalui MobTV.my

Terima kasih MobTV atas peluang tersebut dan YB Tony Pua kerana sudi berentap dengan pemimpin belia yang tak seberapa ini. Saksikanlah melalui link ini atau salin serta tampal url berikut, http://www.mobtv.my/talkshow-246.html, untuk menyaksikan video tersebut.

Presiden MAYC Tengah Berhujah... LOL

Nasib baik jugalah yang isu ini tak rancak lagi masa perbincangan tadi. Kalau tidak, pasti hangat, sebab pasal bill TNB!

Namewee Feeling How It Is To Be Anti-Malay

There was a time in Malaysian socio-political history when there was a label worse than 'racist' for a public figure, that label being 'anti-Malay'. This may seem strange for the younger generation of today, but being anti-Malay as recently as in the early 80's was seen as being shallow, viscous, ignorant and a threat to harmonious relations between all races in Malaysia.

Well, Namewee may be unhappy at having his film rubbished by those who haven't even seen it, but he has to accept this as a reality rather than rant on it. The reality is that someone writting for an established Malay mainstream daily has rubbished his movie due to it simply being directed by him. Why? Because they perceive him to be racist and 'un-1Malaysian'. But truth be told, Namewee's image is worse, as to many Malays, he is anti-Malay.

Namewee has come a long way since the day he published the Negarakuku, a sign-post of how a segment of ethnic chinese-Malaysian youths were and still are developing in terms of socio-political consciousness. Negarakuku showcased a lack of respect and culture as well as a complete ignorance of history, leading up to a feeling of angst and anger towards the Malay-led establishment in Malaysia. It was an outpouring of anti-Malay feelings

Ironically, Namewee was saved of being disowned completely by the nation by the MCA, the Barisan National (BN) government's Chinese component party that is typically rejected by the kind of youths Namewee represents. Namewee and his like typically reject the MCA as being the lackeys of the dominant United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party in the BN coalition. Nevertheless, Namewee followed MCA's advice and apologised.

All Malaysians, generally having adopted the soft-hearted forgiving nature of Malays, chose to forgive, but did not forget. The tarnishing of national symbols, such as the national anthem, is not so easily forgotten. Strangely, or perhaps naturally, him being a media person, Namewee did not seem to want to be forgotten. Since being anti-Malay in the guise of ignorant honesty seemed to work before, Namewee caused further controversies over Youtube.

At the same time, Namewee worked hard to establish himself among the independent media elite of the country, cleverly leveraging on his notoriety and building on his 'simple' yet direct persona. These independents, having grown without too much government support, if at all, proved receptive to Namewee's entry to their circle, allowing him the opportunity to develop as a 'Malaysian' artiste separate from his racist of 'anti-Malay' persona on the web.

It is a shame that when confronted with Namewee's version of racist abuse, BN figures react with either the extremes of calling for his figurative head or embracing him with hope of making him 'understand'. Maybe these leaders are confused by Namewee's apologies for being ignorant and maybe accidentally sounding racist... but this is ridiculous of course! I believe Namewee knows exactly what he is doing - he admits to being a degree holding media man!

For me, Namewee has been a warning sign of there being a segment of disaffected chinese youths who reject the Malaysian Social Contract as they have been given little reason to respect it. However, that was before. Now, I see Namewee as a figure that is a danger to society as he has chosen to earn a living by being the embodiment of the anti-Malay in the public eye. And he dares do so as he believes he can always apologise to the soft-hearted.

Namewee's evolution to being a menace to society was re-affirmed to me when a senior MCA leader recently suggested to bloggers that Nasi Lemak 2.0, Namewee's film, is racist and anti-Malay. It would seem Namewee's former saviour, and despite its recent weaknesses, still the strongest champion of ethnic Chinese rights, the MCA, has disowned him, knowing him to be a danger to continued harmonious prosperity among Malaysians.

So Namewee. Grow up. Stop pretending. Don't even bother apologising. Accept that there are some of us Malaysians, not just Malays, have accepted the cultivated persona you have for what it is. You are a racist  and anti-Malay. Just be greatful the only thing we will (or rather won't) do is to your movie, which even without watching we are reassured is anti-Malay. Sit down and shut up you Racist Anti-Malay Icon.

Please note, this article DOES NOT encourage the watching of Nasi Lemak 2.0 as it is racist, anti-Malay (has to be coz of the director) and will likely be available as cetak rompak soon anyway!