Inane ramblings

Royal Brunei 747-400 flying circuit over Miri. They've been doing this on and off for quite some time. Apparently, they're practicing over here because Miri Airport airspace is so sparse.

So two years on, the flyover's been built, fuel prices skyrocketed, crime skyrocketed but where is our faceless clocktower?

Here it is: Unchanged since Day 1 when I first reported on it.

They even said in order to 'preserve' the clocktower landmark, they actually built the flyover AROUND the clocktower.

Preservation of old landmarks is all good except.. what use is to preserve it if you don't even keep it working and let its sorry state to view to the public and tourists? And what good is preservation to one small clocktower when all those really old buildings in Old Town are totally torn down to be built up instead of the more logical approach of just renovating them?

About 6-8 cars were reported missing last night alone (10th June 2008). Not sure of the exact figures but it was around that.

My parents' car was also stolen.

In fact, we had sort of expected this to occur - this says a lot about the crime problems in Miri. It's not that we think it 'only happens to someone else' but we expected it to occur. Th problem is just 'when'?

Few days back, a friend's friend's Perdana was also stolen, but he was lucky as the police managed to spot it and get it back. It's interesting to know how they stole the cars - they simply drilled through the key hole, open the door and - if the car had a gear shift lock - using a hammer or heavy object, hit it hard enough so the lock mechanism breaks, but makes it drivable.

Steering locks are a deterrent but if they really wanted the car they'd be able to get past it anyhow (looking at the above example, a gearshift lock didn't work).

Petrol will be RM2.70 a litre at midnight tonight The new price of petrol is RM2.70 per litre beginning midnight tonight, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced just a moment ago. The 78 sen hike or 40 per cent increase is still below the antiticpated RM4 per litre price projected earlier and among the cheapest in Asia.

Diesel prices increased by RM1 per liter, and petrol by RM0.78. It sucks to be a diesel owner now.

Oh by the way - transportation vehicles usually run on diesel. So that means, we shall await the effects of the huge jump in diesel prices to be reflected in the prices of goods. Will this be the price hike 'tsunami' everyone's been anticipating?

The weather had been an oven lately just right after the high winds. This lasted several days and thankfully it started to rain intermittently (just as I had the car washed! It had to happen!) and it poured a lot last night.

This morning, we're finally getting breezey winds! And no haze!

First off, what are Orang Utans? Let's get to know the animal we're talking about here before we go any further about them being in peril. The orangutans are two species of great apes known for their intelligence, long arms and reddish-brown hair. Pretty ugly by ape standards, but nevertheless we should not be bias about saving cute animals only.

They are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. These are the last places on Earth they are known to exist - these are cause for concern. Interestingly however, their fossils have been known found in Java, Vietnam and China.

Their name derives from the Malay and Indonesian phrase "orang hutan", meaning "Jungle Man". The orangutan is an official state animal of Sabah in Malaysia.

As far as I know, none exist in Sarawak. Right now you're probably thinking, "This Ian is a weirdo, why it be any of our concern if there are (apparently) none in Sarawak?"

Well, simply because - Sarawak is part of that Borneo, and as a whole, we needed to be aware of these things and help the effort in getting spreading awareness. The Bornean species of orangutans is endangered, and the Sumatran species is listed critically endangered.

It is this news article that got me thinking about the severity of situation.

Very shocking quotes from the article:

"For Central Kalimantan, the species will be gone as soon as three years from now"

"Experts believe the overall extinction rate of Borneo orangutans is nine per cent per year, but in Central Kalimantan they are disappearing even faster due to unchecked expansion of palm oil plantations."

So this is what got the conservationists jumping up and down three years ago when they accused Sarawak's oil palm plantation of destroying the orang utan's habitat (as mentioned before, none exist in Sarawak). They simply got bad geography and actually meant Central Kalimantan, where they are hunted as pests to prevent them eating palm seedlings!

Even though Sarawak does not have Orang Utan, we're still part of that Borneo, the island we share with the Orang Utans. It is this island that not only are they killing Orang Utans mercilessly, but deforestation and irresponsible field burning adds to not only the Orang Utan's demise, but probably ours very soon as well. Suddenly the border dividing Sarawak and Kalimantan becomes meaningless.

Please help spread the awareness, especially to our young children, so they'll grow up with this in mind, possibly even changing our world and treatment towards animals for the better in the future. The future lies in their hands, because the current generation of humans are such screw-ups when it comes to awareness of endangered animals.

To learn more about Orang Utans, please see the reference links

The News Article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangutan

http://www.orangutanprotection.com/

http://www.savetheorangutan.org/

It's the time of the year again when all you smell is smoke - especially during the night, when the air is cooler, bringing down all the smoke particles from some open burning somewhere. During the daytime, the smoke is less intrusive, but forms a layer at the upper atmosphere and trapping the heat - the temperatures are unbearable.

This 'phenomenon' occurs every year -- usually involves stupid people taking shortcuts and simply setting fields ablaze for a quick clearing of the land for plantation of who-knows-what. Sometimes blamed on our neighboring country, Indonesia, but most of the time comes from our own backyard (but never made mentioned much about). What better time to have this during our mid-year May / Gawai festivals?

Ah, now you see why people describe Miri as "hot" when they visit -- it's like an oven here at times like this.

What's the number of lung disease cases in Miri like?

1. Each player shall furnish his own equipment for play, normally one club & two balls.
2. Play on a course must be approved by the owner of the hole.
3. Unlike outdoor golf, the object is to get the club in the hole & keep the balls out of the hole.
4. For most effective play, the club should have a firm shaft. Course owners are permitted to check the stiffness of the shaft before play begins.
5. Course owners reserved the right to restrict the length of the club if it may cause damage to the hole.
6. The object of the game is to take as many strokes as necessary until the course owner is satisfied the play is complete. Failure to do so may result in being denied permission to play the course again.
7. It is considered bad form to begin playing the hole immediately upon arrival at the course. The experienced player will normally take time to admire the entire course with special attention to well formed bunkers & delicate bushes.
8. Players are encouraged to have proper rain gear along, just in case.
9. Players are cautioned not to mention other courses they have played or are currently playing to the owner of the course being played. Upset course owners have been known to damage a players equipment for the reason.
10. Players should assure themselves that their match has been properly scheduled, particularly when a new course is being played for the first time. Previous players have been known to become irate if they discover someone else playing what consider to be a private course.
11. Player should not assume that a course is in shape for play at all times. Some players may be embarrassed if they find the course to be temporarily under repair. Players are advised to be extremely tactiful in this situation. More advanced players will find alternate means of play when this is the case.
12. Players are advised to obtain the course owner's permission before attempting to play the back nine.
13. Slow play is encouraged, however players should be prepared to proceed at quicker pace, at least temporarily, at the course owner's request.
14. It is considered outstanding performance, time permitting, to play the same hole several times in one match.
15. The course owner will be the sole judge of who is the best player.
16. Players are advised to think twice before considering membership at a given course. Additional assessments may be levied by the course owner & the rules are subject to change. For this reason, many players prefer to continue to play several different courses.

As many of you had known, the new Proton Saga was announced. It's a step in the right direction for Proton, setting their targets realistic and offering an affordable car design. (Remember they want to target German cars with their Waja? I thought it was April's Fools). It's also probably the ONLY new model that retained its model name.

For now, we will see whether it offers value and a low cost of ownership and live up to its original 1985 predecessor.

Therefore with a new car it's fitting they come out with a new system to order your new Proton, based on heavily researched studies by Proton to suit M'sian tastes and expectations to ease ordering. This system is known as Proton Ordering System (P.O.S.)

Base model = "Proton Saga Kosong"
Mid-range = "Proton Saga (Standard)"
Top model = "Proton Saga Special"

Black paint = "Proton Saga O"
Light paint = "Proton Saga C"

To call for Tow Truck = "Proton Saga Tarik"

I went to the dentist yesterday to have my problematic wisdom tooth surgically removed.

You see, for some odd reason, my so-called 'wisdom tooth' decided to come in at an angle that got itself embedded in my mouth with nowhere to grow out of.

Not so wise now, eh Wise Tooth?

The surgical procedure is relatively simple; first, the gum is cut open so that it exposes the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth.

Then, while the gum is bleeding profusely and I slowly die of hemorrhaging, this wise tooth was cut up into many itty bitty pieces, so that it can be removed bit by bit from its root, with its root the final part to be taken out.

And that's it, really.

All I have to do is just sit there with my mouth gaping wide open and slowly drift into a deep delirium and hallucinating magical elfs under anesthetic while the dentist pokes and drills around inside my head with all sorts tools that sound like mini chainsaws.

For an hour.

Wisdom tooth, indeed.

P.S. After some googling, I found out such occurances are fairly common, and is known as an 'impacted wisdom tooth'. That's right, 'impact'. It's what would happen when the angled tooth collides with the straight ones head on. Seatbelts and airbags for teeth aren't yet invented, so that's why they need to be taken out. See, we learn something new everyday.