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Converting Driving License

2009-07-08T22:39:00.015+08:00

For those who are working in Singapore and want to convert their Malaysian driving license after passed the Basic Driving Theory Test, I would not recommend you to obtain the extract from the JPJ Johor (nearest to Singapore) as the staff there will blacklist your Malaysian license once you obtain the extract. By the way, the extract contains your driving records and particulars. You need the extract in order to get driving license in Singapore.

My friends obtained the extract from JPJ Sarawak and Malacca and their Malaysian license did not get blacklisted. If you are still insisting of getting the extract from JPJ Johor, you need to pay the agents there for RM200 to RM250 in order not to get blacklisted. The agents will usually waiting outside the JPJ building and luring those Malaysians who want to convert their driving license. The agents will give you their company namecards and then settle for you.

I feel that it's something like asking for a bribe. So I refused to pay them as I condemn any sorts of bribery. At first I thought Singapore driving license can be used in Malaysia since my colleagues working there (staying in Johor Bahru) did not get caught using Singapore driving license. After a year, I went back to my hometown only to discover that Singapore driving license cannot be used in Malaysia. I guess it can only be used in Johor Bahru since a lot of people staying there working in Singapore.

I phoned to JPJ Johor Licensing Unit and asked how if I want my Malaysian driving license back. The officer told me to get the extract from Singapore Traffic Police.

Below is the original conversation in Malay.

Me : Selamat pagi. Adakah sini Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Johor Bahru?
Operator : Ya.
Me : Boleh sambungkan ke talian Bahagian Perlesenan Pemandu tak?
Operator : Tunggu sebentar ya.

After 15 seconds of waiting.

Officer : Ada apa yang boleh saya bantu, encik?
Me : Saya memerlukan lesen memandu Malaysia saya kerana kadang-kala saya
perlu memandu di Sarawak. Saya dapat tahu yang lesen memandu Singapura
saya tidak boleh diguna pakai di Malaysia.
Officer : Ok, saudara perlu mendapatkan abstrak dari Polis Trafik Singapura. Sama
seperti dulu bagaimana saudara dapat abstrak dari JPJ untuk mendapatkan
lesen memandu Singapura.
Me : Terima kasih, tuan.

I went to Singapore Traffic Police Headquarter at Ubi Avenue 3 near Paya Lebar MRT to get the abstract. Upon payment, the staff gave me the abstract of driving license records. She informed me that I can still keep the driving license as the license is valid for life (no blacklisted). The good thing about Singapore driving license is that we do not need to renew it. There is only one time registration fee of SG$50 and you will get a lifetime license!

After that I went to JPJ Johor Bahru holding the extract with the hope that I can have both Singapore and Malaysia driving license back since Singapore traffic police did not blacklist me. My happiness did not last long when the JPJ staff told me that my Singapore driving license will be PUNCHED if I want to apply my Malaysia driving license back. If like that, I have no more Singapore driving license. Grggghhhhh....damn angry.

Another agent approached me after few minutes.

Agent : Apa kamu mahu? Convert lesen memandu kah?
Me : Saya mahu memohon balik lesen memandu Malaysia saya tetapi diberitahu yang
lesen memandu saya akan dipotong. Saya tidak faham mengapa polis trafik
Singapura cakap boleh simpan lesen memandu Singapura saya tetapi JPJ sini cakap
perlu potong.
Agent : You mahu kekal kedua-dua lesen? Kamu perlu bayar RM350 dan kami boleh
selesaikan dengan cepat.
Me : *WTF! All money, money, money!* Walao, kenapa mahal sangat?
Agent : Sebab sekarang perlu settle dengan dua pihak, pihak yang bertanggungjawab
senarai hitam punya dan satu lagi pihak yang akan 'punch' lesen memandu
Singapura kamu.
Me : kalau macam ini...
Agent : Siapa suruh dulu kamu tak mahu bayar RM200? Dulu hanya libatkan satu pihak,
sekarang dua pihak. Jadi mesti mahal sikit lah.
Me : Ok, tak apa. Saya boleh selesaikan sendiri. Wah, macam ini cepat kaya lah kamu.

After a while he approached another guy who wanted to convert driving license. I am wondering how much can the agents earn per month. No matter what, I will not support bribery even though it involves RM50 only.

So what I can recapitulate here is that try not to get the abstract from JPJ Johor Bahru. Get it from the other states of Malaysia in order not to get blacklisted. If you still want JB, then you pay RM200/250 to the agents.

Learn To Become A Novice Cook

2009-06-30T16:52:00.009+08:00

In view of the food price increase, it is good food for thought to cook ourselves at home instead of buying food from the stalls. Thus, I have come out an idea to learn to cook myself at home. My idea was further inspired after read Chloe Ling's blog about the home cooked meal by her sister.

But I am not as advanced as Chloe Ling's sister cooking the succulent Korean food. I am only capable of cooking a simple fried rice.

Well, I used eggs, anchovies, vegetables, a big onion, light soy sauce, salt and MSG as my ingredients. The rice is best to be left overnight in the fridge or else it will be sticky.

Admittedly though, I like to hear the sizzling sound from the wok especially when I fried the beaten eggs. If the rice stick together, I will crumble it with a spoon so that when I cook it, the ingredients can mix evenly with the rice.

This was the output after I put the big onion, vegetables, eggs and anchovies. You can add prawns and green peas too.

Right after that, I mixed the rice with the ingredients and stirred it for a few minutes before putting some salt, light soy sauce and MSG.

The tantalizing smell from the fried rice made my stomach rumbling.

If you prefer the spicy food, you can replace the light soy sauce with chili paste.

That's all. It's meal time!

Break

2009-06-30T14:47:00.005+08:00

I will be on vacation for a few days.

Hope I won't be infected by A(H1N1).

Badminton Competition

2009-06-27T18:33:00.033+08:00

I was busy chatting in the blog when Vicky invited me to attend a badminton competition. It has been a very long time since I last attended a badminton competition. So, I guess it's a good opportunity to see the youngsters showing their talents. The venue of which the competition is being held was rather confused me. For me, the most popular places to play badminton in Sibu are none other than Thomson Corner and Sibu Superbowl. Anyway, after being guided by her, I reached the destination safely. It's good to learn a new place (MY Centre) in Sibu. A very big thanks to Vicky!

Watching international competitions live on television is not new to me anymore. And I remembered clearly that most of the time, Datuk Lee Chong Wei lost to Lin Dan in the final showdown.

When I was inside the hall, I could see a lot of people warmed up their bodies. Some of the players were busy looking at their match schedules. After a few minutes, the organiser gave speech to all of the participants.

The match that brought to my attention was the match between a 13-year-old guy with a 20-something-year-old guy.
"It's very unfair to the younger guy", I told Vicky.
Vicky just shrugged with a big smile.
How can a guy who has not yet reached his puberty put a fight with a guy who has already experienced the bodily changes for almost ten years?
After all, I truly admired his fighting spirit although he lost to his more senior opponent. He has successfully dragged the game to the rubber set before succumbed 21-19 to his rival in the hard fought game.

Then, the most anticipated moment came when Vicky herself challenged her adversary. The match was quite interesting with Vicky's supporters gave incessant applause to her.

Every time when she stole a point from her opponent, she would try to motivate herself by clenching her fist, "Yes, I did it!". That's the true spirit of fighting. Eventually, she lost after a long fight despite all the beautiful tricks she performed throughout the entire match.

After resting for about 30 minutes, she proceeded with mixed doubles match and in the long run they lost 21-15, 18-21, 21-17 after pushed all the way to three sets in the enthralling 45-minute game.

I do feel that such competition is a good platform to showcase our talents. I am totally excited attending this competition despite the hot weather.

Drama Acting In Singapore

2009-06-25T14:54:00.031+08:00

Back in 2007, I was involved in the drama competition for Singapore Emerge together with my five other teammates.

It was not easy to immerse myself in the pursuit of a new skill completely unrelated to what I learned in the university. The worst part in the drama acting came when we were required to memorise the long script. Memorising the script was like memorising the important dates when we studied history in the secondary school. And I had a bad record in history subject.

We were instructed to use an accent, move our arms and body and exaggerate our facial expressions. When I talked about facial expression, I was talking about the facial expressions like the one in the touching Korean drama series, Stairway to Heaven and Winter Sonata. I was told to act "dramatically" and most importantly enjoy my character.

Before we went to the stage, we embellished our costumes with accessories and did a foundation makeup.

The partial of the drama script...(Of course, I just memorised my character part):

Characters

Main Leads
Josh – likes Carol
Carol – likes Lewis, tomboy
Jessie – likes Josh
Lewis – very very sissy

Supporting
gangsters
Director
Assistant director

Scene 1
Restaurant
Romantic Music

Lead Man (Josh):
Darling, you look beautiful tonight..

Lead Girl (Jessie):
Oh..stop…go on..

Lead Man
I would pluck the stars from the sky, just so I could see your face..

Lead Girl
Err..that's so romantic…in a weird sorta way..

Lead man:
I would brush my teeth 3 times just for you!

Lead Girl
What?

Lead Man
Darling..what I'm trying to say is..(kneels) Will you have this? (takes out big box)

Lead girl
OH MY!! What a big box!!! (opens it)..what is this?..a mcspicy?
Lead man
Oh..I'm sorry..that's my lunch…I meant for you to have this!!! (takes out other box)

Lead girl
Wow…what a beautiful ring…yes..yes I do!!(they are about to kiss)

Gangster 1 enters and smacks lead guys head on the table..brawl ensues..lead man becomes action super hero..defeats the gangsters one by one..carol is one of the gangsters

Lead gangster (Lewis, Italian accent):
You!! You have dishonoured my family!! I will have..my vendetta!!

Bla...bla...bla...

Although we did not win in the final, it was a great experience performing in front of thousands of audiences.

Best Advertising Messages From Proton

2009-06-23T23:12:00.014+08:00

In the wake of the increasing number of fatalities involving the back seat passengers, the government has geared up its machine to ensure the death toll being mitigated. These include issuing summons for those who do not buckle up, distributing pamphlets and directing a meaningful commercial as well. Watch the advertisement below.

After watching it, what I can conclude here are:

1) Ladies, please take EXTRA precaution when you are driving at night especially at the deserted area.

2) Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't want to risk your life, please ensure that you wear the rear seat belt if you sit behind...

So, act now...

Abuse

2009-06-23T12:47:00.011+08:00

It is common for us to hear the maids being abused by their employers nowadays. The case of Siti Hajar is rather upset me and I am sure all of us unanimously condemn the unscrupulous act by her employer. With all the mistakes the employers feel that the maids make, they should remember that the maids are not infallible. They too are human.

But how about the maid herself?

I couldn't help but pity to the kids. Is this the maid who obtained the Certificate of Eligibility?

In my opinion, both the maid and the employer should attend a training course. For the maid's employer, it would mean to educate them to be more responsible, whereas for the maid herself, it is hoped that it would educate them on the emotional intelligence in dealing with fractious kids. Both maids and the employers should contain their emotions without resorting to violence. Every human deserves to be treated equally and with respect and love. After all, it does not mean that all Malaysian employers and Indonesian maids are like that.

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

2009-06-22T10:17:00.008+08:00

When I am bored especially in the sultry afternoon, I will just sit down and looking for nowhere. The more movement I make, the more perspiration produced from my sweat gland and the more uncomfortable I am. The odour from the armpit is my worst enemy ever.

At times, I will go out to play badminton and supper with my friends. Before I go to sleep, I will take out a book to read and if there is an idea on what to write in my blog, I will draft it out. When I read a book, I prefer a table/ stand fan to be switched on and directed to me as I want to shoo away the mosquitoes that constantly suck my blood every night. I don't like to use aerosol as the smell makes me dizzy. Moreover, it brings hazard to atmospheric ozone.

When it comes to shrieking with laughter, I won't forget the Taiwanese variety shows hosted by Jacky Wu.

GUESS (variety show), for example has been self sustaining since its inception several years ago. Jacky Wu has been popularly known for his quick witted humour in Taiwan.

That is the show that can cheer me up and put a grin on my face after back from work other than listening to soothing music.

Laughter is not only the best medicine but it is a natural and inexpensive way to make people look young by not focusing too much on stress.

Wait, I didn't mean that you must laugh all the time to stay young. Laugh at the appropriate time and smile when you are going to greet people. It's a choice, simple as that.

Insect Collection

2009-06-21T13:06:00.015+08:00

Collecting insects was never an easy job. I used a medical syringe with needle to inject formalin into their body tissues as well as to paralyse them.

Well, I was helping my elder brother in his Biology project. The project was compulsory for every Form 6 STPM Biology student. It was about collecting insects and preserving them, at least 25 insects with minimum 5 orders. It was an arduous task as I needed to go to the bush or jungle nearby my house to catch those insects. I caught butterflies, beetles, bees, grasshoppers, dragonfly, stoneflies, and et cetera. The constant mosquito bites during the hunt incurred the displeasure of me. Basically, I used the home-made net to catch the bees and the butterflies.

The insect that I caught the most was the beetle. But I had a tough time operating the insect assiduously with its hard body. It took me a while to inject the formalin to kill it as the needle cannot penetrate through its abdomen without applying high pressure. Then I would insert wet cotton soaked in formalin into its body after I picked out all of its internal parts using forceps. Of course, I wore the surgical mask and hand glove during the operation that took about 10 minutes for each insect.

The worst part came when I operated a cockroach. The smell of the organ was downright awful until I almost ‘choke to death’. Even the surgical mask could not assist me in eliminating the smell. Yet I still need to complete my task. Fortunately, spider is not considered as an insect as I am phobia towards any type of spiders even if the spider was just a minuscule one. The most popular question that people might ask is whether butterfly is an insect or somewhat belongs to the other category. In fact, butterfly is a type of insect; an insect with a pair of large scaly wings.

After a few months, my house was inundated for what my grandma called the worst flood in 20 years. A group of uninvited guests invading my house, apparently to seek refuge as their habitat was naturally seized by cataclysm. Since they were destitute of ordinary human feelings, I took this opportunity to hunt them down one by one. After all, my house was not an asylum for them. The first creature that I killed was a black scorpion.

Using the tongs that my grandmother used to pick charcoals (to boil water for the dumplings – ‘Zong Zi’), I picked the 8-centimetre-long scorpion and threw it inside a pail of hot water to drown it. Those were the days.

Reminiscences of My Grandfather

2009-06-20T08:02:00.031+08:00

Flipping through an old album, I saw the yellowish photos of my grandfather 13 years ago. All of a sudden, I felt like I was in my past together with him. The photos really recalled all the sweet moments when I was still in the primary school. It is full of nostalgic.

The lost of my beloved grandfather was strongly felt and my heart was pain indeed. I am still distinctively remembered that the last thing he did for me was massaging my feet. He would always volunteer himself to massage my feet every night before he went to sleep. I still keep the foot massage book that he used to read as a remembrance.

In the mornings when I was ten years old, he would always cycle me to school with his black bicycle. Recalling his generosity of spirit brings tears to my eyes. And every time I go back home, I will think back and remember him that day at the kitchen.

My humble advice is to always share your love with your loved ones. Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. And I know someday I will have a chance to see him again. Happy Father's Day to my grandfather wherever he may be.

Kukup Trip

2009-06-17T12:43:00.072+08:00

Having been working in an urban city for around a year, I decided to go for a trip where I can enjoy the cosy and unpretentious ambience.

Kukup came to my mind as the area is a fishing village and popular for its seafood. I went there together with Joyce.

There are lots of chalet houses you can stay in Kukup. There are tour packages offered to visitors but we have decided to walk on our own. Most of the chalet houses are surrounded by sea and are built on stilts. This Mangrove Floating chalet looks like a bungalow.

I saw some teenagers swimming near their houses. They were shouting and laughing incessantly.

We could see some residents dried the raw prawn crackers. Frankly speaking, it was my first time went to a fishing village. The air was so cool and I could hear the wind blowing in my ear.

Two third of the stilts are submerged during high tide and exposed during low tide.

Interestingly enough, during the low tide period, you can see plenty of mudskippers and clam s.

A fisherman was busy mending his fishing net when Joyce interrupted him, "May I know which area we can go here?". "There is a mangrove swamp not far away from here. You can reach there by boat located at that side", he pointed his finger confidently. Before we left, we thanked him for the useful piece of information.

Without further ado, we proceeded to the place and were told to pay RM5 per person to ride on the boat.

There were no passengers on that boat other than Joyce and me.

The boat driver (Ah Long) took us to the mangrove forest. There was an abandoned boat not too far from my sight.

We reached the mangrove forest and were told to contact Ah Long once we finished our visitation. I took down the uncle's handphone number.

At the counter area, I could see there are two packages offered by Taman Negara Johor Pulau Kukup.

We paid for the second time to enter the mangrove forest.

After the payment was done, instead of walking further down, we climbed up the stairs to walk on the suspension bridge. My first time experience walking on suspension bridge was at Bukit Aup Jubilee Park in my hometown several years ago.

There was a passageway made of wooden plank for us to walk. We spotted the clams area after strolling for about 10 minutes.

The area was so muddy that I needed to climb down carefully to take a closer view.

I did not see a single snake at the snake river. So I guess the name was given due to its shape resembling a snake.

Then I saw this information board.

There it was...! I found two wild boars searching frantically for food but I was not dare to walk closer as the wild boars are aggressive at times.

After 45 minutes of walking, we reached fiddler crab area. What I could tell about this crab is that it is a very shy creature and will hide in the mud if anyone approaches it.

I zoomed this photo 3 times in order to prevent being spotted by the crab.

Joyce seemingly enjoyed the view so much and asked me to take photos of her.

We ended our visitation at mangrove forest around 5pm. After that, the uncle took us to fish cages located 200 metres from the mangrove forest.

It was such a coincidence that the scouts from Kuala Lumpur were having excursion on that day. We just followed their tour guide. The place was quite crowded and I could hardly move around.

Suddenly Joyce asked me, " Why did the guy put the anchovies on the plank?". Within few seconds, I saw water shooting up from the surface of water. The guy and the scouts who were watching nearby, tried to avoid the water shooting. To my amazement, the anchovies put on the plank 1 metre from the surface of the water were dropping one by one after being shot by the archer fish. The fish is capable to squirt a jet of water accurately to one anchovy at a time.

The porcupinefish is the fish that I was waiting for. The tour guide briefed about the fish. The fish moved effortlessly as the guy grabbed it for the viewers to see. We were not satisfied by what we seeing as it was too far away for us to view clearly. We asked the guy who feeded the archer fish to show us one more time. This time the view was much clearer. I admired the porcupinefish great methods of self defense.

The horrible image below is the dead puffed-up porcupinefish which had been dried up under the hot sun...sounds cruel, right?

Few minutes later, the uncle approached us and caught a horseshoe crab.

According to him, it contains high cholesterol.

The video shows the conversation between Joyce and the uncle regarding the horseshoe crab.

After released it, he showed us the cat shark and the seahorse.

Watch the short video below.

It's meal time for all the fish in the cages.

One of the workers threw the food to the cage and the fish ate the food hungrily.

Looking at those fish eating, my stomach started to grumble. We went back to the chalet at 6pm. After having a discussion with Joyce, we decided to have our dinner at High King Seafood Restaurant.

We ordered fried prawns with garlic sauce, kangkung belacan, fried crabs and fried squids. My stomach could not resist anymore when my nose sensed the tantalizing smell of the food. The strategic location of the restaurant which is facing to the sea makes it a perfect place for diners. We enjoyed the seaside view while gobbled up all the food. Meanwhile, the fishermen were busy washing their nets and put their catch of the day in the containers to be sold to the local and Singapore market.

The next day, before we went back, a bicycle park near the Kukup's bus station earned my attention. It was an innovative design of basket.

We left Kukup at 12 noon. Before that, we bought a lot of prawn crackers and crispy banana chips to bring home. Joyce enjoyed the trip so much and she told me that the mangrove forest and the fish cages are the most exciting places we had visited. I could not agree more with her!