Another track from the classic 1974 album, which I heard many times when I was small off a vinyl of course.
All characters played by Jamali Shadat, except the traffic policeman who’s played by Hamid Gurkha.
At the time myself and three friends went to Venice, we only had a Europe By Train guidebook and a European train timetable which we later lost. Still, it was an very interesting adventure, going to a city I’ve read about for years and finally seeing it in person.
Our hectic itinerary didn’t allow us to stay overnight there, so we only visited the top “must-see” places as written in the book. My impression was that Venice was a totally unique city - probably the only city in the world without any cars. And the streets were frustratingly winding, with names barely visible, and some didn’t have any names at all! We had to count the number of turnings we made, how many intersections to pass and things like that, in order to avoid being lost. Yet, even after trying to be very careful, we still managed to be lost at least twice - luckily we managed to retrace our steps.
Being a prime tourist magnet, I expected things there to be very expensive - and they were. And one day was definitely not enough to absorb all the sights. So one is caught in a quandary - how need to see more of the legendary city and still keep expenses down to a minimum?
The next time I go there, the Cheap Hotels guide by hotelsbycity.net could be a helpful guide, so that we could stay there a bit longer. That guide had a list of almost 40 hotels in Venice. Each hotel has its own page, with photos, rates and directions guide.
Where applicable, there’s also a customers’ review, meaning you could read honest, no-holds-barred, independent reviews.
…Next up, European cruises?
kuhulur salam seharum Tiger
kasih sayang itu sejernih montoku
setulus hati seputih linutau
walaupun dosaku sehitam Stout
kumohon ampun sebanyak pusas
maaf kupinta sampai kesumpak
Tahun depan akan diadakan pilihanraya. Oleh itu sebuah parti baru yang mesra rakyat akan ditubuhkan iaitu Parti Untuk Semua Anak Sabah (PUSAS). Berminat untuk jadi ahli?
This year alone I have seen and compiled at least 4 related newsreports.
Daily Express, 25th February 2007, One Montoku Too Many
Daily Express, 12th March 2007, Who Needs Watching With Guards Like These?
Daily Express, 13th July 2007, Public Nuisance
If you are considering furthering your studies via Online Learning, you can consider the US-based Capella University - they accept students from all over the world.
While the “fully online university” moniker may make alarm bells ringing, this university has proved its worth by winning the Minnesota Tekne Award, “Technology User” category back in November 2007, defeating Ecolab and Honeywell in the finals.
The judges chose it over the others due to its “innovative application of products or services resulting in dramatic business improvement or market advantage.”
Founded in 1993, Capella University is accredited by The US Higher Learning Commission.
Among the first completely online IT programs, Capella’s program was built based on the needs and competencies identified by technology experts within top Minnesota companies, including 3M, Medtronic and Honeywell.
They even have perhaps the USA’s first and only fully online doctorate IT program.
Capella currently has more than 2,000 students in IT at all levels.
To add yet another feather in its cap, it was also recently chosen by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security to be a Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. Hence, I suppose that it’s safe to assume that its security systems are as good as anybody’s.
Apart from IT, Capella also has programs in business, education, human services, psychology, public health, public safety. It currently has 20,000 students from more than 50 countries.
At km 36, Tamparuli-Ranau Road, near Kg Bongol. Required 10 stitches on his head.
At the end of Dewa 19’s press conference on the 14th of December (the day before their concert at Stadium Likas, Kota Kinabalu) those present were given an opportunity to take photos with them. First was the staff of Celcom, the main sponsor of their tour. Then it was the staff of Magellan Sutera, where Dewa 19’s entourage stayed during their 2-night sojourn in Sabah. Finally, it was members of the media, where I joined in. After that, it was a chaotic mess as everybody else wanted a piece of the band.
TV3 and I with Ahmad Dhani [Picture credit: Chris Maskilone, Daily Express]
Later the band ate their dinner next door, but not before being hounded by more fans waiting outside. Yuke (the bassist), after doing autographs, was the last to go inside.
Outside, I had a short chat with Aja, the bassist of Jiaja.
On 6th December around 3.30pm while at the office in Kota Kinabalu I received a call from a colleague telling me to hurry home to Penampang because “the Babagon dam is cracked and leaking - there’s going to be a big flood.”
Babagon dam, constructed in 1997, is the biggest dam in Sabah, and 70 metres tall.
View of the dam from the west [pic source]
2 satellite views of the dam (note the scale on bottom left) [pic source]
I called a few other people living in Penampang area : they already knew about it. In fact, everybody knows about it already.
When I called my house located near the river they said the river was flowing quicker than normal and its level was rising, which is what usually happens when water is manually released from the dam.
When I called a contact in the media, he said the police and fire department were already at the dam to check it out.
At 4.20pm he called again to inform that Corporate Dynamics Sdn Bhd, the operator of the dam confirmed that there’s no problem with the dam.
The next day, Daily Express carried a report that said 1 million cubic metres of water had escaped, causing Moyog river’s level to rise by a metre and that this had caused panic among those staying along the river, and that Corporate Dynamics Sdn Bhd General Manager Julian Liew said:
The problem started when a power supply interruption occurred around 1pm, causing the computerised programming system controlling the “still way gate” to be defective. As a result of the malfunction, the computer programming lost its communication with the system at the still way gate, resulting in the gate’s uncontrolled lower slide and water spilling over the gate. We managed to rectify the problem within 40 minutes. It was a very rare incident which had never happened before. A CCTV and monitoring system will be installed soon at the dam site, not only for security purpose but to monitor the dam.
The following picture from Google Maps shows that the dam is less than 10km from Donggongon Town, the commercial hub of Penampang:
When a concert advertisement says that it will start at a certain time, always add at least an hour to it. In the case of Dewa 19’s Kota Kinabalu stop, the poster said 7pm, but support act Jinbara made their appearance at 8.37pm. That’s a full 90 minutes overdue! I heard some fans had been waiting outside from 5.30pm but were not allowed to go in until 7.
The backdrop:
Tickets cost RM30, but I was told that to go to the “mosh pit” measuring about 60ft x 60ft one would have to fork out RM50.
There were around 5,000 in the crowd, quite a lot of them Indonesian. I am not sure if it’s a good idea to bring kids to this kind of concert. The smallest kid I saw there must be around 10 years old. Apart from the very high level of volume, there’s the unnerving sight of older kids going crazy during the heavier, more upbeat songs. However, the presence of the 2 big screens showing what’s going on onstage was a very good idea: since it’s a standing-room-only concert, those needing a break from standing up can still follow what’s going on while being seated on the ground.
Jinbara had a surprise for the crowd, when this guy suddenly appeared and sang lead vocals for them:
Around 9.30pm, Dewa 19 finally took to the stage to a thunderous roar. I don’t profess to be a hardcore Dewa 19 fan, I’ve heard most of the songs they performed but not to the level of memorising the lyrics.
Ahmad Dhani’s tshirt making a revolutionary statement - that’s the Star of David right in the middle:
The back of Once’s shirt says: “I am sick of my sickness”:
Of course Dewa 19 are consummate professionals and they performed with aplomb - that should be the case for a band of their stature, however I was expecting a more energetic performance. Perhaps it’s too much to expect them to top Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I was expecting something like what you’d normally expect at Hard Rock Cafe. And aging rockers The Rolling Stones seems able to exude a greater amount of energy. Perhaps this was caused by the lead guitarist and bassist being rooted to their spot for much of the evening.
I read that Ahmad Dhani is not much of a singer, and from what I witnessed, I’d agree that it’s best to leave lead vocals to Once, whose pipes were made for stadium rock.
There were a few things which noticeably dampened the momentum of the concert. One was a lucky draw, where Ahmad Dhani announced 3 winners. One winner was directly behind me and he was delirious: screaming, jumping about and finally sprinting towards the stage. But you don’t do lucky draws at a rock concert!
Second, it was a 1 hour, 40 minutes concert. But wait, the 3rd support act, Dewi-Dewi, a three-member all-girl vocal group, took the stage at 10.15pm, which is 45 minutes after Dewa 19 first appeared. The ladies were on stage for a good half hour. During that time, there’s a distinct dampening in audience enthusiasm. This is not to say they were no good - of course they were. I especially admired 2 of them with their Bonnie Tyler-like raspy vocals. And the first song they performed was really good. But their taking the stage like that seemed like rudely barging in. Reading about them, apparently they were created and managed by Ahmad Dhani, just like Ratu before. So it looks like it’s a case of Ahmad promoting his “latest product.” I think it would’ve been better for Dewi Dewi to take the stage after Jinbara and Ella, not in the middle of Dewa 19’s set.
And there’s no need for an MC to engage the crowd (usually a very tricky task) - why not simply play Dewa 19’s songs in the background and/or play the music videos?
Then there was no encore. Probably Sabah folks are not attuned to this concert culture yet. When Once said: “this is our last song” people simply groaned and simply walked off the moment Dewa 19 bade goodnight at 11.10pm.
The following video was taken starting 10.48pm: Once belting out probably Dewa 19’s best song, Pupus:
This is a truly deserved, and very difficult to win award. Nicol David, 23, squash’s world number 1 is the first Asian Sportswoman of the Year.
She beat 2 other contenders for the title:
- Thailand’s Paweena Thongsuk, reigning Olympic champion in 75-kg women’s weightlifting.
- South Korea’s Jin Sun-yu, former world and reigning Olympic champions in speed skating. At the 2006 Olympics she won 3 gold medals.
Underlining the high standard of the award, the Asian Sportsman of the Year went to none other than 110m hurdles reigning world and Olympic champion, world number one and world record holder, the great Liu Xiang.
Now, Nicol’s next target should be to win the world’s top truly global sporting award, the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award. Competition is of course even tougher.
Look at the winner in 2007, Yelena Isinbayeva, 25, the Russian pole vaulter. She’s considered to be the greatest ever female pole vaulter, having been the first woman to clear 5.00 metres. She’s the reigning Olympic champion and of course world record holder for that event. In fact, she has set 20 world records. She’s a two-time IAAF Female Athlete of the Year (2004 and 2005).
Phew.
How about the winner in 2006? Janica Kostelić, 25, was a Croatian Alpine skier. She’s considered one of the greatest female skiers of all time, being the only woman to win 4 golds in alpine skiing at the Olympics, including 3 at one Olympiad. She’s a 3-time world champion. In 2006 she became only the 3rd woman in World Cup history to win World Cup races in all of the sport’s 5 disciplines. Later, she became only the second female skier ever to win all 5 disciplines in one season.
Very tough indeed. But if she makes it, she should be made the youngest Tan Sri in Malaysian history.
Source
The Star, 13 Dec 2007
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