In the USA and perhaps other countries too, they name the winner and even publish their pictures, but here it’s the typically ambiguous, nameless “40-year-old food vendor in Petaling Jaya” who won the devilishly difficult Sports Toto’s Mega TOTO 6/52, and beating the previous winnings record of RM19.3 million.

Here, “lucky” is not strong enough a word to describe this, since even the odds of winning the 6/49 is 1 in 13,983,816; of which some say:
- getting struck by lightning is easier done;
- if you buy a ticket for 2 draws every week, you’d win the jackpot in 140,000 years.

I don’t even want to analyse the 6/52’s odds. I can’t resist: it’s 1 in 20,358,520. Goodness, probably it’s more likely that I be struck by lightning every day for the rest of my life than winning this.

The lucky guy’s karma is in severe imbalance, I think he needs to read up on Angela Kelly, the post office staff in the UK who won more than RM100 million in August 2007 but ended up miserable.

The numbers: 17, 19, 20, 32, 39, 41 in draw 3075/08, date 22nd October 2008

And the lucky guy and his spouse’s unexpected reaction summed it up: instead of the conventional reactions like unbridled delirium, they slapped each other instead, ostensibly to make sure they’re not in dreamland.

The feeling could be more adrenalin-filled than a bungee jump or even base jumping, I mean what would your reaction be if you were watching the results and it’s exactly the same as the numbers you’re holding?

Apparently he’d been trying for about 10 years and spent RM50 each time. Assuming he has never missed a draw, that would mean he has spent around RM78,000 before his big win.

And seems that the lucky guy’s good at spotting “the trend of previous winning numbers.” I’ve tried this before and gave up because well, they are (seemingly) random numbers, I couldn’t see any trend at all.

Having said all the above, even 6/52 is relatively easy and RM20 million is peanuts compared to lotteries in other countries. For example, the SuperEnalotto of Italy is a mind-boggling 6/90, meaning a probability of 1 in 622 million – I think one would have to go through several Big Bangs to even think of winning this. But even its biggest win of USD128 million (itself an incredible amount) is dwarfed by the USA’s Mega Millions: get this: USD390 million [shared by 2 person though] – who needs instant millionaires when you can be an instant BILLIONAIRE (in RM of course)?

OK back to earth: what did the news do to you, did it make you even more determined to strike it rich via gambling?

…and would it help all the winners in managing all the money if they have, or used to have jobs in banking?

Source
The Star, 31 October 2008
Malaysiakini, 31 October 2008
New Straits Times, 31 October 2008

Popularity: 3% [?]

Football fans have one more reason to cheer: Carlsberg web-tv is now online, www.partofthegame.tv, which focuses on football (soccer) and its fans.

It has 5 channels with everything one expects to see, including classic football games, funny moments during matches and what’s it like to be a hardcore fan.

You can even be part of the whole web tv show by uploading your very own football videos.

Popularity: 1% [?]

What do you think? Is this true? Or have you tried this trick before?

Or as someone opined, it could be just be that the 2 “lucky” cars were parked AFTER the Town Board officers made their summons-issuing rounds?

Popularity: 1% [?]

The 3rd annual Kadus Entertainment (kadusmusic.com) gathering was rebranded Kadus Entertainment Star Studded Nite and was held at New Pusakag Cafe, Donggongon, Penampang on the evening of 18th October 2008.

I brought Papier Mache, that 7-member “multi pop” group from Tamparuli to perform there, and I must say it was an excellent decision, and worth every cent of the entrance fee.

Papier Mache performed an acoustic medley of 3 songs off their debut album: Nung Olingan Oku Dia, Terima Kasih & Stream:

Afterwards, they were inundated with show offers and many new friends.

Congratulations to the organising team, from what I heard it was the best-organised gathering so far, complete with red carpet (Donggongon area rugs?), security, grand-entrance photography sessions, buffet dinner, complimentary “siopon” and Japanese hard beverage.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Some say it’s the first ever, some say it’s the first in more than 20 years. So I guess the last time was not too successful…

And apparently, it’s the only marathon to be organised in Borneo, the 3rd largest island in the world.

The inaugural Borneo International Marathon (BIM) was on 12th October 2008 in the middle of Kota Kinabalu City.

The full results were made available on the 14th of October; some observations when going thru the list:

- Only 6 people broke the 3-hour barrier for the full marathon.

- The 10 or so Kenyans placed among the top places in all the events they participated in. Disney mentioned that they ran so fast that even his auto-focus servo couldn’t keep up. The top 4 placings in the full marathon – open category were all by Kenyans – the top 2 (Sammy Kiprop Kiptoo and Geoffrey Kiprotich Birgen) were timed at truly world-class times, around 2:25. I guess one can say that they run faster running a marathon than the normal guy running one round of the Likas Stadium jogging track. Even elite marathon runner Mark Williams (England), who finished 6th, timed a relatively distant 2:43.

- Some of the familiar names in Sabahan cross-country and Kinabalu Climbathon events also took part, and their times suggested that while they are supremely fit, they faced tough opposition, and need to be specialists in this event in order to place higher in future, eg:
(i) Ahmadul Tahir finished 12th in Full Marathon (Open), at 3:50, about 90 minutes behind the winner!
(ii) Duanis Indam finished 3rd in Full Marathon (Veteran), at 3:26
(iii) Yusop Tungkob finished 3rd in Full Marathon (Veteran), at 3:31
(iv) Mius Balanting finished 5th in Half Marathon (Open), at 1:31. The winner was Wilson Kibogo (Kenya) in 1:11.
(v) Safrey Sumping finished 6th in the same event above, at 1:32.
(vi) Guianus Salagan won the Half Marathon (Veteran) at 1:22.
(vii) Kuyun Sidau finished 12th in the same event above, at 1:45. He was famous at my alma mater for being the man to beat in long-distance running.

- Dr Helen Lasimbang clocked 5:35 in Full Marathon – Veteran. Not bad at all Dr!

- Kenny Sia, arguably Malaysia’s most well-known blogger competed in the half marathon – open category and finished 107th out of 160, in 2:42. The slowest finisher in his category was Emennial Fung in 3:46. The event was won by who else but a Kenyan, Wilson Kibogo in 1:11. Malaysian M Ramadass did the nation proud by breaking Kenya’s domination by finishing 2nd in 1:13, beating another Kenyan Micah Kiprotich to 3rd, who did 1:18.

- Jenap Said, the “Catwoman of Marathons” (I wonder how she can bear the heat running in that bodysuit) finished 11th in her category (half marathon – veteran), at 2:25.

- Chan Meng Hui, 78 of Singapore, was the oldest participant and took part in the full marathon, but I could not see his name in the results, perhaps he did not finish the race.

Popularity: 2% [?]

My blog post entitled “Miracle at Keningau: The Virgin Mary appeared?” in June 2007 generated huge interest. It talked about one coconut tree (some say four) with a cross pattern on it. After a while things got out of hand, with many other images around it supposedly seen and photographed by the crowds thronging the village where the tree’s located.

Now this one could be even more interesting.

A friend mentioned in June 2008 that on a visit to a project site in Matunggong (north of Sabah), he entered an old coconut plantation. There, he saw many “miraculous” coconut trees with leaves in various shapes: triangular, rectangular, even circular!

Recently he emailed me what he said is the only surviving photo that he took of the place. In it, you could see a rectangular-shaped leaf near the top of the coconut tree on the left. He also mentioned that a tree at the bottom of the picture has on it what looks like human eyes.

For the full sized-photo, click the following thumbnail.

Let me know if you spot anything else out of the ordinary.

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UPDATE 18th March 2009

Here’s another Chinese version which was apparently sung by a Ms Liu Qiu Yi and released 1986.

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Before today, I thought that it was Marsha AF3’s effort on primetime TV sometime in 2005, but now I think it’s much earlier than that.

Apparently, Cozzi Chong sang it in way back in 1997 in guess where – Pyongyang, North Korea. Then, she represented Malaysia in the decidedly wordy “International April Spring Friendship Art Festival.”
In that festival, she won 2 “gold medals,” including the “Top Ten Golden Hits Award” for “Jambatan Do Tamporuli” (sic).

Then, in 1998, she released a “VCD album” containing “Deng Ni Xin Teng / Jambatan Do Tamporuli” (sic).

In 2000, she released another Mandarin album with a Kadazandusun title, “Sang Ngawi Ngawi”; the title track became a hit in Taiwan.

The following is of Cozzi singing a medley of 2 songs, “Sang Ngawi Ngawi” and “Jambatan Do Tamporuli”. I am not sure if she sang them like that in her single/album, but if so, the lyrics are in Mandarin and Kadazandusun.

Click here to see the video

Popularity: 3% [?]

ZenniOptical.com is an online store selling prescription eyeglasses. I have checked, they ship worldwide.

Clark Howard of the popular U.S. talk radio host of the nationally syndicated consumer advocate program The Clark Howard Show even recommended them in a post dated 27th June 2007:

Zennioptical.com is still giving amazing deals on prescription eyeglasses to the public. $8 is all it costs for basic prescription glasses. Clark has ordered a pair and so have others on the staff and the customer service and the products have been fantastic. Clark finally got his in and he has not had any problems with them. So if you want some cheap prescription eyeglasses that don’t feel cheap, check out Zenni!

Their frames PLUS lens sell for as low as USD8 (of course you’d have to pay for the packaging and postage), but still don’t you think that’s quite cheap? Looking at the catalog photos for those cheapest glasses – I didn’t think they looked too bad.

Like this one:

I think I know who to recommend these to.

Choices for frames and lens are aplenty, including the following kinds of lenses: single vision, sunsensor, tinted sunglasses, bifocal and progressive.

How can they sell at such low prices? They say the reason for that is: they sell only those they manufactured themselves, and direct to the customer.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Here’s my list of the greatest, and most popular “aramai ti” songs which originated from Sabah or Sabahans.

While the mere mention of “aramai ti” conjures images of alcohol drinking sessions, it does not necessarily mean so. Conversely, while most of the songs in the list can be considered “drinking songs”, i.e. with direct reference to alcohol consumption, some are not: it is their playful, even irreverent lyrics, and of course immortal melodies that are the main factors which enabled these songs to make my, and I am sure many others’, list.

When I say irreverent, words/phrases like “janda muda” [young female divorcee], “karud” [playful term for "spouse" or "other half"] or “makan jalan” are commonly used.

I am not aware of any official compilation of such songs sold openly.

So here are the songs, with additional notes where deemed necessary or possible

Note: if you like the songs, please purchase the originals. Of course, the older ones might be quite troublesome to track down.

1. John Gaisah – “Ujung-ujung au kouli”: about a group of friends who trudged to another village and drank so much that they failed go back home. This has the classic “lolobuhon karabau” intro.
2. John Gaisah & Sulah Rampas – “Dua kali lima”: the 2 singers teasing each other over “sukis” of the local brew “lihing”
3. Rider Guntang – “Lima ribu”: about problems faced to raise RM5,000 cash as marriage dowry.
4. Sitim Bandaron – Nah tusin: song title literally means “take this money (to buy alcohol)”.
5. Honarius Basil – “Torila muda”
6. Francis Landong – “Biris punya biris”; this is surely the greatest “Dusun dangdut” song ever; excellent intro and all-round strong melodies. I think this song has strong references to drinking tapai from a “kakanan” using a bamboo straw.
7. Jaimol Sulimin – “Mansau-ansau”
8. Jokteo Akang – “Proton Saga Kelabu”: was wildly popular when it came out in 1992.
9. John Gaisah – “Ngoyon Ika Tunangai”: about one sleeping while hugging a “kakanan.”
10. Asmin Mudin (Umbut) & Lydia Kalidin – “Tiwas”: this one is a relatively recent favourite.
11. Justin Lusah – “Kada arau monduli”: tells guests not to go home so soon because there was still a “kakanan” of “singgarung.”
12. Honarius Basil – “Ku ingin jadi spy”: this is a cover of Mat Sentul’s “Spy Spy”. It is perhaps the most blatant Sabahan drinking songs ever
13. OA John Gaisah & Molly Alina Mojinggol – “Muli-uli togodon do sawo.” The one here is not the original; the original has the classic sketch intro where a drunk John comes home to his angry wife, Molly.
14. Francis Landong (?) – “Kada nogi poginum”
15. Jaidi Ariffin [or is it Thomas Intiang?] – “Bayaran ansur ansur”: about paying one’s marriage dowry by instalments instead of by lump sum.

Click here to listen to the songs

Popularity: 5% [?]