Ramblings

Home at last

2006-07-23T18:19:00.000+01:00

Newton discovered a long time ago that objects tend to maintain their states of rest or motion in the absence of forces acting to the contrary. Likewise, it is not so easy to get an idle blog up and running again. In any case, I have now returned to the green fields and buzzing mosquitoes of the Soga area, Batu Pahat; home is where the heart is, aneurisms and all.

Had a brief sojourn in London at the end of second year - between May and July - to travel a bit and experience the British summer. Among the highlights - almost getting lost and/or killed while trekking alone in heavy rain on a forested isle outside Berlin, sweltering in the London Underground (and above ground, too) during a dry British heatwave, and of course watching England lose on penalties in a packed London pub =P

My flight back on Emirates Airlines went considerably better than expected - as "Official Partner" of the World Cup 2006 they were able to let us catch reruns of the previous day's footballing action, which off-set my serious error in booking my flight for the evening of the World Cup Final. As it was, I managed to catch The Head Butt and other assorted antics aboard the Airbus A330 from Dubai to Malaysia, as well as the 3rd Place Playoff on the considerably more sophisticated Boeing 777 from London to Dubai the evening before.

The odd thing about Emirates is that they sound pretty tough on regulations ("Maximum one item of hand baggage including laptop") ("Check-in at least 3 hours before departure") but they were really quite lepak when I went for the flight. First they let me check in 90 mins before departure time (stuck train at Hatton Cross and long queue at counter ... not my fault anyway), then they cheerfully tagged and waved on both my cabin bag and laptop, which came to about double the official weight limit anyway. What a cool airline. Plus, they're cheaper too (real reason for switching). Though one wonders why they bother publishing such fussy-sounding rules.

Dubai International Airport is a posh-looking duty-free haven, artificial palm trees and all; the good thing is the terminal layout is pretty straightforward so no risk of getting lost. 3 hours' transit was more than enough to get hold of some Dirhams (very P.Ramlee-ish) and grab a pack of Arabian dates stuffed with almonds. Good stuff.

Have now returned to Batu Pahat; good to see family and friends again, and to ride a good old motorcycle once more. Town hasn't changed much except for a proliferation of food courts in the Cheng Siu area; Batu Pahat folk must have quite an appetite to generate that much demand! Inflation has pretty much taken its toll - nasi bariani is now from RM6 plus 5% Government tax so that's a far cry from the days when I stopped my bicycle by the stall on the way home from school and got the stuff at RM3 a pack.

Now for 2 months of rest and relaxation at home. Theoretically like that-lah.

It's just ...

2006-04-09T23:54:00.000+01:00

The following thought-provoking post appeared on my Friendster bulletin board recently:

Month one
Mommy, I am only 8 inches long, but I have all my organs. I love the sound of your voice. Every time I hear it, I wave my arms and legs. The sound of your heart beat is my favorite lullaby.

Month Two
Mommy, today I learned how to suck my thumb. If you could see me, you could definitely tell that I am a baby. I'm not big enough to survive outside my home though. It is so nice and warm in here.

Month Three
You know what Mommy, I'm a boy!! I hope that makes you happy. I always want you to be happy. I don't like it when you cry. You sound so sad. It makes me sad too, and I cry with you even though you can't hear me.

Month Four
Mommy, my hair is starting to grow. It is very short and fine, but I will have a lot of it. I spend a lot of my time exercising. I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes, and stretch my arms and legs. I am becoming quite good at it too.

Month Five
You went to the doctor today. Mommy, he lied to you. He said that I'm not a baby. I am a baby Mommy, your baby. I think and feel. Mommy, what's abortion?

Month Six
I can hear that doctor again. I don't like him. He seems cold and heartless. Something is intruding my home. The doctor called it a needle. Mommy what is it? It burns! Please make him stop! I can't get away from it! Mommy! HELP me!

Month Seven
Mommy, I am okay. I am in Jesus's arms. He is holding me. He told me about abortion. Why didn't you want me Mommy?

Every Abortion Is Just . . .
One more heart that was stopped.
Two more eyes that will never see.
Two more hands that will never touch.
Two more legs that will never run.
One more mouth that will never speak

Useful Market Terminology

2006-02-04T22:47:00.000Z

So here it is - it's currently the frantic late-winter season for penultimate-year lawyer-wannabes to go around the City attending interviews for 2006 'summer placements' (read: well-paid office boy/girlship). Having been to one or two such "commercially-oriented" interviews and having heard of others who have endured the same ordeal, perhaps it would be a good idea to consider some of the more complex terminology (read: utter jargon) that one might fairly expect to encounter on such 'friendly' conversations:

Diversification : When Ah Seng has been repairing bicycles for 20 years and decides to start repairing motorcycles as well

Flotation : Something you do when your ferry sinks and you happen to find some loose plank in the water. Also - something Leonardo DiCaprio failed to do in Titanic

Initial Public Offer (IPO) : When Ah Lian receives a fresh batch of veggies first thing in the morning and calls out "satu kilo dua ringgitttttt !!"

Stock Options : When Kedai Runcit Linggam runs out of tomato ketchup and has to decide whether to order Kimball or order Maggi

Money Laundering : What happens when you accidentally leave some cash in the trousers you stuff into the washing machine

Recapitalisation : When you drive all the way to downtown KL only to find that the government department you want has moved to Putrajaya

Market Recapitalisation : When Pasar Awam Batu Pahat moves from Jalan Mohd.Akil to Jalan Shahbandar

Securitisation : When Minah hires Mr.Singh to guard her jewellery shop

Due Diligence : When your SPM exam is coming up and you memorise everything in your Pelangi reference book as well as your friend's Sasbadi reference book

Market Research : When you survey 6 veggie stalls before concluding that Ah Lian has the cheapest garlic on offer

Partnership : What you get when you tell a girl "I love you" and she says "I love you too"

Limited Liability : When the fish fillet you fry turns out lousy and you blame it on "cheap Tesco food"

Franchise : When you want a business rival to "disappear" and you hire some illegal Indons to do it for you

Fragmentation : What happens when you accidentally drop your favourite glass

Asset stripping : What muggers routinely do at Underground platforms

Freezing order : When it is a cold rainy day and Cikgu Zamri goes "you haven't done your homework, go stand outside!!"

In receivership : The position of children and unmarried bachelors during Chinese New Year when angpows start going around

Just some idle thoughts of mine while on the way home =P

Wilson

Encounter of the 'other' kind

2006-01-20T22:21:00.000Z

Recently, I opened this very interesting bulletin on www.friendster.com. Just look at this:

Message: Message: do not stop reading this or something bad will happen.

One day, Sarah was walking home from school when her boyfriend drove by and honked at her to get in. She got in his car and he drove her to the lake. Her boyfriend said he was going to tell her something very important. Sarah could have sworn he was going to propose. However, he flicked her off, pushed her in the lake and yeled (sic), "I am braking (sic) up with you, you awful ........!! I hate you and I think that maybe you should just end your .............. life! DUMB ....................!!!"

He laughed and drove off. It was a very cold day. Sarah climbed out of the lake, freezing cold, and feeling the worst she had in her entire life. She got home went in a hot bath, and slit her wrists and died in the bathtub. Her parents yelled and screamed at her to get out until they finally broke the door down. They saw no body, but the entire bathroom was dripping with her blood. Her mom went insane and killed herself three days later, her dad is in prison, accused of murder. Later that week, Sarah's exboyfriend was taking a shower when she came from the drain, rotting and bloody, with a razor in her hand and said "Goodbye Jason."

She cut his throat before he could scream.

If you do not repost this with the title "1 scary way to break up", you are a heartless ..............and Sarah come to you in the shower from the drain, and will kill you the same way she killed her boyfriend.

You have 13 minutes

I did not, of course, stop reading from the beginning but something bad happened anyway, which was that I reached the end of the post and the threat therein. Darn those fellas who write such stuff. I'm not really heartless (serious!) but then again these days, my work routine is eating up too much of my life (including the heart) so I decided that I would NOT, in fact, repost the bulletin with the words "1 scary way to break up", as per instructions. Furthermore it was almost 3am. I blame the Property II written assignment.

Anyway, I shut the browser and went to the bathroom. I had barely taken out my Tesco toothpaste when I caught sight of this long-haired, somewhat unkempt figure in the corner of my eye. Could have been rotting, too, I dunno. My bathroom smells of rot all the time anyway, ever since the window sill ... urm, rotted.

At first I thought it was my housemate, perhaps woken up by me opening the door. "Oh, hi," I said. "Having a bad hair day today, eh?"

Suddenly the figure let out a deep moan and I realized that it was not, in fact, either of my housemates from rooms A or C. In fact, it was a rotting, bloody woman with a razor in her hand (though not bigger than the razor I used to be forced to keep for security in Halls of Residence).

"Yikes!"

After a moment's pause. "Oh, hello," I said. Better start with being friendly these days, especially in an inner-city housing area of London ... you never know. Especially to somebody with a razor in hand. There's just too many muggers on the streets these days.

"This is flat 16. You need help?"

Then the woman yelled at me. "You! Why do you talk so much? I was supposed to kill you the same way I killed my ex! 'Before he could scream' or say a word!!!"

"Well," I said, beginning to get a tad annoyed, "you can't really blame me you know. After all, I'm training to be a lawyer. As Lord Denning said, 'words are a lawyer's tools of trade.'"

She just stamped her feet on the ground and glared at me. Merajuk la tu. Then she turned to leave. "Eh, wait" I said. "I know ... you're the spirit from the Friendster bulletin!"

"It's taken you some time," she said, most icily.

"Well yeah, sorry lah ... my brain a bit tired from work ma". Eh, that means you're a real spirit! Way cool!"

"Not cool also," came the same icy voice.

"But no ... you see, since you're really coming back and communicating with us from the spirit world, you could tell us a lot of things we don't know!" I said.

"Like what."

This was beginning to sound like a typical MSN chat, but there you are. "For starters, you could tell us ... does everyone who die become a wandering spirit like you?"

"Hm. I dunno la. Maybe hor. I passed a lot of people whom I recognized as dead during my lifetime. For example Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Guevara, Botak Chin ... But maybe only those who had or did very unhappy things have to stay on like this. After all, I was ..."

"Yes I know your story," I put in quickly. "But your reply raises certain questions of logic. Firstly, if everyone who dies becomes like yourself, wouldn't your world be like waaay overcrowded with all the people who had died over the centuries, including for example Rameses III and his legions of followers, Caesar and his armies, Hitler and the German 6th Army, and 2,000,000 people who died during the Cultural Revolution? Do the dimensions of space and time apply to your world like they do in this?"

"And if only those who did 'very unhappy things' stay on, who gets to decide what counts as a 'very unhappy thing'? I missed the closing of an eBay auction by 2 minutes this evening, does that count as a 'very unhappy thing'? Is there an impartial adjudicator whose decisions affecting the public are open to review and appeal?"

"You ask too many questions-lah."

May be continued

The Consequences of Forgetfulness

2006-01-10T20:52:00.000Z

I forgot to press the button
To cook the rice one afternoon.

For want of rice,
The meal was late
For want of a meal,
The seminar was lost
For want of the seminar,
The examination question was lost
For want of the question,
The vital marks were lost.

For want of the vital marks,
The examination was lost
For want of the examination,
The degree was lost
For want of the degree,
The career was lost
For want of the career,
The future was lost.

And all because
I forgot
To press the button
To cook the rice one afternoon.

London Life

2005-11-16T23:22:00.000Z

It's been some time since the last entry so I figured it's about time I put up something to suggest that I'm not dead (yet) and neither is this site. The (re)settling-in process went fairly smoothly, thanks in no small part to my friends here in London who have been wonderful (largely) and also the second-year Law course at UCL which has kept me busy like never before. Doesn't help that they've added on an extra module to make it 5 in the second year now, so I am doing all of the following subjects this year:

Jurisprudence & Legal Theory
Contract and Tort II
Public Law II
Property II (Equity + Land Law + Trusts)
Criminal Law

The reading list's phenomenal so clearly there's not much chance of getting bored anytime this year.

Was without stable Internet access for more than a month due to problems with the ISP, Bulldog. Lesson: if a broadband package sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Room only got wired up last week when the "free" router arrived after about 30 days' delay while the company scrambled to find stock to meet the number of enthusiastic students who signed up for "first month free" broadband. Little did we realize that "first month free" was not merely fees-free but also Internet-free.

That aside, the place I am now staying at is kewl ... a very green, homely suburb with a large population of elderly retirees, Scandinavians descended from ancient trading links in the Docklands and other relatively harmless folk. It's close by Canada Water Underground station and a 24-hour Tesco superstore at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, so I get access to a great deal (in both senses) of groceries at Tesco Value rates. At least it kinda makes up for the utility bills I have to pay and the Season Bus Pass that I now need to get for the 40-minute ride to college everyday.

So now I'm commuting around London on the red double-deckers. Tube travel is too expensive, so I've restricted that to genuine emergencies such as when I oversleep on the morning of a 9am lecture. It's fairly interesting to commute by bus in London these days. Only the other week there was a mini-bomb scare when a dodgy-looking guy stepped off the Bendy Bus leaving his bag on the seat.

This looks like a fairly interesting year ahead.

Return to London

2005-09-22T20:27:00.000+01:00

Dear friends,

I will be returning to London this Saturday, 24 September on the 9am flight from KLIA, scheduled to arrive 3.10pm London time at Heathrow.

I came home to Malaysia on the 25th of May, and it has been a great 4 months in Batu Pahat and the various other locations I have been in during this summer. This is due mainly to my family, which whom I have had an absolutely wonderful time, and also to my erstwhile hometown friends who have unceasingly organised various awesome activities such as futsal, "la teh" and simple chat sessions.

I particularly thank Ben for very kindly hosting Selva, Sze Yong and myself during our trip to Sydney in June, which turned out very well indeed. I hope the spirit of friendship will continue to hold us, the Batu Pahat High School batch of 2001, together although we have now spread our wings to various parts of the world.

I shall be returning to London with mixed feelings ... glad to resume a life of purposeful (I hope) work and complete independence (until I get a gf) once more, but also a tinge of sadness at leaving behind much that is familiar to me and dear to my heart at home. However, the call of duty cannot be refused and having pledged myself to do my best on this course, it is now necessary to keep my side of the bargain.

When I reach London I shall be aiming to settle down as soon as possible into the following new address:

At this time of heightened security, this address has been removed. Kindly drop me a line on MSN if you need it for any reason.

I have also changed my phone number to an 02 pay-as-you-go one, and the new number will shortly be made available to those on my MSN contact list, among others. Therefore please do not try to reach me on my old Orange line until further notice, which will come after I ascertain whether or not the old line is still operational in the first place.

May I here record my deepest appreciation of two friends and colleagues who have helped me tremendously in my pre-flight preparations; my senior Wyn Nee, who helped me contact the Landale House warden who initially proved quite inaccessible by phone from Malaysia, and Alvin Yap, who helped me obtain the 02 simcard on his previous trip to the UK, thereby enabling me to request redelivery of my goods-in-storage one week earlier than previously thought possible. Thank you, Wynnee and Alvin. I will not forget the help you provided me.

I also appreciate those from college who have kept in touch throughout the holidays -Kenny, Iris, Imran @ Black, Jia Yi, Payatt, Grace, Azmir, the MSoc committee, Linda, Sin Yi and many more who have held out the gift of friendship. May our friendship continue to remain strong during the years to come.

As for the ordinary and extraordinary risks of daily life in a city as bustling as London I would only say, firstly, that life and death are in the hands of the Creator and it is neither healthy nor practical to be concerned with matters over which I have absolutely no control. Secondly I only hope that the increased security over the London transport network will not be of too much hassle to daily commuters such as myself, especially when I have to move loads of luggage on the Underground! =)

That will be all for now. As it is unlikely that I will be able to have a fixed Internet connection in the first one month or so, I will probably not update this site for a while. May I request that attempts to reach me be done through my e-mail, w.tay@ucl.ac.uk or kingulnar2000@hotmail.com for the time being.

Thank you for reading, and best of luck to you all.

Blogging Break

2005-09-10T17:16:00.000+01:00

I am temporarily on leave due to a viral infection that has been bugging me for a while. This blog will therefore not be updated until some time, probably closer to the 24th.

Thank you =)

The Balance of Love

2005-08-17T06:44:00.000+01:00

The story below was sent to me recently by an old friend, Jim. I find it particularly interesting and so am reposting it below. Let us remember (in particular the more youthful ones among us) that "love" does is not limited to boy-girl love but also encompasses love for our parents, family, friends and fellow humans in general.

A woman dies after living a long, dignified life. When she meets God, she asks him something that has long bothered her: “If Man is created in God’s image, and if all men are created equal, why do people treat each other so badly?”

God replies that each person who enters our life has a unique lesson to teach us. And it is only through these lessons that we learn about life, people, relationships and God.

This confuses the woman, so God begins to explain:

When someone lies to you, it teaches you that things are not always as they seem. The truth is often far beneath the surface. Look beyond the masks people wear if you want to know their heart. And remove your own masks to let people know yours.

When someone steals from you, it teaches you that nothing is forever. Always appreciate what you have, for you never know when you might lose it. And never, ever take your friends and family for granted because today is the only guarantee you have.

When someone inflicts an injury upon you, it teaches you that the human state is fragile. Protect and take care of your body as best you can because it’s the only thing you are sure to have forever.

When someone mocks you, it teaches you that no two people are alike. When you encounter people who are different from you, don’t judge them by how they look or act. Instead base your opinion on the contents of their heart.

When someone breaks your heart, it teaches you that loving someone does not always mean that the person will love you back. But don’t turn your back on love because when you find the right person, the joy that one person brings will make up for all the past hurts put together.

When someone holds a grudge against you, it teaches you that everyone makes mistakes. When you are wronged, the most virtuous thing you can do is to forgive the offender without pretence. Forgiving those who have hurt us is the most difficult, the most courageous, and the noblest thing man can do.

When a loved one is unfaithful to you, it teaches you that resisting temptation is man’s greatest challenge. Be vigilant in your resistance against all temptation. By doing so, you will be rewarded with an enduring sense of satisfaction far greater than the temporary pleasure by which you were tempted.

When someone cheats you, it teaches you that greed is the root of all evil.

Aspire to make your dreams come true, no matter how lofty they may be. Do not feel guilty about your success, but never let an obsession with achieving your goals lead you to engage in malevolent activities.

When someone ridicules you, it teaches you that nobody is perfect. Accept people for their merits and be tolerant of their flaws. Do not ever reject someone for imperfections over which they have no control.

Upon hearing the Maker’s wisdom, the old woman becomes concerned that there were no lessons to be learned from man’s good deeds. God tells her that man’s capacity to love is the greatest gift he has. At the root of all kindness is love, and each act of love also teaches us a lesson.

As the woman’s curiosity deepens, God once again explains:

When someone loves us, it teaches us that love, kindness, charity, honesty, humility, forgiveness and acceptance can counteract all the evil in the world. For every good deed, there is one less evil deed. Man alone has the power to control the balance between good and evil, but because the lessons of love are not taught often enough, the power is too often abused.

When you enter someone’s life, whether by choice or chance, what will your lesson be. Will you teach love or harsh reality? Each one of us has power over the balance of love. Use that power wisely.

The White Rabbit and I

2005-08-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

This is the first time I'm trying to upload a pic into a proper blog entry (on dial-up!) so here goes. Fluffy the white rabbit =P Eats shoots and leaves. My brother bought Fluffy some time in March, while I was still in the UK but now that I'm home, I've temporarily taken over the job of caring for this new member of the family. This is what I have been doing for some time this summer.

Theory of the Last Day

2005-08-14T10:36:00.000+01:00

Have you heard or read a particular series of questions that goes like this? "If today would be the last day of your life, what would you do/say to the people around you? If so, what are you waiting for?"

The implication of these questions are that life is short and unpredictable; we ought to say and do the things we really feel or hope to achieve; and that if we delay for reasons of shyness or procrastination we may end up not being able to do it at all.

This seems to be an appealing argument. Since neither you nor I know for sure whether we will be alive in 24 hours, let alone 6 years (the length of a JPA bond) or a decade, why not take time to tell loved ones that we appreciate them, take time out to do the stuff we like to do and well, enjoy life in general? After all, once our time is up and "bang!" it's Game Over in the Game of Life, words may end up unsaid and deeds undone.

Trouble is, the fallacy of this argument is in assuming that the projects we intend to complete can be done with in the time frame of a day. It doesn't make allowance for plans which return yields in a period exceeding 1 day, otherwise by definition it would require reliance on our continued existence for more than 1 day and thereby turn into a self-defeating argument.

To illustrate: Suppose a girl I have only recently known has caught my eye and I have fallen madly in love. But she is particularly shy and likely to be scared off by any abrupt pronunciation of love on my part. Therefore if I were serious in going after her, I would logically have to build the friendship and win her trust (chic term "get to know each other") before "making the move", so to speak. Now assume I followed the argument above. Not knowing whether today is my last day of existence, I decide that I have to tell the people I love that I love them. I declare my love and she says gee that is nice but sorry I'm not ready for a commitment with you, so tough. Well, in that case I'd have lost both ways. If really turns out to be my last day, I haven't got her either. And if it isn't, I'd have merely played my hand too early and ruined the prospect of anything "happening" in the near future.

Now say that it's Pay Day and I've just received a nice wage packet for the work I did last month. Applying the argument above, I wouldn't know whether I would be alive tomorrow, so I decide that I must let the people around me know that I appreciate them. So I spend my money on calling my girlfriend, accompany friends to play street soccer at the rate of RM10 per hour per head, and buy nice Aston Villa scarves for my family members in anticipation of a big season-opener win over Bolton Wanderers, which incidentally doesn't happen anyway. Fine, if I really ended my days at least those people would have benefited. But if I did not, I'd be reduced to living on charity and regret my foolishness. The money which was to have sustained me for the rest of the month would have been wastefully spent on very short-term projects, because according to that theory I would be precluded from relying on anything that returns its yields in a period longer than the remaining hours left in the day.

The point is, uncertainty is an inescapable fact of life. We all have to deal with a massive load of uncertainty in planning our lives and resources, there's no getting away from that. Sh*t happens and screws up even the best-laid of plans sometimes. We just have to factor in this element of uncertainty as best as we can, and the law can help us by providing facilities such as wills, contracts etc. But corny pseudo-theories of behaviour that pretend to offer a way of handling this element of uncertainty should be identified and shunned rigorously.

Crap Emails

2005-08-12T15:04:00.000+01:00

Today I opened yet another Friendster bulletin that ended like this:

Repost this bulletin in 10 minute and you will get Happiness. If you not repost this bulletin you will get bad luck...
******GooD LuCKY!!!!*******
You've opened it!!!! Good Luck! Tonight at midnight your true love will realize they love you. Something good will happen to you at 1:00-4:00 pm tommorow, it could be anywere. Get ready for he biggest shock in your life. If you break this chain you will be cursed with relationship problems for the next 10 years. Post this within 15 minutes
******i MiSS You!!!***** [[i miss you!!]] If you are missing someone right now and can't get them out of your head then re-post this within 1 minute and whoever you are missing will surprise you tomorrow.

Normally, this kind of stuff just amuses me a bit. But recently I've opened one too many of such chain letters, so the joke's begun to wear off and bemusement has set in.

And I would like to state empathically that I do NOT repost, forward or recirculate such emails or bulletins, because I don't think people on the receiving end would be happy to get such junk crowding out their Inbox either, or duping them into opening Friendster bulletins with nice-sounding titles.

And I would state that to date, all those bulletins that have promised me that special phone call "from the one you love", wonderful luck, pleasant surprises etc have been patently stupid. Not that they were even remotely promising in the first place. Would she call just because at such-and-such time I opened some dumb bulletin saying she would? Would she hell.

And having not reposted any of those, I wouldn't consider myself as being particularly accursed or having any noticeable spell of bad luck of late. True I still haven't got "the love of my life" (if such even exists) but I haven't been run down by stray elephants either, and no bloodthirsty ghoul has shown up beside my bed at 3am with a knife she would like to bury in my neck.

Sheesh. I wish people would stop dreaming up such rubbish!!!

Fuh. Now getting that off my chest was nice ...

Haze Alert

2005-08-11T14:57:00.000+01:00

A state of emergency has been declared in two Selangor districts (Port Klang and Kuala Selangor) following air pollution index readings consistently exceeding 500 in those areas.

In Batu Pahat heavy rain that has fallen in the past two days has kept skies relatively clear.

Henceforth a state of emergency will be declared by the relevant authorities in any area with an API reading of 500 or higher.

It is now common knowledge that the this round of bad haze originates from, again, uncontrolled forest fires and peat fires currently raging in Sumatra and blown over by seasonal monsoon winds.

Despite being repeatedly the cause of haze that damages not only the health of Malaysians but also the tourism and transport sectors of our economy, Indonesia has again failed to take effective measures to prevent and/or control slash-and-burn fires on their island of Sumatra. This is quite unseemly of them and hardly reflects the so-called "ASEAN spirit of neighbourliness".

I will be heading to the Klang Valley tomorrow (too late to cancel travel plans) so I am pretty annoyed at the prospect of travelling into what is now virtually a disaster area.

An Exercise In Futility

2005-08-01T16:51:00.000+01:00

One of the little changes that happened when I was in the UK, was that a zebra crossing was set up in front of The Summit Batu Pahat. Which is not to say that our striped horselike friends have suddenly decided to partake of the annual MegaSale carnival, but rather that the authorities took the step of creating a "safer" means for people to cross from the Public Bank side of things to the main mall in town.

Last Sunday (parking charges for the weekend being increased to RM2), my family and I parked outside Kolej Aman and proceeded to cross Jalan Bakau Condong to The Summit, via the zebra crossing.

We stepped up to the crossing just as a shiny blue car was approaching. Whoosh. The car just sped up and crossed the striped area like nobody's business. The driver in the car behind lagila pandai. He slowed down as though to let us pass. Then when my brother took one tentative step onto the crossing he changed his mind and decided to speed across instead, narrowly avoiding the pedestrians who had already begun what proved to be a rather precarious crossing indeed. Eventually we managed to cross when the road was clear in both directions.

I mean like, hello? If we are supposed to wait till both sides of the road are clear then what's the use of the paint and the effort creating the zebra crossing in the first place? Isn't that what ordinarily happens along any road, anyway? What a mockery Malaysian drivers are making of basic traffic rules.

Journey Down Under: Sydney '05

2005-07-19T20:27:00.000+01:00

Just over a month into my summer break, I was packing my bags again for a 7-hour flight to Sydney, Australia. Another case of being bitten by the travel bug ... on 4 July I travelled to Oz with ex-classmates Selva and Sze Yong to visit Ben, who's now happily into his third year of Medicine at UNSW Sydney.

So, how was Sydney? Uhrm, well ... considering that it was supposed to be mid-winter when we arrived (hence the promotional MAS tickets), I wasn't expecting great weather but that was exactly what the city greeted us with! We couldn't have asked for clearer/sunnier skies most of the time, and the fact that we actually managed to hold a picnic beside the Opera House on a midwinter's day says quite a lot in itself.

Apart from an overenthusiastic taximan who kept me awake throughout the whole morning journey to KLIA, the trip to Sydney was largely uneventful. I was quite happy to be booked a window seat, until I realized that most of the "view" they'd given me was of the 777's wing and engines only. Doh. Anyway, Ben was on hand to meet us at Sydney airport, and together we adjourned to his patch in the suburb of Kingsford.

Ben has a very comfy student-sized flat in which we stayed for about 5 days (I left on the 8th). It's reasonably near to UNSW and quite close to bustling grocery stores, Chinese eateries and a 24-hour McDs (wow!), so I imagine there is no difficulty obtaining supplies in that place. Also, it is near several bus routes leading directly into the City, which makes its location very good indeed.

Over the five days, thanks to a very comprehensive itenerary carefully prepared by Ben, we darted all over Sydney taking in the landmarks, tourist spots and almost everything (I think) that was interesting to see in town. The highlights:

Sydney Harbour: Opera House and Harbour Bridge, of course. The Harbour offers some truly breathtaking sights. There are also parts of the Harbour where you can stand on and see both famous landmarks of Sydney in the same panorama, or even one in front of the other. Picnicking in the Botanical Gardens beside the Opera House was really fantastic! Lots of seagulls and some long-beaked native Australian birds called the ibis strutted around the picnic site looking for crumbs, so it was quite an experience.
Taronga Zoo: A zoo with a dedicated ferry service. Despite it being a weekday, the ferry was fairly crowded so you get an idea of how many people were flocking to the zoo. Was quite fun to see a koala up close, pet a sheep and observe the feeding habits of the platypus. Oh yes, and the kangaroos. Kinda reminds you of the nearly-endless diversity of Australian wildlife!
Sydney Tower: Their version of KL Tower and, urm, Dublin Guinness Storehouse? =P Got to see the sprawling city of Sydney and snap some awesome "aerial" photos of city landmarks.
Sydney Aquarium: Fantastic display of Australian marine diversity. The entrance is above ground but it's kinda built into the Harbour so you descend beneath the water level to walk through attractions such as the undersea tunnel. The tunnel is really long and there's quite a range of sharks, rays and other similarly large undersea creatures to keep you company along the walk. Also managed to glimpse real penguins for the first time. They've also got a large crocodile at the Aquarium, the kind you used to be able to spot drifting down Sungai Batu Pahat or Sungai Segamat on a good day.
Olympic Village: We took a train to where Sydney hosted the Olympics in 2000. The infrastructure there such as the Telstra Stadium still appear very new and futuristic. Managed to see the real Olympic torch they used and a videoclip of the pyrotechnics during the Games' opening, which they seem intent on playing over and over again until either eternity or until that machine gives out, whichever is sooner.
Bondi Beach/Coogee Beach: Well, it's true that these beaches would be a lot more interesting if we came during summer. But still, they were fantastic when we visited. Think wide expanses of fine sand and lapping surf. Think a cool, refreshing breeze with only the slightest hint that winter is in the air.
Watson's Bay: We came to the point where the semi-enclosed waters of Sydney Harbour meet the Tasman Sea. Standing on the sheer cliffs to the south of the harbour passage, we could look across the watery expanse to the cliffs on the other side, and also inland to the sprawling city. Beneath us the big waves pounded the rocks as they had for hundreds of years.
Sydney Naval Base: The USS Kitty Hawk and its accompanying complement of destroyers was in Sydney during the week, so my uncle in Sydney took me to have a look. There were also a number of Australian ships in port, including HMAS Tobruk and HMAS Canberra, which were probably there to help cover the prized carrier. Viewed from shore the ships were massive, especially the carrier of course. The sailors and airmen sure provided good business for tourist spots and red-light districts in Sydney that week.
Sydney Swans' Training: We followed Ben to a training session of the "Sydney Swans", his favourite local club that plays in the national league. Now (despite Ben's efforts) I can't for the life of me remember whether it's Rugby League, Rugby Union or Aussie Rules football that they play, or any combination of the above. Nevertheless it was quite a special experience. I merely read The Telegraph until training ended and the autograph session began (I suspect that was what everyone was really waiting for anyway), whereupon we all helped Ben accumulate autographs and pictures of his local heroes. In the process I had great fun taking photos at the rate of more than 1 picture per minute.
Paddy's Market: Where traders in Aussie souvenirs, collectibles and memorabilia meet! A tourist haven as there's so much one can get at pretty competitive prices. Soft toys, T-shirts and Aussie-looking designs turned into everything from magnets to slippers were on sale. Managed to grab some souvenirs for family and friends here, including the little clip-on koalas that every visitor to Australia invariably comes back with. But I got a slightly different version. My koalas grip little boomerangs. Nyehehe.

The last evening we spent on ferry rides that took us right underneath Harbour Bridge, alongside Luna Park themepark and upriver to Balmain. It's just fantastic to stand at the windswept bow of a ferry speeding across a darkened Sydney Harbour, enjoying the moment with friends and taking in the sights.

During the trip I also managed to catch up with my uncle in Sydney and his family, whom I had not seen for many years. It is always good to meet kinsfolk from across the oceans and mengeratkan silaturrahim a bit after all these years apart. There was time for a short home visit and the sending of regards before I returned to Kingsford.

It was also while I was in Sydney that the sad news of the terrorist attacks in central London broke. Those were truly the work of the devil; it emphasizes that the war on terror is still very far from being won. The civilised world was swift in its condemnation and I am sure all Londoners will not allow this to cause any lasting disruption to their lives and commerce.

On the whole, the trip to Sydney went superbly well. I think credit for this has to go to Ben, who planned everything and ensured that we saw most if not all of what was to be seen. For myself, being an avid traveller, it was a great opportunity to see a very diverse and interesting part of the world. I enjoyed every moment of it and the memories of this trip will be with me for a very long time indeed.

Eksplorasi Batu Pahat: Journey to the South

2005-06-25T17:39:00.000+01:00

One of the things I really enjoy is travelling. Especially travelling by motorcycle. Because when you are on a motorcycle, you not only get to see the sights but you really blend into the surroundings to a greater degree. The sounds, the smells and the feel of places that you pass are a few things you don't get as much of when you whizz past in a sealed, air-conditioned automobile cabin. So I like to go around the place on a motorbike. Granted that this is not exactly a very safe activity (esp on Malaysian roads nowadays) but then there are just some risks in life that you've got to accept and accommodate. Makes life worth living.

Last Monday I visited Senggarang, an outlying pekan (little town) between Batu Pahat and Pontian. The plan was originally to reach Rengit, in the southern corner of Batu Pahat district, but as it was getting dark by the time I pulled into Senggarang, it was quite obvious that that was about as far as I was going to cover that day.

The 22km road south to Senggarang is dotted with numerous villages, oil palm estates and new housing projects. Traffic was fairly light on the characteristic single-lane Federal trunk road, which allowed for cruising at moderate speed. Villagers were just starting the hustle and bustle of preparing dinner, sometimes over wood-fire kitchens. Schoolchildren were coming home at the end of the afternoon session, shouting and playing with each other as they walked or cycled at the side of the road. A light evening breeze stirred the fronds of coconut and oil palm trees that lined the road as the sun set to the west. It was quite a rustic rural panorama indeed.

Senggarang is a small dusty town clustered around the main road from Batu Pahat to Kukup via Pontian. Route 7, if I'm not mistaken. During the Second World War this was the site of a skirmish as the British forces, retreating from Batu Pahat, tried to hold up the Japanese advance along a defensive line centred on Kluang and stretching to the west coast here. Partly to give the motorcycle a break before the ride home, I called a halt and entered a crumbling old coffee shop for some famous "Senggarang kopi".

From the veranda of the coffee shop, I was also able to observe the comings and goings taking place around me. At the next table, a group of elderly men chattered away loudly and relaxedly in Hokkien. Typical coffeeshop banter. Across the street, a group of youths were clustered around some public phones - some giggling, some playing simple games, others simply chatting to each other. In a nearby bus stop, some bedraggled townsfolk were languidly awaiting the Coastal Omnibus to take them up the road to Batu Pahat, presumably for some shopping and nightlife. Calmness and serenity were in the air.

Lights and lamp posts flickered into life as night drew its cloak around the little town. Finishing my drink, I left the coffeeshop and took a walk down the main street in town, returning to my bike along the other side. There was a store with plenty of knick-knacks at the edge of the town, and there I got myself a neat little straw hat for RM2 (29p).

The journey home was largely uneventful, mainly making sure I did not end up under some speeding bus or lorry in the failing light. There is a particularly winding 5km stretch of the road between Banang Jaya and the village of Koris, and I had a rather enjoyable challenge navigating that at just over 90km/h. I reached home safely at 7.40pm to a warm dinner.

Besides seeing more of the wonderful world we find ourselves in, travel gives a unique, pleasurable sense of perspective. Knowing that in many ways life keeps going on and on everywhere, just as it has to and has done since time immemorial, helps to overcome sadness, heal unseen wounds and surmount the many challenges life throws in our way each day.

A Man, A Kancil and A Waja.

2005-06-23T17:03:00.000+01:00

Sometimes life is like this:

A man has been driving a Perodua Kancil* for many years. After some time, he manages to gather enough money to get himself a Proton Waja. He goes to the showroom and requests a test drive. Enthralled by the way the car handles, he decides to place an order. But the salesman he places the order with turns out to be a fraudster. Our friend loses his money and is reduced to driving the Kancil yet again. He has to take some time to get over his loss.

*Proton and Perodua are trademarks of their respective companies.

First 3 weeks of holiday

2005-06-14T19:42:00.000+01:00

Almost hard to believe that 3 weeks have flown by since the day of my trip back to Malaysia. Many friends are beginning to come home as well, or have already arrived back.

Let's see ... since I got back I've mainly been staying at home, revisiting the nooks and crannies of Batu Pahat my hometown. Also been meeting up with the guys for futsal and mamak sessions, and also spent a week in KL visiting relatives and friends.

Had a trip down memory lane last week with two events. One was meeting up with Payatt at MidValley. Was great to catch up on the old times and to see that he's doing well in UiTM now. The other event was a trip back to college! Managed to meet almost all former teachers and current seniors (our juniors), besides collecting the very nice new A-Level certificate that has silver braids on them.

Also been playing a historical wargame, The Operational Art of War (Volume II). This is a comparatively old (1998) game that covers real and simulated conflicts during the period 1956-2000 (Volume I, which I used to play, covers 1939-1956 and as may be expected includes mostly World War 2 scenarios). The idea behind this game is to marshal operational resources like infantry, armor and aircraft to achieve objectives that are set according to the scenario. Terrain conditions and political restrictions also need to be considered in planning strategy. Among the real conflicts that can be played in Volume II are the Suez Crisis 1956, the Six Day War, Yom Kippur War, Tet Offensive and the first Gulf War (Coalition forces v Iraq). Some very interesting simulated-conflict scenarios are an American invasion of Cuba, 1962; Soviet invasion of northern China, the Third World War in Europe and an Indian invasion of Pakistan, 2000.

The graphics for this game are not exactly great and this is not a first-person game, which means you deploy units over a set map to achieve a goal, not take out your enemy in person, CS-style. But what I like about the game is its sense of realism, in that a player has to develop a coordinated strategy, maximising the potential of available air, land and sea units to achieve the set objectives. There are also political imperatives that correspond to the actual situation; for example if the Israeli player attempts to take Damascus in the 1973 scenario (which they well could in the actual war) there will be intervention by Soviet airborne units that tip the balance towards the Arab side. An interesting possibility occurs in the simulated India-Pakistan scenario which is all-out nuclear exchange resulting in a total defeat for both sides. This occurs if forces from either side capture the regional capitals of the adversary.

The game attempts to recreate, based on a variety of military sources, the balance of forces as it actually existed at the time. The attention to detail is also meticulous, with corresponding advantages for correct manipulation of the terrain. Consequently it gives the player an idea of the military and strategic difficulties that were actually faced by the commanders at the time.

Recommended for students of the Modern History course (1945-1991) who are interested in the many complex conflicts of the Cold War period, and have some time to kill (since the average scenario takes about 6 hours of gameplay to resolve). =)

Cinta seorang pengembara

2005-06-04T17:57:00.000+01:00

Dedicated to you, my friends, and for the one who likes stories

Many years ago, in a small rustic village near Labis, lived Ah Chye*. Ah Chye's family was poor and lowly-educated. The household eked out a hand-to-mouth existance by rearing poultry and growing vegetables.

Nevertheless, Ah Chye was a highly diligent young man. He studied hard at night by the light of a kerosene lamp, besides helping out his parents during the daytime. He thus sharpened his natural intelligence through hard work and did well in his MCE (Malaysian Certificate of Education, forerunner of the SPM) examinations.

Chye was accepted into teacher training college at Johor Bahru on the basis of his commendable MCE results. Those were the days when the teaching profession still commanded much respect. Chye's parents shed tears of joy. At last their son would be able to achieve professional qualification and break the chains of poverty that had shackled the family for so long.

Chye's sharpness of mind and hardworking nature were more than sufficient to see him through his Maktab years, and he qualified as a Mathematics teacher. He went on to teach in a secondary school at Mersing, drawing a respectable salary from which he duly apportioned a share to be sent back to his parents every month. Chye always spent his money frugally, remembering his humble beginnings and his ageing parents in the village. Soon he had also saved enough for the downpayment of a small Japanese motor-car.

Every school holiday, Chye would return to his family in Labis. His return was always big news in the little village. He was one of the first sons of that village to venture out into the professional world and the village folk were justly proud of him. Lagipun no one in the village had previously owned a motor-car. Chye never forgot his roots or became carried away with pride. He always treated everyone with much respect, especially the older folk in the village.

Then one day, Chye met Julie, who was newly assigned to teach at the same school. For Chye, it was love at first sight. He found Julie to be a very sweet, intelligent and caring young lady. Lagipun gayanya agak comel dan menawan. But because Chye was shy by nature, he kept his feelings secret for many months, whilst remaining good friends with Julie. Then one day, Chye felt able to muster enough courage to confess to Julie.

But Julie did not like him back. At least, not in that way. "His country looks are not as handsome as some other gentlemen I have met," thought Julie. Besides, Chye was too stingy, she thought. Julie did not know that this was because of Chye's difficult upbringing and his many responsibilities back home. Rasanye tak cukup hensem-lah. So Julie turned him down. "Sorry, I am not ready for commitment. I think we should be just friends," she said.

Poor Chye was devastated by this rejection. He really believed that Julie was the right one for him and had looked forward to a happy life together with her. Chye fell into deep depression. Bak kata pepatah, tido tak lena, makan tak lalu, mandi tak basah. His close friend, Boon, told him to get over it but this was much easier said than done.

Chye found it difficult to get Julie out of his mind. During the school holidays, whenever his mind was free it would find itself occupied by thoughts of her. He could not imagine what his future would be without her. One day, Chye could take it no longer. He went into his room and slashed his wrists.

However, Boon happened to come up to Chye's room in the nick of time and hurriedly called an ambulance. Chye was in critical condition for three days and the doctors despaired of his life. His parents came up to the hospital to visit him. They were overcome with grief at this tragic turn of events. It was difficult to believe that the son on whom they had pinned their hopes could come to this.

After many days, owing to Boon's timely intervention, Chye survived and returned to a stable condition. He left behind not only the clutches of Death but also his great love for Julie. He was deeply remorseful for having caused his parents and true friends so much worry and heartache. Both he and Julie transferred to different districts shortly after the incident.

Epilogue

Today, many years down the road, Chye has found himself a loving, charming and tender wife from Penang, with whom he has had three children. Well into their fifties, they are inseperable nowadays. As for Julie, she married a man who later turned out to be abusive and alcoholic towards her and their two children. Her husband now drifts in and out of work, and Julie is now slightly psychotic from the burden of having to fend for the entire household and also put up with her husband's vulgar behaviour.

Komen Tok Dalang

Although names have been changed, this is based on a true story that happened to people I know personally, dan ini bukanlah cerita rekaan semata-mata. Having read this story it would be nice if we could reflect on what would have happened had Chye succeeded in taking his life. Wouldn't it have been such a waste of young talent and a devastating blow to the people around him? If so, how often do we allow "love" and "feelings of love" to interfere with our pursuit of other things that matter in life? What are the things that really matter in life, and how high should love rank among them? How does the Epilogue affect your answer?

Fikirkanlah sejenak. Please feel free to leave your comments and feedback where appropriate, and should you prefer to respond in confidence please also feel free to do so by emailing me/tegur kat MSN at kingulnar2000@hotmail.com. To those who have bothered, thank you for reading.

*Names of people and places have been changed to protect privacy. This is an original work and all rights are reserved.

Back at home

2005-05-29T19:20:00.000+01:00

Just to inform that I have safely reached home on Friday, 27 May. Haha. More updates to follow.

On penalty shootouts to end soccer matches

2005-05-29T19:15:00.000+01:00

It's always controversial when teams deliberately play for a penalty shootout (as Arsenal did against Man U) but then again, tactically they have got to accept the risk of the other side finding the net in regulation time.

In a case like the FA Cup final* I find it quite hard to accept the assertions "Man U were superior" or "Man U controlled the game" when they wasted the large number of chances that came their way. After all, it could equally well be said that Arsenal successfully prevented Man U from scoring during regulation time. If Man U really "controlled the game" surely we would be seeing a scoreline closer to that of Arsenal v Everton rather than 0-0 after 120 minutes.

So, who's the better team? Clearly it's pointless to continue playing beyond 120 minutes, since fatigue would impinge on the impact of skill to an intolerable degree. Having a replay (or replays) would probably be the most fair option but what about the fans' disappointment and the logistics difficulties of congregating the fans together again in, say, a week's time?

The motorway crawls outside Cardiff everytime there's a Cup final are pretty notorious already, and in something like the European Cup final surely the logistics difficulties would be almost insuperable. Not to mention the possibility of upsetting the sporting calendar and clashing with other big dates such as internationals, etc. and thereby complicating planning.

So we go back to the basics. To end the game on the stipulated day, there has to be a winner (more about the "double winner" option later). Since it's not much fun to grind both teams down to a sheer test of brute force by playing unlimited time, there has to be a different option. Personally I think penalties provides an acceptable solution. Each side produces 5 players it thinks can best hit its penalties and they face off against the other side's lineup. If they produce total howlers, well that's tough. Surely being able to strike penalties decently isn't too much to ask of a multimillion-dollar-grossing professional footballer.

It's also about teamwork, not individualism as the outcome doesn't depend on any one penalty taker in particular but on the overall performance of The Chosen Five. Sure it appears at times to hinge on the fourth or fifth taker but have we forgotten the ones who hit/missed the earlier penalties to produce that situation in the first place?

So on the overall I would conclude that if you want to end a game on the day itself, avoiding the massive problems associated with a replay or rescheduling, penalties is about the nearest you can get to a fair outcome.

Ben's "two winners" theory would certainly be revolutionary, since we are pretty much used to the concept of an ultimate winner and loser in a final. It's a kewl idea and could very well work, if there is an attitude shift in football amenable to the concept of two winners coming out of a final.

However, it might also eliminate the incentive of finalists to attack and try to win. After all, why take the risk of attacking when both teams can sit back, play passive football and both get crowned "winners"? Are there sufficient incentives to induce a team to even try to be "single winners" rather than "joint winners"?

Also, if we have this concept for finals, what about semi- and quarter-finals? Applying this concept at these stages could then necessitate an overhaul of the entire progression system itself. It could be done, I suppose, but in all likelihood with much complexity.

Besides dramatically increasing** the risk of heart attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), penalties is a rather cruel way of ending a team's competition hopes, I agree. But that is not the same as saying it is unfair or unnecessary. Teams entering a knockout-stage match must bear in mind the possibility of the match going to penalties. They should plan their tactics and prepare their players accordingly. It is perhaps time to control the very Mourinho-ish tendency of blaming the system when faced with defeat and disappointment***.

*Being an Aston Villa supporter, I am neutral and the following examples are for illustration purposes only. No offense is intended against anyone, any team or any American businessman.

** Source: Urban legend and conventional wisdom

*** A general statement intending no offence to anyone in particular except Jose Mourinho.

Leaving the UK

2005-05-25T00:40:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

Greetings, hope you are fine and doing well wherever you are.

My first year at UCL is now drawing to an end. With that, I will be leaving the UK later today (Wednesday, 25 May 2005) on the 7pm flight from London Heathrow. I am really glad to be returning home after almost a year abroad. Most of you too, I am sure, will be experiencing the same feeling in the month or so to come, as the day of your own return flight draws near.

Looking back, it has been a very happy 9 months before this for me in the company of such great friends as yourselves. I will not forget your friendship, support and presence during both good and difficult times. I hope that if anything, our bond of friendship will be further strengthened over the years to come.

Thank you especially to those with whom I have shared such unforgettable moments over the past year ... whether kipping out together in Dublin, Edinburgh, Warwick or Cambridge; dinners together in London; riding the London Eye; picnic in Russell Square; Skyping at odd hours, whatever. I had a great time and I hope you did too!

I will be having a rather long summer vacation in Malaysia and am scheduled to come back to London on the 24th of September. It would be great if we could meet up in Malaysia sometime ... and if you happen to come by this part of the world known as Batu Pahat do drop me a line and I can go meet you! Plus possibly take you around the place a bit ;-) it's much easier to do that than to take ppl around London, to be sure.

To everyone having exams I wish you the very best of luck in them, and hope they go well for you! And all the best to everyone for when your results come out! =)

That will be all for now, I guess. Look forward to seeing you again sometime. Till then goodbye, take care and may God bless you all.

Regards and best wishes,
Wilson Tay
London, UK

Around London on the red double-deckers

2005-05-20T01:10:00.000+01:00

Since my exam ended on the 12th, I decided go see the world (London, to be exact) a bit.

I really like to travel on the London city bus. More specifically, at the front seat of the upper deck of those red double-deckers that chug around the city. That's because from such a vantage point, you get to see all the scenery as you pass by. Beats travelling on the crowded, dusty Tube any day. So I got hold of a 7-day Bus Pass. It's 11 quid but I reckon it's worth it cos that's like 7 days of "Mana-Mana" tickets anywhere within London and even slightly beyond (see below).

It's brilliant, the things you get to see beyond Zone 1. On Monday I travelled to Brent Cross, which is a large complex in Hendon, north London. My route took me through Archway, a bustling hillside suburb with an old train station, dusty shops and ancient-looking buildings. It was drizzling that day and breath came out as thick puffs of vapour. The atmosphere reminded me of Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands. Next on the route was Highgate Village, a sleepy suburb at the top of a hill. Then we passed the green fields and housing estates of Finchley and Barnet before reaching Brent Cross near the North Circular. The journey was spectacular, much more so than the mall itself, which turned out to be mainly designer clothes and shoe-shops, although there's also a large WH Smiths there. In Victorian times Barnet used to be a small town on the north approach to London but nowadays it's part of the metropolis. There are lots of fascinating small shops along the main road leading into central London, though there's also the rolling green fields and cricket pitches off the highway.

I returned via Kilburn and Oxford Circus, a different and shorter route. As you can probably gather, I found the journey so much more fascinating than the actual destination itself.

Then on Wednesday I decided to be a bit more adventurous and ride the double-decker out of London, which can happen if you go by bus to Bluewater Shopping Complex, reputedly the largest new shopping centre in Europe. A tag like that made the place sound very much worth a visit, so I had been thinking of going there for some time. Now Bluewater is outside the M25 ring road which marks the perimeter of London itself, "beyond the fringes" as Transport for London calls it. It would have been much more direct and faster if I went by train from King's Cross, but since I had a Bus Pass in hand I thought I would give it a try by bus.

The TfL Journey Planner website (www.tfl.gov.uk) suggested a few routes, all of which involved at least 3 changes and minimum 150 minutes' journey time one way. Oh well, since my exam was over, might as well give it a try, I thought.

And what a rewarding journey it turned out to be! Launching from Elephant and Castle, I took the No.53 heading southeast, passing the bustling suburbs of New Cross Gate and Lewisham. It was a rush hour, 4.45pm. People were knocking off from work and children were coming back from school, which meant the streets and the bus stops and the railway stations were full of people chatting, hurrying or otherwise hanging around. We passed the main streets of these suburban towns, past some very picturesque old shops and buildings, to the countryside at Blackheath. The urban setting gave way to wide green fields, sparkling ponds and old-style cottages, a most remarkable find within the M25.

I changed bus at Woolwich, the old military town in Zone 4 noted for its Woolwich Arsenal and barracks. Woolwich is a delightful old place, with a park and fountain at the town centre, a thriving street market in a cobbled square and an old railway station. It's also home to The Woolwich building society, which in Woolwich itself occupies an imposing fortress-like building near the town centre. From Woolwich I took the No.96 towards Bluewater, heading out to Zone 5 and beyond. We passed Plumstead, Bexleyheath, Crayford and Dartford, the setting becoming progressively more country-like with green hills, beautiful gardens and little cottages. It was absolutely marvelous to observe scenery such as this, to witness the beauty of God's creation in a foreign land and to think that at each moment of our lives, in each of these places and everywhere throughout the world people are living parallel lives to ours. Absolutely brilliant.

Crayford is in Zone 6. As we approached Dartford we passed beyond the M25 and into the county of Kent, where Bluewater is. The London Bus service, No.96 route, runs slightly out of the city to Bluewater. Of course, my Bus Pass continued to work there, otherwise I would have been stranded like, waaay far from home. =P

As for Bluewater itself, it was really big, occupying the site of a former stone quarry. It's quite a holistic experience, since there's an artificial lake, a fountain and gardens to walk in besides doing shopping in the main mall itself. And besides the main outlets like M&S, John Lewis etc. there's also lots of shops that sell all kinds of curios (though generally expensive). I quite liked their concept of concentrating most of the food outlets like McDs, KFC, Pizza Hut etc. around a food court so different members of the family could go for different things without having to quarrel and/or drag unwilling siblings to one particular outlet. Well, too bad my family's not actually here to do that, but it's something to think about from my observation of those local families who actually were there. Midvalley's larger on overall shop floor space, I'd maintain, but this is certainly the best mall I've seen since I came to this place.

I returned by a different route (again), changing at Bexleyheath, Lewisham and Elephant before getting home way past midnight. Journey time was about 3 hours in total one way. It was quite an experience indeed to be waiting at a cold windswept bus stop in Bexleyheath (Zone 5) after dark at 10.45pm, with groups of feral youths wandering around nearby shouting and screaming away. Anyway I got home safely to steaming cocoa and a bowl of hot noodles in the early hours of the morning.

Travelling around London by bus is great. It's certainly well worth the 11 pounds I paid and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone keen on a bit of sightseeing. =)

End of exams

2005-05-14T00:38:00.000+01:00

After 8 months of study here in the city of London, my exam week finally passed. Between the 4th and 12th of May, there was the same old adrenalin rush of frantic thinking and writing within an impossible time limit ... glad that it's over and done with now.

Managed to finish Contract and Tort as well as Public Law on time, which means I wrote all I think I could usefully have written (which sometimes isn't very much at all). For World Legal Orders I actually wished there was more time, and Property wins the Worst exam of them all award since I not only ran out of things to say on the last question but proceeded to misquote the leading case for constructive trusts. Bollocks to that.

Kinda interesting how they conduct their exams far away from college, in those community halls ... had to commute to Royal Oak near Bayswater for the Property paper on the morning of the 10th. The Porchester Hall venue there was decked out like some banqueting venue, with lavish curtains, grand stairways and, well, correspondingly poor lighting (ugh). Bishopsgate near Liverpool Street was the best, I thought ... very well lit and airy, just like a third-class hospital ward with all the beds cleared out and replaced by individual desks for the exam.

So, now to wait (not exactly with bated breath, I must admit) for results day on the 20th of June, and then to nervously ring up the Faculty of Laws to find out my fate.

On a brighter note, getting the exams out of the way means the next big thing on the agenda is the flight home! Yeay! I'll be flying back on Wednesday, 25th of May at 7.05pm. Will be a long break at home since I'm only coming back on the 24th of September, unless I managed to fail my exams and doom myself to returning early for a re-sit.

Between now and then I hope to be touring London a little, looking up friends, hunting for second-year accommodation and so on. Have bought a 7-day Bus Pass in anticipation (11 quid ... what a ripoff). Been wanting to see places like the Imperial War Museum, Bluewater, St James' Park (not the one in Newcastle), Maritime Greenwich and Canary Wharf for some time. If you live within the M25 and feel bored at times during this week just give me a call and I'll be glad to pop round your place for a chat. Cheerios.

Blair returned with reduced majority

2005-05-07T00:13:00.000+01:00

With all but two seats declared, Tony Blair's Labour Party was yesterday returned to power with 355 of the 646 seats at stake in the House of Commons. This represented a gain of 47 seats to the Opposition, reaped mainly by the Conservatives who gained 33 seats and the Lib Dems who boosted their overall total by 11 seats. The Government's previously massive working majority in the House has been considerably reduced from 160-odd seats to less than half that figure.

In Northern Ireland the much-talked-about marginalisation of middle ground parties has manifested itself, with the moderate Social Democratic Labour Party and the Ulster Unionist Party losing ground to the radical parties. These are, of course, Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists and Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein. The latter has seemed to escape the political toll of recent IRA-linked criminal activity in Ulster, including the infamous Northern Bank robbery not too long ago. This radicalisation may yet have ominious implications for the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland.

Nationwide voters gave Labour the much-awaited political backlash, mainly over the Prime Minister's perceived dishonesty regarding Iraq. Indeed the scale of the swing against Labour was considerably worse than expected, leaving them with an aggregate 37% of the vote, one of the smallest figures ever for a government in power.

Michael Howard has indeed done a good job moulding together the Tories into a coherent fighting force once again, after the devastation of 1997. In the wake of this outcome however, Mr. Howard has announced his intention to step down soon to make way for younger blood to lead the party. The Conservatives in fact managed to unseat several Labour ministers including Stephen Twigg, the Schools Minister who had no doubt attracted much negative publicity in the media over declining standards and discipline in British schools.

In Erewash the maverick Robert Kilroy Silk, founder of the Veritas party failed to make an impact, but I was highly disappointed to note that in Bethnal Green and Bow George Galloway managed to unseat the Labour incumbent Oona King after one of the most intense and violence-marred campaigns in this election. Campaigning largely on public antipathy towards the Iraq saga, Mr.Galloway's Respect was always very much a single-issue party. Indeed the Times noted that Mr.Galloway himself was not present to answer questions regarding Respect's own economic manifesto at its launch shortly after the start of campaigning.

In my local constituency of Holborn and St.Pancras, Frank Dobson of Labour was returned with a slightly reduced majority of 13.9%, fending off a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats. As this is a safe Labour seat the result could never have been in serious doubt anyway. I was slightly intrigued by the constituency description, which noted (correctly) that this is "the academic centre of London, covering the University College and SOAS campuses, the British Museum and the British Library." Heh. Sounds a pretty scholarly/nerdy place indeed.

Tony Blair has said that this will be his last term in office, so it will be interesting to see whether his premiership turns into something of a lame-duck one. Waiting in the wings is Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer whom Mr.Blair has effectively anointed as his successor. One will remember that it was Mr.Brown's dramatic intervention in defence of the premier and his contribution to the Brown-Blair "united front" that turned the tide in favour of Labour and enabled them to hold off the Tory/LibDem challenge. Mr.Brown will not want to wait too long for his reward.

The challenge of Tony Blair's third term has only just begun. With economists forecasting an imminent burst of Britain's economic bubble, and difficult decisions to be made on constitutional reform, anti-terrorism legislation and sources of renewable energy, the incoming Cabinet will have its work cut out for it right from day one.

The "season of promises" has ended. It is our hope as always that the elected ones will now take it upon themselves to deliver the goods they have so enthusiastically pledged in return for our support.