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Akhir Sebuah Impian

Kata orang tua-tua, perempuan yang mengandung tujuh bulan atau lagi lewat dari tu sepatutnya dah tak memborong macam mengandung empat bulan. Bukan tak boleh pergi shopping, tapi janganlah berjalan ala-ala Maria Tunku Sabri yang jalan-jalan cari makan dan makan-makan sebab dia tak mengandung. Jadinya tak ada komplikasi. Ini nanti urat ni tarik, urat tu tarik, badan nak pakai lama lagi. Ye lah…suami yang nak pakai…jadi kena la tahan lama.

Harga minyak dah naik. Dulu kita sedap menghabiskan duit sendiri dan duit PETRONAS, sekarang ni payback time. Kereta aku tu kalau dulu RM10 boleh pergi 40km, sekarang tinggal 24km aje. Seluar dalam yang aku beli 3 untuk RM10 sekarang akan jadi 3 untuk RM14, atau pun 1.8 seluar dalam untuk RM10. Roti canai banjir yang 80 sen lepas ni akan jadi RM1.20 sekeping. Kena pulak yang tukang kira tak reti cakap melayu kecuali “roti kosong” “teh tarik” “maggi goreng“…mesti jadi RM1.40 sekeping. Nak salahkan kerajaan pun benda ni global. Memang dah tak tertepis dah. Cuma aku harapkan apa jua savings dari pengurangan subsidi ni akan diterjemahkan kepada pembangunan sekata dan sistem pengangkutan awam yang lebih baik. Kalau tak boleh jugak, perkenalkan semula Bas Mini Wilayah.

Kengkadang risau jugak bila harga minyak naik. Semua harga barangan akan naik juga. Semua dah mula bercerita nak tukar minyak kereta kepada NGV, ada yang tertanya-tanya boleh tak pisahkan H2 dari H2O untuk hydrogen fuel cells. Aku rasa lagi memanafaatkan ialah satu sistem yang boleh memisahkan urea kepada fuel cells. Aku, mungkin Liverpool Babe dan Gombak4Life juga tidak mempunyai masalah untuk mengisi tangki kereta. Sendiri boleh produce. Mungkin kitorang boleh share duit buka stesen minyak sendiri. Siapkan makanan aje. Tahun 2005 dulu University of Ohio dah buat research pasal tahi lembu untuk dijadikan bahan minyak.

Aku boleh bayangkan dah jutawan-jutawan kampung yang membela lembu. Tahi buat minyak (minyak taik, bukan taik minyak), yang bujang tak ada girlfriend boleh guna dulu lembu betina, susu dapat, daging boleh jual kat penjual daging untuk Yummy Baby buat burger untuk Burger Night yang akan datang, ekor buat sup, mata dengan otak boleh kasi kat Glaucoma Monkey untuk dibuat transplant – itulah akibat kecik-kecik tak nak belajar berbudi bahasa dan kuat sangat melancap. Lembu punya torpedo? Buat sup la. Unless kalau engkorang rasa koter engkorang tak cukup power dan nak buat transplant jugak macam Glaucoma Monkey.

Gombak4Life pun sarankan agar bot-bot diving semua tukar kepada NGV jugak jadi kos diving tak tinggi. Aku rasa baik angin dalam tank diving tu pun tukar ke NGV.

Nasib baik la rumah dan kereta dah dibayar habis. Aku tak risau sangat. Cuma yang nak kena buat sekarang ialah untuk nak kumpul balik duit. Jadi kalau engkorang nampak ada mamat rupa macam aku main gitar atau berjalan bertongkat berspec hitam warna biru dan membawak tissue di Uptown, engkorang buat tak tahu ajelah. Nak cari side income.

Dah bertambah risau aku…adakah yuran kencing di Uptown akan dinaikkan dari 30 sen kepada 42 sen?

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Was It Worth It?

It’s 5.41am.

A full tank of petrol for my Naza Ria will now cost me RM202.50 as opposed to RM144.00 ’til 11.59pm yesterday. I got caught in a horrendous jam last night getting out of Subang Jaya, and all the way to my destination. There was a mad rush for last minute cheaper petrol and diesel, that even the petrol stations along the highways weren’t spared. I don’t know if it was worth the long wait just to be able to fill your car up with probably three days worth of fuel when inevitably you will still have to fill it up at the new prices.

So…fuel price is no longer cheap; and that is going to affect all Malaysians across the board. My road tax will cost me RM200.00 less from now on but that means I will still have to fork out RM648.00 per annum. The cost of diving and liveaboards will go up as diesel now costs almost the same as petrol does at RM2.58 and RM2.70 respectively. My usual RM50.00 will only get me one return trip to Yummy Baby‘s place instead of two, with 30 kilometers to spare. So I can make a trip to The Mall and then figure out where to refuel. Food and essential items will now cost more while our purchasing power remains status quo. And I don’t care if fuel costs RM5.00 in Singapore because if you convert that into Singapore Dollars, fuel will be as cheap as it is in Malaysia now.

Seriously, I will have to consider converting my MPV to NGV/hybrid. It may cost me a bomb, but that would be better than paying RM60.00 per fuel tank. Instead of giving vehicle owners stupid cash benefits that amount to nothing more than just a few milimeters of taik gigi, it should look into making it compulsory for all major gas stations, or at least for PETRONAS, to provide NGV. As it is, there are only 58 stations providing NGV to cater for 25,000 users nationwide. Subsidise the conversion of vehicles from petrol-based to petrol-cum-NGV based.

Secondly, charge only a nominal sum for road tax. Maybe it is time for the government to consider charging only RM60.00 per private vehicle per annum for road tax. As at 2006, there are 14.8 million registered vehicles, and that alone should earn the government RM888,000,000.00. That is almost RM1 billion in road taxes alone. You think that is going to burden the lower income group? Come off it. RM60,00 a year is nothing compared to 6 packets of cigarettes a week, if not more.

Today is going to be an entirely different day. And it was only 4 years ago that a full tank for my Naza Ria cost me only RM90.00.

Sheesh! I should start robbing banks.

But, really! Was it worth the long queue for those who queued last night?

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After 31 Years I Can Still Feel The Pain

Persian Kitten

It has been 31 years since my Persian cat, Foxy, died. I have written about Foxy in several entries on this blog. Everytime I think of him, a sense of sadness would linger. Foxy was my best friend in many sense. He was my only friend when I was at home near the Lake Gardens.

Foxy was given to me as a kitten by my piano teacher who is also the daughter of friends of my parents, Kak Lily. For more than a year, Foxy was my only friend as my only other friend who lived nearby, was also, like me, living in a gilded cage next door being the son of a Prime Minister. Every morning Foxy would chase after my legs while I jog around the field and bite; and he would be by the door waiting for my return from school. Everytime I got a beating from my father, Foxy would come and rub himself against me as I lock myself inside my room; and Foxy would sleep on my pillow next to me, often pushing my face away if I had taken too much space.

Today, I read Aiz’s entry on the passing of her cat, Troy, and after 31 years, apparently the pain of losing Foxy is still there. She wrote this of her husband, Din:

The passing of Troy was very tragic that it made Din cry. I’ve never seen him cry like that before. He cried after he buried Troy and in the middle of the night he cried again..

Suddenly, the memory of losing one’s best friend gushed back into this frail heart. Suddenly the memory of those painful days and nights that followed after Foxy’s passing came back. Tears roll down my cheeks as I type my comment on her posting. I can feel Din’s pain. I can feel the anguish. I can feel the anger and frustration of not keeping Foxy inside the room that fateful night. I can still see the way Foxy, with a broken pelvis, tried his best to come to me as he usually did, to cheer me up every morning. I could almost see the pain he went through trying to get a pat on the head and a stroke beneath the chin.

I am sorry for your loss, Aiz and Din. I really do not know what to say….

…because after 31 years, I still cry for my Foxy.

Troy
Troy

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Bitten By The Bug

Gemgem sent a text to Yummy Baby saying he misses the island. Yummy Baby has been missing the island since coming back. Soon she will join Abang Rina, Liverpool Babe and Gombak4Life doing their open water diver course.

Now they know why am I always cranky if I do not get to dive more than 2 weeks.

Gem and Cotton Islands

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Nisaa Goes Bowling

Hana, Iqa and Nisaa are the only ones left at home while Fazira is back in Kedah to be with the mother during the school holidays, and Farhan and Alim are at their maternal grandmother’s place in Klang. Both Hana and Iqa were looking bored. Hana will be joining Fazira in Kedah on Sunday, while Iqa has lots of assignments to be completed over the holidays. Nisaa has been karaokeing in her sister’s room, singing songs like POP YEH YEH.

As I shall be leaving for the island tonight, I thought maybe it’s best to take Hana and Iqa bowling, while Nisaa tags along.

Nisaa
Nisaa all eager to bowl

Nisaa
I can’t wait for my turn

Iqa
It’s Kak Iqa’s turn

Ayah
It’s Ayah’s turn

Hana
It’s Kak Hana’s turn

Nisaa
It should be my turn after this

Kids
Eh, why is it Kak Iqa’s turn again?

Nisaa
It was boring waiting for my turn

Nisaa
The End

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Good Morning

Tomorrow I’ll be heading for the island. In my group will be Gemgem, Betch President, Gombak4Life, Yummy Baby, Abang Rina, Liverpool Babe, and Herbivore Girl; while convoying with us will be Deepblu, Shafi, Rocket and a few others I have not identfied. In all, the group that will be in the convoy may exceed 15 people. Good news from Boatman is that they are ready to receive us, and there will be a seafood BBQ dinner on the final night. Liverpool Babe and Gombak4Life will be going underwater for the first time, and I hope to follow them. I can hardly wait to get back underwater, back to my lair, my realm.

And why is this a good morning? Because I woke up to a smiling face that greeted me,

“Good morning, Baby.”

It definitely is. How can it be otherwise?

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Dalam Banyak-Banyak Benda Yang Dah Aku Hilang, Mindaku Adalah Yang Paling Aku Rindui

5.15 pagi dah aku masih berjegil mata dalam kamar yang gelap ini sambil dilayan lagu-lagu yang menyeramkan dari This Mortal Coil. Aku masih ragu-ragu sama ada aku akan memerlukan sebuah peta untuk membantuku melalui liku-liku hidup.

5.22 pagi dan persoalan yang bermain di dalam kepala ku makin bertambah. Aku mula diserang dengan soalan-soalan pelik seperti:

“Kalau semua negara dalam dunia ni berhutang, mana pergi semua duit?”

“Siapa yang kurang bernasib baik kena test makanan anjing tatkala ianya bakal diiklankan sebagai mempunyai New Improved Taste?”

“Siapa mamat yang mempunyai copyright kepada simbol Copyright?”

“Kenapa orang selalu kata kat aku, “Bro, you’ve been working like a dog” walhal aku tengok anjing jiran aku makan, tidur, makan, tidur aje?”

“Kalau aku kena amnesia, lepas tu ingatan aku pulih, aku ingat tak yang aku kena amnesia sebelum tu?”

“OK tu mnatang apa? OK tu singkatan untuk apa?”

“Kenapa burung boleh tidur atas dawai telefon tapi tak jatuh?”

“Kumbang jenis Ladybird kalau yang jantan kita nak panggil dia apa?”

“Kalau aku bergerak pada kelajuan lebih laju dari bunyi, aku dengar tak kalau aku pasang radio?”

“Ikan tak pernah rasa dahaga ke berenang tak berhenti?”

“Kalau aku bergerak laju dari kelajuan cahaya, lepas tu aku pasang lampu. Aku akan nampak lampu atau tidak?”

5.33 pagi dan aku rasa aku takkan dapat jawapan-jawapan yang aku cari. Aku rasa baik aku ke dapur dan masak Maggi.

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Sometimes It Refuses…

I was at Holiday Plaza this afternoon when I felt the urge to go.

Yes, go!

I paid 20 sen to the “caretaker” (I don’t know if this 70-year old guy is the caretaker or just the toll collector for the many burly tattooed chinese men that go from shop to shop first thing in the morning probably collecting protection money from tenants) and went in, and chose the cleanest booth to do my job.

Having done the job, I flushed. The damned thing refused to go. I flushed again. Still it refused to go. I was pretty sure I have not had anything heavy like One-Tonne Noodle for breakfast as I had had Lontong Kering at Larkin with Giant Otter. I had to employ the help of the pipe to blast it at its base before attacking it by flushing it again. This time, reluctantly but not without a fight, it was successfully flushed.

I must have had a heavy breakfast!

Sigh!

This posting was made with the understanding that shit is cleaner than politics.