Itching

The "fishy" incident I talked about five days ago actually led me to a story that is related to marine life, but not much can be revealed yet.  Need to wait.

It's just about some ordinary people trying to save some grass.

That's all I can say for now.

Meanwhile, let's welcome President Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th president of the United States to Malaysia. The three-day visit by Obama, beginning today will be his official visit to after President Lyndon Baines Johnson's visit in 1966.

US president Obama's visit to Malaysia is a recognition of its successful development efforts, said Malaysia's Special Envoy to the United States, Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis - Bernama

Development should also complement animal rights, environmental and wildlife conservation. No?

Oops!

Yesterday's "fishy" incident kind of piqued my interest which led me to do some pre-dawn surfing.

I stumbled upon http://www.fz.com/content/kit-siang-questions-reclamation-project-pulau-ubah
and http://dapmalaysia.org/en/statements/2014/04/05/18316/

Everyone else would probably have known about this issue already.

Everything happens for a reason and I believe I was sent to a non-existent assignment for a reason.

Is our eco-system under threat?

There's Something Fishy

About This Day

In the morning I was asked to go to the Gelang Patah police station because that is where the MCA Gelang Patah division chairman Jason Teoh was going to lodge a report concerning the mass death of fish in Tanjung Kupang, Gelang Patah, Johor.

I was thinking ... What? Again?

On Feb 12 there was already an incident there which resulted in 48 breeders of fish and mussel incurring losses amounting to RM5.5 million.

Bernama reported that the incident was believed to have been caused by the 'red tide' phenomenon, resulting in the presence of excessive plankton, hence reducing oxygen in the water.

So, I came here in the morning only to find out later that Jason knew nothing about going there to lodge a police report today.  Who could've been so mean and naughty to pull such a stunt?  Normally I would've been annoyed.  Surprisingly, today I chose to see it as an honest mistake instead of an act of sabotage.

Anyway, back to the fish story. It was reported that Gelang Patah member of parliament Lim Kit Siang had politicised the issue by claiming that the incident was caused by the reclamation works nearby the affected area, and urged the state government to take serious action to  help those affected.

However, the Johor government-owned Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Bhd  reportedly refuted Lim's claim.

Jason today said there is no new development concerning the matter.

Later in the day, I was here

I was lepaking (hanging out) at the Johor Bahru Sentral, the inter-city railway station waiting for the Chua Primaseira express bus. The bus was transporting 35 victims of the bus crash in Jalan Kuantan-Segamat on Sunday back to Singapore via the Customs Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) complex.

I then decided to treat myself to some "tauhu bakar" (grilled beancurd) from this stall in Johor Baru City Square.

The "tauhu bakar" here is delicious!

Iceman and an Irishman

I think I didn't blink at all throughout the bar fight and also during the battle at the bridge.

Before I watched Iceman 3D,  I had read some bad reviews so I wasn't expecting much.  However, I enjoyed the turbo-charged actioner starring Donnie Yen.

Iceman was interspersed  with humour and captivating stunts.  There wasn't a single dull moment. For moviegoers who usually find themselves dozing off when they're watching a movie, are not likely to find themselves doing that here unless they're dead tired.

After 400 years of being frozen, three imperial guards from the Ming Dynasty found themselves in 2014. Once comrades, two of the guards turned against the protagonist as they thought the latter had betrayed the country.

At the end of the movie, the truth is revealed not with words but by the protagonist's actions.  Judge a man by his deeds and actions and not by what he says, as the cliche goes.

Meanwhile, I also enjoyed the movie "Winter's Tale" starring Colin Farrell.

Like Iceman, Winter's Tale is a story about the age-old battle between good and evil.  

It is also about love and miracles and how the universe brings people into our lives.

Group Selfie

With all the lovely people I work with.  This a selfie creatively taken by Nur Aisyah Mazalan. 

With Sarah Rahim who is leaving the Johor Baru bureau soon to go back to KL. Will definitely miss her. The whole team will.

This is one of Sarah's stories ...

Danga Avenue One food hub launched

By SARAH RAHIM 

JOHOR BARU:  DANGA Avenue One, at Country Garden Danga Bay (CGDB), was launched last Saturday.

There are more than 15 tenants at the commercial street, including Kenny Steam Disher Restaurant, 'M' Espresso Sporting Club, Food Channel, Tsim Sha Tsui, Restoran Madam Jean Pan Mee, Matterhon @ Danga, I Love Yoo!, Juice Baby, Tea Garden Restaurant, Kani Palace, Taang Shifu, Dining Room and Cheers Up.

Customers have a choice of snacks, Chinese food, Japanese food, steamboat and barbecue-style food, fried rice, nasi ayam penyet and other food.

The tropical concept landscape provides for a lovely setting for alfresco dining.

Country Garden Malaysia senior marketing executive Karen Thay said: "The first phase of construction for CGDB includes the commercial street which was completed in July last year.

"The whole CGDB commercial area will span an area of 6ha."

Thay said two other commercial streets would be launched after Danga Avenue One.

"More tenants will be moving into Danga Avenue One too. It will be a food sanctuary for locals and Singaporeans," she said.

Thay said the tenants, who included local and Singaporean industry players started operating last month.

The food and beverage outlets are opened daily between 10am and 10pm. Outlets that provided alcoholic drinks operate between 10am and midnight. CGDB is in Jalan Skudai.

For details, visit: www.countrygardendangabay.com.my.

Read more: Danga Avenue One food hub launched - Johor - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/streets/johor/danga-avenue-one-food-hub-launched-1.568859#ixzz2z3LLspIq

Be A Responsible Pet Guardian

 

A flashback of our front-page report last Friday.

JOHOR BARU: The Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT) says it is willing to work with non-governmental organisations (NGO) to keep the stray dog population under control.

Last year, the local council handled 540 complaints about stray dogs.

However, MPJBT corporate and public relations department administrative officer Salwa Abd Rashid said the NGOs had to be committed if they wished to work with the local council.

"We cannot release a dog once we have caught it, and we cannot provide any allocations. The other local councils have outsourced the work to dog catchers who, we believe, are paid as much as RM100 for the capture of one stray dog.

"MPJBT has its own team of dog catchers which consists of six men. We do not feel that we need to spend taxpayers' money by outsourcing to private dog catchers.

"Our team does not go out to look for stray dogs. We only act when there are public complaints.
"We need to take action or we will be seen as not doing our job," she added.

Salwa did not deny that carcasses of culled stray dogs were dumped into garbage bins near public markets.

"Those were roll-on roll-off (RoRo) bins, which are huge.

"We wrapped the carcasses in plastic bags before dumping them.

"We also instructed that the dogs be dumped only on days when the waste management company (SWM Environment Sdn Bhd) is coming to collect the rubbish.

"As to claims that our dog catchers shoot the dogs or clobber them to death, that is not true," she said, adding that the local council only shot crows.

Salwa said some stray dogs did get hostile in the presence of dog catchers.

However, she added, the council had yet to receive reports of stray dogs turning hostile on the public.

"If the NGOs want to work with us, please also launch a campaign to educate pet owners to be more responsible.

"Pet owners should not discard their dogs when they no longer think the dog is useful.

"If they do not want the dog anymore, they can call us to put it to sleep, instead of taking the dog somewhere far and dumping it and letting it become other people's problem," she said.

Read more: MPJBT wants to work with NGOs to cull strays - Johor - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/streets/johor/mpjbt-wants-to-work-with-ngos-to-cull-strays-1.567047#ixzz2yuRzEPdq