Partings

We had so much fun at the R&R Bistro in Bandar Baru Uda, Johor Bahru, tonight.

It was a farewell gathering organised for these two ladies.

Siti Nadirah Hafidzin (left) and Nur Aisyah Mazalan, both 26.

Dira is going back to the headquarters in Kuala Lumpur while Aisyah will be joining another local daily, and will probably be based in Kuala Lumpur. 

“Every meeting led to a parting, and so it would, as long as life was mortal. In every meeting there was some of the sorrow of parting, but in everything parting there was some of the joy of meeting as well.” Cassandra Clare,
Clockwork Princess

The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.

Charles Dickens 

Dira, Aisyah and Mary Victoria Dass.

Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.

William Shakespeare

Bertemu dan berpisah adalah adat manusia biasa, hilang di mata tapi hati tidak lupa.

Si Barbie Sulu

Blur

My favourite blogger Annie started her blog post Friends calling herself  "blur".

I don't think anyone can beat me in that department.  Shortly after leaving my house this morning for work, I suddenly realised I didn't bring my press kit.  I went back home.  Luckily I had just started my journey.  As soon as I went into the house, I saw the press kit and beside the press kit was my hangbag.

If I didn't remember my press kit, I probably would have to "puasa" for the rest of the day.

Speaking of puasa, I'm attending a special "buka puasa" gathering tonight.  It's not only the breaking of fast for my Muslim friends, it is also to bid farewell to two workmates.  More on that in another post.

Meanwhile, my story on stray cats saw print today in the Johor Streets.

JOHOR BARU: Stray cats are getting a taste of the spirit of sharing as feline lovers feed them near the Taman Perling Ramadan bazaar close to the Taman Perling wet market here every night.

  "There are many kind-hearted souls among the local community here.  There is an elderly couple who bring food to the strays quite regularly, and it is not only during the Ramadan month," said veterinarian Dr Edwin Singam.

  Dr Singam, who is also the deputy chairman of the Johor Baru Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), said every evening, the stray cats would converge in the area knowing that people who come to the Ramadan Bazaar will give them some food.

  Dr Singam said the non-governmental organisations such as Noah's Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary (NANAS) and the SPCA have been picking up cats here to neutering them to curb the stray population.

  "As most animal shelters are already full, we put the strays back into the streets while we try to organise adoption campaigns.

  "Our campaigns have been quite successful.  In the last adoption campaign that was held in KipMart Tampoi, 50 stray cats found new homes," he said.

  Dr Singam said this was the best way to help the strays.

  "There must be other alternatives besides killing them.  But we need dedicated volunteers.  Volunteers who will collect the strays from the streets, send them for neutering, and help to find homes for them," he said.

  Siti Nurhayati Bakar, 35, a mother of three, said she understood the suffering of hunger, especially in the month of Ramadan.

  "As we Muslims fast, we know what it is like to go hungry.  These cats do not ask to be strays.
  "They already do not have a home with guardians to love and care for them.  They are deprived of food.  The worst thing a human can do is to harm them," Siti Nurhayati said.

Fairer Chance Before Pontius Pilate

JOHOR BARU: FORMER Johor DAP deputy chairman Norman Fernandez said he would have a fairer chance before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who had Jesus crucified, than at DAP’s disciplinary committee.

Fernandez quit his party membership after the party leadership voted on Saturday to refer him to a disciplinary panel over his Facebook posts, which they deemed compromising to the party’s image.

“There is no way they are going to give me a fair hearing.”

Fernandez pointed out that during the meeting on Saturday, non-commitee members of the state DAP leaders, namely Liow Cai Tung (Johor Jaya assemblyman), Cheo Yee How (Pengkalan Rinting) and Yeo Tung Siong (Pekan Nanas) cast votes to refer him to the disciplinary panel.

He said although DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang did not vote, his presence at the meeting was enough to cause detriment.

“There is growing hypocrisy among DAP leaders. I have been searching my conscience for some time, possibly before the last general election, and I don’t want to be part of a party that has become subservient to Pas,” he said in reference to DAP’s and Pas’ alliance in the opposition coalition.
Fernandez said he was not planning to join Gerakan as speculated by certain quarters.

“The thought never crossed my mind, and the speculation probably came about because I support multi culturalism.”

Fernandez, who blogs at Normanfernandez.blogspot.com, said he refrained from blogging for the past 3 ½ years because of the fear of antagonising DAP.

However, now that he was just a member of the public, Fernandez said he would start blogging again.
Fernandez served as the Johor deputy chairman for one term.


Some additional info where Fernandez, who joined DAP officially in 1996, also told me that he started supporting DAP when he was 11.
  "At the age of 16, I was already helping out the party wherever and whenever I can.  When Lim Kit Siang's first book "Time Bombs in Malaysia" came out in 1978, I saved 20 sen of my pocket money everyday until it reached RM10 to buy the book."

Stray Cats and Dogs

This scrawny kitten is a stray.   It was found lazing at the Perling wet market in Johor Bahru yesterday.  It has been rescued.  A vet will have it neutered, then hopefully, volunteers can help to find it a new home.

Another case of "to feed" or "not to feed".   There are animal lovers and people who can never understand animal lovers.

I've got a story about stray cats enjoying the Ramadan spirit of sharing but it's so crazy I don't know if it'll see print.  Sometimes crazy ideas sell, sometimes not.

And my interview with Dr Edwin Singam on helping stray dogs came out in the NST today.
Dr Edwin Singam, 67, is the deputy chairman of Johor Baru Society For Prevention of Cruelty To Animals. He operates a veterinary clinic in Taman Johor Jaya.

Let NGOs, volunteers help council 

I AM very concerned about the plight of strays dogs and cats. I understand why the local councils have to get rid of strays, but I hope they will do it in a more humane way as the whole world can see what we are doing due to the advancement of technology.
The recent dog culling video showing Johor Baru Central Municipal Council bludgeoning the dogs to death is a case in point.
We need to handle the matter in a civilised manner.
The public, especially cat and dog lovers, can do their part in helping the strays that would not have been one if their owners had not cruelly abandoned them.
Four months ago, a property developer was kind enough to build a small shelter complete with cages on a piece of land for stray dogs.
It is only a small shelter, but that small gesture can buy some time for the strays to find new homes.
It was an exemplary move by the developer, and I hope other developers will also adopt this move.
There are about 10 volunteers helping out at this shelter.
They all have jobs and families to take care of, but they allocate a little time to bring food to the dogs at the shelter.
Meanwhile, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like Noah’s Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary (Nanas) and the Johor Baru Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) help to neuter or spay the dogs.
The dogs are all picked up from coffee shops or from the streets. It is unsafe for dogs to loiter on the streets.
The dogs’ presence on the street can cause accidents or someone may get bitten, so I can understand why the local councils have to get them off the streets.
But like I said, euthanisation of a stray must be done in a proper manner.
With the concerted effort of the property developer, as NGOs and volunteers, we can reduce the number of strays in the neighbourhood.
But for this exercise to work, we need people or factory owners to adopt these dogs. To give them a new lease of life.
These dogs can become guard dogs at factories.
I am reluctant to tell people the location of this shelter because people have the habit of dumping dogs. We do not want to encourage this. Two months ago, about 30 puppies were dumped outside the shelter.
Fortunately, people adore puppies so we managed to find new homes for the puppies.
It gets harder to rehome a dog as it grows older.
I am also trying to save some dogs at a different shelter. The local council is checking out the shelter as there have been complaints by the neighbours.
The shelter operator — whether she is aware or not — is practicing some form of animal cruelty.
There are just too many dogs in the house and none of them were spayed or neutered. Some of the dogs are tied outside where there are no shade.
And the neighbours have been complaining for some time now.
Due to this, the local council has no alternative but to step in and stop the operation.
My plea to the local council is to let us assist them in the matter. Let us help in rehoming the dogs. I also hope that more people will help us make the rehoming programme work.
For those who would like to chip in and make the programme a success, can call Valerie at 016-755 1893.

Solitude

Started the day with a 3-minute workout. It was a busy day so three minutes was all I could spare.  Besides, three minutes was all it took to snap this picture.

There are so many new retail outlets and cool clubs sprouting in Johor Baru now.  So much have changed.

Last July, I wrote about a strange dream I had  Interpreting My Snake Dream. Now it looks like that strange dream is turning into a reality.  The transformation of Johor has been a favourite topic of late, among bloggers, investors, financiers, politicians, the man on the street.

Some say Legoland Malaysia Resort is so expensive, the locals simply cannot afford the ticket.  Another say Legoland was built to attract the tourists.  It was not meant for the locals who have other places they can go to.

On the soup kitchen issue.  Some are condemning the ban while others support it.  Giving food to the poor is a compassionate gesture.  On the other hand, it's encouraging sloth.

Why must there be conflicting and opposing views?  Does it really make the world more exciting?

Different Wavelength

http://normanfernandez.blogspot.com

by Nelson Benjamin and Razak Ahmad

sourced from STAR online

JOHOR BARU: Former Johor DAP deputy chairman Norman Fernandez has resigned, two days after it was decided that he should be referred to the party’s disciplinary committee over a Facebook post.

Fernandez said in a brief letter to party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng that he no longer shared the party’s ideals and the path taken by its leaders.

“To continue my membership would only constrain and inhibit my freedom to express my views (in a) forthright (manner) and be critical of the party, particularly its continued alliance with PAS,” he wrote in the letter, which was made available to the media.

Earlier, state DAP secretary Gan Peck Cheng said 18 out of 20 state committee members had voted at a meeting on Saturday for the motion to refer Fernandez to the disciplinary panel while two others abstained. Also present at the meeting was DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang.

The motion, said Gan in a statement, was over three Facebook posts by Fernandez, which had compromised the party’s image in the eyes of the public.

The decision, she stressed, was not discussed at the Johor Pakatan Rakyat meeting and was strictly a DAP internal matter.

It is learnt that in a private Facebook post, Fernandez had criticised several DAP leaders as hypocrites for attacking the Prime Minister over his speech on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) but remaining quiet when the PAS president’s son-in-law voiced support for the militant group.

Fernandez also allegedly insulted two DAP leaders.

It is learnt that the post was removed before the resolution – which Fernandez had described as making a “mountain out of a mole hill” – was passed on Saturday.

“Whatever I write in my blog or Facebook is my own thoughts and feelings,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: There is a fallout in DAP over its collaboration with PAS, which has led to disciplinary action against former Johor DAP deputy chairman and his subsequent resignation.

Norman Fernandez is no stranger to controversy for attacking his party’s ties with PAS due to the Islamist party’s insistence on hudud.

A vocal critic of PAS’ hudud plan, Fernandez called on voters last year to reject the Islamist party just days before the general election, saying that the country could not gamble its future with PAS.

In a reaction to the latest development, MCA publicity bureau chief Datuk Chai Kim Sen said DAP’s action against Fernandez showed that the Opposition party was trying to “curry favour” with its partner PAS.

DAP, said Chai, had been telling non-Muslims that it was against hudud but never took concrete steps to lodge an official protest with PAS or stated its opposition at Pakatan Rakyat supreme council meetings.

“DAP has instead made Fernandez its ‘sacrificial lamb’ for speaking up against PAS.

“The disciplinary action against Fernandez shows that DAP will not offend PAS for political interest and that it is also unable to tell right from wrong,” said Chai in a statement here yesterday.

Chai said that according to news reports, Fernandez had condemned DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PAS for betraying Pakatan by allowing PAS to go ahead with its hudud plan in April despite the lack of an agreement on the issue in its common policy framework.

He described Fernandez as “politically courageous” for daring to speak up against hudud despite the party’s fear of objecting to PAS.

“Obviously, DAP is no longer able to tolerate different voices and it oppresses those who do not share the same view,” said Chai, who is also MCA deputy national organising secretary.