Shanghai Photos I

This lovely building is not a stadium or a concert hall. It actually houses a Rest & Service outlet along the Elevated Expressway just outside the Shanghai City limit.


The Maintenance and Toll Charges motorists had to pay to use the Elevated Expressway.


This multi-tier Flyover Interchange in the heart of Shanghai City is supported by a huge column as main support. Story had it that there was exteme difficulty carrying out piling and constructing the column and the Feng Shui master was consulted. He found out that nine dragon lived below this huge interchange and to calm them, the City Council must carve the image of these nine dragons on the circular column. True enough, the work was smooth after that and the interchange was completed without further difficulties. Unfortunately, the Feng Shui master died soon after for "letting the secret out" about these dragons. Believe it or not?


These guys were strung from the top of this multi-storey building cleaning the tiles. Spider Men they were indeed.


Not sure what is the name of this shrub but the pink leaves are so sweet.

The Cruise Boat at The Bund had this notice on its wall.


The high-speed Maglev Train from Pudong International Airport to Shanghai City. Capable of a top speed of 450 km/hr, it was unfortunately grossly under utilized due to cost of tickets.

The Bund at night.

Definition of Money

Quote from David Marshall:

I've got nothing against money. I'd like to have money myself! I'd like to have a house and a garden and dogs and a car and a chauffeur but, look, I've got a flat. I've got a swimming pool attached to the flat. I've not even got a car but I use taxis. I have a dignified way of life without being wealthy.

I don't see the necessity of owning a Mercedes-Benz and a swimming pool and a couple of mistresses. I think we've got our values all wrong. What the hell do you do with all that money? You can't eat it! What do you do with it? Your children don't need all that money.

My children have had the best of education. In fact, I'm very proud of them. One of them is a senior registrar to two major hospitals in Oxford. Another of them is a consultant in European law to the Securities and Investment Board in the United Kingdom. They've had their education. There are no complaints. I never earned $60,000 a month or $90,000 a month. When I was Chief Minister, I earned $8,000 a month.

Look, what is happening today is we are encouraged to and are becoming worshippers of the Golden Calf.

We have lost sight of the joy and excitement of public service, helping our fellow men. The joy and excitement of seeking and understanding of the joy of the miracle of the living the duty and the grandeur. We have lost taste for heroic action in the service of our people.
We have become good bourgeois seeking comfort, security. It's like seeking a crystal coffin and being fed by intravenous injections through pipes in the crystal coffin; crystal coffins stuck with certificates of your pragmatic abilities.

The New Definition (For the Mandarin Educated)

职位定义

總是在裁人的，就稱總裁；

老是板著臉的人简稱老板；

總想監視人的叫總監；

經常沒道理的人，就叫为經理；

讓領導秘密舒服的，自然是秘書。


窮人富人論：

欠個人的錢是窮人，欠國家的錢是富人；

喝酒看度數的是窮人，喝酒看牌子的是富人；

寫書的是窮人，盜版的是富人；

吃家禽的是窮人，吃野獸的是富人；

耕種土地的是窮人，買賣土地的是富人；


貧窮與富裕的新解：

貧窮時養豬，富裕後養狗；

貧窮時種稻，富裕後種草；

貧窮時想娶老婆，富裕後想找情人；

貧窮時老婆兼秘書，富裕後秘書兼老婆。

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Us

Winnie sent this eCard from Canberra today to wish me Happy Birthday. Very thoughtful of her. I also sent birthday greeting to my other half, (no, not my wife, but my twins who is in Singapore).
To Raymond, let's have a wonderful birthday!

Datu Wira Poh Ah Tiam - Favourite son of Machap Baru

Datu Wira Poh Ah Tiam, the MP for Machap Baru passed away recently due to illness. I did not have the previlege to meet him but have heard so much about him and his work from my brother, a retired teacher who works as newspaper corresponder.

I visited my brother, ST occasionally at his house in Alor Gajah and each time, he would treat us to a sumptuous dinner at Machap Baru where the food and wild life dishes are always fresh, exotic and CHEAP!

I have always marvelled at the friendliness and peacefulness of the new village, and the villagers' solidarity for the betterment of their village. This is especially evident during the festive season such as the Lunar New Year when the whole village was adorned with colourful lights and lantern, bunting etc wishing each other prosperity and good fortune and good health.

May he rests in peace.

Register To Vote

Some said the GE will be this coming year-end school holidays. Some predicted it will be early next year (remember the GE must be held before end of 2008). I say it will be during the school mid term break in August from 18th to 25th. The reason: this coming Merdeka celebration will be our country's 50th anniversary as an independent nation. The Government is already planning a host of acitivities and carnivals for the occasion. It also plans to publish "Malaysia @ 50", a collective national family album by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage. Surely, the Government would want to capture and capitalize the euphoric mood of the rakyat, the feel-good modality of the people from all walks of life in the countdown towards our 5oth birthday.

So to all Malaysian, do register to vote in this coming GE.

I quote from Edelman, Marian Wright Children's Defense Fund Official (1939-)

"People who don't vote have no line of credit with people who are elected and thus pose no threat to those who act against our interests."

Congratulation to Roland Chua !

Twin brother, Raymond's second son, Roland is now in the Singapore National Service. He had just received his A-Level results and what can I say? What smart kid he is !

A - Economics
A - Mathematics
A - History
A - Literature
A1 - General Paper
MERIT - History S Paper

In this competitive environment in Singapore where meritocracy is the ONLY criteria to succeed in everything, from good schools, to good jobs to good life, all kids are taught to be competitive right from kindergartens to Junior colleges and universities. No differentiation of race or religion, and no preference given for being the siblings of YBs, Ministers, or CEO of GLCs.

I wish him all the best in his future undertakings!

Well done, Roland. You have made us proud!

Hailstorm in Canberra

Daughter Winnie frantically tried to call us on the night of 27 February to tell us of a massive hailstorm in Canberra at 8.00pm (11 pm KL). It was so severe that more than 60 buildings in ANU (Australia National University) were badly damaged and lectures had to be cancelled the next two days. These are two photos sent by her.

Locally only The Malay Mail reported this on 1st March 2007. The picture showed a guy in short sleeve tee shirt pushing his bike through the ice-covered streets in Canberra.

Has the world weather changed so much due to global warming?

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year has always held a very special place in my heart.

The feeling and the excitement of bonding with fellow siblings and their siblings, the greeting of "Gong Xi Fa Cai" to our loved ones and all, the giving out of "Ang Pow" or "Red Packets" to the younger ones, the meeting up with old friends whom we do not meet for a year, and most importantly, the few great days we get to spend with our dearest parents whom we hardly visit due to space and time, make this special day even more special.

This Lunar New Year which fell on 18th February was no different. Almost all of the 10 brothers and sisters and their siblings congregated at our dearest Mum's place to spend the new year together.

The reunion dinner was special in many ways. It brought all of us under one roof to dine and wine with our mum, to share our experience, our joy, our moments of sadness, the ups and the downs, the achievement of our children in universities and the work place, the exciting news of forthcoming marriages, graduation.......
Immediately after the dinner and the washing up, the younger ones waited patiently for the "Red Packets".

Then we waited for the clock to strike twelve and sounds of "Happy New Year" echoed through the rooms and the streets outside. Fireworks litted the sky and the occasional firecrackers broke the silence of the night.
Traditionally, we would then head for the nearby temple to pray for the well beings of our family, for good health and for fortune. We also prayed that our dear Mum will have more good years with us.....

This new year, my twin brother who works and resides in Singapore was back as usual with his teenage children and his new toy: Canon DSLR 30D. He adores this new toy and I do not blame him, judging from the many great shots he had with this.

Upon my encouragement and persistence, he set up his brand new blog under the name "EUROVIENNA" and posted some of his great shots to share.

If you enjoy good photography, do drop by here to visit. With his permission, here are some of the shots.

Our SuperSpidyCat

This was captured during our "rescue" mission of our pet cat which was being chased by neighbour's dog. She climbed to the top of the door grill and was trying to get down when we got to her.

The video was shot during the first day of the Lunar New Year 2007 by Mark at Mum's house in Pontian.

Happy Lunar New Year!

To all fellow Bloggers and Cyberfriends, Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year!

Gong Xi Gong Xi

To all our relatives, friends and colleagues, we wish you:

A very Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year !

From Chua SK and family
February 2007

RTM porno promo : They're still there !

The juicy links left by Anonymous on 23 and 26 January 2007 are still there this morning. Can RTM do something about this ...........quickly ?

RTM Web Page Hacked?

The links posted by "Anonymous" on Jan 23, 2007 at 4.13am had been left there on the web page till today (Jan 29, 2007). Makes me wonder if RTM is promoting pornography or phonology?

A joyous occasion at Master's new house

A get-together dinner party was held at our Qigong & Tai Chi Master's (Dato Dr Ong) spanking new house at Green Acres in Tropicana on the night of 26 January 2007.

Bernie : Guys & gals, Master's new house is ready and has just moved in. His birthday is also just over so why don't we organise a pot-luck dinner at his place?

John : Good idea, but please check with Master Ong.

Master Ong: Love to have you all coming to "warm" the house. Please bring along your vocal chords to sing your hearts' out!

All : We will be there, rain or shine.... wouldn't have missed it for the world !


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Freak Note - A New Addition

Back.










Front.






This old note has a very serious error.

The serial number at the back of the note does not match. The top number is GA 1634474 but the bottom number shows GA 1633474.

Someone spotted this error and sold it to me to add to my collection. Its quality is less than satisfactory because it has been in circulation for a while but still a good Freak Note to collect.

Yes, it makes a lot of sense looking at your notes for major error like this before spending them!

A Strange RM100 Note !

Front









Back


What a strange RM100 Note! What makes this Note special?

Firstly, the printing of Agung's face and the signature of the Governor of Bank Negara Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz are badly flawed.

Secondly, this is a Replacement "Z" series (refer to the Note's Serial No.) which is supposed to replace those regular Notes that were found to have errors, defects or damaged in the printing process. In short, this Error Replacement Note needs another Replacement Note!

A very very scarce Note indeed!

Freak RM10 Note

Front








Back










This RM10 note of the current Zeti series has a slight flaw in the printing of Agung's portrait.

As a collector of Freak and Error notes, I was unable to resist acquiring this from a fellow collector who offered it to me to add to my collection. See here and here for my other collections.

Another Freak RM50 Note

Back

Front

This is another Freak RM50 note I acquired recently ( Please refer to the earlier posting on 29 September 2006 here).

The back of the note is normal but the front printing is flawed; the King's portrait is shifted about 4 mm upwards. The figure "50" at the top is truncated and appeared at the bottom. This note is the 1999 Ali Abu Hassan series which was replaced by the current Zeti's series.

So Many Carps! So Little Food!

Nieces Ai Gek and Zhi Yi went to Huang Shan, China for holiday recently and took this shot of literally thousands of carps in a pond, fighting for foods that visitors had dropped. Wonder if one day the world should run out of natural resources, we are going to scavenge for food just like these carps??

Lunch at Kukup, Christmas Eve 2006

Our Christmas Eve lunch was held at a seafood restaurant in Kukup, a fishing village at the southern most tip of Malaysia Peninsular. Well known for its vast array of seafoods, both from the sea and from the kellongs, this popular seafood paradise is mainly frequented by Singaporeans during weekends and public holidays.

We were there in 4 cars and had black pepper crab, fried prawn, squids, garoupa fish, vegetables, foo yong eggs and fried meehoon and noodle.

This shot was taken after lunch by Soo Tong. From the smiling faces, I can conclude that everyone was pleased with the lunch.

Proud Parents' Ranting

Latest update: Taylor's advertisement in The Star paper on 29 December 2006.

Our eldest girl had just given us the best 20th Wedding Anniversary gift.... her excellent results in the SACE released this morning. (She was up at 6am trying desperately to log into the SSABSA website this morning).

Well, the wait and the effort were well worth it. She scored 18 and 19 marks for all 5 subjects (out of 20) giving a total SACE Score of 92. For University Entrance, her TER (Tertiary Entrance Ranking) point is a 98.85% which according to her was well above average.

We are all going out to celebrate her achievement tonight!

New Blog Layout - Thanks to Laluvirtual !

This new blog layout was specially designed for me by Laluvirtual (http://freebloggertemplate.blogspot.com/). I do not know him personally but he obliged when I wrote an email to him after visiting his blog. He came back with the design within 2 weeks ! Wow, that's efficiency and unreserved helpfulness even to a total stranger! Thanks to you, brother Laluvirtual and carry on blogging!

Happy 20th Anniversary !

7th December 2006 : Our 20th Wedding Anniversary!

Wow, how time flew us by! 20 years ago this day, we started our journey of life together, wide-eyed, curious but confident. We have our ups and downs. Looking back, we couldn't be more perfect for one another.

Now, 20 years later, we are proud to have brought up four beautiful young adults, each with their own characters, own strength and own resolves. And soon, they will spread their wings and build their own world and continue this wonderful cycle of life......

For the third time, we celebrated our Anniversary at Swenson's. This was the children's choice and we gladly obliged.

The following are shots of this joyous occasion. They were test shots taken with the newly acquired Panasonic Lumix LX1 Digital Semi Automatic Camera.


On the way to Swenson's, SS2, Petaling Jaya

Lamp shade above the table. Testing my new Lumix LX1 Camera, Night scene mode, manual

Colourful Lamp Shade Along the Walkway : Shutter priority, auto focus and no flash

Winnie, the eldest, waiting patiently for her food.

A shot on Ellen, the second daughter : Manual focus, slow shutter and no flash

Mark, our 3rd boy, posing with his Mum

James, the youngest boy, posed with Ellen


The soft ceiling light further softened by the helium filled balloons; Manual focus without flash, apperture prioriy

Slide Show : Mum's 93rd Birthday

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When Lightning Strikes!

Raymond sent me these photos taken recently in the compound of Ngee Ann Polytechnic campus in Singapore. These photos show the condition of a tree (not sure what species) that had been struck by lightning recently....... AND SURVIVED !!

According to eye-witnesses, the lightning bolt wrapped herself round the tree, leaving behind deep laceration marks on the tree trunk from top to bottom, but not spiltting it nor killing it!

A wonderful example of what Mother Nature is capable of !