One hour for the earth

On 26th March, 2011, I switched off all the lights in my house exactly on 8.30 pm after the prime time news but the TV was still on, fan was on, it was a very hot night even though it was pouring for the past few days but the temperature can soar when there is no rain. I walked out from my house and noticed that my housing areas remained as bright as the every other previous night and apparently not many people care about observing the earth hour in the area that I stay.

Lights were off in my house but everything else remained on. TV was on, fan was on, and computer was on. It was then TVBS of Channel 317 reporting news on the aftermaths of the catastrophe earthquake, tsunami and radioactive disaster in Japan. It was already more than 2 weeks since the 9 magnitude earthquake struck at off-coast Sendai and the authority was still unable to confirm the actual number of life casualty but for sure it will be very high and the hope is slim to discover any survivor on those missing ones.

Our TV channels are not reporting as many news on the earthquake since it has been more than 2 weeks after the incident but through ASTRO, the Taiwanese TV channels are still broadcasting the news almost every day. Perhaps earthquake is not that important to this country which is out from the Pacific Ring of Fire, not as important as the sex video scandal, not as important as the Sarawak state election maybe.

It was on the TVBS that I saw a piece of news reporting on a Japanese man who was still looking for his missing wife and daughter almost every day since the March, 11. This seemingly wore down and fatigue guy, with a face full of beard which was not shaved for many days, carrying a photo of his missing wife and daughter, going place to place, searching through the wreckages in his Tsunami-destroyed housing areas, looking for persons who are dearest to him the most. And he was carrying such a beautiful photo of his wife and daughter, both smiling broadly, perhaps it was the happiest moment in their life, a small family, a beautiful wife and a young and adoring daughter.

This man could barely hold his tears when he told the reporters that he would not give up on searching for his missing wife and daughter. Everything was gone since the ill-fated 11th March, no more happiness and no more hope. The house was flattened but it can be rebuilt but when the loved ones are gone, it will be gone forever, leaving a deep scar that no time can heal. He realized that he needed a miracle to discover his daughter and wife but still insistence of searching for them as that made him feel slightly better perhaps.

And for the thousands of the surviving victims, they have lost almost everything, their homes, families and their belongings that they took their whole life to build up with. As the man who was cycling through the wreckages of the tsunami-hit village, searching for his wife and daughter, in such dire moment when he knew that his loved ones are gone forever, the rest of the thing is not important any more, no convenience of electricity supplied by the nuclear reactor is also not important anymore.

When I switched on the light on 9.30 p.m, as brightness returned and I could see everything as clear as in a broad day light, it comes to my mind that the earth is in existence of such nature that there are day and night. But as human are forever trying to make the earth, a comfy place for their life, they need electricity to turn darkness into brightness at night.

As the conventional means of churning out electricity can no longer cope with the exponential increase in human population, many countries have opted to nuclear power to satisfy the increasing need for electricity to light up the metropolitans and mobilize bullet trains, and everything seems so beautifully planned and executed until a natural disaster strikes, the nuclear power plants that are made to provide mankind comfort and conveniences, out of the sudden, become a weapon that killing thousands and thousands of people and causing massive damage to the environment.

A chat with a cab driver at Bintulu

A cab driver can tell you a lot of stories. It’s part of their job to drive and talk to the people from all walks of life and thus, sometimes you can really have a good conversation or exchange of ideas with the cab drivers. While travelling from Bintulu airport to the hotel, the cab driver really surprised me with his political views and the most daring thing that this guy had said was he hoped that the white-hair could end up like Chen Sui-Bien, the infamous former President of Taiwan who is now jailed for corruptions.

He said the white-hair has made tremendous wealth during his long tenure as a chief minister but the commoners in remote areas of Sarawak are still struggling for bread and butter. As more and more jungles were logged and planted with oil palm, in the way benefiting the businessmen and their political allies, the natives are struggling to cope with the lost of their native lands and livelihoods.

I told him that his dream will never materialize as long as our political landscape remains status-quo and he agreed. He hoped that the present state government could be toppled in the upcoming election, the way he was saying was not without any disgruntles. I laughed and said that it would be highly unlikely as the past few by-elections have shown that the people are now in favor of BN.

The old cab driver sighed and agreed with me somewhat disappointedly as this country has been run by the same government since independence and there is really nothing we could do to those corrupted ones as long as they remain in the government. Unlike Taiwan, when Chen Sui-Bien stepped down as the President, he was prosecuted for corruptions but should Ah Bien remains as president or his party won the presidency, he will still be as free as a bird.

Commoners like us are hoping to elect a government which is fair and just to each and every one but if the same government is ruling a country for too long, or the same leaders are sitting in the positions for too long, there bound to be weak on check and balance and it would breed endless corruption.

Poor censorship by Berita Harian

As I was driving from Kluang back to Seremban on last Friday after out-station work, it was all the way raining, not that heavy actually but It was still pretty uneasy for me to drive in such gloomy day where you don’t see a ray of light since the morning till afternoon. The weather has been so unpredictable nowadays as some people had to endure a serious flood in January due to continuous rains and the sky cleared up since Chinese new year and it was raining non-stop again now.

As I reached home in the evening, sitting down on my couch switching on the TV, it was then I saw the horrific scenes of earthquake and tsunamis occurring in Japan, destroying a few cities and thousands were reported dead. My heart sank. Mankind are simply hapless in facing natural disasters such as earthquake or tsunamis, if it strikes, I guess we could just close our eyes and don’t say a word, don’t even pray, not even god can help, just accept that the time has come.

Many of the victims could have hoped that it was just a nightmare and when you wake up the next morning everything will be the same as before. The sun still shines, birds sing, your home still in one piece as comfortable as before, the bus or train still awaiting you, and your children are happily walking to the school, the flowers in your garden still flourish and your neighbors’ dogs will still be barking as loud as before making hell lot of noise.

But it was not a nightmare at Senai, it was real, it was more real than any of the disaster movies you have ever seen, it was frightening for people who have seen it on TV, what more for those who had witnessed it. As the earthquake and tsunamis had caused massive destructions, flattening cities and causing raging fires everywhere, thousands and thousands Japanese lost their families, it is simply disgusting to know that there are some people who have the hearts to poke fun on one of the most damaging catastrophe in the history of mankind and too bad that Berita Harian (BH) is one of them publishing a cartoon depicting the tsunami and earthquake that killed so many lives.

BH’s insensitivity had resulted in many quarters demanding the local daily to apologize for its poor judgment and distasteful publication of the cartoon, which showed the popular Japanese icon Ultraman running away from an oncoming tsunami. BH has issued a public apology saying that it had no intention to poke fun on the catastrophic disaster that has befallen Japanese people but whatever it is, they’re simply inconsiderate and for the veteran pressmen and women in BH, too bad that they have such a poor self-censorship.

First in 54 years to retain All England

When Lee Chong Wei walked out to the court as the MC of All England Badminton Championship was introducing him and his opponent in a WWF-manner, he smiled broadly with such a high confidence, slowly walking towards the main court, gesturing his fans along the way, and my wife, who accompanied me for a mid-night live telecast, was surprised with the exceptional confidence shown by our champion.

Unlike his former encounters with Lin Dan in which, Lin Dan was always the one who was more confident while Chong Wei more tensed up, this time around, Chong Wei was more relaxed and composed, you could see that from his gesture to a stadium-packed Malaysian supporters at Birmingham, and that sort of confidence was surely a good indication, both of us were thinking, and it was indeed, as Chong Wei lived up to the expectation as the World No 1, beating Lin Dan in a pulsating final 21-17, 21-17.

Chong Wei began with an explosive start in both games; he played more aggressively while Lin Dan, unlike his usual self, was more subdued and defensive. Both games were very tight from the beginning as the players exchanged points in a highly charged up final match; the point-exchanges were so tight that I wondered whether my heart could take it. After seeing our double players failed in the third game after such a good lead 11-6, I certainly didn’t want to go to the bed with another disappointment.

But it was Chong Wei who played so brilliantly and managed to tame his nemesis and retain his All England trophy. His excellent effort should suffice to silence the critics, me included, that he is unable to beat Lin Dan in major tournaments. More importantly, Chong Wei has shown his capability to beat any of the world best players outside our own shore without any home ground advantage and that is not something that could be undermined by any parties.

Chong Wei is making history to be the first Malaysian to retain All England back-to-back and he did it a well worthy manner defeating Lin Dan and I guess for all his fans, particularly for all those who packed up Birmingham Indoor Stadium with kompang and Malaysian flags, and chanting Malaysia Boleh ever louder, Chong Wei had repaid their unwavering supports with such a memorable victory.

Liverpool 3 - MU 1

For two consecutive nights, there were explosive matches that keep fans of EPL around the world heart pumping faster than usual. Arsenal had a change to be just a point behind Manchester United but the young gunners, with many of their star players injured, ruined the chance with a draw with Sunderland although the poor line call and referee decision were partly to be blamed.

Sir Alex was certainly a little bit more relaxing going to Anfield after seeing the goalless draw between Arsenal and Sunderland but he could not have imagined for the worst to happen at Anfield, with rejuvenated Liverpool side under the stewardship of King Dalglish, completely thrashed the visitors.

MU were outplayed by Liverpool and 2 goals by the workaholic Kuyt in the first half and another one in the second half completely silenced the MU’s fans at Anfield. You could only hear the Liverpool anthem getting louder and louder towards the end of the match. Liverpool fans were simply ecstatic with such a timely rejuvenation of their players, especially Stevie G, Suarez and the hat-trick hero Kuyt.

I guess many of the Liverpool fans were having a sleepless night after seeing such a vibrant play and King Dalglish is surely having a memorable birthday, seeing his players outplayed the leader.

Arsene Wenger who blamed the poor refereeing and line call for their goalless draw with Sunderland could have now breathed a sigh of relief but can gunners pull up their socks to get a 3-point for their following match? Wow…it will surely be another big match then.