Bercerai kasih talak tiada. Seribu tahun kembali juga...

Around this time last week, I received an email from fellow blogger Sharifah Hamzah of Building Bridges, inviting me to attend a launch and discussion of a book written by her late father, Hamzah Hussin. I was pleasantly surprised at Sharifah's invitation because I had dropped by her blog only occasionally. Since the event was to be held in Singapore and I had nothing planned that weekend, I thought it was a good opportunity to meet blogger-friends in real life.

And so last Saturday 22 October, I made the trip across the causeway and headed to the event venue somewhere in Geylang. It was the second book launch for two successive days in a row (see previous post about Tony JK's Find Dining).

Truth be told, I have never heard about the author Hamzah Hussin so I wasn't sure what to expect. But the event was later to reveal something new which I had neglected to pay attention to. And what might this be, you ask?

Fans of classic Malay movies from the 60's would know the film Gurindam Jiwa. It stars the handsome Nordin Ahmad and the equally beautiful Latifah Omar, playing the lead roles. In that film, the stars sang a melodious duet with the same name as the movie's title. The opening lines of the song goes as such :

"Tuai padi antara masak, Esok jangan layu-layuan.
Intai kami antara nampak, Esok jangan rindu-rinduan."

Hamzah Hussin wrote the lyrics to that song. He also wrote the script for the movie. 

The book that was launched last Saturday is a compilation of three stories : Perempuan Gusti, Samseng and Rumah Kosong.

Thank you Sharifah, for inviting me. It was a pleasure to be meeting you in person. My best wishes to your effort in re-publishing your late father's works.

Dark and sensational Malay creative writing from the 50's and 60's

Find Dining...

I cannot remember how or when I came across the food review blog owned and authored by a gentleman who calls himself Tony Johor Kaki. I am a food explorer myself, so it must've been through a simple google search. Once I discovered the blog, I included the link in my sidebar so that I can easily click for updates.

Tony JK's blog is quite impressive. He has visited and personally tasted the food at hundreds of outlets, ranging from simple hawker stalls to fine restaurants located mainly in Johor Bahru city. His entries cover both non-halal and halal eateries, properly labeled and categorised, complete with address and GPS coordinates. But what sets him apart from other food blogs is his amazing collection of mouth-watering photographs that accompany each post.

From blogging, Tony later set up a Facebook Page for halal food enthusiasts called Johor Sedap. He has now progressed to become a full-fledged author of a guidebook for foodies. With the help of a generous sponsor and a publishing house, some entries from Tony's blog have been edited and compiled into a book named Find Dining with Johor Kaki.

I have commented on Tony's blog a number of times and contributed to the Johor Sedap FB page occasionally. It's only today that I had the privilege of meeting the man himself for the first time in person. It was during a book signing and distribution session at Sutera Mall in Skudai.

The book is available for free. I had a quick flip through its contents. Of the 23 halal food outlets mentioned in the book, I have not yet been to 8. That's roughly a 65% hit rate.

Of course, not all restaurants and food joints in Johor can be featured in a tiny guidebook. In Tony's words, the food business is very dynamic. New eating places open every week while some of the existing ones don't make it and have to close shop. With this, I'm pretty sure Tony JK and his publishers would be looking ahead at future editions. Good luck Tony.

Tony JK now a celebrity :-)

Finally, one blogger able to meet another (more famous) blogger

My personal copy, signed by Tony on the inside intro page

Good, bad and indifferent news

Events that happened in this past month of September 2016 :

1. Three athletes from Malaysia won gold at Rio 2016 Paralympics, for the first time ever.

2. JDT made history by winning the Malaysia Super League, 3 times in a row. 

3. Our DPM made known to the world of his English public-speaking skills.

4. The no. 1 university in the country denies having awarded an honorary PhD to a well-known motivational speaker.

5. My sister-in-law, Hajjah Zainab Bt Mohd Amin (fondly known as Mak We to her nephews and nieces), lost her long-fought battle against cancer.

Good, bad and indifferent news. No prizes for guessing which one I care about the most.

Hajjah Zainab was the second child in a family of 13 siblings. She was my wife's 2nd eldest sister and used to reside at her hometown of Mersing until a few years ago, when illness and treatments at hospitals in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur caused her to stay with her youngest daughter.

I have very fond memories of her. When I married my wife those many years ago, her house was where I stayed at before the nikah ceremony proper. It was there I was first introduced to my then to-be niece, a sweet little 5-year old girl. The little girl has now grown up, with a family of her own. Thank you dear Maslin Md Ramly and your kind husband Isa Hoo Abdullah, for your dedication in taking care of your mother until her final day.

Tiga generasi di pusara allahyarham Hjh Zainab Bt Mohd Amin
 kembali ke rahmatullah pada hari Isnin 26 September 2016.
Gambar diambil (tanpa kebenaran) dari FB Puan Maslin.

The hornet's nest

I have a friend from childhood days who now works at the military airbase in Butterworth, Pulau Pinang. He is very knowledgeable about military aircraft, whether they come from US, Europe or Russia. I, on the other hand, am quite ignorant about airplanes. Perhaps the only significant combat plane that I can identify is the British Harrier Jump Jet, the amazing aircraft that can do vertical landing and take-off. This jet was part of the fleet that saw action during the Falklands War in 1982.

My friend recently posted an interesting trivia to our Whatsapp group. The British RAF 100 Squadron has a Malay motto on their badge. It reads :

`Sarang Tebuan Jangan Dijolok'

The literal translation of this Malay idiom is `Never stir up a hornet's nest', meaning that one should not be looking for trouble on purpose. When applied to the macho men of the Air Force, the underlying message would be, `Better not mess with us. Or else we'll come and hurt you real bad!'

To confirm my friend's story, I googled the 100 Squadron. Indeed, their badge does have a motto written in Malay. The webpage gives a brief history of the squadron but does not provide any information on how and why the Malay motto was adopted. It does however say that the squadron was once based in Malaya in 1950, so that was probably when they came across a Malay idiom which took their fancy.

The link can be read here -> RAF 100 Squadron

Selamat hari raya Aidiladha to my Muslim friends and readers. The noblest aspect of sacrifice is expecting nothing in return.

The hornet's sting may kill you...

A very thorny issue

In Malay culture, there is this peculiar term known as `saudara durian'. It is a sarcastic phrase which literally translates to `durian relative'. To properly explain its meaning, allow me to provide you with an example.

Let's say that you are a city-dweller. You have a relative back at your hometown or village who owns a durian orchard. At the time of the fruiting season, you would visit this relative and partake in the copious consumption of this delicious fruit (absolutely free, of course) with the further chance of the kind relative packing some more of the fruits to take home. At other times of the year, it never crossed your mind to visit this relative or even ask about his/her well-being. You are then a `saudara durian'.

Nasty, isn't it?

Well, I hope I'm not placed into such a category. I am not much of a durian kaki anyway. I very seldom buy durians from the market and can hardly tell the difference in taste between a D24 grade and the Musang King variety. Nevertheless, if some kampung relatives do send me some of these fruits, I gladly accept them. It is very impolite to decline such gifts.

Two weeks ago, I texted a cousin of mine, asking him about the yield of his durian trees. The previous year, he had dropped by my house and gave us a sackful of the so-called king of fruits. This time around, I noted that the local markets are already teeming with the thorny fruits but yet no news from my cousin of his harvest. He texted back, saying that this year's yield is not as bountiful as last year, but there is still more that enough for personal consumption. He invited us to visit his dusun so that we can collect some for ourselves.

Yesterday, the missus and I made the trip to Pontian and met my cousin at his fruit orchard. The orchard has about 15 durian trees plus some mangosteen, duku, rambai and rambutan. By the time we arrived, there was already a large pile of durians that my cousin had gathered. He sliced opened a few for us to eat. I probably ate only 4 or 5 seeds. Really, there is only so much that you can eat. Otherwise you should be prepared to experience the rise in body heat if you consume too much. The fleshy pulp of the durian fruit has this unnerving exothermic property.

In addition to the freshly consumed ones at the orchard, my cousin gave us a sackful to take home. The sack contained 9 fruits of various sizes. This morning the missus used 3 to make serawa durian and bubur kacang hijau. The remainder would cause that distinctive pungent smell to linger in our house for another few more days.

King of fruits, the kampung variety

Moving on to a new brand

In my final post of the previous year, I wrote about my brand loyalty to Sony mobile phones. The full article can be read here -> Is it worth being brand loyal?

I have now given up on Sony and would never purchase another phone from this manufacturer or recommend any of my friends to buy it. Two weeks ago, my Xperia M5 Dual phone which I bought in September 2015, gave me problems for the second time. This time, the phone had trouble in detecting the telco network, causing difficulty in making and receiving calls. When I sent it to the local authorised dealer, I was told it was either a software problem or a system problem. If it was software, the repair could be done in a day or two. If it was a system problem, then they would have to send it to their main office in KL and this would take much longer.

After two days, I called the dealer and was told that my phone has a hardware problem and they may have to change the motherboard. The repair would take up to 3 weeks. Crap...

I cannot wait that long and not have a phone. Unfortunately, the phone that I used prior to the M5, an Xperia V which I had from 2013, was also not working due to a faulty power charging port. I made the decision to cut my ties with Sony and buy a new phone.

This time, I opted for an HTC Desire 626 Dual. It is not the top model of the HTC range of smartphones. In fact, it was the cheapest of the 3 models on display but it had the minimum specs that I wanted, namely two nano-simcard slots and a separate microSD card slot. More importantly, it met my budget. Feature-wise, it is very much inferior to the M5. For example, the camera is less powerful (lower resolution, poor macro focus) and the operating system is still Android 4 (Kitkat). Nonetheless, at this moment in time, connectivity is more important to me than features.

So let's see how this new phone from HTC perform. Maybe I'll write a review on it later.

Dual sim with 5" display, 13MP main camera and 2GB RAM

No escape from the taxman...

In the previous post, I mentioned how this year's Aidilfitri is somewhat special because it coincides with my birthday. It was supposed to be a joyfully memorable day and which I shall remember for many years to come.

Well, it turn out to be memorable indeed, but all for the wrong reasons.

As in previous years, with the exception of the last, we would celebrate the 1st day of Syawal at my parents' home in Singapore. Since my parents are the eldest living relatives in our clan, most of my cousins in Singapore from both father and mother's side, would visit them on the first day of Aidilfitri. This means that their tiny flat in Bukit Batok would be filled to the brim with guests coming by throughout the day.

On the last day of the fasting month, my wife had slogged throughout the day to cook various dishes for the hari raya celebrations. This included the traditional chicken rendang and a large pot of nasi briyani. It was nearly close to midnight when her dishes were ready and it took another hour or so for us to be ready to load the food and our other stuff into my son's car. By the time we left our JB home to head for Singapore, it was technically already Wednesday the 6th of July 2016.

When we reached the immigration checkpoint at the Johor side of the causeway, my passport was cleared. So were the passports of my eldest son, daughter-in-law and youngest son. But there seemed to be a problem with my wife's passport. My wife and I had to alight from the car and go the Immigration Office to find out what the issue was.

The lady officer checked her computer and told us that my wife is on the Inland Revenue Board's blacklist for alleged non-payment of income tax and therefore barred leaving the country.

What?!

My wife left the employment scene 21 years ago when she was pregnant with our 3rd child. She has never been in full-time employment since then. In my own tax returns, I declared that my wife has no income and for which I'm claiming spouse relief. It therefore came as a huge surprise that IRB is chasing her for unpaid taxes.

Of course we had a thousand and one questions to ask but the Immigration officer was not in a position to give reply. All she could do was offer her sympathy and say that many people have been caught in similar situations. She is only doing her job in following IRB's directive.

My wife and I are not tax evaders. I know that IRB has set this procedure to go after those who owe the government tons of money in unpaid taxes. But the least that IRB can do is to first notify us of any possible outstanding amounts instead of resorting to this drastic method of preventing people to travel outside the country. My wife had never received any letter or other forms of communication from the taxman prior to this. In today's age of information technology, IRB cannot say that they don't know of my wife's current address. In fact, they could have relayed the information to me by mail, e-mail or telephone call. My income tax file is very much active and all those contact details are there.

It was turning out to be a bleak hari raya for us. We were not allowed to spend the special day with our parents. We had to turn back. My wife was so crestfallen.

When we got home, my son took out our luggage and rearranged the stuff in his car boot. He and his wife then retraced their route to their grandparents' home in Singapore. They became our representatives for the family gathering. No doubt my son would face endless questions from the relatives on why his mother and father are not home for hari raya.

To add salt to the wound, the long holiday break meant that we had to wait for another 6 days until Monday before we could visit the Inland Revenue office to find out more about our case. This we eventually did. For now we have reached an interim solution with them. It's not fully cleared yet so I'll perhaps write on that part after the case is settled.

So what did we do on the first day of Aidilfitri? We decided to visit my maternal uncle and aunt at my mother's hometown of Pontian. At least we did something meaningful to wash away the sorrow caused by a government who claims that they have the rakyat's needs as priority.... rakyat didahulukan. Ya lah tu...

I'm sure you can detect my sarcasm.

A different type of hari raya this year

A special Aidilfitri

Today marks the last day of the holy fasting month of Ramadhan for the Hijri year 1437. Tomorrow is the first day of the month of Syawal where Muslims celebrate Aidilfitri.

It would be a very special Aidilfitri for me because, for the first time as I can remember, the 1st of Syawal (Hijri calendar) coincides with 6 July (Gregorian calendar). It is also my birthday tomorrow. Praise to the Almighty for this special occasion.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim friends and readers. May all of you be in good health and joyful spirit.

Double exit

Last week, the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union, not by an overwhelming majority, but by simple advantage of 52% against 48%. This means that a very significant number had chosen to remain. Indeed over the few days after the referendum results, social media was abuzz with so-called claims that many have regretted the exit choice.

Brexit does not affect me directly, so I cannot claim to have a keen interest in the subject or have good knowledge of the implications. Nonetheless, having stayed in the UK for a number of years, I do have fond memories of the country. If I am there now and have a right to vote, I would have chosen to leave.

But who would have thought that Brexit would be an ominous sign for another departure a few days later. England was knocked out of the Euro 2016 football tournament by minnows Iceland.

I have not watched any of the group matches over the past few weeks. A bit strange for me actually, to have minimal interest in the current tournament. Especially since my favourite EPL team Liverpool, has 12 players in the different Euro squads, joint top club with Juventus of Italy. Somehow, the interest has waned compared to previous years. I have stopped being a supporter of England many years ago. In the previous World Cup, I cheered for Holland. But Holland failed to qualify for Euro 2016 so this time around I guess I'll cheer for Wales.

The Wales vs Northern Ireland match was the first one I watched live on Astro. I am rooting for Wales because I studied at Wrexham in North Wales for a short while. Before that, I had not known that the Welsh speak an entirely different language from English. In their language, their country is known as Cymru. It is a pity that I had not taken the opportunity to learn more of the Welsh language and culture while I was there.

I do hope that Wales beat Belgium in the next game and progress to the semi-finals. The chances may be slim but we can always dream. Give me hope, Joe Allen...

The Nine States

The newest addition to our extended family of the Hj Mohd Amin clan is a sweet lass, Nur Diyana Zainal Abidin, who married our nephew, Ridzuan Zaid in March this year. Diyana hails from the neighbouring state of Negeri Sembilan. Literally, the name translates to Nine States but perhaps is more appropriately mentioned as nine districts or provinces.

I am surprised to find out that modern Negeri Sembilan has 7 (and not 9) districts. The original 9 districts were :

1. Jelai
2. Jelebu
3. Johol
4. Kelang (now a district in Selangor)
5. Naning (now part of Melaka)
6. Rembau
7. Segamat (now in Johor) / Pasir Besar (now in Tampin, a town that straddles the NS - Melaka border)
8. Sungai Ujong
9. Alu Panah (now divided between Jelebu and Pahang state)

Diyana's hometown is called Batu Kikir which is in the district of Jempol. As you can see, the present-day Jempol is not one of the original 9 districts.

Anyway, to get to Batu Kikir from Johor Bahru, we took the North-South Highway and exited at Senawang interchange. From there we took the road heading towards Kuala Pilah. I had been to Kuala Pilah twice before, the last trip more than 25 years ago to attend the wedding of a close friend at his hometown of Seri Menanti.

It was an interesting drive on the road to Kuala Pilah. Once past the area known as Bukit Putus, you can see many stalls by the roadside selling smoked duck (itek salai). This is quite unique because duck is not commonly consumed by Malays. Outside of Negeri Sembilan, you would be hard-pressed to look for halal duck meat.

The royal town of Seri Menanti in Kuala Pilah district is an interesting place to visit because of the old palace or Istana Lama. However, on the day we were there, the palace was closed for renovations. From what I read in Trip Advisor, the renovations had been ongoing for a fairly long time, causing much inconvenience to tourists. A sad thing, really.

Another little known fact is that the source of the Muar River (the length of which is mostly located in Johor state) is in Kuala Pilah. I took a detour off the main road to explore the upper reaches of this famous Johor river. As I passed one of the isolated villages, I saw a young boy probably still in his early teens, riding on an awesome looking motorbike which had the shape of an extended custom-made chopper. I was too slow in getting my camera out and hence missed out on an opportunity for capturing a classic scene.

Ok then, that's enough of a write-up on the 9 States for now.

Best wishes to my muslim friends and readers in this holy fasting month. Ramadhan kareem...

Batu Kikir, a town made famous in a local pop song, sung in the Nismilan dialect

Istana Lama Seri Menanti

Sungai Muar in Kuala Pilah

Too late to capture a side view of this kid on a chopper

Smoked duck which was later cooked into rendang itek

Back to writing.... again (I hope)...

My second son Harith, who studies at a university in Makassar Indonesia, sent me a whatsapp message last week. He asked why I have stopped updating this blog. I messaged back, saying that my interest in blogging seem to be waning although I do have a few stories floating about in my mind.

As a form of encouragement for me to continue, my son told me that I have a readership base in Indonesia (hmmm... really?). He has an Indonesian friend who likes to read this blog, especially on things relating to local Malaysian culture. Well, I guess that's a good reason enough as any to keep this sparsely-posted blog alive.

I'll resume with a short post. Below is an outdoor wedding photo of our nephew, Ridzuan Zaid during the reception at his parent's home in Tangkak, Muar last month. The pretty bride is Nur Diyana Zainal Abidin, who hails from the small town of Batu Kikir in Negeri Sembilan.

We had made the trip to the bride's family home for the engagement ceremony some time last year and I had hoped to write more about that visit. I'll try to do that for my next post, insyaAllah...

Ridzuan and Diyana. 16 April 2016

Fatin gets married...

Around 4 years ago I posted an anecdote about an old friend named Atan, who married a young lady named Zaiton, who later gave birth to their first baby girl whom they named Fatin. Read the piece here -> Tan Tin Tun.

At that time, I wrote that I could not remember Fatin's full name. Well, now I can. Last month, I received an invitation card from Atan, inviting us to attend the reception for his daughter's wedding held earlier today.

Nur Fatin Syuhada Bt Hj Atan is now married to a gentleman named Mohd Fahmi Bin A Wahab. We went to the reception a bit early and did not wait for the Bersanding ceremony, hence did not get to meet the bride and groom in person. So I just snapped a pic of their wedding banner to share with this post.

There you have it... Tan Tin Tun revisited.

Congratulation to the newly-weds, Fatin and Fahmi

The invitation card. I wonder if the groom can see the connection between the names of his in-laws and his wife... but I doubt it. The Tan Tin Tun comic in Gila-Gila magazine was way before his time...

Is it worth being brand-loyal?

In our present world of endless material consumption, there are thousands of manufacturers who pitch their products to us in all manner imaginable. We end up buying, owning and utilizing the product after being influenced by advertisements. When we are buying a particular brand for the first time, we would sometimes seek the opinions of our friends or relatives who have possessed that brand before.

After that first purchase, our experience of the product's reliability, usefulness and suitability would influence our decision on the next time we buy a similar product. After going through a number of such experiences, we become convinced that the maker of the said product is top-quality and would have no qualms of buying anything else of the same name. This is part of the process of brand loyalty.

That would be the normal process for me although I cannot deny that some people do buy on impulse. Especially when an item is on offer so cheap. Such is the persuasive strength of commercials.

I am generally a brand-loyal person. I would normally stick to a particular make when the time comes for me to upgrade, replace or simply get new. When I do want to try a different brand, I would normally read up a bit to get more information.

Let's take the example of home electrical appliances. My old television set (the original bulky cathode ray tube type) was Philips. When I wanted to buy a VCD player, I went for the same brand. That TV set gave me great pictures and nice sound. It served me well for many years, undergoing two repairs along the way. I finally had to make the change when the third time it blacked out, the repairman said the parts needed are no longer available. Time therefore, to switch to the newer flat-screen TVs whose prices had fallen to within reasonable reach.

However, the new television set which I bought was not a Philips. I read a few consumer review websites and decided on a Hitachi. Not a very popular brand (Samsung and Sony are tops for flat-screens) and certainly not many outlets selling it. But I did manage to find a store in JB that sells it. This Hitachi has been in use for more than 5 years. It had a fault once while still under warranty. A call was made to the dealer who contacted the local service agent. The service guys came to my house the next day, diagnosed the problem, replaced the faulty component and the set was up and running in no time. I have not regretted making the switch to this different brand and when the time comes for an upgrade or replacement, I would probably go for a Hitachi again.

But it is the only Hitachi in the house. The other appliances are from different manufacturers. The refrigerator is a Samsung, running well. The washing machine was also a Samsung until being replaced recently by a Panasonic. The DVD player is a Sony. By the way, the Philips VCD player still works and is also hooked up to the Hitachi TV although I can't remember when the last time it was used.

The other Sony gadget that I have is a smartphone. I have been a loyal Sony mobile phone user for a long time, back from the days when they started off as Sony-Ericsson. My first SE mobile was a Walkman W660i (as seen in this Blogger profile pic). Sony was a bit slow in getting on the smartphone business. Samsung was leading by miles when Sony came up with their first model. But I still stuck to Sony when I made the switch to Android operating system. It was the small-screen entry-level Xperia X8. I later upgraded to Xperia V, which had a great camera. It hanged up on me once but a quick software fix at the local dealer solved the problem. Other than that, I was perfectly happy with the phone.

In September this year I resumed work at a friend's construction firm. He gave me a mobile phone plus line for business use. Rather than carry two phones, I decided to upgrade to a dual-sim handset. Naturally I opted for another Sony model. The new Xperia M5 Dual was launched just the month before and was attractively priced at mid-range with features approaching the top end. I made the purchase.

Just after over a month of use, the handset started to give me problems. It would suddenly switch off on its own and could not be turned back on unless attached to an external power source or a power bank. I returned the phone to the dealer who mentioned it as an `auto-off' problem. After a week, I called the dealer who told me that my phone is still with Sony Service Centre in Kuala Lumpur. No idea when it was coming back.

I logged on to the Sony Support website and sent an email. The reply came back, saying that it was a battery problem and my phone is expected to be repaired in one-month's time. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. How can a brand-new phone have such a problem? I then checked a few forum websites and found out that other M5 Dual owners worldwide also face the same situation. It is obvious that the M5 has a manufacturing defect.

I continued to send emails to follow-up on my case and even posted a message to their Facebook page. While the Sony personnel did reply to my emails and respond to my message, I felt that they were not doing enough to address the issue. At one stage, I even thought of cutting my ties with Sony, swallow my losses and buy a new phone from somebody else (perhaps an Asus Zenfone or, god forbid, an I-phone).

After the long wait, I now have my M5 back. It has been almost 2 weeks and so far it has been holding up pretty well. We shall see...

Beautiful phone. Bad first experience.

Happy new year to my dear friends and readers. May you all be in good health for the whole year to come.

Giving Tuesday

The above infographic from the grammar check masters, here -> https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check

The brief encounter...

Ashraf wakes up earlier than usual that day. The sleep of the night before was not sound. And now a full bladder is forcing him to leave the comfort of his bed.

He heads for the bathroom located at the back of the kitchen. It is not yet daybreak but the light from the streetlamps outside filters in through the rear windows. As he is about to turn towards the kitchen, he catches a glimpse of a familiar figure in the dim hallway by the entrance door. He freezes.

He recognizes his father who is putting on his shoes and looking ready to go out.

'Dad, is that you?' he asks, just to be sure.

'Yes, son. It's me. You are up early. I'm just about to go to work.'

Without missing a beat, the son asks another question, 'But you know you're dead, right?'

He sees the figure in the hallway smiling back. 'That indeed I am, my son. But I am going to work anyway. You take care now.... and tell your sister to finish reading the book that I gave her.'

The figure then makes a move for the door and without the need to open it, leaves the house like a fading mist.

The young man remains rooted to the spot. He wonders if he is dreaming or he has just really seen what he has seen. After a while, the urge to pee makes him realize why is up from bed this early.

He makes a shake of his head and walks towards the bathroom...

Johor Football Back To Glory

The Johor football team has created history tonight. They beat the team from Tajikistan to win the AFC Cup final, the first time a team from Malaysia has done it.

It was the narrowest of wins. A single goal against 3 in the net from the opponents which were overruled for offside. An element of luck perhaps, but having started as the underdogs and playing at a venue thousands of miles away from home, every single bit of good fortune is most appreciated.

For the past few years, the impact of Johor football in the national soccer scene has been obvious. Credit must go to the Tunku Mahkota for having the vision and leadership in driving this transformation. It brings to memory the glory days of the late 80's when Johor was the Malaysia Cup champion.

The last time I watched a match at the Larkin Stadium was when the team had Nasir Yusof aka The Professor marshalling the midfield. Maybe it is time again for me to sit in the stands at Larkin to enjoy the live atmosphere.

Congratulations to JDT!  Hope for more success to come.

A Singapore registered car in JDT colours. Pic obtained via Whatsapp circulation...