Saturday, 20 February 2010

Sunrise and sunset at Teluk Iskandar

Teluk Iskandar is a stretch of coastline a few kilometres to the south of Mersing town. It is named after the previous Sultan of Johor and became famous some years back for the discovery of gold. Hundreds of hopeful prospectors dug up the beach at low tide, in hope of finding fortune in the form of tiny specks of yellow dust among the dark grey sands.

At the peak of the gold mining activity in December 2007, many gold-diggers camped out on the beach. The price of woks and frying pans in Mersing town shot up like nobody's business.

The bay has now returned to normal. The beach itself is not really that pretty when compared to other beaches on the east coast of Malaysia. Nonetheless, it is a good spot to practice with some sunrise and sunset photography...

Sunrise Pics :



 
  
 

Sunset Pics :

 
  
 



Saturday, 13 February 2010

Tiger buddies

Let's have a cheerful story for a change...

Regular readers of this blog would've noticed some stories about my working life while stationed outside my hometown. Many years back, I worked on a construction project in Terengganu, together with an ex-colleague named Steve Wong. We became very close friends even after we went separate ways upon completion of the project.

We kept in touch by way of emails, Yahoo Messenger and the occasional phone call. After Terengganu, Steve returned to his hometown in Ipoh and worked with a few companies before finally (I hope) settled in on a steady job with his brother's company in Singapore. Steve gave me a call when he first transferred to Singapore almost three years ago and I promised to look him up whenever I have the chance. Despite that promise, I never found the time to meet up with him although I travel to Singapore quite often to visit my parents.

One evening last month, I was still at the office when a buzz from my old friend came in on YM. We chatted for a bit before he asked me when I think we can meet up. I told him that my visits to Singapore are usually weekend trips and don't have that much free time.

He replied back, `Haiya brader... excuses only!'

It hit me instantly that my friend was right. If we want something to be done, we will try our best to make it happen. The Malay phrase is, `Hendak seribu daya...'

I then decided I'll make a specific trip to Singapore just to meet up with my friend. We exchanged messages for a bit more before deciding on the last Saturday of January to have dinner together. On 30.01.10, I drove down to Singapore to meet my old buddy whom I've not met for more than 5 years.

Steve took me out for a seafood dinner near his house in Choa Chu Kang. We talked about old times and old friends. He told me that he's settling down with life in Singapore and hope to move his family from Ipoh soon. On the work front, things have much improved although initially he faced many problems. Things are definitely looking up for my friend.

Steve and I are both tiger guys... we are 48-years old this year. We may be endangered species but our fighting spirit never dies.

During the dinner, I mentioned to Steve that another of our ex-colleague, CP Toh may also be working in Singapore. Steve asked for Toh's local mobile number and immediately placed a call. As luck would have it, Toh was actually in Singapore that evening, still slugging it out at his office somewhere within the National University of Singapore campus. We decided to meet up and have teh tarik somewhere not too far from the NUS.

Three longtime pals : (L to R) CP Toh, Oldstock and Steve Wong

And so that evening, three close friends who've never met in years ended up at a mamak eating place having some drinks and chatting up late into the night. Good friends are like gold... they'll never lose value.

Happy Lunar New Year to all my Chinese friends and readers. Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Previous posts about my friends can be read here ->
1. The turtle state
2. Iftar with a good friend

Pic of tigers borrowed from National Geographic.

Thursday, 11 February 2010

The second departure in 2010

It was Sunday evening on 7th February. I was already on the PLUS highway heading north to Kuala Lumpur when a text message arrived in my mobile. It was from my wife, informing me of news that an uncle of ours has just passed away.

I stopped at a rest area and then made some phone calls. I called my cousin to get the first-hand news of his father's demise. He told me that he was still at Pontian Hospital and arranging for the body to be brought home to Air Baloi. I then texted my colleague to inform her that I won't be coming to the office the next day.

I resumed my journey but rather than continuing to KL, I exited the highway at Simpang Renggam, turned left towards Benut and onwards to Air Baloi. When I reached my cousin's kampung house, he was not there  yet. It was past 11pm when the hospital van carrying my late uncle's body arrived.

My uncle had not been in good health for quite some time. It was only two weeks earlier that I had a chance meeting with my cousin at Masjid Abu Bakar for Friday prayers and I asked him about his father's health.

I had a look at the death certificate where the doctor had written the COD as pulmonary edema leading to cardiac arrest. In layman's terms, that's an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the lungs leading to a heart failure. My uncle was 81-years old.

Buat Allahyarham Ayahanda Abdul Rahman Bin Rafiee, semuga Allah swt mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh ayahanda dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang yang beriman. Amin.

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

The previous year in pictures

I'm devoid of ideas to write... so this post is simply a collection of selected photographs taken throughout 2009.



















January
Title : Masjid Ma'muniah Simpang 5, Sg. Nipah
Location : Sg. Besar Selangor
Date : 31.01.09

February
Title : Grandniece Nurul Aqilah
Location : Kota Tinggi, Johor
Date : 21.02.09

March
Title : Bunga Sikudangan @ Kesidang
Location : At home in JB
Date : 14.03.09

April
Title : Performance by students of Sekolah Seni Johor Bahru
Location : Plaza Angsana, JB
Date : 08.04.09

May
Title : Rombongan Cik Kiah ke Perkahwinan Dr. Fathhullah
Location : Alor Star, Kedah
Date : 31.05.09

June
Title : Old lighthouse at Kota Kuala Kedah
Location : Kuala Kedah
Date : 02.06.09

July
Title : Hot air balloon
Location : JB Arts Festival, Johor Bahru
Date : 19.07.09

August
Title : Belimbing buluh
Location : At home in JB
Date : 24.08.09

September
Title : Three brothers at Aidilfitri morning
Location : At their grandparents' home, Bukit Batok, Singapore
Date : 20.09.09

October
Title : Wedding of staff, Siti Lailatul Musa
Location : Pasir Gudang, Johor
Date : 11.10.09

November
Title : Korban pertama di Aidiladha
Location : Kg. Sri Pantai, Mersing
Date : 27.11.09


December
Title : Pelbagai pilihan batik corak terkini
Location : Pasar Kedai Payang, Kuala Terengganu
Date : 28.12.09

Sunday, 31 January 2010

Complaining about unsatisfactory service

On Thursday, Rocky Bru picked up on a blog post by Singaporean journalist Reme Ahmad about the latter's unpleasant experience while waiting for a flight home on Malaysia Airlines from New Delhi to Kuala Lumpur. Apparently, the New Delhi airport was covered in thick fog at the time of departure and this caused many flights to be cancelled. Reme's dissatisfaction with MAS stemmed from the airline's miserable handling of the situation especially with regards to the passengers' welfare. To further highlight the poor service, the blogger wrote on how SIA's ground staff efficiently took care of their own customers.

You can read about it at Rocky's post that links Reme's original story -> Apalah Mas?

I am not writing this post to complain about my own experiences while flying with MAS. In truth, I don't recall any bad experience while travelling on our national carrier. I am fairly satisfied with the service but I must admit that MAS need to be modernising their fleet to keep up with their competitors.

This post is actually on the subject of complaining itself. All of us have faced bad service in one way or another. Lousy service at restaurants, slow response at government departments, terrible waiting at bank counters, long queues at supermarket checkouts, unscrupulous taxi drivers, etc. etc. etc. But what do we actually do about it?

If our expectation level is not high, then we would most probably dismiss it as a normal thing. More often than not, we grumble about it... we tell our family and friends. Some of us write letters to the editor of newspapers. Some people make a scene on the spot. Nowadays, if we have a blog, we can even blog about it! And if our post is picked up by another prominent blogger like Rocky, then our complaint gets a good chance to be read by the intended party. In Reme's case, MAS Head of Media Relations acknowledged the issue by leaving a response in the blogger's comment box.

I have made complaints about poor service before, or to put it a nicer way, given some customer feedback. The intention is always to help improve things. Having been on the receiving end of complaints as well, I know it is not a very nice feeling. That is why, when I make a complaint, I try do it in a proper manner. The approach is as important as the substance.

In these days of IT awareness, many companies have websites that include a customer feedback section. Feedback can be relayed in various ways... normally in the form of a feedback questionnaire or an email address. I have made use of such method because it is quick, convenient and goes directly to the party responsible. So far, the response has been quite prompt. I will write of one example.

There was this one time my family and I stopped by a Pizza Hut restaurant at Tebrau City Mall in Johor Bahru. It was a weekend and as expected, the outlet was crowded but we managed to get a table. After placing our order, we settled down for the wait. The soups and drinks arrived first. After waiting for half an hour, the pizza had not arrrived, so I asked one of the waiters to check. He replied that the kitchen is still processing our order. I waited for another fifteen minutes and still nothing... no update and no apology.

I went up to the cashier's counter and spoke to a young woman who I assumed was the supervisor (she wears a different uniform when compared to the waiters). I asked her about my order and was surprised to hear an indifferent reply.

`Nanti dulu encik. Orang lain pun belum dapat.'

Whoa... wrong answer, young lady! I almost blew my top. I immediately asked for the bill but they had trouble how to charge for the soups and drinks because they were part of a whole meal package. Once they finally worked out how much to bill me, I paid and we left the place to eat somewhere else.

Once I got home, I went online to the Pizza Hut website and fired off an email complaint. The very next day, I received a phone call on my mobile from a lady identifying herself as the Area Manager of a few Pizza Hut restaurants within JB area. She politely asked me for details and then profusely apologised for the incident.

Whether my complaint brought any improvement or not, is another matter, but I'll give credit to Pizza Hut for responding in double quick time. At least now, I have the number of the Area Manager stored in my phonebook. The next time any of her restaurants fall below the mark, I'll call her direct.

For readers who have something to gripe about, do try to check for a website with a customer feedback section and make use of it to send in your complaint. I am sure the responsible party would appreciate your feedback and respond accordingly.