A Tale of Two Territories

1^st February – public holiday

Woo-hoo.

FT Day holds absolutely no meaning to me, other than its very important function of being a public holiday. Now for those in the dark, FT stands for Federal Territories, which encompasses Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. KL became an FT in 1974, Labuan in 1984 and Putrajaya in 2001. Since the cession to the Federal government, KL has become a metropolitan melting pot, Putrajaya has become home to almost every government servant, and Labuan has not seen any progress of note.

I must admit I have never been to Labuan, or Borneo for that fact. Hence commenting on the state of affairs there is based solely on word-of-mouth and whatever I've read about the island formerly under Sabah. What I do know for a fact is that Labuan remains a relative backwater compared to the sister FTs. That's hard to imagine as Labuan is not only an international offshore trading centre, but a free trade zone as well. In terms of progress and development, one can only wonder if Labuan would be better off being managed by Sabah or even Sarawak. Plenty of potential but remains an epitome of 'satu lagi projek oleh Barisan Nasional'.

Putrajaya remains an enigma to most sensible-minded folks. More and more, it appears to be the monument to a power-crazy, delusional iron-fisted politician than anything else. Far removed from civilisation, with architecture designed to hammer in a point of secularism in Malaysia, Putrajaya remains the source of pride to a few, and the object of ridicule to most. The new administrative capital of Malaysia, it was touted to be the next Federal capital. Fat hopes. I reckon after someone informed the government that people had no intention of having three capitals in Malaysia (ala South Africa), the government quietly smothered any declarations of such nature.

The residents of Putrajaya reflect the status of the town/ city. Complacent government servants and government cronies inhabit large bungalows, yet spend more time in KL. No surprise, Putrajaya is extremely staid. Devoid of any form of entertainment, proudly boasting the half empty Alamanda, Putrajaya is never to be the counterpart of KL, even PJ. But never is not eternal. Perhaps if the government stops portraying Putrajaya as a residency for people solely of certain ethnicity and religious orientation, things might start to 'get a life' there. Perhaps Putrajaya could indeed one day displace KL as the capital of Malaysia. But until the government starts to cater to people from all walks of life, creed and religion, I wouldn't bet on it.

On saying that, Alamanda is quite impressive. Pity they forgot that a mall is only as good as its patrons. Yes, a mall does need patrons.

(Image from www.klccproperty.com; www.asiadivesite.com)

Matthew Bartholomew Series

Crime fighters and mystery solvers come in many guises. From the humourless Sherlock Holmes of Victorian Britain and his 'poorer' counterpart Sexton Blake, to the egoistic Hercule Poirot and wry Miss Marple. Who can forget the multitude of sleuths Enid Blyton has given birth to – the Five Find-Outers, the Famous Five and the expanded Secret Seven. The Americans have also sent their representatives to the world of crime fighting – Jupiter Jones and Co., the Hardy siblings and Nancy Drew.

But a scholar and a monk? Hard to imagine, but very real. Enter Brother Michael and the hero of the piece, Matthew Bartholomew. Take your mind back to 15^th century England, the grand walls of Cambridge university, the sludge-strewn roads, the hogs and the peasants. Yep, that's the Matthew Bartholomew chronicles for you. A scholar cum physician cum reluctant sleuth, who meddles into the diabolical masterplans of cunning villains and cold murderers. Of course, Holmes needed Watson, Poirot infuriated Hastings, and Bartholomew is no different. Aided by the far-from-slim Brother Michael, and often by the enigmatic mistress-of-the-night Matilde, this recourceful yet simple healer does his best to ensure that the truth of every murder comes to light.

What grabbed my attention after reading a dozen pages or so of the first book was the detailed description of this famous academic town. Having first hand knowledge of Cambridge has really helped Susanna Gregory in taking the reader (i.e. me) through a time portal, back to an era of hardship, dirt and danger, all endured in the thirst for academic excellence. Or at least that's what most of the scholars in this book want. Other have ulterior motives, a few have no motives and Rob Deynman has no idea what motives are.

The characters are thoroughly memorable, from the bigot Father William right down to the insane Clippesby. From being experts in their respective fields, to being downright ignorant of reality, these characters serve more than just to fill the background. Their personalities are well-documented and very much alive, rather than the common one dimensional periphery characters.

All in all, Susanna Gregory's Cambridge tales make an enjoyable and absorbing read. The books start off slow, but gain steady pace and are nothing short of frantic in the last few chapters. It would be best to start with book 1 and go along the series, as characters are introduced and developed as the novels increase. To date, there are 12 novels in this series, the most recent being The Tarnished Chalice.

For more information, visit www.matthewbartholomew.co.uk

So Dark the Con of A Man

Development

• noun 1 the action of developing or the state of being developed. 2 a new product or idea. 3 a new stage in a changing situation. 4 an area of land with new buildings on it (Oxford English Dictionary)

For many years, the word development was synonymous with Vision 2020 in Malaysia. Thanks to the foresight of one man (or the lack of it, depending on which camp you sit in), we embarked on a mild form of the industrial revolution. Factories and plants were the in-things, we were led to believe. It seemed what would make this country competitive with the rest of the world was the setting-up of dozens, nay, hundreds of industries and development projects. Concrete was king, cement was nobility. The word on the street was 'build, build' build'. And so, due to this one man who was touted as a visionary, buildings sprouted upwards, grey displaced green in many towns and cities. It was worth being an engineer is some manufacturing plant in Kulim or Bayan Lepas or Batu Tiga. Protons were rolling out of Glenmarie like cavalry on a spurious charge to a battle somewhere.

In 1991, Malaysia was gung-ho about this vision. People flocked to the dream (think Leeds United). Children sang songs glorifying this dream, politicians mouthed off words like 'dynamic', 'progressive' and 'productivity'. Oh, the positive vibes reverberating around KL raised spirits, to be sure.

Yet in 2008, it remains just that, a vision, a dream, a plan flawed to the core and doomed to failure. Nine challenges were identified, but were never going to be met by the government. Nine challenges which proved too strong for the two-faced politicians who line the hallowed halls of the Parliament like lechers seeking a penny.

And what were these challenges, I hear you ask. They were (drum roll, please):

1. Forming a nation as one
Right. This coming from a government that discriminates, practises segregation and racial politics. Enough said, this challenge was doomed to failure.

2. Producing a society that has freedom and strength and self-confidence.
Three words: police, ISA and NEP.

3. Developing a mature and democratic country
As long as the government was voted in every election, the country was considered mature and democratic. A vote against the BN was considered symptoms of an unruly and easily-influenced-by-opposition nation. Hence the heavy-handedness in 1999.

4. Forming a society with strong ethics, morals and religious values
There's a reason why this is point number four. Government officials would have been dumbfounded had this been the first reason. Words which are an anathema to the BN. Corruption, oops, money politics, religious extremism and fundamentalism, imposition of morals upon those who do not acknowledge such demented moral values, and Islamisation have all rendered this challenge a no-brainer, literally.

5. Cultivating a tolerant society
Yep, we're all very tolerant of one another. The majority lets us live here, and in return we acknowledge their supreme power over us. Yep, most definitely a tolerant society.

6. Creating a progressive science community
Now in this challenge that Malaysia has made inroads. Though she has not achieved her truest potential in this matter. The infrastructure is there, for sure. The personnel? Lacking and far and few between. Academicians who hardly know what they're teaching, researchers more interested in short-cuts and a space programme based on sales and purchase of antiquated Soviet-era arms. To give the government credit, they tried, they have tried, and they keep trying. Yet they keep shooting themselves in the foot. Just get rid of the politician-academicians and the change will be all-so apparent.

7. Cultivating a society with loving culture
We don't believe in love. We're rude, obnoxious, perennial peeping Toms and socially graceless. Oh, and we love arresting couples for holding hands and kissing in public.

8. Ensuring a fair economy
This is a country where middlemen thrive. A country where Approved Permits (a result of discriminatory economic policies) are held by a privileged few. A country where rubber tappers slog for hours in the estates to earn a measly RM 300 per month. Yet synthetic rubber remains a best-seller. Sime Guthrie and gang mint millions a year, yet they steadfastedly refuse to increase the standard of living in the estates. How can a fair economy be fair when the rice farmers and fishermen hover around the poverty line while the middlemen monopolise the rice and fish industries?

9. Cultivating a prosperous community
Most definitely workable. A community where the top 10% of the ruling party in BN and associated cronies take 90% of the available assets in Malaysia. Has anyone come across a poor BN official? (Long pause) I thought as much.

It is said people intoxicated by marijuana or opium tend to have visions and delusions. Could it be, just maybe, that our friend was high?

A New Year, A Newer Blog

A new year, a new start...for my blog, at least.

I've come to the realisation that I'll never be one of those bloggers who are able to maintain and update their blogs daily. In fact, making it a weekly affair isn't any easier. It's really amazing to come across Netizens who blog, not only daily, but several times a day. There was one blog I visited, and the owner updates it every hour. I mean, is this is his day job or does he not have a job?

Then I ask myself, what kind of blog would make a good read? A political one, full of rants and raves? Or a journal-esque one, filled with reports on daily activities including the number of baths taken, number of girls bedded and number of places visited? Boring. I could talk about my life, but seriously speaking, how many of us actually reveal our inner thoughts in a blog? We reveal what we want readers to believe is our inner workings. Would we really go out on a limb and say 'I hate so-and-so' or 'So-and-so is a backstabbing bitch/bastard'? I think not.

So that's that. First I need to re-layout my blog page. It's so...purile. I can't even seem to find a particular font I like. Arial...Verdana...Tahoma? Sound like names of exotic dancers from Bali-hai. Not that I've ever been to Bali, mind you.

Speaking of which, I don't recall going overseas in 2007. My my, how on earth did that happen? Or not happen, depending on how one looks at it. I thought I had gone somewhere, I'm sure Bangkok or Phuket would have figured on the places visited in 2007. Goes to show, if one sets one's mind on something, it will come through, regardless if in actuality or delusionally.

Ah well, another tick on the things-to-do list for 2008. And maybe, blogging more regularly.