Bogus Monks

You  know how it is, you are enjoying a hot pipping bowl of curry mee at your favourite kopitiam , and this Indian Uncle come by your table and offer to make u a rich man by just investing RM3 and the usual tagline –’ This Sunday open one, 17 million, sure kena ( strike) one, lucky number etc etc’…and maybe 5 minutes after that – elderly Chinese uncle or auntie come by with tissues, soft toys etc and maybe with some newspaper clipping about some unfortunate souls and seeking donations ..and another few minutes later  ..  kaki ayam-ed bald person in saffron robes come by your table  and in his alms bowl are some orange/yellow/ red amulets which he offers to you in exchange for $

i found a leftlet which explained that these baldies ( baddies) in saffron robes are not monks but rather bald conmen – or so termed – Bogus Monks..

Please feel free to extract the images / text  and inform friends, family,  neighbours, community of these menaces.

A Nation of litterbugs and vandals ( and bad spellers ) ?

After lunch at Sin Kee took a walk down the road (Brickfields)  , passed a bus station and  found the following ( which might be a common sights at the bus-stands across the country)

• - Did you leave this ?

• - Did you leave this ?

• - Did you leave this ? (Somebody must have been pretty eager to get into their new pair of Nikes )

 Turning into Jalan Rozario, I was greeted by this expressive road sign, but  …. can you spot what is missing ?

Answer : Stickers offering credit / Ahlong’s adverts

 

And I hope Vicky does a better job of house cleaning that he/she does of spelling lorrr

Of Datuks and Venus

Apart from the chaos, the downfall of the big names in the banking institution, the cerekarama of the Malaysian political issues, two issues are close and  dear to the hearts of Malaysians : one on awarding a Datukship to a Bollywood superstar – well, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against  Mr Khan – but like most Malaysians, I just don’t get the logic lah.

Datuk Shah Rukh Khan

 And the second issue : changing the name from Jalan Alor to Jalan Kejora…err..what is Kejora..? Oh..Venus..what’s Venus got to do with us ? oohhh..to be in-line with Bukit Bintang ( Star Hill) hor.. why not name the streets with the names of the films stars too- more ‘glamour’ worr…, Jalan Al Pacino..oh..cannot..not Malaysian Identity..Jalan Mawi, can ah…? Oh…I know a true Malaysian identity..what do you think of Jalan Datuk Shah Rukh Khan..he did his bit in promoting our beloved country …and apart from that – naming a road after him will bring millions of bollywood fans to our shores..it will increase the number of tourist five fold as our guest will be queueing up at the imigration to have their pictures taken with the road sign.

There was a feature in  Star Metro 22/10/08 about the DBKL Road Naming Committee rules and guidelines, I extracted part of it :

-English names must be changed to Bahasa Malaysia

-Names must reflect the Malaysian Identity

 -Road names must follow a theme ( for example, if the neighborhood or zone is using fruits as their theme, then all roads must follow the names of Malaysian fruits)

 - to use names of famous people

 -Naming roads in accordance with the name of the housing estate. For eg in Sri Hartamas, the road names are Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Jalan Sri Hartamas 2. etc

 -Names used should be a source of information or educational. For example using the names of Malaysian fruits and spices

 I understand ( but may not accept) the reasons for changing the names of the roads, main thing seemed to be -  to ‘reflect the Malaysian identity’, but does that mean that ‘wiping’ away part of our history / heritage by re-naming a road of a former English resident to a Malaysian vegetable – will make us more Malaysian ?

 You can find the names of  old road / new roads from the link below http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_roads_in_Kuala_Lumpur

 http://lamjo.tripod.com/road.html

 Here is my take on re-naming of the roads to reflect the Malaysian true spirit- the theme : Malaysian Breakfast ( note : Bijirin Jagung – corn flakes)

 

 

Other themes I will propose to DBKL

• a)  Malaysian  chicken dishes ; Jalan Ayam Masak Merah, Jalan Ayam Percik, Jalan Ayam Goreng Pedas, Jalan Tandoori Ayam….
• b) TV programmes : Jalan Buletin Perdana , Jalan Majalah Tiga, Jalan Jom Heboh, Jalan Empat Sekawan,
• c) Famous phrase ; Jalan Malaysia Boleh, Jalan Corret Correct Correct , Jalan Like-that-also-can-ah..