Circus academy

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- A circus academy where Malaysians can learn the necessary skills to succeed as performing artistes, may be set up at Danga Bay here.

Talks between the management of Danga Bay, an integrated resort area, and the Royal London Circus are underway with a view of putting up a permanent building where the finer points of circus performing can be taught to aspiring Malaysians.

Well, they can start recruiting those in Parliament. The first student of the circus academy should be Nazri...

Did i just see that?

I was coming in the office this morning via the Penchala link from Jalan Duta when i glanced up to the electronic information board. I really thought i saw this

"SELAMAT MENYAMBUT BULAN RAMADHAN AL- MURTABAK"

Its still morning and i'm already thinking of what to eat for buka....

What they said about Lee Kuan Yew's statement

Najib:

Malaysia can do without scathing comments from its neighbours, especially if the statements made are inaccurate and have political implications, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. He said that a recent statement made by former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on the status of the Chinese community in Malaysia and Indonesia was seen as “naughty.”

Tun Mahathir :

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad Friday slammed Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for his insulting remarks about Malaysia and Indonesia's treatment of their Chinese minorities, describing him as arrogant and disrespectful of neighbouring countries."You should just guard your own rice bowl. You are not that clever. In a small group, perhaps you seem clever"

Backbencher' s Club :

He (Lee) has no right to make such accusation (to say that Malaysia and Indonesia systematically marginalised their ethnic Chinese population). Our political culture is different from Singapore. We never get involved in Singapore's internal affairs. "Singapore has gone overboard ... very often, its leaders say things that hurt the feelings of its neighbours. But we are wise and mature. We do not want to react when Singapore deliberately provokes us," BBC Acting Chairman Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar told reporters, here, Saturday.

Pak Lah: "I will write to him to seek clarification why he had said it,"

Worst case of nepotism i've ever seen..

CMSB unit wins Sarawak job ( From the Star)

By JACK WONG

KUCHING: Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd’s (CMSB) subsidiary, PPES Works (S) Sdn Bhd has won a turnkey contract worth RM195mil to build the proposed Sarawak convention and exhibition centre in Kuching Isthmus.

The project, which is funded by the Sarawak Government, will be completed in 36 months.
PPES, a 51:49 joint venture between CMSB and Sarawak State Economic Development Corp, signed the contract agreement with Sarawak Public Works Department (PWD), representing the State Government, here yesterday.

Who are the people behind Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMSB) ? The Board of Directors consist of the sons (Hj Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib and Dato Sri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib) and son-in-law (Tuan Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree) of the Chief Minister of Sarawak. His son Sulaiman and his wife Lejla Taib are the major shareholders of CMSB.

Reason and Faith

The Pope, Benedict XVI, had quoted the Emperor of Byzantine during a lecture at the University of Regensburg on the topic of the inextricable relationship between faith and reason. The quote predictably, caused a furore in the muslim world many whom demanded an apology from the Pope.

The quote, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

I doubt many actually read the entire text of his lecture before turning to the streets and burning effigies of the pope. Nevertheless, the Pope has issued a statement that he is sorry that his speech insulted the muslims.

I just wanna say how dissapointed I am with some muslims communities who torched churches, burned effigies of the Pope in response. Isn't that justifying the original quote? Are we muslims a bunch of violent people? This negative response begets the image of islam as unreasonable and violent.

Feel good Monday

You know its gonna be a good week ahead when your team's on top of the league and your rival kena trash in a merseyside derby.

How low could you go....?

I cant believe Malay Mail of all papers carried this report....ini pun mau report ka?

All this for a teh tarik in space??

Something the local media must have missed or too embarrassed to report..

Reuters
Sepang, Malaysia:

Malaysia plans to push the boundaries of space travel, by making a cup of tea.

Malaysia will send its first astronaut into the heavens aboard a Russian rocket next year and attempt for the first time to make the nation’s favourite hot drink, teh tarik, in space.“The physics experiment is to see what happens to teh tarik in space,” Haniff Omar, head of Malaysia’s astronaut selection programme told reporters in all seriousness on Monday after two Malaysian men were short-listed to make the trip.

Making teh tarik (pulled tea) can be tricky and dangerous, even with the help of gravity. Malaysians pour boiling-hot milky tea swiftly and repeatedly from one vessel held high in one hand into another held low, producing a distinctive layer of froth.

Making teh tarik in space would bring Malaysian customs to the attention of a worldwide audience, said Faiz Khaleed, one of the two astronaut candidates.“Teh tarik is one of the symbols of Malaysia,” he said. “I think this is a good idea also to bring something from our country so the world can learn something about our country.”

Russia offered Malaysia a free trip into space aboard a Soyuz spacecraft three years ago to sweeten the $900-million (Rs 4,167 crores) sale of Russian-made fighter planes.On Monday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi named medical doctor Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and Faiz, a military dentist, as the two finalists. Russian space experts will pick one of the two men, both Muslims, to go into orbit on September 2 next year.

Football Mad Nation

The English Premiere League season 2006-2007 had just got off its foot. The Red Devils are currently the pace setters at the top of the league.

Many Malaysians follow the EPL more than the local league. In fact, Malaysian Airlines, Celcom and Airasia are major sponsors of the live telecast of matches over Astro. Hence, we are definitely a football mad nation who follow other nations league than our own.

The Prime Minister even used football as an analogy when questioned over his style of administration compared to the previous PM, Tun Mahathir. In the now imfamous interview over TV3, Pak Lah said "This is like playing football, hardly ten minutes and people have punished me. I'm just warming up and raising the tempo,".

Well, sorry to say this Pak Lah, It's ten minutes into the game and you're already 10-0 down...

I'll sound stupid if i blog in malay

Sharifah Armani said that she'll sound stupid if she spoke in malay, when receiving her award for best female actress at the Malaysian Film Fest recently. I can excuse her for that. Its obvious that she, like many malays including myself, thinks in English. But i cannot excuse a Prime Minister who gets his facts wrong.

From the very beginning of the much publicised Interview with the PM on TV3 it was a PR disaster. There was no need for the interview in the first place but the PM's camp thought otherwise. Many thought he was merely defending his son and son-in-law. He defended the criticsm that Pantai Holdings was in the hands of foreigners, he defended SCOMI stating that the Company never profited from goverment projects.

He had to admit his mistake on the Pantai affair, Khazanah came to the rescue and brought back Pantai Holdings to the fold. Now, he says he might have been wrong on SCOMI and that he'll apologise if he had made a mistake.

Either he was mis-informed or he didnt check his facts before tackling the issues...either way, he came out of it looking more stupid than Sharifah Armani thought she did.