The Homeroom Culture

The homeroom is one aspect of the MRSM life that I could not comprehend during those days.

It was supposed to, I believe, provide the support network for the youngsters and create a homely environment. I guess in an ideal situation, kids like us - mostly barely 13 years old and being away from home for the first time, many as far away as Sabah and Sarawak, (or as near as Kota Bharu!) - would need such support to take us through life at a boarding school at such a young and tender age.

But then again in 1976, we were a long long way from adopting this piece of American culture that is essentially Asian in spirit, but may be a bit foreign in implementation. Every time we would have a meeting, everybody would be stiff. We were just getting to know each other and there was no way we would be opening up to each other there and then, despite much cajoling from the homeroom advisor.

So silence was the name of the game then.

Pity Bapak Muljadi (definitely not the Muljadi of the Rindu's fame). He had a hard time trying to convince us that this was family and we should be treating each other as one. What do you expect when we would only meet sporadically; not sure whether it was weekly or fortnightly or even monthly while we meet our classmate every day. In the end, the homeroom meeting would almost always turned to be a Math revision class for us.

One thing I would remember of him and this revision class (we would use his Math's book, with some fancy design, but this is another entry) is he loved to compare us with Jenny and the fact that she was the only Chinese in our batch, but she was perhaps more diligent and hard working than many of us combined!

He would give us a stirring lecture of our responsibility to study to ensure that the Malays would not be left behind.

Yes, bapak and hence we studied really hard for our SRP in 1978.

Bless you bapak.

(Caption: Ni bukan bapak. Ni Zul my classmate with An and Gina and the other gals preparing the food for sale. I am sure whatever they were sure habih punya)

I can barely remember activities done under the homeroom concepts. One that I could remember would be the Minggu Solat organized by one homeroom with Ustaz Ridzwan (Allahyarham) as the advisor and Munawir as the 'president'(?). On many other occasions, we would be selling drinks or food. I vaguely remember those to be honest.

I guess quite a number of fairs were organized; I am not sure if that was the proper name of the event then. Apart from drinks and foods (what else we are good at then!), I guess there were many games too, like melempar tepung yang telah dibancuh dengan air ke muka orang. That person could be a teacher I guess, but it came with a fee. You would have to pay to have that privilege.

Tak ingat lah which teachers were sporting enough to be volunteering. It was a good feeling to see the slimy flour splattered on the teacher's face if it hit the bull's eye.

I do remember though that on that occasion, they later had to switch to throwing water instead to avoid being wasteful!

Another incident would be our homeroom selling something. Ntah apa minuman yang kiterorang jual that day; one senior buang je lepas dia beli. I remember it being the remnants, so can't blame us lah! Hehe, budak2 baru blaja buat air kut, hehehe.

(Caption: Ni the KB76 gals enjoying some foods other than dewan makan food during one of those fairs held along the walkway. Beyond that I don't have any other detail. Dok tanya yang empunya gambar pun kater dia dah blur, bad sector, or so she told me. Kalau orang dalam gambar blur, kiter ni lagi lah.)

But I guess the homeroom culture would pick up over the years and in 2008, Arif would tell me how he would feel closer to his homeroom members by the sheer number of activities they would do together. If I am not mistaken, they even had 'potong ayam' as one of their activities and of course barbecuing them during that year which he would not have learned at home and making and selling ice blended.

Good for him and I am glad the homeroom support network would have gone through a lot over the last 30 years.

This is Homeroom P1 (1976), nicknamed by Bapak Muljadi Homeroom Perintis. Of course then we had no idea of the meaning the word until he introduced it to us.

It must be Javanese!

This pix was taken on a different day from the class pix, so that explains the different dresses we were wearing. I also share this homeroom with 3 other classmates, who were all featured in this pix, four if you were to consider Budi. You can see us here.

PS Again, these were our uniforms then. Any decent dress will do.

The Power of the Doa

In the heat of things, we would try all avenues to solving a problem and when all fail, we make a last ditch attempt to get it sorted out.

When I am traveling, I like to get to point A from point B as soon as possible. I prefer it that if I need to rest, I do my resting at home. Not along the way. In other words, I'd rather not stop for any reason anywhere either for teh tarik or restroom break.

Especially in the old days.

Imagine traveling for 8 hour say to Dungun from KL using the old road during those days. Once you overtake a truck or lorry, you don't want them to be able to overtake you again. That they would do if you stop along the way.

Imagine after trailing a truck for 30 mins, you don't want to have to do it all over again. You will get that the deja vu feeling.

Nowadays it is not too bad with the NS or East Coast Hiway.

A friend Lokman told me of his travel with the family and he was already late. The traffic along the hiway was already heavy. If he were to stop, he would at least be 30 mins behind. Nay, if he stopped for 30 mins, he would probably be behind at least 2 hours since he would hit peak hour traffic in KL and the hiway traffic would have also worsen by then.

He may have a chance to still perform the prayer when he arrive at his destination, but decided to stop nevertheless and perform the prayer.

But the opposite happened afterwards. The traffic was clear - all the way until he reached his destination.

"That, Man, is the power of the prayer," he said to me at his office when I went avisiting one day, "Allah permudahkan perjalanan kita."

When he picked me up at my hotel at 8 am on Friday to drive me to the Sepinggan Airport, Pak Suryansyah asked me how long is the trip to KL.

"Dua jam dari Jakarta, Pak," I told him, "Tidak jauh, tapi saya akan cuma tiba di rumah jam 7.30 malam, kira-kira 12 jam dari sekarang."

That's how long my my travel would take me. To be honest, I don't really care as I was fully prepared for it - mentallly. I knew all along that this was going to be a long trip, if only in duration, and not necessarily in distance. I was resigned to that fact and would consider going to the lounge at Sukarno-Hatta to kill the time, even if I have to pay to get in.

Yeah, yeah, I travel cheap and there was no way my cheap ticket would get me into the business lounge!

As long as I have a cushy comfortable sofa and internet, I would be able to survive the long arduous hours. The waiting lounge is not conducive for long waiting period, and the bookshop there was a tad too small for me to be spending 3 hours or more there.

The Friday crowd at Sepinggan was typical I guess. Everybody wants to get out and return to wherever they came from. Saw this long snaking queue, so I stood at the end of it and asked the person in front what queue this was.

"Lion Air ke Surabaya, Pak," they told me. Phew, lucky me. The queue to Jakarta was much shorter!

Inside Lion Air brand new 737-900ER, there is a prayer pamphlet that list all the prayers for the major religions in Indonesia. As soon as the aircraft accelerated, I, having no English newspaper to read - tried looking for Jakarta Post at Sepinggan Airport, but they don't have it, started reciting the doa.

The flight was uneventful - just the way I like it. We landed at Cengkareng at 11 am with my next flight scheduled at 1510 hours.

They have not even opened up the check in counter for the flight; only for an earlier 1310 hour flight. Long queue there, and not wanting to battle the passengers for that earlier flight, I went to the airline counter to see if I can queue and check in for my flight, so that I could go and sit in the lounge.

"Sudah delay Pak, pesawat bapak berangkat jam 1630," he said, "Harusnya bapak sudah dapat sms kami."

I didn't know. I had thrown my Malaysian simcard away in exchange for an Indonesian one. I should have thrown my cheap phone and get one of those dual simcard phone the next time. But then again, this is me. Cheapskate me!

"Well, can you just check me in nonetheless?" I pleaded with him.

Without batting an eye lid, he said, "Bapak ambil saja pesawat 1310 ini, bisa."

Hmmm, what's the catch here? No he did not ask for additional fee for the exchange. I not only got an earlier flight without having to pay anything extra, I also managed to bypass the queue of about 20 passengers and by 5 pm I was already at home in BTHO when I was scheduled to arrive the earliest by 8.30 pm.

Perjalanan yang begitu jauh menurut waktu menjadi lebih pendek.

The power of doa? You bet.

EPILOGUE

Here is a similar doa I found on the net.

"Ya Allah, kami bermohon kepada-Mu semoga perjalanan kami membawa kebaikan dan takwa, dan amal kami Engkau ridhai. Ya Allah, mudahkan perjalanan kami dan dekatkan kami jauhnya perjalanan yang kami tempuh. Ya Allah, Engkau adalah teman yang menyertai kami dalam menjaga perjalanan dan pengganti dalam menjaga keluarga kami. Ya Allah, kami mohon perlindungan kepada-Mu dari kesulitan dalam perjalanan kami dan pemandangan, serta kejadian yang buruk yang menimpa harta, keluarga, dan anak kami."

Balikpapan - Kota BERIMAN

Itulah motto Kota Balikpapan - Bersih, Indah dan Nyaman.

In short BERIMAN.

Indonesia is the land of the acronym(??). They are really good at this. I mean afterall, Kebersihan itu separuh dari iman kan...

I am enjoying my first trip to Balikpapan, the first one in 7 years - the last being in mid Feb 2003. I love the view as we land as the Sepinggan airport is located by the sea, and the runway is parallel to the beach.

I had wanted to take pics at the tarmac, but I thought they would not allow us to do that, like the LCCT. The sun was setting and the architecture of the airport is traditional, so it was quite beautiful.

But I am told that I should have, since I am a tourist!

I don't disagree with the motto to be honest. I have been to town and cities throughout Indonesia where the Pertamina refineries are located and I am most impressed with Balikpapan. No road or roadside being dug up and construction debris everywhere. It is spot on as far as street cleanliness is concerned. Our MPKj or DBKL should be visiting Balikpapan to learn how they do it.

From Pasir Ridge where the housing complexes are located, it is so beautiful.

Pasir Ridge is a small hill overlooking the sea. Tree lined street with a view. It is beautiful as it is wellkept, that you would think you are in a posh suburb in the west. The lawn is immaculate.

I can live here for sure.

May be I will get bored soon, but it will last me for quite sometimes. After all the longest I have stayed here is 3 weeks, and I had survived Balikpapan then.

And I had survived Kerteh in the late 80s!

If I could head to Pasir Ridge tomorrow, I would take some more pictures to illustrate my point here.

The centre of town where the happenings are as far as normal Balikpapan citizens are concerned.

We headed the next day to two offices where the fifth refinery is, visiting. I love this old building. I do hope that they will not tear it down to build non-descript matchbox building.

descript

Aah, the flare. The heart of everything as far as I am concerned! I can see the money being churned out here. The fire is so beautiful!

Pelabuhan Semayang in Balikpapan. It was a beautiful day with blue sky, but in the afternoon, the sky opens up and rains comes thundering down, literally. One can feel the vibration in the building we were in just now. The thunder is that loud!

The office building of a French company in Balikpapan.

I love tongseng, especially tongseng kambing (bowl on the left). The bowl on the right is tongseng ayam. Satay is also a must, and these were the dishes for our lunch. For three.

Have you eaten kerepek usus ayam? Hehehe I am not really a fan - I can imagine eating the usus from lembu or sapi, but I would normally throw away the chicken one. But I would not dry it and turn the perut lembu into a kerepek.

But the Indonesian with over 200 millions people would turn it into keropok. It is crispy and tasteless if I can described it that way. Anything that can be eaten will be eaten here in Indonesia.

But the tongseng is great. I just love the taste. If they have pre-prepared ingredients, I would want to take it home and try it.

An affair to remember

It was indeed a night to remember at the DFP.

To me it was the best performance I have seen by the MPO other than their normal repertoire - the classical that is.

Last night, it was more modern music; it was as modern as one can get going by the theme of the night - The Golden Age of Film Music. Richard Kaufman, a leading conductor in this series world-wide did an amazing job with the MPO going by the number of distinct repertoire of music performed by the symphony orchestra.

One after another one is transported back to the 30s and 40s right up to 1977.

To be honest, I am not that familiar with all the movies and the theme songs, but in the end, I left with satisfaction and in fact I told Akmal and Arif later that if I have the ticket, I would go and see them again today (Sunday).

It was a sold out performance, if you are thinking the same.

To the music novice like me, one would compare the original score in the movie with the one performed. I was not disappointed. It followed the spirit of the original score and arrangement and in the concert hall, you listen to every single bit of instrument.

Live.

That made it a wonderful experience.

I was really taken by the suite of song composed by Henry Mancini. No, no, no Pink Panther here but other wonderful song by one of the greatest song writers.

As Kaufman puts it, "The songs for Audrey."

As in Audrey Hepburn, the gorgeous actress (that's Kaufman's word and not mine though I don't disagree with him). She is that beautiful, if I can put it mildly.

Who would not be taken by Moon River?

This is another Mancini's song that was performed last night, minus the choir of course.

I also like this song last night.

Maurice Jarre's musics have also been synonymous with the golden age of cinema. I have been praying for Dr Zhivago's Lara's Theme. For some unknown reason, Kaufman did not pick this one but instead chose another wonderful Jarre's piece for another epic Lawrence of Arabia.

Who am I to argue with him though I still think Lara's theme is a much better song.

It is such a lovely movie, and theme song.

Taras Bulba

I did not know of this film before, but I really do enjoyed the theme song. According to Richard Kaufman, "The movie is really lousy, so if you were to see it, just close your eyes and listen to the music."

The music is really that wonderful.

Try watching this in Youtube.

Hmmm, it looks like an epic to me. May be I'll try and get my hand on some of these movies.

Kaufman reminded the audience that music composers at times can be like a mortician. One can dressed up the body, but one cannot bring it back to life. I forgot as to who actually said that. No, no it is not attributed to Kaufman.

Good score, and theme songs complement good movies; they made it memorable long after.

Oh oh, I nearly forgot Star Wars. Then again, I am sure you would know that. Yeah, you hear it exactly like in the movie. As Kaufman said it, the writer is not only the best songwriter on planet Earth, but also out in outerspace!

By the way, Spartacus was also performed that night. May be I should have taken Mak to the show as she pointed out, after the concert completion, that she and bapak went to the the movie in Taiping on a date during their engagement without the knowledge of Tok Adam.

I am not sure if Nenek Bulan knew it.

I am sure it would have been difficult for them to go out and watch movie in Taiping. This must be circa 1961 (the movie was released in 1960) and they got married sometime in May 1961.

Sempat lagi tu even those days. This is news to me. Hehehe.

This is what they would have seen.

But listen to the love theme from Spartacus. This is of course a re-recording, a more recent by Akiko.

Eh, anyone got an extra ticket or two that I can buy for today's performance?

Time Out with the kids

For some reasons, lately I have been watching movies and going to concerts too often for my liking.

May be it was just a way for me to have some quality time together with the kids.

Let's count:

1. Ramayana at the DFP

2. A Little Nightmare Music at the DFP - Igusdesman and Joo

I must admit I didn't enjoy their performances that much. Akmal did. I was expecting to hear a lot more music. It was too the most expensive ticket to date; RM200 a pop.

3. Jam Buster Jazz at the DFP. At RM8.50, it was the best value for money, I would say. Beautifully done by the quartet.

4. Irama Warisan Kita at the DFP

5. Movie 2012

6. Avatar 3D

I am very impressed with the graphics. It was paradise as far as I am concerned. I especially love the glow-in-the-dark scene and trees. It was so beautiful that it was beyond my imagination.

For that alone, I think it s worth the entrance ticket, though I have to admit I was a tad disappointed with the 3D technology. I am still conscious of the big screen and I have to say I was not engulfed by the 3D scenes.

Story line wise, it was nothing to shout about I must say.

The best 3D movie to my mind was a movie I saw in 1982 or 1985 (I am not so sure) in Sydney. It was a cowboy-Indian movie. Nothing fanciful about the story line but it was geared for 3D actions. All the arrows and guns and actions were directed towards you; it was designed to scare the audience, so you spent a lot of time trying to move your body out of harm's way.

We were part of the movie.

I can tell you that it was fun.

And tonight we will be heading to the DFP for

7. Music for the Movies at the DFP; Richard Kaufman conducting

I am told that the themes from Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars would be featured. I am also hoping Lara's Theme, Somewhere in Time, Romeo and Juliet, Godfather and many more. I would always melt listening to that Maurice Jarre's theme song from Dr Zhivago.

Jaws may be too? That would be nightmare music from the 70s! How about the Pink Panther? Well, Titanic - not sure if I want to hear that eh, hehehe. Well, then again, may be I do.

Keeping my fingers' crossed for a good time tonight with the family.

Tangisan kasih

Aah, I never thought I would be able to listen to this fav of mine ever again.

I mean, after buying her compilation album about a year ago, and listening to the two CDs, all the sudden I remember that there was this particular song that was missing from the compilation. It was much later that I realized this song was recorded under a different label.

I love this song especially as she sounds like she was crying with her husky voice. I thought it was really a great performance from this then rookie singer. She did not really have the look, but man, did she have a voice then.

Obviously she went on to greater thing with her next label and composers like M Nasir would chipped in.

But still, this song reigned supreme in my mind in 1984. Twenty five years on, nothing has changed.

My heart still would skip a beat when I listen to this song. I thought my eyes would shed a tears or two. You would feel it for her.

Have I told you that I just love this song?

EPILOGUE

Aah, aku tidak pernah terfikir akan bisa mendengarkan lagu kegemaran aku kembali.

Maksudku, selepas membeli album kompilasi nya sekitar setahun yang lalu, dan mendengar dua CD, tiba-tiba aku teringat bahawa ada satu lagu ini yang tiada dalam album kompilasi ini. Kemudiannya aku menyedari bahawa lagu ini dirakam dibawah label yang berbeza.

Aku suka lagu ini terutama kerana kedengaranhnya seperti dia menangis dengan suaranya yang serak-serak basah. Ku pikir itu benar-benar sebuah prestasi yang luar biasa dari penyanyi baru ini. Dia tidak lah memiliki mempunyai wajah yang pada pandangan mataku cantik, tetapi ahh, suaranya begitu merdu sekali.

Jelas dengan bakat tersebut, beliau mampu meneruskan ke arah yang lebih besar dengan label dan komposer selepasnya seperti M Nasir ikut menyumbangkan lagunya kepada beliau.

Tapi tetap saja, lagu ini mendapat tempat tertinggi dalam minda fikiran ku pada tahun 1984. Dua puluh lima tahun kemudian, tiada yang berubah.

Hatiku masih akan berdetak ketika aku mendengar lagu ini. Aku pikir mataku akan menitiskan air mata. Anda akan merasakannya.

Sudahkah aku katakan padamu bahawa aku sukakan lagu ini?

Susahnya nak apply visa

Lebih senang nak pegi Amerika dari nak pergi ke Mekah?

A friend of mine after so many years decided that it is time that he went for small haj.

So he prepares the monies required, made the booking and presumes that everything is set as he and his families have all the passports required.

Until he talks to the document handler at the travel agent.

"Haji, the background of the pix must be white."

"Tapi saya masih gambar lebihan passport tahun lepas background biru," he replied.

So he had to take another set of pix and throw away the remaining passport pix that he had. A waste he reckons.

"Isteri haji ikut kan? Kena ada surat nikah!"

He had been married to her for nearly twenty years and this is the first time anyone asking for their surat nikah. Dah anak pinak dah, dah boleh nak dapat cucu pun, and they are asking for surat nikah?

This really require some digging ni. Nak korek mana pulak..

"And anak haji, kena ada surat beranak!"

"La, kan dia dah ada IC and passport sendiri," he replied.

"Maaf haji, ni requirement kerajaan Saudi. Mak mertua haji ikut sama ke? Kalau macam tu, isteri haji pun kena surat beranak!"

Ni lagi haru. Dah tua2 macam ni, manalah nak ada surat beranak lagi. Dah hancur dah dek makan anai-anai, tak pun dah hilang dok banyak sangat pindah randah.

Unlike IC or passport, we don't normally treat this document with the same respect.

"Kan passport dah ada? Tak cukup ke?"

"Haji, ni visa ziarah. Saudi strict sikit. Ni since mak mertua ikut, dia nak make sure muhrim. Surat beranak isteri ada nama mak," he explained.

He is not sure if he wants to laugh or cry.

Honestly, my friend reckoned, if Umrah is not an ibadah and he is going for leisure, he would be cursing both the agent and the Saudi government and not bother to go. He and his family had travelled the world over, and had gone through visa applications for many countries, United States included.

But since he is going for an ibadah, he tried very much to keep a straight face and silently comply with requirements without complaining, for fear that his ibadah would not be accepted.

There could not be another country with more stringent visa requirement.

What do you need to travel to another country? One can apply online, show letter of invites, show proof that you can support yourself while in the foreign country and of course that you are not in the country's list of persona non grata.

Why they are making such a holy journey to visit His Baitullahil Haram so difficult for the muslims?

I don't have the answer. I have not been there myself.

EPILOGUE

I can comment on getting a visa. Heading to Canada, they would not even bat an eye-lid when I applied for a visa in 2005, although Canada used to be visa-free for Malaysian due to our Commonwealth status. But no more for some reasons.

Getting the American visa was a bit tricky then. I had an indefinite visa from the 90s. With 911, that visa was considered expired, I guess. Applying online, one would only need to go for interview. It went well to be honest, we were even addressed by the officer informing us that we were lucky to be applying for visa at a location considered the most efficient (of all American embassy) - can't recall if he said we would know (or have it ready) within 3 days.

It was that efficient.

Unfortunately for me, I applied the week Rafik Hariri was assassinated. With another Hariri heading to the US, I guess they would have to do further check on this Hariri guy in Kuala Lumpur. They didn't say that; but they did say they have to check on me.

I got my visa within 1 week though.

I think they personally called me to inform.

Somewhere in Time

Hehehe...what a time it was, I must say, and when I saw this pix, I could not help it but smile.

So toye one those days.

A friend asked me yesterday if I have pix of her during those years (1976-1980) - she said she had misplaced hers. Luckily for her, I do. I have quite a bit of the pix from those years. But it was more by chance than by design.

I had only kept pix of my class or homeroom or dorms or any group that I can relate my own existence then. But only of me. Nothing more, nothing less.

I don't normally keep others, as a rule of thumb.

But when I decided to appoint myself as the editor of the reunion magazine in 2003, there were many willing contributors to the cause. Pix were one of them - many had offered their personal albums, so yours truly then became the gatekeeper to the memory house of MRSMKB76ers.

But true to what I promised those who had given their personal albums for yours truly to sieve through, scan and publish in the magazine, I had only kept them for the magazine and not distribute them around. After all, many were personal in nature.

But I guess many of those pix would made it to the magazine with nearly 100 pix in it.

These were my classmates in late 1976 at MRSM KB. Mind you, no uniform then. We were treated like American schoolkids. No uniform and no fixed classroom.

We would practically wore these shirts and dresses to class like we were in the above pix.

Minus the ties obviously.

Privilege kids I would say we were.

Here we were a bit more recent. 2003 to be precise at the KLCC.

Oh by the way, enjoy this beautiful song Somewhere in Time by Maksim. It will help your time travel.

How to catch the Mat Rempits

Sometimes I do find Sunday night news fun.

I am talking about the many police operations, be it against the Mat Rempit or the drunk driving menace or any other public menace. You can see the Mat Rempits all scrambling trying to get away from the police, going against the traffic, swerving in between cars. I do wish I have a bulldozer and I would just mow them down. The police would try to kick down the Mat Rempits or throwing cone to them hoping that they would fall.

I am all for the police trying to rid this country of Mat Rempits. They are such a nuisance.

But I am appalled by the sheer foolishness (read: stupidity) of our police force acting as if that they don't know any better, that they can't use their head on how to catch the Mat Rempits.

Many a times they would get a way.

Or you can have a case where they got hurt and then the police would have to pay RM500K like in the new today. You can read it here.

A decade ago, when we made Houston our home, we saw many police chase. On the telly that is. We have not be unfortunate to see it live with our very own eyes. That's not the part of Houston or America that I would like to see or experience.

Thank you very much.

The American police use a very handy device that if you put it across the road would spike your wheel and cause your tyres to blow, in essence ending the chase. They can quickly roll it over the road to spike the car, and quickly roll it back when the police car passes the same stretch.

Otherwise you will have friendly fire! ;-)

Watch this demo.


This is an actual chase that was stopped due to this device called Spike Strip. It would cause a gradual drop in pressure rather than a complete blow out of the tyres.





You can also watch the full video here.



That was more than 10 years ago. I am reasonably sure they are still using it here.

Here are some videos of Mat rempits on a Saturday night. Just roll the strip over the road. No need to chase them, no need to kick at them, no need to throw the cone at them.

Aiyah, so easy one to catch them, right? One whole group on an empty road. I should be the supplier of this Stinger Spike Strip!

Place a few policemen at strategic locations with these devices, and at the right time roll it over.

Soon the race will come to a halt.

Is it so difficult for our police to come up with such a device? Or buy them?

We don't have a thinking policemen team here.

I am not sure what the top guns are doing in the cozy air-cond office in Bukit Aman.

Here is another video of the Rempits.



But accident do happen. Not just in the bedroom ok! ;-) Here is another sense of irony or those crooks caught by these spikes a sense of justice



EPILOGUE

Here is the info on Stinger Spike System by Federal Signal. It a tyre deflation system.

YOu can download the brochure here.

http://www.fedsig.com/industry_solutions/law_enforcement/stinger.php

Stinger spikes are hollow. This allows air to escape at a controlled rate without causing a blowout or sudden loss of control. The spikes are 2.1" in length and are made of 304-T7 stainless steel. The XL’s new 2.1" length spike acts in conjunction with our patented rock-and-tilt mechanism base. This Stinger technology effectively penetrates thicker tires to safely and quickly end pursuits involving many larger vehicles including large trucks, farm vehicles, and military-type vehicles.

I wonder if they have an agent already here in KL.

What Lies Waiting Down the Line in the year '19?

To be honest, I don't really care about New Year.

To me, it is just an arbitrary moment in time or if you must, an arbitrary moment in space. It is a point chosen a few hundreds of years ago. That chosen moment by chance made tomorrow the first day in of the year, or a new decade (depending on your definition).

It is a tool to determine the season, if nothing else, so that our forefathers can decide when to plant their crops. It is for your day-to-day use. Important tool nonetheless.

Nothing special, unlike the Hijrah calendar.

But I remember 1979, mainly because of this song.

Wonderful melody, wonderful singing, but it was the lyrics that caught my attention.

It is a poignant lyric.

It's the end of a decade
In another ten years time
who can say what we'll find
what lies waiting down the line
in the end of eighty nine

'79 was such a wonderful year, but who knew then what was waiting for us in '89. I know now of course. In hindsight, as we had passed that moment in space.

But do we know what lies waiting down in the line, at the end of '19?