I'm guilty of disappearing from everyone's blog. I even have to excuse myself from my usual Friday post. I don't know if its lack of will to post/blog-hop or it was truly due to my busy schedule. Everything still seems to be blur to me - thanks to the attack by flu virus.

Anyway, the last 2 weeks have been eventful. We had second MIB gathering at Chilli's. It was fun to meet everyone again. The photos are uploaded here. We have made several changes to the structure of MIB and back with a bang! We now have a page in facebook and twitter as well. Check them out! :)

Soon, after the gathering, i fell sick *sigh*. Only get to be online once a while. But in that mean time, I got invite to contribute blog posts to a brand new blog - revivemyblogpost! It's a brilliant and fresh idea by 3point8. The blog is set up mainly to revive our ancient posts for everyone's read. It has just been launched today and I am scheduled to submit my post 2moro.

And today, my Monday started with a longer than usual traffic jam (reminds me of my previous post). I think its due to the closure of roads in KL and maybe roadblocks as well. It is so mah fan! "These guys" never learn!*sigh*

*mah fan - troublesome

I had a mega-shopping spree last Saturday. Mega not because I bought lot of stuff but also I did it all in a record time of 2 hours (*wink wink)! It was Global Indian Shopping Festival (GISF) time again but I have no pictures to share this time. You may want to check out the previous post on GISF.

Now that I have started to live in 'budget' due to the fact that I have a Kancil to feed, let me go through stuffs that I bought and the price:
(P/S: 'budget' here refers to lower amount to be spent on shopping and other luxury spending. The use of the term 'budget' may vary according individuals )

• 1 white-turquoise sequined saree - RM95
• 3 kurti tops for aunt - RM 30
• 1 kurti top for me - RM10
• 2 kurti tops for sis - RM20
• tit-bits - RM10
• indian sweets - RM14
• 3 sequined/embroidered bags -RM65

So, in total = RM244 + RM3 (parking ticket).

But the satisfaction that I get = priceless!! :P

My apologies for skipping Nostalgic Friday post yesterday. Was out the whole day and the by the time I come back, I was dead tired.

Let's make up for it now :)

Beginning yesterday (or was it the day before?), Manya Blog Awards has been opened to all blog readers to cast their vote for their favourite blog. Simply put, it is a Malaysian Indian version of the famous Blogger Choice Awards. The differences? Manya is confined to short-listed Malaysian Indian blogs and awarded by Putera MIC, while Blogger Choice Awards is more global. As expected, there is a lot of criticisms thrown at Manya, but the efforts shown by Putera to gain back support of bloggers is commendable. No true blogger could be 'bought' by an award, and it will definitely not 'sway' us from our way of blogging. Some may not have that confidence, but I do.



Alright, more about Manya...

I don't want to bore you all with facts which you can read in Manya's home page. There are few bloggers within our blogging community who have been nominated for this year's award, including yours truly. Most of the nominated bloggers have accepted their nomination. There are 9 categories of awards, and two more 'special' awards - Readers' Choice Award + Putera's Award.



Now, the most important part of the post...



Go to Manya Awards, and vote for me now!! :P Readers are required to rank the blogs in each category and voting period is for a month. I have been nominated in two categories - Most Popular Female Blogger and Best Personal Blog. Please vote me *blink *blink *shy *shy..

Besides, there are lot more other blogs which you may wanna get to know and vote as well!!

Start casting your vote now! :)


I have published this song before, but now I feel like wanna hear it again. Troubled time, my frens! :P

There was a time when my food (read FUEL) cost Ammu just RM30 (USD9.21) per week. She was staying in hostel and the hardest work I have to do was to drive her to her faculty/eatery everyday, and back home during the weekends. She never failed to make sure I have enough to eat and I never starved in my life.

Not that I am complaining that she is not feeding me enough. She is a generous (ahem) person, and never left my stomach hit E. In turn, I was obedient to her. I still am. Never once I let her down by stopping in the middle of the road, and I will never do that to her. She spent most of her time with me, alone and I am the one she truly believes. We should never let down people who put their trust in us. Correct? :)

I know she has plans to sell me off soon, and I accept that fact. I'm getting old and she deserves a newer companion. She still feels bad about her decision to trade me off. I know. She loves me.
But lately I feel I'm slowly becoming a burden for her. Well, as I said before - one reason is because I am ageing and another reason is the rising food price. Can you imagine my food gonna cost her at least RM55 (for a tank full)?? Right now Ammu is travelling alot, and she got to feed me at least once a week. Now, isn't that too much for this girl?

She is already thinking how to cut down her travelling. If there is a LRT service to her uni, she would have taken that, but sadly there is none. She is left with no option but to use me everyday. Geezz!! I feel really bad. I really wanna scream and tell that I don't wish to eat expensive food stuff but well, I have no option here.

Please forgive me.

Lots of hugs,
Kancil 1980
EX 850

The blogworld now is under intrusion. Serious - no joke. Those living in my part of the country would probably know what I am talking about(*hint - check out mahen's post). I am not going to take sides and start to sort of attack those who caused such surge in blogging activities in Malaysia. I see it as a positive sign - even politicians from the ruling party (who used to say bloggers are mainly unemployed women) have taken up blogging. Besides, the recent developments in the country also has urged many M'sians (especially those of Indian origin) to take up blogging as well *applause! We are all blogmates now! ;)

But the question of originality arise whenever I come across these blogs. I have begin to wonder if the blogs of prominent politicians of the ruling party are actually created and maintained by them. Okie, some may be unleashing the blogger in them, but how about the others? These are people who don't even write their own speeches! Are they actually sitting in front of their costly-higher end-but-under utilised laptops? Or have they employed other individuals to blog on their behalf? If they did the later, do they actually visit their own blogs? Hmm.. I'm still wondering.

If that is one dilemma the M'sian blogwo rld is facing, another form of 'blogs' is killing the spirit of blogging as well. Those are what I call 'copy-paste-blogs', and all you can find there will be political news articles copied and pasted as their posts! *sigh... We all have the access to news portals, and I don't think we need to read the same news again and again. Okie okie.. it's an important news, we got the point the every first time we read it! Maybe you could show some of your writing skills besides the copy-paste article?

Then another group of people called celebrity bloggers. Blogging is serious business nowadays, and (certain) bloggers have clinched the celebrity blogger title, but when I read through their blogs, I can't find a single useful post which I think that would justify the tag 'celebrity blogger'. Seriously, I think that term needs to be banned! Everyone blogs as per their interests, and some celebrity bloggers ONLY blogs for others' interest. Its all about getting more hits and more hits and even more hits. The passion for blogging has died and since replaced by quest for popularity.

Maybe this may not go well with many people out there, but hey.. what's wrong in voicing it? Plus, deep down inside, we all know its true after all!

The hottest news in town:

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced Monday at 12.35pm that he is quitting Umno, citing a lack of confidence in the current leadership.

Well, I was expecting something drastic like that from Tun, after all his bitter relationship with the current Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi needs no introduction.



However, I don't know how genuine is Tun quitting the party he actually recreated:

Dr Mahathir urged other party members to quit too, as a way of pressuring Abdullah into vacating his post.

However, he advised those who do quit not to join any opposition party, adding they can all rejoin the party once there is a change in leadership.

Politicians never fail to amuse me..


**updates in The Star and Malaysiakini.

I attended a wonderful wedding dinner last Friday. Romantic atmosphere, melodies songs and good food too. Check out some photos I took there:

Oh yea, I have decided to reveal the answer today itself instead of Monday. Some guessed my question correctly, some got close...

Another new year wish of mine materialized. Can guess which one?
1. Robbers to be caught
2. A new car
3. New hairstyle
4. Gadgets
5. Lose weight
6. Overseas vacation
7. A new boyfriend
8. PhD
9. A new blog on shopping
10. A brand new self

Answer:
I got new hairstyle! :P

15.03.08 was our very first gathering for MINDSBLOG. Our real idea was to have a small party celebrating the victory of Barisan Rakyat :P, but somehow the idea got evolved and turned out to be a gathering of admin, authors and readers of MINDSBLOG. That would explain the short notice. Nevertheless, I thank everyone who attended the event.

It was already 1.30pm when we started with our lunch. Most of us took chicken briyani rice, some took mixed rice but some just refused to give in to the temptation, and just stick with their drinks.

For the first time in Malaysian history....

Barisan Nasional denied 2/3 majority in the Parliament

The opposition took control of five states

A blogger sent to Parliament (is it the first in the world as well? :P)

Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) shown exit at all but 3 Parliamentseats (and couple of state seats) it contested

President of two member parties of Barisan Nasional lost in a general election

Parliament is gonna be lively and full of action

The rakyat showed PEOPLE'S POWER!!

Can't help but to celebrate with this song:





Now, you know who is the BOSS???

I promised a substantial number of posts on the General Election in Puchong, but with time constraint (and loads of work), I have only published couple of posts to date. A bit disappointing but I manage to sneak some time off to attend a ceramah (political speech/gathering) near my place by Gobind Singh Deo. We even had a special appearance by Karpal Singh!! Yippeeeee!!! Here are some photos of the event. I will post the video of Gobind's speech later. Scroll down for the video of Gobind Singh's speech.

Two more photos of roundabouts in Puchong Perdana, filled with the colors of blue and green.

For the benefit of my readers / blogmates from overseas,

Malaysia will be seeing her 12th general election on 8th of March 2008, and the nomination day for all the candidates were held today. At the national level, voters elect the 222-member House of Representatives (Malay: Dewan Rakyat, literally "Hall of the People") of the bicameral Parliament. Members are elected from single-member constituencies drawn based on population and the party that has the majority of the House of Representatives will form the federal government. At the state level, voters elect representatives to the Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly). The number of representatives varies between the different states.
You may want to read more in the Wikipedia entry on elections in Malaysia.

For 50 years (since Independence), Malaysia has been ruled by Barisan Nasional (BN) which was formerly known as Parti Perikatan (Alliance). BN is not a political party by its own, but a collation formed by a long list of member parties. The opposition, on the other hand, made of few other parties such as DAP, PAS and PKR.

You may find few General Election related articles in tulipspeaks from now on. Hopefully it would be a learning experience for everyone, especially those in other countries.

This would be one of the best General Election (GE), my constituent (Puchong) have ever seen. Gobin Singh Deo, son of the mighty Karpal Singh is contesting for Puchong parliamentary seat, while Teresa Kok, the woman who has won my admiration is contesting for Kinrara state seat!



Oh my my.. This would a great battle between the ruling party (ahem.. what else if not BN) and DAP. I think the last strong candidate from DAP stood (and won) in Puchong was V.David. And now its time for another strong MP and state assemblyman to represent this constituent. The issues in Puchong are endless, and I will talk more about it in coming post.

Since Saturday, I have been answering calls & smses asking the whereabout of Mahen. Mahen, you have to pay me if you want me to be your secretary la :P. Kidding! Kidding! To those who are clueless, it was all about a Rose Rally, which turned ugly in the end.

What is Rose Rally?
It is suppose to be peaceful rally in which 100 children will hand over roses to request the Prime Minister of Malaysia to release five (5) detainees of the HINDRAF, who are currently under Internal Security Act (A draconian law which allows for indefinite detention without trial). These five detainees had earlier voiced their concern in the ever deteriorating state of the Indian minority in Malaysia and in a broader sense to provide equal platform for all Malaysians for the enhancement of the society.This peaceful gathering is legal and is in accordance to Article 10 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution. (More)

The rally was to be held in few cities around the world. So far, Raaja has updated his blog with photos and news of the rally in Los Angles, New York and Malaysia.


Why it turned ugly?
I wasn't there to comment on it, but for a fair share of news, I took some excerpts from leading media around the world:

Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up a rally on Saturday by ethnic Indians demanding racial equality ahead of general elections.

Malaysian police used water cannon and tear gas on Saturday to break up an anti-government protest by ethnic Indians carrying roses to symbolise a peaceful demand for justice. With the Malaysian government concerned about street protests in the run-up to early general elections on March 8, around 100 policemen, including riot police with helmets and shields, turned out to disperse a gathering of about 300 men, women and children.

Malaysian security forces have used tear gas and water cannon to break up a protest by ethnic Indians in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.More than 20 people taking part in the banned march were detained by police.

Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up an illegal rally Saturday by ethnic Indians demanding racial equality ahead of general elections.The group planned to hand roses and a protest note to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but police banned the rally citing national security.

On Saturday about 300 men, women and children were dispersed by about 100 policemen, including riot police with helmets and shields."Police were too rough. They used their power," said S Manikavasagam, a spokesman for the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), the ethnic Indian group that organised the protest.

More than 60 people — including two leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, that organised the protest — have been detained in a police crackdown since late Friday, said lawyer N Surendran, a Hindraf member. The group planned to hand roses and a protest note to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but police banned the rally citing national security.

Back to the beginning of the post, what does it have to do with Mahen?
Our darling blogger went to give a rose to the PM as well, and get caught. Mahen, I already told you that day. You might as well give me the rose! But, he looked macho in this picture:



He wrote his experience here and JD, a blogger who went to the rally also wrote his personal experience here. As for me, Malaysia would be the only country in the history which fired water cannon and tear gas for giving roses.

I seriously need to start blog hopping before being hit by gun shot :P. Will have to find a helmet before starting my journey to my blogmates's space.. hehehe.. Anyway, sorry guys.. I know it has been long time since I visited anyone. My schedule is packed. Nowadays it takes me two or three days to complete one single post in tulispeaks! Wish I could have a 'normal' life like others.

Complaints apart, I manage to sneak some time off to attend a Cultural Nite (MKSP) by my (ex) Hindu Society of Universiti Putra Malaysia on Saturday. Its an annual event I don't dare to miss. Sharing some pics from the event:

I will write more about it in MindsBlog later. Bookmark it okie? ;)


The next day, I traveled to a neighboring state to attend a wedding ceremony of a dear friend, Shashikala. I think the wedding was romantic and different. Had good time there.


Few more wedding photos have been uploaded HERE.


So far, Shopping Paradise is doing good and three designs were sold out! Whoa! Not bad huh? I still have 3 more necklace designs and will be adding more in the future. Check it out if you haven't done so :D


Now, its the time to check other blogs.. Here I come!

I didn't get a decent sleep for the past two nights. Thinking back.. I guess I didn't sleep at all. Turning and tossing on my bed, I'm now feeling like a certified zombie. There are two possibilities for my predicament, and both have one common character - they are hunks!

Okie, I know some are getting excited. Hehehe. First hunk... well, he is a REAL hunk. I mean human. For now, I don't wanna say anything more. :P :P

And today's post is gonna be on the second hunk - Toyota RUSH.




I have read as much as possible about RUSH in PaulTan, and in few more autoblogs.Yet to check it out in the showroom, but it has already stole my heart (though the dashboard is kinda hmm.. tasteless). At the price range between 85K - 95K, I feel its a good bargain. Furthermore, its time for me to change to a better and bigger car. I can't stand the road bullies anymore. If you are clueless of my experience of driving a Kancil on Malaysian road, try driving one during the peak hour in KL :|

I can wait for Nissan's Livina, but it's too huge for my taste/size. I don't wanna look like a tiny ant sitting in it. Grand Vitara would be lovely but it's far beyond my budget. Same goes to CRV.

So, what you think? Should I go ahead or wait for the second generation of Kembara?

Spent most of my free time either with my new darling or in shopping complexes :P I guess it is an unofficial competition between the shopping malls on who has the best X'mas deco for 2007! *sigh.. talk about commercialization! How about X'mas deco in malls you frequent?

The weekend was a busy one. Saturday was spent in this convention, while Sunday was spent loitering in a mall meeting fellow blogmates.

Speaking about the convention, I think it is one of the best event organized for Malaysian Indian youth in this year. It was well-organized despite the fact that this is a maiden convention of this sort. This post will be a small re-cap of National Indian Youth Convention (NIYC 2007), just to highlight it to those who have missed it. And no, this is not a paid posting.

It started a little late than what is scheduled - that was a minor setback though I must stress that it was all worth the wait. After opening speech by the President of TheMind (the organization which organized NIYC 2007), the convention was then officially launched by Prof Dr Bala Shanmugam.

One thing that pulled me to register for the event will be their list of amazing personalities. Some were unknown to me, but boast a credible CV! The keynote address for example, was given by Tan Sri Dato's Professor Emeritus Dr Gajaraj Dhanarajan, the VC of Wawasan Open University. This soft spoken speaker brought us back to world war era when he spoke about his history and right up to current technological advancement, where he emphasized us not to confine ourselves to the borders of Malaysia.

We had three more talks in line after that. The first talk was given by Major General (R) Dato' Pahlawan Dr Mohanadas Ramasamy, who spoke about challenges of succeeding in the government services. I don't think many of M'sian Indian youths are interested to even join the civil service, let alone to be successful in it. Good to see that there are some people from our community made it huge in the sector we all tend to avoid.



The next speaker was the highlight of the whole convention. Most of us waited since morning only to listen to his talk. Not to undermine the other speakers, but I must say this Datuk will outshine anyone excerpt may be Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan). He was none other than Datuk Vinod Sekhar, the second richest Indian in Malaysia. It was a fun-filled talk, and the fact that his business idea started with just USD50 amazed a lot of people. We had flood of questions from the floor for which he patiently answered. I couldn't agree more when he said this country a wonderful place and worth fighting for :)

The third talk was given again by Prof Bala Shanmugam. One thing that I like to listen will be successful personalities' life story, and Prof Bala is a master in it! Didn't know he is actually with Monash University, where I am working for a year now! That's a shame.. *sigh. He ended the talk with an interesting quote which I saw many of the participants taking down: "Aspire to Inspire before you Expire".



If there is something I was unhappy with the convention, that would be the forum. Not because it was not good, because I feel the forum panellists where not well-utilised. Probably the organizers were running out of time as it was already towards the end of the convention, but I feel the forum should have more substance in it as I know it is not easy to gather such a prominent panel. We had Prof Emeritus Dr Singaravelu (University Malaya), Assoc Prof Dr Sureswaran (Mlabs System), Datuk Suret Singh (Ministry of Transport) and Mr Uthaya Sankar (RTM) in the panel while Prof Dr Subramaniam (University Malaya) moderated the forum. May be if the forum was given a specific theme and all discussion pointed towards the theme/title, it would have been more effective.



Overall, despite the minor short coming, I would say the convention was a successful one. As I said before, it is one of the best event for the year and should be held annually. For the organizing committee, I would like to thank them and wish them all the best!

Today is the D-day of the planned rally by HINDRAF. This supposedly peaceful assembly has turned ugly with the FRU (Federal Reserve Unit) firing tear gasses and chemical-sprayed water cannon at the assembled crowd.

Malaysian police have used tear gas and water cannon against a protest by thousands of ethnic Indians in the country's largest city, Kuala Lumpur.

Sunday's protest in the shadow of the city's famous twin towers was organised by a Hindu rights group to draw attention to complaints of discrimination against the minority ethnic Indian community.

Many ethnic Indians complain they are marginalised in terms of employment and business opportunities by a government dominated by the majority ethnic Malays.

Read the rest in Al-Jazeera


Report & visual by Al-Jazeera:
[updated with 3 more videos]




The latest updates (news, photos, video & audio reports) are available in bmahendran's BOLEHLAND. Another mirror site has been set up HERE if you find it difficult to access his site.