How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Thursday, February 14, 2008

When in Penang, Hokien is useful to know

Jeff Ooi, one of DAP's star debutants has already began to use it in his Screenshots:

FEBRUARY 13, 2008
Secret recipe
"Now that the Parliament is dissolved and general election is on, folks in Penang are prescribing a strict menu that I have to adhere to.
No sushi. No eggs. Have more coconut stuff.
To Penang Hokkien, sushi (su si) means 'to lose completely'; eggs (jia nui) mean 'zero'.
Have more coconut, 'pao yia' , means 'guaranteed to win'."

I was in a Penang coffee shop on Wednesday when I overheard an Indonesian helper wishing a customer, ‘Kong Xi Huat Chai’ which was a mixed version of Gong Xi Fa Cai (ie. in Mandarin and Hokien). I couldn’t help laughing as I explained to my son it actually sounds like ‘grandfather dies, followed by prosperity'.

These days, boys studying in SK or national schools think in Malay and sometimes, forget their own mother tongue. A boy was told to buy salt and when he approached the shop-keeper, forgot the word ‘yim’ in Cantonese and asked ‘lei yau harm mou?’ which loosely translates to ‘do you have salty?’ which in Cantonese can also mean ‘do you feel sexy or have sexy thoughts?’ The woman was shocked at the question asked and the boy volunteered a Malay word ‘garam’ which means ‘salt’ and was well understood.

This morning, I saw a van with the name of the entrepreneur, Ng Kum Fatt and I thought how it sounds like ‘afraid to prosper’! He parked his van and sat with the coffeeshop proprietor at the next table. How could I tell him how I felt about his name?

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