Mee Udang Sungai Dua Penang

As mentioned in my previous post, we went north to register Aizat at MRSM Kepala Batas. On the way we stopped for lunch of Mee Udang Sungai Dua. It was good as usual but a bit pricey. The prawns cost us RM80 per kilo. Of course we did not buy a kilo of prawns but we had 3 large prawns each and together with the mee and drinks our bill came to slightly above RM100 for the 6 of us. But I must say the mee was good and the prawns fresh and tasty.

Actually, we wanted to try out Mee Banjir Udang in Kuala Sepetang near Taiping. We saw this place featured in a TV rogram recently and decided to look for it. We found the place just outside the town of Kuala Sepetang but the place was so full of people we decided to skip it and head towards Sungai Dua for its famed Mee Udang instead.

Now that Aizat is in Kepala Batas it looks like we will have our mee udang Sungai Dua more often

Aizat off to MRSM Kepala Batas

On Monday, 9 Feb 2009 the whole family headed north for Aizat's registration at MRSM Kepala Batas that is to take place the next day. We decided to go one day earlier so as not to be in too much of a rush. We put up at one of the hotels in Seberang Jaya. Not a bad place but for my subsequent visits to see my son I would most probably stay at Seri Malaysia Kepala Batas. I have not been to Kepala Batas before but the area is reflective of the fact that its member of Parliament is the current Prime Minister.

MRSM Kepala Batas is only in its third year of operations. As expected the whole complex is still "work in progress". The field is still not fully completed, the tennis courts are not playable yet and a few areas are visibly under construction. However, after the experience of sending my second child to an MRSM for which he was part of the first batch of students, this is a relief.

The registration process was relatively quick but the place was hot making all of us feeling tired. Apparently it had not rained for a month in the area and one can feel the heat. After all the "Taklimats" we went back to town for lunch and also purchase things which we have actually purchased before in KL but Aizat conveniently forgot to bring.

Anyway, we finally left MRSM Kepala Batas at around 5:40pm leaving Aizat to taste his first real experience of living away from home. I'm sure he can cope and this experience will make him a much better person in future. I only hope that Aizat thinks the same way soon because I have a feeling he does NOT think so now.

Good luck my son. We love you and will miss you but I know this is for your own good.

Tahniah BN

Nampaknya berjaya juga BN merampas Perak dari Pakatan Rakyat. PM dengan selambanya menyuruh Pakatan menerima keputusan Sultan sama seperti BN menerima keptusan rakyat dalam pilihanraya lepas. Saya ingat rakyat mahu Pakatan memerintah, jadi bila pulak yang BN menerima keputusan pilihanraya.

Walaupun demikian, saya berpendapat kita tidak perlu tersangat risau. Tentunya apa yang ditakdirkan oleh Allah ada hikmahnya. Betul, kita tidak boleh menerima semuanya tanpa menjelaskan pendirian kita. Tetapi kita perlu lihat jangka panjang. Kalau kita sanggup hidup bawah pentadbiran BN selama 50 tahun apakah kita tidak boleh menunggu 3 atau 4 tahun lagi?

Pakatan telah membuktikan dalam masa 10 bulan, tanpa sebarang pengalaman memerintah dan Pakatan yang dipaksa pada mulanya, mereka telah menjalankan kerja dengan baik. Tidak mungkin BN dapat membuat dengan lebih baik.

Cuba kita lihat pula apa kesilapan yang telah Pakatan buat. Pertama, Anwar merancang dan menghebohkan untuk merampas kuasa dengan cara yang serupa dengan apa yang dibuat oleh BN. Mungkin ada justifikasi seperti penipuan dalam pilihanraya dan sebagainya tetapi ia tetap menidakkan keputusan pilihanraya yang telah dipersetujui bersama. Syukur, ini tidak berlaku. Kalau berlaku, adakah Pakatan mahu rakyat menerima tindakannya sama seperti BN mahu rakyat menerima tindakan mereka sekarang?

Kedua, tindakan BN di Perak akan membuat lebih ramai rakyat yang berfikir untuk menyokong Pakatan. Saya cukup yakin Pakatan akan jadi lebih kuat dimasa akan datang, bukan saja di Perak malah seluruh negara. Yang penting kita mesti menambah bilangan rakyat yang berfikir.

Ketiga, ia akan memberi peluang kepada Pakatan untuk memikirkan betapa pentingnya mereka membuat keputusan dengan mengambil kira komposisi ras dinegara ini.

Cuma satu yang saya agak terkilan. Saya rasa kewibawaan Sultan Perak akan agak terjejas akibat episod ini. Baginda satu-satunya Sultan yang mempunyai imej "berpelajaran" terpaksa membuat keputusan yang boleh dipertikaikan ramai.

Tahniah Pakatan dan Tahniah Rakyat.

Perak Government in limbo

So many things happened in the last few days in Perak. Today, the MB Dato' Seri Nizar called upon the Sultan to dissolve the State Assembly but the DPM claimed BN has got majority control of the state and wants to form the next government.

A lot have been written about this episode so I would not like to add my views which will be full of anger. But to those involved, I wonder how they can even sleep at night and face the people. How can their family face the public?

No wonder I left politics after just two years. To think that I was moving quickly up the political ladder then.

However, I remembered Kelantan, under TG Nik Aziz, had a government with only one seat majority for most of the last term and the government was stable. It shows what the fear of God does to people.

p/s: I'm praying that that the Sultan of Perak in all his wisdom will consent to the dissolution of the Assembly, but maybe I'm asking for too much.

I'm Back!!

That was a long absence, more than 2 months in fact. On several occasions I tried to write something but I always found excuses not to. A lot have happened in the last 2 months, most notably my 41 days in Makkah and Medinah. Too many events to even think about. Though I took my notebook with me and managed to take a lot of notes I still have not managed to organise any meaningful write up of my experience. I wonder if I can even do it ultimately.

This post is just to tell every one that I'm still around. Hopefully I'll get down to putting some of my experience in writing soon.

By the way, kepada semua yang telah sudi mendoakan kemudahan buat saya dan isteri semasa kami mengerjakan ibabat haji kami mengucapkan berbanyak terima kasih. Hanya Allah yang dapat membalas jasa kalian.