I read about some fun fair being set up in MJC Batu Kawa a few weeks ago. As there was not much to do tonight and after some convincing by my missus to bring the baby, we jumped in the car and drove to Euro. If I was still a small kid I realise that it would be the first place I wanted to go to. Being a grown up and after the likes of Universal Studio, Disney World, Genting Highlands etc, one tends to drag ones feet but it was an International Fun Fair so why not. Furthermore the kid is going to love it ( I hope). When we reached MJC Batu Kawa, after several eons I have not been there, I was really surprised to see the area so vibrant. You have the 'pasar malam' or night market there and cars were parked alongside the road causing slow moving traffic. As the weather was fine, I parked quite a distant from the fun fair to avoid the congestion and proceeded to see what surprise was in store for me.

Entrance Fee is RM3 for Adult and RM2 for children. That's not inclusive of the tokens you have to pay for the games, rides and facilities.

One Token is RM2 which you can purchase from the various counters in the fun fair - you will need tokens to play the games and enjoy the rides in the Fun Fair.

Entrance

Tickets

The Tokens

Hall of Mirrors - 2 tokens per person

Inside Hall of Mirrors

Cousins Amanda Alexander Nanta and Natasha Alexander Nanta

Xenon Ride - 3 Tokens per person

Destructor - 3 tokens per person

Tagada Ride - 3 tokens per person

Swing - (? tokens i did not get to see)

Kiddie's Castle

Phantom Chaser - 3 tokens per person

Pop Guns

Rainbow Game

Rules of the Game

Far West Ride - 3 token per kid

Shania leading the ride

Some big guy(with cap) in a train ride - my daughter insisted I join her

My overall findings: The place is nice and fun if you have not seen an International standard fun fair. I have seen our local fun fair so by comparison, if your kids have been to the local ones, they would love this one. As for us, being the parents, be prepared to dish out unlimited money for the tokens. It quite steep if your kid insists that you join him/her for the ride - for every ride that they take. One ride costs about 3 tokens per person. Maybe its good in a way to prevent long waiting period. If they used the fee structure like in Genting: free rides for Children below certain age or heights you will have to queue up for each of the rides. Or if they impose an 'hourly fee' - the same case may transpire. Last night there was no hassle in waiting for your turn. You can just jump in without waiting half an hour or so. The games were difficult though - I tried to win some dolls for my kid but luck was not on my side.

The fun fair wil be here for another two weeks, so if you have the time, for the sake of the kids, try it out.

This past three days was another memorable Christams for me. I spent my Christmas in Kuching, Miri and Niah with the family. When I say family, I mean the whole big troop of 'family' from those three locations. My wife, baby and I flew over to Miri on Christmas Eve. We waited for the Christmas countdown with my in-laws, catching up on lost time till almost mid night.

The next day we drove to Niah to meet up my parents who were driving from Sibu. I got to experience the famous 'coastal road'. I understand its a new stretch of road from Miri - Bintulu. It was the only alternative to old road which was said to be 'submerged under flood water at times'. Well, a road is a road and I would say it was a pleasant ride all the way to Niah. We managed to reach Rumah Pasang after a 50 minutes cruise. There, the whole big family converged from the four corners of Sarawak and we had another randau aka drinking session and that was also where I was able to see the tradition of holding 'open house' being practiced proudly.

Pointers to Coastal Road Users: Driving on the Niah - Miri Coastal Road I was informed by the people staying there that one must be careful when driving along the road late at night. When i mention 'late' its about 8.30 pm onwards as it can be very dark as the lights have not be put up along this stretch. 'Mugging' cases do occur at times at times - I was told so. Some 'roadblocks' would be set up by irresponsible people (possibly bandits) who would ask the drivers who stop and part with their possessions. Also do not drive fast if its raining as the road can be slippery. To date I was told there has been some deaths on this new stretch of road.

Okay, back to family business: The whole troop drove to Miri the next day and it was quite a nerve wrecking experience. Put the scenario of having a big family and so little time on a tour of Miri - your patience can be tested to its limits. My Uncles, my bro - in law and myself were each commandeering a car for the various groups. So handphones were ringing here and there - some wanted to go to Miri's famous 2020 for breakfast, Boulevard for shopping, Tanjong Lobang to see the beach, Miri City Fan to view this landmark and the kids were insistent on going to Toy's World. It was a situation which my education never taught me how to handle. Suddenly I was on a sailing ship which has been caught in a strong cross wind and the convoy was zig zagging around Miri City. But honestly it was fun - you need to be in the family long enough not to join in the 'decision making process'. We regrouped ourselves in the cars according to family members with common destinations.

After everyone was happy, it was time to go back - wishing everyone a safe journey home. Those going back to Sibu and Niah left in the afternoon with their prized Miri souveniers (mostly in bottles). My missus and baby took a little breather at my in-laws before we left for the airport to catch our flight to Kuching.

Santa and his Elf?

Christmas tree at Dynasty Hotel Miri

Miri - Niah Coastal Road

The familiar Tiger Beer can amongst the other beers ( A rose amongst thorns)

The food for lunch blessed by Father Phillip

Arriving at Kuching International Airport from Miri last night

Overall, I can say this over and over again. The Christmas Spirit is alive and well in Sarawak. It was hard to please everyone though. My previous colleagues who are in Miri and friends has wanted to share the Christmas joy with us but there was so little time. It was a family Christmas 2005.

Though we met so many familiar faces at 2020 that morning we were not able to accept their invitations. I also noted that there were a lot of Sibu and Kuching visitors in Miri City. We talked about the City status and what Miri City had to offer.

I will say this - Miri City has a lot to share that is for sure. The people are friendly and it has everything that a 'less demanding' tourist has to offer. So if its to become a Resort City - it should sell its Oil City image and the wonderful hotels to stay in. The tour guides should be properly coached on how to make the City sound interesting when they talk to the tourists. The Bruneians whom we saw driving all over Miri City appreciates what is in Miri - especially the shopping and food. Foreign or Malaysian (out of Miri tourists) visitors would need some assistance to connect to the 'hot spots' of Miri City from their hotels. The Miri coastlines are famous for its Coral Reefs but no one seems to be promoting this. So hopefully the planners of the City can look into this few inputs to ensure that Miri City grows and become another glittering jewel on the Island of Borneo.

Greetings friends and fellow Bloggers,

My family wishes all - A Very Happy Merry Christmas 2005. Good Bless and Take care all. I will be on holiday this next two days and so will my blog. I will be travelling on Christmas with the family this Christmas and meeting up with most of my relatives - I will be back with more photos for the my blog before the end of the year.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year once again from Mr. & Mrs. Desmond and family.

Shania opening up her Christmas present

Take care all and God Bless you all. To my buddies, don't do the things I won't do, except for beer drinking as its the tonic for Merry Making - but not too much...or you are gonna have a blue blue Christmas :)

Its something that you know is going to happen but you do not know when. You have taken all the neccessary precautions - made sure that the doors and windows are locked - I made sure everything was okay since I moved to my new home. Any sign of your neighbours dogs barking will be a tell tale sign that something was amiss outside. But last night I guess I was too tired to be alerted after many sleepness nights working on my computer and trying to meet deadlines before Christmas Holidays.

I woke up and discovered that the suspect did the most damage to the entrance, staircase and dining room wall. Euqipped with Grissom's CSI Miami techniques and skills I managed to narrow down on a suspect - but I have to find the weapon or tool used. Otherwise I won't have a case.

CSI Evidence found on our living room wall.

CSI Evidence on the stairway wall

Choc smudges found on the dining hall wall. The track is becoming clear.

There are a few more pen marks and writings on the wall but the fingerprints left behind helped to narrow down on the suspect. After watching a lot of CSI series I have become an expert at analysing the evidence. The distintive choc mark was made by small hand prints, and after measuring the length and breadth of the prints they are found to belong to a three year old.

Another choc smudge left behind by the suspect on the towel left behind.

Possible suspect

However the probable suspect has left for her nursery school. I will be picking her up this evening to begin my interrogations. However the missing pen used for the act has yet to be found and fingerprints for those below the age of twelve are not in the National Registration Department's (NRD) database. I think the suspect will get away with it but I will keep my eyes peeled the next time. Maybe install an in-house security camera.

The Chief Minister's Department recently conducted a Management Course for its senior executives. The program was held from 19 - 21 Dec 2005 at Hilton Hotel. The title of the programme was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It was conducted by David Kinkel of the Franklin Covey Co. The fee per person is about RM3000. Being a fan of Dr. Stephen Covey who wrote the famous book of the same course title, I manage to get a hand on the course materials. The facilitator, Mr. David Kinkel is a very effective presenter and coach throughout the two and half days. Unlike our local facilitators he is a no nonsense person when it comes to time management - so if you are late in attending his sessions, you will be left behind.

The goodies you will get when you attend the programme includes Dr. Spethen Covey's two books, diary, organizer, Audio CD and a nice paper bag.

The famous books - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Living the Seven Habits, the Audio CD plus the Planning System Kit.

These are what you will find in the Planning System Kit - Accessories Pack for your Organizer, your yearly, monthly and daily planner with a guide on how to use it.

The materials are pretty extensive and the programme conducted is very packed with solid substance. Dr. Stephen Covey managed to sell a few million copies of his ideas - that itself is an achievement. That's one thing I have to admire about the western management gurus - not only are they good at coming up with new management ideas and concepts - they act on it and follow it through. Its not enough just to sell the book - you have to be a good speaker and also a 'coach' to explain how to implement those ideas in your workplace/organization. The message is definitely clear - if you want to be effective like these successful people, by all means, live these Seven Habits preached by Dr. Stephen Covey.

As for me, I really cannot count many bad habits I have to discard- there is enough to overwhelm all those 7 good habits preached by the good doctor. But change I must...... but I am not willing to let go of my beer drinking sessions if that is what you are asking. The other habits, maybe. I found out that during beer drinking sessions I tend to get good management ideas, I tend to push my ideas through and discover that complex issues can be solved, by drinking beer and singing Frank Sinatra's management concept of doing it 'My Way!'! Sometimes my drinking partners also get to shout thier excellent ideas through. *hic*

Speaking of which, my broadband Internet was acting up today - not up to my expectation. I sent their helpline a message and hope one day I can also persuade them to adopt the Seven Habits to make sure that they will be more effective. The speed test I came back with for my connection was:

:::.. Download Stats

:Connection is:: 27 Kbps about 0 Mbps (tested with 579 kB)Download Speed is:: 3 kB/sTested Test Time:: Thu Dec 22 01:09:17 UTC+0800 2005 Bottom Line:: 0X faster than 56K 1MB download in 341.33 sec Diagnosis: May need help : running at only 8.6 % of your hosts average (net.my)

:::.. Upload Stats

..:::Connection is:: 23 Kbps about 0 Mbps (tested with 579 kB)Upload Speed is:: 3 kB/sTested Test Time:: Thu Dec 22 01:27:19 UTC+0800 2005 Bottom Line:: 0X faster than 56K 1MB upload in 341.33 secDiagnosis: May need help : running at only 15.97 % of your hosts average (net.my)

"Wireless Internet Broadband Available here! Danawa - SACOFA" the banner screamed as I droved through my housing area. Those words were like magnet to me - at last I said, Wireless Internet - something new to try.

The advertisement banner

Fixing the broadband reciever

Contractors on my house's roof

The DANAWA technician configuring my wireless broadband connection

Speed Test

Another Speed Opinion

Those words caught my eyes as the banners were put up along our housing area. I told myself, why not? After experiencing the unpredictibality of streamyx in my previous home, I had decided that I would try this wireless broadband package offered by SACOFA. I will be giving it a month or two of trial and providing the performance rating to their technicians. After all the tower is loacted at the top of The Summit Condos in BDC Kuching which happens to be near my area - so speed should not be much of a problem if they can solve it. Though, at this point in time the speed lingers between 250k and 338k at times, I believe they are trying to improve this glitch.

Now at the time of Blogging this I discovered that the Sacofa Sdn Bhd website was down (Does that mean trouble). So, for those who do not know what Sacofa is about i guess I will explain below:

Sacofa is concession holder to be the provider of telecommunication infrastructure in Sarawak. Sacofa was granted a 20-year concession to build and operate telecommunication towers in Sarawak by the State Government of Sarawak in 2002. Today, Sacofa is the license holder of the following licences awarded by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (‘MCMC) :-

1. Individual Network Facilities Provider License

2. Individual Network Service Provider License

3. Class Application Network Service Provider License

I do realise that the State Government intends to transform Sacofa as its Technology and Telecommunication (T&T) flagship. I was encourgaed more by the report below:

According to Red Orbit Online News:

Sacofa 950km Cable Job a Success SACOFA Sdn Bhd, a Sarawak State Government-backed company, has successfully laid a 950km long fibre optic cables on the seabed of the South China Sea, linking Buntal in Kuching to Mersing in Johor. The "East-West Submarine Cable System", which has a capacity of 20 gigabytes, will enable broadband services to be more easily available to the public, said Sarawak State Secretary Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain. Aziz said the presence of this fibre optic system will enable broadband services to be more easily available to the people. "There is no doubt the usage of the Internet for social, economic and education purposes will increase with this new system," he said at the soft launch in Kuching recently. Aziz added that one of the broadband services he foresees becoming popular in the future is tele-conferencing, or holding meetings online. Sacofa's managing director-cum-chief executive officer Abang Jemat Abang Bujang said the submarine cable system project started in mid-2003 and was completed in the first quarter of 2004.

So I guess I would better jump in and look this latest product of wireless broadband. After all I work with the State Government, who else could could provide a more honest feedback (I was tempted to use the word 'critic'). I did question the Sacofa boss, Abang Jemat b. Abg Bujang during the Betong Development Seminar in March 2005 about the potential of introducing wireless broadband in Betong Division. It will jumpstart the broadband revolution in the rural areas - and ultimately narrow that digital divide between urban and rural dwellers. I am excited about the prospect.

At this moment they are offering two packages - the 512k costs about RM99 per month and the 1 MB costs RM180 per month. Installation charge is RM100. Danawa, the subsidiary offering the broadband can be contacted at 082 252039 or o82 238209. Currently Danawa does not have any website that I know of (I shall hint on the areas they need to improve whn I meet Abg Jemat next time around). The most I could find out about Danawa in the net was its other name is Danawa Resources (DARES) Sdn Bhd. The major milestones to date was the report that broadband is available in the Lower Rajang Area according to the STIDC Online News. I would say its slow progress but at least they are moving in the right direction.

I am very much interested in this capability because it offers some prospect for broadband to be introduced to other rural areas like Kapit, Song and the interior. To date, I am looking forward to a better performance of Danawa's development - so stay tuned.

The Christmas season is here and so are other special occassions too. There are several people who are also celebrating their birthdays this month of December. One tends to get into trouble during these times - I mean one's creativity gets challenged trying to figure out what to get. Hmmmm......what do I get for him or her? That's why I would prefer to give flowers over anything else.

That is where things gets a bit dicey - should i look for violet, yellow, white, red, orange flowers. I was told each colour has its own meaning..... It gets complicated. People say if its all red - that's an expression of Love, if its Orange it means Friendship and the list goes on and on...... Then there are the questions one would get - especially from the curious ones. The florist would ask you "How special do you want it to be?" Ermmm..... I would say, "just make it look nice" Your friends will ask you "Who is that person?" "Why is is that I do not get the flowers on my birthday or on any other days?" Erm... I would say, "you did not get me one last year...." Some close friends would say "Naughty, Naughty" or "You bad boy". Ermm... I would reply, "I have a mid life crisis".

Everyone can have their own interpretations. For me they are just harmless flowers unless you get in contact with a poison ivy!

Ah well....whatever it is - whoever it is, the flowers that you send and the person that is going to recieve it - its between the two of you. The meaning is in the flowers itself - it can be nothing and it can be something. The element of mystery is there, which adds to the excitement. For me, if I send flowers I'll do it when its least expected, and they do not need to know who it's from - I am not good with words (neither am I good with buying gifts) - the meaning is in the flowers, its a natural expression. Say it with flowers :) To all my friends, that's my advice and by the way Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday out there - I'll send you people an electronic card!

The Sibu Visionary Team recently organized a Sibu Development Forum on 3 – 4 Dec 2005 at the Dewan Suarah Sibu. Being brought up in Sibu most of my younger days, I was informed by my Director I would be representing my Department to the Forum together with Mr. Chang, our Technical Advisor. Not only would it be chance to go back to my hometown, it also presented a chance to see what is in store for Sibu as she strives to achieve City status. Altogether there were 450 - 500 participants. I was glad to see so many familiar faces there – those whom I grew up with e.g former schoolmates, family friends and colleagues from other departments.

The Visionary Team comprising of (standing from left) YB Awang Bemee, YB Vincent Goh, YB Daniel Ngieng, YB Tiong Thai King, (seated from left) YB Robert Lau, YB Wong Soon Koh and YB Dr. Soon Choon Teck.


Opening ceremony line up of VIPs

The opening ceremony was graced by Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri George Chan, Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak and from the program I also noticed the names of distinguished speakers who came to share their experiences and success stories, one of which is Datuk Tony Fernandez, CEO of Air Asia.

Seminar participants

Big guns on stage

With Datuk Tony Fernandez, CEO of Air Asia

Overall it was a fruitful forum – kudos to the organizers as they made sure that all aspects for the future development of Sibu, that is, to turn Sibu into Sarawak’s third City, are included in the forum paper presentations.

The Gala Night held at the ground floor of the Dewan Suarah was quite something to remember - the food was great and the red wine and beer served was fantastic - there was free flow - that's why its fantastic! The YBs were having a great time and so was I!

YB Robert Lau ballroom dancing

Beers for all during the Gala Dinner that night

The five musketeers - Mr. Vincent Tan Sibu JKR Engineer, Mr. Chai Moi Fong, Resident of Sibu Town, Mr. Chang Ngee Hui, SPU Technical Advisor, Mr. Wong Fu Toh, Sibu Municipal Secretary

YB Robert and YB Dr. Soon Choon Teck having a jolly good time

Checking out the Orchestra's equipment and lady of course

If I have a wish, it would be good if we can have a Dayak representative roped into the Visionary Team – although the elected representatives within the Sibu area does not comprise of any Dayak YBs, I am sure the Dayaks can be seen as contributing to Sibu’s success story. Maybe the existing YBs can be said to represent the Dayaks in their constituency, again it would be heartwarming to see at least someone from our community in the team (maybe the town’s Pemancha or Penghulu). After all, our beloved YAB Pehin Sri Chief Minister did say in the Borneo Post of 12th Dec 2005 during the Sarawak People's Party (SUPP) 20th Triennial Delegates Conference, "The K-economy cannot be exploited by the natives alone or by the Chinese alone, it has got to be the result of us working together..." in his formula for a New Sarawak. I hope this can be applied to the Sibu Visionary Team.

I visited the Sibu Trade and Exhibition Centre at the Rajang Port Authority (RPA) the next day. The whole place was HUGE and the air conditioning was great. I think the place was a former warehouse and its being put to good use - though I wonder what will happen to RPA in future.

Sibu Trade and Exhibition Centre (SIDEX 2005)

The futuristic Sibu - Sibu Riviera City

That's model of Sibu Town

There's a model of the future Sibu in the exhibition but I would not want to clog up the blog with so many of these photos. To summarise it all, I do see a good future in store for Sibu.....the leaders are committed.

I hope that the planners, do not forget that in developing a town like Sibu achieve City status, they must make sure that the people of Sibu have the gusto to be City dwellers with the right attitude. Much has been said about having first class facilities but if the people still have third class mentality - we stand to lose what we have built.