Seah Chiang Ngee said:

In a two-storey home, I saw various family members watching cable television on five 37-inch LCD sets in their own rooms. One was attached next to the dining table so that none needed to miss any programme while eating. In front of the house were parked two cars.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Malaysian writer comments on Singaporean middle class."

Link

Din Merican said:

Singapore practices meritocracy and Malaysia affirmative action. The former attracted all the best brains and the latter chased out all the brains. The Singapore cabinet consists of dedicated and intelligent technocrats whereas Malaysia has one the most unwieldy cabinet. Not only that, brain wise it was below par.

With that kind of composition, one that is very brainy, naturally Singapore, with no natural resources could outstrip Malaysia in every aspect of development. Malaysia, on the other hand, was too much preoccupied with its Malayness and the illusory “ketuanan Melayu” and was also more interested in iconic development rather than real social and economic development.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Malaysian bloggers are more objective about the achievements of Lee Kuan Yew. They are prepared to give credit where it is due. How many Singaporeans would swap places with our neighbours?"

Link

The Edge gives a brief summary of MM Lee Kuan Yew's eight day visit to Malaysia.

Monday marked the last day of Singapore's former premier and current minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s visit to Malaysia.

The eight day visit from June 8 to June 15 saw the island republic’s Lee travel to various states within the peninsular. Aside from meeting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, and federal-government officials, he also met the Yang-Dipertuan Agong Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, and some opposition leaders.

Link

fireopal said:

The police took down the driver's particulars on a piece of paper, then when asked about the offence committed... then came his golden answer in broken English:" Sir, you eat keropok when driving, very danger! later get "Lang Gar" (colloquial for crashed in an accident) .. so i summon you.."

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Amazed by the ingenunity of the Malaysian Police Force... they never fail to think of any reason!"

Link

Taikiew said:

he malaysia government had taken actions to order the closure of LeechersLair.com, one of the more well-established bittorrent trackers on the internet.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Malaysia's government has taken action. Will our government do the same?"

Link

Soh Tiang Keng said:

Despite signs of revival since the 1980s, a gradual extinction of the Peranakan culture and lifestyle will probably take place in decades to come. The fast-dwindling Singaporeans, steeped in Peranakan culture and practices, are becoming an endangered species which may fade into oblivion within the next 120 years or so.

Recommended by misty_cloud: "An interesting read on the origins of Peranakans. After the telecast of the Little Nonya TV series on Mediacorp Channel 8, there is this mad craze for "anything Peranakan" - from Peranakan food, music and fashion to history and tourism. An influx of visitors to Malacca to see for themselves the Peranakan culture.

But as the article says, is this sustainable? What will happen after the craze dies off? Is a TV series enough to revive the interest in Peranakan culture and the willingness to preserve that for the future generations?

Just some food for thought."

Link

Yasim Ahmad said:

"A friend told me recently that one local paper attacked me for always showing my films in Singapore before Malaysia. I didn't read the article, but apparently they accused me of being disloyal, or words to that effect.

Truth beknown, the reason for this is that the Singaporeans are just quicker on the uptake than we are."

Recommended by Otterman: "One of Malaysia's creative talents and director of "Sepet," "Gubra" and "Mukhsin" finds it easier to screen her films in Singapore, uncut, then in Malaysia. And she says its safe from piracy too!

Another talent, Amir Muhammad, has had the same experience too.

But the same could be said about Singaporean filmmakers who deal with sensitive material - they will find it easier to showcase their films in Malaysia. Cheaper and faster travel means its hard to deny enthusiasts their fare.

Link

NG from Selangor writes

HAVING visited Singapore recently after many years, it reminds me how much we can learn from our neighbours. It is easy to see why they are a first-world country. The first thing you notice when you enter Singapore are the many trees by the roads. They are big mature trees not young ones, which suggest the trees are preserved, unlike here in our country. There are virtually no potholes on their roads or traffic jams during peak hours. There is no black smoke emitting from their commercial vehicles or rubbish thrown on the roadside.

Link

Nelson Benjamin said:

The 300,000 Malay­sians employed in the island republic have been advised to gear up for retrenchment if the country continues to slide into a recession.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said that although the technical recession experienced by Singapore has not yet translated into unemployment, it was better for Malaysians to be prepared.

“If there is unemployment due to a recession, our workers will be hit,” he told The Star here yesterday.

Recommended by mr.udders: "Scroll down to the end of the article for an interesting snippet on Singapore's (rather unjust) employment policy towards Malaysians."

Link

Singapore Fountain Pen said:

The Survey vs. Experience

A few weeks ago, AFP reports the result of The Expat's survey that rated Malaysia as the "worst among 23 countries in terms of taxi quality, courtesy, availability and expertise". I knew from experience that taking a cab in KL wasn't a pleasant experience, but I wasn't aware it was that bad.

During our last trip to Kuala Lumpur, we dreaded the thought of taking a cab to get around the city because of our previous experiences. This is exactly the reason why we took the train in getting to the Petronas Towers from Pudaraya, hence part of the post:

Getting to the Twin Towers from Pudaraya is simple enough via train. Of course, in terms of speed, nothing beats taking a cab. Unfortunately, just like in some other Asian countries, foreigners are easily taken advantage of -- the taxi drivers insist on a fixed price and refuse to use their meter. This makes you appreciate Singapore, where taxi drivers almost always charge by the meter. (The 8-seater Maxi Cab would sometimes insist on a fixed charge especially during peak hours in tourist spots). In fairness, albeit in a misconstrued notion thereof, the Malaysian cab drivers do the same thing to locals.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Our taxis aren't that bad then!"

Link

VR Forums has photos of the fire at Tanjung Langsat taken from Changi Airport.

Link

Malaysianisms- Stuff Malaysian People Like said:

Malaysian people hate Singapore for various reasons. One of them is that Singaporeans are fond of claiming that they are superior to Malaysia as a country. Their basis for this postulation is their efficient public transport, totalitarian government, stringent pursuit of education and superior exchange rate. Some of these are things that Malaysians could debate but it would cause more bad than good through comparison. The usual retort of a Malaysian person is “Your country is a pirated version of ours”.

Recommended by NigelLKB: "This article explores the relationship between Singapore and Malaysia through satirical anecdotes and comparison."

Link

Dr Mahatir Mohamad talks about the crooked bridge.

I have been asked to please expose all that I know about the misuse of the Rakyat’s money. In response to the above request I would like to identify initially four of the instances where the Government of Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has misused public money.

Link

FCUK Singapore calls for Malaysians to boycott Singapore and Singapore products.

In view of Singapore's daylight robberies, it's about time Malaysians show who's boss. Lets boycott Singapore products....Lets do what we have to do as citizens of Malaysia. Boycott Singapore and Singaporeans' products!

Link

Good Morning Yesterday said:

2SIR made no contact with the Indonesians for about a week. However, unknowingly the Indonesians were tailing one of the SIR sections. Not finding them for a week, that section grew tired and went for a bath at one of the nearby Kota Tinggi streams. Everybody left their weapons at the riverbank with no personnel on sentry-duty.

Recommended by tinkertailor: "This is why your rifle has to be with you at all times, when you're in the army."

Part 1
Part 2

QuaChee said:

Talking to Malaysian friends, I have a sense that they have a lil uneasiness with Singapore. It is not shown directly, but you can get a feel of it sometimes. Even a friend of mine pointed it out.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "It shows why Malaysians have the mentality which maybe not quite as it seems."

Link

avalon said:

On Monday morning, the anaesthetist administered general anaesthesia and G's mother was wheeled into the operation theatre.

The operation was however, called off before she entered the OT.

"Sorry, the surgical knife has not yet arrived from Kuala Lumpur."

Recommended by avalon: "I just had to share this cruelly funny story about a private specialist hospital in Johor, Malaysia. "

Link

Cowboy Caleb said ...

The ruling coalition (Barisan National) has suffered the worst ever election results since the 1957 independance thanks to clever teamwork between the opposition parties and bloggers!

Link

Jeff Ooi said

I am certain that talk is cheap and beyond being a blogger, I need a legislator role to speak up for Malaysians!

After weeks of rigorous groundwork, I also find myself very vulnerable facing this General Election. The BN machinery, with $$$ to throw, is immensely formidable.

If you could help me raise some campaign funds, pls donate

There are many things wrong with Malaysia. One man, a blogger named Jeff Ooi has the brains, heart and the courage to fight for that he believes is right. In the next Malaysian Election, Jeff Ooi will be contesting the Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon for a seat as a DAP opposition candidate.

To Malaysians out there, you know deep down in your heart that something is terribly wrong with your motherland. Do close your eyes and shut your ears because you are not in Malaysia. Your brothers and sisters are suffering and being marginalized while the corrupt grow fat and swollen off the blood, sweat and tears of the poor.

Jeff Ooi needs to raise RM250,000 (SGD125,000). The money will go into running the operations centre and polling machinery, printing and disseminating of election collaterals, campaign speeches and feeding the little troop of volunteers who will take leave, drop all tools, to help him.

Donate whatever you can afford. Join hands and help your country become a better place.

Click here to donate

Link

The Register said:

Always enjoyable and ambiguous "media reports" coming out of Malaysia have Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi bragging that Google plans to build the world's largest data center in his country.

That's great news, right?

Uh, well sort of. Malaysia can expect to see upwards of $600m in hardware, software and construction services roll into town, which is nice. After that, though, Google usually employs only 200 workers at its largest data centers. Double that total for the "world's biggest" ad serving sweatshop, and you're looking at 400 workers getting paid to plug things in and mop the floor.

Recommended by shianux: "If Google sets up a datacenter in your country, what kind and number of jobs would they create?"

Link