Historical night

Day in day out, suddenly its already the fifteen of Ramadhan. Two weeks have gone by without me noticing it. I thought when I retire, time will be a drag but no, it flies just as usual. Time waits for no one. Its been three weeks since the general election as well but I can still vividly recall the night after the election. Its the night I have been waiting for after every general election for as long as I can remember. A night once thought impossible. The process started to take root twenty years ago. Slowly but surely, the root began to take shape until it came to fruition on the 9th of May 2018. A historic moment. Glad it happened while I am still around. I wouldn't want to miss it for anything!

Busy day

Went to Ampang hospital on Tuesday in the morning. My second eldest brother was hospitalised because of complications with his health. Apparently the kidneys were not working, there's blood clot in the brain, internal bleeding and a weak heart. He is seventy six years old. As he was in ICU and it wasn't visitors time yet, I couldn't get to see him. I went back pledging to come back later in the day or the next day. This being Ramadhan, time seems a bit short, especially at night. Breaking of fast followed by prayers, the night is practically over once Tarawih is done.

My prayers

Later in the night, immediately after the Tarawih prayers, I received the news that he has passed away. So soon! Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun. My condolence to the family. Its never easy when your love one is gone. A tinge of sadness when through me. As the younger brother, I looked up to him as an inspiration. He is the first in the family to have education up to university level. He is also the first in the family to performed the haj. There's never a dull moment when he is around. Plenty of stories to tell. Interesting ones too. Will miss him.

Brighton Colleague

Met a former Brighton Technical College colleague at the Gombak Bt 4 mosque during Friday prayer. Apparently his office is just nearby. A successful businessman with a Datuk title to boot. Well done my friend.

A defeat

Early Sunday morning was supposed to be the big day. Liverpool play Real Madrid in the Champions League final. I slept but woke up just before three in the morning. The game was already on for a few minutes. I was hoping for a Liverpool win, having enjoyed watching the kind of football that they have been playing all season. Fast, exciting, attacking football. Unfortunately, it was not to be. They lost their star player Mo Salah after thirty minutes through injury. That completely changed the complexion of the game. Then the two howlers by Karius, their goalkeeper. No team can hope to make a comeback from such terrible setbacks especially when playing against a team like Real Madrid. So it was, a defeat.

Alhamdulillah

My detective work wasn't all in vain after all. Shortly after that, the electricity supply problem was solved. I received the request to pay the deposit for the meter on Friday by Whatsapp. Immediately I paid the money at TNB Tmn Melawati and forwarded to TNB K.Selangor a copy of the receipt for prove of payment. A few minutes later I received another text telling me that instruction has been given to the technical team to fix the meter. Alhamdulillah. 

Now its only the water. That, I still do not know when!

More to come

Now that the new government is in place, we are discovering little by little what the previous government has been doing especially with regards to the 1MDB saga. It may shocked some people but for me, it only confirmed what we have been suspecting all along. After all, we know what they have been up to from reports by DOJ, Sarawak report, our own politicians and many others. They have been denying it all these while and able to cover up because the previous government used all its power to misled the public. Some gullible people were easily taken in but not me! Like many others, we have an idea of what is going on. Now the new government is slowly but surely getting to the bottom of things. What has been revealed so far is only the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot more for sure!

Frustrating

After getting tired of the delay and getting very very frustrated, yesterday I decided to do some detective work with regard to my application for water and electricity for Danau Merbau. I drove to K Selangor to see the authorities myself to find out what's going on. What I eventually discovered make me feel even worse. Felt like I have wasted the past few months for nothing. 

For the electricity, the address was wrong but somehow TNB approved the application. So the process went through ( the poles and cabling all done) but when it came to the last step i.e. fixing the meter, it couldn't be done. Their computer system cannot accept because of the wrong address. That's why the delay. They  tried to do it manually instead but that also failed. Now it looks like I have to apply all over again, go through the process once more. Sigh.......

As for the water, the application has not even reached Syabas. To say I was shocked is a total understatement. On checking with the contractor,  I was told the application is still at the initial stage, i.e. getting the fundamentals right like the size of the piping, the height, the type etc. that after more than three months. What the f........ 

Later in the night, I called up a Syabas contractor I had managed to get through the internet and was told that the piping from the Syabas meter to the meter stand must be stainless steel. And guess what! The pipe supplied by my contractor is poly. Hmm.....

Now I am at a loss at what to do. Everything that can go wrong went wrong! Very very frustrating! Now it looks like it will be after Raya before I can move in. Terrible! 

I have to take these setbacks positively. In sha Allah, with a clear mind, I can get everything back on track but delay is inevitable.

Danau Merbau - when?

Hopefully before Raya In sha Allah.

Ramadhan Karim

Its the seventh day of Ramadhan. I am already beginning to get into a daily routine unlike the first few days. As I am not working now, I get sleepy after the 'sahur' and the morning prayers. Therefore sometimes I sleep again at about seven in the morning but I found that when I wake up from the sleep, my body and head feel uncomfortable. It really is not a nice feeling. So now I try not to sleep. During breaking of fast, I need to take milk because of my history with ulcer in the stomach. I didn't do that the first few days but now I'm doing it. Then there are a few others like going for the Isya and Tarawih prayers, doing the Tahajud, reading the Quran etc. Some of these activities are normal and routine but come Ramadhan, the times changes a bit. I need to get used to it. After a week, its becoming routine again.

Inching ever closer

The poles have been fixed, the cabling done. Its only the meter but that is taking so long! I was waiting for TNB to tell me how much is the deposit for the meter so I can pay and then they can fixed it immediately after. Unfortunately, that information has not been forthcoming. Finally my certified contractor asked me to try and pay the deposit at any TNB counters. I tried doing that yesterday at TNB Taman Melawati but was told there's no information on the deposit. Was told I cannot pay until TNB K.Selangor where the original request was made create the deposit. For them to do that, they have to be informed that everything is ready except for the meter. Since I did not tell them, they did not know. So there was a breakdown in the process. Nobody told me its my job to inform TNB. All this while I thought the contractor who did the poles and the cabling was the one to tell them! Hmm.....I told my certified contractor about it so today he is going to K Selangor to try settle the issue. 

As for the water, again today he is going to see the authorities, Syabas/Span in K Selangor to get the application approved. It was rejected earlier because of not following some specifications. That has been rectified. The pipe need to be at a certain level above ground plus a few others specs that needed to be followed. 

Now that the problems and the solutions are known, I hope I can get my electricity and water as soon as possible. It has been a long long wait...........

Ramadhan

Its three days into Ramadhan. Somehow this time, my focus is a bit way off. First, it was the election where history was made when the ruling party that has lorded for over sixty years was shown the exit door by the people. Then there's Danau Merbau where the delay in getting the electricity and water is occupying my mind most of the time. Everything else is okay. The grill, the curtain railing and the railings for the veranda. We hope to move before the fasting month but that is over now. Now we are targeting before Raya. Can it be realised? Only Allah knows.

Fixing the lights

The electricity is not in yet but we managed to test the lights. Alhamdulillah, all are okay except for one or two. We fixed the lighting for the backyard, veranda and porch. These are the addition to the ones already done during construction. The extra lights are afterthoughts, didn't do during construction plus for the extra built up that we did like the backyard.

Testings the lights

Porch, veranda, side

Backyard, porch

Railing done

Water and electricity? Hmm..........

Power corrupts

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupt absolutely. This old adage is known to everybody and it is true in every sense of the word. Man are only human. When you have so much power in your hands, the tendency to be corrupt increases because it is so easy. Why? Because nobody dares question you. Those who do are sideline or get pushed to the brim or worse still, get thrown into jail. After all, you have the power to do that. Absolute power! It happens everywhere, all over the world.

Little by little

Almost completed. Still, where is the electricity and water? Hmm....

The railings

The railings being fixed. That was after waiting the whole day for the contractor to come, after postponing so many times. I had to pushed him real hard, otherwise there would have been more delays. Alhamdulillah, although not completed yet. Hopefully today they will finish the job.

Unbelievable

Until today, I still can't quite believe what I am witnessing. The mighty BN that has ruled the country for over sixty years has finally been thrown out. An election result that created shocked waves throughout the country and even the world, the people of Malaysia showed what the mighty hand can do. A corrupted regime that has overstayed its welcome has been shown the exit door. With all the gerrymandering, all the offers of money, all the restrictions on the opposition, all the unfair advantages enjoyed by the ruling government and much much more, BN should have won hands down like they always do. But cracks has been appearing since 2008, ten years ago. That's when the opposition started making inroads into the ruling party dens. The two thirds majority were broken for the first time. After that it was a matter of more hard work and believe. In 2018, it all came together. The cause of the opposition was also helped by the government unpopular act and policies, arrogant and untouchable. We plan but Allah also plan. At the end of the day, Allah plan will prevail.

Election night

I didn't sleep at all watching the election results. At about seven in the evening, results were starting to filter in. Not from the television, which was slow and not up to date but from the social media. It was promising. PH was neck to neck with BN. In my mind I thought this is good. Never happened before. Considering that the early results were from Sabah and Sarawak, this is even better as these two states were BN stronghold. Fixed deposit as the former PM said it. As the night progress, PH started to take the lead. Wow! Unbelievable! Will it happen? Will it finally happen? My heart can't believe it but the eyes are seeing things. The results are not lying. What a shocked! It was hope against hope but its happening. Wow!

Election night 1

In the end, the result didn't lie. BN has been defeated, comprehensively. If the margin is small, I worry that some horse trading will take place resulting in defections here and there. After all, cash is king for the former government. However, the margin is quite big making it difficult to try that cash route. An unbelievable night. A memorable one. I hardly slept. No, I didn't sleep at all. Most of all, I marvel at the 92 years old man who has so much energy that man half his age will have trouble keeping up with.

Election day

Long queue for the saluran 7 at Sek Keb Bandar Tun Hussein Onn. Young people eager to vote, some for the first time I think. That includes my wife. Extremely excited to be able to play her part in the effort to oust the present government. Outside the polling station, cars were moving slowly in a bumper to bumper crawl. We were lucky to find a parking space in front of the school but still it takes a long walk up the hill before reaching the polling station. A bit more than two hours before she finally gets to vote.

My turn

I voted in Klang, where I used to work before. When it came to my turn, it was a breeze. Saluran 1 was empty. I walked in straight to cast my vote. No queue, no waiting. Alhamdulilah. Hopefully, we will see a changed in government as a result of the election. The present government is too toxic for its own good. Embroiled in scandal after scandal, it is just too much. I believe people are fed up already. They will show their power in the ballot box.

The race is hotting up

The cyber war in PRU 14 is unprecedented. I have been receiving a lot of information, news, articles, jokes, pictures, videos etc on things related to the election. Some has been enlightening, some have been funny, some have been informative, some have been educational while some are downright lies. Everyday I received them. If five years ago it was sms, now its Whats app that wins hands down. Actually I look forward to receiving them. Nice to read or see but the I give a miss to some of the videos. Just too many to handle.  

A giant step

The poles were done a few days earlier but the cables were missing. Yesterday, the cables were finally fixed. Alhamdulillah. Now its only the meter. Hopefully it will be done this week. After that, the electricity will be available in sha Allah. As for the water, I am still waiting. Was informed by the contractor that SPAN will do their check on Saturday but since then I have heard nothing. On Sunday the meter was still not fixed.

Still waiting

Can't wait to move to Danau Merbau. As soon as the utilities are fixed, we will move. The first target of first of May has passed. Now the second target is middle of May. If that also is not met, then it doesn't matter whether its fasting month or no, we will move as soon the moment the utilities are fixed. In sha Allah by Aidil Fitri, we will have moved already.

A new dawn?

Pakatan Harapan has been getting big crowd everywhere they go. It has been a sea of people up and down the country. Even more so when Dr M is in attendance. With new kid on the block Nik Omar joining the fray, it looks like they have managed to pull a massive coup. The question is, will the sea of people turn into votes. It has been known in the past that big crowd doesn't guarantee anything. Rather, it created a sense of false hope. What will it be this time?

Six years old on 1st of May

Akid is six years old

PRU 14?

Somehow this general election seems to pass me by. I have not got myself really involved. Not that I was very involved before but at the very least, I was at the various talks and rallies given by the competing parties. This time, I have not attended even one talk. By right I should be getting involve because I am now retired. A lot of free time. Alas....too busy with bringing up the small kids I guess. Its a twenty four hours thing. There's no respite except maybe when they are asleep. Maybe when they get bigger and can take care of themselves a bit, then I can think again about doing other things. For now, its difficult. Then, there's also Danau Merbau to think about.