Monks in KL

Everyday as I drive to work, I'm bound to see SOMEONE in a monk outfit (either the yellow/orange/brown robe or the brown pants and loose top) walking around and looking for "victims".

The reason I say this is because its so obviously a scam where all they're out to do is make money out of some unsuspecting tourist.

I've actually noticed them only making a beeline for whites. First you see them walking very leisurely, like only a monk can. When he spots a tourist, he picks up his pace and goes right up to him and taps him on the back. When the tourist turns around, the monk puts his palms together in a gesture of respect (like an Indian greeting) and gives the tourist something (probably a prayer card etc). Then if the tourist walks away after thanking the monk, the monk runs after him to ask for money.

I've seen this EVERY time I drive to work and I think its time someone stopped them from begging in the name of religion and gave them a proper job.

Astro

Astro has recently taken to showing a thank you advertisement featuring Malaysians saying thank you in English, BM, Mandarin, Tamil and Punjabi - thanking their customers for staying with them throughout the card swapping exercise and thanking them for their loyalty.

And exactly WHAT loyalty are we talking about when its just about the ONLY cable TV company in Malaysia? Its a monopoly - there's no need to thank us, we HAVE NO CHOICE.

And that's why Astro doesnt see the need to do anything about the complaints that have been coming in for YEARS over the same problem - WHY CANT WE VIEW ANYTHING WHEN ITS RAINING?

And you're thanking us for our loyalty? Trust me, if we had a choice, you wouldnt be spending part of your profits on airtime thanking us.

PDRM (Polis Diraja Malaysia)

And I’m NOT going to write about the amount of transparency going on and the amount of bribes taken.

I went to the police station a couple of weeks back to report an accident. The details of the accident are really not necessary at this juncture as I'm only looking at the attitude of our policemen.

First, we went to the police station near Wangsa Maju. They tell us then that that was the crime unit and that we couldnt make traffic reports there? Question: WHY NOT? Dont you guys have a system that allows people to make reports at any police station? Are you saying that if my necklace got snatched, I would only be able to make a report at the crime unit and not at any other branch, not taking into consideration the proximity?

When we actually go make the report (at another branch nearer Ampang Point), we note that there isnt any paking and the police station looks more like a drug haven than a respite for the public. In fact, the original personnel were having problems showing us on the map where the traffic unit was.

This station is unlit with a group of young mat rempits hanging around outside and the place looks like it hasnt been refurbished in aeons.

When we go in, all the officers either cant speak English or know enough to say hi and bye. They type slowly, we had to draw the map to show the place of the accident and they generally permeated an air of indifference and apathy - like they were just making reports and thats where their job ended.

After making the first report, we had to go see another lady, who was busy watching tv, and stopped only when we went in. The first thing we noticed was that she had all her rings, bracelet and watch on the table and was busy rubbing some lotion on her hands. The next thing we noticed was that she had a whole side table full of food and drinks, including kuih raya. The point - she looked like SHE HAD THE WHOLE DAY TO HERSELF! And we even noticed this at the first police station where there were 5 people and only 2 were talking to us. I mean, how can these stations be so overstaffed when there is crime happening daily?

After making the second report to this lady who had all the time in the world, she asked us to bring the car over for a photograph and she asked us to collect the report on the next working day.

I mean, this is crazy. They have all the time in the world to eat, drink and be merry when their services are needed elsewhere!

And to top it all off, its all over the news that the police unit in one of the more notorious areas in KL was relocated. How are they supposed to protect when they're the first to run?

Potholes along and off Jalan P Ramlee

In fact, this is not new. But there is this HUGE hole (which is also quite deep) just off Jalan P Ramlee, which has not been sealed up for months now.

Which is quite unacceptable as there a couple of constructions going on there. Whats the point of paying road tax when all the money is being siphoned off into some undeserving pockets and we end up paying more to send our cars for alignment and balancing?

In fact, speaking to one of my friends about working in KL, the only thing he said is that we end up getting USED to traffic jams and potholes and learn how to avoid them. But WHY should we learn to avoid them when they are not even supposed to be there in the first place?

Shell attendants

I had to fuel up my car in Sungai Besi at some point in the last few days, and as usual, I gave the attendant at the window my money as well as my Bonuslink card.

Now I know that the black strip behind my Bonuslink card is spoilt (it cant be swiped), cos where I fuel up regularly, the lady at the cashier always keys the numbers in after having tried to swipe my card a few times.

Anyway, so when I was at Sungai Besi, I just gave him RM50 and my Bonuslink card, and I waited for him to return the card to me. He swiped it once, I heard the beep (of rejection :-), and he tried to swipe it twice after that. After the thrid try, I expected him to start keying in the digits on my card, but he just returned the card to me.

I then asked him, "arent you going to key in the numbers into your system?" And thats when he took the card back and started keying them in. Can you believe it?

If it someone none the wiser, or someone not actually concentrating on the transaction and just trusting the cashier to "do the right thing", boy, would they be sorely disappointed!

So do we only do something right when someone is watching? And take advantage of people who dont know any better?

KFC

Malaysians eat a lot of fast food right? In fact, everytime we dont feel like taking our fat asses off our (un)comfortable swivel chairs, we order in. And who delivers? McDonalds, Dominos, Canadian Pizza. Well, mostly fast food chains. Which means there should be enough food to meet the demand of orders on hand as well as delivery.

KFC, unfortunately, diappointed twice in the last week. Which is a lot seeing that we have many other food options nowadays.

First, we went to the KFC near Central Market. After lining up for more than 20 minutes, we get to the top of the line, and the cashier informs us that there's no more chicken and that we need to wait 20 minutes for it. I wasnt fussy at first and opted for a Cheesy Meltz instead. And horror of horrors, that was sold out too. What do you think we did? We went to the McDonalds abt a 3 minute walk away.

The second incident was another KFC outlet (location withheld to protect the privacy of certain parties who live around that area). The same thing occurred too. There was no more chicken and apparently we had to wait another 20 minutes. The best part? One of the staff was chatting out of the kitchen area.

And this outlet even had pictures on their notice board - photos of KFC staff frying chicken and standing at the cashiers' with a smile, etc. I mean, what is the point having rows and rows of pictures of chicken when you run out of the real stuff to serve customers with?