In cooperation of Alumni Yayasan Tun Abdul Razak and Akademi Pemuda UMNO, the seminar, ” Legasi Tun Abdul Razak” was brought together at the Sime Darby Convention Center at Mont Kiara last Friday and Saturday, 15 – 16 June 2007. In addition, Sime Darby contributed to the success of the event as the main sponsor.

The purpose of the conference was to recap the legacy of Tun Abdul Razak’s (TAR) policies and strategies for state development. He was Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, who was in office from 1970 to 1976. He took over from Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj at the point of crisis – Malaysia’s black day, May 13, 1969. It was indeed a trying time for Malaysian leaders; they need positively develop the country and to bring about change in people’s mindset from the colonial period to being citizens of an independent country.

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Words may have different meanings. And some may be misleading, especially the acronym for the city’s RM1.9bil (USD543mil) Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel — SMART.

Among the definitions for ’smart’ as an adjective in Dictionary.com are:

7. quick or prompt in action, as persons.
8. having or showing quick intelligence or ready mental capability: a smart student.

Hence, when it rained last Sunday (Jun 11), we didn’t really expect this

A main road in the heart of the city, Jalan Sultan Ismail, submerged. In the background is the city’s signature skyscraper, the Petronas Twin Towers.
Photo by GLENN GUAN/The Star on flickr.com.
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I received an alert from Malaysia Forum on a piece of news from Business TImes today:

GUOCOLAND (Malaysia) Bhd, a property developer controlled by Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, has made a bid to relocate University Malaya from Petaling Jaya to Sepang, sources said yesterday.

As part of the plan, GuocoLand will then own the land in Petaling Jaya and develop it into a commercial and residential township. The proposal is based on a private finance initiative.

A company source said such a development is estimated to have a gross development value of RM10 billion.

I plan to do my graduate work in a year or two and Universiti Malaya is the only local institution that I am considering, hoping it to be my safety net. If it goes to Sepang however, I would cross it out of my list and find another safety net.

A reason why I am contemplating Universiti Malaya is its city life. What city life would there be to talk about if it goes to Sepang?

Since it would be close by to the international airport, I might as well take a flight out all the way to Sydney.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a widower after his wife succumbed to breast cancer, is to marry his former sister-in-law Jeanne Danker Abdullah (right) in a private ceremony June 9, 2007.

Jeanne, who was married to Abdullah’s wife Endon’s brother, has been executive housekeeper in Abdullah’s household since he became deputy prime minister in 1999. She is Eurasian and studied in the Kuala Lumpur satellite city of Petaling Jaya.

The wedding between the 67-year-old premier and his 53-year-old future wife will be held at the Prime Minister’s official residence of Seri Perdana in the administrative capital Putrajaya.
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What are you doing in Kuala Lumpur this weekend?

Well, if you have nothing much to do, especially Saturday night or Sunday morning, head down to the MSN Training Stadium in Bukit Jalil and take part in the Relay For Life.

Yup, put in 10 ringgit and walk for a good cause – the fight against cancer.
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Along Jalan Ampang, just five minutes walk from the Petronas Twin Towers there is a well-known Muslim cemetery.

I haven’t been there for a long time but according to my parents, giant old trees were uprooted and damaged the cemetery. It is unknown what exactly caused the trees to be uprooted by it is possible that a strong storm was the culprit. This apparently occurred last night though I don’t remember seeing rain in the city.

By noon, the city hall has cleared the cemetery of the trees. Through anecdotes, it seems the graveyard is badly damaged with holes here and there. I however, being who I am, feel the greater loss is the death of the trees. These trees were giant that went a number of stories high that partly shaped the characteristic of the city.

Of course, there are many other old growth giant tropical trees all over Kuala Lumpur. But after a while, once a person gets used to the city, gets used to a particular route, all things usual, houses, buildings, roads, lamp posts, trees, make up the atmosphere of the community. Losing even one of them means changing the atmosphere.

Life goes on, however.

Malaysian King Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin will be installed officially as Malaysia’s 13th constitutional monarch at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur on April 26, 2007.

While Sultan Mizan became King last December under Malaysia’s unique rotating constitutional monarchy for five years, the official installation takes place months later in traditional ceremony. The Malaysian King is chosen from the nine royal houses in the country.

It is a public holiday for the civil service, schools and banks plus the local bourse. The rest of us will have to work while state broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia will have a live telecast of the proceedings steeped in pomp, pagentry and ceremony.
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The shooting at Virginia Tech is shocking enough that I do not think many would appreciate anybody adding extra spice to the unfortunate event. That however is not what a local tabloid thinks. Harian Metro, in trying to sensationalize the news, added untrue statements to the news.

Harian Metro interviewed a Malaysian at Virginia Tech and produced an exaggerated report. The Malaysian is active at ReCom.org and has posted on how Harian Metro “pusing” (a Malay word which, within context, roughly means “misinforming” or “manipulating”) his words. Read all about it at ReCom.org.

If you want credible sources, do not read Harian Metro. Read Metblog DC instead.

So say an article at Business Week (via).

The city sits at number 75 and one of only two Southeast Asia cities in the top 100 most livable cities in the world. The other city is the one that shall not be named. I’m quite surprise for the omission of Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila from the top 100 list though.

Another Malaysian city almost made it to the top 100 list and it is Johor Bahru. And nope. No Georgetown. At least in the top 200. And so, we beat you again.

I gotta go. My CEO has just got into office. So, gotta run before he caught me blogging.

The Malaysian leg of the Formula 1 motor racing championships is back in town and a whole host of parties will ensure Kuala Lumpur never sleeps for the coming week.

The Malaysian Grand Prix will start April 6 culminating with the race on April 8 which also happens to be Easter Sunday.
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