Happy New Year 2022 ...

Lets look forward to a new 2022

May it give us positive vibes 

In all our endeavours and encounters

And guide us towards the right path 

Always 

Kinta Chronicles

Christmas Mass 2021....

Christmas 2021 mass was different this year because i attended mass in Church. Last year i attended the mass via audio sitting outside the hall behind the Church all because of Covid 19 and social distancing and whatnots.

There was social distancing hence attendance was drastically reduced to only 400 with 1st -come-1st gets-in. As expected there was disappointment by the latecomers. That's the consequence of the new normal.

My Church is always decorated nicely for the occasion. The Christmas tree, Our Lady's shrine. the poinsettias at the tabernacle was a sight that warmed my heart. Everything else was still status quo. Even the choir which i never heard for nearly two years was on key. 

The Flower Ministry did a wonderful job as usual. Some new additions to the decor

The Nativity procession at the beginning of the mass ... 

 

...and placed the Baby Jesus at the Nativity Crib .... 

the Crib blended well ...

...... which Fr Massang called the 'Pandemic Crib' ... for obvious reasons

My OMPH Church 

Merry Christmas 2021

A Pandemic Christmas Crib At OMPH Church

The Pandemic Crib at OMPH Church

Christmas should be joyful and that was how it was. However over the last two years with Covid19 around it has wreaked much havoc that we can no longer ignore the pandemic.

We stand little chance what with the virus developing new variants and mutating within a short time. It is time to embrace the pandemic as the new normal and live with it the best way we can. 

Fr Patrick Massang, the Parish Priest of OMPH Church was explaining the rationale of the Church’s crib this year.

Calling it a ‘Pandemic Crib’ he said that visuals are important. We wanted to construct the nativity scene through the eyes of the suffering amidst the global pandemic.

We constructed infested lungs that carry the breath of Christ in us and many who struggle to breathe with the coronavirus.

Circumnavigating the entire crib are the Holy Family, the shepherds and the people who come to pay homage to Jesus as the coronavirus is invading every space. The lungs are on the verge of collapse but it is held together from behind and supported by the cross of Christ bearing all our suffering in this pandemic.

Above all this is the pulsating heart of Jesus with the symbol of the cross that saves all of us.  And the child in the middle is Emanuel which means God with Us.

There is hope because God is with us and we will pull through with unwavering faith. This is our ‘pandemic crib’. GOD is in the midst of the suffering and hardship.

He has come to give us hope and unity to journey in this time of the pandemic. The frontliners and parishioners, everyone is doing their share together as a community.

We have to fight this coronavirus. we can’t journey alone as it is not a one man battle. He will help us get through this.

We want to portray this message despite the floods and so much more going around us. It is gloom but it is not doom and we are getting through this together.

God will see us through.

 

KC

New Kid In Town - Peoples Park And Chiang Jiang White Coffee Shop

 Peoples Park was gazetted in 1909 more than a century ago. Now it is known as Ipoh River Front and it is about to get a new lease of life.

Left..barren on the 6th and right..revitalised on Friday 10th

A new diner Chiang Jiang White Coffee Shop has set up shop at Peoples Park. Based on its track record it should be a positive move for Ipoh’s community.

New Village look...?

Spacious premises 

Seated in the airy exterior  ...

or air conditioned interior

People’s Park, over the last ten years maybe more, has had its gardens upgraded with water features, dining facilities and kid’s jungle gym to make it more family friendly all to the tune of several million ringgit.

But it never sustained the crowds not even the families on a weekend. Vagabonds and homeless persons were the more frequent users.

But I think that is going to change. Last Monday 6^th December there were several customers at 3pm in the new Chiang Jiang Coffee Shop. Hope springs eternal??

Stagnant waters at this fountain feature on 6 December

..and cleaned by  Friday 10th

I like People’s Park. The garden is well designed with shady areas for sitting and chilling. However MBI doesn’t maintain it well. 

When I was there earlier in the week the fountain area was dry, the garden was not swept clean, flower containers were bare, tiles were broken. I could go on and on. Overall it was shabby and nowhere like how a park should be.

It was different on Friday 10^th when I dropped by again. MBI workers were around, water was filling up the fountain area and workmen were fixing spotlights at the kid’s station. It looked fine but maintenance isn’t a one day job and there is a lot more that needs fixing.

Trip hazard. Senior citizens could twist an ankle.

This is still here. It was hilited in a 2018 post on Google

?????

Missing covers and empty flower stands and more 

Ponds filling up on the 10th

Tripping hazard at the kids station

I have no doubt that Chiang Jiang will draw the crowds. But will MBI do their part and make Peoples Park a truly family park for all Ipohites to enjoy.

Improved fencing alongside the Kinta river. 

Let’s wait and watch.

KK 

Mahathir: One who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

Terence Netto summarised Mahathir's  PMship so well ...

-----------------------

Mahathir exemplifies Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic: one who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

Netto cited Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his first stint of 22 years as prime minister as an example

-  He destroyed the independence of the judiciary,

- disrespected the neutrality of the civil service, 

- allowed the integrity of the police force to be compromised, 

- centralised power in the office of the Umno president thus neutering its supreme council, 

- and harboured mediocrity in its ranks so long as these were loyal to him as president.

Mahathir was an authoritarian PM while 

-          Umno was a compliant accessory and 

-          BN a subservient underling.

His prolonged tenure as PM bred the problems of racial and religious polarisation that now bedevil the nation.

Netto argued that Mahathir’s second stint as PM, over a 22-month period, was a failure because the Pakatan Harapan coalition supporting him was driven by incoherence and division.

Mahathir was a self-inflicted failure as a Pakatan Harapan PM.

He betrayed the coalition’s reformist ideals because he did not believe in them and cynically disregarded its agenda once he achieved his principal aim, which was to get rid of Najib Razak as PM.

Mahathir used Pakatan Harapan and duly scuttled it when he declined to fulfil his oft-repeated pledge to hand over the PM’s post to Anwar Ibrahim in mid-passage.

In the two instances of his premiership, Mahathir stayed in character as a user of the strong (Umno), which he then brought to decay, and of the useful (Pakatan Harapan), which he promptly scuttled after he had gained his chief purpose.

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Tok Mat has got it wrong on Dr M’s success

from FMT.. Letters to the editor Nov 20 2021

From Terence Netto

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan is what you call a progressive leader.

That is, he is a national political leader who can survey the horizon of circumstance and point party and country in a constructive and viable direction.

In his recent public pronouncements he was not averse to acknowledging that Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-religious country.

If Umno were to return to rule again, he has said, it would be better done in concert with other political groups.

In other words, Malays would have to wield political primacy but must avoid dominance.

The former accords a proper – as distinct to an inordinate – regard for Malay political and economic interests; the later invites hallucinations and myopia.

His pronouncements identify Tok Mat as a centrist Umno leader, more interested in seeking and promoting consensus than in pushing a unilateralist stance.

Campaign rhetoric is not where one finds what is wholesome and prudent.

As election director for Barisan Nasional for today’s vote in Malacca, Tok Mat has had to say much that is not wholesome and prudent, which is understandable in straits like these.

Take what he said about how great leaders could only be so and backed by strong parties or coalitions.

He cited Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his first stint of 22 years as prime minister as an example.

He said Mahathir was successful in his first PM-ship only because he had the backing of a strong BN.

He argued that Mahathir’s second stint as PM, over a 22-month period, was a failure because the Pakatan Harapan coalition supporting him was driven by incoherence and division.

Hence he wanted Malaccans to give BN a strong mandate so that a good Umno leader could leverage on that to give the people effective governance.

Firstly, it is debatable whether Mahathir’s first stint as PM was successful. He built up the country physically but warped it morally.

He destroyed the independence of the judiciary, disrespected the neutrality of the civil service, allowed the integrity of the police force to be compromised, centralised power in the office of the Umno president thus neutering its supreme council, and harboured mediocrity in its ranks so long as these were loyal to him as president.

Mahathir was an authoritarian PM while Umno was a compliant accessory and BN a subservient underling. His prolonged tenure as PM bred the problems of racial and religious polarisation that now bedevil the nation.

Mahathir was a self-inflicted failure as a Pakatan Harapan PM.

He betrayed the coalition’s reformist ideals because he did not believe in them and cynically disregarded its agenda once he achieved his principal aim, which was to get rid of Najib Razak as PM.

Mahathir used Pakatan Harapan and duly scuttled it when he declined to fulfil his oft-repeated pledge to hand over the PM’s post to Anwar Ibrahim in mid-passage.

In the two instances of his premiership, Mahathir stayed in character as a user of the strong (Umno), which he then brought to decay, and of the useful (Pakatan Harapan), which he promptly scuttled after he had gained his chief purpose.

Mahathir exemplifies Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic: one who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

If Tok Mat is to bring to fruition the promising themes of his ideas and propositions of recent times, he will restore value to Umno’s original centrist values to avert more deleterious costs to the nation of the forfeiture begun in Mahathir’s first phase as PM.

 

Terence Netto is senior journalist and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

The 1950 Ipoh Speed Trials, Ashby Road Circuit

William Pillai (middle car) in his Austin7 registration J1020 with other participating cars.

The photo above was taken on Sunday 12 March 1950. The event was the Ipoh Speed Trials, Ashby road circuit. I’ve had this photo awhile now. 

Recently I saw a posting on IDC (that very Informative FB page Ipoh Discovery Channel) sent by a contributor, Mun Chor Seng about an Austin 7 Tourer. It related about the car and the 3^rd owner of the car William Pillai with a statement ‘My first motorcar..signed W.G.P’.

This post connected me to my photo of the Austin7 

If my history serves me well William Pillai used to be with Ipoh Motors and he was the one in the middle car with registration J1020. What a coincidence.

I asked another motor aficionado Adrian Boudville about the Ipoh Speed Trials and Ashby road circuit.

Ashby road is now called Jalan Raja Ashman Shah and before that Jalan Hospital. The event started from the Gudwara Sahib temple turning into the school at Jalan Ghazali Jawi all the way to the Sungai Senam police station and back to the temple.

There would be about 20 cars participating of different models in the event. Most of the participants were planters and miners and some engineers. The event was organized by a club which eventually became the Perak Motor Club.

The Ashby circuit was later moved to Tasek in the sixties. 

KC

Sultan Azlan Shah Airport Can Do Better

Sultan Azlan Shah Airport..nice but it can be further improved

 Sultan Azlan Shah Airport is a beautiful airport. It was built just ten years ago and refurbished around several years later to cater for the influx of tourist due to the increase of direct flights from Singapore.

SAS Airport is the first glimpse of Perak that greets the incoming visitor and should leave a good impression upon departure.

Last weekend I had to say my goodbye to a friend at the front door of the airport. Due to the pandemic only passengers were allowed in the terminal.

As I returned to the car park I noticed something odd. The car park area was shabby and neglected in some places and trimmed and neat in most other areas.  

Neat on one side but shabby on the other

I walked around and noticed that it was the same, 60% neat 40% untidy throughout the car park garden.

Needs regular maintenance

This drain emitted a foul sewage odour when i was photographing the area

WHY CAN’T IT BE 100% NEAT AND TIDY ALL THROUGHOUT.

This garden opposite the car park was neat and trimmed ...

..and a couple were taking photos 

Surprisingly the outer garden was neat and trimmed (except the drains) so why was the airport garden shabby. I could not understand this. Surely they use the same kebun / gardener and if they don’t the airport manager should have a say on the upkeep.

The carpark area has been the same since starting. Can't it be upgraded

The airport is ten years old. Can the garden be upgraded to look like a lush garden with healthy palms and trees that don’t look starved and manicured dividers instead of weeds.

Sultan Azlan Shah airport should compliment the other products around Perak so that visitors will feel privileged to have toured the state. 

I wish Perak Tourism would see beyond marketing and maintain the overall product. 

KC