From The NST

111 DEATHS IN FIRST SEVEN DAYS Festive season road carnage just gets worse The NST News Team KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30: Malaysian road users do not learn. Seven days into Ops Sikap X, 111 people have lost their lives. This is 29 more deaths than during the same period last Chinese New Year.cont..

Road deaths escalate during every festive season. There is no doubt that there will be more cars on the roads during a festive period. Thus the probability of meeting an accident is much higher.Much of this has been attributed to the carelessness and recklessness of the driver. However, is this the sole cause of such an alarming rate of road accidents during festive periods?

One should look at the quality of our roads. Many roads are built to promote congestion through bottle necks and excessive road junctions, despite it being a highway. The maintenance of such roads also leaves much to be desired with potholes abound.

The safety of cars should also be questioned. How many cars are built with poor specifications? Take a look at Kenari, with its high center of gravity, it does not take much to lose control of this car. Kancils and Kelisas have hardly any security features other than the usual safety belt. The inclusion of airbags have been proven to save lives. Despite this, carmakers in particular Proton and Perodua are refusing to install this very basic safety feature in their cars. Why should anyone buy a Proton? It is like signing your death warrant.

Lastly, I do have to blame irresponsible drivers as a contributor to a high rate of accidents on our roads. I was visiting a shopping complex during the holidays when I noted a car parking in an undesignated spot which obstructed traffic flow. The irony is that there were many available parking bays in sight. Even a trip to the bank during this holiday period was marred by irresponsible parking behaviours when there were ample empty bays. Why?

A new year yet again. An opportunity to reevaluate and re commit to your objectives just in case you failed in the previous english new year. Thank you for visiting this site and for all the comments. I hope that the coming year will yield more stimulating thoughts.

Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!

This recent debate signifies a resistance to technological advances. Handphones are necessary gadgets these days and are here to stay. Children should be taught the proper ettiquette concerning its usage, thus the aim of schools should be in educating children on using this technology responsibly. Just as schools are embracing computers, these small gadgetary marvels should be allowed to thrive. Even as the threat of jealousy is expected when another has a better gadget, children should learn to deal with these emotions and are certainly part of growing up. If it is not a handphone, it will probably be something else. Teachers therefore need to evolve with the times and the teaching methodology needs revision to suit these changing times. Clinging to old thoughts will only serve to delay the inevitable.

The latest brutal rape cum murder of Gaik Yap drew an eerie parallel to the death of Canny Ong in 2004. Such sadistic murderers must be tracked down before another innocent victim succumbs to these lustful and vicious individuals. The last minutes of Gaik Yap's life is perhaps unimaginable and for her sake, I hope that she was already unconcious at that time.

This vicious attack must have been planned and co-ordinated, perhaps by individuals who knew of her routine. It was done swiftly as her younger sister who was only 100 meters behind did not notice any untoward incidences. It was likely that the laceration wound to her head was a result of an initial direct blow which perhaps rendered her unconcious and unable to shout for help or put up a struggle. That was probably not the fatal blow but the slash to the neck which apparently almost severed her neck probably was. It would be difficult to understand the need to severe her neck. Did she put up a struggle after?

This event serves as a reminder to women not to throw caution to the wind. Letting one's guard down can prove detrimental and in this case, fatal. Choosing jogging routes is important and isolated stretches should best be avoided. Pepper sprays are only the last resort if earlier precautions have failed, as they are useless unless they are perfectly aimed at the face. Going in groups will help.

Gaik Yap made a fatal mistake of running so far ahead of her younger sister. If she was not captured, perhaps her younger sister would have been.

With such a promising life cruelly snuffed out, the only consolation would be to bring the perpetrators to justice. They should not be granted any compassion in sentencing. In the meantime, such anger should be channeled into identifying these evil beasts.

Proton signed its death warrant years ago with its refusal to improve the quality and safety of its cars. Instead they were holding on precariously to a protectionist policy in order to maintain an unfair advantage over its competitors and thus hog the automative market. This policy is now losing its grip due to pressures from the free trade agreements Malaysia signed with its ASEAN neighbours. Now Proton is bleeding badly and the end is in sight.

One cannot help but draw a parallel with what is happening at University Malaya. Its refusal to maintain meritocracy has driven many talents away from this century old institution. Its academia is also losing precious assets mainly due to poor human resource management, lack of incentives and unfair policies involving areas of promotion. Its leaders lacks vigor or a sense of purpose. They seem almost lackadaisical and displaying pomp in all the wrong areas. Freedom of expression is often thwarted with threats of legal action as prominently displayed during the last campus election. Quality is never the foremost criteria in the minds of our academicians, preferring instead to maintain strong political ties and pleasing the ruling alliance ahead of the actual interests of the university.

It is now perhaps no longer the best university in Malaysia. Its glories are now memories of a lost era. Unfortunately, cash will never bail out the mess in which UM is now deeply entrenched.

A first post for 2006. Some have wondered if I had stopped blogging as part of a new year resolution. Indeed it took 12 days to break the silence.

The struggle continues with inspiration which evaporates unexpectedly. Perhaps the obvious lack of balance has at last been too glaring to ignore further. But with no land in sight, the disorientation can be sickening. The emptiness is felt which transcends all facets of life stripping away all colours that decorates it. The monotony is choking often accompanied by the eerie darkness. You can only grapple with hope. Hope that soon there will be light at the end of the tunnel.