Power

The recent general elections have been a real eye-opener for me. As with the rest of my fellow Malaysians, I was in shock and awe at the sheer scale of the opposition's victory. In some states, even the tables were turned; the opposition is now the ruling goverment, and the previous goverment is now the opposition. How incredibly unprecedented. And how historic it is that we have finally made that first, important step towards a 2-party government. A government that has better conscience, and leaders who serve the people instead of protecting the interests of a select few.

We are no longer held back by fear, and we have transcended the barriers of race and religion to achieve the same goals. Malaysians have certainly come of age, and more importantly the coalition has shown (for now) that the country can have a multiracial/multireligious band of leaders working together for a higher cause. I hope that this will be the path to councils and goverments that are truly merit-based; leaders who are right and able to do the job irregardless of race or religion.

Much has been said, printed and blogged on about the elections and the huge array of statistics that come with it. Numbers, facts, rumours and analyses can be discussed to no end. But the one thing that struck me the most, and that really opened my eyes is this word - Power.

Power of the people
This election has been one of, if not the most significant and crucial elections in the history of Malaysian politics. Long have the people suffered in silence, stifled without a true voice in the parliament to demand for their rights and to scrutinize biased bills/policies/laws that benefited few and caused anguish to many. But now everyone has had enough. People have banded together to achieve a single aim; deny BN the 2/3 majority it has held for decades. In each individual's mind, the aim was simple and clear. If they vote for the opposition, there will be a chance. If they don't, then nothing might happen at all. A simple aim, but collectively, it's absolutely amazing how this has translated into such immense power and influence. The sum of all parts is definitely greater that its components. I think now Malaysians have realized that as citizens we hold real power, that we can decide who we want our leaders to be, and that we can influence and make changes for a better future. As we come of age, we must also mature and learn to use that power effectively and wisely.

Power of the media
Besides the swing of votes, the one other thing that has changed tremendously this time around is the access to media. Where previously we relied solely on the television and newspapers, the campaigning and results were largely dominated by text messaging and the internet. In fact, the results were circulating throughout the technosphere much faster than traditional media. While BN were very visible on the papers with their achievements, the opposition were in my opinion much more savvy, using the internet to its fullest potential while still reaching the masses with their ceramahs. With the proliferation of blogs, webmail, social networking sites and instant messaging, the opposition had the power to reach out to so many potential voters that traditional media can't. Coupled with the fact that the more tech savvy voters out there are of the younger generation who are better educated, I think this made another decisive factor in the results. This generation is more exposed to world issues than ever before, and they are more opinionated as a result. They will not take mere words and marketing blindly when it comes to political issues. The new generation of voters is a completely different beast, and I think BN has failed to realize that fact.

Power to act
The coalition now has the muscle to push for real change and voice out the plight of the public. They now have the power to ensure transparency, improve welfare and do away with corruption. No doubt, all these are not issues to be resolved overnight, but there have been some encouraging indicators with the push for open tenders and a Freedom of Information Act. Let's hope that there will be better news to come. The coalition has been elected by the people to be their proxy; a chance to act on their behalf ; a chance to walk the talk. If they do it right, the people will continue to support the cause and be right behind them. Else, we will just be back to square one in the next elections.

Now is the time for the coalition to prove themselves to be the right choice. It is time for real work and real battles to begin; the elections is just a start. It won't be easy, with no shortage of obstacles and it will be a big responsibility. But that's what you get with power.

Syabas Malaysia, and all the best to the stewards of a new dawn!

Herb Project: Basil

I've been trying to experiment with growing my own herbs from those sold in small packs at the supermarket. I heard that you can root them by just cutting and putting the herbs in some water, not unlike how you'd put your flowers in a vase. Sadly, both my naive attempts ended in clumps of dead leaves.

So I started looking for potted herbs, but they were quite hard to find. I finally got my hands on some basil last weekend at a higher-end supermarket chain. Whee!

It's quite small and fragile at the moment, but I'm hoping it will grow and be the first nice plant in my planned herb garden!

If anyone knows where to get other types of potted herbs please let me know! :)

To curse without cursing

A friend of mine thought me this, and I found it really funny, hehe. Next time you feel like scolding someone in Hokkien but don't really want to curse, try this phrase:

"Lu lao bu sai skuter long tiao!!"

Translation: "Your mother ride scooter langgar tiang!!"

Hokkien is such a colourful dialect. :)

Roast Pork (Siew Yuk)

Tried experimenting with siew yuk yesterday with a recipe I found on the net. I'm a bit lazy to jot down the recipe, except to say that the ingredients are so simple. All you need is good pork belly, five-spice powder, quite a bit of salt and vinegar.

The recipe first called for scalding the skin with a boiling vinegar and water mixture. I don't know why this needs to be done, but it did firm up the skin and seemed to help remove the moisture together with the salt.

Marinade the meat with the five-spice powder and salt for at least 2 hours. Score or pierce the skin and rub a generous amount of salt on it to remove moisture. This will help make the skin into crackling. Pop it into a 180°C oven about 1/2 hour and you'll see the salt crystallize. Remove them and roast for a further 1/2 hr or until the skin bubbles up and turn crispy. Rest and serve.

Fresh from the oven, resting...



After some deft knifework and a bit of garnish...

Nice and juicy...

Crispy pork!

The best part was cutting the meat. A good measure of siew yuk is how crispy the skin gets, and it was such a nice 'shyok, shyok' sound that reached my ears while I was chopping it into bite-sized pieces. Ahh..heavenly!

p/s: If anyone can explain about the vinegar, please let me know!

Char Siew Pork Ribs

I made some char siew a couple of weeks ago, and last week I tried using the same recipe to do pork ribs.

The ingredients are simple, but the roasting takes some time, effort and vigilance to ensure a nice shiny, sticky glaze when it's done.

Ingredients:

About 800g - 1kg of ribs, or about 5-6 ribs

2 1/2 tbsp of Hoisin sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

250g - 300g sugar, or to your preference (you need loads)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Shiao Shing wine, or rose wine

Method:

Mix all the seasoning together to make the marinade. It should be a bit thick so that it will stick to the meat. Rub marinade all over the ribs and put the ribs together with the remaining marinade into a freezer/storage bag. Leave the ribs in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight if possible.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Put the ribs onto a roasting rack/pan and into the oven. Turn down the temperature to about 150-160°C for a slow roast. After 30 minutes, glaze the ribs with the marinade from the freezer bag and put it back into the oven. Turn up the heat back to 180°C. Repeat the glazing about every 10-15 minutes for about another hour. The glaze will become sticky and give a nice caramelized colour to the ribs. Rest for about 10 minutes and serve.

Note: Line the bottom of the roasting rack/pan aluminium foil to avoid a messy and painful cleanup job. Burnt sugar is a b*tch to remove.

The meat was juicy and fall-off-the-bone tender, and the marinade was sweet, sticky and delicious. Really enjoyed the meal. :)

Secret Admirer

An unknown number calls; I press the busy button and cancel it. A mysterious text message follows:

Mystery woman: Hi yeng, perhaps I’m a bit too forward to call you straight away..i’m Cheryl, we met briefly last weekend…anyway, are you free tonight?

YY: Hi Cheryl, sorry my memory fails me. Where did we meet?

Mystery woman: Your message aches me! Did I not leave an impression at all? Hint: somewhere in ss2 over a coffee?

YY: Aiyoh I really can’t remember. What day? Where? Hehe.

Mystery woman: Aiyo, I give you 30 mins to think about it before I give you a call. I’m expecting a good answer ;)

She gave me a missed call. Then her text said…


Mystery woman: Cibong, Chuan here la…


Bugger Chuan*!!!!! =P


*prolific prankster with a penchant for beer and pork, girls under 18 beware.

KL Towerthon 2008

Last Sunday I went to visit the Kl Tower for the first time. Being a Malaysian staying in the Klang Valley, I’m sometimes a bit embarrassed that I haven’t even visited a landmark so close at home. However my first visit was a real challenge, because I did not take the lift up the tower. I ran. All 2058 steps to the deck. I probably did a lot of walking too, but I was too light headed to notice.

All I can say is that the KL Towerthon is a great workout for your cardiovascular system, legs and bum. It beats any Stepmaster machine in the gym or squat exercises. You will struggle to breathe, and fresh air will feel so good. You will zone out, seeing nothing but steps, steps, and more steps. In the end, your legs will feel like jelly and you will wobble. But you will feel proud that you reached the top.

I was almost a no-show because frankly, nobody wants to get up on a Sunday and run up a tower at 6.30 in the morning when it’s raining. But I paid RM20 for it, and I couldn’t let my running buddies down! So it ended up with us at the starting line, slightly soaked and losing momentum because it took so long to flag off our group of runners. There were 15 minute intervals between groups and we were in the third batch. Any warm up we did had dissipated.

The kilometer uphill leading to the tower proved to be quite exhausting. I was cold, my muscles weren’t ready for it, and my legs felt like solid lead. I think that stretch really spaced the field out.

The first few floors were quite bearable, but I could feel my leg muscles start to work overtime. My thighs were getting tight and tense, and I was sweating profusely even though the stairwell was well ventilated. By the time I reached the 16th floor I was gasping for air and dreading the remainder of the climb. I had no idea how many floors there were to go, and somehow not every level is labeled. I had no choice but to just keep going. It wasn’t really that bad once I got used to the rhythm, but my mood was spoilt by some inconsiderate people who threw empty bottles and bottle caps from above. One hit my head and really got my nerves going. Why did they have to throw anything at all? This ugly side of Malaysians really reared its head big time.

The view from the observation deck was really quite nice. As it was cloudy and cold, it kind of felt like I was in Genting especially when it got all foggy and white outside. I just pitied some of the tourists who had to share space with a few hundred sweaty participants!

The Towerthon was quite a fun experience and not as tiring as normal road runs due to the short duration. It’s like a short sustained burst of energy rather than a long burn that tests your stamina. I did it in about half an hour, which I think is average. The winner did it in less than 14 minutes. Crazy bugger.

Good as it was, I’m not sure if I want to do it again, hehe. Suffer la.