Tun Mahathir's Blog

Dr Mahathir Mohamad our former Prime Minister has started his blog - www.chedet.com on 1st May 2008. Chedet is his 'pen name'.

I.KIA - Learning Hokkien

Kayaking “Vacation” @ Lake Toba, North Sumatera. Indonesia

FH2o in his element @ beautiful Lake Toba - largest volcanic lake in the world. 24th March 2008. Photo by Mindy (talented Singaporean photographer)

I think most people around our age would prefer a quiet and placid golf or a cruise liner holiday. I do too … But I’d rather be kayaking out on the blue yonder in some wild places! Which is what I did on the long Easter (and Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday) weekend; with a group of other adventurous spirits – 2 from Australia (one was a cameraman from Al Jazeera), 2 Germans, 1 retired Brit who now lives in Pattaya, Thailand and 4 Singaporeans, when we went on a kayaking expedition on Lake Toba visiting the shorelines of places less travelled (definitely not on kayaks!).

Holding up our paddles and me the flag for Malaysia on this Kayaking Expedition. I'm fourth from the right.

And a fine vacation we had indeed when on the first day of kayaking we were on the waters for more than 15 hours and were caught up in a fierce storm in the middle of the lake in the middle of the night! That was the ‘highlight’ of our trip although we would gladly forsake such ‘highlights’ in future …

Anyway here are some photos of my ‘kayaking vacation’ for the contemplation of those who think ‘oldies’ like us should be snug up in bed reading novels or at the most on the bowling green instead of messing around in the lake in the middle of the night! I don't think we are ever "too old" or "too busy" for anything - it's just our mindset and attitude. We only have one life - Live It, NOW. Be Well.

Elections In Malaysia 8th March 2008

It was Elections Day in Malaysia on Saturday, 8th March 2008. Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition (as usual) was returned to power BUT with a greatly reduced majority (no more two thirds majority) this time. The winds of change was finally blowing this time round. *sigh*

And like any typical, responsible, tax-paying loyal citizen of Malaysia who wants to make himself happy on that fateful day .... I went kayaking!

Visiting Fiji

On a boat ride to the island on my last day in Fiji.

I'd never thought that I would visit Fiji one day but I did! On a business trip from the 13th to the 20th February 2008 flying from Kuching to KL then to Sydney where we change plane for another 3 1/2 hours flight to Nadi, Fiji. Suva is the capital city but most international flights land in Nadi about a 3 to 4 hours drive away - figure that out!

Magical islands and beautiful waters abound in Fiji.

I had a great time and here are a few photos - I had posted more at my personal blog. Coups or no coup - Fiji is a most beautiful island replubic. Cheers.

With such beautiful waters - naturally I went kayaking. Corals are just at the beach's edge. Amazing.

Hysterical

Chinese New Year Greeting!

Sin Nien Tau Ler, Won 4ze Lu Ee, Sin Nien Kwhy Ler

Wishing all my Chinese ex-school-mates a happy lunar new year, one that will be filled with abundant wealth and good health.

Happy Chinese New Year 2008 Wishes

Chinese New Year is on Thursday, 7th February 2008 and here's wishing all the Monkeys all the Best in the Year of the Rat.

Credit card

There are so many credit card scams going on all the time, so when a friend emailed this to me (and quite a few other people as well), I thought this might be of interest to all.

Happy New Year 2008!

Christmas is over (no 12 days of christmas?) and now the new year is just around the corner. Another year older and hopefully happier and wiser! 2007 has gone by in a flash for me and I'm planning on dragging my feet in 2008 to slow it down! Here's wishing you all the best for 2008 and more sharing/contributions from all of you. I'm just as busy as all of you but if we want to - we can make time and put in the effort to keep in touch. And much thanks and appreciation to all those who supported this blog and let's keep it going in 2008! Thanks for visiting on us.

Wishing One and All Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from London

Merry christmas to all from Eva, Geok Lian, Chui Peng, and an ex-Marian, Maria Wee and the photographer, Rodney Tan. Lunch was at a Malaysian restaurant since the Londoners miss their spicy Malaysian food.

Be Strong

A man breaks into a house to look for money and guns.

Inside, he finds a young couple in bed. He orders the guy out of bed and ties him to a chair. While tying the homeowner's wife to the bed the convict gets on top of her, kisses her neck, then gets up and goes into the bathroom.

While he's in there, the husband whispers over to his wife:" Listen, this guy is an escaped convict. Look at his clothes! He's probably spent a lot of time in jail and hasn't seen a woman in years. I saw how he kissed your neck. If he wants sex, don't resist, don't complain . . . Do whatever he tells you. Satisfy him no matter how much he nauseates you. This guy is obviously very dangerous. If he gets angry, he'll kill us both. Be strong, honey. I love you!"

His wife responds: "He wasn't kissing my neck. He was whispering in my ear. He told me that he's gay, thinks you're cute, and asked if we had any Vaseline. I told him it was in the bathroom. Be strong honey. I love you too."

World's Largest Dogs

Hmm ... it's December already and Christmas will soon be upon us and yet no one is posting ... *sigh*

So I might as well post something BIG!

And I wonder what the food bill would be like keeping one of these!

Woof, woof!

Have a good week...........

Hope you have a good start to the week and may it continue in the same vein



... any volunteer to be goalie?




- laughter the best medicine -

The NEW Malaysian Dilemma

The cycle goes like this ...

Get Vietnamese workers, dogs missing.
Get Bangladeshi workers, Malay girls missing.
Get Indonesian workers, money missing.
Get Indian workers, jewelery missing.
Get Chinese workers, husbands missing.
Call the police, the evidence goes missing,
Call the lawyers, the judge go missing,
Call the ministry of transport, the reports go missing,
Call Putra Jaya, The PM IS SNORING...

... Check on this blog and all the old classmates are missing! *sigh*

Lai Mui Thin - But Not So Thin Now!

Remember "bell-bottoms"?

Lately there has been a number of emails flying around and here's the latest one. Unfortunately it's kinda hard to teach stubborn old monkeys new tricks. So I "tow hung liaow" *sigh* Blog Administrator.

Lai Mui Thin & Dr Clarence Lei smiling after a hearty laksa breakfast, 9th November 2007

Dear Old friends,

Thanks for the mails.
It is really good to meet up with good old Clarence after all these years.
At my(our) age,I have to apologise if I cannot remember all the names. If I
see the
faces, I would definitely be able to recognise all of you.
As I will be on business trip tp KL and Nanjing for the next two weeks, I
would not be able to respond to all your mail individually yet.
I will be back in the office beginning December.
If any of you are in this area, please give me a call.
Best Regards
MT Lai
Director, Manufacturing

Phone: +6072535001, Mobile: +60193381374, E-Mail: muithin.lai@basf.com
BASF (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Johor Malaysia, 81100

Softball team - who's the crazy one waving her arms to get more attention?

Drink Warm Not Cold Water?

NOTE: I'd been getting repeats of this email from several quarters over a period of time now and so I thought I'll share it here. For me I usually have a nice hot cup of coffee after meals.

This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about heart attacks . The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.



For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine . Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer . It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.
A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this & Send to a friend. It could save a life. So,! please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.

Dedicated To All The Sleepy Kuchingnites ... where ever they may be now!

I'd guessed all you folks must be comfortably snugged away somewhere in this world .... But it would be nice to hear from you once in a little while! Thanks Ed and MC for your comment in the chat box! BTW the last photo is dedicated to William who has gone MIA ...

Anyway enjoy these cute photos of sleeping cats. Oh - if anyone of you is reading this; mind if you drop a comment or two? Cuteness to the infinity right? Meow!

This one is for you Willie! ;) This place is kinda dull without you lah!

Hello? Where's Everyone? I'm PISSED!

I guessed everyone has been busy - yours truly included; but hey! I still drop by from time to time. So surely if you can find time to piss, you can find some time to pop in to leave your comment if not a post. And if you are taking a piss - I hope for you that you'll find some where equally nice as this to do so ... *sigh*