William's Photo Blog

Multiracial

2009-10-29T21:22:00.018+10:30

It has been a long time since I updated my blog. Being lived in Malaysia and Australia as a Malaysian born Chinese, there are differenct perceptions in both countries towards multiracial.

Government promotion of multicultural Malaysia

Malaysia always boost her multiculture where the three main races namely Malay, Chinese and Indian live in harmony and work together to create a prosper and developed nation. The Malay in the country is so generous and they have granted millions of citizenship to immigrants from China and India during her pre independence day. The Chinese and Indian were grateful of the Malay generousity and worked hard in building the country an envied nation of the world.

A busy shopping street scene in Australia

Australia is predominantly Anglo-Saxons until late 1970s where they discarded the white policy and accepted migrants from other parts of the world beside Europe. Despite that Australia still has the close tie with Britain where the Queen of England is also the Queen of Australia and the adoption of the Union Jack as Asutralian flag. Even now the Whites still accounted for 90% of Australia population. In terms of multiculturalism, once shall notice in a busy street in Australia, there are at least residents descented from more than one hundred countries of the world.

I would like to put my thought and observation of perception of multiculturalism bewteen residents of these two nations.

1. Assimilation
In Australia, oversea born residents will require two years of stay in order to apply for Australian Citizenship. What is required is a simple test and filling of forms and the approval is within two months. Migrants integrated with the main stream society well, adopted English as their language and there is merely a small amount of isolated communities. All schools are of single stream although study of mother tongue and second language is always encouraged. Malaysian Chinese migrants have been quoted as invisible in Australia and they have integrated well with the main stream by the Department of immigration. There is also high degree of intermarriage with the locals.

In Malaysia, granting Citizenship nowaysday is nearing impossible. Even some locally born are not granted citizenship until their old age. There is even more humiliating that an elderly has only been granted permanent resident or red identity card when he died of old age despite he was Malaysian born.

Communities live in isolation. The Chinese will not live in a Malay area due to fear of racial riot. Similarly, the Malay will not live in a Chinese area because the Chinese eat pork and drink beer which is non halal to the Malay. Despite this, they do interact during work. Even job wise, the Chinese are mainly working for the private sector and the Malay for the government.

Intermarriage between Chinese and Malays is rare. This is mainly due to Islam require the partner of muslim to be converted and most Chinese are resisting Islam. It is a phenomenon least understood by the government and they used to argue that Muslim in China is more than the total population of Malaysia. The muslims in China are not "Han" whereas Malaysian Chinese are "Han". Muslim in China is a minority race.

Although Bahasa Malaysia in the national language but the Malaysian government is open minded to allow schools and universities of other language like Tamil, Chinese and English to be freely established. The government also finance the primary school in Tamil and Chinese. This has make non Malay Malaysians multi-lingual. Despite that Bahasa Malaysia is seldom use unless dealing with the government. The government has also keen in promoting the use of the national language but it was not recieved very well by the public. For the Chinese, the main reason is that the language has no economical value. You can't abosb real knowledege, doing business with other countries etc with the national language.

2. Race
In Malaysia, a person race is very important. For example, only the Malay can become prime minister or ministers holding important port folio, Universities Chancellor, chairman and CEO of government linked companies. University placements depend on race quotas. Government contracts can only awarded to Malays Contractors. Even you are good, you are not given the opportunity because of your race.

In Australia, race is a very sensitive issue. Opportunity depended on merit and awarded accordingly regardless of race. The race or origin of a person is played down. There are anti discrimination laws on race and it has to be very careful in handling or mentioning racial issue. One might lose his or her job and even criminally charged if found guilty of racial discrimination. Austrlians generally will get very angry and frustrated if you mention to them one race is surerior than others or shall be given priviledge.

3. New years and Holidays
Malaysians celebrate three or four new years depended on where you live. There is a spirit of open house for other races to visit each other during a particular race new year which is good for integration.

In Australia, only one new year is recognised and declared public holiday. The new year is mainly quiet and celebrated by close family members. The Chinese New Year will pass by unnoticed in Australia. Despite that you might hear fire crackers burning and lion dance in Chinatown.

4. Racial issues
There are some racial issues in Australia like beating of non European residents. That happens occasionally, one or twice a year and mainly the act of group like Neo Nazies. The coward atc is condemned by the general public.

Surprisingly, Malaysia with its three main races is having the racial issues hitting newspaper headlines frequently. There are issue on dividing the economic cake among the races, previledge and miss treatment of certain race.

Fortunately Austrlian with its population constitute of races from more than one hundred nations in the world do not have similar racial issue.

As a conclusion, I like the Australian altitude of having a common goal to work hard, being recognised and build a better future. There is a lot of respect and protect to an individual by the Constitution and the race and origin of a person is invisible.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

2009-08-01T06:45:00.001+09:30

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, AS THEY SOMETIMES WILL,
WHEN THE ROADS YOU ARE TRUDGING, SEEMS ALL UPHILL;
WHEN THE FUNDS ARE LOW AND THE DEBTS ARE HIGH,
AND YOU WANT TO SMILE BUT YOU HAVE TO SIGH,
WHEN CARE IS PRESSING YOU DOWN A BIT,
REST IS YOU MUST, BUT DON’T YOU QUIT.

LIFE IS QUEER WITH ITS TWISTS AND TURNS,
AS EVERYONE OF US SOMETIMES LEARNS;
AND MANY A FELLOW TURNS ABOUT,
WHEN HE MIGHT HAVE WON HAD HE STUCK IT OUT;
DON’T GIVE UP WHEN THE PLACE SEEMS SLOW;
YOU MAY SUCEED WITH ANOTHER BLOW.

OFTEN THE GOAL IS NEARER THAN,
IT SEEMS TO A FAINT AND FALTERING MAN;
OFTEN THE STRUGGLER HAS GIVEN UP,
WHEN HE MIGHT HAVE CAPTURES THE VICTOR’S CUP;
AND HE LEARNED TOO LATE WHEN THE NIGHT CAME DOWN,
HOW CLOSE HE WAS TO THE GOLDEN CROWN.

SUCCESS IS FAILURE TURNED INSIDE OUT,
THE SILVER TINT OF THE CLOUDS OF DOUBT,
AND YOU NEVER CAN TELL HOW CLOSE YOU ARE,
IT MAY BE NEAR BUT IT SEEMS AFAR;
SO STICK TO THE FIGHT WHEN YOU’RE HARDEST HIT,
IT’S WHEN THINGS SEEM WORST THAT YOU MUSTN’T QUIT

Survivor of a shipwreck

2009-08-01T06:22:00.000+09:30

在一場船難中，唯一的生存者隨著潮水，
漂流到了一座無人島上。
The only survivor of a shipwreck
was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.

他天天激動地祈禱神救他能夠早日離開此處，回到家鄉。
他還每天注視著海上有否可搭救他的人，
但卻是除了汪洋一片，什麼也沒有。
He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him,
and every day he scanned the horizon for help,
but none seemed forthcoming.

後來，他決定用那片帶他到小島的木頭造一個簡陋的小木屋
以保護他在這險惡的環境中生存，並且保存他所有剩下的東西。
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut
out of driftwood to protect him from the elements,
and to store his few possessions.

但有一天，在他捕完食物後，準備回小屋時，
突然發現他的小屋竟然陷在熊熊烈火之中，
大火引起的濃煙不斷向天上竄。
But then one day, after scavenging for food,
he arrived home to find his little hut in flames,
the smoke rolling up to the sky.

最悲慘的是：他所有的一切東西，在這一瞬間，
通通化為烏有了。悲痛的他，氣憤的對天吶喊著：
「神啊！你怎么可以這樣對待我！」
頓時，眼淚從他的眼角中流出。
The worst had happened; everything was lost.
He was stunned with grief and anger.
"God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.

第二天一早，他被一艘正靠近小島的船隻的鳴笛聲所吵醒。
是的，有人來救他了。
Early the next day, however, he was awakened
by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island.
It had come to rescue him.

到了船上時，他問那些船員說：「你怎麼知道我在這裡？」
"How did you know I was here?"
asked the weary man of his rescuers.

「因為我們看到了信號般的濃煙。」他們回答說。
"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

人在碰到困難時，很容易會沮喪。
不過，無論受到折磨或者痛苦，都不用因此失去信心，
因為神一直在我們心裡面做著奇妙的工作。
It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad.
But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives,
even in the midst of pain and suffering.

記著：當下一次你的小木屋著火時，
那可能只是神美妙恩典的表徵而已。
Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground
it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

在所有我們所認為負面的事情，神都是有正面答案的。
For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves,
God has a positive answer.

你說：「我累了。」
神說：「我讓你休息。」(太11:28-30)
You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

你說：「沒有人愛我。」
神說：「我愛你。」 (約 3:16 & 約 3:34)
You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 3:34)

你說：「我做不下去了。」
神說：「我的恩典夠你支持下去。」
(林後 12:9 & 詩 91:15)
You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

你說：「我想不通。」
神說：「我引領你前行。」(箴 3:5-6)
You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

你說：「我做不到。」
神說：「你什麼都做得到。」(腓 4:13)
You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

你說：「我不配。」
神說：「你配。」 (林後 9:8)
You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

你說：「這麼做不值得。」
神說：「做了，你馬上就會覺得值得了。」 (羅 8:28)
You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28)

你說：「我無法原諒自己。」
神說：「我原諒你。」 (約壹 1:9 & 羅 8:1)
You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I Forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

你說：「我是窮苦的。」
神說：「我供應你一切所需。」 ( 腓 4:19)
You say: "I'm poor"
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

你說：「我害怕。」
神說：「我所賜給你的不是膽怯的心。」 (提後 1:7)
You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

你說：「我常常在擔憂、受挫。」
神說：「放下你的重擔，我為你承擔。」 ( 彼後 5:7)
You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

請轉寄出去，因你不會知道今天有誰需要以上的文章。
PASS THIS ON. YOU NEVER KNOW
WHO MAY BE IN NEED OF THIS TODAY.

Fishing trip

2009-03-09T07:57:00.011+10:30

Groote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northeastern Australia.
Over 50 different species can be caught in the pristine waters surrounding Groote Eylandt.
We went for the fishing trip on Sunday.
This is our chartered fishing boat.
450 Horse Power.

A shark. It was tiring to fight a shark. Give one a good work out.
This is the Red Emperor. It was a small one.
A big Mackeral hooked.
Queen Fish
The wonder of nature around the Island

Horses

2009-01-04T20:57:00.004+10:30

My daughter Felicity is fond of horse. Her wish is to keep a pony in the backyard. But our backyard is far too small to raise a horse. Her friend Philipa is training horse tonight and she invited Felicity for a visit.

The black pony is being trained tonight.

We were told that this is a race horse.

Horse training in action.

A little girl with her dream horse.

Maria and Sylvester.

Christmas Light Display

2008-12-24T23:04:00.008+10:30

Some houses at Salisbury will be switching on their beautiful Christmas lights from the 1st of December 2008. Residents and the greater community are encouraged to visit these streets between 7pm and 10pm.

This is the first house that we visited. The owners are friendly old couple. We were invited into the house.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Baby Jesus inside the Stable.

Come and visit mother Christmas.

Waiting for pressie from mother Christmas.

Another house with light display.

This is the last house that we visited. The Christmas light is synchronised with music.

Hello Cocky

2008-12-22T21:30:00.007+10:30

The cockatoo, or cocky as it's popularly known, is one of Australia's most recognisable native birds.

My wife has a love and hate relationship with the cocky. She planted a row of sun flowers in our front garden. Every morning a couple of cockies will land on the flowers and having a feast of fresh seeds. As a result, some of the plants collapsed by the weight as cocky is a bird as big as a young chicken.

The cocky will make a loud noise while having their breaky. My wife upon woke up by the cocky will rush for a camera and try to get a few good shots. She then will chase the fellows away to avoid further damage to the plant. This was happening for the last few weeks.

This is the culprit caught on camera.

Nｏｔ　ｓｕｒｅ　ｗｈｅｔｈｅｒ　ｔｈｏｓｅ　ａｒｅ　ｃｏｃｋｙ．　　Ｔｈｅ　ｐｈｏｔｏｓ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｔａｋｅｎ　ａｔ　Ｇｕｍｅｒａｃｈａ．

　　
Ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｃｏｕｓｉｎ　ｔｏ　ｃｏｃｋｙ　ｋｎｏｗ　ａｓ　Ｇａｌａｈ．　

　　
Ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ　Ｇａｌａｈ．

Salisbury Christmas Paegent

2008-11-15T14:12:00.004+10:30

The Salisbury Christmas Paegent kick off with presentation to people who have contributed to the community. One of them, Maurice Riddle is our neighbour. He was a retired drug squad. He is a voulenteer who rides around Salisbury collecting syringes left over by the drug addicts. He helped to make the street a safer place to live.

Maurice receive his photo from the Mayor.

Maurice and his wife stand below his big photo displayed at the town square.

Maurice rides on a MG sport car.

Credit Union Christmas Pageant

2008-11-08T20:44:00.005+10:30

The annual Christmas Pageant started at around 9:30am. This is a cold spring morning and we have underestimated the weather. There was shower and strong wind and contributed to the chilling effect. However when the paegent started, the air was heated up.

We went to the city by using train. We arrived at 8:00am. Children painted the street while waiting. It was a good show. Enjoy the photos below.

The tales of the two cities

2008-09-28T20:35:00.007+09:30

I lived in Kuching between 1995 and 2006. Adelaide is the city that I lived between 1989 ~ 1994 and 2006 until now. One city is located at the tropic while the other is located down south. They are very distinct cities but also share some similarities and relationship.
Kuching Skyline
Adelaide Skyline
Let's has a look at Kuching first. Kuching is founded by Sir James Brooke in 1841.
Sir James Brooke
James Brooke arrived at Sarawak in a 142-ton schooner, The Royalist. Sir James Brooke helped the Sultan of Brunei to put down a rebellion. The Sultan of Brunei rewarded him a small piece of land called Sarawak to Sir James Brooke. The land covered area around Kuching. Sir James Brooke rules Sarawak as his personnel Kingdom and Kuching was made his capital and head quarters. Sir James Brooke and his descendants are known as The White Rajahs of Sarawak. The White Rajahs expanded their territory at the expenses of areas controlled by the Sultan of Brunei. Brunei lost more than 90% of its territories to the White Rajahs.
The present population of Kuching is around 600,000. The society is multi racial and consisted of Chinese, Malay, Dayaks, and other ethnic group. A majority of people in Kuching are capable of communicating in Bahasa Melayu and English. On top of Malay and English, Mandarin and other Chinese dialects are widely spoken.
The founder of Adelaide is Colonel William Light. Colonel William Light sailed to Adelaide in 1836 on the 162 tons rapid. Colonel William Light surveyed the coastal area of South Australia and decided the harbour and capital of the new colony will be located.
Colonel William Light
There Light selected the location and laid out the street plan of the city of Adelaide. The city was planned by Light in a grid fashion with the main streets running east to west to avoid the dust storms blowing from the north. When Colonel Light was designing Adelaide, his plans included surrounding the city with 1,700 acres (6.9 km2) of parklands. This would provide clean fresh air throughout Adelaide.
Sarawak is a state in Malaysia similar to South Australia is a state in Australia. The state and federal government system in both Sarawak and South Australia is similar inherited from the British.
Sir James Brooke father Thomas Brooke was English and his mother Anna Maria was born in Hertfordshire, the illegitimate daughter of Scottish peer Colonel William Start. James Brooke was born in Secrore, a suburb of Benares, India.
Colonel William Light was born in Kuala Kedah, Malaysia and grew up in Penang. He was an illegitimate son of Captain Francis Light, the founder of Penang. His mother was Martina Rozells, who was a Portugese and Malay descent. The first relationship was established where Colonel William Light who founded Adelaide was Malaysia born and Kuching is a capital city for Sarawak in Malaysia.
During the second world war, the last Rajah of Sarawak Sir Charles Vyner Brooke evacuated himself and his family to Sydney where they remain for the duration of the war. The Japanese surrendered on board HMAS Kapunda at Kuching to Brig Eastick in September 11, 1945. Kapunda is a town in South Australia 75km from Adelaide. Sarawak was placed under Australian Military rule until 15 April 1946 when civil government was restored.
Sir Charles Vyner Brooke
Throughout the second world war and during confrontation with Indonesia, the Australian Army was fighting for the liberation and threat faced by Sarawak. The present Batu Lintang Teaching college was once Batu Lintang POW camp where three thousand Allied POWs were housed including Australian soldiers. The camp was liberated by Australian 9th Division on September 1945.
The present Chief Minister of Sarawak Taib Mahmud is a graduate from The University of Adelaide. His wife Laila Taib is from Adelaide. The first lady of Sarawak is an Adelaide woman. They do have a lot of similarities and relationships in between the two cities which seems to be unrelated.

A380 and Adelaide International Airport

2008-09-28T14:34:00.003+09:30

IT might have been a short pitstop but the largest flying kangaroo in the sky could still pull a big crowd.

The giant Airbus A380 made its first appearence at Adelaide Airport yesterday, with hundreds of people turning out to give it a big welcome.

We were on our way returning home from Harbour Town shopping centre. We saw large crowd and cars stopping at the road side of the airport runway. We decided to turn into a street to find out what was happening. I spoke to a taxi driver and he informed me that the A380 is making its first pit stop at trhe airport. We joined the crowd in welcoming the arrival of the super jumbo jet.

Many spent several hours waiting for their chance to the double-decker, which arrived just after 12.15pm, and made a smooth landing despite a strong crosswind.

The crowd hushed as the wheels hit the ground with a slight puff of smoke.

After the brakes cooled down, and pilot reset the flight computer, it turned around and returned to the air to Melbourne to fly above the MCG before the AFL Grand Final.

The visit was the first of several visits to Adelaide until October 17.

Many onlookers who were expecting the engines to roar were amazed with how quiet the 450-seat A380 was.

The crowd wating along the road side.

Australian grocery icon Woolworths truck passed by.

A short traffic jam.

Finally the A380 landed. My superzoom camera at 12x zoom still is not good enough to pick up the details. Maybe I need a tripod for stabilisation.

The Mid-Autumn Festival celebration at Elder Park

2008-09-14T22:13:00.004+09:30

The Mid-Autumn Festival known as the Moon Festival , is a popular East Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty . In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or "Mooncake Festival."

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually around mid- or late-September), a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. This is the ideal time, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest.

The Mid-Autumn festival fall on 14 September this year. It was celebrated at Elder Park between 4pm - 8pm. In the Southern hemisphere, it is the begining of Spring. Are we going to call it Spring Festival?

Sylvester and Felicity in front of Adelaide Festival Theatre.

Sylvester and Felicity holding their name in Chinese Character.

Buying satay from a Malaysian Stall.

Adelaide Convention Centre taken from Elder Park.

Crowd started to move into Elder Park.

Buddha Statue in temporary temple.

Lantern beside stage.

Child play.

Dragon boat racing.

Lion dance on poles.

The main charcter of the day. The moon.

Kung Fu Panda!

Shark Lantern.

Royal Adelaide Show

2008-09-07T05:52:00.008+09:30

We went to Royal Adelaide Show on Saturday. We decided to use public transport considering the difficulty to park if we were to drive. Royal Adelaide show is an annual event that last for one week. Years ago the venue was known as Wayville show ground but now it is Ridley Memorial. The Royal Adelaide Show is similar to the Gawler show in nature. There are horticulture show, show bag, fun park, food sampling, local trades and businesses, horse show, best breed cattle competition etc.

Guess what? We were giving a family pass worth $40+ by Trading Post.

This is the entrance to the show. This was the place that I have to frequent twice annually between 1990 and 1994. A place that I have to spent hours cracking my head. A place that I saw my friends in panda eyes. This was where I remember racing against time and I still have night mare if I have a dream about it. This was where my examiniation hall was. The worst memory of mine was I have to pay for overparking fine after one examiniation becuase there was an exhibition during the exam and all the car parks were full and I had to park beside the road.

Can you imagine that this was an examination hall before? The original hall had been demolished and replace by this new centre.

Spring festival is coming soon.

Lot of show bags.

Horse show.

Best breed cattle. Without farmers we will not have the milk and cheese that go with the breakfast. Farmers have been hit badly by the persistent draught. Keep it up mates!

Food sampling.

Champion show cat.

Roller coaster. The mad mouse was retired.

Do you want to win a spiderman?

Fun.

Fun.

and more fun.

Be a winner.

Champion apples.

Have you taken six vegetables today?

Butterflies with Felicity.

1 Cent Apple

2008-09-05T20:40:00.003+09:30

We saw an advertisement on the local messanger where apple is sold at 1 cent each. That's at Virgara at Angas Vale about twenty kilometer from my home. We saw lots of farmlands, sheeps, cattles and horses on our way. The scenery is superb. Unfortunately I didn't take photo because I was driving.

This is the store where 1 Cent apples are sold.

Maria was picking the apple.

1 Cent apple.

Scene of the farmland next to the Virgara Store.

On our way back, we saw a mother duck leading its children crossing the road. Cars slowed down to let them pass through. Why are the ducks crossing the road?

School sport's day

2008-09-05T20:16:00.005+09:30

My children school - The Pine Primary School was having Sport day on 4th Spetember. We went there to give them our support.

Sylvester was in the green team.

A race was in progress.

Felicity was in the yellow team.

Sylvester was participating in relay race.

Felicity was not participating in any race. She was shown with her teacher.

Gawler Show

2008-08-31T09:58:00.004+09:30

Gawler Show 30 & 31th August 2008

Gawler is situated 45 minutes north of Adelaide. The first settler arrived in 1839, making Gawler SA earliest country town. The picturesque town is renowned for its magnificent architecure, trees, cast iron lace work, Church Hill State Heritage Area and its 10 Historic Hotels.

The Gawler Horticultural and Agricultural Show is South Australia's largest country show.

Mc Donald is there for celebration too. Photo taken during Grand parades.

Horses in action

Musicians during Grand Parade.

Cattle

Sylvester and police's cars

Old Mc Donald has a farm

Felicity the cow girl

Felicity riding a pony. A realisation of her first dream.

Felicity winning her prize for ctahcing the bull.

A colourful butterflies couple.

Tractors in parade

Tractor operator

Amusement park for the children

Lucky draw

Google Street View

2008-08-21T19:34:00.003+09:30

Google map has a new feature. That is Street View. It is amazing, the photo of the house is shown when the address of the house is entered.

Click on the thumnail photo, a full photo of the house is shown.

Have you notice the navigation button.

Click the rotate button, you could rotate the view by 360 degree.

Click the little arrow, you can do a virtual tour of the suburb.

I don't think the street view was taken by the satelite. Somebody must have taken photos of all the streets last summer. Notice all the brown grass and the sun. How they took the 360 degree in such a great details is mystery. Virtual tour to all areas is now possible thanks to google. It is a free service too.

Lower grade fish for state, higher grade to ‘mother ship’

2008-08-07T20:00:00.003+09:30

I read this report from The Borneo Post today. Refer to the this link http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=39541.

The information is confirmed and disclosed by Fisheries Department Authority. The subsidy diesel suppose to be allocated to the local fishermen but was instead provided to foreign fishing vessels that unloaded the good catch to 'mother ship' and left the lower grade fish for the state. The local fishermen were left with no fuel and risk losing their livelihood.

This is something that all MAlaysians shall seroiusly think about to what happens to the country.

Sea Creature

2008-08-04T20:21:00.003+09:30

I went to the South Australian Museum last weekend due to the request of my kids. It is a surprise that I am allowed to take photos inside the museum. But with one condition, flash is not allowed. That's pose a new challenge to my camera. I just learned that my camera is not good to take picture at low illumination due to the small aperture and second rated sensor. It is time to try out and prove how good it can be.

The photos here are all sea creatures. I like the stories of sea creature like jaws. The last book I read is Beast by Peter Benchley. The beast is a giant squid that forced to feed on human due to depleting food source in the deep sea caused by over fishing. The SA museum has a giant squid exhibit inside an old lift shaft. The squid is a few storey length.

This is the giant squid
The tentakel of giant squid at the sea floor
Addyman Plesiosaur

Roller Shuttle Window

2008-08-02T10:25:00.003+09:30

The old awning at my house was replaced with roller shuttle windows yesterday.

Before

After

Experiment with photobucket

2008-08-02T06:53:00.005+09:30

Thanks to Greg Wee. Finally I could have a bigger image in my blog. I tried to do this before by editing the settings of blogger.com but was unsuccessful. I believe blogspot.com has placed a maximum resolution or file size of the image. Anybody know how to display a bigger image in blogspot.com please advise me.

The only problem to have a link from photobucket is I have to set up two different sites. It is only me being lazy.

DSLR versus Compact Super Zoom Camera

2008-07-30T22:05:00.005+09:30

This afternoon, we have a little discussion inside the office of the differences between DSLR and super zoom compact camera. Nowsaday the compact camera functionality is almost similar to DSLR. Like the Canon S5IS, it can be used as point and shoot as well as manual control of focus, ISO plus there are lots of scene selections which I am still exploring. The conclusion is that there is not much different unless you are a professional who are willing to invest thousands in lens. DSLR has much better CMOS sensor that reduce noise and bigger aperture that will allow more light to enter the camera even with short shuttle speed. Yes, this is the problem with my S51S. When taking photo in low light without using flash and due to the much longer shuttle speed and my hand shake, the photo is not sharp. However I am still not going to invest in getting a DSLR. A compact super zoom is good enough for me as I mostly used it as point and shoot. Hopefully one day the CMOS sensor of compact camera will be further improved to reduce the noise and bigger aperture allowed to let more light through at low illumination.

Below are photos taken with the S5IS last week.

Plum blossom taken at abandoned farm near my house.
Irish dance - Taken without flash
Lavender under the sum
Strawberry in pots.

Frost II

2008-07-28T19:43:00.002+09:30

The temperature in my suburb dropped down to -2 degree Celcius this morning. I took the photo of the frost this morning. This is the closest I have to snow. Adelaide will never have snow. I have to drive 12 hours to Mount Bulla at Victoria for the ski resort.

This is my back yard lawn covered by frost
My front lawn covered by frost

The park in front of my house
A macro view of the grass covered by frost

My understanding of economy

2008-07-25T23:49:00.002+09:30

Below is my observation and understanding of the effect of globalisation. Compared to 20 or 30 years ago the world economy has gone through different stages of reform. After ending of the cold war between the formal Soviet Union, Communist China and the Western countries, the economy of the formal rivals are interdependence.

An American multinational company might outsource the production of its goods in China and manufactured using the steel imported from Australia. The goods are later sold to the consumers in Europe. There is free flow of capital, skilled workforce and resources from one country to the others depending on the supply and demand. A Chinese company might buy over a mining company in Australia due to the demand of the resources in China.

I would like to share on my thought why some country will progress whereas other is going backward. The wealth of a country is a contribution from the following:

1.Natural resources like oil, gas, steel, coal, aluminium etc.
2.Skilled workforce like trade person who can maintain machines and professional occupation.
3.Capital. The industry in the country shall have sufficient capital to carry out research and development work and invest in new technology to find a way to reduce cost in order to make the products competitive. For example, automation used in factory to reduce labour work.
4.A stable government.
5.Equal opportunity

I can say the prosperity of the Australian economy is due to all the above mentioned factors especially resources. There is one tiny little country that is proporous since independent from British and Malaysia without any natural resources. The country is Singapore. The country is making full advantage of the other four factors for it to develop to where it is now.

If a country is rich in natural resources, will it be wealthy? The answer is no if the other factors are not developed. The best example is Malaysia. The country is blessed with abundant of natural resources like oil and gas, tin, timber, etc. However the economy of the country is deteriorating year after year.

I will explain the situation of Malaysia from the last factor, equal opportunity. Malaysia is practising discrimination policy which is known as New Economy Policy (NEP) where the Malaysian of Chinese ethnic do not have the same right of the indigenous Malay in education and business opportunity. The intention of New Economy Policy is to redistribute the wealth of the country so that the Malay will also benefited from the development.

The intention of the NEP is good, but the way it is implemented through the government policies has caused the Chinese to lose control of the much bigger companies to the Malay. In addition, the Chinese do not have equal opportunity for further education.

As I explained before that the globalisation has enable capital and skilled workforce to free flow from one country to the others, the Chinese with their capital and skills are leaving Malaysia to other countries like Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Britain and America. New capital or foreign direct investment is avoiding Malaysia due to the NEP.

The tricky political situation in Malaysia where politicians siphon the country coffers into their own pocket and the politicians are applying all dirty tricks to keep them in power created a very unstable government. The government delivery system, police, judical system are corrupted beyond operational.

In the factor of capital, the foreign exchange revenue from the export of resources are unfortunately used in non productive way like building white elephant projects. The capital is not used to improve the production technology. Factory are labour intensive. Construction site are labour intensive. Automation and prefabrication technology are not promoted. To reduce the labour, capital is required to acquire new technology or new way of doing things.

The outflow of skilled workforce is happily replenished with heavy in flow of unskilled workforce. This is disaster in the making where the productivity of the economy is competing in the lowest end labour intensive market.

Above are my own opinions and what make me leave Malaysia to settle in Australia. I don't expect my opinions to be accepted by others. But I believe if my opinions are taken into consideration, it will help in reviving the current situation in Malaysia.

Frost

2008-07-25T19:12:00.002+09:30

I never see snow. Adelaide is not cold enough to snow. Yesterday was the coldest day in this month. Before I went to work, I saw the grass at my backyard covered with a layer of frost. I called my wife and she was exited too. When I was in the car, the thermometer recorded 1 degree. I did not take any photo yesterday as I was hurried to go to work.

In the evening, the news reported some part of the state recorded -5 degree. I think this is the lowest temperature in South Australia. I took some photo of the frosty grass this morning and it was 3 degree.

Testing my camera at Barossa Valley

2008-07-20T20:25:00.006+09:30

We supposed to go hiking at Water Fall Gully but unfortunately it was a rainy day. So plan B was to go to Barossa Valley since David has to replenish his stock of wines. This morning was freezing cold. The weather was 10 degree but due to the wind, it felt like 3 degree.
Green glass during the winter. The grass will turn brown during summer.
The wood fire place inside the wine testing centre will make you feel warm.
Wine racks.
Wine testing.
Wines
Felicity and her big friend Phillipa.
The sceneray could be better if it is a sunny day.
Nevertheless it is still a good opportunity to try out my new Canon S51S.
The street of Lyndoch

We are having coffee and cake at The Lyndoch Bakery and Restaurant.
Eagle sculpture at the Sculpture Park.

Angas Park dry fruit.
My family.

My old and new camera

2008-07-19T18:26:00.006+09:30

Since the introduction of digital camera, photography has been make affordable. There is always a factor of uncertainty with the traditional film camera. The end result could only be determined after the film being developed. It is an expensive process where each photo will cost 50 cents and the photo might come out blur. With the digital camera, the hardisk is the only limitation. The portable drive solve the problem now as the hardisk of the computer is free out.

My first digital camera is inherited from my father. It was a Fujifilm 1.3 Megapixel camera. My father bought it at 2000 and took it with him for his China trip. The image result was dissapointing for him and he decided to stick with the traditional film camera and gave it to me. I soon find out that the macro was turned on and he used it to shoot all the photos. Not the fault of the camera. In fact this is a superb camera which is much better than a lot of digital cameras that I have used. I will talk about these very old digital camera some other times. Fujifilm gave me a very good impression due to this very first digital camera under my collection.

I bought a Canon S51S on Thursday on my way home after I dropped my workmate to collect his car at the workshop. I bought it at Harvey Norman. I make a comparision between the Canon S51S and the Fujifilm S5600 that I am using now.

This is the Fujifilm S5600 that I have used for the pass year. I have no complain on this camera and it is a beauty. It is 5.1 Mega Pixel and 10X optical zoom. S5600 is a point and shoot camera but with option for manual control that I never use. Most of the photo in this blog are taken by the S5600. I am 100% satisfied with what it offers. The grid is superb and the feeling is good. This camera set me back at $300.

The reason I bouught a new camera is I want to have much better resolution and bigger zoom. I have considered Canon S51S and Nikon P80. The Nikon P80 is 10 Mega pixel and has 18X zoom. It is a powerful feature inside a small camera. Even DSLR can't match the feature. The review that I have is you will never go wrong with the S51S. The photo quality is good and it has fast response time. The review on the Nikon P80 is not that impressing. Almost all reviews commented the camera response is sluggish. Better think twice before purchasing. Both camera are selling almost the same price with the Nikon a bit dearer. I go for the Canon and I lost 2 Mega pixel and 6X zoom. I hope it is a right choice.

This is my new camera and an investment of $530. It weight the same as the Fujifilm S5600 but a lot shorter when the camera is turned off due to the len is retracted inside the camera. I am still exploring with what this camera can offer. Beside the bigger zoom 12X and higher resolution 8 Mega pixel, I still can't find its advantage over the Fujifilm S5600. It does not have the firm grid as the S5600. The S5600 feels more solid in turn of handling compared to the S51S. I only took a few photos with the S51S and this is insufficient to justify its capability. The LCD display which can be twisted is an atrractive feature and I don't have to bend or kneel down like before to took the photo of my little girl. S51S also has the image stabilizer which is not offered by S5600. How good it is I still don't now. The S5600 photo was taken by S51S and S51S photo was taken by S5600. Which one is better?

Koi

2008-07-14T22:49:00.005+09:30

I keep kois while I was in Malaysia. I sold all my kois while I moved to Australia. The reason for me to sell them is to let them have a good owner who can take care of them. Otherwise they will die soon. I now reside in South Australia. Koi like carps are pest here. It is illegal to rear them.

Kois are stunning and beautiful fish. I bought them at less than 100mm and manage to grow them up to 600mm. Due to the limited size of my tank, they won't grow any further.

Keeping koi is a hobby of science. The challenge of glooming the fish is not what you feed them or how you take care of them. It is water treatment. Koi is a very dirty fish. They eat a lot and also poo a lot. The chemistry lie in converting the ammonia to nitrate in a fast cycle so that the water register zero ammonia, nitride and nitrate. Otherwise the ammnonia will kill the fish and nitrate will cause algae to grow in the water and the water turn green pea colour within a day. You take care of the water and the water will take care of the fish.

What is the magic gadget that will take care of the ammonia? The answer is bio filter. The filter is a separate tank about 30% the size of the koi tank. It has 5 compartments. Three compartments are used to house the Japanese mat, one for coral and another for pump. Bacteria live inside the Japanese mats and they are working on the conversion. The end product nitrate will be absorbed by water plant flooding on top of the surface. I also included water lily and some water plant in the main tank to absorb the nitrate. Keeping water lily with koi is a challenge as koi treat them as food and they like to dig the water lily up and eat the roots.

Maintaining the bio filter require the skill of a plumber and electrician. All pipe works are DIY. The pump fails periodically and I have to replace them. It is an expensive hobby. The koi if Japanese breed is not cheap. I have a combination of local and Japanese breed. However it is worth it. Looking at the koi swimming is relaxing and it make one to relax and enjoy the peace the fish bring to you. The kois are like ladies in beautiful kimono. I have Sanke, Showa, Tancho, Shushui, kohaku, ogon etc. Most of them are about 600mm long.

I hope the new owner treat them well. I have sold them for two years.

Mount Lofty Botanic Garden

2008-07-12T22:45:00.007+09:30

The kids are having the holiday break for two weeks. I am not taking any leave as I expected I will be busy during this period.

It is in the middle of winter and I heard that snow might fall at Mount Lofty on Monday. I was thinking while don't I plan a trip to Mount Lofty to enjoy the cold during the weekend. My wife agreed and she contacted our old friend Bridger' wife who was also agreed with the idea.

Why Mount Lofty？ I drove pass the botanic garden during my last trip to Handorf but didn't have a chance to pay a visit. I saw a castle and think that it might be interesting to visit.

We met at Frewville Foodland at 11am and headed off South of Glen Osmond Road. After 20 minutes drive on the free way we reached the lower car park. We walked from the lower car park to the upper carpark. It is pretty tiring as we have to do some hiking and mountain climbing. When we reached the upper car park, we did not proceed to look for the castle as we still have to make our way back to the lower carpark. We will leave it to the next visit as different season has different view.

All together we spent around two hours there. We have our lunch before leaving the garden. We headed off to Handorf in order to visit a farm. After learn that we have to pay $30 per family to see the goat, sheep, cattle and horse, we did not enter. Instead we had a walk down the main street. The scenery now is different from Autumn as the Maple trees have lost their leaves.

We concluded today trip by having dinner at China Town. Wife do some shopping at the Chinese run supermarket. We have to go back earlier tonight as there is a kids movie at 7:30am. Enjoy the photo below:

Adelaide Botanica Garden

2008-07-08T22:05:00.005+09:30

Adelaide Botanica Garden is located at North Terrace next to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and The University of Adelaide. Below are photos taken during last weekend.

Birds

2008-06-01T19:56:00.004+09:30

My wife hand feeding a pizza to a white pigeon. I never know that pigeon can be hand fed. This particular pigeon has a much longer upper beak and the food kept dropping down. No wonder it has a good feast wihout having to compete with the others.

This is another unknown bird that built its nest in the conifer tree at our garden. I could not manage to focus on the little birds. Better don't disturb its babies further as the parent bird is starring at me.

Hahndorf

2008-05-29T20:11:00.006+09:30

Hahndorf is a German Village about one hour drive East of Adelaide. Previously I took photos of Hahndorf in Winter. The scenery of Hahndorf in Autumn is different from winter. There are lots of Maple trees. All the tree leaves are red in colour. In Winter, the tree lost all of the leaves.

Interested to buy a house in here? It is definitely the most scenic place in the city. Property price range from $500,000 to one million. We revisited the strawberry farm. There are still some leftover strawberry but not as much and as big as in summer.

Cleland Wildlife Park

2008-05-28T20:18:00.004+09:30

The visit to Cleland Wildlife Park is with Bridger family. We stopped by Cleveland on our way to Hahndolf. These are native Australian animals like Kangaroo, Koala, Wombat, emu, Dingo etc. No Croc here as they reside in Northern Territory and Queensland. Look What the Dingo is doing. You are on candid camera!

Whispering Wall

2008-05-28T20:04:00.004+09:30

The Whispering wall is at Williamstown about half and hour drive from Barrosa Valley. The wall is a water dam. The amazing phenomena is that the voice in the other end of the wall can be hear clearly.

Victor Harbour

2008-05-28T19:46:00.003+09:30

This is a visit to Victor Harbour in late summer. The temperature is a pleasant 20 degree. I remember that time is a long heat wave that hit the city and the temperature is rising to 40 degree for three weeks.

This is the first time my daughter see a horse. She loves horse and she keep a collection of little ponies. She has a joy ride in the horse wagon. The trip ended with a show of changing the horse shoe. One lesson we learnt is that there is no different to the horse if it walks on Sahara deset or deep snow because its foot is insensitive to the temperature. That's why the horse shoe is heated red hot and attached to the horse foot and the horse don't feel the heat.

Parafield Airports

2008-05-26T20:35:00.002+09:30

Photo of old aeroplanes taken at Parafield Airports.

Central Market

2008-05-26T20:12:00.004+09:30

These are photos taken by my daughters at Central market.

Play

2008-05-26T07:03:00.005+09:30

While waiting for a friend to deliver a desk to us, I took the following photos. It is a good sunny day around 20 degree 6 days away from winter.

Photo taken by my six years old daughter at Sunday market

2008-04-27T16:15:00.005+09:30

These are photos taken by my six years old daughter at Sunday market at Gepps Cross a hot summer noon time.

Town of Goolwa

2007-12-28T12:53:00.001+10:30

The map for Goolwa Town. The town is situated at the mouth of River Murray. It is about one and half hour drive from Adelaide. On the way to Victor Harbour, turn left into a road leading to Goolwa and Mount Compass.

This is a Brewery and Tourist Information Centre at the Park where we have our lunch after the cockle picking. Although the sun is very strong and the temperature is high, we don't feel the heat because of the sea breeze.

A Pelican which is a common bird at River Murray.

A bridge across the River mouth.

Treasure train.

Sailing boats and fishing boat. I like boat and when I have sufficient fund, I will get one.

A congregation of birds on the jetty.

Goolwa Beach

2007-12-28T12:25:00.001+10:30

I went with my friends Bridger and Jeff family to Goolwa beach. This is an intended cockle picking trip. I did not join the cockle picking team. Instead I took photographs. There are many cockles around at this time. Only a few are picked. This is crabbing season. We decided to have another crabbing section at Semaphore beach coming Saturday. Semaphore beach is just 15 minutes drive from my home. Channel 9 will be interview Jeff today. Hope that he will be doing fine and see him on the TV.

Walking dogs on the beach.

The cockle picking team.

Playing with boat.

Surfing and catching the wave.

Sun bathing.

This is the Goolwa town. The town is situated at the mouth of River Murray. River Murray is the most important river in Australia spanning across Queenslans, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

This is Goolwa beach. The car parks is full house despite a very hot summer day. The temperature is around 34 degree. It is only 14 degree two days ago. There is a very big temperature variation over the summer.

Peacock

2007-12-24T19:27:00.001+10:30

We visited the mini zoo at The Rocking Horse. We found that Peacok is an amazing bird.

A male peacock attract the female peacock by expanding its tail feather.

A male peacock proposing to a female. A hen is biside the female. Don't know whether it is also interested in the hen.

Two male peacocks proposing to a female peacock. Who is the winner? Why the male peacock has a much colourful custom than the female? It is opposite from the human world. Imagine how a man propose to his girl friend in colourful skirt will look like.

The Rocking Horse

2007-12-24T17:39:00.000+10:30

The World biggest Rocking Horse. We visited The Rocking Horse after the cherry orchard.

How far are we from the rest of the world? I can't find Kuala Lumpur or Kuching.

Guardian of the Rocking Horse.

Toys sold at the Toy factory.

The factory at the back of the Show room.

Pick your own cherries

2007-12-24T17:17:00.000+10:30

I went to the cherry orchard together with Bridger and Jeff's family during Christmas Eve. We planned to pick cockles but due to the cool change, we decided not to. The temperature is around 13 degree Celcius for the day. A very pleasant day indeed.

The Owner briefed us on the rules of his Orchard. We are allowed to eat cherry while picking it but try to limit it as it is his income. He also mentioned the correct way of picking cherry so that it will not harm the tree and the production at subsequent year. The cherry cost $6 per KG. Very cheap.

Bridger demonstrate the correct way of picking cherry.

The juicy cherry hanging on the tree.

The picked cherry. All together slightly more than 2KG.

The author and the owner Allan.

Apple Orchards

2007-12-24T17:07:00.000+10:30

This apple orchard is next to a cherry orchard. The apple will ripe at Spring. At the moment still growing.

Darwin

2007-11-11T23:15:00.001+10:30

Airport

2007-11-11T22:56:00.000+10:30

New Mitsubishi Lancer

Computerised Check in for Qantas flight

Plane that I will be catching

Plane to Malaysia

Brother Albinus

2007-10-21T18:02:00.000+09:30

Brother Albinus was my school principle at Sacred Heart Secondary School up to Form three. I knew him before I became a student of Sacred Heart. I used to see him playing tennis and coaching the rugby players through the corridor of my house. When I was a kid, me and my neighbourhood freinds trespassed the school and we outrun him when he tried to catch us.

When I became the student of Sacred Heart, he became my head master. He is a very special principle and he had changed a lot of people life. As a boy school, a lot of the students are rebelious and without the dicipline introduced by Brother Albinus, many of us will end up as gangsters.

There is an assembly every day before the school start and Brother Albinus will give a speech in English. Mr.Chee will translate his speech to Chinese. The fascinating event in his speech was his ability to identify the students "fooling around" in town after school hours. Those students who was identified would be warned or canned and if persistent will be expelled from the school. I still don't understand how he is able to do that.

What I knew during the wonder year was "Brother Albinus is watching over me and I better behave myself". This is particular true whenever I did something I was not suppose to do like whispering to my classmate while the teacher is teaching. He will appear immediately at the window outside the classroom or from the corridor of the opposite block with his finger pointing to me. He was able to walk without noise and appear whenever we did somthing wrong.

How he is able to do that remains a legend and mystery to the boys of SHS. What he introduced to us and moulded us is the dicipline. We came back to the library at 2pm in the afternoon after our morning session to study until 4:30pm. Then we have to participate in the sporting activities at the school field. At 7pm sharp, after our dinner, we came back to the school classrooms or library to continue with our self revision and homework until 9:45pm. These diciplines kept SHS the top school in Sarawak both academically and in sport. During the after official school time in school doing self study, Brother Albinus is again watching over us and will appear whenever we did something wrong. However we have already accepted the dicipline and really enjoy staying in the school. I have to acknowledge that the self study class after school hours have changed the life of a lot of SHS students and most of them are the leaders in their respective professional field.

After every examination, Brother Albinus will visit each class. The students who failed to make progress will be asked to line up. Then start the canning section. This is the most fearful event of SHS boys.

I respect Brother Albinus commitment and sacrify during his time in SHS. He worked from early morning until midnight in policing his boys and ensure his boys were doing the right thing to excel. SHS with a student population of 2000 is a big school and the special attention he provided to each of his student is second to their parents.

Brother Albinus is a servant of God who sows the good seeds in the field and may God continuos to bless him.

Parafield Gardens Primary School

2007-10-20T18:08:00.000+09:30

This morning I tried to find out the use of public transport to my future house at Parafield Gardens. The reason of doing so is to assess whether it is necessary to get a second car. Car is not expensive in Australia but if taking into account the petrol and maintenance it could be a hugh sum to have an additional car.

I started by taking a train at the Railway Station. The train took about 20 minutes to reach the Parafield Railway Station which is 20 minutes away from the city. I have to walk for approximately 15 minutes to reach the house.

I then tried the route to Parafield Primary School where my children will be studying. The trip is less than 15 minutes by walking. But walikng under the sun of a hot summer day for 15 minutes or 30 minutes round trip could be very exhausting. In addition, winter will be rainy and windy. I think initially I will ask my wife to drop me at the railway station so that I could go to work by train and then a connecting bus. She can then drive the children to school and doing some shopping or other business using the car.

Roll and Roll Sushi

2007-10-20T17:59:00.000+09:30

This suhsi shop at North Terrace opposite the Railway station is operated by a Korean couple. This is the best shusi that I have ever tasted. Each slice of the shusi contains crab stick, a piece of shasimi and lots of fish roes. It is so finely wrapped and rolled compared to other shusi. The shusi is really a piece of art and the taste is the best ever I tasted even better than the shusi in Japan. The price is surprising reasonable as 4 pieces only sell for less than $4.00.

Rundle Mall

2007-10-20T17:38:00.000+09:30

This is the busiet mall in Adelaide. It is located in the heart of the CBD.

The holes in the fence of SHS

2007-10-20T08:49:00.000+09:30

I lived just next to the school beside the tennis court. I could see the teacher teaching. The advantage of living next to the tennis court was I collected a bucket full of tennis balls. I did not recall that there was any incident that the tennis ball broke any window of my house.

Before I was a student of SHS, I studied at Rejang Park Primay School. SHS football fields have been the paradise for the neighbourhood kids although we were not yet SHS students. We reported to the field every afternoon at 2pm and we have to leave at 4pm before the real students of SHS occupied the field.

We entered the field as trespassers. SHS was heavily guided by prefects and how we could enter the compound so easily? The answer was there were holes in the chain link fencing just next to my house.

There were a lot of activities where me and my mates from the neighbourhood do in the field. We caught fish in the small stream, swimming in the lake in front of the scout house, playing ball and flying kites at the field. As trespassers, there is one thing we have to be fast. We have to run faster than Brother Albinus. When he noticed we were there, he will run towards us and try to catch us. Our mate who noticed him will shout " Ah Pai lai liew! " then we will run and disappear by escaping through the holes at the fence. None of us was caught by Brother Albinus as we always out performing him.

When I became a student of SHS, I entered the school through these holes. Again the area of the tennis court and squash court are heavily guarded by prefects but most of them are neighbourhood boys who also entered the school through the holes. That's why we never get caught. The holes in the fence helped us in never getting late to the school and we are the first one to reach home after school.

The holes in the fence never repaired until one day, a big hall was built at the old tennis court site. Then there was a big guarded gate replacing the small holes at the chain link fencing.

My parents still keep the house and the house is now leased to SHS teacher.

My first arrival in Adelaide

2007-10-20T07:52:00.000+09:30

While I was still in Form 5, I was offered to study in a public school in Canberra where there is no school fee and also I have an enrolment in a private college in Adelaide. I checked around my class and found that nobody is going to Canberra. The closest will be John Wong and Alex Chieng in Sydney. Alex Tiong, Anthony Lai and Ah Poh is coming to Adelaide. Hence, don't wanted to be left along in Canberra, I came to Adelaide.

My first arrival in Adelaide is sometime on February 1989 before Chinese New Year. Alex's father send us to Singapore and from there onwards we will embark a new journey of our life. We stayed at Golden Landmark hotel. We have a few happy days in Singapore touring and shopping. I remembered when we bought some winter wear, the shop keepers thought that we are from China.

We are received by Anthony's relative in Adelaide. The flight is at night and by the time we arrived, we are all exhausted. We slept for the whole day. The first shopping centre that we visited was Castle Plaza. We searched around for somthing to eat and found everything is so expensive and there was no RM2 Kam Pua mee. A plate of rice with three choices of food will cost $6.00. That's was RM12 at that time. We walked around the shopping centre and found out the cheapest food is barbeque chicken. It costed $4.00 for a whole chicken. So each of us bought one chicken and that's our meal of the day.

After the initial stay, me and Alex parted with Anthony as we studied in different colleges. Alex and I rented a room each in a double storey wooden house at the suburb of Parkside where we could catch a bus to our college at Springfield. Springfield is a very expensive suburb and there is no room to rent there as all the houses are big mansions. We stayed at first floor and our land lady Mrs Fuss live downstair. Sooner we discovered that Mrs Fuss is really fussy. We learned to walk quietly otherwise we will receive a phone call from Mrs Fuss that there are few elephants dancing upstair. We also have to keep the house clean as Mrs Fuss will come anytime for inspection.

Adelaide is the place where I grow up. I learned to cook and shopping whcih was previously my mum job. I also deal with bank and government on all issues concerning my visa and account. I bought my fisrt car and obtianed my first Visa card at the age of 18. In short, I learned to live independently in Adelaide.

This article is an exception as there is no photo. I will update my blog again if I could snap some good photos today.

China Town

2007-10-14T15:11:00.000+09:30

City tram extension grand opening

2007-10-14T08:23:00.001+09:30

Google Map. Amazing piece of free application.

2007-10-14T08:14:00.000+09:30

To railway station

To school

6 Miriam Road Parafield Gardens

2007-10-13T15:20:00.000+09:30

Rose Garden

2007-10-01T15:30:00.000+09:30

Strawberry farm but not the correct season

2007-09-29T20:13:00.001+09:30

Winery

2007-09-29T20:06:00.001+09:30

Cheese factory

2007-09-29T19:59:00.001+09:30

Flowers of the wild

2007-09-29T19:53:00.000+09:30

Waves

2007-09-29T19:50:00.000+09:30

Cliffs

2007-09-29T19:42:00.000+09:30

Granite Island

2007-09-29T19:11:00.000+09:30

Victor Harbour

2007-09-29T18:56:00.000+09:30

Catching Crabs

2007-09-08T20:04:00.001+09:30

Beach

2007-09-08T19:53:00.001+09:30

Semaphore

2007-09-08T19:43:00.000+09:30

Sunset

2007-09-08T19:30:00.000+09:30

River Murray

2007-09-02T20:39:00.000+09:30

Nature

2007-09-02T20:03:00.001+09:30

El SHADDAI Christian Camp

2007-09-02T19:45:00.000+09:30

Murray Bridge

2007-09-02T19:18:00.000+09:30

River Torrens

2007-08-29T04:45:00.003+09:30

Streets

2007-08-28T19:57:00.000+09:30

Oriental

2007-08-28T19:45:00.000+09:30

Hahndolf

2007-08-26T18:40:00.000+09:30

Birds

2007-08-26T18:27:00.000+09:30

Flowers

2007-08-26T11:17:00.000+09:30

Aeroplanes

2007-08-26T08:21:00.001+09:30

Adelaide

2007-08-25T20:32:00.000+09:30