Sorry

Sorry for the long silence here... I've been so overwhelmed with recent events that I do not even know what I could or could not post here anymore.

At the risk of showing the idiots that I am frightened by the scare tactics, I've been careful in some of my blog postings but sometimes it is not so easy to control one's urge to just rant, rant and rant! I had a few parodies in mind but somehow didn't get around to typing it all down and it all got lost along the way....

In my quest to make money blogging and make money online, I've been experimenting with some new stuffs and reading up more things that I could do other than blogging. Much as I love to blog here and in all my other blogs, I always felt that there must be something more than this....surely, there are other ways to earn money online, right?

Yep, there are quite a lot of ways and I am slowly exploring some which I find interesting, though a bit time consuming. So, sorry first if I somehow neglect this blog and my other Penang Views and News blog a bit.

However, I am still updating my personal blog on a daily basis and my food blog every other day. So, you can also drop by there for any recent updates (not necessarily on Penang stuffs only)...

Anyway, here are some things coming up this weekend...

Help the poor unwanted doggies and kitties in SPCA by attending the

SPCA Charity Food Fair 2008

Where: Sungai Dua Silver Jubilee Hall, Jalan Sungai Dua

When: Sunday, Sept 28, 2008

Time: 10am - 3pm

What: It's a food fair so go and stuff yourself silly while doing charity!

The fair is to collect funds for SPCA to purchase a bigger piece of land so that it could really house all the animals they had saved. They need RM3mil to buy an acre or two of land and build the necessary buildings and kennels and cattery for the animals.


After that, you can also make a beeline to the monthly Little Penang Street Market which is also this Sunday. The bazaar of arts and crafts and food is open from 11am to about 7pm. It is located along the Upper Penang Road stretch.

On Monday, it is the week-long vegetarian fest!

Yep, it's the start of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival come Monday and some of the vegetarian stalls will probably start selling vegetarian food on Sunday evening. The usual spots to look for is along Lorong Madras and all the other vegetarian restaurants all over the island and mainland. If you see makeshift stalls with the yellow flag, it is most probably vegetarian fare for the festival.

The festival is from Sept 29 to Oct 7.

Support the Release the ISA detainees even on Sunday!

I am sure by now everyone knows about RPK, Tan Hoon Cheng (Sin Chew reporter) and Teresa Kok being detained under ISA on Friday night.

Suaram is holding an Anti-ISA night here in Penang. Here are the details:

Event: Anti-ISA Night

Where: Dewan Sri Pinang

When: 9pm, Sept 14, 2008, Sunday

What: Wear black to support the cause

For details, call this number: 012-8756179

Dark clouds are looming

When the sky is dark with heavy clouds looming in the horizon...

Always remember to look beyond the clouds and you will find that there is always a silver lining to it.

In life, there are good moments and there are bad moments. Thus, it is very much like a roller coaster ride. Sometimes it will be filled with excitement and laughter but sometimes, everything will appear so down and dark that it would seem that all is lost.

In the wheel of life, when things are down in the dumps as it is now in our country, it is bound to go up once it hit rock bottom. It is really up to us to see for ourselves whether the glass is really half full or half empty.

I know, optimism will not fill our pockets, fill our stomachs and keep a roof over our heads. But it will definitely spare us some heartache, stress and tension from worrying over things we have no control over.

Also, remember the silver lining. It is right there behind the dark clouds and since it is hidden, you will have to search for it and make the best out of it.

Things happen for a reason, be it good or bad. The good brings us joy and fulfillment and the bad brings us challenges that will only make us stronger and more able to rise up above it all. So, let us all face the bad times together and we shall all rise up above it all.

Soon. Very soon the wheel will turn and perhaps, we will see the good times come rolling in again.

Okay, I admit

It is a fact, really. My grandfather came from Canton, China and that is my heritage which is undeniable.

So, yeah, I fully agree that...


The rest of this post was deleted and cleared to save blogger's butt from being taken in for free lodging and curry rice.

Ahmad Ismail suspended for three years

This post is also deleted to save bloggers' butt from free lodging and curry rice.

The political turmoil of Malaysia

Is costing us the investors' confidence and pulling our economy down. But nobody notices because all the politicians are too busy with their petty petty fights and quarrels and power struggles.

But the outsiders, the investors, the foreigners are watching. They are listening. Those considering our MM2H scheme will probably drop it and go for another tropical country. In the words of one of them:

"Better we don't come here,"

Yep. Those considering choosing Malaysia as a second home are dropping their plans. The risk of being treated like mere sampah is good enough to drive them away.

And what about investors? Similarly, they look at the political situation like this:

"They are fighting for the government. Who knows if it won't end in political clashes and violence like in Thailand? Better I don't invest here or else my money will all go down the drain. China is a better bet,"

Yep, that is also from a foreign investor I know. These may be mere individuals but do remember, all businessmen think alike. They choose a stable place to invest in. Nobody throw their money into a place full of turmoil where their business and operations may be affected. It is what we call business sense.

What is driving the bearish sentiment of our local economy is the current uncertainty of the future of Malaysia. Malaysians simply are losing hope that this country will recover from its continuous slide. Then again, we cannot blame them from losing hope when many of us are actually losing sleep over our own job security amid soaring cost of living. Inflation last quarter has shot up to 8.6% which is the highest in 26 years.

- Malaysiakini

I hereby rest my case. The politicians in our country must wake up and stop all this bickering or soon, all of us will suffer the consequences of their actions.

The full Datuk Ahmad Ismail's speech 'explaining' his racist remarks

As promised, below are the scanned copies of the written speech by Ahmad Ismail when he finally came out to explain his racist remarks and defiantly say that he refused to apologise with the backing of all 13 Umno divisions:

Backed by all 13 Umno divisions from Penang, the embattled Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail today fervently defended his stand not to apologise for his alleged racist remarks against the Chinese community.

MCPX

- Malaysiakini

Here are the pages after pages of the speech:

Of course, if you just can't be bothered to read all those, you can always go to Malaysiakini for the brief version.

Now that PGCC project is dead, what next?

As we all know, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has announced that the Penang Global City Centre project is as good as dead since its application was rejected when the developer failed to follow the council's schedule.

So, the question now is what happens to the Penang Turf Club land? What will happen to the land which was converted by the previous government to allow the developer to build residential properties there?
The land was initially slotted for recreational use and has since been converted for residential and commercial development.

So, will the state government be able to convert the land back to open recreational land?

Don't ask me. I wouldn't know but if you want to know, Penang Heritage Trust is organising a forum to talk about the future of the Penang Turf Club land. Here are the details:

Venue: Dewan Sri Pinang

Time: 9am - noon

Date: Sept 14

Getting links and traffic from blog directories

When I first started blogging, a couple of years ago, I practically don't know anything about blogging.

I only knew how to sign up for a free blog in blogspot. And I blogged. And blogged. And blogged. However, traffic was at a bare minimal. I stalked other blogs and wondered why they are getting loads of traffic.

Then I found out about linking and getting traffic from blog directories. Although it is no substitute for original and quality posts, linking and registering with blog directories could prove a great help to give your blog some exposure.

I registered with BlogCatalog.

Then I signed up with Penang Bloggers.

Also Blog Malaysia.

Later, I found out about PPS.

I also have Entrecard, as you can see on the side here.

And recently, I discovered Blog Explosion.

Of course, there are a lot of other blog directories that you could submit to and it would probably take me several lengthy posts to list them all out.

My point here is that these blog directories / communities / whateveryoucallit are quite useful to get your blog known out there in the vast expense of the blogosphere.

It also helps to gain you some faithful following and some readers. But please, don't be like me. I joined Entrecard and seldom go around dropping...heheheh...thus the dismal traffic to my blog till now.

However, at least I am getting some traffic as opposed to almost ZERO in the past. So, yeah, it does help to be listed in those blog communities / directories/ whatever.

Get your blogs registered now and you will see what I mean!