We all know that the traffic in KL can come to almost a standstill when it’s just drizzling. And this may be the very reason why some take the train to go to work. The LRT service, to be specific, is said to be efficient, reliable and fast. Its efficacy is not dependent on the traffic or weather.
I really doubt that.
I take the train to work (the LRT service formerly known as PUTRA LRT). And everytime it rains, the train slows down, and the door opens for so long at every other station it makes me feel like an exotic monkey standing in a box to be watched by those standing in line. It is also a mystery why the train stops midway in between stations, and it feels like a scene in one of those movies when the train stops in between stations in the tunnel (e.g. betwen Masjid Jamek and Dang Wangi), and stops moving for minutes. (I sometimes see shadows of zombies lurking in the dark outside the train). And if it is raining and you’re standing close enough to the door, as i normally do in the morning coz the train is so packed that i almost get cut in half by the door whenever it closes, you could actually feel the rainwater (whether this is a manufacturing defect or a wear and tear condition, i wouldn’t know. Just stating the facts).
Notwithstanding all the above, i have always thought that the LRT line formerly known as PUTRA LRT was poorly planned. For the high density areas that it covers and its importance for those who depend on it to travel to work everyday, the train is small. I would not even try to describe how hellish it is to even get on the train in the morning (no proper queue, too many people, everyone pushing, small train, imagine yourself). The effect is exaggerated if you take the train from Terminal Putra. I’ve read a few years ago that there is a plan to make the trains longer as to cater for the ever growing number of passengers depending on the service, but that was years ago and the news remains just that. I guess the fact that they did plan to extend the trains indicates that those who make decisions are aware of the problem, but i guess there are much much more important things than this.
Until the service is improved, as though i have a choice, i will still use the same train service everyday, hoping for the best, experiencing the worst.
I use internet banking regularly. And for this to happen is a bit unacceptable considering that this is not the first year this particular bank is offering it’s online services. With all the hype on it’s revamped online site, this becomes more unacceptable.
I did an online transfer to pay my loan last week. A few moments later a notification came out saying that my transfer was unsuccessful. And there was a ‘make another payment’ button at the bottom of the page. So what did i do? What would anyone do when you’re told that your transaction is not successful and a button for you to make your payment appears. I clicked the button to tried to make the payment again. This time, i had no problems. Except when i checked my account balance and saw that the amount shown indicated that i made the payment twice. Which really irritated me considering that this is supposed to be a ‘revamped and updated’ site and stupid problems like this should not occur. I called the bank and the silly answer i got was “..sir, actually even if the notification shows that it is unsuccessful, you should not retry instead you should call the bank to check..” And he told me about a pop up notification that should appear to explain the need to call the bank which i can promise you never did (i still find it weird that you have to call the bank to check whether your transaction is successful or not when internet banking should be just that).
The worse part is that the bank told me that now they cannot reverse the transaction made, even the supposedly unsuccessful one. I was told that the transaction has reached the server and there’s nothing they can do to stop it. What the hell were they thinking? Launching a half baked internet banking website with misleading notifications and yet there’s nothing they can do to remedy the fault. And so after a few minutes of making my unhappiness clearly known to the bank, they finally say that one way to reverse the transaction is to notify the receiving bank of the cancellation, but there will be a charge of RM10. Now why on earth did he not tell me this earlier is still a mystery to me. And frankly i didn’t really care by then. I just told him to do whatever he has to do. And do something about the website. You don’t tell people things that are not true especially when people are relying on the integrity of your services to do business. Especially, when it involves someone’s hard earned money.
I found this website from themaclawyer blog. Wordle generates word clouds from the words that you enter or words that appear on your page or blog. When i entered the URL of this blog, the following word cloud appeared. Try it out!
The media has been abuzz lately with comments regarding the issue on whether the video Sajak Kematian should be shown to primary school students. The clip was intended to educate the kids about life after death i.e what they will face after death if they chose to live an irresponsible life. The clip is slightly less then eleven minutes, and starts with the carrying of a man’s coffin to the grave.
News on TV quoted that the intention of it all was to curb social ills that has been uncontrollable as of late, by explaining to the children at a very young age that they will to be accountable for whatever they chose to do in their life. That it is all about responsibilty. And one day we will pay for our wrongs.
Which has brought mixed reactions from several quarters. Some say it’s suitable for PG13 viewers, some say not. Some say it’s an approach that suits the modern age and would be effective to attract the youngsters’ attention and send the message through. While the Minister, in making his stand, has stressed that he doesn’t agree with the approach and ordered it to stop, saying “…cara kita nak mendidik mestilah secara berhemah dan pendekatan-pendekatan yang menakut-nakutkan lebih-lebih lagi anak-anak kita pada usia yang cukup muda saya rasa tidak akan membawa apa-apa manafaat…”.
Personally, i think children nowadays are exposed to a lot more scarier and inappropriate shows on TV than we would care to bother. But whether this is the answer to the problems that we are facing today, one wouldn’t know, especially when the initiative has been stopped. But if it comes to a point where someone comes up with something that might work (and it may not be this), what are we actually afraid of then, really?
A few days back ‘The Last Samurai’ was on TV, and there was one particular scene where the Japanese guy told the American when he was learning sword fight and got his butt kicked:
“Too many mind. Mind sword, mind people watch, mind enemy. Too many mind. No mind.”
And behold, after no more having too many mind, the American miraculously mastered the ancient Japanese art of sword fight and started kicking others. (Admittedly the simplicity of it all is silly, but that’s not the point)
The thing is, what the Japanese guy said sounds so true today. Too many mind, too many distractions. There’s something we need to do…but then…we need to check the email first…there’s a forwarded email with a link to youtube…then the related video also looks interesting….then there’s a new message in facebook…then one of your friends compared u…then u compared friends…then a friend noticed you online and buzzed u…then u chatted for a while…and the list goes on…
We all know that the traffic in KL can come to almost a standstill when it’s just drizzling. And this may be the very reason why some take the train to go to work. The LRT service, to be specific, is said to be efficient, reliable and fast. Its efficacy is not dependent on the traffic or weather.
unacceptable considering that this is not the first year this particular bank is offering it’s online services. With all the hype on it’s revamped online site, this becomes more unacceptable.
A few days back ‘The Last Samurai’ was on TV, and there was one particular scene where the Japanese guy told the American when he was learning sword fight and got his butt kicked: