Earth Hour 2009

Sibu sank into darkness on March 28 for one hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. together with 4,000 cities worldwide in an environment awareness campaign known as Earth Hour.

A brainchild of WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, Earth Hour has grown from a single event to a global movement aiming primarily to raise awareness of the worrisome climate change.

Earth Hour is certainly meaningful in that it is an awareness movement on an issue that is pertinent to everybody. As such, it deserves a global observance.

In fact, environment concern is now a duty of all mankind, although a lot of us are still unaware of the implications of it.

Sibu Municipal Council, in its show of support for the movement, called on Sibuians to observe this hour of darkness by switching off nonessential lightings.

Hoteliers and complex owners were called to a briefing at the Mayor's office on March 27 at 4:30 p.m. This co-ordination move by SMC was praiseworthy, albeit coming in a rush at the last minute.

Premier Hotel responded with switch-off or dimming of nonessential lightings on the exterior of the building to show our deep concern for the environment.

The photos show the landmark St. Stephens tower of the Houses of Parliament in Central London during Earth Hour.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin - The New Deputy President of UMNO

As widely speculated by the political watchers, Muhyiddin Yassin was elected Deputy President of UMNO in the hotly contested party elections.

Muhyiddin was very much favoured by TDM and Najib. His triumph did not come as a surprise.

That leaves a lot to ponder why Mukhriz lost out in the run for the Youth Wing top post. There had got to be certain calculated political manoeuvre going on.

A path has now been paved for Muhyiddin to go up to be the nation's Deputy Prime Minister.

Business Trip To Kuching (Part 6)

After checking in at Hotel Grand Continental Kuching, we could not afford to settle down for a rest. Straightaway we set out to our serious business.

Again, our driver Raymond is not at all versed in the ways of Kuching. Such being the case, we really had a donkey-work to look up for all the places. Despite all the vain rounds of driving, we had had a fun time experiencing all the uneasiness on the way.

After an exhausting day, we planned for a more relaxing evening. After taking a toss, we settled on tHE Spring for our dinner.

Night driving in Kuching proved to be much worse than wild-goose chasing for Raymond. We were like in a maze, completely, driving around heading to nowhere. Raymond said he got lost in the course of driving. Eventually Tiong called her friend to come to our rescue with a helpful guide to tHE spring and later on back to the hotel.

Hotel Grand Continental Kuching is a plush hotel located at Jalan Ban Hock. Rated 4-star, HGCK is affordable in pricing. We have been working on a smart partnership with the hotel for years and it has been proven to be mutually beneficial.

One thing admirable about Hotel Grand Continental Kuching is its relentless efforts in promoting environment conservation. The above photo shows its notice to guests on environment-friendly water usage.

Business Trip To Kuching (Part 5)

Chillipeppers is just two rows of shophouses away from Hotel Grand Continental Kuching. This eatery serves mainly oriental delicacies with a wide array of menu selections.

Chillipeppers is not air-conditioned, presumably to give a tropical touch and to make it a place of difference. One section of it is partitioned off and equipped with air-conditioning facility for those who opt for cooler environment. I believe there is surcharge imposed for greater comfort.

On arrival, we noticed that the business was brisk. We had to take a just-vacated table, with no luxury for us to go for one of our choice.

The pricing in Chillipeppers is not steep. It falls in the range between coffeeshop and cafeteria, making it affordable to a wider public.

I placed orders for kung pao fish rice and teh tarik. The beverage came out just right in aroma and taste. The portioning for kung pao fish rice was below my expectation. Tastewise, I gave it a thumb up.

We had a satisfying meal at this bustling eatery. Thereafter, we proceeded to check in to Hotel Grand Continental Kuching.

Business Trip To kuching (Part 4)

When passing by Serian, we decided not to drop in due to time constraint. We were already behind our time, so we just zoomed past this small town.

My driver is not too well versed with Kuching city. As such, when we arrived there, we drove around having a good wild-goose chase before finding Hotel Grand Continental, our place of stay in Cat City.

The time then was almost 2:30 pm which was well past the lunch time. Naturally a burning desire for foods shot up.

We opted for a nearby eatery called Chillipeppers.

Batang Ai By-Election - PR Stands United To Fend Off BN

PKR, DAP and SNAP stand united now to fend off BN in the upcoming by-election. The de facto leader of PKR DSAI flew in the state with much flamboyance to annouce the candidate on the weekend.

SNAP at its CEC meeting resolved to part with the seat. This ended all the speculations about a probable infighting in PR over fielding of candidate. There was a sigh of relief in the market after SNAP decided to give way to PKR.

The state PR, albeit unofficially formed, vowed to work hand in hand to fight a winning battle in the by-election.

My estimation of the fight remains 50:50 between BN and PR.

Business Trip To Kuching (Part 3)

When driving past the fork leading to Lubok Antu, I developed an urge to pop over to the small town which is now in the limelight. The upcoming by-election has drawn in heavyweight like DSAI to drum up support for the opposition front.

But, after taking a look at the sign on the roadside, I decided to give up the idea as Lubok Antu is located 38 km away from the Kuching-Miri Highway. Dropping in for some coffee and feverish feel of the sizzling hot by-election would disrupt my itineary.

Moving on from there was another hour of drive before reaching Lachau where we made a brief stop-over for some much-needed coffee.

Lachau comprises of three rows of shophouses in L-shape. This small marketplace serves mainly the needs of the nearby natives and the travellers passing by.

We went to one of the two coffeeshops there for a break. The coffee came out below my expectation, hardly with the aroma any coffee lovers would crave for. But, coming to think of it, I shouldn't be so demanding of a small place like Lachau.

After refreshing, we took a short stroll along the five-foot way where local produce was displayed for sale.