9 May 2013
4 months ago I bought a second hand bike to use for work. In January after getting a new job in KL, I drove my car to work every morning at first. It was horrible. I had to wake up before 6 and if I leave any later than 6:15 am I would almost certainly be late for work at 7:30. That's KL morning rush for you. So I thought getting myself a bike and riding it to work would be the wiser choice. That's when I bought a second hand Modenas bike from the Double H bikers shop in Serdang for RM2,400. For a second hand bike, it's rather pricey but that's the best deal I can get for 3 months installment. Sure I can always get a new bike but I dont really wanna add another item on my already long list of loans and monthtly bills.
They gave me a month warranty for the bike. The first week I had to send the bike back for repair twice because the engine always cuts off when idle on the road. They did something with the carburetor and it was fine for another month. By April however when I already made the full payment for the bike, I started to feel something wrong with it. Starting it in the morning or later in the afternoon was a pain in the ass, literally. I had to kick start it about 30 times before I can get it to start. And when I'm on the road, the bike runs so slow I have seen bicycles overtook me on the highway.
When I took the bike back to the shop where I bought it they said my choke is missing and my engine needs a major overhaul which would cause me about RM950 plus. I left the shop with a few profanities and a vow to tell everyone not to go near Double H Bikers in Sri Serdang ever. If you frequent that area, you will notice the corner lot shop with big red and white Honda paint. Don't go in there unless you wanna get ripped off.
Long story short, I had to get my bike fixed somehow because the alternative is to drive my car to KL everyday. So I sent it to a workshop in Equine Park which still costs me a dear RM800 but with less pain, heartache and a peace of mind. So my second hand bike now costs me RM3,200 from thr original RM2,400 which sucks but still ok compared to a new bucks costing 5,000 and above and one or two years monthly installments. It is not so uncommon for bikes to break down especially used ones. Some might be lucky not to have any problems with their second hand bike, many others like me were not so fortunate. That's life. Suck it and move on.
6 May 2013
So the results are out and half of Malaysian thinks BN is still fit to rule the country for the next 5 years. I would be lying if I say I'm not disappointed with this election result. I thought Malaysians were ready for change and the end of this corrupt government. All the positive vibes that I received from the social media and my friends. I was wrong. I can conclude that urban people is pro PR and pro-change while rural people don't give a shit about good governance as long as they got their RM500 BR1M handouts and free meals during election campaign.
Still I couldn't put all the blame squarely on rural Malaysians. In the days leading to GE 13 there were rife internal squabbling and lobbying among PR parties which resulted in 3 cornered fights in some constituents around the country. Although these disputes where 'resolved' amicably after orders from party leaders, the damage is done when all the candidates name were printed anyway on the ballot papers, worsened by the fact that some opposition supporters kept on campaigning for their preferred candidates. In the end, all the seats that had 3-cornered fights between PR and BN were won by BN, easily.
I hope this will serve as a lesson to PR and their supporters. United we are strong, divided we fall could not be more true during vital times such as the general election. Some PR leaders were seen as arrogant and over-confident by the public. Some were readily punished by the people for doing a dismal job at their constituency over the past 5 years. They got what they deserves. Today, more than ever they should realize that the power belongs absolutely to the people and they could easily send you in office as easily as they could kick you out.
I applied for leave in advance for today so that I could rest before making my way back home to KL. That was before the state government declared today as a public holiday in Selangor which meant that most of the people making a living in that state will be delaying their trip back to today. As expected, my normally 8 hours trip turned into 15 hours with regular crawls along the trunk roads between Kelantan and Pahang. I started out at 3:00 PM and only reached Seri Kembangan around 6:00 in the morning. It was horrible. I was sleepy, it rained from time to time and traffic was horrendous. If not for my wife/co-pilot taking turns to drive the car, I don't think I will be here today in one piece.
So moral of the story here is, travelling at night is not for me. I get tired and sleepy and it's dangerous for me, my family and other road users. Remind me next time I ever think of driving at night again.
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