Earthquake tremors in Penang, Malaysia

About 4.40pm local time today, I was at Psalm Agency new office on the first floor of the three storeys building together with some friends at Alma, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia when suddenly we felt the building floor shaking and the fans on the ceiling were shaking and my desktop monitor also trembling. It must be tremors felt here in Penang due to possibly an earthquake at nearby off the sea of Sumatra, Indonesia.  The tremors lasted about 2 minutes.

The last time I experienced the tremors was in 1990 when I was at KOMTAR, Penang working in a local bank. In the December 2004 tsunami, I was with my family and relatives from the USA travelling to Georgetown in Penang Island on ferry from Butterworth on the Peninsular Malaysia.  The sea across the Butterworth channel was choppy and it was very windy as we stood on the ferry admiring the view of the surrounding.

What a day to celebrate the installation of the Sultan of Kedah to be the14th King or The DYMM Yang DiPertuan Agong of Malaysia on April 11, 2012 who happened to create records for being the first King of Malaysia to be the Agong for the second time in Malaysian history where the Raja and Sultans from the nine Peninsular Malaysia states rotate among themselve to be the King of the Malaysian Federation.

New Year 2012 Malaysian Dragon Dance Competition at Sunway Carnical, Penang

Hooray.Haappy New Year.It is a Public holiday today on Sunday 1 January, 2012 here at Penang, Malaysia and it will be replaced on Monday 2 January, 2012..  New Year 2012 is a buy time for shopping for many at Sunway Carnival Shopping Mall at Seberang Jaya, Penang.  Enter the Dragon.  No..no... not that the Bruce Lee Kung-Fu movie.  It was a national Malaysian Dragon Dance competition held at the lobby of the shopping mall.  There were other competitions including little children and adults in Chinese traditional costumes and dances.  Enter the Dragon Year on 23 January, 2012 according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Enjoy watching the dances which I managed to record it.  The team from Muar, Johor, Malaysia emerged Champion while the team from Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia was the first runner up while a second team from Muar, Johor was second runner-up.

See you at Sunway Carnival again soon for the Chinese New Year program which has been lined up to liven up the shopping atmosphere to usher in the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Dragon.

Happy New Year 2012 Countdown at Esplanade (Padang Kota), Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Wishing you a very Happy New Year 2012 and may God bless you richly in wealth ,good health, and grant you peace, joy, success and love always in the 366 days ahead.

After dinner at James Foo Western Food, Fettes Park, Penang, Bigfoothill went over to the main annual hot spot for the New Year 2012 Countdown at the Esplanade (Padang Kota), Georgetown, Penang.  The VVIPs including the Chief Minister, the Honorable, Mr Lim Guan Eng and his Exco members were there to grace the occasion.

As we were walking on the street which was full of hawkers and petty traders and the people going towards Padang Kota, we passed by another famous landmark, The Sire-Museum Restaurant known for its Western Foods and fine dinning and a collection of the Chinese Antiques and furniture belonging to the famous millionaire, the illustrious Yeap Chor Ee who arrived from China and worked very hard to become the founder of the only Penang based bank, Ban Hin Lee Bank Berhad which had in recent years been merged into CIMB Bank.

There was a concert held at Padang Kota along Light Street and facing the seafront and next to the Fort Cornwallis which is located right in front of the City Hall building next to the Dewan Sri Pinang on the back and opposite Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Penang Branch. American International Assurance Berhad (AIA) Gnext training center is right behind BNM at Bishop Street, Georgetown, Penang. The group Bunkface was one of the performers performing at the peak of the concert.  You may like their genre of rock music.  They performed the song "Dunia" which means "World" when I was walking to the Esplanade after finding a parking space at AIA.

2011 Farewell

It is time to bid farewell to year 2011.  After all the works and efforts for the year, it is time to relax and reflect on what we have accomplished in this 365 days of 2011.  I took the opportunity to meet up with friends over in Penang Island and went for dinner with family at the famous James Foo & Family Western Food at Fettes Park, Tanjung Tokong, Penang.  The foods tasted really fantastic.  I ordered the Combo which have the pork, beef, lamb, ham, sausage and egg plus the vegetables,potato fries and a bun with the black pepper sauce.  You can catch a glimpse of inside the restaurant which is situated within Fettes park.  

We had to take a number to wait for a table and be seated. There were many dinners at this time of the year and weekend.  I once wanted to dine there a few months age but the crowds were big as usual.  It was almost 30 minutes waiting for an available table.  Meantime, we ordered our foods and refreshments, one mushroom soup, one oxtail soup, one black pepper chicken, one Hawaiian chicken and a Combo serving, and drinks - one glass of Lime juice, one Roselle and one other juice. It is another 30 minutes of waiting for the foods to be served.  The total bill is RM56.20.  If you really must try it out, please be cool to find a parking lot and wait patiently for the services and food. Have your buddies to go along with you so that you will have plenty of time to catch up and kill. If not, just watch the English Premier leagues on the LED TV on the wall or fiddle with your I-Phone, Samsung Galaxy Note or Tabs or whatever.  If you can bear the noises from the neighboring tables then you need not worry of hearing your grumbling tummy.  Note: Make sure you have the leisure time if you plan to enjoy the tasty foods at James Foo.  Sorry folks, I did not bring a good camera, just a Sony handy video camera.  Bigfoothill is sure to return again to James Foo for more of their servings on the menu next year 2012.

Princess and The Frog meet Bigfoothill at AIA Northern region 2012 Kick Off

Hello AIA,   This is Princess and The Frog kicking and rocking with you. Here is the party time for AIA agents from the Northern region comprising Penang, Northern Perak, Kedah and Perlis at the Annual Kick-Off event which was held on Monday 5 December, 2011 at Hotel Equatorial, Penang Matahari Grand Ballroom.  It is the First AIA Kick-Off held outside Kuala Lumpur as this is in honor of all Northern AIA agents and business associates for emerging as the Best in Overall performances for Financial Year 2011 outperforming the rest of the regions in AIA Malaysia.  Thank you to all the loyal and faithful clients for your business, confidence and trust in us. One AIA...Premier is the Way.

Need a financial plan to achieve your financial goals? We are here to help you. Wealth and Investments, Savings, Retirements, Estate Planning, Health and Personal Accident, Travel and Golfer's insurance? Commercial Fire, Retail and Services business package, Personal Lines such as House-owner and Householder Insurance, Auto Insurance and Home Loan are all available here in One AIA. AIA is your Premier choice.  For our Muslim friends and clients, we have AIA-AFG Family Takaful products and services to meet your family goals too.  Want financial freedoms and to become Premier Agency? AIA welcomes you to join the party.  Ask Bigfoothill.

New Year 2012 Go to New Chinese Primary School at Kota Permai, Bukit Mertajam -Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Beng Teik (Pusat)

Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Beng Teik (Pusat)

Main Entrance to the building

corridors between the two blocks

This is the new Chinese Primary School, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Beng Teik (Pusat) which is opening for new registration and intake of new students from Primary Year One to Year Six for the new Year 2012 session.  This Chinse primary school was originally located in Penang Island but it was relocated here due to the small and dwindling enrollment at its original location.  With the growing population in and around Bukit Mertajam, especially in Kota Permai, Saujana Permai, Permai Indah and the nearby residential housing estates, the arrival of this school is timely to cater to the children living in this place.  You can contact the telephone number and contact persons and headmaster stated on the notice board for more information.

As you can see, the Chinese primary school is built mainly from getting the funding from the Chinese community and donations and from sponsors such as the Tiger Beer charity concerts with donations from the public well wishers.  The Malaysian Government is only chipping in its token share of developing the Chinese and Tamil streams of education.  In fact,most of Malaysian Chinese schools are also having many students from the non-Chinese community as their parents belief that the education system is good for their future generations than the national schools where the language of teaching is in the national Malay language except for the subject of English.  Let us not go into the flip-flop policy making by our Education and Cabinet Ministers on the subject of teaching Mathematics and Science in English.  One thing I will always be proud of our fellow Malaysians of non-Chinese origins who have sent their children to Chinese Schools and their children are able to speak Mandarin or local dialects like Hokkien and Cantonese with their Chinese friends.  I salute you. You are worth two men' minds in this world. I myself have not studied in Chinese vernacular schools and is a "Buta Huruf"(Chinese Letters Blind). 

Although the Malaysian Chinese and Indian community have been contributing to the commerce and welfare of our beloved Negaraku (My Country), Malaysia, long before the British granted the Independence to Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak, the community cannot depend on the Malaysian Government to build the Chinese and Tamil schools.  The irony is that the Chinese community is contributing a very high percentage of taxes collected by the government but it only get chicken feed in return from the government to set up the Chinese schools. The Tamil schools were mostly built by the plantation owners who employed the estate workers to tend to the plantations in the past decades.

Even to get the approval to build a school have to go through so much bureaucracies and politicking.  The Chinese school is usually equipped with a cement basketball court which also double up as the assembly ground but seldom have football field.  Mind you, the Chinese school students and youths have contributed to the National Basketball team at the SEA Games and other international tournaments as the training ground for our national basketball players.  It is hard to find a good footballer from a Chinese or Tamil school in the likeness of our former national heroes "Towkay" YB Datuk Soh Chin Aun from Malacca or Striker James Wong from Sabah. or famous Spiderman Goalkeeper Arumugam .Most of today's Chinese and Tamil schools do not have enough land space for football field. The National schools which the Government fully financed will have a big football field and all other sports facilities.  In my old primary and secondary national schools back in Perlis, I am blessed to have the green-green cow-grass fields as large as two football fields to run and roam about during the physical exercise lessons. This was where we had former National players from Perlis, Bakri Ibni and Saidin Osman in the good old days when our "Harimau Malaya"(Malayan Tigers) was now the "Harimau Lagenda" (Legends).

Do the students from the Chinese or Tamil schools performed academically and excel in sports better than the national schools? Are the quality of the education systems in the various type of schools in Malaysia measured by the money poured into by the Government and staffing plus facilities? What is our Education Minister and the Ministry going to do to improve the overall education in Malaysia for the benefits of all Malaysians?  On one level, we are trying to promote ourselves as the the regional education hubs but we neglected and failed to promote a meritocracy and equal opportunities for all Malaysians.  We cannot blame the British for leaving a legacy for neglecting the poor as the nation has been ruled by our Malaysian forefathers and current government over 50 years. Even our Universities' ranking have dropped.  What is happening?

Must the Chinese and Indian communities have to beg for allocations of funding and licenses for the Chinese and Tamil Schools from the Malaysian governments each time there is a General Election coming?  Are we not One Malaysia for Malaysians? Is there a caste system in our Malaysian family. Or we are only one and united in spirit in sports only when we can shine under the glitter of glory being world champions? When will we see the day when the Government treats all Malaysians and Made-In-Malaysia products (including students and graduates from these schools) like its slogan One Malaysia. Or are we only interested to promote the cow farmings(NFC) to incur losses of millions of Ringgit and thereby wastage of Malaysian People's funds as highlighted by the Auditor-General reports. The latest no brain-er project to sell and export frozen Durian to the People of Republic of China. I leave it to you. 

There are primary and secondary Chinese schools in most major towns in Malaysia. Is there a Minister from the Chinese or Indian community or better still a visionary Malay Education Minister who dare to ask the PM and his cabinet to set up a Chinese or Indian University in Malaysia so that we can have the Chinese from the mainland China and Indians from India to study in Malaysia so that we can have a more balance trade with them and earn their currency exchange from the education industry and prevent our outflow of funds since many Malaysians have been going to their countries to study medicines and other courses in the past.  We can import their expertise of highly qualified academicians to teach our people and reduce the brain drain.  Who knows, we can learn to build rockets,space shuttle and stations from the Chinese to send our Angkasawan (Malaysian Astronaut) to the Moon and orbit the Earth and Mars instead of riding on a Russian rocket while we can learn from the Indians on computer programming and cow farming (see the you tube here contributed by PeteMcCormack2)?

Is this just my One Malaysia ideal dream and will remain a dream till the cow come home?
What is your say, PM  Y.A.B. DATO' SRI HJ. MOHD. NAJIB BIN TUN HAJI ABDUL RAZAK
PRIME MINISTER, MINISTER OF FINANCE and his deputy,  Y.A.B. TAN SRI DATO' HAJI MUHYIDDIN BIN MOHD. YASSIN
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, MINISTER OF EDUCATION?

You may be interested to learn a little information from the link here to Matrade's statistics on our Malaysia's Trade Performance from January  to September 2011.

Here is a resource link to Center for International Development at Harvard University for your reading.

Another resources from Centre for Malaysia Chinese Studies

Notice for the public

Canteen

show classroom

E-learning facility at classroom

Lion Dance at Ground breaking ceremony

VVIPs including Dato Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen & Datuk Ir Dr Wee Ka Siong at the ground breaking ceremony

From Jln Kota Permai going  to Jln Song Ban Kheng

Side view from Kota Permai where the work in progress

The assembly hall on the 1st floor of the administration block

Wooden parquet floor for the stage

The assembly hall

Library area

Boys washroom

Girls washroom

A view from the school towards Kota Permai

8TV Fun Party Time at Auto-City, Juru, Penang

8TV is having Fun Party Time at Auto-City with its team of Stars and Emcees.  The time is 8.00pm on Sunday 30 October, 2011.  See you there.

24 HoursTaxi Service to Hatyai, Thailand from Butterworth, Penang,Malaysia

When you are visiting Penang and have a desire to go up North to cross the border, you can take a 24 hours taxi service to Hatyai, in Southern Thailand by calling this hot-line number 604 3316 911.  604 is the country and area code for Northern region of Malaysia.

It has been many years since the last trip to Thailand.  You can take a KTM train to Hatyai and Bangkok from Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.  However, the train trip frequency is limited. So you may want to opt for the 24 hours taxi service if you are on the rush and have the budget, and  have 2 to 3 travel buddies to share the taxi fare.  You can also arrange for a return trip with the taxi.  There are other chartered van and mini-bus or coach services to bring you to your destinations in Thailand from Penang and Butterworth if you care to check with the local tour and travel agencies. 

The estimated traveling time or journey by taxi from Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia to Hatyai, Southern Thailand or vice versa including clearance and Customs and Immigrations should be within 3 to 4 hours on normal weekdays and weekends.  Remember to dial 604 3316 and the last three digit of the phone number is 911. 604 3316 911

Sunset at Penang, Malaysia Today

Having a great time relaxing during these festive holidays?  Why not head to the park with your loved ones near Taman Wira at Telok Air Tawar at Seberang Perai Utara between 7.00pm to 7.45pm for a stroll along the seafront facing the sea and Penang Island.  You can catch a beautiful sunset like the one captured on the pictures below.

 You can see the northernmost tip of Georgetown on the left of the sun while it goes down on the horizon beyond the Strait of Malacca.

 The beach front on this part of the mainland is polluted due to the soil erosion as can been seen from the mud that covered the sandy beach and the drains that flowed into the sea.  The pollution was brought about especially by reclaims of lands and deepening of the channel for the construction and expansion of the North Butterworth Containers Terminal project by the Penang Port.

 You can access to this place through Taman Robina too.  There is a children playground for the kids.  There are a few hawkers stalls selling drinks and snacks.  It is rather sad when you see the leftovers of the packaging materials such as plastic bags, straws and empty plastic bottles and drink cans being left strewn all over the places by the irresponsible visitors instead of dumping it at the rubbish bins.

 The sun is blocked by the clouds.  So you cannot see it touching the horizon for the day. Have to come again and hope for a clear sky on the next visit.

 Here are some beautiful Pine trees lining the beach front at Telok Air Tawar, Butterworth next to the Royal Malasian Air Force (RMAF) and formerly Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) staff quarters which is towards the right of the above picture.

 The Butterworth channel is where you can cross over to Georgetown by Ferry at the Butterworth Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry Terminal on the mainland to the Raja Tun Sir Uda Ferry Terminal at Penang Island.  By the way, the ferry terminal at Weld Quay, Georgetown is named after our Malaysian statesman Raja Tun Sir Uda who is the grandfather of renowned Malaysian political blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK).  His blog is Malaysia Today.

 The Penang Island as seen from the picture here looks like a body of a turtle with its head lying on the north which is on the right.

 The sun just disappeared behind the clouds and beyond the horizon with the colors in the sky change hue

The North Butterworth Container Terminal of Penang Port is seen here brightly lit up and jutting into the Butterworth Channel as it loads and unloads containers to and from ships calling at the port.  It is one of the money making machines for the Penang State coffer.  
View Sunset at Telok Air Tawar in a larger map

QEII, Penang, Malaysia - On The Floor

Hi Readers,

Here are the videos captured at QEII, Penang recently for your entertainment. On the floor and let us party. So if you are in Penang for holidays, do have a great party time at you know where...

Push Push Dance anyone?

So you think you can dance?

 

You can dance the Hindi Bollywood style or you can do the Arabian belly dance.  Best of all, you can do Salsa On The Floor like Jennifer Lopez.

Hungry Ghost Roadshow Penang Idol sings out of tune at Church Street Ghaut

Well, here is one very sporting Penang Idol wannabe singing out of tune a golden oldie love song duet with the pretty and lovely lady singer like Paula Abdul of 916 Entertainment at the Hungry Ghosts Festival at Church Street Ghaut, Penang. Like the panel judges, we the Penang Simons(Simon Fuller the creator of American Idol and Simon Cowell) and local Paula Abdul voted out (XXX) and censored him.

By the way, if you are wondering why the streets name in Penang have so many Ghats which are spelt as Ghaut in English or Gat in the local Malay language such as Macallum Street Ghaut, China Street Ghaut, Acheen Street Ghaut and Chulia Street Ghaut. you can learn from List of Penang Streets Names

So the Ghaut or Gat is actually GHAT as you will know that Penang rich heritage can be traced to the Bengali and Gujarati from Indian Origins who were the early traders and migrants who came to Penang, Malaysia through the port in Penang Island, especially at Port Weld. These Ghats can be mostly found to line across the Weld Quay Road (or the local name Jalan Pengkalan Weld) as these are the steps leading to the seafronts for the disembarkation to the island for the ships and boats that called at the port with their cargoes and spices especially during the merchant East India Company reign in the South East Asian Regions in the 1600s.  Below is the little definition of ghat provided by Wikipedia.

As used in many parts of South Asia, the term ghat (Bengali: ঘাট ghaţ, Hindi: घाट "steps") refers to a series of steps leading down to a water body, usually a holy river. In Bengali-speaking regions, this set of stairs can lead down to something as small as a pond or as large as a major river.

For a little bit more of history of British India, I found this blog by Mr Vinay Lal very interesting for your reading pleasure and adventure into the Indian History, Cultures, politics and religions.Thank you Mr Vinay Lal.


So here Bigfoothill set sailed to Penang Island from Bukit Mertajam on the mainland of Malaya(old name for Peninsular Malaysia) and landed out of tune with the singers and sank steps into Church Street Ghat in my automobile driven through the Penang Bridge which was once being one of the longest bridges in South East Asia.

With so many ghosts parties in Penang during this Seventh Lunar Month of the Chinese Calendar, like the one nearby QEII  at Church Street Ghaut, let us go to Churches in and around Penang on Sundays to be with the Holy Ghost.

Lady's Nights every Friday at QEII Penang

Okay this place was really jammed up when it was newly opened a few year ago.  It is still the happening place in Georgetown, Penang today.  Come Friday nights, you will have a great fun in the companies of friendly pretty ladies from Penang at QEII as it is TGIF like Ketty Perry singing.  It is Ladies' Night every Friday.

The foods and drinks served have received many appraisals from blogs and visitors.  I personally liked their pizzas which are baked in traditional bricks oven and heat with fire from woods.  If you are hungry like the Hungry Ghosts in Penang, head to QEII for dinner as they do have some good foods in the menu for you to pick.

The price of the F & B are steep. Someone commented it is over-priced.  If you have the budget to splash on your loved ones on a special occasion, for a noisy evening amidst the changing sky colors and the shimmering lights reflected on the sea across the Channel as the Sun goes down, go ahead to dock your boat at Tanjung Marina or park your car right at the front stairway of QEII along Weld Quay and have a romantic date and enjoy the scenery of beautiful reflection on the waters, clouds, the Moon and Stars and Ladies Yeah...Yeah ..Yeah like Chris Brown. You can rock on the sofa seats like the love boats and yachts undulating over the waves parked next to it.

Don't like paying for pricey parking fee at free parking spot at night and paying to the "private" car parking attendants who "look after" your car, drive you car over to the opposite public meter parking where it is free after 5pm and park at you own risks.  In case you do not want to be drunk walking across the road after a fun night, please park in front but do not drunk driving if you had too many glasses down and after discharging it into the sea through its toilet.


Just to share with you the videos shot with my NOKIA E72 mobile phone video camera for your entertainment

Penang Roadshow - Hungry Ghost Festival

Almost everywhere in Georgetown, Penang and the suburbs including Bukit Mertajam on the mainland where there are Chinese Taoist Temples, these are the places you can drop by to catch a  Penang Roadshow concert where pretty and sexy lady singers wriggling and dancing while singing their favorite and popularly requested songs for the audience.  They have quite a wide range of repertoire where one moment they sing you a Mandarin song followed by an English song and then a Hokkien song and even a Malay song.  I remember once there was this Roadshow concert at nearby temple celebration, I heard the singer sang a Lady Gaga's famous song "Poker Face" and then went on to render a popular romantic Hindi song "Tum pah Se Ayers" and even dressed up as much like the famous singing idols.

Well this time the Roadshow is at nearby the Central Business District of Georgetown Penang and by the roadside along Church Street Ghat or "Gat Lebuh Gereja" which coincidentally is nearby Chartis Place building which is the Penang branch office of Chartis Malaysia Insurance Berhad, a leading General Insurance company.  Not far from that Penang Roadshow concert is QEII the hottest and happenings place named after the Queen Elizabeth II similar to the infamous ship at Penang.

The Roadshow is held annually  for the Hungry Ghosts "presumably the lost souls" inhabited there to appease them since heritage and the days of the British India where there were many traders and migrants from the Easts, especially from China provinces such as Canton or Guanzhou, Xiamen (where most of our ancestors of Penang Hokkiens people originated), Shanghai, Hainan Island and many other places and from the West, especially from Ceylon or present day Sri Langka, India, East Pakistan(Bangladesh), and West Pakistan (Pakistan of today) and the Arabs from the Middle Easts and the Persians and Turkish.  Of course, the Whites from the far far away Europe such as British, Portuguese, Dutch and Romans. So many of our forefathers and "great-great grandmothers" must have labored very hard to make Penang the Pearl of Orient and an important marketplace and port that it once belong to part of the Strait Settlements together with Malacca and Singapore(before Singapore became a Republic and independence from Malaysia on August 9, 1965) during the British Empire.  You will probably want to check out the history of Penang from the museum archives for this place which is also founded by Captain Francis Light.  I love to study the subject history at school during my primary and lower school days as I am fascinated by the heroic sacrifices and wars and the conquests by Warriors and Kings, and, bravery and romantic Queens from France (Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette). I belief the history books me and my schoolmates read long long ago have been updated with more current local famous names as it is part of nationalists pride and an attempt to give credits to the so-called Malaysians.  I am not arguing about who deserved to have their names on the streets and bridges but rather it is important to keep our heritage (Penang is now listed under UNESCO World Heritage Sites together with Malacca) and to help us residents to receive our snail mails and to give directions to those foreign and local tourists and locals as to how to get from one place to another in Penang for visiting famous tourist spots or savoring famous Penang Foods.

I believe the existing streets' original names should be retained while the new roads and avenues can be used to name after the famous and very important Malaysians instead of petty politicking by politicians.  There are so many of our roads and avenues which are now named after fruits, animals, flowers, trees and what not including alphanumeric such as PJ for Pauh Jaya and not the Selangor PJ for Petaling Jaya or even SS2(Secret Service?) or Starhill in KL (Kuala Lumpur the federal capital for Malaysia) which we who grown up through the past 50 years and generations knew the place as Bukit Bintang ( Bukit is Malay word for Hill while Bintang for Star).  So you want to be famous and have your name, image icon engraved on Bintang Walk with  five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks at Bukit Bintang, KL which is like the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame?

When we ordinary folks have a stone to mark your demise, it is just a grave stone in the cemetery with your name and your family linage inscribed on it. Your were just a set of beginning numbers (Date of Birth) and a dash - followed by another ending numbers (Date of Departure). Your name has no distinguished Order of the BE (OBE) or the Malaysian Titles of Honor conferred by the Royal Highness on it  and is not named with those that had theirs on streets nor Walk of Fame.  What legacy have you left for your family if you have not left any for the state or country or the world?

So let me get to the Bpoint here, the Hungry Ghost Festivals are for those souls with nameless stones, streets or walks, who labored and fought a good fight before they laid underground in green pastures or their ashes strewn into the seas.  So be entertained and may their souls rest in peace(R.I.P). Those living souls are generous and shared the worldly entertainments in the form of Chinese Operas, Puppets shows or Live Concerts like Penang Roadshows to make peace with them and also offered prayers.

God Bless You.

On the Floor - Dancing with Hungry Ghosts or Pretty Singer

As the month of August 2011 is auspicious in Muslim calendar as it coincides with the fasting month of Ramadan.  It is also the month which coincided with the Hungry Ghosts Festival which is the Seventh Lunar Month on the Chinese calendar. The biggest day of the Seventh Lunar Month in Chinese Calendar is on the 15th Day where the moon is full and bright.  It falls on the August 14, 2011.   There was a street procession held by the Hindu temples around Bukit Mertajam recently as I was passing one of the roads in town which was already famous for the daily traffic jams due to the ongoing Railway Double Tracking project for electric trains and roads realignments. 

If you are visiting Penang, Malaysia, you will see lots of festivals and events being held almost every evening at most places of worship.  The streets are lined with colorful flags which were erected by the local community to claim the territory for the ghosts, along with the Malaysia National flags.  Anyway, August is also the "Merdeka"(Meaning Independence) month where Malaysia is celebrating its Independence day on August 31 every year as it got its independence from the British Empire in 1957.  Malaysia was then known as Malaya.

I remember my childhood days during the annual Hungry Ghost Festival month where our folks warned us not to wander out in the dark and at night because the ghosts are being released from Hades or Hell and are on the prowl for foods and victims who are unlucky or are in the poor state of health or are prone to mishaps and accidents.  I do not really understand the significance of the prayers and burning of incenses, candles, papers and giant fierce looking effigies made of papers pasted on bamboo sticks frames of the Gatekeeper of Hades or Hell.

A child, we get excited as this is the time where the temples are usually having Traditional Chinese Opera shows in the 1960's and having Chinese Songs and comedy sketches at the Concerts later in the 1970's onwards on temporary stage build on wooden stilts or on empty petrol barrels.  There are many ice-creams vendors, lollipop candy seller and other food stalls at the temple areas.  There are also toys being sold or it being "sold" through buying tickets which we then pry open to match its numbers with the prize toys winning numbers.  Gone were the days where we would also hop from rows of wooden benches as we play around it while the folks would sit at the benches to watch the Opera shows which were held twice daily in the afternoon after lunch hours and in the evening till late midnights.

Mind you, the 1970's were more fun as the naughty boys would go underneath the stage to steal a peek at the actors and singers changing their attires and outfits. The peeping toms were chased away by the caretakers or the leaders of the local temples. Once, a bunch of us went to the oldest cinema in Kangar, Perlis known as Empire theater immediately after school lessons in the afternoon.  The price of  a ticket for a seat at the front rows class was only 60 cents then. We watched a Hong Kong production movie starring David Chiang and Ti-Lung and other Co-stars which is about the Hungry Ghosts haunting an old village in China and they came out annually to kill the local folks until these heroes fought and killed off all the Hungry Ghosts. The village became peaceful and happy ever after.  Know what? We were scared till we screamed and hid under the row of seats in front of us or cover our eyes with both hands when the scenes shown Devilish Ghosts haunt the folks and killed the villagers.  Later, we guys had fun by playing and acting out the roles  like in the movie whenever we chatted and talked during school recesses. That was so long ago my friends.

Now the stage shows in modern Hungry Ghosts Festival celebrations are equipped with latest laser and LED lights and sound systems with deejays playing with discs and digital media players to entertain the Hungry Ghosts and worshipers thronging the temples and floors. The singers are young and energetic. They can dance like Lady Gaga or Jennifer Lopez. The folks are having good time too.

Here are some lively on the floor but not so sexy entertainments for the "Hungry Ghosts" to feast "Hungry "Eyes and Souls" to share with you in case you did not wander out at nights in Penang lately. Do not worry, be happy. Do not fear ghosts but fear God, please.

Working or relaxing at Penang Island

Rest and Relax

Angling and relax

TV3 helicopter flying low near E & O Hotel seafront

If you are in Penang and after a hard day's work, you can find a nice spot like here near the E & O Hotel to relax and unwind.  Bring your sporting gears and go for a jog near the Esplanade or just pack you fishing gears, get some baits like prawns and fish and you are ready for some nice catch.  Here under the tree shade, you can sit at the edge and catch the sun going down near the Tanjong Tokong seaside.

Do watch out for surprise aerobatic show from the local TV3 station helicopter crew who fly pass E & O Hotel and nearby areas once in a while.  This is no Hawaii Five O stunt. 

Do work hard and let your heart out. Have a great day with five star rest and relax spots by the sea when you are in Penang.