Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Something good this way comes

(Smiling, friendly, helpful. The new face of the Polis Diraja Malaysia? Dare we live in hope?)

Photo from lamanweb resmi PDRM




Those Polis Diraja Malaysia flers have been kena-ed so many times in the past few months I am sure their heads are spinning la. Everybody also want to have them strung up. Commission after commission set up to make them tow the line and do their jobs properly. Many cynical Malaysians were sceptical about how effective all this attention and all those commissions would be. Not many held out much hope. But I am pleased to tell you about this incident which may prove that those flers may actually be trying to get their act together. Finally.

For the past couple of weeks I have been noticing this bright orange tent on a hill slope near where I live. Some people had set up tent complete with washing hanging outside to dry. Sometimes smoke from a cooking fire maybe can be seen rising into the air. Sometimes a lorry would be parked outside the tent. Something was going on. But there was no sign or anything to tell anyone what was going on behind the canvass. So today, I decided to make use of the Rakan Cop phone number that's been flashed up on those ITIS lightboards that have sprouted all over the city. I called 03 21159999. A man answered and when I spoke English he didn't miss a beat and answered me in perfect English. He listened to my story and took down the details including my handphone number and promised that he would look into the matter. Half an hour later I received a call from the Ampang police station. This time this cop wasn't so English literate and spoke in Bahasa with a tone that was just short of irritation. But he said that the police had done a check on my report and he informed me that the tent was set up by some people who were doing some sort of ground engineering check for someone who planned to build a house near that piece of land. My Bahasa wasn't good enough to understand the full explanation he offered so I am still puzzled as to where and when this intended building was going to take place. The hill slope where the tent was, was on the wrong side of the road from where there were housing lots allocated. The area was also at the base of a very steep slope in location which was prone to landslides. Perhaps it's another Malaysian who is foolhardy enough to take on Mother Nature again. Quite possible. After all, the area is under the purview of MPAJ and we all know what their record is concerning approval for sliding houses and apartments.

Anyway, I am digressing. So something good is happening with the polis flers. Syabas! I must say this is the most pleasant experience I've had calling a police phone number. Great service. With a smile even.

Now what we all should do is to help these flers take it one step further. Call them about anything suspicious or wrong that you see. Get answers. Be concerned. Report suspicious characters in your neighbourhood. Report bad and dangerous drivers. The police now seem willing to listen and help. And now it's our duty to help them do their jobs.

20 comments:

Egghead said...

you're absolutely right!
we should always give credits when credits are due :)

Anonymous said...

Patrick, suddenly read something positive about our PDRM... still abit disoriented. But I think I will get used to it IF more good news about PDRM are coming... fingers crossed

Anonymous said...

well...let's hope this stays on and not ended up like the chinese phrase "new toilet fragrance for 3 days". ;p

FooDcrazEE said...

hangat hangat tahi ayam ? lets hope our culture change frmo tidak apa to something better

patrickteoh said...

A few years ago, Ampraxius? Maybe you should give them another chance today. I've had the same kind of experience as well. But yesterday's experience was a total pleasant surprise.

Hey jt, it will stay if WE make it stay. So do our bit la.

Anonymous said...

Went to the police station a few years ago to make a complaint on my neighbour who was blasting his hi-fi at top volume. Actually, my mom wanted me to drive her there since the loud noise was driving her crazy and repeated appeals to the neighbour were ignored. The policeman on duty informed us that they don't handle domestic squabbles, and that it's only against the law if the loud noise was heard after 12 am. However, at the insistence of my mom, they promised to send someone over to "advise" the neighbour to tone down. Later that night, 2 guys on patrol came over and chit chatted with the neighbour. It wasn't really effective but hey, at least they kept to their word.

Anonymous said...

hey patrick, my brother discover something very funny...

This is a story regarding the VI (Victorian institution) who "won" the "gold award" in "international level" band competition in 2005, Holland..

There is an article made by berita harian, this is the article


5th AUGUST FRIDAY 2005
"Pancaragam masih dinilai ikut ketenteraan"



PASUKAN pancaragam Sekolah Menengah Victoria Institution (VI) dan Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Perempuan Methodist (MGS) Kuantan baru-baru ini berjaya membuat persembahan bercorak lokal (kompang, tarian asli) sambil menggarap ciri-ciri global (colour guards dan formasi berurutan) di World Music Competition (WMC) di Belanda.
SMK Victoria mampu bersaing dengan pancaragam peringkat dunia dan berjaya mendapat tempat kedua dalam kategori visual dan mendapat pingat emas dalam pertandingan berkenaan.

Yang peliknya mengapakah pancaragam VI ketika beraksi di Pertandingan Pancaragam Sekolah-sekolah Menengah Malaysia ke-11 di Pulau Pinang hanya mampu mendapat tempat ketiga iaitu pingat gangsa?

Hal ini bukan kali pertama berlaku tetapi sudah lima tahun berturut-turut mereka layak merangkul pingat emas pada pertandingan antarabangsa tetapi tidak layak mendapat pingat emas di tanah air sendiri.

Ada kemungkinan pengadil tempatan masih menggunakan sistem pancaragam ala ketenteraan yang menitikberatkan muzik dan kurang tumpuan kepada formasi berkawad, persembahan terbaik, kekesanan visual dan kemahiran menghiburkan penonton.

Sampai bilakah kita mesti menggunakan sistem ketenteraan ini? Kita sudah lama ketinggalan walhal dalam bidang industri dan pengurusan kita mengaplikasikan piawaian antarabangsa seperti ISO.

Anak-anak kita pada peringkat sekolah sewajarnya didedahkan dengan standard antarabangsa lebih awal.

Apa yang ketara penganjur tidak melantik hakim yang mahir dengan sistem yang digunakan pada peringkat antarabangsa ini.

Sebelum ini ada cubaan untuk membawa masuk pengaruh ‘show band’ atau ‘drum corps’ mendapat tentangan daripada pihak tertentu.



SOURCE : Berita Harian






THEN, my lovely brother discovered something very funny


We found another article from the star, dated at 5th of Au
29th July 2005, that sounds

VI brass band wins gold, silver at global meet



KUALA LUMPUR: The boys from Victoria Institution here (VI) did Malaysia proud when they brought home a gold and a silver medal from the World Marching Show in the Netherlands recently.

The VI brass band glittered to the top in the SHOW CATEGORY and gave another sterling performance to take the silver in the MARCHING CATEGORY, stealing the judges' hearts with a medley that included Tanah Pusaka, Can-Can, Yankee Doodle, Peter Loo, Speak Up Mumbo and Fall.

“It was just great – the environment was different, the crowd was different; it was great!” said drum major Suphasah Boonratana, 17, here yesterday.

Twelve-year-old Mohamad Naquiddin Mohamad Nordin said he felt nervous, excited and a little scared before the event.

Now, all he felt was pride, he said.

Band instructors Shamsul Zaman and Hezrul Hizham, both former band members, said they were happy with the boys' performance in the Netherlands.

“It's all due to good planning and hard training,” said Hezrul.

The band began training early this year and intensified practices with daily training from 8am to 10pm in the last two weeks before the competition.

Parents, in the meantime, formed a Booster Club to help raise funds for their children to go for the competition.

“We became their cheerleaders,” said a parent who did not want to be named.





Had you found the trick behind? hehe
The VI merely won a gold medal in on of the "CATEGORY" (to obtain a gold medal, you need to have a mark more than 80 for that actegory. that's all! which mean you can have seven, eight gold medal holder for a same category "source from www.voteband.net"

The "REAL CHAMPION" for the competition .... no no no, the top ten of the competition are listed here

http://www.dci.org/scores/recap_v2.cfm?event_id=6d8f68ce-b2f3-450b-86b3-88fe2ee5c8da

If the berita harian wartawan is so sure that the "gold medal" is something that is soo "prestigious", why isn't Victorian Institution's name inside the "top ten" list of the competition?

conclusion..

Berita Harian wartawan of that article did not do his or her homework... hehe

misleading!!! misleading!!!

Anonymous said...

sorry patrick, can't help sharing this with you... can't find a place to acknowlege you so i posted here.. hope you're not angry with it!! hehe

regards
zee kin

wani said...

zee kin,
isn't that what press in malaysia do well ( misleading, i mean)? not really surprised lah, if they can tell us the lies about the "big" things, hujung jari je lying to public about the small things.

Anonymous said...

hi,

my friend told me that he called the police while the robbers were still ransacking his car in his front porch but the policeman just told him to come to the station later n file a report. this happened a couple of months back.
I really hope you're right n they've changed.

zack

adiba said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
adiba said...

pdrm does suck sometimes

but what the hell...

people change rite?

Anonymous said...

hmm...but we must be careful that we don't end up crying wolf and make the police complacenet on checkin up on the records..

as for Zee Kin, i do hope that you get your facts straight. The website you gave is for Drum Corps International which is a competition in the US alone and does not involve corps from other countries...so non of the bands are refelcted there.
VI took part in teh World Music Competition (WMC) held in kergkrade (sp?) Netherlands last year. The WMC is a competition held every 4 years. you are right tho that VI did not win top honours tho it was ranked gold. That is quite an achievement considering the amount of competition from the world over.
They were however, top 20.

sorry i'm just a fan of the malaysian band scene and watned to point this out. malaysian band scene is still lacking as compared to our regional neighbours like thailand and indonesia and definitely singapore. here's the link for results

http://www.wmc.nl/site/index.php?lng=e

Helen said...

Hi Patrick

I admit I've not been to their site, but, that pic u posted is really nice. I'll keep a lookout if I ever happen to see her face in any of our local ad. :-P

I'm not saying all of them are useless, but, I've seen some of them at work...... vomit blood. 2 weeks ago, hubby and i were happily dining in a local restaurant when there was a loud commotion outside. I can see through the glass door, one guy was holding a parang, waving it around. This guy then came into our makan place and all hell broke loose. People were scared. Luckily this guy got distracted by somebody outside, and once again, he stepped out. (he was bleeding, so, I guess he got into a fight with somebody)The restaurant owner quickly called the police.
15 mins later, 2 policemen came in motorbike. (maybe bcos of the petrol price..) Hubby and I (and all those folks in the restaurant) saw this guy putting away the parang inside the boot of his parked car. Policeman went to talk to the man and shoulder patting started. You pat my shoulder, I pat your shoulder. WTF?? Smiles were then exchanged... niamah, if u don't know better, you'll think there's a romance blooming somewhere!

After 10 mins of foreplay, the police wanted to leave. I, being 8-poh went and spoke to the police. I told him straight out there's a parang inside the boot of his car. The police nod his head and did nothing. Sorry lar... no search... or maybe they want to wait for CSI team??

U know what? They left. The guy was still there....drunk , and the parang is still in his car boot. Hubby and I quickly finish our dinner and just as I was about to leave, somebody came into the restaurant and told the boss, that parang man had called for backup. I looked, and there was at least 8-10 guys sitting opposite the restaurant.... obviously not happy the boss called the cops.

Hubby and I quickly left.

Anonymous said...

dear kelvin, sorry for the mistake...

well even though they are in top twenty, it doesn't means that they deserve the championship in malaysian level.

I was purely pointing my fingers at the reporter, who critised the judgement of the national band competition, THAT, if VI can make a gold medal in "international level", why can't they be the champion within the nation?

They criticed the judges, and doubted the system, without knowing the fact that VI does not deserve the championship.

If you watched the competition, and follow it every year, you should know that the best team is still Keat Hwa , Sultanah Asma from kedah, or Nam Hwa, which was the first runnerup last year. They deserve the prestigious "champion", NOT VI. In terms of quality, VI is still far from keat hwa or sultanah asma. Sultanah Asma won the overall CHAMPIONSHIP in an international competition two years ago. That is not a gold medal, but is the overall championship. Keat Haw won the second runnerup in a band competition in SPAIN four or five years ago. This ensured their true quality, that they deserve the top 3 places in international level.

VI merely make it in certain categories for one gold medal and one silver medal, and the REPORTER (the subject i am talking about), start to doubt other school's qualification for getting champion. What is this MAN? Apparently the reporter had made a mistake , and having a false thought that the gold medal is resembling "champion", which in fact they didn't even make it to the top ten.

Why using the media to CRITIC things that is not rational?

nakedwriter said...

FINALLY!!... hehhee

nice blog, Mr. Teoh. I went for your Homecoming too. Nice! Any newer productions?

sherrina said...

helen,
that's a hell scary experience. If I was there....I'll either quietly run through the kitchen or wet in my pants. That's damn scary. What if the crazy guy happily slashed here and there? Huwaa...there's so many morons in the city!!!!

Helen said...

sherrina - Funny... when I was there, everything seemed so surreal. I seriously did not know what to do... Now I understand why when we watch movies and some dumb gal stood there and watch while someone got slayed?? It could happen. lol

Anonymous said...

You know what?
Last year the house of a friend's mother who was outstation was broken into. When my friend returned to the house, she found it ransacked, sat down for a while at a loss, then decided to go report it to the police. What they told her was they could not take a report as it was her mother, not her, who owned the house. Could not take a report??? It was not until later when she called a VIP for help who sent a bodyguard over with her to the police station that they agreed to take the report. They also claimed it was a trainee officer who made that "mistake". But my friend said that it was a middle aged officer with knots of rank.

On another note, there was an accident in front of my house which is on a main road. We called the ambulance, and were stunned by this question: Is the victim Malay or Chinese? Draw your own conclusions.

Anonymous said...

zee kin, why so serious?