I take bus to KL very often. One bus that detours to Seremban Sentral each time is StarMart from Beach Road. You can buy the tickets online, go to busonline website.

Hope you find this funny....the central charater is supposed to be a Malaysian!

The Blind Date Part 1

This election is a crucial one which will shape the destiny of Malaysia for the years to come. Every vote counts. I strongly urge registered voters to exercise your right to vote.

I've already got my tickets go back to vote back an ex-SPR, back to parliament. 😀

Singapore police probe six Malaysians over voting drive



Six Malaysians are under investigation in Singapore after initiating a campaign urging fellow Malaysians there to return home to vote in the 13th general election.

They were requested to go to a police station as they did not have a permit.

One participant, Liew Sze Ping, said that a dozen of them had begun their campaign yesterday at 10am in crowded areas near Bugis Street and Tampines.

Liew said those in the group had walked about quietly along pavements, carrying posters and placards, without disturbing the public order.

They only responded when receiving enquiries, Liew, who is the group’s representative. Other participants refused to be named.

Liew said police personnel had approached them about 4pm, requesting them to go to a police station to assist in investigations.

They were told that they were being investigated under the Public Order Act which states that those wishing to advocate any campaign or idea must get a permit in advance from the police.

Liew stressed that their action is for a good and noble cause – to help by persuading Malaysians in Singapore to return home and vote on May 5.

A large number of Malaysians work in Singapore, and they could have a significant impact on the election results if they vote.

It is learnt that bus and air tickets from Singapore to various towns in Malaysia are fast selling out.

http://www.freemalaysiakini2.com/?p=76056

Aeroline and First Coach

I am not sure your reason for wanting a place that allows you to cook. In Sg, food at food courts is reasonably priced and choices are plenty. Having a stove to cook instant noodles and a microwave oven to heat up food should be sufficient. Cooking for a single person or two persons is not that easy, when the amount you cook will most likely be more than one meal.

I did cook when I was based in Jakarta but not in Sg, as I didn't really like their run of the mill street or restaurant food and that is only at most twice a week....each cooking session can last me for 3 meals! One thing about cooking on your own is that you need to consider the time to prepare and cook. So if your work hours are long, you may not want to cook.

For M'sia PE, pls register as a graduate engineer first with the Board of Engineers Malaysia or they will not recognise all experience gained before your registration...even my PE (CEng) obtained when I was working in the land of our colonial master was not recognised since I did not register with them first.

As for Singapore PEB, they publish recognised degrees. If you do not have one of these, you will need to get a recognised Masters. Best to drop a note to Singapore PEB to confirm.

The big Q 'Why do you want to be a PE?' If you want to climb the ladder within consulting engineering, PUB, LTA, etc. environment, perhaps it will be a pre-requisite to move up. Or do you want to be your own boss as a self employed consulting engineer?

Pls do not think also that after getting the PE your pay package will sky rocket. If it is for self achievement, sure...go for it.

This post has been edited by hokin: Apr 24 2013, 10:17 PM

Looks like traffic at Woodlands is still light into Malaysia.

LTA camera grab at Woodland Checkpoint:


Same with Tuas:


Anyone crossing into Malaysia by road (bus or car), perhaps you can advise first hand experience of the traffic and immigration counters at the Tuas and Woodlands and the N/S Expressway during the course of the day.

Have a good day ahead to all.

I want to add my 2 cents on salaries and getting a job in Sg.

My observations:

This first set of observations should be universal throughout the world:
a) Each country will have its pay scale / range for different roles and professions, be it starting salaries for graduates or experienced hire, so one cannot compare salaries for same position / role country to country;
b) If you have a skill that is highly sought after, you get a premium compared to someone else who does not have your skill;
c) If you hold a good degree from top schools / universities, you will most likely get called for an interview and offered a job….provided if you are not too cocky or a show off or be able to carry yourself well and articulate your responses well;
d) Inter-personal skills (and good English skills) plays a big part on how one progresses in your career, vis-à-vis salary;

This second set of observations are Singapore centric:
a) Civil service and statutory bodies, LTA, PUB, NEA, etc., offers competitive salaries – priority goes to Singaporeans thou’. Teachers are well paid here, I was told fresh grads during training can get between SGD3-3.5K;
b) Start-ups and SMEs pay scale is usually at the lower end of the spectrum compared to MNCs;
c) Employers preferred grads from Singapore institutions of higher learning and are willing to pay higher compared to someone with regional obtained degrees / diplomas.
d) You are competing with talents from whole of Asia, from India to China and closer to home, from the region, from Myanmar to Philippines…and I can tell you the ones I have encountered from this region, a great number can speak better English and carry themselves better than Malaysians! The only advantage is perhaps we are closest in relation to culture to Singapore and perhaps some can speak Mandarin and BM…apart from these, you are just any foreign talent!


My observations are based on my short 1.5 yrs here and I am here not because I came down to cari kerja but on a company reassignment, so my observations may be skewed. Therefore I do stand to be corrected.

Woodlands causeway sudah jam.....

Crossed Tuas chk point now no jam.

This post has been edited by hokin: May 3 2013, 07:39 PM

Got back to KL already. Malaysia immigration sticky but moving. N/S expressway was no worse than usual, i.e., good.

Safe travels to the rest & happy voting.

This post has been edited by hokin: May 4 2013, 01:02 AM

Shared all your sentiments.

Expect more of the same crap from the ruling coalition. BN is definitely no Better Nation, more like Battered Nation.

This post has been edited by hokin: May 6 2013, 09:26 AM

What do you mean? You want to 'migrate' to Singapore to work? or do you want to work in Malaysia for a Singapore based company?

Anwar said he will address the nation tomorrow.

I go back every weekend when I am not travelling (hence I cannot join you all for your gatherings) and there are around 10-15 that I know / noticed who does that or at least travel every forthnightly.

As to the Q asked as to 'What More Do the Chinese Want?'

The A is very simple and it is applicable to all Malaysians and not just to the Chinese only:

a) Equality / Fairness;
b) Transparency;
c) Integrity;
d) Meritocracy (within the context of the social contract and the Malaysian constitution).

When I was based out of KL and travel to Sg frequently I noticed all flights on Fri evenings out of Sg will be fully booked and same on Monday morning flights from KL to Sg also fully booked and when it touches down in Sg, everyone will rush out to go to work. When I am based in Jkt, it is the same, I have my regular flying kakis.

I also know of a friend who travels forthnightly from KL to Melbourne until he himself relocated to Melbourne.

Working and travelling within the region is very common.

I should have added 'Within the context of the social contract and Malaysian constitution' as I wrote for Meritocracy.

This post has been edited by hokin: May 7 2013, 04:32 PM

Tuan Sean
You have a strong opinion there.

I do not wish to go into a discourse on this topic of Social Contract. I can only said that the original intent of the Social Contract has been bastardised over the years and more so the introduction and implementation of the policies where our lap dogs component parties of BN just let the dominant party steam roll their introduction and implementation.

This leads to Qs, 'Who are we to blame?' and 'Why did we continue to give BN the 2/3 majority during the years it was bastardised?' The list of Qs goes on.

For the true intent of the Social Contract one needs to go back to the Reid Commission Report before the formation of Malaya. If I got it correct, the 'special position' of the Malays was never meant to be perpetual in the Reid Report. With the state of play, this looks like it will be perpetual, until such time in our history that there is no divide of race and creed.

I have political conscience at a very young age and have questioned the ‘unfairness’ of the system in our country.

Many have voted with their feet and made other countries their new homes. I have lived and worked in various countries, what I can say is that there is no where I feel more at home than our tanah air.

It is what it is in relation to the current situation but we must not lose hope, pray (if you are religious) and continue to work and struggle for justice and fairness.