Beckhams welcome their third son

February 21, 2005

LONDON (AP) -- Soccer star David Beckham's wife, Victoria, formerly known as Posh Spice, gave birth Sunday to the couple's third son, named Cruz.

Phone-driving in Malaysia

The use of handphones while driving has for many years been
a no-no yet many people are still doing it. The Star is today
highlighting the offence.

Chatty drivers get a wake-up call from police
BY PARVEEN GILL

KUALA LUMPUR: Although it is common knowledge that using
a handphone while driving is an offence, Malaysians do not seem
to be bothered. Despite the fact that most people know it is
dangerous, more are being caught talking on their cellphones
while driving.

The police issued more than 47,000 summonses for the offence
last year.

“It’s dangerous but people still do it,” said Internal Security and
Public Order Director Comm Datuk Othman Talib, who is also
in charge of the traffic division. And the excuses given by
offenders are often ludicrous, he said.

“They even claim that they were actually using battery-operated
shavers and not their phones. “Among the popular excuses is that
their bosses were calling them and they had no choice but to
answer the call or risk losingtheir jobs,” he told

The Star in an interview yesterday. He said most of the motorists
were caught in the cities and described the 14.6% increase over
the last two years as serious.

“This is startling because there have been no operations launched
against such offences but the number of summonses issued for
using cellphones while driving is higher than summonses issued
for overtaking on double lines.

“Last year, 47,247 people were caught using their cellphones
without their hands-free kits, while 31,173 were caught over-
taking on double lines,” he said, adding that an average of 129
people were caught using cellphones while driving daily.

Comm Othman added that some car drivers and motorcyclists
were ignorant of the law. For instance, pressing the answer button
on a hands-free kit to receive a call is an offence, he said.

Under the law, the moment a driver moves his limbs to do
something other than controlling the vehicle, the driver is deemed
notto have proper control of the vehicle.

“Even pulling over by the road shoulder or emergency lane to
answer a phone call is an offence.

“I would like to warn all motor vehicle users, who are fond of
talking on their cellphones without hands-free kits to obey the
law because policemen are not going to be lenient anymore,”
he added.

Road Safety Department director-general Suret Singh supported
Comm Othman’s view.

“Drivers and riders should never under any circumstances,
endanger their life and the lives of others,” said Suret Singh.
He added that research in Britain have proven that a split second
distraction is more often than not the cause of road accidents.

Common excuses given by cellphone offenders
"My boss called. I do not want to lose my job."
"I was telling the caller to call back."
"My family member is very sick."
"I forgot my hands-free kit."
"I was about to put on my hands-free kit."
"I was only holding the mobile phone."
"I was using my battery-operated shaver."
"I was digging my ear with the antenna."

Pre-war Kuala Lumpur in pictures

Kuala Lumpur is modern, colourful and probably a town-planner's
dream and it is but have you ever wondered how it used to be in
the old days even before some of us were born?

Some of the buildings that we know them today were actually of
different shapes or something else stood in its place. A view of the
old-day KL is testament that much progress has been made.

The traffic along Petaling Street is a great contrast between now
and then. Java Street, now Jalan Tun Perak, was in those days
already flood-prone. Make a trip back in time to pre-war Kuala Lumpur.
Enjoy.

Difference between men and women drivers

We just celebrated a public holiday and as usual lots of people
travelled outstation either to be with their family or on holiday.
The papers have been carrying articles of road accidents daily.
Do men cause more accidents or are women the culprits?

Here's an article I came across in a Clove pullout of The Star
paper on the difference between men and women drivers.
Happy reading.

If men are from Mars, women are from a planet where they
don't have roundabouts, according to new research into the
way the different sexes bump their cars.

Women drivers may not deserve most of the criticism that
comes their way, almost invariably from men. But they do
have problems when it comes to navigating the circular
junction, reports Martin Wainwright from London.

Data from 125,000 road accidents in Britain last year shows
that a disproportionate number of women come to grief
while trying to enter or leave roundabouts.

- Hovering or finally going at the wrong moment because of
an impatient (an probably male) tailgater is thought to
account for much of the difference.

- Women drivers also bump into things in car parks more
frequently than men (although this figure may be distorted
by the fact that they are more likely to undertake the
weekly shop.)

- Scrapes on pillars in underground office car parks are more
evenly divided (although there are some indications that
women are so careful not to scrape the car in one
neighbouring bay that they hit the car in the other.)

Male accidents in the survey were generally more serious
and likely to involve crashing into something head-on.

Aggressive driving, lack of finesse or poor judgment made
walls, trees and lamp-posts almost equally vulnerable to
men, but at little risk from women.

Tanzie Oliver, the managing director of elephant.co.uk, said:
"Women tend to be in more accidents at slower speeds,
where cars are close together, while men have more high-
speed accidents.

"Our research suggests the way men and women drive is
different. It appears that men drive faster and more
aggressively than women, while women are more easily
distracted than men behind the wheel of a car."
- Guardian News Service

Lunar New Year

Gong Xi Fa Cai to all Chinese celebrating the auspicious festival
of Lunar or Chinese New Year.

The Lunar New Year was celebrated on February 9 this year.
This was the first day of the lunar calendar and signifies the
onset of Spring. The festival is celebrated from fifteen days ending
with Chap Goh Mei on February 23. This last day is the Chinese
version of Valentine's Day. Back in the old days in China, this
Chap Goh Mei would see maidens (unmarried girls) throwing
oranges into the river with the hope of marrying off well. No idea
whether it's still practised today.

A lot of merry-making takes place these fifteen days and dinners
will not be complete without the raw fish dish (Yee Sang) where
the dish made up of sliced raw fish (signifying abundance) and
other shredded vegetables is tossed high up with chopsticks.
The activity is termed 'Loh Sang' which literally translates to
being prosperous thus it is done with much fervour.

The seventh day is auspicious as to the Chinese community,
this is man's birthday so restaurants would be booked well
in advance.

Folks of Hokkien dialect would celebrate the ninth day praying
to the God of the Heaven. The prayer would start on the night
of the eighth day.

The Lunar New Year is a fun time especially for children as
there is plenty of food to eat and money to be collected from
the red packets distributed by adults - parents, grandparents,
aunts and uncles, other relatives and friends.

May the year of the Rooster bring you happiness, health and
wealth.

A trip to the countryside

I had a blast visiting with my cousins who live in the countryside.
It's a really fun and eye-opening visit. My aunt has a noodle
factory and the noodles are sent to the whole-sale market early
every morning. I got to see how noodles are being made and
packed.

The place has an orchard too mostly durian, rambutan, mango,
guava and star-fruit trees and the fruits are being sent to the
whole-sale market daily. Looking at the fruits on the trees is
awesome.

There is also an animal farm in the vicinity where poultry such as
chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys are reared. There's also a
pig-sty full of fat, pink and black pigs and piglets. Sure reminded
me of the Australian movie 'Babe' - a story of the sheep-pig.

My cousins and I also spent some time fishing by the big stream
near the house. Fish as long as a foot were aplenty swimming in
the cool, fresh and clean water.

Like they say 'time flies when you're having a good time', and
soon it was time to leave. It was a most memorable visit to the
countryside.

Ten-pin bowling

Just took up ten-pin bowling and am enjoying it. It's a great sport
and can be addictive too. Only trouble is if you throw the ball
down the gutter, it's akin to throwing money down the drain and
it's not a cheap sport.

Before I went any further, thought I'd do a little research on the
game. Did you know that bowling has been around for ages?

Who then invented bowling?

Archaeologists have discovered bowling balls, pins and other
equipment in an Egyptian child's grave dating back to 5200 B.C.
In Germany, back in A.D. 200, village dances and celebrations
included a similar form of the game -- they rolled stones at nine
wooden clubs called kegles. Bowlers in Germany are sometimes
still referred to as "keglers." Bowling was
recorded in England as early as the 1100s. In the Netherlands
people took up a related game, and it was the Dutch who
introduced the sport to America in the 1600s -- it was called
Dutch pins. In what is now New York City, Dutch residents
bowled in a section of the city still known as "Bowling Green."

In America the game became very popular. But people began
to gamble on the sport, and for a while it was looked on as an
evil event. The state of Connecticut outlawed "bowling at nine
pins," as it was described. To get around that law, residents
added an additional pin and this was the beginning of the 10-pin
game played today! By the mid-1900s, the sport was once again
an accepted form of family recreation.

The American Bowling Congress, which was organized in 1895,
established standard playing rules and regulations.

Bowling has been termed a mental game as it involves having
the right mental attitude and confidence to do well. Unlike other
sports which involve a physical opponent, bowling is just between
you and the bowling pins.

RMB Cards can now be used outside China

Here's something useful I picked up from The Star dated Dec 1:

Holders of Chinese currency UnionPay banking cards can pay
for their shopping, dining, travelling and medical bills and
extract cash in local currency as of Monday in South Korea,
Thailand and Singapore, the first time ever for the card to be
used outside China.

Chinese banking insiders say the move represents another
substantial step China has taken to gradually open up its
financial system and improve the convertibility of the
Renminbi (RMB) or the Chinese currency.

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank,
said the move came after it allowed the cards to be used
in Hong Kong and Macau for payment of private
consumption over the past two years.

Under Chinese monetary rules, a holder of the UnionPay
card issued by the country's 29 commercial banks and
rural credit co-operatives can extract up to 5,000 yuan
(RM2,318) equivalent of local currency through ATMs
in the three countries, Hong Kong and Macau. - China Daily

A Must Read: SMS on Cellphone

Just received this from a friend. Everybody, be warned:

This lady has changed her habit on the handphone after
her handbag was stolen.

Her handbag which contained her mobile, credit card,
purse, etc....was stolen. 20 minutes later when she called
her husband to tell him what happened, he told her that
he just received her SMS asking for their PIN to their bank
account and he has replied awhile ago.

When they rushed down to the bank. The bank staff
told them all the $ had already been withdrawn.
The pickpocket had used the stolen handphone to sms "hubby"
and got hold of the PIN. Within 20 mins all the money had
been withdrawnfrom the account.

Moral of the story:
Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people
in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey,
Hubby, sweetheart, Dad, Mum etc......

Welcome to my blog

Hi, welcome to my blog. It will be filled with lots of good stuff
that my friends have so kindly forwarded. Hope you will enjoy
them and revisit whenever you can. Please feel free to post
your responses or share your wisdom.

For a start, here's something funny. Enjoy.......

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and
were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man
realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him
at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting
to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a
piece of paper,

"Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she
would find it.

The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was
9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about
to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed
a piece of paper by the bed.

The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up.

"Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests. God may
have created man before woman, but there is always a rough
draft before the masterpiece!

SEND THIS TO SMART WOMEN WHO NEED A LAUGH AND
TO MEN YOU THINK CAN HANDLE IT.