Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron ( The Telegraph ) The latest poll conducted by ICM for The Guardian puts the Conservatives down three per cent on 37 per cent, with Labour climbing one per cent to 30 per cent. The Lib Dems are down one at 20 per cent . Read more For years, I have always been interested with opinion polls and my interest grew a bit when I took Research Methodology for my MA course. It always baffled me when I come to think that Malaysia does not have its own established independent polling company. I have always asked myself why there was not a single credible opinion poll to gauge popular public opinion especially in the run-up periods before elections? But of course that was all until our very own independent opinion research, Merdeka Centre came into the picture. It's good that we have Merdeka Centre, but I do hope we have a couple more independent polling companies. I believe by having more opinion polls - not just during elections though - is a posit...

Wesak Procession in KL, near Central Market. I just got back from spending half day in KL when I came across the Wesak procession above, by accident. Fortunately, I saw it from afar, or else I would've use the same road and probably still stuck in the traffic jam. :p Happy Wesak Day to all Malaysians.

source:Wikimedia New book in town! Thanks to Zulhabri and gang for his new effort in bringing excellent books from across the shores. Just to share this piece of news here; if you're interested into more alternative books head over to the "Arts for Grabs + KL Alternative Books" at The Annexe Gallery this weekend. One of Gie's famous quote in his book was; "Seorang filsuf Yunani pernah menulis … nasib terbaik adalah tidak dilahirkan, yang kedua dilahirkan tapi mati muda, dan yang tersial adalah umur tua. Rasa-rasanya memang begitu. Bahagialah mereka yang mati muda." This roughly translates to English as "A Greek philosopher once wrote... The best fate is that of the unborns, the second one is that of those born yet die young, and the worst is that of those who die in the old age. I feel that this is right: Happy are those who die young." [ Wapedia ] In the same event, Dr. Farish Noor will be presenting his lecture on Batik as a "Trans-Cultural...

Proton unveils its first MPV KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd unveiled its first multipurpose vehicle (MPV), the Exora, to the public in a gala event here Wednesday night. Launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the 1.6-litre Exora has already received orders of 2,500 units, even before its public unveiling. The seven-seater -- Proton’s most important model for the year -- also marks the company’s entry into the MPV market, which is growing domestically and regionally. The Exora is a result of an investment of RM450mil and 18 months of intense in-house research and development, the company said. It is powered by a 1.6-litre CamPro CPS engine with 125bhp and torque of 150Nm, and is available in a four-speed automatic version, in trim levels of Mid-Line and Hi-Line. The Mid-Line Exora costs RM69,998 and the Hi-Line variant, RM75,998 for the metallic colours. Click here and here for a full review of Proton Exora by Anthony Lim and Paul Tan. Image source: star-motoring.co...

View of Kuala Lumpur from my office window. The KLCC towers, KL tower and closer to my place, Sooka Sentral were all in the dark during this historic moment. The only building bright enough from my place was the KL Sentral building. The lights was on for a very obvious reason that nobody should blame the KL Sentral management for not participating. Hehe.

This is quite a long overdue blog post - all due to the Perak political crisis which dominated all media headlines for the past few days. Last Thursday I was fortunate to had the chance to hear former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir and other panel members speak at the forum for Palestine, organised by the Kuala Lumpur Foundation To Criminalise War at Crowne Plaza Hotel, KL. I don't have much time to blog about it though. You may head over to Tun's blog for his personal view on the forum. Here are some pictures. Apologize for the low quality pictures. :) Tun Dr. Mahathir giving the opening speech. His full speech is available at criminalisewar.org Prof. Michel Chossudovsky and former US Congresswoman and 2008 Green Party nominee for President of the United States, Cynthia McKinney (seated) Two Jordanian doctors spoke about their horror experience while treating patients at the Al-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza. Seated on the left is law expert, Prof. Gurdial Singh Nijar

The Annexe Gallery, Central Market is currently having an "Art For Grabs" Merdeka exhibition from 30 and 31 August. More than 40 stalls selling paintings, artworks, t-shirts, books; and events like public forum themed 'Seksualiti Merdeka' , music and poetry, film screening about Malaya and etc. As mentioned in previous entry, one of the main reason I came was for the "Operation Malaya" film. But it turned out not to be the kind of war film that I expected though. heheh. I also bought two books, yes books some more; "Muhammad Abduh: Riwayat Hidup dan Pemikiran" and "Lagi Cerpen-Cerpen Underground- Saharil Hasrin & Faisal Tehrani". Here are some of the pictures that I took with my little Sony Ericsson k800i. ..posters of films about Malaya that were made around Merdeka ..Finally I got myself a copy of Amir Muhammad 's 'The Big Durian' after years it was released ..Seksualiti Merdeka wall art ..Handout articles on Sexuality ...

[image source: Malaysia-Today] According to Malaysia-Today , filmmaker/writer/activist Hishamuddin Rais will be launching his new book, entitled ' Keganasan, Penipuan & Internet: Hegemoni Media Daulah Pecah '. The book will be launched by the author himself, on 1st of May at the Annexe Central Market, KL. Even though I never believe in his socialist ideals, I've always been a big fan of his writings, be it in Bahasa Melayu or English and been following them consistently since the days of his 'DotMai' column in Malaysiakini during the height of ' Reformasi ' and now on Off The Edge magazine and his 'Dari Jelebu' column in MT . I actually have been waiting for years for him to publish a book and am glad that finally the waiting has now ended. I don't really have to agree with all his thoughts and ideas to admire and enjoy his writings and to me, Hishamuddin Rais, is one of the few Malaysian writers whom I would categorize as - 'one of a ki...

This is an annual event not to be missed. Thankfully last Saturday, my afternoon class was cancelled and so I took the opportunity to go to the book fair in KL. I happily bought home three books ( Ibn Khaldun: His Life and Works by Mohammad Abdullah Enan (first published by Muhammad Ashraf in 1941), In the Time of Mishmish by Alijah Gordon and How to Write a Thesis by Azirah Hashim (I need this too :p) and a 2001 issue of National Geographic mag for RM5. Quick, tomorrow is the last day for final bargain! From 10am - 9pm, at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), KL. See their website for more details! Here are some of the scenes at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). ..the hall entrance ..view of the Klang river. here 's a nicer version of the Klang river and the KL background. Shot by Philip Lim ..the crowd of mostly young girls thronged the MPH Publishing booth to have a closer look at the Angkasawan Negara, Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor . Launching his new book I guess. ..three b...

So Pak Lah has announced his list of cabinet members which are much smaller in size compared to the 2004 XXL size cabinet. Besides the fact that Rafidah Aziz is out for the first time in approx. 30 years and also for the first time Wanita Umno does not have a real Minister in cabinet (Shahrizat was appointed as the PM's Special Advisor), one of the first thing that I noticed in the list is that - Dafi AF6's father is in the list (??). Umno Bera MP, Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakub is the new Youth and Sports Minister. I think he is perhaps one of the lesser known Youth and Sports Minister in recent years. This ministry used to have big names previously, e.g. Azalina and Hishamuddin. On another note, few days before the election I was expecting to see Datuk Dr Noraessah Mohamed, former Bank Rakyat Chairman, to be one of the Minister in Pak Lah's cabinet, but sadly she lost to an unknown PKR candidate in Balik Pulau with a small majority. Looking at the list, one cannot miss the pr...

..J.Co Donuts & Coffee, Pavillion Mall, Bukit Bintang, KL J.Co donuts anyone? I'm sure many of you have tasted J.Co donuts by now. I had the chance to try it while having lunch at Pavillion Mall, Bukit Bintang few weeks ago. But I think for all the hype around J.Co, the taste isn't exactly that excellent, though I like the softness of the donut compared to Dunkin's. :) I still find it amazing to see how people can queue up for so long to buy donuts! A scene that has never happened before in Dunkin Donuts. The top guys in Dunkin Donuts must be racking their brains trying to think of new strategy on how not to lose their customers to J.Co. hehe.. All in all, I think J.Co is one of the outstanding brand that came from Indonesia in recent years. They currently have 35 outlets throughout Indonesia and 2 in Malaysia (Pavillion Mall and Sunway Pyramid). All that is a span of two and a half years! Quite an achievement, isn't it. And they'll be opening more in Singapore...

..Explosions in the Sky Live in Malaysia Mannn, I really thought that I'm done with going to concert, gigs or watching live band performance, but the fact that Explosions in the Sky , (Explosions in the Sky wei! :p) is coming to KL next month is simply irresistable. An event not to be missed! Thanks to Bali for breaking the news to me. :) JunkOnline.net