Groceries kat Malaysia sangatlah mahal kalau kita bandingkan dengan tahap gaji rakyat kebanyakan.

Restoran beli barang secara pukal, jadi kedai nasi campur, mamak, tomyam etc ada economies of scale. Kalau sorang2, makan luar lebih jimat dari memasak di rumah. This is a reality. The high property prices are also pricing the youth out of the property market. Ramai menyewa dalam apartmen kecil, berkongsi dapur yang tak seberapa. Nak masak susah. Nak simpan makanan susah. Kalau students nak beli set periuk, oven, blender semua tak mampu.

Life is hard.

It wasn’t the liberal secularists who brought down the Shah. It was the clerics, who made an alliance of convenience with the leftists, who brought down the Shah in 1979.

And of course, after the Shah was deposed, the clerics got rid of the leftists too. Unceremoniously. July 9, 1981 - two years after the Shah was deposed, Khomeini ordered a wipe-out of the leftist influence in the government & the military.

The leftists & the Marxists, who were former allies of the Ayatollah, were executed, shot on the Caspian Sea.
https://t.co/GYuqPXasXLnytimes.com/1981/07/10/wor…

Came to REXKL today for coffee…this place is certainly much more pleasant and fun to explore on a weekday.

Also stumbled upon some interesting graffitis here. Come here to see them yourself. Urban rejuvenation underway, but the old school fruit sellers are still there. Many new cafes, but not all are excellent, so be sure to check the reviews!

Lumping all umrah travelers together, as if all, or a big portion of them skipped the vaccination process & disregarded SOPs, is problematic.

The people who cheated their vaccination status must deserve our scorn, granted, but to channel our disdain to all pilgrims is excessive. Not everyone has the luxury to postpone their travel reservation during the last minute - the omicron wave was so ferocious and instantaneous that few travelers knew that it was going to get 'that' bad.

For some, that umrah trip was something that they dreamed about for years.

Kazakhstan is an interesting to watch.

Its GDP per capita is comparable with M’sia. Average salary, slightly below USD600 is also similar with MY.

KZ is multiracial, with a large Russian minority (20%, comparable with Chinese in MY).

KZ is O&G reliant, albeit more so than MY. Also fascinating is how Nazarbayev took cues from Malaysia’s economic model to develop Kazakhstan. Megaprojects boosted the economy. KZ is also a major FDI center in the CIS - liberal, business friendly policies attracted investments.

Also, MY has Putrajaya, KZ has Astana.

The Royal Selangor Golf Club (RSGC) is huge - it's about the size of the entire KLCC development.

Yet, very few Malaysians can access or use the facilities.

Imagine turning the site into a large public park. It can be KL's own Central Park (KLCC Park is too small for that). As a global city, KL really needs to optimize its land use. Land is already scarce as it is. KL needs more public realms that everyone can enjoy.

Ideally, golf clubs shouldn't be located in the city center. There are far more scenic spots in Selangor that can be turned into one.

The movement restriction and the lockdown will end, but the trauma will linger.

The world will never be the same again. The anxiety associated with being in a crowded place will linger. People will grow more conscious about their surrounding. Who they’re sitting next to. Safe to say, it’ll take some time before people will go to a concert again. The way the society behaves will also be different. Even religious gatherings will have to evolve, in the way they’re being held.

Your stall sells nasi lemak ayam & nasi lemak telur. Nasi lemak ayam is expensive, many left unsold everyday.

Your cheaper nasi lemak telur is a massive hit. Sold out in 15mins.

If you were a developer, you'd increase high-margin nasi lemak ayam production & ask govt to help. The govt would then come up with measures to encourage people to buy nasi lemak ayam. Your stall would begin taking credit cards. People who couldn’t afford a daily fix of RM5 nasi lemak ayam would receive an easy access to credit - money they’d have to pay back eventually.

So much money spent on the car, the fuel, the tolls. Now imagine, a life in KL where you don’t have to wait for 20mins for a bus, and where the LRT covers nearly all major commercial & office precincts.

We could save so much money once car ownership became no longer necessary A more transit-oriented lifestyle could potentially put more money in the B40 & M40 pockets actually. Instead of contributing to the profit of toll concessionaries, Msians will have more cash to spent on other things - food, books, entertainment, hobbies...bolstering the economy.

10 years ago, at Curve. Was looking for a cab. Driver quoted a ridiculous price. Refused to use the metre.

I remarked, “Takpelah saya cari teksi lain. Bukan korang kena pakai meter ke?”

He harangued, “Tu undang2 manusia, bukannya undang2 Allah pun”.

Back then, taxis reigned. There were no other options back then. Buses were infrequent. No MRT. No Grab.

Connectivity was poor in the city. Taking a cab was like taking Russian Roulette. If you’re lucky, you get an honest driver. Often enough, we weren’t so lucky.

Driving was the only way to get around.