Toyota Prius is coming to Malaysia

Toyota has decided to bring Prius, the world’s best selling gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle, into the Malaysian market. There is, however, much confusion among Malaysians over this novelty. Prius is actually the second hybrid vehicle sold here, after the Honda Civic Hybrid. There are, unfortunately, very few Civic Hybrids on Malaysian roads at the time of this writing.

On a Malaysia-based Internet forum, one member joked about the possible blunder of owning a Prius:

Oops, I can’t come to the party. I’ve forgotten to charge my car!

It should be noted that Prius is a hybrid vehicle, not an electric car. It still has a gasoline engine. It does, however, consume much less gasoline – perhaps by a third – as compared to a conventional vehicle with similar power. Since Prius is very fuel-efficient, it also emits less carbon dioxide, a major culprit of global warming.

You don’t charge Prius at home. The battery of the car is charged during everyday driving. The car also recovers the excess energy that would otherwise be lost during braking, and converts it into electricity. For this reason, hybrid vehicles are best for city driving, where traffic is stop and go.

Hybrid vehicles may be new to Malaysians, but they have been in Japan and the United States for quite a while. In fact, Prius has been the best-selling vehicle in Japan for three months straight.

How do hybrid vehicles compare to pure electric cars? We may be tempted to think that pure electric cars are better to the environment, as they do not rely on gasoline at all. However, bear in mind that the electricity in your home comes from power plants, which may not be so green after all. China is in a big push for pure electric cars, even though majority of the power plants in that country run on coal.

I can’t afford a Prius. But if you are rich, this green vehicle will give you a bragging right!

Photoscape

Software piracy is rampant in Malaysia. Everyone just wants to have the best software. (Well, sort of.) Among photographers, the most popular companions are Photoshop CS and Photoshop Lightroom.

There are, however, some readers of this blog who reside in other countries, such as Kikey in UK and Zhu in Canada. Among those in Malaysia, Mei Ting is one who insists on genuine software.

I recently discovered a free photo editing software called Photoscape. Obviously, it is not as feature-rich as the expensive software from Adobe, but it is a decent alternative. Let’s see what we can do with Photoscape…

This is a picture of Changi Airport’s Budget Terminal in Singapore. I was in a rush when taking this picture and didn’t hold the camera horizontal. Or maybe I had weak hands…

I open this picture in Photoscape, and rotate it counter-clockwise by 2º. Now it looks much better…

Finally, I added some text to the picture. Here is the final result…

中国人主食

博客SK提出说，中国人的主食有四类，既粥、粉、面和饭。

Well，那应该是中国南方人的主食。在北方，另有两种食物非常重要，那就是馒头和饺子。中国南方产米，北方种麦，所以北方人吃面粉制的食物较多。在很大程度上，馒头、饺子和面取代了饭。

其实，在北方，『饭』就相等于英文的meal，而rice则是『米饭』。记得我在山东时，早上在酒店内用餐，吃得是面包。对于酒店的员工而言，那也算是『吃饭』。

有一回我和巴基斯坦裔同事到回族餐馆用晚餐。餐馆晚上不煮『米饭』，我们叫了几道菜，配合馒头吃，就此解决。你可以想象，米饭并不是必须品。

这里我想特别谈谈饺子。我以前对饺子不感兴趣，但在中国转了一圈回来后，对这类食品有了很大的改观。马来西亚华人传统上吃粤式饺子。粤式饺子体积大，吃两、三粒就饱。一般煮水，所以也称为水饺。水饺通常配合面吃，面是主食，水饺只是配料。在中国北方，饺子可以是主食，体积较小，往往可以吃十粒以上。山东的一些餐馆，卖饺子居然是按斤算的！

北方式饺子除了煮水，也可以蒸或煎。我个人比较喜爱蒸饺，配合辣椒粉吃。嗯。。。一级棒！

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Minority Hui of China

Firefly vs. AirAsia

In my post dated July 29, 2009, I described my journey with Firefly, the self-styled “community airline”, from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

How does it compared to AirAsia, the other Malaysia-based budget airline?

In Klang Valley, Firefly operates out of Subang Airport. AirAsia operates out of Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT). Subang Airport is closer to the city, and that gives Firefly an edge.

Both airlines suffer the same flight delay problem. However, the ATR 72-500 aircrafts used by Firefly has a capacity for just 72 passengers. Checking-in and boarding are brisk. In fact, you probably can check in 45 minutes before scheduled departure and still make it.

I hadn’t got a ruler with me, but my feeling is that Firefly’s planes have slightly larger legroom. (Can anyone commend on this?) Not to be forgotten, Firefly serves drinks and snacks free of charge!

So, can we ditch AirAsia?

Not yet. The leader in South-east Asia’s budget market still wins in several areas. Airbus A320 jet planes in the fleet of AirAsia experience less shaking in the air when compared to the Firefly’s propeller planes. They are also slightly faster.

In fact, AirAsia and Firefly serve different markets. Firefly’s ATR 72-500 is probably not suitable for civilian flight over the South China Sea. On the other hand, AirAsia’s A320, with 180 seats, are too big for smaller markets such as Ipoh and Kuantan.

In short, both AirAsia and Firefly will co-exist, and we need both of them. As a person who grew up in Perak, I thank Firefly for linking the state with the Lion City.

P/S Firefly’s ATR 72-500 cruises at 8000 feet above sea level – great for shutterbugs who want to snap photos…

Choosing Your Surgical Masks

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The Influenza A (H1N1) situation is getting worse across the globe. In Malaysia alone the number of cases has breached the 1000 mark, and everyday there are new cases reported. Sooner or later we may need to live with surgical mask.

Several weeks ago I wore a surgical mask when traveling by train. I wanted to do my part in slowing down the spread of the disease. Somehow, it was difficult to breathe with the mask sticking on my face.

On July 25, I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. (Read my post here.) Then, I put on a mask made by another vendor. Breathing was no issue! How were the two types of masks different from one another?

The mask I used in the flight had a ‘metal arc’. This enabled it to stand away from my face, while at the same time provided a secure fit around the nose and mouth. Thus I was able to breath without difficulty. I can’t commend on the effectiveness, though.

If you plan to buy some surgical masks, choose carefully.

Demonstration

Malaysians are uneasy about demonstration.

On August 1, 2009, opposition parties of Malaysia held an anti-ISA protest in the nation’s capital. Average Malaysians were quick to denounce it. (ISA is a law which permits the government to detain, in most cases, political opponents without trial for up to two years.)

Personally, I believe demonstrations should be allowed, so long as they are peaceful and do not greatly interrupt the living of the public. Unfortunately, in countries with limited freedom such as Malaysia and China, the police often provoke the protesters by cracking down on them. In the end, angry protesters retaliate and turn unruly, and the government would say, “You see, I told you protest is bad.”

America is a country whereby demonstrations are deemed acceptable. In 1960s, hippies shocked Washington with their Make Love, Not War protests. During Bush’s years, anti-war activists rallied against the President in his ranch in Texas. The protest was led by Cindy Sheehan, a woman who lost his son in Iraq. I am sure many Malaysians supported the anti-war protest too. After all, didn’t we spot many car stickers which read Give Peace a Chance?

If you want true democracy, learn to tolerate demonstration. You can’t have freedom without chaos.

重復用詞

香港作家陶傑在《亮點》一文中這麼寫：

寫作最忌用詞的重復。英文報紙都有一套規矩：同一段新聞稿，多處提到『美國政府』，如果頭一段說The US Administration，第二段就必須改稱為The White House，第三段就要講Washington。其實三個名詞，指的是同一個權利中樞。為甚麼要變來變去？不是外國記者閑著沒事玩游戲，而是要在枯燥的文字裏追求靈活和彈性。

避免重復用詞的道理，我在中四時就知道，是英文老師教我們的。所以，如果我寫新加坡，第一段用Singapore，第二段就改為the Lion City，第三段又改稱the island republic。同樣的，Land of Smile可以取代Thailand，the Middle Kingdom取代China，及the Land of the Rising Sun取代Japan。總而言之，減少重復使用相同的字眼。

不過，記憶中我的眾多華文老師都沒有提及重復用詞的禁忌。或許華文有異於英文，在一段文字中重復寫『中國』十次八次不是一個問題。這是否意味著，中國人/華人缺乏創意？

Blood!

Even after doing it for many times, I still have a little bit of fear. But fear won’t stop me…

Blood donation!