You would too if you were flooded out of your homes during the great deluge that hit the East Coast and the State of Johor in late November and early December last year. If you were, then you would welcome the presence of Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek with the fervour of a young Michael Jackson who saw Santa kissing mummy.
The Kemaman Member of Parliament cut short his attendance at the last UMNO general assembly to attend to his inundated flock in the district, which happens to be his parliamentary constituency.
Not the same can be said for some of his peers who saw no need to drop all party politicking, put on pua chu kang willies and wade through water, if only as a show of wet empathy.
Now that the water has ebbed and the deluge has disappeared, Shabery has done it again. For this second coming he will arrive ala daddy Claus.
Curiously, he has given an undertaking that all families hit by the floods – presumably confined to the Kemaman constituency for a start – will get one TV each, courtesy of his ministry, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
But wait first, he has to stand in line. PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, patron of Kelab Putera 1 Malaysia will also come bearing gifts – fridges, cookers, mattresses and pillows. Mock you might – but you don’t know the meaning of rebuilding and restoring normalcy after the waters recede and you find a meter of mud caking your living room!
Open the fridge and Kermit might pop out. The stove, the cupboard, the crockery – they are all swept away, or soaked and damaged beyond repair.
For this reason, I have nothing but praise for the practical choice of aid of both the PM and the MP. Perhaps of all the boxes unwrapped `ala ‘Boxing Day’, it would be the LED TV that would give the survivors the broadest smile – all 32 inches of it!
DRY AT THE ROCK
I WAS feeling groggy Sunday morning when I heard on the radio news that life would come to Putrajaya. Putrajaya is a bit like Canberra, Australia’s national capital city.
Like Putrajaya was created to be a Federal capital. There aren’t too many Canberrans about come the weekend. Civil servants leave their desks thanking God its Friday and make a beeline for the airports and highways to take them home from this neat and well-ordered city. The question for urban planners of course is to find a solution to this weekend drain.
Putrajaya thought it had a winner when the idea of opening a Hard Rock Café was mooted. So without so much as a squeeze on the Harley accelerator, someone jumped the gun to grandly announce ; “…happy days are here as the Rock is a comin’….”
Rubbing my eyes with disbelief, I thought to myself, now can anyone have a good time at some dry; Rock? For surely, life in Putrajaya is about as untainted, unblemished and totally saintly as can be? The BN won the seat in the last general election convincing the large Malay muslim population that they would do a better job of governing this prized Federal Territory better than PAS, the Islamist party would, or could. Heaven forbid any hint of wine, women and song penetrating the ascetic seal cocooning the capital. You want to seek debauchery? Stay in KL!
So it was that the very next day there was a flurry of retractions by chastened individuals. Maybe they were rather too hasty to accept this opportunity to inject a bit of cosmopolitan verve into their staid weekends. Or that they underestimated a Putrajayan stomach to have their lawns invaded by hordes of horny hogs!
MAN OH MAN, WHAT’S WITH U?
(video from The FA Cup Official Channel on Youtube)
THE times, they are a changing…none more so than the fortunes of the once all-conquering Manchester United football team. At the last count, half the AWANI office were Man U supporters, the other half were united by their antagonism for its more than decade-long dominance of English football.
One defeat was forgivable, a second an aberration, a third a blip, a fourth, well; this won’t last forever. But a fifth? And all at home? Start blaming the manager and clamour for Fergie to come back.
For those who do not care a jot about football, much less the exploits of multimillionaire players like Rooney and friends, the travails of the red half of Manchester is largely unnoticed. Which is just as well.
Man U haters are gloating at the plight of the team so spoilt by success. It is not unthinkable that the team that is still watched by England great Bobby Charlton in the stands will end up with nothing this season.
What’s the way to arrest this seemingly dizzy slide? This great team might yet sack the hapless Scot Moyes or spend money on the services of the world’s best players. Personally, I think the club’s tight-fisted Amercian owners could sell out to Vincent Tan or Prince Azim who no doubt will buy top players as they come with deeper pockets.
Until that happens, Man U supporters and our very own national team can find the nearest HRC to drown their sorrows after every match day – but don’t count on doing it in Putrajaya!
ENGLAND CAN PLAY, BUT CAN’T SCORE!
ANOTHER team that appears hopelessly unable to put up any show of playing prowess is the England cricket team. It has just been at the receiving end of a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of bitter enemies, the Aussies, in the process losing the Ashes.
Losing is one thing, but capitulating so badly with dismal bowling and even worse batting is enough to make the whole of England disown the entire team.
I followed with great interest the progress of all the five matches on the BBC website as the game was described ball-by-ball through the powerful narrative of its cricket correspondent.
It was not too long ago that it was the Aussies who quaked in their boots each time they faced a Pommie battery.
Cricket, as is football, as is just about everything in life comes in cycles of plenty and moments of drought. Enjoy yourself while the sun is out – all you Man U haters!
