Smoker taxi driver should be made easily identifiable

There should be a tag or sticker to identify taxi whereby the drivers smoke. Taxi made easily identifiable would be useful to passengers who are asthmatic, allergic to chemicals derived from cigarettes, pregnant ladies who are health conscious, families traveling with babies (and concerned about the thousands of chemicals in cigarettes), and people who would prefer "fresh air" in the air-conditioned taxi. It is really unbearable to be confined in an air-con vehicle with strong scent of cigarette smoke. Worst are those taxi drivers who smoke inside the car, thus leaving an unbearable cigarette smell.
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Why am I writing about this?

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For parents with children who are car sick, having them endure a trip in a cigarette-smoke choked taxi is a torture. Worst is when the smoker taxi driver was unwilling to let passengers to unwind the car window. I have came across this taxi driver and when we told him that our kid is car sick and requested to unwind the window, his reply was this,  "No. You can use plastic bag instead". With that response, we quickly requested that he stop his car. We opted to get out of his car this time rather than have our kid endure his inconsiderate attitude and smell.
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Sometimes I think that the Transport authority or Health authority should ban taxi drivers from smoking inside their cars. This is crucial for passengers who are sensitive, asthmatic, allergic, and also those who travel with babies. If it could be helped, I wouldn't want taxis with strong cigarette odor to stop by maternity hospitals to take passengers. Sorry, it is just too unacceptable to let my baby endure the lingering cigarette smoke during our travel.
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Having said that, I am still appreciative of taxi drivers who let passengers like me to unwind their car windows when requested. Their thoughts make our baby's journey comfortable without risk of puking (or sneezing). 

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Just a thought.

Bali Nine post-execution

Australia tried to save its citizens who were caught and sentenced to death by firing squad for trafficking huge amount of drug punishable by death. Prior to the capture, the Australians involved were given plenty of warnings (such as the figure depicted below) prior to the their endeavor in trafficking the huge amount of drug. I am guessing that they took a calculated risk.

Sourced from Death penalty news blog

It is understandable why Australia tried to save its citizens. Any country or government would do the same thing, probably Indonesia too in different circumstances. The reason being that it is the only time that any government is not dealing with difficult and pressing issues concerning home (e.g. tax, unemployment, economy, corruption, ineffective country administration, etc.) BUT rather a "war" between we and them (which is easier to tackle and serve to publicize to their citizens that "government is here to help you no matter what"). The show would be about the "we" trying to save ourselves (or preserving our good values) against "them", the perceived "enemy" (with negative values). I'm guessing that such an event would provide the only opportunity to divert the people/citizens from home-issues to something more manageable by any government (read about diversionary foreign policy).
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Bilateral ties between Australia and Indonesia will not be affected in the long run. All the threats and drama were just part of the show. No country is stupid enough to destroy a good bilateral (and economic) tie with any country just to save their convicts off-shores. There is just no real motivation to do so.
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I don't know the mastermind and Bali Nine members (i.e. who are they as persons), but the way they used people to trafficking drug sort of described some of their true selves. Furthermore, I don't really trust any people who claimed that they had turned-over-new-leaves or became god-fearing people. I only look at the cumulative deeds they had done (e.g. track record). Also, instructing teens to swallow cache of condom-wrapped-heroine to smuggle across country is considered selfish and despicable. I have no information/data about courier's death due to a leak of condom-filled-drugs that caused over-dose, but I do know that such incident happens, e.g. Henry Vera of Columbia died of over-dose due to leak of swallowed drug.
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What is the immediate effect of the post-death of Bali Nine?
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It is more interesting to know this.
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First, the drug that was meant for circulation had been eliminated (low supply).
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Second, the highlight of the case provided fresh/refreshed perspective of the real risk involved in drug smuggling in South East Asia, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. With renewed reminder of such risk, the price for the drug will not be any lower any time soon (steady demand but low supply translates to higher-to-exorbitant prices).
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Third, exorbitant prices and low supply of the drug would mean that those with plenty of money will get it while the poor will be deprived of it.
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Last, less lives destroyed by drug.
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As a reminder, cocaine is not recreation drug with simple psychological addiction. It is the systemic addiction with severe withdrawal syndrome! So, don't play play (jangan main main; meaning don't fool around).
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Bali Nine death is welcomed by family and society devastated by the drug menace.
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Also, few crying moms for the death of their sons by firing square can't compare to the innumerable amount of crying mothers whose families were devastated by drugs all over the world (their crying faces were not recorded because there was no motive in doing so and hence their cries are forever hidden from the public. I guess if their crying faces were shown, there will be public unrest and any government will be butchered quickly by negative public opinion).

Sukuraman's mother Raji crying (mother of the convict). Sourced from this news.

Just a few 'Other' opinion

• When a country is weak, it will be bullied (by SusuBesarBundar at Therealsingapore)
• Opinion: "Bali Nine ringleaders deserve to die" (Sunshine Coast daily)

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If an ill person needs to kill a tumor in order to safe his/her life, then removing "societal tumor" is the same thing. Furthermore, no medicine would aim to contain any tumor with any chance of remission. We prefer to eliminate it completely. Furthermore, to contain tumor would be foolish and wasteful of resource which could have been used to help rehabilitate drug users (the real victims) instead.
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That is my one cent thought.

No time to blog, the only index I have is how many diapers I've changed and how many oz my baby had drunk

Baby's 3 weeks old.

There is no greater place to be in the hospital than the maternity ward. The patients are happy and nice. The attending nurses and doctors are lively too. The comparison is astounding, especially when I had to register my wife during admission at the Accident & Emergency (A&E) ward. Over there, the staff are constantly admitting angry, frustrated and in-lots-of-pain patients around the clock. I asked one of the hospital staff there and she said that "tonight is considered better".

Going back to the maternity ward, the only cries are from babies reminding mothers that it is feeding time. As adults, we often forget that baby's only means to communicate to parents is through cries. Baby's cries can be grouped into main two reasons, (1) I'm hungry, (2) I'm uncomfortable. The second one is difficult to discern because it could be due to "shee shee" (pass water), "poo poo" (pass motion), "boo boo" (colic and wind), discomfort due to heat  or nappy rashes, etc.

I have been up and about for two-and-a-half hours feeding and cleaning baby. I took turns with my wife to help out the first week. After that, I only contribute at 9.30 pm, 11.30 pm, and the 2 am slots. I slept like a log afterwards and sometimes I would dream of cries.

That's how I spent my time these few weeks.

Balancing egg during LiChin or Equinox

I have no idea what Equinox meant and I Googled. Read about Equinox from Wikipedia here. I still couldn't picture the earth's spin and orbiting around the sun.

Anyway, I am guessing that the concept could be that when the earth's rotation is similar in direction to earth's orbiting around the sun, then the added up centrifugal force will be "singular" and less interference. That time, if you stand in the equator, you will be more lighter and "upright" (due to the combined centrifugal force). I'm not sure if that's how the egg balancing came about.

Today is Lichun and many of my friends are balancing their household eggs on the floor. They are posting their achievements on social media. I wanted to try that too in my HDB flat. However, I got no success in different location of the house. I guess I will need a "surface level" tool to spot which part of the flooring is truly flat.

It's fun to be able to balance eggs on flat surface but it has got nothing to do with celestial events. That's because the Earth's gravity is more influential to an egg than any other celestial forces. I think patience and luck are criteria for a successful egg balancing. Sigh.

What is fascinating is that for less dense matter like water, it is easily influenced by the moon's gravitational force (and Earth's centrifugal force) than denser matter like humans and eggs, hence the high and low tides. As for me, I don't feel lighter or taller during high tides.

I'll try again the egg balancing soon.
Good luck in your tries.

References

• Egg balancing by Wikipedia. Note that egg balancing on a nail is not possible unless superglue was used or super flat nail head and super duper amount of patience were involved (my opinion).
• It took 1 min 20 sec to balance an egg, and 3 min 40 sec for the second one. "How to balance or stand an egg during Li Chun " Youtube entry by Dian Miao Ling.

How we can improve evacuation and rescue during plane crash

It is sad to follow the news regarding retrieval of bodies, wreckage, and personal possession of ill fated Asia Asia flight QZ8501. The location of the crash site took more than 2 days to accomplish, mainly due to the lack of real-time tracking of airline flights and in my opinion, tracking of evacuees. Two days in the open sea is not conducive to survival chance!

In my opinion, the current evacuation and safety measures implemented on air travel is poor and insufficiently practical (in short, IMPRACTICAL). If you are a flyer, you would have been exposed to this safety card on-board the plane. For most people like me (e.g. cautious type who will read safety diligently), we are only theoretically wise in terms of aircraft evacuation and handling life-jacket. But truthfully, I am a fool in the practical aspect, especially when I have not seen the life-jackets and just took the words of flight attendants about them stored under the seats.

To open the emergency exit for evacuation, I only can hope that someone will be able to work with that come crucial moment because I don't know how to do that. Fortunately, I think it won't be difficult especially considering that first-timer Chinese passenger on-board Xiamen Air could open it for fresh air.

Now, if we are lucky and the plane landed on water, what is expected of the evacuation procedure? From the safety card, there are several things that can happen.

1. Prior to impact, the plane could lose cabin pressure (air is too thin that oxygen will be depleted), and if that happens, oxygen mask will be dropped from the upper compartment. Use it on yourself before attempting to help others because losing consciousness while helping the next person will be useless.
2. If there is time, wear the life-jacket. Hopefully they are not nicely wrapped in plastic wrapper or else you will have to tear them with your nail and teeth (while cursing the safety officer for the oversight). 
3. Brace yourself for impact by holding onto something (e.g. the seat in front) and lowering your head and body. This will ensure no flying debris hits you upon impact.
4. While wearing the life-jacket, you should proceed to the nearest emergency exits calmly (but I don't think it will be calm). Wait for someone to work on the emergency exit (or be proactive) so that an inflatable slide-cum-raft will be dispensed. Slide down in an ordered fashion (while giving priority to the needy).
5. This is the time to inflate your life-jacket now. 
6. The slide will be your raft (I have no idea how it works, see how dumb I am with just theoretical knowledge), so hold on to it and try to climb up. 
7. Wait for rescue.

 The above "expected evacuation procedure" is ideal in an ideal situation. Now, what the aviation and safety authorities need to ensure in reality is the following possibilities (in my opinion).

1. What happens if the aircraft went tail spun (or spin) and landed upside down on water? Would the "expected" evacuation procedure be applicable then?
2. Had the aviation industry (and safety authorities) estimated the time it takes for a floating plane in sea water to sink completely? Would the time be sufficient to evacuate everyone? Aren't there any mechanism/technology (that can be implemented) that could inflate parts of the plane to prolong buoyancy time of plane during evacuation?
3. Considering that the time ( > 2 days) needed to search and rescue (or retrieve) survivors, hadn't the aviation safety authorities came up with a more realistic evacuation kit for air passengers. This is considering that a life-jacket (with light and whistle) is hardly practical to save life (except to serve as a floatation device and attracts sea predators at night). Furthermore, who would want to float under the intense sun, dehydrated, and lost while waiting for either the inevitable or miracle? Hadn't the Asian Tsunami thought us anything, especially what happened to the ones who got swept away in mid-sea waiting for rescue? Dehydration.

 My suggestions to the aviation and safety authorities:

1. If the plane is lucky to crash on water intact, please have a mechanism to increase buoyancy of the aircraft so that there is sufficient time to evacuate all passengers.
2. Life-jacket (with whistle and light) is alright, but to have a manual water filtration system (those used by the army but with special filter to cutoff salinity) attached to the life jacket will be a blessing especially when dehydration will more likely kill evacuees faster than anything.
3. If you are going to provide the incidental (or accidental) inflatable slide-turn-raft, at least provide several floating (or attached) packages containing potable water bottles for evacuees. No food is okay but please let there be water (no pun intended).
4. Please oh please, provide radio transmission devices (aka radio transmitter) for evacuees who are stranded in the open sea. This is the 21st century for goodness sake. Is it really too much the cost to bear for attaching a radio transmitter in life-jackets or rafts for easy search and rescue mission during aviation accidents? If we can tag migratory birds or animals with radio transmitters for easy tracking of these migratory animals in National Geography, surely we can't be too stingy to bear the cost to save lives no? Do note that radio transmitter works better in the open sea than jungle (containing trees blocking the signal). For further information, refer to distress radiobeacon (Wikipedia) and note that the signal can also be used to triangulate the location of the transmitter/evacuee (with detection radius of >10 km for some model.
5. If it's not too much to ask, attach a water-proof, shock-proof, weather-proof satellite phone to assigned safety officer on-board (could be one of the flight attendants) so that he/she can call for help (or at least inform the authority that there are survivors and so please work your butt faster in the rescue operation rather than retrieval mission). Note that I'm sicked of following news reporting about effort to retrieve the "black box" (or orange box) for investigation. It seemed that "retrieval" is more practical than rescue in air disaster! In addition the satellite phone can be used for locating the caller.
6. Provide real-time tracking of planes!

 Keypoints

• Implement a more practical evacuation protocol (and mechanism) for aviation accidents or crash.
• Provide practical survival kit in addition to the life-jacket. A whistle and light at night can attracts sea predators (unless rescue boat can reach survivors/evacuees sooner). Without the crucial water supply, and no means to purify sea water, consuming the sea water will be toxic (Natl Ocean & Atmospheric Administration, NOAA), and survivors will perish before rescue arrives.
• Provide radiobeacon to life-jackets.
• Implement real-time tracking of flights.

My condolences to the victims family.

Lesson from losses of MH370 and QZ8501

Losses of MH370 (MAS airline) and QZ8501 (Air Asia) resulted from different circumstances. However, the outcome were the same, i.e. difficulties in locating the crash site and thus, hampering the search and rescue effort. The problem should have been corrected by requiring real-time monitoring of aircraft after the loss of Air France flight 447 5 years ago (The Independent, 30 Dec 2014). If real-time (or continuous) flight monitoring is made mandatory, could we have prevented 9/11 that destroyed so many lives (inclusive of the war thereafter)?

Technology nowadays is available to do just that, real-time tracking/monitoring of aircraft. For example, A Canadian company, Flyht, sells a system to pinpoint aircrafts by triangulating communication streaming time of "automated flight information reporting system" (AFIRS) transmitted during an emergency to receiving stations. However, I'm not sure if Flyht also cater a real-time system in addition to the AFIRS (for emergencies).

Fig shows how the AFIRS radio signal is "released" upon an emergency and then radiated/transmitted to receiving stations. The time of receipt of these signals at these stations can be used to calculate/triangulate the location of the aircraft. To allow continuous monitoring of aircraft, frequent emission of "AFIRS" should be made instead of only in emergency.

UN Intl Telecomm Union Secretary-General said real-time (or continuous) monitoring/tracking of flights is needed, however Intl Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has not issued any instruction on the matter. It all boils down then to whether it is time for aviation industry to take their own initiatives to implement such system to prevent the recurrent of difficulties in locating their aircraft. Alas, without the involvement (or intervention) of ICAO, the danger of non-standardized tracking system flooding the market will cause more headache later on.

In addition, the cost for implementing and subscribing to such tracking system should be made affordable. The cost should be similar in concept to the cost of generic drug that helps eliminate debilitating/serious diseases. Without reasonable cost/price, I don't think we will see a comprehensive subscription of this much needed real-time tracking system by the aviation industry worldwide.

Just a thought.

P.S. Condolences to the victims' family.

I thought only thieves and burglars would poison dogs, but in Malaysia, it's different a bit

Ten dogs poisoned in Bukit Bintang car park (reported in Yahoo.Sg). I guess these dogs must have been an eye (and ear) sore for the city, and hence they had to be eliminated this way (either by irate neighbours or someone else). I don't think the culprit will ever admit to the poisoning. I don't think anyone will be prosecuted for this act. That's human nature at work (either ignorant or with ill-intent).

We are fortunate that these kind of people are not daring to the extent that they start poisoning people on the street (or the homeless). If these people can poison lives, it's unimaginable what else they are capable of doing next.

From my experience, I have seen restaurant owners/workers poured hot water on stray dogs in their vicinity, just to drive off these "pests". Some resorted to using bat/stick to chase away these dogs. However, I have not seen or heard any cases where these dogs were poisoned (like rodents). I guess anything is possible in society.

Not long ago, I have heard about the "Robin Hood" of Malaysia who shot a stray dog with bow and arrow. He claimed that the dog was a danger to his family. Well, in my opinion, he should have called his municipal council to dispose of the stray instead of trying to kill the animal himself. Furthermore, if you intend to kill an animal, do it correctly by killing it right away instead of injuring the animal and allowing it to wander and die in the longest agony. Note that the dog died during the rescue due to succumbing to tick fever. The man who shot the animal won't be charged with animal abuse, but he will be charged with using lethal weapon in public.

Talking about municipal councils, some are incompetent in handling strays and could be deemed cruel at times (see "brutality" of dog catchers from Kajang Municipal Council, catch, kill, and get paid, and strays allegedly caught and shot in full view of children). In society, cats and dogs are pets (aka part of family members), and to see strays being treated this way really pain pet lovers and other normal people. If you want to dispose of animals, do it humanely or swift and deadly as nature intended. Dog catchers should be trained before being hired.

For the above poisoning case, I can only hope that the poison acted quickly and painlessly in killing these dogs. I also hope that the poisoning incident is not a prelude to a burglary attempt.

Firefly update - post flight impression

First time we took MAS Firefly and unbelievably, the staffs are very friendly and easily approachable. The cabin staffs were helpful and courteous. Felt very comfortable traveling with Firefly.

The only bad experience would be the pre-flight booking procedure and the rigid policy not allowing change of name on the ticket. I am not apt in the security procedures involving passenger travels by flight -especially after post9-11, so I'm guessing that the difficulty in asking for simple name change could be due to security procedure. Otherwise would be unacceptable to me.

Firefly updates - amendment to flight information

Tried the ticketing office again to inquire about amendment to flight information. Our helper no longer work for us and we had to change name for a replacement helper on the ticket.

The staff informed us that name change on the ticket is no longer permitted. When pressed for suggestion or alternative, there is none - suggesting that the ticket we are holding is as good as garbage.

I called CASE Singapore to ask about protection under Lemon law. Unfortunately, Lemon law covers only goods but not services.

All in all, consumers are left handicapped in a lopsided airline vs consumer deal.

M'sia airline Firefly, "your call is important to us", that is why...

I'm being put on hold for > 30 min with constant advertisement announcement on the background with firefly music to deal with. It sort of adding fuel to fire for being made to wait that long.

In comparison to calling other ticketing numbers, the latter's call went through faster. Unfortunately, to make amendments to your booking, they directed us to call the "important" call center (+60378454543).

Your call is important to us, our agent is unavailable being repeated several times and adverts announcement being included in the waiting tone fumes me...

If indeed customer's calls are important, the company should have placed more emphasis on receiving these calls. Failure to do so only reflect how important these calls are to them.