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Perak Government Falls?

The political drama that is the state of Perak took an abrupt turn for the absurd when the BN claimed that it had enough assemblymen to form the state government, ousting the current Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

What started as a “victory” for the Pakatan Rakyat when Anwar Ibrahim appeared in a press conference together with an UMNO turncoat two weaks ago turned horribly wrong for the fledgling DAP-PAS-PKR alliance goverment. Not only did 2 missing-for-a-week PKR assemblymen defected to the other side, a disgruntled DAP assemblywoman did the same. And most dramatic of all, the Anwar hugging UMNO turncoat, turned again, this time back to UMNO. This gave the BN-led opposition enough seats to technically form the state government as it now has a simple, slim majority in the Perak state assembly.

This farcical turn of events unfolded at 4pm today when the turncoats turned up in Putrajaya for a press conference by Najib announcing that BN has enough seats to form the state goverment. At around the same time, the Menteri Besar of Perak, Nizar was with the Sultan of Perak, seeking his grace’s permission to dissolve the state assembly thus paving the way for a fresh state election.

At the end, the Sultan decided to sleep over it without making any decisions.

PKR needed people to field during the last general election. Not having enough candidates, they picked anyone who breathed. Meanwhile, DAP, who had been in the opposition for so long, cannot even work together to govern without opposing each other. Making things worse is that UMNO has the money to buy off anyone they liked. Would you take the RM 50 million if you were offered to jump?

If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be really funny.

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Historical Penang

 

Cheah Si Sek Tek Tong, originally uploaded by CeeKay’s Pix.

Georgetown is probably one of the most historically interesting city in Malaysia. Though I was born there, I had never truly visited the historical heart of the city, until lately.

On July 8, 2008 Penang and Melaka were given World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of their “remarkable examples of historic colonial towns on the Straits of Malacca that demonstrate a succession of historical and cultural influences arising from their former function as trading ports linking East and West”.

When I was in Penang last week, I saw for myself why this island truly deserved this international recognition. I’ve tried to capture and reproduce the mood and atmosphere of the place through these pictures but nothing can really substitute the particular buzz of the place as much as being there in person.

Do check out the rest of the picture set at my Flickr page.

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Not your daddy’s Star Trek

I really can’t wait until May to watch J.J.Abram’s new rebooted Star Trek movie. In the meantime, the best that we can do is to drool over the latest trailer…

This superbowl spot contains previously unseen scenes from the theatrical trailer.

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Penang Botanical Gardens

mebeli

Red Ant, originally uploaded by CeeKay’s Pix.

I’ve visited the Penang Botanical Gardens this morning and took some really interesting shots. Nothing really drives home the existence of a parallel micro universe of insects going about their daily routines better than the view coming through the camera’s viewfinder.

As joggers jog and people walk, these critters were working very hard cutting down leaves, transporting food to their hives, eating and collecting flower syrup.

After this morning’s excursion, I shall never look at a tropical garden park quite the same anymore.

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New Macro Lens

Bougainvila, originally uploaded by CeeKay’s Pix.

Finally, I bought a Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di 1:1 macro lens today! After months of deliberating, the choice was down to 2, namely the Tamron and the Nikkor AF-S 105mm f/2.8G ED IF VR.

Both are really superb lens not only for taking extreme close-ups but also as a prime fixed length lens for everyday shooting. Reading online reviews and forums didn’t help as people who bought the Tamron, swore by it and likewise for those who bought the Nikkor too.

What pushed me to the Tamron was basically the price. I paid RM 1420 for this lens in Click N’ Snap in Komtar, Penang. They were also kind enough to throw in a free UV lens protector after I told them that another shop around the corner was selling at RM 1350. When asked about the RM 12xx price tag that everyone was talking about in the forums, I was informed that Tamron had raised the price of their lenses 2 months ago.

Compare this price with the asking price of RM 26xx for the Nikkor, getting the Tamron was really a no brainer!

First impressions of the 90mm were generally very good.

It takes really sharp and well saturated photos. The bokeh is very pretty. Unlike other reviewers, I didn’t find the autofocus to be too slow but if you want it to be faster, use manual focus instead.

If I have to nitpick to find a single fault with this lens, I can only point to one: build quality of the AF/MF slider (which has a “rough” snap whenever one switches from auto focus to manual focus).

I am going to take more photos later today and I shall post the more interesting ones on Flickr.

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Babies

Chayan and Grandma, originally uploaded by CeeKay’s Pix.

Babies are designed to tug at your heart strings. They are the most manipulative (but cute), calculative (but cute) and cunning (but cute) little beings that will always get what they want.

Their inability to verbally articulate their desires are complemented by 2 powerful ways of expressions:-
1. Their seemingly effortless mastery of the ear drum crushing cries
2. Their well timed and often well executed disarmingly charming smiles

This Chinese New Year, Cheryl and I met with a lot of babies. Some were big, some were small while others were hairy and others were bald. But all in all, we had a ball will all the babies running in the halls.

Yes, officially, I love babies now…