Kenapa Pulau Pinang tak boleh pakai papan tanda bahasa lain

KM Pulau Pinang sedang menjalani kehidupan impiannya.Habis papan tanda jalan di PP nak ditukar supaya ada bahasa Cina, Tamil dan bahasa penjajah tu. Atas dasar "mahu meningkatkan industri pelancongan".
Andai kata dibuat perhitungan, berapa banyak pelancong India, China dan dari negara yang menggunakan bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa ibunda, cukup banyakkah untuk melayakkan PP berbuat demikian?
Bukankah lebih baik jika turut diletakkan sekali bahasa Perancis? Atau setidak-tidaknya bahasa Jerman? Papan tanda tu ditukar untuk pelancong, atau warga Malaysia bukan Melayu?
Ya betullah, kononnya kata KM, tindakannya itu "tidak mengurangkan status bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa kebangsaan". Tindakannya itu cuma meletakkan bahasa lain sama status dengan bahasa kebangsaan. Tidak eksklusif dan sama rata.
Dah la orang Melayu sendiri pun kurang memartabatkan bahasa sendiri. Syarikat swasta apatah lagi.
Merenung kembali hujah si KM berkenaan nama jalan di KL yang turut meletakkan bahasa Arab, tak pasti pula sama ada ia benar atau tidak. Yang paling saya ingat, papan tanda polis pelancong dalam bahasa Arab, selain bahasa Inggeris ada lah. Tapi nama jalan, siapa nak baca nama jalan bahasa Arab? Dan oh, wahai KM, jawi bukan bahasa. Ia dibaca mengikut bahasa Melayu di Malaysia. Jangan jadi "masyarakat tertutup", bak kata si KM. Biarlah bahasa kebangsaan itu, diagungkan sebagai bahasa kebangsaan. Baca lagi!

Conman, kaki busuk and Guitar Hero

When I was at the steps of platform 9 Puduraya, inhaling exhaust fumes while waiting for my bus to Melaka, a Chinese guy approached me. "Abang, mau pigi Mlaka ka? Saya pun mau pigi sana. Tapi saya ah, baru sampai dari Penang. Tapi saya kena rompak woo. Tengok tangan sini ada luka, muka pun ada. (Sambil mengeluarkan dompet kosong yang hanya ada IC) "Tengok alamat saya, no. 57 Bukit Baru. Saya mau pinjam sepuloh linggit boley ka?" Looking at the IC, it was a picture of a chubby man wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses. The IC starts with 69****, means he supposed to be 39. But I kid you not, the face look totally different and no way the man standing in front of me is 39! I just shoved him off and said "Tadak duit lah". God. If he was trying to con me, that's just crap man. But if he was really robbed, I pity u. But there shud be more than just one way to get money to go home, rite?
Finally, I make it on the bus. It was a pleasant journey during which I could not sleep partly because the Italian Roast (tasty giler!) coffee I drank before. Then, upon reaching Seremban, there's this smell. The peculiar, stinking smell that you wish wouldn't smell in a confined area. The smell of a stinking feet. Bau kaki sial! Siapa la bodoh sangat nak bagi bau kaki dalam bas!!!! Its either the person is stupid, or just having a blocked nose. Lucky I have a bag of ground coffee beans in my bag. That just saved me from my agony. So from Seremban to Melaka, I was sniffing coffee.
On another note, I played Guitar Hero. It is fun. Got the wife hooked on it too, altho she's not the gaming type. Semua ini salah Grunge! He introduced me to it! But seriously, playing that game for a continuous period of time makes you somewhat dizzy. Once you stopped, almost everything you look at seems to move...Creepy. And the warning also said that playing the game for a long period can lead to epileptic seizure. Hahah! Funny, and scary. Main sikit-sikit dah la. So G, bila mau berentap lagi? Baca lagi!

My father, the Greenthumb (mother oso laa)

I have always remembered home as somewhere green. It has always been green with plants my father planted together with the tender care of my mom. Before the front yard was covered with tiles, it was a garden, with pokok buah 'amra', starfruit, ciku, and not to mention the flowers. Even my wife remembers the my home as the house with "banyak pokok-pokok". That was the front. Meanwhile at the back, he planted guava, tomatoes, some greens and stuff. That was then.
Now, the front yard is limited to flowers. The back? After the extension of the kitchen, a little space is left for gardening. Most of it moved to the side where he now plants tomatoes, ladyfinger, eggplant and chilli.
BUT, there's a huge but there. The whole yard behind our home, which belongs to the municipal council (I guess) is brimmed full of his handiwork. Pisang tanduk, pisang apatahlagi, ubi kayu, ciku, betik, and not mention my pokok kelapa. I insisted the kelapa because the shade it can give him while busy gardening..hehe. It is a big kelapa tree, not the gading ones.
Anyway, me in Melaka found out a place selling this hydroponic thingy where you plant veggies without the use of soil. My dad used to plant his with the same technique until the company which make the fertilizers suddenly went missing (or should i say gulung tikar?) So now the hydroponic housing (which is a two tiered rack with cover) becomes the two-storey bungalow for my cats. I mentioned to him that I found out this hydroponic thingy here and mom was ecstatic. They ordered 8 sets for me to buy. That's how ecstatic they are. Eight! Well I guess, it's good as well, they can eat the crops and money will be saved a little.
Enjoy gardening!
p/s: my cherry tomatoes are blossoming! Baca lagi!