Water quality

Everyone we know here in Malaysia has water filters installed in their houses - normally a big one outside and another one inside. In fact the water quality situation has given rise to a huge industry here in Malaysia with several companies offering a range of water purifiers and filters - I guess the most popular ones are the reverse osmosis machines costing thousands of dollars.

Soon after we got back from the UK and moved into our rented house, we too realised that we needed to install water filters. It was costly but it was absolutely necessary considering the terrible quality of water. 

It was not this bad when we left the country nearly 9 years ago. Moreover, the water supply was privatised and theoretically the service and quality ought to be better. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The quality of water has literally gone down the drain. Not sure what the problem is due to - is it due to old rusted pipes?

Look at the backwash of our external filter just after one week. It looks like black coffee.

The authorities seriously need to do something about this. 

New upcoming movies I am looking forward to

Quite excited with all these fantastic movies coming out soon. At least the trailers are fantastic and I hope they do not disappoint. Just realised that most of them are action movies and are adaptations of popular comics.


Aurora


Ant-Man


Fanstastic Four


Avengers: Age of Ultron


Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice


And of course:

Star Wars: Episode 7 - The Force Awakens

This is the movie I have to watch on the big screen when it comes out.

Just another day

Yes! It is that day of the year again - my birthday. Just plan to have a small family get together.

Nice to see a personalised Google Doodle.

Efneo - 3-speed front bicycle gearbox

While biking regularly to work in the UK, I can't tell you the countless issues I had with my front derailleur. An interesting innovation in the biking World caught my eye a few days back called the Efneo. They call it a "planetary gearbox" where there is one chainring rotating at three different speeds on each gear instead of the traditional derailleur where three chainrings of different sizes rotate at the same speed. It is an equivalent to a 28/40/50T front crankset.

The new gearbox claims to get rid of some of my biking pet peeves. For example, you can reset the gear to 1st while on a standstill and start from first gear. This is often an issue with the traditional gears when you have to come to a sudden standstill while at higher gears - resetting to 1st gear is not possible unless you start riding again. They also claim that the gear shifting is much easier and quicker. It definitely does look smooth in their videos. They also claim to reduce maintenance as well.

There are some limitations: It will not work properly with a fixie bike that has no freewheel in a rear wheel and is not meant for off-roaders.

Check out their Indiegogo campaign which has raised 47% of their $30,000 goal sum.

Also visit the Efneo website for more information.

Pavements and cycling paths in Malaysia

Pavements are non-existent near my current house and we have to watch out for cars and motorbikes as our gate opens up to a busy main road. Where there are pavements, they are full of obstacles - utility poles, uneven and cracked paving and some wise guy has even planted trees right in the middle of the paths at the side of his house. There is no way I am going to allow my kids to cycle around the neighbourhood with their friends like they did back in the UK.

However, this is a very old locality and I expected the new developments to be better planned considering the growing ageing population, moving towards a developed nation status, etc. but was left disappointed after looking at some of the new property developments in Malaysia. Apart from a few upmarket projects, most seem to have done away with pavements (or sidewalks as the Americans call it) - forget about cycling paths. So I guess these developers expect people to walk on the roads or not walk at all - only use cars and vehicles. What about cyclists, elderly and handicapped people on wheelchairs?

Putrajaya and Cyberjaya are probably the only places in Malaysia which have taken these issues into account. Recently the Government has been talking about healthy lifestyles - about the need to encourage people to walk more and cycle but these new developments indicate otherwise. I seriously think that the Government needs to put in some kind of regulation in place that new developments need to have pavements and pedestrian friendly housing areas. Any thoughts?

Non-payment of loans by older generation hurting future generations

It is a bad time to be a fresh University student in Malaysia today. The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN)has announced loan cuts of 5% for students in public institutions of higher learning and 15% for those studying in private institutions of higher learning. This came into effect last weekend.

Apparently the main reason is that many borrowers have not repaid their loans. I know that there is a similar situation in the UK as well. According to PTPN Chairman, Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, the total PTPTN loan repayment received up to August 31 this year was RM5.37 billion or 45.62% instead of the RM 11.77 billion, the corporation was supposed to receive.

I know a number of fresh graduates either do not have a job or are poorly paid, if they do and they have an excuse. However, I suspect that there are several people earning huge salaries who have not bothered to pay off their debts. I am not sure what are the reason but if you are one of them, please pay off your loans as you are seriously hurting the prospects of future generations.

And for guilty Muslims out there, if you are concerned about the issue of petting dogs, wearing hijab or other current issues, you should be aware that Islam also takes the matter of debt very seriously and Muslims are urged to avoid it as much as possible.

A sad day and why I will not ride a motorcycle

As I was driving to work this morning I noticed this motorcycle weaving in and out between traffic and driving quite fast. Then there were these cars changing lanes without signaling. A recipe for disaster, I thought to myself.

A couple of minutes later, there was a huge traffic jam on the expressway and immediately guessed that there must have been an accident. I was right and I passed a body on the road covered under white sheet, a motorbike crushed by a car. I do not know if it was the same motorcyclist but this is the third serious accident I have come across recently, one just happening before my eyes - a biker crashing into a car parked by the road. All cases involved motorcycles.

This follows the recent Karak highway accident last Sunday, which left two motorcyclists dead and one seriously injured.

In fact, according to news report early this year, 59% of all deaths in road accidents were motorcyclists. Of course this may be due to the high number of motorcycles in this country (almost 50:50 ratio with cars).

What can be done?

Special motorbike lanes, access to personal protective equipment including riding clothing and most important of all, education.

I had toyed with the idea of getting a superbike and riding everywhere but not anymore.