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Friday, June 15, 2007

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Sunday, June 10, 2007

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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

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Saturday, June 02, 2007

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Friday, June 01, 2007

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The Federal Court refused to recognise Lina Joy's conversion from Muslim to Christianity, to the thunderous applause of the sea of Muslim Youth Movement members outside Palace of Justice, Putrajaya yesterday.

Isn't that a defeat for secularism and constitutionalism in this country? The Federal Court, being the highest court in the country should make decisions based on evidence and fact rather by religious influence (ie. being secular) and respect an individual's fundamental freedom to practice the religion of his/her choice (ie. being constitutional).

Why subject Lina Joy to the Syariah Court when she's not a Muslim (she was baptised in 1998)? It now seems they want syariah to apply to non-Muslims, or at least former Muslims in their midst, too!

The Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said in his ruling, "She cannot at her own whim simply enter or leave her religion." And I thought the verse "Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan" in the Rukunegara was the freedom to practice religion of one's choice.

The court ruled 2-1 against the defendant: Both judges in the majority were Muslim, while the only non-Muslim in the court (Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum) argued passionately that Malaysia's highest law should be constitutional and secular, and criticising the NRD’s act as “unconstitutional and discriminatory”. Bravo Justice Richard. We heart you!

Watch the news coverage here (Windows Media Player required)

[UPDATE 01.06.07]
Just to make things clear, since there's a hot debate going on in my spit-back section. What I meant to say was,

NO court or authority (be it Syariah Court or politicians dan yg. lain-lain) should be easily allowed to have implied powers to curtail rights that are constitutionally granted. The Federal Constitution is and must remain in law, supreme. In an event of any inconsistency or conflict between the provisions of State Enactments and of the Federal Constitution, the latter must prevail.

This I quote from the Bar Council's say on the decision made by the High Court.

Read more on Lina's case here:
• The Star
• International Herald Tribune

Thursday, May 31, 2007

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Dim Sum @ Tai Thong

We went to Tai Thong Imperial City Restaurant at Cheras Plaza for dim sum breakfast last Sunday, just to see how big-time Tai Thong differs from our regular small-time dim sum haunts.

Although the restaurant is air-conditioned, we were seated at one particular corner, which felt stuffy and warm. Interior is well decorated, not unlike any other big-time restaurants. Decor so classy oso cannot eat, so this point is not on top of my list. It is of course, the fooood that matter most...
In terms on dim sum variety, Restoran Yi Poh in Taman Connaught (they've recently change name to dunno what, but the dim sum served is still the same) wins without breaking a sweat!
The siew mais (pork wrapped in wantan sheets) are a bit small in size, although the meat damn solid (in other words, it's chewy and not lembik like the siew mais the pao seller sells). Har gao (each got 2 prawns inside) also rocks! The transparent membrane is tough and not easily penetrated, a bit too thick for my liking.
Yue mai (fish paste made into a ping-pong ball), according to my mom, is good. But she claimed she can make better ones. The ones mom make are small-time fish balls, not yue mai...
The roasted duck is goooooooooood! Strong herbal aroma, and served piping hot! Shiok! Chicken feet also not bad. But other than that, the rest of the dim sums can be found elsewhere at a much cheaper price, and better too!
The Minced Pork with Century Egg porridge is definitely not the best I've ever tried. Taste so so only. The fried toppings are so hard, nearly powderise my teeth chewing it. But the thick consistency of the porridge is there la.We didn't have much of the fried stuff. Not that we are a family of health-freaks who don't ingest anything fried and oily - the reason is the cart housing the fried oily dim sums came only when all of us had already stuffed our tummy full.Conclusion is, don't waste your money going to big-time restaurant like this. The dim sum not say very special also! Har gao got 2 prawns in it only mah, no big deal geh. Make ownself put 10 inside also can. Seriously, I think Restoran Yi Poh wins Tai Thong hands down - in terms of variety and economical. In term of food quality, Tai Thong wins.

But still, if you're a stucked-up big time businessman/consultant-of-the-year who had just won your Nobel prize, and have loads of cash, here's the location. Don't forget to call me along!

TAI THONG IMPERIAL CITY RESTAURANT
Ground Floor, Cheras Plaza
(next to Cheras Leisure Mall)
Jalan Manis 1
Taman Segar
56100 Cheras
Tel: 03-9132 0118

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

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New Paris Restaurant

How often do you see a two-storey Chinese ("dai chao") restaurant? Not common in smaller states, but quite a number in KL right? Well, this New Paris Restaurant in SS2, PJ, has not two, not three, but FOUR levels of dining fantasy!

Rachel recommended this place as she's been there before. The place was super crowded when we visited last Saturday. We had to climb up to level three as the first two floors were fully occupied. This restaurant is definitely not the same class as the upmarket Tai Thong, Teochew Oriental, Spring Garden, The Hakka Restaurant, and the shits alike. It's a normal restaurant serving normal Chinese food with it's four storey air-conditioned building and an army of staffs and chefs and swarms of hungry customers and hard-to-get parking spaces.
One thing I find peculiar is the way they serve their rice. Although there were only two of us, they gave us a potful of rice instead of the normal per serving norm. We were charged RM2.00 (RM1.00/person?) for that pot of rice. I guess this is good, as some people are just "fan-toong" (someone who eats a lot of rice) and thus can scoop as much as they want as rice is kinda like free-flow in New Paris.
We ordered their Specialty Tofu, which are lightly fried on the outside and soft like tao-fu-fah on the inside, topped liberally with minced pork and pickled veggies. This dish is good. Liked the texture, tasted like egg. RM7.00.
Steamed Tilapia Jeong-Jing style. This dish is the first that arrived on our table. Can you believe it? Just 5-minutes after ordering, it pops on our table. I think they pre-steam this fish and keep it heated, till when there's an order, the hot chili paste is poured on top of it and served. This fish is crap. The flesh is mashed up like tao-fu-fah, not a good thing on fish. Signifies it's dead for a bloody long time. Bad tilapia, and costed us RM16.00.
Veggie was Stir-fry Lettuce with Pickled Tofu (what's new!). This dish is very ordinary, have tasted better ones elsewhere, nothing to shout about. RM6.00.
And for meat, we had the Guinness Pork Ribs ("hak beh kuat"). This is good according to Rachel, but seriously I've tasted pork ribs that's very much more superior than this, in a small state called Kulai in Johor. The ribs here are fatty. The sauce is fragrant with a tinge of bittersweet, which is tasty, but it's too starchy-thick! If I were to grade this with a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate this dish a 7. This is RM9.00.
Dining here is like a fast food experience. The waitress take your order the moment you're seated, and expects you to blabber your brain out instantaneously too. No pictorial menu provided. They expect you to know all their specialty dishes since they are so successful. Food came real fast too despite the number of customers. Not a surprise if you see their kitchen...
There's really an army of chefs inside the kitchen. All working in a synchronous harmony. I bet you don't see this in McD or KFC!
Food were mediocre at best. Simple basic Chinese food also can be so like so-so only, I guess their better specialty food cannot differ much lah! But having said that, I'd like to go again and try out their other dishes. Provided someone is willing to belanja lah!
If you wanna experience the incredible success of Restoran New Paris, dining with many many other strangers in a busy air-conditioned multiple-floor restaurant which has a funky western name, point your GPS set to: