R.I.P. Saddam Hussein

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging at 0300 GMT today.

Is it really a punishment? Or is it simply revenge?

Even though he may be brutal in his rule in Iraq, he does not deserve to die this way, especially not in the hands of the Americans and the Iraqi puppet government.

They could not have chosen a worse date as today is the Haj, i.e. the day of sacrifice in the Muslim Calendar. It is a day where minor crimes are forgiven and major crimes either commuted or deferred.

Does this mark the end of the war on terror? I am afraid not. Instead more hatred may have been sown in the hearts of many Iraqis and Muslims around the world.

It started off with an illegitimate war - an invasion of a sovereign state by America and its allies (especially Britain), based on allegations (proven to be lies) that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction.

The intention of America is clear - revenge, most likely driven by hatred of its ignorant President.

This illegal invasion has caused the lives of hundreds of thousands of people - Iraqis, Americans, British, etc. Number of body bags are increasing by the day, with no one knowing when it will stop and how much more. The situation created by Americans and British are worse than that under the Saddam rule.

We are told Saddam was executed for crimes against humanity, the mass murder of civilians.

Bush and Blair where the leaders with ultimate responsibility when they influenced and authorised the illegitimate invasion of iraq which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

It seems to me that they may be guilty of similar offences.

Will the Western democratic process pull them in front of the courts to assess their guilt? Not a chance.

If there is really true justice in this world, Bush and Blair should join Saddam Hussein at the gallows. They should be buddies down under.

It's a sad day for humanity where Western hypocrisy is at its worst.

Shame on Bush, shame on Blair, and shame on all the corrupt and opportunist, profiteering, companies and individuals who took advantage of this illegal war for their own gain.

If you kill by sword be ready to die by sword.

Great Christmas celebration

Auntie Yu Hsiang was really kind to invite us over to her house for a stay over Christmas. Johanna and I had been struggling to find ways to get to Acton Town on Christmas day, after knowing that all modes of public transport would not be running on that day.

We made our way to the West side of London on Christmas eve night. Shazrul had invited us over to his place in Ealing. He picked us up from Ealing Broadway station. It was already quite late, hence we only managed to chit chat for a while, while tasting the delicious apple crumble made by his sister-in-law.

Shazrul sent us to Uncle Michael's home after that. It was quite near to where Shazrul is living.

Uncle Michael brought us to a room on the first floor, with big windows and overlooking the backyard. The backyard is so huge! About 50m long.

On Christmas Day itself, everyone in the family - Uncle, auntie and their two sons Justin and Crispin were busy preparing food for the lunch. I also had a chance to play some PS2 games with Crispin.

Other guests arrived around lunch time - Uncle Michael's cousin and his wife, Justin's girlfriend Amy and her family.

We had a big feast at the greenhouse - turkey, pork, potatoes, parsnips (too bad I don't know how to describe), etc.

It was a really great session. After lunch, everyone started chatting and playing games.

The guests only went home around 9pm.

The next day, we had lunch before Auntie Yu Hsiang sent us back to our flat after dropping off Crispin at his flat in Canary Wharf.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2007!

Johann's music

As promised, Jo, Jih Hoay and I went to My Place in Earls Court to watch Johann perform yesterday. His band is Brown Music http://www.brownmusic.co.uk/.

To be frank most of the gigs were not that good except for Johann's - He and his great guitar skills and showmanship. Johanna was really impressed with his skills. She said that he has all the great skills of other guitarists she knew, combined. I wasn't surprised as I've always know that Johanna has something special with his guitar since KTJ days. The two vocalists in his band were also great. I love it when they blend their voices (including Johann's occassionally) so well in the four songs performed.

Life as a musician is not easy. Hope Johann will achieve something big soon. Jo and I will continue to attend his gig whenever possible.

Sista comin' to town...

Jih Hoay had a flight to London again on the 21st. Unfortunately she couldn't stay over for Christmas as her flight back to Singapore was on 23rd.

I managed to brought her to Primark, Harrod's and H&M for some shopping (and window shopping).

On Friday night, all of us watched my former KTJ housemate Johanna performed with his band in a hotel in Earls Court. He's great!

On Saturday morning, we had stuffed chicken (yes, chicken not turkey as turkey is too big for three of us!) for brunch before sending her off.

Jih Hoay brought Jo and me a lot of food from Singapore - ingredients for chicken soup, 3 in 1 coffee, red dates, etc. She also brought along my badminton rackets and actuarial notes. Really grateful to her.

I bought her a cutlery set for her new condominium in Penang. Hope she'll have a great time decorating the place!

Foggy London

The fog has been very thick for the whole week, resulting in hundreds of fligt cancellations... Pity those who have planned to fly home for Christmas. Despite the very cold weather (colder than Paris, Moscow, New York and most Scandinavian cities), there is no snow in sight! Sigh.

Colchester and West Mersea

Liu Yi invited Jo and myself to a feast at her place in Colchester on Sunday, 17 December. We took the opportunity to visit West Mersea for some Colchester oysters.

Roshan was also on the invitation list, hence our first meeting since coming to London.

Great oysters, seafood and great stuffed turkey... Mmm... What a weekend.

Colchester town

Colchester Castle

Nice big houses on the way to Company Shed to have seafood

Yachts at West Mersea

Company Shed, the seafood place

Seafood platter

Raw Colchester oysters, yum yum!

Colchester oysters with mozarella cheese... Mmmm

Johanna enjoying seafood

Stelios, Roshan, Liu Yi, Johanna and myself

Bapak & Mak's Christmas Party

This must be one of the last Christmas Party I've attended at the McWilliams' home in London. Friday 15 December, while the rest of London's working people are enjoying themselves in their company's Christmas Party, we had our very own in our Bapak and Mak's home in Camberwell.

I met up with Jo at Earls Court (she came from work) before proceeding to Denmark Hill by train from Victoria. Then we took a bus to Camberwell Green and walked to the McWilliams' home. I was wearing the blue Nadza shark T-shirt.

Clare greeted us at the door with Victor following suit moments later. It has been a long time since we last met in KTJ 2 years back. They still look the same, but the guests weren't. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces, mostly juniors who've gone to KTJ after I've left. The only familiar faces out of the 20-odd guests were Xian, Matthew, Chris and Jonathan. Chris and Jonathan are both grown ups now, unlike the kids I've known in KTJ.

We started queueing up for food moments later - can sense a lot of Malaysian influence in the cooking! It was great to catch up with everyone and knowing some juniors who also went to Nadzaruddin House.

Johann Ting arrive a bit later, just when I thought he was giving this year's party a miss. I was surprised to know that he has quit Goldman Sachs long time ago and is now doing a guitar course and playing part-time. He is one of the greatest musicians I've ever known. I promised to turn up at his gig in Earls Court the following Friday.

The McWilliams are planning to quit KTJ next year and may hold the last Christmas party in their London home next Christmas. Since I won't be in London next Christmas, this should be the last reunion for me.

Well done to the McWilliams for doing this for us for the past many years! You do not earn the title Bapak and Mak for nothing. =)

Visit to Nottingham

Jo and I took the opportunity to visit Nottingham on 4 November by joining City University Malaysian Society's members to the annual Nottingham Games.

We had to sleep overnight at Seng Hon's place in order to get to the uni at 4am in the morning. It was freezing cold at that time.

We arrived in Nottingham around 7pm. It was really cold all the way. There was frost everywhere.

Unlike other Nottingham Games I've been to, this one has few ministers and few other VIP guests present. So we sort of have to put up with some lame speeches by Dato' Mustapa Mohamed and the keris waving Dato' Seri Hishammuddin. The speeches were ridiculously childish for a crowd full of undergraduates and postgraduates, to the extent that I felt embarrassed for my country, especially in front of the Vice Chancellor of Nottingham University. Based on other speeches and controversies in the country lately, it is difficult to feel the sincerity of these ministers in what they were preaching.

After the opening ceremony, Jo and I proceed to the sports hall to watch volleyball and basketball before making our way to Nottingham city.

Jo loves the city a lot. She said it felt like Melbourne a lot, not too crowded and peaceful. We found the people here extremly friendly compared to London.

We browsed through the town, sent postcards to our families before finding our way to Nottingham Castle. The existing buildings are built not too long ago in place of the ancient castle which did not survive many battles and wars in the past. Robin Hood, the icon of this city, is present at every corner of the castle and the town.

The Lace Centre, outside Nottingham Castle
Robin Hood statue outside Nottingham Castle
Lovely garden at Nottingham Castle
Johanna being cute as usual :-)

Bringing Sis to Warwick Castle

Many many weeks ago, when I haven't had internet connection at home...

My sister Jih Hoay came to visit us on 20 October. The 3rd member of my family, after my parents to visit me in London. My younger brother is the only one left. Hope he'll want to come and visit us soon.

Jih Hoay was staying in Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch. I didn't have any classes on Friday. So we met up at the hotel around lunch time. I brought her to my flat and cooked lunch for her. Next we went to Jo and my temporary accomodation at Goodenough College to access internet before I brought her to see Cass Business School. We met up with our hometown friend Khoon Peng near Moorgate station and proceed to Angel to join my Malaysian uni mates for freshers dinner at Whitechapel. Jo could only join us a bit later as she left work late.

The next day, I took Jo and Jih Hoay to Warwick Castle. The train ticket and entrance fees only cost us GBP77 in total. I've been there with Yee Sian and Swati many years ago, during undergraduate days. The castle still looks the same. We managed to take some photos with the sun appearing and disappearing every now and then.

It rained heavily at the time we were on our way to Warwick Train Station. We had to take a shelter in a local bar. We missed the train in the end and arrived nearly 2 hours later than planned. As a result, I missed Xian's birthday celebration in Khan's. Felt really bad for that but what to do?

We had Taza Kebab - supposedly the best kebab in the world according to many of my Malaysian friends.. Jih Hoay concluded that kebab is not her thing.

Jo and I were too lazy to go back to our own flat. So we bunked at Jih Hoay's hotel room. Very nice room with 42" Plasma TV!

The next day, we managed to have duck rice at Four Seasons with Khoon Peng before we send Jih Hoay off with her SIA crew.