Guess where?

Guess where I was today?

At a meeting on pembangunan bandar dan desa! I went on my 'Save Sg Pusu' concern.Sat with relevant authorities, consultants and contractors.Wough..I had to be noisy la, kan? Sg. Pusu's well being is my deep concern.Hari2 I tengok ikan2 trying to survive.

Our MP Hassan Ali officiated the function.I must email him to tell him speech kena jaga.Tak leh buat mcm masa dia jadi pakar motivasi, cakap lepas je.I was surprised with his chauvinistic language (maybe he's not aware of it but I cringed.He was educated in the West...he should be sensitive.Even if it's not because of this, he is a Muslim.More reason to be sensitive over NOT hurting people's feelings..dia cakap orang Sg Pusu bangun tidur, makan tidur, year in year out,not concerned with pembangunan diri, till it's time to die.A bit harsh, tak? I know some poor in Sg. Pusu.They have 2-3 jobs to make end's meet.Then he asked berapa ramai anak Sg. Pusu dapat masuk UIA.At lunch some penduduk told me their kids may not make it to IIUM but they go to other unis/colleges). Dr. Hassan is a good man.I must write that email before dia tersasul sekali lagi.We all need to be reminded every now and then.Itu penting ada PR man/woman to take care of your speech, your kelakuan when you are a public figure.Look at Obama.Beli buai anak pun goes to the whole world beritanya just so people feel they can relate to their new Prez (who lives an ordinary life).Kalau tak, beli je la, kan? Buat apa nak tell the world.

What I leant at the meeting today was this: mentality para contractors kita ialah ini=> pembangunan is building buildings only.They kept saying kita perlukan pembangunan (kita tu maknanya merekalah kot?). They want kawasan bukit dibolehkan utk buat pembangunan then say with proper engineering, takkan ada masalah cemar alam etc.I had to interject...yang dah buat tu..mana pi engineering skillnya sampai sungai pun nak mati?Yang ada, tak ter-engineering kan, nak kerat lagi segala bukit yang ada? Orang kampung bukan nak bangunan...mereka nak pendidikan, pekerjaan...DUIT.Kalau buat bangunan..kontraktor je yang kaya....kalau bagi depa tanah dan bantu buat pertanian ke, pelancongan ke (buat kampong tradisi where we can learn how to buat bahulu, dodol, etc)..masuk juga duit (and I gave some examples how they can generate income)

I balik ofis pening kepala lah (kena pulak ngajar Browne, Spenser, Milton, Donne but my pgrads were well-prepared and well-read.We had wonderful, wonderful discussions!)

But I think I made enough contacts at the meeting to help anak2 Sg Pusu.Terasa bersalah IIUM indah gah tapi anak2 miskin di luar pagar tak berubah hidupnya.I don't care about parties.Bak kata Prof K, we should go beyond parties in our attempt to help the poor and needy.We should ingat parti Allah...bolehkah kita tidur jika jiran2 kita lapar dan tak bersekolah or are unemployed?

Kadang2 rasa nak marah.Governments (tak kisah parti apa) are not moving fast enough.