You Forgot Who Is Rin Tin Tin Eh?

In today's The Star there was a plug-in spread for the latest heroic dog cartoon movie and one of the articles was talking about the Hollywood do heroes through the ages below :

Friday November 28, 2008

Hollywood’s heroic hounds

PUT it down to animal attraction but Hollywood has had a soft spot for putting heroic canine crime-fighters and life-savers on screen for decades. The truth of the matter is that Bolt is merely the latest in a long line of do-good dogs to topline their very own movie or television show over the years.

One hot dog: Scooby-Doo is the iconic Great Dane.

·Scooby-Doo: The star of the longest continually running cartoon series in television history, Scooby-Doo is the iconic Great Dane who remains instantly recognisable to most kids and adults as Mystery Inc’s crime-busting mascot. Just like his best friend and owner Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, Scooby loves his food and is scared of almost anyone and anything. Amazingly, Scooby has managed to outlast most of his on-screen counterparts and has enjoyed the distinction of not only being the star of his own cartoon series but also two Hollywood movies.

·Underdog: TV’s crime-busting beagle from the mid-60s to early 70s may not nearly be as famous as Scooby-Doo but he’s just as potent to baddies nevertheless. A cartoon parody of Superman and other heroes with secret identities, Underdog’s premise was that geeky Shoeshine Boy, a cartoon dog, was in truth the superhero pup Underdog.

·Lassie: Have a conversation about heroic dogs and Lassie’s name will pretty much come up. Lassie’s heyday might have been in the 50s but this brave and selfless collie’s amazing exploits still manage to live long in the memories of TV addicts worldwide.

·Benji: Another heroic dog to have captured the imagination is Benji, the small, lovable mixed breed pup with the uncanny knack of being always being in the right place at the right time. Such was Benji’s appeal that it has managed to remain a star of the small and silver screens for more than three decades and counting. The latest news on Benji is that he will be starring in an episode of Season Five of the popular HBO series Entourage.

Even though the 'transvestite' English sheepdog is more famous, I actually find the Lassie franchise story line quite lame but I still remember spending many a weekend as a kid watching black and white movies and the TV series of the original (to me at least) hero dog Rin Tin Tin. Rin Tin Tin did heroic acts on its own without needing to call his humans befitting its origins as a war dog, even starring as a soldier dog in the Old West in the TV series. In fact to this day if there is any breed of dog that I would like to keep if the situation warrants it as outlined by Muslim law, that working dog would be a German Shepherd in tribute to Rin Tin Tin. I really believe the popularity of the breed in Malaysia actually arose from the exploits of Rin Tin Tin as watched by Malaysians at that time, maybe the younger generation just do not know about it. You do not really that many 'Lassies' around right. Anyway this is my ode to Rin Tin Tin, may the younger generation get reacquainted with him soon and be able to watch him running towards you once again as his trademark opening sequence.

Second Batch Of Patrol Vessels To See The Light

It was with a glad heart that I heard and read of the Malaysian Government's decision to go ahead with the building of the second batch of patrol vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy once the first batch of six vessels has been delivered in 2010. The Prime Minister who is also the Defence Minister announced this at the naming ceremony of the fifth patrol vessel PV Kelantan recently. He said the role of the RMN and other maritime agencies was becoming more challenging following increased threats to safety of navigation in the world's sea lanes.He said the recent hijacking of MISC vessels by pirates in Somalia waters was an indication of how important it was for the RMN to strengthen itself with more combat vessels to face these threats by having more ships. He further states that the patrol vessel project is not only to patrol and defend the sovereignty of our national waters, but for special missions in the strategic waters around the world. It has to be remembered that the RMN's assets has been depleted substantially with the transfer of two and a half squadrons of patrol craft to the Malaysian Coast Guard force that was supposed to be replaced by these patrol vessels, so it is appropriate for the program to be continued to check the navy's shortfall.

As for the status of the first batch of patrol vessels, the first two ships are now in active service with their home base in Sabah, while the second pair is reportedly undergoing their acceptance trials with the third vessel scheduled to enter service around March or April next year. Meanwhile the last ship of the batch was announced to be launched at a similar date next year, so it is most likely that the batch delivery will be finished in 2010 as announced so that construction of the next batch can commenced. It has also been speculated that this second batch vessels will be armed with a new gun combination, either the Bofors 57 mm Mk3 and Millennium GDM-008 (Millennium Gun Weapon System) combination or OTO MELARA 76/62 SR and MARLIN-WS (modular-advanced-remote-controlled weapon station). This will replace the existing OTO MELARA 76/62 SR and OtoBreda FSAF/Mauser 30mm MN 30 GS combination that some claims do not provide adequate air defence for the vessels. After reviewing the specifications of the Marlin WS, it is interesting to note that the manufacturer claims that the weapon can be equipped with point defence missile launchers, giving the vessels an organic missile defence capability at a location other than the fitted for but not with points. Meanwhile the Millennium gun would provide a system capable of engaging fast-moving incoming air targets highly effective and with a high probability of structural kill. Whatever it is, we do need these patrol vessels and fast so here's hoping that there will be no further hurdles to construction programme.

Chronicling A Budget Airline Holiday - Part 1

Although I have travelled several times on budget airlines with the family for our holidays locally, this would be the first time I will try their hotel and flight package and I thought I might as well chronicle it. Our destination will be Kota Bharu and the holiday will be a four days three nights stay at a reasonable hotel within the city. As you may know we have three national airlines to serve us for domestic destinations, and for the past month I have checked out their respective websites to shop for the best deals. Let’s call them the full service airline (FSA), jet budget airline (JBA) and turboprop budget airline(TBA) respectively based on the type of service they offer.

Well let’s start with their websites shall we. Being the pioneer, I must say JBA has the most user-friendly and easily accessible website with the least down-time or refresh needed when you are on-site. FSA website is slightly better than TBA’s in terms of access, but is the worst in terms of user friendliness if you want to book a package holiday online which incidentally until now I cannot find the page to do so. Meanwhile even though TBA basically tries to replicate JBA’s functions, it gets a no-no because of the slow access speed and frequent downtime, tendency to crash that requires you to refresh the function and slow processing of requests. While writing this I am now on Firefly’s website and I must tell you that I am still on a white screen for the last ten minutes.

Coming to the main event I have noticed that the price for these holiday packages actually are quite stable even for a period of one month unlike the price of their flight tickets. Nonetheless this where both budget airlines’ price indication differs and if you are not careful you may actually be paying more if you just accept without reading the fine print properly. For JBA their prices are all inclusive meaning you pay what they quoted, while TBA’s will charge additional taxes and fees that actually makes their nett price more than their rival's. Even though TBA serves refreshments in their flight, a glass of fruit juice and a muffin is not worth an extra two hundred bucks in my books. That is basically the additional cost of the package that I have to pay to TBA if I had opted for their package to stay in Renaissance Hotel In Kota Bharu. Although TBA offers two hotels with the other being a two star hotel, it surprised me that theirs cost more for basically the same package. And the funny thing is that TBA no longer offers Renaissance when I first logged in last night but I manage to get it after trying several times but I finally dropped it after doing a last minute comparison with JBA’s quotation which saved me the two hundred bucks. In fact if you logged in now, you will no longer get to book at Renaissance although JBA continues to offer the hotel in their inventory. So I have managed to make a booking at a five star hotel at a good price, better than if I had made separate bookings.

Well what is the comparison between booking the hotel and flight tickets separately you might ask. You can actually reserve the hotel rooms at a good rate from the hotel’s website but when you add up the cost, it can actually cost you an extra four hundred ringgit than if you buy the package from JBA. Surprisingly TBA’s final package price is quite similar to the price of booking separately, so there seems to be no reason to buy from them unless you buy your flight ticket early on. However I must say that both airlines are actually having promotional fares for the period that cost less than seventy ringgit one way which I suspect would be quite similar in pricing if you had bought it early. Well at least I have finished the first step in the process to having the budget airline holiday, and when the departure date strikes nearer I will write on how I prepared to travel on the budget airline with their numerous restrictions especially baggage limits and how to overcome them. I stop with the following travel tips from JBA’s website! Cheers then!.

Travel Tips

Go Holiday offers low prices packages (combining flights and hotels). Here are some ways to keep your costs down.

Depart on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. These days often reflect the lowest fares.


Check for "low' periods. When you travel during off peak periods, there are less people and
fares are lower.


When you see a good deal, buy it! Inventory changes constantly for both flights and hotel. A good deal might not be available later.


Travel just after a major holiday. Holiday travel is always in demand, and prices often drop as the demand does.

Tabasco Versus Lingham’s

Last month I have read a few promotional centennial articles on Malaysia’s own sweet chilli sauce from Lingham’s and only now I realised that Malaysia actually has a chilli condiment to rival that other internationally recognised chilli sauce from the sole world super-power, Tabasco. It isn’t everyday we have something to rival them so it gives a good feeling that at least on this level, we are out there in front .What gives me more pleasure is that Lingham's is the quiessential Malaysian product as it was developed by an Indian, designed for the Mat Sallehs, manufactured by a Chinese family and consumed by all strata of Malaysians. Thus it can be considered as a microcosm of Malaysia in its own little bottle.

Nonetheless I must confess that I personally came by to the taste of Lingham's quite late in life, since a bottle of Lingham’s chilli sauce do cost more than the average chilli sauce the Malaysian family consumes and thus Lingham’s was not stocked by my own average Malaysian family. In fact it was my wife who introduced me to this sauce early in my marriage, and only then as a special occasion chilli sauce and not as a table sauce. I actually think I tasted Tabasco much earlier as it was brought back by my sister who was studying in the states, but to this day I actually have not taken to its taste, possibly because its nourish salty taste is too piquant for me. Maybe it is because our taste buds, or mine at least, are more used to a sweet and sour taste even though both sauces share a salt and vinegar base. Thus the addition of sugar makes Lingham’s taste more palatable to me and I guess many others especially their international fans, and this is where the strength of Lingham’s markets are. And Lingham’s has long claimed itself to be organic even before it was fashionable to be so as it is made without any preservatives. Although not made of any chilli padi like Tabasco, the heat from a bottle of Lingham’s is still hot enough for me as our own long red chilli’s has a heat signature of their own and hotness does not need to be just a matter of fieriness in your mouth to register its heat level.

Glugor Grown Red Chillies Vs Avery Island Chilli Padi

Thus I regret that even though you may be able to obtain a bottle of Tabasco sauce when you dine out, our own creation is quite hard to come by. In fact the only time I see Lingham’s chilli sauce served as a condiment by an international food chain is at King Pie during a promotion, though this should not be a surprise as South Africa the chain’s home is a traditional market for the company already. It is a shame since Lingham’s is holding their own in the USA, and for the company to consider itself an export market specialist is quite a shame actually. So if you have not tried a bottle, get one the next time you are in the shops, and we might actually see this home-grown product actually being welcome by more of its countrymen. As for me I am glad that I can now afford it as a table sauce for my home, though for tomato sauce or ketchup as the Yanks call it, I have to be satisfied with other brands currently. So is this the way for the future, my dear Lingham?

KD Tunku Abdul Rahman Video

I just found the following corporate video made by DCNS of what I believe is the sea trial carried out on our Scorpene submarine KD Tunku Abdul Rahman in Lorient waters in France. Viva our submariners! Cannot wait for your return!

Ops Fajar Ending Soon

As reported recently in the Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia, the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) has decided to end their Ops Fajar in the Gulf Of Aden due to high costs of operations to continue the operations indefinitely. This would mean our naval ship KD Mahawangsa will no longer be shadowing our merchantmen through dangerous water as beautifully captured in these photos by Blogger Dukerobin in his blog. Despite some other bloggers efforts to discredit our navy's role in this operation, this MISC sailor that is actually experiencing the naval assistance clearly appreciates the security provided especially by the navy's own Paskal men presence on board throughout their journey from the Gulf to the Red Sea, as the pirates still continue to take merchant ships hostage despite the increase of naval presence in the area.

Let not the taking of another of our ships force our hand again to send our naval ships there to provide naval security for our national assets in the area. Our shipping companies and the MAF must come up with a reasonable security solution for the ships passing through the are, and soon. Posting our Paskal men on board after embarking from a safe port after dispatch by air to provide security in the area before disembarking at the other end and returning home may allow irregular presence in the are without constant deployment of our naval ships, thus reducing overall cost. Just my two cents to put into the discussion hat.

Stop Meddling Into Our Religious Affairs!

Although I have noticed some sniping in our mainstream press towards the recent fatwa against tomboyism like the article below, I did not give it much thought as I consider this would be the work of some pathetic misguided individuals who just like to challenge the status quo.

And what about our very own special brand of discrimination, Fatwa on Tomboys? The National Fatwa Council, this paper reported recently, has ruled that tomboy-ism – where a girl behaves or dresses in a boyish manner – is forbidden in Islam. seemingly, the decision was prompted by the recent propensity of young women to behave like men and indulge in homosexuality. The Star 9 November 2008

Nonetheless I was a bit surprised that the Inspector General of Police had to take upon himself to issue a warning to non-Muslim NGO's to stop publicly challenge the fatwa, either through street demos or remarks, as such an action underlines the seriousness of this challenge against the very foundation of our civil society by creating another avenue for divisiveness and partisanship. I wonder on what basis these people think that they have a right to meddle into other people's religious affairs, especially since they may have zero knowledge of the religious requirements itself, especially as the IGP himself remarked "This proves they have no respect for other religion because the fatwa was issued for Muslims. Why do they have to be the one to demonstrate?” he asked." Thus it makes no sense for these people to meddle as there was no reason for non-Muslims to feel threatened by the council’s fatwa because it was only meant for Muslims. So why do these society's feel they have the right to impose their views on society just because they may feel that this is the age of change and era of individualism. Especially one like Food Not Bombs KL whose mandate is actually to recycle food for the poor in order to raise awareness of the problem of food wastage and unfair food distribution in our society. A noble enough cause but what has this got to do against the fatwa I ask? But reading through their website, I cannot help but notice that this noble society's aims may have been hijacked from their through true objectives as demonstrated by this posting as sadly their organisation is by itself a loose form of organisation by a hodge-potch of individuals. Thus it is no wonder if its aim has deviated from the nobility of the cause.

Thus do they even realise in trying to impose their views on general society, that they themselves are the flip side of the coin they are trying to demonise? So stop interfering into things you do not know and stick to the script. Let the Malaysian Muslim society ourselves figure out for ourselves that since the fatwa has now been issued, how should it then be enforced and how we should rehabilitate the offenders, as to me the real problem has long been that we are a society long on legislation but short on enforcement and rehabilitation. So now you uninformed goody two shoes, butt out OK!