83000 batu pahat, johor

From TheStar Online:
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/8/18/north/1822960&sec=north

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Nothing to stop her from fulfilling her dream
By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG

AFTER 15 years as a private art tutor for primary schoolchildren, wheelchair-bound Wong Boon Lian now hopes for a chance to experience working life outside of home.

The 35-year-old from Batu Pahat, Johor, is optimistic that her newly attained degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang would help her secure a job elsewhere.

Wong graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the School of Humanities at the third session of USM’s 38th convocation ceremony on Friday.

“I enrolled for the distance learning course four years ago because I felt it was time for an upgrade and I wanted to improve my situation,” said Wong, whose spastic condition left both her legs and her right hand weak from birth.

Imagine. It’s 3 pm in the afternoon. You are feeling a bit hungry. Biscuits, a slice of bread with a cup of coffee or tea is just too boring. If only you could taste something more tasty. How about rojak? You wish that there’s a Rojak Uncle who will stop in front of your home and sell you rojak.

If you are staying in say Simpang Rantai, Kampung Merdeka, Limpoon or the town centre, you do not need to imagine. There’s this 60 something uncle (he says he is reaching 70 soon) who peddlers a mobile stall around BP.

Mum and I managed to caught up with him at the housing estate behind the Jalan Kluang shell.
We asked if we could like ‘interview him’ and take some photos. He gives a smile and a nod.

We asked him, how can we address you? He’s too shy to say, but he said some people call him Rojak Uncle or some of his friends / customers call him “Boh Geh” (no teeth). He has teeth but just a few missing ones.

Mum asked, how long have you been peddling around BP? He has been doing this since he was “chap kui her” (translated as younger teenage years).

We ordered 2 packets from him. One spicy and one non spicy.

Mum said when she was young, it was like 20 cents a pack. But that was long long ago. He is selling it at $2 now. Now let me tempt you a bit. Nicely stacked pieces of tauhu. Boiled kangkong and bean sprouts.

Sweet turnip (Seng kuang), cucumbers and pineapples. This guy is neat isn’t he?

Now let’s see how he prepares it. The ‘hae ko’ / shrimp paste mix, with tamarind water, peanuts etc that he mixes.

Next he slices the cucumber and turnip into it.

He then adds in the sliced pineapple, tofu, bean sprouts and kangkong into it.

Give it a good and thorough stir. That’s it.

We noticed that he uses lidi sticks instead of tooth picks.

This is what I ate after I reached home. This uncle’s version of rojak is light and caters to those who do not like very strong and thick ‘hae ko’. The taste is quite all right.

The rojak I prefer the rojak with more “hae ko”, peanuts and a some of bunga kantang.

There you go, another post about someone unique in Batu Pahat. Look out for him. He only goes around places that is not hilly. So if you stay say in Taman Soga or Taman Bukit Perdana, you  will most probably not see him. He says it is tiring for an old man to cycle uphill.

If you have taken the express buses that ply in Malaysia, you will realise that they always stop. I take the Larkin to BP buses sometimes. The express bus stops being an express bus when it reaches Air Hitam!  It behaves like a coach bus from Air Hitam all the way to Batu Pahat.

I did not know that they are not allowed to stop. If they do not stop, then those passengers would have a take another bus back to say Parit Raja, after reaching Batu Pahat. It would be rather inconvenient for them.

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Association: Express buses cannot drop passengers midway

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/9/nation/22031642&sec=nation

JOHOR BARU: Express bus drivers are not allowed to drop passengers off at any point other than the point of destination.

The Pan Malaysian Bus Association (PMBOA) president Datuk Mohd Ashfar Ali said there were cases where bus drivers were booked by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) for doing so.

“Drivers who accede to their passengers’ request to drop them en route to their destination point are taking a risk,” he said.

He had been asked about an incident where an express bus driver attacked a passenger during an argument that arose at a rest area in Yong Peng on Monday.

The passenger P. Mayakrishnan, 33, had asked the driver to drop him off after the Sungai Besi toll, but was slashed by the driver with a chopper that was hanging at the side of the bus door.

When asked about having a chopper on the bus, Mohd Ashfar said he could not comment on the incident, as he was not at the scene.

Batu Pahat OCPD Asst Comm Ibrahim Mohd Aris said the driver had been arrested.

Do you know how to pump your own petrol? Petrol kiosk operators think it’s time BP folks DIY.

News from The Star Online:
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/8/11/southneast/1766916&sec=southneast

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BATU PAHAT: Petrol kiosk operators here want the Government to educate vehicle owners on the self-service system.

They said they were willing to implement the self-service ruling but it was not easy when customers demanded attendants to help fill petrol tanks.

Owner Ahmad Sampur said some customers insisted on attendants pumping the petrol.

“A few days ago, a customer ordered my cleaner to do the job,” he said during a dialogue between the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry district office and about 40 petrol kiosk owners recently.

Ahmad, who has been in the business for 24 years, said that most customers found the self-service system troublesome as they did not know how to operate a pump.

“The Government has to educate the public so that they will accept the system,” he said.

When contacted, a ministry spokesman said they understood the hardships of the businessmen.

She said that many customers did not know the self-service system had started and only Petronas displayed notices at the pumps.

“Other kiosks display the notices only at payment counters and customers are not aware of the system,” she said.

You might be like me, oblivious that BP is a popular place to cultivate pineapples. The man mentioned in the article, Sahdan Salim says he is from BP. An online search reveals he is the Director Inspectorate of The Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board.

BP folks in the Klang Valley, you can visit Malaysia Agro Exposition Park, Serdang for “Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro-tourism 2008″. The article says they hoping people will visit.

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Pining for visitors to premium pineapple booth
By : Ili Liyana Mokhtar

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/2319869/Article/index_html

SERDANG: Sahdan Salim is interested in everything that involves pineapples.

“My parents had a pineapple farm when I was younger and that was what inspired me to venture into the pineapple business,” Sahdan said when met at the pineapple information centre at the the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show.

“We are from Batu Pahat, which is a popular place to cultivate pineapples, so the business is close to our hearts.”

The pineapple centre displays a host of pineapple varieties, including the Maspine, Moris, Gandul, N36, Sarawak and Josaphine.

Sahdan said he was nevertheless disappointed that his booth had not received many visitors since morning, blaming it on its location.

“Maybe because my booth is placed far from the main exhibition area, so the visitors don’t really get to see it.”

He hoped that visitor turnout would improve during the weekend as the Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board had spent nearly RM500,000 to set up the pineapple information centre.

“The Josaphine pineapple is special because it is a crossbreed between the Johor and Sarawak pineapple.”

Sahdan said the premium pineapple, priced at RM2.50 each, was popular among visitors as the fruit is crunchy and juicy.

The fruit is planted in Simpang Renggam and distributed nationwide.

“We also ferry the pineapples to the Selayang market, but during this exhibition period it will be available for sale here,” he said.

Sahdan’s staff, Nor Zahilah Tohak, said despite the poor turnout at their booth yesterday, every visitor who came to visit had bought the premium pineapple.