Food in Bandar Baru Bangi or BBB

Bandar Baru Bangi is a medium size town not far from Putrajaya and can be considered as an outskirt of Kuala Lumpur. It is an up and coming town. You can see nice expensive houses and cars.  It is also an academic town inhibited by at least 50,000 people. In  BBB, you will see higher institutions such as UKM, UPM, KLIUC, Poly-tech Mara, Kuala Lumpur University and Tenaga University. But did you know that it is also a place where you can have some nice food adventures? There are some nice  places in BBB that you  can have delicious and cheap dishes:

The steak

1) Steak in Bandar Baru Bangi: There is a reasonably nice steak house near Tasik Cempaka and not far from Billion shopping center. I think the place is called D One Steak House (3 stars for the food and 2 stars for service). The price of a steak is quite reasonable between RM 12 to RM 14 ringgit. However, the portion is not very large. The choice and quality of the meat are also not too good. But the best dish at the restaurant is Fish and Chips that costs only RM7.90. The fish is reasonably big and crispy and served with crispy Fries and thick Tartar Sauce. The best time to go to the restaurant is during lunchtime when the dish is freshly prepared. But the best steak in BBB is at a restaurant called Taste (4 star for the food and 3.5 stars for service) which is just a few meters away from Yati Ayam Percik. However, I think the restaurant is closed for renovation. The large sirloin stake there is fantastic just like the one that you see on the AFC channel. It's also garnished beautifully. The brown sauce is thick and tastes delicious and prepared the American way.

Murtabak Daging

2) Murtabak Singapura in Bandar Baru Bangi: There is a place (3.5 stars for the food and 3 star for service)  in BBB which serves nice, thick and succulent Murtabak Singapura RM 12,  Murtabak Marsha RM 5 or Murtabak Daging that costs only RM 6. The murtabak is served with a mixed  cucumber and onions in sweet homemade chilly sauce.  The combination of Murtabak and the sauce is really marvelous. Having the Murtabak is a memorable experience. You will never forget the experience of having the first bite. The restaurant is located near Shell Petrol Station in Section 2 of BBB. The place is next to Sekolah Agama Rakyat that is being constructed.

Mee Bandung Muar

3) Roti Bakar in Bandar Baru Bangi: The best roti Bakar in BBB  is a place called Restoran Tepian Bangi  (4 stars for the food and 3.5 stars for service) in Seksyen 4 Tambahan. The roti is sliced thick from roti Mamak and spread with a generous amount of soft margarine and aromatic Pandan Kaya. The bread is nicely toasted using a special oven. It's crispy on the outside and moist in the inside. It costs only  RM.2:80. (a little on the expensive side for a roti bakar) Normally, you have the roti bakar with telor Ayam kampong (RM 2.00 for two)  that is also served at the restaurant. The eggs are really yellowish red in color. Typical egg color from happy free range chicken.

Roti Bakar

4) Mee Bandung in Bandar Baru Bangi: The best Mee Bandung is not in  Muar but at a place called Restoran Nasi Minyak  (4 stars for the food and 4 stars for service ) in BBB. The restaurant is not far from the Econsave hypermarket  BBB in the section where there is the night market or sometimes called the Uptown market which is held every night. The gravy is very thick and aromatic and rich with Udang Kering and fresh prawns. The portion given is more than enough for a big size man. Really marvelous Mee Bandung

So these are the places that you can enjoy some of the dishes in BBB. You can give your  feedback to me  of your food adventure at salambangi@gmail.com

PTD : Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik

PTD is Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik or the English equivalent is Administrative and Diplomatic Service. KSN or  Ketua Setiausaha Negara  is a PTD officer. ( He, however, claims that he's not and he says that he represents all the different types of service in the government.) So does the KPJPA or Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam  who made the biggest blunder (amply rewarding the premier group in the  PTDs in the SBPA salary scheme. They were supposed to be given backdated salaries amounting to hundreds of thousands of ringgit)  in the history of JPA is a PTD Officer. Even most Secretary Generals of the ministries or  KSUs or Ketua Setiausahas are PTD officers. The KSUs of Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Ministry of Educations are PTD officers. PTD is synonymous with premiership and power in the country.

The PTDs are everywhere and extending their arms to the uncharted territories. They are now planning a slow but sure way of taking over other ministeries such as  the Ministry of Education. PTD officers are ubiquitous and they are creeping slowly in all ministries that are yet to be conquered. Even in the universities they are playing catching up . They want to be the ones who are in control financially and administratively. Their trick to their conquer is to accuse the nation -PTDs as being inefficient and slow and then they will prise open the posts.  They won't take it right away. They will let others to helm it for 1-2 years.But later they will make sure that the posts are given to the PTDs. Ultimately, they will be in total control.

The PTDs,  however, will never let go their own posts. They will never open up their posts and positions  to others services. If you want a PTD post you have to be a PTD officer. Even for the timbalan   KSU  post for MOHE they will make sure that those  DS officers aspiring to move up higher in the rank would have to convert to PTD scheme before they are given the high rank of PTD posts such as Timbalan KSU or KSU. Meaning some professors in the ministry/university would have to convert their services to the post of Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik. Some of them would have to forego their professorships as in the case of the ex Ketua   Pengarah  Pengajian Tinggi who is now made the UPM Vice Chancellor. He was earlier promised the post of a KSU but never got it because of health reasons.

One thing about the PTD is that they get their promotions very fast, After working for 10 years most will hold the post of at least an M 52. In the Ministry of Higher Education, you will notice that some pengarah posts are being held by PTD officers who are around 35-40 years old. They will be telling and directing the well-educated subordinates some in their 50 with doctorates but did not get promoted. The moral of the story is that if you are a Non-PTD you will not get promoted very fast. If you are a PTD officer, chances are you will be in the premier group holding so much power.

Utusan Malaysia

I've been reading Utusan Malaysia for a long long time. When I was young, it was also the main newspaper that I read aside from Berita Minggu and Bintang Timur, a newspaper that was sold in the northern part of the country.  However, I still  find the Berita Harian /Minggu a better newspaper in terms of coverage and and professionalism. But my heart was, is and will  always be with Utusan.  Utusan Malaysia is supposed to be the beacon of hope for the Malays . This is because to me it's the newspaper that every Malay should read. Utusan Malaysia should be echoing the pulse of the Malay community specifically and Malaysians  in general.  But sad to say ,I think this is newspaper is loosing its integrity and credibility. It is sad when Malay professionals and yuppies are shying away and feel ashamed to be associated with  the newspaper. I feel that Utusan Malaysia is losing its shine. Below are some reasons why its loosing its shine:

1) I think the newspaper is too controlled by the government  and UMNO. The issues that are  played up are orchestrated by people who have vested interests in their political survival rather than the Malay community. I believed there are some of the good editors at Utusan  but  their hands are  tied. And those at the helm running  Utusan Malaysia probably have been fed handsomely by the vested party so as not to poke on sensitive issues that are politically incorrect to their political masters. Some of the editors' hands are knotted  too tight to  hi-light issues that are of genuine concerns to the Malays. Do you know why Chinese newspapers are read by lots of  Chinese. It is because they know that their  papers are  not controlled by the MCA. They will boycott all newspapers that are owned by UMNO or MCA.

2) There's  too much political issues that have been hi-lighted  by Utusan especially on  Opposition members . Utusan Malaysia has focused too much on negative issues  on Anwar and other opposition members that they have a boomerang effect.Instead of hating these leaders, the readers tend to empathize with them. The old way (hitting hard on people you don't like) of winning the hearts and minds of the Malays don't work anymore. The newspaper has become a tool for a political party rather reflecting the interests and concerns of the Malay community. Hence, the Malays readers especially the young who are idealistic are shying away from reading the newspaper.

3) Utusan Malaysia is sorely lacking in editors who have inquisitive and critical minds-editors who are able to work independently of BN, UMNO  or some elite  who have vested interests in the newspaper. Utusan Malaysia needs these bipartisan and professional people to bring back impartiality and credibility to the newspaper. Otherwise it will become just like Harakah or the Rocket. It must be professional and should be a national credible  newspaper.

4) Utusan Malaysia has been focusing too much on entertainment rather that more substantive issues such as education. This has caused a negative perception  to be formed among some readers that it is not a newspaper that is to be taken seriously. Most of the complaints made or hi-lighted in the newspaper are not bothered and taken seriously by the government. The newspaper is seen as  toothless.

I hope those concerned will take this matter seriously. The future of the Malays are in the balance. Utusan Malaysia must be given its voice back. It must be independent and credible.

Yap Sin Tian

Man of integrity?

Yap Sin Tian is the Chairman of the chauvinistic and racist Chinese educationists group called Dong Zong. He is also the Chairman of the New Era College in Kajang with its a very high wall encircling the college that used to have big Chinese characters painted to the wall. The wall  signifies the "Chineseness" of the college. Like the  wall at the ERA college, he has insisted that all the Malays and Indian teachers be kicked out from the Chinese schools to make sure that the Chinese schools are  more Chinese (sadly, the Barisan government has relented to this as mentioned by the Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Education Minister). To him only Chinese puritans with Chinese qualifications could teach there. But how Chinese is so called " Dr." Yap?

Did you know that he obtained his  "PhD" from Kesington University, USA.   He also graduated from University of London for his Bachelor of Arts. These two universities are  not even from Taiwan or China. The so called hard core Chinese educationist in reality is a graduate from an American university. What a joke?

You deserved it "Dr." Yap

 Where exactly is Kesington University, Kentucky ? Personally,   I don't even know where the university is even though I've stayed in the States for more than 6 years. I've not even heard of the university.Is the university for real? I have browsed the internet and read  that the university has been closed by the education authorities in the  US  for  fraud charges. The question  is the PhD that he has obtained is for real or did he just buy  it online from the so called institution. 

If he had bought this online (a bogus doctorate) then he is not a man of integrity. How could the Chinese College (ERA) appoint Dr Yap with PhD from Kesington University, a dubious university . Didn't the ERA college check with the Ministry of Education the qualifications of its Chairman. This is really a big blunder   by  the New ERA college, the Dong  Zong and the Chinese community at large.  "Dr" Yap Sin Tian has all this while portrayed himself  to the Chinese community as a fighter and a man of integrity and a also  die hard promoter of the Chinese language and education.. But after the disclosure of the dubious qualifications of the Chairman of ERA and Dong Zong  , now I'm having reservations about the so called quality of the Chinese education. All the so called quality of Chinese education is just a farce. The truth  is that there is none.   You can lie still and be no 1 in Chinese education . Long live Chinese education. Long live Yap Sin Tian. Long live Dong Zong.

Proton Preve

The different colors to choose from

Soon (16th of April) Proton will be releasing a C class car called Proton  Preve. C class dimensions are the size of cars like Kia Forte, Toyota Altis and Honda Civic. In fact, the specs that I've seen show that the new Proton Preve is in fact bigger than those cars that I mentioned. It is even bigger than the 9th generation Honda Civic the latest model to be releasedin June. The name if I'm not mistaken is taken from Spanish that means "to prove". I don't really know why the manufacturer has decided on that name. It's so difficult to pronounce the name.Some Proton -bashers I believe will call it Proton Pervert. Whatever way it's called, Proton has a daunting task of convincing Malaysians again that it can offer a quality product.

Proton should not take  Malaysians for granted  anymore. It can't afford to think and act  like the old management of  Lada or Skoda. The Malaysians buyers are more sophisticated and are quality conscious. Sometimes they are more critical than non-Malaysian buyers.Malaysians generally  will buy Protons if they can see that the products that they buy have quality. The leadership helming Proton must make quality as their number 1 priority. They must tackle it head on. Quality is perception and product.

The stylish interior

Some Proton buyers will still  remember how the Proton cars they bought had window problems. Sometimes the car would just die down because of the battery problem that is  related to the engine management. I hope the new model would actually be able to erase the negative perception that the majority of Malaysians have. The design of the car although not extremely curvaceous  is quite pretty. The dashboard is made from soft touch plastics. Some say it looks more like Kia Forte.The interior is modern and quite handsome. The car was designed by the Italian designer Guigiaro. The car is powered by the newly designed CFE engine with low pressure turbo) that produces enough power ( 145 hp and more than 205 lb of torque) to propel the car reasonably fast. It's more than enough for the average Malaysian. The torque produced could move the car below 10 seconds for 0-100 Km. My suggestion is to get the CFE version which is slightly more expensive but definitely a better car. The top of the range version comes with a push start button.

Push start button. First for car of this price range

I beg Malaysians to see  Proton in a different light. This is truly the car that can change how Malaysians view Proton. They have started producing good quality cars starting  with the Ixora Bold. Give them the chance they need. We Malaysians must support our own car manufacturer.

Research Universities

Malaysia has around 20 plus universities including foreign universities such as Nottingham and Curtin universities all over the country including Sabah and Sarawak.. Out of these universities four of them are regarded as "Research universities". They are UKM, UM, USM and UPM.  The conferment of a research university by the Ministry of Higher Education is based on a number of criteria which include among others publication and research. The public  universities now are having a rat race trying to out do one another . They keep on reminding their academics to speed up their research and publications so that the university could retain their status as a research university. Getting the status means that they wil get millions in university research grants.

As a result,  life as a lecturer is not easy  compared to 15 years ago. You are always on your toes. With the MYRA II each academic would have to publish at least 4 journals a year. They are required to get published in ISI and Scopus journals. Otherwise, they would called for a morning bashing by the Dean. The lecturers'  academic performance is reflected in the colour of their "Jalur" or bands. If you are in the "Jalur Jingga" or orange colour  you are under performing or in the danger zone. And as a punishment you are asked to teach more hours and deprived from presenting papers overseas. But if you are in "Jalur Hijau" you are a top performer. As the person in this "Jalur" you are given much less hours and sometimes you don't even have to teach a class. Other academics especially those in "Jalur Jingga" would have to work longer and teach those classes left by the top performers.

In the madness of maintaining the Research University status and striving for a better ranking place in university ranking, the academics are made to work like hell. They have less time for anything else. They stay out until late in the evening trying to complete their research and publication. The fun of teaching and supervising students are diminishing. Imparting real knowledge to the learners is now  becoming less and less frequent. All the time is filled with writing papers for the Scopus and ISI journals and doing research. I think they are becoming selfish of their time.

As a consequence of this craziness of publication the standard or cut off point for promotion for AP ship and Professorship gets higher. Nowadays, its not even easy to get promoted to an Associate Professor in a research university compared to other non-research universities. The university administrators are only interested in proofs of publication in ISI and SCOPUS. Now, we see that even RAs or research assistants who are our potential lecturers are not interested to become lecturers in a research university. They too see how difficult it is to become one and they are giving it a pass.