UNDER THE VERY EYES OF MPAJ

The Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya office block (right to the rear) is just adjacent to the Jln Pandan Indah Utama. There is a covered pedestrian overhead bridge across the road linking two building complex.

Apparently, the overhead bridge is not popularly used by pedestrians for a number of reasons:

1. Architectural design is not user friendly a) winding stairways are quite steep going around a vertical structure, b) too covered up that people fear of being waylaid going up or down the stairs.

2. Maintenance has been neglected for a long time - rubbish and dirt along the steps, railing metal structure rusty, stinking smell of urine.

3. Under such poor conditions pedestrians prefer and take risk crossing the road.

Apart from cleaning up and maintenance work urgently needed for the overhead bridge, MPAJ has to redesign the stairways to be user friendly. By doing such business volume on both sides of the street may improve.

MPAJ may be proud of its tall glass building but it is of priority in giving back to the people who pay their quit rents and other taxes!

AIMAN, SYRIA LOOKING FOR JOB

Aiman, my friend from Syria called me this evening and said the situations are very bad in Syria  and asked for help to find a job in Malaysia. I told him that I have applied on his behalf seven companies (Petronas, Sapura-Kencana ...) that
advertised positions as instrumentation engineer. I keep on trying I said. On a previous e-mail I wrote that if things get really unliveable, he (and family) could come here.

I am not from his field of expertise so I have no contacts.  My  plea to anyone in the know in the blogoshere help Aiman find a job. Please contact me (Tel: 013 376 3858; email: shaharudin_saamin@hotmail.com). His cv as below. Thank you.

CURRICULUM VITAE


Aiman SALEH
Mobil: 00963 992 710088
E-Mail: a_saleh61@yahoo.fr

Qualifications:
- Physical Measurements Diploma from the university of Paris XI, 9/1986
- French Language Diploma, 6/1984
- Data Base & Visual Basic Programmer, addition of all Microsoft Window
Revisions, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project & AutoCad

Languages:
+ English Language very good.
+ French Language very good.
+ Arabic Language native.

Management of:
+ Projects.
+ Electrical, PLC & Instrument Department.
+ QA/QC Department.

Preparation of:
+ Procedures and QC forms required for electrical & instrument project.
+ Required planning for project.

Supervision of:
+ Projects.
+ Work Safety
+ Laying & testing Cables
+ Installing the Electrical Equipments
+ Verification & Calibration Instruments (Pressure, Temperature, Level, Flow), (Sensor, Indicator, Transmitter, Controller), Control valves, Safety valves & all

Kind of Valves
+ Installing the Instruments & all Kind of Valves as P&ID
+ Loop Diagram Verification.
+ Commissioning of equipment without load and on load within the parameters laid down by the supplier.

Work experience:
Cement plant (Tartous – SYRIA), with PHARAON GROUP Management
+ From 19/05/2008 to 31/01/2012

Resident Engineer, responsible of new erection section in plants
(erection of Stacker Re-Claimer, erection of new Fans, erection of 4 Bag Filters)

Responsibility from the civil foundation to the commissioning (turn key projects)

Gas plant and Pipe Line (Yamen), with TOTAL
+ From 01/10/2007 to 15/01/2008

As a QA/QC ELEC. & INST. Engineer. Cement plant (Beni-Saf – ALGERIA)
with PHARAON GROUP Management
+ From 15/07/2006 to 17/06/2007

Deputy Manager Instrumentation, responsible of department PLC – CMR (control monitoring regulating)

TOEC / Extension Power station (ZAIZON – SYRIA)
+ From 01/05/2006 to 10/07/2006

As a QA/QC ELEC. & INST. Engineer, with SNC LAVALIN / LEAD (Skikda-ALGERIA)
+ From 01/10/2004 to 31/01/2006 Power station with Combined Cycle 800 MW,

As a QA/QC ELEC. & INST. Engineer, with LEAD (SYRIA)
+ From 09/2003 To 27/9/2004 As Instrument Engineer

- OMAR Field, 6TH Water Injection Pump (OMAR FIELD)

- OMAR Field, LUNCHER & RECEIVER (JIEDO-KSHMEH)

- OMAR Field, LUNCHER & RECEIVER (JAFFRA)

- Olive Oil Syrian Project (TARTOUS)

Laboratory National Of Measurement & Calibration (SYRIA)
+ From 09/1995 To 04/2002: Measurement & Calibration Department,

As Chief of Department + Exploitation the Informatics Systems in Department.
+ From 10/1986 To 09/1995: Measurement & Calibration Department,

As Measurement Instrument’s Calibrator.


Personal Information: Latakia – SYRIA

Place & Date of birth : Damascus , 18/12/1961

Nationality: Syrian

CHEDET ON PUTRAJAYA

"1. I believe people must have noticed a certain architecture associated with Putrajaya. The brown colour of the buildings set it apart from other major development in the country. The design of the buildings also differ from those usually found in this country."

"2. Then there are the mosques which reflect Islamic features while not being reproductions of those in other Muslim Countries. The five-domed Court building is perhaps the most impressive (some people think it is a mosque). Each Ministry building has its own design with each having some distinct shape so that they are different from the others."

Hegia Sophia, Istanbul (museum)

"4. Unfortunately a new building has been added which is made up of glass, with no architectural features. It is not very imaginative as it looks like match boxes stacked on each other. It would be fantastic for New York but it is not Putrajaya. It is not very Malaysian or Islamic. It is in fact entirely out of place."

Empire State Building, New York

"6. I was in London recently. There you may do anything you like inside the house but the facade must remain as it was when it was built. You immediately know you are in London when you are in London."

"7. It is the same with Paris. The roofs of the buildings in Paris are unique to Paris. And you immediately feel you are in Paris and nowhere else when you are in Paris."

"9. Every country has its own architectural feature. Spires and steeply sloping roofs are common in East Asia but each country has its own particular shape. Thailand, China, Korea and Japan all have the gracefully steep sloping roofs which terminate with upturned corners and edges. But still they manage to be unique for their countries through the variations in details."

"14. Please Putrajaya Holdings, please keep the uniqueness of Putrajaya’s archictecture."

Jabatan Imigresen builiding just across the road of the cubic glass building. (We went to the immigration last Friday; my daughter posing)

CONGRATULATIONS TH - HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN

Yes, the country needs to progress and jettison itself in the high income economy bracket. The assumption is that high income means better standard of living. To achieve it, however, should not be artificially driven that may lead to lop-sided economic enrichment of the haves. The havenots remain at the periphery and marginalised. There should be wholesome growth and betterment for all.

Congratulations to the  GLC CEOs and others including that of TH (RM1.5million) for being already on the highway of superhigh income economy. Make Najib happy. Who bastardized the GLC's?

The brilliant idea of Tabung Haji when first mooted by Ungku Aziz years ago is to galvanise savings of would be haj performers and provide with an efficient service system of sending them to Mekah. It becomes so successful that other countries want to emulate TH. However, the initial intention of setting it up got lost along the way. Of late it has been hijacked into a supposedly money making corporation with service comes next. The accelerated increase in fares is the testimony.

GLCs are not private companies but belong to the government meaning that part of the tax payers money are invested in them. On that basis the CEOs are overpaid especially the topmost one! But then he is the PM's brother.

In the case of TH it is understood that the money comes initially from the savings of millions of people for haj purposes. Is it justified to follow the pay-scheme of the other GLC CEOs just because they are getting that much pay?

The GLC CEOs are said to bring in much profit to the companies and thus deserve such salaries. Consider then the PM, DPM and MBs bring in investments and create the necessary economic environment in the country but their salaries are 2-10 times lower than that of the CEOs. We are talking about responsibilities, remunerations, and equitable balance in allocations. I am not proposing that politicians pay should increase. As it is they are getting reasonable amounts.

HANG ALI TAMPAR TUANNYA

Benggali Putih menjejak
Bumi Melaka hilang raja

Hang Ali mengamuk

Tujuh dulang hati nyamuk
Fiesta la fiesta
Puteri Gunung Ledang
Putera Sungai Duyung

Najib ditampar
Bedebah!
Hawau dia!

Apakan daya
Belangkas dijulang

Dibiarkan
Belangkas2 mencakar?

Berhenti kau!
Berhenti!

HJ LODOVICO DI VARTHEMA - BOLOGNA-NUSANTARA CONNECTION

Marco Polo perhaps established the earliest Venice-Nusantara connection. He provides the evidence that Muslims were  already in Perlak, Sumatra before 1292. Refer to my Sept. 21 posting.

It is little known that another Italian traveller of Bologna, Hj. Lodovico di Verthema sailed to Malacca around 1506 during  the reign of Mahmud Shah (1488-1511), the sixth and last sultan of Melaka. Hang Tuah  would have ushered him to the istana!

Varthema's narrative, 'Itinerario de Ludovico de Varthema Bolognese ...', was first published in Italian at Rome in 1510. An English edition 'The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema ... ' (JW Jones and GP Badger, eds) was published by Hakluyt Society, 1863.