Chiang Mai, Thailand

I’ll be off to Chiang Mai for a one-week conference this Sunday. I haven’t had the t time to research on the place.

The only place that I know in Chiang Mai is Laddaland, which was made known from the show, Laddaland – a horror Thai film.


If you love horror films, watch this show. It was so scary that I laughed out loud -_-

The other thing that I want to do is rock climbing. Unfortunately, I got no kaki or gears to do so.

Anyone got any recommendations on things to do, eat or see in Chiang Mai?

San Francisco 2011 – Cycling – Golden Gate Bridge

[Just realised that I forgot to post this! Should have been posted before the post below]

The view gets better and better as we arrived at Golden Bridge.

However, the paths are quite hilly. Most of the time I end up pushing my bike up the hill.

There’s a wide pathway on the bridge – wide enough to fit cyclists and pedestrians.


Although built in the 1930s, I did not see any old graffiti or scribbles on the bridge. The oldest I could find was a 1978 graffiti.


With the looks of this, I guess there are many people who committed suicide by jumping off the bridge here.


View of the other side of the bridge!

San Francisco 2011 – Cycling – Bay Area

[Back to my San Francisco posts!]

Upon crossing the bridge, we made our way to Sausalito. Cycling to
Sausalito wasn’t easy. It was hilly and the roads were tight. In fact, we actually got lost and ended up at Bay Area, which is just next to the Golden Gate Bridge.

However, it was a blessing in disguise. We got to see some parts of nature!

When we arrived, it started to get sunny and soon it became it little bit warmer.

This is before I got sun burnt. If you’re wondering how bad was my sunburn..see below..


Birds!

Around going round and round for half an hour, we found out way to Sausalito. To get to Sausalito, we had to cycle up a hill. It almost killed my thunder thighs.

Celcom WHO WILL WIN Challenge

[Advertorial]

Bersih aside, it’s time to talk about football. As some of you may know, Malaysia got belasah by Arsenal 4 – 0 a week ago. 3 goals came about due to high balls. You can watch some of the highlighted below.

Then few days later, Malaysia XI was beaten by Liverpool 3 – 6. Although we lost, it was certainly worth watching as Malaysia did came behind from 4 – 1 to 4 – 3. Unfortunately, Malaysia lost due to too much nasi lemak.

The last English club that will be playing with Malaysia XI is Chelsea and that will be on 21 July 2011 at Bukit Jalil National Stadium at 8:45pm. It will be interesting to see how Malaysia fair.

I wonder if the guy who wore the Manchester United jersey to the Liverpool training session will attend the Chelsea game. He was forced to take off his jersey by the Liverpool fans 😀

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Bersih Rally – Twitter Updates

I tweeted live from the ground during the Bersih 2.0 rally. I even posted pictures from the event. Some friends were following the event through my tweets and many retweeted my tweets. It gave me extra 2000 unique hits and 50 new Twitter followers all of a sudden.

Here are some of the tweets and pictures that I posted. The tweets below have been edited for accuracy purposes.

LRT Stations are open and trains are working
– 10:01AM

Police present heavy at Masjid Jamek stop
– 10:16AM

Roads are empty infront of Bar Council #Bersih police r everywhere

– 10:26AM

Drinking tea at a mamak behind Central Market. Filled wif police and SB. Safest place to be now I guess.
– 10:55AM

@HRDipendra said if u r infront of a FRU truck n u hear a bell,start running bcause tats a sign tat they will b launchin tear gasses #Bersih
– 10:57AM

Australia #Bersih rally flyer!

– 11:40AM

BC: As at 1140am, 238 arrested. Hang Tuah, Mahajalela, KTM st closed.Police checkin restaurants @ Brickfields
– 11:50AM

Melbourne #Bersih rally. Apparently 1K people attended.

– 11:50AM

Police presence heavy at Pasar Seni station. Many ppl standin by d roadside of Chinatown

-12:08AM

Police at Central Market. Saw them checking ICs of pedestrians

– 12:17PM

Massive crowd has reached Dayabumi chanting Reformasi!

– 12:34PM

Tear gas fired at Dataran. Crowd running away from tear gas!

– 12:38PM

The Chinese crowd has joined the Malay crowd at Petaling Street
– 12:43PM

Petaling Street crowd now

– 12:47PM

Crowd moving towards Stadium Negara via Chinatown
– 12:48PM

Huge crowd still at the Kotaraya junction #Bersih. Many onlookers

– 1:01PM

Those who just followed me, Im part of the Bar Council Monitoring team. My role is to document the #Bersih rally

– 1:01PM

Crowd congregating at d junction to Stadium Negara at Chinatown

– 1:02PM

Crowd moving out from Chinatown

– 1:08PM

Crowd is massive! I’m standin at d same place for 10 minutes n the crowd hasnt finish passin me yet!
– 1:08PM

Someone shouted, “Join the group! Fast! Don’t split!”.
– 1:19PM

Part of the #Bersih crowd in front of Menara Maybank

– 1:28PM

Crowd chantin Hidup Bersih! Hidup Kuning!

– 1:29PM

Crowd getting bigger at Maybank! Saw a new group joining the Maybank Crowd!!
– 1:30PM

Crowd has gone bigger. Bunch of tudong ladies just walked into the crowd

– 1:37PM

FRU sprays water on crowd. Crowd moving back!!
– 1:39PM

FRU shot tear gas into crowd! Had to run!! #Bersih nose feeling abit itchy now.
– 1:42PM

Offered some salt to those who got gassed. Police shot tear gas after some ppl attacked d FRU truck
– 1:46PM

Fish! Tear gas got to me. Eyes stinging. When the tear gasses were shot, some policemen guided us to a place to run
– 1:49PM

Crowd moving back to Pudu after being tear gassed
– 1:54PM

Saw a group of police running towards the crowd! May be arresting people now at Pudu. RUN!!
– 2:00PM

Police arresting those in yellow. #Bersih. Raining now. The sky weeps for Malaysia
– 2:02PM

Chaos in the city. Throngs in yellow arrested. Tear gas fired.
– 2:21PM

I stood wif d police when d shot d tear gas. D wind blew the gas back to d police. I had to run again
– 2:26PM

Those whose frens r arrested at Pudu, they may be brought to Jln Stadium police station.
– 2:29PM

Saw police running towards the crowd. More arrest will be made. This is hell.
– 2:31PM

Hentian Pudu is empty now

– 2:39PM

Heard news FRU r shooting tear gas into the vicinity of Tung Shin hospital
– 2:44PM

Crowd broken into various parts. But many heading to Stadium Negara
– 2:57PM

Crowd booing TV3 reporter! Chanting PENIPU!
– 3:00PM

Crowd infront of Stadium Bola Keranjang near Stadium Merdeka. Booing TV3 reporters.

– 3:07PM

My legs r cramped n I’m all wet.But it’s all gud wen random ppl come n say “Hidup BarCouncil” n “U guys did a good job policin d police”
– 3:17PM

Crowd is back at Chinatown again. Moving towards Central Market.

– 3:27PM

Note to self in next rallies. Wear loose pants. Can’t climb anything when pants r tight.
– 3:28PM

Crowd changed directions. Now moving towards the Chinese Assembly Hall
– 3:35PM

Crowd chilling in front of Chinese Assembly Hall. #Bersih No idea where to next.
– 3:48PM

Saw @JonsonChong, ex PKR Information Chief. One female lawyer calls him Mr. Yau Ying Lawyer.
– 3:51PM

Saw someone wearing Digi yellow tshirt. Free advertisement for them
– 3:56PM

Part of #Bersih crowd at Chinatown. No idea what is happening next. Is it over?

– 4:01PM

Crowd is dispersing. They made their point.
– 4:06PM

Police disperses crowd at Chinese Assembly Hall
– 4:10PM

Police n FRU marching towards Masjid Negara

– 4:15PM

Police did a cry to disperse at Chinese Assembly Hall and then disperse.
– 4:22PM

RT @7icia: RT @laychkoh: Peeps in London getting ready

Credits to @laychkoh
– 6:40PM

Brisbane #Bersih . Approximate 20 ppl attended. Is that all u can do Brisbane??

– 10/7/11 12:29AM

Lastly, here’s a video of the event. You can see me at 4:04.

I teared after watching this video. Must be the effect of tear gas.

Bersih 2.0 – 9.7.2011 – In the eyes of an observer

When the Bar Council issued a request for lawyers to assist in the monitoring team, I was interested to assist. When 3 of my colleagues, Himah, Jack and Dymphna signed up, I immediately joined them.

The team’s role is quite simple. We are required to document the event and assist those arrested by obtaining their details so that we can forward the details to Bar Council for further assistance. To put in this way, medics are there to attend to the poor while the lawyers are there to attend to those arrested.

Bersih 2.0 Rally is a rally organised by Bersih which comprises of civil society organisations and political parties with the objective of campaigning for clean and fair elections in Malaysia. The rally calls for 8 points namely:-

1. Clean the electoral roll
2. Reform postal ballot
3. Use of indelible ink
4. Minimum 21 days campaign period
5. Free and fair access to media
6. Strengthen public institutions
7. Stop corruption
8. Stop dirty politics

During the past 2 weeks, many things happened. Many people were arrested, Bersih was declared an illegal society and those in yellow attire were arrested. The Agong called for Government and Bersih to meet. Chairperson of Bersih and former President of Bar Council, Ambiga met the Agong and the Agong allowed the rally be held in a stadium. However, no permit was granted for the rally and request to use the National Stadium was denied.

This led to the rally being held in the city of Kuala Lumpur. Soon, the roads leading to Kuala Lumpur were blocked by Saturday midnight. However, the trains services were available.

My colleagues and I were scheduled to meet the Bar Council monitoring team at 10am hence to avoid from being stuck in a jam to the city, we decided to pull a night at DoubleTree Hotel. We got a very good rate hence the four of us shared a room.

The roads of Kuala Lumpur were empty when we arrived at Bar Council. Many roads were closed. We took the train and stopped at Masjid Jamek. Police presence was heavy there.


Wanted to plank on the streets but had no balls to.


We were regularly updated by the Bar Council on the latest events.

Dymphna and I were stationed at Jalan Tun H.S Lee. As soon as we arrived at Jalan Tun H.S Lee, we saw numerous police trucks and personnel.


Err..


Tourist..


Saw some people being detained in this Black Maria.

Few minutes later, it was reported that a crowd of 1,000 people were matching from KL Sentral towards Central Market.

As an observer, we are allowed to roam into the police’s territory. The police was nice to us. We are not allowed to take part in the procession or even make statements to the press.

When the crowd arrived, they were chanting “REFORMASI! The crowd was predominantly Malay. The road in front of Central Market was blocked hence they moved to Dataran Merdeka.


The crowd of 1,000

We returned to our station. I could see the crowd from far.

Suddenly, the police shot tear gas onto the crowd and the crowd started running towards us. We had to run as well!

As the gas was shot some distance away, the effect on us was little. But I could smell ammonia.


Some came prepared

The crowd moved towards Petaling Street (Chinatown) and was soon joined by the Chinese crowd from Petaling Street. Someone on twitter said that the Indians were still hungover.

Soon, the crowd swelled in Chinatown. It was so huge that it took more than 10 minutes for the crowd to pass me. It was peaceful and like a carnival.


Some were carrying flowers.


Balloons were thrown around.

Some people took pictures as if they were attending a party. The crowd was multiracial.

When the crowd moved to Hentian Pudu, the drama started. It was a joyful and loud crowd. It soon grew bigger when it was joined by another massive crowd. It was so huge that I couldn’t see the end. Certainly more than 6,000 people, the number claimed by the police.


We stood by the hillside of Menara Maybank and a good view of the crowd. The chants and roars were so loud that it gave me goose bumps. It brought people of all races together. It was unity of all the races. No multi-million dollars 1Malaysia project can bring Malaysians to this level.

Suddenly, a FRU truck sprayed water at the crowd. I could see one person trying to restrain the crowd from retaliating.


This person was carrying a Malaysian flag. Berita Minggu said that he carried a knife.


But soon, a group of people attacked the truck and that is when the police fired tear gas on to the crowd again.

We immediately ran for cover. A policeman guided us out from the building. He didn’t leave although the gas was heading towards him. I am grateful for his help.

My eyes started to tear. I washed my face with mineral water and offered salt to anyone who needs it. But I wasn’t the only one with salt, many people were offering each other with salt, water or any form of help.

The effect to my eyes after being tear gassed is like having onion rubbed into my eyes. I couldn’t stop crying. Breathing was difficult too.


Even a monk was caught in the melee

We rested at the back lane of Menara Maybank for a while and went back to Hentian Pudu again. The crowd got pushed behind. A group of police then rushed towards the crowd and I heard one policeman shouting, “Catch those in yellow!”. People started running and I saw some people jumping off cliffs to escape.


Some people were pushed to the ground and are tied with plastic

We immediately offered assistance those who were arrested and took down their names to be forwarded to the Bar Council to assist them later. The police allowed us to do so without any interruptions.


Those arrested

We thought it will be safe with the police but when they started firing tear gas again, the wind blew and the gas hit us. We had to run again!

Fortunately, it started to rain heavily. The sky was crying for Malaysia.


Hentian Pudu was empty

We rested at Menara Maybank for a while. We bumped into some other volunteer lawyers and we gathered to move to Stadium Negara. Many of us lost our group members.

Soon, we were joined by more lawyers and moved towards Stadium Negara. At this time. I heard news of people being stuck in Tung Shin Hospital and tear gas was fired into the hospital.

Just as I thought the crowd died down, the crowd at Stadium Negara was massive. They were moving towards Chinese Assembly Hall.


Many shops were closed but KK Super Market opened its doors.


I bet this ice cream seller’s sales shot up to 1000%. I also bet he prays for a rally every day.


The crowd allowed a taxi to go through. What violence?


TV3 reporters being booed by the crowd. At one point, they chanted, “PENIPU (Liar)”.


Smart way to move.

After being with the crowd for a while, I realize that these people were just like us. Some were students, professionals, employees, businessmen and housewives. Anyone can be a part of this rally. Even though many of the organisers of Bersih were arrested, the rally went on. Some people travelled into the city without any knowledge of the actual plan.


Photographers found a good spot to take pictures


Me.

By 4pm, the crowd started to dispersed at Chinese Assembly Hall. The police suddenly appeared and chased after the crowd and the crowd ran helter-skelter. The lawyers stayed on to witness the attack.

We then followed the police and minutes later, we witnessed their cry of disperse. It was all over for us.


We went back to the Bar Council for debriefing.

Over 1,400 people were arrested (later released) and 2 people died. One from breathing difficulty and another one from being hit by a tear gas canister. RIP.

In the end of the day, I was tear gassed, all wet, had legs cramp and sun burn. But it was all good when random people came up to me to shouting “Hidup Bar Council!” and “You guys did a good job policing the police!”.

I am proud to have served the civil society. A change is all we need.

Note: This post does not represent the views of the Bar Council or its monitoring team. All views and errors are mine.

Straits Settlement Court Documents – Part II


Court order dated 20.5.1901 (Front)


Court order dated 20.5.1901 (Back)

It’s amazing how a piece of document like this has so much history. This order was prepared by Messrs William C. Nibblet of No. 2, Raffles Place, Singapore.


Raffles Place in the 1920s

While many Straits Settlement lawyers were praised in old records, Mr. Nibblet didn’t share such fortune. In fact, his name was not even mentioned in the book “One hundred years of Singapore” written by Braddell, Roland St. John; Brooke, Gilbert Edward; Makepeace, Walter in 1921.

According to an article titled “Bride becomes Lunatic“, his insane wife divorced him accusing him to have committed adultery and bigamy. Subsequently, he was sentenced to 1 month jail for bigamy. However, his counsel said that he is almost blind.

Before this happened, he was once charged for contempt. In an article entitled “The Alleged Charge of Contempt Against A Solicitor” (1893), he was charged for contempt for refusing to accept service of a document and allegedly threatened the process server.

He died on 30th April 1920.

This order was signed by C. E. Velge. His signature appears on many of my old Straits Settlement documents.

There is only a short biography of him in the book.

When Mr. Christian Baumgarten resigned the appointment of Registrar in 1874, the post went to Mr. Charles Eugene Velge. He was a son of Mr. J. H. Velge, who was well-known in Singapore in the old days for his hospitality. Mr. C. E. Velge had been called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1 870. He held the Registrarship until 1907, at the end of which year he retired, dying in September 1912. Mr. Velge was a splendid Registrar, and throughout his long career held the complete confidence of Bench and Bar. He was exceedingly fond of racing, and was as good a judge of a racehorse’s capacities as any man who has been out here.

The Judge who gave this order was Sir William Hyndman Jones, the former Chief Justices of the Straits Settlements from 1906-1914.

In 1897 Sir William Henry Hyndman-Jones was appointed to the Straits Bench. He was born in 1847, the son of Mr. William Henry Jones, of Upper Norwood, and was educated at Marlborough and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1878 he was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn, and was sent in 1880 to enquire into the working and administration of the Barbados Police Force. The next year he was appointed to act as a Judge of the Barbados Court of Appeal. After serving in various legal capacities in the West Indies, he was appointed to the Straits Bench.

In January 1906 he became Chief Judicial Commissioner of the Federated Malay States, and in August of that year Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements. He retired in 1914. His successor, Sir John Bucknill, in a speech which he made to the Bar on taking his seat, referred to Sir William as the ” Nestor of the Colonial Bench,” and a more apt description could not have been given. The Bar hoped that he would be appointed to the Privy Council, a distinction which he more than deserved, but the appointment was not made, and Sir William lives in retirement at Jersey.

Sir William was the beau ideal of a Judge, learned, quick at grasping law and fact ; of most stately presence, and possessed of a fine figure, he dominated his Court, and filled it with an atmosphere of dignity that accorded with the finest traditions of the Bench. Courteous and kind, he had always a helping hand for the struggling junior, and he certainly taught more law and more etiquette to the younger members of the Bar than any Judge who has ever sat here. Jurymen speak of him in the highest admiration, but to the Bar he was perhaps at his best when presiding over the Court of Appeal. Counsel were kept to the point, decisions were rapid ; there was no constant interruption, no wrangling with Counsel, and work in the Court of Appeal, while he presided, was a pleasure and often an education.

He was possessed of a strong sense of humour, but it did not evince itself by jokes. He had a habit of placing his handkerchief over his mouth when anything appealed to his risibility ; but the blue eyes over the handkerchief told their tale, and the Counsel who could call a twinkle into them by a witty remark did not find his task any the more difficult in consequence. When he said anything humorous he did it in such a dry and logical way that it became all the more funny. During the hearing of the Appeal in the Six Widows Case he convulsed the whole Court by a little passage which he had with the late Mr. Montagu Harris.

Mr. Harris was a very sparkling and amusing speaker, but he was not very logical, and in the course of his argument he invited the Court of Appeal to step into the shoes of the deceased Choo Eng Choon, to which Sir William drily replied that in that event the Court would be assembled elsewhere. Harris retorted that he meant during Choo Eng Choon ‘s lifetime, to which Sir William further replied that in that case the Court would have nothing to do with the matter ! Sir William was the only Judge who could deal effectually with Mr. Harris, and he did it always in so kindly, humorous a way that the latter had to accept defeat.

When the same case was before Sir Archibald Law, Mr. Harris waxed very indignant at the attempt to upset his client’s rights. ” It is unreasonable,” he said, ” for my learned friends to come here with antiquated Chinese laws and attempt to upset the law of this Colony
in half-an-hour !

“Sir Archibald said with a groan : ” Half an hour ” !

“In four days, you mean !”

“What is four days in eternity, my Lord ? ” Getting no reply, Mr. Harris answered himself by saying, ‘ ‘ A mere drop in the ocean!” And to those engaged in the case it certainly seemed to be eternity before we had done with it.

I bet if I tell a Judge, “What is four days in eternity, my Lord “, I will get kicked out from the Court.

He died at the age of 79 on 20 August 1962 in England.

While reading the “‘One hundred years of Singapore History”, I found that in the past people actually place bets on Court decisions. In the following passage, the author tells us that there was a case where a crowd applauded when a man charged for murder was acquitted.

In 1912 another little Malay boy was cruelly murdered, the body being thrown into the sea opposite Raffles’s Reclamation, where it was observed by a police officer at low tide. A Malay named Effendi was arrested and tried for the murder before Sir William Hyndman-Jones, the Chief Justice, and a special jury. After a trial lasting six days the accused was acquitted, and the authorship of the murder remains a mystery. On the last day, when the verdict was given, the Chief Justice’s Court was crowded almost to suffocation, natives filling every available space, standing in the corridors, and even down the stairs, and right out into the space between the Court and the Victoria Memorial Hall, so that far more than three-quarters of them could see and hear nothing, but had merely come to await the verdict. When the Jury returned to Court, after a short retirement, and acquitted the accused, there was a loud and prolonged outburst of applause, the reason for which was by no means gratification at the triumph of innocence. The case for the Crown was circumstantial, and was most powerfully, though absolutely fairly, presented by Mr. George Seth, Deputy Public Prosecutor at the time.

Singapore at that time suffered from an epidemic of book-makers, which had in the end to be stamped out by the passing of an Ordinance making betting an offence. One of the fraternity was in Court and heard Mr. Seth’s opening, with the result that he commenced betting long odds upon a conviction. These odds dropped day by day as the defence played their cards ;but he had made a very bad book, and though he hedged towards the end of the trial, it appeared that the loud applause was due to successful bets. These facts, which came out after the trial, had a good deal to do with the eventual driving of the book-makers out of the place, as the Chief Justice on hearing of them was naturally much incensed.