HTNet - A Notepad of Tech, Business, Science and Self Improvement

Of all the civil services in Malaysia, I respect the Royal Malaysian Police the most. They are an often under-appreciated group of professionals that help keep the peace and make life better for law-abiding citizens.

Nevertheless, the level of commercial crimes as well as violent crimes are beginning to become overwhelming for residents of Johor Bahru. Let me give a few examples;

For the past week or so, there were a few hit-and-rape cases around JB. Yes, you heard that right, hit-and-rape, not hit-and-run! The thing is, this was not a once off case. It happened a number of times just last week alone!

Commercial crimes is also on the rise. The one type of commercial crime that I’m trying to get widely publicised is scratch-and-win scams. Currently, the biggest scratch-and-win syndicate in Malaysia is Welley Corporation Sdn Bhd. They seem to be getting more and more active in Johor Bahru. Right now, they seem to be actively targeting Singaporean visitors. Is this part of the Visit Malaysia Year activities the government has in store for them?

With this in mind, I’ve signed a petition drafted by the Tiong-Hua Association of Johor Bahru. For those who can’t read Chinese or Bahasa Malaysia, here’s my translation of the text:

We feel that the peace and security in Johor Bahru is getting more precarious and the citizens are getting worried and restless. Therefore, we are signing this petition to communicate our concerns to the authorities. We hope that the Police focus more on this issue and put in their full effort in eradicating crime in order to regain the confidence of citizens

At the time of this post, almost 40,000 people have signed the online petition. I know that a paper petition drive is also concurrently taking place.

I urge everyone to please sign the petition. It is for a good cause. Even if you’re not from Johor Bahru, please show your support. Who knows, the next crime victim might be your friend or loved one.

Let’s let the Royal Malaysian Police know that with their recent pay rise comes big responsibilities. The Rakyat has spoken. Now the ball is in their court.

I used to get my supply of Dr Pepper from Jusco Permas Jaya. But since last weekend, it’s been noticably absent from the shelves.

I’m not sure if they’ve pulled Dr Pepper from their store (which is a bad move, especially for Dr Pepper fans such as myself) or they simply ran out of stock. Nevertheless, for other afficionados of Dr Pepper based in JB… do you know of any other stores which sells Dr Pepper?

Yesterday was the wettest day I’ve seen in JB my whole life. Floods and fallen trees were everywhere! Apparently, such weather conditions occur once every 100 years, although frankly, I don’t trust the Drainage and Irrigation Department, regardless what their so-called records say.

More coverage of this phenomenon by NST and The Star.

Yesterday, about a quarter of my colleagues came in past 10:30am. And today, a handful took emergency leave because they reached home hours later than normal (one girl only arrived home at 3:00am, after leaving office at 5:45pm sharp!).

My mum found a nice TV console which she thought was suitable for my new apartment while window shopping at Picket & Rail Johor Bahru (which is in Giant Tampoi) two weeks ago. She immediately paid for it (God bless her kind heart) and scheduled for it to be delivered on 16 December 2006 at 12:00pm.

I was bubbling with excitement and can’t wait to see the console! On Friday night at about 9:00pm I received a call from a Picket & Rail staff stating that he wants to confirm the delivery at 4:00pm. I told him that the delivery order stated specifically that the console should be delivered at 12:00pm, and that the delivery date and time was decided two weeks ago! The guy said that there’s some scheduling problem and that they can only deliver at 4:00pm. No apologies… and very ultimatum-like. Begrudgingly, I agreed to the new schedule.

The next day, I waited for the delivery. 4:00pm came, but no sign of Picket & Rail’s delivery truck. At 4:15pm I called their so-called Customer Service Line. Told the staff that my delivery which was scheduled at 4:15pm was a no-show. The guy who picked up my call said that he’ll check with the delivery staff, asked for my contact number (which was on the bloody Delivery Order anyway) and hung up. Rude, obnoxious and totally uncalled for!

He called back roughly two minutes later and said that the delivery will arrive at 5:00pm. At this point, I was bloody pissed off! Not only did this person not apologise for the delay, somehow the bloody idiots at Picket & Rail think that customers have all the time in the world to wait for their delivery. I demanded to know why Picket & Rail couldn’t deliver on time for an order which was placed two weeks ago, and rescheduled on their request. They had all the time in the world to schedule the delivery properly but yet failed to do so! The excuse was lame and astoundingly idiotic; it’s raining. I can’t contain my anger anymore and screamed to the guy, “What the hell are you using to deliver? A bicycle?!”. Again, no apologies whatsoever, he merely replied, “No, a lorry”.

The console finally arrived at 5:30pm, and… wait for this… without it’s bloody glass top! In the name of all that’s holy, Picket & Rail should be renamed to Stupid & Failed! I know that the delivery guys are damned scared of what’s about to happen. They know that the delivery is incomplete. However, I didn’t lash at them. I know that they’re just doing delivery. Somebody at Stupid & Failed’s logistics cocked the hell up.

The idiot working the so-called Customer Service Line called me soon and said that they didn’t bring the glass top for the console. Of course I bloody know that! I’m looking at the topless console now! He then asked me what I wanted to do. To which I replied, “You should be the one to tell me what the hell you will do! This order was placed two weeks ago and still you manage to mess it up. This is stupidity at its finest! No apologies, no nothing, and you act as if this is how your stupid company operates. Unbloodybelievable!”

Fourty minutes later, two guys from Stupid & Failed finally brought the glass top for the bloody TV console. Again, no apologies, no nothing… they simply placed the glass top and left.

To sum it up, if you’re looking to buy furniture, do not buy from Picket & Rail because:

1. They don’t value your time
2. They don’t value your business
3. They have incompetent and rude staff
4. The furnitures are not that nice anyway
5. Even at “discounted prices”, it’s definitely not worth the inevitable post-sales heartache

I’m very aware that HTNet is apolotical. What I’m going to write about can be misperceived as being political in nature, but let me assure you it’s very much on the contrary. This post is undoubtedly going to be totally opinionated. I’ll make no excuse to say that I’m going to be impartial. In fact, I’m going to pick a side and am glad to make known this fact.

The topic of choice for today is: Datuk Shahrir’s resignation from the position of BBC Chairman.

Read the rest of Shahrir Quits BN-BBC Chairmanship »