PUTRAJAYA BUILDINGS (PART 1)

Prime Minister Office

Recently, I was at Putrajaya on a certain assignment. After completing the job assigned, I went to the mosque for a prayer and then to Putra Foodcourts.

I managed to snap some photos on buildings surrounding the mosque i.e. Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Food Court, Putra Bridge, Mosque and Selangor Palace. Hope you will enjoy the viewing angles the scenes were taken.







AFKassim/Putrajaya

STARHILL GOLF RESORT

Most people go the Starhill Golf Resort (SGR) to play golf or attending other official functions such as wedding reception, lunch or dinner. STG is one of the fine golf courses available in Johore. Despite the local golf enthusiasts, the golf course is often visited by the expatriates (mainly the Japanese and Singaporean). Of course there are people who go there everyday because they work there, where they earn a living.


Maintaining a golf course with its ancillary facilities requires quite a large fund. To maintain its grass, lakes, dunes and club facilities to the international standards often requires competent and experience personnel especially when some of the club members are foreigners. Sometimes, it is very sad to see the state of Mechanical and Electrical equipment at the golf clubs which are poorly maintained and its operating conditions do not comply fully with the Statutory Requirement of the country. For example, more often than not that an electrical switch rooms are turned into sores to house used golf balls, furniture and sports equipment to be used during family days, etc. Even the competent person maintaining the club is fully aware of the requirement, he could not do anything as its the management prerogative. So, the status-quo will go on until something unexpected or unwanted happens.

I sometimes go to the SGR when there are assignment for me. I will normally go there to carry out Safety Inspection on the electrical installation or to carry out retesting and servicing works on the electrical system. So far, I have not even hold a golf club at the 500-meter Driving Range or bring my family to the Theme Park at the resort.


During a recent Safety Inspection to the rwsort, I managed to snap some photographs which could be shared with those who intend to go there to bring family members or to practise golf driving at the Driving Range.

Bottom RHS Picture : Switch Room used as store which is against
Electricity Regulations 1994 of Malaysia ...

AFK_Skudai

TROPICAL GARDEN, UTM SKUDAI, JOHOR

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Main Campus in Skudai, Johor was opened in 1984 after shifting from Jalan Semarak (Gurney Road), Kuala Lumpur. It is one of the early public universities set up by the government to produce graduates mainly for the engineering-based industries. It started of as a Technical Institute, Technical College, National Technological Institute and finally gaining its university status in 1970s.

The courses offered in Civil, Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, Robotic, Natural Sciences, Survey, Remote Sensing, Architecture, Management and other Physical Sciences were well received by the people. So far, it has produced thousands of graduates filling the posts in the government and private sectors all over the country and some in the neighbouring countries.

The main campus in Skudai is beautified with the presence of a Tropical Garden located about 50 meters from the campus main entrance. Tropical trees and plants were planted and the presence of a small river which was turned into a man-made lake has made the garden one of the attraction for recreation activities. The photographs below explain the facts.

Skudai_29082008

SCENIC VIEWS (1)

Everyday there bound to be some moments or views of the surrounding that captivate our eyes. These captivating views or scenes especially in the morning and evening is worth recording for us to really appreciate the Creator of such scenes.
Enclosed below are some of the scenes which I managed to capture as it came without even planning to photograph them. Although they are not as beautiful or exhilarating as scenes photographed by Professional Photographers, these photos are just starters for me as a beginner to a new hobby (photography).

The view below was snapped when I was driving home through Bandar Baru Bangi on the way home from attending a meeting.

The scene below was captured when I was walking at a lake garden in Taiping. The view of the rising sun over a hill is quite captivating especially looking at its image in the lake. The photograph is not as beautiful as the actual scene.
The second photo is one of the beautiful scenes that made thousands thronged the lake garden every morning and evening. The serene view and quiet atmosphere really can sooth my heart.


The photo below was taken when I was driving to LCCT KLIA to send my son to Australia. After taking the roundabout near the KLIA mosque, I noticed through my car's side mirror and after admiring the view while driving, I stopped by the road side and snapped the scenery.


The night scene below was taken while waiting for someone in front of Econsave Supermaket in Skudai, Johor. The view along the main road towards Majlis Daerah Johor Bahru Tengah (MDJBT) was snapped without using flash. Of course my shaky hand has failed to produce a clearer picture.


This photo was taken when I was making the final inspection on the landscape works in front of the building. The sun was hidden behind the building, just peeping the landscape in front of the building.


I will post other scenes later ..

Selama & Permatang Pauh

Recently (18-8-08), I drove to Permatang Pauh to meet a friend before I attended a project meeting in Selama, Perak.
A small sleepy town suddenly bustling with life as there is going to be a by-election for the contituency after the rsignation of Datin Seri Dr. Puan Azizah Ismail to pave the way to her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
At the time when this post is being edited, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had won the by-election by a majority of about 15,000 with 81% turn-out.

Flash Flood Between Taiping & Selama

Taiping-Selama Road under water at Pondok Tanjong (8.45 a.m.)

Two days ago I attended a project site meeting at Selama, Perak. I had put up a night at my sister's house in Kampong Jambu, Taiping.
Early that morning, I started off to Selama to attend the meeting. However, when I was approaching a small town of Pondok Tanjong, I saw many cars and people gathered by the road side. To my surprise, I found out that they are road-stranders as they could not pass through a low-lying part of the road which was under 450mm of water due to heavy down-pour the previous night.

Selama-Taiping Road under water at Pondok Tanjung (6.30 p.m.)

As my car suspension is also low, I had decided to turn back and travelled to Selama via Batu Kurau, Rantau Panjang and Ijok. That was my maiden route to Selama via Batu Kurau. Alhamdulillah, although some parts of the roads are really errie, I had no choice but just drive and drive. I reached Selama at about 10.15 a.m.

On the way back from Selama to Taiping, one of the project site staff informed me that the flood water has subsided and cars could pass through. So, immediately after the meeting, I started my trip back to Taiping.

To my surprise there were cars which could not cross the area due to flood water. I was fed with wrong information.
This time, I had to retreat and pass through Kubu Gajah and Bukit Merah and proceeded via North-South Highway to Taiping.

I reached Taiping at about 6.30 p.m and getting ready to drive home to Bandar Seri Putra, Bangi. I reached Bangi at about 11.45 p.m.

A small fisherman settlement at Paka, Terengganu ...

	Residence Resort Paka, Terengganu Lot 473, Kampong Cacar, 23100 Paka, Terengganu Darul Iman
Set on the idyllic unspoiled shores of Paka, Residence Resort brings you a whole new meaning of total comfort. It provides an escape from the hustle and bustle of urban madness to the serene town of Paka, a quaint fishing village in the state of Terengganu on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. For both business and leisure-minded travellers, Residence Resort offers the best facillities for your comfort and convenience.

Just next to the resort, there is a small fishermen settlement whose people earn aliving by fishing in small boats.

Happy children from the fishing village taking a rest on the beach

In May 2008, I stayed for 2 nights at Residence Resort, Paka, Terengganu. This resort has been my regular place to spend the night after long tiring day conducting training to client (giving lectures from 8.30 a.m to 5.00 pm).

When I am here, I always spend sometime in the evening or morning at the sea side especially to watch the wonderful view of the horizon during sun-rise (Terengganu is in the east coast, so the view of sun-rise is normally spectacular).

So, I would like to share with you views of a small fisherman settlement and morning sun-rise which I captured in May, 2008 this year.

Petrochemical Plants - Night View

Those who have passed through Kerteh Area at night may have noticed the above familiar photographs. From far, it looks as if there are buildings and bushes on fire...

These photos are petro-chemical plants, mainly owned by our national oil-company, Petronas and their joint-ventures partners.

Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)
Type	Public
Founded	17 August 1974
Headquarters	Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Key people	Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd Hassan Marican, Group CEO and President
Industry	Oil and Gas
Products	Oil Natural gas Petrochemical manufacturing Shipping services
Revenue	▲ 66.2 billion USD (2008)
Net income	▲ 18.1 billion USD (2008)
Employees	33,944 worldwide
Website	www.petronas.com.my

The petro-chemical plants in Kerteh. Terengganu is one of the biggest gas-processing plants which operate 24-hrs .

Gas-Processing Plant, Kerteh, Terengganu

Morning Race

Traffic before and After Sg. Besi Toll (towards KL)

Apparently, every morning there is a race along the North-South Highway which starts as early as 6.30 a.m. I am not aware of this race before until I have to travel to KL City Centre a few times a month recently for the next one year or so to go to work.

Traffic jam just after Sg. Besi Toll (towards KL) at 6.50 a.m.

I have to leave Bandar Seri Putra (Putra Mahkota Toll, PMT) by 6.30 a.m. if I were to arrive at the Mid-Valley area before 7.30 a.m. If I leave PMT after 6.30 a.m, I will arrive at Mid-Valley at 7.45a.m. or later depending on how I drive, the behaviour of other drivers, the attitude and mood of 'Emergency Left Lane' drivers, weather condition, road repair, etc.

So, when I travel to KL at 6.30 a.m, I will never miss a highway race from PMT to KL. Most of the cars travel at 110 km/h and some even sppeding at more than 120 km/h. The speed limit between Bangi Toll and Sg. Besi Toll of 90 km/h has never been acknowledge at this time of the day (may be the day is still dark...).

Unfortunately, immediately after the Sg. Besi Toll, there is normally a traffic jam towards Kuala Lumpur. The reason being very simple.. the no. of lanes is reduced from 8 - 10 (toll booths) to 3 or sometimes 2 (for Road Repair or Traffic Police Road Block). It is an accepted norm nowadays that some of the causes of the traffic jam is caused by the presence of police traffic by the road sides.
The matter is also made worse by the unscrupulous contractor who is carrying out repair works without considering the time of heavy traffic using the highway. We can sometimes see that one or two of the lanes were closed but there was no activity at all for 1 or 2 km along the lanes that were closed !! Of course the closure is for safety reasons..!!??

View from the highway just before Sg. Besi Toll (north bound)

So, if you are a regular traveller to KL every morning, please make sure that you don't join the race. We could drive normally to work, appreciate the beauty of the world around us, zikr while driving and pray to Allah that He will bestow us with better rizk in days to come ... Ameen..

Highway Commuter