A week ago, I was in Sunway Pyramid as my daughter met some school friends for a birthday party.
After the kids had an early lunch, they left for a spot of ice skating. The home minister, another mother and I went for our lunch.
After about 90 minutes, I went to see how the kids were. I was greeted by some of them who had to leave early, but they wanted to go to a shop selling anime-related products first.
Unfortunately, they were unsure where the shop was as going through the maze that is Sunway Pyramid is just as difficult as finding truths in politicians’ speeches.
The directory is right over there, I pointed to them, but they gave me a funny look. Why? Well, they had a better idea – use Google Maps.
I was kind of skeptical it would work. Intrigued, I followed them. After a wrong turn – they were unsure of the direction – they found the shop with minimal problems.
After buying their products, they once again used Google Maps to find their way to the main entrance to get their ride home.
When the rest had finished ice skating and playing in the arcade, they too wanted to go to the anime shop. Once again, they whipped out their phones to find their way.
I related the story to a colleague, wondering if it was a generational thing.
She said it isn’t because our common friend, Dawn Chan, who is in her late 30s, did the same thing when they met up at Petaling Street recently.
Dawn turned on Google Maps to find her way around.
It was their first trip to Petaling Street since the Movement Control Order (MCO) began on March 18 and they were impressed by the SOPs (standard operating procedures).
Before being allowed in, they had to scan the MySejahtera application. The person manning the entrance insisted on seeing their phones to make sure they had really registered.
Their temperatures were then taken before they were given a sticker to go in.
At most shopping complexes and business outlets, many guards won’t bother checking if you really registered.
I’ve tried it a few times at several outlets – pretending to scan before entering a venue – and not once was I checked. (I did go back to do a proper check-in, just to be safe).
So, I do admire the stringent checks done by the people in Petaling Street.
Anyway, today is the 179th day of MCO, and this is the 13th weekly version of ‘The MCO Diaries’.
ALARMING RISE IN CASES
Why do I say I admire the stringent checks? Well, yesterday there were 182 new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia. In the past seven days, the number of infections has shot up by 425 to 9,810.
The only good news is there were no new deaths so that figure remains at 128.
Worldwide, the number of cases is over 28.3 million with over 900,000 deaths.
On Thursday, Indonesia announced it was going to reimpose a lockdown in Jakarta and India reported record a daily jump of 95,735 cases.
There is a long way to go.
LALAMOVE TO THE RESCUE
Another example of how technology has helped us comes via Cynthia Lee. Her car ran out of petrol in Kampung Kerinchi on Tuesday. What did she do? She used the Lalamove app to order petrol!
THINGS TO LISTEN TO IN A TRAFFIC JAM
Last week I was complaining about how bad traffic has become or rather, returned to pre-Covid days. One way I’m easing the pain of driving is by listening (not watching) to shows on YouTube.
One such programme is Serani Sembang by Vernon Adrian Emuang. It has many interesting topics, including some which don’t just affect the Serani community but the country as a whole.
Last week, Emuang had as guests, Centre for Orang Asli Concerns coordinator Colin Nicholas and former Universiti Malaya Department of Geography, Population Studies and Environmental Studies Programme lecturer Richard Dorall.
Another show I listen to is The RSS with HD a sports talk show which features athletes and officials.
Hardwired TV by Mohd ‘Ayie’ Hazri and Azrin Bidin do unboxing of boxsets, CDs and vinyl. It also has song reviews and reaction and interviews.
Oh, when all else fails, there are also clips from my all-time favourite comedy, Frasier, to keep me entertained.
POLITICAL FROGS
Received this via WhatsApp.
SABAH BANGKIT
Speaking of political frogs, Sabah’s state elections are on Sept 26. A music video called Sabah Bangkit was uploaded on YouTube on Sept 9.
It is to encourage Sabahans to take matters in their own hands by voting in the elections and features many prominent Sabahans. Good luck to them.
