WE MAY BE A TINY NATION, BUT NOT NECESSARILY, WITH TINY BRAINS - UNLESS, WE CHOOSE TO BE.

This is my 100th article. Either time is running fast or I write too often, LOL. 

Before I begin, some "stuffs" from the You Tube I earlier seen sneaked into my mind and make me laugh briefly while writing (typing, to be precise). 

It came from a US got talent 2014 auditions by an 84-year old Ray Jessel. He said this,"I've never performed before judges before, I've appeared before judges before," he quipped when answering Heidi Klum, one of the panel judges. 

This particular contestant is not only creative with the song he wrote, but never short with his sense of humor. Howie Mandel among other things said,"You are funny, personable and I can't see enough of you and I love you!." While Mel B said,"Ray...You are a naughty, funny dirty old man..and I love it! it made me laugh, a lot!."  Check on You Tube for Ray Jessel, LOL .

Yesterday (Sunday), I was in the company of my long-time friends, John and Val Johnson from Bundaberg, a town in Queensland city, Australia. For most Australians who liked premium brewed drinks, they would be more familiar with this small town called Bundaberg as there live a family who owned a company that brews a real, natural ingredients range of drinks. Ginger beer, lemon lime & bitters, sarsaparilla & root beer, burgundee creaming soda are among their produce. Those are the bottle drinks John & wife Val served me when I paid them a visit to their home sometime ago, but don't be surprised if some Australians out of the Queensland region might not be able to "guide" you to Bundaberg. It happened, when I was at the Fremantle market in Perth, I asked an Australian, how far is Perth to Bundaberg, and his answer,"Sorry, I'm not familiar at all".

It's kinda compulsory of John to call me whenever he is here on business trip. Normally, we would meet over tea at his hotel's Oro cafe or dinner at Chambers Bar & Grill located at lobby level of the hotel or scout for some local savory dishes around Kuala Lumpur. Since we are in the holly month of Ramadan, our meeting took place in his hotel room.

Unlike past meetings, this time, he started conversation by asking me,"Two planes in less than five months?," a question I do not know how to answer, except nodding my head. 

Being an Australian, he is well-informed of the earlier tragedy in MH370 as the incident received wide coverage on Australian media.

From his concerned face, it is true that MH17 is not only a national catastrophe, but international catastrophe. National and international community are mourning over the tragic loss.

John added, he hope, my Prime Minister (Datuk Najib Razak), will not receive similar criticisms by families of MH370 passengers and the international media for his administration's management of the missing MH370, and he further hoped, MAS would immediately avoid the troubled war-torn zone of eastern Ukraine, in the name of safety precautions, but I'm appalled with statement by Hugh Dunleavy, MAS' commercial director for having said,"We, along with hundreds of other airlines, have flown that route safely for quite sometime," he told Saima Mohsin of CNN. He added,"Primarily we flew that route because we were advised that this was a safe corridor and there would be no incidents."

John also praised Prime Minister Najib to have personally made the first announcement of the crash before dawn on Friday and met with families of the passengers on Saturday. John must have read reports in our local media. However, he is puzzled as to why our government acted differently as far as providing information of MH370 is concerned. John added, in this second disaster, your government is fast in releasing MH17's passenger list and cargo manifest. Fearing of giving him inappropriate answer, my reply was - "not so sure myself".

Personally, I like to think that this second tragedy would provide Prime Minister Datuk Najib the "opportunity" to demonstrate his leadership capabilities in handling "international disaster".

I asked John,"If you have heard or been advised the path you are plying to your destination is now "haunted", would you use it even though many could still be using?", His answer is,"No, I won't. I feared the ghosts, LOL" he laughed-out-loud.

It's everybody's concern, especially family members, relatives and friends of MH17 passengers/crew when reports are saying that bodies of most people aboard ended in a fly-infested railway station in a rough coal-mining town in eastern Ukraine, lying in five gray refrigerated train cars in rebel-controlled war-zone and hostages to high politics and mutual distrust. It was also reported that world leaders have voiced a growing chorus of outrage over the delay in recovering the remains of victims, and over the refusal by rebels to cede authority over the disaster site.

It's now left to Prime Minister Najib to do his best with the help of his international counterparts in bringing home remains of Malaysian victims for proper burials. Sometimes,"We don't get what we asked, but what we negotiated."

On a lighter or rather humorous note, John was saying,"Good that this time around you don't use the binoculars and coconuts." and my answer was,"Perhaps, they have learnt a lesson."

It was reported that Malaysian lawmakers of both divide, would have the opportunity to discuss and condemn the inhumane missile attack which blown MH17 and it's 298 passengers/crew abroad on Wednesday's emergency meeting of Parliament.

This meritorious act of our lawmakers, who are willing to put aside their differences and stay united over MH17 tragedy is much appreciated and welcomed, but what with MH370? Are we forgetting MH370? It would be more than disappointing if tragedy of MH370 is forgotten just because of MH17 and the nation would be held liable for being "perfunctory". 

Having done with John and Val, I returned to my hometown for a break-of-fast appointment with friends. While waiting for "azan" (call for prayers) that marks the time to break our fast, Cikgu Said was unhappy and said,"Palm oil prices plunged to below RM400/tonne in cash sales!." 

Annang (another friend) was quick to quipped,"So is support for Selangor PR! (People's Pact). Support has dropped to 35% from 50% recorded in September 2012!." He added,"If you don't believe me, check with UMcedel (University Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections) which conducted the survey." 

Those days, when prices of Palm Oil was at it's peak (almost RM1000/tonne), if you happen to have or lease a 20-acre oil-palm plantation, you could just "shakes legs" and "enjoy life". 

People (plantation owners) are more than curious why previous prices are not sustained. There goes all the speculations and hear-says. 

Some said, it was because Malaysia's richest man Robert Kuok popularly known Sugar King, who is also Southeast Asia second richest behind Dhanin Chearavanont of Thailand has "instructed" his people in China" not to buy Malaysian palm oil as he was "offended" over the "sugar issue.." and instead, "ordered China" to buy Indonesian palm oil. 

While talks of that nature was never verified, but if it does carry weight, it's people who suffered the consequences. 

As for the drop of support for PR in Selangor, it is just inevitable when the ruling party failed to observe sensitivities of the people. If Barisan Nasional (BN) government is "haunted" with issue after issue, it looks like PR in Selangor especially, will experience problem after problem.