Le Meridien Hotel : Tragic loss of life

Daily Application: It is good to ask the back seat occupants in your car to buckle up. Safety surely saves souls.

Personal narration and photo by Razif Rashid.

I witnessed a horrific HSSE incident yesterday which I really feel I should share with you.

This incident occurred at the Le-Meridian Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, just opposite the main entrance of the KL Sentral transportation hub. I had just arrived at the main entrance of KL Sentral in my car. I was 4.25pm, 2 Sept 2008. Hardly a few seconds after I moved my car to the side and stopped to answer a call, a number of objects fell from the Le-Meridian Hotel side onto the middle of the road next to my car. This was followed by a larger metal piece. It was extremely fortunate that no vehicle or person was in that place when the objects fell. But that was only the beginning of the incident. I heard some noise from above, from what I presumed was the source of the fallen objects.

When I looked up, I saw that it was the moving platform that is normally used to clean the windows of tall buildings was just giving way on one side. To my horror, a moment later, a man fell from the now tilted platform at what appeared to be the 7th floor of the building. On the way down, he hit the side of the building. When this happened, pieces of flesh came down on the road where the metal pieces had earlier fallen on the road. (photo below)

A few seconds later the falling man smashed into what I think was the elevate lobby driveway of the hotel. I heard a thump and could see a spray of bright red blood from where I was. I cannot imagine that he would have survived the fall. I did however notice as he fell that the man was not wearing a safety harness. I feel really sorry for the man who most likely lost his life yesterday, and I cannot help think that a simple act of wearing a safety harness could have saved his life and a lot of grief for many people. I cannot help but wonder if his supervisor had bothered to ensure that all the necessary safety precautions had been taken so that he could perform his job safely.
I will never forget that moment seeing the man falling helplessly. I hope never to have to see or hear about a similar incident again, especially if it involves anyone I know.

The message is simple : Never forget to comply to HSSE rules and regulations. They are there for good reason. It is not just about meeting KPIs, it is about peoples lives.

If petrol price is expensive, use motorbike

Image taken from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Honda_C70.JPG

While I was back in my hometown, noticed that my father's trusty old bike is below the required safety standards. In fact, his Honda C70 kapchai's suspension has gave way. Without telling him, I secretly went about town to find a motorcycle repair shop.

The truth is, it was a hard find. Many years ago, there would be quite a few motorbicyle shop littering this tranquil town of Muar. Not any more. Many people have moved on to cars and the impact is felt down the chain of business. Many motorcycle shops would have a hard time to stay afloat and this was the time when there was a sudden increase of fires affecting motorcycle shops. Rumour mills point to a conspiracy to extract insurance payment and to exit the business.

Anyway, the newly found mechanic and wife was very helpful and chatty. He then stressed that business has been improving as more people are buying motorbikes as it uses less fuels and hence will lower down the cost of living. I enjoyed a ground perspective of our economy at work.

How ironic it is that I saw this yet to be ascertained authentic piece of invoice but seemingly scanned document; that charges the country RM1.58 million for driving motorbikes to an election. That is RM1,580,000 for 12 days of 'work' of driving around in their motorbikes for UMNO youth members. This is daylight robbery. I can work many many years and will never earn this type of money. And 200 people just took less that half a month to squeeze RM1.58 million from taxpayer's money. Only in UMNO world where it is more expensive to drive a motorbike.

So, in the days of increasing cost of living .. it is ironic that the mere lowly mechanic went about doing his work to earn a decent living. The change of mobility preference helped his family to earn a bit more during these times, but I reckon he earned just enough during the lean times. Yet, he was still able to give me discount on top of his service. He did not overcharge or undercharge. That is a lesson in integrity.

National Service in Pasir Panjang

Look at them! This is why Malaysia should celebrate its diversity and not racist ( zionist) policy of ketuanan. Only then we are trully merdeka. Celebrating birthday before whacking the Secret Recipe's Chocolate Banana cake. Few of them almost fainted from eating so much. And KFC is again a proven hit.

And so, ended my 3rd batch of national service trainee encounter. I still do not agree on the wastage of taxpayer money, bogus provider linked to UMNO getting contracts and dubious safety standards. But still, nothing would stop me volunteering my time to see these teenagers in their time of personal challenge. Some of them would come out better and the rest with no change.

Shahrul and Chan sharing a moment. Both have turned 18 and we celebrated their birthday in between both their birthdays. This is me egging them to blow the invisible fire.

And Catherine, my intern followed me yesterday and she did well in sharing the book in Mandarin. She obviously did much better than I could. It is also fun sharing and teaching in Bahasa to two pribumis and and Indian who speaks fluent Malay. And yes, we used the word "Allah"! as it is in the bible and used by local pribumis for long time. Too bad this is the last session with the kids. They are nice chaps, in fact i have met all types of people just by being there. If you are near one of the camp, do think to volunteer yourself and be part of someone's life.

It has been a challenge speaking in 3 languages and still maintained sanity in my talk. My hope is that all will know God more and to grow in Him. Till we meet again , one day.

United States : Double standard in Georgia

For a country that invades Iraq, turns Kosovo and Macedonia free in spite of prevailing international convention, United States is trying to again potray Russia as 'evil'. Read between the lines and one will again stumble against the backdrop of PR spins. Here is a good article.:

By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
George Bush, with the clock ticking down the last months of his presidency, nearly started yet another war that might have escalated in the manner of World War I: a diplomatic failure backed by arms that resulted in a superpower clash.
It is a wonder that the world has survived his "war on terror," which turned out to be a war on American liberty and anyone in the world who got on his nerves. His confrontation with Russia in defense of a belligerent little client state of the US could have sealed his fate and ours too.
We need to examine Bush's actions and see how the US nearly stumbled into a calamity. For in the last weeks, we have gained a picture of the future with this continued push for a secure American world empire with its endless webs of payments, relationships, jockeying for power and treasure, and a diplomatic corps honeycombed with belligerents and lobbyists for foreign governments. The peace, such as it is, can be shattered through small screwups that will end in massive death.
Make no mistake about it: the flare-up was caused entirely by US diplomatic failures. You wouldn't know this, however, if all you did was watch television news. Fox and CNN have portrayed Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili as a benevolent leader of a "young democracy" struggling in the shadow of the mighty bear Russia. Read More