Project log 5: It's working!!!

Ok, I have finally managed to secure my kit from the Custom Office in Ipoh. They detained the package because they wanted to levy a 10% duty on my purchase. The thing is, by procedure they must send me a notice to notify me. None were coming. If I didn't follow up the shipment myself, they would have confiscated the package after one month. And that is exactly what happened to a businessman I met in the Custom Office on Friday, (21st May, 2010).

Anyhow, I got my kit on Friday, proceeded to get myself a Mountain Bike minus the crank. I will up load some photos in due time.

The installation of the kit was anything but easy. There were no instruction menu, and I pretty much have to guess which part goes where and what is connected to what. It took me 5 hours to complete the installation.

First trial run on Saturday (22nd May, 2010), ended with a broken battery connection. What happened was that the battery wire got entangled with the crank shaft and the connection was ripped off from the battery. So, I have to repaired the broken link. Took me two hours to come up with a solution, I basically screw it up (literally!).

With the battery repaired, I had my third run. This time all wires are secured properly so that it won't dangle and got entangled with the crank shaft again. It was run smoothly and I got bolder. I decided to run a small errant with my new e-bike at the shop just outside my residential area. The chain got derailed. Corrected it, it derailed again. After limping the bike back, I did a more thorough inspection and found that the alignment between the motor gear and the crank gear is out. So, I have to adjust the alignment so that they aligned properly. Also the tension-er of the derailleur at the rear wheel is pulling way too much and so I decided to move the free plastic wheeler to a position so that the tension-er do not have to pull too much. After this minor tune up, the bike ride is awesome!!!! I could even chase motorbike without pedaling.

Theoretically, it could reach 50 km/hr without pedaling but I would be guessing. As I do not have a speedometer.

On Sunday, I test run it by cycling from my home in Pusing all the way to Bukit Kledang. It took me less than 15 minutes to arrive at the foot of the hill. Then I made a mistake, by attempting to climb the hill on the bike. The battery went dead at about 2/3 of the way to where I would normally stop. Pushing the bike uphill is a torture. I estimated it weight at least 17 kg. Lugging the bike up Bukit Kledang is no small feat.

Then, it become worse. I have to cycle back. On the journey back, I noticed more tuning is needed for the bike. With the electric motor assist, I would not have noticed this out of tune parts. Mainly the pedal is not align properly hence making pedaling feel, well, not balanced. I would have to fix that tonight.

All in all, it's a great experience and I gained much insight into the working of a bicycle and motor. I would need several more trial runs before I would use this bike as my commuting transport to work, which is my ultimate goal for this bike.

Project Log 4: Malaysia Custom Office

My hunch was right, I was given a run around. I called the number given, the customer service consultant told me that my parcel has been released to Ipoh Poslaju and asked me to contact Ipoh Poslaju Office without giving a telephone number to call.

So, I went online, search through the Pos Malaysia website and found their customer service number (1-300 300 300). I called the number and this time the Poslaju customer service consultant told me that the item is in Ipoh but detained (ditahan) by Malaysian Custom. The consultant ask me to contact Ipoh Poslaju office directly to get more details about the package. This time, she is kind enough to provide me with two phone numbers.

I called the first number, no one pick up the phone. So, I tried the second. Same thing happen, no one is picking up the phone. I have to repeatedly calling the two numbers multiple times, and every time I call I would let the call ring and wait until the automatic switch of Maxis or Telekom cut me off. I was only managed to get hold of a person on my fifth try. The whole process lasted more than half an hour. Anyway, I was counting my blessing because I manage to get hold of a person just at exactly 5 pm. Gave her the tracking number and she told me that my package is being held by the Custom Office in Ipoh. She then provide me with a phone number (yes another one) and told me to ask to be connected to the custom office.

So, I call the number promptly told the operator who answered my call to connect me to the custom office and I was connected. Another lady pick up the phone and I told her that I wanted to make an inquiry about a package I purchased from Taiwan. She immediately told me that "Oh! It's already 5pm, no one will be in to service my inquiry." She also told me that I have called the wrong number, I should call another number which would connect me directly to the person in charge of such inquiries. Yes, another phone number to call.

Couldn't wait til tomorrow morning to find out what happened I decided to call the number today. This time a guy pick up the phone. Wow! It's 5:15pm and there is still people working in the Custom Office, that's nice. But the first thing that he said over the phone is:"Sorry, it's already 5pm I want to go home." Ok, fair enough, so I asked him what time I should call tomorrow morning. The answer is 8:30 am.

So, there you go. Given a run around for almost an hour over the phone and still do not know what happened to my package. Sigh...

Project Log 3

The package is still sitting in the Custom Office, it has been sitting there for 6 business days already (since 13th May, 2010). I have checked on their website, where they have declared in their customer service standard that such inspection should only take a maximum of 4 working days. So, I wrote an email to make an inquiry on the status of the postal by air parcel.

The reply was a standard answer to refer me to the courier service provider and saying that if the parcel was to be held (ditahan) they would send me a notice. There were no meaningful information regarding the status of my package at all, after reading the 4 paragraph replies I still have no idea what happened to my package. Is it being held for legal issues? Has it been released from inspection? How soon the custom office will release the parcel? Nope, there wasn't any of such information given. It does, however, provide me with another contact numbers that I should call to make further inquiry. Typical Malaysian style bureaucracy, being a Malaysian for the last 30 plus years, I could spot a "give me a run around" attempt from a mile away. Sigh...

Given that this is the only recourse I have, I have no choice but to make the phone call. Will do it later today (20th May, 2010).

What's the point of paying a bundle for an express courier by air service, when the Custom Office is the bottleneck of the whole delivery system?

Project Log 2

I have placed the order of the electric bicycle conversion kit on Monday (10th May, 2010). The seller had confirmed that they had posted my purchase and emailed me a tracking number. Hmm... that's pretty efficient.

Today is Friday (14th May, 2010), I have decided to check where is my parcel. So, I hop into the Taiwan Post Office parcel tracking website, and key in the tracking number. The information provided is very complete. What I found is that the parcel has left Taiwan on a flight and reached Malaysia on Wednesday (12th May, 2010). The latest reported where about of the parcel is, read, Malaysia Custom Office. So, the parcel is sitting there for 2 days already.

I will check back and this would be a good opportunity to see how long does it take for the Custom Officer to inspect electrical components purchased from Taiwan before releasing it to the purchaser.

Project log 1

This is a project log on the progress of an electric bicycle project I have decided to embarked on.

First, I have purchase the equipments and tools for the project. I have found and online site in Taiwan that sells a complete kit set for my project. It should be simple enough as the kit is complete with everything I needed to turn a normal mountain bike to an electric driven bicycle. Albeit I have read that the batteries that come with the kit might not be the best in the market, but since this is my first attempt on such a project, I have decided that I would stick to the original kit battery and test it out first.

The first attempt in purchasing the complete kit bought me to Paypal. I used to have a paypal account some years back, but since I seldom made online purchasing via paypal, I have forgotten how to log in to my old Paypal account.

So, I registered a new account and to my surprise I could now linked my credit card to Paypal, so instead of buying credits in Paypal first I could now charge any purchase made via Paypal to my credit card. Sweet! This means I would no longer need to keep some money in Paypal for future purchase.

However, for security reason, Paypal imposed a limit on my credit card transaction until I have confirmed with Paypal that the credit card really belongs to me. And in order for me to do that I have to wait for the credit card statement as Paypal will charge a small amount of money in my credit card and provide an activation number with the charges. This way, the activation number would appear in my credit card statement together with the charges made by Paypal. On it's activation website, Paypal promised to refund the money after I have confirmed the card.

That's not bad, the only problem I have with such a set up is that I will not be able to satisfy my gratification of actually buying the things I want to buy now as the total purchase cost is beyond the limit set by Paypal now. I'll have to wait for my credit card statement before I could made my purchase. Sigh.

For a Better Malaysia

If you believe in justice, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. It is already a foregone conclusion that the current UMNO regime is responsible for the demise of the independent Judicial system in Malaysia. The day Tun Haji Mohamed Salleh bin Abas was dismissed is the day the Independent Judiciary died in Malaysia.

Now, what is served in the court is more often injustices than justices. If you think that BN can change, "Mampu berubah" so they proclaimed, then you need to do a reality check.

Cases in point: the Perak fiasco and the infamous Sodomy II trials. From these two show cases, injustice was clearly done, when judgment can be overturned in less than 24 hours time to keep the UMNO guy in power, and when the accused have to prove his innocent rather than the accuser have to show evidence of guilt. The spirit of the law where innocent until proven guilty had not been upheld since Sodomy I. So, how long do you want these injustice be still done? Give Pakatan Rakyat a chance, so that there is chance for Justice be done.

If you believe in having a safe society to live in, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. How many 15 years old kid have to die before you would open your eyes to see the brutality of Polis Diraja Malaysia? How many people have to die in custody in the dark and dirty lockup of the police station before you are angry enough to do something to rein in the Polis Diraja Malaysia? How many women to get shot at before you start to hold the Polis Diraja Malaysia accountable for their actions?

If you want an Independent Polic Complaint and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to rein in the out of control Polis Diraja Malaysia, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance.

If you want a cleaner government, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. Over the last two years, both the Penang and Selangor State Government had reported substantial saving with some municipal councils reported a complete turn around from budget deficit to budget surplus under the management of Pakatan Rakayt. Whereas, in the Federal Government under the UMNO Regime, budget deficit continues. Hundreds of Billions of Malaysian Ringgit are unaccounted for under Barisan Nasional (read UMNO) rules. To put the magnitude into it's proper contrast, RM 200 millions is enough to built a University campus for 2,000 students. RM 100 Billions is enough to build 500 such universities. So, RM 100 Billions is enough to build university to offer university degree to 2,000 X 500 = 1 million students. More than enough to offer a university placement for every secondary school students graduating, regardless of their SPM results. So, if a cleaner government is what you wanted, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance.

If you believe in equality and equal opportunities for all Malaysians, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. What is happening now, is institutionalized Racism. The Malays are told that they are poor because of the Chinese and the Indians, despite the fact that UMNO (Read: United MALAY National Organization) is the one ruling the country since Independence. UMNO and its irks, never fail to remind the non-Malays that they should be grateful because they were conferred citizenship. They always repeat the claim that the Malays had made the sacrifice by conferring such citizenship. Conveniently neglect to mention that the non-Malays too had worked hard to fight for the Country Independence and that the non-Malays in Malaysia todays are all born and grew up in this country, and they only know this country as their birthplace. They also never openly acknowledge all the blood and sweats spilled by the non-malays in building up this beautiful nations called Malaysia. So, if you believed that racial discrimination is wrong, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. For racial discrimination is all that BN stands for.

If the government is the board of directors entrusted by the Rakyat to manage the country, our current board of directors sucks. They swindle the company funds and made blunders after blunders in the running of the businesses of the company. As a share holders what do you do to these directors? You would sack them and replace them. So, for a better Malaysia, kick BN out and give Pakatan Rakyat a chance.

The known devil has grown to become too evil to be entrusted with the country any longer. Give Pakatan Rakyat a chance, vote for a change of the government so that Malaysia may start to reform for a better future.

Police in Malaysia

I have been intending to write about what happened to Aminulrasyid Amzah the 15 years old boy shot dead by Malaysian Police over an obviously joyride gone wrong.

I have been questioning the modus operandi of Malaysia Police force for sometimes. Whenever I read or heard of a news where policemen have shot dead purported criminals, I can't help to notice that in many of these reports, the police often report that they found a number of parangs (machete) and 1 or 2 guns in the possessions of the deceases, but made no mentioning of whether shots were ever being fired by the purported criminals. In many of these cases, the guns and parangs were always found inside the car or found in the boot of the car.

I have always been suspicious of such reports as I have read and heard many times in the news that police shooting dead criminals but it has been a long time since I last heard of Malaysia Policemen being shot at. The Home Minister statement that it's unfair for the public to be criticizing the police for the shooting of the 15 years old teenager, whereas we were not concerned when the police were shot. But do check back the news, when did the last time a police men got shot in Malaysia?

I checked the figure here and here. The numbers said that over the past 20 years, Malaysian police had shot dead 579 suspected criminals. Meanwhile there were 19 police officers shot dead in the same period. I am not saying that there should be more police men killed in the line of duty. What I am saying is that the numbers do tell a story, especially a tell tale sign of the modus operandi of our Police force.

Now, that there are more witnesses coming out to collaborate the testimony of the second witness (the other 15 years old boy in the car chase). The lies of the Police that the boys had tried to ram the police with their car is falling apart. The credibility of the police, or whatever is left of it, takes another serious blow.

Then I read this in Malaysiakini. First off, I have not expected the "special panel" formed to be any more "special" than a royal commission formed before. Where I still vividly remembered how the police had threaten to let the crime rate rise, if the government proceeded with the forming of the IPCMC as per recommended by that Royal Commission. If a Royal Commission could not get the police to straighten up, what could we expect from a so called "special panel" that has no jurisdiction and any legal standing based on established law?

Then I found this video. The 12 years old teenagers in the video were lucky that they were not in Malaysia. Else, we'd have another 12 years old "criminal" shot dead.

Another question in my mind is if we, as a society, should be held responsible for Aminul's death. I think as a whole, we are indeed partly responsible. We did nothing to rein in the police over the many extra-judiciary killings of "suspected criminals". Many of these shootings were not properly investigated because there were not enough public outrage.

Finally, we might have a catalyst case to push for change but the government of the day is smart and cunning. The formation of such a "special panel" shown their ingenuity to come up with ideas to divert the public attention. Nevermind that such a panel is powerless to do anything to the police force. I do not even expect the panel would be able to get any police officer charged for any crime.

By any international standard, the police men in the scene should all be immediately suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. But alas, they were only reassigned to desk duty. The defensive attitude of the Home Minister, the Inspector General of Police, and the Selangor Police Chief also shown that the police and the government is not interested at all in finding whether the shooting was justifiable or not. Their attitudes shown that they just want this to be gotten over with and the sooner the public forget about this the better.