Nostaligic Weekend - The Checkmates

The Checkmates, featuring Benny Chan, Hann Hussein, Lawrence Lee and Amir Samsudin. Their first EP recording included four original instrumental compositions - 45 RPM, Galaxy, Sylvia and Lady In White. The Checkmates also accompanied The Cyclones and Bryan Neale in their recordings.

Although the group may have only one EP to their credit, they were nonetheless considered as one of top instrumental group in Singapore and Malaysia, besides The Quests. One thing very distinct about their sound is that they use quite a bit of the delay effect, reverb and echo, all rolled into one.



Previous highlights:

The Saints, Kuala Lumpur
The Quests, Singapore
The 'Little' Falcons, Kuala Lumpur
The Crescendos, Singapore
Rose Iwanaga, Sarawak
Naomi and The Boys, Singapore
Rocky Teoh, Ipoh
The Surfers/The October Cherries, Singapore
Janice Wee, Sarawak
Roy Chew and The Merry Lads, Kuala Lumpur

Hawaii Five-O James MacArthur dies

LOS ANGELES – James MacArthur, who played Detective Danno Williams on the original TV hit Hawaii 5-0, has died aged 72, according to the Hollywood Reporter Thursday.

The catchphrase "Book-em Danno", uttered by Steve McGarrett who was played by the late Jack Lord, is considered one of the most popular lines in US television history.

According to MacArthur's agent, Richard Lewis, he died of "natural causes" in Florida.

Apart from his landmark role in Hawaii Five-O, MacArthur starred in films such as Battle of the Bulge and Swiss Family Robinson.

Besides acting, MacArthur was a world traveller. He once spent six months driving his Land Rover from London to Malawi in southeast Africa.

He left behind his wife H.B Duntz, four children and seven grandchildren

What was this dimwit Johari thinking????

Yet again, another warlord in UMNO, in total arragonce, is telling the non-Malays off, that the party do not need their votes. But when they lose the election, every Tom, Dick and Harry in UMNO will be baying for the non-Malay blood, calling them ungrateful and if they don't like this country, they can get lost, etc. I thought after GE12, a person like Johari would have learn a thing or two to be more "sopan santun" towards the other races. Apparently, he has not learned anything, and he will lose Titiwangsa again.

'Non-Malay votes not needed': Umno, BN leaders see red

Titiwangsa Umno division acting chief Johari Abdul Ghani has come under fire from his party colleagues and Barisan Nasional leaders over his statement that Chinese and Indian votes are not needed. The leaders felt that Johari's statement went against the principles of Barisan Nasional and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's 1Malaysia concept.

In his speech during a closed-door division meeting, which was posted on YouTube, Johari had said that Umno could take the Titiwangsa seat if it could convince 70% of the Malay voters to back the party.

If this could be done, he said, there was no need for Chinese and Indians votes.

Disagreeing with this, Kepong Umno division chief Rizuan Abdul Hamid said although the majority of voters in Titiwangsa were Malays, Chinese and Indian votes would be a deciding factor.

"Johari should not have made the statement but I believe it was his personal stand. It does not reflect the party's stand," he told FMT.

In view of this, Rizuan urged the Umno top leadership to act swiftly before the issue escalated into a major problem.

Meanwhile, Bandar Tun Razak Umno division chief Amil Salleh felt that Johari's statement could jeopardise BN's support among Chinese and Indian voters.

"If Johari's statement was to be followed, BN would not win in constituencies which have 20% to 30% non-Malay voters. The non-Malays will form half of the electorate in these constituencies... so we can't win.

"We have to remember that not all Malay voters support BN or Umno. Malay votes is split into three - Umno, PAS and PKR. He (Johari) must not put priority on his constituency alone, he must also consider other seats and look at the overall context," he added.

He said Umno, being the backbone of BN, must explain Johari's statement to the non-Malays and ensure that the non-Malays realise that it was a personal statement and not the party's stand.

Johari and Umno secretary general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor could not be reached for comment.

Kayveas: Be inclusive, not exclusive

Yesterday, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek slammed Johari, saying that some grassroots leaders in Umno were not bright and should not be fielded as candidates.

Concurring with this, PPP president M Kayveas said that it was unwise for any politician to claim that he or she did not need the support of a particular ethnic group.

He told FMT that such an analysis had no place under the 1Malaysia concept.

“You must be inclusive, not exclusive. You must be careful about what you say, impressions like these will only cause problems for BN. Any candidate who feels that he does not need the support of any race, doesn't deserve to be a candidate.

“You are an MP for Malaysians, not only the Malays. The rule of the game is democracy, it does not mean you only take care of those who voted for you, you have to take care of everyone,” he said.

“He cannot even say this in terms of calculation, he can do mental arithmetic and not verbalise it. For BN, this is not acceptable, in election, every vote counts,” he added.

MIC deputy president G Palanivel said that if Johari had indeed made those remarks, “he is actually telling non-Malays that they don't have to support him”.

“They can freely vote for anybody they like. It is statements like these that will drive away non-Malay votes from BN,” he told FMT.

Gerakan Youth leader Tan Keng Liang also lambasted Johari, saying that the Umno leader should not try to be a “jaguh kampung” by only attempting to win Malay votes.

“He is a BN leader. It is a lesson to be learnt by Umno leaders, that even though your audience are just Malays, you cannot make statements that offend others,” he told FMT.

“He tries to clarify that his speech was taken out of context. He argues non-stop that it was a closed-door discussion. But he did not deny making the speech,” he added.

However, MIC vice-president M Saravanan, who is also Titiwangsa MIC chief, expressed support for Johari.

“I have spoken to him and he has told me that his statement was taken out of context. I accept his explanation. I have known him for many years and he is not a racist,” he said.

[Source: FMT]

History to be made compulsory??

So, now UMNO want to make history a compulsory subject in school. Actually, this is not the issue. The real issue is what are they going to impart to our kids. History as it happened or a spinned version by UMNO? If it is the latter, then we, as parents, have a cause to be concerned.

Among the many subjects taught in school, history was my favourite and it is for this reason I have managed to store away my school history text books for the last 40 to 50 years, so that when the time comes, I can share them with my children and my grand children, telling them Malaysian history as it happened.

For those who had their primary schooling in the late fifties and then onto secondary education in the early sixties, will no doubt be able to recognise the book covers posted below. Many of you will agree that compared with yesteryears, history taught today is no longer the same. History in those days was taught from a world view perspective while today's text is heavily skewed towards one religion and middle eastern countries. My favourite book is "History of Malaya" by Joginder Singh Jessy.

History text books for Standards 4 & 5

History text books for Forms 1 and 2

History text books for Form 3

History text book for Form 4

History text book for Form 5

History text book for Form 5

There was even a suggestion from ex-PKR Zahrain that the May 13 1969 tragedy should be included in the history lessons. May I ask from whose view point? From UMNO or from Dr Kua
Kia Soong's book "May 13" which contains declassified documents from the London archives. Before they rush head on into this venture, be careful, be very very very careful. Many of those who experienced the tragedy are still alive and kicking today, and if facts are distorted, heavens forbids,there will certainly be a public uproar, especially those who lost their loved ones (from both sides) during the event. Since the findings from Dr Kua's book are based from true documents, then UMNO should adopt this as a common text.

Malaysian history must be written in its purest form, free from political influence from either side. If the truth needs to be told, then tell it as it is. Why the need to hide the facts or exaggerate them?

We would like to wish him a speedy recovery

Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, 91, is currently admitted to the intensive care unit in Penang General Hospital, and is believed to have suffered a stroke on Tuesday.

[Photo courtesy of Malaysiakini]

Nonetheless, let us wish this elderly statesman well and also pray for his speedy reovery.

Happy 69th Birthday, Hank!

Today, we celebrate the 69th birthday of one of England's famous guitarists, Hank B Marvin. Without him, we would not have stars like Eric Clapton and many others who were influenced by his style of playing, including yours truly. Back in the 60s, it is a fad for every schoolboy to know how to play the guitar and to later form a band. It is like a silent rule that to learn to play the guitar, the first piece one must learn how to play is the tune, "Apache" and you can never be a member of any band if you didn't know how to play the tune, even if you preferred to play the rhythm or the bass guitar, "Apache" is a must.

Hank has always been synonymous with the Fender Stratocaster guitar, cherry red in colour. His style of playing, which many tried to emulate and which took me years to perfect, includes the holding of the lever while playing. Until today, I have not seen many guitarists doing it, or they will have the lever removed. Playing a tune and using the lever at the same provides that special sound which is very typical of Hank's. Just watch him play in the following three videos.

Who will pick up the flag?

As the GE13 draws near each day, UMNO, understandably appear to be getting very edgy. This is reflected in the rhetorical speech by Najib in rallying his party members together at the recent UMNO general assembly. The timing, strangely, also coincided with the mysterious appearance of a second medical report regarding DSAI sodomy case. This is an end all game to paralyse Pakatan once Anwar is out of the way. But someone from above asked, "If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry on?" Many in Pakatan will step forward and say, "I will!"

To Najib, we will see you at the finishing line.



[The above is an excerpt from the film "GLORY" just as the troops of the 54th Massachusetts made their final charge].

Malaysians reject the 100-storey mega tower!

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