Johor a safe haven?

The Malaysian government has been going on the offensive to show that it's determined to fight crimes in the country, especially in crime-infested Johor which is next to Singapore.

According to reports, the southern state of Johor actually saw a drop of 8.9 per cent so far this year in serious crimes such as murders, muggings and extortion. Property crimes such as carjackings and burglaries dropped by 6.73 per cent in the same period.

Well, dad and I are not totally convinced that the crime rate in the state is on a real downward trend. Not when crime rates in the state had gone up by double-digit rates in the past. Even the fuming Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum (NST Pix) accused the police of manipulating crime rate figures to confuse the public, according to New Straits Times last month.

A report even said that the crime rate in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur shot up by a mind-boggling 40 per cent in the first three months of this year. And KL seems like a safer place than Johor Baru as there are more transient residents and visitors in the latter.

No doubt, Malaysia is trying to contain the crime situation in Johor as the federal and state governments step up efforts to woo Singapore and other foreign investors to the Iskandar Development Region.

But as mentioned in an earlier posting, former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew was definitely correct when he said in a defamation suit in 1997 that Johor was "notorious for shootings, muggings and car-jackings".

So dad will remain sceptical about the current blitz against crime until he is certain that he can drive in JB, KL or elsewhere in Malaysia without having to lock his car, like in Singapore.

Dr M out of hospital

Former Malaysian leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been discharged from hospital after another heart attack, according to Reuters report on Gulf Times and pix.

Sophie is happy and relieved.

Updated: Singapore twister

The water sprout off the east coast of Singapore yesterday captured the attention and imagination of many office workers in the central business district. Many became instant citizen journalists and sent their mobile phone pix and video clips to local media organisations. Some of the footage emerged at ST Interactive. A better video clip can be seen on LiveLeak via mr brown.

Memories of old Sikkim and Tibet

By Uncle Cheng

Last week a good friend of mine in Hong Kong sent me the obituary of Mrs Eleanor Hopkinson. I very much doubt any of my readers have ever heard of Mrs Hopkinson but my friend knew I would be interested as it brought back many happy and sad memories of the time when Sikkim was an independent state and I was the last house guest in the royal palace there before India brutally annexed the tiny kingdom in 1975. Sikkim then became India’s 22nd federal state.

Mrs Hopkinson, who has died aged 101, was the wife of the last British colonial Political Officer and Resident for Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet. She was the last link with a now distant past. Her husband was like a colonial Governor atop the high Himalaya mountains. Through his office the British exerted powerful influence without needing actually to annexe the mountain territories. In those imperial days British policy was to preserve Tibet as an autonomous buffer between the Soviet Union, China, and British India.

Luckily for posterity the Hopkinsons were keen photographers and kept a wonderful photographic record of their extensive travels in the most remote areas of Tibet. Their photographic archive, including some very early and rare colour slides, were given to the British Museum by Mrs Hopkinson and many of the photographs can be viewed online at Tibet Album. No doubt quite a few of my readers have visited Tibet and I strongly recommend you to take a look at those online photographs, which reveal just how much Tibet has changed in the last 70 years.

These historic photographs also brought back memories for me of the days when I travelled with the then Crown Prince of Sikkim from the capital Gangtok up to the border with Chinese Tibet. It is an area of extraordinary majestic beauty with landscapes on a vast scale.

One historical irony is that the British protected Sikkim from its powerful neighbours in the past when Sikkim was considered to be an important trading route from India to Tibet because it controls almost the only north-south mountain pass in the area. Today Sikkim has again become a strategic border and trade route between India and China. A new highway has been constructed so that the once arduous and very slow journey into Tibet Mrs Hopkinson once had to make on horseback can now be done in the luxurious high-speed comfort of a Toyota Landcruiser.

Mrs Hopkinson’s death brings down the final curtain on a forgotten era.

Sophie's Choice Today

Former Malaysian strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad looks good despite his heart attack last week, based on news reports and this AFP picture carried in the online version of The Straits Times today.

According to wire reports, the National Heart Institute said Dr Mahathir has been transferred out of the cardiac care unit to a regular ward after doctors were happy with his progress. But he will continue to be warded for continued monitoring and to start "cardiac rehabilitation".

National news agency Bernama cited Dr Mahathir as saying that he was feeling much better, but he acknowledged that he would have to ease up on his schedule on doctors' advice.

Sophie agrees! It's unfortunate he has to ease up due to health concerns although he has plenty of unfinished business as an Asian statesman.

On a separate matter, Sophie will start a new section called Sophie's Choice Today to highlight some interesting news reports or postings of the day by other bloggers to supplement her own postings. It's not a scientific process, just based on Sophie's nose for news and interesting features on both sides of the causeway, or elsewhere.

The external postings do not necessarily represent the views of Sophie. Readers are free to forward stuff to Sophie (sophiesworld67@gmail.com) for consideration.