Heong Peng Land in Gunung Rapat, Ipoh

Yippee! It's school holidays again. I think I am more thrilled than my kids.

It's taxing you know. We all get up together around 6+ every morning - they eat, I wait for them, then I drive them to school. There's homework supervision, and I tutor them in every subject except Chinese. During the just concluded exams, I made up mock questions for my Year One girl, and went through math principles, English composition and Malay karangan with my Year Five boy.

Today, I went heong peng shopping, at the request of my mom and brother, both of whom are heong peng crazy! Me? I have never liked the stuff!

I am told, and I have read on other blogs, that the most famous brand of heong peng in Ipoh is Yee Hup. There are many Yee Hup confectionery shops in Ipoh, and it is one of the Ipoh success stories. Hurrah!

But I decided to try out another brand of heong peng. So, with the help of Motormouth's blog and google maps, I set off on my hunt after delivering recess-time snacks to my girl. I was disappointed to find that Seng Kee Trading's shop no longer operates in Gunung Rapat. That place was easy to find. Not born with an in-built compass, I nevertheless resolved to find no. 177 Lorong Gunung Rapat no matter what! After almost 1 hour, I finally found it - no thanks to googlemaps which gave me wrong directions.

Just as Motormouth said, Seng Kee bakes the traditional way. So quaint! While I bought Seng Kee's heong peng, husband went to get Sin Eng Heong's kaya puffs and the 189 brand of heong peng, just for variety.


I love Motormouth's picture of the heong peng dough sticking to the traditional ovens, so here's his picture on the left. Looks like a tandoori oven doesn't it?

Wow! The Gunung Rapat area is Heong Peng Land. So many families display their heong peng signs (written in Chinese) outside their gates. Along the main Jalan Gunung Rapat alone you can find shops selling 189, and more homes selling from their own premises. It's interesting just driving around the area, now that I know it better after today's search.

Pictures from http://www.j2kfm.com and http://rasamalaysia.com/ipoh-street-food-ipoh-hawker-food

Malaysia's NST fabricates key word in story - is NST now just a politically- controlled mouthpiece?

NST is a national daily.

NST is read by thousands of Malaysians everyday. We expect it to report the truth. To report with journalistic integrity and the highest standards of credibility.

We now know that NST cannot be trusted, if it can misreport, or fabricate, words not uttered by Senator Nicholas Xenophon.

The NST had yesterday admitted to having falsely quoted Xenophon in its article on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, as calling Islam a “criminal organisation” during his 2009 speech in Australia’s Parliament. (The Malaysian Insider, 4 May 2012).

NST had in its article quoted the senator as saying: “What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence, this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Islam is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs.”

But in the excerpt from the Australian Parliament’s Hansard, cited in the Sydney Morning Herald, Xenophon had actually said: “What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence, this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Scientology is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs.”

That NST could stoop so low to attack someone deemed as opposition leader Anwar's friend; and just so soon after the conclusion of Bersih 3.0 calling for free and fair elections; and in an election year; just smacks of political meddling and desperate measures to discredit anyone or anything that could even remotely be seen as a threat to the ruling coalition. 

NST has of course published an appropriate damage control statement. No one has been sacked yet. The Malaysian Insider said that NST head Abdul Jalil Hamid confirmed that the paper was investigating claims that it had misreported Xenophon's three-year-old speech, which had effectively painted the Senator as anti-Islam.

I think misreporting and false reporting are 2 very seriously different matters.

Najib's Malaysia still stuck in the murk http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/najibs-malaysia-still-stuck-in-the-murk-20120504-1y3z9.html

Paper apologises to senator http://www.theage.com.au/national/paper-apologises-to-senator-20120503-1y1vc.html

NST replaces word, paints Anwar’s Aussie senator friend as anti-Islam http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/litee/malaysia/article/nst-replaces-word-paints-anwars-aussie-senator-friend-as-anti-islam/
NST admits and regrets ‘anti-Islam’ report against Oz Senator http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/nst-admits-and-regrets-anti-islam-report-against-oz-senator/
Aussie senator to sue NST, calls anti-Islam report ‘sickening’ http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/aussie-senator-to-sue-nst-calls-anti-islam-report-sickening
Malaysian Newspaper Apologizes for Statements Against Australian Senator http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/05/03/malaysian-newspaper-apologizes-for-statements-against-australian-senator/