This morning I was wondering what our BN MPs were up to in their “agricultural study tour” of Taiwan, so I did some googling.
The first clue was in theSun:
The entourage’s itinerary includes a tour of the Shangrila Leisure Farm in Yilan county, which coincidentally was hit by a magnitude 6.1 quake at 3.43pm (same time in Malaysia) on Tuesday.
The Malaysian delegation was welcomed by representatives from Taiwan’s foreign ministry as well as the manager of Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre in Taipei.
A-ha, a leisure farm reportedly among the stops; how interesting. So I looked up the Shangrila Leisure Farm (photo credit: taiwan-farming.org) in Yilan county and this is how it is described in two different websites:
Situated on the foot of Da-yuan Mountain, Shangrila Leisure Farming is about 250 meters in altitude and within a temperate weather condition in four seasons…
(Photo credit: shineyou.sinotour.com)
Surrounded by hills and mountains, the farming offers a perfect site for you to overlook the valleys, rivers, plains, farms, islands, and ocean. The farming boasts an excellent site for visiting natural ecology, such as Taiwanese macaques, tree frogs, firebugs, butterfly and a variety of plants, inducing you with magnificent views and diverse creatures.
Surrounded by mountains, the farm is divided into tourism orchard and forest recreation area where rhesus monkeys, tree frogs, etc can be seen. Many folk activities are offered, such as sky lantern, traditional top, etc along with DIY courses like T-shirt painting. Food and lodging are both provided.
Notice there are a lot of kataks (frogs) in that farm.
And to think I had this vision of our MPs sloshing through muddy paddy fields in their boots, picking up the finer points of agriculture.
Anyway, here’s what they learnt, reported in the NST:
Earlier on Tuesday, the backbenchers stayed overnight up north in Yilan county, some 40km from Taipei, where they learned how the county incorporated agricultural practices into their development plans.
The MPs also had the opportunity to pick up pointers on how the county sells its agro-tourism through its Agriculture Leisure Programme.
Mind you, this is just one of the stops. No doubt, there will be other more “educational” stops along their tour. From the same NST report:
Yesterday, the group went to Kaohsiung, south of Taipei, to tour the local agriculture bio-tech facility.
The backbenchers were given an eye-opening tour of how technological advances have helped develop commercial applications for aquaculture and marine activities in the area.
The group also visited the Ting Tung University of Science and Technology, considered among the most advanced agriculture research and development centres in the world, before they were feted to a breaking of fast dinner by the magistrate of Ting Tung county.
You know what else is weird? This Ting Tung University is so advanced, if you google it, you won’t find it. Amazing.
Update: The World I Know has solved the mystery:
It’s National Pingtung University of Science and Technology not Ting Tung university, thanks!
Thanks for sorting out that puzzle. So it’s basically an agricultural university. You know, we had an agricultural university once – Universiti Pertanian Malaysia – before the administration of Mr Heavy Industry (Mahathir) decided agriculture was, well, not his cup of tea. He wanted to see highways (tolled, of course) and steel mills and Protons all over the country. So his administration turned our agricultural university into Universiti Putra Malaysia and built Putrajaya! If we had kept UPM as it was, we could have just sent those BN MPs there for an intensive course instead.
Now, the BN MPs are also supposed to be visiting three factories in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. Nice to see them so busy.
Hope that canopy walk in your pic breaks when all this monkeys are on it.
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No doubt, there will other more “educational” stops along their tour.
…………….
I like this mischievious part. Hehehe.
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As expected, the BN morons.
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There are so many tree frogs, aha…. the BN MPs when they are back in KL must be an expert in the art of frogging.
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They learn how to paint a pattern on T Shirt.For all that money, could they at least go homestay?
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You are right Hadi, their BN chief sent them for a relevant study. So what’s the fuss about their trip? It should be worth the taxpayer’s money. They will ‘frog’ well soon.
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Before The Day Of 9 16,
During Month of Ramadan,
Waktu Puasa,
Segelintir Politicial Hilangkan Kuasa Secara Mendadakn & Serentaknya Terpaksa Serahkan Kuasa Yang Ada,
Sebaliknya, Ada Juga Segelintir Politicial ‘Bermungkinan Besar’ Akan Memperolehi Kuasa Baru & Memperkukuhkan Kuasa Yang Berkenaan Selepas Waktu Puasa
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One thing bothers me. Anwar has said that some of the “frog MPs” are in the Taiwan tour group thus possibly delaying his takeover plans.
My question is: If these MPs have decided to jump and are committed to a new PR govet, then why go on the tour and throw a spanner into the 916 plan?
After all, we’re led to believe that the trip was voluntary. These MPs could have given any of 101 excuses (backache, grandfather sick, constituency work, etc) to stay behind and ensure the PR succeeds in its promise. Besdies these MPs would be saving about RM10K if it is true that they are using their own money to fund the tour.
Something just doesn’t add up…
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good one lah, Anil!
Will link it from my blog..
________________________________
http://delcapo.wordpress.com/
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No need to observe Taiwan. Their transformation into agro tourism succeed because government did not interfere with bank loans, and all Taiwanese farmers have a fair chance in securing long-term use of the land. That is why they have the certainty to invest in the facilities long-term, and protect the environment for a premium price.
At the same time, Taiwanese economy grew substantially, allowing the consumer the affordability to splash on agro tourism and environmental conservation.
Hope the MPs see how Taiwan overtook Malaysia in the past 51 years.
—
Well, after the earthquake, expect a typhoon. See the eye of the typhoon here, just east of Taiwan:
http://www.kjc.gov.my/htdocs2/data/latestMTSAT.gif
News article
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a5OuucCqt.ss&refer=asia
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AH! I got it. The MPs will learn to do T-Shirt painting. They make
“I AM NOT A FROG” T-Shirt.
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Hi Anil
Actually, if our BN MPs are “good students” (not only with respect to agriculture) they can learn a lot from the Taiwanese and from contemporary Taiwanese politics:
1. That even if degrees from Taiwanese universities are not
recognised by our government, their universities are genuinely
world class
2. That even right-wing political parties such as the Guomindang
(Kuomintang) can undergo genuine reform, regain the trust of
the people, and be re-elected into office even after being
ousted in national elections
3. That economic planning and preparation of the national budget
following the advice of experts (people with PhDs in the
relevant fields) and following economic logic is preferable to
the current seemingly ad hoc BN way following political
(survival) logic
4. That opposition parties that get voted into office can also be
voted out peacefully (e.g. the last elections in Taiwan that
ousted the “Pan Green” Democratic Progressive Party-led
coalition in favour of the “Pan Blue” Guomindang-led coalition
By the way, the Shangrila Leisure Farm — from my personal observation and personal experience — is quite a nice hill resort.
Quite conducive to clearing one’s mind of worries, political or otherwise, so that one can indulge in thinking deep thoughts about promoting Malaysian agriculture and how to “green Malaysia” if one is so inclined.
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[...] post info By delcapo Categories: BN, MP, Taiwan and anilNetto Anil Netto did some googling & we get to do more giggling…http://anilnetto.com/accountability/haha-its-a-taiwanese-leisure-farm/ [...]
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Nice one lah Anil…. will add on to my page…
Ting Tung…hahahaha…. i tried googling in chinese also cannot find… Tung Ting Oolong tea got lah…
____________________________
http://delcapo.wordpress.com/
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cantiknye bahasa2 korang ek.. moron.monkey.katak..i’m also think the trip is stupid but let them deal with it. they r politician..always like that. so no need to us talk like rakyat yang tiada sivik.
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better be a watch dog..but do not bite everything.
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True-leaders.com, they could do it in the pretext of not being known of their frogging. Just not to make it look obvious probably. Don’t worry frogs are frogs. They can jump well….can you see in the lily ponds how they can land on the big lotus leaf?
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It’s National Pingtung University of Science and Technology not Ting Tung university, thanks!
http:\danielngsh.blogspot.com
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Q. How people do you need to make a hole in the ground?
Ans. 55. 1 to changkul the ground and 54 to observe and study, so that they can debate on making a hole in the ground in the Malaysian Parliament.
(a thousand apology to YBs not in the BN MP Taiwan Agriculture Tour)
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i blogged abt the same thing too and while searching for info, saw yr posting. the correct uni name is national ping tung ……… and the county is pingtung, not ting tung. crazy nst fella.
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Does anyone know how to paint T-Shirt. I like to have one with a nice artistic frog on it and the word “I will not jump” on it.
I like to get one.
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by the way, do you guys know that frogs is a delicacy for Chinese and they have frog farm over there. that was the real intent for sending those MPs is actually to learn about frog farming, as they also have frog competition. ka ka ka ka ka …..
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[...] was browsing around some blogs and came across this blog post and find it quite, quite entertaining. So far, I’ve avoided mentioning anything about the [...]
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Don’t belittle their argricultural planting effort. They are there to learn how to plant – plant their seeds in the Taiwanese ****
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The real question is what agricultural activities they get up tp after the sun sets.
Fertilising at night to increase productivity & output? Late night extra husbandry and farming? lol
http;//donplaypuks.blogspot.com
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