Can the real Hussein please stand up!

If you drive around KL town, you may start to wonder what is the real spelling of Malaysia's third prime minister. Is it Hussein Onn (as we always knew) or Hussien Onn as depicted by many signboards around town? This, I discovered during my early morning run around the Bukit Tunku area a few weeks ago. It got thinking... Now, is Hussein Onn real name spelt Hussein or Hussien? Not that it really matters. Both sounds the same, and we have other pressing things to think about in life than semantics! Talking about spellings, the place I work is also misspelt on signboards - Connought instead of Connaught. It is one of the legacies left by the British.

Connaught (anglicised from the Irish term Connacht) is a piece of land in western Ireland with a rich history of sorcerers to talk about from the 6th century AD. Many towns in the British Commonwealth like New Delhi, Hong Kong, Sydney and others have buildings and districts named after Connaught. And our local authorities goofed it up on the signboard.
Is it that the people in charge of checking them did it one eye closed or left the supervision to illiterates? Is this the same lackadaisical (tidak apa) attitude that got the 16 inmates of the illegal orphanage killed? As in any major mishaps in the country, if they cannot blame God, they would start blaming each other.

My point of contention is the orphanage was there like a sitting duck for 10 years without the local authorities realising its existence. Don't the workers or officer travel along the road? Don't they bother to go out of their way to bring its existence to their superiors so that the efficiency of their department can be uplifted?

Just as I was wondering and wandering back, what did I see? A pick-up van with the lettering boldly screaming 'UNLCE ALI CATERING'! I rubbed my eyes to see if my eye-sight was failing. It was Unlce Ali Catering', not Uncle Ali Catering! Maybe it stands for 'Unpalatable Non-appetizing Low-Priority Cleanliness Enterprise'? If Uncle Ali is so slipped short in things like signage on his van, I dread to imagine how he would be in his catering. I do not want to know it the hard way with the runs and drips. Thank you very much.

There were 49 residents at the orphanage - 44 boys and five caretakers.
(Reuters: Bazuki Muhammad )

The ill-fated Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa orphanage in Hulu Langat

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