It is unlikely that the humble ’chicken rice’ will ever win any culinary awards in the known universe at any time in the foreseeable future. However, this does not mean its a vile rice dish that would make the uninitiated cringe in horror. On the contrary, this dish is so good and wholesome that it is deeply entrenched in the Malaysian psyche. If it were ever to be made illegal (hypothetically speaking, of course), I won’t be surprised to see hyped-up protest marches being organized and a million self-styled webloggers working furiously on their keyboards crying, “FOUL!”.

So what has got to do with the ubiquitous Parker Vector Pen? Well, if the Vector was a dish, it’ll be none other than the ever-popular. If you are looking for something that hits the spot in the fastest, cheapest and most dependable way, you can’t go wrong with a Vector.

The Vector is a slender pen. Capped, it is 12.4 cm long and has a barrel diameter of 1 cm. While I am quite happy with the length (most Malaysians can comfortably write with the Vector unpasted i.e. without sticking the cap onto the end of the pen), I am not so hot about its 1 cm girth. Maybe its because - just like a woman’s breasts - I prefer to feel a little more of it in my hands when I go to work. Then again, this is just a matter of personal preference. Even with its meager 1 cm barrel diameter, there is plenty to work with and it writes just fine even if it is on the slender side.

The ink filling mechanism is the plunger system. Pull the plunger up, the resulting vacuum draws ink into the reservoir. It is simple and effective. Perhaps not as efficient as the piston system offered by German-made pens like Pelikan and Mont Blanc, the Vector’s plunger is more than adequate to ensure hassle-free inking of your pen.

The Vector has a steel nib. Naturally it is stiff with very little or no flexing at all. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The hard steel nib ensures years of very durable service. But don’t expect the Vector to write with that ’springy’ feel that more expensive pens offer. If you are looking at no-nonsense performance, the Vector is right up your alley. Again, a stiff nib isn’t the necessarily the mark of a lower quality pen. Steel nibbed pens may be cheaper than gold nibbed ones. But this does not mean that they will not write just as well. Moreover, you can be assured that they will last longer because steel is much harder than gold. Where durability is concerned, the adage “The harder, the better” truly does apply.

The Vector is a no-nonsense pen that is affordable, available and can prove to be a pleasure to write with. It does its job reasonably well, with no fuss or fanfare. It is a no-frills reliable workhorse - not exactly utilitarian but not exactly heirloom material either. Thus, it is the ideal pen for anyone who wants dependable writing instrument that will last and last. Equally at home in the classroom or in the office, the Vector will get the job done reasonably well every time.

Just because the Vector is the the pen world, this doesn’t mean that it is not a quality instrument. It is. And it fills a niche that no other pen can within this price range.

The Vector is a good ’starter’ fountain pen. Just don’t it expect it to have the ‘bling-factor’ of a Mont Blanc.

But that guy is about spinning ball-point pens, bro! Awesome, nevertheless.

Fountain pens are fascinating, at least, they are for me. I have also been told that my fascination for fountain pens is simply because they are powerful phallic symbols. To me, fountain pens rock!

What passion I detected here. Such a joy to read. Now I see Parker with a different light..ha ha. Mont Blanc definitely is bling. I received a pair for one of my birthday presents and every time I whipped any one out to write anything, I suddenly felt rich.

Montblancs are really jewelery masquerading as pens.

Yes. Whipping one of them babies out does make us feel rich… and also makes anyone within a 50m radius feel that we are rich, too!