Konspirasi Overfloor

4th January

2010-01-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday guys!!

Budak Koleq and Pride

2009-12-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

Mr Liew of the basketball team was conferred an honorary membership in MCOBA just recently, making history as the only non-Malay to receive the honour of its kind. The decision was lauded as denying any racial sentiments Malay College old boys usually associated to.

In the case of Mr Liew, it is without doubt that any contributions in that size should only be replied with honour, and if there is anything bigger than conferring an honorary membership, such thing would be due for Mr Liew.

On behalf of the Class of 2005, I would like to thank Mr Liew for his timeless contributions in taking Malay College basketball to a whole new level. I can only judge from my two years experience there circa 04/05 that the college was orientating themselves in conforming to the nature of MCKK which is to build the future on its success. Apart from my batch's excellent PMR result in 2003, and my batchmate's Zaim's triumph in Pidato Piala Di-Raja, there were no real success for the whole college could take pride of.

But Mr Liew re-modelled the basketball team and with assistance from few old boys, the team turned into a powerhouse and fearsome competitor. Most importantly, the team achieved results which brought back the air of pride to Kuala Kangsar.

I may not know him personally, but the impact he made to some people I know was exceptional. So thank you and congratulations to Mr Liew.

But that is it.

Malay College old boys have this strange fascination of taking pride for something they belong to. The most obvious one is being a Malay College boy. And a Malay College boy would bring together with them the belief that for anything the college achieved, even if they don't have anything to do with, they could bring home the pride.

The only real achievement for a Malay College boy is to get enrolled in Malay College first. Academically, the school houses the best boys in UPSR and PMR, and students are handpicked for place in Malay College, and I particularly acquired my admission on the latter's ticket.

So the basic pride is understandable. Moving on.

Within the gates and many walls the college has, there are so many other permutations of pride that stem from many possible achievements - in sports; like the basketball team and of course many other sports teams, debating, examination results and musical skills. These are the bricks Malay College boys thought to have the power to give them pride, and for them, pride translates to the biggest single power than can make them stand taller than anyone else, respect.

Please don't get me wrong, the motivation is in many way good and the kind of momentum should go uninterrupted. This is the driving impetus for MCKK success in the yesteryears, and the challenge to become good at so many different fields as to have the bragging rights and getting the respect should be seized to keep the MCKK air of success alive.

Getting out of MCKK is as much a success as getting into MCKK, and the success of getting in and out of MCKK should not be the only reason to be proud of. Getting into MCKK requires hard work, and with the amount of challenges we did not know in the pipeline ahead of us, the hard work to get enrolled was negligible.

I may sound selfish as there are hundreds of other boys who might have punched each other to get into MCKK but failed to get enrolled. It was an easy choice for me, because getting into MCKK was not my choice. I had to only fill the same form those girls had to fill before they got into SSP and TKC, and we had no idea which school we would get into if we did well in PMR.

Like I was in coming to this world as a Malay, I can only explain my enrollment in Malay College as a destiny, and God wanted me to be a Malay College boy, like the way He wanted me to be a Malay.

So how do I say I am proud to be a Malay? How can I be proud as something I did not choose to be?

But I know that I am proud for being the person I become given the environment I was brought up in. I grew up in Malay-speaking community, and in the Malay-culture practicing populace. I am proud in how the environment has moulded me into the person I become, no matter how limited the resources and how poor the environment could sometimes be. I definitely take pride of everything that I have achieved, but that is it, I achieved what I have achieved was because I was the person who was moulded into, not because I was a Malay.

This is the fallacy that Malay College boys have long fallen into. They take pride for something as petty as being a Malay College boy, and to take pride of something else you don't have anything to do with is just pathetic. But Malay College boys cleverly shroud the feeling with the sense of belonging and brotherhood they cherish. So to take pride and tell everyone that you are good because your schoolmate is good is just wrong to me.

Self-worth is a quality every Malay College boys should have if they want to steer clear of this black days. Little do they know, until they respect themselves and people around them, no one will respect them.

As a Malay College old boy, I feel saddened with the association of Malay College boys with strong closed fraternity clouded with pathetic vanity over our previous success. Previous success is something we need to build the next success on, not something we should just be proud of.

As long as Malay College boys go on the way they are, as long as the pathetic mental attitude of taking pride in other people's achievement does not change, as long as there is no true sense of self-worth and knowing what the college has turned themselves into, then any superficial attempt at getting respect will be an illusion.

As for the success of my friends who achieved something when they were in MCKK or wherever they are now, I am proud to have known them, but just by knowing them is not something I am expecting respect in return.

And as a Malay College old boy, I am not proud because I was once a student there, but I am proud because the school has changed me to become what I am today.

That is for me, a quality of a good school.

Panas

2009-07-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

Akar nibong meresap,

Akar mati dalam perahu,

Tebakar kampung kelihatan asap,

Terbakar hati siapa tahu.

- Anwar Ibrahim, Perhimpunan Agung UMNO 1997.

Mari-mari Sayang Dia.

2009-05-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

Terima kasih kerana kekuatan,

Tanpa izin, aku tiada.

Terima kasih kerana susuan,

Sedang aku melalaki tangisan.

Terima kasih kerana dodoian,

Nyanyian lunak penyaman telinga.

Terima kasih kerana bebelan,

Membuatkan aku jaga sentiasa.

Maafkan aku,

Kerana rangkap-rangkap ini tidak cukup,

Membahasakan semuanya,

Malah langsung tidak cukup,

Membalasnya.

Dari air hina hingga dewasa,

Kau beri semuanya,

Hati budi penuh erti,

Tanpa henti memberi erti.

Walaupun cubitan penuh bisa,

Masih kasih menusuk jiwa.

Terima kasih atas semuanya,

Moga Dia balas segala.

Babi

2009-04-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

I got myself worked up reading about the outbreak of swine flu. With 5 confirmed and 78 other suspected cases in the UK (and few hundred others in USA, Canada and Mexico), nothing is more worrying than knowing the fact that pandemic level alert is raised to a staggering fifth, and comparison with murderous 1918 Spanish flu pandemic is started to be drawn out.

The worry about bird flu seems negligible now as swine flu virus looks to be more extreme, as it can infect by human-to-human transmission, while the former is more closely associated with human contact with birds.

With a minute bit of medical knowledge and common sense, I would suggest all conspirators and fellow batch members to stay healthy and inform your doctor on the button if you feel something funny running in your body.

There is no vaccine available for now, and it is wise not to take any chance. This might not only applicable to Mijie, but you might want to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze as not to spread the germs using a clean disposable tissue and throw it away afterwards.

Take hygiene a little bit more serious this time. Clean yourself more often and don't rely much on perfume to be presentable. Water and soap do better job.

Those in States, consider doubling or tripling the efforts of getting your body fit and healthy.

Babi bersin, manusia jadi gila babi. Babi Betul.

20th June 2009

2009-04-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

As you've all known, there will be a carnival between our batch and the 0509 batch. And these are the games that are confirmed to be played in the carnival:-

i. Rugby
ii. Football
iii. Handball
iv. Hockey
v. Tennis
vi. Squash

So please confirm your participation for the games and the carnival as well. If you’re just going to the carnival for leisure purpose, it’s alright too as this is where we can meet up. Much can be talk about when we meet up. I’ll try to find the best substance to confirm your participation. At the mean time, please post your confirmation at the group in Friendster.

Kerjasama anda amat dihargai.

The Night Before Voting

2009-04-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

I saw this on The Nut Graph and I was furious:

SUNGAI PETANI, 6 Apr 2009: Four Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state assemblypersons will defect if the Barisan Nasional (BN) wins the Bukit Selambau by-election tomorrow, claimed newly-elected Umno supreme council member Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim.

Speaking at the BN Youth operations center here tonight, he said, "Just wait and see what will happen within a week after our victory tomorrow."

"We will liberate Kedah the way we liberated Perak," he said to thunderous cheers.

Liberate from whom? The very people who voted their government in? That my friend, is invasion 101.

However, no confirmation was given of who the four potential defectors were.

Azeez Apart from Azeez, newly elected Umno Youth exco member Datuk Ahmad Zaki Zahid also told the crowd, "We will begin taking Kedah back not at the next general election, but tomorrow."

Their announcements come within hours of news that five Kedah Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) division chiefs were quitting the party due to loss of confidence in the party.

Azeez, the ex-Putera Umno chief, also said that although he was now in the supreme council, he would defend Mat Rempits if they were in trouble.

Fuck you. Defending Mat Rempits. Yeah.. awesome. Shweet. First you take them to the friggin pole using the Rakyat's money. Now you want to protect them if they were in trouble. What if they cause trouble to the people like they always do? Would you go down to help those people?

Azeez told the 200-strong crowd of mostly Malay Malaysian men: "Go ride your motorbikes around town until midnight tonight, and until 5pm tomorrow, not to scare people but to raise their spirits."

Raise their spirits? Raise their spirits? People are already living with their inconsiderate riding and noisy machine every single day. Now you are telling these people they can't sleep tonight because your mat rempit brigade is going to raise their spirit? What about raising hell?

Several other local Umno Youth leaders repeated to the youths present: "Follow the law, but if the police give you a hard time just give us a call."

Hah.. follow the law. Who are you? So mighty and powerful? So if I mess around and the police arrest me, I can just call you and all my problem'll be gone? Shweet!

The speakers also largely concentrated on attacking PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's alleged homosexuality.

"Our leaders are living angels, but their side is stuck with someone who is obsessed with backsides," said Azeez.

Nobody is an angel, living or dead. We are all sinful people trying our best to do whatever good that we can achieve. You for one, talk with your backside.

The crowd roared its approval the loudest each time such homophobic comments were made.

Tan Keng Liang Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang talked about the flaws in the Kedah Pakatan Rakyat government's policies, criticising its quit rent and housing assessment policy. He stayed away from personal attacks.

Also attending the ceramah was local singing legend Datuk DJ Dave.

There are 35,140 registered voters in the Bukit Selambau constituency. Polling begins tomorrow at 8am and closes at 5pm in a race that involves a record 15 candidates, 13 of whom are independents.

However, the main contest will be between PKR's S Manikumar and the BN's Datuk S Ganesan.

Malaysia, we don't need stupid people like this. Comprendez?

Punya la banyak hai yang dia boleh nak debat dengan orang, benda macam ni yang paling elok yang dia boleh pikiaq. Ini bodoh. Orang Iban kata paloi, dedeak, bangkak. Orang macam mana la ni..

Orang Kedah, kalau hangpa tak mau ka PAS pon, tolong jangan lepas negeri kita pi kat puak-puak macam dia ni. Biaq la negeri kita tak kaya pon, Aloq Staq tu tak besaq mana pon, janji hati kita cerah, akai kita panjang. Kita jangan dok ambik peduli orang macam ni. Tolong la.. aku mintak sangat-sangat.

Bak kata René Descartes, aku ada akai, jadi aku ada. Hidup lama-lama akai pendek tak guna betoi dak?

I.O.U.S.A

2009-04-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

America's total debt is at about $8.7 trillion and is going up and up as we speak. So yeah, it's America, the great Satan state, why should we care right? Well, we live and we learn. Not only from our mistakes, but also from others.

I've never been more interested in economics until I watched this movie. It covers the 4 areas where deficit is happening in America; budget, savings, trade and leadership and how it all drags that great nation down into the ocean plus steps that people need to do to remedy it.

Looking at the problems cited in the movie, it is about the same as what is going on in this country to us the Malaysian people. Spending money we have yet to earn, not saving, outsourcing our industry. Man, the same thing could happen here!

It would be utterly selfish for me not to share it with you guys. So yeah, spend a good 1 hour and a half and watch the movie up there while it's still there. There's no such thing as free lunch guys. Seriously.

PS: By the way, ever wondered how much money 1 trillion Dollar is? Click here.

Ucap Selamat

2009-04-04T05:48:00.001-07:00

So we have our new Prime Minister, and among the first thing I looked for after the swearing in were the acceptance speech and wishes from world leaders.

I think the speech is just fine. Nothing to be compared of that of Obama's awe-inspiring and rhetorical winning speech. Well, speech is indeed not everything but if that is the easiest way to spot and establish vision and style of governance between lines of eloquence, why not give some hoot?

The speech could do a little to Malaysians' confidence in where are we going from now.

So I tick it off.

And so I read wishes from world leaders after giving them few days to gather their thoughts and come up with something creative and relationship-tying wishes. I expected something from the G8, or any other economic powerhouse to bid our premier luck.

I reckon this is a reflection of their relationship with our country and how serious they are in maintaining close ties as far as economic growth, information and technology sharing and international liaisons and branding are concerned.

Much to my dismay, none of them is taking us seriously (it seems).

I couldn't see any Obama, Brown, Aso, Medvedev, Berlusconi, Sarkozy or Merkel's silver tongue anywhere in the wish - but only some hard-working ambassadors.

International confidence? Fingers crossed.

Wishes from world leaders, I put it on KIV.

So Pak Lah is now a Tun, the highest federal title you can get in the country. I can only giggle upon reading that the first thing Tun Lah plans to do as a retired premier is to catch up on some sleep.

And the giggle quickly ascended to laugh not long after.

Sleep tight, Tun.

Someone is back, the first member of UMNO Baru - keeping up to his promise to come back in after Tun Lah steps down.

The nation's eyes are now on three by-elections of two Bukits and a Batang. Pun intended ha ha, so much for Asian's infamous sex drive. Okay let's not go into that.

Traditionally, elections would split the country into two or more fractions, and the prognosis is usually quite awful to mention.

I hope we can recover well after that and do something good for the future of the country.

I can only wish the country well for we have only 3923 days to 2020, the year we all agreed to put our wawasan on.

P/s - And 1883 days if Malaysia's World Cup 2014 plan is somewhere in Najib's mind.

Blue and Brown

2009-03-29T23:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a lil something I found on racism.

After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, school teacher Jane Elliott wanted to teach her third-grade class about racism. Rather than a lengthy discussion about it, she decided to show the 8-year-olds what racism is all about in a famous "experiment":

With King shot just the day before in Memphis, Elliott encouraged her third-graders to discuss how something so horrible could happen.

"I finally said, ‘Do you kids have any idea how it feels to be something other than white in this country?’ "

The children shook their heads and said they wanted to learn, so Elliott set the rules. Blue-eyed children must use a cup to drink from the fountain. Blue-eyed children must leave late to lunch and to recess. Blue-eyed children were not to speak to brown-eyed children. Blue-eyed children were troublemakers and slow learners.

Within 15 minutes, Elliott says, she observed her brown-eyed students morph into youthful supremacists and blue-eyed children become uncertain and intimidated.

Brown-eyed children "became domineering and arrogant and judgmental and cool," she says. "And smart! Smart! All of a sudden, disabled readers were reading. I thought, ‘This is not possible, this is my imagination.’ And I watched bright, blue-eyed kids become stupid and frightened and frustrated and angry and resentful and distrustful. It was absolutely the strangest thing I’d ever experienced."

Corina Knoll of the Los Angeles Times has the story.

Thanks to Neatorama.com

Jom2 Tutup Lampu

2009-03-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

Marilah semua. Berganding tangan menambah umur dia yang sudah tua. Jangan buat-buat lupa sudah berjuta-juta jam dia memberi kita manfaat. Namun hanya yang kita beri hanya khianat.

Hanya 60 jam, bukan 60 tahun. Hanya tutup selama sejam dari 8:30 hingga 9:30 malam.

Eh, kau post blog ni x pakai letrik ke?

Itulah gunanya bateri.

B-Odd-oh

2009-03-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

KJ wins UMNO Youth post, beating favorite Mukhriz Mahathir and controversy-clad Khir Toyo in a neck and neck encounter. (Source: KJ's Facebook status)

Never trust the odds these days. Even the 'untouchable' Man United lost all point at Craven Cottage and the rich in Chelsea slumped to fellow Londoners.

Never rest on your laurels, and bear in mind that you reserve no value if you think you are better than others.

Cheers.

UtuStarHarianKiniDay

2009-03-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

I can't help but to find reading online Malaysian news a disappointing experience. I have been trying to be positive and draw out conclusion in attempt to ease the feeling that behind every cloud, there is a silver lining.

I make it a point everyday to start my day with dose of Malaysian news before reading lenghty and witty shares of British journalism. But I ended up finding myself in all envy to find reading British news is way more interesting.

No, I am not going into journalism now. It is the happenings in Malaysia that I feel very disappointed with.

Nevermind the politics, god of all Malaysian plights - we have everything to be worried about the future of the country, which will turn 52 years old this 31st August.

PPSMI, UMNO election pandemonium, crisis in the parliament, royal contempt, this and that, just show how crazy things are in our country.

Come on lah YB, gaji ribu-ribu for what? Kerja lebih lah.

Come on lah YB, orang undi for what? Serve the rakyat lah.

Come on lah YB, aging every year for what? Grow up lah.

You guys are gifted bunch, who are brilliant in rhetorical speech and all thing talking. But ask yourself, are your minds and maturity are equally eloquent?

Please, I want good news, anything that can make me proud and tell those arrogant Mat Salleh that we have done this and that - not something that will spoil my day thinking about how bad my country is.

Yet I still believe in you, Malaysia. I know you can do it. That is why I mean it when I say Malaysia Boleh.

Malaysia Boleh.

Percaya?

2009-03-07T02:08:00.000-08:00

Kalau kita masih ingat, dulu masa zaman-zaman tengah gayat guna email mesti ada antara kita yang dapat email berkenaan kekuasaan Allah. Adalah gambar batu bertulis kalimah Allah, awan berbentuk kalimah Allah, pokok yang berbentuk orang sujud (malah ada bergaris arah kiblat dalam gambar tu) dan bermacam-macam. Gunung. Batu. Aurora pun masuk dalam list.

So what? Apa hikmahnya? Kita kena bersyukur kita Islam kah? Kita kena forward kepada orang lain kah email tu?

TERNYATA TIDAK!

Ape ko cakap ni Ainan. Ajaran sesat ke?

Bukan ajaran sesat. Tapi fikiran logik yang mudah.

Sebelum kita sibuk nak forward email tu, cuba fikir persoalan ni;

Sahih kah gambar tu? Sekarang dengan Adobe Photoshop mudah saja gambar-gambar tersebut dieksploitasi.
Bagaimana kalau ada gambar-gambar alam yang membentuk salib, bintang David dan lambang agama-agama lain? (tolak Bahai kerana itu adalah kompilasi) Adakah Allah mengiyakan agama lain berdasarkan 'bukti' penciptaannya?

Sebagai manusia matang dan berakal, sewajarnya email sedemikian membawa mesej yang baik; menontonkan kebesaran Allah SWT kepada semua receipent email tersebut. Tapi, dua persoalan di atas harus diambil kira kerana ada kebarangkalian email tersebut dihantar oleh orang yang tidak bertanggungjawab. Ternyata, niat tak menghalalkan cara.

Bukan niat penulis untuk mempertikaikan usaha kita sebagai hamba Allah menikmati dan mendalami kebesaran Dia cuma penulis sedikit terkilan kerana terlalu banyak perkara sebagitu tersebar dengan mudah melalui email dan Instant Messaging. Ada email yang berisi ayat-ayat Quran dan seruan-seruan supaya disebarkan email tersebut kepada orang lain dan jika tidak, malapetaka akan berlaku kepada sesiapa yang tidak menyampaikan 'amanah' tersebut.

Apakah logik, jika kita dapat satu pesanan melalui Instant Messaging berkenaan sesuatu ayat Quran dan jika kita tidak forward, nanti bala atau malapetaka akan tiba.

Please guys, be logical.

Jangan sampai orang Islam dikatakan kolot!

Sekian.

Artikel ini adalah adaptasi artikel seorang penulis blog Indonesia, alhabib dan sekali lagi penulis menyatakan artikel ini bukan berniat untuk mempersoal atau memperkecil kebesaran Allah SWT. Moga beri manfaat.

Kerajaan Dinding

2009-03-04T02:32:00.000-08:00

Dulu, Sidharta Gautama Buddha mencapai tahap Moksha di bawah sepohon pokok setelah begitu lama bertapa. Beliau mendapat jawapan untuk cara kehidupan kekal abadi. Pokok itu telah memainkan peranan yang amat penting sekali. Beliau tidak akan dilahirkan semula ke dunia ini sebaliknya telah mencapai Nirvana.

Dulu, Parameswara duduk berehat di bawah pohon Melaka dan kawasan pemerintahan baru Baginda Melaka. Pokok sekali lagi memainkan peranan yang amat penting. Kesultanan Melayu Melaka kemudiannya berkembang menjadi sebuah empayar yang amat penting pada masa itu.

Kini? Adakah pokok di hadapan bangunan DUN Perak ini akan memainkan peranan yang penting juga? Moga-moga mendapat jawapan.

Tolonglah wahai semua pihak. Cukuplah semua pihak. Marilah berdamai dan menyelesaikan masalah secara depan-depan. Man to man. Tak guna saling bertikam lidah dan berperang sesama sendiri. Akhir nanti kita semua yang akan rugi. Kami yang hidup di bumi Perak ini dan menjunjung langit Perak ini inginkan kehidupan yang aman. Ameen.

Sekian.

Nude Non Issue

2009-02-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

What's wrong with sleeping naked?

This is of course, relates back to the 'issue' about one Elizabeth Wong, wakil rakyat of Bukit Lanjan whose naked pictures are circulating on the Internet. I'm not really Mr. Current Issue but if I remember corrently, she resigned or offered to resign yesterday.

Now, can someone tell me what is so wrong about being naked in your own bedroom? I've done that and so do most of us. The last time I checked, the bedroom is about the most private place a person could have.

That is why I'm so baffled by a Khir Toyo, who stepped forward with allegations that what our dear Liz did was wrong, immoral, indecent and bla, bla bla. Now, Khir.. don't tell me you've never been naked inside your bedroom before. Takkan kot. Your wife tak marah ke? Ape you nak sembunyi dalam baju tu?

So what is so immoral about Liz sleeping in the nude? What's immoral is that bloke who took the picture. Now, I haven't seen the pictures and I don't plan to either, but from what I've heard and read, it wasn't even a picture of her in sexual acts. She wasn't even posing. She was nude and asleep. Liz is not even married so she certainly wasn't cheating on anyone and if my sources are correct, she is not a Muslim so there's nothing wrong with her sleeping with some dude.

What if today I strip off naked in my bedroom and the person in the house opposite of mine took a photo of me with a very long zoom lens and spread it all about. Am I immoral? Stop blaming the victim la. Even if the photo is of her in sexual acts, so be it. What's wrong with that? People have passion and desire. People love to be naked with their loved ones. People have sex. People fuck. This isn't Arabia where they stone rape victims and let the rapist go about with his life and rape another chick. Stop blaming the victims.

As long as Liv stay dressed when she's doing her work in the office, as long as she represent her people well, as long as she is doing a good job, why bother with what she is doing inside her bedroom.

To the perpetrators and to anyone la, please find a better issue to put on the front page of a newspaper. It's a waste of ink and a waste of paper. The world's economy is collapsing and the thing that we worry about the most is about a feisty young chick sleeping in the nude.

Appara. Nak tengok sangat bukak la Fleshbot.

Update: The alleged photographer is apparently a Malay male.

Bacaan Tambahan:

Dr. Khir dituduh 'cakap tak serupa bikin'

Mugabe

2009-02-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

The world is facing its worst financial downturn since the Great Depression. Your country, already one of the poorest in the world for the past decades has been struggling to get the most basic stuffs to its people. A huge percentage of them are unemployed while inflation reaches record-high. Not only that, the population is struck by the deadly cholera that has killed thousands, adding to the millions who are already suffering from starvation. Imagine you are the president of this ill-fated country, what would you do?

Well, if you are Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, you would throw down millions of dollars for your birthday celebration. And then you would spend another $5 million for a house overseas.

This is absolutely sickening, and I cannot help but wonder why the world can only watch and do nothing.

Politicketohell

2009-02-04T08:26:00.000-08:00

I've been following the week with much interest, especially when those people who proudly say they condemn whatsoever the act of jumping party seem not to be walking the talk.

Fresh from the shock of Zaid Ibrahim and that Nasa guy's resignation, I think something is wrong when that poor 3 PKR guys took themselves off from the so-called promising mixed Perak government at this very crucial time when everyone including those outside the state is hoping for proper metamorphosis in nation building.

And now BN need only one of the three to join them under BN's flag to secure the power over the state, canceling the current opposition government in power - so much as to tell the message that not only Pakatan Rakyat fail to take over the country, they even fumble in maintaining a state.

BN is playing the opposition music now.

Boy, this is very very immature. I hate Barisan for making us look like a bunch of idiots, and yes, I hate Pakatan for making themselves look like a bunch of idiots.

Something needs to be done. Let us start with the brains of these politicians in power.

In the wise words of Sunil Shanaz, kalau nak crossover, main bola lah!

Speaking of football and out of politics, it is a wonderful day for Perak as they ease through to the second round of FA Cup with an easy 11-1 on aggregate win against SDM Kepala Batas.

Yes, SDM Kepala Batas. Everyone knows who is the MP. Ironic.

Men Do Cry

2009-02-01T10:09:00.001-08:00

Roger Federer couldn't hold back his tears after his defeat at the hand of Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final. That puts his quest for a record-equalling 14 Grand Slam titles still on hold.

Who says men don't cry?

HERO

2009-01-31T05:20:00.000-08:00

So this is how it is.

It takes a leader from a constitutionally secular country that ban headscarves to speak up against the crimes of Israel.

Fuck you Arab nations. Fuck you Egypt. Fuck you Hosni Mubarak. I hope you'll be the first one thrown down the pits of hell.

Somebody bring back the Caliphate. We have a suitable candidate. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is my new hero.

Move aside Obama, this guy is the real Hope.

The Places We Live

2009-01-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

In 2008, for the first time in history, more people lives in cities rather than rural areas.

Despite that, more than a billion people worldwide lives in slums, lacking all the basic amenities that we often took for granted.

If anyone were to notice the photos I took, I sorta have keen interest in urban decay. So today I stumble upon this webpage today by Jonas Bendiksen of Magnum Photos called The Places We Live. It exploring the lives of these slum dwellers from Nairobi, Kenya; Mumbai, India; Caracas, Venezuela and Jakarta, Indonesia.

The exhibition showcases photos of the people and their houses, under the bridges, built using cardboards, and features narratives taken from those people themselves talking about daily life, how they got there and the hardships that they go thorough.

For me, reflecting the lives of these people to how the way I live my life sorta make me feel thankful to God that I was born in a family that can support a good life. Still, it sorta scare me how close we all are to being this unfortunate 1 billion. Not all of them are there because of their lacking, some have a great education to boot but the circumstances are stacked against them.

Still, I find it amazing that these people, faced with hardship and all that choose to live a legal way of life without resorting to go into crime as us humans are easily enticed. Maybe that's the beauty of faith.

Go and check it out.

The Places We Live

You should know this

2009-01-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail today classified the death of 22-year-old police detainee Kugan Ananthan as murder.

It is learnt that investigations are underway.

Earlier, Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan said that a full investigation will be carried out into Kugan's death.

According to him, a thorough probe will be undertaken although the post-mortem report found that Kugan had died due to fluid in his lungs.

"We will not cover up anything," he told reporters in Kuching.

- Malaysiakini

Hi

2009-01-27T03:02:00.000-08:00

Hadi here.

Sorry aku lama tak update page ni. I've sent some invites to budak batch yang ada blog. Ada a few I couldn't get your emails. Please do send it to me, one way or the other.

Yes, I accept FedEx.

Anything nak complain, please do too. Be blunt, be honest, be true. But please, be kind. And be free. And be awesome. And be extra gorgeous.

Cheers.

Paan Pecah Rekod

2008-12-03T01:44:00.001-08:00

Date: 3 & 4 januari 2009
Venue: lot 1847 batu 2 kg sungai pinang Bandar,
41400 klang selangor
Pengantin: nurshasida bte mohd radhuan

Sesungguhnya akan mendirikan masjid..xsabar nak pegi kenduri nih

Siti Sifir

2008-08-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

Soalan yang selalu membuat aku terfikir-fikir... Siapakah Siti Sifir? Di manakah dia sekarang? Sudah bekerja? Masih belajar? Mungkinkah dia seseorang yang kita kenali?

Ah, banyaknya persoalan...

Database of The Old Boys

2007-11-24T03:49:00.000-08:00

I browsed through MCOBA website the other day out of boredom, and guess what I found? This:

Apparently there was an ongoing project among a group of old boys to gather the data of all existing old boys in a database. Well, I have heard of this one before from the circulating emails, but frankly I could not be bothered to even give it a look before, what more to cooperate to make the project a success. I guess none of us did, just look at the result!

On a more serious note, I do not see this as something to be proud of, so let us do something to improve on this as I believe what they are doing will eventually benefit us, in one way or another.

Get A Life NameWee!

2007-08-07T03:42:00.000-07:00

This chap has certainly gone too far!

Freedom of speech never means you can simply insult other people’s race and religion. Surely there is a much better way to air out dissatisfaction to the country. The fact that he posted this video while we are on the verge of celebrating our 50th year of nationhood really boils me.

Please, leave your comment on the video people if you really love our country. The bitter history of May 13 will definitely be repeated if we let things like this to go on.

Politics and Sports Do Not Mix

2007-08-03T01:50:00.001-07:00

It seems that after every round of flop in our sporting field, an immediate wave of change is sent in the hope of rectifying the root of the problem. Foreign coaches brought in, foreign coaches kicked out. We need you back, local experts. What happened to your team idiot? You, pack your stuff, out. Back off senior players, let us give this bunch of youths a chance to shine. And so on and so forth. The latest, which perhaps is the biggest, most shocking decision ever made in a decade, is shoving off political leaders from playing their hands in the managerial matters of sporting bodies. Quite obviously the idea was formulated in the wake of yet another disappointing slump of our national football in the recently concluded Asian Cup, with such a poor display that qualified us to be labeled as the only non-competitive team in the tournament by a prominent daily newspaper in Australia. The question being, why didn’t we show those sporting team managers cum political figures the exit door long, long before, before the little bruise that we had could turn into an incurable illness?

Malaysians from every part of generation have long questioned the credibility of these parliament dwellers in getting involved in our professional sporting bodies, let alone being the most influential figure in them. Apart from the suspicious lots who argue that these leaders are merely carrying political agendas in stepping up the managerial ladder of those bodies, the others who politely accept their integrity remain doubtful over their ability to bear the huge responsibility of leading a globally-acknowledged sporting body. Blame not the doubters, as we recognize the hard work needed in running such bodies which strive to continually produce top-notch athletes.

Recent headlines on this issue came as a laughing cause for me especially when you think about how easy those figures decided to pen down letters of resign upon listening to nationwide call for them to do so. From a logical point of view, I see that no one should be you willing to give off their top-notch position in those bodies if they love them so much, or if they are indeed committed in working with the sporting bodies. Because what happened is the opposite, my conclusion is pretty simple; they indeed did not enjoy being a member of such bodies let alone committing themselves in full swing, and perhaps it is not too much if I choose to concur with public view that says they indeed have unique agenda being in such position. Of course I am not aiming the whole bunch of those leaders by saying this. In every situation, I believe that there must be a good apple amongst the rotten ones. Unluckily the latter had gone overboard thus posing serious threat to the good few.

We cringed, cried in agony upon watching Hafiz Hashim fell shamefully in the hand of Lin Dan on the badminton arena. But little did we know that the Chinese fellow is a successful product of the system in China, where promising youths at the early age of eight, nine-year-old are brought into the sports school that exist in every province. I mean every province. Now, how big is China? We, on the other hand have only two nationwide. The similar case happened to Yao Ming, the first Chinese basketball player to shine in the NBA whose unusual height was traced two generations back, before he was even born. And we continue to wince when it was the football team’s turn to lose 1-5 to the mighty country. Of course the comparison I have made is unfair, but what I have in mind is that we need great people to come with this kind of idea in order to improve the quality of our sports. Like most of you, I believe that these people are definitely not politicians. Not intending to belittle them, but after all, what can you expect from a man who runs the floor of the parliament in the morning when what we are talking about is finding quality athletes? Quite simply the two cases do not run on a parallel ground.

Of course things are far from resolved even after those leaders give up their seats. The quest for success is not a short-term one; one cannot expect to shoot a bow and get immediate result. Act early, and make amend on things along the way. What we need right now is past athletes to come back and lead. In this matter, an article in TheStar last week provided ample reasons and justifications why such step is deemed instrumental if we are to look forward for a brighter future of our sports scene, one of which includes a look at the international football governing body in FIFA which is piloted by none other than the game’s legends. On the local scene, the appointment of Marina Chin as the new head of Bukit Jalil Sports School is seen as an excellent early move to realize our dream, at least for me.

Template Change

2007-07-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Template change is under way, bear with us.

Let's save the Earth by doing gigs!

2007-07-07T21:26:00.001-07:00

I was reading about the Live Earth concert held simultaneously 24 hours in some of the biggest cities around the world yesterday. While the concept is the same as the 1985 Live Aid concert as well as the recent Live 8 in 2005, Live Earth was the brainchild of former future President of the USA, Al Gore who is now famous for his environmental causes especially concerning global warming.

Malaysia itself wouldn't want to be left out of the rain so yesterday we held the SuriaFM Green Every Day Concert 2007 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. While not as big as Live Earth, the concert wasn't too shabby with performances from local artistes as well as those from Singapore and Indonesia.

Considering the state of the environment these days, I praise the noble effort of the organizers though I find it ironic how people organize concerts to raise awareness about energy conservation. Why? Well first and foremost, the concert to raise awareness about energy conservation itself uses a lot of energy. Those electric guitars and amps aren't going to ring itself is it? Not to mention those stage lights they use.. Then imagine the energy used by people who traveled to the stadium. Add all that up and you'll end up with a huge waste of energy. Oh, and I was just talking about the concert in Malaysia, never mind the Live Earth. Here's what I read from the UK Daily Mail:

A Daily Mail investigation has revealed that far from saving the planet, the extravaganza will generate a huge fuel bill, acres of garbage, thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions, and a mileage total equal to the movement of an army.

The most conservative assessment of the flights being taken by its superstars is that they are flying an extraordinary 222,623.63 miles between them to get to the various concerts - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transport their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher.

The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists' and spectators' travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, who specialises in such calculations.

Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tonnes. In comparison, the average Briton produces ten tonnes in a year.

The concert will also generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.

See what I mean? Still, a noble cause nonetheless. Hurm...

Well, as they say.. Save the rainforest; eat a vegetarian.

My Friday Prayer Experience

2007-07-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

The mosque was not too spacious to be able to lodge hundreds of people, but large enough when the fact that its location is in a non-Muslim dominating region is put into perspective. There was some make-shift tents prepared as to give extra space for overload crowds who devotedly attended the ritual weekly congregation. Forecasters earlier said that the day’s temperature was 11° Celsius, but the heavy downpours were believed to have reduced it somewhat. Those seated under the tents were apparently freezing, but they stayed anyway. Nothing in this world seemed to bother them from remaining there.

The pouring rains were too loud that they eclipsed the sound of sermon from inside the mosque. Periodically, a bloke or two were seemed entering the mosque ground, covering their heads with a piece of cloth or bare hands and dashing to get to the nearest roofed space. They were a bit late that most of the spaces were already occupied, but nothing could stop them from attending the congregation. Soon, the sermon was finished, and the crowds stood up in unison to prepare for the prayer. Those who could not initially find empty spaces tried to squeeze in. Amidst the chilliness of the day, the sound of the rain, and the over packed mosque and make-shift tents, they started praying, led by the Imam. In a little while they finished. Miraculously, the downpours also stopped, as if it understood the problem it would lay for the dismissing crowds.

As the congregation was inching to the end, a proportion of the Muslims stayed chatting with fellow countrymen or even strangers who had just become friends, while some left straight away, perhaps to continue working. It was only their lunch hour after all.

That was the scene during today’s Friday prayer in a small city Down Under that is Adelaide, as seen by my bare eyes. I believe, a typical scene as such can be seen anywhere around the earth where Muslims reside. We might live a totally different life from others, or speak different languages, or perhaps drive different cars, but when it comes to how we are seen by Him as embodied by the act of performing our obligation such as this Friday prayer, unequivocally, we are all the same.

Footnote: My apology for the second-class photo, I had to basically snap pretty quickly as to avoid eye-contact from the crowds. You do know it is not appropriate to take pictures in such situation don’t you.

Wah Wah San Bukan Sekadar Wah Wah

2007-06-15T12:30:00.001-07:00

We are getting better in outlining visions. When the Malaysia Ideal 2020 Vision seems to be quite blurry, came 2057 idea, envisione d by Pak Lah recently.

2020, 2057, and what’s next? An absurd kinda pattern I can say which cease to an end and the numbers seem to increase in the series.

"The ultimate objective that we should aim for is a Malaysia that is a fully developed country by the year 2020,"

That was what Dr. Mahathir coined at the Malaysian Business Council when he first resonated to us his 2020 Vision.

“This is the Malaysia in my dreams for 2057. One hundred years of independence, one hundred years of advancement,”

And that was how Pak Lah replied, realizing he only has 13 more years to materialize the dream we built. Are we lost on our way to 2020? Why we bother to have another set of vision for us to look forward to when we have a good nice ride and focus we have been fixing to all this while? Is this how they are trying to tell us that we have failed to meet our 2020 Vison?

My humble two cents, I think Vision 2020 is another testimony that Malaysians take pride in not being the best and by saying we'll try our best but they're not even giving their best to start with. And we even set our own dateline and it would allow us to procrastinate.

Be it 2020 or 2057, why don’t we take a pledge to have the largest dick now? The global continuously and progressive competition simply will never stop. Many great challenges are awaiting us to deal with and seriously, with what we have now, there are almost nothing we can be proud of, except for the harmonious ethnic composition we have, with Mat Rempits and Rapists emerged as the new ethnics in Malaysia.

The time is now, or should I say, was 14 years ago when Dr. Mahathir first introduced the ever intelligent 2020 Vision to us. We are running out of time, people. We must work together, not because we have no choice, but because it's right and smartest thing to do. The world watches us for god sake. I couldn’t afford seeing us being the laughing stock of the world for being unable to catch what we have marked.

And starting with oneself, make this our own delicate pledge and willfully work on it. It's a duty for each of Malaysians to be committed in making our dream comes true. It’s a Malaysian Dream!

And if you guys seem to have lost in the idea, take a look and a deep breath now and read this like you are reading Playboy’s Book of Lingerie with full passion and focus. And after that, take initiative to do something and you might want to read this to have a better idea on what to do next. Just make sure that you have an open mind to go with it before reading that two astonishing articles.

When we go overseas, we say we're Malaysians. Why not the same here? Love our country. Show it. Make a change.

P/s - 50 years of nationhood and it is counting. Let's give a real hoot, people.

Of Issues Pertaining Teenagers and Making A Difference

2007-05-19T03:41:00.001-07:00

We are severely surrounded by worrying issues concerning teenagers these days. Mat Rempit here and there. 7-year-old boy sniffing glue, sleeping amongst the debris on the street. Partying around, sex everywhere; they call it liberal way of living. University dropouts on the rise, whilst the list of jobless graduates never ceases to increase. Lack of concern towards the community. Not respecting the elderly. Resulting in the former Yang Di-Pertuan Agong stood up and voiced out his concern to the public. Now, that is serious.

Then we see how people’s apprehension was aired, extensively publicized public forums were held, and countless organizations were organized, but the result?

What good is brought when a distinguished youth’s organization decided to call a troop of Mat Rempits for the North Pole’s free fall exploration? A good way to finish people’s money I guess, or perhaps to squeeze in some good names into the record book and open the apathetic public eyes, which in turn leads to more votes during the election. In the end, my predict says those Mat Rempit would go back to their racing lanes, bohsias in their cuddle, boasting about how they deceived those people to bring them thousands of miles away to do the silly, futile exploration, purportedly bringing the good name of the country. And the organization people, on the other side of the scope, would walk proudly in the middle of the city amongst throngs, claiming that in doing such so-called feat they had triumphantly helped the country. Well, probably not a reality, merely a wild guess which apparently might be wrong.

Being a teenager myself, my thinking is, everything starts from our own selves. Not denying laudable efforts from the others, but simply telling that we ourselves ought to change if good results are to be expected. How? Simple. Read daily newspapers. Help an old blind man crossing the road. Go to the nearby soccer field to support you local team, not jeering at them. Stop watching porn. Ask your father if his car needs to be washed. Get to know the name of your neighbour next door. Make a difference. In this sense, I truly agree with TheCicak for their article on ten things we can do to make a difference. Also, the government does not pay to send you overseas to see you partying with chicks, do they? Nor did your parents expect to accompany you at the hospital bedside following an injury from a series of night rempiting when they give you a Honda Cub on your 18th birthday.

This does not mean the other side of the community circle, non-teenagers alike can simply sit down and stop doing their parts though. There are still plenty, plenty of works that can be done. Members of the parliament, stop pointing fingers and rambles on trivial issues. Bocor sana, bocor sini, what the heck? There, your child is left at home contemplating on which road to rempit on tonight, or which pub to go, you never know. Believe me, their action is only inviting laughter from the global audience having watched them on the YouTube. Change, again that is the key.

From shoulder to shoulder, let us make a whole different world, starting from our own selves. Then only we can improve as a whole unit of community, and the jobless will finally get jobs, and so on and so forth.

The most difficult part, of course, is to change.

Aku banyak member. Respek aku.

2007-04-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

Ahli Fikir really made me fikir. It took me few years to apprehend what their song 'Samseng' was all about for real. It is sad of how the thing got us really occupied, stupidly. Here how it goes, and I’ve been thinking to write this thread every time I got back from any kedai mamak or malls, where men in group can be seen easily around.

When you go around, you want to look cool on foot with your bunch of friends, or should I say clan. It is somewhat an era of foolish reasoning of believing that if you are alone, with no one backing you on your back, you will breathe your last breath and die unaided. I go about anywhere to see people sit in group, looking each other intensely, like trying very hard to trigger any spot for a fight. They just love to be intense and create such stressed ambiance around.

Who is stronger? That is one and only thing that somewhere to be found in their intelligence. It’s the matter of who got more troops to back them up, and if you have more than 5 or 10 of your clique, you will breathe easily and walk like a real dick and if you don’t, you better be scared not to get beaten if you say something wrong.

Aku banyak member. Hisap konek aku.

Fuck off. You deserve a middle finger dude, big time.

Joining a gang and being in a clan or clique means you have lots of friends. Middle finger. Joining a gang makes you look like an idiot wannabe you idiot wannabe (yes, I repeat). Being in a gang is not just walking around with a red or blue belt around your waist. Being in a gang is not a game, and it is not the way to show that you have the biggest dick. When 30 people started to beat this one rebellious guy, who has larger dick? You tell me.

We are an advancing species. We develop new technologies, as well as new means to be recognized, to be respected. And looks like being in a gang or a clan would give us that petty latter more easily. They just get the wrong end of the stick of what respect is all about. For them, respect means fear. Dude, respect is far beyond that stupid fixation. Days in Koleq really thought me about the subject of respect. You don’t have to have the physical strength to get respect, you don’t have to have the cash to make everyone bow and do you a blowjob. It’s about respecting others, and it will be reciprocated, and that’s the only way to gain respect, and not by staring at others like you are the only who have glaring eyes or being part of your stupid clan. At Koleq or it can be anywhere, there are many figures that made their name in sports, academics and leadership etc, but only few and not all of them really got my respect as to develop such in me, they have to be all down to earth and humble, and have a great deal of respecting others.

We live in the world where there are so many progress and changes as days go by. We progress in our culture so well. We start to recognize gay marriage, human cloning and other things which are unimaginable to us in the past. So people sitting in a gang, and dreadfully looking forward to be in any fight, walking around with killing stare, is something we should expect. It happens everywhere in the world, so why shouldn't we expect it to happen here as well? So let’s go against the stereotype guys. People think (it is for real) that we are a bunch of wannabes that trying very hard to look cool by being in a gang, talk big and nothing come in return. We still sit there at kedai mamak, waiting for tey ais. Unlike the real deal, the Mafias, the Yakuzas, who talk less, and earn both money and respect in return. I’m not trying to give an idea about being like any Mafias or Yakuzas, but they really dig up the thing called respect the right style and what is more is they talk less, and do their shit more, not just sit there and stare, stare and talk big.

Butterfingers had adroitly coined once, in this brilliant line of their song,

Bila kawan ramai
keliling kita
Cakap besar tunjuk belang
Tapi bila sorang-sorang
Pengecut pemalu
Macam semua orang

I suppose that if your mates look after you, then it is a good thing. But terrorizing and creating discomfort of other people is definitely not. Most of us feel safe having their friends around but intimidating other people is a cheap way to earn a middle finger, not respect. You aren’t going to get any respect if you don’t respect others in the first place, and talking trash with millions of your clan behind your back isn’t going to make you a respected person. It only makes you a good pemidato and you might want to compete for Kejohanan Pidato Piala Di-Raja for being able to talk that big.

The best thing to give to an opponent is respect, and never takes a person’s dignity and self-esteem, they worth everything to them, but nothing to you. Just bare that in the end, we are all separate - our stories, no matter how similar, come to a fork and diverge. We are drawn to each other because of our similarities, but it is our difference we must learn to respect. Just be smart by respecting others, as what goes around comes around, and you might get the biggest respect by simply give others a little respect.

Saya ni bukan sempurna
Tapi saya tahu
Dosa dan pahala
Ku tuhan sahaja yang tahu

P/s – 'You’ll Never Walk Alone' if you have the thing called respect, and it not necessarily literally.

A Sad Day For Malaysia

2007-04-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am too tired, too devastated to jot anything down after reading this article on Malaysiakini. Have a look.

Sorry for the hazy picture, try to key in the boy's IC number and do the semakan daftar pemilih yourself if you keen to.

Let us put it this way. Hopefully it is merely a political propaganda, a twist made to fuel the scorching jostle of the political atmosphere in Malaysia. But if it is not, what a sad day it is for Malaysia...

My Celebrity Look-alikes. Ha Ha Ha

2007-04-24T21:21:00.001-07:00

http://www.myheritage.com

Where do you want to go today?

2007-04-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was reading the newspaper yesterday when a piece of news caught my eyes. Apparently our government is baffled why we Malaysians love to travel abroad and are planning to implement a form asking people what they are going to do oversea. What the hell?

I always love travelling, I really do. I love to go to other people's places and get involved in their culture and lifestyle as well as see different vistas that are not readily available here in our own country. That is why most people travel don't they? Then why do they still wonder why 15 million people go abroad each year compared to the 17.5 million tourist who come here? Why is that our government still need us to fill out forms as if we are asking for their permission to go here and there.

Every day, more and more of our privacy is disturbed. First they force us to register our prepaid account though I accept that there is a good reason for it. Then they illogically suggested that we register our bloggers so that it is easy to keep track of them. What they really mean is that it would be easier for them to throw our bloggers in jails. Now they want us to tell what we are going to do abroad. What next? What colour is my underwear on Mondays? Laugh if you may but you'll never know what those people at the honourable Parlimen have in mind.

Now, let me get this straight. If you want people to sign a form, does it mean all Malaysians including all our ministers, judges, governmnent officials or just us poor citizens? I suspect the latter. They would probably make exception for the big shots for reasons of 'national security' though the destination of the particular government guy might be somewhere in Bahamas or Tahiti and he's travelling with his whole family.

Sometimes I think some of us just want to travel overseas to get a break from this country. Not because we don't have snow, not because our beach and sea is polluted, not because we don't have a Grand Canyon or a sphinx. We just want to get a break from all this hullaballoo..

Good To Meet You Brothers!

2007-04-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to Liverpool to a friend’s place with some other classmates. No, not that Liverpool in UK. This is Liverpool, New South Wales, about an hour journey by train from Sydney. We are basically working on a group project for Engineering Design subject. Her father offered to help us and he happens to own a factory there, so we decided to go have a look and work.

It was 5.30pm when we boarded the train back, which means Maghrib was looming. True to the nature, I had this uneasiness feel of not being able to make it on time to reach home for Maghrib. Having three Muslim counterparts out of four people with me did not give any help either; they simply did not seem to care about performing their obligation. So I decided to stop in the middle of the train route at Auburn, a small, very nice Muslim town. I had been here once before, and I knew they have a mosque where I decided to pray.

I performed solat jemaah with a few locals, and finished praying when I realized that there was someone observing me. After I was done with my doa this guy approached me, and decently asked, “Where’re you from?” To which I replied, “Malaysia.” This guy seemed to be excited at seeing a foreigner at that mosque and probably keen to find out more from me, which drove to more dialogue between us, and apparently more questions from him,

“So what’re you doing here?”
“How long have you been here?”
“So how do you find Australia?”
“Well I actually have a friend who just came back from Malaysia, he went there to watch the Formula One. Do you watch Formula One?

After a series of conversation, he finally revealed his actual intention for approaching me. Apparently he noticed that I did something in my solat that is not right, and he made it a point for him to show me to right way. Later a friend of his saw us and joined in the conversation,

“Assalamualaikum. Chinese?” (as you might have expected)
“Oh Malaysia! I’ve been there!”
“Malaysia’s very nice. I found that people there’re very humble.”

To those people who read my previous two postings in my blog and decided to judge me as always trying to find a way to be critical to my home country, this piece proves that I am actually not.

By the way, the first fellow’s name is Yasser, while the second one is Mustaffa. Both are locals, but I believe hail from some Arabic countries.
The conversation continued.

“So you’re a university student? Petroleum engineering? Wonderful! It’s good to learn that we’ll be getting plenty of Muslim professionals in the future.”

I am posting this not because this was my first time meeting other Muslims in this country. My Petroleum Engineering class itself in fact has Muslims covering more than half of its students, mainly from Saudi Arabia, Brunei as well as Malaysia. Besides, I encountered hundreds of them every week during the Friday prayer. But as far as I am concern, my meeting with Yasser and Mustaffa was the first of its kind I experienced. I found that most of Muslims I am living with here choose to segregate themselves according to background, countries where they are from in place of one genuine label; Muslims. Those from Saudi never bother to greet Malaysian blokes, and pretty simply the other way round. Again, I am not referring this bigotry to all of the Muslims here. I am merely saying most of us. Those who decide not to live in such way, I take my hats off in praise for them.

Well, back to my trip to Auburn. Yasser and Mustaffa apparently had some other serious concerns and left before Isya’ while I decided to wait for one, so here goes their final dialogue,

“Good to meet you Brother.”

Indeed, it was good.

Filem Malaysia

2007-04-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

I managed to watch Fenomena Seni last Friday while waiting for the KTM Komuter to Rawang. The discussion was on what constitutes a Filem Malaysia where panelists UM Media Lecturer Dr. Abu Hasan Hasbullah, Film Director Shuhaimi Baba and Farid Kamil argued on their perception of the term while being hosted by Rosyam Nor.

The issue of Filem Malaysia has been around since a long time albeit many people have little knowledge about it. Currently, for a film to be recognised as a Filem Malaysia the main criteria is that the movie must be in the Malay language. Nevertheless, not many people agree with this fact since out of 24 million Malaysians, 52% are Malays, 30% are Chinese and 8% are Indians. In their opinion, the current method is wrong in portraying the real Malaysia.

Dr. Abu Hassan is an advocate of the current criteria in determining Filem Malaysia. He argued that in other countries like in Germany and Nepal, they have everything in their native language thus concluding that they are more in touch to their culture and identity. Since Bahasa Melayu is the official religion of Malaysia, Dr. Abu Hassan believe that all film worthy of the title Filem Malaysia should reflect that statement by being made in the language.

On the other side of the arguement, is Shuhaimi Baba. Contrary to Dr. Abu Hassan, Shuhaimi brought up the arguement of multiculturalism which Malaysia is heavily marketing throughout the world with its Truly Asia tagline. Why can't the film industry too reflect the multicultural aspect of Malaysia by awarding the title to any film made by Malaysian or is about Malaysia regardless of the language. She argued that it is suppressing the creativity of moviemakers by limiting their option to express their story.

I noticed that Rosyam Nor, albeit being a host, is more towards Shuhaimi Baba's arguement rather than Dr. Abu Hassan's. He mentioned that if Utusan Melayu can become Utusan Malaysia (actually both are different newspapers but I get the point) so why can't film industry bend their regulations to which Dr. Abu Hassan again replied that we have little respect for our identity and culture. He argued that that is the reason why this whole arguement started. If everyone is in touch with their culture and identity, the issue would never surface. Is it true?

Again we look back at Malaysia as a whole. The country is multicultural and every people have their own background and identity unlike less multicultured countries such as the ones Dr. Abu Hassan mentioned. Though Bahasa Melayu is our official language, we didn't manage to implement it the way the Indonesian did with their Bahasa Indonesia. I never hear any of my Indonesian Chinese friends speaking to eachother is any other language than Bahasa Indonesia an though Indonesian are regarded as serumpun with Malaysians, we mostly have our conversation in English. That does not make us less serumpun does it? In fact, by communicating in English makes us more serumpun since we are able to communicate better and easier. So what does this have anything to do with the arguement? It means that whatever language you use to converse does not make you less of a Malaysian. Who is more Malaysian, a Malay who speaks only Malay and hangout with only Malays or a Malay who speak both Malay and English but have friends from all sort of race and culture. The latter is the Muhibbah we should be striving for.

Back to films, I must say that what would you feel if you make a movie about Malaysia in English or Cantonese or maybe Tamil just to discover that your movie cannot be deemed as a Filem Malaysia just because you are not using the official language even though the storyline is definately Malaysian? Then again, what about if I shoot a movie in Kelantanese or the northern dialect. Would that be a Filem Malaysia?

The more I think about it the more it makes me agree that this topic is very-very difficult to settle. It is an issue that border many sensitive issues of our countries and I would really love to get reader's comment on the issue. What do you think?

Preface

2007-04-18T02:17:00.000-07:00

We are proud to be Collegians, how can we ever make you see? Well, for one is having a blog showcasing what we think and what we are capable of don't you agree? Firstly I would like to thank you for having the time to spare to visit this blog which is still in its infancy.

So, why a blog? We have a Yahoo! Group up and running, we have a Flickr Pool, with our pictures there and the all new Freindster Group for our discussion. Well my dear friends, as I mentioned in Pelangi Hitam Putih, we have great minds in our batch. We have people who in the future, I believe would be the mover and maker or our country. We are after all Budak Koleq, we've been doing that since forever. Nevertheless, some of these people felt that they lack the time and opportunity to speak up their mind and they might also lack support in bringing out the best of them and instead of presenting their ideas to the world, it remain buried in a diary or in their mind. That would be a waste don't you think?

This latest effort of mine is also keen on showcasing the capabilities of us Budak Koleq for the whole world to read. I really felt disappointed reading newspaper articles about people questioning the capabilities of Budak Koleqs which in their eyes are no more better than any other students. That is their challenge and this is my answer and I hope you guys would join me in answering these questions and change their point of view of us as well as our beloved Malay College.

Interested to write for this blog? Set up a Blogger account and leave your email address in the comment section for this posting and I will add your name as author. It is as simple as that. Thank you for supporting this effort and do inform other of its existance.