Get A Life NameWee!

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

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

Template change is under way, bear with us.

Let's save the Earth by doing gigs!

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

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

We are getting better in outlining visions. When the Malaysia Ideal 2020 Vision seems to be quite blurry, came 2057 idea, envisioned 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

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.