Dear Malaysians,

You have to read/watch this. Hahaha, i really have nothing else and am still choosing whether to laugh or cry.

Erections are comin up people. *oops*, elections I mean. So brace yourself for loads of (temporary) good news! Why oh why can't our leaders just be honest about the situation.

I was just discussing with my dad earlier. And it hit me hard when I realized that it's no point even if DAP wins all the seats they're contesting for as it would account for less than 20% of the total seats. On the other hand, 25% or a quarter of votes come from East Malaysia.

I totally support Bangsa Malaysia. It's the only way proper reform can be done cuz the current system's just OOP(out-of-point, as quoted by Jayson). All races fighting for their individual rights. Isn't our political system is fundamentally racist then?

If anything, it'll take awhile to get the formula right - at least 10 years imo. Like the golden day where people will realize that calling themselves Malay, Chinese or Indian.. is just stupid. Aren't we waaay past calling ourselves based on our grassroots?

Anyhow, I'll leave the details to the political blogs, but like always, I just gotta vent.

Fiducia

Picture two tigers in confrontation. The trespasser growls with such intimidation making meeker creatures sense impending danger and scurry away. The other tiger rises and gives a stare so intense it strikes the intruder with such fear that he trembles at the thought of further conflict. A mighty roar paralyses his opponent's will and warns him to never return again.

Scenarios such as the example above are common in the jungle, where battles are won and lost without physical confrontation. We, humans - albeit being more evolved and civilized - are no much different from wildlife as we employ the ultimate tool - Fiducia, Italian for confidence.

The reason I chose the Italian translation of it could perhaps be attributed to the mafia image portrayed in many movies and series alike; where mafia leaders employ can instil fear in their enemies by plain eye-contact.

It's proven when Vincent Curatola (one of the leading men in the hit series The Sopranos) was asked how he would deal with someone of 'higher authority',"After telling him to go to hell, I maintained eye contact. I didn't blink.", "It's a way of showing someone that you could be psychotic in a split second", he says.

But we're not all so violent, are we?

The more applicable employment of confidence is the one we use during our everyday lives. As many of you know, authentic confidence doesn't come from fancy clothes, bulging muscles (for guys), bulging other things (for girls), a thick wallet, or a pretty face.

There are certain people with these criterion yet have a deep inferiority complex. I say deep because ordinarily, it's well hidden under mountains of ego and money.

To me, authentic confidence comes from a myriad of factors, most of which doesn't include many of the above. The following is my personal checklist of why confidence is important. (just in case you haven't realized)

We use it when we meet people.
Someone who can be trusted.
People need to know that you are someone that has unlimited potential.
Someone who will be the last man standing when everything crumbles.

More importantly, we need it for ourselves..myself.
To be able to laugh at others as well as myself.
To be able to look into another's eyes without being self-conscious.
To know that winning does not always mean victory.
To know that in the end only I can shape the image of myself.
We need to know that when I say I can, I can.
When I say I must, I will.
To know that I am in control of my life.
I am the best.

Above everything else, we have got to know that we can trust our own word. Don't get what I mean? How many times have you told yourself that you must exercise only to end up parked comfortably in front of your TV?


To all my Indian machas, wishing you all Deepavali nal Vaalthukal! =D

Sightings

Msg from random guy in facebook: "Hi Justin, I'm Rahul and I'm new on Facebook. I got online just to speak to a few Malay people and check if you've seen any UFOs in the Malaysian skies, or any Y Shapes in the night sky. I know this might sound strange but for the last 5 days, there's been a UFO sighting in Calcutta, India everynight. And there's this Malaysian gentleman who's been in touch with me about something similar. Have you seen or heard anything of this sort?" - Rahul

A hoax perhaps? Requires further investigation.. So I went to his facebook and guess what..

Fishy..

Honestly, I've never given 2 craps about anything beyond our fragile atmosphere (also explaining my lack of interest in the Angkasawan program). [explain about UFOs] According to Wikipedia, most UFOs actually become IFOs -- Identified Flying Objects. However, a small residual, from 3% to 30% depending on who is doing the counting, remain unexplained.
But after countless episodes of X-files, one tends to become a skeptical wonderer. Nevertheless, I decided however to explore the subject because you never know when you might need knowledge such as this one fine day.

*Googles for "UFO sightings in Calcutta"*

Kolkata in a tizzy over UFO sighting
30 October 2007, Tuesday

Kolkata gaped last night when a television channel showed footage of a UFO captured on a handy cam. The strange object emitting myriad colours streaked across the dark sky changing shape and dancing as it were.

"Farhan Akhtar, a senior executive of a private company, got up at the ungodly hour to close a window and pull the drapes after his wife started feeling cold. He first thought it was an airplane and then thought it was a star.

Wah. Hmm... Sure bo? So what about our localised news? I didn't see anything. I never looked anyway. I wasn't on Thestar. Maybe I'm not reading the Chinese newspapers. ANYONE saw ANYTHING? lol

Why did this Rahul guy ask me about Malaysia anyway? Are we facing a real prospect of visitations of the unknown kind? Or am I just wasting my time on nothing here?! I hate conspiracy theories for this reason. Anyhow, here's my attempt to explore the possibility..





If I were an alien, what would I want to come to Malaysia and see?

First I would probably want to see their people to see whether they would prove to be a resistant bunch..

Nope, doesn't look like it. They seem to be particularly interested in feeding themselves and others. But what are they consuming anyway?
Analysis says that has 40% oil content.

"Looks like waste, sir.."

"Captain, i think we found their weapons.."

Don't think they're comin to Malaysia.. I think the 'aliens' - if any - brought out a good analogy being, "if you aren't from around here, I don't think you'd know how to appreciate this place". We're a bunch of lazy people just going on with our lives. If you aliens were to come here, yes we'd be fearful; but if it happens anytime soon, I don't think unity would be enough.

But if they do come? What would be the first thing you'd do?

Go meet them new neighbors? Hide? Run to another state/country? 'Do it' (alot) cuz you don't want to die a virgin? Go rob a bank? Or hope n pray that they're just here for the money.. If you come and think of it, in this time and day, that's exactly what's happening to many people in many countries - even without them aliens.

As for me, if aliens really were to come. I'd want to see and meet them (after an extended observation whether anyone got their eyes gorged out, of course).

Then, what would I say? .. What would you say? (cuz I still can't think of something..)

I also found a short clip I found in Youtube called UFO Sightings in Klang dated October 2006 (Apparently spotted at Vistana Hotel)

But well, I like the response by Barack Obama, the leading man for 2008 US elections, when asked whether he believed there was life elsewhere:
“I don’t presume to know. What I know is there is life here on Earth, and — and that we’re not attending to life here on Earth,” Obama said.

Makes more sense to me than anything I've written ere.

I am what I am

Challenging. Fiery. Down. Different. Dented. Politics. Be strong. Speed. Take it easy.

The above mentioned words basically sum the ongoings in my life in the past month. As many of you know, I'm past my first month of actual working life; and I will affirm the old saying by many elders, "It's not easy.."

Indeed, you may argue that it is never easy. But talking about work, I am not. In fact, the work (or admittedly the lack of it, sometimes) has been the best part of things. I think I'm doing pretty alright in that field. Keyword being think.

I'm referring to the soft skills, the life skills - the other 50% of what matters. Some of you probably are reading this in disbelief, when I am willingly admitting that, "Yes, I am not that good with people after all.." I've neither problem with honesty, nor with humility.

But finding out - not through thought but through experience after experience - that you were wrong all this while about yourself and many other things is like a reality check that didn't ring the doorbell. I was hit, and injured badly. It's not easy crawling on a battlefield that you cannot get out of and constantly taking bullets while you try to switch to offense mode.

Truth be told, this is one of the few times of my life where I am caught off guard. Many other a time I would be pretty sure of my exact position; through thorough bouts of self-contemplation and reflection on foreseeable misgivings, which would then enable me to make quick fixes.

So this is..new to me.

But new is good. I always welcome new - good or bad. Because this is how us homosapiens grow and differentiate ourselves from the rest. Reminds me of the rather thin yet profound book called Who moved my cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson where he implied that if you don't welcome (or at least accept) change, you better be good at counting spare change.

So I persevered and took on the challenge, knowing that winning this battle would give me a crucial edge in this game called life - where the strong survive, but the best conquer. I sought to improve myself by whatever means necessary - and I mean whatever. I searched and searched for answers in books, articles and such, but none seemed to be helping as much as I hoped.

Then the old adage "Rome wasn't built in a day, you idiot.." hit me. (yeah, the last part was from the devil within) Then I realized, that no matter how many baby steps you have to take, walk the distance as it is the only way.

Now here lies another complication. When you see the other generals in the same battlefield yet winning and slaughtering their enemies effortlessly, the pressure to at least match their level arises. So I started learning from the best of them and I did improve a fair bit.

But it reached an extent where I felt confused; confused on my own identity. You see, in this whole pursuit of 'a better me', I seemed to have lost my passion for all things else. Interests that previously sculpted my and others' image of myself. Music, singing, guitars, graphics, writing aka blogging, exercise are among the justinian activities that I have forcefully let go off due to time and energy constraints. And more than anything, it takes out the fun out of living.

When I realized this, I zoomed out on my game stopped everything, paused it took a deep breath, and looked at the big picture and started contemplating...

Was I that bad? Am I better.. or worse off? What are the reactions? What about work-life balance? Can you keep doing this?

Yes.. and no.

Because you've learnt in one month what you would've expect to be tenfold of that period! To throw away everything that has made me a better man would be foolish - read: understatement.

And on the other hand, to change 20 years of who you are and have become is impossible (and will make you look like an absolute fool when people realize that you're not even good at being "yourself") Because I am what I am, and not even I can change that.