Tell Me About It

A million-dollar head?

2009-12-05T16:11:00.002+08:00

My beloved readers,

Have you ever felt that you needed a change? That you wanted to do newer things in life, take bigger steps out of your comfort zone and into a realm of the unknown? I know I have.

Just to update, I'm in a different phase of my life now and I have taken that step into something I've always vied for and daydreamed about - entrepreneurship.

Consequently I have created a new blog there called MillionDollarHead. The idea about the blog is as such.

My new toy! :)

I've always been fascinated about money, and success. But the more and more study about it, the more I find out that it's almost never the circumstances that dictated success - it's the person.

As some of you may know, I love self-help, motivation, life coaching whatever you call it. And so I decided to share my knowledge about some of the principles that I've learnt about what it takes to be successful that more importantly have been proven by the myriad of millionaires out there!

Do check out milliondollarhead soon and don't miss out on your success.

Richard, Richard..

2009-01-31T02:54:00.004+08:00

Alright, I admit. It's going to be a lazy post, but this is something I read off the net today.

Enjoy!
____________________________________________________________________

The Best Complaint Letter Ever?

This is a letter recently received by the Virgin Atlantic customer complaints team and is currently being hailed on news blogs, such as this one on The Telegraph as possibly the funniest customer complaint letter ever.

We called the Virgin Atlantic press office and they confirmed they received the letter and that Richard Branson himself called the author to thank him for the feedback.

Here's the letter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Branson

REF: Mumbai to Heathrow 7th December 2008

I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit.

Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at the hands of your corporation.

Look at this Richard. Just look at it:

I imagine the same questions are racing through your brilliant mind as were racing through mine on that fateful day. What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this? And, which one is the starter, which one is the desert?

You don't get to a position like yours Richard with anything less than a generous sprinkling of observational power so I KNOW you will have spotted the tomato next to the two yellow shafts of sponge on the left. Yes, it's next to the sponge shaft without the green paste. That's got to be the clue hasn't it. No sane person would serve a desert with a tomato would they. Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in:

I know it looks like a baaji but it's in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you'll be fascinated to hear that it wasn't custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It's only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.

Anyway, this is all irrelevant at the moment. I was raised strictly but neatly by my parents and if they knew I had started desert before the main course, a sponge shaft would be the least of my worries. So lets peel back the tin-foil on the main dish and see what's on offer.

I'll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it's Christmas morning and you're sat their with your final present to open. It's a big one, and you know what it is. It's that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.

Only you open the present and it's not in there. It's your hamster Richard. It's your hamster in the box and it's not breathing. That's how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this:

Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it's more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It's mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird.

Once it was regurgitated it was clearly then blended and mixed with a bit of mustard. Everybody likes a bit of mustard Richard.

By now I was actually starting to feel a little hypoglycaemic. I needed a sugar hit. Luckily there was a small cookie provided. It had caught my eye earlier due to it's baffling presentation:

It appears to be in an evidence bag from the scene of a crime. A CRIME AGAINST BLOODY COOKING. Either that or some sort of back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac high on his own supply of yeast. You certainly wouldn't want to be caught carrying one of these through customs. Imagine biting into a piece of brass Richard. That would be softer on the teeth than the specimen above.

I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax but obviously I had to sit with that mess in front of me for half an hour. I swear the sponge shafts moved at one point.

Once cleared, I decided to relax with a bit of your world-famous onboard entertainment. I switched it on:

I apologise for the quality of the photo, it's just it was incredibly hard to capture Boris Johnson's face through the flickering white lines running up and down the screen. Perhaps it would be better on another channel:

Is that Ray Liotta? A question I found myself asking over and over again throughout the gruelling half-hour I attempted to watch the film like this. After that I switched off. I'd had enough. I was the hungriest I'd been in my adult life and I had a splitting headache from squinting at a crackling screen.

My only option was to simply stare at the seat in front and wait for either food, or sleep. Neither came for an incredibly long time. But when it did it surpassed my wildest expectations:

Yes! It's another crime-scene cookie. Only this time you dunk it in the white stuff.

Richard.... What is that white stuff? It looked like it was going to be yoghurt. It finally dawned on me what it was after staring at it. It was a mixture between the Baaji custard and the Mustard sauce. It reminded me of my first week at university. I had overheard that you could make a drink by mixing vodka and refreshers. I lied to my new friends and told them I'd done it loads of times. When I attempted to make the drink in a big bowl it formed a cheese Richard, a cheese. That cheese looked a lot like your baaji-mustard.

So that was that Richard. I didn't eat a bloody thing. My only question is: How can you live like this? I can't imagine what dinner round your house is like, it must be like something out of a nature documentary.

As I said at the start I love your brand, I really do. It's just a shame such a simple thing could bring it crashing to it's knees and begging for sustenance.

Yours Sincererly...

____________________________________________________________________

I sincerely love this guy. He has brought much joy and entertainment to the complaints department of Virgin group, relief to the unsatiated passangers of Virgin airlines and of course to mua, le much amused reader.

Goodstuff!

Have you ever?

2009-01-28T00:11:00.067+08:00

Earlier, I was driving back from my aunt's place. It was dark, and suddenly I felt a distraction..
*eeeett*
I ignored it.

*flash of movement*

Me: *stares at the road ahead*.. going at 90 km/h

*Nggeeee..*

*BAM*

I caught a mosquito today - with my bare hands, in the dark, while i was driving and staring at a road ahead. It felt pretty damned good, not in a sadistic way, but knowing that sometimes you still got it.

Back to less serious matters, my Chinese new year has been great so far, traditionally with much family fervour. I reckon my family has gotten more accustomed to city CNY celebrations instead of back in Rasa (my hometown), which still stands as a favorite choice. It's dissapointing to think that it's merely another house to rent currently, in place of what once was the breeding and living grounds of the Wong clan.

I miss that house for so many reasons. Firstly, it was a single storey bungalow with almost an acre of land all around. It was a simple layout comprising of the house, the shed where the bulk of gardening and heavy rusted equipment was stored, the mini barn (yes, an actual chicken barn) where we used to have a self-sustaining egg source, and the not-so empty land where animals usually roamed around the many fruit trees available. (which proved to be a source of much excitement when fruit seasons arrive!)

Ahh, I can't help but feel the nostalgia of myself as a Justin junior, running around with nothing but his round face, stumpy clothes and a fat smile across his face. Sheer bliss knowing that all there was to do when I was back in Rasa was to collect my MOOlah (haha, couldn't help it), eat and be merry. That was it, that was the job, and I sure did it well.

Yet, being so young, it was easy to take for granted the fact that the people around you were what made that atmosphere possible.

I think I'm in the right direction when I put my family first most of the time and I'll do my best to keep it that way. After all, when all else fails, you will always have your bloodline to depend on, trust me, I've pulled that card more than once.

GONG XI FA CAI to all my loved ones, sincerely wishing you abundance of health, wealth and happiness throughout this year! =)

It's just emotions..

2008-11-10T01:35:00.000+08:00

I read a recent article which quizzed me on our human ability to feel and contemplate emotions and what was my grasp on my own emotions. Upon some answering and inner meditation, it proved to be quite a revelation.
Be true to yourself and try to answer these:
1. Firstly, how many emotions have you felt in the past 24 hours?
2. Name all the emotions in your dictionary of emotions?
3. Why the (big) difference - if any?

So I answered them:
1. Happy (that I was spending time with my family), hysterical (when my crazy cousins started making below-15-yr-old jokes), lame(nothing unusual there), angry(traffic..), mundane(waiting.. on the world to change), excited(because I bought some cheap cool gadgets!), proud (because I found out my body could do some things others can't. STOP right there if your mind was going on the road less taken.)
2. (Aside from the ones I've mentioned) Ecstatic, confused, lonesome, depressed, down, overjoyed, mischevious, I need a thesaurus.
3. I dunno, you're supposed to tell me, aren't you?

I read on. Imagine this, there was a scientific theory that basically says that you are only able to experience the emotion that your mind is able to label with a word. In other words, if you have a limited vocabulary, you will have limited emotions you can feel and more importantly understand. Haven't we seen many a time in movies where the character says, "I don't know why I'm feeling this way.." or "I just can't put my finger on it..".
For the benefit of the doubt of the scriptwriters, I highly doubt their limited vocabulary is the main reason rather than for the scene itself.

What came to mind were Chinese shows and how they mostly had plots relatively shallow to their Western counterparts. Then you start to think how Chinese label their emotions. For eg, sad (EN) would be Sam Tong (Heart Pain, CN). My chinese ain't the best in the world but I know that English has almost a few thousand words expressing emotion while chinese are one third that number.

The point is, we humans brag about our "ability to feel" and all that but how many of us are making the best of it all? Maybe we all should get that shirt with those faces, eh?

Pace change

2008-09-23T00:39:00.001+08:00

I'm BACK!

After 5 months in the island, I'm now back to BAT headquarters. And headquarters it is. I'm seated in between 2 bosses, with other bosses wandering just around the corner. First day and I finished work at 10pm. I do see more of the 'Freedom Through Responsibility' principle played out here but.. when many are still busy at work at 7pm, I suppose the freedom is limited only by yourself now.

Caged in your own cell, how weird is that.

And as weird as it sounds, I now have to get used to KL, especially the food part. I'm so used to travelling wherever to get whatever and it all'll be about 15 minutes away max. KL's mostly food courts and all at RM5 or more. KL, so called the state in the land of opportunity. Inflation here is quite terrible, I tell yah. And one more thing about the food. Suddenly I realize that the portions are not all that big after all compared to Penang.

So I'm still having mixed feelings about being back. And I'm not having less freedom, just a different type of 'caged freedom'. The pace here is faster and I'm guessing I'm just slightly in denial about the whole thing. I'm starting to miss Penang man! :(

Blah.

In the meantime, do watch this hilarious parody of the current political scene. Subtitles and vocals are played to perfection! Kudos to kavilan for his commendable work! Can you guess who's 'Hitler' in the parody?

A letter to an Island

2008-09-19T01:01:00.000+08:00

Today marks the end of both my business and personal attachment to Penang after a long but awfully short stay here.

And so I write this with a rather heavy heart as I leave the island that I have become so fond of. For the benefit of brevity and spontanity, I will just leave out rhetorics and focus on the anvil that just hit my head all of a sudden. And obviously I will not be touching on the local delicacies.

Freedom is something that has came on and off during my transition to adulthood beginning with me acquiring my driving license all the way to living with my mates away from "the nest" during the Nottingham days.
But living alone just brings a whole new scope to things, doesn't it? The fact that you can literally do ANYTHING you want without a whim or worry and the fact that you have to do ALL the necessary chores to keep your house in order and in living condition has made me understand the balance that comes with freedom. (as ironic as that sounds) You know you have to clean the sheets so that you don't develop sudden rashes or allergies. You know that you have to wash the car when it turns from white to off-white. You know that you can't leave your trash lying around because they aren't going to move by themselves. You know you have to empty the rubbish before.. it starts smelling like rotten durian. You know you gotta pay the bills or you'd better have your torchlight and 10 gallons of 'emergency water supply' ready. Yes, they all have happened (except for the bills part, I'm pretty tight on that).

The things you take for granted.

On the other hand, like I said, you get to choose when and how you want to do or eat what and where and with whom. Every teenager's fantasy! Think about dinner, what movie to watch, how long to surf, what to read, to work or not to work, how long you want to read, etc etc.

Every teenager's fantasy? Not when you're alone, no.

I'm pretty sure you're asking, "Any friends..at all?" I"m just getting into that.

I've met some of the quirkiest people here in Penang. Let me list it a few:
Lim: Manages to bring people to Holland and leave you laughing but in a motion blur wondering what the hell was your question again.
August: *stunned look*............................ What?? Fun guy who brings the entertainment in forms of mahjong and golfballs.
Lam: SPIM head who never fails to amaze me with his spanar throwing techniques. (that's lingo for giving objections to your proposals in the utmost politically correct manner). One of the geniuses hiding in Penang.
Patrick: Entertainment officer of Penang forever who is biased towards Hokkien Mee.
Terrance: (stolen from 'The Last Lecture') The one who made me realize sometimes the hardest brick wall is about 5 feet tall and made of flesh.
Master Loh: U know Alan Shore from Boston Legal? 'Nuff said.
Papa Lai: Someone who reminds me of that guy in 'Under one Roof'. The wise man armed with entertaining stories that leave you no choice but to willingly agree with everything and anything.

I'm also gonna dearly miss the quirkiest names that they have so fondly nicknamed people here in Penang like Pilot King, Tau ke kia, Rojak, Rambo, Super, Sweeden, Tham kuailan, JALL, M.K.T, and many many more. Yes, BAT's not all work, no play. No siree.

(Most) Penangites are also known for their kualian-ness. (I'll attempt this. *inhale* It's like when you mix stubborn, irritable, demanding, arrogant and - dare I say - bitchiness and take it down 3 - 4 notches) But when or if you get past that, it's just a lovely place where everyone's cincai (simple minded), less racist, less calculative and pretty honest to my standards.

Add all of these factors up (including the food of course), you get a place that is pretty irresistable to most, while others cannot and will not let go off. Is it a wonder why patriotism is so high towards Penang? (island only, Butterworth not so)

I can't promise that I will remember all the Hokkien that I've picked up here, but I will forever remember the lovely memories or work and play that this island and their people have brought me.

Yours truly,
Penang Kia

Really?

2008-09-17T21:06:00.004+08:00

People say imitation is the best form of flattery and more often than not I agree too when it comes to buying up the dvd shop in batu ferringi, or when it comes to picking a RM8.50 charkuayteow versus a say, RM2.80 charkuayteow where you'd have to wait for 45 mins and 5 mins respectively. It's all the same to me.

But aside from certain college assignments as well as some classroom antics, I never expected for me to encounter someone..copying.. me. (yes, low self-esteem does come from not scoring Bs in my class)

At least she took some time to edit it. Reminds me of my uni assignment, of which I got a C - for Copying, lol

Haha, don't get me wrong, I've gotten over any sort of anger or resentment phase that would make this seem like an effect to whine like someone took my lolipop. It's now more of.. em, "what do I do with these people?"

If I may, amplify the scenario to gigantic proportions, I would see myself imagining how it'd be to be a rockstar for a day. I'd have a giant afro that defied gravity and smelt like the bush from hell. I'd mix it up like rapstars with some old school Bling™ that hung from my neck all the way to my.. u know, other bush. And when I come on stage, I see people idolizing me and echoing every word I rock from my rocking mouth.

I say: YEEEEAAAOoOooooo...
They say: YEEEEAAAOoOooooo...
I say: WooOoeeaEEEEAAAOoOooooo...
They say: WooOoeeaEEEEAAAOoOooooo...

Then again, it isn't that dramatic. A friend of mine tzeching also had her site copied big time before. It's just someone blatantly plagarized my post, and I think it's funny. It's not like I'm making tons of dough typing my ramblings everyday.

But I do want to say this, the least you could do is LINK my SITE, woman!

Let the games begin

2008-09-16T00:40:00.000+08:00

I'm pretty excited.

I won't pretend to know what might unfold tomrorow, what seems to be history in the making and I want to bear witness to it. Neither will I pretend to believe in entirety that Rome could in fact be built in a day.

And what more, I'm practically in the epicentre of the impending political quake. OoooOoohhh..

Lets do this people, I can no longer tolerate my country and thus me, being represented by foolish idiots who have no idea what democracy, honesty and priorities are about. No longer will I say tidak-apa to the embarrasing acts and emotionally tormenting quotes that our representatives make us sound like we say. No longer do we sit around in racial cliques during our mamak sessions. No longer do I want to feel even a tingle of fear in my nerves when I speak of religious freedom. No longer do I want to hear of racial inequality because I know - we all know - that there is no such thing as a poorer race, only poor people.

I want to be heard again as a Malaysian - a proud citizen of a melting pot of a country who believe in equality in all levels and terms; one who still has that belief that we have that ever-elusive leaders of great change who will bring us out of injustice, corrupt politicking, third-class mentality, and racial and religious taboos; a nation of pride in our culture. I want to see our brightest talents from around the world flock back in herds to their motherland not only because of cheaper living costs, but for the love and willingness to serve the aspirations of their developing nation. And most of all, I want to hear our government departments shred all forms with the race-indicating column and have a default choice of nationality - Malaysian.

This is my dream, always has, always will. Happy Malaysia Day everyone.

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”

~Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens quotes

Bond, James Bond

2008-09-14T10:52:00.002+08:00

Just watched the trailer on Quantum of Solace and I'm not impressed just yet. At a glance, there's the usual violence, expensive cars, vivid villians, and the 'Bond Girl' (featuring Ukrainian-born Olga Kurylenko).

But to me it just isn't the Bond I knew.

For one, you can't blame a guy for being so used to that image of Bond that has been implanted into my mind since I could say Bond.

He's none other than Irish-born Pierce Brosnan. I admire him for his unparalleled coolness, tenacity that portrays from his eyes and above all the shaken-not-stirred charm that all men would love to have and just have to love.

I can never forget the opening chase scene from Tomorrow Never Dies (I think, lol) where he's chasing a car and the target jumps onto a speedboat. He then casually zooms towards the water along the bridge and *woosh* his car turns intoa speedboat itself and together with him, it dives underwater. In the 3 seconds that they're showing him underwater amidst all the chasing madness and near-death stunts, he straightens his tie.

Oh, the embodiment of masculinity - where ego is above all else. And it's probably due to this too that lets him get.all.the.damn.girls. ALLuv them. You may say it's just a show, but.. you really think he can't?

Also, he pulls off great dialogues like:
Q: Would you need collision coverage?
Bond: Yes.
Q: Property destruction?
Bond: Definitely.
Q: Personal injury?
Bond: Accidents do happen..
Q: Grow up Double-oh-seven

And do you know what I just found out?

With just RM1.50, now everyone can be Bond

The new Bond is going to be drinking Coke Zero.

8.0 on the WTF-o-meter

But unlike me, some do appreciate the new Craig-Bond. Perhaps I'll get in the mood get a Diet Coke and watch Casino Royale after a 2 year boycott. Did I mention that I loved the Pierce-Bond?

Don't be like American Jews, Chinese told

2008-09-08T21:36:00.003+08:00

Breaking news from Malaysiakini

Penang Umno leader Ahmad Ismail, the man at the centre of the ‘racial slur' controversy, warned Chinese Malaysians not to mimic American Jews who not only seek to control the country's economy but also its political power.

The press conference, which was held at the Penang Umno headquarters this afternoon, ended with shouts of ‘Hidup Melayu' from about 50 local party leaders who were there.

Soon after the event, former Penang Umno committee member Zainol Abidin Hashim, with the help from his colleagues pulled down the photo of Gerakan acting president Dr Koh Tsu Koon which adorned one of the walls in the party headquarters.

Koh's picture frame, which sat next to the photos of the Penang governor and his wife, was subsequently smashed.

As the glass broke into pieces, Zainol removed Koh's photo from the frame and tore it into half.

Ahmad: Take this as a warning

Earlier, Ahmad told the minority Chinese not to go overboard in hurting the feelings of the Malays and Muslims.

"I want them to know, I want them to take this as a warning from the Malays. Malays and Muslims have been provoked many times. We have been patient because we want to maintain stability in the country," he said.

"Remember! The patience of Malays and Muslims has its limits. Do not push us to the wall, where we will be forced to reject the Chinese for the sake of our survival.

"If what I say sounds too strong for BN, take this as a warning from the Malays and Muslims as this has nothing to do with Umno. Do not pressure Umno leaders until they are caught in a dilemma."

He then sounded a dire warning to Koh and Gerakan.

"I want Koh Tsu Koon and Gerakan to take responsibility for whatever untoward incidents that could happen in this country of ours."

Ahmad also called upon BN leaders to "kick Gerakan out" from the ruling coalition.

At the press conference, Ahmad also urged the different states to hold a gathering of the whole ummah (Muslim community).

"Let us not let it go to waste as the flames of anger among Malays and Muslims has reached new heights. Let us take embrace this anger and come together as Malays and Muslims throughout the land so that we can turn the voices of the Malays into one that will unite all Malays and Muslims into one single movement."

Read Ahmad's 16-page press statement.

I was just about to warn you yesterday that BN will be throwing all possible cards to foil Pakatan's 916 plan.. and most unfortunately yet predictably, they're pulling out the racial card.

Brace yourselves Malaysians, looks like a bloody stormy weather ahead.

Malaysia - gua punya! - Part I

2008-09-07T20:20:00.010+08:00

The 308 (March 8th) political tsunami are almost 5 months behind us so lets take a step back and look at the changing picture.

High-octane Rocket fuel
Our astronaut, Sheikh Muszaphar and his apparent political affiliations

DAP basically cut off the puppet strings that has been holding the state of Penang on a noose and is now reigning like Evis himself. Lim Guan Eng aka CM has been working hard at interrogating every single move by the ruling party and is getting some traction despite the governmental friction. People are responding well, especially to his pledge for CATful (competency, accountability and transparency concept) governence.

However, not all is sugar and spice - the fact that Penang's state budget has been cut by almost 80% and - as many can guess - is only the tip of the iceberg! CM's not resting on his laurels and declared a holiday in rebellion. (and may I add, totally works for me atm!) Much is to be seen how DAP battles on - no doubt with a new brand of arsenal and support - in stormy weather.

Oh and have you noticed that no one dares to bring up the ever-sensitive issue of religion against the CM? Apparently it's because it's like trying to pour water on a pan-fire - you'll get burnt and lose alot of face. But jokes aside, especially with me being here, I feel oppressed. The rakyat feel oppressed.

RM2.70

For those who drive, surely you know what I'm talking about, and for those who don't, well.. lucky you.

Agreed, I wasn't the most kiasu person out there who went out and had a picnic while waiting for my turn to pump the precious liquid gold because I almost agreed with the concept. (but lets leave the issue for another day) Problem was, it wasn't ten, it wasn't twenty, it was a FORTY percent increase in how much I'm paying to feed my white elephant. Even in Penang where the food is considered cheap (i.e. you can find charkuayteow for RM2.80) people are starting to feel the pinch. My friend doesn't even eat breakfast with us anymore. A Penangite, skipping breakfast.. imagine that. And now they want to upgrade our LRTs and reccomend cycling lanes. I wait in bated breath.

He's in the race, but coming from behind

If 308 was a tsunami, he's the surfer riding the waves. His decade long absence from the political scene has made the man stronger and hopefully wiser. He even got himself on live TV! Now, that's a milestone right there.

Just imagine, 10 years ago, people were rallying because a man got punched. Today.. he just might be the man of our tomorrow.

I could almost feel BN quiver watching his well constructed and devious plan unfold right before their eyes - and despite the cheap tricks and words, doesn't seem like they can do anything about it.

And now, the second wave will hit the shores of Malaysia, so soon you can almost feel it. Stay tuned..

Obamaism

2008-09-05T03:13:00.003+08:00

I just watched this and I now feel like a 3rd class nation. Watch and behold.

No, I do not support Obama simply because I don't know what in the world is happening over there. *Dumb blonde moment*..Looks good though.

What's so funny?

2008-09-05T00:07:00.004+08:00

There's quote that says, "A day without laughter is a day wasted". Seeing that I've never met anyone who simply refuses to laugh (with the exception of this clip) makes that a no-brainer.

In recent months during my SDM stint here in Penang, I've hung out with numerous people who have the exceptional ability to tickle your funny bone in an instant and i've grown envious of their entertainment capacity (not to mention their huge memory for their jokes database). Agreed, they may have the stupidest of jokes such as:

Q: How do you make an elephant bow?
A: Flick his balls.

See, I know you're going "wth" but i've seen a guy make the same joke and make 30 grown up men pee in their pants! It's all in the delivery, I know, I know.

No, I'm not going to start preaching on the technicalities of humor i.e. structures of jokes etc etc. It just bugs me simply because I'm getting confused due to the fact that different people I talk to give me absolutely contrasting responses! .. It's not funny when you try to crack a joke with your bosses and you get the 'wtf dude'-look' cuz no one fuggin gets it?! Did I mention they were my bosses? Ohshuttup,it's.not.funny.

Alright, key learning time. The truest and time-tested element of humor is (unfortunately) pain. Whether it's physical or emotional pain:
You slip on a banana! (LOL-worthy!)
I call you a banana! (Snort-worthy!)
or sometimes used to good effect - pain on self:
Say, "I lost my nuts.." (it's a pun. Nuts, as in nuts?? geddittt??!)

(Actually me pleading for laughs is embarrasing and my guess is that you at least snorted there)

A good one I've heard was this guy doing stand-up. He was hilariously going on and on and pretty hard on gays and homosexuals and he noticed that some were getting uncomfortable. (it's the US, see). So he says, "I can see some people gettin uncom-for-ta-ble. Why so serious??! What, I can't make gay jokes now?
Can I see them gays in the house? *lifts one hand* There yoall at. See, I don't know much about gays, but I sure know this; If you can take a dick in your mouth... you sure as hell can take a joke!"

Laugh and be merry people, cheers~

You ain't takin shit from me, ya hear?!

2008-09-04T01:48:00.004+08:00

It's been awhile, but lets waive all 'preliminary hearings' about what the heck has happened to me in the past months and focus on today's post.

Yet again, it's a politically driven article that has sent me into the urge of writing again. Check :

Legend: Green - I'm for it! Yellow - Questionable.. Red - "Like W.T.F." Bolded for emphasis (duh.)

Malaysia DNA bill draws unease

A CONTROVERSY is brewing over a seemingly rushed parliamentary bill that gives enormous powers to Malaysian police and the Home Minister over the use of a person's DNA in criminal offences.

The bill was passed in principle last Thursday after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim staged a walkout of opposition lawmakers to protest Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar's refusal to refer the bill to a select committee for further evaluation. But the disquiet was evident: some National Front lawmakers also expressed their anxiety over the legislation's sweeping reach.

For Mr Anwar, 61, the bill must seem to be a slowly unfolding horror personally directed against him. The former deputy prime minister is facing charges that he sodomised an aide in a case that will be mentioned later this week but has refused to give the police a fresh DNA sample. But the bill would make it for suspects to provide DNA samples on pain of a mandatory jail term.

Although he refused to refer the bill to a select committee, Mr Syed Hamid assured opposition lawmakers that the police would never misuse their powers and promised to resign if they ever did. 'There is no political motive,' he later told reporters. 'I think it's ridiculous that the opposition looks at everything as having a political motive.'

But critics say that the bill seemed draconian. They note, for instance, that the legislation empowers a senior policeman to be the head of the forensic DNA databank. They maintain that an independent body, and not the police which have a vested interest in convicting suspects, should handle collection, storage and testing of specimens.

Another clause in the bill allows a policeman to 'use all means necessary' when taking non-intimate DNA samples (saliva or hair samples, for instance) from a suspect. 'What does 'all means necessary' mean in the case of a suspect who is in police custody?' asks Michael Kumar Devaraj, a medical doctor and an opposition lawmaker from Perak state.

But what frightens people most is a section saying that 'notwithstanding any written law to the contrary, any information from the DNA databank shall be admissible as conclusive proof of the DNA identification in any proceedings in any court'.

Lawyers say that it seems to suggest that a suspect cannot ask for an independent review of the DNA evidence, meaning that the DNA databank's opinion cannot be reviewed in any way by a court of law.

Finally, the legislation provides complete immunity for the minister or any DNA databank personnel for any acts of commission or omission by the person 'in good faith'. The critics note that there is no mention of how leftover samples are to be disposed, implying that suspects could possibly be framed for other crimes.

'DNA testing is too powerful a tool to be placed solely in the hands of a police force that has shown bias against political opponents in the past,' says Dr Kumar. 'Make no mistake, this is a bad law with very serious implications.'

Where do I start?

Alright, first, let me admit that I barely know anything about the law (no, Boston Legal doesn't tell me enough) but I'm pretty adamant that I don't fluking like the idea of someone forcefully trying to shove a cotton bud into my mouth.. by "using all necessary means.."!

Alright, lets not kid ourselves. Since when have we started caring that much about criminal cases to bring us to passing DN fluggin A bills in less than a month?!

Oh wait..we do! Only some cases just don't have DNA, do they? (read - *BOOM*!)

CSI'd be proud I tell yah. Hmm.. maybe not when you realize all of a sudden that one day the tables turned and you're on the mistaken side of the law - the wrong one.

Greens

2008-07-05T23:32:00.003+08:00

Remember once when you were flipping through channels and came upon the PGA American Tour? You tried to look interested and watched for abit to see what the fuss was about.

You didn't get it.

So you tried asking the people who supposedly 'got it'. I did. Feel free to compare your response with mine:

Me: Uncle, what's so fun about golf?
Golf-Crazy-Uncle (GCU) : *pause*. Well.. *pause* It's a very interesting game.
Me: Really? (my brain goes, "Reeaallly..." *rolls eyes*) What's so interesting? It's one of the smallest balls in all balls related games and all you do is use the golf stick and whack it.
GCU: NooOoOoo.... it's more than that. *pause* Nevermind, you won't understand it now. Just play it and see lah. Besides, if you wanna climb the corporate ladder, you've gotta play it. All your bosses play it.
Me: Uhuh. *pause* So uncle how's the weather?

Back to the golf game on TV. The camera zooms in unto the player. There is pindrop silence from a crowd of hundreds. The guy does a practice swing. Looks unto the sky. Looks down. Bends his knees in an awkward position. Pulls the driver back and hits the ball. Camera zooms out to catch the sight of the black dot in the skyyyy..... and greens appear suddenly and the ball roooooooolls and stops.

I didn't get it, however today, the 5th of July 2008, Justin has officially been unto the greens.

Cheers to that. More to come about golfing, you can be sure of that. :)

Back from Bangkok

2008-05-26T03:30:00.002+08:00

Just came back from Bangkok about 3 hours ago. It's late and I'm having jetlag. And I've to wake up for work tomorrow at 7.

Crazy.

Oh, and equally crazy is I've spent about 1k on stuff in 4 days. Lol, the look on Sulyn's eyes when I showed her all the things I've bought.. accompanied with the prices of them was just like O____O". And all she can say nowadays is, "save save save.. wanna go wanna go.. Bangkok Bangkok BaaaaangggKOKKKK!!!"

Haha, had fun and now I've gotta sleep. Bangkok update soon. Tschus!

Balancing act

2008-05-20T02:08:00.002+08:00

UPDATED as of May 20!

Hellooo blog. Yes, Justin Wong is still alive but apparently his blog doesn't show it. Why?

No big surprise that I've been busy being busy. With what? Well, for starters, I'm now in PENANG, the island of cheap charkuayteow and one way streets.

Yeah, I'm going to be based here for about 5 months meaning till approximately mid-September and will be performing the role as a Sales and Distribution Manager.

Honestly, so many things have been happening since the last time I put up that Al-Pacino clip (which I'm guessing many of you liked but not that much to expect it to remain there for months) that I don't know where to begin.

Even personally, so many things have happened that made me rethink everything again. I'm gaining ground yet am losing footing. I'm gaining trust of others yet losing it from some I value most. I'm getting pretty good in the job yet feel I'm underperforming as well. Similarly, I'm making new friends yet this same thing seems to be the weakest link when it comes to older friends.

I just can't agree with the yin-and-yang-ness of it. Something's just not right.

Hmm, I don't suppose sleeping on it will make much of a difference, will it? But that's what I gotta do for today for the betterment of tomorrow. Hmm.. why am I living today for tomorrow again?

2008-03-17T22:47:00.002+08:00

I don’t know what to say, really. We got three minutes left till the biggest battle of our professional lives.. It all comes down to today. We either heal as a team, or we crumble, inch by inch, play by play – until we’re finished.

We’re in hell right now, gentlemen, believe me.

We can sit here and get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light; we can climb out of this anger and this doubt and this uncertainty – we can climb out of hell – one inch at a time, or.. I wish I could do it for you, but I can’t. I’m too old.

I look around at your faces and I see young men and I think I made every wrong choice a middle-aged old man can make – my life is a long list of rookie mistakes. I pissed away all my money, chased off everyone that loved me… lately I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror. As we get older, some things are taken away. Well, that’s part of life, but you only learn that when you lose something. You find out that life is the game of inches!

So’s football.

Because the margin for error in either game, football of life, is so small… so small, guys. One half-step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it. One half-second too slow or too fast and you don’t quite catch it ‘cause it’s half a fingertip away. The inches we need are everywhere around us, they’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second.

Mandrake forgot that. He was grabbing for miles when he only needed inches. And on this team there are no shortcuts. There are no more Doctor Mandrakes. On this team we fight for that inch! We tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch! We claw with out fingernails for that inch ‘cause when you add up all those inches, that is what makes the fucking difference between winning and losing – between living and dying…

In any fight I can tell you this,k It’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s going to win that inch. And I know that if I’m gonna have any kind of life anymore, it’s because I’m still willing to fight and die for that inch…

That’s what living is.

The six inches in front of your face. I can’t make you do it. You have to look around – look at the guy next to you – look into his eyes – and I think you’ll see a guy you know will go that inch with you. You’ll see a guy who’ll sacrifice himself for his team because when it comes down to it, he knows you would do the same for him! That’s a team, gentlemen!... And either we will heal now as a team – or we will die as individuals.

That’s football, guys; that’s all it is.

Now what are you going to do?

Taken from the movie Any Given Sunday starring Al Pacino. With stunning speeches and priceless expressions such as this one, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors who ever graced the silver screens. Hope you enjoyed it.

Assembly on Saturday

2008-03-05T22:36:00.007+08:00

In line with my new desire for change and to 'live it up', I am telling myself that I deserve something interesting in life to do. Therefore my current resolution (yes, i believe in dynamic rather than static I-want-to-lose-10-kilos resolutions) is to do something new, interesting and different every week. On the other hand, this brings Kenny Sia to mind as I recall his motto being "making everyday things interesting" or some sort.

Anyhow, in that line, Len Jin planned to head for a trip to the Zoo / Bird park / etc. but didn't really turn out cuz of a many people flying aeroplanes as well as a rainy Saturday morning. Instead, we went out and grabbed lunch followed by a movie. Hold up, I can't remember what I ate. *thinks* Knowing it's Len Jin, i know it must've been something good. Hmm...

*still thinking*

Anyhow, we watched Assembly soonafter. Here's my take on the movie.
Assembly refers to the call of the bugle to retreat and regroup, and this is the call that Captain Gu Zidi (Zhang Hanyu) and his 47 men of the 9th Company, 3rd Batallion, 139th Regiment, are keenly listening out for, as they go about their mission in ill-equipped fashion. There is significance in knowing all those numbers as it indirectly depicted the passion and emotion Captain Gu had for his men.

Halfway through, the movie slows down abruptly like the current condition of my Proton Saga(due to engine probs). It then brought the viewers to a softer - and yet deeper - side of post-war syndrome. It almost entirely detaches you from the first half of the show, not to mention bringing up family matters as well as a view of the larger picture in war, only to bring you back to the first point of the assembly that never was.

The movie gives sufficient food for thought for us naive humans to learn about. Such as..

1. Brotherhood

Band of Chinese brothers

The appreciation and sanctity of brotherhood nowadays falls far from what it could be. To know that there are ones who would be willing to take a bullet for you is something. Many a time nowadays we see 'friends' using other friends, and many who take friendships for granted.

2. War
If you watch movies such as these and still vote for pro-war policies, then you can go fuggyerself, period.

3. Appreciation
If you're one to be feeling unappreciated or think that you've a shitty life, think again. Like I've been repeating to myself alot these days, there are almost no problems that we face day in and day out which are matters of life and death. So get a grip and move on.

Personally, there were scenes that really built them tears at the edge of the eyes and also times when I was left panting at the edge of my seat. (Ok, maybe it was just me..) But overall, highly reccomended!

Rating: 9/10

Oh, also, I was driving back today and I saw these 2 large posters in my vicinity. Apparently a heated topic now. (btw, these jokers have no sense of logic, putting these posters halfway uphill where you can't stop to look. I had to make a U-turn and go into another road)

Translated jist of it (courtesy of Qian Hui): "guarding the post carefully, serving with humble manner...pls vote for BN"

This is what it really boiled down to, huh? Personal attacks. Happens in the US too, but imo, this is quite immature. I mean, you all are leaders for heaven's sake. I can't imagine how anyone who'd do this try to fight for us in parliament.

"all this while, from starting to the end, never will leave and abandon, pls vote for BN" (Thanks Qian Hui! :)

What do they mean by be 2nd choice? Asked my dad and apparently all 'government' MPs get a budget of RM2 million per year for development purposes. "DAP MPs?", i ask. "None..", he solemnly replies. WTF? What, so you're all BETTER than DAP delegates or something? This part I don't get. Can anyone help me out on this one? Or are we kept in the dark - as always.

Coming up next, Ducks of Nottingham!

And the reason is you

2008-02-25T23:19:00.005+08:00

After some thought, I've realized why I haven't been updating this blog as often as I want to: I'm putting too much pressure on myself to make something entertaining for my readers (being you) and sometimes it gets annoying that it doesn't sound fantastic enough.

But I realize that doesn't beat not updating it at all. I've sidetracked from the reason this blog came to existance in the first place - being me.

Yes, I've realized that sometimes it takes a little selfishness to get along in life. No, it's not about being bitter or anything, but deep down, every single one of us tunes in to Wii.fM (which stands for What's in it for ME!). Really, like just today I had a friend who was talking about her relationship problems (which I won't go into - as much as you all want to hear - due to privacy issues).

In the midst of elaborating her predicament, I told her straight to her face, "Amy (not her real name), what do you want out of this?" And after some convincing, she got some real clarity about what was at stake for her that's keeping her up all night.

Yes, most, if not all of the time it's about me. It reminds me about an episode on Friends where Joey convinces Phoebe that nothing she can ever do is ever outright selfless. That was a pretty good episode.

You're still not convinced? Tell me something, who's the first pretty face you look for in a group shot?

Hah, told'ja so.

P.S : There's no point to this post except to prove my point, haha. And no, i'm not living in depression because I'm surrounded by selfish people.

On the brighter side of things, here's a more amusing take on the upcoming elections!

Shocker

2008-01-13T15:25:00.000+08:00

"A friend of mine the other day commented about how emo my blog felt. Got meh? Anyway, today I shall be blogging about something a lil more exciting."

Just a few weeks ago, I was chatting on the line with one of my buddies and I received an incoming call..

Private..

So I just finished up with my friend, and took the incoming call..

*tuut tuut..tuut..*

So I went along doing my own thing and I got a call.

*121* (Voice Message calling me.. I find this rather cool actually, having 'Maxis' call you)
"You have one new message.. First message.."

I listened.. and listened.. My heart slowed down only to start beating faster and harder, "I hate it when this happens.." What the.."

Thoughts of times where I raced past a red light, argued with a cop, settled with a cop, rioted, vandalised soemthing..
Or perhaps more recently..God forbid, the I.S.A. is after my ass for discussing recent sensitive issues? Thoughts of me possibly ending up like the fate of our dear local warrior, Namewee with his trendy anthem passed. Could I be heading to a high-profile government intervention into my private life?

I wanted to swear off Malaysian politics there and then.

My colleague Nic was sitting beside me merrily talking when he suddenly realized that I had a pale look on my face.

"You ok ah, bro?", he asked.

"Yeah.... gotta make a call. Be right back..", said I before I got out of the car to contact the High Court. Here's how it went.

Me: Hello, nama saya Justin Wong dan saya baru dipanggil oleh Makhamah Tinggi kerana saya tidak hadir dalam satu perbicaraan.
HCstaff: Ya ke? Kamu ada menerima apa-apa surat berkenaan hal ini, tak?
Me: Takde. Tapi saya baru dapat 'miss call' daripada mereka dan mereka tinggalkan voicemail saja.
HCstaff: Oh, ini penipuan la, En. Wong.
Me: ...
HCstaff: Ya, memang beberapa orang sudah komplain tengang ini.
Me: *phew* -_______-"
HCstaff: Eh, kamu jangan bagi nombor IC tau!
Me: Ya ya. nasib baik voicemail aje.

I figured the modus operandi of this sly bs3rds is:

1. To let you hear this pre-recorded message.
2. You will (Well, I would've) then press 9 for 'further information'.
3. Like other services, the 'obvious' thing to do next is validate your identification so that they can 'check' their database for your 'case'.
4. Thinking that the High Court is so advanced, unsuspecting civilians would surrender their private information and then *SLAM*.. they put down the phone on you leaving you with no option to retrace the information or sue the heck out of 'High Court'.

So my advice, be VERY careful with where your IC number or any other sensitive information goes, whether it be on the phone, telemarketers, online pop-ups, credit card agents, etc.

I'd like to thank whoever it was who was talking to me, the High Court lady staff and God for bestowing me good luck against this Sohigh court.

*phew*

Take it to the max

2008-01-06T01:04:00.000+08:00

It's 2008!
Most of us went through either:
Multitudes of new year SMSes - some thoughtful, some inspiring and some recycled and corny,
Extreme partying i.e. reducing the blood in our alcohol stream,
Bonding with our loved ones via house parties and such,
and of course trying to make our resolutions for the rest of the year - trying being the keyword.

In relation to making resolutions, I scouted the web for some inspiring quotes to do my part in spreading the SMS joy and found this.

We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. This book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

I thought I'd spend a few hours contemplating on my resolution for the coming year. But some would disagree on the concept of a new year's resolution like others would disagree about Valentine's Day; Why spend one day 'celebrating love'? Does this mean that you can't do it on any other day? In fact, you should.

I however think that if one tries to make big decisions everyday, he would end up becoming a very tension-fied wreck and perhaps constantly disappointed - at himself.

But I was proven wrong.

So wrong it even felt like I was getting scolded by the book Awaken the Giant Within, written by Anthony Robbins (my favorite life coach). I bought the book instantly. Tony says that in order to stretch yourself to your maximum potential, you have to make conscious decisions to direct your life everyday. It's akin to wishing upon a genie but instead, you demand this decision out of yourself.

Deep stuff. The book is slightly long winded (his style) but highly reccomended if you'd like to awaken yer giant. No, pun not intended.

Yes, I got carried away. But back to point - How would I like my year to be?

Well, a brief recap of 2007 has told me that:

i) I'm fond of doing involuntary charity to whom I will never know

I think my pants have holes that I'm not aware of..

ii) I just can't/don't take serious things seriously.
iii) Despite having my watch 36 minutes early, I'm constantly 22 minutes late (in actual time) therefore qualifying me for time zones of Bangkok, Hanoi or Jakarta.
iv) Food is good and I'm getting prosperous.

There's definitely more where that came from but this year I'm taking a different approach I learnt from BAT called Continuous Improvement. Reason being new year resolutions should not be a one-off thing. It's like asking you to lift a forest worth of logs in a day. Rather, one should pick a stick a day in order to reach the destination without dying.. in spirit.

So the first one, would be to get in shape.

Nice.

And my mantra (something that you'd repeat day in and day out to motivate yourself) for the year to keep me going is, "I'm something else".
Do share if you have or can think of any good ones.

Shoot me

2007-12-30T23:10:00.000+08:00

About a week ago, a dear friend of mine lent me one of his latest hard-earned toy - his Fuji Finepix S6500fd or..

So I got quite excited when he agreed to the short loan. (Well this dear friend of mine just so happens to be very particular about the condition of anything of his - books, cam, car, car door, etc.)

I began thinking about wild trips to the jungle just for the sake of photography. Can you imagine, everyone going to a random place - be it a jungle, a god forsaken town, etc. - just to capture still scenes of the world.

Overdramatic.

Anyhow so after meeting up, I spontaneously suggested that I follow him back to Putrajaya to take some night photos and so that he might be able to give me some insight on how to operate this advanced piece of thing-a-magic. To cut a long story short, I present to you a beginner's go at pro-photography. =D

(Please click on the thumbnail for the full blow-up. Images have been scaled down and quality compensated to avoid hair loss while uploading pics..)

So there was this bridge. It's one of the 3 bridges that connects the Precints of Putrajaya.
"Is it important", you ask?
Yes, it is if you don't have any avenues to claim fuel or have a Petrol-growing-tree at home.

Well, this is one of the mosques that we had a direct sight of while he was givin me my cam tutorial

Trying to be all artistic..

Our dear friend trying to have an emo pose. Didn't really jadi(make it), tho.

I stumbled upon this road on the way to the bridge (below). Turned in and this was all I got. A.. em, compound? What's wrong with these people man..

Close up. See what I mean?

Bridge pic.

Another bridge pic.

This is my bitch, Pixel. She has two peculiar things about her:
i) She has a pigtail, literally. It's curled.
ii) One of her ears refuse to listen to her, lol.

Su's present for me. A close-up. ;)

Attempt at camwhoring. Su said I 'looked like an alien'.. --____--"

WTH.

Comments are always welcome! :)

Barely passing

2007-12-26T23:14:00.000+08:00

Today was another one of a stream of bad events that has been going through my life. When Ian found out, he said Buddhists would call it bad karma. I feel that God's trying to 'put me to the test..and deliver me from evil' as they say. And what's worse, I don't seem to be passing. :(

I duno man. Call it whatever you will, karma, luck, fate, etc., I'm avoiding succumbing to attributing events in my life to these factors. Apparently a friend of mine said that a typical 'Chinese' cure would be to give some donations to the poor. Although I have nothing against that and makes alot of sense, I still feel that it's an indirect way of washing your hands of things, dont'cha think?

A conversation could between Mr.Aeh and Mr. Bee would go like:
A: Man, damn crappy weh today..
B: Why la bro?
A: Duno la, keep screwing up everything
B: Bad luck weh u..
A: Yealah, bad luck.. What to do?
B: Can't do anything bro, just plain 'ol bad luck.

See what I mean? My approach is that unless you've done everything in your capacity to avoid whatever just happened to you, it ain't luck bro. I call it "Learning it the Hard Way" or an "Expensive Lesson".

Oh also, I did something today that I never imagined I'd do. I yumcha-ed with about 7 cops. I didn't know much to talk about when they were going about their usual police garblebob language. Duno whaat la. I'll reserve whatever comments I have for now, though.

On another note..
Here's a fantastic track by Boyz II Men called Tracks of My Tears. In case you didn't know, these guys ROCK. What I'd give to have any one of their voices. Don't get too mesmerized that you forget to check out their coordinated steps too.

Btw, didn't they have 4 members before?

Anyway, here are the lyrics to it. (As far as I've looked, I'm one of the few who have a copy-able version on the net, so you're welcome for typing it out! :)

Boyz II Men – Tracks of My Tears

Verse 1
People say I’m the life of the party
‘Cause I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I’m blue

Chorus
So take a good look at my face
You’ll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it’s easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

I need you, need you

Verse 2
Since you left me if you see me with another girl
Seeming like I’m having fun
Although she may be cute, she’s just a substitute
Because you’re the permanent one
[Chorus]

I need you, need you

Bridge
Outside (I’m masquerading)
Inside (My hope is fading)
Just a clown (Ooh yeah since you put me down)
My smile is my make up
I wear since my break up with you

[Repeat Chorus]

I like. :)

credit to LenJin for introducing this clip to me

Finger lickin good

2007-12-25T23:46:00.000+08:00

No, I'm not referring to KFC, but the stuff this guy comes up with his guitar. Simply Amazing, and not just skilled like some rockers - it actually sounds darned good. Anyway, watch and you'll see what I mean.

Do you agree with me now? Percussion+Strings = Percusstrings. Never have I heard/seen anything like this, seriously. O_o"
Now Zack Kim looks like he has some competition.

You can also check out and vote for the other guitar clips running for the Best Guitar Clip award at guitarworld.com.

BTW, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a Merry and Jolly Christmas and have lotsa fun with your loved ones. And also take extra good care of your wallets/purses.

Love!

Oy, wan fight ah?

2007-12-21T00:02:00.000+08:00

It's 12.30 a.m, and I have work tomorrow. But knowing what I know now, I feel that it is my personal responsibility to myself and my country to inform you all of the following happenings.

As you all would know, there has been some widespread violence going around in this country by all parties. (lets not be biased here, most were arrested for a reason) But most of you all probably would not be aware of the extent of which this is happening. Below are a compilation of some videos of the happenings that would show you how close to home this is..and how lightly it has been portrayed to us in formal media.

Hindu temple Demolition in Klang Oct 2007

It's business, not personal..

Don't forget them reporters!

Even in parliament!

That was something. Havoc's even happening outside of parliament. Look at blatant insult to the sanctity of the parliament (ordinarily considered sacred judicial grounds of the law), the justice system - whatever's left of it - as well as individual rights.

click here for a longer and clearer version. Watch from 8:30 onwards.
And most recently, the Hindraf rally, 25th November 2007.

I TOTALLY can't agree with the interviewee, can you?

and finally quoting from Nak Tak's article:
Police says: 1000 people attended the rally
Media says: 4000 people
Najib says: 10,000 people
Bersih says: 40,000 people
Picture says:
A picture is indeed worth a thousand words - tens of thousands in this case.

This shit is f*cked up, seriously. And I'm pissed off.

Losing grip

2007-12-18T19:56:00.000+08:00

Much *pause* has happened during my absence from this blog. In fact, these happenings are perhaps the cause of my desire to avoid writing about them as:
Firstly, there's too much to write.
Secondly, there's nothing much to write.
Thirdly, to think about what I'm writing would be like trying to blow an already fully inflated balloon.

I'd

pop.

Dramaticism aside. I'm at one of the lowest points of my life where almost nothing I do seems to be right. Have you ever been through that? You don't have to be a genius to know that it's tough. Especially when you're used to having almost everything going your way right before this.

So I'm wondering to myself,
"Why is this happening?"
"What's different now?"
"What am I doing wrong?"
"Should/can I blame anyone else but myself?"
"Is it me.. or is it my situation/condition?"
"Is it me?"
"Is it..me?"

Notice never once did I ask, "Why me?"

I understand that in this life, you have to go through the rock bottom of shit to know how you should appreciate the times you're not in it.

But this is close.

I'm probably trying too hard to be too [insert adjective here]. Maybe I'm trying too hard.
Working too hard.
Loving too hard.
Thinking too hard.

Yeah bro, the person who gets hurt most in the end is.. (yep, you guessed it) yourself.

Come to think of it, all this being hard is making me soft in the head. (No pun intended, whatsoever) No really, methinks this is draining energy out of me. Everyday I come home tired and mentally exhausted. (For some reason, I've been needing naps periodically and needing additional night sleep. Much more than what I used to need)

All I can do now is utilize my time to the best of my capacity; the rest is up to God.

I can't bring myself to say that this'll be better soon, but I've learnt the hard way not to overpromise others and myself. To those who're also going through trying times, you have my moral support and I'm sure I have yours.

In the meantime, I'll be working overtime. So pardon my neglect of this blog temporarily; though I may drop in to write a word or two once in awhile. Wish me luck, 'n thanks for the love.

2007-11-15T00:44:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-06T21:53:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-04T00:40:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-01T22:15:00.000+08:00

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.

2007-10-30T01:42:00.000+08:00

46 hours n counting!

V Double O claims to be the fastest rapper in the UK. IMO, he's pretty damned fast and has good rhythm to his rapping. FAB.

Gotta love it.

P.S. : This post is to override the pink spinning thingamagic cuz it's annoying the heck out of my eyes. 0_o"

Cool illusion

2007-10-15T02:12:00.000+08:00

Ok, this is a brain trick I received from my sister via e-mail.

********************************************

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color, pink.
However. if you stare at the black "+" in the center, the moving dot turns to green.

Now, concentrate on the black "+" in the center of the picture.
After a short period, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating.

It's amazing how our brain works. There really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear. This should be proof enough, we don't always see what we think we see.

***********************************************

In other words, the saying "I've seen it with my own eyes" has just lost it's credibility. Who else do you trust then? *ponders*

Young talent

2007-10-12T15:35:00.000+08:00

I went to the doctor's the other day with a steering wheel in my pants. The doctor said, "What happened?". I said, "I don't know but it's drivin' me nuts.."

by young comedian Jake Pratts in Britain's got Talent
Lol man, wth.

I know I said 1st November but oh what the heck.

And to all Muslims out there, Selamat Hari Raya / Eid Mubarak! =)

A short pause

2007-10-06T18:23:00.000+08:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to apologize for my complete absence and from the site for a long time. Please allow me some time to stabilize with the routines in this new phase of life.

Also, many thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes on my 21st anniversary of my 1-year old birthday, (I'm not sure whether that's right) especially everyone who took the trouble to remember and those who called from all over the world! Again, many thanks!!!

Also I am planning a site revamp soon. To make it look more eye-pleasing or such.

My next post will be on the 1st of November in time for the festive

Till then,
Justin

In the meantime, please enjoy this video which i found immensely hilarious!

Move on

2007-09-26T00:47:00.000+08:00

During a harmless visit to IKEA last week, I lost my wallet containing my IC, driver's license, quite some cash that was supposed to last me till I get some dough inflow, ATMs and a few documents. How? Well, lets just say no matter the brand, do not invest in pants/jeans which have shallow pockets; you're bound to give charity sometime. Not to mention when it happens during buka puasa timing, people ain't what they used to be. But would've I returned a wallet that I found some good cash and I need it urgently?

It's like asking a rich man whether he needs more money.

Sigh, so I'm left IC-less, and everything-less. But thanks to some hard therapy I was forced to endeavor sometime back, I somehow mustered enough strength to let go of the loss of my wallet on that day itself. It's based on what someone once told me, the more you let go of all sense of material belonging, the more peaceful you'd be. Lets do a simple test, shall we?

Could you:
i) Lose your wallet and just do the next best thing? (e.g. get dough with your pass book?)
ii) Lose your handphone along with all your contacts and say "oh well.. was due for changing anyway"..
iii) Let go of your car for whatever reason and just wait for the next bus?
iv) Migrate to say, Swizerland for the next 5 years and with 2 weeks notice? (yes, you will have a job and stuff waiting for you there)
v) Lose your house to a diasaster (and all the history that has become you for all the years back when you were a 1-year-old toddler sucking on your pacifier?)

If you score:
0-1: Cement
You'll be hit hard when tragedy strikes. Devastated feeling of an identity crisis imminent.
2-3: UHU glue
You're right in the middle. You'll feel the tinge, hate what's happening but accepts the brutal reality that shit happens. You'll survive.
4-5 - Ice Kacang
Like the namesake, you're as cool as ice and everything else is kacang (peanuts). Your motto : "Steady/Rileks/Biasa-lah brudder..." You've developed this ability to just slide through when the going gets tough simply because you've literally "been there, done that". Because there's no replacement for experience: everyone wants to bury their head in a hole anytime any of the above happens, but we can't.

Only the tough survive.

Btw, saw this funny 'bumper sticker' in FB.
"Officer, I swear to drunk that I'm not God!!!"
I'd love to have one of those. XD

2007-09-20T20:58:00.000+08:00

Steady steady...

Bleh.

4th day and I'm feeling burnt out. The change of clocktime is really exhausting. Hmm.. need some motivation. MUST sleep at 11 tonight.

Day 3 batMan

2007-09-19T21:36:00.000+08:00

I've been having a pretty stretching first few days. The most obvious first would be the multitude of names that I've forced my petty brain to memorize. And I do this by saying their name in my mind for about 6 times and going round again. So far I've met about close to a sixty people in this past 3 days, so you can imagine the 'party' going on inside. And that's along with the hundreds of abbreviations they're constantly throwing at me. On top of my mind are DMM, DSM, ASS, BOI, BOE, HPR, SPR, SDR, RCS, CO, PO, CI.... Wala*eh. One fine day, I will understand all the terminology and write a rap song using only letters and Uhuhs, yos, ya-feel -mes.

Another pleasant surprise was the amount of effort actually put into the Management Trainee program. Today a few fellow Management Trainees and I were in a room with a few HR-Marketing managers, and for about an hour plus accumulatively, they discussed our 2 year program in depth. I tell you this because I honestly never expected this program to be taken as seriously as portrayed to us in the beginning and I thus doubted the alignment between its planning and execution. But it seemed like the bosses here were more gung ho about implementing it as well as continuously improving the program. BAT's HR and administration continues to amaze me.

Coming soon: A philosophical approach on life prioritizing

How's It?

2007-09-18T23:57:00.000+08:00

Briefly answering the question most of you all have been asking:

First two days at work has been great! Although what I went through was mostly inductions but it made me feel a part of the company, a good company with even better employees. You can actually feel the energy everywhere you walk. Thank God for that, else I'd be dying in a dying office.

Tomorrow'll be my first day out on the field where I'll be attached with the CoE (Centre of Excellence) or DSS(Direct Sales Specialist) with the DMM(District Marketing Manager) and after that I might see the SS(Sales Specialist) and the ASSes(Asst. SS). Lolz, I can imagine some people begging to get out of that position. Yeah, it's like BMW all over again with the short forms.

Will update soon, as for now *yaawn*, feeling sleepy. And it's just past 12 O_o"

Hiccups Cure

2007-09-17T01:30:00.000+08:00

Been pretty busy these few *hick* days and will update in abit. But I just had to post this cuz I've been *hick* having a bad case of 'serial hiccups' (as Devan puts it) for about *hick* a day and a half now. *hick* The moment I got back, i searched for a *hick* remedy and this is what I got.

30-Second Hicc*hick*up Cure

Step 1: *hick* Start by inhaling through your mouth until your lungs feel full (when it feels like you cannot *hick* inhale any more). For overall best results, try to *hick* do this as quickly as you can. DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.

Step 2: Swallow. You are not really swallowing anything but it seems that without this act, it doesn’t work. DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.

Step 3: Now inhale some more. You don’t need to inhale a lot, but do get some more air in. It will start to get difficult to do this as you go, but keep trying. You obviously can’t suck in as much air as you did initially, but just a little will do (think of it as taking a “sip” of air). DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.

Step 4: Swallow again. This too will start to get difficult as you go. DO NOT LET ANY AIR OUT.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you cannot swallow again. While it seems you can almost always suck in just a little more air, it is the swallowing that gets to be impossible. When you feel like you cannot swallow again, swallow again anyway. It will be hard to do, your face will probably turn red, and you may make squeaking sounds. But you CAN swallow one last time. By this time, your lungs should also be quite full and it should be difficult to get much more air in as well. While you should try not to let any air out, if you have really repeated steps 3 and 4 as many times as you can, you probably will end up letting a little out before you can take that last swallow. If you find that air keeps escaping out of your nose even early in the process, try squeezing it shut with your fingers.

Step 6: Exhale.

Credits to Kevin and Kris from Cognitial.com cuz this shit WORKS!

Have a hiccup-free day today!

Poison and Antidotes

2007-09-11T11:48:00.000+08:00

It's always been in me to be impartial and these are a few clips that I feel deserves attention about different perspectives of 'the story'.

The poison

Click if you want to read the unanimated version.

****************************

Neutral

"Human rights? Why should I care about that? Most people don't even know what it means.
Many people - like u and me - are only interested in one thing - TO BE ABLE TO LIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY.
And that's the very reason that BN is still holding to power! That's exactly what they are giving - and can very much still do so - to the M'sians people *regardless of race*"

"If you look at history people have and will continue to vote for whoever can give them peace and harmony.
For now only BN can do that. Sure you can quote that Khairy monyet, but if you look at the big picture it's like the stock market having a slight correction - not a stock market crash yet - that's why people have no fear to rush to sell."

"In other words they are not interested in DAP criticizing what the government did not do. THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT DAP/PAS/KEADILAN AS PART OF THE NEW COALITION CAN DO FOR THEM."

Click for full version

****************************

The Antidotes
(I)

This guy is goooooood. He got my first ever youtube comment and deservedly so.

Among the things he advocated, the most important was his honest and open attitude, to look at the situation beyond race and religion enough to objectively judge what was right or wrong (with hints of humor and sarcasm too!). Amin Idris, I await your involvement in the GE! =D

(II)
"Some four million eligible voters, who can make a major difference in a democracy, have not registered with the Election Commission (EC) and two-thirds of them are aged between 22 and 30." and therefore
-YOU-!
Even babies know that with great power comes great responsibility.

Ah, finally something to ease the bad blood. Glad there's still hope after all. =) I sure hope the government knows what they're doing cuz aside from the food, everything else doesn't seem promising.

Note:
I know I've been pretty engrossed in the whole problem issue that was sparked since 'that song' arose but can you blame me? Elections are coming mah, and it's my first time I (and most of you) actually play a damned real part in this. So bear with me, aite?

Pushing me away

2007-09-10T21:26:00.000+08:00

I've noticed that the recent tribulations within our country and the government has made us less ignorant than we were before and even to the extent of being proactive in matters pertaining to our troubled nation - a rare sight.

So the average Bobby goes to a newsstand to get our daily press to read the dailies such as The Star or NST somewhat skewed from the news he hears around the water dispenser during breaks. Bobby starts doing the next best thing, internet research on Malaysian news. He finds links to the newspapers that he has read. The fourth site however, brought him to a whole new world; Malaysiakini.

Their:
Vision
To use the Internet to provide free and fair news to the Malaysian public and to set new standards in journalism as well as to support the development of freedom of speech, social justice and democracy in Malaysia.

Mission
To publish an online newspaper that informs the Malaysian public of the latest news and critical issues in an independent and fair manner, and to facilitate discussion of current concerns, thereby challenging the views produced by the government-dominated mainstream media.

It's a noble cause. See what others can't, know what others don't. See the other side of the story or even the gray area, because the 'white' side doesn't stretch very far. You never know who's right or who's wrong but one thing's for sure, it screams of a Malay metaphor I remember so well, "Ada ketam di sebalik batu" (translated as "There's a crab behind the stone") meaning hidden agendas.

Even the recently announced Budget 2008 that was aimed at enhancing the nation's competitiveness, strengthening human capital development and ensuring the well-being of all Malaysians was not spared and described as an "unusual one” with a mix of “confused priorities” and “mismatch objectives” and above all, pointed at elections.

Then there are numerous open criticisms concerning government decisions as well as reports of shady activities. I shan't comment on any of these as someone like me who barely reads newspapers or malaysiakini for that matter inadequate information and that it's better to leave it to the experts.

But I've seen what an overdose of MK can do to one. You feel irritated at the slightest things and would develop chronic Aaahism, the unwritten disease of someone incessantly going "Aaah" at the slightest things and proceed to come up with an alternate conspiracy theory. (a friend of mine jYong comes to mind, hahah) It increases your blood pressure, no matter which side you're on - because you either are losing due to certain unfair policies or (assuming you're a person who actually cares and have the slightest bit of integrity) are just plain ashamed.

I can feel that my love for Malaysia is slowly metamorphing into a love-hate relationship. The increasing problems faced by our people cause me to to think more. And the more I think, the more I wonder whether my permanent residentship is worth keeping any longer. Yes, you may argue that it isn't any better overseas with racism and poverty shooting through the roof. But for now it seems like it's led by more civilized and less selfish people. I don't think there's a conclusion to this post but more of a big rant that I had to let out. Can you feel my frustration?

Can you feel his? All for freedom of press, yo.

Links

2007-09-09T15:41:00.000+08:00

I just found out that this blog is the FIRST LINK that pops up if you search for "Who kill Namewee". What Google thinks I'm some Sherlock Homes site now? Sigh, am terribly misunderstood.

Speaking of which, PLEASE watch these videos. I laughed my pants off.

Warning to Namewee

What were these people thinking?

And better yet - a video reply.

I've no comment but I just had to share that. My favorite part was the beginning when he went, "Hallo fren, go and stadee la.."; the priceless Malaysian accent. Although imo he went a lil too far with the piggy stuff but still, that's for humiliating your fellow Malaysians, guys.

Post edit:
I just clicked on the "who kill Namewee" link again and the results have changed. Google understands! Kudos to their efficiency. =)

Just B

2007-09-07T12:30:00.000+08:00

Here's another twist in the unending fight for equality.

We are working for equality between early birds and night owls.

Now, that's what I call music to my ears.

First, let me give you a jist of what probably sparked these late bloomers' (a shocking fourth of our general population) shouting.
"Scientists have long known that early and late risers have genetic differences. A study from the University of Surrey found that extreme larks are more likely to have a long version of a gene called Period 3, while extreme owls are more likely to have a shorter version, leading to physiological differences. Professor Angela Clow from the University of Westminster in London found that early risers had higher levels of cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, than the alarm-clock refuseniks."
In other words, we, late sleepers are born this way and no one should question our times of sleeping as that would tantamount to questioning our genes.

Welcome to the world of B-society. Where we now fight back where we have been suppressed. Where we are wide awake when others are fast asleep. Where we rule when no one is on the streets.

I for one having wanted to be an A-group convert now have a conflict. I've always loved the thought of getting up early in the morning, taking my own sweet time, doing a light workout, smelling the yet to be polluted air, etc.

But is that as sweet as the joys of teh tarik, the late-night chats, the warmth of the midnight oil, the needlessness for sunglasses, and the uttermost effectiveness of my mental capability.

It's hard to say, not to mention as being known as one of the night owls among my groups. Wait, all my groups are ultra-nocturnals. I've a friend, whom we fondly refer to as Bobo and is known to switch his clock all the way to US time and back just in time for the exam period.
I quote, "Well, it's easy lah, you can either tahan for one whole day.. or sleep for one whole day..". Not to mention that our citizens are known as one of the most sleep deprived in the world. The things we Malaysians are capable of.

Signs of change are already prevalent in more 'open' countries like Denmark, which attracted almost 5000 members in the first month. How about the ultra-flexi-hours - as well as many many other irresistable perks - Google offers to their workers in Google Campus? Even science has proven we are why are are - signs are beckoning.

As for now, we all know it's better to hope for snow than to hope for drastic changes in Malaysia. You're not going to see government servants starting work at 11am and going back at 8pm. Call me what you will, but I don't think I have a choice but to (sadly) give up the lust of nightlife soon enough.

*proceeds to set alarm to 6.30a.m.* What're you laughing at?

For more info:
B-society Organization
Article

Verds are vital

2007-09-05T15:33:00.001+08:00

Not too long ago, I wrote a piece on words; and I noted how carefully one should choose the weapons they wish to wield in verbal combat. As it has once been said, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words shall never hurt me." In my humble opinion, that phrase is invalid and even a contradiction of the truth; in other words, bullshit.

Because wounds from words takes the longest to heal - if ever.

So I started thinking about Soon Yee's request for examples and one movie clearly outstated any other movie I have ever seen in the usage of words. It's V for vendetta.

The particularly memorable scene was at the beginning where V introduces himself to Evey. Some jobless people have taken years off their lifespans and valuable brainpower to memorize this. Anyway, I found the script, found a translation and I for one, will attempt to further translate the speech to a more comprehensible Malaysian version.

V - The silent vanguard of what is right and just. But (imo) has a skewed perception of the solution.
Yellow man - The slightly sophisticated Joe who understands and wants to make a change.
Apek - Your average Malaysian.

Voila!
Behold!
See!

In view humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate.
In sight, a retired entertainer cast indirectly as both victim and villan by the changes of Fate.
As you can see I'm an old joker blaming people..and got jokers blaming me because of nothing!

This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the “vox populi” now vacant, vanished.
This mask, no show of pride, is a trace of the people’s voice, now empty, gone.
What you see is what you get.

However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin, van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.
However, this brave visit of a by-gone irritation stands animated, and has promised to destroy these corruptable and malicious vermin facing the front of immoral conduct and giving the violently vicious and power-hungry violation of will.
But right, watch how I come now angry and annoyed, and I swear I will whack the ^)*% out of those blardy corrupted b%#*&#$ who represents evil and are forcing me to do sh*t!

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for the alue and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.
The only choice is revenge, a feud, held as a wish, not unsuccessful, for the value and truthfulness of such shall one day clear the names of the watchful and the morally good.
I got no choice but to shoot the b*#&@d (sure can wan) so that when they're dead, our names will have a clean sheet.

Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V.
In truth, I need to shut up now because I am becoming too wordy, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me “V”.
Actualleeee, I better shaddap now cuz I think I crap too much adi, was great to meet you, and call me V.. cuz it's cool.

So watch your words. They can heal as well as kill. And if you're 'jobless' like I am, start memorizing this mouthful of Vs.

I don't have to tell you that it's a good movie, do I?

My Negaraku (Part II) – Methinks..

2007-08-23T02:16:00.000+08:00

[Note to self : Never write to be continued. You never will. Too much pressure.]

So here I am, back with my patriotic post. Like I said, I've been trying to gather as much information as I can and get a larger view on things..unlike some biased articles I've read.

So the first thing i did was rummage through YouTube to see what juice I could find. I found what was reportedly an unreleased recording by Tun Dr. Mahatir regarding the State of the Nation. It's rather long winded, but I suppose it's to be expected from one of Malaysia's finest speaker who seems ever-ready to give a speech. He speaks about many issues that most of us have heard about before - our national budget, equality amongst the Rakyat, the economy, foreign policies, etc. - albeit with an inside scoop only accesible to the 'higher people'.. until YouTube came along.

Then there were the numerous socio-political blogs that are around mostly condemming either the government or a single race. Such as this one by pembebel who threatens to kill Namewee, though I just cannot seem to accept the immaturity of the author.
Here's some exerpts..

"Ingat! Orang lain yang “berani” buat macam ni lepas ni - Jangan harap korang lepas! Ni dah sentuh isu perkauman la babi! Memang tak sayang nyawa lah!"

"Ko adalah anjing yang diburu sekarang! Ya, anjing yang diburu! Berdoa la agar keluarga dan orang yang ko sayangi tak diapa2kan orang rakyat Malaysia lainnya yang terasa."

*inhales*

Alright..alright. Then there was the killer May 13 book I mentioned by Kua Kia Soong. Besides the fact that alot of it seemed new to me (Justin's voluntarily reading history for the first time in his life), the bombasticness of the language left me reading with almost half my normal speed and with growing grammar frustrations. Here are some excerpts from the book so far that demonstrate my point:

"The official version is fraught with contradictions and inadequacies to which few pay credence."
Just goes to show how a full blown massacre of both innocent people along with the democratic process was shortened into a few paragraphs in our Sejarah textbooks.

"For the newly Independant Federation of Malaya, the basic provisions of 'juridical equality' had to be compromised simply because the Malay rulers were strongly opposed to it."
In lame man's terms - "What communal equality? I don't want, means I don't want"

"At UMNO headquarters in Batu Road, the feeling was that democracy had gone too far - in other words, that the political hegemony of the Malays was in real danger. A non-Malay Mentri Besar in both Selangor and Perak seemed dangerously likely."
Like the song once said, "Uh oh.. we're in trouble, someone's gonna come and burst our bubble.. Yeah yeah.."

Like all controversial readings, you never know who's right and who's wrong. What's true and what's BS. But, the book offers an insight into something I'd consider one of turning points in what made Malaysia the way it is. Get your copy today. =p

About the whole situation
As far as I’ve lived here, the issue of impartiality of opportunities between different segments of the population has been the longest lasting one and I believe that it will remain that way until something is done. Because it is in some way similar to grievances about the IMF – that they do not realize that a simple change in regulatory clauses (or in this case, government policies) indirectly affects whether or not a child has rice to eat, or whether or not he will get the level of education that every citizen has right to.

NooOo, some just think it’s all politics and about business deals. Reality check my friend, politics is business. And business equals money. You figure the rest.

I also use the term ‘segments of the population’ instead of ‘race’ because the 13 May book makes one realize that sometimes the struggle is not only between the races but within the races – specifically between the higher and lower strata of the population. YES, it’s not always about the damn racial issue.

*calms down*

Ok, enough about the past. So tell me, how successful do you feel Malaysia has progressed so far? Somehow I think one would only feel the real effects of it once they’re in businesses – where the big moolah lies.

*pause*

Come to think of it, I shall not delve into this intricate area. Yes, call me chicken for having the slightest fear in the eye-ass-eh, but screw you, you selfish bs3rd if you never thought about your loved ones.

I am lucky enough to have a friend, who remains to be the rare breed that I am able to rationally debate political issues with. D once said that the government’s political system is fundamentally flawed. He said, “How would you expect unity between the races when the coalition is racially segregated?!

Makes sense, doesn’t it? Technically speaking, we should concentrate instead on ‘class solidarity’; meaning to reduce the gap between the higher and lower class Rakyat instead of the typical stereotypical fight between ‘Rich Chinese’ versus others.

Now when a party starts complaining, the government holds up their palm and calmly says, “Tolerance, my friend..” BS. In this country, tolerance is a direct equivalent to ignorance. Our education system has groomed us to think that questioning is an act of defiance. Based on my experience, the times I have truly understood and absorbed something was when these internal arguments were settled and I agreed with what was being taught to me. That can only happen through (you guessed it) questioning!

Now don’t even get me started on the freedom of speech/press in this country. Our leaders constantly paint a rosy picture for us like we’re stuck in the happy section of a Bollywood movie. I sincerely believe that only when there is honesty can there be progress. Tell us there’s something wrong and we’ll think of a solution together..not behind closed doors.

The outcomes of a failing system are already evident. Outflows of Malaysian intellectuals from our motherland. This article wrote about the situation.

“Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said qualified Malaysians can seek their fortunes overseas where they gain experience, remit part of their income home but most importantly, return someday to impart experience and capital earned while working in a more lucrative environment.”

Perhaps he forget about institutionalized discrimination.

D also repeatedly talked about how wrong it is to combine Religion and Politics. I on the other hand used to argue that it’s the Malaysian way, and it has worked for us. Sadly now I think he’s right. We have parties here whose sole manifesto is/was based on this.

I’ve another question - why did the government abolish inter-faith talks between the religions? IMO, that’s the stupidest thing any government would ever do. It’s anti-peace! WTF?! I just.don’t.get.it. I'm almost begging for enlightenment.

Just recently I heard rumors about demonstrations by the Indian community in Putrajaya. I assume it’s about them not getting a fair share of the political cake in Malaysia. According to my sources, they said, “If nothing’s changed by the 31^st, see lah…”

Now that’s a scary thought. I think you and I know that no one ever wants to wield parangs and be on the run and burning down things. It's happened before, it may happen again. Do not take peace for granted.

Sigh.

I’ve vented enough. I’m no longer angry, just tired. Tired of this feeling of animosity between those I hope to call my Malaysian brothers and sisters. Tired of the few jokers who tarnish everything good about this country as we know it for personal gain. What goes around comes around..

Oh and the ungrateful who over-compare and complain should really open their eyes.

What we (desperately) need is a massive psychological revamp. Chinese should stop being selfish and start thinking about others. Malays should be less sensitive and take the bitter pill of reality. And the Indians should serve better roti canai. (lol ok, honestly I don’t know as much about the Indian plight, but the roti canai’s really make our days. =) Maybe Malaysians can learn from the hidden meaning behind Russel Peters’ seemingly racial jokes. If we can laugh about Indians, Jamaicans, British and the rest, why take ourselves so seriously here?

In the famous words of Martin Luther King, "Why can’t we all just get along?"

We’ve come a long way now. 50 years is no easy feat – and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. We’re technologically savvy. We have lovely infrastructure. Our economy is booming. We have GREAT FOOD! And we’ve worked hard to get here. I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate the government on that part at least. It is my sincere hope that Malaysia keeps getting better and that I stay in this country that I adore so much, flaws and everything.

Selamat Hari Merdeka ke-50, Malaysia!

See!

2007-08-15T15:57:00.001+08:00

Heh, I pledge to not look at the KLSE till everything stabilizes so as to maintain my life expectancy. But it's all good lah, BATman is here to save the day. *hint hint*

Big fish

2007-08-15T03:14:00.000+08:00

As we speak the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJIA) has plunged another 200-odd points at the end of Tuesday's trading day. Resurfacing of new credit worries and concerns about the health of the consumer (indicated by generally dismal performances by key market indicators including retailing giant Wal-Mart -5.09%). Based on my experience, that's like a bomb waiting to happen tomorrow. One might even compare this to cancer - it's gonna come, and there's only so much you can do about it. No disrespect to anyone.

You may stop the water but you can't fight the wave
This begs the question: Has the bull lost its steam? Or in other words, has the local as well as international bourses reached their peaks? Admittedly signs of an overheated market was quickly replaced by optimism in the local bourse due to the upcoming elections. So was that overrated? Some people beg to differ lamenting instead that the local economy still has strong fundamentals and will thrive again once things settle down. Unfortunately, due to KLCI's dependency on the DJIA, KLSE appears to be beyond help paving way for capital outflows from institutional investors who decide to play safe.

Another good analogy comes from the founder of Freely method of Options Trading, Clemen Chiang. (No, I didn't go for the real thing..yet) During one of his preview sessions, he once asked (something along these lines)

"What happens during an election crisis here in Malaysia? KLCI crashes? Maybe, maybe not.."
"But what happens when there is an election crisis in the US? The whole world (including Malaysia) would crash whether you like it, or not."

So why look at the small fry when you know we're all gonna lose a leg when Jaws comes?
Might be a good time to rethink my strategies.

This post is merely an opinion and should not be used as investing advice of any kind.
I am a noob.
That should do the trick.

*** *** *** *** ***

Forgive me for not posting my interpretation of the Namewee incident as I am currently gathering more facts and evidence to support my post and claims. Among which is the extremely interesting and controversial MAY 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969.
Also, I'm sure some - if not many - of you have noticed that racist sentiment has increased dramatically in the past few weeks in view of the issue. In the meantime, I plead that every sane human and animal (including the cock in the song) do their bid to ease any sort of tensions. Don't succumb to the temptation of venting without rethinking the larger cause. It is better to lose your ego than lose a friend.

Tick tock

2007-08-14T05:37:00.001+08:00

I admit. I've been wasting so.much.time. Too much, in fact. It's taking a guilt trip on me now. Sigh, damned YouTube.

And so (albeit very ironically) I've took a 'lil time to attempt to visually motivate myself with some cheap Photoshop-ing. Something that screams at me saying, "Get off that lazy ass of yours, boy".

Enjoy.

Credits to AlsoVision for the center piece

For those of you who wish to spend more time finding quotes on time usage, feel free to browse here. Again, the irony.

My Negaraku (Part I) – Chronology

2007-08-10T03:42:00.000+08:00

The past 50 odd hours has led me to rediscover a darker side of my beloved country. It all started with a friend o mine sending me a clip of a remade version of our national anthem by Namewee entitled Negarakuku. (full lyrics)

A 'lil background on the clip
Namewee first uploaded Negarakuku on the 15th of July. He claims that he did it because his friends who were receiving it complained that the filesize was too big. Therefore the next best thing would be Youtube, right?

[some say] Wrong.

Anyhow Nel said it was very funny, but it's a pity that I wouldn't understand it. *inhales* I take these comments in my stride. After a lil browsing, I got a translated version. Hah.

Superbly entertaining. Be it his voice, the R&B-ish-ness of it, and even the information that he so poetically expresses. (So good that later on, I caught myself singing this rendition of Negaraku in the car by myself. :O ) It's one of the best Malaysia-related song I've heard in awhile, aside from some of Poetic Ammo's efforts such as Kuala Lumpur - Negarakuku really had.. feel.
Then there was the comments section. *clicks Oldest*

"Ouch... this is getting a 'lil serious!". Posts ranged from proclamations of Namewee as a 'hero' all the way to extreme and hostile comments threatening to slaughter the singer like a chicken entering an Ayamas factory. I knew this guy was going to be arrested soon. Big time story soon! I knew this was just the beginning of a bigger issue.

Found this.

He has supposedly been charged under the Sedition Act and upon conviction must serve a 2 week jail sentence and/or RM100 fine. (I reckon there might be some ass-kicking in the process..) I don't know whether the clip's sadly funny or funnily sad.

Doesn't matter. I got thirstier. So i searched and searched. I found him on NTV7's news. Was even featured on TaiwanTV! Actually, the part where I spent most of my time were in the Comments section and other forums discussing the issue. (e.g. USJ e-community, Mahaguru58 Blog) Also, while chatting with Jay n Keith, Jay stumbled upon a website called Bolehnation. At that time, we couldn't load it. Check it out.

I swear, I didn't Photoshop this.

I really wonder who's idea was that. Respect.
When we finally could load the site, some of the links (notably BolehChannel) just doesn't work anymore. Hmm....

With a click rate of 53,751 times and also ranked as the 'Top 10 Most Popular'...Wait a minute.

LIVE (at the time of writing):
I just did a search of YouTube Top 10s (where they have the daily top 10 most viewed videos). And I had trouble finding the 15th. So I'm searching, and searching. And guess what? It's NOT THERE!! And it stops at the 21st of July. None in August. Why? Hmmmmmm.... odd. I feel like I'm suddenly in a bout of investigative journalism. The more I search, the more interesting it gets. "The truth is out there.." *plays X-Files theme..*

Watch for:
My personal interpretation and opinions of this whole incident and what it meant to me.. and you.

Disclaimer : If anything offends you in any way, do yourself a favor and stop reading, go away and get yourself a cup of coffee. It is what keeps freedom of speech tolerable not only here, but anywhere else on this planet.

What should've been

2007-08-06T18:40:00.000+08:00

A few years back a Powerpoint show concerning our abhorrent participant in Miss Universe 2004 by Miss Malaysia '04, Andrea Fonseka. Here're some excerpts to give you a clue why:

So the judges think, "hmm.. maybe they chose her because of her intelligence." Lets see.

"Okay, now that was just bad. Neeext!"

Alright, I (really) understand the discontentment of the Malaysian community at the point in time. I don't know what were we thinking, or what was she thinking. I mean, things could've been.. less disastrous.

But that was three years ago, folks. I don't know how updated is this photo, but this is her now.

Talk about determination, man.

The pursuit of Happyness

2007-08-04T22:01:00.000+08:00

A few hours ago I watched the abovementioned show. Will Smith portrays Chris Gardner, a bright and talented salesman who (almost literally) fights to make ends meet. Disaster after disaster happens making everyday just that much harder to move on. But then he sees a light at the end of the tunnel when he sees an opportunity - although far fetched – to get a better job for a better life.

Throughout the show, the directors successfully made the viewers think of these few themes:
“I just need to get through this”
“Trust me”
“How much worse can it get?”
“Can I do this?”

Because of this ingenious concept of self-examination, they allow you to feel Will Smith’s character so much so that every time he falls you hurt. Every time he feels angry, you feel his rage. Everytime he feels guilty, you can’t think of watching another second of it. But you do, because you know everything’s gonna be alright in the end.. or will it?

I’ll leave the rest for you to watch yourself. I personally give it a 5/5 rating as it hit me chest deep as it couldn’t have come at a better time when I’m contemplating similar issues.

It brings you through the limits an ordinary man can push in order to achieve extraordinary levels in life, no matter the circumstances; and believe me, his circumstances could not have been any worse. Imagine yourself having a son at the age of 35, not having what it takes to do your job. Subsequently, hardship strikes, your support from your loved one is gone, and you’re left defending the only family you’ve got – with 25 dollars, nothing more, nothing less.

What would you do? What can you do? An important question then unfolds:
How desperate do you have to be in order to suceed?

I’m sure you’ve heard of many success stories of wealthy millionaires who barely had enough food to survive during less fortunate times. Admittedly some of them maintain their status quo by accepting their so-called ‘fate’ but a small minority of them turn out to be the most successful people in their respective fields. And it’s due to one reason, and one reason only – drive.

Suddenly I look in the mirror and see an enemy staring back at me.

In this age and time, most of the hardships have been undergone by the previous generation and for most of them, their wish is to see us have a good education and have a comfortable life. Who wouldn’t love them for it? I certainly do. But are this actions indirectly planting seeds of complacency in us? Knowing that no matter what wrong we come across, what difficulties we encounter, what pain we endure *inhales* “It’s gonna be ok..”, says daddy.

Blessed are the ones who are born great, for they shall inherit much greatness. Blessed are the ones born less fortunate, for they have endured hardships and truly realize the importance of success.

Is the middle-class doomed to mediocrity?

A bold statement, I know. But everyday I see more middle-class folks reach a career saturation point set only by themselves. Is it really enough to be good? Or would only greatness give you true happiness?

What I’ve learnt is that happyness must be pursued.

P.S: *spoiler* Watch out for tear jerkers!

Riding the waves

2007-08-02T23:35:00.000+08:00

Let me tell you a true story on what's been happening in my life for the past few days that's led me to ffk many of you. Albeit with a gladiator-like spin to it.

I was caught up in a storm in the greens of the water while watching the terror of an impending red furnace. Bears from all over could be heard roaring, as though challenging the bulls' territory and thus authority. As though saying, 'you've had your time, now it's mine.."
All of a sudden, I was in the middle of a pit fight between the bulls and the bears. The bears seemed to feed on the crowd's fear and got stronger with the increasing worrying atmosphere. They were concerned about the possible damage that saw no end at the time. It was violent. Innocent bystanders were injured and some heavily wounded.

So there I was, in the middle of the madness trying to muster the courage to hold my ground in the pit. True, I was foolish to jump in. But in the midst of this heart-racing period did I learn and experience many things that no gold could buy. Who cheered and jeered at you? Who helped you survive and you see those who wanted nothing more than to be vultures after you're nothing more than pulp in the sand. And I learnt (the hard way) that in the pit, it's every man for himself.

Just when it was about to give a final blow to the seemingly debilitated bull, the bull lashed out a critical hit to the bear which sent the bear whimpering away hurt.. for now.

"Is it worth it?", I asked. Oh yes. There's always a feast of the meat for the survivors. Slay on, slay on.

(to be continued..)

Yeah, so you can see that I've been trying to ride the bull and keep myself alive at the moment. I will not go into details for now because I'm way too tired. But if you all want, I might share a lil more detailed about how it all works.

But as for now, I can only be cautious and hope that the bear sits tight while the bull charges forward. And the next time the bear comes, I'll be prepared for battle.

More than Words

2007-07-30T00:33:00.001+08:00

A number of my friends become increasingly cautious of their choices of words when they converse with me because they know that at any instant I may pick out on their improperly-used words and amplify it into a massive argument which in their opinion was not even their opinion in the first place thus leading them to ironically blame me for 'twisting their words'.

That is not (entirely) my intention my dear friends. I do this because in one way or another am merely showing you the impact of presentation. It is like presenting a princess in a pumpkin chariot. This is a damned good post about how deep Words can go, you'll like it.

A few of of my friends have learnt the hard way to realize that the selection of words during critical conversations could be the difference between days of pleasure..or years of pain. Furthermore, we live in an era where some people communicate exclusively through instant messaging programs or social networks like I discussed before. The absence of body language (comprising 60% of the message) and intonation (≈10%) therefore leaving the measly 30% deliver your full message. Forget emoticons and the like; they are no more effective than expecting the car which is going to crash into you to read your bumper sticker saying "Don't come to close.. I barely know you.."

In Malaysia unfortunately, the importance of proper words has never been emphasized by our language teachers. (who are more concerned about us correctly selecting D instead of A when subject to vocabulary exams) Our society at large can be somewhat compared to the American way of speaking; choosing to express themselves in a more slapstick manner (i.e. more brash, loud and physically expressive). The British way would be a direct contrast with their subtle and soft uttering of words that (sometimes) even the most attentive rat would not be able to catch.

Thing is, unlike the Americans, us Malaysians actually cultivated this due to the nature of our multilingual society. More often than not, the one with the bery good England can barely utter a phrase in his mother tongue (until and if he finally realizes its importance when he's about 17.. *ahem* speaking from experience here). And so languages becomes like a buffet or more locally speaking, rojak - because we have a 'lil of everything.

Here's a simple test even. Ask 10 random people you know and let them watch an episode of Gilmore Girls or Frasier.(which as far as I've watched are the two most linguistically challenging series. Alright alright, I don't watch many anyway.. *pbft)

But I ponder whether this case is for better or for worse. I mean like I've mentioned, a powerful vocabulary would improve your ability to present the even the hardest case effectively. But then again, what's the point if the other guy is a Chinese businessman who converses in Hokkien half the time and is only fluent in Manglish?

Wa be hiau kong Hokkien oh.. 0_o"

The love paradox

2007-07-26T03:21:00.000+08:00

After a L.O.N.G post, I thought I'd share this short one. And for added effect, read this with the Yoda slang if you can.

To love is to suffer.
To avoid suffering one must not love.
But then one suffers from not loving.
Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer.

To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love.
To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy.
Therefore, to be unhappy one must love,
or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness.
I hope you're getting this down.
- Woody Allen

Hats off.

My Digital Life

2007-07-24T03:01:00.000+08:00

YES, I'm finally in Facebook.. and I have been warned that it's addictive. It is.

But to be honest, I've actually been avoiding creating other (what they call) social networks (SN) accounts for a few reasons:

It's gonna take a long time to rebuild your contacts there. Obviously the rival wouldn't let you import contacts from their competitors.
Why would I want to maintain two (or more) accounts?
I don't have time for this crap
I remember a period where SNs boomed and it used to tick me off when invites flood my inbox so
It was a boycott.

A familiar sight, ainnit?

And what's with the supposedly guilt inducing messages at the end?
If you are not interested, just ignore this email. Flickr won't bug you again and there's nothing special you have to do.
What, I'm gonna feel so bad that I didn't oblige in trying out your service against others that I might just have a go and who knows, it might be cool.

Now, that was talking about just one SN. We all know that the mac-daddy of all SNs was Friendster. But today, people have so many to choose from. Seeing that I obviously knew squat about anything outside this SN shell that I've cleverly crafted, I did some research myself to see what's so special about the rest.

Friendster : Boasts a community of over 30 million users worldwide. Has evolved into a dating site more than anything which imo just isn't relevant anymore. Targets 20-30 year olds.
MySpace : The current top-dog of SNs (rated by activity) targeting oogly-eyed teenagers. And even
Multiply : For "regular people, who lead regular lives". Meaning for those who wants to do a little of each.
Blogger: has become a type of SN with active blogging communities. There's also
Flickr : For professional photographers. Finally, not forgetting the infamous
YouTube: For people who love shooting videos etc. Devan, the king of series has even converted to what I call the YouWikiTube. He searches for all his clips (not those clips) in YouTube and anything he finds interesting he Wikipedias it. And in turn, he YouTubes anything interesting he stumbles upon in Wikipedia. (Ahuh, so sue me for using WikiP and YouT as verbs.) It's practically impossible to remain bored this way. By the way, if there were a stock for YouTube, I'd beg, borrow, buy and/or steal to buy as much as I can. I salute the founders.

I stumbled upon this very interesting read titled "Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad?" by Danah Boyd. It revealed a very in-depth analysis of the evolution of Friendster as well as its downfall. On the other hand, she studies how MySpace ingeniously overturned Friendster's weaknesses and made it their very own strengths which contributed to the many pleasant surprises that I saw in Facebook

For one, the +Share album/photo overcame the redundancy of posting up similar photos. Not to mention the fact that we could easily label photos with users' names.
And so long as you complete your particulars, all this labelling can be done systematically without retyping anything.
Personalization, personalization.. personalization.
I'm guessing many more that I have yet to discover

The most important is actually point #3. The enabling of regular Joe's such as you and I to design widgets or themes to be used by other people is simply brilliant. For example, the SuperPoke widget that enables you to do more than poke someone. Another cool widget which stole another hour of my life was the iLike widget which enables you to put music and video clips on your profile. I also played the Music Challenge which is like the iPod music game. (i.e. Guess the title of the song or artist who sang it). And I know that's more or less only 10% of what there are.

"MySpace launched at a time when the enthusiastic surfers wanted to find more kitsch crap. They jumped on MySpace, created all sorts of culture and profiles complete with massive amounts of media, and helped figure out how to hack the system to make the profiles more expressive. MySpace didn't stop them. As a result, the cultural enthusiasm was nurtured and it grew and grew and grew..."
So it's obvious SNs that flourished were those that didn't limit creativity, further emphasizing my previous point.

Some of you probably wonder what's in it for free-to-use services such as friendster. Well, word has it that after receiving $3.1 million in funding only a few months ago, social networking veteran Friendster has received another $10 million from Palo Alto-based DAG Ventures. Bet ya didn't know that. I'm pretty interested to see the improvements to come from this fat cheque. Oh, they have even successfully won a social networking patent:

“The new Friendster patent covers the basic steps involved in joining a social network: entering a personal description and relationships to other users, mapping relationships and degrees of separation, and connecting to others through these friends.”

Wth. Desperate measures perhaps?

Nevermind that and back to my time-wasting in Facebook.. Actually, it's gonna be impossible for me to explain in detail something that is (and will probably continue) expanding. I imagine the day where another SN revolution takes place and changes the way we talk and meet people. If this technology isn't already advanced and thus convenient enough, what's next? Seeing that two/five senses (visual and audio) are down, the next would probably be say, being able to smell your friend's favorite scents? Taste his favorite food? Feel his favorite shirt. The signs are already there with the introduction of Smell-o-visions and Internet-based Fragrance enhanced Movies. It's either that or Johnnys like you and I who will be heading this change.

Indeed, the world is getting more fascinating as it gets smaller.

Ailee ft. David Choi proclaiming their love for YouTube. And dayum, she'd definitely have my vote for American Idol.. =D

Thanks, Ama.

2007-07-19T03:35:00.000+08:00

To tell you the truth, I've been both desperate and hesitant to put up a post. Desperate because there's so many emotions and thoughts flowing past that I wish I had a thoughts recorder (another sign that I'm being pampered by my PDA) and hesitant; because they're literally worlds apart in terms of pleasantness.

Previously, I mentioned that I was in Penang celebrating Su's birthday but I didn't mention that all plans had to be cut short when I got a call from my younger sister.

"Ko, mommy ask you to come back now..", she begins in a shuddering tone. "Why?", I ask. "Ama just passed away.. so mommy ask you to come back now.." *silence* "...ko?"

I was staring at the wall, struck. "Think think think!", I shouted inside, as though trying to wake my paralyzed self. And I knew that I wouldn't be at peace with myself if I stayed the night despite the fact that I might reach at 5am when everyone's still fast asleep. It's family. It's blood, and blood's thicker than water.

"I'll get the first bus back.", I replied. I informed sulyn and her parents about the emergency. 20 mins later I was on a bus home.

My paternal grandmother whom i called Ama was diagnosed with the 'Big C' slightly more than a year ago. Doctors gave her 6 months; meaning that she championed through those expectations despite having statistical odds stacked against her. But it was anything but an easy route as she had to undergo a few major operations including an insertion of a metal plate into her knee. Only until recently was she unable to move by herself and her speech downgraded to monosyllables implying that she was actually pretty healthy in her 70s. Unfortunately as months went by, the frequency doctor visits increased with the deterioration of her vital organs.

Throughout my journey, my mind wandered to the past.. returned to the present and ventured into the future. I started recalling the times I had in Rasa (my hometown). Ah, good times - Chinese New Year, especially. My cousins and I would walk to the town to buy 10sen ice-pops just after our home cooked meals with the myriad of Chinese food that my Ama and Akong would have prepared. Despite Ama coming from a poor background and working as a rubber tapper once, she and my grandfather has never failed to put food on the table for all 8 children. When these same thoughts came to mind at the reunion dinner with many of my successful uncles and aunts, I pondered in awe of how far we've come. I'll tell you a funny thing, one of the last things I heard my grandmother talking to me was Gik Fun, Cantonese for marry. O_o" So you can imagine the questions I'll be getting the next time I attend a family wedding. Kudos to SL for laughing in the face of pressure tho, lol.

Then there was the funeral itself. Initially my dad and his siblings wanted to have the wake and funeral in Nirvana's (NV) Funeral Memorial Parlour which looked more like a hotel than anything. My mom and I just could not accept this idea of a funeral which would be so impersonal. The sales rep even said that people who normally use this facility are either without a family or living in a condominium. And it costs a bomb, at that. So finally it was held in my front porch.

Friends and relatives came from as far as Singapore and Penang to pay their last respects. Many whom I have never seen and will probably not see in a long time. And judging by the reason, not meeting would be the best hope. On the first day, my mother delivered a memorable eulogy. The notable part of it was when she said, "She was a very strong woman. And even in her last days, she was a very proud woman.. because she never wanted to trouble anyone.." At this point, my mother was about to burst out in tears because hit her hard and deep.
My grandmother was living in our house for about 2 months until she decided to move out. Despite warm reassurance from all of us, she - like my mom said - didn't want to trouble anyone and shifted out to a condo with my aunt. Nothing compared to having my maid walking in and out, it was lonely and quiet in the 3-room unit.
My mother's face turned red with distress, trying to finish her speech when sounds of sniffling noses and weeping people became apparent. Yes, my tear ducts couldn't hold it in too.

On the day of the funeral, everyone was wide awake by 8 including mua reason being I was put on 'guard' for the night. (So I stayed up, on guard, while finishing 6 episodes of Heroes). By morning, I looked all wolfenstein but was energetic enough to accompany my dad to buy breakfast for the Wong army. I think he took it literally and was practically stocking up for war. When everything costs about RM1-2, RM100+ on breakfast is no joke.

After the final service in the morning, the casket was loaded into the hearse. The family members then walked behind it for some distance. (although I am still not clear of the significance of doing so, and I hope someone will enlighten me). I actually sat in the hearse with my 3 uncles on our way to the memorial ground.

On the way, we drove at a constant speed of 70km/h while other drivers sped by. Then a moment of reflection. It's actually that way in human form too and ticks me off. Somehow, I don't think humans are that selfless to pity another mourning person. Instead they just want to get by and do their own thing. Then again, seeing that couldn't give two hoots about local crime and happenings, even I plead guilty. Maybe I should be a little more empathetic.

When, the whole entourage reached, we had the final prayer and bid goodbye to the earthly body of my grandma, Chen Piang who is now with the Lord. May she rest in peace.

Ya know, during this whole procession, I couldn't help but think of how I wanted my funeral to be. I didn't want any tears, but laughter abound instead! I want a jazz band playing in the background. I wanted black priests to deliver their powerful speeches. I wanted people to remember me with a smile, rather than have their memories soaked in a tissue. But then again, why'm I ridiculously thinking about the end? Carpe Diem man, carpe diem.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.."

Thanks to everyone who has been" supportive towards my family in times of despair, be it emotionally, financially and your condolences.

Overdue but never too late

2007-07-19T02:40:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend I made a trip up to Penang to celebrate the coming of age of a dear friend, Su. She turned 21 on 17.7.07 and so with the help of two main accomplices, Ms. Look(not her real name) and Mdm. Lu, we made detailed plans to bring out Su's biggest smile yet.

I reckon Su was pretty happy with the presents she got from everyone but most of all, she realized that she wasn't such a small deal to our lives after all. So from myself and on behalf of all yer friends around, we say:

Blow out the candles and make one wish
Since it's the day where you get your way
While everyone pampers you with gifts
I sit here instead and say

Happy 21st Birthday Tan Su-Lyn.

*Special thanks to Ms. Look from penang who claims I owe her. But Mdm. Lu you owe me one. Therefore Mdm. Lu, you owe Ms. Look!*

Supercrap

2007-07-14T05:36:00.000+08:00

This was an eventful week, of which the most notable events happening was Devan (D) coming down from Penang. It wasn't exactly because of Devan though.

D came down from an interview and needed a place to crash before he headed back to Penang so I suggested he come to my place. So it was all good and when I got back, there was Devan standing with an older man. He flagged me down and signaled for me to park. When I approached him, he paused, gave me a bug eyed look and said, "Dude, I lost my luggage.."

Jw: What the hell?! How the hell?!
D : The cab fare was Rm14, so I only had one RM10 and the rest bigger notes. He said he didn't have any change. I gave him RM10 and I told him to stop while I get change for the balance from the mamak. I stepped out, got my change, looked back.. and he was gone!
JW : You sure or not? Hmm.. Ok, do you remember anything about the cab?
D : Man, that's the thing. I only 'know' he was Indian, driving a red/white cab under Supercab. And on the way, he made a call to the HQ to ask how much was the fare from Jalan 222 to Taman Desa cuz his meter was spoilt.
JW : Number plate? Name?
D : Nope.
Jw: Rightss. K, try to make some calls.

I know what you're thinking. It's a needle-in-a-haystack effort! But I had to try, right? So I called Supercab and asked them all I could but in turn they kept saying, "susah, susah..Ada number plate? Kalo ada number plate senang." I OBVIOUSLY knew that we weren't exactly baking a pie here, but if you the cab driver drove off with your luggage you had to do something with what you have, right? Anyway, after 5 minutes of listening to her re-tell the 'story' to her co-workers, she said that there was no such case of a Supercab driver calling to ask such questions.

JW : Dude, what's in those 2 bags?
D : Man, just my clothes and my certs!
JW : Your certs?! 0_0"
D : Yeah... but mostly photocopied ones. The original ones were the CIAST (some certs we got during an industrial visit) and the Dance club ones.
JW : *heaves a sigh of relief* Oohh.. aiyoh say lah, you already lost one of the CIAST certs to begin with and I'll reprint the Dance Club certs for you lahaiyo. (I made them. =p)
D : True.. true. But I had new clothes in there, the ones I bought from Thailand. Man, he took my favorite jeans too. Oh, and my book which I just bought! Man, I was halfway through!
JW : Damn taxi driver, too much. How could he take your favorite jeans? And you're halfway through that book man.

So we waited for about half an hour and he didn't show up.

Now. Lets rewind a 'lil. Did you notice any irregularities throughout the whole story? Well, at this point, I noticed a few.

Meter spoilt - coincidence?
A taxi driver will always collect his fare, even if he's blocking Bigfoot, he will collect his fare. And the killer..
How the hell would a cab driver not have change?!

Now the scenario has taken a twist. It's turned into luggage-thief. Crime rate is on the rise I tell you. Just the other day, my mom's office got broken into. Petty theft. Stole a handphone and a few CPUs. I almost laughed cuz my mom's comp runs like an overclocked P75. But there's the P&C data which is a whole different story altogether.

Back to Devan's case. He's still contemplating to either make a police report (which is pretty useless imo) and/or write to the papers with the title 'Malaysia - Paradise lost'. So the drama. I would've named it 'Cabbie stole my jeans!'.
The next time you take a cab, please do note down anything and everything you see especially if you just came from out of town. At least get the driver's name, agency, and car registration plate regardless of whether or not he's that nice.
Also, this post is not intended to defame anyone or any company. IMO the transportation system has improved alot, but still, shit happens.

Run rat, run.

2007-07-04T11:11:00.000+08:00

I'm sittin here in my boring room. It's just another sunny Wen'sday afternoon. I'm wasting my time I've got nothing to do. I'm hanging around, I'm waiting for you. But nothing ever happens, and I wonder.

That's the direct opposite of what I'm going through. (In case that sounded familiar, that was the lyrics for the one hit wonder, Lemon Tree by Fools Garden) Schedule's been ultra hectic and I don't foresee it getting any easier.

I'm lovin it! =D

Perhaps this is one of the perks of the non-working lifestyle which I'm going for now before I find a permanent job which ties me down. You get to do whatever you want, whenever you want. But in turn, food's not guaranteed to be put on the table. It's the typical rat race scenario all over again; whether you want to be in the rat race and run in that treadmill. I wish i could better describe a rat race but I found this interesting take online by R. Ayana. I hate the fact that I don't see myself anywhere near this writing skill but it's just too good:

A rat race is, of course, a treadmill. Even if two rats ‘race’ on a single wheel, neither wins or loses. They go nowhere and see nothing beyond their next step. All they achieve is (an) exercise – until they step off the wheel.

The human/rat race lives in a delicious illusion of progress; the same drives, hopes, fears, addictions and personalities are clothed in an endless series of fashions and faces, a gene pool which maintains itself and acts as a brake on true change.

While running on The Wheel you can only keep your eyes ahead on imagined destiny or destination, creating a tunnel vision that excludes everything else, a vortex that appears to move past while you spin the Wheel. Getting off the wheel can be tricky once momentum has built up.

Attempting to stop suddenly can throw you for a loop. A rat can spin out or be violently thrown off the Wheel. To get off the wheel it’ a good idea to first note where you are and recognise what’s happening before gently slowing to a complete stop. This can be difficult when other rats (or domesticated primates) are running in the same Wheel – or rut.

Each rat has to do it for themselves. And they all have to do it together.

Told'ja.

So on the other hand, do we come out, like the adventurous rat who comes out to scavenge for a BIG and seemingly inexistant lump of cheese. This rat might starve, get killed, get into fights with scavenging rats also fighting to survive, or worse suffocate and die from a rat trap. On the other hand, a discovery of the coveted treasure would assure he would never have to run anywhere for anyone.. anymore. In a sense, we're all running, but what're we running after? And will your running get you anywhere?

I know some of you just went, "oh no.. it's another one of those conflicts about the future". I can't help it, it eats you up sometimes. Especially if you're 'jobless', lol.

Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?

That's the lyrics from Lose Yourself and captures the key point I'm trying to drive here. That if you see an opportunity to get your cheese but you knew it was not of the conventional system of finding a job etc., what would you do? I've heard enough stories from working adults - wait, I'm even hearing it from sulyn - that they fear one day it might come to a point where they dread their job. Unfortunately by that time, commitments would have rolled themselves into our lives and to take that kind of risk is like telling the General that you have to search for water when bullets are flying past your face in the midst of war. You can't just run out then, can you? We just can't afford that, can we?

*inhales..thinks*

I reckon I'll run around for awhile for the time being.

MC - Top Model Search

2007-06-28T20:08:00.000+08:00

There will be a Top Model Search event and it will be Emceed by YOURS TRULY! =D (yeah, you can probably tell I'm pretty ecstatic about the scale of the event)

So I'm asking all my kakis everywhere to come support me as well as the event.

Date : 7th of July (07.07.07)
Venue : Maisons, The Club
Time: 7pm onwards
Dress Code : Smart Casual - Black Rose (Ladies), King of Hearts (Men)
Tickets : RM40 (door sales), RM35 (pre-book)

Do call me (0122501688) for bookings if you want a ticket bookings, table bookings, bottle promotions, etc. I'll try my best to do what I can,k? Oh, CLICK HERE to have a pre-view of the models appearing that night.

Oh, and as a treat, I heard that there might be an international DJ playin' that night. Hope to see you all there!

A fine day

2007-06-21T00:58:00.000+08:00

There was this song in the album Laughing Stock, by Kopi Kat Klan called "Singapore is a fine country". This was a hit album among some of my friends (especially Jayson, imitating Kiasu King). The first time I heard the song, I thought how conceited of them to praise their own country. But upon listening closely, you realize they're talking about how easily one can kena saman in Singapore.

How clever.

You've probably deduced why I brought this up by now. Yes, Justin kena saman today. But in my defense, I probably deserved three instead of the one i kena-ed. Firstly, I will admit that I have a habit of finding lubang to park 'just for awhile' while I run certain errands. In fact, I'm so stubborn I'll go out of my way to not pay that RM3/hour carpark despite knowing that a single summon can offset all that I've 'saved'. So begins the story..

I went to the bus station to get a ticket for a trip up to Penang(no, it's not a food trip...not entirely at least), saw parking lots, moved on. Saw another one, moved on. Then I saw my spot. Behind this bigass bus waiting for its passengers on the main road. So I carefully parked close to the curb, locked up, look left, then right, walked away..Then I looked back again - justincase. "Just for awhile mahh.."

After about 20 mins, I was done. On my way back, I saw that the bus had left, and there were neither cars behind nor in front of mine. "So fugged..", I thought as I approached doom. But alas, no magic paper!

Feeling lucky and contented, I ventured to my next destination, Petaling Street. I wanted to take a stroll after a long time of not going there after *thinks*..about a year! (no thanks to Semenyih..) So i was on the lookout again. Lots..more lots.. ahah! A space behind a car (i think already parked cars give you a this-guy-probably-knows-that-this-is-a-safe-zone feeling..) beside a shop just in front of the entrance into P.street. Again, I parked and went, albeit with a little less caution as before. Besides, it's "just for awhile mahh.."

This time I took only 10 mins and made my way towards my car when i saw a familiar white paper flapping on my wipers.

KNNBCB*&#%niaput&$#@@tamade&$

It was a RM30 summon for.. you know what it's for. AAIEEEHHHH... First thing that came to my mind : RAYU. "Yes yes, 15 bux is not so bad. Sure can, sure can.." So I leaned on my car and began calling my trusty links on where to do what and what other jalan might there be. *whistles*
I was directed to the DBKL h/quarters. For your future benefit (am NOT cursing you..its justincase) it's located just past Dataran Merdeka (when it's on your left). 20 mins of twisting and turning in the ever puzzling KL roads, I reached the carpark. Guess what? Free parking was all taken as far as my eyes could see. Screw thishit, am not donating another cent to this jokers. So I was on a lookout, again. (old habits die hard! haha) Only this time, I found one, in the next building belonging to PKNS. Obviously I checked whether I had to pay parking. Not doing so it like stealing honey the queen bee's hive man. I didn't. Sweet.

On the way there, I saw many many officers dressed in the DBKL uniform. It wasn't intentional but i HATED THE SIGHT. I'm really sad to say but officials in this country are just not a pleasant sight. It signifies more trouble than help. Not to mention their fuggedup faces and smirks they give you when they're about to smack one at you. *thinks..* I was going to type "in this case, Singapore's better. At least they smile." but upon second thought, most of us ask for trouble here anyway. Moving on.

I came to a very well decorated em, area. Pretty comfy too. I thought to myself, "hmm, I wonder how many justincases they had to catch to build this place.." When my number came up, I went into this rayuan cubicle. Being me, I greeted the guy and tried to berfren-fren with him in hopes that he does not double the cost of my ticket to Penang.

Armed with a big smile, I tried my luck with, "Eh, kalau bayar dalam sejam boleh diskaun lebih, ke?"
"Ada..", he replied and proceeded to reduce the summon to RM10 and went on with the usual Q&A question as to why I did it, where i kena, etc. He was so pleasant he even thought he'd seen me before.

To my dismay, I could no longer be even frustrated. This just re-emphasizes what I've always been saying; despite the abundant issues that just boils your blood, there will always be the many small perks that'll make you inhale and heave a big "whatever lahhh..." sigh. Call it ignorance and/or tolerance, but it's hard to hate - for me at least.

More lessons today: (many which I already know but needs emphasis)

The stress that comes with getting or anticipating a summon is just not worth it. Find proper lubangs.
"Just for awhile.." is not justified, but neither are the outrageous parking rates. Still contemplating this one.
When you park behind cars, check whether there are people inside the damn car.
Petaling street is boring anytime before noon. Actually, there's not much to see IMO.
1p.m. is not a good time to drive around - morning session school's ending and lunch hour
Some Malay words are simply irreplacable. (e.g. memang, kena, etc.)

Hope you enjoyed the relatively Malaysian-fied post. Have a fine day.

Women are dangerous

2007-06-19T02:51:00.001+08:00

Starter: This is not a post about road safety.

I know what're you thinking, it's one of those anti-feminist-filled posts. But be surprised to know, this exact phrase came from a woman, an elderly one at that. She's my grandmother.
After visiting my mother in the hospital today, (yeah, she got admitted for spraining her back and taking overly strong medication - which by the way, wasn't confirmed to be correct till the time of writing - causing extreme nausea leading us to the emergency ward at 9.45 a.m.) I had lunch with my grandma and Batman. While talking about future plans and such, the 'women' topic crept up. My grandmother preached about how 'men at this age' should not stick to one girl, and have many girlfriends. "When the time is right, and the pocket is aptly packed, then you choose..", she concluded. Having been trained to question throughout my engineering courses, I asked "Why?"

"Because women are dangerous!", says her. Then came the talk about 'girls from China' which just left me shaking my head, as though seeing flashes of TheStar frontpages in my mind.

Later that evening I met up with my ex-Semenyih-housemates and were discussing about matters close to the heart (i.e. girls, money..and stuff). One of our friends was recently involved in a very dramatic relationship with someone whom he thought the world of. Why such a dramatic word like dramatic, you ask. Well, picture this. The perfect combination of romantic scenes from TVB series (i.e. romantic moments on the rooftop, 'electricity' running so high it lights us spotlights up, sweetness that could lead to diabetes) and the all-in-one drama from Bollywood movies (e.g. 3rd parties, singlehood, love, hate, jealousy, persistence, angry parents.. minus the dance crew and the *deng-e-degechak-e-denge-deng-..* music). I feel proud to have been in such epic sequels of which we fondly referred to as Episodes I-VI.

Thing is, it was over as fast as it began.

When I heard it, my face was like [center]..

Which way would you've went?
I went both.

I always thought, the harder someone works for something, the more he/she'll appreciate and treasure it. Just like durians. You go through a mindfield to get it, face the spikes, precise aiming and brute strength just to taste the.. (seriously, just drooled inside) .. the sweetness of it all. This did not make sense as I thought this one'd last, at least for sometime.

Though I'm sparing verbal details, I'm posting this picture for you to assemble the pieces. This was drawn by this friend of mine which perfectly depicts the story. So go figure and you can comment your guesses, haha.

Now, now. This is not to say menkind is all good either. Chauvinists, perverts, jerks, sexists, pigs, asses, and the list gets wilder. Heard most of them. The main difference is that (most) men are terribly honest about it. If I'm an ass, I'll say I'm an ass. My friends know I'm an ass. A bundle of asses, we are. We admit n accept, n' get along. I know this may annoy some women as to, "Then why don't you change?!". Well, so long as it's not bad for our health, doesn't kill and/or hurt anyone, it's fine by us. What would the fairer sex do? Be honest now.

From this, I've (re)learnt a few things:

Women are dangerous to a certain extent (for personal confrontation, call me and we'll have a go at this one, hah)
When the going gets tough, you gotta think of yourself first i.e. survival of the fittest
If it could happen to him/her, it could happen to you
(as above) One thing i know for sure, is nothing's for sure
Blood is thicker than water ('brothers' included =)

But all men are well versed with this phrase: Women - can't live with them, can't live without them.

Because we are men
(extracted from a joke by Allan Pease)

If we work too hard, there is never any time for her and the kids; if we don't work hard enough, we're good for nothing.
If a man gets a promotion ahead of her, that is favouritism; if she gets a promotion ahead of a man, that is equal opportunity.
If a man thumps her, that is wife bashing; if she thumps him, that's self defence.
If he asks her to do something she doesn't enjoy, that's domination; if she asks him, it's a favour.
If we try to stay in shape, that's vanity; if we don't we're slobs.
If we buy her flowers, we're after something; if we don't, we're forgetful.
If she has a headache, it's because she's tired; if he has a headache, he doesn't love her anymore.

P.S. : On a lighter note, Happy Father's day to all fathers!
PP.SS: Btw, my mom has been discharged from the hospital now and is thankfully better now.

Better days

2007-06-14T23:05:00.000+08:00

After being on a mighty high from last week, I have sensed and personally experienced an aura of low-ness amongst myself as well as some of my friends. Could it be the balancing forces of Yin and Yang? Or maybe life's like a wave oscillating us about a set lifeline. Maybe it's God's way of keeping us in check; to make us realize that there is no perfect life. So we are 'down to earth'.

Some blame fate. Among all the superstitions and myths, I simply refuse to buy this one. I believe if you want something so bad, there ain't no mountain high enough to stop you from reaching it.

Yet shit happens..again and again. And it crumbles whatever hope you've had, whatever determination you've mustered and whatever effort you've put in.

In my opinion, there's only two answers for situations such as these - purpose and faith.

"Is purpose all that?", some ask. Based on my observation, any successful thing anyone has done in life is done because he knows why he must succeed - or why he cannot fail. When shit happens, it's what tells you to ignore the stench and focus on how the hell to get out of it.

Faith on the other hand is a more abstract concept. In John 20:29, faith is perfectly phrased: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.." I'm not getting all theological but it's true. The notion that one can simply surrender all his problems to a greater power and just believe that it will somehow be settled is just too hard to accept for most, even myself. Reason being that this is an absolute contrast of the previous factor.

The clashing of these two principles is a direct result of 21st century education. Man is now trained to rationalize i.e. There is a reason for everything. I am seriously wondering how any religion would survive. At this point I realize how sensitive yet serious this issue can get. But I am merely stating a realistic point of view in anyone's life right now.

So do we be go-getters or do we stay put and leave it to supernatural forces far beyond our grasp and control? As much as I want to embrace both, it just doesn't.make.sense. Have we become too smart for our own good?

For all of you that have been feeling the same, this one's for you.

click Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days for lyrics

P.S : This is a long extension of some of the things i've been going through. Things have not been that bad.

Chinese Weddings

2007-06-12T03:39:00.000+08:00

I attended a Chinese wedding last Sunday. It was my *pauses* Grandfather's sister's daughter's sons's wedding; my uncle basically. As much as I love culture and family, I cannot help but resent attending something 3 hours long and will probably have no benefit to me whatsoever. Probably, I say.

So anyway, fast forwarding to the event itself.

So one reaches the restaurant and is greeted by the bride and groom(B&G). And oddly enough, no matter which direction you enter, your entrance will seem grand.. when you're late, which in my opinion somehow downplays the entrance of the B&G. So after shuffling through the tables and having many bored, waiting guests annoyed by the punctuality of events and a gurgling stomach judge you from top to bottom, you sit.

"So many unfamiliar faces, so little to talk about.." This situation is made worse by a Hakka zhai (Hakka not being able to say more than "Yeeeen wong.." (..You know, I don't know how to translate this, but I think it's somewhere between Whoah and terrrrrible) and "Ngi zho magai?" (What're you doing?). So you talk, make small chat, answer how are things at university, try to answer your future plans, and do your best to not make yourself the topic and just eat the food..and order more red wine.

And then there's always the Emcee who does his best to bring up the crowd's spirits. However, for the first time in history, this wedding planner found a way to reduce this expense - ear-blasting-uncle/aunty-karaoke.
Now, now, I'm not all bad. I love ears, i love loud music, I love uncles and aunties, and I love karaoke. BUT come on, combining these four elements are like putting all our moms on a nagging spree in a large moving bus - unecessary noise, and there's nothing we can do about it. The karaoke was so loud that I couldn't hear when my mom speaked to me - she sat 2 seats beside me, btw.

I noticed an unusual phenomenon, though. Halfway through, I saw many people giving a standing welcome to a new singer - what looked like a young 7 year old girl. So my question is : Why the difference in treatment to the seniors and the juniors? Why no standing ovations for the more talented elderly? If you asked me, the clapping's obviously not for the singing talent. I say screw public karaoke in the first place. I mean most of us squirm upon hearing a girl go off-pitch during American Idol auditions, yet here we are practically having no choice but to listen to some USO (unidentified singing object) sing an amplified version of Teresa Teng's Hé Rì Jūn Zài Lái through very large BOSE speakers.

It's just uncalled for. I couldn't talk, neither could i leave. (for long at least..) My patience was being tested.

At this point you're drinking some Tong Sui while eating some sweet Dau Sar filled cake..thingys. Just then things started looking brighter when the emcee started getting a little rowdy. He started Latin dancing! (I know cuz it's quite obvious how much he attempted to swaggle his hips) Well basically, he looked high, especially when he went to tease them old women to make them cover their faces in glee. *shivers*

Here's a short clip.

Ah.. But i can't help stating the obvious pros of chinese weddings. YUUUUMMMMM SEEENGGG! And it's always interesting to find out who you're related to. e.g. Cherie, my long lost friend-turned-cousin. It's really weird you know, like a big twist in a Bollywood movie.

Well, in the end, so long as Dai ka hoi sum (everyone's happy). Cheers!

The great Bald of China

2007-06-02T01:37:00.000+08:00

Today marks a pause to a 2 year long friendship between two strangers who despite meeting by coincidence, bonded to brotherhood. I am referring to no other than my Chinese bro, Deng Hui.

For those who know me well anytime before 2005, my lack of proficiency in any sort of Chinese was as prominent as my fluency in Tamil. So the thought of living beside a chinese, (pronounced CHI-nese as Len Jin once taught me how to accentuate the chines-ity of a pure-blood) was an exciting new prospect.

The first few days we both conversed in Cantonese, which was akin to a dog speaking to a cat in English. Both not really knowing how to and obviously out of courtesy.

*pauses to contemplate whether I should publicly reveal all the Chinaman's exploits; which by the way make very interesting stories during yumcha sessions*

Perhaps not, someone might get arrested.

Well, fast-forward two years ahead. I've learnt how to converse in Mandarin! (not to mention curse the hell out of someone, no thanks to Mr. Ko too, hah) That's been something I've been trying to achieve since I realize I'm missing out on so, so much. I've also learnt a lot about the chinese culture, what's different between here and there. Some of the examples are how the Buddhists in Malaysia worship more than the three main Gods, being Guan Ying, em.. I forget. And when doing business with Chinese businessmen, it is absolutely imperative to master these three factors, being:

Eating - what as well as where. Reason being: ALL business deals are discussed while chewing on a local delicacy.

Drinking - nothing below 60% alcohol content. Go figure.

Smoking. Do not mess with Chinese cigarettes. At about Rm20/pack, nothing has tasted better than Panda cigarettes. =D

I've also learnt quite abit about Chinese Tea drinking. (I have his tea set, hah!)

When you're pouring, the last portion of each batch should be equally distributed. Symbolizes equal sharing of the earnings;
There was once we drank this Pu Er tea, apparently one of the new specialties and has slimming properties. It's proven - Deng Hui lost about 10 kilos as a result of 3 months of daily Pu Er sessions. Came back looking like an anaeroxic stick only to return to his san zhu (wildboar) state. Anyway, any more than it can upset your stomach. When I first tasted it, it tasted bitter only to turn sweet in the end. So he says, there's a meaning to this. "Sien ku, hou tian" translated as "First bitter, then sweet". Much bitterness you must go through, to taste the sweetness of your success. Nice.

And in our last local yumcha session, Nelson and I asked him what's he really gonna miss here. "The food loh..", replied DH. "Which food lah?", asks Justin.

"Asam Laksa lorr.." ==>

"Satay Lorr.."

So my theory is right. Expats earning BIG BUX and living lavish lifestyles can't help but come back here for one big fat reason - Malaysian food!

You all are probably wondering about the origins of this post's title. Wonder no more.

Thanks Deng Hui. It's been a wonderful two years, and I've learnt alot. Hope to see you soon! Keep in touch CHINAMAN!

One, two step

2007-05-26T15:59:00.000+08:00

I'm excited at the prospect of turning over a new leaf. Who wouldn't be? The prospect of getting the ultimate degree of freedom, the endless possibilities that lie ahead without the mention of academic responsibilities.

Who are we kidding?

I'll tell you my experience so far. It begins with a small voice in the back of your head whispering, "You're own your own now, [insert name].."
Slowly it turns into, "Dude, you can't survive this long without dough man.."
Then it becomes, "They are watching you more than before now. And this time they're not expecting letters of the alphabet (i.e. As, Bs, Cs, etc.) anymore.."
And finally the once small weasel of a voice turns into a roaring "YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN MAN!"

Not the most pleasant of stages in life when you feel so vulnerable.

And so begins my journey as an adult. Like Robert Frost once put it in his poem The Road Not Taken, I see two roads diverged in a yellow wood; and (am) sorry I could not travel both. Perhaps I could attempt to. But like I've said before, multitasking isn't a man's best quality. I've tried it, and I've achieved mediocre results at them - at best.
That's why I never cease to envy my mother's ability to carry out 4 jobs at once while simutaneously talking to a client and berating her worker for a spelling error. This is in addition to working on a messy table (a minor compulsive personality I have, so totally unacceptable in my books) and thinking about a meeting she's about to attend. But I've come to realize that this is what it takes to be a successful person; the ability to handle situations as they come and go. It's not like you can tell your boss to wait while you take a crap, can you? No, you gotta hold your shit and settle more important things, like paperwork and stuff.

I've diverged abit from the topic, haven't I?

For one, I know I have not been spending enough time thinking about this (though, some might fiercely oppose this suggestion). It doesn't help when you have episodes after episodes Heroes, House, 70's show, Futurama and a feet high collection of unwatched DVDs. I felt it today, the moment I step my foot for jogging, my mind was clear, thoughts started gushing through like an overflowing dam. I then said to myself, "Screw trying to catch up on the 2 years you've not been onlining, I have got to do this more often.." Maybe most of you feel lost in translation about now, but I probably just can't describe it well enough.

Thinking is good.. and important.
So if ANYONE (experienced or not) can so much as give me a clue as to where to start and how, it will be greatly appreciated and I will personally engrave your name in J.Wo's hall of fame once it's built.

Unfortunately my constant lack of sleep hinders the process but that's another story altogether. The irony. For now, there's no conclusion to any decisions. But then again, the only conclusion anyone gets in one's life is his/her eulogy! That's for someone else to think about.

Excuses, schmecuses

2007-05-26T01:56:00.000+08:00

As always I will cut to the chase, and this time by ignoring all the complaints of a dead and un-updated blog. I will however take an effort to explain why it has been so. I have (not so) systematically divided it for people with short attention spans to be able to read just the first few words before the bracket. =D

Approximately a month ago began a major assignment period (major like 30 credits, so losing 10% is like losing any first class chances in a full module) - followed by
Major exam period (finals, 70% of my final course count, yada yada, which if i might add wasn't exactly the best life experience i've had so far) - leading to
Stress - so a man makes the decision to
Not leave the house - em, period.
House in jungle does not have internet - and
Stressed man doesn't really feel like going to the uni to go online - not to mention
Logging onto the uni's computers produces a white hair everytime you try - and for some reason walla
It doesn't allow me to login to Blogger®.

I hope that sums enough up for you to comprehend my predicament. What's a man to do?

Anyway, to the batmobile!

've always wanted to say that. Anyhow, penning off. Multitasking just isn't a man's best quality.

P.S. : Here's a simple yet immensely inspiring video.

"Michael Jordan's take on failure"

A stretch.

2007-05-04T00:56:00.000+08:00

I write this post with half a mind, literally. A streneous 30 hour stretch of voluntarily consciousness has robbed me of all sanity, temporarily. To my luck (or lack of it thereof), it was accompanied by an incomprehensibly bad day. A bad day so wicked that it signified the epitome of Murphy's Law - everythig that could've went wrong did go wrong; in the worst possible way, at the worst possible time. Heh, but seeing my blur state, i will spare you all with the dramaticized version for today seeing that it might be understated in the blurness. No, I do not want pity. a lil cash would make things better though.

Exam period is looming around the corner. Unlike any other exams I've ever had, this one is coming as a shock. I am practically having about 4 days to prepare for the two biggest papers in my third year. Some people decided to crucify us during the first three days only to be raised up to be kicked down again. May God help us all and subtlely punish those responsible for this cruelty to the innocent.

Stop coughing, I am for most part innocent.

Anyhow, I will expect the days ahead..to be out of my dictionary, seeing that the darkness and I have become one, and breakfast is typically served at 2pm. It's like the end of the world. In some way, it is. The end of one's education path (well, as far as my plans go for the time being at least) signifies the end of the beginning as well as the beginning of a 'young adult's' turn of leaf. Ironically, in all the mindless education (excuse my bitterness towards our local education system, i suppose the 30 hour spree has taken a toll on my mood) nothing prepares us for the unpredictability and turbulations of the next 20 years of this next phase. Why do I say this? I don't know. See what i mean?

Freefall

2007-02-27T14:51:00.000+08:00

I'm watching history in the making - a drop of almost 39 points in the KLCI (to give you an idea, the market goes up or down an average of 3-4 points /day). It's the worst plunge in almost 4 years.

The local bourse today experienced what some called a 'freefall' or the 'red ocean'. Imagine an almost straight line on a graph, haha. See for yourself:

I call it Mega Sale.

Soaring among eagles

2007-02-24T12:03:00.000+08:00

"One man’s meat is another man’s poison…”

I have met so many people and continue to meet more people every single day of my life. I read somewhere that what makes every single person unique is not his/her looks, his personality, his background, etc. To be as superficial as that is akin to looking at a ship in a vast ocean. Instead, one should realize that what we are is constantly being molded every single minute in our life to the minutest detail thus disallowing the possibility for identical twins to be identical in any way.

"We are our own universe and meeting a new person is like a unity of two galaxies.."

It’s that deep – but only if you try to see it. Today a friend of mine brought me to his company’s dinner event. There I met his colleagues who have a common passion in their job. “How do you know?” you ask. When asked “How’s the job?”, the best ones have a certain conviction in their voice, a pierce in their gaze, a stance to their pose and an aura to their presence.

I finally met his boss that I’ve been hearing about for a long time. (To which he replied, “All rumours..” and smiled.) Such humility for someone who has achieved what I’d safely say eighty percent of the population has not achieved in their entire working life. He has changed two Porchés, currently has a Maserati(go look it up, and you'll know why I brought this up), has his own bungalow and is only 31. Says a lot, doesn’t it?

I have a supreme regard for such people because they know what they want, how they are going to get there and most importantly why they do what they do - also known as absolute conviction.

Irealized the importance of choosing your group of friends especially if you’re the type to mingle with the same group of people day in and day out. Choosing wrongly would be like getting a wrong prescription and could lead to grave consequences(if you watch House enough); Whereas the right pills can only bring you to greater heights and nothing less.

Argue as you might, there is no denying this fact : “Success breeds success..”

Tschüs

2007-02-22T23:50:00.000+08:00

Fickle, dammit.

It's a really testing time on Bursa, the market's been going up and up and falling, but even when it's falling, it's 50/50 so you don't..or at least I'm not certain on what to do. Arrgh, time to cut losses and maximize profits..stupid Tenaga. Pray that by next week all'll be good!

Plus, I've been saying that I'm feeling lucky this year; even won about 25bux today in Blackjack and ChorDi, hah. (from a negative 20 went up to positive 50; with max RM5 bets only) Though, thing was, it kinda felt like a big wastage of 4 hours of my life. But +ve anything is better than -ve anything, i always say.

Favorite track of the day : Bruce Springsteen - Secret garden from the Jerry Maguire soundtrack. *Proceeds to place it in my [soothing] folder*

Aussies
A big portion of my leg (kaki) ciaoed recently in view of the starting Australian semesters.

Mr. Yong Jeng Wei : I've banked in your dough already, with extra ang pow from my mom, haha. Make sure you tell me when you're comin back so you can help me buy half of Quiksilver or something.
Wang Hong: Was really nice meeting up today, and you could've told me that Chee Yong was your BOYFRIEND. wth. Anyhow, we'll bump into each other again next year if all goes well, haha.
Sern Li: Hope you're all fine and fit from yer flight. Come back with more stories next year man, can't wait.
D.Bong: It's short for Diane in case any of you guys wanna get funny, lol. I told you all Justins are special. hah. The friendship we have cannot be put into words, but it's far from average I can tell you that. Your English hasn't deteriorated, and I hope we both come up with a solution for your predicament soon; else we're gonna be 2 lost sheep in heaven/hell on earth.

Yo'all be good, aite? Cheers.

In case you were wondering, Tschüs is the German equivalent of "tata.."

Mind of mine

2007-02-22T03:23:00.000+08:00

Have you ever heard of someone telling you the best way to start your day is to adhere to the saying "Early bird gets the worm"?
Well I want to debunk the myth and offer an alternative to my fellow night-dwellers. The best way to start your day is to have the best end of yesterday.

Now hold them thoughts. This idea actually came from a newspaper article my friend described to me sometime ago. It claimed that there was a boy, who could , read : choose his dreams. Overflowing thoughts at this point? You're not alone. Thoughts of a life where everything is free and everyone is happy. Escapades in unexplored places. Perfect moments with the person who acecpts and appreciates all I am. Pages and volumes could not fill the types and descriptions of the dreams I(or anyone for that matter)'d like to have. Ok a lil out of point already.

Anyway, what i did was :

Visualize the great day I'm gona have tomorrow down to the last minute detail. (you can also try using this to get your dream dream)
Know that it'll happen.
Repeat step 1 till I fall asleep.

It was 4.30 a.m. when I tried this yesterday. I woke up at 8.25 for breakfast* with Bong (amazing chattin', as always ;) - 5 mins before my alarm was supposed to ring.

I have countless quotes on how great and important your thoughts, brains or mind is. But simply put, "The mind is an amazing thing.."

If you do try it though, do tell me if there're any notable results? (e.g. remembered your dream, had a perfectly 'planned' day, dream songsang abit, etc.)

Also, I really felt that I had to update my Friendster profile and photos. And i came up with this.
Appreciate comments! I don't want to be like those artists whose masterpieces are only appreciated after they're RIP-ing.

Oh, by the way, i won 4D today = RM17 for RM1 investment!! haha. (Did i mention i spent RM15 on 3 different outlets? Joker.) Bought another RM3 worth of it though. So net loss of only RM1.. till tomorrow.

Aite, out.

* - I do not usually eat breakfast. My housemates know that if they see me having breakfast or anytime up before 8.45a.m., I basically didn't sleep.

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Hong Pau na lai!

2007-02-10T17:14:00.001+08:00

Ah, finally, got some time to post something up, been busy with everything the past few days.

First things first, Happy Chinese New year to one and all, whether you're a Chinese or not. That's the beauty of Malaysia, we celebrate everything. I'd like to wish you all a year full of prosperity, health and time freedom. (Some of you got this from me as part of the greeting..)

So the other day, I got into one of my graphic-y moods the other day as i was helping the guys design their poster. Then i thought of playing around with money, it is after all the angpow season. And I came up with my dream to be achieved by 2015.

"Money isn't the problem, it's the lack of it that is.."

Disclaimer : This note is strictly an example note and any the author will not be held liable due to misuse in any form.

A reFRESHing start

2007-02-10T16:46:00.000+08:00

A friend contacted me the other day at 9.06a.m. But unlike before, he sounded all different – totally ecstatic, hyped, and figuratively speaking ready for war. A deep curiosity took over and I wondered why he sounded the way he did. Like the way you really want to know which bastard hurt your younger sister and made her cry, only that this was dealing with on the other side of the spectrum.

So he says, “I woke up at 9.05 today feeling exceptionally pumped-up, hyper, happy and high. High on LIFE! And you wanna know why? No longer do I feel like a wandering sheep in the meadows. I found my direction, strength, and above all I found my purpose. It’s even better than your first Christmas present. Never have I felt this way! Oh, did I mention, this was despite sleeping at 5.30?”

According to Law of Attraction*, things were looking good for him.

Wow, so that’s what I’ve been missing, huh? The good news is, it was me who was contacting myself! (I'm not bragging, i was just amazed.)

* - The law of attraction was documented in an hour-long DVD Yeoh shared with me called The Secret. It’s basically an in-depth philosophy related to the saying, “I think therefore I am”. An absolute must watch.

Sabbath

2007-02-06T14:27:00.000+08:00

I was having my regular post-workout session the other day but with a twist. Lying on a beach-type chair I thought, “Ahh, this is the life. Sun, breeze, poolside seat, my Palls..”

Then I thought of one more item to add to my list of medium term goals:
“That I work hard enough to reach a stage where I can dedicate the whole of Sunday (not Ladies’-night Thursday, not the-weekend’s-here Friday, not but-it’s-the-weekend Saturday) to do what I want, where I want, and how I want.
No holds barred. Like what the Eighth Commandment* asks of us. Think about it, how often would you be able to really enjoy this sensation of absolute nothingness? Will you ever? Don’t get me wrong, I am not condoning the act of mindless stoning or my-brain-needs-a-break type excuses. This is hard earned time.

Thoughts of money(too much or the lack of it), relationship (same as money), marriage(from previous problem), children(from previous problem), bills(would result from children), car, company, job, boss, or worse still : none of the above?!

*Click if you want to erase problems*

As if.

* - The Eighth commandment states that “Thou shall keep the Sabbath Day holy” and is part of the Ten Commandments from the Bible. For the uninitiated, the contemporary version of the Ten Commandments would be “10 guaranteed tips to go to heaven”.
Finally, this is a matter of personal interpretation. For more info, wikipedia it - I ain’t such an angel to link it for yah.

-credits to my sister for pointing out a major flaw. It's the 8th Commandment, not the First. lolz

The First Time

2007-02-04T04:28:00.000+08:00

Trying best as i can to avoid a 'dear diary' type, i'm catering to a growing urge of mine to speak out on issues that I've developed recently along with the awareness on all issues that have been bugging my think-thank.
I've also always wanted to improve my English by writing but unlike high school, you've no teacher grading your work. On the other hand, I can't pat myself on the back telling meself "oowh, wu' a woanderfwul job this is".. can I?

Of course I can. As the saying goes, "A bloated head is far better than a shrunken one".

And finally, seeing that i've never had the best memory this'll be a place to record the intricate details of those moment in your life - be it good or bad - that will forever alter the direction of your life's journey. No one can deny that they've never had oneuv those. That's why i've always liked this quote:
"Life's not about the number of breaths you take, but it's the number of moments that take your breath away.."
~thousandapologiesicantrememberwhosaidthis (i think i'll be using this one alot, haha)

Yes yes, i do have a thing for quotes. What's not to like? They're entertaining good food for thought, very wise (A picture of an old, white-bearded, wrinkled man meditating on the mountain comes up at this point) and poetic all at the same time. And the amazing thing is, the shortest ones more often than not are the most impactful. Although *shouts* I apologize again for not being able to quote le wise one who muttered them. *endshout*

Funnily (albeit not unexpectedly), I'm beginning to find more and more uses for this site of which i thank the founders of Blogger® being so generous in providing free webspace. Tune in for more of in-house JW entertainment.

So I'd like to congratulate myself on embarking on this journey of self-discovery and memories. Cheers. *clank*