Thursday, January 28, 2010

Mr. Wenger Is Back!



"What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world"

~Robert E. Lee, letter to his wife, 1864



Yes, Mr. Wenger is back and I cannot put in words how relieved I am.

May he remember what I wish for him in his post here.


"Fi-sha said...

Dear Mr Wenger,

Last wednesday was Mr Arsene Wenger's 60th birthday.

Despite lackluster performance of the Gunners and being humiliated by MUFC fans in Old Trafford last august, he is still THE Force to Reckon. Simply because he is brilliant. His every action is supported by facts - never emotion, which he spares solely for his passion to make soccer remains the greatest game in this planet. I wish you could be as resilient as he is.

Stupidity and popularity reign in this country. Even some people who claim to have so many paper qualifications appear moronic in their train of logical thoughts. Where did we go wrong Mr Wenger? Too bad, they lead us all back to you know who.So,this fight must go on, sir. Most people say this fight is a losing one but the truth must be prevailed. We need to wake the people of this nation from this long slumber of ignorance and blind stupidity".


Welcome back Sir - this Ibu Pertiwi needs you.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Women's Rights To Set Things Right


"Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less"



Someone said to me before, "It's better to have a sodomite than a liar as a PM". After 2 years of invest-igation (but more like an instigation, I opine), DSAI's sodomy trial is scheduled to open on 2 Feb 2010. Yes, years ago, his first sodomy trial was theatrical, with 'props' and 'mobs' parading into the courtroom. I wonder what would be the 'storyline for one movie director' this time around. Kalah tak "Avatar"?

It is really difficult to fall prey into YUMNO's strong conviction (yeay, yum seng and yee sang season is coming soon) that DSAI is indeed a serial sodomite because "[as] A woman [who] uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition" (G.K. Chesterton), I strongly believe that this is just another character assassination to this charismatic leader.

Wouldn't it be righteously better to use this precious time in court to find out if Adik BH Teoh and Adik Kugan were murdered or otherwise? Shishhh!

They say a woman becomes an ideal wife when she finds an ideal husband. The Great Dame Permatang Pauh is indeed a Heaven-Sent woman for DSAI and I am truly glad to see one during my lifetime because I have seen too many 'weak' women allowing themselves being used and abused by lame men.

May we women of this Ibu Pertiwi exercise our rights and nothing less. The journey is treacherous but "a free race cannot be born from slave mothers" (Margaret Sanger).

p.s. I couldn't help but to share here another quote from Ms. Susan B. Anthony - "I thank you, sir, for what I take to be the highest compliment, but sweeter even than to have had the joy of caring for children of my own has it been to me to help bring about a better state of things for mothers generally, so that their unborn little ones could not be willed away from them" ~ Susan B. Anthony's response when when a leading publicist told her he thought she would make a wonderful mother

It sounds familiar because I did write about my 'protest statement' here in relation to motherhood, despite that I was told I could make a good mother.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Muse's Undisclosed Desires




"I want to reconcile the violence in your heart

I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask

I want to exorcise the demons from your past

I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart"

~ Muse, The Resistance

Fahmi Reza's "10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka"


The highlight of me attending SABM's forum in KLSCAH last saturday is definitely Fahmi Reza's "10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka" short movie.


I want to write more, which I will do later (when time permits) but for the time being, please, please, please visit his blog here and watch this poignant movie.


Throughout the screening, I saw faces of the forgotten Pejuang Anak Bangsa Malaysia and they remind me of my Tok. My tears streamed down my face because it was so difficult not to see how 'buta sejarah' we have been (thanks to the distorted version we were taught in schools and books), how scary it was to see that history repeats itself now, and how much we have allowed our intelligence and dignity be undermined for the past 60 years - not by colonial British but our own people and primarily by bourgeois Malays, which you can now see in 'one sinking ship'.


I bet we don't need BTN anymore once we watched this meaningful movie. You won't regret. Really...

Friday, January 22, 2010

And Friendship Blooms...





Sometimes, I do feel guilty 'collecting' friends, especially in the arena of Facebook. For me, a friend is someone who has touched your heart, not merely someone whom I have met nor one I have known. Maybe you need to read these quotes that spell out what a friend to me is...


In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit ~Albert Schweitzer

The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you ~Elbert Hubbard, The Notebook, 1927

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart ~Elisabeth Foley

If I had to sum up Friendship in one word, it would be Comfort ~Adabella Radici

True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable ~Dave Tyson Gentry

The friend within the man is that part of him which belongs to you and opens to you a door which never, perhaps, is opened to another. Such a friend is true, and all he says is true; and he loves you even if he hates you in other mansions of his heart ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert

The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had ~Author Unknown



Before I went to The Little Red Dot for some 'cuti-cuti makan angin' program (some envious people think that way), some colleagues, whom i once called friends, decided to give cold shoulder - reason being that I was not senior enough to go there and i was selected because they thought i was my mentor's blue eye girl. It was painful but as I suffer short-term memory, by the time I stepped down on chic Changi Airport, i was completely a new person, ready to absord and experience whatever comes my way.

Then, a week before i came back to this See-Ty, a dear friend, who earlier gave me that cold shoulder, called me. What a pleasant surprise because she never did respond to my few emails and suddenly, i felt good going back. Unfortunately, it was not as good as i thought. Some insecured souls have been making up stories that I had strongly asking some people to get meself promoted (when in actual fact, i wrote a strong email, asking them to do the necessary for my tax clearance in The Little Red Dot, and for them to forward my evaluation form for my 'sensei' in The Little Red Dot to put their feedback - I think i wrote about this before). The funny thing about me is that the harsher people get to me, the sweeter i am to them - yes, thats what i called "Reverse Psychology" or perhaps, aptly call "Sweet Revenge" - hehheheh. Some wonder if i did some cosmetic surgery or if i have found the love (or laugh) of my life there that i was brimming with cheery, glowing aura (thanks The Little Red Dot and those great souls that opened up their hearts, doors and minds for me).

Only after a few week, i started to sense the distance amongst the colleagues and The Biggies but i knew it's coming and i even advised my friends not to go out lunching (not lynching ok hehhe) with me because i know they would get 'tempias' of those people's envious angst. True to meself, i say what i feel straight to the face and someone had her share one fine day.

A few days later, a 'meeting' was convened in the office. They decided to confront me. They said I rarely talked to them (seriously, i cannot get meself into conversations that revolve around 'mengumpat orang', artists, 'who's better than who in the office, who suck up to who', etc. - it's just not me and not about me hating them). My icy looks (when i was serious at work) and my gregarious outlook (when i liaise with my clients especially) , for them, confirmed their suspicion that i hate them.

After listening to their grievances, i asked them this, "If you don't like me that way, why did you inflict your angst to my friend here? If you said she's your friend, why did you all treat her like that?". I think the best part of that "EGM" was that i did make someone, whom me and my friend had groomed to do well in her work, realised about the importance of a friend.

Those people are fair-weathered friends (they joke, do lunch, gossip and all together). They see friendship as a tool to garner popularity and even worse to me, they could have a heart to talk about their so-called friends behind their back. They impose on others to "follow my way or hit the highway and suffer...alone". Unfortunately, for the past 52 years, we malaysians are being moulded into pessimistic, popularity-craze souls that we could not endure such harsh treatment from these people. Sadly, the same game plan wrecks this Ibu Pertiwi to what it is today (well, you may want to read Aliran's "More rhetoric than reality on human rights").

Actually, all i wanted to write here is about new friendships i am blessed with this past month. At first, i thought they accept me as a friend because i was friendly enough to them (as always). At times, i wonder if they would stick around as friends, especially after reading my blog. But God knows best and until now, they are still around as friends - i must say they are true friends just like those being quoted up there.

Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "A friend is one before whom I may think aloud". How true and for that I thank you my friends.

May our friendship blooms, grooms us to be better, stronger.

I'm still in the musical mood and to seal this post, I must share with you Demi Lovato's "Gift of A Friend".

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Love Story Ends...



Where Do I Begin
.... Yes, where do i begin with this post.

One of my favourite authors passed on last sunday morning.

Dear Mr. Erich Wolf Segal, rest in peace. May God bless you, like how much you have blessed us with your wonderful "Love Story" and "The Class".

Harimau mati meninggalkan belang, manusia mati meninggalkan kata-kata...

Love Story

"What the hell makes you so smart?" I asked. "I wouldn't go for coffee with you, " she answered. "Listen, I wouldn't ask you." "That, "she replied "is what makes you stupid"

"What can you say about a twenty-five year old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. The Beatles. And me"

"True love comes quietly, without banners of flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked"

"Love means never having to say you're sorry"

The Class

"Part of being a big winner is the ability to be a big loser. There is no paradox involved. It is a distinctly Harvard thing to be able to turn any defeat into victory"

"Quiet heroism or youthful idealism, or both? What do we know? That life without heroism and idealism is not worth living - or that either can be fatal?"

p.s. Last sunday, i was dizzy the whole day - yes, now I know - they were just too many souls passed on to the Other Side. To make it even more emotionally dizzying, I watched "
P.S. I Love You", again and then, on monday, read about Corrine Bailey Rae losing her husband in 2008 and Love Story's author died on Sunday. It's de javu - losing the one you loved - i feel forever wrecked. Somehow, having gone through such experience, I don't think I'm scared to go through this life - just stronger even when it's a lonely journey.

Monday, January 18, 2010

My Heartfelt Condolence to Chung Ling's Lost Dragonboat Warriors




Gaily I lived as ease and nature taught,

And spent my little life without a thought,

And am amazed that Death, that tyrant grim,

Should think of me, who never thought of him

~René Francois Regnier


A few years back, i decided to go up Penang Hill at 6 in the morning. What I thought would be a quiet, lonely ascend to the top with furnicular train, there was a large group of Chung Ling High School students - all boys - getting on the train as they had Cross Country uphill on that very day.

I must say I should be a teacher because I love students, being surrounded by these young souls hungry to get to know this world and everything in it. Alas, I am not.

While I usually being taken aback by rowdy behaviours of some students, I found these boys well-behaved, even gentlemanly. One decided to give up his seat to me and the rest bowed their heads acknowledging that it was their pleasure to do so. I listened to their bantering and boy, how i missed being a teenager with a purpose in life.

As we stepped from the train and bid each other farewell and I told them to have fun, I almost cried. I was touched by their souls and was telling my friend that I would write to the school headmaster commending excellent students they have groomed. Alas, I did not - a holiday turned into madness at works and i blame my short-term memory for failing to do so.

Reading this sad dragon boat tragedy, the Penang Hill sweet memory suddenly came to life. Although I wanted to lambast such improper actions taken by the team (but do we really know if they had to do what they had to do with what they had, so to excel?), having the same opinion like Dr Hsu's because such mishap once rocked people of The Little Red Dot in 2007, I couldn't help thinking that I could have met one of them years ago.

It is indeed lives wasted but I am sure they will be remembered as precious lives that have touched people's hearts in many ways imagined.

They say the good dies young and in their case, their demise would be a good example that everyone is important, that we have to take necessary actions so such tragedy would not repeat to others, who i believe are the ones that would carry the beacon of dragonboat tradition for many generations to come.

May their souls rest in peace and may God give their loved ones strength and courage during this difficult time.


I'm not afraid of death

It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life

~ Jean Giraudoux, Amphitryon, 1929

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Delusional & Delirious Ummmm Malaysians-No?




Scanning over Blogosphere, inhabited by floggers that befriended the froggers, goblokers, boggers and bloggers, I am not sure whether to laugh out loud or to sob heavily. Reason for having such oxymoronic emotions - some middle-aged men and women who had eaten enough salt in this world still think that Pakatan Rakyat ("PR") is the mastermind behind the church arson attacks because as these once-educated-and-logical aunties and uncles thought that Pakatan Rakyat is so hard-up to bring 1FPGMO down.

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully ~ Walter Lippmann


Hehehhehhehhehehehhhhehehhehehhehhehhehehhehehhe! Aiya, aunties, uncles, why you all so funny one? Must be the middle age crisis eh?

On a serious note, I'm so proud of my Mak - who have never been to secondary school - because she said why malay people need to worry about a few thousand Christians using "Allah" in their prayer materials when even too many Malays do not even read "Al-Quran", why these UMNO people are still stubbornly making a lot of noise saying PR is the culprit to such acts when Adik Kugan died while in our Men in Blue's lock-up while Adik BH Teoh was found dead the day after being interrogated as MACC's witness?

Shish, what a rotten education system we have that turned these UM(ph)NO men and women into delusional and delirious goblockers! To make matters worst, these are the ones that decide our present and future! OMG!

The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn - and change ~ Carl Rogers

Sorry Um(ph)No men and women, i cannot help but to make fun of your goodselves (well, if there is even a sliver of goodness in your hearts) because you continue to mock yourselves, your intelligence and that make us, the rest of common Anak Bangsa Malaysia, as stupid as you are in the eyes of the world.

Please change. You bloody well know that the independence of this Ibu Pertiwi and its people has never been gained by virtue of UM(ph)No. Tak puas hati? Go read this "Lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama" from Aliran. To rub some more salts to your gangrenous wounds (well, you ate too much salts already at your age), go figure why Allahyarham Dato' Onn Jaafar and Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman, these great UMNO figures, passed on not as UMNO members?

Remember Neil Armstrong famous line as he stepped out from Apollo 11? "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind". Yes, you can change - for us all, please.

For this post, i must get you to listen to Kat Edmonson's "Be the Change".

p.s. Don't ever say i write for PR, ok. I write for common people like you and me. Just like when i say I support Arsenal simply because I like Arsene Wenger's management style that transforms many unworthies in The Gunners into the best and biggest soccer players of the era. If he decided next season to manage Portsmouth, well hell i will support Portsmouth! Geddit?

Friday, January 15, 2010

Duffy's Weekend


Distant Dreamer (yes I am)

Stepping Stone (please, don't make me one)

Mercy (why don't you release me?)

Rain on Your Parade (no, I won't take it again)

Rockferry (and I wouldn't write to you)

Warwick Avenue (now here's the door)

The Joy of Serving



The body has to be utilized for service to others. More bliss can be got from serving others than from merely serving oneself ~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba


Last weekend, I received a call from Pak Busu, the Father of my Little Women of Penang, thanking me profusely for having them over at our house when they came down to send Nadhirah for her last semester of Cambridge A Level.

Oh dear, being terrible at accepting compliments, I wonder what wonders had i done unto them? As far I could recalled, we just had them over for lunch - cooked in amazingly fast 1 hour as they are just too particular if i spent too much time playing Cinderella in the kitchen instead of chit-chatting with them - plus some kaw coffee tarik and some kuihs before leaving.

Must be the curry i cooked that had him go for a second serving.

Frankly, I was so tired as I had been clocking the longest working hours for the past month (yes, i am trained by Mak to take my tasks seriously) and when Chu called around 10 am that they are on the way to our house, my brain took control over my aching body and turned it into half-mutated Wonder Woman, half Nigella Lawson (err, i was referring to her easy peasy cooking skills coz I ain't as hot as her, ain't got a millionaire hubby like hers, and dang, i 'm still in Malaysia). My mind was racing through the menu and what's the fastest way to cook them up (yes, strategies play very important role in my 'experimenting lab). Voila! Lunch was served and everyone was utterly joyful and well-loved.

I wonder - how did i get all those energies (considering i was THE ONE and ONLY Queen in the kitchen - no way others in my kitchen while i'm cooking or i'm on my way out of my kitchen - shish so gila kuasa kan?)

Frankly, I must thank Mak for 'torturing' me when i was a little gal that we must do things with love and care (since i couldn't get to play as much as I wanted to with my friends as I would be busy doing chores at home). By then, all the things we do are not chores but celebrations.

Mak said all guests must be treated like Kings and Queens and it is not the ingredients that matter, it is the love that you have while cooking dishes that make them delicious.

Mak taught me that food must be treated with all respect because they will find their way into every single cells in our body and how fitting that we should say our prayers while handling them (like I would say my prayers while washing the rice, wishing that may this meal makes us a better person, protecting us all from hunger - physically, mentally and spiritually and may this meal connects everyone that eats them).

Perhaps, like Leo Rosten once said,"The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all".

Mak showed me that there is indeed a joy in serving others, no matter who you are because "We can do no great things, only small things with great love" (Mother Teresa).

Maybe this weekend I would spend some time watching do-good-feel-good "It's a Wonderful Life" movie and listen to "Beautiful Day" by Bono, the good-doer, to sum up my post on the Joy of Serving because your life is wonderful when you have touched someone's life.


An Inconvenient Truth Teller


"God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please - you can never have both" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"From health-care reform to Afghanistan, Joe Biden has bucked Obama—as only a good Veep can".

That's what this article is all about - about a Veep standing as an Inconvenient Truth Teller to his Boss. Tell me, have you been one or maybe have you seen one?

Despite Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's new campaign exposé "Game Change", which WSJ later carries an article of "Bickering with Biden", I still believe he's the man Mr Obama needs during this time where Mr Obama is treated as Demi-God and if you watched Harrison Ford's "Air Force One", you would understand that the President of United States of America happens to be surrounded by men that just think what's best to their country - in terms of power, even if they have to announce the death of their president to reign control of power, not sanctity of the power itself. Though continuously being labeled the joker and small-time statesman by egotistical wall-street capitalists, we all need someone like Mr Biden to stand next to the most powerful man in the world and kicks some senses. Yes, Mr Joe Biden is definitely no Joke!

"The trouble about man is twofold. He cannot learn truths which are too complicated; he forgets truths which are too simple" ~ Rebecca West

Back in our Ibu Pertiwi, instead of bucking up, we love sucking up to our bosses, making the good education we had going to a complete waste because instead of thinking and analysing, telling and standing by the facts, we sty[1], lie and eventually let our mind, heart and soul die.

[1] Sty in this context carries the meaning of "shut up".

So, is it our 'boss' fault that we suck up like leeches or is it our fault - or maybe our insecurity to finding or dealing with the truth? I opine that we are just 'takut dengan bayang-bayang sendiri', we rather go down fashionably and arrogantly stupid in stupor.

Still in my musical mode, i like to finish this off by sharing the legendary M. Nasir's Mantera Beradu, a duet with the young Malique, that encapsulate the idea of this post - An Inconvenient Truth Teller.

Be one, please...

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

SABM's "Believe Instead" Forum




I am rushing through reading this book (in between meetings, course, photocopying and meals) as it has been gathering dusts for 2 months and in no time, i will receive the third reminder from the library. Yikes!

One of the topics is "In the absence of orders, initiate appropriate action". Let me extract the story shared under this enlightening topic.

"
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to hear Isadore Sharp, the CEO of the The Four Seasons, speak. He told the audience that one of the biggest factors in their success is their policy of hiring based on attitude; that competence can be taught. He feels that this hiring mandate is among the reasons The Four Seasons has become the world's leading luxury hotel chain. Additionally, he told us that one of the biggest facors in both guest and employee satisfaction is their zero mistake policy: when mistakes inevitably occur, employees are trusted to use their common sense to turn mishaps into service opportunities.

The result? A win for guests as they get immediate rectification of a problem, without having to track down management. A win for employees, as they feel trusted by management to exercise their good judgment. And an overwhelming win for management, as they have both satisfied guests and employees.

Many years ago, I had a client who was a trainee stockbroker at one of Manhattan's larger firms. One day, he was in the men's room, which was littered with paper towels. He began picking them up. At that moment, one of the directors - a fairly Zeus-like figure - came in the bathroom and asked him what he was doing. He said he was picking up paper towels. The director asked why. He said because they were on the floor. The director pointed out that this wasn't his job. My client [the trainee stockbroker] agreed but said that should a client come in, it would give them a poor impression of the firm.

Suffice to say that while this did not gain him immediate access to a corner office, his display of initiative did a lot to enhance his reputation with those occupying corner offices.

Too often, we leave meetings without a clear sense of what our particular assignment is or could be - without having taken ownership of any piece of the action - simply because no one asked us directly to do so. As you can see, however, embodying and rewarding shows of initiative can be a pain - and cost-free way to move up in the ranks, inspire employee satisfaction, enhance revenues, and last but certainly not least, allow you to fall asleep at night confident you did everything in your power to be your best."

For me, the last bit is the most rewarding brownies' point in our life. Don't you think?


"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing" ~ Albert Einstein


So, why not spare your saturday afternoon next weekend attending Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia ("SABM") Forum? They say when a muslim decided to perform his/her Haj, he/she has to drop his ego and open his heart to reap the benefits of performing the final pillar of Islam.

Same goes here. I am sure you won't just look at things and do nothing about them after attending to such forum. The least you could get from the Forum is that you could feel the sense of belonging - primary need of human beings - that we want the best for this Ibu Pertiwi by initiating the best actions for it and its people. Yes, you are not alone - after all.



p.s. A fitting song for this post would be Leona Lewis' "I Got You" ....

"Ain’t falling a part, or bitter

Let’s be bigger than that and remember

The cooling outdoor when you’re all alone

We’ll go on surviving

No drama, no need for a show

Just wanna say

I got you"

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Even Music Plays Important Role


In Greek mythology, Muses are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths.

Let me introduce you to my favourite band of the decade – Muse from Devon, UK. Called the best live band in the world (yea, they sing better live than on record simply due to energetic, colourful and extravagant shows – can you believe that, opposite to most artists?).

When you listen to Muse’s, you could have alternative, progresive rock, classical music and electronica all in one song – that’s what I call operatic and melodramatic, just like me! In addition to their musical prowess, I read their lyrics and they all make sense. When was the last time you heard a malaysian song that rings some bells? Well, the legendary M.Nasir last produced his album in 2006 and after that all I heard of from malay radio stations are just lovey-dovey, sad, soapy, sappy, giddy songs – Ewww! Please save the breakfast in my tummy before I puke them out talking more about the sorry state of our syok-sendiri music industry. Tak membina langsung, so katak bawah tempurung!

Why not let the songs tell you a story, wake your soul, pull a string in your heart, quench your anger in your belly, stir up an idea in you grey matter – simply, they all have thinking and fighting spirits and that is all we and this deplorable Ibu Pertiwi direly need at this moment.

May I suggest you listen to “Exogenesis Symphony” and of course my fave, “Uprising”. When you listen to the latter, imagine the greedy capitalist and corrupted men in power.

Muse really amuses me - intelligently!


p.s. Muse will hold its second concert in The Little Red Dot’s Indoor Stadium on 3 Feb 2010. The city nation will also open its door to my fave Paramore as they will rock the stadium on 7 Mar 2010. Both bands have their songs featured in “Twilight”, by Stephenie Meyer.

p.s.s.
Still along the line, I heard over Lite FM's Swing Time last sunday night "Rahasia Perempuan" by ex-Dewa 19 vocalist, Muhammad Dhani. It's beautiful and then i listened to songs from his first swing album called "Muhammad Dhani & The Swinger" which include our classic Tan Sri P. Ramlee's "Madu Tiga" - wowieeeee! What more could i say. He's brilliant, the swing assembly was perfect and suddenly the reality kicked me so hard on my cranium - why can't our malay artists be as creative as indonesian malay ones? I guess NEP syndrome not only stunted our economic and knowledge growth, it also disrupt healthy flow of creative juice of our artists. That's...sad....

p.s.s.s. One of my dear friends called me up saying that she was thinking of ‘deleting’ certain people from her ‘hard drive’. So, with Devil Advocate’s hat on this morning, I said “Why not?”. Even I have made it into my NY resolution – getting rid of people and things that drag me down instead of uplifting me to achieve greater purpose in life. Yes, it is time to focus on people, things and causes that make a difference in our life. I must tell you it feels so good. Yes, we must start to put good purpose to everything and everyone in our life. Only then, we would not hesitate to serve their purpose of existence, in the first place – to make us a better person!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Celik Minda, Buta Hati


Now, I am so embarrassed to face up my Christian friends because, thanks to my fellow malay UMNO supporters, they continue to politicise the issue.

All of these malay UMNO bloggers are educated lots.

They claim themselves to be rational, when i see racy-nal sprouting from their mouth and ears.

They say The Herald wasn't sensitive to muslims in Malaysia when they applied to challenge in Court, when their party never seem to be sensitive to others, especially to our native brothers and sisters in Sabah and Sarawak who have been reciting "Allah" in their Bible for tens of year. Again, do they ever care about them in East Malaysia? Hardly. Except when they need to win an election and make some sinful money out by destroying Mother Nature, displacing its flora, fauna and most importantly, our indigenious people.

They say muslims would be confused if the Bibles were printed with "Allah". They must think we muslims are dead stupid! They say muslims would go astray but they never realise these muslims go astray for the kind of style they choose to life, not the kind of God they choose to worship.

They say we muslims have been pricked too deeply by the non-muslims when they did not realise their 'warlords' have had their claws in everyone's life for the past 52 years.

They call names, they postulate everything and as usual, they act on nothing but protecting 'their periuk nasi and family'. Yes, this is what they call rational!

And I call them "Celik Minda, Buta Hati".


“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Friday, January 8, 2010

My Life on Musical Mode



After a month long of maddening assignments, singelhandedly putting a group of people on 'the same page', I have a strong urge to do Gene Kelly's famous "Singin' In The Rain".

"I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin', I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds, so dark up above
The sun's in my heart, and I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face, I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin', singin' in the rain"


This simple act itself is a joyous celebration for me before i head off somewhere peaceful, on my own, licking those wounds, getting back my beauty sleep, contemplating should i remain compulsive aggressive or compulsive decisive, clearing those piles of books and writing in blogs.

I still believe, at this very late age, that I should have been a dancer like the greatest Cyd Charrise (unfortunately i don't have her kind of legs - gloriously called the most beautiful legs ever on screen) or a performer like the angelic Joanne Woodward (tragically, I ain't angel and i don't have Paul Newman as my husband!) - simply because I forever have rhythms in my heart, my heart and my steps - they are musical.

Thanks Paramore for those upbeat tempo during my trying time for the last one month. Now, I need to welcome my true blue self, dancing to the tunes of great music in "Singin' In The Rain".


Let me indulge you with "You are My Lucky Star" because i do believe that I am finally here because of my lucky star. Thank you, wherever you are...

"Your are my lucky charms
I'm lucky in your arms
You've opened heavens portal
Here on earth for this poor mortal"

Desperate Maladies Require Desperate Remedies


Those people who will march today, protesting for exclusivity of Allah, God Almighty, be used by muslims are definitely having desperate maladies.

Their maladies are their insecurity for losing the power to remain in power, that their ends justify their means, even if they have to bring such sacred matter into their own dirty hands and filthy hearts.

French people say, "Desperate maladies require desperate remedies".

Well, these people, God, please have mercy on their idiotic reckless acts, suddenly feel the need to march today. Perhaps, the insecurity they are feeling are unbearable. Of course, for people with no hearts like them, these maladies would only affect their ability to speak truth, to think rationally and to act like civilised human beings - they are too painful to bear.

Well, FRU people suddenly feel that they are too busy protecting us, common people, their absence from the scene is indeed blinding!

Oh! I heard some thundering sounds outside my window - is that a chopper with some lame, 'saya-yang-menurut-perintah' men, wasting some precious petrol, monitoring the protest?

Gee. Like Mssr Art says aptly in his post here, welcome to Malaysia Darul Bizzare!

My apology and deepest sympathy to all our Christian brothers and sisters for such bizzareness architectured by some crooks running loose along our Corridor of Power.

Let's not fall into those crooks' desperate remedies. After all, they are the ones who are sick to the core. Let them be.

May Allah, Go Almighty, bless us all common people.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Best Community Social Responsibility I've Seen


Developer misrepresenting facts of project - Metro Central, 7 Jan 2010


WITH regard to the letter that appeared in StarMetro on Jan 1 headlined “Developer sticking to plan.”

The developer again is misrepresenting facts with regard to the Sentul Raya development project when they state that Lot 16 is designated for low-cost and medium-cost apartments.

The developer was supposed to have built KTMB Village medium-cost apartments on the portion of the land (PT 16) allocated to KTMB under the privatisation project.

This component was to be owned by KTMB for use as its staff quarters since about 1,200 old quarters were demolished from the development land.

This was not meant for low-cost housing, which, in the original approved development plan, has been allocated to be built on the neighbouring plots between KTMB Village and the present Boulevard shophouses. There were allocation for four to five blocks of high-rise low-cost apartments on this designated land.

The squatters were then promised a unit each on this land and not in Puchong or elsewhere. The developer has also made misrepresentations on the medium cost components such as Villa Perhentian and others.

They seem to have converted all these components into high-cost products for maximum return disregarding the Corporate Social Responsibility and the approved policy of the Government to “regenerate” Sentul KTMB reserve land for the benefit of all by building low-cost, medium-cost and high-cost mixed development. A mere reference to the published original development plan (Master Plan) should throw enough light on these issues.

The developer should stop misleading and confusing the public and stakeholders in the project by making irresponsible statements. They should, instead, implement Sentul “regeneration” project for the benefit of all stratum of society and not for the benefit of the rich and famous alone.

Hj Moideen N K
President, Sentul Raya real estate buyers


I feel so relieved (sigh!), because there are still good people in this Ibu Pertiwi, especially when this comes from a group of people who can afford better things in life. These are enlightened people. Dear God, bless them all and please protect in any way possible those people who have been treated unfairly.

I was hoping to see this from buyers of condo in Kg Buah Pala - I guess Penangites remain kiasu.

Since most Malaysians just don't care about looming injustice in this Ibu Pertiwi, I only have God to move a certain string in their heart or trigger a certain spark in their mind to stop this Ibu Pertiwi from going down even further.

Move over Corporate Social Responsibility, Hello Community Social Responsibility.

Our future is in our hands!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Failure of CVLB


As usual, i catch a glimpse of this MSM my Ayah bought whenever i cook because i would cover relevant spaces of the kitchen so the cleaning process afterward would be easier. Yes, everything involves right strategies, utensils and techniques.

"Persatuan Pengusaha Bas Ekspres Melayu Semenanjung Malaysia (Pembawa) meminta orang ramai tidak menuding jari kepada pemandu dan pengusaha bas ekoran kemalangan bas ekspres yang meragut 10 nyawa Sabtu lalu. Yang Dipertuanya, Tajuddin Yunus berkata, adalah tidak adil untuk menyalahkan pemandu dan pengusaha bas yang terbabit kerana mereka juga tidak mahu kejadian ngeri seperti itu terjadi. "Saya sendiri tidak tahu siapa yang harus dipersalahkan kerana tragedi ini berlaku di luar jangkaan kita. "Jadi tidak perlulah kita asyik memikirkan siapa yang harus dipersalahkan. Lebih baik kita berdoa agar kejadian seperti ini tidak berulang lagi," katanya ketika dihubungi Utusan Malaysia di sini hari ini. Beliau mengulas tindakan beberapa pihak yang menyalahkan pemandu serta pengusaha bas yang terbabit dalam kemalangan itu".

Damn. I simply cannot accept such illogical reasoning!

How could we not blame the bus driver for the tragedy when the driver told the police that he dozed off on the wheels?

Why he dozed off? Well, he has to make certain number of trips every day because his basic salary is too low, as low as RM500. He didn't get enough rest. He probably hasn't been home for a couple of days.

How come his salary is so low? So, we have to blame the bus owner for busy making profit at the price of not giving enough humane treatment to the drivers.

And of course, the real culprit, as concurred by Pak Busu too, is CVLB. Its failure to ensure welfare of the drivers and anyone working in the transportation industry is well taken care of. Its failure to ensure that all drivers are properly licensed. Its failure to enforce its power accordingly.

Then, why do we have this CVLB anyway?

Shish!

p.s. my baby brother is in the thick of this industry..i'll tell more in my "Baby Brother Rules" soon.

Food Insufficiency or Inadequate Policy?



This was supposed to be posted last week but I gave it a miss because 'my desk was hit by a typhoon'. Then, our New Year was greeted with a 20-cent higher sugar price. Ouch. I felt bad cooking 'serawa durian' today for it requires a cup of sugar and chunks of 'gula melaka' for it has to be sweet enough to linger around your taste bud and stop you from eating too much of it because "Cuisine is only about making the food taste the way they are supposed to taste" (Charlie Trotter).

They say the raw material prices have gone up thus justifies the hike. Though the canteen operators have been warned not to increase their food price while association to all India Muslim Restaurants assured their loyal clients that they won't increase the price of their drinks and all, we know we should brace for more hikes in this very near future for other essential food items.

I have been telling my friends and colleagues about Japan's food self-sufficiency and I thought we should also strive for the same sufficiency. Alas, my dream country has become more import-dependent to feed its people these past few years. After reading this article by Prof. Takamitsu Sawa - a professor of Ritsumeikan University's Graduate School of Policy Science and an appointed professor at Kyoto University's Institute of Economic Research - it makes us realise that globalisation leaves a bitter taste in our mouth.

A hike in food prices normally signals economic policy mismatch. Like the bulls and the bears of the stock markets, it is sentiment-driven, or perhaps I should say it is actually greed-driven.

Free trade opens up many global opportunities for the riches to grab more and more lands overseas (too often at too low a price, yes, all in the name of creating economic activities), hiring lowly-paid locals (eventually turning locals away and creating an uncontrolled influx of foreigners), turning many agricultural lands into manufacturing (consequently increasing the entry cost of agriculture) and foods are then imported as we grow biodiesel-producing plants instead of food.

The damaging effect of globalisation would be felt when economy runs a bear, manufacturing sectors have to lay off its workers to bring down costs while standard of living continues to increase as food, utilities and petrol prices picking up like nobody's business but the poors.

If you read this report here, you'd see that even World Banks gets its agricultural model wrong, arguing that liberalisation of global agricultural trade will benefit poor countries, which in no way can be demonstrated.

Eventually, this food security problem isn't at all about natural disasters that disrupt or destroy our food-planting areas but primarily due to wrong policies being made.

Hmm, talking about food security, I cannot help myself to feel even more sorry. We can't even ensure top security at our RMAF grounds now we lost our RM100.0 million fighter jet engines. Now you know why we have sugar and flour shortage - it's the inside con-job!

Ops! Before i forgot! They say we should increase the price of sugar so people would consume less of it and help to curb the alarming increase of 'Dua Bersaudara' health problems - HBP and Diabetes. How thoughtful I'd say because it is indeed not at all worth the diseases just because we ingest too much sugar. When we can reduce our government health costs, imagine the kind of surplus in budget we could spend on education and better infrastructure?

Biologically, our body is equipped with relevant sensors on our tongues that trigger certain parts of our grey matter that there's enough sugar and salt in the food or drink we ingested. When we could just make do with a sachet of sugar to our tea or coffee, most of us take 2 to 3 sachets. This reflects a failure in our taste bud because too much exposure to such sweetness subsequently increases our sweetness threshold, which explains why people with diabetes tend to ingest something way too sweeter to our taste buds.

So, we all could help the curb of increasing food price hikes simply by eating well. It would be much easier to heed than getting a stranger justifying why there's no sugar in a supermarket near your house.

p.s. With the seeds i got from my Bro PT CA and some eggplant and lady finger seeds i got from Giant, now i have them sprouted in every available pots and lands i have in my garden. Can you imagine how it feels cooking your quiche using spinach from your own pots? It's definitely delicious :)

The Grinch In Us



Last Xmas, I spent most of my waking time watching tellies because most Xmas movies always revolve around children and you know - kids say the darndest things and they make a lot of sense than some eligible-for-voting-good-for-nothing adults.

So, I watched "How The Grinch Stole Christmas".

Here's what i learn from The Grinch, Adik Cindy Lou Who and the Whovilles.

Lesson 1

Learning about what actually happens in the past is essential because "if you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday" (Madam Pearl S. Buck).

In today's Malaysia, most real stories are not real anymore for they have been turned into propaganda tools. Most people still couldn't understand why Chin Peng fought against the British. Some may not know that Allahyarham Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Allahyarham Onn Hussein passed on outside UMNO crib. We forget to see why our Chinese and Indian brethren were brought in while we, Malay brethren, continue to make-believe we are still the 'Raja dan Permaisuri semesta alam'. That's the price of being history illiterate. For that, we, the young people must continue out journey to find the truths and put things and people where they should be - in the past and in the future.

Lesson 2

When The Grinch hears the Whovilles singing the carols, he gets really pissed off, started blending nuts and bolts in the food mixer so he won't get to hear the beautiful, cheery carols by those celebrating Whovilles. He then starts to procrastinate why he can't join them in joyful Christmas.

Leaving behind our intelligence and moral-degrading MSM: -

(a) We tend to envy others' happiness (a recent good example would be protests here and there by you-know-who after the court ruling on The Herald's right to use the world "Allah" and I read on AFP that the master-of-you-know-who will appeal against the ruling);

(b) We do not care enough about others because we are just too busy with ourselves - not knowing if these hum drums are simply baseless reasons to not doing anything and if they ever have any purposes in our lives. Sadly, we are just like the rats racing the wheels in our cage, going nowhere with all our beings and resources wasted;

They say "
The best way to get something done is to begin". Let's begin understanding each other better, helping each other out, because we are all humans. For that, "Cubit peha kanan, peha kiri terasa sakit".

Lesson 3

After being humiliated by the Whovilles on the Christmas' eve, The Grinch came up with a sinister plan to stop the Christmas from coming to town. Dressed up as Santa, he steals all the gifts and everything single thing that reminds anyone of Christmas - literally everything. Don't we have too many of the Grinchs dressed in Santa in our Ibu Pertiwi? Ones that give too little and take back too much without us knowing when they ought to be the ones that protect the sanctity of constitution, sanity and security of the people? In the process, they just continue lying to everyone even to our little ones without realising that "the hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff" (Ambrose Bierce). Isn't that sad? May we are smart enough to see the truth in everything that happens around us, stand up for our rights and never ever take what isn't ours.

Lesson 4

After everything Christmasy has been loaded up his makeshift sledge on top of Crumpit Mountain, The Grinch hears a faintly soothing sound from the town below. Shouldn't they be sad now since he took away their Christmas, he feebly thinks. In the worst Christmas the Whovilles ever experienced - thanks to agreeing to Adik Cindy Lou Who words to nominate The Grinch as Cheer Meister - The Grinch has brought the goodness in Whovilles. They realise that Christmas is not about presents and decorations, but about being together. Even The Devilish Grinch realised and for that, his 2-time smaller heart grows 3 times bigger.

"Love puts the fun in together, the sad in apart, and the joy in a heart
". Yes, love thy brothers and sisters not for what they have but for love they have. Yes, life is full of ups and downs and what pulls us through is the presence of those people who believe in us. Yes, no one can make us a bad person except ourselves.

This is a beautiful movie that every child should watch and I was actually thinking, with Cheshire cat smile on my face. Mr. Dnightcaller proposed before here that all MPs should take a bus trip from KL to Kuala Selangor for a month, I'd like, gleefully, suggest that they, too, should sit and watch children movies, especially the ones by the genius and humane Dr. Seuss, for a month.

Yes, kids say the darndest things for their heart is pure and their conscience is still crystal clear.

In this movie, you would be delighted by Dr. Seuss' catchy rhymes here...

But what makes me say, "Gee", is this line by The Grinch in the movie, "I must stop this whole thing! Why, for fifty-three years I've put up with it now". It rings a bell or two, don't you think?

Perhaps, we just have to release The Grinch in us...