This is Malaysia

Listening To: Franz Ferdinand "Walk Away"

Ugh. I am so damn tired.

Just finish the OOSAD assignment this morning. Rushed it all night and only managed 2 hours of sleep....I think I stayed up for more than 30 hours liao......now my eyes are closing and can't take it anymore, gotta sleep already......Kanasai, some group members are just so relaxing and with excuses of staying far away, cannot do this cannot do that, dunno how to do......all bullshits......


My feeling now is like the title of the song I'm listening...just wanna walk away, walk out...not from a relationship but from the assignment group......It's not good being a responsible person...you'll be the one suffering the most during assignment times......really don't understand how some people can ignore the assignments and the responsibilities of ACTUALLY doing it......

The Flash assignment is still hanging halfway...no, not halfway. I haven't even start doing it yet, been busy with other assignments, and haven't the faintest idea how to start......and we have to submit on Tuesday with the Grad Nite on Monday evening......

Yet I'm still here blogging. Talk about lazy to the max.



In the last post I mentioned I wanna talk something about the Education System. Actually, it's more like critisizing it. Now I'm seriously thinking about whether or not I should do this, coz, u know, our country being "democratic" and all, I'd probably get arrested and charged in court for allegedly "spreading rumours" and all. It's just like a few years back when a woman posted a message on the web warning people about curfews and riots in the Anwar incident, but was charged with "causing panic to the public".

Normally, I don't talk politics. But fuck it. I'm going to talk about it anyway. It's too big an issue to keep it to myself.

You guys probably know this, or probably not. Remember the PMR examination results released a few weeks back? The headlines were reading almost all students did great in the exam. Everyone was happy coz' the students passed with flying colours, especially considering the fact that this is the first year (or the second? i forgot) that some of the subjects are taught and examined in English.

Well guess what. A chat with my relative who's working as a teacher revealed some crazy stuff. Apparently the PMR students did so bad in the exams, both trial and actual, that the education ministry had to call an emergency meeting involving all teachers and tutors. In the end, the higher authorities ordered all teachers to review the marks and change the standards.

Mind you, this isn't the usual drawing graph tactic used in our exams system. I'm talking about going from grade D to grade A.

WTF? it's common la in Malaysia that we have these so called 'standard graphs' to "help" students to pass. (Even TAR college also do this la...) But jumping from D to A is just plain ridiculous.

I'm not bullshitting here. It's a fact. The system is seriously flawed. They even allow usage of both English and Bahasa Melayu in the same sentence for the answers. Where the hell is the standard? How are we gonna compete with other country if the higher powers keep doing this?!
This is sure gonna be a laughing stock......

I'm not sure how many people know about this case, but this is surely a scandal that the government is trying to hide. You gotta have insiders working as government servants to get this kind of info. Personally I think it doesn't help students at all, how can they improve with a system that allows poor to become excellent?

Fuck it. I'm going to England next year.


Some other observations that make me sick:

1. the passing of the Family Law that diminishes Muslim women's rights in marriage and actually make husbands marrying a second wife an easier process. The ministers even dare to say that this benefits the first wife. Dispicable.
2. the lawsuit of a bribed police officer suing a girl for libel after she felt guilty about her actions and reported to BPR......like this also can...where is justice?
3. the ear squat incident. They make it a fuss when they thought the victim was a Chinese national; and just simply look into the case after discovering she was just a local Malay. Stupid......placing importance on foreign affairs over basic human rights.
4. This one make me damn pai seh. When Pak Lah was giving a speech during an official event attended by hundreds of government servants and officials, a high ranking police chief was sleeping on the chair behind Pak Lah, legs open and mouth open. My mom attended the event, she witnessed this. Damn memalukan the country.
   

Only in Malaysia can something like this happen. Truly Malaysia Boleh.

Now let's hope that no government official bumps into my blog......

** This post talk politics, damn boring one.........thanks for your time if you're still reading.......

Chistmas eve gathering

Went back to my relative's house for makan last Saturday......had some catching up with them nieces, haven't seen them in a long time......also unexpectedly got a present (Padini Authentic shirt, ha)......

Jia Yin completed her SPM, and is now gonna take up a foundation course in science before going to Russia to study medicine next October...lucky girl...I used to dream of becoming a doctor, now all hope's on her, haha.......

Anyway, took some pics......I seldom take pics with them girls......

being caught off guard...

niece no.9, she's an angel ain't she?

Dad with niece no.1

Alex & I a.k.a "Lan Xi" face & "Guai Lan" face

My mom and aunt

Niece no.10's obligatory reaction upon hearing the phrase "POWER!"

21 years old already still playing with 12 year olds......macam paedophile :P

Niece no.10 damn cute lah!!!

I'm still a small kid at heart...still playing with all my nieces, so damn childish lah!!!

On my next post I'm gonna reveal some insider stuff about the Education System in Malaysia. Stay tuned.

I'm going back home!

I spent the whole damn night staying awake searching for the open source fault management tools, but still no result......anyone can help me???

Anyway, I'm going back to Nilai for Christmas dinner at one of my cousin's house. It's been nearly a month since I last went back home...gonna be back to KL on Monday......

So to everyone out there, MERRY CHRISTMAS to ya'll!!!

Drama blues

Spent all night rushing the drama report nearly all by myself...luckily Clarine helped.....slept for 3 hours only...damn sleepy......

Accidentally fucked up the drama performance today...fumbled a few lines myself, and also have to improvise coz Blanche kept making up her own lines...damn it......but I think I made a good Stanley :P

But nothing prepared me for the "travesty" that was Darrent's group presentation (haha, I meant that as a compliment)......the guy dressed up as Blanche and his, uh, balls...kept wanting to fall off......damn, that was entertaining, I'll give ya that man! Made me laugh my ass off, made me laugh so hard...

And Arthur's expression as Stanley, haha, that was priceless......

Went back to the hostel when Kirk came telling me about his class's performance, another funny one by Steven and Ching Lian....damn, I can only imagine......

Left 3 assignments for next week, then I'll be free after the 3rd when we submit the Flash assignment.......

Let's hope that we make it in one piece......

Review: King Kong

Actually, before this, I have never seen the movie version of King Kong. Not the 1933 or 1976 one. But everyone knows how it's gonna turn out. Kong grabs the girl atop the Empire State Building and falls to its death. (That is not a spoiler. Everyone knows the ending already) So I didn't have much expectation other than the fact that it's directed by Peter Jackson.

Now that has gotta be good.

As it turns out, it is good. No, it's great. It's magnificent! This is the best 3 hours spent in the cinema for 2005. No other movie in 2005 is this rewarding. The FX are very very very realistic. In fact, I'd say that Kong is more realistic than some of the real actors.


Nah, I'm just kidding.

Seriously, the visuals are at times better than those in Return of The King. Kong is so damn real you'd think it's a real ape they captured on film. Great acting again by Andy Serkis.

The story starts really slow, only getting to Skull Island after an hour into the film. But after that it's one helluva roller coaster ride after another. My favourite is the Brontosaurus stampede and the T-Rex battle. Awesome.

Actually, some of the quieter scenes are quite poetic and beautiful, such as when Kong and the girl watches sunset and sunrise. Or that ice scene on Central Park. Pure magic.

Of all the actors, Naomi Watts is the best. She's gotta act opposite this CG ape, and you can see that she does a fine job. (Plus, she is sooooooo beautiful......) Adrien Brody doesn't have much to do, really. Watch him in The Pianist instead. I almost thought Jack Black was gonna be the comic relief, but luckily he isn't.

All in all a great film not to be missed.

I'm thinking whether should I go for the IMAX version. But that would mean shelling out another RM15. God I'm broke......

Review: Perhaps, Love

Passed through my floormate Jim's room after dinner and caught a glimpse on his monitor. Watched the movie about 15 minutes into it. Never thought I'd get hooked.

It's the latest movie by Peter Chan, Perhaps, Love. It's a musical starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhou Xun and Jacky Cheung. A Chinese musical, and a damn good one. Now that's a rare.

Anyway, it's just a simple love story, although a bit sad at times, but the ending hints at something positive. The story is a bit confusing sometimes, with the flying timeline spanning across real life and reel life in the movie. It's play out like a movie-within-a-movie. The dance and singing parts are all presented in the 'movie-within-a-movie', instead of traditional musicals where they sing and dance in real life and whenever they like. But the plot will get you hooked, definitely.

The production value is high, with lots of different beautiful locations and sets. It's got an Oliver Twist feel to it. Some of the buildings look classical and old, yet elegant. The costumes are great and original, watch out for them.

The acting is also top notch. I particularly liked Kaneshiro and Cheung's characters, (Takeshi is so damn handsome, god......) , and when Jacky Cheung starts to sing, WOW!!! That soprano voice could bring down the house!!! The title theme song is quite nice IMO.

Watch out, this movie deserves to win some award in the next HK Film Awards, particularly Cinematography and Costume Design. I also hope that Jacky Cheung will get a Best Supporting Actor award, coz' he's so good here.

Go watch it in the cinemas if you like musicals. It's worth it.

Irritations of being a class rep

OK, I wanted to rant about this since 100 years ago. I got so fucking fed up with people already. Particularly people from my course.

Except for a few attentive souls who actually CARES what happen and what is going on, the rest of them is just plain IGNORANT. Yes, ignorant and egoistical (one could argue about the ego part since everyone has one, but we're talking about class organization here).

Let's start from notes distribution. Everytime there's notes these people are not even cool enough to come get the notes. Fine, so a few set is still OK with me, but when you have 8 sets of notes stacked higher than KL Tower at any one time with the lecturer waiting for you down there to finish your business, boy, I sure could use some help. Goddammit, come fucking take your notes ok ?! I'm not supposed to go round the lecture hall with u people sitting so far in between, they should come get from me lah!!! Somemore everytime sure got 5 or more people absent one, then I HAVE TO CARRY YOUR FUCKING NOTES HOME!!! Sometimes heavy text books even!! God, can't you just come to lecture and ease my pain ?! Why the fuck don't you come to lecture ?!

I also have a question: Is everyone in my class deaf or blind or something like that? Because I'm pretty sure that Steven made the same announcement like 3 times or so in the lecture hall, and after that I still have to inform you guys ONE BY ONE. Why not make the whole announcement at one go? Well, I could, IF YOU WOULD FUCKING ATTEND CLASS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

OK. Fine. Make announcement. The next day you still have the guts to come and ask me about the same thing. FUCK YOU. Don't you have ears? What, they used for hiding your tahi telinga? Is that why you didn't listen? Oh, I'm sorry. Should I borrow a shovel and shovel real hard into your ears so that you can listen clearer? I'll goddamn shovel your ass then you know......

Come on people, please don't make me suffer anymore lah, already promised to go to the Graduation Nite ball then don't screw me and the organizing commitee lah. You want 5 star hotel treatment but paying a mere RM70 also wanna complaint? Then I ask you this : 5 star hotel ask you to pay RM130 you want or not, coz' that's the real price, the market price. You pay what you get. What, you think your grandfather's hotel ah?

Then come the money issues. I give you one week time, making announcements, persuade you to go to the ball, told you the deadline, even have to beg you to pay......and yet you still had the audacity to tell me on the last day you got no money??? FUCK YOU, YOU IGNORAMUS!!! FUCK! FUCK! FUUCCKK!!!

It's not about the money I care, it's the promise and the failure to make up for it. I really don't understand. It's just RM70. How hard can it be? At least pay lah on the last day, I don't mind. But don't come last day still give me a "Dunno la, dunno wanna go or not la" or "no money la, next week la" kind of shitty and irresponsible reply. FUCKING MAKE UP YOUR MIND WOULD YA ?!

YOU MAKE ME WANNA CHOKE YOU TO DEATH !!!!!

Please lah people, the committee is working hard to get this ball to work. It's just 5-6 hours of gathering, makan and having some fun. After all, we study for what, like, 4 years together? It's time to relax and spend some time with our course mates. I know that some of you guys will argue that we are not that close to other people in the course, so there's no point attending the ball. Frankly, I feel the same. But just give them a chance, OK? Appreciate the efforts, and don't gimme that whole balik kampung or assignment bullshit. You know you're not gonna do anything substantial that day.

If you are my class mate or course mate who unfortunately is the victim of my bashings, AND you're still reading up to this point, I say thank you and congratulations. Please go back home and think about it.

Seriously, mates, don't piss me off.

another post on mundane stuffs

Listening To: The Eagles "Hotel California"

Went to the doctors again yesterday, coz i caught a fever and cold. This is the second time in the span of 3 weeks. I practically spent the whole of Wednesday lying on bed sleeping. Damn, my health is really deteriorating......

What's funny is that during the times when I'm asleep, I have the most vivid dream in a long time. I dreamed that I was some kind of fugitive warrior belonging to some rebels in the medieval times, playing hide and seek with the authority and avoiding capture. Like Wong Fei Hung and Fong Sai Yuk. LOL !!!

Dragged myself to college today despite still feeling a bit spinning in my head. Didn't talk much coz still suffering from sorethroat. Skipped the latter half of the OOSAD lecture coz the lecturer was repeating things. Again.

Although it was a surprise to hear her acknowledging the fact that she "talks too much". Quite a funny moment that will strike a chord with a lot of us.

Still wondering whether I wanna follow Teik Teng to Low Yat or not tomorrow to get those DVD-Rs. Hope that I can also get my long awaited 24 Season 1 DVD. (ciplak one lah of course, what u think?)

Recipe for Wantans

What's it like having a flu? I'll tell u what's it like...I'm the expert on this subject ya know, the self proclaimed "King of Flu", no less because every month the flu will attack me at least once. Usually the condition will last for 2 to 3 days, depending on my health, during which at least 2 boxes of tissues will be gone.

It's like having women's period, only with tissues instead of tampons.

Sorry, I'm being extremely vulgar right now. Sometimes parodying can go too far......

I woke up this morning only with some slight headache and sneezing...thought it was nothing, u know, like everytime wake up sure got sneezing one mah, normal la, must be because I'm naked the night before (upper body only, what u think?)......but then in the tutorial class the flu came again.

So I started doing what I do best during these suffocating moments: making wantans.

It's really easy. Just fold the tissues into two and start sneezing out your nasal mucus. Sometimes digging the nose also helps. Repeat with remaining parts of tissue until the whole piece is almost full of those fluids. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT sneeze once and change tissue. It will not contain enough "fillings" and the desired shape will not form. Plus, it's a waste of rainforests. Lastly, just wrap into whatever shape desired, it's your wantan anyway.

If you're in the class, proudly display all your wantans on your desk, like I do whenever I have the urge to show off my recipe...this will be followed by some form of facial emotions from your fellow classmates ranging from awe-inspiring "Wows" to pure disgust.

I usually prefer to see the latter.

2 in 1

Attended the drama workshop held by the famed Pearly "Emily of Emerald Hill" Chua and Mr. Chin San Sooi......witnessed a 2 hour monologue performance of Pearly and damn, was she good!
Didn't get her autograph or a picture though, the DC is still with my bro......

Then in the evening went to DK A for the "Unplugged Song Competition 2005" coz' Lysha and Chrystal got an extra ticket. Bought it for RM8.50 and I can say that it is indeed money well spent. Thanks guys!

Call "unplugged" but the whole place is wired, even the musical equipment. 2 complaints: how come the drums are so loud that the guitar solos are almost muted? and how come superb bands all have mediocre vocalists? damn, ruined the whole experience....

Some of the songs were quite the crowd puller...the bands do know how to pick their songs......There were some surprises as some of my all time favs were played, namely "Sweet Child O'Mine", "Desperado", "Nuo Wei De Sen Lin", "Belaian Jiwa", "What's Up". Damn syiok, like James Blunt puts it, "I was fucking high".............

That was yesterday. Today, went to KLCC to catch "The Chronicles of Narnia". I had high expectations for it, but it didn't thrilled me as much. Still, it was a good movie. Go watch it people!!!

Pardon me as I engage in my self-indulging movie review session again.

The first few scenes in Narnia were quite detailed in explanation and getting the fascination factor out. But then the middle of the movie tends to drag a bit. You know, all those mandatory exposition stuff, but not handled as careful and delicate as LOTR. Still, you can't compare these two. It's like comparing Terminator 2 with some Jackie Chan movie.

The CG boleh tahan lah, but there's still some minor glitches during the battle scene. People, if you are only looking for grand scale battles, go buy the LOTR DVDs, this you have to endure 100 minutes of story telling before getting to the climax. The story feels rushed, and some scenes are just simply carried without exploring much.

The children are cute, but inconsistent in acting. Good, but not excellent. The only interesting character happens to be Mr. Tumnus the faun (James McAvoy), creating a memorable, sympathetic and multifaceted character in a brief time. No surprise that I like him so much.

After the movie, went to have lunch at Burger King with Frankie and Melvin......and then went back to the hostel to continue slacking...finished my part of the network assignment and sent to Lysha fo combining.

Then began blog. then finish blog. Now wanna sleep. How boring......

i hate myself

Listening To: Foo Fighters "Everlong"

I would like to congratulate myself for Wikisurfing for the past 7 hours.

Yes, you read it right. 7 goddamn hours. Did nothing substantial or rewarding but clicking on links here and there on Wikipedia before typing what I'm typing now. I have this thirst to know everything even if it is useless stuff. Instead of researching for network companies and products, or trying the in and outs of Flash MX, or drawing crazy colla-fucking-boration diagrams, or even just reading Pygmalion and a Streetcar Named Desire, I have spent 7 (8 if you count the next hour blogging) hours on "reading" my 3 banes: movies, music and pop culture.

Right now, my eyes are damn tired, fingers strained, and getting sleepy. It's like getting addicted to drugs, only with hyperlinks. Another day spent fruitlessly.

For this I blame myself. No one else. I should be aware. I am, 21, after all.

Still I have to say: Damn you, Wikipedia.


Assignments pending:

1. OOSAD assignment 2. The tutorials are not looking good. Everyone in class is reluctant to try out the questions, save for a few people. At this rate, we're sure to fail the subject.
2. Java assignment. Until now still have no idea about server-client bullshits.
3. Drama presentation. 3 out of 5 group members seldom attend lecture. Hope they understand the story. Some reluctant to act. Damn.
4. Network assignments 1 and 2. Same siao subject.
5. Flash assignment. Kanasai, langsung dunno how to do......
   

I'm goin' straight to hell.

back!

it's been a week since my last update, so i'll be quick. Some interesting tidbits:

--> I just realized i may develop RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) in my thirties if the rate of surfing and typing on keyboard continues.

--> Finished playing Indigo Prophecy. A damn good game with a damn great story. It's been a while since i played a game with a plot this good. Adventure gamers should give it a try.

--> Bought The Matrix: Path of Neo. Beat it in 3 days. The ending sequence was bizarre. Slow-mo action had never been this good. But the graphics were horri-fucking-ble.

--> Finally watched Total Recall. I've been wanting to watch that movie, but everytime was intefered by other factors.

--> Finished the design document for Multimedia assignment. Now the REAL nightmare begins.

--> Some people really don't like sharing their assignments, and some people still like "borrowing" other peoples' assignments even if they barely know the person. Gotta be careful about that......

--> Found out that Ms. Simone can speak Cockney. So far, she also demonstrated perfect imitations of Southern accent and Manglish accent. Talented linguist indeed. (although the Manglish is natural born i think LOL)

--> Some people still pronounce Julius Caesar as "Ju-lies Kay-ser". Funny.


And speaking of Julius Caesar, went to KLPac again to watch the play. The tickets were free, courtesy of KLPac, or TARC, or Ms. Simone, or whoever also can as long as I get free tix. went there with Chuan Yik, Frankie and Alvin. I doubt they will go if the tix weren't FOC.

Official poster

Damn like this pic. So classy and cool. Image courtesy of KLPac

on the way to KLPac and nothing better to do...

Got a call from mom when I reached the center. Apparently my bro got a letter from hostel management for something indecent. I'm quite worried whether he can continue his stay in the hostel after this. Will address this matter to him soon.

Anyway, the set was real mimimalist, compared to the stage design for Pygmalion. It's just a simple stage with some steps, that's all. Have a look.


Then they keep playing these haunting music before the show starts. Feels like watching a horror movie more than a political-themed play. The good thing is the sound system is REALLY REALLY good, almost on par with the THX in cinemas.

Then the show starts. All these supposedly Roman people come out talking something real important but I don't know what the hell they are talking about coz' the English is damn high class one. 30 minutes into the play and I'm still blur like sotong. But I reckon it's something to do with political scandals, assassination plots and the likes. Guys, if you don't like long talky affairs, skip this one.

and why the bloody hell didn't they wear those traditional Roman long robes with the flowery headbands? Instead, everyone -- except for the female characters -- dresses like a cross between a Jedi and Mr.Spock with pasar malam sandals......

Well, at least the cast are solid in the acting department. Not a weak performance to be found in the 90 minute play. Samantha Schubert (a former Miss Malaysia i think) is memorable as Brutus' wife. Kennie Dowle as Caesar is intense. Ari Ratos as Brutus and Patrick Teoh as Cassius are both damn perfect. Ari who is "spitting out" the dialogues, literally.

and Gavin Yap as Marc Antony. Wow.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen; lend me your ears..." That 15 minute monologue after Caesar's death is just BRILLIANT. god damn......

Overall, good actings and great sound effect, but a bit dull and boring during the lengthy dialogue exchange. I'll pick Pygmalion for the simplicity in story, but Julius Caesar for the acting.

Another day spent without touching the assignments. Damn. It's 3 am now, gotta sleep. Chiow.