Finally its done.

Hey you guys just wanna say that this blog assignment is finally done and OVER with. Thank god. I despise blogging. Its creepy and it takes too much of my precious time.Anyways I wanna thank all the people who have viewed my blog and actually take their time to read the BS that i have written, these ramblings of mine that doesn't make sense at all.

Thanks Sharin for not letting me sit on my ass and not blog, thanks Trix, Flavia, Fauzi and Siew Yun fr posting comments so that my blog wont seem so sad. Thank Dewi, Yen, Suraya and Bella for viewing it and of course to Melissa Saila as well.

Hopefully Mr.Zan this is the type of so-called responsible journalism that you want and that you would grade....well at least give me a 12 out of the 20 okay sir. My parents will disown me if i get anything less than a B for the finals. Yes, the spirit of Hitler lives on and it lives on the form of my mother. True story.

As soon as the term ends I'm gonna delete thing blog. I don't want get sued by the Star. I'm no Jeff Ooi.

Juvenile Behavior = Stupidity

991. That's the number that we Malaysian supposed to dial when we are faced with:

1. Some sort of physical attack that could endangered our lives, the lives of our loved one, the lives of other people.
2. When being robbed or followed.
3. When being harassed.
4. When someone we know is having a medical emergency (ie: heart attack)
5. When witnessing a horrible accident.
6. When a building caught on fire.
7. When a person caught on fire.
8. When you yourself caught on fire.
9. Any other kind of things or events or situations that could be considered as an EMERGENCY.

Not in any moment or in any of that was listed above did it state that calling up the fire department asking whether the personnel in charged have had his lunch is considered an emergency...but sadly it does happen. And according to Star online.com, in Johor alone the number of prank calls made to the civil defence department was 43,310 out of the 45,539. Which bring me to conclusion is that even though that all the other immature people from all the other states make prank phone calls but Johor takes the cake in the stupidity and the totally-have-nothing-to-do-with-their-time trophy.

People have to understand that calling up civil defence for pranks is highly stupid. STUPID. if someone else who in dire need in help calls but cant get through coz someone with the IQ of minus 750 is on the phone making stupid prank calls. Its not funny. Its pathetic. It must stop.

Its pissing me off.

Racial Integration: Myth or Fact?

According to a survey carried out recently by a bunch of academics from the University of Malaya (UM), racial integration among the youngsters have still quite a ways to go. The survey was conducted in 44 schools across Malaysia involving only the Form 4 students and once tabulated, only 52% of them said that they have friends of a different race. Is this surprising at all to hear? Is it?

How much integration do we really want to have if we continue to allow schools and neighbourhoods of specific ethnicity to exists? If we want to be really racial integrated, we have to do away with all that but saying that than of course opposition will come saying that the government is hindering a certain ethnic group from growing and knowing their cultural background. Now that just not do-able. Thats bad publicity what it is and that's the last thing that we ever want. And then there's the question of double standard. The Bumiputra status. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumiputra). Do the Malays really wanna let go of their status as Bumiputra so that Malaysia can truly be a nation of just and fairness?...perhaps until these things are being done and some more than only can we be truly integrated.

The thing is as much as we Malaysians want to say that we are a nation where people of different races live in complete and ultra harmony, we all know its not true. Yes, the world see us like that. From the outside. But then everything seeing from the outside is better than whats going on in the inside. Malaysia- a nation who people of different races live in perfect harmony? No of course not. A nation of racial understanding? To a certain degree. A nation of racial tolerance- Yes it is.

And that what it really is in the end: tolerance.

Needy? Can't they find a thesaurus?

The staronline.com is starting to piss me off. Check out their heading regarding the MIC's bid in helping disadvantage women: "Grants for needy single women to help them earn a living".Honestly, cant they change the word 'needy' to something else more tasteful? Why not 'disadvantage'? What about 'poor'? Or maybe instead of needy, maybe 'in need'? What about that? Honestly...needy, in an office full of journalist who i assumed like to read coz people who likes to read usually are the ones ending up becoming journalists, cant they find a frickin thesaurus? Or maybe go online and check it with an Online Thesaurus? Honestly. Needy sounds so pathetic.

Uneducated, single mothers with many children now have the opportunity to have a better life under the new ruling of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. Those who cannot afford or don't have the educational background for more intellectual jobs will be grant money in the amount raging from RM1000 to RM3000 to go ahead and purchased themselves sewing machines. As means of an income.

Now as much a i appreciate that they are making an effort to help disadvantage women but really, why sewing machines? Women can do so much more these days considering the fact that we are Not needy creatures. Why not send them off for driving lessons? Women lorry drivers, ever thought of that? Cooking class- they can cook at cafeterias. There's of course many more courses that could be offered but of course this being Malaysia, a nation run by chauvinist ***s, i shouldn't even surprised.

Its time that we move on from gender stereotyping of yesteryear's and open more doors for women. Disadvantage or not.

The Da Vinci Court Case

Dan Brown, the famous and in my opinion very overrated author of the Da Vinci Code has won the case in which the two authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh of "The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail,'' try to sue him on the grounds that Brown supposedly stole their ideas. Unfortunately for the lesser known authors, they don't have the big guns lawyers that Brown does so now they face legal bills about 3 million pound. 3 million pounds. That's 6 million ringgit our money. 6 million ringgit. Dude, where the hell are those old buggers gonna get 3 million pounds from? They might as well just go ahead and hang themselves coz this is a lost cause.

Lets talk about the Da Vinci Code. The book and the movie. It basically about how Jesus was just a man, albeit a mystical man who married a woman named Mary Magdalene and hence the godly bloodline lives on. So the super controversial reason of this movie is that according to the bible, Jesus never married and that Mary Magdelene was a prostitute. How could the bloodline of Jesus, the son of god lives on through the womb of a prostitute? Blasphemy...so they say.

So before Brown ever came on the scene and before he even wrote the book there's these two guys - the aforementioned authors- who did their research regarding the bloodline of Jesus and wrote the book "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail". The funny thing is that when Brown's book reached the best seller list, there was no accusation made towards them. When the book made it into the big screen than only the court case came around. Its as seem that they have just been waiting around for the best opportunity to get the best money from Brown. Guess they did the wrong calculation coz last i checked its not Brown who's stuck with a 6 million ringgit bill.

Whatever it is, The Da Vinci Code was a good story. And on the question on who is on the right in this particular case?... have to say that I'm on neutral ground. But one thing for sure is that the book rocks while the movie sucks.

DiGi's brilliant marketing campaign.

Have you guys seen those yellow guys? DiGi's Yellow Guys? The ones that have appeared everywhere in advertisements, in public announcements, in the newspapers? For those of you that have been living under a rock somewhere, those guys are like these yellow, short and round...uhhh creatures (species unknown) that symbolizes DiGi's network coverage. I personally think that the Yellow Guys are really adorable but according to Mr.Zan he's freaked out by them. Which is weird coz they're really cute. Anyways, in the pages of the Star newspaper 2 days passed featured the Yellow Guys in what i think was a brilliant marketing campaign.

According to the article, there's this little girl who likes the Yellow Guys so much that she actually wrote a letter to DiGi asking to meet that. And the people at DiGi, and when i say the people at DiGi, i mean their shrewd PR people actually see it an opportunity. When an opportunity knock on the door, you answer it. So what they did is that they send 2 of those Yellow Guys to follow the little girl- aged 7- to school and of course there are other DiGi people as well there giving out goodie bags for the other kids. The Yellow Guys also did some dance for teh kids, i bet the kids had such a ball with the Yellow Guys and hence would forever be brainwashed.

Think about it, now all them will come home and tell their parents and say that they want their own Yellow Guys and that if they already using a mobile phone i bet they will harassed the parents to chage their mobile network operator to DiGi. Dude, don't you see it? DiGi is sooo brilliant its diabolical. They strike when the kids are still small and at that Very impressionable age and now they probably have hundreds of adoring kids that would grow up to become loyal customers. Think about it. When i was in kidergarten they made me dance the twist dressed up as a Flapper ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flappers) and hence begin my lifelong obsession with flappers so much so that i wish that i was born in the 20ties back when the Flappers were paving their way and dressed as a flapper every time there's a costume party.

Don't you think that this isbrilliant marketing plan? I do. I think DiGi has a fabulously creative PR and Marketing people that are working for them. And for that i say brava.

TWO policemen charged with corruption...Shocker.

Now according to the always amusing but not always accurate http://www.thestar.com/ (as i have come to rely on them for information as well as amusement, more of the latter than the former...) , TWO policemen were charged with corruption. Now the question that's is begging to be asked is: "Only two mah?". Uh huh. I said that. Its on your mind but I'm the one who's writing it down. Now if you want to continue with my bitchy rantings under the disguise of 'responsible journalism' do go on, but if you fear that you might be implicated- walk away.

Right upon reading the heading; the only thing that struck me was indifference. (corrupted policemen? So whats new again?)The one thing that was amusing to me was the fact that there was only TWO (out of the thousands) that was nabbed. That doest even come close to solving anything, and when i say solving anything i mean the corruption in the police force these days.

Take for instance this particular case:

" Insp Emie Riza Ismail pleaded not guilty to six counts of procuring or accepting bribes worth RM22,000 including a Nokia 7610 . Emie, 30, allegedly sought and accepted bribes from Che Razali Che Long as a condition to secure the release of Mohd Rapi Mat Zain, Mohd Ali Mat Zain, Mohd Qaurul Aswadi Mohd Zain and Bahari Ahmad who were detained at the Bachok district police headquarters for alleged involvement in illegal gaming activities on July 2."

The policeman 'allegedly sought and accepted bribes....as a condition to secure the release of...', hence the whole mention of power play.He was in the position of power to let those suspects out, he could do it the right way but decided that he wants to get something out of it. Something other than that paycheck at the end of the month and that was his downfall. His abuse of power. The other case involves yet another policeman on the charge on a RM200 bribery. Same story, different players.

What i really wanna know is, when is this ever gonna end? These cases mention here are just small fish compared to what we know are going on so again, i ask when is it gonna end? And who's gonna end it? The cops themselves? Pointless. The politicians? Even more pointless. The people? A revolution? Perhaps....but not in Malaysia. We're too happy and satisfied with the way we are and that we cant even get off our asses to make a stand for something. Or anything.

Living life with rose-tinted glasses on, that's the Malaysian way.

Defensive driving in Malaysia- an elaborate joke.

According to Star.com, Malaysia will implement a new criteria in driving school and that is to acquire 'defensive driving' qualification before they could even dream of passing the driving test... okay first thought when i read this was that this shit is hilarious. Coz you know, Malaysian drivers are like psychos and who gives a fuck about 'defensive driving'? After i rolled around on the floor laughing my ass of i realised something else...there is a conspiracy at hand here and they are actually writing this article for me...yeah. Me. Apparently word have got out that i got road rage.

Damn.

Anyways, i found sooo many amusing quotes that i just have to share. I mean, its hilarious:

“Malaysian drivers are not good in safety routines,” he said. “They don't even stop to look left and right or look in the rear view mirror. "

Okay first of all that's BS okay, if they do not look left and right then we will having accidents ALL the time, as it stands we only have accidents half of the time. I mean i can honestly speak for the right of Malaysian drivers, especially the F1 wannabes out there that we do look in the mirror...sometimes. Therefore i think that its completely unjustified of them to stereotype people just like that. Its uncalled for. I for one am insulted. Insulted i tell you.

“They are also bad in giving ample time to others and this is an example of non-defensive driving."

Bad in giving ample time to others? Okay this one i agree with coz i think the hidden meaning in this context is that people just don't signal before turning into a junction. Yes, you know who you are, you Bastards. Fortunately i am not one of them, this of course is not because i was born into being a law-abiding-citizen-driver but because when i first started driving and my mom was training me she always scream at me when i didn't signal. And whenever i don't signal these days i can still hear her screams....

"“Maybe these drivers just never realised how simple it is to avoid accidents.”

Dude, that statement is too stupid, I'm not even gonna comment on it. Honestly.

AND now for the finale, the best and the most hilarious thing i have heard this whole month...drum roll please....

"“We want a culture of defensive driving in Malaysians, which means everyone who drives will have safety as a priority – and not only when there is a traffic policeman present ,” he added. "

Its the last part that kills me all the time: “– and not only when there is a traffic policeman present". HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! THAT'S TOO FUNNY!!! i mean i know its true but that's the irony in it ain't it? Yeah we Malaysian drivers only behaved when we see the policemen but do stupid road rage shit when they're not around. I'm not saying that they way Malaysian drives drive are right but its the way we drive that's also a part of our culture that all of us could agree on other than our love for Mamak food. I dunno about you guys, but whenever i hear a foreigner say that it gives him the hibbie-jibbies to drive on Malaysian road on account of how We drive...it makes me proud.

Putrajaya Landslide

Have you heard of the landslide in Putrajaya? Apparently as it turns out there was a landslide at Precinct 9 of Putrajaya. Uh huh, now I'm not clear on whether there was any fatalities but it was reported that there were 28 vehicles being buried under all that soil...man if my car one of the ones that are buried under that, I'll have a bitch fit.

What i really wanna say that i feel that its ironic that Malaysia's pride and joy and actually the current hometown of our uhh....beloved prime minister and those that come after him (if there is any at this rate), lives actually have this kind of problem. Now now i know, landslide. Its Mother Nature. Who could predict Mother Nature, she's temperamental. She's moody. She's a woman. But get this: according to Bernama.com the landslide could be caused by and i quote:

" On complaints from residents of a leaking pipe from a water tank on the nearby hill since last year, and could be the cause of the landslide, Tengku Adnan said he was awaiting the report from the Public Works Institute Malaysia."

Interesting how they could led water leaking in Putrajaya. Purtajaya people, PUTRAJAYA. But then these are the types of things that we should come to expect from this country. Big talk, big dreams, shit maintenance. Its true. You know that as much as i do. And on a gentler note, i wanna say all the best for the people who were involved with this landslide. I'm sorry that you have lost your place to live, belongings and perhaps loved ones as well. I am very sorry for that. If there is any charity drive that's going to come up as a result of this i will definitely joined up.

Malaysian Shorts

As of late I have frequented the kakiseni.com website, being a lover of the fine arts and wanting to be in it and all... Anyways i noticed that there is this event called 'Malaysian Shorts' being held last night at, of all places, MY college so i figured, I'll go for it. Why not? Its free after all.

The event held all in all 10 short films that was made by Malaysians and the finale of the evening was the RM500k winner of the BMW Shorties competition so i guess it should be fine. At the end if the night, the audience were supposed to vote for their top 3 favourites films and then...well i dunno if there were any gifts or prizes for the directors but i guess its the satisfaction of knowing that your hard work of making the short film was appreciated by the people should be sufficient enough. Anyways I could give a review of every film that i saw that night but then that'll be too long so i figured I'll just review the 3 that i voted as favourites.

The night opens with a promise that its going to be a good one when they showed this film called 'HELLO GOODBYE'. Its basically just POV shots movement of a train coming from the same track, the same point of origin, but travelling in different directions, one forward and the other backwards. Although in the synopsis it says that film was inspired by the song 'Parallel Lines' by the King of Convenience but to me, it seemed like it was speaking to me not through the words of 'Parallel Lines' but actually the profound poem by Robert Frost- The Road Not Taken. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both, and be one traveller long I stood and look down as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth." And is the same here, instead of two roads we have two trains, 2stories to tell, but only one way to travel.

The second fav of mine was WESTBOUND which I'm sure was a crowd fav as well. The story was about a man who ran out of Diesel and got stranded by Karak Highway and come nightfall, a stranger came out from the woods offering help. This is a cinematic take at Malaysian urban legend and its a really good one too. I don't want to give too much of it away but lets just say that the 18mins of the movie was a highly entertaining one and was visually tasteful as well.

The last movie i voted for was, perhaps on a certain level was because of bias. It was KONGSI DALAM GELAP (Men in Darkness) by Melissa Saila. For those of you who doesn't know, Melissa was huge actress in Malaysia back in the 90ties as i was growing up. I used to think that she was very pretty and i think my bro used to have a thing for her as well. Anyways, she have left the screen and stage a long time ago but now trying to make a come-back as a film maker. Her short film was a thought provoking one. Its a mockery towards the government, towards humanity and towards the hierarchy that man have created where there are three types of people in the world that you cannot messed with and that the one in Power, the ones who are Rich and the ones who are In Lust. Its deep with a moral undertone but the main reason why I voted was because it was Melissa Saila.

I voted mine but i did not stay through discussion with the directors or to find out who won as the favourite. It was running late and i still have pending assignment and class to go to on the next day. I guess i just have to find out who's the winner is from Mr.Zan himself seeing he was there as well... and oh by the way, most people who was there to watch the movies are all this so called 'artsy' ppl with scarves around their necks in the middle of a frickin tropical country. What the hell is up with that? And they're damn snobbish as well, kept on giving me dirty looks. I realise that i stuck out like a sore thumb but honestly just coz I'm interested in the fine arts doesn't mean i have to start acting like a poser and where a frickin scarf around my neck when its already hot outside.