What is the meaning of independence? No I am not going to give a dictionary meaning. I am going to give the meaning through my own perspective. I am going to give the meaning through how and what I feel independence is.
First let me tell you what is independence to a school boy or girl. Independence is decorating classes with as many Jalur Gemilangs as possible without even knowing what do the colours symbolise, why the number of stripes is such and why there is a moon with a star. Independence or Merdeka is to decorate the school with whatever they can think of. Merdeka is never complete without spending a fortune to hang a very-very long flag.
Merdeka to a school boy/girl is to not attend the countdown in school because there is a wild gathering elsewhere sponsored by the state government. Merdeka is where school children gather into the wee hours of the morning, drinking and behaving like hooligans. Merdeka is going for concerts where the aim is not to enjoy the show but to pick up boys or girls and have illicit sex. Merdeka is the time for young boys to gang rape naive but not innocent young girls whose parents should know better than to allow their daughters out in the first place.
Merdeka is when Mat Rempits put up their best show to the applause of the young schools boys/girls. Merdeka is when these young school boys/girls see how the Mat Rempits make fools of our police who are helpless in apprehending these devils.
What is Merdeka to a Mak cik and Pak Cik in the kampung? Merdeka is to proudly display the Jalur Gemilang most conspicously without knowing what Jalur Gemilang symbolises. Merdeka is getting ready to go to town to watch a concert. Merdeka is a public holiday where after a late night in town they sleep right up to the afternoon.
What is the meaning of merdeka then? Merdeka is fun. Merdeka is not the appreciation of the blood sweat and tears of our founding fathers and mothers. Who cares about that because it is not fun. Merdeka is not the realisation that one is a free man; free to chose, free to speak and free to associate. Merdeka is never seen to have anything to do with justice because everyone is too occupied having fun. Maybe that is the intention. Merdeka is never seen as celebration of living in a country where there is no corruption.
Maybe fun activities where millions of taxpayers money is spent are purposely held to stop people from thinking what have they got from Merdeka. Maybe it is to stop them from realising that they are not that free after all. Maybe it is to prevent them from realising that somehow they are being regulated. They can hear what some people want them to hear. They are to read what some people want them to read. Maybe it is to stop them from realising that there are many tiers in justice. Maybe it is to close their eyes to the rampant corruption that is fast becoming an accepted way of life.
I am not saying that people should not celebrate Merdeka Day. By all means go ahead. By all means make Merdeka Day an event to be remembered. Make it meaningful, not madness. Let the people be wiser about what Merdeka is the day after the celebration. Let school children appreciate Merdeka more because they learn from the whole month of celebration. Let a virgin school girl remain a virgin on the 31st not lose it in some wild celebration the night before.
What is Merdeka or Independence Day to me? Merdeka is freedom and sanity. Some may agree, some may not and it is their right. I am not going to say that those who disagree with me are crazy people and neither should those who disagree say I am a lunatic because then we would be going against the very spirit of Merdeka.
Happy Independence Day. Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan.
Sunday, 26 August 2007
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Tribunal
I read in the papers this morning that the Chief Justice had issued a warning to all judges that any misbehaviour by them could mean the setting up of a tribunal. I am glad when anyone in power declares his or her intentions of cleaning up.
The first time I heard of a tribunal being set up to 'discipline' a judge and thereafter a few judges was many-many years ago. The intention was 'to get rid' of the Chief Justice of the day. The initiator of the act was none other than the much revered, can-do-no-wrong, it-seemed-spotless-clean, champion-of-all, cleverest-man-in-the-world, most-compassionate, fighter-for-freedom, hater-of-corruption, will-not-have-any-corrupt-minister-in-his-cabinet, ex PM, The Venerable Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The whole proceeding was clouded in mystery and suddenly the outcome: the expulsion of the Chief Justice for misconduct. The term misconduct as the present Chief Justice had implied is a very general term. I wonder if farting in court is a misconduct? I think it depends on who the PM of the day is.
I was and still am of the opinion that the dismissed ex-Chief Justice was axed because of the inability to perform an easy act. During the Look East era, Japan and Korea was looked upon as Kingdoms of Heaven where easy loans are obtained to sponsor well connected locals to embark on money wasting projects, guaranteed by the PM of the day. One of the main characteristics of these angels from heaven is their trademark 'bow'. The ex-Chief Justice, it seemed, couldn't master the act of 'bowing'. While to the Japanese and Koreans, bowing is a tradition, our PM of that day misconstrued it as ascending to the wishes of masters or in plain English, (is it English?) kow-tow. The man doesn't kow-tow to the wishes of his Lords and he was removed. Oh, by the way, it is this same Lord who is now screaming for justice.
I hope the call of the present Chief Justice is not a veiled threat that kow-towing or the inability to perform the act is also a misconduct. He did mention that bias judging can be seen as a misconduct and I fully agree with him. I was hoping that he would spend more time in talking about corrupt judges and how corrupt judgments are not plain misconducts but rather criminal misconducts. I say this because I see bias judging to be closely related to corruption. Yes some judgments are simply plain bias without any elements of corruption. A judge may not like a person either because of race, religion, old feud or he /she doesn't like how that person looks. He gives a judgment against that person. This is bias judgments. What about judges accepting material rewards to influence his judgments? Surely that is criminal misconduct. What if a judge is promised promotions as inducement to sway his judgment to favour a certain party. Surely that too is criminal misconduct.
After the intervention of the Executive into the Judiciary which saw the Judiciary being downgraded as a subsidiary of the Executive, our Judiciary has not been the same anymore. The integrity of the courts has been greatly compromised. Judgments have at times been confusing and mind-boggling and downright shameful.
I hope the auspicious Chief Justice, being the man of integrity that he is with this noble call, would initiate a serious drive towards the re-integratisation ( I know there is no such word, please help suggest a better one or we just accept and patent it) of our once proud and fiercely independent judiciary. For making that call, I salute you sir.
The first time I heard of a tribunal being set up to 'discipline' a judge and thereafter a few judges was many-many years ago. The intention was 'to get rid' of the Chief Justice of the day. The initiator of the act was none other than the much revered, can-do-no-wrong, it-seemed-spotless-clean, champion-of-all, cleverest-man-in-the-world, most-compassionate, fighter-for-freedom, hater-of-corruption, will-not-have-any-corrupt-minister-in-his-cabinet, ex PM, The Venerable Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The whole proceeding was clouded in mystery and suddenly the outcome: the expulsion of the Chief Justice for misconduct. The term misconduct as the present Chief Justice had implied is a very general term. I wonder if farting in court is a misconduct? I think it depends on who the PM of the day is.
I was and still am of the opinion that the dismissed ex-Chief Justice was axed because of the inability to perform an easy act. During the Look East era, Japan and Korea was looked upon as Kingdoms of Heaven where easy loans are obtained to sponsor well connected locals to embark on money wasting projects, guaranteed by the PM of the day. One of the main characteristics of these angels from heaven is their trademark 'bow'. The ex-Chief Justice, it seemed, couldn't master the act of 'bowing'. While to the Japanese and Koreans, bowing is a tradition, our PM of that day misconstrued it as ascending to the wishes of masters or in plain English, (is it English?) kow-tow. The man doesn't kow-tow to the wishes of his Lords and he was removed. Oh, by the way, it is this same Lord who is now screaming for justice.
I hope the call of the present Chief Justice is not a veiled threat that kow-towing or the inability to perform the act is also a misconduct. He did mention that bias judging can be seen as a misconduct and I fully agree with him. I was hoping that he would spend more time in talking about corrupt judges and how corrupt judgments are not plain misconducts but rather criminal misconducts. I say this because I see bias judging to be closely related to corruption. Yes some judgments are simply plain bias without any elements of corruption. A judge may not like a person either because of race, religion, old feud or he /she doesn't like how that person looks. He gives a judgment against that person. This is bias judgments. What about judges accepting material rewards to influence his judgments? Surely that is criminal misconduct. What if a judge is promised promotions as inducement to sway his judgment to favour a certain party. Surely that too is criminal misconduct.
After the intervention of the Executive into the Judiciary which saw the Judiciary being downgraded as a subsidiary of the Executive, our Judiciary has not been the same anymore. The integrity of the courts has been greatly compromised. Judgments have at times been confusing and mind-boggling and downright shameful.
I hope the auspicious Chief Justice, being the man of integrity that he is with this noble call, would initiate a serious drive towards the re-integratisation ( I know there is no such word, please help suggest a better one or we just accept and patent it) of our once proud and fiercely independent judiciary. For making that call, I salute you sir.
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Attack is not good enough
I am not one to give excuses for anything. I would rather see the weakness than to give excuses which many are fond off. Manchester United lost tonight to their neighbour Manchester City.
They seem to forget that the objective of a game is to score, not just attack. Yes, they had the lion share of the possession; yes they virtually camped in their opponent's half, but one thing they did not do was score.
I was wrong when I said that Hargreaves was not a good bye, on the contrary, he was the live-wire of the midfield, but the attack was disappointing. Manchester really missed the presence of Ronaldo and Rooney. Nani and Tevez were okay but not seasoned enough with the style of play in the English Premier League.
The last three games, saw the opponents wised up to United's style of play. They closed in United's players quickly giving them very little room to move. Of course they packed the defense with all their players choosing to rely on occasional counter attacks. It was during one of these counter attacks that City was fortuitous enough to get the goal off a deflection off Vidic.
Sir Alex should know that many teams already know how to contain United's once feared attacking machine. Now it is up to him to work out a new game plan based on the players he has.
Not to take anything away, from Manchester City, they deserved victory because they did the most important thing: SCORE.
They seem to forget that the objective of a game is to score, not just attack. Yes, they had the lion share of the possession; yes they virtually camped in their opponent's half, but one thing they did not do was score.
I was wrong when I said that Hargreaves was not a good bye, on the contrary, he was the live-wire of the midfield, but the attack was disappointing. Manchester really missed the presence of Ronaldo and Rooney. Nani and Tevez were okay but not seasoned enough with the style of play in the English Premier League.
The last three games, saw the opponents wised up to United's style of play. They closed in United's players quickly giving them very little room to move. Of course they packed the defense with all their players choosing to rely on occasional counter attacks. It was during one of these counter attacks that City was fortuitous enough to get the goal off a deflection off Vidic.
Sir Alex should know that many teams already know how to contain United's once feared attacking machine. Now it is up to him to work out a new game plan based on the players he has.
Not to take anything away, from Manchester City, they deserved victory because they did the most important thing: SCORE.
Friday, 17 August 2007
PROTON PESONA
I may not like the way my country is being run by the last PM and the present PM but please do not get me wrong, I love my country. I love things Malaysia but being a consumer I do not like to be cheated.
I saw in Acciacatura's blog a picture of the new car PESONA. Is it pesona or persona? Ah, whatever. It looks nice but definitely not LATEST. The Gen2 looked quite okay when it was first launched but somehow not so nice now.
Let me relate my experience with Malaysian cars. My first Malaysian car was bought in October 1988. It was a Gerimis Grey 1.3 Saga Hatchback. I was so eager and proud to drive my very own Malaysian made car. After taking delivery of the car in Prai, I drove across the bridge to greet my wife who I was sure was eagerly waiting. Before the middle span which was about 8 kms from where I took my car, the speakers suddenly gave problems. I got sound only through 1 speaker while the other, like Malaysian government servants, decided to take a break. Along the way that lazy speaker comes alive only when it felt like it. My wife who only listens to music but couldn't differentiate Mono from Stereo had no complaints.
The next day I took the car back to the service centre and was given the address of a a distributor of Korean made appliances to look up the problem with my stereo system. At the distributor, they said that it wasn't the speaker but the main set that was at fault and duly changed it. On the way back I heard rattling sounds from the back and since I had not got on the bridge yet I made my way back to the service centre. After checking, they found out that they need to apply tape on something to absorb the rattles. Taped after only one day.
My next proton was a 1.5 saloon. I had no problems with the electronics or mechanics but one day a boy knocked his bicycle at low speed into my front door. You would have thought that i had a major accident by the look of the massive dent my front door carried.
My next new proton was a 1.5 Auto which gave me no problems since I used it for only a few months. I had to sell it when I got into USM on half pay to study.
After graduating, with debts to settle I could only afford a TIARA which cost me 36K. That was the biggest mistake I had ever made. It over heated many times. The aircond acted like the speaker I mentioned earlier and the spare parts were ridiculously priced. I mean, this is a cheap car. Only poor people like me would buy a cheap car. Poor people need cars that don't give them too much problems simply because they are poor. In this case the TIARA was priced and aimed at the poor but the spare parts sent shivers down my spine. Their justification was, the spare parts were French. I don't care if the spare parts were Mongolian just don't rob me. It just don't make sense. They sell it cheap and many poor people bought the cars and then they robbed us when servicing and replacing parts. What a caring National car maker. Just imagine the drive shaft cost me RM900 for a pair, the brake pads, RM250 and the oil-filter RM35.
To make matters worst about a year after making that bad buy, the brought the price down to 26K with full specs. After going about 5 years, and countless over-heatings, I decided to dispose of the car. I only got 8K for it.
I changed to 2 used wiras after that and than bought my present one a new 1.5 wira auto hatchback. Before even a year, my power window kaputed, my central locking a became bossy, the front bonnet was sometimes difficult to open and the boot acted likewise. The plastic whatever you call it at the front door fell off and had to be permanently riveted to the steel frame.
Now I see this PESONA and wonder what kind of problems would it give. I don't have any complaints with the engines since I know next to nothing about engines. My complaint is that they don't have quality control at PROTON. Hey, I am not the only one complaining you know. Their assembly is shoddy resulting in flooding and poor body alignments making boots and bonnets difficult to open and shut. The biggest complain is that the parts that they source out to local vendors are almost useless. First world infrastructure? Their plastic parts are inferior and the alarm systems and central locking systems and the power window units are simply fucked up.
The question is how could they accept these defective devices anyway. They know of the complains arising from these inferior devices but they just couldn't be bothered. Now they are whining about dwindling sales. If the PESONA is equipped with parts and devices from the same vendors and off the same quality it will go the way of the Gen 2 and Tiara. People buy because it is a novelty and when people hear complains about failing parts, devices and poor fixing, they may opt for more expensive foreign ones.
Common PROTON, if your officers are on the take by accepting inferior products from your vendors then sack them and terminate those useless vendors of yours. Buying a car is not like buying a lighter, it is a big investment and no one likes to get or feel cheated after investing so much. Wake up you idiots.
I saw in Acciacatura's blog a picture of the new car PESONA. Is it pesona or persona? Ah, whatever. It looks nice but definitely not LATEST. The Gen2 looked quite okay when it was first launched but somehow not so nice now.
Let me relate my experience with Malaysian cars. My first Malaysian car was bought in October 1988. It was a Gerimis Grey 1.3 Saga Hatchback. I was so eager and proud to drive my very own Malaysian made car. After taking delivery of the car in Prai, I drove across the bridge to greet my wife who I was sure was eagerly waiting. Before the middle span which was about 8 kms from where I took my car, the speakers suddenly gave problems. I got sound only through 1 speaker while the other, like Malaysian government servants, decided to take a break. Along the way that lazy speaker comes alive only when it felt like it. My wife who only listens to music but couldn't differentiate Mono from Stereo had no complaints.
The next day I took the car back to the service centre and was given the address of a a distributor of Korean made appliances to look up the problem with my stereo system. At the distributor, they said that it wasn't the speaker but the main set that was at fault and duly changed it. On the way back I heard rattling sounds from the back and since I had not got on the bridge yet I made my way back to the service centre. After checking, they found out that they need to apply tape on something to absorb the rattles. Taped after only one day.
My next proton was a 1.5 saloon. I had no problems with the electronics or mechanics but one day a boy knocked his bicycle at low speed into my front door. You would have thought that i had a major accident by the look of the massive dent my front door carried.
My next new proton was a 1.5 Auto which gave me no problems since I used it for only a few months. I had to sell it when I got into USM on half pay to study.
After graduating, with debts to settle I could only afford a TIARA which cost me 36K. That was the biggest mistake I had ever made. It over heated many times. The aircond acted like the speaker I mentioned earlier and the spare parts were ridiculously priced. I mean, this is a cheap car. Only poor people like me would buy a cheap car. Poor people need cars that don't give them too much problems simply because they are poor. In this case the TIARA was priced and aimed at the poor but the spare parts sent shivers down my spine. Their justification was, the spare parts were French. I don't care if the spare parts were Mongolian just don't rob me. It just don't make sense. They sell it cheap and many poor people bought the cars and then they robbed us when servicing and replacing parts. What a caring National car maker. Just imagine the drive shaft cost me RM900 for a pair, the brake pads, RM250 and the oil-filter RM35.
To make matters worst about a year after making that bad buy, the brought the price down to 26K with full specs. After going about 5 years, and countless over-heatings, I decided to dispose of the car. I only got 8K for it.
I changed to 2 used wiras after that and than bought my present one a new 1.5 wira auto hatchback. Before even a year, my power window kaputed, my central locking a became bossy, the front bonnet was sometimes difficult to open and the boot acted likewise. The plastic whatever you call it at the front door fell off and had to be permanently riveted to the steel frame.
Now I see this PESONA and wonder what kind of problems would it give. I don't have any complaints with the engines since I know next to nothing about engines. My complaint is that they don't have quality control at PROTON. Hey, I am not the only one complaining you know. Their assembly is shoddy resulting in flooding and poor body alignments making boots and bonnets difficult to open and shut. The biggest complain is that the parts that they source out to local vendors are almost useless. First world infrastructure? Their plastic parts are inferior and the alarm systems and central locking systems and the power window units are simply fucked up.
The question is how could they accept these defective devices anyway. They know of the complains arising from these inferior devices but they just couldn't be bothered. Now they are whining about dwindling sales. If the PESONA is equipped with parts and devices from the same vendors and off the same quality it will go the way of the Gen 2 and Tiara. People buy because it is a novelty and when people hear complains about failing parts, devices and poor fixing, they may opt for more expensive foreign ones.
Common PROTON, if your officers are on the take by accepting inferior products from your vendors then sack them and terminate those useless vendors of yours. Buying a car is not like buying a lighter, it is a big investment and no one likes to get or feel cheated after investing so much. Wake up you idiots.
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Early Hiccup.
That's 4 points dropped. Two games and 2 draws and Chelsea doing okay with Reading which United failed to score against last Sunday is not exactly the kind of start that Man U fans are looking for.
Rooney's absence was greatly felt. The Man U forward line lack that explosiveness that Rooney could give them. Tevez was still trying to get to grips with the Man u game and tonight's performance shows how he has still got to jive with the rest of the players.
Lets not take the credit away from Portsmouth who played their life's best to deny the defending champion full points. They played a close game giving very little room for the champions to play their usual fluid game.
Scholes's goal was a real gem and typical Scholes, but everything ended there. Despite repeated probing into their opponent's penalty box they were still unable to find the back of the net. James's alertness and quick reflexes denied Ronaldo an almost certain goal off a free kick about 35 yards out.
Benjani's goal for Portsmouth was definitely a result of a defensive lapse. Vidic's failure to challenge Benjani's header in the end proved very costly for the defending Champions.
United, traditional slow starters in the Premier League barring last season where they had a great start, will now have to dig deep for a formula for their next match, the Manchester Derby. City has never been an easy opponent and the Manchester Derby has always been keenly fought. This season, City under the Thaksin regime removed to England, coupled with the experience of Erikson whose exploits in the transfer market has produced the necessary results would definitely more than a handful. The absence the dynamic duo, Rooney and Ronaldo would mean more pressure on United.
The Manchester Derby could see Anderson, the 19 year old new signing making his Premier League debut. Hargreaves too if pronounced fit may see play maybe as a substitute.
The league is only 2 games old, and despite the initial hiccup, Manchester United are expected to bounce back and challenge Chelsea again for the title. As for the pretenders Liverpool and Arsenal, they are not expected to make much headway since they are notoriously known to drop points, plenty of them, along the way.
Given this unexpected scenario, United is expected to be back at the top of the table by year's end.
Rooney's absence was greatly felt. The Man U forward line lack that explosiveness that Rooney could give them. Tevez was still trying to get to grips with the Man u game and tonight's performance shows how he has still got to jive with the rest of the players.
Lets not take the credit away from Portsmouth who played their life's best to deny the defending champion full points. They played a close game giving very little room for the champions to play their usual fluid game.
Scholes's goal was a real gem and typical Scholes, but everything ended there. Despite repeated probing into their opponent's penalty box they were still unable to find the back of the net. James's alertness and quick reflexes denied Ronaldo an almost certain goal off a free kick about 35 yards out.
Benjani's goal for Portsmouth was definitely a result of a defensive lapse. Vidic's failure to challenge Benjani's header in the end proved very costly for the defending Champions.
United, traditional slow starters in the Premier League barring last season where they had a great start, will now have to dig deep for a formula for their next match, the Manchester Derby. City has never been an easy opponent and the Manchester Derby has always been keenly fought. This season, City under the Thaksin regime removed to England, coupled with the experience of Erikson whose exploits in the transfer market has produced the necessary results would definitely more than a handful. The absence the dynamic duo, Rooney and Ronaldo would mean more pressure on United.
The Manchester Derby could see Anderson, the 19 year old new signing making his Premier League debut. Hargreaves too if pronounced fit may see play maybe as a substitute.
The league is only 2 games old, and despite the initial hiccup, Manchester United are expected to bounce back and challenge Chelsea again for the title. As for the pretenders Liverpool and Arsenal, they are not expected to make much headway since they are notoriously known to drop points, plenty of them, along the way.
Given this unexpected scenario, United is expected to be back at the top of the table by year's end.
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
I Lost My Nak Tak Nak
I am what people call itchy fingers. When I have nothing to do I like to play around with settings, templates and what have you. I was messing around with my BM blog Nak Tak Nak and suddenly had a brain wave. I wanted to change my template with a template from WordPress. I thought I was being clever. So I do the normal thing like saving my widgets since I love widgets.
I downloaded a template from somewhere which was in zip without opening it. Of all the shit I didn't realise that I don't have winzip or any unzip program.
Another thing that I forgot to do was to save my current template. When you thing you are very clever, you tend to do very dumb things.
When I uploaded the new template things went awry. It could not open because it was zipped. When I looked for my old template I realised that I didn't save it to retrieve it should the need arise and hey presto, I lost my BM Blog.
I know, I should have been cooler. If I had been more patient maybe I could get help to retrieve something. Anyway I got so mad at my stupidity that I decided to go to settings and delete the whole blog. I am that type of person. There times my patience is endless but usually its with other people. My fuse is usually short when it involves my own undoings.
So, I was thinking should I start over again? I am of the opinion that I should but I should take it easy. I was thinking of using wordpress for the BM blog but I have tried creating a blog using wordpress and found it more difficult so I decide to use the present program coz I am more familiar with it. Knowing myself, I don't know what I will do. I may, at the last minute, try wordpress again.
Anyway I am still cursing my damn luck and my itchy fingers. Oh anyway, why am I at home instead of being in school? We had the election briefings and I was amongst the unlucky ones to be picked. The briefing's over that's why I am at home and lost my blog.
(UPDATED) Aku dah buat baru punya. http://naktaknak2.wordpress.com/
I downloaded a template from somewhere which was in zip without opening it. Of all the shit I didn't realise that I don't have winzip or any unzip program.
Another thing that I forgot to do was to save my current template. When you thing you are very clever, you tend to do very dumb things.
When I uploaded the new template things went awry. It could not open because it was zipped. When I looked for my old template I realised that I didn't save it to retrieve it should the need arise and hey presto, I lost my BM Blog.
I know, I should have been cooler. If I had been more patient maybe I could get help to retrieve something. Anyway I got so mad at my stupidity that I decided to go to settings and delete the whole blog. I am that type of person. There times my patience is endless but usually its with other people. My fuse is usually short when it involves my own undoings.
So, I was thinking should I start over again? I am of the opinion that I should but I should take it easy. I was thinking of using wordpress for the BM blog but I have tried creating a blog using wordpress and found it more difficult so I decide to use the present program coz I am more familiar with it. Knowing myself, I don't know what I will do. I may, at the last minute, try wordpress again.
Anyway I am still cursing my damn luck and my itchy fingers. Oh anyway, why am I at home instead of being in school? We had the election briefings and I was amongst the unlucky ones to be picked. The briefing's over that's why I am at home and lost my blog.
(UPDATED) Aku dah buat baru punya. http://naktaknak2.wordpress.com/
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Just Pictures
I am in the midst of getting the new school timetable ready since there have been a few transfers either through promotions or the normal mid-year transfers. So while resting I was going through my digital photo albums and then it struck me that why don't I just pick a few pictures that are meaningful to me as my next post. These pictures are not arranged in any particular order. These are pictures of my family members.
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Guilt & Stupidity
As usual I was drifting in blogosphere reading articles and postings and I found some really good ones especially Docs Tokasid's post KANTOI which you can read here
What those idiots gave were stupid excuses. Some were really ignorant but some pretended to 'buat bodoh', but to give those kinds of excuses to doctors got to be the stupidest thing that they could do. They could have thought that if their kampong folks and buddies could buy their preposterous excuses surely a doctor is no different.
I would like to relate a true story here which touches on guilt. Guilt can sometimes make people do stupid things too. If in those cases in the good doctor"s post, the people were trying to hide behind a tauge plant, in mine, its quite the opposite.
Many years ago a friend suddenly walked limping into my house. Actually he was my neighbour. He asked if I could take him to the clinic coz he was worried about right his foot. I looked at it and clearly saw that it was swollen.
"Hey what happened to you"? "
"I don't know la Ajit, but this thing happened after I came back from Padang Besar"
Aah! you pakai the ayam there la?"
"Yes la, otherwise why go there? I am worried la Ajit, you thing this one VD ah?"
"I don't know la, maybe you step on something or what"
"No la Ajit, I did not step on anything, suddenly become like this. I tell you I don't want to go there anymore la, cheh! why I go and take that woman ah?"
So I took him on my motorbike to a clinic in BM town. He was inside with the doctor for sometime and came out smiling sheepishly.
"So what did the doc say, did he give you a penicillin jab?
"No la, aiyo I so malu la Ajit. Before showing him my foot I straight away told him that I went to the border and had some fun. Now my foot is swollen. When he heard me he was quite concerned, and then he had a look at the foot and you know what he said"?
"No, what did he say?"
"He looked at it and say, why, you put your foot inside ah?" When I heard it I don't know what to say la. Then he said nothing la, this is gout."
He was so afraid that it could be VD that he don't mind baring everything to the doctor. If he had misplaced fears because of guilt, then those people the doc Tokasid mentioned, could be suffering from no guilt at all.
And anyway, he kept his promise not to 'cari ayam' for a few months.
What those idiots gave were stupid excuses. Some were really ignorant but some pretended to 'buat bodoh', but to give those kinds of excuses to doctors got to be the stupidest thing that they could do. They could have thought that if their kampong folks and buddies could buy their preposterous excuses surely a doctor is no different.
I would like to relate a true story here which touches on guilt. Guilt can sometimes make people do stupid things too. If in those cases in the good doctor"s post, the people were trying to hide behind a tauge plant, in mine, its quite the opposite.
Many years ago a friend suddenly walked limping into my house. Actually he was my neighbour. He asked if I could take him to the clinic coz he was worried about right his foot. I looked at it and clearly saw that it was swollen.
"Hey what happened to you"? "
"I don't know la Ajit, but this thing happened after I came back from Padang Besar"
Aah! you pakai the ayam there la?"
"Yes la, otherwise why go there? I am worried la Ajit, you thing this one VD ah?"
"I don't know la, maybe you step on something or what"
"No la Ajit, I did not step on anything, suddenly become like this. I tell you I don't want to go there anymore la, cheh! why I go and take that woman ah?"
So I took him on my motorbike to a clinic in BM town. He was inside with the doctor for sometime and came out smiling sheepishly.
"So what did the doc say, did he give you a penicillin jab?
"No la, aiyo I so malu la Ajit. Before showing him my foot I straight away told him that I went to the border and had some fun. Now my foot is swollen. When he heard me he was quite concerned, and then he had a look at the foot and you know what he said"?
"No, what did he say?"
"He looked at it and say, why, you put your foot inside ah?" When I heard it I don't know what to say la. Then he said nothing la, this is gout."
He was so afraid that it could be VD that he don't mind baring everything to the doctor. If he had misplaced fears because of guilt, then those people the doc Tokasid mentioned, could be suffering from no guilt at all.
And anyway, he kept his promise not to 'cari ayam' for a few months.
Sunday, 5 August 2007
The Real Planet Of The Apes
When I was younger, much much younger that is, one of the must see tv programs was Planet of The Apes. I am sure some of you must have seen and enjoyed it. I heard someone said that they re-ran the show, which doesn't surprise me, so the younger generation would have watched it too. I enjoyed it because the good guys (humans) some how or other triumphed over the bad guys, aah, monkeys. Like how I was cheated when I used to clap for the white guys in their fights against the injuns, I was tricked here too into believing that the humans were the good guys and the monkeys or apes were the villains.
I did not realise that the writer of the show was so futuristic in his thinking. I never knew that he could foresee more than 30 years in the future. He or she must have been one hell of an ape. Those of you who have seen it must know the character Urko. He is supposed to be bad just like Chief Sitting Bull is Evil but actually he is the chosen one, much like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix.
From what I understand it now, the story goes like this. A bunch of humans goes up to space to explore new planets and see if they could take their hedonistic and sadistic lifestyle of corruption, plundering, blinding, cheating and what haves you to the new planet. Yes, they make it there but are not very welcome by the inhabitants of those planets. Actually the inhabitants of these planets already know about the behaviours of humans. So these humans are chased from planet to planet and since they have run out of supplies of their sustenance of life that is greed which they brought with them by the barrels they decide to return to planet earth to replenish their supply of greed for their mission to find a friendlier or naive galaxy.
Little do they realise that they have left Mother Earth for a few hundred years and their descendants continue their plundering lifestyles. What they do know is that when they are leaving, a group of apes have got together and take it upon themselves to save the earth. Now these apes are the ones who suffer at the plundering nature of these humans. Their only consolation is that these humans give them a toy called the internet and come out with various softwares to keep them busy and perhaps blind them while they rob the apes left and right.
The humans profited by selling softwares that could be used. These humans forget that the internet which is meant to pacify these apes with dirty pictures and something called pornography is also a tool for these apes to communicate. These apes then start communicating amongst themselves and let off steam. They then group themselves into communities of common interests. So besides, surfing porn-sites, these apes also get to let off by talking to each other in something they call blogs.
One thing that these varied groups has in common is a desire to be taken seriously. They too would like to be heard. They want to live a dignified life where they are not openly cheated through the arses. One thing leads to another and soon these communities merg and begin to demand that something is done. The descendants of the humans are taken aback by this sudden awakening of the apes whom they thought to be passive and docile primates.
The humans then start a campaign to get these apes. Much is done to deter them. They try to shut the net down but couldn't because they themselves are dependent on the net for commerce. They try to crack the whip but the harder they swing the louder the cries for change they hear. By the time they decide on doing something really drastic, they realise that
it is too late. The apes get to be very strong and over-run them. The humans vanish into the jungles to save their skins. They know from reports that humans are not welcome anywhere in the universe and so they decide to live out their lives in the jungles on earth.
Now these apes are not actually evil. They don't go capturing humans for experiments or revenge. That is just a human propaganda humans are so used too in their times of glory.
Now back to the story. Our space travellers return to find that Mother Earth is no longer ruled by humans. Apes are administering the Earth rather well. Everything is running smoothly. There is no corruption, no cheating, no stealing, no nuclear weapons, no need for lawyers. The community police are very polite and helpful and everyone is happy. Progress iss quite slow but the apes prefer it that way because life is good. No single government rule the earth and no political party exists which the apes consider to be their best achievement.
The humans, who just returned find that life is unbearable considering that they have to actually work to to live. They just couldn't live off others like they used too. Their hedonistic lifestyle has to change because they wield no more powers. So what do humans do best? They hire writers to come out with something fictitious like the apes are violent, cruel, decadent and filthy liars. They try to change the mindset of their kind now hidden in the jungles and call for a revolution.
The true ending of the story was that, they humans who had been hiding in the jungles slowly began to realise that the apes weren't that bad at all. They soon come out and start living with these apes and find that life iss much better living with the apes. So they start living and working with the apes and not for the apes.
I did not realise that the writer of the show was so futuristic in his thinking. I never knew that he could foresee more than 30 years in the future. He or she must have been one hell of an ape. Those of you who have seen it must know the character Urko. He is supposed to be bad just like Chief Sitting Bull is Evil but actually he is the chosen one, much like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix.
From what I understand it now, the story goes like this. A bunch of humans goes up to space to explore new planets and see if they could take their hedonistic and sadistic lifestyle of corruption, plundering, blinding, cheating and what haves you to the new planet. Yes, they make it there but are not very welcome by the inhabitants of those planets. Actually the inhabitants of these planets already know about the behaviours of humans. So these humans are chased from planet to planet and since they have run out of supplies of their sustenance of life that is greed which they brought with them by the barrels they decide to return to planet earth to replenish their supply of greed for their mission to find a friendlier or naive galaxy.
Little do they realise that they have left Mother Earth for a few hundred years and their descendants continue their plundering lifestyles. What they do know is that when they are leaving, a group of apes have got together and take it upon themselves to save the earth. Now these apes are the ones who suffer at the plundering nature of these humans. Their only consolation is that these humans give them a toy called the internet and come out with various softwares to keep them busy and perhaps blind them while they rob the apes left and right.
The humans profited by selling softwares that could be used. These humans forget that the internet which is meant to pacify these apes with dirty pictures and something called pornography is also a tool for these apes to communicate. These apes then start communicating amongst themselves and let off steam. They then group themselves into communities of common interests. So besides, surfing porn-sites, these apes also get to let off by talking to each other in something they call blogs.
One thing that these varied groups has in common is a desire to be taken seriously. They too would like to be heard. They want to live a dignified life where they are not openly cheated through the arses. One thing leads to another and soon these communities merg and begin to demand that something is done. The descendants of the humans are taken aback by this sudden awakening of the apes whom they thought to be passive and docile primates.
The humans then start a campaign to get these apes. Much is done to deter them. They try to shut the net down but couldn't because they themselves are dependent on the net for commerce. They try to crack the whip but the harder they swing the louder the cries for change they hear. By the time they decide on doing something really drastic, they realise that
it is too late. The apes get to be very strong and over-run them. The humans vanish into the jungles to save their skins. They know from reports that humans are not welcome anywhere in the universe and so they decide to live out their lives in the jungles on earth.
Now these apes are not actually evil. They don't go capturing humans for experiments or revenge. That is just a human propaganda humans are so used too in their times of glory.
Now back to the story. Our space travellers return to find that Mother Earth is no longer ruled by humans. Apes are administering the Earth rather well. Everything is running smoothly. There is no corruption, no cheating, no stealing, no nuclear weapons, no need for lawyers. The community police are very polite and helpful and everyone is happy. Progress iss quite slow but the apes prefer it that way because life is good. No single government rule the earth and no political party exists which the apes consider to be their best achievement.
The humans, who just returned find that life is unbearable considering that they have to actually work to to live. They just couldn't live off others like they used too. Their hedonistic lifestyle has to change because they wield no more powers. So what do humans do best? They hire writers to come out with something fictitious like the apes are violent, cruel, decadent and filthy liars. They try to change the mindset of their kind now hidden in the jungles and call for a revolution.
The true ending of the story was that, they humans who had been hiding in the jungles slowly began to realise that the apes weren't that bad at all. They soon come out and start living with these apes and find that life iss much better living with the apes. So they start living and working with the apes and not for the apes.
MISSING
MISSING
SALHI KHAESSA AHMADAge 26
Height 175 cm, Weight 70 kg
Mentally ill ( schizoprenic)
Missing since Friday 13th July 2007
Anyone who has seen SALHI, please contact his father, En. Ahmad at 09-786 6040, 017-970 3227 or 012-296 2642.
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
No Sports Please YB.
I am a little bit happy with Pak Lah's announcement regarding cabinet ministers being barred from heading any sports association. It should actually be extended. They must not hold any post whatsoever. Being a minister is not an easy job so do that job first. They have already got their Datukships and Tan Sriships so what else do they want? Just drop it.
Since he has suddenly shown an interest in Malaysian sports I hope the PM would extend his ban to all YBs government or opposition. Their jobs require them to serve their constituency and not manage some sports association. Leave the job of leading sports associations to the pros. We have seen how incompetent YBs and Ministers are in doing any job given so why be stupid and allow them to destroy our sports.
When I say that they should not hold any post in any sports association I also mean that they should not even be in the selection committees. This is where the rot starts. How many times have we heard that so and so is chosen because of his affiliation with a certain YB or Ketua Bahagian or big shot. Can anyone dare say that the players picked to represent the country in the AFC recently are really the best we have?
I dare say, that these are the connected ones. There are many more players especially those who hail from the interior who are left out for want of connection. So how good you are in handling a ball is not as important as how good you are in sucking balls.
No point in reminiscing the good old days. No point in recollecting the stunning goals of Mokhtar Dahari, the tightness of Chin Aun and Santokh Singh's defence, the presicion passes and vision of Choon Wah and Shukor Salleh and the acrobatic saves of Chow Chee Keong, Arumugam and Rashid Hassan.
When a dish which once was tasty suddenly becomes flat, it could pretty well be because the recipe is not the same. We should look at this in our football. What is football in schools nowadays. I am a teacher and let me tell you this. PJ in schools have declined into a filler subject. By filler I mean, teachers are given a class or two of PJ just to make up their total number of teaching periods. In some schools, PJ specialists are completely ignored and given some academic subjects to teach.
The teaching of skills in games and athletics is almost non-existence. I remember when I was in school, PJ was a lesson where we would be introduced to basic skills in games and gymnastics. Nowadays, it is almost alway, toss a ball and let the 30 or 40 pupils play. Those who are not keen just sit around and talk with their friends.
Do we really have the proper infrastructure to develop games? How many tournaments does a district has? Are there age group leagues? How many playable fields do we have? How many teachers are qualified to be referees and coaches? How much is allocated for games in schools? All these have to be looked into if we want to try to improve our sports.
Since he has suddenly shown an interest in Malaysian sports I hope the PM would extend his ban to all YBs government or opposition. Their jobs require them to serve their constituency and not manage some sports association. Leave the job of leading sports associations to the pros. We have seen how incompetent YBs and Ministers are in doing any job given so why be stupid and allow them to destroy our sports.
When I say that they should not hold any post in any sports association I also mean that they should not even be in the selection committees. This is where the rot starts. How many times have we heard that so and so is chosen because of his affiliation with a certain YB or Ketua Bahagian or big shot. Can anyone dare say that the players picked to represent the country in the AFC recently are really the best we have?
I dare say, that these are the connected ones. There are many more players especially those who hail from the interior who are left out for want of connection. So how good you are in handling a ball is not as important as how good you are in sucking balls.
No point in reminiscing the good old days. No point in recollecting the stunning goals of Mokhtar Dahari, the tightness of Chin Aun and Santokh Singh's defence, the presicion passes and vision of Choon Wah and Shukor Salleh and the acrobatic saves of Chow Chee Keong, Arumugam and Rashid Hassan.
When a dish which once was tasty suddenly becomes flat, it could pretty well be because the recipe is not the same. We should look at this in our football. What is football in schools nowadays. I am a teacher and let me tell you this. PJ in schools have declined into a filler subject. By filler I mean, teachers are given a class or two of PJ just to make up their total number of teaching periods. In some schools, PJ specialists are completely ignored and given some academic subjects to teach.
The teaching of skills in games and athletics is almost non-existence. I remember when I was in school, PJ was a lesson where we would be introduced to basic skills in games and gymnastics. Nowadays, it is almost alway, toss a ball and let the 30 or 40 pupils play. Those who are not keen just sit around and talk with their friends.
Do we really have the proper infrastructure to develop games? How many tournaments does a district has? Are there age group leagues? How many playable fields do we have? How many teachers are qualified to be referees and coaches? How much is allocated for games in schools? All these have to be looked into if we want to try to improve our sports.
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