Books, books and more books...

Went to Popular Sunway today to try and find this book.
For some reason, even though the book was supposed to have been released 2 months ago, the bookstore didn't have it in stock. What a royal pain in the arse. So I asked the salespeople there.

"Where can I get this book ah?"
-salesperson checks computer-
"Popular Klang."

"If I order how long will it take to come?"
"Aaaa.... about 1 month."

Well, at least it wasn't as bad as Tim's predicament with Percy Jackson. They only sent me to Klang. MPH sent Tim to Cheras, and as if that wasn't far enough, Kinta Parade as well. LOL.

Oh well, till the stock arrives, I'll have to make do with my schoolbooks and Jeffrey Archer.

perpetually slacking

What do you do when the exams are only 5 days away and nothing much has been done?

Simple: do more studying. But what if there IS nothing else to study? What if there IS nothing more to do?

Even simpler: slack.

So that's what I seem to be doing now. LOLOLOLLOL.

Except that I am busy. Tomorrow I need to teach maths. The day after is majlis perpisahan at Catholic High, so I shall go to see and take part in the "merriment". Then after that I have an appointment to visit Matthew for a study trip to his house. Technically, this is NOT slacking.

But I seem to be doing nothing much at home either. Either I am DotA-ing, or else RO-ing, or else doing physics past year, or else spec maths past year, or else... nothing else.

I'm just bored. Every time a major exam draws near, I find that I get too bored too easily.




How damn sad. Someone help me from this chasm of depression please.

Can't wait for November 21st. At least it will be sweet release, pure heaven.

two things plaguing me now

#1. Music
#2. Social contract

Lets look at #1 first. Somehow, some psychologists have tied musical influence to creativity and better academic performance. I beg to differ. Does it really mean that if you learn to play the piano you will be inclined to better performance? I really have to disagree on that. Although my classmates will disagree with me, I think most of the ability comes from innate ability, then perseverance.
A second question I have is somewhat simpler. Why is the piano the favoured instrument for most music learners? Why not drums or guitar, especially when you take into account the cost of a piano compared to a guitar or drum set? It doesn't really make sense to me.

Now to the social contract. This is actually a very complicated issue, made worse by the government's various interpretation of the said contract. It is known that the initial contract said that the Chinese and Indians would be given citizenship in M'sia, but that they must respect the Malay special rights. The crux of the problem is that this is enshrined in the Constitution, and most of the younger generation live in bliss ignorance of any contract. So we wouldn't know if the government decided to amend the Constitution. Besides, the social contract should be renegotiated. Times have changed a lot since the 60's.
To those people who dislike historical facts, are we going to consider all history to be seditious? Because the fact remains that the same event will give one party happiness and another party will be unhappy. Are we going to deny our younger generation the right to know the truth? It doesn't make any sense.

Quote: The truth hurts, doesn't it?

On the M'sian education system

I was reading the morning papers when I came across this report on Moral. So, here are my views on the report.

#1. Moral is not a useless subject. Right now the debate is about Moral exams and the painfully rigid marking scheme. I, for one, suggest that the marking scheme be revised completely. Stifling creativity is one thing our education system is famous for. And secondly, the exam style HAS to be revamped. I mean, you can't ask subjective [personal view] questions in an objective [syllabus based] exam. Marks won't be awarded based on the creativity of the answer, rather marks will be awarded based on the accuracy of the answer in relation to the syllabus. Thus the familiar words come to echo and haunt us: Correct answer, but not in the syllabus.

#2. Who ever heard of memorising values to prove your moral worth to society? I agree with one of the students interviewed in the report. Quote [slightly paraphrased]: Some of my friends who are better behaved didn't do as well as me in the Moral exam. The major problem with the Moral exams is that again, subjective questions are expected to be answered with objective answers.

#3. Datuk, please be sure that your facts are accurate. It is comforting to know that students are only required to know keywords. But what happened between the top and the markers at the bottom? Has the message been altered in transmission? Because I clearly remember my Moral teacher reminding us to memorise value definitions word for word.

There is no substitute for Moral as a subject, only a substitute in the teaching of the subject and the exam system for the subject.

While on the topic of education still, I think History is another subject with the same problems as Moral, namely the problem of asking subjective questions and expecting objective answers in return. For example:

Question: Imagine you are a sultan of a 18th century Malay state. Your kingdom is about to be colonised by the British. What will you do?
My answer: Let them come in and take over, then learn from them, then throw them out eventually.
Correct textbook answer: Use force of weapons to repulse the British.

So, this tells us that martyrdom is a way of life of the Malays. Referring to the textbooks again, every Malay state under British rule has had its fair share of rebels. All of them died in the end. So, martyrdom IS the way of life of the Malays. How bloody sad, that we have martyrs as our role models. No wonder most of us look to Anwar or RPK to free us, rather than stick with the ruling coalition of BN.

happy birthday to me

I must say that this year, I have had the most memorable birthday. Especially since most of my classmates in the previous years had let it go by unnoticed. Then again, my birthday always seemed to be during the exam period. So, I can't really blame them for that.
Oh well, enough reminiscence. Time to move back into the real world.
Last Saturday, some of my gamer friends came to Pyramid to celebrate early. It was enjoyable. BBQ for lunch, then off to Point Extreme for some DotA. To top it all, a nice cake and a present of books [Eragon, Eldest]. Thanks a million, guys. Won't forget this treat.
Then today I had another cake. From S4. They almost got me creamed, but somehow I managed to worm my way out of it. And so I got a second cake, and some extra for sharing around. Thanks a million as well, guys, you are super.

So, I think this year I have had a much more interesting birthday celebration. To all wishers, thanks a lot for remembering. Love you guys.

This is our next PM

This is the deal cut by Najib when he was Defence Minister. Interesting what power does to people nowadays.

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/13721/84/

With him as our next PM, I wonder how we are going to deal with the people next. Especially if he is not put away for his involvement in the Altantuyaa business.

it's who you wanna be, not what you do

I don't know why, but lately I've taken up old games again. For example, Jedi Academy. It's a 2003 game, which makes it 5 years old this year. Yet, so far it is the best PC Jedi game I've played. I guess I like the hack and slash method of playing with an [almost] invulnerable Jedi and his lightsabre. My favourite combo? Force grip the enemy over the cliffs. Clearing out evil with Dark side powers is a different way to play the game.

Quote: It's not what powers you use, it's what you use it for.

when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade

It's interesting how we humans tend to gravitate to doing similar things. For example, the RO trend somehow got introduced into my class by Matthew. So now most of us are hooked by it. Oh well. How the heck do we play on a massively laggy connection? But never mind about that.
I like this tendency. Cause it means that we can take advantage to socialise. How interesting. That's why whoever came out with the above statement means that he/she was a good observer of human nature.

But I like lemon sherbet better.

Double tags

For some reason, most newbie bloggers love to tag others. Here are some of the bloggers tagging me:

Tag #1: Chee Meng, Evie
Instructions, Remove 1 question from below and add in a personal question, make it a total of 19 questions. Then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. What Are Your Nicknames?
Mad Scientist [I hear this rarely now]

2. What Is Your Most Favorite Thing To Do?
Paintball [when I can get it], computer games

3. What Kind Of News Do You Read?
The radical kind [think Malaysia Today]

4. Describe yourself in 10 words or less?
Underappreciated genius [I think so]

5. Is There Someone In Your Heart Right Now?
Yes

6. Do You Believe You Can Survive Without Money?
There is always a card called credit card

7. What Are You Afraid To Lose The Most?
My mind

8. What Do You Feel Like Doing Right Now?
Nothing

9. If There's Someone That You Love, Would You Confess To Him/Her?
Maybe

10. List Out 3 Good Points Of The Person Who Tagged You.
short, Pokemon freak, quite a good football defender [PJK]

11. What Are The Requirements That You Wish From Your Other Half?
Not whiny about money

12. Between family and friends, which is more important to you?
Neither, the world is waiting for me

13. If You Had To Eat One Thing For The Rest Of Your Life, What Would It Be?
Pork, can't do without this essential source of protein

14. If You Had A Choice To Be Rich Or Happy, Which One Would You Pick?
Happy with myself

15. If You Have A Chance, Which Part Of Your Character You Would Like To Change?
None, I like me now

16. How Do You See Yourself In 10 Years Time?
Somewhere in a research lab trying to blow up the country

17. What Is The One Thing You Love About Yourself?
Radicalism in me

18. If You Can Bring Only One Thing Along With You To Another World, What Would It Be?
My mind intact

19. What Kind of Movie(type) You Like To Watch?
Anything interesting, no particular preference

So I shall tag these people:
Andrew, Anderson, 1G, Mayjee, Kay-Li, Hann Tat, Sher Hann, Jie Han

Tag #2: CPU
The last person to tag you is?
Chee Meng

What is your relationship with him/her?
That little friend of mine

Your 5 impression towards him/her.
a) cute
b) small
c) short
d) good at art
e) fast

The most memorable thing that he/she had done for you.
Being my friend

The most memorable thing that he/she has say to you.
[nothing]

If he/she becomes your lover, you will…
I am not Saiful

If he/she becomes your enemy, you will
Face it like a man

If he/she becomes your lover , he/she has to improve on..
[nothing]

If he/she becomes your enemy , the reason is...
There is no good reason

The most desirable things to you to do to him/her
[nothing]

The overall impression to he/her is
Little short guy with a big ego

How do you think the people around you will feel about you?
Mad, unloved [so far]

The character for you for yourself is?
No idea

On the contrary , the thing you hate about yourself is?
No/almost no social skills

The most ideal person you want to be is?
Artemis Fowl

For the person who cares and likes you, say something about them.
Grow taller please...

Ten people to tag-
1 Andrew
2 Anderson
3 1G
4 Mayjee
5 Kay-Li
6 Hann Tat
7 Sher Hann
8 Jie Han
9 Ding En
10 Charlene

Who is no.2 having relationship with?
Alfie [heheheh]

Is no.3 a female or a male?
Male

If no.7 and no.10 be together would it be a good thing?
Maybe

How about no.5 and 8?
Not for Jason, no

What is number 1 studying for?
SAM

When was the last time you have chat with them?
Almost say, 6 hours ago

Is number 4 a single?
No clue

Talk something about no.2.
Any short guy with an ego disproportionate to his size