I-Splat - engineers' way of having fun!

I know this was last week's event, but what the heck, I'll just post about it.

So last week I went for paintball at Oakleigh, just outside of Clayton. Of course I got shot up, quite a few shots, to be honest about it. Partly due to something called Highlander mode, which I'll elaborate in due time. The place is called World Series Paintball, near Huntingdale station, even though it's in Oakleigh. That caused a little confusion when we got on the train to get there.

Leader: Ok, we're getting off at the next stop. [we were at Oakleigh, the stop before Huntingdale]
Someone: I thought the place is in Oakleigh, shouldn't we be getting off here?
Leader: No, this shows you haven't done your research before coming.

Me: OMGWTFBBQLOL

Anyway, we managed to find our way to the place. The inside is damn modern, it looks way better than most outdoor places. There are four different fields inside, with four different layouts for playing. There was only one difference in the playing style - instead of deathmatch, we played normal respawn mode. Which ultimately led to lots of dodging. Anyway, there were quite a few new playstyles I saw that Sunday - money rush [grab bags of cash], poachers [grab furry toy animals], border crossing [like bombing run] and the highlight of the day being the WTF Highlander mode. That mode ultimately led to most of my soreness, aches and pains of the day. Basically in Highlander mode, you become a Highlander who can't die. You can get shot over and over, but if you don't like the feeling, then you can opt to retreat. Like heck we'd retreat that fast. So of course, whoever decides to go in charging, you'd amass lots of bruises and shots. Such as these shots to my forearm and neck.
At the end of the day, the guys gave us these little tags to vote for satisfaction. Guess who was the lone mad guy who dropped his tag into the green box. No prizes for guessing correctly, though. All in all, I think I justified my expenditure for the entire trip. Fun the whole day long FTW.

Rushing

I think I know how the rest of my assignments may go from now on. Take my Creative Writing assignment for example:

Final changes done - 7 am
Printing assignment - 8.30 am
Dropped assignment into chute - 8.45 am

I think this is gonna be a small problem for me. Help anyone?

Some ranting

I now know why the heck some of the JPA scholars complain that they don't have enough spending money for the month. Let's see the breakdown of numbers for them.

Spending money for a month: $1200

Rent: $200 a week = $800 a month, assuming electricity and water are paid for.

Food: $200 a month, assuming that they eat at home, ie: cooking their own food at home.

Phone: $79 - $149 a month for an iPhone.

Total spent in a month: $1079 - $1149, leaving $51 - $121 as savings.

So tell me why they need an iPhone here. Bloody hell. It's too common here. Everyone who can afford one has one, so they think they need one as well. Honestly speaking, since I can't afford one, I don't think of having one. So please don't think that since the government is paying your bills, you can afford to have an iPhone.

Bantering

Try reading some of the emails I get in my uni mailbox. They're a very good way of killing time, especially when the people replying hit the reply button without thinking of editing the recipients. So my mailbox is full of rubbish mail, clouding the real mail from lecturers and tutors.

*********************************

I think IT services in the uni is not good enough. They seemingly can't install Firefox 3. Maybe they won't install Firefox 3. Which isn't any good.

For lack of a suitable title

The life of a university student is quite monotonous, if you only consider what you do in lectures, practical sessions and tutorials. It's the things you do outside of uni hours that actually is the spice of our life.

Here you get all sorts of things to do. Paintball, BBQs, beer parties, you name it, they have it.

*Crap, ran out of ideas to write.*

Signing off first then.

Due to popular demand

Here you go. Guys, this is my room. Bloody dark. isn't it? This is in the morning, as my eyes see it. Just a single sliver of light. Darkness. Complete and whole.

Silent times

I realised something's wrong with
my room.
It's too dark, especially in the morning.
Cause the blinds don't work,
the light's too dim.
It may be good
for playing L4D at 2 at night,
it isn't good for studying
by midnight oil.

The blinds are thick,
it's quite quiet.
Sometimes too quiet.

Now I need the lights on
to sleep. Not for comfort
but for precaution.
Against sleeping in.

***Trying my hand at Creative Writing. Comments?***

***I can't think of a suitable title for this post, so I'll leave that out first.***

There's a lack of coverage of EPL football over here. I kinda miss that. But Champions League is readily available here.

It is kinda crap that you have to be 18+ to play paintball here. Bloody hell, it's not fair. But I might find some way around that rubbish. I hope to do so, or else I'll be missing out on a hell lot of paintball. 4 hours! I'm not going to miss out on so much fun. Not so fast.

Looks like I'm ranting. A lot.

uni life so far

One phrase sums everything up pretty well. Bored but tired.

So far the stuff seem to be a revision of topics from pre-uni level. Which is fine for most, but not for me. Come on, bring in the heavy guns, we need 'em! I mean, A-level students can master hyperbolic functions pretty well. Maybe the Aussie syllabus doesn't allow for hyperbolic functions, so that's why we're learning them again in Calculus 2. Oh well, I've just gotta live with what I've got.

Chem is fine so far, starting with organic chemistry. Isomers ftw. Molecular chemistry should actually go hand in hand with quantum physics, but that's my personal definition.

I think that's about all I can think of for now.

More to come!

More updates!

***A word of warning first: Don't expect massive, daily updates like some of the other bloggers' blogs. I'm now busy, so I can't possibly update as fast as others. And I try to make meaningful posts, so just be patient and wait for updates. Most likely I'll update on a weekly basis.***

Anyway, life in Melbourne isn't as boring as I thought. But it isn't as fun as most of you will think. Living in a suburb with old folks as your neighbours, that's definitely kinda boring. On the other hand, going to uni, hanging out with a couple of friends, now that's fun. Although the windchill gets to me a lot. Don't laugh.

Now I have to go and figure out whether to buy my lab stuff and other books. I think I might not. And yet I still might.

M.I.A. --------------> Revival

Hi friends, I'm back! Finally found some internet access. My cousin disconnected his internet service before he went to Malaysia for Chinese New Year, so when he came back there wasn't any access for us guests. Oh well. So now I'm blogging from the Uni of Melbourne.
Well, I know I've been M.I.A. for 2 weeks now, so it's time for an update on what I've been doing so far. Basically I've been preparing for uni. Packing, making arrangements, saying goodbyes... the list goes on and on and on. Besides that, I've also been finishing off my last days at work. Kinda fun, the whole process. A little annoying, though. And frustrating as well. But it's all part and parcel of moving to a new place, as well as moving on from an old place.
I know some people have asked about my Valentine's Day celebrations, whether anything special happened. Well, the answer is the same - nothing new. Just sitting in the office for the last official day at work, finishing up the records for the annual reports. That's what I did on that Saturday.
Melbourne is a fine city. A bit cold at times, although I'm getting used to it. The clear blue sky, the lack of clouds, bright yellow sunshine even at the tail end of summer, all fun. It's different, totally different from home. At least I'm away from the miserable politics of home.

random things

#1. I strongly dislike Pos Malaysia. Why are there 30 sen postal charges, but no 30 sen stamps?

#2. I'm bored at work.

#3. Someone has asked me to watch Hetalia, whatever that is.

#4. IDP and my office are often mixed up by mailmen, although the offices are 5 blocks apart.

#5. The guy next to me is counselling a student over the phone.

MAS is overrated again

What does it mean by competitive fares? To MAS Airlines, it simply means this:

"How can we surpass all the other regional airlines and make the most profit this quarter?"

Lousy crooks. I mean, MAS has the most expensive total fares in the region. Even Singapore Airlines is cheaper than MAS. And they fly a slightly longer distance to Australia [stopover in Changi compared to MAS's direct flight].

Better still, MAS is also a real con-job. They tell you that you pay less for the fuel surcharges and taxes and stuff like that. However, they backstab you and raise your fares. So in the end, MAS wins. Hands down.

Yet why does everyone still support MAS? Half of my classmates flying to Australia fly MAS, even though they're being cheated epically of their money. The Malaysian mind boggles.


Malaysia is the Land of Boleh.
Yes, under Mahathir corrupt people could murder and get away with it, in a manner of speaking. BOLEH indeed.

Under Badawi you can sleep in front of him and he won't know it.
BOLEH indeed.

Under Badawi you can also literally murder and get away with it.
BOLEH indeed.

We memang BOLEH. BOLEH EPIC PHAIL.

countdown begins again

In about 16 days I'll be leaving this "fair" land to pursue greener pastures. Haha.

Anyway, a simple checklist looks like this:

• Passport renewed? Check.
• Visa granted? Check.
  
• Clothes bought? Check.
• Luggage ready? Check.
• Uni stuff prepared? Check.
• Air ticket? On its way...
  
• Mind intact? I don't think so...

Oh well. Watch for more lunacy from Melbourne as I've mentioned before. It might not compare to the lunatics over here, but it'll be interesting.

Regarding the lunatics here, its all a load of mind games. Anwar and Badawi. I guess Badawi may not be able to stand this. But then the rakyat is being pushed too far. Either plan may backfire, at least that's what I foresee. It's only a matter of time now.

CNY and Kugan

I had a good balik kampung experience this year. Taiping, Penang, both my stops in this country to collect angpau. Steamboat makan for both stops. I must comment that for some reason I am closer to my mother's side relatives compared to my father's side relatives.

On to Kugan's case. Why do you need to bring in the FRU to keep order outside UMMC? I must say that the security guards there can do a good job. Maybe better than the FRU themselves. I don't think that the crowd supports a criminal. They're just protesting against the unfair treatment of criminals in police custody. I mean, if the police think that they can do it against criminals, what about innocent people in police custody? Wouldn't the innocent be hurt, or worse, killed? Not good at all. Such is the situation in this crazy country. How sad.

respect / time

I guess this afternoon told me a lot about the way a boss or leader should be like. You see, I work in an education agency. With the coming Chinese new year, of course, we all start cleaning up. Most other bosses will just tell the cleaning lady to clean up the place, but no, not where I work. The boss actually came down personally to clean up. Yes, clean up. With a broom and dustpan. So, leadership by example is an important aspect if anybody wants to be an inspiring leader. I guess that's why my boss is quite respected by my colleagues.

Next, time is relative. Always.

Whenever you are doing something that you either like or dislike, the flow of time is distorted by one's perception. If you like that something, you'll feel that time passes extremely fast while you enjoy yourself. If you dislike something, then you'll feel that time passes slower than usual. In either case, you'll feel that someone is cheating you of your time. For some unknown reason. Oh well, it's all a feature of the space-time continuum.



-When a pretty girl sits in your lap, an hour feels like a minute. But when an old crone sits in your lap, a minute feels like an hour.- From Einstein's biography

random updates

I think I have found a long holiday break analogous to the Aussie long Christmas break. It is known as the long Malaysian Chinese New Year break. Well, it isn't exactly that long in comparison. But then look at our festivities. We celebrate Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali.... and the list goes on and on. So maybe their long Christmas breaks aren't as long as ours in comparison.

It's good that the Pakatan have won over Kuala Terengganu. But they now have a long way to go in convincing me that they are the way forward. Yes, I haven't lost faith in them yet. But that faith is slowly fading away. So, the first thing they need to do is to stop arguing over hudud implementation. Just present a united front, and the BN will have to back down on the hudud issue. So guys, just stand firm, and fight like the Spartans.

Work is now getting quite hectic, what with students' last minute applications, and last minute cancellations, and also not to forget those students with last minute course changes. You know who you are, don't be afraid to admit it. I know I'm one of them, due to my age. [Aussie visa requirements want students under 18 to have a student guardian, and most states haven't been able to solve this problem yet]

Oh well, another update, another post for the count.

a real update

I think I lack the crucial factor required to be a good salesman. After spending most of last week trying to sell my SAM textbooks, I am bloody well tired out. I hate bargainers and hard-drivers and rip-offs. How can you sell calculators for almost 50% off? It's a freaking rip-off. But never mind that.

Melbourne here I come this February. Be prepared to see some insanity and lunacy in the campus of the University of Melbourne. Hopefully some interesting developments will come out from me over there.

That's all for now. I'll be busy for quite some time until February, so this site will be quiet for quite a while.

updates...finally

the Gaza Strip issue

Shout all you like, but shouting alone won't solve the issue.
Demonstrate all you like, in the end all you'll be doing is wasting your breath. Plus, you'll get a nice tan or sunburn.

Then why are all those people do this unwanted things? Is it race, religion, or human rights? I can't tell you now. I'm still thinking.

What I do know is that the Israelis are playing right into the hands of the Hamas. The more Palestinian civilians are killed, the more anti-Israeli propaganda the Hamas gets. And also the more worldwide sympathy is generated for the Palestinians. The only obstacle left in the way of the UN is the US.

New Year wishes

Here are my New Year wishes [not resolutions, I'm lazy to stick to my resolutions]:

Either Anwar takes over, or Najib steps down.
May there be a freer blogosphere. And stop flaming my Cbox please. I don't need a flame war on my blog.
We need better interreligious and interfaith understanding.
I hope I can cure my addiction to coffee, the casual drug.
I need to get off my arse and start studying again.
I need to sell off my old textbooks.
I need to rearrange my eating times.
I need to figure out how to live on my own in Melbourne.


To all the blog readers and bloggers out there and in here,

Have a good time celebrating the entrance of 2009!

religion in this country

There are some people advocating that Malay versions/translations of the Bible should be allowed in our country. I think I agree with them. It would promote better understanding among the different races and religions. Especially if the Malays read the Bible, they would understand the Christians slightly better. It isn't that we don't want to understand you guys, it's just that it's harder for us to coexist if you don't understand us as well as we understand you.

While on the topic of religion, let's look at another interesting development. Feng shui is a mainly Chinese practice, involving changing one's environment to better suit one's luck. [Yes, I believe in this as well] Lately, a lot of people of other races have started practising feng shui as well. The Indians have a similar practice called Vasthu Sasthra. [not sure if the spelling is correct, correct me if I'm wrong]
Now, does practising feng shui erode a Muslim's faith? I wouldn't know for sure, since I'm not one. Yet another good question for the Fatwa Council to answer.


-Revelations 21:6 - I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him that thirsts.- Fallout 3 quote

our problem in the world

I see my Cbox has been filled with comments regarding my idea on cosplaying. I have not much of a stand, since I'm not really into cosplaying or manga or anime myself. I just want to get a rough idea of the situation our country and its people are in now.

Where else in the world do prices rise and fall, oblivious to the global market?

Where else in the world do coalition members disagree with each others?

Where else in the world are we involved in disagreeing to disagree?

Where else in the world are opposition leaders considered to be more influential in the global scene?

I think the answer to all the questions above are the same.

I rest my case.

just wondering aloud

I went to Comic Fiesta in Sunway Pyramid yesterday. Now as it is, cosplaying is very popular around here. I think I saw many Malays around there cosplaying.

Question: Islam says you cannot worship anyone else but Allah. Is cosplaying considered worshipping other idols?

[No offense meant to cosplayers at all]

SAM results out

I still hate TM dial up for denying me fast news. Press one button, and it takes the page a minute to load. So it took me half an hour just to find my results on the SACE page. Bloody hell.

Anyway, ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is pure heaven. I got a TER of 99.65. It simply means that I got a result above 99.65% of students sitting for SAM finals '08. Being in the top .35% isn't too much special. You can't differentiate these students on the road if you meet them.
At least I got an A for English, which is better than my trial result.

Oh well, now I've secured a place to university. Now to cure my DotA problem. This Sunday's gathering won't help it too much. Never mind that then.

thoughts on work so far

Work is simple. Tire yourself out, at the end of the day/week/month you get paid. Then again, its tiring when you have to do data entry and read other people's pathetic handwriting. I found that there are some Malaysians who can't read a simple form properly. My favourite example should be this:

Where did you hear about us from?
[ ] Friends/relatives


[ /] Others - _friends_

So much for coming to an education fair.
At least one thing I enjoy about work is the entire experience. Having colleagues who treat you decently is a bonus. Now I'm considering working as a student ambassador for SAM next year, when the term starts.

Science and Maths in English

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/15922/84/

This page above suggests the miserable state of our education. We worry about our students, whether they can do Science and Maths in English, and worldwide, others are worrying about whether their students are performing well amongst their global peers. And the Chinese are just as bad as others, infighting over whether Chinese or English is better for Science and Maths. [I'm sorry, I'm Chinese too.]

I guess the single school system suggestion is overdue, although many parties are against it for their own reasons.

Malays: Against single school system.
Why: Not sure, but so many of them are shouting about Mukhriz. Most likely reason: They don't want to lose their "superiority" when the non-Bumis come in and take over everything their students had.

Chinese: Against single school system.
Why: Apparently single school system will erode the Chinese culture. Yeah, like it hasn't been damaged enough with the national school system.

Indians: Not sure.
Why: Cos they haven't been talking loudly enough to be heard.

Ok then. One of the first reasons why the national schools are not widely liked is because of the policies in place. Some of us fear that the national schools are slowly being Islamised. You have all sorts of complaints coming from non-Bumis in national schools.
But there is another reason why not many of us like the national schools. I once joined a maths competition back in primary school. My school team made it all the way to the finals of the district level. Now, the four schools which made it that far were 3 SJK(C) schools and 1 national school.
Ranking after finals:
#1. My school team [SJK(C)]
#2. Some other SJK(C)
#3. Another SJK(C)
#4. The only national school

Guess which school team made it to the next round.



Surprise of surprises, it was the national school team!

I don't remember the reason given, but it was something along the lines of some policy. [don't ask me what] But it shows the miserably poor state of our students from the national schools. How sad.

Bumi vs Non bumi

Taylor's open day this year is relatively boring. However, I guess the spectre of economic recession is not an obstacle for next year's students. It is actually quite enlightening to be a flyer distributor. You get to know what goes on in people's minds when they approach you or ignore you. So I can conclude this:

#1. Indian parents are most concerned about their children's future, hence they will always try to get their kids to go overseas to study.
#2. Chinese parents are also quite concerned about their children's future. But they will try to save money, so when you ask them whether they want to get their kids to study overseas, they will usually say no. After that they will cross the road and go into IDP.

Unfortunately I have to segregate the people by race. Otherwise how would I show this situation in M'sia? Everyone would think that Chinese and Indians studying overseas are from rich families, just like what Mahathir said on Al Jazeera. Rather, these people persevere like crazy. They work overtime. They work 3/4 day on weekends. They work on Sundays. Compare this to "normal" bumis. They work 9 to 5, but from 9 to 10 they have breakfast in the office, and at certain times throughout the day they go for prayers, and they have 4 to 5 for tea before going home. They have the luxury of working half-day on Saturdays. They can rest on Sundays. Why? All because the government takes care of them. More quota in the local universities. More scholarships to go overseas. [Some of them actually take very long to finish an UNDERgrad course.]
I'm not saying all bumis are lazy. Some are hardworking. But most aren't. When we complain about lazy civil servants, the image that comes to mind is usually the tudung-clad lady.

Oh well, such is my country. That's why most of us non-bumis go to private colleges. Then we go overseas for further studies. All because the opportunities locally are very limited. Bloody sad.

oil, oil and more petrol

I think many of us don't like the current trade minister Shahrir. What with lower world crude oil prices and possible economic problems, he is suggesting a FLOOR price for petrol in M'sia. Bloody hell. Others are thinking of a CEILING price and he suggests a FLOOR price, what nonsense is this? Anyway, when has the petrol price ever reflected accurately the current trading price for petrol? When the world price was high, the price here was low. Now that the world price is dropping like mad, the price of petrol here is still massively high.

Only here, can we find such idiocity. How sad it must be for us. No wonder so many of us flee the country as fast as we can. No wonder also that the ministers send their children overseas quickly to spare them from the hell we face here.

national schools vs. vernacular schools

Mukhriz suggests that we abolish vernacular schools. Most likely this means that he wants national schools to be the only schools available, besides private schools. Now, most of us don't actually trust those schools enough to send our children to such schools.
Commonly held notions of national schools:
#1. Malay schools
#2. Overemphasis on Islam, for example reciting Quranic verses.
#3. Little emphasis on Pupils' Own Languages, eg: Chinese, Tamil.
#4. Favouritism/bias towards Malays

So, if the general public believes this, then they should send their children to national schools to learn, so that the true story of national schools emerges. From my experience with my college classmates, the average national school student has more exposure to a multiracial society. Although I must note that national schools don't actually have a dazzling reputation for academic achievements.

Now today he comes out to say that Malay will be the main language of instruction in his ideal school system. Damn, he just lost his status in my eyes. Why doesn't anyone want to emulate the Singaporeans and use English as the language of instruction? Oh yeah, the inferiority complex comes out. Damn, should have thought of that earlier.

Ah, what the hell. Screw those who can't think straight to save a nation from suffering. Screw those who can't think right to think of a systematic way to help the nation's graduates. No wonder the education system here is going down.

may God save us

I believe that many dumb people still stay in Malaysia. God help us, but FOMCA is the best example. Floor price of RM 3 for petrol? That's ridiculous. Yoga being unislamic and can erode faith in Islam? That's another round of hogwash. Although some Christians actually think the same way as the current fatwa council. But never mind them.

Well, let's start to turn this rubbish around. I have a theory that goes like this: Ignoring all previous theories already in place, we can usually find a new idea/theory.
So I thought I'd try it out with my theory regarding the clumpiness of the universe, ie: why the mass in the universe is not evenly distributed.
1. A black hole was formed during the start of the universe.
2. Particle-antiparticle formation led to the black hole losing mass.
3. Asymmetrical particle-antiparticle formation caused more particles to be formed than antiparticles.
4. Thus causing the uneven distribution of mass and gravitational centres in the universe.
5. The black hole evaporated soon after, possibly leading to the big bang.

I'm not sure if this is true, because most of the theories may not be satisfied by this phenomenon. Anyway, I hope somebody appreciates this. Because I doubt the local standard comes near it.

class trip to langkawi

For the past 4 days I was wet, sandy and wasted in Langkawi. Not to mention nearly broke. But no worries, now that I'm back in Subang, I'm fine again. Well, almost.
I must note that people who don't know enough about technology shouldn't mess around too much with tech. It can have catastrophic results. At least not in my case. First thing when I got back yesterday, I had to deal with a computer which couldn't hibernate properly. Not too bad, because there is a documented fix available online.
Anyway, about the trip. It was very enjoyable. [including the part where half of us were wasted] We had a karting session, and lots of driving around finding stuff to do and buy. I believe most of us are sunburnt, since we went to beaches for frisbee and football. But I must say that the worst of the trip would be the hotel. [Please reming me never to go back to that place.]

***

It's also through this trip that I realise how little how organisers are valued. When anything goes wrong, they get the blame. When the trip is a success, no one complains, but not many people congratulate the organisers much. I guess the best compliment you could give the organisers is the pleasure of enjoying a hassle-free trip.
So, to 1G, three cheers for the wonderful trip you helped to organise. I had a fun time at Langkawi. Thanks a lot, man.

-yaaaaa man check me out. i'm so..... wast3d!-

after prom, what comes?

I believe I do not really have that skill to survive in a party. But hell, who really cares? So I will not talk about the SAM prom night last night. There are others who are better at capturing the atmosphere last night in words.
Anyway, I now have a much different problem. What to pack for Langkawi. Quite a good question indeed. A preliminary list looks like this:

#1. Clothes for 4 days
#2. Games
#3. Snacks and coffee
#4. Some movies
#5. Football
#6. Myself

To be honest, I think most of us feel that prom night isn't really the last night to see your classmates. It is just another giant get together for the whole intake. I'd rather go to Langkawi with my class if I wanted to see them for the last time. At least it'll be a whole lot more memorable.

Oh well, back to packing.

-It isn't that we'll miss Taylor's as a place. It's that we'll miss the memories and the people in Taylor's.-

petrol and corruption

Some people in the government do not know how to count the days. For some reason, the fortnightly petrol review is 2 days late. Maybe our esteemed PM is sleeping on the job again. Anyway, we still have RM 2 petrol now. But then again, the biggest problem with decreasing petrol prices is that the rest of our expenditure doesn't go down accordingly. Hypermarkets sell stuff at prices close to the old prices [when petrol was RM 2.60+]. Public transport fares went up when the price of petrol rocketed through the stratosphere, and now that petrol prices have come down to earth again, the public transport companies insist on further INCREASING their miserably high fares. How is the average city dweller going to afford public transport? This will only contribute to global warming, since most of us will choose to drive rather than take the bus or LRT.
Well, as usual, most of us feel that it is corruption in the government departments which contributes to the whole problem. Actually, this could be closest to the truth. Everywhere else, when crude oil price drops, the petrol price drops correspondingly. Only here, with the government subsidy, the petrol price stays high until 2 weeks later. Then, a very minor decrease of 15 sen is announced. Of course, corruption IS the best answer to most of our problems. Anything wrong in M'sia? Blame it on corruption.

freedom

Since 10.10 am yesterday, we of SAM and Spec Maths are free. Truly, officially free. Yet now most of us are bored. What should we do after the finals? Granted, we have a prom night to prepare for, and another class trip is coming up. So we should be busy preparing for both occasions. But what do we do after that? Most of us are willing to play RO all day, whilst some of us are gonna look for a decent casual job. I wonder what I should do. At least I know of a few places taking casual staff.
#1. Carrefour
#2. Holiday Villa Subang

So if I decide to take up any casual jobs, don't be surprised to see me [or someone who looks like me] anywhere around in Subang.

-Freedom without restriction is not freedom, self-restricted freedom is true freedom.-

young voters

I have good news and bad news.

Good news: The government [or some people in it] have high hopes of us, the young voters.
Bad news: I believe they hope to use us to retain their dominance over the country.

After Obama's win, I doubt anyone of us believe so much in the racist and biased current government. Most of us will most likely vote for the opposition for change in the next elections.

Oh well. Good luck to BN for trying to court young voters. Firstly, change your image. Then maybe we might change our minds. But it doesn't confirm that you will get our votes.

-Good news is that we're landing. Bad news is that we're crash landing.- Madagascar 2

fuel floor price

This is absolutely ridiculous. Everywhere in the world you hear of crude oil prices coming DOWN, and only in Malaysia, an oil PRODUCING country, does one hear of a floor price for petrol. Something is wrong, and it is very wrong. I personally feel that there are some parties interested in keeping a floor price for petrol to line their own pockets. Suspicion immediately falls on the Petronas gang, but I doubt it. Someone else is behind this floor price idea. Not the petrol station owners, not the ministry, but someone else very high up.

countdown in hours not days

With only 2 more papers to sit for, I fear that my mind has settled into "playtime" mode. Some people interpret this as confidence, others fear it is overconfidence. Ok, whatever you like.
It's like this: There's a lack of past year questions to do ever since I finished the last ones a fortnight ago. So I've settled for gaming instead of going over notes. Which is BAD, unfortunately, for my mind. Oh well.

-Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the modern world- Einstein

of police stations and ISA

It seems that this country has not much to offer lately. So there is nothing much to comment about. Except for 2 things.

#1. The police station in Chow Kit has many reasons for being moved. First it was to protect the police from unhealthy elements. Now according to Syed Hamid Albar it is because the owner wants the building back. How interesting. How many more original excuses can we hear from this Home Minister of ours?

***

#2. RPK is out of ISA detention. It seems that he has a massive following. When I watched the night news, the camera showed hordes of people massing around him. With such a large fan base, we now await further revelations from him as he exposes more misdeeds of the current government. Hopefully he doesn't disappoint his fans, because we want the present government to change its tack, or at least, be kicked out and be replaced with Pakatan.

the attractions of Sunway Pyramid

I wonder why all of us students love to go to Sunway Pyramid so much. It makes the mind boggle. Because somehow, we aren't bored of the place and entertainments. Granted, each time you visit the place, the cinemas have different shows on. But that can't be the only good attraction. I know why I keep going there, it's because I go there to eat, then I visit the CC across the road with my gaming buddies. But it's a lot different with my classmates, we go there, catch a movie, then we stroll around aimlessly. Sometimes ice-skating is on the list, but rarely do we skate.
Some people I've asked suggest that the management has done a good job of pulling in the student crowd to Pyramid. I think they might be right.

But I hope we're going to MidValley after Spec Maths next Friday. It's kinda boring, only going to Pyramid to celebrate the end of exams. Finals deserves a different place. Maybe Times Square, or MidValley. Besides, I'm looking for more new books. MPH in Pyramid is too small, hopefully MPH in MidValley has the stuff I want.

the Malay problem [not dilemma]

Some quarters will never give up their rights to be stupid. First we had the young Malay graduates who didn't like one Gerakan VP's words because those words were "historically true, but hurt us much". Then now we have the accountant who's trying to block the Penang state government from putting up those multilingual road signs. Apparently it "was against Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, which made it clear that the Malay language was the country’s national language." This blatant abuse of the law is becoming more and more common among our citizens.
We non-Malays can also take some people to court for what they have said:
#1. Ahmad Ismail for calling us pendatang [most famous case]
#2. all those fellows who kiss the keris and call for Chinese blood

Actually these fellows should have been ISA-ed a long time ago. But these are not the only offenders. It will take a long time to find the rest of the culprits. Sad for us then.

views of a slacker during the exams

I will not be commenting too much on the ongoing SAM '08 finals, since any views published now will be biased. Rather, the ongoing fiascoes in the country seem to be more interesting to discuss. So, here goes.
The PAC has cleared the government of any wrongdoing in the Eurocopter deal. I wonder whether the ACA will come out with a similar report. If they do, there are 2 distinct possibilities, one of which is the truth:
#1. The present government is squeaky clean. All the ministers involved in the decision are not at fault for making the [expensive] decision.

OR

#2. Someone very high up instructed the PAC to report that nothing was amiss.
I can tell you that any thinking Malaysian will know which is the truth.

***

Recently some people did a survey of our school children to find out whether they support teaching Science and Maths in English. From what I read, I am inclined to suggest to the Education Minister to continue the program. There is no use going back on the decision, especially if it only benefits him politically. Unfortunately, our people are disunited. Some Chinese quarters want mother tongue [Chinese], most Malays would like it to be in Malay [for unity purposes they say] and some Indians would like it to be in Tamil. So there is no win-win situation. Unless we continue teaching Maths and Science in English, there will NEVER be a win-win situation.

Ok, now back to studying Physics. Must stop ranting on about this [unstable] country. The only thing to thank God is that we are not Zimbabwe.

-There are 2 things in life that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe.- [slightly paraphrased, Einstein]

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

Accuracy of Death/Crysis

I did two interesting things on Saturday. One was to play Crysis multiplayer. Another was to watch Accuracy of Death.

Ok, first let's analyse Crysis. Interesting weapons, although not as many as Call of Duty 4 multiplayer. The nice thing about the weapons is that you can choose whether to put iron sights, or laser sights, or a sniper scope, or a silencer on your weapons. Not only rifles, but also pistols can take these add-ons. Oh yes, don't forget the vehicles. COD4 doesn't let you take cars for a spin, but Crysis lets you take anything you can drive, from gunboats to Humvees. The graphics kick ass. They were much better than I expected, so it is little wonder that Crysis has massively high requirements. All the animations are more detailed than the corresponding actions in COD4. Oddly enough, the killing and fighting actions kinda remind me of Halo 3. Maybe it's because of the nanosuits, they make you look like Master Chief. So, Crysis is now on my list of games to play.

Accuracy of Death is kinda interesting, it makes you think about the morality of killing. Compared to other shinigami movies, it actually shows the human side of these deathbringers. It makes it different from other shows. If you ask me which character I like, I think Chiba is the best. Naive, but very likeable. Besides, he has a sarcastic dog. Kinda interesting.

And so my weekend was spent.

maths is hell

Why must we make formula sheets for maths? Granted, it reduces our mental stress. But Spec Maths shows that even with formula sheets we manage to struggle like hell.

Conclusion: Formula sheets may not solve all our problems.

[This IS meant to be short. Why else not, when you are studying maths?]

4 days plus to trials

God save us all. We all hate massive exams, don't we? It's always a gentle reminder from our teachers that its time to kill ourselves.
No more late nights online chatting, only late nights with coffee and our notes.
No more staying back to fool around with friends, only staying back to study with friends.
No more free time, only study time.
No more slacking, only studying.
No more sleeping, only reading.

I hate exams, they totally destroy any plans you've made.

916

So far, nothing bad has happened. Darn. I long for a bit of fighting, as long as the others don't cheat and call in the army to help them. Also as long as I've got my friends supporting, then I don't mind a bit of brawling.

***

Yet another tag by a fellow blogger.

Would you rather..?

1. Would you rather be poor but happy, or rich but sad?
Neither, please thank you. I'd rather be happy in a reasonably well paid job. As long as I don't have to beg, I'm fine.

2. If you’re stranded on an island with your best friend and there’s nothing to eat, would you rather eat your best friend or let him/her eat you?
Dying is the easiest way out.

3. If you had the choice, would you rather be good-looking but stupid, or smart but ugly like hell?
Do I look like I have any choice? I like who I am.

4. If both your best friend and your boyfriend/girlfriend are drowning at the same time, and you can only save one person (and you cannot throw yourself in to drown with them), who will you save?
Neither, cause there will be a reason not to save either of them.

5. Would you rather eat 5cm3 of shit or drink 1 litre of urine?
Shut up or you'll get double of this.

6. If both your best friend and your mother are drowning at the same time, and you can only save one person (and you cannot throw yourself in to drown with them), who will you save?
Neither, cause there will be a reason not to save either of them.

7. Would you rather be gang-raped or be raped once but have cucumbers/pencils/scissors stuffed up your vagina/butthole?
Rape is overrated. Only wankers do it.

8. If you are forced to shoot either of your parents, would you rather shoot your mother or your father? (and you cannot shoot yourself)
Can kill both?

9. Would you rather get raped or have your boyfriend/girlfriend cheat on you with your best friend?
Neither. Screw you for asking this question.

10. Would you rather have a boyfriend/girlfriend with the biggest heart but no brains, or a boyfriend/girlfriend with the biggest brains but no heart?
In between please. Someone of the "the girl next door" type will be fine.

11. Would you rather marry someone 5 years younger or someone 20 years older than you?
I've got a problem with a 1 year difference already. 5 years younger is fine with me.

12. Would you rather live a short life but die very peacefully, or live a long life but die a very horrible and painful death?
Neither. I'd prefer a glorious finale.

Who's got any time [or is not studying for trials], can do this tag.

badawi of s4

What a lousy afternoon. First I prep to go back to eat, before coming back to college for another class. I mean, ESL, what the hell. So I do exactly that to go FTZ for Kane's Wrath. Guess what happens? KC decides that he won't go and play. Fine, I mean we need to eat, right? But couldn't you tell me that before I call home? Last minute you tell me that you don't want to go. Worse, not only KC won't go, Jun Jen, Matthew and Andrew won't go either. It's a bloody domino effect. Anyone who doesn't stand firm is a Badawi. Can I say KC is a Badawi? For now, yes. Because of him, I got a short lashing from Ms. Ting. Even a simple excuse of urgent business won't hold with her anymore. Ah, what the hell. To hell with such problems. Tomorrow I shall seek my revenge. So I'm off to practise Kane's Wrath. Shut the hell up.

stupid ahmad ismail part II

The saga continues. Idiot Ahmad Ismail is being a pain, so are his supporters. What do they do on national TV? Tear up the former Penang CM's picture. How childish of them. So. Sedition Act doesn't work on them. Bodowi can't do anything, cause he accepted the Racist One's explanation. Bodowi is too soft, he's better as a good father. But he fails as a leader of a country.
All we need is for MCA and Gerakan to pull out of BN and join Pakatan. Not because of spite, but rather to stand up for their principles. Are we going to lie down because of "quotes out of context" and "historical facts"? No. We will not bow down to idiots like him. Many of us already hate the BN government because of the miserable handling of the country.
Crossover Day is next week. Hopefully if Anwar's new government works, then our lives will be improved greatly. Hopefully.

immigrants

Ahmad "Immigrant Chinese!" Said is on the news again. Not to apologise or what, but to reiterate the rubbish he has in his mind.
"I am not going to apologise."
What a bloody Malay he is. Let's us look at a historical parallel, since he likes his history so much:

America: White immigrants came and took the land from the Indians.
Malaysia: Indonesian immigrants came and took the land away from the orang asli.

America: White immigrants call themselves Americans, after the country they took over.
Malaysia: Original Indonesian immigrants [circa 1400] call themselves Malays after taking over most of the country.

America: The Indians are a suppressed minority in their country, but are given some rights.
Malaysia: The orang asli are a minority in their country, but enjoy bumi status.

America: Other immigrants are assimilated into the country.
Malaysia: Other immigrants are assimilated into the country, but reluctantly.

Do you see where I'm going with this? If not, then I'll put it clearly. The Malays are a mixed lot, with Indonesian blood, Javanese blood, Bugis blood, even Arab blood, Indian blood and Chinese blood. There is no such race as the Malay race, because there is no Malay blood. If there is a Malay race, then the current Indonesians will also be considered as Malays.
Don't call me intolerant or insensitive. Don't ask for me to be charged under the Sedition Act either. The politicians say this sort of stuff "in a personal capacity", but at a public gathering. So, this is a public blog, but I will also say this in a personal capacity. And if you want to bandy historical facts, I have my Sejarah Tingkatan 1-5 textbooks to use as reference to clearly point out my points to you.
I'd rather wish that all of us could set aside our differences and try to help the country, but the fact is that the politicians aren't helping much. Dammit.

late Merdeka post

Independence should be for the people and the nation, not for the nation only. Right now, only the country has achieved independence. The people of the country have been cast aside in the progress of the country. So, this is one man's dream or Merdeka wishes:

1. Reduce corruption in the country, no matter whether it involves small fry or big sharks. So far, the ACA has done a reasonably "good" job. To the ACA: Keep it up! Make sure you get the big sharks or face the people's displeasure...

2. Make the MCMC follow its own rules to the letter. It says that any ISP providing <70% of advertised speeds can be shut down. So, TM, do something! Or face closure.

3. To Mr. PM: Be consistent. We the people hate leaders who chop and change things every 2 days.

4. To BN: Stop playing the race card, it won't help you get more votes in the next general election. The younger generation has grown up harmoniously with friends of different races, but as we get ready to vote, we tend to ignore leaders preaching about race.

5. To Pakatan Rakyat: You've been a good opposition so far, keep it up. Just beware of PAS a bit, in case they turn into the next UMNO. Don't let the PAS leaders become fanatics, that's what we don't want.

Merdeka

1 more day to Merdeka [as of time of writing]. The problem with Merdeka is the fact that the leaders keep repeating certain facts, such as national integration, unity, Malay supremacy, etc. etc. etc. even after Merdeka, after the citizens are supposed to have united and integrated. Can the BN keep their coalition together? MCA is against certain UMNO ministers who have made stupid insensitive comments. Gerakan may leave BN, same with SAPP, or so the talk goes.
But is the Pakatan Rakyat a better substitute? I don't know for sure at the moment. Anwar is charismatic, everyone seems to like him as the new PM. Even then, I hope PAS will not be the next UMNO, where its leaders make insensitive statements for the fun of it. That is, if the PR is going to be taking over as the next government. It is entirely possible, as only 30 BN ministers are required to cross over in order for the PR to form the next government.
Sabah is a hotbed for crossing over, due to the friction between the state and the federal government. If Anwar can really get the support of 30 ministers, then it will be the PR's turn to be the government. Interesting times ahead, watch out for the 16th of September.
That's all the ranting for now. To all Malaysians, abroad or local, happy celebrating the nation's 51st birthday!

Results of by-election

Anwar won Permatang Pauh with a 16k majority. This in spite of the fact that BN was gunning for a comeback after losing Permatang Pauh to both Anwar and his wife, Wan Azizah.
So. Parliament will be much more lively than before with Anwar in there. Personally, I think that BN may lose the next general elections if they don't show any sign of trying to improve our standards of living. Hopefully with Anwar back in the Dewan, the BN government will try to help us positively. Otherwise, they are preparing to be kicked out of the ruling seat.
It is a known fact that when the government needs to save its own arse, they will do things to help the rakyat. Oh well. Either some good will come of the by-election results, or else nothing much will result from it.

Thoughts on Melaka and everything else

It is supposed to be the historical city of M'sia. Yes, it does look historic. It looks like Taiping. In other words, it looks kinda abandoned.
On Saturday night I went to Dataran Pahlawan for dinner. It looks modern, like Summit USJ. What surprised me is the youth. I mean, Melakan youths are just the same as Subang youth. All I saw last night were couples out for dinner, gangs of friends [not my friends] out for nothing and the usual load of white tourists buying stuff and enjoying the nightlife of Melaka town [if there is any nightlife].
So, what can I really say about Melaka? It's a semi modern town like any other semi modern town. Boring to locals, fascinating to tourists. It's all the Portuguese's fault. Why did they have to come to Melaka to kacau?
On a related note, I must say that most 5 star hotels are bloodsuckers. Simple stuff like internet access is restricted to paying house guests only. Imagine that. Although I suppose this is the norm in western countries. I did hear that Aussie Starbucks charges for wifi access. So I guess that this is called normal. Anyway, I think that development doesn't suit Melaka. It's destroying the coastline. Historic as this place is, there isn't a part of it I haven't seen on my first trip [this is my third trip]. Soon, the historical sections will be edited out to allow development. How sad, after all, this is M'sia.

***

Enough about Melaka, now about Pak Lah aka Dollah aka Bodohwi. God save him, I suppose at home he's the same as he is in public.
Look at all these contradictions:

Before: I will not dissolve Parliament.
After: Parliament is dissolved.

Before: Fuel price will not be increased.
After: Fuel price goes up.

Before: Fuel price decrease will only be implemented only after 1st September.
After: Fuel price decreases on midnight, 23 August.

So, can the PM make up his mind? God no, I don't think so. I wonder whether he does the same thing at home.
Jeanne: Tonight again?
Badawi: Ok.
[An hour later]
Badawi: No cannot, suddenly my dick hurts.
Badawi ends up on the sofa for the night.

It's a joke, but if the PM continues this indecision, then sooner or later BN is gonna lose. Then Pakatan takes over, with Anwar as the new PM [or so they say].

***

The same indecision goes to the Avril concert organisers and the officials in charge of the whole event. First PAS youth complains. So the officials decide to cancel the concert. Then the rest of the people complain. So the officials decide to allow the concert to go ahead.
All this rubbish of yes no yes no is driving us nuts, and also destroying the country's image.

***

Swearing on the Quran is the latest trend in M'sia to prove somebody's innocence. First Saiful swears that he was sodomised by Anwar. Now Najib also swears that he has never known Altantuya.
Soon, all the prisoners in the prisons up and down the country will be rushing for the surau qurans to swear that they are also innocent of the crimes they were charged with. God help us then.
We'll either have a lot of convicts on the loose, or a lot of peace and quiet.

FFK apology

Great. I totally forgot about my old friends and their Pyramid trip yesterday. So it was unfortunate that I had to FFK them for once. Sorry guys, I pledge that it will be the only time I will FFK you guys. I personally don't like FFK people. So I do hope you guys can forgive me for once and also the last time.

m'sia my country

I must say that the M'sian ministers are a funny lot. On one hand they tell the US not to interfere with the justice and legal system in M'sia [regarding the Anwar sodomy charges], on the other hand they advise the German NGO not to hold the anti Islam congress. Fine, so NGOs aren't part of the government. True. But doesn't this sort of go against the policy of non-interference?

By the way, if we talk about religion, then I must say that Islam has been tainted by a group of people who are, shall we say, selfish. Not all Muslims are fanatical terrorists.

On the topic of religion still, I must also comment on the Bar Council forum. It was an "open" forum. But there were still those who were not supportive of the openness, and decided to demonstrate. Are all Malays that close minded? I think not, and I hope not. Even if the PM and DPM think that religion should be a closed topic, I think this is a wrong move.

Ok, now onto the topic of demonstrations. The Universities and University Colleges Act [UUCA] does not permit students to participate in activities outside of the campus. Anyone violating this Act can have disciplinary action taken against them.
Where is the Selangor MB's office building? Is it near to the UiTM campus? I doubt it is anywhere near the campus, maybe within marching distance. So, why were the demonstrators not disciplined? Police permit was given to the demonstration. Fine, so the police can't take action against the students. 5000 students marched. I wonder why these 5000 students weren't disciplined by the university authorities in accordance with the UUCA.

start of the hols

Gloomy day in the morning when I got up today. It kinda reflects my mood. Especially since I couldn't follow the gang to Sunway Pyramid to hang out. Kinda annoying, but what to do, my boss wants me to help out. Oh well. Not a big consolation at all. Help needed, I'm gonna be bored for the hols. Damn.

1G's tag

After lots of procrastination, finally decided to do 1G's tag. On second thought, not bothered. Oh well, I now hate doing some tags. Especially the colourful tags. Cos some dial up people will hate my blog more with more pictures. I wish that TM improve their services, screw Mahathir for his bright privatisation ideas... wtf. Screw them.

s4 class trip

I think 1G is right. Someone other than him has gotta do the class trip planning. I think I'll try my hand at it. After the last 3 events, it's time for somebody else to plan for a change.

Reflections on life now... [not emo just annoyed]

I was reminded of what I am on Wednesday. Why are teens loving the "pairs" life? Why can't we sit back and enjoy the solitude of remaining single? I mean, almost every non-food stall promotes couples to come to "donate to charity". Good examples are song dedications, roses for your "loved one", etc. etc. etc......
Why must we make use of the human tendency to find discounts to encourage couples to help/promote us or whatever we do? Why?

Don't accuse me of being a cold-blooded son of a bitch. I have my right to ask such questions, even if it hurts. I'm not jealous of those guys/girls with girl/boyfriends. After all, a lot of these couples break up within about 6 months. With luck some of them don't break up. It's a fact. Even since Form 5 there have been quite a few problems with couples. Anyway, I'm just wondering out loud.

Prom/corroboree is in November. I hate to mention this at all, cos I've never been to a prom yet [out of sheer poverty and laziness, not to add annoyance at the rich crowd...]. So. I mean to go this year, but if I'm lazy I won't go.

Taylor's Charity Carnival

It was a fine day, slightly windy. Not good news for a fella having to transport fragile Styrofoam to college. So started today’s charity event. If I were to highlight the skills of the Taylor’s organising committee, it would be their abilities of doing too little too late. Also, there was the incredible feat of miscommunication. It was not until past 9 that we could officially open our stall, after various efforts to explain the situation properly to various people.
Oh well, a splashing good time is the usual tagline used during such events. I think it’s quite appropriate still. After everyone got wet. Of course everyone got wet, including many lecturers. So we had fun… in the sun and haze. Balloons and water everywhere. Final coup de grace: drenched Andrew. And also a whole gang of wet people.
The only hope now is that we can get at least 1k. And also best stall award. If possible, so help us God.

slaving around / marathon

It's been a fun day, I dare say. You can exercise for the whole day today if you had run all over Taylor's. So. I hope all the running 3 people did will not be in vain. I really hope that our sweat was worth it. Taylorians, don't let us down, help S4 get the best stall award!

bots suck

This is the main reason why it's kinda boring to play against COD4 bots. They suck worse than some feeder humans.

Strike 2...

OMGWTF. Once again the skill of S4 at irritation is at its peak. Either that, or Ms. Ting is emo cos of PMS again. Why does she walk out on our class AGAIN?? It's not fair for her to lump the rotten ones with the good ones. It's all her own bloody fault that we discuss things while she monologues in front. So, enough ranting from me. She must believe herself faultless, otherwise she can't say such things about us.

avenging angels from heaven

I love ZOCOM Orcas. They're useful to the point of being avenging angels. Unfortunately the patch reduced the bomb loadout of these gay planes. Sad. Anyway, finally won 1 FFA against Matthew and Andrew. Oh well guys, Orcas are stronger than Mechapedes, live with it. Reaper loses to massive Orca spam. Even spam loses to Orca spam. This is fun.

"free for all" never is

Lately I've been taking on both Andrew and Matthew in Kane's Wrath free for all. The only thing I can say after each round is gg. I hate it. Both fellas are techers, and I'm a harasser/early attacker, so every time I try to take out 1 opponent, the other survives the harassment, so I die. So far, the lesson seems to be the first to attack will die. Painful. Anyway, I kinda hate the experience. I never did like dying. It's that 12 Reaper Tripods with tiberium reserves and shields rampaging through my base is very painful.
It's worse if you tell me that the best offense is defence. That's utterly wrong. If I turtle or tech up, then I'm in for a battle of numbers. Have you seen Matthew tech? He's too fast. I'd die faster.

point counter point so far...then on relationships.....

Aldous Huxley wrote this book, Point Counter Point. At first read it is like an adult book, talking on and on about at least 3 different people and their sex lives. So it is like a Sex and The City story. But then when you read between the lines, you realise one thing about these people. Intellectuals are different in their treatment of sex. There's Lord Edward, a biologist, who takes sex like a lab experiment; Walter, a writer, who takes sex and love like a little boy, and so on and so forth.....
Although this book of literature reads like a dirty story, it isn't. The sex and love scenes are just there to show how society degenerates with these "intellectuals"....
Does anyone have Huxley's Brave New World? I'd like to borrow it, it's supposed to be on par with Orwell's 1984....

Anyway, this brings me to a related topic. I've learnt 1 thing so far. It is better for someone to love you, rather than you love someone. If it sounds odd, then think about it. I dunno why it sounds right to me.

anwar shabery debate

It was a colossal bore. Although the debate was on petrol, Dato' Shabery kept on tackling Anwar about politics and other things. The chairman didn't do much to stop the deviation from the topic either. How annoying. Anwar had his points out, but Dato' Shabery didn't really answer Anwar's questions. All in all, I would say that it shows how the government can't avoid politicizing anything the opposition does. Quite unhelpful to the rakyat.

the antics of some ppl

Yesterday I had the occasion to go for a housewarming party. It was a Muslim family, and me and my family were early. The interesting thing is this: they prayed for almost an hour and a half before they started eating...
Anyway, there was this gang of ustaz who were holding a stack of prayer books. So it would seem that the gang of people inside were reading all the prayers! No wonder it took so long for them to bless the house....

Oh well, maybe that's why the Malays are so laid back, they pray 5 times a day, almost an hour of productivity lost........

PS: I am not anti Malay, I just wish they can do things better/faster...

government's attitude towards blogs

Recently some minister came out to say that blogs are bad for the country.

I think I know why he said so. Anything the government can't control, they will say that it is bad for the country. They can control the conventional media, such as the press [Don't want anything bad said? Just shut down the printing press.] and the TV or radio stations [Take and hold the stations.] But in the case of blogging, as long as they catch hold of one blogger and take him/her under ISA, the blogging community will just ignore the whole business, and they will continue blogging as usual. The blogging community may even criticize the government even more. So the nett effect is that nothing much happens. Thus, anything that the government cannot control, they will denounce it as something bad to the country.

How boring. And also annoying....

some old pics...

I was reminded of SPM and some of the pranks I did during that short period of say 3 weeks....

So here are some old photos taken during the open season...

emo and the world view

Emo is a state of mind. Usually it is quite calming. Goodness knows who came out with the idea 1st, but apparently emo is getting to be quite common nowadays. Some people think that my MSN personal message is emo. I don't really care, to be frank. It is up to personal interpretation for that.

1973

Tagged [music tag]...

Instructions:
a. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc on shuffle.
b. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
c. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN, NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
d. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
e. Put this on your blog.

1. If someone says, "Is this okay?"
Learning To Fall - Boys Like Girls [Interesting. Kinda encouraging and condescending simultaneously.]

2. How would you describe yourself?
Heels Over Head - Boys Like Girls [Another interesting one. I never see things straight apparently.]

3. What do you like in a guy/girl?
Headlight Disco - The Click Five [Fun?! I dunno. I think this means I like bad girls... wtf]

4. How do you feel today?
The Prayer - Charlotte Church [Why? I didn't do anything. I'm innocent, right guys? (ref Eckels)]

5. What is your life's purpose?
You And I Both - Jason Mraz [What the... God knows what this means... Do I live for others? Or for companionship?]

6. What is your motto?
I Could Fly - Keith Urban [Odd. Maybe in the fairy sense, I'd like to fly. Not airplanes, I think. Man-powered flying, only myself and no one else. Maybe that's the flying I like.]

7. What do your friends think of you?
Breaking The Habit - Linkin Park [Funny. My habit is to help them with their homework. But maybe it's the head whacking I'm slightly fond of. Sorry Matthew, pls watch NCIS a bit more.]

8. What do you think of your parents?
Ayo Techonology - 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake [Correct correct correct. I wish my parents appreciated tech, especially computers more.]

9. What do you think about very often?
Because I Love You (SaRangHaNiKa) - The Cross [Wow. Spot on! Try and guess who the "who" is.]

10. What is 2+2?
It's A Love Thing - Keith Urban [Cos 2+2 never is 4. Just like love, boy + girl does not equal couple.]

11. What do you think of your best friends?
She's The One - Robbie Williams [Uh oh. My best friends are guys... =_="]

12. What do you think of the person you like?
The Hard Way - Keith Urban [What is this?! Maybe half true. Love is hard.]

13. What is your life?
He Ain't The Leavin' Kind - Rascal Flatts [Maybe true again. Cos if I find a girlfriend I don't think I'll walk out on her.]

14. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mayberry - Rascal Flatts [...]

15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?
痛彻心扉 - 张栋梁 (Hurt all the way to the heart) [Cos I can't get her yet? Maybe this is accurate...]

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
Desiree - Keith Urban [No comment, I don't really like his songs... But I think it kinda fits the situation.]

17. What will they play at your funeral?
Yume no Tsubasa - Shaoran • Sakura [Why? It's too cheerful. And I don't understand it]

18. What is your hobby/interest?
Walk Away - Paula Deanda [What the heck?! Some trick of the shuffling functions...]

19. What is your biggest fear?
Here By Me - 3 Doors Down [Fear of girlfriend leaving? Maybe...]

20. What is your biggest secret?
Breaking Free - HSM [Walau a... What the heck is this again? But its kinda true still, breaking free of the chains of authority...]

21. What do you think of your friends?
Machine - Josh Groban [They are soulless robots... Quite interesting...]

22. What will you post this as?
1973 - James Blunt [Whatever lah...]

23. What song would you play during your first time having sex?
Starry, Starry Night - Josh Groban [OMGWTF... the song title fits only. Not the tune, it's way too slow...]

8 people to tag [why 8??]:
1. Max
2. CPU
3. Anderson
4. Kay Li
5. Andrew
6. Tim
7. Wan Ji
8. Caitlin

dress code blues

We had a pretty fun argument in class today about the new dress code to be enforced in Taylor's starting tomorrow. The general consensus is that the new dress code is rubbish as usual.
For example:

No shorts for guys.
How short is short?

No slippers.
Why? It's convienient in the morning when you are rushing around.

This suggests that we should have an open debate with the Taylor's people who changed/improved the dress code. Worse, they suggest that we should be expelled after 2 infringements of this miserable dress code. Why? How does dressing influence the character we are? As some lawyers will attest, the Mafia gangsters in their suits and ties look like honest businessmen, until you start discussing deals with them. This goes to show that well-dressed fellows can and may be bad guys still.
Rubbish codes are rubbish codes, no matter who made them. We are the innocent sufferers and victims. God help us all, may he long be our shepherd in these trying times.

So this is my shout to all Taylorians and everyone out there:

Just remember that we are who we are, not what others want us to be. They can try to shape us, change our way of thinking to theirs, but it may not always work. We and we alone can guide ourselves to the right path.

teacher walkouts

Not as rare as you think it is. In my experience so far, it's happened twice only. Once in form 4, when my Chinese teacher had a good argument before leaving the class, and the second time was last Friday.
Usually something triggers the reaction. Then the volcano erupts, and the class runs for cover as the teacher runs out of the class. Talking or doing unrelated homework is a good trigger. Oh well, we learn to live with it. Like the villagers, we spot the signs and then run. Far, far away. Explosions like these aren't that spectacular if you're used to it.

wish list

Just finished reading The Wish List [Colfer]. I know, it's old. I don't care. It's fun, and it's written by an Irishman. Way better than Man of the House.
Anyway, I got the idea of compiling a Wish List like the old man Lowrie in the story. It's similar to the bucket list idea. But then again, we can always do things on the list way before we kick the bucket, bite the bullet, sleep with the fishies etc etc... [you get the idea] Look out at the sidebar to check out the list if anyone wanna see what I wanna do before I shuffle off the mortal coil.

On an unrelated note, I managed to track down an old friend's blog. I must say that he's changed. A little, a lot, depends on how you look at things. Ah well, change is relative.

Joke on relativity:
How do you explain relativity to simple people?
It's simple. When an old lady sits in your lap for a minute, a minute seems like an hour. But when a pretty girl sits in your lap for an hour, an hour seems like a minute.

m'sian government

The M'sian government is incredible. They assume things, jump to conclusions, and generally do everything we quite disagree with. So. How can we trust them? It is not easy to do much. Just take the petrol price hike for example. When petrol price increases, everything will go up as well, EXCEPT for the salary of the rakyat. This causes inflation. And the government assures us that the inflation won't be that bad. Yeah right.

As I ask again: How to trust the M'sian government?

Kane's Wrath

Finally. It has come to FTZ. Finally. Oh yes, sweet. Until the patch is released, that is. Black Hand rocks, Marked of Kane rocks, Steel Talons kick ass, Reaper and Traveler kick more ass. Have fun guys, we're here to conquer Earth again.

cnc3 tib wars games 2day

Finally, first time I saw Andrew play C&C 3. He's got a good strategy, IMHO. But maybe his strategy is still not that good. After playing against him, I must say that his GDI skills are first rate so far. Anyway, 8 games for me. 5 against Andrew [1v1], and 3 against both Andrew and Matthew combined [1v2]. Results: [w/l] 4/1 against Andrew solo, and 1/2 against both Andrew and Matthew. Scrin has a very good tactic in general: Disintegrators combined with Seekers in a massive land attack totally takes the wind out of anyone's sails. Thus, in all 4 rounds, it was a massive Disintegrator force sneaking into the back of Andrew's base before a Seeker force through the front of his base distracted him. Then the Disintegrators at the back of his base tore through the power and resources. Thus annihilation beckoned. But then he avenged his defeats when he teamed up with Matthew to thrash me. Oh well, it was a 1v2. But I still managed to hit them with Scrin on Unfair Advantage. Never underestimate the threat of PACs and tripods. Although I lost some tripods in Matthew's base, I still managed to deal with Andrew's GDI base first with PACs, before going on to melt Matthew's base into Scrin slag.
After the 8 rounds today, I need to perfect my strategy. Seriously.

flaming, blogs, new media & the world & our lives

My GOD. Mon Dieu. Mio Dio.



Why? What is wrong with us?



Why have we turned out this way?



As a casual observer of life, something is wrong with us. Why are there people willing to fight each other just for kicks? Why?



Why can't the casual observer watch without interference? Why are there people out to counter these observers?



Why can't the government and society help us more? Although in RTS games the scout is often destroyed, the satellite observers are not disturbed much. Why can't the world be like that too?



Even the most sarcastic observers can still get by in this place. Why can't we be treated almost the same?

Observers are usually unbiased reporters of the current situations, furthermore in this age of new media. Please, somebody help us. Some of us are unfairly persecuted by others in their agendas.

Kane's Wrath Online

There is no comment which can sufficiently describe how much I like Kane's Wrath Online. It is enjoyable meeting new players online. Yet, the skill of online players are such that they harass you in the first 10 minutes of the game. So, my verdict? Definitely fun, although frustrating when you keep getting killed quite fast. Oh well, much skill still required. I'm still having fun now.

CCs online again

Finally. FTZ is open again. Actually, I knew this yesterday after a good afternoon walk. Good, now when the semester restarts we can go and shoot heads again. It's gonna be fun once more. Except that they raised the price of the ground floor CC to 2.50. Not so good then.

the odd thing bout Nod

Just noticed something interesting about the Nod units. Compared to the GDI units, the Nod units seem to have superior strength, but only if u compare them shot for shot. For example, the Spectre artillery has only 1 shot, but its single shot is more powerful than the Juggernaut's multiple shots. Same thing goes for the Vertigo compared to the Firehawk. The single bomb from the Vertigo deals more damage than each of the Firehawk's bombs. But the same can't be said for the tanks and infantry, since GDI armour is superior to Nod armour.

how some people lie

Life for M'sians has become worse. Petrol prices increased by 78 sen overnight, and worse still, most of us did not foresee the hike coming so soon, as the PM had said that fuel subsidies and petrol price changes would come in August. This all comes from the person who told us that Parliament would not be dissolved [just before the March general elections and the dissolution of Parliament]. How can we trust the government any more? The trend of the Badawi rule seems to be "say one thing then do another".
Oh yeah, TNB increasing the electricity tariffs in July. This is gonna be a royal pain in the arse for almost all of us, cos most of us use more than 200 kW [units] of power in the month. It means that the middle income group is paying for the lower income group. Not fair at all, what about the rich? What do they have to do?

PS: I hope this doesn't count as sedition, everybody says it.

a week into the hols

Finally got hold of Kane's Wrath early in the holidays. Got to play it, so finally I can comment on the units and factions.

ZOCOM: The faction obsessed with sonics. Zone Raiders with sonic rifles, ZOCOM Orcas with sonic shells. No artillery, and Zone Shatterers don't count as good artillery substitutes. Aircraft without Hardpoints upgrade, so not very powerful. Oh yeah, Mammoths don't have Railguns upgrade, so not as powerful as they can be.

Steel Talons: Old school, they like the Titans and Wolverines from Tiberian Sun. Their artillery can be garrisoned, so the Behemoths aren't that vulnerable to Commandos. The only thing is that the Steel Talons don't have advanced infantry like the Commando, Sniper Team or the Zone Troopers, so they are a little short handed on strong infantry. I like the Mobile Repair Transports personally, because of the instant repair facilities during battle.

Black Hand: Purifying Flame makes the Black Hand's Black Hand infantry stronger, but the lack of stealth negates the Black Hand's advantages [thus no Stealth Tanks, no stealthed Spectres]. Also, no aircraft at all, so they have a big disadvantage in that area. Although they can call for 2 Commandos, they still aren't a match for real players, since their Commandos aren't stealthed.

Marked of Kane: Kane's cyborg troops, they are supposed to be a good early game faction, due to the EMP blasts that The Awakened and The Enlightened can unleash. Considered to be stronger than other Nod factions.

Reaper 17: Stronger version of normal Scrin. No Mastermind, so it's comparable to the Steel Talons. Reaper Tripods can convert Tiberium into extra power for their weapons, and Seekers get a Blue Shards upgrade. Increased attack damage for the Reaper units in this way. However, the Reapers don't have Devastators or PACs, so their main strength [and weakness] is in their ground forces.

Traveler 59: Less powerful than the Reapers, they use mainly mind control to take over enemy forces to counter their own kind. The Prodigy [souped up Mastermind] can do too much in the way of mind control, and the Travelers have a group Mastermind in the form of the Cultists. However, the focus on infantry for the Travelers means that their ground forces are not so powerful. Their Tripods cannot upgrade the Forcefields, so this means that Travelers are quite reliant on their mind control abilities.

Kane's Wrath is quite fun now that Nod is a good faction due to the Black Hand and the Marked appearing. Oh well, back to playing Kane's Wrath and global conquesting.