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