1Malaysia - a long long way

The paper cutting below is the best resolution I can get.

But basically, it is a advertisement by Sime UEP for housing and the repayment for loans.


In the first case, 315k loan. Monthly repayment for Bumiputera is 875, for non-Bumiputera is 2,916. That is a stagerring 2,041 difference.

For a 2.25 million loan, Bumiputera monthly payment is 6250 and non-Bumiputera is 20,833, a difference of 14,583.

Can this be right? Is the maths really that off or is this a big typo or wrong calculation on Sime UEP's part?

If it is a fact, why would any non-"Bumiputera" people be dumb enough to buy these properties. These must be the ones in Shah Alam where they want to grow the 1Malay population, to maybe 1Million.

Respect for races and religion and concept of 1Malaysia needs to start from the top. Because the people at the bottom are all ready for a truly 1Malaysia, not a bullshit of a slogan.

Salam 1Malaysia ... like they sign off on RTM.

Take care and be well.

We are all made of quarks

I hated physics but more and more I am beginning to like it.

A quark is a fundamental particle which possesses both electric charge and 'strong' charge. They combine in groups of two or three to form composite objects (called mesons and baryons, respectively), held together by the strong force. Protons and neutrons are familiar examples of such composite objects -- both are made up of three quarks. The quarks come in six different species (physicists call them 'flavors'), each of which have a unique mass. The two lightest, unimaginatively called 'up' and 'down' quarks, combine to form protons and neutrons. The heavier quarks aren't found in nature and have so far only been observed in particle accelerators.

A quark is basically little packets of energy. And everything is energy. Everything has quarks, be it a nail, a rock, water, your hand, basically everything you touch, taste, smell ... and see, although you cannot see the quarks.

As scientist continue to pursue their exploration on staggeringly small scales, the find themselves staring at something truly confounding called the zero-point field (ZPF).

Beneath the energy, the quarks itself lies a still more basic level. It is not energy anymore, nor is it empty space. It is basically a field of information.

Field of information, a sea of pure consciousness.

Consciousness is what the universe is made of, matter and energy are just forms that consciousness takes.

So, a thought creates consciousness and therefore many thoughts creates the universe.

Okay, I have probably bored all of my readers with physics. Interesting stuff though. How everything changes or as I say it, reincarnates into a different form, into a different consciousness.

Just imagine how powerful you can create your consciousness to be ... powerful enough to believe in God, powerful enough to believe in prophets, powerful enough to believe in yourself.

And that is how you change, by believing in something within your own matter, your own energy, your own consciousness.

Be great or be normal - the power is within you.

Take care and be well.

Leaving on a jetplane

Wifey if off again tomorrow, although she will be back for Dewali.

Al E as usual gets into into this depressive self ... he tends to sense something amiss when either one of his human parents go away.

I do not know if this sort of behaviour and attachment is good for any one of us, but too late for that.

I really think that Al E sees us as his parents and many times I refer to him as my furry four-legged son.

So, the next 2 weeks is going to be the routine of sending Al E to kennel by 7am, getting to work by 7:30, picking Al E up by 5pm, walking with Al E, working some more after that and so on and so forth.

Of course cooking or buying some "tapau" meals for dinner as no more wifey's wonderful cooking.

Oh well, such is life when you have 2 homes ... I wonder for how long more ...

Take care and be well.

The Wind of Change

I follow the Bakam
Down to Lutong Beach
Listening to the wind of change
A Malaysian summer night
People passing by
Listening to the wind of change
The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
in the wind of change

You start out strong, body is strong and spirit is willing. Over time, the spirit is willing, but the body is weak (Bible: Mark 14:38).

Then the spirit is broken. And all good habits die and bad habits and negative thoughts blind your vision.

Then you are reminded by a loved one, Ser 25:09:09, have a vision of what you want, believe and play a video, and truly believe in greatness, create a vision board etc...

Even Bible:Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

Thiruvaruval's Thurukural states, "Verse 971: Life's light is the aspiration for glorious achievement. And disgrace is the dark thought that says, "I shall live without it." Verse 978: Greatness is always humble. But pettiness is self-adorned with words of praise. Verse 979: Greatness abides in the absence of arrogance. Smallness proudly parades its haughtiness."

"Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, "BE!" and it is!," states The Quran 36:82. The power of intention or Niyyah as Mohammad said it.

Ser, The Bible, The Quran, Thirukural, Scorpions and many others talk, write about it. The law of attraction, having the intention.

So, how do you do it? It is not easy but here I quote a dear friend who has been by my foot, "Just do it!"

Yes, Nike, the shoes named after the Greek goddess of victory and it's tag line Just Do It by Dan Weiden.

Simple enough, just do it, no questions, no doubts but just believe and faith ... and winds of change will come.

Take care and be well.

Transition - Humour

Thanks Scott Adams for creating Dilbert.

Take care and be well.

Economics

I received this email and thought it was interesting and funny. Now only to get somebody to owe me money.

It is the month of August, on the shores of the Black Sea.

It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted.

It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town.

He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to choose one.

The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig grower.

The pig grower takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her "services" on credit.

The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.....

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the world is doing business today.

Take care and be well.

Transition

I am in transition at work.

tran⋅si⋅tion /trænˈzɪʃən, -ˈsɪʃ-/ tran-zish-uhn, -sish-
(noun) movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another.

Could be good, could be bad, could be positive, could be negative ... but one thing is for sure, resume needs to be updated, jobs need to be applied, change is inevitable, resistance is futile.

Never give in and never give up. The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Like Thirukural said, "Beware of leaving any work undone, for the world will abandon those who abandon their work unfinished. Perseverance creates prosperity, And the lack of it produces poverty."

Take care and be well.

38,000 BC or thereabouts

Some thirty eight thousand (38,000) years ago some humans existed in the vast island of Borneo.

This was way way before Jesus or Mohammad or Krishna etc. but way way after dinosaurs lived on the Earth.

Some of these humans were wondering around in the virgin rain forest in this nice tropical island and while walking one day, they came across this big hill.

The tribe leader said, "Hmm, let's go explore this hill, we have nothing better to do with our lives but climb hills and look for dark, damp, smelly caves."

And so, they climbed what is known as Batu Niah and decided to live in this dark, damp and smelly caves.

I went to Batu Niah or Gua Niah for the fifth time in two years yesterday. And despite the nice ramps, boats, walkways, torch lights, Nike shoes and decent clothes, I was close to collapsing with exhaustion.

So, imagine these folks some 38,000 years ago, no faith or God to pray to, no torch lights or lamps (don't even know if fire existed at that time), no Nike shoes, no clothes. And yet they decide to go through dense virgin rain forest, up a hill, into a dark, damp, smelly cave to start their lives there.

What the f..k were they thinking? In my logic of all senses, there are only two possibilities these people decided to live such a harsh life. They were either a evil, notorious bad clan and were running away from a mob of people who chased them away or they were good people being chased away by bad, evil, notorious people.

Nya yin song, mata kaji smanyi shen (from Ali Baba Bujang Lapuk) and the cave doors open.

38,000 years later, people throng to these caves, nearly collapse in exhaustion, nearly have a heart attack just to see what was all the hype 38,000 years ago, what were these cave dwellers painting on their caves, how and why did they carry all the boats all they way up into the cave and so on and so forth.

Take care and be well.

Selamat Hari Raya

Wishing all my friends a Selamat Hari Raya in Malaysia and parts of the world that do celebrate Hari Raya today (Sunday 20 September).

This does not include my friends in Brunei who only celebrate on Monday 21 September because the poor fella's did not see the new moon on Saturday night.

There is a formula to these things, the Chinese and Indians have been using it for thousands of years ... way before the modern religions came into the world.

Even the Middle Eastern people have been using these formula's for years and not really looking for the new moon.

But in these parts of the world, looking for the new moon is custom.

To each their own, customs can be interesting but pity to poor folks in Brunei who have to fast for one more day ... unless they also started a day late ... hmmmm

Take care and be well.

Turkey at the entrance

I went out marketing today and was somehow reminded of an old story I remembered of an incident while entering the KLCC Suria a long time ago.

I was driving to KLCC from my apartment in Bukit Antarabangsa using the elevated highway in Kuala Lumpur. There is an exit from the elevated highway that straight leads to the entrance to the KLCC parking lot.

As I was turning into the entrance, there was a turkey blocking the entrance .... yes a turkey, ayam belanda in Bahasa Melayu.

Somehow, the turkey gobble gobble and moved it's arse off my path.

However, being the good samaritan I am, I thought it would be good for me to report it so that KLCC security could remove the turkey so that it would not possess any danger to itself or to other motorists.

After reporting the incident to the security and having written a report, I went about doing my shopping thinking that the security would have acted fast enough.

I forgot about the incident and the next time I went to KLCC, I no longer saw the turkey lingering about.

However, after about 2 months, I got a call from KLCC security director. The person called me to inquire about the report I had made - more than 2 months ago. It seems they had not done anything and were only looking at the report after 2 months.

I guess a lot of security especially security directors in large malls must be some high ranking ex-officials from the police.

Considering it took them two months to act ... it sounds familiar and similar to to the action or rather the inaction of our force especially when it comes to petty crime i.e. snatch theft, even major crimes, rapes etc.

The force cannot even catch simpleton "criminals" like Raja Petra or Ayah Pin.

However, when it comes to high profile murders, they are quick to "solve" the case. Really makes me wonder which poor person became the scapegoat and culprit.

Seems like we have turkeys everywhere, not just at the entrance.

Take care and be well.

Sound of Silence

I took the following entirely from a blog written in my company internal blogsite by Graham Bobby. It is no point giving the website as most people cannot access it from internally but this blog just hits the spot.

Graham says:

Silence evokes different things in different people.

Many people who have been brought up in somewhere like Mumbai say that the hardest thing to get used to in Europe is the silence. I understand this a bit when I go to Portugal and experience the total quiet at times there, though in that instance it is something I really treasure. And I also treasure quieter, meditative moments wherever I am, and the lack of background noise can be very helpful.

In a relationship, being able to be silent with each other is a sign of maturity, of not having to try too hard to fill spaces. But then we have all sat in restaurants next door to couples who seem to have nothing at all to say to each other: the old joke applies there that their life may not be long but it will certainly seem it.

There is some iconic place, maybe a famous movie, I can't place it, where silence presages death or disaster. Certainly,in many walks of life silence may be the most feared thing, whether in a doctor's surgery, or as a stand up comic, or watching the umpire in cricket.

Anyway, the main point here is to blog about communication during this transition (happening in my company). For I believe I'm witnessing far too much silence. The websites are excellent but are of course silent and don't replace human communication. Nor do impersonal web casts delivering general, high level information to a wide audience, even if they do make a bit of sound, and it is certainly a good thing that we have them.

What people need in uncertainty is other people to talk to them. And it is not happening enough. A good example is in the appointments. Lucky applicants were told in person. Some losers had to wait for e-mails, maybe a day or two later. This has been true to the highest levels of the company, or so I am led to believe. Of course there are honourable exceptions. But it is horrible to learn you are no longer required, and we should make this as personal as possible.

The same is true of general communication about the transition at team leader level. True, there are many unanswered questions, and some information which cannot be made public, perhaps for consultation or legal reasons. But it is always possible to convene a team meeting with no agenda and just invite questions, answering as honestly as we can. I've seen good examples of this happening - but also bad, especially where the team leader themselves is somehow vulnerable to losing their job or otherwise out of the loop. In those cases, they should demand that the level above hosts the team meeting.

I know it is not easy. The leaders are very busy, there is real uncertainty, it is holiday season, people are always free to ask and read the web, sessions can be embarrassing if some folk are very exposed. Good excuses, but still excuses. And in my opinion the resulting silence reflects badly on all of us.

Less silence please!

I totally agree with the blog above, less silence and more human communication please.

Hello darkness, my old friend. I have come to talk to you again....

Take care and be well.

Smelly Armpits

When I get stressed, my armpit odour is quite bad . . . bad enough that I can smell it too.

So, I went and search if there was research on smell armpits and sure enough there are a quite a few.

Some which another friend of mine with a similar problem should be aware of.

Quite a number of websites have written about it being a sign of breast cancer.

"Keep a close watch on your armpits and earwax ladies - if your armpits stink, and if you have sticky earwax, it might be a sign of breast cancer. Wet, sticky earwax might not be easily noticed, but most people can't miss unpleasant body odors," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, As it turns out, the type of ear wax one has is linked to a gene that leads to bad odors from one's armpit. These may become lifesaving clues to the early detection and treatment of breast cancer."

It is not wide spread, but there is also such a thing a male breast cancer but I checked and there are no lumps. Phew!!

Almost all people have underarm sweating while doing some heavy physical work and exercise, axillary hyperhidrosis occurs even in normal conditions.

However, under stress and anxiety, this condition may increase considerably.

So, okay, looks like there is some stress and anxiety that is causing my smelly armpits.

But then again, maybe it is not stress, anxiety or breast cancer.

Anyways, such is life . . . too bad if you have to smell by bad BO sometimes, I am doing my best to control it.

Take care and be well.

Happy Birthday Malaysia

Today is Malaysia day, the day when Malaysia became into existence.

What some of you may say? Some may wonder that Merdeka Day on August 31 is our independence day.

This is true somewhat but you see 31 August 1957 is not independence day for Malaysia but for Federation of Malaya or Perseketuan Tanah Melayu.

See the excerpt that I have pulled out from Wikipedia:
Malaysia as a unified state did not exist until 1963. Previously, the United Kingdom had established influence in colonies in the territory from the late-18th century.

The western half of modern Malaysia was composed of several separate kingdoms. This group of colonies was known as British Malaya until its dissolution in 1946, when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union. Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and later gained independence on 31 August 1957.

Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo (now known as Sabah) and the Federation of Malaya joined to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

Tensions in the early years of the new union sparked an armed conflict with Indonesia, and the expulsion of Singapore on 9 August 1965.

So, you see folks, today is the real Malaysia Day, 16 September 1963 and Malaysia is now 46 years old.

That's our little history lesson for today ;)

Take care and be well.

Samsu vs Whiskey

Over many years, there has been a battle between Samsu and Whiskey and over and over again Samsu always beats out Whiskey.

You see, Samsu is not much different from tuak in Sarawak, a poor man's or common man's drink. Whereas whiskey is a rich man's drink.

Despite the fact that samsu is difficult to get and those old days samsu houses are no longer in existence (there was one next to the Pulau Tikus post office in Penang), samsu still remains popular.

Whiskey, again is for the elites.

Now, of course anyone who has tried Toddy knows toddy is fresher and sweeter.

Now, going back to Malaysian politics specifically MIC or Malaysian Indian Congress.

I read from many other blogs and bloggers of how Indians have made a mistake by choosing Samy Vellu and his man Planivel and got rid of Subramaniam.

What do you expect?

Samsu Vellu will always beat of Whiskey Maniam. And remember Toddy-vel is fresher and sweeter. After all, while many Indians are now educated, they still mostly come from the estates and kampungs, like Kampung Buah Pala. And what is fresher and sweeter will always beat out what is elite and expensive.

For me, MIC, HINDRAF, IPF, PPP, the other Indian party - they are not fighting for people's rights, they are fighting to make their coffers richer.

Currently, I have given up on the political parties, be it in Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional - none of them really care about the rakyat. Proof me wrong if you think otherwise.

Take care and be well.

Rape is rape, no matter how you see it

Lately there have been a lot of stories in the mainstream media about the rape of Penan girls in Sarawak especially by timber workers.

These stories have existed for years and reported and written about but no action has been taken.

But only now finally the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has come out and said it out loud that indeed Penan girls were raped in their 111 page report.

So we should expect some action against these rapists right?

Wrong. Think again. See the excerpt from The Star yesterday. What do you think? You think anything will be done to the rapists?

The Sarawak police cannot nail the loggers who raped and sexually abused Penan girls and women unless the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry can provide detailed information that can lead to their arrest.

Sarawak CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Huzir Mohamed told The Star yesterday, though the ministry confirmed that these sexual crimes had indeed happened, the state police needed detailed and specific information like names, dates and places.

“We need the names of specific victims, where they can be found, more accurate dates and places of the incidents and descriptions of the people who had done these (sexual crimes),” he said when interviewed.

‘’We need to interview these victims. If the report is too general and not precise, it will be difficult for us to probe effectively. The ministry must furnish us with more details.”

SAC Huzir was asked whether the police could launch a ground investigation to pinpoint the rapists following the ministry’s public disclosure about the rapes and sexual abuse against Penan girls and women in ulu Baram in northern Sarawak.

So, next time when a girl is raped, she should take down the date, time, description of what occured as well as description of the rapists and then take a 3 day trip from the jungles of Sarawak to come to the Miri police station to make a report (which by the way has been done by some of them) for the police to even start any investigation.

It will take the police some time to dilly dally around and "investigate" in the city and maybe go to the office of the timber company and "harshly" scold them before they make another 3 day trip (of which of course they never do).

Remember the Star exposure about an sms received from a sex worker requesting to be rescued from Bakun dam area a few years back. What happenned? What was the follow up?

Seems the jungles of Sarawak and the people in there are in a time and area that people soon forget, life goes on, and the world goes around and round. Soon, an area of Sarawak the size of Kelantan will be flooded and all the rapes and memories will be washed up.

And they are planning to build 13 more dams in Sarawak.

Take care and be well.

24 hours

If I could have the power to be anyone or anything for an hour, every hour for one day, this is what my 24 hours would look like.

Some names are world famous and some names are not, but I would like to be in their shoes even if just for an hour.

I write it by time in a chronological order (to try to imitate the famous series 24) but it could come in any order, at anytime.

0000 Wifey - would be interesting to be in wifey's shape and mind for an hour. She has a lot of different views on things and always adds a new perspective in our relationship.

0100 Al E - my dog is is an energizer bunny, anytime of the day. I can imagine jumping around and chasing after my ball. Only thing I would not like is the food, but then again, I'll be a dog.

0200 My dad - it would be interesting to know what 75 years of wisdom he has in his head. He has been working since he was 17.

0300 Soph - my down syndrome sister in law. Again another person who seems always positive. It would be interesting to know what goes on in her wonderful mind.

0400 Albert Einstein - for once understand how it is to feel "above average" intelligence. But for such an intelligent person, his famous works are only 5 characters, E=MC2.

0500 Mahatma Gandhi - non-violence movement leader who was a terrible father but nevertheless a great leader. Maybe as him, I will tell my kids I love them too.

0600 Jesus - the one and only. It would be interesting to be a prophet, son of god and understand all the wonderful things such a person would know. The next few follow this theme.

0700 Mohammad - yes the Prophet of Islam. If I was Jesus for an hour, of course it would be good to be Mohammad. Maybe I will understand both these religions better.

0800 Ganesha - son of Shiva or the famous Elephant God. Can you imagine being the son of the destroyer God and having a head of an elephant. Also among the most respected in Hinduism.

0900 Krishna - my name is translated as Blue God and is named after Krishna, a famous Hindu human God. I would like to be in his shoes and try to understand why I was named after him.

1000 Gautama Buddha - he kept saying he is human and preaching a way of life, but his followers ended up starting a religion - would like to know and maybe make it clear.

1100 Mahavir - he is the last or 24 Tithankar in Jain religion. Being Jain, I always read and have heard his deeds and things he has done for the Jain religion.

1200 A traditional faithhealer (Bomoh) - how can I leave out our traditional Bomoh. Have to understand how they work and how they "heal" various types of ailments that are supernatural.

1300 P. Ramlee - I until now love all P Ramlee movies, my favorite being 3 Abdul and Pendekar Bujang Lapuk. Classics that can make me laugh out loud on the most stressful of days.

1400 Michael Crichton - I love reading his books, among my favorite authors. He died last year from cancer and he wrote till the end. His last book comes out this November. I want to be a writer and would like to understand how he starts a book or an idea.

1500 Amitabh Bachan - infamous Hindi movie actor that has reinvented himself in his older age. Classic actor. Arrogant but classic and confident.

1600 Confucious - was he a real person, was he a myth, were all those interesting sayings really from him. And remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

1700 Leonardo Da Vinci - he was an artist, an inventor, what else could he do, was he gay, who is the Mona Lisa - is it him?

1800 Warren Buffet - this is like the intelligent Forrest Gump, or maybe he is just Forrest Gump. He is a master at inveting in the right companies and I have always wanted a modest amount of Berkshire A shares - maybe 100,000 shares at USD100,00 per share.

1900 Bill Gates - I was torn between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs but choose Gates for the extra geeky factor that he has. You got to love him, the new monopolist.

2000 A king or queen (preferably current) - one that lives a good life, has many palaces, many sports cars, many guards, many uniforms - I could throw a Haloween party.

2100 Genghis Khan - uniter, invader, warrior ... was he a good person or a bad person. Was he a ruthless warrior or a good leader, emperor. I was torn between him and Napoleon but decided to choose an Asian.

2200 A restless spirit / ghost - pontianak harum sundal malam? Well, for once, I would like to know why these spirits still roam the earth. After all many religions talk about heaven or hell, and the others about reincarnation. So, why are these spirits still roaming around?

2300 Nilesh Timbadia - at the end of the day, I would like to turn back to be myself. After all, I have had an interesting life that has a long road ahead still. So, yes, at the end of it all, I would like to be me. I may have made many mistakes in my life thus far but like Einstein said, "If someone feels that they have never made a mistake in their life, then it means they have never tried a new thing in their life."

Take care and be well.

400 on 9.9.9

It is 09.09.2009 or 9th September 2009. (Okay, so I posted this blog early, but the date is still 9.9.9.). This is my 400th blog post.

I started by blog out of boredom a little and mostly out of the need to be able to express myself through writing which I do best. So far I have written anything and everything that comes to my mind, sometimes it is on another persons mind and I find the idea interesting.

I am not sure if it is a big achievement or maybe my supervisor or other readers feel I have too much time in my hands. I do it as a release of stress for myself, writing helps me to reduce my stress levels which currently I would say is on the high side due to many many many reasons.

So, I muse and have been musing for 400 blogs, slightly over 1 year. I do not know how many reader I have, I hope one day I would have many.

Thank you all for reading and leaving comments, I hope to continue doing this for a while as I do not easily get bored of doing things. Some people seem to get bored of doing it, or like they themselves have said, hangat hangat tahi ayam. Some others maybe rely on some inanimate objects talking to them - and maybe this object just stopped talking and some people maybe just get bored. Some people have been doing it for years actively, have some interesting themes and even manage a few blogs.

All which I have enjoyed, whether they come frequently or infrequently or even if I don't quite understand them.

And I hope to continue to write and bring some enjoyment to others.

Take care and be well.

Subtitles

Why do we still need subtitles in movies, especially English and Malay movies in Malaysia?
Mengapa kita perlukan serikata dalam tayangan gambar, khaskan gambar Bahasa Ingerris atau Bahasa Malaysia di dalam negara Malaysia?

Some person who has got the contract for doing subtitles surely is making a lot of money.
Seseorang yang dapat contract untuk mebuat serikata mesti buat banyak duit.

OK, I was hoping to have Malay subtitles for my entire blog but my Malay as you can see from above translations is utterly atrocious.

But subtitles are getting fantastic especially when we get subtitles like "Lima biji kacang" or "Five pieces of beans" when the spoken word was Lima Beans.

Subtitles are an irritant in movies especially when they appear in the middle of the screen.

Also, all Malaysians study Malay and English in school and therefore our language skills should be quite good to understand the movie without the irritating subtitles.

And if the government admits that it is not good, then do like what the French, Italians and Germans do, dub the English movies in Malay. And have a cinema that shows the dubbed version and one that shows the English version without the irritating subtitles.

If the English of Malaysians is so bad, why don;t we have subtitles on everything including advertisements.

Can you imagine a Tiger Beer advertisement with subtitles?

"Bir Harimau, sudah masanya."

How about "Jenama anjing kerbau Guiness, ia bagus untuk anda"?

Then again, probably not cause that would be "haram" right?

I would say it's time to get rid of subtitles, or have subtitles in everything.

Also, why just English and Malay. We should have subtitles in Chinese, Tamil, Iban, Kadazan at the least.

Why stop there, we cannot discriminate against those who are hard of hearing. So, just like news in RTM1, we should have a sign language person doing sign language in the corner of the screen. I can just imagine a fast paced action scene ... the sign language person would be totally exhausted.

Or have subtitles like in DVD's, which state things like bird chirping, people laughing, car horn blasting - this would certainly help those who are hard of hearing as well.

Oh well!

Take care and be well.

Shojotai

Remember them?

Shojotai... the three girl Japanese band that all of us loved when I was a teenager.

Every girl I knew wanted to be like Shojotai and every guy I knew lusted after them.

I was reminded by this when wifey and I went for a Japanese restaurant and for some reason I was thinking of this Japanese girl band that was extremely popular in Malaysia. Of course I did not remember the name but as usual, wifey did.

So, after nice Japanese dinner, what better to reminisce over a couple of Shojotai's favorite songs, Love Love Love and Bye Bye Bye.





Take care and be well.

Earthlings

Earthling - an inhabitant of the earth.

Every living species in this world is considered an earthling.

Last week, Datuk called me during my mid Saturday afternoon beauty sleep to inform me that he is becoming a b\vegetarian. I asked him what brought this about in my half slumber and he said it was this documentary called earthling.

So, I decided that I need to see this 90+ minute documentary although I am already a vegetarian.

I did some internet research and found out that the documentary called "Earthlings" is also feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers." The film is narrated by Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby.

It is not about becoming a vegetarian. There are graphic but true scenes in this movie, but I would recommend everyone to watch this to be more aware. After that, you can make up your own mind about what you want to do, on how you treat animals.

It takes about speciesism by humans, no different from racism or sexism. But while there are clear laws against racism and sexism, speciesism is still blatantly and openly practiced.

Speciesism involves assigning different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership. The term was coined by Richard D. Ryder in 1973 and was an attempt to denote prejudice akin to sexism and racism. The concept of speciesism is used mostly by people who believe that it is irrational or morally wrong to use any sentient being as an object.

All animals have inherent rights and that we cannot assign them a lesser value due to their irrationality and meanwhile assign a higher value to humans that do not behave rationally (e.g. infants and the mentally impaired).

Please watch this documentary.



Take care and be well.

R.I.P.

Ah Yai, beloved dog, may you rest in peace.

Ah Yai, always loved and forever will be missed.

Ah Yai, Uding's dog, now in heaven.

Ah Yai, your suffering in this world has ended.

Ah Yai, your wonderful afterlife in heaven now awaits.

Take care and be well.

Of The Mouse and Men

Of Mice and Men is a novel written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California.

However, this blog is not about the novel. It is about the latest acquisition by The Mouse.... Mickey Mouse that is.

NOT even the combined powers of Spiderman, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America and the X-Men could keep The Mouse at bay.

On August 31st Walt Disney announced it was buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, just days after the comic-book publisher had celebrated 70 glorious years of independence, during which it had created many of the most famous cartoon characters not invented by Disney itself.

In fact, Marvel did not put up much of a fight, accepting what most analysts think was a generous price.

Fully behind the deal is Stan “the Man” Lee, a living legend of the cartoon world who helped create many of Marvel’s best-known characters during the 1960s. Mr Lee, who recently launched his first digital comic as part of a partnership between his new firm and Disney, has predicted that the Disney-Marvel merger will prove “a terrific deal which will be extremely beneficial to both companies. The synergy between them is perfect.”

Ironically, in the 1960s, Mr Lee tried, without success, to convince his bosses to turn Marvel into a multimedia company like Disney. Now, albeit in a roundabout way, one of his outlandish fantasies is about to become a reality.

I wonder if there will be any merger of characters, can you imagine Wolverine as a character in Duck Tales or Mickey Mouse?

Oh well, I think it is a good merger anyways, especially if Disney is able to get the other Marvel commitments back especially Spider Man and X-Men.

Take care and be well.

Still sad about this

Excerpt taken from a opinion published in Malaysiakini:

Amidst the towering structures and modern landscape of the city, a group of people, with children in tow, saw it fit to parade a freshly severed head of a cow through the streets in protest over the proposed construction of a Hindu temple in their neighborhood.

These children who watched their fathers stomping and spitting on a cow's head would return to school to learn about cultures and how the animal is considered sacred by Hindus. They would be taught about tolerance with textbooks talking of the friendship between Ali, Ah Chong and Muthu who visit each other's house during festive celebrations.

Restore the bridges and tear down the walls ....

Take care and be well.