.:»Ares«:. @ teehk.blogspot.com

Woit

2009-08-13T20:04:00.006+01:00

Didn't realise it's been THAT long since I last posted.

nevermind!

officially adding yasminetran to my blogroll ---> there.
she's so cute. and i love her DIY style. i rike! her ouhmaigoditssoclear pics n lolwtf poses make the viewing process SO much heartening.

her blog is damn lan yeng.
plus, she is damn lan cute. diu.

http://yasminetran.blogspot.com

AIRASIA 5009

2009-06-24T10:54:00.005+01:00

Tony Fernandes is probably the king of all lobangs.

Admin fee also can scrap, with RM6bil+ worth of debt, how can he still afford to cut corners? That's why he fainted the other week lah.

My Rating: SELL with a TP of RM1.02.

Market Summary:
The market's been a little erratic lately, with a prolonged correction lasting 7 days. Of course, that I'm not interested in, since I'm still bearish with a target CI of about 980 - 1020 (end July).

So in bear markets, the other only way to make chicken scratch is to look for short term gems. I've got 1 in hand (TOPGLOV 7113) right now which I'm heavily monitoring because of questionable movements. Wait till I sell it off first (when it hit my TP) then only I'll write about it.

In the meantime, if anybody can explain the massive SQ @ 6.50 for TOPGLOV, I'd be thankful. I suspect somebody's blocking the share from rising in preparation for something. It's been there the entire day, with lots of small volume 1-5 lot trades @6.50 in between bigger volumes of 100-200 @6.45. TCP (Theoretical Closing Price) was pushed up to 6.50 (smart move) with 500 lots done in the minute before the market was trading at Last.

Could the sharks be fishing? See tmrw first lah haha.

Where Are We Now

2009-06-16T15:21:00.003+01:00

There's some good news to go around in these times.

Berjaya Sports Toto posts a 76.5% jump in YoY profit.

Hehe, this means, in bad times, people gamble 4D more often than never.

I haven't done much in 3 weeks. If I say I was busy you wouldn't believe me either. Go out a bit, part time car mechanic, part time stock fryer, part time mahjong player, part time kaki hang kai, part time futsal ball collector.

Plentiful ah.

But the thing I haven't done until now is to find a job. CV write until half only apa ni..hehe.

The London Log

2009-05-24T23:07:00.003+01:00

I'm in London now.. enjoying a much warmer weather. Have I not repeated myself enough.. I like London so so much because it's a huge city.

Anyway, couple of brief updates.
Gonna leave tmrw morning for Heathrow at half seven in the morning. Then flight's at noon. Hopefully I'll touchdownnnnnnnnnnnnnnn at about 8am Tuesday at KLIA.

WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO

KL! I'M BACK!

P.S: I think I should do those twit-twatting that's very the chiu lau heng now. Since it suits my lazy style.

Learn Canto Thru Msn!

2009-05-14T15:14:00.001+01:00

Think your command of Cantonese sucks?
Don't worry!
Through a series of visual learning tools we'll get you from where you are.. to anywhere you want to be!

Just call your local supplier (anyone) and ask for the learn-canto-thru-msn package! Only rm9.99 per session.

Best value! We guarantee it. Just see for yourself!

Behind The Fog of War

2009-05-13T16:21:00.005+01:00

If you're like me you probably might not have noticed today was May 13.
Today I wouldn't want to talk about what happened in 69. Instead I'd rather talk about Perak. The papers say it pretty much.

The big shots at the top have been distancing themselves away from the issue in Perak. Anwar, whom I still have no trust for, has been quiet for somewhile now since the controversy that he's reshuffling PKR's leadership through a string of forced by-elections.

Today, Gerakan's Dr. Hsu Dar Ren, of a few men in the ruling coalition that I've got respect for, called for fresh polls. MCA's been pretty quiet as well, thanks (maybe) to lone ranger Datuk Seri Ong, if it was his predecessor from Kulai no one would have doubted that silence was the last thing on MCA's mind.

So as everyone puts it now, the situation's past the stage where the shit hits the fan. You know what, don't point the finger at Hee alone, how about the other two frogs that jumped as well?You see, in Perak, Pakatan had a flaw in Keadilan. I've got even more faith in PAS than in Keadilan mind you. From how I see it, PKR's the weakest link in Pakatan. Selangor's next after Perak, if the powers that be see fit.

Ok, back to Perak. I don't need to repeat the mantra that this has been damaging for the Royal Family, to both sides of the political divide, and for the state itself. It's like General Motors. Better stay away or it'll suck you in.

I don't need to repeat the point that an appeal was granted with efficiency that surpasses even the international courts. I don't need to repeat that a full judgment was passed and not an interim one. I don't need to repeat the all the skeletons in the closet that every hand that played a part.

What now? Malaysia Today disclosed that Vincent Tan (i don't understand why him again) had a role in this by paying Hee 25mil. I find that refutable, as 25mil is a large number. Why 25mil when 1mil can already do so much in Malaysia. You know what I'm talking about cuz if you're not don't call yourself a Malaysian.

The stakes here are the royalty, the rule of law, the principles of democracy, the partisan ways of the judiciary and the law enforcement branches. Might as well call ourselves Singapore if we fail this test.

It all goes back to who can clean this up, who has a wide support base. Anwar's been touted as the leading man who's going against the powers that be. But ask me and I'll say Ku Li's way better for the job than he is. That's right, Tengku Razaleigh. But that's for another day, when we get to hear the story of UMNO Team A vs UMNO Team B. That's the 20 year battle that's still ongoing until now.

Bye for now. Haha, that sounded like ESPN's gamecast commentary. I've gotta finish up revision for tomorrow's Accountancy exam.

Waking Up

2009-04-15T19:05:00.003+01:00

The last time I scribbled something was sometime before Colours of Malaysia. It's a month past and I'm still able to recall all the days where I did something.

Exams are soon.
I've got to look for a flat.
And I need something more.

Argh.
I want to get this off my heart.
She's becoming more and more beautiful with every passing glance.

Now that felt good.

- hmm, maybe i shouldn't have wrote that at the start. Psst, holidays were a blast!

The View From Back Then

2009-03-12T17:43:00.002Z

Here's something interesting I dug out of the FT today.

Malaysian businessman Ananda Krishnan may have made money from the sale of his holding in the ExCel conference centre at the right time but may be less lucky with his gamble on stricken Johnston Press.

He bought a 20% stake in the regional paper group through his vehicle Usaha Tegas for £43m last year. One of Malaysia's richest men, Mr Krishnan is said to be an Anglophile, but may harbour cooler feelings after the bad news from Johnston boss John Fry drove the shares down to 5.62p, off 95% from a year ago.

Ops.
Too bad.

The Blinking Light On That Dashboard

2009-03-05T03:01:00.001Z

It's 3am and I'm up proofreading essays after compiling budgets for CoM and sending out emails. Talking to a senior in 3rd year made me contemplate changing to joint honours.

Think about this,
MA(Hons) Economics

to..

MA(Hons) Economics and Business Studies!

Of course I am not talking about crap courses like marketing or management science. I'm talking about Finance, finance comes under BStudies at UoE so if I want to take Finance as a joint honour it'll have to be Business Studies.

The reason of this addition is because I am flinching at the thought of 5 modules of Economics next year. Taking up a joint subject will reduce it to 3 modules econs, 2 modules from Business and 1 optional.

I'll be able to follow a less vigorous course of Econometrics in 3rd year. Phew! Econometrics was not what I had in mind when I joined Economics.

Anyway, I'm going to arrange a meeting with my DoS. Don't you find it weird when you're here and you get a Japanese for your Director of Studies, hahaha I sure do. I've got..

let's see.. Principles of Finance, Management Science, Economics 2..

all the prerequisites.. for joint honours at the moment so I think that's possible to make a change that I'll be happier with.

Oh oh oh.
Did I tell you about my Econs project.
I'm supposed to prove CAPM holds for share returns of Monsanto, neh... that multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation that produces GM seeds, controls the global herbicide market and global GM seeds market. I'm using 1-yr US Treasury bills as risk-free returns, and monthly returns for 10-years, plot all this on a simple linear regression line using OLS, SCC look for t-stats and r-squared.

That's Econometrics 101 for you!

So hello Econometrics, and goodbye I dread seeing you next year.

ok, tty later i gotta finish the reading the essay cuz i wanna sleep now.

Updates

2009-02-27T02:57:00.002Z

bloody shit, as you can see, the skin's screwed up.

I'll get to it on Monday after I come back from Concord.

It's February

2009-02-12T17:01:00.003Z

One click, and a month whizzes past.
Two clicks, and soon comes Easter.

Three clicks, and another year gone.

What have I done?

HK is severely behind schedule. :(

The Earliest Bird

2009-01-27T04:58:00.002Z

It's 5am and I can't sleep.

Geez, all this stuff in my head really has to go.

Btw, i'm back on Maplestory. Yeah yeah I know you haters out there ain't gonna let me go this time but I'm prepared for it!

Oh and, Happy Chinese New Year.

Breaking

2009-01-22T02:27:00.000Z

I've got a renewed interest in breaking. and popping!!

srsly, the prospects are too addictive.

So, now I've devised a plan for an intensive (for me lah) stretching and strength training routine everyday.

It's been 3 days nonstop that my muscles have been aching. You know, the type of sore that you get when u pull a muscle. Apart from that I've been practising on freezes, baby freeze done, chair freeze done!

that's the chair freeze by the way

alright alright, those weren't actually difficult to do.

But anyhoo it's something that I'm proud of achieving. With my academic life being pretty dull, and boring, I don't spend much time on it, instead I'm pouring myself all over society activities (joined a new society!), with the remainder going onto physical activities which I just picked up this semester.

I'm guessing the million dollar question here is, "Why are you doing this?"

Honestly, it's to make myself feel more confident about how i look. Breaking shapes confidence, and character. So hell, why don't I just try it instead of loofing around with lots of free time?

I'm also thinking of getting a driver's license here, and also the possibility of getting a term time job. I realise, being too idle is shit really. Like getting your ass handed to you.

Oops, in the process I let out my resolutions.

No, this year isn't a year for relationships like last year. I'm not feeling too upbeat 'bout that.
This year is for me. I'm sick of shit happening around me and I'm doing something about it now.

I'm Blogging Again!

2009-01-09T02:49:00.004Z

From Glasgow this time!

I've thought of coming here because if I didn't I probably wouldn't have much time to go to Glasgow in the future anyway. And so my next 24 hours will be here slacking, and soaking up the bigcity feel.

Holidays are coming to an end and the flatmates are slowly returning. Funnily enough, they're all girls. *hint hint*

Ok alright alright, if I promise myself that this term will be different from last term, how different would it be?

Uno, are the spring holidays.
Rome? Florence? Milan? or Prague? Budapest? Vienna? or Greece?

The clock's ticking. Hehe.

P.S: Be back in Edinburgh tomorrow.

2009's Number One Post

2009-01-06T19:47:00.005Z

*clap clap clap clap clap*

woooheyy happy new yyyeearr!!

First things first, resolutions.
..
nope.
..
not now.
..
trip?
..
hmm, sounds about right.

Ok here goes!

Can I say .. that the past week was awesomeee!!! !11!!1!111!111
Edinburgh, London, Brussels, Paris and Shrewsbury was beautifulicious.
I want I want I want to say that I cannot wait to go to Europe again.
I also can't believe it's nearly been a year since the reunion last February. Concord's changed a lot.

Interesting fact, did you know that you could ride for free on Brussels' metro and trams? Cool right! Actually I didn't know I had to pay for tickets, there weren't any barriers or anything just a couple machines which I assumed you had to timestamp your ticket. Heheh sneaky.

Another interesting fact!

I miss driving againnnnn aaaaaaahh the car my parents rented to drive in the UK was so good to drive in, I mean the gearbox was smooth, transmission was a doll and not to mention I kept within the speed limits for once (maybe because there were speed cameras and my personal speed limit was somewhere between 80-90 mph)!

Ok ok, trivial things aside.. I'll be back in my room tomorrow night. For some strange reason I somehow miss it.

Heh. Things are gonna change now.

Oh Hai It's Christmas!

2008-12-25T17:45:00.003Z

Tomorrrrooooooooow is Boxing Day, and the day my family arrives at the airport. Woooo!

Actually, being home alone during the holidays bores the shit out of you. So what have I done in the past.. 5 days?

Nothing.
Nothingggggg.

Apart from breaking my own record in Geo Challenge on Facebook, playing Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 4 multiplayer, refreshing the same sites over and over again, streaming korean comedies and Family Guy, torrenting some old movies, and reading about Paris and Brussels...

nothingggggggggggggg

moving on...

I like my hair now. It's finally a new look after uhh.. forever. I think the last time i had it like this was 13 years old. Hang on, i'll get it up.. after the holidays.

Shit I ran out of stuff to write about.

So you see, boredom made me blog about being bored.
And bored would be my description of this year's Christmas.

Hehe, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year boys and girls!

Oh ya, New Year resolutions.
Last year around this time we met at Fred's house back in M'sia to ~~swap presents (oh wait that was D'licious Bangsar)~~ countdown the new year and make our resolutions. Fred's having fun with girls in the US now so I'm quite jealous of him.

I don't remember the other resolution but managed to do my first one. So I can cross that one out and make a new one!

Resolutions will come up next time because:
#1 : THEY ARE ~~FUC~~ HARD TO KEEP TO
#2 : I want to keep to my resolutions.
#3 : Ya 1 and 2 make a lot of sense.

Anyone who's reading this please msg me so I can talk back to you because I'm shitass bored over here on Christmas (I just had to add Christmas into this).

So bai boys and girls have a fun time this holiday season.
Me? I'm in hibernation mode. Sleeping until 2+pm, eating at irregular times, and constantly snacking. I'm surprised I still lose weight BUT I won't be surprised if my flatmates come back and say I'm fatter.

Ok chow's here. I'm gonna eat now.
and family guy..
and crunchyroll..
and watch movies..
~~and exercise..~~
and you don't wanna waste your holiday reading any more of this bullshit ok bye.

I ♥ Finance : repeat x 10000

2008-12-14T20:32:00.005Z

Somebody teach me about options, futures, swaps and risk valuation in capital markets. It's killing me. seriously.

Exam's in 66 hours.

AirAsia X

2008-11-25T18:24:00.005Z

The freaky AirAsia X is flying to London.

Ok a couple details, Air Asia X are going to be using long haul Airbus A340-300 aircrafts, smaller than the long haul 747s that we are used to. Flight hours will probably not be that different. (A340 @ 883km/h v. 747@917km/h)

Then it comes to the point that we all hate Air Asia for. Seat pitch.

Traditionally they used to have a pathetic seat pitch of 28" (That's the distance between the back of your seat to the back of the seat in front of you, greater pitches equal comfort)

Malaysia Airlines has a generous seat pitch of 34" compared to SQ's 32". There're conflicting reports that AirAsia X will have a seat pitch of 31" or 32".

Their premium seats will have seat pitches equal to MAS's business seats of 60".

Ok, fair enough. Then we have the issue of pricing.

A return will cost rm499 + £99 (rm545) , rm 1044. Ok lah it sounds pretty cheap. Landing in Stansted grants you a cheaper airport tax compared to Gatwick and a lot cheaper compared to Heathrow.

So.. after tax and.. gasp, zero fuel surcharge (I dont know whether Air Asia X has it or not). I'm putting the price tag at 2.8-3.2k rm.

Sounds pretty much like flying Qatar Airways.

I'm just gonna diss AirAsia X because my back and legs had a bad experience flying with their silly 28" seats. What about pilot experience? Someone else please let me know how it feels like sitting 12/13 hours on that.

I'd rather take my chances on other airlines.

It's That Good

2008-11-15T02:17:00.004Z

Hi guys, sorry I've been really quiet for about a month now.

I'm just gonna post this before i sleep.

When Fall Out Boy's latest album Folie Á Deux comes out in December, PLEASE BUY IT!
It's soooo magically good. really. it's that good.

Actually I've only heard two tracks,
I Don't Care and Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet. But these two alone are good enough to convince me that the whole album is musically excellent.

Ok, remember if you like it, I TOLD YOU SO!

Randomity

2008-10-15T01:21:00.003+01:00

It's a private emotion that fills you tonight
And a silence falls between us
As the shadows steal the light
And wherever you may find it
Wherever it may lead
Let your private emotion come to me
Come to me

This chorus is so stuck in my head now. I love it to bits!!
and to think that I've forgotten this song after so many years.

It's Ricky Martin & Meja by the way.

--
Haha!

Alright speaking of which, I just read today that Singapore is the first Asian country to drop into recession due to the crunch.

Dear Singaporeans, as your rough, dirty and terrorist backyard northern neighbours, I'll join the bandwagon of those who laugh at you, and say.. HAHA! Now who's in deep shit!

Seriously though, it's no wonder they're the first. GDP's nearly all into financials and imports, as a result of rapid globalisation without much to fall on behind. The next to get it will probably be Japan but that's so much more complicated than Singapore's case.

Malaysia? Thank god we had mahathirism. Slow, and steady. Hahaha but doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

..

Why can't I sleep now.
Gotta get stuff outta my head and stop thinking about it.

Purgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurge
purgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurge
purgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurgepurge

Forget. Forget. Forget.

Go away please emo thoughts. I don't want you.

Notice #1

2008-10-13T23:51:00.003+01:00

Apparently 70% of my passwords were leaked to a certain someone.

Let's hope she does not mess up my stuff as much as she screwed up my facebook. =)

Disconnecting

2008-10-12T01:47:00.000+01:00

I've been trying to look for that one clump of feelings to fill up a void. Seems like I still haven't found it. yet.

This isn't good. Why on earth did it happen.

It shouldn't happen. Not after 2 years.

It's Serious This Time Around

2008-10-03T11:56:00.004+01:00

HELLOOOO

It's been quite a while since I left KL for here, and during those times I haven't blogged at all heheh.

Here's something I'd need help thinking about.

Economics single or joint honours degree students are considered eligible to
participate in any exchange programme only if they have obtained an average mark
of 60 in their first year AND a mark of 60 or above in Economics 1A.

yadayadayada..

The selection process at College level normally entails attending an interview in late
November or early December. Offers to successful candidates are normally made in
late December, conditional on an appropriate programme of study being
available.

...

List of universities
Hong Kong University
Lund University (Sweden)
National University of Singapore
Queen's University
University of Auckland
University of British Columbia (UBC)
UC Berkeley
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Los Angeles (UCLA)
UC Riverside
UC San Diego
UC Santa Cruz
UC Santa Barbara
University of Melbourne
University of Pennsylvania
University of Toronto
University of Virginia
University of Washington

I've narrowed it down to probably.. 4.
UCLA, UPenn, UC Berkeley, & University of Toronto

Not sure whether I'd want to go for a year abroad in the US or not. Need some thinking through hmm.. any ideas?

i'm going to sleep now! i love u guys! love love! -muah!

Are You Smart Enough To Read This Blog?

2008-09-18T11:45:00.003+01:00

Alright, I stumbled upon this kickass widget on one of Shadowfox's posts.
So, I get a

Thought I'd might as well try it out on all the sites that are in my list --->
..
..
..
and a couple others.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

dnwq.livejournal.com
mt.m2day.org/2008
..

j-council.blogspot.com
angchoonseong.blogspot.com
wptan.blogspot.com
www.whitehouse.gov
..

jun182.blogspot.com
rantingsbymm.blogspot.com
..

kyspeaks.com
dingshyong.blogspot.com
www.chedet.com
..

kennysia.com
nicolekiss.blogspot.com
lifemadesimple-aj.blogspot.com
lifesocolourful.blogspot.com
josephineng.wordpress.com
dontforgetdreams.blogspot.com
michellelovesya.blogspot.com
..

timothytiah.blogspot.com
rojaks.blogspot.com
blueskiesturngrey.blogspot.com
tseqi-ng.blogspot.com
halo-bean.blogspot.com
rachelcsl.blogspot.com
seafoodmarket.blogspot.com
quaintly.net
vvens.com
sweatlee.blorc.com
xiaxue.blogspot.com
www.stevenlim.net
cheeserland.com
..

Do you see what I see here?

Behind The Backdrop

2008-09-14T08:02:00.000+01:00

Today we'll play the guessing game.

I've got my own reasons to believe that Pak Lah, (whom I still have some support for in this time and day), is a weak political pawn that's been put there by his predecessor.

Yes, a pawn.

The months of infighting that we've witnessed so far, have traversed onto a new page which so happens to be the same page back during our first PM Tunku Abdul Rahman's distressing times in the month of May 1969.

This time around, Harun Idris is played by, guess who!!
The Tunku with a shaky seat is played by... again, guess who!!
Tun Abdul Razak, the person who played a role in bringing down Tunku is played by.. come on guys, guess who!!

To be honest, the third guess couldn't be any tougher. We know that the recent tug-of-war between Najib and Anwar in the summer months of May to end July has benefitted only one person. Guess who! During this time, people who called for his resignation seemed to have quietened down, and he laughed his way to the bank, well not to the bank perhaps.

So, the question is now. Where does the deputy-in-waiting stand right now? Who could possibly stand to gain in this wayang, by making Pak Lah step down?

VP Muhyiddin Yassin, which IMO is a pretty clean guy, and whom I used to think was on Anwar's team pra-98, did the unexpected by, firstly, announcing Dr.M's comeback into UMNO, (for the umpteenth time), and later, saying that Pak Lah's transition plan in 2010 was too far away.

One may ask the obvious, Why, is the Tun returning back to the party at this hour? Surely, there could be some reason why. And I hope the Tun lets us know.

Pak Lah, has no means to defend himself at this point. I still maintain my support for him in these times, because there clearly isn't any candidate who's cleaner than him, apart from VP Muhyiddin imo.

The only question here is. Who's pulling the strings? And Who will walk away out of this free-for-all as the victor?

Remember, 912 is like 513, only 4 months after, and 4 days before 916.

Now This Is Funny

2008-09-11T19:46:00.002+01:00

Folks, go read this book now. Yes, I mean now. Run off to your nearest bookstore and get a copy now. No, you know what? Fuck it, who's gonna listen to my suggestions of a worthwhile book anyways?

Jon Stewart's America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction is the book I'm talking about, and it's entertaining yet factual as hell. It's written to look like a highschool textbook, complete with quizzes, do-its, factsheets, group discussion questions, classroom activity sections, and of course, lots of pictures.

Me putting it as Jon Stewart's book is just an euphemism of The Daily Show's entire team writing the book, you even get Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bees, and Ed Helms. The only person that's missing here is Rob Riggle. Where's Rob Riggle (and John Oliver)!?

You see, Rob Riggle is the man.
Not only is he a Senior Military Affairs Correspondent, he's also a Senior Military Analyst, Asian Coup Correspondent, Senior DNC(Democratic National Convention) Correspondent, Senior War Correspondent, Senior Olympics Correspondent, and a whole lot of other correspondments. Besides, you can't beat military experience, or so John McCain seems to put it. But that's another post for another day.

Anyway, you'll notice just from the picture above, that it says 'With a Foreword by Thomas Jefferson'.

Yes.
The Thomas Jefferson.

From about 200 years ago.

Doesn't it ring a bell?

The person who wrote the Declaration of Independence.

This guy.

I don't know how he came to be around 200 years later to write a foreword, but yeah, whatever.

The book separates itself into chapters, and heck it's useful. Not only did I learn about America, I learnt about the world.

Hahaha, words cannot describe how entertaining this book is to the average reader. Every section is equally humourous, and equally straight to the point.

Look at this, under Landmark Supreme Court Cases, together with Roe v. Wade (1973) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

or this commentary by Stephen Colbert.

Heck, even this explains how Nixon got his nickname.

If there's still not a smile or a grin or any sign of humanity on your smuglooking face, I give up. Go read Dilbert instead.

I loved the section on Congress (Chapter 4), The Future of Democracy (Chapter 8) and The Rest of the World (Chapter 9).

Politics 101? Screw it. Read this book instead.

The last time I checked, this book was worth RM82.90 at Times Pavilion. Hardback, with about 230 pages of kickass information. You can even play boardgames on it.

GET IT NOW!! Because I give it 8.5/10.

oh and get a hardcopy for me too please.

If not, Dick Cheney'll shoot you in the face.
Like what the Texas Monthly says.
Do It Now!!!

Kuwakchai

2008-09-05T10:53:00.002+01:00

I'm currently hooked on this game which Nick introed me to. It's a new online text-based game, something like realthugz. Only this time it's made in Malaysia.

Yeah that's right.
Kuwakchai.

It starts out with a nice intro.

Since the fall of notorious crime families throughout Malaysian cities, there has been a great power vacuum that many up and coming gangsters are trying to fill. Hangmen have recently been given pay raises, and the country is trying to put a stop on all major criminal activities, but there is just so much money to be made... Dealing drugs in Malaysia carries the death penalty, yet can pay very high. Prostitution is easier to get away with, and so is loan sharking or making and peddling fake goods. However you build your empire, be prepared to protect it.

Of course, you start out as a rookie, with RM100, and tempted into this world of infinite money and power. There's lots of things you can do in Kuwakchai.

Like stealing from Petpets'R'Us.

Like biao mei (表妹） trafficking.

But if you are a noob, Pudu Jail will be your next most visited place after the hospital. If I'm in a good mood I might just bust you out of jail lol.

This is how the interface looks like. From here you can see several things that you can already start doing. Merempit, Pergi Skolah, Go to Muar and find your local chicken den or casino, or just find someone to whack. I don't wanna spoil things for you, especially the jahat stuff part where there're lots of surprises waiting for you.

Interested already?

Here's the link.

http://kuwakchai.com?REF=3298

JOIN NOW AND BECOME MY MACHAI/KULI/SLAVE!
I'll guide you through the beginning, give you good targets to whack, money and points so you can level up fast. You also get 200 points back when you join under me.

Oh btw, visit here for beginner tips and join Fu Tao Bong, the best gang in Kuwakchai.

To Go Onto The Next Page

2008-08-28T06:51:00.004+01:00

After reading Malaysian Insider's article on the eventual crackdown on bloggers, I wasn't surprised to see today's headlines where MCMC issued a directive to all 21 ISPs to block Malaysia Today. Thankfully the blog owners have started a mirror site here. As of now, only TM has complied with the instructions. The rest will probably follow soon enough.

Links:
Here
Here
Here

I managed to dig out these.

Section 263:2 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 states that
"A licensee shall, upon written request by the Commission or any other authority,assist the Commission or other authority as far as reasonably necessary in preventing the commission or attempted commission of an offence under any written law of Malaysia or otherwise in enforcing the laws of Malaysia, including, but not limited to, the protection of the public revenue and preservation of national security."

Section 3:3 of the same act states that
"Nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting the censorship of the Internet."

Point 7 in the MSC Malaysia Bill Of Guarantee states that the Malaysian Government promises to "ensure no Internet censorship".

Is there a class action suit in the making? I sense some fervent desperation and dissent in our administration. We cannot be like our socialist-capitalist brethrens whose democratic system, which I assumed there is one, is barely skeletal.

Jihad in Permatang Pauh?

2008-08-27T10:14:00.003+01:00

Today we focus on a certain individual none other than Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Wanita UMNO deputy chief, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for Women and Social Development Affairs, former Women, Family and Community Development Minister, former Pantai MP. She's certainly got some colour under her belt.

Before the Permatang Pauh by-election, The Star reported that Wanita UMNO declared it's campaign as jihad.

I'm not in this position to comment, but isn't jihad a little inappropriate, irrelevant, and over-the-head? Perhaps she's signalling that Wanita UMNO.. or indirectly, UMNO is desperate?

These are just a couple of personal attacks and threats that she made about Anwar, assuming the 'he' in her statement refers to Anwar.

“It is a jihad because this individual should not be given the chance to destroy the country’s political stability and prosperity.

“If we allow him to lead the country, he would lead us to destruction,”

From my understanding on politics, Anwar's just running for parliament. What's this about prime ministerialship?

Please enlighten me, Datuk. I'm afraid I'm not as knowledged as you are on this. Could she be implying that there's a mood of certainty that Anwar will be PM by Sept 16? But it couldn't be, because Mahathir and Muhammad Taib both said that Anwar couldn't get 30MPs.

With all this ruckus going on between Anwar and Najib, Abdullah's laughing all the way to the bank. Mahathir seems to have a personal grudge on his handpicked successors, and is contemplating leaving Malaysia for good if Anwar gets in, Khairy's poking about and is maintaining that Anwar is a tool of the Americans and will sell the country to them yada yada.

The drama seems to be getting better.

A Bigger Slap

2008-08-26T14:34:00.004+01:00

I never bothered to care much about Permatang Pauh, but this time around there're a couple theories that are in play here in this by-election.

BN, probably poured a lot more money into this than they poured into Ijok to stop Khalid Ibrahim from entering. But the unofficial vote's in.

Anwar wins by an overwhelming majority of 16,210 votes., getting 26,646 beating Arif Shah's 10,436. Here's where I got it from.

This is in fact more than the last election majority of 13,388 that his wife, Wan Azizah took. Not only is this another defeat for BN, but another psychological defeat as the margin is increased even further.

Let's see what happens in the next couple of days.

Edit: Anwar got 31,195 votes, Arif Shah 15,524. Anwar wins by majority of 15,671.

WUI WTF

2008-08-20T12:29:00.005+01:00

And here's the next item on the news.

Avril's concert is cancelled WTF NIABET.

Not that I'm going but it's nice to have Avril come down to KL for a change instead of Alan Tam or Hacken Lee bullshit. Apparently we have approached a laima 奶妈 attitude similar to our southern brethrens, that our citizens have to be given tender love and care similar to babies, and that the concert being on the 29th of August is too close to the Merdeka festivities and Ramadan period, which spoils the Merdeka mood by corrupting young souls with pop and rock and whiteskin influences. Alan Tam is coming to Genting on Aug 22 and what he's singing is not pop? Don't bullshit me please.

As you can see, semua sebenarnya benci orang putih, little bit also protes sini protes sana. No need to give such a lousy reason hai mai?

Come on guys, she's probably one of the cleanest artists from the West.
Sigh.

For the conspiracy theorists.. maybe the ministry decided that they'd like to give Anwar the upper hand by frustrating many youngsters' hopes of seeing Avril, whom in return will direct their anger towards the federal government, hence creating a lot of emo votes for Anwar. For all you know Anwar brokered a deal with Shafie a couple nights before to cancel Avril's concert just to get votes.

Or maybe Shah Alam was the wrong place to hold a concert. Maklumlah, the place itself is devoid of entertainment outlets. Patutlah bangkang. Even Genting also don't want to be in Selangor land.

The bottom line is..
Don't give them Singaporeans, Thais, and bastard shoelicking Malaysians anymore reason to laugh at us! Guess where're they gonna go if Malaysia's not gonna let them perform? Boohoo poor little KL's gonna be left in the dust.

You don't give your neighbours the opportunity you dumb shits!

Frustrating.
Ok la end post. Another emo moment after Lee Chong Wei gets owned at the finals (emo MAX) and proceeds to Permatang Pauh, either through foolish choices or manipulation,(emo dikompaunkan x1000) to get his rm300k on a jet provided by the MoD.

Edit: It's on after all, at Stadium Merdeka. Woooooooooop!

Pretty Good Lessons

2008-08-20T11:07:00.000+01:00

Just got back from Genting yesterday, and on the way down I thought of making a list of great tracks.

Not your everyday radio hit.

CLUB HITS.
Yeah that's what I'm talking about. You know I'm a freak for techno, dance, electronica and eurobeat.

I've been going on a 3-month streak listening to ~~Mandarin/Cantonese /Korean/Japanese~~ east asian pop. So it's about time I get back to these babies.
So here goes, a rookie's top 15 tracks (because these are just too good), in reverse order from #15 -> #1

Zombie Nation - Kernkraft 400
Mr Bronkz - Knock (T-Headz aka. Tobb C. Remix)
Benny Benassi - Put Your Hands Up
Eurofunk - Stop To Give Up
Alphazone - Flashback
Ayla - Ayla Part II (Radio Mix)
Stonebridge ft Isabel - Chlorophilia
IKON - Breaking (All Good Funk Alliance Remix)
Booty Luv - Dance Dance
Barbara Tucker - Love Vibrations (Josh Harris Club Mix)
Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Ganjaguru - Basscontrol
Kreo - Burn For You
Global Deejays - One Night In Bangkok (Club Mix)
Global Deejays - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Royal Gigolos Club Mix)

xx

There's a reason why Global Deejays are #1 and #2 . You see I first heard this tune a couple days ago, and it's addictive. Partly because my library lacks a little electronica fusion, and partly because the benny benassi effect is just epic.

Ok, tamat.

Now all you'll have to do is be a good girl, and wait for the next post.

Shorty Geddit

2008-08-11T19:06:00.006+01:00

Shorty had them apple bottom jeans
Boots with the fur
The whole club was looking at her
She hit the flo'
Next thing you know
Shorty got low low low low low low low low

Them baggy sweat pants
And the Reeboks with the straps
She turned around and gave that big booty a smack
She hit the flo'
Next thing you know
Shorty got low low low low low low low low

xxx
This used to be the shits.

But.. change song NOW.
Because I heart it everywhere I go.
And I've been listening to it for about 5 months straight now.
On the radio, at the pasar malam, on my mate's phone, at the shops, the clubs, EVERYHHHWHERE.

It's one thing to be a hit, another to be a big pain in the ass.

So I liked it when I first heard it back in March or so. Then when I got back in May the radio stations started to play it as a hit, then the clubs, then the pasar malams, then people started requesting for it.

DAMN YOU OUTDATED PEOPLE.

Seriously, this thing is old school.
Time for some Epiphany.

By T-Pain.
or some Akon and Kardinal Offishall.

Hopefully Hitz.FM / Fly FM reads this and starts playing some T-Pain.
Especially this wicked tune.

or this.

Cherish ft Yung Joc - Killa

So..
get on wit it and stop playing Low. It's getting too much bloody airtime. Besides, RnB nights suck. Slow beats, lousy remixes, and all you do on the dance floor is mash a couple bodies up while shaking your ass .. or hips.. or boobees.

Btw, check this out. Is that a babe in photo #2. OMG HELLO HOW ARE YOU?

Sigh, all the pok pok chui girls are clubbing. I'll go to KL clubs when I'm 20 next year.

Let Me Just Trace U Back

2008-08-06T18:11:00.006+01:00

We go.. today to the start of the uh.. holiday season back in May.

Ui! Freaking fast my holiday 60% gone d..

I vaguely remember May, except for SS2 sunshine buns, Puchong dimsum, couple of futsal sessions, one K session and a couple rounds of mamak and watching My Wife Is A Gambling Maestro.

Cheung Ka-Fai might have lost a bit of his touch but he's still fai.

June was Euro month.

Ah plus Ben was back mid-June. Blur blur blur.. futsal, movie, and the big Perhentian blast. Then movie futsal futsal futsal futsal futsal futsal movie and Ben goes away.

And that was about 3 weeks ago.

Boohoooooo time flies..

I'm not mentioning the serious stuff that I did during the summer. ~~Like uh.. going for AGMs, attending a launch, getting my first paycheck, learning about technical analysis, researching the local property market, studying the KLDP2020~~ ops.

Anyhoos, as the days flow nearer towards September, I have this dreadyish feeling that I always have before I leave somewhere. So I have to prepare myself mentally. Mmmm..

Never mind. I'll just stare at this emo poster of Stephy and Alex which I kinda like.
Why my posts so uncohesive one..sigh.

The Routine Haircut

2008-08-05T13:18:00.012+01:00

If you haven't noticed anything you must be
i. New.
ii. Blind.
iii. Ignorant.
iv. Too cool to notice.

or this blog didn't matter to you.

Anyhoo I've got a whole lot of posts that I've planned out in drafts.

It might come as sudden to me and you but blogging to me is not something constant that I oblige myself to, especially during the holidays where I have better things to do than to be cooped up in my room. But it's probably about 3 months into my summer holiday and I'm really bored now. So yeah.. back to routine stuff, this included.

Pssst I'm gonna let you in on something.
..
..
.. The next few posts will be about my holiday so far!
..
.. Suspens leh!

Cut!

2008-08-04T18:41:00.003+01:00

I've decided to go with a new direction with this blog. And that direction will be.. towards development, property, business and all that moolah. All this because I'm starting to gather research and knowledge about the business world with summer approaching an end.

And as I learn, I'll write a post about it so that my 1 or 2 readers will hopefully benefit from it as well haha.

So.. expect a post in a day or so!

*runs off*

is not back.

2008-07-20T18:46:00.002+01:00

I've been delaying my posts just because I don't really feel like blogging. But then these few days really seem monotonous, with school and everything, although it feels like a short time has just passed, it's really more than half of my holiday which blew past.

I have about 2 more months before I go back to Edin.. no.. that's pretty short. I realise I have to sides to myself, a malaysian side, and an overseas side. I've been struggling to keep these two sides in check, it's either one or the other and never both together.

So I'm here to say sorry, for neglecting this blog. And this time I'm really back, both sides baby.

is Back.

2008-06-27T10:42:00.003+01:00

Finally something to spur me up enough to get typing on this.

I loved Perhentian. Epic adventure.

xxx//Will update in due time when I get more pictures.

Pulling Through

2008-05-06T13:28:00.002+01:00

I've got a last minute boost of motivation.

By Friday evening I'll be walking the streets of London. Saturday, I'll be waiting at the airport. Come Sunday morning.. I'll be having dim sum in Sri Petaling.

WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Drive.
Futsal.
Cyber.
Mamak.
Movies.
Hanging Out.
Cheap food.
Lots of cheap food.
Shopping Malls.
Traffic jams.
~~Too~~ hot weather.
Thunderstorms.
Smell of grass and trees.
Friends.
Family.
Home.

Sex and Men

2008-05-04T22:58:00.006+01:00

With all the hoohaa about the issue that Rais Yatim brought up regarding travelling single women having to ask for consent blablabla.. I'm having a good laugh at the whole thing.

Women all over the country are probably going to have an out-of-time period this month after hearing this news and what I have to say about it.

Call me a egoistic/masochistic/sexist pig if you want to, my opinion remains my own. Yes, I know I'm only 19/still inexperienced/ haven't gone into the real life/ haven't seen the world/ dumb. Besides, it's only what I think of it, so why take it out of context? So, please READ this carefully, or else don't even bother wasting your prospective 3 minutes reading the following paragraphs.

I'm going to generalise here. Women.. are dumb. Dumb as heck. Men intelligence and wit fairly surpasses women intelligence. This is why, men have natural dominance. Males lead the pack, hunt for food, feed the family and fight for their values. You feminists are bloody stuck up. If you argue that women should be given equal rights, tell that to the fucking animals ok? Don't tell that to us men.

However, that's if I am .. not a gentleman. I too, like many other men, feel the pain suffered by victims of crime. Being a woman doesn't make it particularly easy because other men target women who are generally thought of as weaker and easier targets.

I too, will fight for women in their fight against sexual oppression. I too, disagree with policies that do not make sense. I too, will not want my spouse or partner to be locked up in the house.

So, to get back to the main point, the ministry's idea was dumb. I take it that they were trying to help out women in a good way, just that they thought of the wrong idea. Frankly, the idea itself is ridiculous and only warrants thoughts of radical Islamisation that's creeping into our secular country.

I want women to go out, I want women to dress down (in fact, I don't even want women to wear clothes), I want women to be able to get high paid jobs too. But women, will have to depend less on men to achieve that, and more on themselves. The issue of conmen targeting housewives is one. WHO THE FLYING FUCK STILL GETS CONNED IN THIS AGE AND TIME?! DON'T YOU HAVE FUCKING BRAINS?! IF IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! (Some men are also stupid enough to fall for this). So women, don't walk like a slut, be more aware of your surroundings and not be a dumb first-world blonde, don't open your wallets in public, don't even dare walk alone in a dark street or empty carpark lot. Don't accept drinks from strangers. yada yada the list goes on.

To put it straight, women are gullible. Women aren't very alert of their surroundings. Women trust other people too easily. Women take things for granted. And because a lot of men perceive females as the weaker race (physically, and in terms of survivability), you have to buck up and break that mentality, fight back, show those asshole men that you are not a chick to be screwed around with. Kick men in the balls when you don't like them, show them you mean business. I'm not denying that there are a lot of gullible guys out there as well, that there are equally as much wusses amongst males as well. They are safe only because of the protection that the general male race is able to give them (that men are not to be screwed around with).

Hence, I end my argument. This new policy by the Foreign Ministry is rubbish. But to the future critics that say "All you men are sexist pigs", I'd say this, in the end you'll have to depend on men so don't get on our nerves too much, go tell your fellow sisters to not be such easy targets, and we'll warn our fellow brothers to stop targeting women. Simple as said. For all you know the next thing that's come up will be, all men need consent from their wifes to go overseas (so they don't sneak off into China to find their mistresses).

And now, I'll wait for the flames, hopefully this aluminium foil I bought off Tesco helps.

Warm and Hot

2008-05-03T19:47:00.003+01:00

It's under a week before I leave the UK homebound.
walan.. I can't wait.

Today's question is this.

Toilet seats. One of humanity's best invention ever.

Here's the scenario which I thought of while taking a piss in the loo. Guys usually have a couple of places to aim, illustrated here. The aim, is usually to keep the piss as quiet as you can. Unless.. the person just likes making a blast out of pissing.

Point X will always be the optimum section to aim your stream at. Why X? Because this gives the least noise, reduces the chance of your own piss splashing out, and is in a perfect position. Some people prefer to shoot at the northeast, and northwest as well. That's fine. East and west.. you're probably aiming badly. Now, if you happen to be pissing into the lowest 3 sections, you better go make an appointment with the GP.

Some people LOVE to drop the load smack in the middle, creating about 4-6 seconds of bombastic sound effects, maybe because they like it.

So, the question remains, why on earth can't guys repeat this amazing feat of not getting piss all around the floor with the toilet seat down? The hole probably got smaller, but if we're so good at aiming into section X or even smack into the pool of water, what difference does that make!

Hence, another example of mankind's toughest challenges.

P.S: Did anyone tell you that 18°C is HOT?

Shaky Shoulders

2008-04-25T22:51:00.001+01:00

There are times when humanity looks back at their decisions and wonder whether it was right in the first place. Am I repeating that mistake?

When I first felt the urge to be take on posts of power, there was an aura of determination and confidence all about. That was 5 months back in December. Now, as I write it, I am not writing it with the aforementioned aura. 5 months later, I am nervous.

To understand the situation, I'll have to let you know a bit about my past. Back then, I was a nobody. Ordinary student with academic results at the back of the first class. Never a prefect. Never a librarian. Not a good sportsman either. Substitute for football and basketball games. Only took part in the march past. No society positions. My greatest achievement? Being a committee member in a fund-raiser project in high school, scoring 7As in SPM and ABBac in A-levels.

Now after 19 years, I suddenly felt the need to step up in society. Secretary for the Buddhist Society. Great. Running for the post of Vice President in the Edinburgh Malaysian Students Association. What next? A union post?

Axxu, which happens to be a great person, once told me, it doesn't matter whether you lose or win this election, the difference is that you were bold enough to step up to the challenge. This piece of wisdom, is what keeps me going right now, when I feel like giving up.. like last time. I never ran for posts because I wasn't bold enough, I didn't sign up to be a prefect because I thought I couldn't handle the job. I never even tried.

I am trying now, and I sure as hell am not going to let my weakness show.

P.S: I call upon divine assistance for tomorrow's EMSA AGM, and Monday's Economics exam which I still have 14 chapters to cram. *crosses fingers*

Midway Exam Strategy

2008-04-23T20:31:00.004+01:00

This problem has been around since forever. Here's how it goes graphically,

Aiya I forgot to add the axes.

The graph shows concentration vs time, so as normal people are, my concentration goes up as I approach an exam. About a couple of weeks beforehand I usually start preparing notes and get a good understanding of the uh.. subjects.

Here's a hypothetical situation. There are 3 papers in my finals.

A week before the first paper.
3 nights before the first paper.
The morning of the first paper. Damn tense because first exam, you know, the oommph, the momentum.
Right after the first paper.
3 nights before the 2nd paper.
2 nights before the 2nd paper. I forgot to add another one right after it but that's the night before.
The morning of the 2nd paper.
Who doesn't slack after their papers right?
The cycle starts again.
Notice the concentration rises at a higher rate than before the 2nd paper. Going back soon! Final push!
Climax aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

You see, the problem is that I am a sloth in the middle of my exams. Henceforth today I've devised a strategy called the Midway Exam Strategy to 'provide a temporary much-needed boost' for my second exam. Here's the projected result if it succeeds.
Right after the initial slump, the MES will successfully prop up concentration levels to provide a supernormal rate of increase. Great success.

The contents of the MES are uh.. not known because I haven't gotten to plan it yet. In fact I think I'll only manage to complete the plan after my second exam next Monday, which .. won't be of any use anymore because then it wouldn't be midway, and that if I do get down to it but I won't because the exam's 4 days away. So essentially, planning the MES is useless.. because.. then it wouldn't be helping out my second exam when it is supposed to, or would it?

*boof*

So.. did I just waste 20 minutes typing this?

B is for..

2008-04-21T00:43:00.003+01:00

Bye Business!
My paper is ... over! Yay!

Not.

I'm so gonna fail this.

But no.. I have to have the confidence.

Ah yes, confidence is what stirs up girls, no?

However when you look at 765 pages in the business textbook, you instantly reflect upon yourself and ask, "What the flying fuck did you do over the last week?!"

Sigh, I really hope I can pass this paper.

Anyway, just a sidenote, I'm running for posts in EMSA and Buddhist Soc! This marks the start.. or rather the beginning of awesome me. The HK legacy hence begins.

A second note: I'm actually going bonkers in my own room because of these exams. Need prescriptions, or sedatives, or someone to pay me 100pounds per chapter. Please? I need the incentive =)

Lala!

2008-04-15T01:14:00.004+01:00

I'm bored.
Very bored.

Because all I did and am going to do is study.
Wake up. Eat. Study. Eat. Study. Sleep.
For about 22 days.

Besides, I'm feeling munchy at the moment.

Munch munch.

Epiphany

2008-04-13T16:46:00.002+01:00

Eh your blog die already ah? or Why haven't you been blogging? are the brightest questions to ask me at this moment. Truth is, I didn't have the time to sit down with a clear head and just type. Not before, not now, and not in the coming month.

I have 27 days till the flight to KL.

and I'm absolutely thrilled at the thought of it. 9 days to the 1st exam, 6 days to the 2nd and another 9 days before the final exam.

An 18-week holiday. O M G!

Besides, the brightened greens outside the window now instantly warp me to memories of home. I should probably sit outside in the Meadows and take in the occasional seagull call. Why's there so much literary I don't know. Right now, all I'm yearning for is the smell, heat and humidity of the godblessed Malaysian air.

To 18 weeks of bliss. Hell yeah.

It Happened In 384 Hours

2008-04-06T23:28:00.003+01:00

The last time a post went up, there was David, David and Jun and Shaun. Shaun left for Aberdeen a day after CoM. Soon after, one David went back to Loughborough. Then XY came up on the 24th, and now she's in Spain. Fast forward nearly 2 weeks, and Jun goes back to Glasgow. In under a week from now, David goes back to Oxford after crashing with me for 5 weeks.

and by then, I'll be a lonely man/boy.

When that happens, I'll be counting down the gloomy days to KL. 9 days to my 1st exam on the 22th, 6 days from then to my 2nd exam, and another 9 days to my 3rd exam, and a final 2 days before I haul my ass to Paul's place in London.

and that marks the end of my first year in university.

I need a pint now. Pints are the teh tarik in this side of the planet heheheh.

Everyone Wants To Be Us

2008-03-21T20:02:00.003Z

The last two weeks were a blackout moment. Looking back at it, it passed, real fast. Somehow preparations for CoM came and gone with a snap. My room was maxed beyond capacity for about 4 nights or so, and I was burning money as if it was hell money. There was much alcohol involved, and so much good fun like freeflow beer.

And there are only 49 more days, exactly 7 weeks till the day I fly back home for the summer holidays.

Easter holidays has already started, and effectively my first year of studies has ended. Right after easter, it's exam season and I proudly say that I have the earliest finals, starting on the 22nd of April, and ending on May 7th.

I've already found a flat for next year, staying with Michelle, Stephanie, Lindsey and Adrian at a great place. and Amsterdam's already calling my name. It's my first trip to Europe, and that without my family as well, so it's a completely new experience to me.

My friends and family have all been a blessing to me, assimilating to different social groups certainly took it's time but it's great now, and I'm loving every bit of it. I love my family, my friends both in KL and various cities in the UK and worldwide, my adopted home/city, my birthcity (KL, born and raised yo!)

Never have I been feeling so guilty and yet blissful at the same time. Is this what mentally breaking into adulthood feels like? I've never felt such liberation before, but it sure feels ecstatic.

In short, life just turned fun.

Offline

2008-03-17T18:06:00.000Z

Not having internet connection at the moment, so.. chill. I'll be back blogging in a few days.

Excitetion!

2008-03-08T20:41:00.001Z

All the boring posts I have made in the past years, are worth every single second I've spent on it.

Just a brief overview, MCA, MIC and Gerakan lose big.

Opposition takes Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and KL.

KL
The previous seats of Bukit Bintang, Cheras, Kepong and Seputeh (I'm under this one! - DAP won with 36,000 majority!! :D) all won by DAP with increased majority. While BN lost the seats of Batu, Wangsa Maju, Segambut, Titiwangsa, Lembah Pantai and Bandar Tun Razak.

Batu - PKR's Tian Chua wins MCA's Datuk Lim Si Pin (Deputy Speaker in the Dewan Rakyat)

List of important people who lost:
Kuantan - Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow (BN-MCA) loses his seat to PKR's Fuziah Salleh.

Bandar Tun Razak - Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho (BN-MCA) loses to PKR's Khalid Ibrahim.

Sungai Petani - Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin (BN-UMNO) loses to PKR's Johari Abdul.

Lembah Pantai - Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (BN-UMNO) lost to PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar.

Hulu Selangor - Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk G. Palanivel (BN-MIC)loses to PKR's Zainal Abidin Ahmad.

PJ Utara - Parliamentary Secretary of Women, Family and Community Development Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun (BN-MCA) loses to DAP's Tony Pua.

PJ Selatan - Deputy Minister of Tourism Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai (BN-MCA)loses to PKR's Hee Loy Sian.

Taiping - Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk M Kayveas (BN-PPP)loses to DAP's Nga Kor Ming.

Padang Rengas - Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Nazri Aziz (BN-UMNO) wins by a slim majority of 1749 votes.

Kuala Kangsar - Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Rafidah Aziz (BN-UMNO) wins by a slim majority of 1458 votes.

Sungai Siput - Works Minister Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu (BN-MIC)loses to PKR's Dr. M Jeyakumar.

Batu Kawan - Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (BN-Gerakan) loses to DAP's Dr P Ramasamy.

Bukit Bendera - Deputy Information Minister Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye (BN-Gerakan) loses to DAP's Liew Chin Tong.

Teluk Intan - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Datuk Mah Siew Keong (BN-MCA) loses to DAP's M. Manogaran.

Lumut - Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Kong Cho Ha (BN-MCA) wins by a slim majority of 158 votes.

Wangsa Maju - Parliamentary Secretary of Federal Territories Yew Teong Look (BN-MCA)loses to PKR's Wee Choo Keong.

Kapar - Parliamentary Secretary of Education Datin Paduka P. Komala Devi (BN-MIC) loses to PKR's S Manikavasagam.

also Jerai - Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-UMNO) (google him) lost.

---
So expect changes to these positions. And since Health Minister Datuk Chua Soi Lek (BN-MCA) resigned, Water, Energy and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik (BN-MCA) and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy (BN-MCA) both aren't running for parliament this year, another three main portfolios are to be handed to other people.

Before the elections, BN in Perak were very confident about their standing and even listed several black areas into grey areas. Looks like.. they were wrong.

Overall, Gerakan is pretty much shattered with their state chiefs in Perak and Penang losing their seats, and winning only 2 out of 12 parliamentary seats contested. MCA's nightmare of 2004 when they lost the 2 Ipoh seats to DAP along with several state seats continued in 2008 .. to the extent that DAP will form the next state government in Perak.

PKR won surprisingly in Selangor, which I initially thought would be a stronghold for several MCA and MIC stalwarts. Kelana Jaya, Subang, Puchong, PJ Utara and PJ Selatan were the hot seats that fell to the opposition.

The Kota Melaka and the 3 state seats under it all went to DAP. Seremban also went to the DAP. So did Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Kuantan fell to PKR. KL is opposition controlled now from having 4 seats by DAP in 2004 to 10 seats today. Penang which was Gerakan's bastion now lay in ruins.

I can safely say that the capitals of each state excluding Johor Bahru (sigh.. this place again), Perlis and Kuala Terengganu, FT Putrajaya and Labuan are now opposition controlled. Sungai Petani (PKR), Georgetown (DAP), Ipoh (DAP), Shah Alam (PKR), KL (DAP & PKR), Melaka/Malacca (DAP), Seremban (DAP), Kota Bahru (PAS), Kuching (DAP) and Kota Kinabalu (DAP).

Urban voters are clearly angry at the government.

Whooppiiieee! I am still shocked from when I first found out the results about 8 hours ago. and please, do not provoke and taunt other people. Let those who lost learn that it is only natural.

A Dictator Dictates

2008-03-05T14:53:00.003Z

There's been a few anti-establishment emails circulating here and there because of the general election. All of them contain quotes from MPs, and ministers. All of them are so factual they make your maths textbook look like Enid Blyton's books.

All of them play the race card.

These useless pricks apparently have a lot of free time to start inciting tensions here and there. Sure, you mention that 99.9999% of the army is made up of ethnic Malays, that Petronas employs 0.0000001% ethnic Chinese, that the police force is another 99.99999% Malay composed, that government jobs are completely taken by Malays, that scholarships are not given away fairly, and blablabla.

You know what I think? Go screw yourselves. You know only to complain, complain and complain. and to brainwash people into your skewed way of thinking.

Let's go back to '99 shall we. The government nearly lost the northern states of Kedah and Perlis, and was propped up by whose votes? You and your ah beng votes for BN apparently because you were soooo afraid of Keadilan and PAS. Who's complaining now?

Frankly speaking, other people of my likes and I care more about the state of the nation's economy than petty things such as race. Because, why? we were worried enough to swim deeper into Malaysian politics, we were more concerned to educate myself on what's actually right and what was bullshit. we were fortunate enough to have good friends and smart enough not to coop ourselves in a shell, and not be stuck in that loop of stupidity and propaganda. Are you? No. People of your likes are lazy, who feed on other people's words and lies, and like to be spoonfed. Whenever something pops up, you just jump on it and start pointing fingers around. You, like to play the blame game. That's the difference between your kind and my kind.

.. and that's all that matters.

2 In The Morning

2008-03-03T02:08:00.002Z

So here I am, finally typing out some words while waiting for my flatmate to get back. The past weeks were about essays here and there but I'm so glad I'm already finished with it. Wasn't quite a busy weekend, apart from the SingSoc Food Festival, flat-viewing and a couple of performance/dance practices. Here's a shot at what's up this week.

Posters.. posters.. posters.. posters.. posters..
Ticket Sales
Visit from hairstylist :P

and there's the superficial stuff

accommodation for Amsterdam!
accommodation for next year!

and the less important ones

study and revise notes.

For some weird reason, I feel a lot messier and occupied this term, than last term. Easily seen from the amount of time I spend sleeping. What used to be a comfortable and lazy 9-10 hours of sleep has now become 7 hours.

No, not from 12 to 7 or 11 to 6. 2.30+am till 9. Maybe it's because of the sun blazing through the window in the morning. Speaking of which, it's getting into spring already! and the exam timetable is out. My finals start on the 22nd of April, and end on the 7th of May with three exams spread throughout. This means I could be back in M'sia 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Hoho!!

Ah good times. Gonna hit the snooze button now, sigh I'll get my flatmate to ring me when he gets back later. By the way, Lynyrd Skynyrd's good music for staying up at 2 in the morning.

P.S: Did I say this? Edinburgh Malaysian Students Association (EMSA) is having their first ever Malaysian Night, which is called Colours of Malaysia. Tickets go for £9, includes a main course with a choice of starters and dessert, as well as performances, both cultural and modern.

Venue: Southside Community Centre, 117 Nicolson St, Edinburgh EH8 9ER.
Date: 15 March 2008.

You know who to approach for tickets. Then again it's useless because no one ever reads this blog :D

I Was Gonna Post But..

2008-02-25T13:30:00.002Z

Got two deadlines on Thursday noon so the reunion post will come a bit later.

*check this space for updates*

Running Out Of Titles

2008-02-19T18:41:00.004Z

The most obvious question now probably is why am I blogging instead of mugging books. Well there's.. no answer to it. I'm having this sort of accomplished feeling after finishing one of my essays, It's like being high after a night of success at the battlefield or something omg my examples are rubbish. Besides, the deadline's 9 days away, and .. I've written.. nothing. But it's still a long way.

Anyway, trivial stuff away.. Ben said this in a chat earlier on.

ben says (6:38 PM):
ur blog doesnt speak on how u spent ur vday
ben says (6:38 PM):
what a fucking loser
HK : teehk.blogspot.com says (6:38 PM):
hahaha
HK : teehk.blogspot.com says (6:38 PM):
i never even celebrated it
HK : teehk.blogspot.com says (6:38 PM):
hence the word boycott
HK : teehk.blogspot.com says (6:39 PM):
and completely ignorance of that day
ben says (6:40 PM):
oh
ben says (6:40 PM):
i want to but cannot celebrate
ben says (6:40 PM):
what a loser

This year I had a strict .. what do you call it .. dogma to follow. I was going to boycott Valentine's Day. It was a success! .. sort of. Nevertheless the day started out with friends wishing me Happy Valentine's Day, but I told them I was boycotting it. Nothing out of the ordinary happened that day either. I had a thousand words to write so my eyes glued to the screen looking at e-journals. Made no mention of it either.. until now.

Valentine's is .. a whole load of false hype. I mean, there's no reason to celebrate it when it's all commercialised and expensive right? Restaurants have special menus intricately designed to steal your spare change, the whole world's suddenly filled with slow, sexy music, flowers start becoming so much more expensive, couples start becoming super affectionate towards each other, even friends wish love to each other.

The point is, why not everyday be Valentine's Day instead of a special day where everyone suddenly becomes a deity of love and sex. Is love sent and received on that day meant to be special? Is the Valentine's Night sex super intense just because it's Valentine's Night? Is a rose sent on VDay not any different from a rose sent on the day after?

It's only when you are single, that you realise how much emotions screw you over. People become irrational (don't speak of the word in front of me I'll go crazy) when in love. People can do crazy things no single bachelor/ette will do in love.

Sigh.

On that day itself, it's also a strong reflection on myself when everyone else is celebrating love. Why la am I still single at 19 years old. But at least I'm still 19 not 29 or 39 =P. Few girls have caught my attention since a big breakup about 2 years ago. The few that have, I've either not dared to approach them, or stand aside and watch as I drift away from them.. somehow.

I've done a lot of self-reflection since the breakup and have constantly questioned my actions before doing it so I don't screw up. It's been somewhat of a help, and I've ~~matured~~ became more boring considerably fast in 2 years. In the case of attraction, I've accustomed myself to being single and lusting after ladies. Besides, certain remnants from the previous relationship is still there, when I have already steamrolled the whole thing about a year ago. Add some other reasons in, and you get a very reluctant and slightly nervous to be attached person. Me.

Ahh, shouldn't be emo-ing now. *stops* Because I am going back to Concord College this weekend! Yays. Glasgow here I come on Thursday and Shrewsbury the day after! =D I can't wait to catch up with other buddies. The Scots are gonna rock CC, all 8 of us.. Shaun, Jun, Steph, Mich, Lindsey, SueAnne and YanMei! .. except Adrian who doesnt want to go =( boo.

To Start Talking About The Pound

2008-02-18T16:12:00.004Z

Since I've been in the UK for about 2 years already, and will continue to be in for another 3.5 years, national issues have begun to be important already, since money's involved. One interesting political headline is the nationalisation of Northern Rock. It's an interesting issue because firstly it's the first bank run in nearly a century. Secondly, it has damaged the UK, notably the City's reputation, as a financial centre.

After the announcement of the nationalisation bill today, sterling pound's exchange rate fell by 0.5% to the dollar, and on a more relevant comparison, fell by another 0.006% to rm6.28 to the pound. It's been in a sort of a freefall since last October when the subprime issue started affecting Q3 and Q4 performance results in the US.

Comparatively there's also been a slowdown in the UK, (note, when I say the UK I don't include Scotland, no one actually does that) as seen with slowing home sales, and rising defaults. So the Bank of England has cut rates from 5.75% to 5.25% since December. However, a cut in rates and a drop in the exchange rate due to multiple factors has led to higher import costs, raising the CPI. So the wide perception is that the Bank will not cut rates below 4.75%, because of fears of inflation.

Oh well, I hope the pound doesnt fall anymore because I'm going to Amsterdam and I need more euros!! Let it fall against the ringgit hahahaha! It's good for students.

The Things People Say

2008-02-17T16:23:00.003Z

There is now 17 days left till polling day. I'll be taking a stronger stance albeit on a neutral basis in the effort to lobby for a better future. Points and questions will be made in notes for emphasis, and on a semi-regular basis. (Maybe not.)

Note #1: Ignore issues on race and religion. Just ignore it you dumb religious freaks. Take a step back to clear your head from biases. They affect irrational behaviour. So what the government says is actually true, only from a different perspective. Don't use your freaking emotions to vote. Use your brains. If you can't understand that. You're clearly .. not smart enough to vote, and deserve to vote with your ass of a brain.

Note #2: Are bloggers who dabble in the socio-political scene anti-establishment? Those that write without facts or popular backing, are. Those that provide points, or are part of a bigger social group that's trying to provide a more constructive, and alternative point of view, are essentially, individuals providing their point of view. Should you believe them? It's like when a stranger tells you not to don't play with fire because it's dangerous, while another stranger tells you to wear fire-resistant gloves and play with fire, just because you're protected and you should feel the thrill of playing with fire. Alternative POVs on the same issue, with different outcomes, but you decide.

Note #3: Do you trust your ministers? Do you trust your police force? Do you trust your medical care system? Do you trust the transparency and accountability of all the above?

Note #4: Economy, personal finance and welfare. Do you feel threatened by the stagnating wages of your job? Do you feel that the spread in banks are ridiculously high? Do you feel threatened that as a resource-rich country, we are feeling poor? All these are the down-the-chain effects of mismanagement, and self-greed that's involved with the upper echelons of society.

Note #5: Did the Lingam saga show how deep in, certain individuals have ties to the ruling party? Doesn't it reveal a sense of complacency after a long time being in power?

Note #6: Do.. you think the present Prime Minister has kept up with his manifesto? Or was he sort of a caretaker like Gus Dur / Abdurrahman Wahid?

And that ends another boring post.. that no one will look at. Sigh.

Totally Random

2008-02-13T17:13:00.003Z

Guess how much this is!
9p!

Yessss it's 9p!

What the freak right? Damn bloody cheap la this yogurt. And it tastes pretty good as well.

But it's gone in about 6 spoons. Hahaha.

N/A

2008-02-12T14:52:00.000Z

~~Work has been bogged down by me~~ I've been bogged down by work since the end of January. And February isn't helping either because of the deadlines, so is March, not April either because of exams. I want May now!!

Here's the to-do list!

1000-word Loss Aversion essay // due 28 Feb.
2000-word Finance essay // due 28 Feb.
Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam // due in advance of Easter Holidays.
~~Busybody~~ society commitments // due these couple of weeks.
Accountancy Notes // due every week.
2nd-year Accommodation // due before summer holidays.

Notice that I've pushed forward the two essays which spells P.A.N.I.C.

But it's a considerable achievement that I'm already starting on my essays 2.5 weeks from my deadline! Last time.. SPM Biology exam tomorrow pun tak study. Anyway, lesson learnt over and over again.. I'll start a month ahead next time. Hehe.

A Foggy Day

2008-02-11T21:18:00.000Z

I'm ripping off Michael Bublé's A Foggy Day (In London Town) and changing it to A Foggy Day In Edinburgh.

For two straight days, the streets of Edinburgh are like some ~~ghost story~~ dream come true. The city has been covered in dense fog yesterday and not-so-dense fog today.

Let's do a walkthrough foggy-style! Here's how I usually waste 7 minutes strolling to my lecture halls.

Notice most of the cars are hatchbacks.

Boo creepy!

But at the same time.. beautiful.

The red telephone booths are not just a London thing okay!

Tall one's where my Economics tutorial is!

And now.. on the way back!

You could feel the water droplets as you walk through the fog. It's that dense.

Lampu pun dah macam balls.
And this is the Central Mosque! See the minaret?

I'd love to drive in this fog.

There you go! A walk to the library.. and back! Beautiful lehhh! But really, visibility was probably limited to 50m in front or so. The pictures talk for themselves.It was that surreal! I'd probably be flamed if I say.. only in Edinburgh! London/Manchester/Birmingham/Liverpool/Glasgow got or not dun have right! =P

You Know It's Spring When..

2008-02-10T22:58:00.000Z

It was 5.30 just now, and on my way back from the library I heard the birds chirp. Days ago I spotted a squirrel on one of the high walls behind my flat. This means... that spring has settled in! Well, at least according to the squirrels it is.

On my previous post, there was a solemn tone to everything about CNY this year. Apparently I've forgotten the 10000-year old saying that life has it's share of surprises.

The elusive mandarin orange was spotted for the first time in 3 years.

Here's what happened on Week 5.
Saturday 02/02 - CNY Cookover at Adrian's place.
Wednesday 06/02 - EUSA General Meeting. (emo because no reunion dinner)
Thursday 07/02 - CNY Dinner with 19 others at Saigon Saigon.
Friday 08/02 - CNY Potluck with BuddhistSoc.
Saturday 09/02 - EMSA CNY Dinner at Chinois.

So as you can tell from past experiences, CNY Dinners are usually full of food, noise and shenanigans. And I had 3 consecutive nights of it. There are probably more than 5 photo albums in Facebook currently with pictures of all these events.

The weird thing was.. remember the strong winds that tried to blow Edinburgh out into the sea for a week plus or so? Yeah, it ended on Wednesday. Yep, CNY Eve. Thursday was a good warm day, Friday was warm and overcast. Saturday was warm and clear as f**k.

And today, was fogged up.

And I mean fogged.

Seriously. Very foggy.

But that's another post for another day. Think of it, how can the first 3 days of CNY be blessed with good warm (9-12C, and I really mean it, 12C is warm.) weather?

At the end it was a good CNY, as I've never had this much fun in a while, for so many days consecutively. At the end of it, it leaves me with a good optimistic feeling. I haven't got a good connection so a few photos will come up when it's better.

End point is.. CNY rocks! Moot. Oh oh, the general elections are coming soon as well!

Chinese New Year!

2008-02-07T13:39:00.000Z

It's getting sad really, this is the 3rd year I'm not home for CNY, and there's another 3 years to go. No!!

Anyway, this year there wasnt any reunion dinner on the night of the eve. Instead, I went to the EUSA General Meeting along with Ang just to experience it.

It.. made me feel smarter at the end of it. Now, let's use the Malaysian Parliamentary Debates to compare it with. The Parliamentary Debates make me laugh. These, make me pay serious attention.

They started off with a headcount of people who came (191 people!), and then proceeded with an introduction, then the motions came. Proposers had to say out their name and matriculation number, then several for and against speeches were called from the floor. At several times there were points of information and questions that were made. All this were done orderly with the raising of the hand along with the matriculation card.

The first 2 motions I thought were rather boring-ish. 1st was to mandate the sabbaticals to press MSPs for the passing of the Graduate Endowment Abolition (Scotland) Bill 2007. Next was the motion to fight for a fairer deal with the university's corporate arm Edinburgh First, which currently charges a high price for students to use university buildings.

The next 2 were probably the highlight of the night. As I found out beforehand, the university has a Fairtrade policy that maintains themselves as ethical investors. Before this, EUSA has been mandated to boycott Nestle products from union buildings. Now, they are pushing for the non-renewal of the contract of mineral water supplier, Eden Springs, whom supposedly is an Israeli company (Mayanot Eden) harvesting water resources in the Golan Heights which were in breach of several UN Security Council resolutions. It was clear that at one side was the Palestinian Society & ISoc members and the other was probably Jews. Against views were focusing on the issue of politicising the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while the For views were focusing on ethical investment policies like in the past with RBS and Total.

The 2nd one was better, it was to reallow The Journal newspaper to be distributed within Union buildings. To keep it short it was a combination of powerful speeches and counter-speeches from various parties including both the editors of The Journal and Student newspapers, and even the current and ex-EUSA President.

In total I voted Yes for the 1st three motions and abstented on the last. But seriously I'd go for the next GM, because I never knew there were such vocal individuals and it never felt so good taking part in student activism.

And today is.. the 1st day of CNY. I'm sitting in my room, compiling notes and touching up on the EMSA poster. There's probably a dinner later tonight but the weekend's bound to be fun. 988's eradio is playing up so much festivity I'm feeling envious of the folks back home. So all you people, I'd echo the Petronas ad that says,"Please go home for Reunion Dinner". Appreciate it a$$holes! There're probably 50,000 of us overseas in various countries that aren't able to go home for CNY for many years.

Anyway this year's theme is probably to treasure the moments with family and friends back home because it never feels the same outside of home. So Happy Chinese New Year 恭喜发财 Gong Xi Fa Cai Kong Hei Fatt Choy!!

NSFW: Not Like Anyone Reads It At Work

2008-02-05T13:44:00.000Z

We all know the Edison Chen (陳冠希) saga that exploded over the internet. I'll keep this short and just post the links. The rest you can find yourself, it's spread like wildfire.

Links:
Here
Here

When I Say A String, It's A String.

2008-02-04T14:38:00.000Z

I don't know the reason why I'm blogging today. It was supposed to be strictly Photoshop only. but I had to look for pictures and online tutorials, and strangely enough I ended up here at Lily's Wai Sek Hong looking at food, which is really comprehensive. And now I'm really craving for Malaysian food.

Why, you wonder, am I suddenly associated with Photoshop? Because I need to get the event poster up and running so that we can all print and post them all around. Then after that is event booklets, and ticket sales.

After playing about with photoshop for 2 days, I finally noticed that it's actually simple. Mind you, I have never used it before. I'm not good with art in the general sense. Then tonight there's another meeting again, this time for us poor 1st years who are marshalls in the Edinburgh Super Cup.

Let's see what I have to do..
1. Compile Accountancy lecture notes from Week 3-5.
2. Update blog more constantly because the visitor counts are depressing.
3. Start work on the Economics essay worth 20%.
4. Start work on the Business essay worth 20%.
5. EMSA stuff.

At least, a sense of responsibility gives me a boost, like money to hobos or crack to junkies. Ok la, now that you know that I am not very free/slacky anymore, don't say that I'm slacking ok!

Post #175

2008-02-04T01:02:00.000Z

I can't think of a title so #175 will do. It's a boring post, so I'll warn your eyes beforehand, but since you're here you're probably bored.

February is off to a great start. It's the -7C on the 1st of February, with a bloody cold weekend.

Some of you might be thinking, wow that's so cool I wanna go and see snow! You know what, it sucks. It's terrible when it snows (but nevertheless cool), and it's cold. and windy. It's been windy for the past week, and I didn't sleep right because of it.

Oh oh, who had 2 fire alarms in a night! I did on the 31st! and it's not fun. Not in the rain. And when you heave that sigh of relief and curse flat 5/8 for stupidly burning a toast and think that you'll finally feel warm and have a peaceful night, but no that's not the end. It rang at 4.20 again.

Apparently some jokers found it fun to break the glass and sound the alarm. But they ended up paying a fine and for the damaged door that the firemen broke open.

The first major DotA LAN party happened on Feb 2, and it was a blast, to me and Jun it felt like reliving the days of Concord again. But as usual, a LAN party will take approx 2 hours to set up. First game lasted about 94 minutes, which was surprisingly long and stamina draining. The next time it happens I'm going to take pictures of people stretching their asses like I did.

And now I realise I have a lot more things to do from today onwards, so I will be really busy for the next week, but I'll crunch some posts out because of a sudden urge to write. It's 1 in the morning and I'm still busy designing a poster so you get the idea.

Stop Hiding

2008-01-29T15:53:00.000Z

Boy, was I slightly shocked to see this on the papers.
'PM: Improved economic performance and government efficiency'

To fare better than Germany, the kings of efficiency and speed, is something to celebrate about! Let's all vote for BN this coming election! Yeah! Hahaha what a little trick, to add the term '20 million' somewhere inside the article in hope of evading the eyes of the general public.

Alright, let's jump to the point I want to make, which Anwar has already made. Let me just translate this one section.

With reference to this World Competitiveness Yearbook as the PM has done, the reality is that Malaysia only sits on the 23rd position in the world. 15 of the 22 countries that are higher than Malaysia have a population less than 20 million, while 7 of the 22 exceed 20 million.

Malaysia's competitiveness ranking in 2006 is 22, while in '97 is 17.

So, in some way ex-PM Mahathir's self styled Corporate Governance of a country has worked in principle. You mismanage it, you mess it up. No it's not about race. It's about hierarchy, it's about the country, and you can't cover it up when it comes to publishing your annual report. It all ends up looking like a silly puppet show, with mud and sweets being thrown all around. Pathetic.

Okay, time for a butter toast!

Birthday Weekend!

2008-01-25T14:09:00.000Z

This is a shoutout to all birthday celebratees here.

Happy Birthday to Sieu Theng! and in advance to both Chao Ying and Ket Ying! and way in advance to both Xiao Yan and Jon! and 4 days early to Christine! I wish all of you people a happy 918415th year!

I shouldn't reveal their ages publicly, but then again they're all older than me. Bwahahahaha. Damn old la you all old people.

Calvin & Hobbes

2008-01-23T00:28:00.000Z

When was the last time anyone saw this? I absolutely loved them since young.

It's about 10 years ago or so, I remember this torned up Calvin & Hobbes book sitting on the cupboard and I'd flip through it for hours, along with Garfield and Doraemon. No I wasn't into manga last time the closest thing was probably Doraemon. Omg you should see the number of Doraemon comics I have, even the Cerita Panjang ones. Like Nobita & the Dinosaur, in Space on some star, on the Galaxy Express, inside the Earth with the primitive dinosaurs, with land of dogs, under the sea, omg I love those episodes.

Oh oh, and Usborne Solve It Mysteries, where you spend hours last time figuring out secret codes, looking for hazards and way outs, looking for clues, finding the bad guys, ahhhh!

Why do I reminisce so much about my childhood nowadays..? It's like I suddenly seem to realise the wonderfulness and all that fun which I've never appreciated much, which I am finding it more precious because there's less time for these things as we get older. Well at least, these thoughts of a little me having fun keeps me warm even on the shittiest Scottish days.

What a kid.

I Want Bugs!

2008-01-16T14:53:00.000Z

I used to remember the olden days when Disney used to air pre-war Technicolor cartoons. Why don't they air it now it was such a fab last time!

There was the old Bugs Bunny, which was the best, I mean who shows Bugs nowadays! I miss all of them, Daffy Duck, Porky The Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin The Martian and the Tasmanian Devil. Speaking of which, I don't even remember seeing Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy anymore.

Poor ol' Yosemite.

And then there's little clips like Pigs in a Polka.

Sigh, the new age cartoons are so different. They revolve about crime-fighting, cool machines, evil villains, and NOT about mundane things like trying to catch/bash/kill/eat each other like Tom & Jerry, Sylvester and Tweety, Bugs and everyone else, or day to day activities like Goofy's never ending failure at work.

Oh and did you know Donald Duck never wore pants? What a perv!

Look at all that fluff.

Sigh, I miss the old times. Gimme Bugs back!

Another Record Broken

2008-01-14T21:48:00.000Z

I should probably say this. Malaysia has unofficially broken the record for having the most supercentenarians in the world. Evidence indicates there're 4 120's and 4 119's. Not only that, we've broken the record for the world's oldest, which the current world record for is 114 years old!

So, what holds for us? This is a testament that

1. Our healthcare system rocks the roof. #1 in the world baby!
2. Malaysians are finally healthier than the Japanese, screw your ochas and sushi, have some nasi lemak instead.
3. We can finally add this to our list of number ones, longest satay, longest pizza, longest pencil, tallest building, largest tea bag, longest serving ruler etc. As Wired puts it, we're number one in making/breaking records.

or..

4. We've all been dummified by the EC.

Oh nevermind, who's going to take note anyway?
Source: darnmalaysia.com

It's Been A Long Time

2008-01-12T15:17:00.000Z

My first morning after the flight in from London, and I was greeted with a 15 minute snowshower. Apparently, the weather in Scotland these few days were so cold that football matches are being called off because of frozen pitches, and construction work at the university library are temporarily suspended due to adverse weather conditions.

Omg right? It's been under 4 degrees for the past few days it feels so comfy to just stay cuddled up in bed. Hibernation!

Meeting up with pals again feels good, and it's back to normalism once again! (I don't think that's a real word, but whatever my vocab sucks anyway). I'm still at a loss of what to eat for snacks in the afternoon or late at night. Need a burger.. I need a burger so much right now.

Thank god for portable computers and modern entertainment systems, I can't imagine what I would do if I didn't have all these. Anyway that's for today. I'm gonna go pop the pizza into the oven now.

Oh by the way, been to slowcatchupkuan's blog today and well, has anyone seen this dog?

Delayed

2008-01-08T17:08:00.001Z

Apparently I was too lazy to even say that my blog's on holiday. Anyway, the flight's in about 11 hours time, and I'm having mixed feelings. Well, duh I love coming back here and it always sucks to go back there. But the weird thing is once I'm there, I enjoy myself =)

Ok, it's gonna be a long journey, but I'll just like to say that this blog, is back online!

Here I Go Again #2

2007-12-15T18:16:00.000Z

Am currently writing this in the train on the way to King's Cross. I didn't know all East Coast trains had free WiFi on them, although a little slower. But it makes the 5 hours a lot more enjoyable, haha. I'll be in King's Cross in under 2 hours time. Till then~

Here I Go Again

2007-12-15T13:33:00.000Z

I'm off to London in about an hour's time. Then it's a night at Paul's place and then KL!! Whoop!

Feel's good to be home~ it always does.
Song of the Moment: The Kinks - This Time Tomorrow

Hypocrisy

2007-12-12T22:32:00.000Z

Here we have dozens of opposition figures, being detained without proof of court order, and ex-PM Anwar claims to be held for a while by Immigration officers. I foresee a sequel of the 1987 hit under the PM's predecessor.

A couple of questionable press statements were made in recent days, but it all began with the now-famous line Saya Pantang Dicabar. Then we became more hostile in foreign relations, telling people to 'lay off', and that these are 'internal affairs'. Hmm I guess the same psychological mindsets can be used against one, like... how 'bout laying off Myanmar for instance, .. and laying off Palestine, laying off Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuela, Russia, Taiwan, etc?

Governments of the world nowadays I tell you, are always trying to hump the other country when no one's looking, damn busybody wan.

Ok now, 31 people are charged for attempted murder filed by the AG himself, and the hearing's next year. Hmm, I guess he means that the poor guy got whacked hard by the 31 accused. Yes, like a Rambo scenario, 1 on 31. Well I'd agree to that if that's the case, but .. fat chance.

Or maybe it wasn't about the poor chap, but the officers in general. Harm probably would be a better term to use, without any malicious intent. It's exaggeration by calling it attempted murder. Say, if I happen to be an innocent bystander, and you lob tear gas into my face, shoot water at me, then rough me up with batons and shields, I'd be blowing the whole thing out of proportion and risk losing my case if I decide to sue and call it attempted murder. See what I'm trying to get at?

So, back to the original topic, when one wielding power feels threatened by the fear of losing it, one silences his opposition. Ah, the classics. But we'll have to be glad as well lah, I mean imagine if it was under the Tun's patriarchal rule, even bloggers will be detained with ISA nowadays lol. Then I'd be afraid. Heh. Remember the AUKU(Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti), that was a mean one.

The author decided that he'll probably let out a wee bit of steam from exam preparation and there'll be a few more rants because he's in the mood to do so. Heh. Don't blame him, blame accounting.

Accountancy Sucks

2007-12-10T19:21:00.000Z

With an accounting exam this Friday, I'm still struggling with the basics because of myself missing out lectures. That, and also because I hate accounting.

Why lah have to study accounting. You're probably asking now, why is this ~~sohai~~ fella studying something he doesn't like. Because.. I need it, it complements finance. Sigh.

So, I've compiled 5 reasons why I hate accounting.
#1 It's boring. There's no doubt about that.

#2 Churning the same numbers over and over again.. sucks. Not only that, I have to create 20+ accounts and cross reference them here and there and close them all again. Sien.

#3 Being an idiot, 30% of the time my balance sheets don't balance.

#4 Not only does my balance sheet not balance, my trial balance doesn't balance sometimes.

#5 Accountants are boring fat chums sitting behind desks dressed in short ties and boyish haircuts churning numbers all day long, only to leave at 5pm driving their Proton Wira back home to their rented apartment, to their fat wife and fat kids, watching Astro WahLaiToi at night.

Ok that last part after leaving work .. is completely unnecessary. All made up hahaha.. and that completes my rant this time around. kthxbai.

Today's Topic

2007-12-06T20:06:00.000Z

Since there's an economics exam tomorrow, today's topic will be on economics!

Boooo... sau pei lah, so free until blog about economics? Sien douu..talk about something else la tiuu..

I admit it's a desperate and stale topic, but it'll be educational! =P

Ok, to show everyone the power of failing to understand the basics of economics, please turn over to look at Zimbabwe, once dubbed the the Kitchen of Africa (or something along those lines). President Robert Mugabe (a graduate of the same university I'm at, eek!) and his version of Mugabenomics has created a typical textbook version of hyperinflation which is a good study for any economist, and in the process, made everyone in the country unwilling millionaires. The gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire will surely be condemned in this situation.

It all started when his government seized control of commercial farms, controlling all food output. That put workers out of jobs, and pretty much destroyed the agricultural industry. Then what happens, is a recession, followed by inflation.

US$50 makes u half a millionaire in Zimbabwe.

So, as each day passes during the inflation period, the government's coffers are getting emptied, so, unable to pay for the high prices of stuff, the Central Bank prints more money to finance it's expenditures. Beeep, wrong move. Effectively, as of now, the government is probably bankrupted, but it still prints money to finance it's expenditures.

Official inflation rate is at 7500%, but unofficial ones predict above 15000%. Official exchange rate is at 250ZW$ per US$ but black market rates push past 120,000ZW$ (120,000,000 in old currencies) per US$. Golfers prefer to buy drinks before they tee-off because by the time they come back they won't be able to afford the drinks.

That's gone too.

Being the master of his own version of economics, President Mugabe ordered inflation to be illegal, banks do not allow more than $10000 to be withdrawn in a day, and in order to buy support from his allies, has promised to triple current salaries to $33m a month, and printing even more money to flood his close circle of allies with.

So we all know that the theory in Mugabenomics is doing everything contrary to the economic dogma practised everywhere. One should cease printing money because printing money isn't gonna work, it only makes the current amount of money even more worthless. One should also not continue spending, but the government cannot afford to cut it's expenditure (to maintain support), and are using draconian policies to stem money growth. Price controls and economy regulation exacerbate the situation. But President Mugabe did it anyway, and even forced a legislation to say that prices are to be cut by 50%.

This corrodes confidence in both the government, and the money. So people will move back to the stone ages where barter trade is used. Once, money was stored in the bank, now money is stored as bread. The newest currency is $20million in plastic bag of $500 notes. (The $500 note cannot be used to even buy one ply of tissue paper.)

The latest currency is bags of money.

For the people, a majority of whom depend on remittances in US$, or earn in South African rands, are coping well with the situation. But poor souls who are trapped have to suffer and rely on aid organisations distributing food.

At this point, if you're still failing to grasp the theory of hyperinflation. Take your bank balance, let's say $100 push it back by 5/6 zeros, then try to buy a 30 cents loaf of bread with that. Kind of tough isn't it. That's if you were unlucky enough to have your money in a bank when that happens. Ok, enough for today, I feel smarter already typing through all this.

The author would like to clarify that he's not a boring person with no life but studying economics and talking about politics. Nononono, that's not true. He's in fact an ah-beng who slacks around, plays DotA, talks crap, and listens to trance, techno, dance, electronic, n house. He also lives most of his life on Facebook, and MSN. =P

Heresy

2007-12-05T20:53:00.000Z

BERSIH's gathering will be held on the 11th of December. That means I'll be missing out on that march as well. Yikes! =.= Trying to stay a step ahead of the YdP Agong by amending the Federal Constitution is downright disrespectful I tell you. You level-4 crooks are despicable. So, is the (Mis)Information guy going to rap again? Let's see what lies you can cook up this time.

All these half-past six power-corrupted pariahs who strictly abide to the phrase "By Hook or By Crook" should all be condemned internationally. Bah.

10 days

2007-12-04T19:37:00.000Z

I beginning lose my sanity over the staleness of things that's been going on since I came back from Glasgow. Every day I wake up at 11-12, sit in bed while reading news for a while, laze around, get some food then lurk around the internet for the rest of the afternoon. Then as evening approaches, typified by the darkening skies at 4pm, I start doing a little bit of work, on some days I'll just hop out to the shops for groceries. Then 5.30-7 will kinda be dinner time including prep.

After that I'll continue revision.. until 10 or so, I'll start nudging people in MSN. All the way till 12/1 I'll do what I did in the afternoon, lurk around the net, surfing and resurfing the same sites over and over again (wtf, no life at all). Until sometime around 1+ I'll lie in bed and read a dozen pages or so from this new book that I've got. (It's really good), then lights out.

And I'll wake up to the same thing the next day.
And this has been going on since 10 days ago.
And there's 10 more days to go till the final exam.
And I wish that my exams were more closely packed together.
And I wish that time would fly faster, just for these few days.
And I wish that someone would DotA with me.
And I wish everyone else wasn't so busy studying because it makes me look slacky.

Sigh, I realise I lack discipline =P , at times.

10 days to go!

An Open Letter

2007-12-03T17:17:00.000Z

Mr Badawi,

The word 'transparency' has been at the core of your manifesto when you entered office in late 2003. I don't see that now when your minister tabled for first reading the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2007 that seeks to extend the, well you know, on November the 20th in Parliament. The motive and the timing of the proposal is questionable. Not only did you not consult the rakyat, (through publishing it in the press?) I don't even know whether you have consulted The Yang-diPertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers on this or not.

I'm merely suggesting this, but could it be that you need him for next year's GE? Similarly the IGP's and the ACA-DG's tenureship have all been extended. You even tried to extend the tenureship of one of the key figures in the 'Lingamgate' episode, Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz. Or did you already? I apologise but my memory fails me. But anyway he's not in office so it doesn't matter now.

One explanation has popped up so far, and I believe it's the answer you'd prefer. These men have served their posts well and you'd like them to do it for another few months/a year right? Very well, but there's another explanation that I've thought of, that you'd like for them to 'help' you out through the most crucial stages of your stewardship as PM due to the strategic positions they each hold. You mean to say that the ACA Director-General, Inspector General of Police, Chief Justice and Election Commission Chairman aren't key posts to you?

I have my right and reasons to suspect and question your fuzzy motives, and so do the people.

Perhaps you'd show some accountability to the people, and at the very least, give a soundful explanation on why The Constitution has to be amended for the sake of one civil servant, at this very time on the eve of the General Election. Please, do not give some layman arrogant excuse like your subordinate in the Prime Minister's Department of having the backing of the majority to do so, because you don't have the proof, like what all you and your subordinates have demanded when grouses are filed against yourselves.

Does your subordinate in the PM's department have proof of 2 million Indians backing him in his press statement recently? No. Do we have proof of the EC's shortcomings? Not substantial, but there is some (note: some) clear evidence of the lack of accountable governance on the EC's part (See: Ipoh Barat and Ipoh Timor constituencies). Various ministers have demanded that opposition voices show clear proof of wrongdoing or shut-up-sit-down-and-don't-stir-up-trouble.

So, will you also do your part, and show us, the people, that your actions are justified, in other words, proof? Or else, please do your people and nation a favour, and leave The Constitution alone, or so to rephrase the general notion that's being brought up from time to time.

Thank you for your time. Oh and by the way, I'm assuming you, because you're the head of government.. right?

Regards,
Tee Haow Kang
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone who's been reading the news would know that a further 3 rallies are planned for December. One by the Bar Council to celebrate Human Rights Day and another by BERSIH.

BERSIH's question this time around is simple. Why change the constitution for one civil servant? EC Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman turns 66 at the end of this year, and Minister in the PM's Department Nazri Aziz is spearheading the proposal to amend the constitution to allow the EC Chairman to retire at 66 instead of 65.

So the gazillion-dollar question lies here. Is it justifiable that The Constitution (note, The Constitution) be amended just because of one man? Surely the underlying reason isn't very clear.

Additional informative reads here, here, here and here. That's if you'd spare some time and think for the sake of the country =). Call me a pessimist if you will, but I'm worrying for this country's constitution at this current rate. I also personally think that royal intervention is needed for this, to put this on record.

(Witness the power of >66% majority, 377 specific amendments to 183 articles in the Federal Constitution thus far. zomg!!)

Papers Make Me Pissed

2007-12-01T17:37:00.000Z

Every day I get my dose of pissage from the mainstream papers. Of recent, is the toll hikes. Yeah, hike somemore hike somemore, next time I use the highway also toll cost more than petrol wtf.

So now, toll concessionaires are better friends than the public? Don't stay in Sungai Siput sana mana ada toll? of courselah menang!, come to KL and contest against DAP's Fong Kui Lun in the Bukit Bintang constituency or any other constituencies in KL for that matter, then you'll see the capital's grouses against you.

Look at how many f**king tolls we have in our capital, and how many of them are toll-ed.

Highways with no tolls
KL-Seremban highway, Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2), Federal Highway, Puchong-Sg Besi highway, can't think of any others.

These are the best roads to use. But lots of idiots hang around these roads especially on the MRR2. To those stewpid people, if you wanna cruise at 60km/h on the fast lane don't be blind to the queue of cars behind you. Sure kena ~~assfuked~~ tiu wan if you provoke people like that. Just because I've got a P sticker on my windscreen doesn't mean I have to follow behind you nias*ng.

KESAS - rm2.20, (tiuuuuu this is the most painintheass one)
LDP - rm1.60, (everytime i use this road sure stress, after tollplaza sure jam)
Sg Besi expressway /BESRAYA - rm1.30/1.50, (because of this stupid toll, terpaksa use detour through kampung)
SPRINT - Kerinchi link - rm1.50, (use only once, and that was by accident)
SPRINT - Penchala link - rm2.00, (kena tipu also)
SPRINT - Damansara link - didn't use before so i dunno,
Ampang-KL Elevated Expressway - rm1.60
SILK - rm1.00
ELITE - (rarely used so I don't remember)
NPE - rm1.60
Salak Expressway - rm0.50
Grand Saga Expressway - rm1 (those ulu ulu places =P)
NKVE - always end up by mistake on this highway from ELITE on the way back from KLIA.

These are just the few that I've remembered, still got the ones in Subang and westward. One new one which I think will be particularly handy is the KL-Putrajaya Expressway, starting from Kg Pandan passing through Kuchai Lama, then one interchange at Bukit Jalil, but the interchange only links to KESAS so it'll be another painintheass exiting the highway but not entering it.

This has got to be one of the most confusing interchanges.

It's easy to enter from the west to KL but not to Putrajaya.
It's easy to exit from KL to the east but not the west.
It's easy to enter from the east to both KL and Putrajaya.
It's easy to exit from Putrajaya to the east but not to the west.

I might have made it even more confusing =P Oh well.

But the main point remains, it sucks to drive in KL because of all these tolls! Coupled with parking charges and whatnot, a day out in the city or elsewhere will result in either getting caught in a jam or parting with at least rm5-10. That's a lot okay! Think of the bowl of extra large hor fun or chicken rice that I'm missing out on.

So, conclusively.. you better get out of office, because all you're doing is burdening the people with unnecessary toll increases. Sigh, and I'm done with my quota of rants for the day.

P.S: Is the KL-Putrajaya highway open yet? I haven't been catching up with that.

It's Over.. Not?

2007-11-29T18:55:00.000Z

The previous few days were sh*t. 'cept for Monday night because it's student night at The Crags. A quid a pint! Since when was booze so cheap, hahaha.

Other than that, it's been revision all day long. The point is.. that it's not revision that's making me go insane, it's going through this clockwork lifestyle day in and day out. It's finally placed the straw that broke the camel's back (brilliant use of idioms). Plus the Internet Gods aren't treating me well, a connection slower than 56K?! Come on!

Times like these make me wanna just do the things I miss most. Driving. Sigh.. the feeling of the steering wheel, the gearstick, the sensation when I step on the pedal.. the times I used to swear at fools on the road.. cursing whenever some ~~bi*ch~~ lady driver who's running the orange light suddenly decides to jam her brakes, and the deep roars and humms that the engine makes. Aaah..

Frankly speaking, driving a car on the road is like sex to me (no I haven't had sex yet, what a guy can't assume the pleasures/agonies of sex?), however disgusting and perverted that sounds. Hmm.. maybe I've put it wrongly, have it this way, for some guys, satisfaction and dependency comes from girls. For some guys, satisfaction comes from driving or having cars. For some guys, satisfaction comes with having 'brothers', some.. 'sisters' or both. Mine, comes from driving, and having 'brothers'. Sounds a lot less perverse right?

Sigh, it'll all be over after two boring exams. Patience. Ma! The car is mine when I get back!! *grins gleefully* The petrol might be a bother though..

Repressed Media

2007-11-27T17:33:00.000Z

M Bakri Musa's article today led me to reflect on the corroded amount of trust that I have at this point in mainstream newspapers. 5 years ago, when I first started subscribing to The Star in Form 2, everyone was fighting over the different sections of the newspaper, "Give me the sports section!" "Section Two (what it was called in the old days) is mine okay!" "I want to read the comics!" and on some days I'll end up with a few missing sheets at the end of the day, reading on my way back home from school.

Now? I don't even bother reading the hardcopy anymore. Back in those days, the paper was just 60sen (student rate) and later just RM1, so you could say it's good value for money. Now it's not just bad value for money, it's only useful to use to bungkus my char kuay teow, and my morning meehoon.

It's been made worse by my reading of the local papers here which at least has an editorial section where the editors and columnists dare to voice out their own words. I used to take the opinions of The Star's few columnists (and editor) like Wong Chun Wai, and Wong Sai Wan seriously, it's been reduced to coffeeshop chitchat now.

Waning public confidence in the mainstream media has meant lower circulation numbers, soon companies probably won't bother funding the papers through adverts. To me, it spells doom and condemnation. That's what you get for being used as tools of propaganda by political parties.

At least I still depend on their online portals to check on petty news. Sigh, I miss the old days. Having a newspaper in my hand was a thing to be proud of. Hahahaha, childish thoughts.

Whoops

2007-11-26T15:06:00.000Z

Went to Glasgow (again?!) for the weekend, this time I stayed 2 nights! To say it was enjoyable is an understatement. To be honest, Glasgow somehow suits me better (in a way) than Edinburgh, probably because I'm a city-kid from young. All the traffic, both human and vehicles, the number of high street shops, the vibrant environment on a Saturday afternoon, and the sheer size of the city.

The main point of going there was for Radiance, a biennial celebration which forms part of Glasgow's Winterfest. Not good, the exhibits were in spocks of buildings spread out throughout the eastern part of the city centre, we went to 3 of them out of a dozen or so and decided to screw the rest and go to George Square instead.

George Square is in stark contrast to the previous buildings that we visited. Sigh, it's times like this I wish the camera on my phone was not 1.3M and that my old camera was still working. With the month-long Winterfest celebrations going on, it's been converted into a funfair themed square smelling of Angus beef, German sausages and deep fried donuts. Aberdeen Angus is simply the best, omg just the thought of it makes me salivate. I don't quite understand this but there are German Christmas markets in both Glasgow's Argyle Street and Edinburgh's The Mound by the National Galleries in their month-long pre-Christmas season.

One thing to note is that the Glaswegian accent is deep, way deeper than the mild Edinburghian and Fife accent. and I took time trying to comprehend it.

Well, that was the height of my stay there, apart from suddenly overcoming a recent 8-month slump in DotA by improving my overall skills and control, and watching one of the most kickass movies of all time.. American Gangster!

Anyway, I'm starving, so I'm going out to get a pizza and microchips now. Plus, I've got a backlog of posts waiting to be put up. So, keep an eye out for this space!

Titles r' Useless

2007-11-22T22:49:00.000Z

Apparently there are people who care about my blog more than I do =P So, I'll fill it up temporarily while I think of what to write for the future posts.

I've stumbled across this interesting site where lazybums like you lot who're reading this now can do something.. for the world! Apart from the link below, there's a banner which links to the site.. just look above!

That's right.. for every right question answered at freerice.com you donate 10 grains of rice! Through this little gimmick here, I've literally donated the bowl of rice that I had for dinner two nights ago through the internet. How cool is that?

Click on it!

P.S: Thank you people.. for still visiting although the blogger's become a sloth.

15-day Resolution

2007-11-18T22:20:00.000Z

Will blog about Harnham as soon as I get this essay out of my way. But for now, I vow to:

Meditate 10mins every alternate night.
Practice and refine my shuffling skills... every night.
Kurangkan masa yang digunakan untuk lancap.
Sleep earlier. At 12.
Wake up earlier. At 9.
Reduce my sleeping time from 10hours to 9hours.
Study? .. errrr.. can manage lah.

Thank you. Babai. =D

Being Silly

2007-11-17T01:18:00.000Z

I forgot to post for Friday!
Ah, I'll have to make it up with this piece of crap post.
It seems that of recent my posts have been more of quantity than of quality. Sigh. Anyway, I've got an essay due on Thursday! 2000 words hurrah.. and I haven't started a single bit yet. Oh well, I'll take the entire Saturday afternoon off to work on it.

This means that there'll be no posts on Saturday as well. And probably none on Sunday also since I'll be off for a daytrip to Harnham. It's ok to not know the place, because I'm not sure of it either, I know it's probably 15miles outside of Newcastle. So.. have a good weekend! Drat, my camera's spoiled. Argh.

Nowadays, I'm feeling a lot brighter knowing that the uni term's coming to an end, which means being able to sleep late and wake up late (which is what I've been doing since a month ago), not needing to attend the sleepy lectures, and having lots of time to slack around and start reading up for my Accountancy 1A and Economics end-of-term exams.

Best thing of all, is I'll be getting to drive! again! in about a month's time when I get back. Woohooo can't wait to feel the steering wheel, gearstick.. ahhh... i love driving so much.

I'll end with this handsome photo of me-staring-at-the-computer-screen to look at for the postless weekend. ~~Remember to place it on an altar and worship it okay? Yea that's right! Yeah...~~

What a ~~sohai~~ yeng look. All the girls ~~not~~ gonna fall for me man..

Frankly Speaking

2007-11-15T11:57:00.000Z

I wish I had a camera.. that was working. after whatever wild things that happened last night after Reuben-my flatmate's birthday.

Through thorough testings and experimentations (~~bullsh*t~~), the newest beer that's come up to the top of my list of beers, is not that shitty Tennents, although Tennents beats the crap out of pumps, is Corona. It's not got that shitty beer taste from malt in it, which I'm not too fond of, it's got a mild taste with a faint whiff of lime in it. So yes Corona Extra beats Carlsberg Export, beats Stella Artois (the UK one, not the import, the import beats all these), beats Strongbow, beats Tiger (<-- definitely). next to try is Kronenbourg 1664, and the famous Bud. Everyone's talking about Bud, and Heineken.

One of the only clear bottle beers.

But then that's beer, nothing beats sipping Baileys listening to jazz in a dimly-lit bar. I'm beginning to love the life and philosophy here. Why? Because everytime it happens, there's this faint feeling of rejoice and light-headedness accompanied not by the thoughts of tomorrow, just of the thought of crashing into bed at the end of the night and waking up to the sounds of Jack Johnson in the late morning.

By the way, I wasn't drunk at all. No really. I'm not hungover either if that's what you're thinking.

THES-QS World University Rankings 2007

2007-11-14T13:48:00.000Z

These were published last Sunday on the 11th.
The UK and Eire's top universities are here and Europe's top 150 are here.

Guess where Edinburgh is.
Number 5 in the UK, number 5 in Europe, and number 23 in the world.

Wah deng, so happening wei! It's probably not a very great feat to some people though, but for me it's coooool! Go on and check out where your university lies on the world map!

I Refuse

2007-11-13T15:49:00.000Z

namewee has a new single out. Check it out here.
================================================
Sometimes we are faced with situations which make us think back, and ask ourselves some simple questions. Was I wrong?

I've had it with all these thoughts. I refuse to be dictated by other people's thoughts of me. I refuse to be made to think I made a wrong choice. I refuse to question my own decisions. I refuse to be a pawn on a chessboard. No matter what, I'm now doing what I've chosen to do, although it might be second best. But I'll prove everyone wrong in the future. I'll make those who looked down on me retract back all they said. I'll be my own self. I don't have to follow the pack. I'm pissed.

Self Individuality

2007-11-12T19:42:00.000Z

I was told that this year there are a heck-lot more 1st year Malaysians staying at Pollocks and that area south compared to places near my flat (north of George Square). Last two years there were a plentiful amount staying in the latter areas. Sigh, poor people like us are isolated, and end up hanging out with the 2nd-3rd year Malaysians who are staying nearby and the Brits.

It's not that it's bad, but then again hanging out with the Brits has it's own merits, like learning to be a heck lot more open and socialable, learning the cultural differences, being able to speak with an accent a lot more quicker (I've got a moderate English and very slight North-eastern accent when I speak now) which is quite cool, but it's influencing my other styles of talking nowadays.

Even my Manglish has a lot less lahs in it already, my Cantonese which has picked up a lot during the summer holidays, has begun to lose some of it's pronounciation too. I guess I'm getting more comfortable talking with an accent instead of last time when it took some effort to speak it out fluently.

I used to think whether would it be better if I stayed in the halls of residences. Would I make more friends? I'd wouldn't have to worry about cooking, wouldn't have to worry about not being excluded from big fun gatherings.. and all the sort.

But then I realise, living in a flat, somehow demonstrates living in a real world, at a time when everything is still raw in the eyes of the unexperienced fresher. I get to dictate my own time at my own pace, get to learn the skills essential of surviving for a day (the dreaded idea of what to eat and how to get it), and get to know the little things that didn't used to be important.

It's the biggest leap I've taken in life so far, and I'm beginning to understand more.. about life and myself. Best thing of all, I love it, I love the idea of being independent, of being an individual, of finding my own way. I simply adore it, the uncanny thought of music-and-religion-infused pathfinding. However random it may sound.

Bleak

2007-11-12T16:49:00.000Z

Who noticed that my titles make little or no sense to what I'm posting about?

Anyway, my camera died so there's no hope of me posting up pictures at least for this term. No it's not technically dead, apparently when I turned it on it just showed Lens Error, so I googled it up and apparently it was mechanical failure. So.. I'll have to get it fixed back home.

My hopeless 1.3M mobilephone camera .. is definitely a nono when it comes to pictures, which brings me to the point of why of all of a sudden did I want to use my camera. EMSA had a bowling competition, which every team supposedly wins prizes. 8 teams, 8 prizes. Brilliant. Everybody wins, well my team of Julian, Imran, ChoEe and me got fourth. I was lousiest in the team, scoring only a total of 119 in two games (49 in the first <-- noob)
So, there goes half my weekend, along with the afternoon loitering around at Imran's place, ended up sleeping over because I was too ~~tired~~ lazy to walk home at 12. Sunday was a blast too, nobody had plans, so half the day I'm playing Warcraft III by myself with AIs, the other half, understanding more about sportscars, misfiring systems, rotary engines, 4WDs/AWDs from wikipedia. Damn happening right? Now I have to start working on my 2k word essay. Sigh.

Emotional Fallacy

2007-11-11T12:31:00.000Z

Minister Zamzam alakazam.. got owned by a journalist, first saying, "We allowed it! That's why we are a democracy.. then say it was illegal, why was it illegal?, because there's no point to hold this gathering." Was that a professional rebuke or answer?

Along with Nazri, Zam's lost credibility in my eyes. Made a complete fool out of himself.

Anyway, we've made it to foreign press. BBC, CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera and ABC has stories on this. Quite the contrary to what Bernama has published. Anyway, when I first saw the descriptions and the pictures, I had a tear in my eyes. The feeling of love towards a country, is just so great.

BERSIH @ Dataran Merdeka

2007-11-10T11:56:00.000Z

Links
Here
Here
Here
Here
Here

I'll summarise what I've just found out through pocks of information here and there on the net.

-Kuala Lumpur city in gridlock. Roadblocks everywhere on roads leading to KL.
-Massive FRU, Special Branch, and Police presence, chemical-laden water cannons and tear gas used to disperse crowd at certain areas of rallying like Masjid Jamek, Masjid India.
-Dataran Merdeka completely sealed off past 1.20pm.
-Government order to mainstream media not to publish any statements made by BERSIH, previous demonstrations shown on mainstream TV, no coverage allowed on BERSIH.
-TV3 Presenters seen wearing yellow tie =P
-NTV7 claims police "foiled" BERSIH gathering.
- Rumours of the 19th Royal Regiment based in Sungai Petani, Kedah ordered by The Supreme Leader to protect the activists.

-Utusan Melayu front page quotes PM Badawi as saying "Saya Pantang Dicabar".
-Fear Factor utilised to play down people's voice.
-Palace gates left open although severe opposition by police in front of Istana Negara.
-Malaysiakini.com/Malaysia-today.net/HarakahDaily.net all experiencing severe delays.

Al Jazeera's coverage.

Lastly,
More pictures, here.

Al Jazeera ran an interview with the Information Minister on this gathering.
This was one of the feedback I saw.

Saya rasa amat malu dengan temuramah yang di-jalankan olih Al-Jazeerah dengan Menteri Penerangan kita.

Bahasa Inggeris yang di-tuturkan tidak dapat mencerminkan kawalan bahasa yang betul dan isi kata Zam hanya menunjukkan pengetahuan dan pendededahan tipis tentang informasi antarabangsa dan etika dalam temuramah.

Dakwaan Zam yang polis telah mengawal baik keadaan sunnguh menggelikan hati masyarakat kerana ini bercanggah dengan keadaan di-mana polis telah menggunakan gas pemedih mata dan ayer semburan.

Para peserta perhimpunan sa-benar-nya yang telah berkelakuan dengan baik dan mengikut rancangan yang telah di-tentukan untuk berjalan terus ka-istana tanpa melakukan rusuhan atau jenayah melanggar keamanan negara. Pihak polis yang telah melakukan reaksi melebehi dari yang perlu dengan melakukan keganasan menggunakan gas pemedih mata serta water cannon terhadap peserta yang tak berdosa.

Bukan masyarakat Malaysia yang mentertawakan Al-Jazeerah tapi masyarakat dunia yang mentertawakan Zam dengan bahasa pincang-nya dan kebodohan-nya tidak menhiraukan bukti yang pihak polis ada menggunakan kekerasan yang tidak perlu dan lagi melebehi kadar kawalan yang di-perlukan.

Sa-kurang2-nya Malaysia harus melantik Menetri Penerangan yang lebih berwibawa dan pintar berfikir sa-cara professional dan mempunyai kawalan bahasa Inggeris yang bolih di-banggakan. Sungguh malu.

I'll end it with this question. Our Agong, the Supreme Ruler has made it clear that he allows the representatives of BERSIH to present a memorandum to him. Why is it that PM Badawi does not dare to criticise the Agong? Instead, blaming all this as an challenge to the country's stability? Why is it that the PM does not view this as an opposition to the government? Why are all the BN Component Party members giving the silent treatment? Is our de-facto law minister going to say, "100,000 is not the the majority, it's not 27mil people, we only care if the majority wants a change."?

My duly respect to all the coordinators and organisers of this rally. My utmost honor to see the royals accepting the memorandum and recently addressing the people's problems.

Daulat Tuanku.
Daulat Tuanku.
Daulat Tuanku.

Titles That Don't Make Sense

2007-11-09T16:59:00.000Z

I've breached the 20 unique views a day mark, probably bordering on 30 now. Now this is a considerable achievement considering a month ago I was still entertaining 13 happy readers a day.. which is weird, because it's a sudden jump.

Thus, this hypothesis has been proven true.. somewhat. More posts = somehow more traffic.

Anyway, I've lost sight of what I've wanted to write about, so I'll just stick to this for today. I've stumbled across a few songs by Disturbed. And they kickass.. especially this song.
Disturbed – Stricken It's only a preview =(

Oh and the new album by Jay Chou 周杰伦 titled 我很忙,
is brilliant so far. I've not a particular fan of his, just thought I might note it down. Note: Track 07 is real good. Thanks to ShiYing for sending me all 56MB of the album through MSN hehehe =D

Celebrasi

2007-11-08T19:49:00.000Z

Finally, it's done. The project which I've wasted countless hours on, is over! From my impression of the two tutors that came around to evaluate and ask us questions, I think they were pretty happy with the presentation.

David Letterman feels the same way too.

And then we had to evaluate another group, and boy.. that group was rubbish. Sorta. Asked them questions and they were like, "Dunno" while staring wide-eyed. I tell you, some people are just.. hilarious.

Yay, yay, yay I'm so thrilled it's over!

Let's see what else do I have on my to-do list. This saturday - EMSA bowling meet, Nov 18 - Harnham trip.. probably. Nov 22 - business essay dateline, (someone help me!) Ugh, the holidays are approaching so quickly. I can still remember the time when I started my first day at university. It's probably just me but time really zooms by. Yeah, probably just me. Wake up at 10, about 6+ hours of daylight and it's already dark. Sigh, winter.. although it's pretty, is not very nice.

Btw, it's probably too late, but Happy Deepavali~

If Only Today Was National Skirt-Wearing Day

2007-11-08T02:14:00.000Z

I'll proudly unveil what I've just found out.

Windy, and cold. Well not just windy. Really windy! It's gonna be fun trying to fight the winds while walking. This is one thing that you absolutely have to experience. Walking with an inclination of around 30degrees just to avoid being blown off. =)

Aaah, if only all the ladies wore poodle skirts like Marilyn Monroe on days like this..

But the night's gonna be so chilly. Brrr.. the more the reason to stay snuggled in bed, drinking warm tea, watching silly videos on YouTube. Ta~ time to go sleep now.

I Not Stupid

2007-11-07T11:38:00.000Z

What's Pak Lah's intention of launching the ECER, NCER and IDR, three economic corridors in less than 3 months gap each? Vote fishing?

Unfortunately, this sends out the message that the coalition is trying desperately to fish for votes to continue their mandate. He knows he has failed to keep his manifesto promises, and that is the most important thing, not enriching yourself and your tingkat-4 goons.

The Khairy Chronicles, is a series of episodes that somehow explain Mr Son-in-law's intention to become PM at 40. It's interesting to look at it in the context of a story. Read here and here for the summary of it. I guarantee it's a full-of-details, eye-opening experience of what's happening behind the scene. Seriously. You never knew so much about the ECM-Libra - Avenue Capital merger, the link between Singapore, GLCs, and Mr SIL, and his strategies of planting his allies into key government and state seats to sabotage the old guards which are against him. Better than reading a thriller. In fact it completely changes your entire perception of the Abdullah administration.

Solace

2007-11-07T01:12:00.000Z

The view of Edinburgh at midnight from Holyrood Park is.. stunning. Makes me want to get an SLR camera. Hmmph. I wanted to go and watch the fireworks there at night but I didn't want to go alone, luckily Reuben - my flatmate, wanted to go at quarter-past eleven. It sucked though, we only got to smell the sorta acrid smell of burnt gunpowder, while throngs of people descended from Arthur's Seat. I swear the next year I'll bring along a better camera than my stewpid mobilephone camera. Should have taken the picture of some firemen getting geared up for something that we thought was a bonfire, but turns out to be bushfire.

Speaking of which, I've recently realised that there isn't enough time in a day. I practically sleep for 10 hours, go to lectures for 3 hours and the remaining time.. is not enough~ A few rounds of DotA after dinner.. and it's already 11.. wtf right?

So now here I am, lying on my bed, finding comfort and retreat in the Great Compassion Mantra.. with my stomach telling me to eat a biscuit or two. And it's already 1.12 in the morning. Time flies.

Damage Assessment

2007-11-05T15:54:00.000Z

Screw what I've said earlier of not posting. Feel like getting things out of my head, so I'm writing them down.
-----
I've been dreaming the same sort of dreams every night, it's something that I can't quite get the hang of. For the last year or so, I've remembered less dreams, and had less troubled nights than the past week combined. But the thing about the dreams is, it's the same people. It's the same everyday thing dreamt. So, end result is I wake up usually in some level of shock being unable to comprehend what is going on.

I've not experienced dreams in a long time, usually just deep empty sleep, and waking up feeling refreshed. Nowadays, I can't even sleep easily. I kept the tradition of listening to podcasts since CC, and well, usually I'll be dozing off before my computer shuts down. Now, I'm wide awake and turning about restlessly long after it turns off by itself.

This incidents, I can't explain what's causing them, but they're probably either cause or effect of recent unrest going on in my mind. The weird thing about these dreams are that they are indifferentiable with reality. Well, put it simply, I can't tell whether they are dreams or memory recalls.

Plus, I can't say that these unrests are similar to the pre/post-breakup depression. They're not lovesick emo-times as well. No, they are no longer superficial. I can't even understand the basis of this.

Spent the entire morning looking up wikipedia on common symptoms. This is going to be funny. I have symptoms which make up part of the following disorders (recently).
Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Anhedonia (just wanted to add this for fun)
and the most accurate one
Atypical depression

The DSM-IV-TR, a widely used manual for diagnosing mental disorders, defines Atypical Depression as a subtype of depression or dysthymia, characterized by Atypical Features:

A. Mood reactivity (i.e., mood brightens in response to actual or potential positive events)
B. At least two of the following:

1. Significant weight gain or increase in appetite ("comfort eating")[3]
2. Hypersomnia (sleeping too much, as opposed to the insomnia present in melancholic depression)
3. Leaden paralysis (i.e., heavy, leaden feelings in arms or legs)
4. Long-standing pattern of interpersonal rejection sensitivity (not limited to episodes of mood disturbance) that results in significant social or occupational impairment (not long-standing.. probably 3 days or so)

C. Criteria are not met for Melancholic Depression or Catatonic Depression during the same episode.

By the ICD-10 classification, it will fall in the category of F32 or F39.

I'm probably going too far, to be honest, for 1 or 2 hours only I'm feeling like that, for the rest of the time I'm still an idiot full of sh*t.

Well, put it this way, did any of u guys notice a change in tone from the start to the end of this post?
I started at 11.21, end .. well.. at halfpast 3.
Shows how 'moodswingy' i've been =P

Anyway, I must have scared some people off by saying I'm depressed. Hahahaha, that's just assuming the worst. I'm not depressed just having a lot of things on my mind, that I can only have access to at certain times of the day, which is so weird. Like I can't think of what's bothering me now, but I know it 5 hours ago.

The mind is a powerful tool. Don't mess around with it. But it's messing around with me now. <--dammit! But, music helps, and noobshuffling (because I'm a newbie) too, so does having an aim. Screw it I'm just going to focus on my 2000word essay due on the 22nd and stop fretting about other stuff that I've lost control over. But I still find my dreams.. incomprehensible and freaky.

P.S: As much as I find Mika's voice annoying, his songs are actually quite addictive. No, not THAT addictive.

P.P.S: Gahhh, I'll probably miss out Charis's birthday at JimmyChung at 6 and the HKIS Guy Fawke's fireworks celebration tonight for a project meeting. Why lah must all good things happen, when I'm busy?! When I'm dead bored, nothing happens.

Tooooot

2007-11-04T00:42:00.000Z

Just wanna say, that I won't be posting anything for the next few days. Real busy with my project but turns out I've wasted half a day because of the stupid things I've done, should have just gone out to watch a movie but nooooooo, have to do work, which I then forgot to save.. then redo.. then wrong data.. then redo again. Sigh, I sense myself becoming emo already. .. emotional.. sigh.

Note: Why is it so hard, to not get attracted to someone! I don't want to! Hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate =(