adik guwa

I don't know what the hand above is trying to tell me ...

My brother ya, Wawan, he's like the biggest fan of Peter Pan. There was a lepak with Peter Pan session in Taipan earlier this evening, so I arranged for him to go. I rang his mobile this morning to tell him about it, not too early though. When I got through, guess what song did he have for his ringtone? Upon hearing it, I went banging my head at the car window. Don't go slow mo laa wehhhh ... it shouldn't take long to guess!!!

'Twas You're Beautiful by James Blunt.

Ya ampun!!!!! Ear hath not heard any other song as annoying as thee. Why? Why not other songs? Why thee? UwaaaAAAaaAAaaaAAaaaAAaaaAAaaAAAaaaa!!!!!!!!!

As though that wasn't enough, it had to take Wawan a while to answer the phone. Brilliant! Utterly smashing!

When he answered, I went, "Thank you, Wawan. You're so sweet!!!!". He was puzzled, "Thank you? What was that for?". I replied, "Sebab Wawan acknowledged Ya beautiful." and quick came the answer, "Boleh blah!" :op

Anyways, I've just got back from the Peter Pan thingie. Will upload pictures later, camera batt empty.

I thought I could go to the gig with Wawan, ropa2nya he's working on the 1st. Demmit! He knew I was fishing for him to go together gether after seeing that the band members are actually cute, so he gave me two tickets to the gig as a pwessie. He's the sweetest.

Ye! Ye! Nak pegi! Ye! Ye! Nak pegi! *me doing the Joey dance*

yesterday

sebab pinat ajak2 ayam tengok my dearest afdlin in action, i went to the cinema anyway. *tengah gedik merajuk kat pinat* :op

yesterday, i saw "hotaru no hoshi" the direct translation should have been "river's light". Widie chang, honto desu ne? Watashi no nihon go crap to the max desu yo! but the cinema title was "fireflies: river of lights"

"emotional scars are hardest to heal"

arramakkk ... wa sambung later ... watashi no boss panggil desu ne. :op

tanah melayu

i was digging my hard drive for my scanned letter from tan sri abdul aziz sharing his experience drafting the NEP but i couldn't find it. chait! so, i can't share the content here. the original letter has been given to this certain feriz omar by mama. who is this guy pun? i know he's doing the same, tapping the seniors punya brain and experience but then takkan kot nak suruh them seniors do work for him. at their level, they no longer get bogged down with the nitty gritty, instead they get a coolie to do it for them. guess who's the coolie? sir, yes sir! :op

anyways, Bumiputera rights.

I agree with the government's work towards promoting Bumiputras, if that doesn't sound too condescending, as I would with affirmative action in North America and with Chavez's (Venezuela) distributing land from the wealthy minority to the majority who are poor.

it saddens me to hear my peers criticising our Bumiputera rights and sounding as though they are ashamed of being a Bumiputera. surprisingly, these same people are them who are given scholarships for their studies. they have forgotten.

my father had the same attitude and still do; if the chinese can do it, so can we. he rejected my MARA scholarship for me and sent me to the UK. (i think i'll be revealing what most don't know about me. erk! i always look OK, rite. :op)

i was there all alone to fend myself, literally. i juggled my studies with two part-time jobs and sometimes three to pay for my tuition fees and cost of living. i know personally 2 chinese who went into a depression and dropped out trying to do what i did. i had to make a difficult choice of dropping my architecture dream and took up accounting and finance, simply because it's the cheapest course. when i tell people that i took up the course because it's the cheapest course, they look at me as though i'm nuts. :op

my problem then, i was so bogged down trying to solve my problem my dad's way and get my degree, i forgot that there are bursaries as well as scholarships i can tap into. hehe! tak pandai gaks wa ni.

anyways, final year came, i had to get creative 'cos i was positive i'd not get a good degree if i were to continue with what i was doing. so i wrote to HSBC, and got some dosh with no strings attached. bagus jugak pandai menulis nih. hehe! then i remembered MARA and they paid for my final year. alhamdulillah!

so, i had a taste of both world. i don't think many can survive my ordeal. i wouldn't want anyone else to go through it. I vote for the rights to remain.

Moreover, when the non-Bumi signed for citizenship, they signed a declaration saying aye! to Bumiputera special rights (as means of redistributing wealth) and had forego any special rights. If anyone to be blamed, it's their ancestors for not having that foresight our leaders had. and article 157 kot of the constitutions said no one has the right to question these rights. ISA you go, bebeh!

More moreover, lets look at the rights at work. I would not go far. TKC today, the quota given was 20% from urban + 80% from rural (our time, the top students to go to TKC, mostly town girls). Our teachers went bezerk for it is impossible to produce the same results with the new students but the OGA complement their work so that we can still maintain the standard. Why rural students? So that they have equal access to education and can, in future, help their families improve their social economic status. What if we remove these rights?

Who gives us the rights to decide for them rural folks? Just because we've smelt the air of affluence, we go arrogant?

That's the way I see it. I may be wrong; have not eaten much salt one.

melayu mudah lupa

wegra sedih

baru dengar a friend relate a business owner criticising Bumiputera special rights.

i typed a long one and blogster made it disappeared. :o(

one fine day, i'll put em up again. insya allah.

birthdays

She turns 1 today ...

... and I, 2 years over quarter century. Goh!

USD 2.5 billion

Not too long ago, an Arab tourist got mugged. He went into a Maybank branch to ask for help. Every single person in the bank ignored him but the bank manager kesian and offered the Arab to borrow his money, it was about RM 1,000 that he loaned.

The Arab profusely thanked the bank manager, asked him for his account details and promised to pay every single penny. Three months passed, there was nothing. The bank manager just pushed the event aside, saying it was just one of those things.

Recently, he was queried by Bank Negara and got confused. When he check his bank account, he found RM 9 billion in his account and fell dead. Bank Negara went to query his wife, after a while his wife remembered the account and related it to the investigation officer.

Bank Negara, now, decided to not release the RM 9 billion. Kurang ajo Bank Negara! Rezeki the bank manager's wife and young children lagi mau sekat.

True story.

sekufu?!

my late opah always pesan,"samirah, cari pasangan dari keturunan bangsawan". in my head, i imagined a chinese opera actor with full stage make up and full stage costume. yes, it's a concept i can't relate to. probably that was why i had a relationship with a chinese boy, i had that image in my head everytime arwah opah pesan the same pesanan. so, subconsciously i went looking for a sepet. :op

my late opah always pesan, "samirah, cari pasangan yang sekufu" too. that made me stare into a blank for it's not a concept i'm familiar with and i have no back up picture which can be linked to the word "sekufu". i went around telling hefle as well, "kene cari pasangan yang sekufu". hefle asked, "sekufu tu apa yam?". i went. "ntah!". :op

so today hefle told me what it meant;

Heffy says:
smalam i baca artikel kat malay newspaper masa tgh makan
Heffy says:
cara2 utk memilih suami dlm islam
Maryam says:
cemana
Heffy says:
pasal sekufu tu ada 5 ke 6 ciri2
Heffy says:
i lupa la ..
Heffy says:
tapi satu is kluarga..macam takleh ada beza sgt
Heffy says:
lagi satu kerjaya..
Heffy says:
isteri takleh lebih2 terror dari hubby
Heffy says:
yg lain ciri2 biasa la
Maryam says:
kalo hubby pemalas kerja, pas tu isteri climb the ladder, cemana
Heffy says:
lyg tu i take not
Heffy says:
take note
Heffy says:
yg berkemampuan
Maryam says:
ok
Heffy says:
melindungi wanita drp bahaya
Heffy says:
pandai menjaga darjat diri
Heffy says:
bercakap dikota n diamalkan
Heffy says:
berkebolehan dalam urusan rumahtangga supaya boleh menolong isteri
Heffy says:
mempunyai kepercayaan penuh kepada bakal isteri
Heffy says:
rajin
Heffy says:
berfikiran luas
Heffy says:
tidak harap titik peluh isteri
Heffy says:
mudah memaafkan
Heffy says:
dtgdari keturunan baik2
Heffy says:
tidak ada keturunan yg gila babi
Heffy says:
heheh
Heffy says:
rajin beribadah
Heffy says:
berbudi bahasa
Heffy says:
there!
Maryam says:
i copy dalam my blog OK
Heffy says:
ok

a moment of cruelty

she
she comes here everyday
to see me
she tells me
about her day
her life
her work
her dreams

i could see her desires
sense her loneliness

i
i was tempted
to
have
fun

in a moment of cruelty
i offer myself
to her
today
just before she
leaves

for the satisfaction
of knowing
that
i could have her
but i won't,

i take it back
just when she breaks into

a

sad

smile

say good bye to an old blog

some of the junks from me old blog

a gentle heart in pirates' lair

malaysia is one of the world's top producers of pirated dvds. bbc news reported that a third of pirated films sold in britain originated from malaysia. the pirate dvd's were being shipped to the uk from crime gangs in malaysia. a wide-ranging police operation cleared fake discs off malaysia's streets and out of its shopping malls but when the raids stopped the pirates returned.

against the above background, i wish to share a story.

i was having supper with mom and her friends in rasta; it's a hawker centre in ttdi, kuala lumpur. a young girl came up to us and offered us her merchandise; pirated dvds. none of us at the table paid attention to her. i uttered "no, thank you" to emphasise that we were not interested in buying the dvds.

for some reason, auntie akmar went to ask, "you don't go to school arr?" she whispered, "no". auntie akmar continued, "how old are you?". she answered, "14". auntie akmar raised her voice slightly, "why don't you go to school?" she choked, "family problem". upon which puan sri akmar started to cry, and so did the girl.

auntie akmar pulled out a sum cash and put them in the girl's hand and told the girl, "i just want you to go to school". the girl whispered in reply, "cannot ... financial problem".

do you want to help this little girl raise money for her family or do you want to help them big hollywood production house fight piracy?

she who've touched so many lives

baby tickers

i'm surrounded by young mummies and they're having a baby tickers war. don't wanna miss the fun. :op

so, i decided to have a ticket for them kittens at home. hahahahahahaha!

There are three of them.

Betty - short for Batman betina (the spot on her face looks exactly like Batman's mask, alas she's a lady.)

Ontel - short for oren montel (very the montel, very the geram watching him turn the shoe boxes upside down.)

Ada - short for adult (she thinks she's an adult; she fusses over her other siblings, she protects them from my father's hand and insists that she share canned food with the other adult cats, when her siblings are still imbibing cat mummy's milk.)

All Falls Down - Kanye West

your entertainment for today. :op

i've got a splitting headache, not in the mood to blabber.

have a good weekend ya!

p.s. lynor, me going klcc to hunt for arina's pwessie!

Ada betut ka?

went to http://www.drawahouse.com, and here's their verdict. manyak tipu muslihat! both versions produced the same outcome.

Your house tells the world that you ought to be a leader. You are a freedom lover and a strong person. You love your house and family. You are a gifted artist as well. Once you have a problem, you need a friend with you. Your life is always full of changes. Once you have a problem, you need a friend with you. Your life is always full of changes.

You will avoid being alone and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. You see the world as it is, not as you believe it should be.

You added a flower into your drawing. The flower signifies that you long for love. We also see that you are sensuous, sexual, and privately passionate. You don't think much about yourself.

bergebang session

I had the opportunity to have a “bergebang” session with our former Prime Minister’s protocol officer earlier, I didn’t even know who he was until I was about to leave. You know, learning through your experiences alone isn’t enough. How much can you experience pun in your short life time. You read, you tap from other people’s experiences, you get more. (Cik Hefleen, I will try to read more novels, OK? But never Sidney Sheldon, please dong!) I’m glad I decided to join En Hashim’s table for lunch last Monday, it was most enlightening.

We were on about NEP, the fact that the non-Bumiputera agreed to forego any special rights in exchange of citizenship, some articles in the constitution. But then we Malays don’t have that reading and writing culture, how are we to defend our rights when we have collective amnesia of the past.

Anyways, En Hashim related to me when he was younger, the former PM used to make his team give Tetamu Negara treatment to the President of Nauru, which is the world’s smallest independent republic. The President was a big fellow, when he asked for a message treatment, En Hashim send a police officer to get the best masseur in Kampung Baru. You know that sort of thing. Everyone criticised Dr M because most people thought it was a waste of the nation’s money. As he was relating the experience, I saw that Dr M was eyeing the money from Nauru’s phosphates. True enough, the President of Nauru was smitten with us, he diverted his investments from Australia to Malaysia. Patut laa Australia was so pissed off with us. There was more stories about Dr M’s PR work with South Africa, Cambodia, which had made Malaysia these countries’ first choice when it comes to doing business. How Dr M understood the theories of economics and challenged the popular thought when deciding to get Malaysia out of the 1997 downturn. The man has got vision.

I told En Hashim he should document these stories so that youngsters like me can learn from Dr M’s strategies. En Hashim kata they are Sulit matters. Haiyoh! Manyiak rugi wooo!!!! <- ala ala the psycho cat – Ah Beng.

mummy and daddy dearest

I’m not sure if this is common with couples who married young, but that’s my adiks-beradiks’ diagnostic. Or is it just my parents?

Bapak, he’s a tea person and Mama, a coffee person. They’ve lived happily that way until one day Mama bought Nescafe Gold and fell head over heels with it. Bapak was curious and had a taste; he too fell head over heels. I was curious as well but to me it’s just coffee.

Anyways, since they are both drinking the same drink of course laa habis cepat. Mama buys her own coffee and after half a year of buying and buying and seeing Bapak goyang kaki habiskan the drink, she got annoyed. Last week she bought a new bottle of Nescafe Gold and hid it. I saw Bapak going back to his tea. I went in my head, “Haiks?! Bukan Mama dah beli coffee baru ke?” Mama of course was satisfied.

To cut the story short, last Friday Bapak discovered the Nescafe Gold and went on a membebel spree. He hid the bottle. Mama pun annoyed Bapak hid her coffee and carik the bottle, after she found it, she hid it somewhere else. It goes on and on.

They don’t talk to each other about it. Guess who had to suffer, moi.

Maybe I should buy another bottle, to create that false satisfaction that they both managed to out smart each other.

mental problem

I've got this mental problem where I like to play hero. When I see something, I'll jump to help without waiting for the brain to first function. I think I inherited the gene from my mom. A few years back we saw a man hitting his wife while his child was crying by the road. Mom stopped our car and told the man off, threatened him to call the police.

Anyways, just some minutes ago, in Sunway I saw an Indian bloke running away with a lady's handbag and a bunch of ladies chasing him. Instantly, without pikir panjang I rammed into the getaway bike. Fine, the snatch thieves were caught, the lady got her handbag. All's well that ends well.

Wait, I am left with a problem. The cute green arse was left with a dent. Goh! Mati laa nak bayar.

Lesson learnt: Don't help people (?!)

He said ...

"It is a well-known fact that the best place for the cultivation of peace and human brotherhood is in the minds of men. As a man becomes literate, his mind becomes exposed to the bigger world of knowledge. He becomes more enlightened and receptive to ideas and attempts for the preservation of peace; and what is more important, greater also will be his incentives to act for the sake of peace."

- Tun Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein, Malaysia's Second Prime Minister

al-fatihah

i've just heard kak ida j, a senior from school passed away of cancer.

too many from my school alumnae are either suffering from cancer, cancer survivors or have died of cancer.

related to the school ground? by chance? or is cancer too common in malaysia now?

a little al-fatihah for kak ida j.

wedding reception

just back from a wedding reception in sunway lagoon and am back to work. but before that .... hehe!

lavish nyer the reception, complete with fireworks. the food was yummy, rugi tak bawak tupperware. haha! it was an english reception, with the father and daughter dance as well as the baling flower thingie. when they were pulling the single ladies out tiba-tiba, i had rings at the strategic fingers. i kidnapped them from them aunties around and went flashing me fingers. :op

I Don't Wanna Be - Gavin DeGraw

akad nikah

I smiled when i saw NST's headline this morning.

The reported registration number "JJJ 7" with the highest bid of RM 500,000 sometime back was on the red Ferrari and today's headline reported that mas kahwin for Julia Banos was RM 77,888.77. Terrer eh their PR, the news flow. I went wondering how many millionaires are there in Malaysia. I know for a fact there are 45 thousand millionaires in Hong Kong.

Yesterday, auntie Akmar rang and told us that the setting for Rina's akad was too beautiful to be missed. Her P.A said that we should be there as it would be wedding of the year. I was like, fine, I'll go. Went home and asked mom what should I wear. Mom said, "anything ... you bergaya macam mana pun diorang lagi terrer". Hehe! Good one, mom.

When I reached Jalan Dungun I was lutut-ketaq at the sight of rows and rows of Jag and Merc. Had to wedge the cute green arse (that's the nickname to our tiny car for those who doesn't know) of ours in between. True enough, the night was magical. I just love the string quartet, I've seen them performed in KLCC. Of course I parked my arse right smack in front of the quartet. The groom was playful, after the akad he shot his hand to the air, "I did it!", sewel apa budak ni, he even layan Auntie Akmar for a short joget melayu. A few other aunties joined them to joget under the stars.

Kid Chan was there as well, he was in full baju melayu. Even he knows how to hormat majlis. SN covered my friend's wedding in jeans and black t-shirt bearing "good boys go to heaven, bad boys go to phuket". Achocho!

And the couple, they were very much in love. I was overwhelmed.

nak pegi!

I was signed up for the Perdana Global Peace Forum 2005. I've set my mind to go. I'm excited at the prospect of being there.

Yesterday evening in came a fax from this Government agency we're working with commanding us for a meeting on Monday. The superior being requested that I stay in the office to do preparatory work.

Grrrrr ........ tantrum la nih! tantrum la nih! Uwaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lima budak hitam, tinggal tiga

A picture with one of the best teams I've worked with - we organised a reunion for our batch. At the end of this month, our key negotiator, one of the best negotiator I've met, is leaving town. Service providers didn't know what hit them when they agreed to supply services at dirt cheap rate. Thanks to Zet!

Tinggal us three budak hitam in the middle. Sob! Sob!

lakan balu

I’m taking a fiver. The clock starts now …….

Yesterday I finally met this bloke I’ve been in touch with since 2003, through Friendster. Hehe! Not a word to the psycho cat – Ah Beng! He will liken me to them people sending their profile to URTV for the luuuuangan be-ke-nalan. :op

Hey! I can safely claim 99% of them on my Friendster list are people I’ve known or previously met.

Anyways, I discovered how uncomfortable it is when you know the other party is analysing you. The problem is when I meet a new person that’s exactly what I do. Hehe! The difference was I don’t share with the other person my “findings”, this bugger told me all.

Just because my eyeball likes to do a certain movement, he considered me highly creative, a dreamer. Demmit! (Mental note: next time consciously manipulate your eyeball movement)

Just because my favourite board games are MONOPOLY and RISK, I’m out to conquer the world. Chait! Wouldn’t it be possible I like them both because my OKU ID reads etymologically challenged (Oh ya! OKU = Orang Kurang Upaya) hence, me being crap at SCRABBLE and BOOGLE. (Mental note: learn to excel at word board games so that I can claim I like them)

Last, he thought I was a good girl, who doesn’t do wild parties. Hehe! He definitely got that wrong or did he?! Define wild parties.

But he'll make a good friend. Yey! Ada lakan balu!

P.S. To a lakan lama ...

Happy Birthday, laling!

racism

definition:

"a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race"

maybe sydney should adopt spaniard's Racism Kiosk, just to encourage people to think and reflect.

"ordinary people" - john legend

a story of ordinary people

on Weekend Activities

my weekend hasn't ended (jangan jealous KL workers) but lets recap

1.
Ship my mom and her friends to and from the ASEAN Summit forum thingie. Had to hear them debrief.
2.
Went to a wedding in Shah Alam, a garden wedding with brilliant musicians. Thought the cello lad was good looking. Hehehe!
3.
Was a kuli angkut hantaran for my cousin, Ibrahim. Mana upah?!
4.
Lepak at the Dome, KLCC, waved and winked at tiny tots who passed by, awaiting their reaction. One gave me a flying kiss, how adorable.
5.
Saw Aeon Flux, loved the wardrobe!
6.
Booked Air Asia tickets to Bandung and Jakarta. Kini Siapapun Bisa Terbang!

Adieu London Red Bus, I bid thee farewell

One of London's icons, the famous Routemaster bus (the double decker red bus) has been taken out of service after sering the city for more than 50 years. Forty passengers joined dignitaries on the 159 route in Oxford St on the 1208 service which was 26 minutes late yesterday, Friday - 9th December 2005.

The move was deemed necessary because the buses are not accessible to all sections of society, such as the disabled and the elderly. The vehicles have been phased out and replaced with a more modern designs, considered safer and more accessible. Transport watchdog, London Travelwatch, said the continued use of the Routemaster, which is inaccessible to wheelchairs or baby buggies, was not viable.

The bus, however, will not die out completely with services operating on two heritage routes.

Route 15 will run from Trafalgar Square to Tower Hill, via Fleet Street, while the number nine will start at Royal Albert Hall, end in Aldwych, and take in Knightsbridge and Piccadilly.

Sedihnya laa pulak! If I were there, I'd be with my camera to capture the moment.

on DAVID CAMERON

David Cameron told Tony Blair “He was the future once” at his first appearance in Prime Minister’s Questions and it came down as line of the day. Such extraordinary display of confidence. I found an interesting Newsnight footage of a journalist trying to get close to David.

Julius Ceasar

I laughed like a hyena at Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It. I cried buckets at Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. I got pissed off at Othello. I loved Ramli Ibrahim sutra dance, I jumped to give him a standing ovation. I boogied along with The Stomp and gave them a standing ovation. So much so, the group behind me went, “Like that also want to give standing ovation”.

Basically, I’m easy to please.

But I left Joe Hasham’s Julius Caesar with a blank. I was more impressed with the venue; it reminded me of Manchester’s Greenroom. Alamak! Rindunya …… Pete Teoh once performed at the Greenroom, I think it was he.

Last night’s play was on the assassination of Julius Caesar by opulent conservatives in the senate, who felt Caesar was an ambitious man, hence would bring danger to Rome. I’m familiar with the story, watching it was like me going through a text. I have to give credits to Cassius (Patrick Teoh) and Marc Antony (Gavin Yap) as they managed to attract my attention though the cast as a team failed to pull me in, dribble my emotions, poke and wring occasionally. I was disappointed really.

And they didn’t warn us about the throbbing light in their effects. Someone with migraine or epilepsy could get an attack and the production can be sued! My eyes went watery je, so the production team are safe from having to face my wrath. When I was at university, a production like so, would leave warning on their posters and when we purchase the tickets, they would remind us that they use such lighting effects.

Tapi best nyer Sentul West! It’ll definitely be the next Bangsar if YTL’s plan pulls through. But then me Tamarind apartment no more….:o(

the university of .........

No 35 of the world's top 200 universities ... wehey!

No 11 of Europe's top 50 universities ... wehey!

... hehehehe ... gedik tak?!

last night, alumni of the engineering and physical sciences department had a little get together. i was a sesat there but i enjoyed the dinner as much. i was late though; an extreme case of tardiness. all because mama dearest forgot to check the car's ayor; the car went dead. so we had to wait for a while til the engine sejuk and we get to move again. mom and i are from the same alumni.

when we arrived, people were already on their dessert. lucky it was a buffet, so i took my own sweet time to eat. when i was on my main meal, the dinner ended. chait!

somehow, there's a certain mr tan who stopped to chat at our table. alamak! i want my dessert la brader. i had to be polite and layan the conversation, "what course did you do in manchester?". he went, "triple e" (that's electrical, electronic engineering) "i completed my masters, and was supposed to do my PhD" (makkk!!! friendly laa pulak pak cik nih) "then came boyfriend girlfriend problem, I decided to go home. Later, both of us nothing already". I menyampuk, "that sounds familiar laa Mr Tan".

The whole table later stayed back to chat. Best laa tapi; we discussed macam2. One of them being Malaysian press. Hehe! And I love it when I'm right, two from different national broadsheet admitted that they practice self censorship since members of their board of directors are mostly political appointees.

Anyways, back to the alumni dinner. We were the last to leave the hotel at 12:30 a.m. Achooo makkkkk! And I didn't get my dessert even!!! Huwaaaaa!!!!

kwang! kwang! kwang!

I’ve always believed that this world is small. Henceforward, you have to do good to others. Refrain from being nasty, unless you really have to. :op

I mean, imagine: You played a gal, you trashed her good. 20 years from now, your daughter is going out with her son. Drama swasta in the making!

This brings me to the story Lynor is making me share – hope you’re happy Mummy-o! KAK Wegra (to Arina) will try ….

There’s this young photographer, rather good with the lenses. He specialises in wedding photography. I admired his work; I’ve been recommending that my friends employ him as their photographer.

Anyways, after his stint covering a “royal wedding” in London, he came back posting his displeasure with the Malaysian market and criticising his customers for suggesting that his RM 2,500 rate is steep on his “marketing tool”. He claimed photographers in the UK are millionaire.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

I didn’t want my favourite photographer to lupa daratan so I tegur something along the line: You should be grateful the Malaysian market has grown, has matured. Previously, wedding photography means studio photography and people would record the event which their own camera. Today, we employ professional photographer.

Someone who read my comment, commented that his avid fan has turned to the other side, instead of the usual praises I now criticise. I tried to correct her; I don’t hate him. I still think the bloke is good at what he does. But criticising the market he’s serving was unjustified. We paid our Malaysian photographer well. And not all British photographers are millionaire. For one event we had in London, we paid a British photographer 500 quid for the day’s event. So where did the millionaire rumour came from? I gave facts to back my arguments.

The photographer went all defensive and went attacking. He claimed, the British photographer we employed was not a posh photographer and you won’t find posh photographers covering our non-posh events. Fuiyoh!

I was in the mood to be puerile so I asked him to define posh? His London partner replied obviously I’ve never been to London for I don’t understand the term posh. He likened it as going to a posh restaurant and paying a few hundred quid and a restaurant paying a few quid for a meal. Interesting, the opposite of posh restaurant is restaurant. :op

I know I was being childish and notty! But just this once…..

The whole thing ended up with me tergedik-gedik ala2 merajuk, konon hurt gila and told him I’m not visiting his fotopages anymore. He said good riddance.

A few months later…..

His London counterpart covered our event. Kah! Kah! Kah!

And today I found out, he got my younger brother to be on his London team. He! He! He!

And they are bidding for our May 2006 event. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Shall I be evil or shall I be magnanimous?

venting out

had a bad start at work with some customers.

i'm firm, definitely, but am trying my best to stay polite. why can they just be objective. they have been delaying and wanted to delay payment further, at the same time wanted us to deliver the moon and the sun.

when they realised they couldn't bend me, they started throwing personal attack. tak pakai tudung pun jadi issue!

what was that about?!

tarik nafas .... lepas .... tarik nafas .... lepas ... smile girl!

a nation of shopkeepers

Napoleon Bonaparte once described the English as a "nation of shopkeepers". He was describing a nation of petty bourgeois that worshipped commerce rather than culture, art, and food. Adam Smith, first coin the notion in his Wealth of Nations, 1776.

Last night I read a blog, quoting Profesor DiRaja Ungku Aziz, criticising the Government's policy of trying to encourage entrepreneurship amongst Bumiputera as daff and likened it to the creation of a "nation of shopkeepers" only with a different name - entrepreneurs.

But then ....

Weren't the Chinese the "race of shopkeepers" in Malaysia not too long ago? Their second and third generation today have enough wealth to not get bogged down with the nitty gritty and focus on the big picture.

If we don't have the dosh to invest on human capital, can we develop our human capital pun?

If you are not paid your salary from your company's piggy, honestly can you do work? Can you even ponder on Malay dilemma? Won't there be additional 101 issues creeping in? How did the company's piggy get fat? Through mere thinking? Wasn't corporate entrepreneurship required to help the piggy get fat?

As I see it they are both important. It's just part of a nation's development process. We'll get there.

My fifty sen.

ponder

"it is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while"

Don Marquis

You're Beautiful

Read psycho persian cat - Wong Ah Beng's blog criticising people who post lyrics on their blog. Hilarious tho. Oii! Suka hati lah! Since when did we have to conform to a set of rules in blogging. :op

So, today I decided to post lyrics.

Why the choosen song? Well during one of my car pooling session, my friend Izan decided to play the song over and over. Imagine listening to the song from Petaling Street to Kota Damansara and last Subang Jaya.

It ain't beautiful! I had to hang my head out of the window, literally.

I even had a nightmare featuring the song!!! A beast went chasing me whilst singing the song! Kalo suara sedap macam John Legend I don't mind too much, nih the beast croaked and the hairiness!!! Huwaaaaa!!!!!

them who made me listen to the song!

... you both are beautiful, it's true ...

"You're Beautiful"

My life is brilliant.

My life is brilliant.

My love is pure.

I saw an angel.

Of that I'm sure.

She smiled at me on the subway.

She was with another man.

But I won't lose no sleep on that,

'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful.

You're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true.

I saw your face in a crowded place,

And I don't know what to do,

'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,

As we walked on by.

She could see from my face that I was,

Flying high,

And I don't think that I'll see her again,

But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true.

I saw your face in a crowded place,

And I don't know what to do,

'Cause I'll never be with you.

You're beautiful.

You're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true.

There must be an angel with a smile on her face,

When she thought up that I should be with you.

But it's time to face the truth,

I will never be with you.

waiting

Image: 20th March 2005, Pulau Duyong Shipyard, Kuala Terengganu

Being the last person in a "process" is no fun. I've completed other things need to be doing, yet I'm still waiting for it ... copek la jang oii! Eden speeking noghori kang ...

At 11:55 pm tonite, a friend, I referred to her as Ginger earlier, is going back to London. Sigh!

Today, I noticed, some, just because they had a long, bad day, they feel they have the right to behave certain unpleasant ways, and treat others curt and rude. Don't punish others laa, please ... a chocolate dipped sweet please ...

hmmmm ... PMS izzit?! Negativity, sensitive yang terlampau and moodiness starting to engulf. Better hush up the next few days. If you've got nothing good to say, better shut it, right? :op

sightings

This is to report that Jean Todt was seen wondering in KLCC last weekend clad in black and white hand drawn silk batik shirt, presumably for the batik do outside KLCC. I scanned for his fiance, Michelle Yeoh but was no where to be found.

Anyone considering a career change; paparazzi-ing is the new found niche market in Malaysia needs servicing. Capture a good picture of Todt and Yeoh having a blast in Malaysia, you can sell it to Hello! magazine for a hefty sum. :op

And I've a new favourite Malaysian designer, in addition to Tom Abang Saufi and Melinda Looi, he's Nizam Ambia. Love his blatik techniques, rather genius, and his dramatic designs. Bila laa nak start commercialising his work? He's been around for quite a while tho, the man needs to act fast and capitalise while his ideas are still fresh. Moreover, he's operating in the "ciplak" land. If he doesn't, sooner or later, someone would.

jet set

Suddenly, the girls decided to be "jet set" and abandoned their friend a.k.a. guwe, all alone in this maddening place. Ini macam ka kawan?

Not that when they're in town we berkepit all the time but the knowledge that they'd be there to answer my calls or return my texts and that they'd jump on the invitation to hang out was more than enough to warm the heart. Today, i feel a tiny void. (Yep! This is meant to make y'all feel guilty about leaving me this week. No pun intended.) :op

gubra

Source: http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/

Something about this poster made me go all sebak? And it wasn't even the caption.

Hefle, (if you are reading) this time round we bring sunglasses for post-movie use. ;o)

Americanisation of Malaysian society, perhaps

I was not in town immediately after 9/11

Our nationals were subjected to degrading treatment at immigration check points. Stripping naked was definitely on the menu. The US of A is one such government, another paranoid government was Israel. They were making the case that this is justifiable and necessary in the "war on terror". Wow! Terrer nyer!

I was wondering. During that period ya, were there similar press outrage? Were the Ministers fighting for a say on the matter as well? Did our Goverment voiced a protest and defended the rights of our citizens?

I know one of our men who had to go through the ill-treatment. He was based in the US of A and his work had required him to travel to Israel. Every single time, passing through the immigration check points had meant he had to strip naked, at both ends. After one encounter where he and his wife had to strip naked in front of his children, he quit his job and came home for good.

I had written to protest against torture and ill-treatment in the "war on terror". Tengok2 in my own backyard oso got the same pattern one. Ak eneee!!! Shy only.

Farish A Noor's say on the same matter.

emily rose

Last Saturday, my friend and I felt the need to scare the s**t out of ourselves. So, we booked ourselves for the evening "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" show.

For, those who hasn't seen me watch horror flicks at home, you're dead lucky.

I may have this "macho" outlook, don't mess with me attitude, but faced with a scary movie, fuiyoh! chicken like hell. At home, I'd be circling the room, walking to the kitchen and back, occasionally sitting behind the sofa waiting for the horror to end, I'd pretend to be reading the newspaper or play with the cat when in actual fact I was dead nervous. And my friend, she wasn't any better. People alike flock together?

Anyways, the cinema....

To cut the story short, the row behind us spent most of the time gigling at us (the both of us were watching the movie from behind my friend's shawl) and the row in front was dead annoyed (I think I did some karate moves).

By the way, some subliminal advertising ey, the movie.

malaysian press, yet again

I'm very the critical when it comes to Malaysian press, aren't I? :op

I was reading Afdlin Shauki's post YOU CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE!, when bubbles of clouds formed next to me head. Ain't that familiar.

My conclusion of the Malaysian press:

Scene 1

Caller: Hi, I'm Wegra calling on behalf of NGO 007, we are having a press conference announcing our event. Can I fax the details over ....

News Desk: What is it about arrr???

Caller: We are holding a business networking sessions abroad under the Jalan2 Cari Makan branding. The event is aimed at creating new markets for Malaysian entrepreneurs. We realised that the year 2020 is only 15 years away and that we are no where near ....

News Desk: Got Minister or not???

Caller: No

News Desk: Sorry arr, we cannot cover.

Scene 2

Caller: There's a robbery next door and two people were murdered.

News Desk: What's the address? We'd be there in a heartbeat! It is our duty to the nation to report such cases!!!

kasa rubia

sometime just before raya, i went to embun to pick my baju kurung. i bought the baju kurung during embun's tsunami charity sale. that's like almost a year ago! :op

anyways, when i was there i saw a new bundle of kain kasa rubia. my "creative" head went imagining possible kebaya pendek bersulam i'd wanna make. i still refuse to follow the masses and call OUR kebaya pendek bersulam, kebaya nyonya. just because the nyonya adopted malay ways and infuse it with chinese heritage, what they adopt became theirs?! it pained me that all kebaya pendek bersulam today are generalised as kebaya nyonya. kesian moyang2 kita yang menyulam the kebaya pendek dulu, stripped off their IP Rights.

back to kasa rubia. i was holding the material and asked if they were in actual fact kasa rubia. natrah said they are and she said she had to wait over a year to get the shipment. told natrah, that i wanted to buy the kain. she replied, they are to be made into baju, if i want them i have to tailor them with her. there goes my kebaya pendek dream, and so i agreed to have them made into kurung pesak. she charged me RM 300 ++ for the kain and total cost inclusive of tailoring was RM 900. Gulp! all for a kasa rubia of my own.

last weekend, at the curve flea market, i saw a lady selling kasa rubia, real kasa rubia, there were a cheaper alternative which she called the-cheap-kasa-rubia (who are you kidding, customers are not dumb you know) but i don't like them. i was shocked to see the kasa rubia. when i asked how much were they, she replied RM 180. that's the only other place selling kasa rubia and it's half the price!

demmit! i just got punk'd by embun!

future star in the making

Make way for Malaysia's next Idol! Even Mawi can't deliver a song with her "feel". Oops! Don't get angry ya Mawi FC.

bahasa kebangsaan kita

Quoting an elderly whom I respect - he's a lawyer by training, was once the man at the helm of our national airline during its glory and was once one of the few professionals in the early days who were instrumental in drafting the NEP and Constitution of Malaysia during Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak's days - well he confirmed Article I-can't-remember-which of the Constitution of Malaysia stated that Government officers must use Malay in their communications, but there is no compulsion on the Private sector to use Malay.

I was just sent back by a government officer to re-write my letter in Malay!!!

Huwaaa!!!!

Not that I lupa daratan, but my written Malay is like a Sekolah Menengah Malay, in fact during secondary school I used to write better Malay. But 'tis better now, only that I write slow.

Oits! Of course I speak Malay but my spoken Malay is the colloquial Malay, very not the polished. Macam tak ada class Malay. But I like to speak Malay. :op

New year resolution: polish my written Malay.

too short?

After my last relationship of 5 years, I yearned for a 'break'. I decided to enjoy my new found singleton. I haven't been doing any dating since.

My friends have now started arranging for blind dates and match making. Probably, being single for 8 months is far too long for them. I know they have the best intentions but I'm not interested to date. I had to make stupid excuses.

Anyways, there's this bloke. My friends were throwing questions at me. I had to find an excuse. "He was too short". That was all I can come up with. Goh! The brain very the slow already. Yes! You can now call me shallow. I've become a convert.

Now, the story. Let's call this friend of mine, Ginger.

Ginger was having a chat with her Mom. I'm not sure how my name crop up but Ginger had to tell her Mom what I said about the bloke, that "he was too short". And came the reply from her Mom, "but your father, he's a good man..."

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

I shall never step into their house. Ever!

a very much advanced new year gift

I got the sweetest surprise when mom's friend, Auntie Yen, returned from spending her hari raya with her two kids in the UK. (They are studying in the UK; her son in Oxford and daughter in UCL ... erk! too much brains there!!!)

My sister kirim-ed a new year's gift, very much in advance. I hope this has nothing to do with my birtday eh! The birthday gift is still pending. You can start buying now. ;op

It was the very latest in the cult best selling series from Benrik; "The Diary Will Change Your Life 2006". It's a weekly diary which supposedly offer extreme self-improvement tasks, they are bizzare and irreverent to-dos, many of which are boarderline-illegal activities!!!

Ayooomakkk!!!!

Note to me sis: Thanks Bots! I love it, you think I've got the "balls" to execute the tasks?!

P.S. Would the mundane-ness cease with the existence of this to-do-list?

Seven

7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die:

1. Travel the world
2. Love someone who loves me back
3. Be financially independent; no hutang and can hidup without menyusahkan orang til I die
4. Find answers to all my questions & satisfy why I have to believe in what I was taught to believe
5. Give back to society
6. Contribute in creating wealth and a firm foundation for next generation bumiputera
7. Own my own place where my adik2 and friends can drop by whenever they want for makan or just to lepak.

7 Things I Can Do:

1. Multi-task
2. Change car tyre
3. Read maps and navigate
4. Survive on my own
5. Remember faces I’ve seen since zaman tadika
6. Simple plumbing, bulb + fuse change
7. Masak rendang dendeng without parental guidance :op

7 Things I Cannot Do:

1. Fly a plane
2. Design and build a high rise building
3. Carry a car tyre out of the boot on my own (didn’t know it was that heavy!)
4. Perform a surgery; bedah manusia or even haiwan for that matter
5. Remember names
6. Remember what I learnt from PMR & SPM Sejarah
7. Hold a roach, not even for a second

7 Celebrity Crushes:

1. John Legend
2. Richard Ashcroft
3. Damon Albarn
4. Josh Hartnett
5. Adam Sandler
6. Ashton Kutcher
7. Chad Micheal Murray

7 Often Repeated Words:

1. "Thank you"
2. "Terima kasih ye"
3. "Tu la pasal"
4. "Lapar la..."
5. "Sh**"
6. "Gedik"
7. "Oh mak cik!" ... yes! believe it or not, guwe can melatah sometimes ... goh!

7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex:

1. Intelligence
2. Hilarity
3. Confidence
4. Industriousness/ Drive/Perseverance
5. Gentlemanliness
6. Thinker & deeply versed (through reading)
7. Height ... am not asking for too much ya?

Kapirus: New Cat Mummy

Our chubby Kapirus has given birth to a litter of 4 kittens.

Adorable, them kittens!

They are yet unnamed.

CNNisation of Malaysian Press

I was met with a rude shock to unfold the two main English newspapers this morning and find photos of corpses splashed across the front page.

Perhaps, I should not be shocked. Perhaps, I should accept the fact that it has today become a norm for TV news and newspapers to show graphic images of dead bodies.

Such crassness we project.

What ever happened to treating the dead with dignity and respect? What ever happened to respecting the families in grieving? What does this say about the society we live in - our values, our believe system?

I just cannot imagine any purpose beyond mere sensationalism that a bunch of photos of dead bodies might serve. I have no doubt that “This would sell!!!” is screaming through the heads of news editors, but have these same news editors become so completely voyeuristic about the pain and suffering captured in their images that any notion of respect or dignity for the dead, and the families in grieving, is beyond their ability to comprehend?

It is plain puerile to explain away by saying that it is not possible to give the public a realistic idea of how horrible the situation is if the public do not see that there are bodies as well. Unless, like myself, the journalists are etymologically challenged therefore are not capable of effectively communicating the situation.

There are a lot of horrible things in the world that I can easily comprehend without having my nose rubbed in the salacious obsession with dead bodies.

This is a common decency issue and not a censorship issue; the pictures were not necessary.

I just pray that our local press’ infatuation with dead bodies would never reach that of their CNN counterpart. (CNN recently sued the US government for access to dead bodies, so that they can film them.)

are you what you shoot?