Monday, September 25, 2006

I'm going to Korea soon! :)

September 21st, 2006

Today i received a long awaited email from the Asia Culture Forum... finally, after 10 days delay, i've received their confirmation email... at first i thought i don't have a chance already, so i've already forgotten about the whole thing, and didn't do my preparation at all... now i've gotten it, i start to get panicked already!! i have only a little bit more than 2 weeks to write a FULL RESEARCH PAPER!!! gosh... how can i do it!!

but but but.... i need this... for my career, and also to go travel in Korea! so, i don't care... i'm going to break my butt this two week doing a fulltime research and writing and make it to the deadline to submit my full paper! and actually, i have no turning back already... my name and title have already been printed on schedule and website... so if i ever rejected them, i'm going to have a bad name!!! super tension...

here, my name is stated: http://www.asiacultureforum.org/cinema/01program.html


September 25th, 2006

Already bought ticket to Korea on 24th October, cost me RM17XX... sakit hatinya!! but all worth it lah. MATTA fair is so FULL of people, and korea trip is HOT HOT HOT... until the extend i was so worried that i might not even got 1 single ticket to go there at all!!! luckily, found this last 4 ticket on 24/10, rather than 21 or 22 that i originally plan. coming back on 1st of November... 8 days there, i shall enjoy to the max!! but now, it's time to continue writing my paper already... cheers!!

Monday, September 18, 2006

random stuffs ~~

finally my busy hectic days are (temporarily) over!! all the classes have been completed, all the courseworks have been marked, all the final exam papers have been submitted! so i shall enjoy my serene weeks to come, reading books that i've bought and borrowed last few months, and watching wayyyy overdued movies in my shelfs, and doing house chores that takes forever to be done!! -.-"

exam

invigilating is one of the lecturer's duties - although in local uni this thing will be conducted by the exam department... but i do enjoy invigilation. and some will ask WHY? simply bcoz i like to observe people. i have a habit of watching ppl's reactions to things, and be amazed how different everyone is and unique in their own way. and during extreme situation (like exam), it's even more interesting to observe...

some are scratching their head, forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, foot out of nervousness, regret and panic... some are quickly hynoptized by the question papers and doze off... some are looking at the invigilators constantly as if looking for inspirations or looking for chance to cheat and peek over others' paper... some are frowning maybe bcoz what they read were not what comes out, or they are trying hard to memorize all the mental map they have drawn but fail to remember... some are grinning maybe they have the "spot-on" questions or just out of plain desperation... some are constantly watching here and there trying to see if others are suffering just like them or waiting to build an alliance with others... some are just write and write non-stop as if they are JK Rowling working on her new prologue or epilogue (gosh how i hate marking long-winded answer scripts!!)...

well, conclusion is, that 2 or 2.5 hours are normally pretty entertaining ot an observer like me... sometimes when some funny actions appear, i can't help but grin... :P

of exam again

on my last day of invigilation, i was the relief invigilator - meaning if some (bloody irresponsible) lecturers fail to turn up, i have to takeover their (bloody) invigilating job!!! and yes, you guess correct - i ended up invigilating- UTAR mah... what do you expect??

and on my last duty of this semester, i caught someone cheating - so unexpected!! a uni student, hiding a finely written notes underneath his answer booklet, always looking around like scary cat, flipping his answer booklet suspiciously, and reading under the booklet in a weird weird angle - come on, tell me you are NOT suspicious!! (how smart!!)

well, i told the chief invigilator about this, and we decided to slowly take action.

well, being a buddhist (haha), i gave him another chance. i stood just in front of him for at least 15 minutes, i even looked straight into his eyes with a i-know-what-you-did-last-summer look in my eyes (i thot it is very obvious liao)... so i told myself any sane creature would have get the message already. then, someone at the back raised her hand, so i walked over to her and handed her a piece of A4 paper, then i turned back and walked in front again... and guess what? that boy was happily copy the answer again from his note.

so i told myself - you treat me like an idiot, so you shall be treated as one too!! i grabbed the note, grabbed his ID card and exam slip, and reported to the chief and handed him the evidence... DONE!!

no, not done yet, the chief then told me that since i'm the one who caught him, i have to write a report and pass it to the exam department... well, nvm, i'll do that since i'm a bit annoyed and pissed... then only to find out that not only i need to write the report, when the board hold a meeting to investigate or to decide their disciplinary action to this student, i'll have to be present too... WTH!!! i felt like i'm the one being punished for catching him!!

these aside

it has been fun catching up with frens - drinking tea and talking nonsense, and window shop... sometimes it's good to just chill...

of buddhism

well, i was lucky to be exposed to buddhism although i was borned in a taoist family. i bought the ideas of reincarnation, karma and doing good deeds. but i have never have any real motivations to explore these knowledge and really read the books...

i joined buddhist society back in uni, but just for a short 1 semester, then i proceed to the swimming team and life-saving society. i read books but failed to grasp the true and deeper meanings... no one to guide me, being the impatient person, i put all these books aside.

but recently, i've chatted a lot about buddhism with my fren and was happy with the knowledge he told me. he was so kind to lend me some books for me to read. well, this time i shall start with some "easy-learning" books so that i don't get "lost" so easily and then decide to stop again. no no no, this time is for longer time, hopefully for my lifetime!

of my parents and rat

one night, i woke up bcoz of nature-call. after returning to the bedroom and trying to sleep again, i heard a noise resemblance to book dropping on table... i got up, and see a big fat rat standing on my computer monitor rubbing its feet... ok, i made this up, i was too shocked to notice any of its actions at all... i think the rat must have been equally shocked by me too, so it jumped off the table and hide under my wardrobe. i was sitting on my bed thinking and panicking of what should i do next... then in a split second, it sprinted out from the wardrobe towards the door, and squeezed itself thru the tiny door gap and escaped! i felt so relief.... gosh, i'm so afraid of rats!!! :P

then the next morning i told my mom about this little rendezvous, she told me the rat also messed up the reading room and left some shites too... hahaha!! and she knows it has been hiding under the washing machine for quite sometimes and mess up the kitchen a little too... but this time it has stepped on my mom's nerve for messing up the reading. so my mom setup a trap, hanged a piece of fried squid - the ultimate bait for rat!!

we don't have to wait for long, the same night (which is yesterday), after a short 1 hour, the rat was in the trap! my parents said let's take the cage out and killed it tomorrow morning with boiling water... a chill sent thru my spines... "should we??" i asked in my heart... okay, my parents have done that before killing an "intruding" rat with boiling water... and i never had a problem with that last time... but i felt so sorry for this small animal this time... it has done nothing wrong, it's only living its most natural way, and does it deserved to be killed?? definitely no. and there's definitely another way of dealing with this than killing it.

i calmly suggest to my parents that why don't they release it tomorrow to somewhere far... my mom said it will return... then i said far far away lah... no reaction from them... well ok then, i will release it tomorrow on my way to work... they said ok... so settled!!

then later at night around 12am, i then felt bad again about this little creature - it has been placed outside the house, and what if it rains? (and yes it really rained last night in the wee hours of the morning) the rat will be so cold!! so i walked out from my air-conded room, and approached my dad... i told him let's go out and release the poor rat now. with an annoyed look, my dad refused as he still have his football match to watch... i said i just need him to accompany me coz it's late at night... well he told me why so "mah-fan" just kill it tomorrow... well nevermind then, i'll go out by myself lah - i told him.

so here i go, in the middle of the midnight... i drove myself and the rat out to the empty ground near a petrol station 5KM away from my house, and opened the cage. the small creature walked out calmly, turned back to look at me as if saying goodbye and make itself into the longkang. i said "amitabha" and may this return goes to my parents. i am happy for what i have done yesterday night... this is perhaps my little step to practice the buddha way.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

this is so hillarious! :P

I have a good laugh yesterday, it lighted up my otherwise boring afternoon!

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

I have learned a lesson from a security guard

i was walking to the cyber cafe last saturday night. i parked my car quite far, so i have to walk pass this corner shoplot. there's a guard sitting in front of the shop. it was quite late, about 10pm, so the shop was already closed. i didn't take note what kind of shop is that, how come they have a guard for overnight... must be some big company huh... but, that's not my point. i saw this guard was holding a book and read. on closer look, he does not look local - not chinese, not malay, and not indian too... more like a mix Nepal-Bangladeshi kinda man. and again... that's not my point. my point is the book that he was reading... one glance, i gotta know already, it's a dictionary that he was holding!!! YES, a dictionary! an English-Malay dictionary!!

now, the moral of the story... we always have some stereotypic perception about these foreign workers that they are (sorry if my language is going to be inappropriate!!) lazy, not intelligent, criminal, uncivilized.... well, sorta, and we seldom see the other sides of them. that night, i have the pleasure to witness this - a man, searching for knowledge. he came to faraway land to seek fortune, or some are here simply to survive. they have a tough life back in their motherlands, they do not have the opportunity for good education, let alone comfortable life. yet, this guard that i saw, not only he is not lazy, he grabs whatever chances he got to improve himself.

i was standing there, stunned and somehow motivated!! --- i can do my PhD -- no problem at all!! i can get my resources much easier than the guard, i'm earning much better than the guard, i have my family and frens to support me, i got all the privilleges that the guard would never have... so what am i complaining about my life?? it seems that most of the time, the person/thing that hampers us is ourselves!!

i have learned a life lesson from a guard i met. have you?

Monday, August 21, 2006

Click my life away

Have heard about how good the show is from my students... so when i went in to the cinema, i have had high expectation. ok ok, maybe not high expectation lah... afterall, the students are just youngsters who got excited over small things (haha), and Adam Sandler does not get me go hoo-haa too (btw, i purposely missed the Waterboy so what do u expect huh?), so i was a bit cynical at the beginning. but i do have expectation lah. :P



Half way down the movie, i was really entertained. Sandler holds his forte well, the comedies are fresh and fun, although it could be a bit too "sexual"... but hell, this movies are not for children anyway. i like sundance humping a duck, hillarious! but still until this point of the movie, it is still a commercial film as far as i concerned.

it's only when the remote control went uncontrol, or rather the remote control started to get control, the movie takes a quick turn - plot and style wise - into something not fun anymore. the pace is slow, the characters are sad, the plot are becoming unbearable, the message becomes heavy -- that's the time i started to think about the real message. it is truly about living "now". it's just like a extended version of public service announcement, but it's more fun.



i believe a lot of viewers after watching the film, must have thought about the importance of family, friends and true meaning of "living"... it's not about making more money but at the end of the day have no one to share with, and worse, loosing everything you love and important to get money.

but i also believe that after we walk out from the cinema, and walk back into the busy work life, where the pace is just too fast, where everything cost you money, where everyone around you set target and expectation to you, how many of us still care what message the movie send??

a lot of people think that the movie got huge impact on audience, but in this case, the reality still win! nothing changes really, people still busy chasing money, sacrificing a lot to get promoted. everything changes, yet nothing changes, life goes on!

It got me thinking too, we use remote control to change TV programmes... and while we sit on the sofa and watch them... we are actually clicking our life away... maybe it's time for us to have some real activities to be with our family, friends, and loved ones. :)

my rating: 7.5/10

Vain i know.... hahahahaha! but it's fun!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

the first time i disagree with Paul Moss

Yesterday night, i was watching one of my favorite show One In A Million. i followed the programme faithfully because

1. i love watching Dayang's steady performance - it's a total pleasure enjoying the vocal expression of an artist without having to worry about the fundamental technical flaws (pitching, tempo, etc) that always happen to amateurs.

2. i love watching Suki's sweet smile and feeling proud of the ONLY* chinese who make it through. she got a powerful voice and potential image to be a superstar - but she is too nice and perhaps even lack of enthusiasm. her form is getting worse every week - it's worrying.

3. i love watching Faizal's creative approach to songs and performances. his voice is simply amazing, his attitude is so positive... and i was so shocked to find out yesterday that not only is he married, he has got a son!!! BIG plus point. i would be very happy if he actually win the million bucks!

4. i love watching Azfar's outdated style and criticize him "kao-kao" after each performances of him... and yet there are people in the audience who supported him so much! that's so funny... and worthed watching! i can't wait for him to be voted out. and if he really has, you all can be sure that i've contributed enough OUT votes to kick him out!!! hehe...

oh, by the way, i love the show because finally this time they have the OUT vote system... although the system is not really transparent. but can't deny, it's just another way to make more money. and if it's abused, it could actually encourage "hate" culture among viewers - worried!

yesterday, for the 1st time Faizal sang a slow number. and i was touched the 1st part, then he became too technical in the 2nd part, so the genuity was lost... but still i like him and his style. then after singing, he was asked the lame question as of what artists can do the society. this young man said artist are role model and educator, they have to set good example and educate the fans. I was all hands and legs, can't agree more.

Then.... out of the sudden, our beloved Paul Moss yawned... "boring... how about those artists who are so popular but doing all the bad things... (something like that lah)"....

all this while, i have my respect to mr. Paul because of his genuine comments... unlike Syafinaz and worse Fauziah Latiff's fakeness... but this time i just CANNOT agree with Paul... come one... artists are watched by millions billions of youngsters, and they do not have to EDUCATE the crowds, but at least please don't set BAD example and influences to them!!! who said positive message things cannot be entertaining?? it's the matter of ETHIC!!! and don't we dare forget about it!! SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY!!!

any of you disagree with what i said, i'm very worried!! i seriously am!

...to be continued!

* i hate to highlight this, but i really like Ching - the rock&roll barbie who got kicked out during the 2nd chance round. i think the judges (or THE judge) were biased!! No doubt, Zai got big voice, but Ching got the whole package, a totally new brand that will sell!!! the judge(s) was totally blind by their own perception. sad sad sad.

i still remember Syafinaz said she couldn't understand why Ching dress up like a princess / barbie doll, but rock on stage!!! i felt like wanted to shake this lady (syafinaz) to wake her up... come on, please don't continue to be an ethnocentric person... go look at Japanese rock chicks... it's HAPPENING to dress up cute but still ROCK!!! *geram betul*

Please support!!! everyone!!!

文良港 (特别是 wangsa maju 区)治安严重亮红灯,上述地点已被列入黑区。
前阵子发生了多宗撩夺案,地方官员也受促加强保安,可是到目前为止,究竟治安改善了多少?为
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