mirror,mirror on the wall...

As I lingered in singledom, I imagined what my Personal Ad would look like;

Pendek, jendul, tiada pekerjaan tetap, memiliki sebuah EX5 (bukan 4wd BMW tu, moto..Honda. Lagipun sebenarnya pinjam ngan roommate) dan sebuah kamera digital, tinggal bersama kakak, berlengah-lengah (procrastinate), tidak bercita-cita tinggi (bercita-cita rendah?), kuat berpeluh (baju boleh perah beb..dahsyat bukan?), selalu horny dan gemarkan pakaian bundle. Mencari kenalan (WANITA SAHAJA) sesiapa yang sudi (kalau boleh lawa, kaya, ada kereta, tak tinggi sangat dan tak perlu commit)

..any takers?

a lesson in history

When an important event happened, the date of that particular event is recorded and remembered. Whatever had happened; lessons are learnt from. And we make changes and improvements and we adapt. And so we tell ourselves that the past had shaped the future.

Important events that happened in the past will be remembered; stories told and retold, heard and purged, the facts analyzed and reorganized, until a 'relevant' (and feasible) string of facts is achieved. A line of events that is recognized and acknowledged by the people (handling the facts).

History is not really made by the maharajahs of yesterday. It is made by the scholars of today. Those who got their hands on the manuscripts first. Those who heard the stories first. Those who realized their important roles in passing on the facts they accumulated, albeit after some analysis and addition of their own opinions, the way they see it. And this practice of passing on facts along with opinions and analysis is carried on. Ultimately, when the facts is to be presented, the condition and general opinion of the (current) public will be taken into consideration. Whatever happened in the past will be told, but only the way we want to hear it. The way we prefer it heard.

So really, is it the past that shaped the future? Or is it the other way around?

old fashioned,outdated,etc

This morning as I was preparing to leave for work, my nephew was playing brick game.

...and the device he held sounded much better than the sounds my handphone is capable of making :(

tegar

Walau kau miliki semulia-mulia impian,
namun aku tak dapat turut serta
andai apa yang aku impikan tidak sama.
Biarlah mimpimu terus jadi milikmu
dan aku terus jadi aku

Mengapa harus lari ke langit
kalau langit tak menyimpan apa yang kumahu..?

..kalau ingin jadi hamba,
biar jadi hamba mimpi sendiri.
Seratus tahun pun tiada sesal
Lencun peluh pun tiada lelah

T-U-syenn!!!

A lot of fuss has been created concerning schoolchildren going to tuition classes after school. But really, is it such a big deal? Should teachers go to school on Saturdays? Should there be incentives for them if they did so? Apart from focusing on whether or not schoolteachers are doing their job properly, in reality I think all of the entities in this riot have their own parts that they play.

More than 90% of urban kids go for tuition classes. Don’t concentrate on the number. Concentrate on the word ‘urban’. So really, do these kids badly need tuition classes? Or is it just the case of their parents trying to keep up with the jones? OK let’s get real; which urban parents (forgive the phrase) would want their children to fall behind in school? In this (somewhat vicious) ‘competition,’ each and every set of parents wants an edge so that their children will excel (and they will get the bragging rights; “anak saya tu skang belaja kat UK..”). That more than 90% of urban kids go for tuition tells of a bigger story than just that their teachers suck. The thing is, they have parents with a lot more urgency and awareness of the competition (kiasu?). In the rural areas, there is less competition. Those who excel (or those who work extra hard, or both) are usually (usually, not only) the children of teachers. Face the fact, man! KL is a hyper-competitive place. Don’t believe me? Try moving a wee bit late when the traffic light go green. I tried that in Perlis. Nothing happened. See?

Secondly; children in the urban areas have a gazillion things to do every day. They have tae-kwon-do classes, swimming, ballet, piano, etc (all of which might also be a result of their parents wanting them to have an edge), they also have their playstations and astros and arcades and TGVs. So will they actually allocate a sufficient amount of time studying? Not a chance, dude! I mean seriously, who wants to study when you have Need For Speed? So the solution is…? Precisely. Tuition classes are a means of allocating a precise amount of time everyday for these urban kids to focus on their studies. When I was in standard five my English language teacher asked me if I went to any tuition classes since my English is pretty good. My answer is no (for the record, I’ve never been to any tuition classes whatsoever). But God knows how many Enid Blytons I’ve read. The thing is, if the kids are willing to struggle on their own, they don’t need tuition classes.

Or do they?

They might. As it turned out, these days, the syllabuses (even for primary schoolchildren) are very advanced. When I was in form one (or maybe form two, I can’t remember), the ‘energys’ are; potential, kinetic, chemical, sound and light. Kids these days learn about electrical energy, nuclear, mechanical, biomass, etc. God knows why thirteen year olds need to know about nuclear energy, but the fact remains that kids these days are exposed to a lot more information than the previous generations (the usefulness of which is hard to determine). Schoolteachers have to follow these syllabuses, and at the same time teach about values in life. At tuition centers, the facts are somewhat ‘trimmed down’-tuition centers usually have these ‘experts’ who have very reliable predictions on the questions that might surface in the next (major) exams so students should focus only on certain parts in their syllabus and not the other-and the teaching of values are usually ‘optional,’ because the focus is to get the students to score in exams;

“I sent you to that tuition center and you got 8Cs for PMR (or maybe 9. Or 10, for all I care)? Well, at least you respect the elders. I’ll be sending you there again next year!!”

This kind of dialogues don’t exist do they?

So are teachers to blame for all this tuition riot? Yes and no, I guess. I teach a few tuition classes myself and if I understood correctly, my students’ schoolteachers suck. Big time. And there are (evil, unethical, choose your word) schoolteachers who actually teach full-heartedly only at tuition classes. These teachers actually say things like “see you at the tuition center after school” at the end of their period at school.

Genuine schoolteachers teach us to be good to others. To respect the elders. To be honest. To be good citizens. They are highly respected by the previous generations and in the rural areas. Because we learn lots of things at school, and we don’t necessarily do that in our classrooms. If anything, I think kids learn to score exams in tuition classes. They learn about life at school. If lots of students depend on tuition classes and lots of people are criticizing schools and schoolteachers, then maybe nowadays we rely too much on exams in evaluating people.

Then again, maybe that’s the only way to be.

of roots and wings

Good parents supply their children with roots and wings. Wings to make them believe they are capable of going anywhere, and roots to keep them from forgetting where home really is

Sometimes a child goes forward trying to get what he/she wanted without ever wanting to even look back at his/her parents. It is a sad, sad thing if the child still do it as an adult.

of numbers and logic

I got back from Perlis yesterday. It was friggin cold in the bus but surprisingly-and maybe due to the fact that it was my second time going thru the same experience-I did not shiver that badly despite only wearing a t-shirt, jeans and a cap (no, no underwear. Seriously). Maybe I got used to the condition or whatever.

Cold. It will be winter somewhere in Pakistan-which was hit by an earthquake-soon and it will be sooo very cold over there. The type of condition you won’t survive in wearing just t-shirt and jeans and a cap. Underwear or no underwear. So some people are setting up funds or whatever to help buy tents for these Pakistanis to survive the winter. If I read it right; they need RM114 for one life. ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN RINGGIT FOR ONE LIFE. That is; a waterproof, winterproof tent for five will cost roughly around RM570. So it will cost us; the people who won’t be affected by the winter and with the ability to earn money RM114 for one of the people over there-children included-to get a place inside those tents.

Here are more numbers; to donate, you can either make a deposit to BCB account number 14200-007719-055. Or if you just don't have the time you can donate via sms; type GEMPA2 to donate RM2 or GEMPA5 to donate RM5 and send it to 39665. (If you wanna donate RM114 thru sms; that’s 22 GEMPA5s and two GEMPA2s for you. Struggle sial aku kira)

These are numbers concerning myself (and this has nothing to do with boasting or whatever); my last paycheck was RM975; RM500 went to my siblings as duit raya; my insurance policy took up RM150 and I bought baju rayas for my mother. And I donated what I hope would be enough to save a life in Pakistan. And even with my RM975 paycheck I think I would still survive thru this month (it’s not like it’s winter in this country anyway). Ikat perut sikitla kot. Takpun pinjam duit sesapa. Tapi hidupla.

To anyone and everyone reading this; you might be earning a thousand something, or two thousand something, or God knows how much. Whatever that ‘something’ is worth; you earn more than I do. Do donate.

Now after all the numbers, here’s the logic; we put some of our money aside as savings for the future. Donating some now might save lives. And by any chance, ensuring the survival of fellow human beings is much more precious than anyone’s future. Because one must live to have a future.

a bundle of joy

Ahh it's good to be online again. Ooops did I sound too lifeless(as in; without a life)..? OK I'll cover that up by writing something to show that there is life outside of blogging.

Not to be left out of the festive season, I did a little hari raya shopping of my own. So this is what I got myself for hari raya ('bundle' unless stated); a Levi’s 508 (corduroy) red tab, 2 shirts, a t-shirt which says; ‘I’m the evil twin,’ and a pair of thong slippers (the only ‘unbundled’ item from the lot) all for a measly cost of only RM120. Cheap! You can’t buy half a pair of Levi’s for RM120 if you go to their stores (except for not-very-attractive-looking-or-yucky-to-be-exact olive-beige Type 1s. They actually sell these for RM120 something I think. Well, good luck selling those!).

Ladies and Gentlemen; introducing the ‘bundle’; vintage, second hand clothes (sometimes even third or fourth hand I think). People who actually buy these clothes do it for different reasons (OK, people always buy clothes to wear them, but please read on so you’ll understand what I mean). Some go for brands, and some go for the price tag; you can get Nike t-shirts for as low as RM8 (sometimes even as low as RM5 but usually these look very crappy). Levi’s, anyone? I got my first 2 pairs of 501s for RM50 (read: RM50 for both 501s. Pay RM50, get two 501s. Kapish?). Cheap! It is also a possibility to find rare items at these ‘bundle’ stalls. T-shirts you won’t see your mates wearing. Or Levi’s with unheard of serial numbers. How cool is that?

I was ‘introduced’ to ‘bundle clothes’ by my good friend Rauhan, who taught me everything from looking out for fragile t-shirt necks (‘bundle’ t-shirts, usually being second hand and vintage, are prone to have crappy, very-near-to-destruction neck linings) to identifying genuine Levi’s. My guru. Till this very day, I still make sacrifices of telur ayam kampung and pulut kuning to honor Rauhan once in every twilight years (OK of course I'm kidding. But he really taught me a lot). As the years progressed, I developed my very own liking and style of ‘bundle hunting’. To put it simply; Rauhan usually go for brands. I usually go for rare items. But of course there are exceptions.

So are these clothes only for cheapskates not unlike myself? Not necessarily. There are people with very steady income going for these types of clothes. Professionals (I’ve heard of a pilot who buy ‘bundle’ clothes, and he happens to be married to someone who also go ‘bundle’). It’s kinda like iMacs I guess, in a sense that it has it’s own following (only maybe these clothes are much cheaper and you can’t really wear iMacs). So if you like clothes (I wanted to write ‘if you have a passion towards clothes’ but that sounds a little fetish-y. Or Beckham-y, if you may), why don’t you go and have a try. Currently my favorite (bundle hunting) area is Chow Kit road. You can go bundle hunting and go watch some trannies nearby, if you like (you might even find local actresses look-alikes :p). And to all ‘bundle’ enthusiasts; good luck finding what you’re looking for. Bundle-wise, that is.

p/s: btw, I just have to write this; Rio Ferdinand is an idiot (this referring to the Boro game). I no longer want to ask "what's wrong with him?", what I really want to ask is this:"can't he do one thing right once in a while?". 'Best defender in the world' my ass. Do all the world's best defenders have the inability to pee in a bottle?