why I listen to Indonesian songs

When I was still an undergrad, I noticed that the Chinese and Indians have this tendency to conquer the TV sets around the residential college, watching shows that only they understand -that is, in languages that only they can comprehend. I thought that this trend is another way of showing how proud they were to belong to their respective ethnic groups (which I must admit I'm fine with since I'm not racist). I was blind to one other also highly probable reason; variety. Chinese shows might come from Taiwan or Hong Kong or China, and the Indians have shows from India. Malays watch Malay shows made by RTM.

Then the Indonesians started exporting their performing arts.

Regardless of what people say about the influx of Indonesian songs (and movies, even) here, I think it's good variety. And it's good to see TV3 coming up with pretty good Malay shows nowadays. I mean, learning English is alive and fine, but it's also mighty fine if we have shows that can educate people and expose them to lots of information in our very own mother tongue. And although the Indonesians use Bahasa Indonesia instead of Bahasa Melayu, it's still very much comprehensible, not very much unlike listening to people speaking our mother tongue. And in arts (not just performing arts but arts in general) and the usage of language I think the Indonesians are waaay classier. The words they use in their songs, we only use in our textbooks. And their songs still sound waaay better. Trust me, people who never listen to Indonesian songs should do so. The musical arrangement in some Indonesian songs are just plain brilliant. And the lyrics are deep.

So I guess that's why I listen to Indonesian songs a lot. Bukan sebab arwah ayah aku orang Jawa la.

hypocrisy and democracy

Vote me and you shall have that post you wanted.
Whose son you said you are again..? Oh. OK. My mistake. You DID get that offer.
You shouldn't do this. This is not popular. Yes I KNOW it's the right thing to do, but it's not popular.
DON'T listen to him. Listen to ME. I'm closer to that guy on top.
Candidate #1 shall get that post. Why? Well, because I like him.

Happy Independence Day. I hope one day we shall achieve democracy.

leaders wanted

Indonesians say;

Malaysia merdeka dengan rundingan, Indonesia merdeka dengan buluh runcing

I just read stone's blog about the unenthusiastic nature of the Malaysian people attending the Festival Filem Malaysia. Not that I'm the I'm-better-than-you-so-you-better-shut-up-and-listen-to-me, kapish? type, but I think that is the way of the Malaysian people nowadays, and this trend is depressing. Very, very depressing. Where have all the enthusiasm gone..? I think it's very sad that lots of people in this country are merely waiting for something to happen. It seems to me that everyone have this mentality of waiting for a government program. Or wait for TV3 to do something. And also the mentality of 'if they're not offering freebies, don't cooperate'. And (and if I might add, this is a malicious one) if the team ain't winning, it ain't ours.

Our forefathers who fought for this country never knew whether or not we would achieve independence, but they fought nevertheless. They never knew if they were on the winning or losing team. They just do it. Out of love, fierce and fearsome love for the country. Had they been alive today they would have set the FFM alive. They would have created brilliant films. They would have played football like there is no tomorrow. They might have won the World Cup. They would have seized the day and live with no regrets.

This is the month we remember and celebrate our independence. Stop waiting for the government. Get enthusiastic and make our forefathers proud.

single, available, and ready to mingle

I guess for everyone who are 26 and not married (and not really seing someone, for that matter), sentences like this comes on a regular basis (this one's courtesy of my mother);

anak Cik Besah tu ummi tengok comel je..belajar kat UiTM Melaka.. (I heard this roughly a couple of hours ago).

Other variants include ko bila lagi..? (usually from friends and cousins) and ko ni dah ada ke belum? (aunts and uncles).

Thank you for caring, people. But honestly, for me, the future is until my next salary. And although this might sound a bit loser-you-can't-find-yourself-a-girlfriend-y, I do believe in love after marriage (not that I don't believe otherwise).

can I have more hours please..?

The past week have been a terribly busy one for me, especially Wednesday to Friday, as the biotech thingy was running. My day virtually started at 7.00 a.m and ended at 10.30 p.m. Seriously. Ni dah tak byk keje ni aku nak menulis puas2. Demit betul. A breakdown of activities of my day, last Wednesday;

7.00 a.m : Prepare notes and exercises for class (this is a class I teach. Aku tak penah prepare langsung pon kalau nak pegi belajar.)
8.00 a.m : Bathe and prepare ('preparing' includes ironing my shirt and stuff. Aku mandi haram kejap gila je aku rasa..) for biotech exhibition (held in PWTC)
8.30 a.m : At PWTC. Prepare for Exhibition
5.00 p.m : Exhibition closes for the day. Head back to college (I'm a pembantu penyelia in 12th college, UM now; FYI)
5.30 p.m : Softball training (apparently, the fellows and co-fellows are also manager of at least one sports team. I am manager of four teams -celaka betul 12 college buli aku-, one of which being the men's softball team, which consist of 15 people, 12 of which have never, ever played softball in their lives before. So I also coach them. I am a player-coach-manager, the acronym of which being placoma. HAHAHA)
7.30 p.m : Bathe and prepare for class (physical preparation, that is)
8.30 p.m : In IIUM Matriculation centre. Class starts at 8.30 and ends at 10.30 p.m. The biotech exhibition made it impossible for me to conduct this class during the day so this was really a replacement class.

I never thought I'd one day wish for more than 24 hours in a day.

I guess I thought wrong. And anyhow, I don't know why people would want to read about how busy I was so I'll put a 'disclaimer' here:

Aku tulis sume ni sebab aku tension gila dan kepala aku rasa nak pecah. So aku share menda ni. Sekarang aku lega sikit dan hormon cortisol aku tak perlu dirembeskan dengan terlalu banyak lagi. Sekian terima kasih..

Yesterday I got my first pay as a futsal coach. HAHAHA happynya aku!! And not because of the money. I enjoyed coaching (sports) a lot as it combines the two things (or the two tasks, if you wanna see it that way) I enjoyed in life the most; sports and teaching (for the time being at least), but never in my wildest dreams did it occur to me that I would be getting paid doing it (and trust me, I have very wild dreams).

It kinda makes you feel good too when people call you 'coach'. Trust me. Everyone should try being a coach sometimes.

I'm thinking of having business cards that say something like:

Mohd Najmuddin Suki
Futsal Coach

Gempak gila doh!! Macam Gol dan Gincu.HAHAHA. Oh and I forgot to mention; the team was a women's team (*echo* G&g *echo*).

Asia Biotech 2006

The exhibition ended yesterday. The past three days have been spent oogling at and getting to know chicks with brains, and exchanging phone numbers.

All in the name of education.

regular dose of hypocrisy

As I grew older, I find that it's getting easier and easier to say "it's a pleasure meeting you" without meaning it. It's either there are just too much assholes around or I'm turning into one.

Hello lubang bontot!