I feel queasy and I blame it on the lozenge I took earlier... which really doesn't make sense as those little tablets aren't supposed to cause dizziness. My throat, which was pitifully put through one hell of a tough time over the past week with 2 rounds of durian (one at Mr.A's place and one at home with family), feels a little better now though. There's no doubt that stress is anything but absent from my little sphere of life right now. Picture stress emanating an aura which follows me wherever I go. Knowing stress, the colour of the surrounding vibe should be grey and dotted with black fly-like buzzy living things.
Moving away from my occasionally fragile physique.. Especially when I get an average of 4 hours of sleep per night for 7 days and that my weighing scale's been noticeably experiencing a downward trend. I mean, WTHell man, it took me 2 months to gain that 2 kgs!!
AS I WAS TRYING TO SAY, Moving away from that,
the finals are 2 weeks away.
Final project presentation is on friday. THIS friday.
That about sums everything up for me.
Updates over.
Ciao for now!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
All systems go
I'm suffering from a chronic psychotic disorder that's driving me up the wall as I cannot possibly go home and expect myself to complete my work here in time.
Yes, homesickness should have an alternative cure (other than the obvious- going home).. like how they give you a few humongous tablets and ask you to swallow them with herbs, claim ing that everything will be as good as new after 8 hours of rest due to the med's miracle properties.
Amid all the mess, I've lost my ID card, overspent this month's planned budget, met up with jun sheng who's been back since forever... NOT! :( , renewed my passport.. NOT! etc etc.
It's back to the pile of front burners, Mission Impossible... Aiks, I smell an impending doomsday.
[Also here, is a public apology to Mr M for indicating that he's an "idiot" in the post with our genting pics.]
Yes, homesickness should have an alternative cure (other than the obvious- going home).. like how they give you a few humongous tablets and ask you to swallow them with herbs, claim ing that everything will be as good as new after 8 hours of rest due to the med's miracle properties.
Amid all the mess, I've lost my ID card, overspent this month's planned budget, met up with jun sheng who's been back since forever... NOT! :( , renewed my passport.. NOT! etc etc.
It's back to the pile of front burners, Mission Impossible... Aiks, I smell an impending doomsday.
[Also here, is a public apology to Mr M for indicating that he's an "idiot" in the post with our genting pics.]
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Success
As a sombre melody resonates through the air with Eason's smooth, silky voice, I am struggling to be at peace with the heart. I am absolutely drained of inspiration here. Undeniable, that the driving force behind you is the gist in achieving the leap over cusps that separates us from success.
It makes you ponder that half-life-long question:
What is success?
Are you a success when you ascend to become the king of the world?
Does success mean a happy home with the dreams you've been able to capture and then setting it free for the younger generation of dreamers through inspiration?
Or does it really refer to one's self-accreditation that elevates the righteous one to a new moral echelon. Meaning, you become so morally right that people bow before you when you so much as smack your lips after dinner.
Some think that it means all that (excluding the exaggerated moral high ground) plus a tad of satisfaction at the end of the day. I find it hard to emulate the enthusiasm of some people to strive for a bagful of achievements. At the same time, I know that these high achievers are silently or sometimes openly acknowledged as great people of our society in the making. So when you combine these two realizations, you come to a conclusion that all this doesn't bode well for you.
The world is made out of milk and honey a miraculously balanced platter of individuals which form layers and layers of our functioning society, like a cake. (okok, scrap the cake, I'm just pandering to my recent obsession of looking at mouth-watering food right out of the oven at Milk and Cookies which hosts a great selection of photos with really good taste)
Generally, there are 3 layers:
Leaders, Artists, Revolutionaries, Scientists, Engineers, Life-savers, Food cultivators, Human cultivators, Tidy-uppers, Stress removers and not forgetting those who sweat it out to provide the manpower required.
These people form the entire structure of our civil society, from the base to the cherry at the top. Every single one important for their contributions. Notice that as we go down the list, we encounter those who are very "low" in the publicly accepted list of achievers (if there's such a thing, Leaders will top it, followed by whatever jobs that sound GREAT and Grand and ending with unglamorous ones such as farmers, labourers and whatnot).
Come one lah...Who are we to judge and place them at the bottom of the Achiever's list?? What's with the Achiever's list in the first place??
I for one prefer the term Contributor. The contributions of different people varies to the form to the magnitude of their contributions. I do not submit to the popular notion that success runs parallel to the high achievers' list. On the contrary, I believe that role played by Leaders are as important as those of Food-cultivators- farmers, tidy-uppers- your average maid/ cleaning lady/man, Human cultivators- teachers, stress-removers- those in the entertainment industry, including athletes, and last of all, the labourers who sweat it out under the sun or rain.
Pariahs on the other hand represent a deviant sect in the minds of the general population.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, a pariah refers to:A person who is not accepted by a social group, esp. because he/she is not liked, respected or trusted.
Although they usually contribute negatively, I think a large chunk of them can be guided back to the right path with some help.
Now, throw that set of dogmatic perceptions out the window, as no matter what we become, be it HAs, normalcy upholders, or pariahs, we are merely grouped based on our own will. As long as we contribute positively, we should be able to stand tall and say that we're proud of what we are. As to the extent of our pride... I'll leave that for another day.
Success, for me, at this point in time, refers to the pride in knowing that we have chipped in positively as a contributor.... which also include one important life element on which I have so far remained silent- Family and friends. The simple mother, the breadwinner, the good friends who keep us company and love us for who we are. They shouldn't be left out of the equation.
On a separate note, even the smartest, most farsighted person on earth cannot see the full picture of his/her future. The one and only way to find out ** is for us to
continue trudging, skipping, ambling and running along that unpredictable, ever-altering path towards the future while upholding the set of individual principles that sets us apart from the world and determines who we are.
This reminds me of a song.. the one that is resonant of a rainy day in the dusty old noisy Volvo with mum.
The one that goes:
When I was just a little boy,
I asked my mother
"What will I be?"
"Will I be handsome, will I be rich"
Here's what she said to me
"Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be, will be..
the future's not ours to see
Que Sera, Sera...
What will be will be..."
** Terms and Conditions: Assuming that time-travel does not score a breakthrough before 2050 or that the deterioration of our Earth's environment doesn't wipe out 90% of the human race)
It makes you ponder that half-life-long question:
What is success?
Are you a success when you ascend to become the king of the world?
Does success mean a happy home with the dreams you've been able to capture and then setting it free for the younger generation of dreamers through inspiration?
Or does it really refer to one's self-accreditation that elevates the righteous one to a new moral echelon. Meaning, you become so morally right that people bow before you when you so much as smack your lips after dinner.
Some think that it means all that (excluding the exaggerated moral high ground) plus a tad of satisfaction at the end of the day. I find it hard to emulate the enthusiasm of some people to strive for a bagful of achievements. At the same time, I know that these high achievers are silently or sometimes openly acknowledged as great people of our society in the making. So when you combine these two realizations, you come to a conclusion that all this doesn't bode well for you.
The world is made out of milk and honey a miraculously balanced platter of individuals which form layers and layers of our functioning society, like a cake. (okok, scrap the cake, I'm just pandering to my recent obsession of looking at mouth-watering food right out of the oven at Milk and Cookies which hosts a great selection of photos with really good taste)
Generally, there are 3 layers:
- The high achievers (as mentioned above with a side note of envy)
- Average Joes and Janes
- Dregs of society
Leaders, Artists, Revolutionaries, Scientists, Engineers, Life-savers, Food cultivators, Human cultivators, Tidy-uppers, Stress removers and not forgetting those who sweat it out to provide the manpower required.
These people form the entire structure of our civil society, from the base to the cherry at the top. Every single one important for their contributions. Notice that as we go down the list, we encounter those who are very "low" in the publicly accepted list of achievers (if there's such a thing, Leaders will top it, followed by whatever jobs that sound GREAT and Grand and ending with unglamorous ones such as farmers, labourers and whatnot).
Come one lah...Who are we to judge and place them at the bottom of the Achiever's list?? What's with the Achiever's list in the first place??
I for one prefer the term Contributor. The contributions of different people varies to the form to the magnitude of their contributions. I do not submit to the popular notion that success runs parallel to the high achievers' list. On the contrary, I believe that role played by Leaders are as important as those of Food-cultivators- farmers, tidy-uppers- your average maid/ cleaning lady/man, Human cultivators- teachers, stress-removers- those in the entertainment industry, including athletes, and last of all, the labourers who sweat it out under the sun or rain.
Pariahs on the other hand represent a deviant sect in the minds of the general population.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, a pariah refers to:A person who is not accepted by a social group, esp. because he/she is not liked, respected or trusted.
Although they usually contribute negatively, I think a large chunk of them can be guided back to the right path with some help.
Now, throw that set of dogmatic perceptions out the window, as no matter what we become, be it HAs, normalcy upholders, or pariahs, we are merely grouped based on our own will. As long as we contribute positively, we should be able to stand tall and say that we're proud of what we are. As to the extent of our pride... I'll leave that for another day.
Success, for me, at this point in time, refers to the pride in knowing that we have chipped in positively as a contributor.... which also include one important life element on which I have so far remained silent- Family and friends. The simple mother, the breadwinner, the good friends who keep us company and love us for who we are. They shouldn't be left out of the equation.
On a separate note, even the smartest, most farsighted person on earth cannot see the full picture of his/her future. The one and only way to find out ** is for us to
continue trudging, skipping, ambling and running along that unpredictable, ever-altering path towards the future while upholding the set of individual principles that sets us apart from the world and determines who we are.
This reminds me of a song.. the one that is resonant of a rainy day in the dusty old noisy Volvo with mum.
The one that goes:
When I was just a little boy,
I asked my mother
"What will I be?"
"Will I be handsome, will I be rich"
Here's what she said to me
"Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be, will be..
the future's not ours to see
Que Sera, Sera...
What will be will be..."
** Terms and Conditions: Assuming that time-travel does not score a breakthrough before 2050 or that the deterioration of our Earth's environment doesn't wipe out 90% of the human race)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Happenings (Genting pics)
Passing the 10th week mark on the academic calendar, students from the UK transfer degree programme (final sem) in inti are feeling the pinch. And by golly, it hurts like hell.
I had double trips to our country's DOE(department of environment) library in putrajaya the last 2 days in order to compile the data for my environmental engineering case study research. Still reeling from the lack of sleep that has been accumulating in my sand-dial for the past week or so, today was the last straw. After reaching class right after lunch and DOE, I could barely keep my eyes open throughout the lesson. There's this voice inside that tells me Mr Siao ain't liking us one bit and wishes that our batch gets out of his sight as soon as possible.
So what's with the class's over-enthusiasm on the subject at hand?
Really don't appreciate it.
They mean well, but come on lar... it's getting childish. I'll let you know when I let you know. It'll happen when it happens.
I'm in no mood to participate in a game of sorts akin to the oneupmanship behavior thrown about in class. Feeling so sleeeepy....
If there's something I hate more than watching a noisy WWE(or whatever name they have for it now) wrestling match, it is that of an idiot trying to tell you how to run your life when you've told him that the kind gesture is acknowledged but for the one-gazilionth time, you'll ask for help when you need some.
Confirmation of my abhorrence towards backseat drivers.
Stress + human-induced irritation = Crack in the head
In order to avoid such a horrible catastrophe, the DCEB students of our batch decided to take a respite in the form of a movie from our relentless day to day drudgery. Soon enough, we found ourselves clustered around the ticketing booth in Putrajaya's Alamanda cinema. HHmmm decisions decisions decisions. In the end, Get smart got the break and I have no doubts whatsoever that we decided to choose this movie as it was a spanking good one. We were laughing from the very beginning til the end.
Oh, and I also met taileong and his gf at the ticketing booth before adjourning to A&W for dinner. Didn't expect her to have such a sense of humour. :P
Anyways, I have deliberated on the small fact that this blog is seriously in need for more pretty glossy pictures.
So, here you go...
Genting Trip
Bowling
*klok* being an egg (with a cap)
Eeeeek!! HANTU?!
Mr M and Ms A
Big red bus
Group photo-
"cool" pose
More photos will ensue.
I had double trips to our country's DOE(department of environment) library in putrajaya the last 2 days in order to compile the data for my environmental engineering case study research. Still reeling from the lack of sleep that has been accumulating in my sand-dial for the past week or so, today was the last straw. After reaching class right after lunch and DOE, I could barely keep my eyes open throughout the lesson. There's this voice inside that tells me Mr Siao ain't liking us one bit and wishes that our batch gets out of his sight as soon as possible.
So what's with the class's over-enthusiasm on the subject at hand?
Really don't appreciate it.
They mean well, but come on lar... it's getting childish. I'll let you know when I let you know. It'll happen when it happens.
I'm in no mood to participate in a game of sorts akin to the oneupmanship behavior thrown about in class. Feeling so sleeeepy....
If there's something I hate more than watching a noisy WWE(or whatever name they have for it now) wrestling match, it is that of an idiot trying to tell you how to run your life when you've told him that the kind gesture is acknowledged but for the one-gazilionth time, you'll ask for help when you need some.
Confirmation of my abhorrence towards backseat drivers.
Stress + human-induced irritation = Crack in the head
In order to avoid such a horrible catastrophe, the DCEB students of our batch decided to take a respite in the form of a movie from our relentless day to day drudgery. Soon enough, we found ourselves clustered around the ticketing booth in Putrajaya's Alamanda cinema. HHmmm decisions decisions decisions. In the end, Get smart got the break and I have no doubts whatsoever that we decided to choose this movie as it was a spanking good one. We were laughing from the very beginning til the end.
Oh, and I also met taileong and his gf at the ticketing booth before adjourning to A&W for dinner. Didn't expect her to have such a sense of humour. :P
Anyways, I have deliberated on the small fact that this blog is seriously in need for more pretty glossy pictures.
So, here you go...
Genting Trip
Archery
Bowling
*klok* being an egg (with a cap)
Eeeeek!! HANTU?!
Mr M and Ms A
Big red bus
Group photo-
"cool" pose
More photos will ensue.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Storm after storm after storm
Finally! The oral presentation for my final inter-disciplinary engineering group project is OVER.
I feel like stabbing myself after I screwed up the Q&A part where I went completely blank and mumbled gibberish which received a doubtful nod from the examiner. As for the presentation itself, I am confident that it was up to standard.
What better way to distract myself than to check for news updates on the weekly (even DAILY) drama unfolding in the Malaysian political scene. I personally prefer reading from The Malaysian Insider (because it's free, Malaysiakini only has a free BM section). When I need something light with the occasional punch of dramatic twists and shocking revelations, I'd go to RPK's Malaysian Today.
Anyways, if you abhor reading about the parties that govern this country and the power brokers in the upper echelons of our society, proceed to jump ship now.
This is what outsiders think of our "young democratic nation".
Turmoil in Malaysia
From The Wall Street Journal Asia
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 ─ Building a credible opposition party is not a crime in a democracy. So believes Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian democrat who, after a decade out in the cold, is now poised to unseat the political party that has ruled the country since its inception. For the "crime" of winning the public's confidence, Anwar is facing accusations that could derail his political career and threaten Malaysia's democratic institutions.
Last weekend, police began investigating a complaint of sodomy against Anwar lodged by a 23-year-old aide. If this sounds familiar, it should. In 1998 Anwar was falsely convicted of sodomy and jailed for six years. Anwar denies the current accusation, and photos purportedly showing the aide posing with high-level government officials are circulating online, fuelling conspiracy theories. The Prime Minister has denied any government involvement.
The 1998 sodomy charge also emerged at a politically sensitive moment. Anwar, who was deputy prime minister at the time, posed a growing challenge to then-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who governed the country for 22 years. His sodomy conviction was overturned by the federal court in 2004, the year after Dr Mahathir stepped down. His conviction for abuse of power was not overturned.
During the legal proceedings in 1998, Anwar became an icon of judicial injustice when he appeared at a court hearing with a black eye after being beaten while in police custody. The police chief later pleaded guilty to assaulting him, was briefly jailed, and then apologised.
There is a lot in the events of this week that reminds Malaysians of that period. At a rally on Tuesday, Anwar started up the same rallying cry, "Reformasi," that his supporters used to protest his arrest in 1998. Also on Tuesday, Anwar filed a police complaint centred around the same incident, which accuses the current attorney-general and current inspector-general of police ─ who in 1998 worked lower down in the bureaucracy ─ of obstructing justice in the police investigation of his prison beating.
After spending 6 years in jail, Anwar became eligible for political office in April ─ one month after the ruling coalition suffered its largest-ever setback at the polls. The coalition still holds a majority of seats in Parliament, but the popularity of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is falling fast and Anwar says that his coalition will be able to gain enough defectors by September to lead the government. This would make Anwar the new prime minister, assuming, as expected, that he wins a parliamentary seat in a by-election.
In 1998, Anwar's arrest brought thousands of demonstrators to the streets of Kuala Lumpur in his support. The current investigation could do the same, and may ultimately strengthen Anwar's party by reminding people of the injustices he suffered. Initial polls show that most Malaysians believe the current investigation is politically motivated, and his campaign aims to bring a million people to the streets in a rally on Sunday.
It also throws into the spotlight one of his key messages: judicial reform. In September he released a video that he says shows a prominent attorney trying to fix judicial appointments in a conversation with a top judge.
After his party's trouncing in March, Abdullah appropriated one of Anwar's key positions by announcing that judicial appointments would be decided by an independent council rather than by political appointment.
This legal system is about to be put to the test ─ both by Anwar's complaint against the attorney-general and police chief and by how the government handles the sodomy accusation against him. How it responds will say a lot about the state of Malaysia's young democracy.
I feel like stabbing myself after I screwed up the Q&A part where I went completely blank and mumbled gibberish which received a doubtful nod from the examiner. As for the presentation itself, I am confident that it was up to standard.
What better way to distract myself than to check for news updates on the weekly (even DAILY) drama unfolding in the Malaysian political scene. I personally prefer reading from The Malaysian Insider (because it's free, Malaysiakini only has a free BM section). When I need something light with the occasional punch of dramatic twists and shocking revelations, I'd go to RPK's Malaysian Today.
Anyways, if you abhor reading about the parties that govern this country and the power brokers in the upper echelons of our society, proceed to jump ship now.
This is what outsiders think of our "young democratic nation".
Turmoil in Malaysia
From The Wall Street Journal Asia
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 ─ Building a credible opposition party is not a crime in a democracy. So believes Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian democrat who, after a decade out in the cold, is now poised to unseat the political party that has ruled the country since its inception. For the "crime" of winning the public's confidence, Anwar is facing accusations that could derail his political career and threaten Malaysia's democratic institutions.
Last weekend, police began investigating a complaint of sodomy against Anwar lodged by a 23-year-old aide. If this sounds familiar, it should. In 1998 Anwar was falsely convicted of sodomy and jailed for six years. Anwar denies the current accusation, and photos purportedly showing the aide posing with high-level government officials are circulating online, fuelling conspiracy theories. The Prime Minister has denied any government involvement.
The 1998 sodomy charge also emerged at a politically sensitive moment. Anwar, who was deputy prime minister at the time, posed a growing challenge to then-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who governed the country for 22 years. His sodomy conviction was overturned by the federal court in 2004, the year after Dr Mahathir stepped down. His conviction for abuse of power was not overturned.
During the legal proceedings in 1998, Anwar became an icon of judicial injustice when he appeared at a court hearing with a black eye after being beaten while in police custody. The police chief later pleaded guilty to assaulting him, was briefly jailed, and then apologised.
There is a lot in the events of this week that reminds Malaysians of that period. At a rally on Tuesday, Anwar started up the same rallying cry, "Reformasi," that his supporters used to protest his arrest in 1998. Also on Tuesday, Anwar filed a police complaint centred around the same incident, which accuses the current attorney-general and current inspector-general of police ─ who in 1998 worked lower down in the bureaucracy ─ of obstructing justice in the police investigation of his prison beating.
After spending 6 years in jail, Anwar became eligible for political office in April ─ one month after the ruling coalition suffered its largest-ever setback at the polls. The coalition still holds a majority of seats in Parliament, but the popularity of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is falling fast and Anwar says that his coalition will be able to gain enough defectors by September to lead the government. This would make Anwar the new prime minister, assuming, as expected, that he wins a parliamentary seat in a by-election.
In 1998, Anwar's arrest brought thousands of demonstrators to the streets of Kuala Lumpur in his support. The current investigation could do the same, and may ultimately strengthen Anwar's party by reminding people of the injustices he suffered. Initial polls show that most Malaysians believe the current investigation is politically motivated, and his campaign aims to bring a million people to the streets in a rally on Sunday.
It also throws into the spotlight one of his key messages: judicial reform. In September he released a video that he says shows a prominent attorney trying to fix judicial appointments in a conversation with a top judge.
After his party's trouncing in March, Abdullah appropriated one of Anwar's key positions by announcing that judicial appointments would be decided by an independent council rather than by political appointment.
This legal system is about to be put to the test ─ both by Anwar's complaint against the attorney-general and police chief and by how the government handles the sodomy accusation against him. How it responds will say a lot about the state of Malaysia's young democracy.
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