VOI v1.0: August 2003 Archives

A promise is a promise, even one that is 43 days old. Let it not be said that i don't keep mine.

Ok, time for some major embarassment, but deservedly so considering how bad i sound.

Listen to "Sonata Musim Salju", sung be me, background by Hazami. Play streaming audio (.mp3 file, 3.83MB, 4.11 min)

For Baizura

Full lyrics below.

Taking a leaf out of Kalsey's book and his Newly Digital Project, i submit to you the "Newly Merdeka Project", an appreciation of what Merdeka means to us, allowing us to celebrate our country's 46th year of independence blogger-style.
To participate, please use this post's its Trackback feature. Alternatively, please leave a comment either in this blog or use Kalsey's Simpletrack to send a trackback to this posting (the tb URL is http://www.aizuddindanian.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/77)

The rules are simple. Tell us your earliest memory of Merdeka. Perhaps what you were doing the moment you realized what Merdeka meant. Perhaps, something someone said to you one Merdeka day. Perhaps, what Merdeka meant to you on that day when you teacher in school taught you about our national independence.

Your earliest, unadulterated memory of the day. Write on.

My answer to my own question is below.

Am i homophobic? I don't know.

What i do know is that i like this website a lot.

Quite a bit of quality has been submitted to the VOI Directory lately. Check it out if you haven't done so lately.

Isn't this guy gorgeous?

Agree?

More pics of him in this post.

He has a pretty decent blog too - writes from the heart and that's always a good thing.

UPDATE: This is super cool - David Chiu's comedy routines!

UPDATE 2: This guy is fascinating. When we think about movie stars, we normally see the glamour and glitz (and occasional scandal). But rarely do we catch a glimpse about what it means to struggle as an actor, looking for that first "big break". Through his blog (read a few entries and you'll see what i mean), we really do get an impression about what it means to be there, yet, not quite there.

And before anyone starts getting the wrong idea about me, beauty, for me its not about gender, or even species. If i see something pleasing to the eye, i will say so. :)

Been giving some thought to humanity's greatest inventions. Depending on who you ask, i suppose you'll get different answers. Some will tell you that the plane, the train or the automobile is our greatest invention. Some will argue inventing the microchip is probably our greatest feat. Others still, in true altruistic fashion, will proclaim the pen and the languages of the world our most famous invention.

Don't be confused: an invention and a discovery can be the same thing, but are very often very different. We discovered the existence of electricity but we invented the light bulb to take advantage of that discovery.

In my own mind, i believe money is our most valuable invention. The greenback, the peso, the ringgit, the British pound, or the Japanese yen - currency. The stuff that makes the world go around, the stuff that builds empires and destroys families. The ultimate double edged sword, proof positive that the saying, "you can't live with it or without it" is the undisputed oxymoron that just happens to be true.

It sucks big time the way humanity's existence revolves around money and its pursuit. But its also a source of enjoyment and comfort. Have too little of it, and you wonder how you can have more. Have too much of it, and you begin to wonder whether your life is just about money.

Can you ever have enough money? Is there such a thing as too much? Or, conversely, too little? Perhaps. To each his/her own. We all have our thresholds of needs, desires and wants.

Never has a human invention done so much by being so little - money has always just been either a piece of precious metal or, recently, coloured pieces of paper. Curse it, or love it, its here to stay, an immemorial, indecent, yet oh so spectacular invention of the human mind.

This is nasty. I hope he gets busted too - this is one reason why i believe we should all bring tape-recorders with us wherever we go.

In brief: the car my family and I were travelling in which my father was driving was stopped at a police road block. We were told that it was an identity card (IC) inspection. Since it was a brief family outing, none of us except my father brought our purses with us which contained our identity cards and driver's licenses. We were told by the police officer who interrogated us that it was Malaysian law to have our ICs with us all the time. Fine. Reasonable. EXCEPT.

We were also told that if we did not like the law, we should go back to China.

Never in our lives have we encountered anything like this, and we definitely did not expect it to happen to IN Malaysia, ON Lahat Road, about twenty minutes from home. Never in our lives have we encountered such a bloody disrespectful and rude police officer. Never in my life have I felt so insulted, angry, hurt and betrayed.

I hope the racist fucker gets busted for accepting bribes. - from The S-Spot

* Had to cut paste the posting because the blogspot permalink doesn't work.

Its the proudest moment of any parent's life to see their children succeed. Just being there, witnessing the happiness in the eyes of so many parents, and especially in the eyes of Baizura's parents, made the 2.5 hour drive there at 6am in the morning worth every second.

Congratulations, sayang, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Class of 2003. And double congrats for being awarded 1st Place, Rector's Award (Final Year Project).

UPDATE: Watch her receive her scroll! (.mpg, 5MB)

Full pics can be found in Visuals.

She said, "I heard a noise downstairs. Go and check it out."

Strange how feminist ideals tend to evaporate when "that noise downstairs" rears its ugly head. - scene from "Things my girlfriend and i have argued about".

Funny how feminists can be such oxymorons.

* They want equal work opportunity at the workplace. But how do you promote a woman to real power and authority when you have to let her go on 3 months maternity leave (paid leave, mind you) everytime she gets pregnant? Even if she doesn't get pregnant, the possibility of her getting pregnant and being out of the organization for 3 months is a harrowing thought. Imagine a whole division without a manager for 3 months? UPDATE: After giving it more thought, the issue of maternity leave is a human resource concern to be managed accordingly by the human resource department of any given organization - it does not necessarily effect problems of gender bias.
* They want equal pay at Wimbledon? But do they actually put in the same amount of work? Hasn't is always been "equal pay for equal work"? How is playing the best of 3 sets (women's singles) the same as playing the best of 5 sets (men's singles)? Even if you argue that women's matches are just as entertaining as men's, that doesn't mean that men's singles are boring. Therefore, all things else being equal, men still play longer games = more work = more pay?
* A sinking ship. Why is it women and children first? If women want equal rights shouldn't it be "children first, then every person for themselves?"
* This might seem petty but some ladies actually take this very seriously: they expect men to treat them "in a gentlemanly manner" i.e. open doors for them, let them take the final remaining seat on a crowded train, hold their seat for them. If it was true equality, such preferential treatment, or expectations of preferential treatment wouldn't exist.
* Again, another generalization, but it happens often enough: a man asks a woman out. She expects him to pay for the date, the dinner, the movie, etc. And yet when she asks how she expects to be treated in the workplace, she replies, "Like an equal", and she screams bloody gender bias when her male colleague gets promoted ahead of her.

The list goes on and on. Women wanting their cake and eating it too. Not all, for sure, but enough to make us men notice a trend among many.

UPDATE: Read the following entry for some research about feminism. Thanks to Jean for the pointer.

Looking for an evening of fun? Where all the drinks are 50% off all night long, and where football is the order of the night?

Check this out.

Rose wrote:

bq. If your family is pouring it's wealth into Australia, why should you be siphoning money from Malaysia? Oh my ... this is a crude question .... but it is an honest one. And I'd like to clarify that I AM NOT attacking aiz in any wasy. Just would like to know what's his excuse.

My reply:

What an excellent blog. Adverb & Proverb. Don't miss it.

Also, a quick poll. Baizura has expressed a desire to start her own blog, a photoblog to showcase some pics from her brand new spanking Olympus Mju 400. But she's hesitating, a bit unsure. What say you? Should she blog or not? Would you visit her blog?

Here are some questions worth answering. The way i see it, PAS is damned if they do, damned if they don't. Not a bad day's work for our resident village idiots. The devil will be pleased.

Rose wrote:

bq. ...and even looking like you do (sorry for saying this but just saying my mind .... and FYI, I never like to judge people with what they are born with, be it no money, lots of money, beautiful or ugly but .....), have finally managed to get yourself a girlfriend.

Ouch. I'm ugly, huh? Ok lah. If you say so. And i didn't "get" baizura. She's not a possession to be gotten. Insult me if you wish (even on my own blog), but leave the people i love out of it, ok?

A simple question: why do politicians have to be so dirty? Why must they lie, cheat and intimidate? When you're working for the people, shouldn't your interest be theirs and not your own?

Ok, so what if you lose in the next elections. It just means the winner is better at his/her job than you are, or you've proven to be shit in yours when you got your chance so the voters want you out. As a servant of the rakyat, shouldn't you be pleased that the rakyat has chosen someone better to service them and the nation?

Politics, not just in Malaysia but everywhere in the world, is about the self rather than the whole. When your intentions are to protect yourself and your position, then the whole becomes less important. That's why they lie, cheat and initimidate.

Remind me not to vote come next election. They're all the same. I'm moving to Australia to be with my family the first chance i get. Politicians there are probably liars too, but at least i'll be near the people i love.

Mark Twain: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”.

And again: "Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person."

And lastly: "In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination."

How true. I stand corrected.

Spent a lovely weekend with some lovely people at Port Dickson. We rented two chalets at Desa Lagoon, bought an outrageous amount of meat, fish and sausages and had a BBQ on the beach - the seabreeze was fantastic as we willed the night away with games of movie charades. Superb fun, wonderful company, and that oh so special walk along the beach at dawn.

Quote of the Weekend: Where does "ass" come into "Wild Wild West"??

Full pics can be found in Visuals.

I promise you will find this interesting. The fact that it exists means there's a demand for its services. I don't think i'll ever need to walk through its doors; i'm lucky.

...when we were young, dumb and full of ***. :) Some of my personal favourites:

* Using a non-stick clothes iron to fry an egg. Duh.
* Using a non-stick clothes iron to cook sausages. Double-duh.
* Cooking 20 packets of maggi mee in pales! Bulan puasa, you see - want to share with friends.
* Sitting for a test at 9 am. Problem is we only regained consciousness from last night's party at 9.05 am. An oh-shit-moment.
* Having the hots for the Science teacher who likes to scratch her crotch whenever she's standing in front of the class.
* Dropping firecrackers into the school toilet bowl. Squealing in delight when they go off and splatter crap all over the walls. Hehehehe!
* Deflating the discipline teacher's car tires, then pissing on his bonnet. I heard this from someone - no personal experience here. Honest.

So what have you done lately?

I reckon that people spend to much time worrying about things that are beyond their control, worrying over things that they can't possibly do anything to change or improve.

* What if the sky falls on my head tomorrow?
* What if something bad happens while i'm away on holiday?
* What if this happens when that happens due to this other thing happening?

The solution is to make plans, and to trust that things won't go wrong when there is no reason for them to go wrong. You've taken all the necessary precautions. You chosen the best circumstances available to you to get the job done; there really isn't a single thing you could have done differently up to this point. You've got a back-up plan in store, just in case. What more can you do? By worrying what could happen despite all your precautions, you just make yourself feel miserable.

There really is no point worrying about things you can't control. Worry about things you can.

Although i'm the administrator of PPS, its amazing the kind of stuff that goes by me unnoticed. Either i'm not doing a good job, or you bloggers out there are a lot smarter than me. Perhaps both. :)

Stumbled across this discussion being carried out in Cakap2 Petaling Street. It discusses religion in an ultra-frank manner, no holds barred, show-your-soul (if you believe you have one) approach.

Thanks to Tariq for going there.

Saying goodbye is a tough thing to do to someone you love. Having to say it twice is so much worse.

She left, she came, and after what seems like just a blink, she leaves and i'm alone once more.

Buying a birthday gift for a close friend is almost always a nerve-wracking experience. Thank God birthdays only come by once a year.

There are a few considerations:

Received the following SMS from a friend just a few minutes ago:

bq. "Tiada Tuhan melainkan All, Nabi Muhammad pesuruh Allah". Send kpd kwn kita 7 org, insyaAllah dlm masa tdekat ni ada pkara baik yg luarbiasa. Jgn pdam, cuba dulu.

Hhmm, not sure what to make of it but its quite certainly an example of SMS spamming. The SMS didn't originate from my friend, it was forwarded to her from someone else, who in all likelihood, isn't the original writer of the SMS either. The only people who benefit from such SMS are the telcos: SMSs that play on religious sentiments and hocus-pocus (ala the chain letters from our youth - "break the chain and you'll die a terrible death" - variety) will always find people who are willing to throw away good money.

Don't know whether you've noticed this, but its a potentially brilliant new photoblog by the renowned CY Leow. Warning: Takes a bit of time to download via dial-up. Large images.

Its an interesting observation that we're told to think and act like Malaysians, but public policy and general practice tells us to be loyal to our race first.

Case #1: The Malaysian education system and the infamous "quota" system. Over the decades of practice, quotas have denied the most deserving, and often the brightest minds of this country the support and opportunity they need to develop their talent.

Case #2: The preferences of government and quasi-government organizations. You'll never find this written anywhere, you'll never get a politician worth his salt to publicly admit it. But that doesn't make it any less true. In the issuance of contracts and the granting of tenders, the "cari Bumiputra dahulu" policy still applies.

Case #3: The Malaysian political system and its polarization of race as a legitimate campaign policy. Hypocrisy is the kindest word to describe it.

I've spotted Kaz's new blog, hosted on Typepad. Digital Fugue has a new home!

Check it out here. Also, his spanking brand-new photoblog also powered by Typepad. Looks like Don Juan de Kaz has been busy - cool moblogging evidence on his site, one of Typepad's many features.

This may not interest too many people, but i thought i'd advertise it anyway just in case you're looking for something fun to do on a Sunday evening.

Howay the lads!

Perfect harmony does not exist. Getting along is the most we can all hope for; at best, its possible to agree to disagree. I reckon half the world's problems could be solved if we take this lesson to heart.

Do you agree?

I can't remember the number of times a woman has asked me what does a man look for in a women, in physical terms; what does a man see when he looks at a woman? Usually i answer with a short blurb about "beauty being in the eyes of the beholder". But let's try to be marginally scientific about this, ok? I won't pretend the following list is comprehensive, and perhaps, different men will have different preferences. But i'll bet loads of money most men will agree.

The question: What are a woman's assets and how do men value them?

The answer:

Vince Chong won the Finals of Akademi Fantasia last night. Excellent - he deserved it, not just for his performance last night but the consistency he's shown over the course of the competition. Congrats, dude.

Why is it i get the feeling that there is always something wrong when i ask someone "What's wrong?" and they reply, "Nothing."

But then again, i might be completely perasan - perhaps, "nothing" really means "nothing" as in "everything is ok, therefore nothing is wrong."

But, its been my unfortunate experience (with women mostly, i'm afraid to add), that "nothing" nearly always means "something", especially when "nothing" is said in a non-normal tone of voice, or if its accompanied by a scowl or frown on the face.

Why do people do that? Why say its "nothing" when there is obviously "something"? I don't understand, i never have, and i still don't. When i'm troubled, i'll say so. If i'm upset with you and you ask me whether i am or not, i'll tell you that i am. If there really is nothing, i'll say so too but mostly people believe me when i say "nothing" because i say it like i mean it (which of course i do, because there is "nothing" wrong).

This is, without a doubt, another * sigh * moment. All-together now: * sigh *.

What happens when you get a bunch of loud bloggers together at a posh restaurant? All the other patrons leave. Yup, that's what happened tonight at Paprika, Jalan Telawi. An hour after the bloggers arrived to say farewell to Racheal and Alex (she's going back to the US, and him to Switzerland), we practically had the restaurant to ourselves. The combination of hysterical laughter, loud voices, and cigar smoke must have been a bit too much for the other guests! :)

Oh, my - what can i say about this latest get-together of Malaysian bloggers? In a word? Great fun. Ok, that's two words, but it describes the occasion very well.

Have a safe journey Racheal, and to Alex too (don't forget our... * ahem * -smuggling- import arrangement, ok?). We'll miss you. Take care, God bless.

Full pics of the event can be found in Visuals.

I recently got into one of those pointless arguments couples normally get into every once in a while:

Her: My hair is a mess.
Me: That's because you forgot all your stuff (hair care products)
Her: I only forgot my hair dryer!
Me: Yeah, your hair dryer is "all" your stuff.
Her: No, "all" means "a lot of things". I just forgot one: my hair dryer.
Me: But is that the only thing you needed?
Her: Yes.
Me: Then its "all" your stuff. "All" may mean "many things" but not necessarily so. It can also mean just "one thing" as long as that "one thing" is all you need.
Her: It does not. "All" means "a lot". It can't mean "just one thing".
Me: All can mean "just one thing".
Her: It does not.
Me: Yes, it does.
Her: No.
Me: Yes.
Her: * Pffft *

Help me out: does "all" have to mean "a lot of stuff"?

Lately, i've been giving a lot of thought about what it means to be a family man. I look around me and, sometimes, i get depressed: marriages and relationships are failing - people seems less happy with their private-love lives nowadays then during the time of our parents when marrying for life was a philosophy that actually meant something.

While i understand it takes two to tango, i can, however say that there are a few things that a man needs to do to fulfill his responsibilities as a father and husband; the definition of what is a "family man".

You may come in peace, but i assure you that you'll leave in pieces.

Hasta la vista, baby.

Malaysian bloggers: come and say goodbye to the very cool Racheal - she'll be going back to the US soon and it'll be a while until we get a chance to see her again.

Details of the meet:

Paprikas (next to Telawi Street Bistro) at about 9 PM for dinner and drinks

Barring any unforeseen developments, this will be my final posting on the matter regarding RPK's now-infamous Msg 7002 on the APA Yahoo Groups website.

Many people have written on this blog, and emailed me privately (a few, in a very impolite manner) about how i'm slinging mud at a "great man" and, even if RPK meant what he wrote, it in no way represents KeAdilan and/or the newly-formed Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

The first recorded CigarBlogMeet took place 1 August 2003 at Hemingway's. For a full review, read this. For full pics of the event, please check it out in Visuals.

UPDATE: Some nice pics by Kaz can be found here.

In summary - it was a blast! Next meet: 5 Sept 2003 (first Friday night of the month).

Raja Petra Kamarudin has answered the questions in the email i sent him on the APA Yahoo Groups website. You can read the full posting here. A second reply and further comments made by RPK can also be found here.

A choice excerpt and my comments:

The following is my email invitation to RPK to exercise his right to reply on the topic of Msg 7002.

I'm not letting this one go, and the more RPK tries to dismiss this, the deeper my response will be.

bq. Are the Malays more gullible?

bq. In a joke article posted on APA, four out of more than 100 members responded taking the article at face value - three Malays and one Chinese. With the 75% Malay responses, this proves the theory that Malays are more gullible and fall for bomohs, black magic, get-rich-quick schemes, and phoney military organisations that can award instant ranks up to the level of four-star generals. - msg 7017, RPK

Also, read this for the reaction of one Malaysian blogger i respect greatly, Lone.

I'm not sure whether RPK latest tirade is a "spoof" or not, or whether he's writing it in response to the comments and replies he's received on his infamous "msg 7002". But lets assume, on the first count, that it's not a "spoof" and, on the second count, he did write it as a response to the replies he's received.

RPK, a polite reminder: if it walks like a duck, talks like duck and acts like a duck, people are going to call it a duck even if you meant it to be a goose. Also, if you've laid an egg, i think you now realize how hard it is to shove it back from where it came.

Since my posting last night, someone has rebutted Raja Petra Kamarudin and in reply, RPK had this to say:

bq. On all your other points, I have no arguments other than you certainly do not recognise tongue-in-cheek even if it bit you in the behind. Maybe you should read my posting again to catch the spirit of the "spoof".

Nope, he's not getting off that easy by calling it a "spoof" - and even if he intended it to be one, RPK really needs to show us where the humour of it all is, because, i for one, missed it.

On a lighter note from the heavy writing of the last 3 posts, Typepad has been released. Typepad will compete directly against Blogger in the no-personal-server required market of blogging. Go here to read the Typepad features and pricing.

Given this one a lot of thought, more than i wished i had to on a weekend. But its just too important to ignore. A single email, if authentically written by RPK, can have a tremendous impact on the upcoming general elections. It deserves careful analysis.

When Apollo 13's systems failed while on the way to the moon, its commander, James Lovell (played by Tom Hanks in the movie), called down, "Houston, we have a problem". If there ever was one, that would rank as an understatement of the century.

If this letter posted by someone who claims to be Raja Petra Kamarudin is valid, i think it'll be fair to say, without a hint of uncertainty, "KeAdilan, we have a problem."

I've reprinted the email (from a source that never sleeps, it seems - thanks) i received alerting me of this potentially HUGE snafu in its entirety, just in case the original posting suddenly "disappears". A screen capture of the posting can be found here.

Friends, i encourage you to blog about this. Its a big deal, believe you me. If its proven true, KeAdilan could be in MEGA DEEP poo-poo.

The email address used to send the email, and the Yahoo ID attached to the posting is certainly listed as belonging to Raja Petra Kamarudin as found on the Freeanwar website. A screen capture of the page is found here. I know it's possible to spoof email addresses, but this is an interesting piece of evidence pointing towards the validity of the posting as being written by Raja Petra.

Could it be that Raja Petra meant to reply only to Hazidi's email, but accidentally replied to the Yahoo Group, thus posting his email for all to see? This possibility is pointed out by Amir in the following posting:

bq. From: "kancah2001"
Date: Fri Aug 1, 2003 10:56 am
Subject: Re: Dear Hazidi

bq. regards,
amir.

The full email i received alerting me to the issue is found below. Also includes a cut & paste of the full posting written by the yet-to-be-verified Raja Petra.

Should have put this poll together with my previous entry on the topic, but forgot. Still, here it is - just to satisfy a curiousity that i have about the demographics of my visitors.

Are you a virgin?
Are you married or have been married?

Just to pre-empt any questions about my current preoccupation with sex, yes, i've been writing about it because i've been thinking about it. Aiz is horny. That doesn't mean that i'm going to do anything about it; its just a state of mind & emotion that i think we all feel once in a while.

Its not unusual for visitors to the Volume of Interactions to accidentally press the "Submit" button twice when they leave a comment; this creates an annoying looking "double-entry". Went looking for a way to stop this from happening.

Found the following:

Hacks : Avoiding Duplicate Comments 3.0

Also, BTW, found ways to prevent Comment spammings:

Comment Spam Quick Fix
Club vs. Lojack solutions

For Movabletype users only, unfortunately.

Anyone who's interested for a night of hot women dancing to the beat of latin music right here in KL, read this.

Attendees so far: myself, baizura (yes, she who has attracted 29 comments!), kaz and (perhaps) sharizal and najah.

A quick report on PPS after its first full month of operations (July 2003):

Total hits: 823455
Total files: 302978
Total pages: 100207
Total visits: 27622
Total kilobytes: 2664174

Number of pinging members: 127

Thanks to all for contributing to the site.