Evil Vanquisher...

No, I dunno whether there is a word like "vanquisher", but I'm almost certain there isn't. Whatever. Bear with the facts that yours truly ain't got an elaborate vocabulary to boast of, so there.

Recently, I started reading a Manga series entitled Akumetsu. The literal translation for that is the Evil Vanquisher. Nah, the Vanquisher doesn't go around killing vampires or weird monsters. But he does go on a killing spree of Japanese politicians who are corrupted and deemed evil by himself.

I think that's the biggest problem faced by the world today - corrupted politicians, who consequentially turn out equally corrupted governments. I can understand why the author came up with a story like that, albeit I'm none too keen on the world of fucked-up politics.

After all, I'm sure most of us out here have had a taste of the efficiency-deprived and probably fraudulent government. Don't be too sad, though, it happens everywhere in the world. It has become a disease most of us have begun to turn a blind eye to. Not that you could have done anything about it anyway.

Anyways, in the story, the Akumetsu kills off all the political big shots who do a great deal of dirty jobs with the taxpayers' dollars, on top of twisting the truth in order to legalize their evil deeds. They die gruesome deaths, I tell you.

One got a head burst with a flare gun. Another got his fingers fired off one by one before the Vanquisher finally showed his mercy and ended his misery. Some were burned alive while another was wedge-locked to the top of a Countach moving in high speed towards a half-built bridge. Needless to say, the poor guy was shattered to pieces with the vehicle before it exploded altogether. What a way to die!

The manga author must have tried killing the likes of these corrupted men a thousand million times in his dreams, I guess. Well, mangas have always mirrored what we can't do in reality, be it limited either by our mortality or the boundary of the laws.

The story might have sounded a bit extremist or even terroristic. But it's still the raw feeling and thought all of us humans experience, isn't it? If unrestricted, every single one of us would have got rid of any obstacles unlucky enough to be caught in our paths, eh?

Along with every killing, an Akumetsu will die too. As the saying goes, an eye for an eye. Therefore, it was a perfectly fair deal. Deeper into the tale, it was revealed that Akumetsus were actually clones in a super-human experiment. When one of them dies on a mission, the tribal mask they wear while completing their missions will self-destruct by exploding. The mask has a chip which was linked to the memory part of the brain, therefore, their total recollection til that final second would be trasmitted straight back to the next replacement clone in the lab.

Knowing these, you might think that it isn't fair after all, that the politicians have to die a total death whereas the Vanquishers may live on as clones. Well, perhaps you could try to remember that clones aren't machines or dolls without emotions or feelings. They are every bit as human as us, only their creator is not the Almighty God, if you have a belief, but us. We could very well be the creations that recreate, which is why human cloning is banned due to the question of ethics.

My point is, you won't think of 1+1=2 any less correct than what it should be if it's calculated by a calculator and not by human brain, rite?

Moreover, the Vanquisher clones did have their own lives prior to carrying out the mission. They went to school or work and even had to be scolded by the boss like you and me.

Something really needs to be done to the government of this country. Just look at how a certain ethnicity is given privileges even though they don't deserve it, if you ask me (and a whole lot of other people). And in contrast, how deprived the others are, of education, financial loans, etc.

This ethnicity in question can have rock bottom bad grades but still gain a place in prestigious education institutions, whereas others have to work twice as hard to get in even though their results and performance are a million times better. Talk about double standards. We are humans all the same, aren't we? So treat us equally!

That same ethnic group could even purchase properties at much lower prices than the others because the government says they are the native race of this country. Bullshit! You could say that if all the others were not born and bred here. But they are! Aren't we all your countrymen just the same?

And the willful government still has the guts to grumble about us not being patriotic and loyal enough to the country. What fools would pledge loyalty to a country that does not recognize their value as a people?

I suspect the people governing our country had been abducted by aliens from a faraway planet and stuffed with bullshit in their pathetic brains.

Friends...

I was looking through one of my friends' blog on Friendster the other day and checking out her photo album. Haven't seen her in a long time. So much had happened in her life and I wasn't there to witness or to share. Her pictures also told of many interesting stories she shared with another one of my long-time-no-see friends. I have lotsa friends like that, ya know. Lazy, after all.

I started to feel envious, and maybe a wee bit jealous as well. Jealousy - ugly emotion, hate that word. Anyways, I began to feel left out.

We used to be close, the three of us. We used to be roomates and neighbours in the hostel back in college. Those girls are real fun to have around. And yeah, we had the craziest times together. Hiding each other's clothes when the other was having a shower in the hostel's public washroom; disturbing and making noises when one was mugging for exams; singing beside the hostel bedroom window in the wee hours of the morning while cramming for major tests; being yelled at by other hostel mates for being to noisy during exam periods; laughing at people we scorn. You name it, we had done it all like loonies on the moon.

I could talk to them about anything. They never judged me. I don't remember a time that I was feeling sad or used when I was with them. Those were often what I felt from time to time when I'm with my other friends. We would babble away like we never missed a day in our lives without each other in it even though truth says otherwise. They were the best kind of friends I've come across in a long, long time. Probably there never will be others like them again in my life.

Therefore, I thought we would still be really close friends even if we don't meet that often. For a while, things stayed that way. They would still ask me out even if I don't do that and we still meet up, albeit in quite a long time. I don't blame them, they cared for me so they probably didn't wanna impose themselves on me because I was busy spending time with my boyfriend. He used to be away from me a lot - going back to hometown visiting his parents, studying in UK for three months, doing internship, blah blah blah...

Hence, every time he finds the time to be around, I tend to hang on to him like super glue. Thus, neglecting time with my friends, I guess. But these 2 friends of mine were very understanding, so I didn't think that was any problem at all.

However, gradually, I began to lose track of the topics they talked about. The places that they went together; new friends they made; bad habits one of them picked up; BGRs that were never meant to be; all those and more...further and further I drifted away from their world. I was optimistic,"As long as we are still friends, I'm happy," I thought.

That shouldn't be the case. How silly of me to take everything for granted. To take them for granted. I realize my inadequecy only now. Although they didn't say anything about it, I guess subconsciously they think I didn't care as much. But being the good old souls they are, they were still very endearing to me.

As I said, I was browsing through one of these wonderful girls' blog. It occurred to me I was the one constantly doing the taking and seldom the giving. All of a sudden, I felt ashamed despised myself for the things that I've done. They and I myself know I'm lazy to keep in touch with friends, but this time, I just might have gone overboard.

Feeling guilty, I wanted to make up for my past mistakes immediately. I know that takes time. But I couldn't wait. So I sms to each of them, saying we should probably go out together some time soon. One of them didn't reply, as with always. She seldom replies my sms, that woman. But I can assure you she's a good friend to have. And guess what, she has the very same surname as me! My surname is damn rare, ya know.

The other one called me and apologized for not having the time to see me for such a long time. Geez, I felt wretched, I was the one who should be sorry! She said she was busy with her finals and that she had finally graduated from these couple of hellish years in university. However, she'd just gone back to Kuching last Sunday. I was flabbergasted. I didn't even know that! And here she was in Kuching, probably for good. As much as I felt sorry, I felt hurt.

I guess the other girl would probably never reply my sms. Will this friendship of mine be gone with the wind?

Time will tell.

Serves me right for being so selfish and lazy.

Happy now, Old Man upstairs?

Devious World...

Watched Malaysia Superstar Grand Finale on Saturday. The final result really makes me wonder...Are Malaysians today really that shallow?

The male champion is John an the female champion is Desiree. So during the finale, the two of them are gonna compete against each other for the grand throne of Malaysia Superstar.

And geez, any fool can see that the one who's the real thing, the one who could really carry a tune was Desiree. John's voice was weak, although it was considered good for a guy. But I don't think we should judge them on relative terms in this case. To me, John was just not up to standard.

He won simply because of his fans' votes. That was totally unfair since votes from the public carried 70% of the overall marks while the judges' decision only carried 30%! Anyone can see it was just a way for Magnum and other organizers to rake in millions from gullible Malaysians. Well, they have succeeded.

Wanna know why so many voted for John? Well, here's what I thought:

He was such a crybaby that he cried whenever there was a chance; whether he was happy or sad or someone got kicked out of the bogus competition. Basically, just any time. I think this makes the fans feel that they can really relate to him and that he is just a regular guy after all. It's good, actually, but I just wish he had more talent.

As we all know, girls are more easily involved in voting activities like these. Moreover, they might even think that John was a prince charming anyway. Therefore, he got more votes than Desiree.

Desiree, on the other hand, was cool and composed and was talented to boot. Poor girl, she was so badly misunderstood that most viewers mistook her for being cold and aloof. What the heck, at least she could really sing!

All in all, Desiree's talent will take her far while John would probably fade away to nothing, if you ask me. Cruel thing to say. But I guess John should know the reason that enabled him to gain access to the champion of this contest. Therefore, if he doesn't buckle up and improve, Desiree would overtake him in a flash (she already has).