A sack + 2 concerts + Multiple disappointments

It's amazing how my sixth sense works. The last entry was about my problematic new colleague, Fung, and he was given the sack yesterday. Everyone saw it coming, including himself I guess. Cos he didn't look very surprised after he came out from Steven's room.

Well, last Friday he was supposed to stay back to finish an urgent press ad. Apparently, he didn't. Not even after Steven told him to. Kenny already warned him about it but nah, he was not a heeder of good advice. Right after Fung went back, Kenny was called into Pauline's room and I foresaw what would happen to Fung this week.

Before he left, Kenny gave him some honest advice on his attitude. Hope he'll take heed this time and have better luck with his next company. No one can help him except himself.

When Pauline came in and saw Fung still in the office, she asked, "Eh, why're you still here? Better pack your things..." Wow, they really want people to leave instantly! But she didn't say it in an unfriendly tone, just normal.

By the way, hope it's not too late to relate on my experience at LeeHom's Heroes of the Earth Concert in Singapore on October 21.

Shyan and me began our journey to JB, my hometown, at 8.45am that day, a Saturday, Deepavali too. We were carried by Konsortium and arrived JB an hour earlier than expected. Love that bus company I tell ya, I would recommend it to anyone taking a long distance bus journey in Malaysia. What's more, as it was a public holiday, the company used a double decker to carry its passengers. My first time on a double, man! Haha call me suaku, I've never been on one before.

Huai came to fetch us once we reached JB. After washing up and grabbing some grubs, Mom took us downtown to Larkin to take a Singapore-bound bus. We took the yellow smiling bus CW2 to the customs. We resumed our journey on the same bus after emerging from the ever-packed Singapore custom to Queen Street. Whoa, CW2 is definitely a lot faster than 170, thanks to Grace's advice!

Subsequently, we took the MRT from Bugis to Kallang. We crossed the road to the other side of th car park in front of Kallang MRT station and waited for bus number 11. There were signs everywhere giving directions on how to get to the indoor stadium. At the sight of "Bus No. 11" on the signs, I was thinking; is it really a bus or they want us to walk there? Stupid, I know.

There were a lot of girls at the bus stop and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the majority of them are going to LeeHom's concert. In fact, I even spotted a coupla girls at the customs who were going too. Well, they were wearing the tee with the Chinese character 盖 on it, that was how I knew.

Seemed like we reached everywhere early that day. Rare for a habitual latecomer like me. It was only around 7pm when we alighted in front of the stadium. Unfamiliar with the venue, we walked around a bit since time was more than enough. We went up to the entrance floor to find a coupla other concert-goers hanging around the parameter.

As we came closer to the glass doors which were covered with opaque papers, we heard LeeHom's voice clearly coming from the other side. I pressed my ear against the barrier to make sure it's a live version. Yeah, he was probably doing a sound-check run-through. What a steal!

After listening for a while, Shyan and me leant against the rail to find more and more people filling up the space at the square below. There was a beautiful bridge so we while away our time by taking some pictures there. When it was about time, Shyan went back to Queen Street to hang out and waited for me to finish watching the concert.

And now, the real concert experience begins...

Found my seat - Block 16, Row 6, Seat 1. I was super-delighted to find it so close to the stage. However, it was at the side since the premier seat area was located smack in the middle. Girls from LeeHom's Singapore Fanclub had all changed into their blue club gear, armed with matching blue lightsticks. Their spirits must have dampened because their call for other concert-goers to bear the same blue theme on their official website was in vain. Good try though.

Attendees began filing into the hall and I caught sight of a few celebrities such as A-Do, a behind-the-scene music producer who was employed as one of the judges in the previous Malaysia Project Superstar and a female model whose name is unknown to me but whose face still appears in many of the TVCs here.

We were bombarded with all kinds of advertisements appearing on the big screen from Sony Ericsson to Sistic events. There were fans from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and probably other countries (not to mention Singapore) everywhere I looked. In fact, I think the 2 guys sitting beside me were from KL.

The concert kicked off at 8.30pm sharp, just as I expected, with Chinese opera and martial arts experts putting on a remarkable performance behind an illuminated screen. The rest of the concert was more or less the same as the DVD, which I'm too lazy to elaborate here.




Somewhere during the show, a clip compiled by the Singapore Fanclub members of LeeHom during his stays and promotional activities in Singapore throughout the years was played. His face really is ageless if you ask me.

And no, I didn't take a whole load of pix cos the digi cam I borrowed from my dad wasn't a good one and it was really hard to get a decent picture with all those uber-brite mega spotlight shining against the camera lens. My initial attempts mostly turned out over- or under-exposed. Damn.

I blamed it all on the camera but turned out the 2 guys next to me, who used better cameras were having a hard time too. So I guess it just couldn't be helped. However, towards the end of the show, they succeeded in shooting better pix, blur nonetheless. As for me, I'd long given up on taking pictures. What the heck! The best things always only exist in one's memory. So I just decided to take mental pictures of LeeHom and the show.

Sad thing is, my mental memory card probably doesn't have much storage space. Cause when I think back on it, there wasn't anything about the concert which really stuck to my mind. Reason is simple, the concert wasn't impressive enough. Nothing really stood out so as usual, my mind just chooses not to waste memory space.

I'm not saying LeeHom didn't give his best that night. He probably did. But sometimes the best just isn't enough. One person's best may not be another man's perfect, if you get what I mean.

Well, I guess he couldn't help it. He must be dead beat from the filming of "Lust, Caution", directed by Ang Lee. He admitted he wasn't very up to it so he hoped the fans could sing more. But I thought I paid to hear him sing and perform, not singing it myself eh? I sing everyday, there's really no need to pay RM416 to go all the way across the strait to Singapore to sing to myself.

I have a hell lotta things to complain about. Like how I think I've wasted my moolah to watch a less-than-satisfying performance. How I thought it was gonna be a blast but it really wasn't but I guess I really can't blame it all on him.

To be fair, he was overworking himself. He jetted back to HK to continue filming right after the show. Apparently, spreading yourself too thin isn't a good thing. He's right in labelling himself a "tortured soul".

When you're not at your best, the audience's gonna sense it. Believe me, I experienced it first-hand. It's almost supernatural how that can happen. Throughout the entire concert, I was assuring myself that he was performing the best he could with what little energy he had left but there was this empty feeling that keeps sighing at the back of my mind.

Another possibility could be that it's similar to the DVD so I had little to surprise me. It was so bad to the extent that I didn't keep my eyes and heart 100% on the stage. I genuinely didn't really care what he did onstage either. The audience watched the entire show glued to their seats didn't help either. Finally during the final 2 songs, I couldn't bear it anymore and since more people were doing it too, I shot up from my seat and continued swaying to the beats.

When I went for Jay Chou's concert in 2002, I was absolutely swept off my feet. Naw, his performance wasn't great, even went off-key a coupla times. Strangely enough, I had a BLAST! Everyone was standing and swaying and singing to the music literally right from the start. My mood wasn't dampen even though Jay was just a speckle onstage.

But this time, although I could see everything clearly, the overwhelming feeling that soars me into the sky is gone. Nowhere to be found. I heard from my friend that standing during a concert is disallowed in Singapore. I seemed to have heard it too somewhere else. But that just robs away 80% of the fun!

I'm not attending any concerts held in Malaysia anymore if it's held in Bukit Jalil. Sound disperses in the outdoor stadium and all I can see of the artist resembles a humanized version of an ant. The sound in Singapore Indoor Stadium is obviously the winner but the atmosphere wasn't there.

I should probably try Genting next time. If it still can't satisfy me, I guess I should just pack my bags for Taipei or HK.

Baffling

Seriously, there's an attitude problem with my new colleague.

Remember Fung, the new guy who left me and my other colleagues during lunch time but never came back? Yeah, he's the one I'm talking about.

He comes to work early, which is good (the rest of us often come late, haha). Think that's about the only good thing about him. He goes back at 5.30pm if boss is not around, our actual knock-off time is 5.45pm. He's very punctual. So punctual that sometimes he leaves 5 minutes early or right on the dot...even when boss is still in the office.

He flips and reads through newspapers even if boss is standing right behind or in front of him. After he finishes up something, he never asks the seniors to check for any mistakes and simply go on temporary holiday in the office, yeah reading papers. Then when the Art Director enquires him about the status of the project, he replies it's done. After checking it through, the AD can normally find more than a couple of mistakes. When confronted about it, Fung will get defensive and even tries to point the arrow back at the AD. But my AD simply seethes quietly inside without ever confronting him straight up.

Stupid.

Should at least respect your senior colleagues right? You still have to depend on them to show you the ways of the office. Can understand if your superior is a total asshole but my AD actually looks like he's being bullied by the newcomer all the time.

We have tried talking to him about the office culture here. Boss doesn't like people leaving early and of course they like us to stay back if we have things to do. But thoughout the 3 months here, Fung never once did OT even when he has to submit something urgently the next day. And it's not because he has finished it. He simply wants to go home. When asked about why he wants to go home so early each day, he just ignores my colleague.

There's an unwritten rule here among the staff requiring newcomers to give a treat to the existing staff. And the whole office only has a total of 5 staff, including Fung. It's not like we wanna suck him dry. We even made it clear that if it's too expensive, we'll top up the remainder ourselves. If he really can't do it due to financial constraints, we would not force him. Rather, it's his way of handling it that irks us.

Every time we bring up the matter, he'll just keep quiet. Didn't give any response. Hello! Are we talking to a doll here? C'mon lah, everyone of us here had given others this treat when we first came here ok? If he doesn't wanna belanja us, can at least say so? Ok, so we thought probably he is tight financially.

Weird thing is, he frequently asks me and my AD where to get good food. Where can get nice dim sum, Japanese food, etc. Then when my admin asked him about where to belanja us, he claims that he seldoms dine out. ?? What's happening? He just told us he often goes out to eat with his Mom, like, 2 days ago! And it's not even cheap cheap places you know - Victoria Station, seafood restaurants, Sakai; he'd been to lotsa fancy restaurants. I don't even know how the inside of Victoria Station looks like ok?

He also asked me and my AD which brand of watches is good. He said his budget is around 300 bucks. And when he knew I am going to Singapore this month, he asked me to buy a pair of Puma limited edition trainers for him cos the colours available in Malaysia are not his preferences. Of course, those cost a few hundred bucks too. Some more buy in Singapore leh! But I would have no time to buy for him cos I'd be rushing from KL to JB to Singapore on that day.

Do you believe this guy can't treat us to even McD because he is poor?

Don't think so.

By the way, he never lunches with us, except the first day he was here. And that didn't count cos he ran away. But that's besides the point.

He's definitely a one-of-a-kind weirdo. When it was Mala's, my admin, birthday, he gave her a birthday card, which was perfectly normal at the time. Then when it was Pauline, my female boss' birthday, we presented her with a box of Ferrero Rocher. Each of us only had to pay around RM7. We told him beforehand, as usual, he just keeps quiet. When Nazha, our AE, wanted to collect the money from him, he keeps quiet also. If he didn't wanna share, at least have the courtesy to let us know la! It's been 3 weeks, he still hadn't paid back the money to Nazha.

Then I remembered a few days before, we had talked about something which would makes it beneficial for him to be on better terms with Mala (that's probably what he thinks la). But he should be on good terms with everybody, our office don't have any politics between the staff. Everyone is nice. We all unite to stand against the boss, rather, to acquire our benefits.

Anyway, if he wasn't trying to lick Mala's shoes, tell me why he would rather give another staff a card instead of sharing with the other colleagues for a present for boss?

By now you'd definitely think, "Aiya, he's probably a shy and quiet person. Don't be so hard on him la."

WRONG! And I'd even give you a gigantic X for that!

Sometimes I cringe at how he talks to the seniors.

Example, there was a period when the AD assigned lotsa mock-up jobs to him. But actually, he'd only did it for 2 days and he had the audacity to tell Kenny, the AD this when Kenny wanted to assign another job to him : "What's the new job? Not mock-ups again! My hands hurt already!"

HELLO! First few days, or even weeks I was here, I kept doing mock-ups after another ok! And that was the peak period too!

And when there was a mistake in one of his artworks, he actually accused Kenny of tampering with his files! But Kenny was busy doing his own jobs and what fool would bother about his files when they have a deadline to meet?

Yesterday, he said that he knew Pauline is a conservative person in terms of design from the day he was interviewed. I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, since he was talking to Kenny. In my opinion, Pauline is quite receptive and open when it comes to design. The guidance and advice she gave me really helped. I'm not saying this just because she's my boss ok. But her designs and concepts are meticulous. It didn't surprise me to learn that she was a fine art student. I have grown a lot design-wise since my last job.

Today, he argued a little with Pauline about his design. He's the kinda person who finds it hard to accept the opinions of others. Everything done by him is right and others are all wrong. He doesn't admit it when he's in the wrong and when he realizes he really was wrong, he just keeps quiet but never apologize.

Ok, anyway, I could see Pauline was a little pissed off but she continued to explain to Fung why he should and shouldn't do this and that.

It really baffles me to witness people like Fung in action. Disgust is the feeling. I'm normally impatient with these people. Let's just say I'm glad that I don't need to work with him so much. Since he's a newcomer, his jobs are more attached to Kenny. That's why me and Mala advised Kenny to let Pauline know about this when she asks for Fung's appraisal. Because working with him won't be easy, Kenny will probably get a heart attack in the process.

It's not like we didn't give Fung the benefit of the doubt. We've told him about what the boss like and dislike. We've advised him on the office culture. We try to be nice to him. But seems like he's too "individualistic" for our liking.

Ignorant Bastard

Here's something written by someone.

READ THIS KENNY, DON'T YOU SOUND SMART ON YOUR WEB BLOG YOU ARE ALWAYS INFERIOR TO US MALAY. GET IT!!!

Chinese M’sians must accept their lot - FN Sep 26, 06 6:11pm

Lee Kuan Yew's recent controversial remark has stirred a new round of sabre rattling between Malaysian and Singapore politicians. Does Lee understand Malaysia's situation well enough to make such a remark? Even if he does, what right does he have to criticise Malaysia? Aren't Malay Singaporeans marginalised too?

Malaysia's success in the international arena in both business and technology has no doubt become a threat to Singapore. By making such controversial remarks, is Lee hoping more Chinese Malaysians would hate their country and join Singapore? Don't forget that Singapore is facing problems with the lack of population growth.

Are Chinese being marginalised in Malaysia? This is not a new issue. No one in Malaysia has ever brought up the issue so prominently because it is a sensitive issue in this country. The Malays have been given bumiputera status in Malaysia, meaning that the ‘sons of soil’ should be given priority in terms of political and financial interests. Not to forget, Chinese are only immigrants.

With the help of the New Economy Policy in the past 35 years, I would say the Malays have slowly gained back something that has long belonged to them. What's wrong with this? I feel that the government should further restrict the economic interests of the Chinese because there are just not enough wealthy Malays in the country to bring about a balance in wealth distribution.

I am surprised that some Chinese Malaysians have publicly supported Lee's remarks despite that the MCA leader has rejected them. We can see that the MCA leader is not capable of “stopping” his own people.

If he cannot do that, he has no prospect of representing the Chinese. If the Chinese are able to have big houses and multiple cars, which most of the Malays do not have, why are they still not satisfied? What more do they want?

Recently, the MCA vice-president, who is also the higher education deputy minister, publicly pointed out possible corruption in the repair work of a Chinese school, which was handled by the Works Ministry. I hereby demand that this minister be sacked immediately.

First, no one should question the integrity of other cabinet ministers publicly. Second, by saying such things, the MCA minister did not care about the feelings of other ministers in the Education Ministry, who have approved the funding of the project.

No one should question how the project was awarded and how the funds were used as all these had already been endorsed by the ministers. The MCA minister has brought great damage to the current system by asking for transparency. The contractors who had been awarded government projects will not forgive this minister if they are being scrutinised stricter in future projects, especially when this result in them not being able to make profit out of the projects.

The MCA minister should mind his own business. Minding someone else's business means ‘eating’ in other people's territory. If this minister is not sacked, the works minister should write to the prime minister for his intervention. If not, this will set a detrimental precedent which forces a lot of Malays out of businesses as "we rather be mocked by others than have our stomach empty", to quote Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

In short, Malaysia is a multi-racial society and only with the continuous strengthening of the Malay political and financial interests that it can be harmonious and prosperous country. Whether the Chinese are being marginalised or not is not important. The Chinese just have to accept the fact that living in Malaysia means they have to be subordinate to the ‘sons of the soil’.

Posted by: MALAYSIA FOR THE MALAYS at 27 September 2006 12:58 AM on kennysia.com

I was laughing my ass off when I read this comment on kennysia.com, probably penned by some fanatic sexually-suppressed earth prince. But then humour turned into real anger. What right does this fucker here has to dismiss the Chinese like that? If Lee Kuan Yew doesn't have the right to comment on the Chinese in Malaysia, what rite does he/she has in commenting on that particular ethnic group mentioned?

This asshole who's probably one of the earth princes (he calls themselves "sons of soil", more like sons of bitches to me), who receive all the housing loan discounts even though they are filthy rich; get into prestigious government universities even though they get straight F's (since they're fuckers anyway) in their SPM or STPM (which is why UM has dropped from number 90 something to 100 something in the international universities ranking); sponsored by scholarships to study abroad even though they speak crap English and got shit for their finals; enjoy racist discounts at Pizza Hut; this asshole dares to comment on what should be done to the race that are not entitled to these privileges just because Chinese are labelled as "immigrants".

Can you please give me the definition of "immigrants"? I was born and bred on this land 20 odd years ago and so were my parents. I can very well understand it if you refer to my grandparents as immigrants. But born and bred here on this very soil, why are we not given the title "sons of soil" as well? Not that I wanna anyway, sounds like sons of b*tches la.

About Malays being marginalised in Singapore, geez, I told you this fucker has shit ass for brains. They are not marginalised, it's just that they are still not the mainstream culture in Singapore because of their population. But are they barred from any privileges entitled to other Singaporeans? The answer is a definite NO. If you go to any Singaporean government bodies to enquire about why you can't get this and this benefits, chances are they'd tell you, "Because you do not meet the requirement as in annual income, profession, etc." But they'll never say, "Because you are not Chinese/Malay. Therefore you are not entitled to the benefits exclusive to bumiputera." Is that clear enough?

Don't go into arguments saying that the Chinese isn't the mainstream race in Malaysia. Please don't. Or I'll curse you so you burn in eternal hell flame and your balls get cut again and again and again in Purgatory. Trust that it's not my intention to curse so much, will ya? Go out and see how many Chinese you can see in the streets okay? Don't come bothering me for the statistics. If you really want it, go to the Board of population or something. But the figures might not be all that accurate anyway since it's from a Malay-based government. And no, you can't write a letter to question them about it, according to this fucker here. Things done by the government shouldn't be questioned for reasons I'll elaborate to you later.

Point is, Malays in Singapore are not subsidized as much as their Malaysian counterparts. They acquired everything pretty much with their own efforts and abilities. Therefore, they are tougher and smarter I assume. Singapore treats all of its people with equality. Look at their line of successors for Prime Minister. Compare it to ours. I need not say more. Their message is, as long as you got what it takes, to hell with races! Aren't all of us homo sapiens anyway?

Oh yeah, this bastard further says that the Chinese in Malaysia has never brought up this matter since it's sensitive. Bingo! We cannot discuss anything that's labelled by the government as being sensitive. If we do, they'll ISA you la; kick you into a filthy stinky lockup la; you get the picture. Absurdity taken to the extreme. That's why we have to keep quiet! And as I said before, the Malays are NOT the pioneer settlers of this land, it's the orang asli ok? So the government should only give the bumiputera title to the orang asli, give priority to them, and NOT the Malays, no? I'm stating the facts here. But I'm so damn scared of getting ISA-ed by these people. Since you can't question what they do, can't object, can't suggest so that the country can improve because it's their rights as bumiputera. Ok, now I geddit.

This arse even thinks the Chinese should be restricted more economically. The nerves of the bastard! It's like telling your boss,"Hey, I think you should go clean the toilet from now on cos you're too rich already! Lemme be the boss because after slogging off my ass for you all these years, I still haven't gotten what is rightfully mine. You live in gigantic bungalow renovated by PCK and I live in a hut owned by PK leh, what you expect? You drive MiniCooper S whereas I drive mini chicken coop Kancil - old version some more. Oi let go la, you too rich edi, should restrict your income liao."

Does that make sense? Izzit the Chinese's problem if the Malays can't bloody go and earn themselves more money? Izzit our problem that some of them are poorer than us? Get a detailed report on the number of Malay ministers and Chinese ministers, will ya? The number speaks for itself. Ministers enjoy a great many privileges compared to tiny shrimps like you and me and they sure earn more ok? Any arguments? Debate it to your toilet bowls please, I don't wanna hear them because I still have a whole lot to type ok.

Go and tell Bush,"Eh your country too rich already la, we have to restrict your international tradings," see if they listen. They'd probably drop a coupla eggs into your country - the kind that explodes. All your civilians and sons of soil will be blasted into outer space and become sons of boil. Well, of course we, the "immigrants" can't do that. We are good and peaceful people who observe the laws in this country.

Moreover, the kind and benevolent government helps you so much already, sohai wahai sons of soil, how come you guys still so poor? If Malays set up a stall at the roadside without license, you'd still see them there after 10 years. See if it's the Chinese or Indians doing that, sei lo, all their stuff sure kena drag away within a few hours. Like that also you say you can't make money ar? Weird la. Can be included into the X-Files lo.

And why should the MCA leaders stop their own people? They're only doing that because they are obliged to ok. And many still don't think LKY should apologize either. What he said was facts. Why should anyone apologize for speaking the truth? If we should feel sorry for every fact that we speak, then I apologize here for stating the facts. My intention was not to incite discontentment towards the government. These are only my humble opinions that no one will listen to anyway. Since no one would listen, how can I instill rebellion right? Because I'm just a stupid immigrant I don't deserve to enjoy any benefits, I'm sorry. I know my place now.

I understand corruption is prevalent everywhere nowadays. And we the tiny shrimps are very gentle creatures who pardon anything as long as they do not result in overly serious loss. So if the contractors wanna make profit out of the government projects approved by (well-paid-by-contractors) ministers, great! No objections about that! But can those project-approving big shots please oh please don't telan such a big portion of the budget allocated for the project? Your pockets are already bulging like Kenny Sia's tummy with all the contractors' business treats.

Hmmm...that's probably the reason why Star commuter was having red figures in their accounts. Makan pandai-pandai la, banyak sangat mesti bocor punyer. I mean, look at how many people are willing to cram into the sardine container everyday, the red figures come from the tomato sauce ar? Another case from the X-Files.

You think Malaysia without Chinese and Indians would be very good ar? How did Malaysia get its independence from the British? Wasn't it with the unity of all three races? Too bad the good old days were gone for good. Only in times of adversity that people would unite. If it was true that the Malays were the earliest settlers of this land, shouldn't they be grateful to the immigrated Chinese and Indians because they, too, helped to defend a country that was not their motherland during the British colony?

Whether the Chinese are being marginalised or not is not important. The Chinese just have to accept the fact that living in Malaysia means they have to be subordinate to the ‘sons of the soil’.

Referring to these statement, I can very well say that:

Whether the Malays are being marginalised in Singapore or not is not important. The Malays just have to accept the fact that living in Singapore means they have to be subordinate to the people who are more advanced to them in terms of intelligence and capabilities.

Having said all of the above, I have to redeem myself a bit in case I get my ass kicked by the authorities. But the statements below are definitely not discounted in sincerity.

Of course not all Malays are like this arse who wrote the confounding comment above. The Malays I know are mostly gentle and accommodating people. They are also creative and good with arts. Just look at all those artists painting amazing masterpieces on their canvas in Central Market, the majority is Malays, definitely. Unlike the Chinese, they can be unbelievably united. I hope the Chinese will take note of this instead of running the other way when someone is victimised by a snatch thief the next time round.

I can go on and on about the good and bad differences of these races but this entry is really getting a bit too long. Therefore, this post is mainly directed at the animal who started this issue first. So for those of you who are not like that, simply ignore this. No offence, k?

Friday the 13th

Happy Black Friday, everyone!

Yeah I know if you are really having shit today, you'd probably wanna whack me. But no luck for you, because it's still Friday the 13th, see? You can't get me because you don't even know me! Haha!

Mmmm...let's see why Friday the 13th is considered as unlucky. Go on, click here if you dare, I'm pretty sure no shit will explode onto your head though.

Apollo 13 exploded on April 13, 1970 - Friday (welcome to correct me if I'm wrong, cos I can't really remember). The 513 incident in Malaysia a few decades ago also happened on the 13th, but I ain't sure whether it was a Friday. There are also a load of other tragedies which happened on this date throughout history. But hey, there are tragedies every day okay?

If you've taken the time to go through the link provided above, you might assume that this is a western superstition. Surprisingly, Shyan's dad, who's a firm believer in Feng Shui and other Chinese superstitions, also takes the caution to avoid this day as much as he can. He doesn't work on the 13th of every month. Well, he can do that considering he's self-employed. If possible, he won't even step out of the house.

Then there are all the ghost stories I've heard that happened on the 13th floor of a building, room 13, group consists of 13 people, blah blah blah.

Do I believe in all these? Not really. But one thing I am 100% certain is, Friday is definitely the unluckiest day of the week in Kuala Lumpur no matter what the date is since the LRT always breaks down on this day! Worst, it jams like hell in the town area so even if you switch to buses, they'll only crawl like 0.01mm every 15 minutes. The only consolation is that I don't need to work the next day.

Gotta say this though, if your luck is crap anyway, it won't matter which day or date it is. You'll still have to endure your boss' shit, being stepped on the toes by an asshole wearing army boots when you only have sandals on and getting splashed with water puddles mixed with dog pee thanks to a passing car on a rainy day.

So there you go, it's Friday the 13th every single fucking day if your horoscopes is all haywired anyway.

Confused Potato

I am racist.

Yeah I AM RACIST.

But only toward a certain race in the world. I'm sure many of the "non-princes-of-the-earth" share my sentiments. Of course, not all the objects of my racism are as hateful as we make them out to be. But it's a different story altogether when they are in packs. The saying, "Safety in numbers" is definitely truer than true in this case. Numbers have a weird effect on people (and I'm not talking about mad-scientist calculus here!).

I didn't used to be like this. Here's someone who had gone through the entire 11 years of the compulsory education system in Malaysia in national government schools. Therefore, I can definitely declare myself as being more well-versed in the earth princes' culture than my Jenis Kebangsaan counterparts.

I was the one who tries her best not to eat or drink in front of them during the fasting month no matter how downright thirsty I was, or I'd at least go beyond 50 meters radius from them if I really can't stand it. In fact, I still do. But I've just recently started to eat my breakkie behind my colleague's back while he was fasting since our miserable pantry (more like store room) couldn't accommodate an average-sized girl like me to have a decent meal inside. Note that I did it while his back was turned ya. However, the aroma couldn't help floating all around the room, that's all.

I'm the one proud to be able to speak their language with their accent. I've even been mistook for being one of them over the phone and back when I was dark as coal. I could even integrate myself flawlessly into their internet lingo on the IRC that my other friends who went to SRJK couldn't understand what I was babbling about.

But I guess the environment changes all. Of course I didn't realize the unjustice happening around me when I was younger, or in high school. Well, I've always been a moron political-wise. As long as I don't get pushed too far, I just can't be bothered. As I get older and more in touch with the world around me, I become more and more frustrated.

I'm sure many had heard all kinds of stories regarding this issue all the time. The university quota, scholarship, housing privileges, among a million other things. Although the circumstances in Malaysia is still bearable, I do fear for the future of our own race.

As if to aggravate my dislike for this race, the annual Indon haze has to come floating across the skies. Doesn't matter what natural catastrophes hit them in the future, I genuinely do not think we should help them. And this has absolutely nothing to do with being racist.

Look at what they had done to the Chinese a few years ago in Indon (pardon me but I'm really bad at remembering news, or their timeline, for that matter). I was thinking of inserting those glorious pix of their deeds here but dropped the thought cos that might incur nausea in people who happen to stumble upon this blog.

They raped, robbed, killed, mutilated the people who helped (a lot) in bringing wealth to their country. I'm not saying the Chinese are noble but am merely stating the fact. Imagine what values their descendants will have. It's a vicious cycle that will never end.

And isn't it wonderful the quality air they produce for us annually? Results in asthma, breathing problems, heat, low visibility, etc. Very helpful nation they are, eh? I'm just curious...isn't there any international environmental organization, something like Greenpeace, to have a ruling on forest burning? Why do we have to endure this year after year? What are the ASEAN countries doing to protect their people from this?

Sure, they can apologize all they want. But sorry no cure la I tell you.


Then when tsunami struck, they have the cheeks to put on poor puppy dog faces to plead for aid. I wonder is their skin even thicker than the multi layered bawang?

Okay. So they wanted help. Other countries benevolently rushed to their aid by sending them donations of food, clothes, money, etc. Did they appreciate it? I dunno. But I certainly know that the drivers who delivered these donations to them were killed before arriving at the distribution site. Why? Because some of them just thought they would hoard everything for themselves without sharing with their fellow countrymen. Cool. These are the people who claimed it was unfair for the Chinese to dominate their national economics.

Okay, just bear with them, you might say, since their country is loaded with so many natural disasters. It's normal for them to be a lil screwed in the head.

But you know what, a divine power is probably punishing them. Since God wants to wipe them out so much with earthquakes and tsunamis, why should we help them? Going against the will of God is just goddamn wrong! That's why you'll be condemned to eternal damnation if you do that la, ok!

Hmmm...I guess Malaysia is still a better place then. Honestly, I love Malaysia. Wouldn't wanna live in other countries which have to deal with typhoons, hurricanes or earthquakes on a regular basis.

But can someone please improve the status and privileges of non-earth princes in this beautiful country? Yeah I know they are entitled to various privileges because they are supposed to be the earliest settlers on this land. But eh *scratch head*, I thought the earliest to be here were the orang asli? If not, then why are they called orang asli, which literally translates into original people? They were the people to live here originally right? Yup, they are the aborigines. I'm very confused here.

By the way, aren't we all made from earth in the first place? Why only they are called princes of the earth? Weird.

Which Singaporean Blogger Are You?

Congratulations Korsh, you are...

'PoiPoi' Apple Lim of verypoisonouslady.blogspot.com

You look like a stereotypical bimbo outside but its a different story inside. You're a nice, simple, proud and straightforward person who believes what you're doing is right. You don't change people, and you love them for who they are. Your primary goal in life is to be happy, next to being pretty. You have your detractors but you don't let them bring you down. You go out of your way to help others out even before they ask, and for that they love you.

Which Singaporean Blogger Are You?

I love you, E!

I did a freelance copywriting job for Cheryl's company 2 weeks ago. Yeah I know my English level is turning for the worse but I didn't ask for the job, okay? It found me haha. Her boss asked whether I wanted to do it cos I did some translations for them previously. English to Mandarin. Free of charge. The boss was pretty happy with the result, I guess.

Frankly speaking, I wasn't very confident about my ability in finishing this job either. But well, it was good money so I gave in to the temptation. If money is knocking on your door, can't really shoo it away right? Sinful.

So, with the help of modern Internet tools like the online translator and dictionary, I managed to get everything done in just one night! Starting to admire myself haha. Everything means 3 sets of slogans and body text for 3 press ads. I even gave them a few options for slogans for each one. Same goes for text, whenever I can come up with more than one.

However, even the online translator can't really help me this time cos all of it gotta be in English and Malay. Well, since Malay isn't an international language, it was pretty tedious task for me to get the language tools for it online. Worse, the online English-Malay dictionary by Karyanet frequently encounters server down-time so I deemed it useless. However, all was well cos I borrowed the conventional dictionary from Mala beforehand.

Last week, Cheryl called to inform me of an additional ad. So I needed to come up with another set of copy for them. My fee was increased, of course.

I only spent a total or 4 hours maximum to finishing writing everything. As usual with advertising jobs, I anticipated amendments. There were none. I couldn't believe my luck! And now all I have to do is wait for my cheque! According to Cheryl, her boss will hand me 2 other jobs if this one is successful. Really hope so.

Money money fast fast come! Haha. Any freelancers will know how it is to collect payments from clients. I just hope Cheryl's boss is a good paymaster. I'm just a bit worried about my Malay translation and possibly the usage of some English words. So scared that once it gets published, there will be endless mistakes to be spotted by the experts. Please don't let that happen to me! Of course, knowing what are wrong will lessen my mistakes in the future. Guess I have to face that, like it or not.

But really, the whole thing was so easy. Unlike the freelance design job I used to do - beat the hell outta me! Sleepless nights, headaches, follow-ups, all these and I gotta juggle my day job as well! Once and that was enough for me. Oh, I didn't pitch it as well, a customer of my last company asked me to do it. I declined because I know I'm too lazy to have to go through hell. But the customer was so very nice I just couldn't refuse totally. And so I took it anyway.

See, copywriting is so much more easier to me. Maybe because freelance is easier. Not so sure how it'd be like if I'm in a company or agency. I applied for a few copywriter positions previously but didn't get selected. Hey, this job can be included in my portfolio!

Shyan was so envious because just a few hours work had earned me a few hundred bucks. Haha I can deal with that any day!

Study hard, people! Language is such a powerful tool nowadays!

I've always loved English but didn't know it could earn me my livelihood. Look at what's happening now!

Pimples pimples go away

My body is so heated up for the past few days I really can't stand it!

First, it was the skin on my back peeling. Gracious, I thought it was dandruff when I scrapped it from my back! Imagine how small the particles are! Worse, it happened when I was out with Shyan on the way from Petaling Street to Times Square. Luckily, I brought a jacket with me which I threw on immediately upon discovering the catastrophe happening out back.

I found multiple pimples and scars on my once smooth back upon returning home. And I've made it worse by scratching on it. Pimples had been growing on my back since I kept my hair long. But this is just far too bad! What, now my hair is short so why doesn't it go away? I thought maybe it was the hair pricking on it which caused the growth.

The next day, a constellation of tiny but visible and red pimples was forming on my face. Four of them in the constellation, to be exact. One on the nose, left and right cheek each and another on the chin. Geez, what the...?!?!!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry cos it's really weird. Pimples frequently appear on my face in a mirrorring fashion, if you know what I mean. Example, left and right cheek each has got one, more or less the same place! Really funny when I look into the mirror.

I hope the pimples on my back would go away soon. I applied some of my mom's homemade medicinal cream last night. It's a bit better now. I've applied it before and although it does get better, it doesn't go away altogether.

I'm on ther verge of going nuts! Please don't haunt me again, pimples! I beg of you!