Jingle Bell

I would like to take this time and opportunity to wish you...yes you..whoever the heck you are, a blessed and wonderful Christmas!

I have Streamyx

YEAHAA!!!!

Since yesterday evening, I have been enjoying a satisfying and speedy internet experience after having Streamyx installed.

Anyhows, yesterday morning, me and me family plus grandma went to Lawas to attend a wedding. My umm...Ah Chek?(uncle), who is my grandma's cousin's son got married. Hmm, well in short, it's my dad's cousin. The wife is a Lun Bawang and it was held at the kampung's rather large church.

It was rather interesting as it was a unification from two very distinctive cultures. I remembered attending their engagement sometime end of last year, when the two families met for the first time. And also witnessing or rather experiencing each others' culture for the first time. It was abit amusing for me, since I come from a mixed parentage, I was the only one who understood the chattering within both sides, the guy's side were speaking in Hokkien and the lady's spoke Lun Bawang. So during the discussions, I found myself smiling to myself on occasions when everyone else were in a serious mood.

Anyways here are some pics of the wedding. Btw, it was to my dismay that pork wasn't served, due to some family members of the bride being..well you know.

The church. SIB Gaya Baru. For a sideng kampung (village church), it's huge!

The stage from my seat.

Pastor - Bridegroom - Bride & her Dad

Kuman! Kuman!. Makan time.

The presentation of gifts from the bride's family. Tayen & the hat thingy, lupak nama.

Sabah - Land Below the wind (-blow)

Okay here are the pictures I took during my trip to Sabah. There are actually more of em, but I just post the most decent. All pictures were taken using a Nokia N73. I guess some pictures could have looked better as I wasn't too familiar about playing with the settings then.

By the seaside at Sipitang town. I took a couple of other shots, but I guess this one is enough. They look pretty much the same, blue sky, white clouds, brown sand.





















A "not really old, old-school building". My dad is somewhere in there, at the book store.

View from the apartment: Likas Bay. Also took a couple of shots from the apartment, but turned out most of em were taken at 640 x 480 resolution, thus producing a lower quality result. All because I forgot to change the resolution settings of my hp cam!!

Pasar Malam, somewhere near Meridien hotel. Didn't really explore, just wandered around a 50m radius from the car.

Yours trully: First visit to a Burger King outlet. I have to say it was excelente! I had the French Chicken, and I was pleasantly surprised as it turned out to be quite large in proportion. Bigger than Sugar Bun's fish fillet. The fries were ordinary though. Crispy on its ends, soft in the middle. SHit, I'm sounding almost like a fast-food connoisseur.

License to drive kill

I had this thought when I was driving around in KK city. I've driven in almost all the major towns in Sarawak...from Kuching to Sibu, to Bintulu and Miri. And it has been a year since I last drove in KK. Well you see, the drivers in KK are a bunch of idiots. They are either idiots or assholes on the road, endangering each others' lives. In fact, I don't even think they think about their lives or of others.

Anyways, that isn't the whole point. But that thought brought me to cell-stem, human-cloning...or whatever they call it. Basically I am against that. So what is the whole connection between human-cloning and crazy driving? Well, when human-cloning is the way to go in the future, then pedestrians or other road-users who gets killed when knocked by cars and stuffs, wouldn't be called an accident victim anymore. They would be merely called ROADKILL.

Cerdo

Cerdo...that's Spanish, so look up the meaning somewhere. But I'm pretty sure you won't find it in a Kamus Dewan.

In this post I wish to declare that I am a pork-eater, and unashamedly proud of it! Be it the sup berek, tau euw bak, sweet & sour, grilled and so on. Being a pork-eater doesn't make me inferior or having less rights than those who doesn't. I AM A PORK-EATER! And no one can take that away from me and my fellow pork-eaters.

Viva Republika Sarawak!!!

I'm Back

Okay, pork-eating aside, it's been a while since I've done anything to this darn blog. Just got my home internet dial-up connection up and running again couple of days ago. There seem to be so much to write. Probably will start my planned "Flashback" section thingy...stuff soon. Anyhows, I was in Sabah, mostly in Kota Kinabalu for a couple of days last week. So I will be posting some pictures taken during the trip in my next post. Though when I got home, I realised I didn't really take much decent pictures, damn!

Quick updates:

1. Received my fat paycheck last month.

2. Either gaining weight or losing some.

3. Bought a brand new phone. (which is a gift for myself after not buying any gifts for all those special occassions for the past years)

4. Still jobless. (though I will most likely resume teaching next year)

5. Still watch-less.

6. In need of a new pair of sneakers.

7. Had my first accident.

8. Broey got married.

9. My Cuz Al got married.

10. A hell lot of other people I know got married.

11. Still going solo.

S-H-I-T (Part I)

We all have different things, stuffs etc that we hate. If you're thinking I hate shit, no i don't hate shit. Not that i like it as well. It's just that I had a thought, after what happened during the past couple of weeks or so, or less, that I have been taking shit from people who don't know shit. Not the literal shit. Something like being the receiving end of someone who's not been there, done that...yet they act and talk like they mastered rocket science and holds the key to world peace and all that bullshit. I'm not writing this with a hot temper, I'm probably smirking, through my sub-conscious mind. And this isn't about my parents, if you're wondering.

Another thing some people need to know is that I'm the type of person who doesn't believe in talking too much, trying be all this and that, hanging around with bigshots and rich faggots just for the sake of having em as your collections that I could later display to my friends of lesser mortals. Just so they would see you as the numero uno of having friendships with the bigboys. I'm not against rich and trendy people, I have some of them as friends. I just don't believe in the mission statement of "I must have those kinda people as my friends".

Before i forget, despite my moderately controversial postings about race and religion, I would like to wish a very belated Selamat Hari Raya to my buddies, especially my niggas (I'm allowed to use this term, it's a long story :p) Ary and Anol. Then there's Mehdy, Saiful, Naz, Agus, Bifi..okay i'm not gonna go on. You can name yourselves :p

Of Signal Lights and other tales

Are you a driver? If yes, do crapass-drivers annoy you? Of course they f*cking do eh. Well I think it's about time I'm writting this, not that it'll make the streets safe for pedestrians, safe for kids, safe from terrorists and creating a peaceful world. No. First of all, I wouldn't say I'm a law-abiding driver. While I do obey most laws, there are some that i well...bend? Like the rest of you, my fellow motorists, half of us do not put on our safety-belt. I do that, occasionally, well OK sometimes. But that doesn't harm anybody but put myself at risk, so it's alright.

What annoys me the most, about unethical motorists are those who owns cars that "isnt't equipped with signal-lights, or disfunctional ones". There are many of them!!! You see them driving Kancils, Wiras, Camrys, up to high-end shit like the Mercz and BMWs. These "ill-equipped" cars pose a risk not only to themselves, but to others. Have you ever wondered about this? I mean, you buy a rm60k car, equipped with a CD player, ABS and all those shit...but the signal lights or indicators doesn't work. For heaven's sake, it's like the yellow portion of the rear lights are only for display purposes with no working functions. I think the government should pass a law that it is mandatory for all cars be equipped with indicator or signal lights.

I'm not being stupid, just cynical.

Ok, that's the end of the bitchin part. Well it's been a while since I've written something here or posted some photos. In fact, I have dozens of photos that I've been wanting to put up, and lotsa stuff to write about, the less serious stuff that is. But ever since our home's internet connection was suspended, I had to come to a internet cafe thingy to go internet surfing. And most of the time I don't have much time to write here. Well today is an exception perhaps, added by the fact that not even 1 person in my yahoo messenger list is online. Or maybe they're on invisible mode...you bloody wankers. For this post I'll show you guys a couple of pics I took of the Limbang airport. Yes we do an airport here, and yes planes can land there as well.

OKAY....looks like I bumped into a technical glitch. The photos apparently did not appear. This is fucking great and fucking...well fuck. Just when i thought I'd be able to have some fun with my blog. Awww man gimme a break??? All I wanted to do was post some photos, it's not like I can do this everyday. All I did was talk shit about annoying motorists. Well, next time then peoples.

Racism is pathetic, it makes you sick to the stomach. Being someone who mixes around with people from diverse ethnicities, racist statements bother me alot. Just recently our country celebrated it's 49th Independence Day. For the first time in my life, if not the scond, I had veyr very little or no enthusiasm about it. There have been lots of news, on tv and the papers these days touching on racial issues. I'm not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here, nor am I trying to provoke.

It's a pity that certain quarters or even certain minority races have been branded as unpatriotic. I don't know the real situation. But whatever it is, i think these people cannot be blamed. How can you blame someone when he/she has been called a "Pendatang" or Immigrant? Imagine you are a guy having this relationship with a girl. And imagine this girl expect your undivided loyalty and devotion. She wants you to love her with all your pathetic little fucking heart. That is do-able, right, i agree. But, when you consider another fact, she actually hates you. To her, you are just a bastard, a nobody who's lucky "to be with" her, and enjoy all her the "love" and "care". I hope you get my point, because i cannot elaborate further. My mind has been distracted *grins*

Ok, till next time, I'm off!!!

Oh yeah, one more thing. At the moment, I'm considering 2 mobile phones as my potential new one. It's between Sony Ericsson's K800i and Nokia's N73. So I have been doing quite a few "research" on the Net, looking at reviews and shit like that. Right now, i'm still undecided. But the pendulum is swinging the N73's way just a little harder.

And one last thing. I just noticed that I have been typing in proper English...........................................

Sumiyati

I had a dream lastnight
or was it this morning
It doesn't matter
It was about you
Somehow i woke up having this strange feeling
You had to leave in the dream
Just like you left 6 years ago
But in different circumstances
The dream left with me a strange kind of sadness
And also replayed all the memories i had of you
And now 6 years onwards
I am starting to wonder
Where are you
In fact i've always wondered
Where could you be

I still remember 7 years ago
First day of orientation
The first day i saw you
I actually wished that you'd be in my class
And that wish came truewe went on to be classmates
Friends
Small town boy meets big city girl
In a city not of our own

I still remember 7 years ago
The first week of class
When ferry commented to you
That i was probably an arrogant dude
But you said I was just a quiet guy
I still remember

I still remember 7 years ago
I'd miss my 4.30 bus after class
Just so that I could hangout at the stairs
Hoping i could just get a few minutesof talking to you before your car came
I still remember

I still remember 7 years ago
When you were absent from class for a week
I decided to call you
I remember stuttering
The nights when I made up reasons to call you
Just so I could hear your voice
I still remember

I still remember 7 years ago
We were the last persons left in class
The long conversation we had
Just standing there looking out the window
Waiting for you brother as usual
I remember that old lady we saw
Wearing that sexy outfit thinking she was 21
It was a moment that i didnt want to end
I still remember

I still remember 7 years ago
You called me
Just to wish me a happy valentines day
I still remember

I still remember 7 years ago
Tun Jugah
I had just bought something to be given to you
Even the gift wrappers and card
I remember bumping into you and your brother
I was abit panicky then
I remember holding all those stuffs behind my back
Keeping them away from your eyes
And the day i finally gave you the gift
After nearly 2 weeks of being gutless
I remember that glow on your face
I still remember

I still remember 7 years ago
When i got myself a crewcut
You thought it was real neat
I also remember the shock on Ms Poh's face
I still remember

I still remember 7 years ago
The Hotel school open day
We were stationed in the mock-up room
I remember bailing each other out
When we forgot what to say
I still remember

I still remember 6 years ago
Our last day of our final paper
The last day i saw you
The last time we talked
We didnt have much to say
I remembered the goodbyes
I still remember

6 years later
here i am typing this
After having a dream about you
awaken
Bringing me back to those times
All those pleasant little moments
and that bitter end
just like the dream
I've never thought about all these memories
until today
I still remember being captivated
By your confidence
Your sense of independence
and that smile
Your smile
I wonder if the candle is still with you
Wherever you may be
Most of all i wonder if you still remember me
Vaguely perhaps
I do not know what i felt then
And i do not know what i'm feeling now
There were many things i'd like you to know
Maybe i didnt know how
Maybe i didnt want to
Maybe you knew
Maybe you had no idea
but maybe sometimes somethings are best kept unspoken
I wasn't smooth with words anyway
I still doAnd
But i still remember you
So till then
This is from Limbang to Jakarta

Something funny happened this morning...

...as i was driving home after sending my mom for her course in town. As i was driving, I was holding the steering. And i turned the steering left or right when necessary. And then i reached home and went straight to bed to continue my sleep. *LAUGHS* ...it IS funny. You have to read between the lines. Literally...

Looks like my Transporter days are gonna end soon. I'm gonne be something else. I'm still figuring out a theme name for the job. So...keep a watch for this site as a new character will be released pretty soon. Coming soon!!!

And also i would like to wish my Dad a happy 56th birthday, a happy retirement day and happy father's day!!! And thanks in advance for borrowing me your car :p

Broken Wings

It's been a really long time since i last wrote something in my "belok" (blog). The reason being the fact that my internet connection at home's been suspended for some time. Quite alot have been going on ever since. Yet i dont have the time to write about em...lazy perhaps..hehehe.

"Broken Wings"

Fight the fight alone

When the world is full of victims

Dims a fading lightIn our souls
Leave the peace alone

How we all are slowly changing

Dims a fading lightIn our souls
In my opinion seeing is to know

The things we hold

Are always first to goA

nd who's to say

We won't end up alone

[CHORUS]
On broken wings I'm falling

And it won't be long

The skin on me is burning

By the fires of the sun

On skinned knees

I'm bleeding

And it won't be long

I've got to find that meaning

I'll search for so long

Cry ourselves to sleep

We will sleep alone forever

Will you lay me down

In the same place with all I love
Mend the broken homes

Care for them they are our brothers

Save the fading light in our souls
In my opinion seeing is to know

What you give

Will always carry you

And who's to say

We won't survive it too

[CHORUS]

Set a-free all

Relying on their will

To make me all that I am

And all that I'll be
Set a-free all

Will fall between the cracks

With memories of all that I am

And all that I'll be

[CHORUS]

Islam & Terror

I was surfing when my dad who was watching the tv switched to Tv3. And what i heard caught my attention. A malay guy and a chinese girl were sitting by a fire. And the guy asked the girl,"Have u done some research on islam?" to which the girl replied,"Islam?whats there to do research for? It's enough to know Osama bin laden, abu-zarqawi etc etc." and i think she did mention something about terrorism.

The guy then protested,"Why link them(islam) to terror???. When people like george bush, ariel sharon etc killed muslims, they are not called terror, why arent their religion linked to terror." bla bla bla "Look at who are the real terrorists, open your eyes samantha..." bla bla bla

Well, if only i could enter the movie and slap the guy a few times and also the script writer. The reason islam is linked to terrorism done by muslims is because these "good guys" USED the name of religion. If you dont want your religion to be linked with terrorist acts, then dont use the name of religion or your god or your prophet. Killing people in the name of God, what do you call that? a righteous act? Sorry again if i have offended anyone reading this, as i wrote before i do not understand the use of brute force in the name of religion.

And he asked why wasnt the religion of ariel sharon and george bush linked with their actions. I am sure i've never heard any public comment by bush or sharon that goes something like ,"KILL THE INFIDELS IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST!!!" You dont see any Christian terror groups blowing themselves up at mosques, shopping complexes, schools and shout "HALLELUYAHHH!!!"

That people, is what sets the terrorist groups of bush/sharon and osama/saddam etc etc apart.

Half Vision

I went to the hospital today to see the doctor, the first time since my last visit back in 1998!!! Never liked to go to the doctors anyways. But i thought a visit today would be interesting.

Well, lastnight i had this irritation in my right eye. So i guess i did rubbed it a couple of times. But i expect it to get worse the next day, which happened actually. Woke up this morning and i felt rather different about my right eye. It seemed to have trouble opening to its maximum 'opening size'. So i went to the bathroom to wash my face n brush my teeth, there i saw in the mirror, my right eye was swollen. The whole morning/afternoon i was bearing with the irritation and the slight blurry vision i had.

My dad advised me to see the doctor, and gave me my hospital card/book that he kept for years. And it was interesting to see only a couple of pages were used LOL (told ya'll i dont see doctors).

So i went to the hospital at 2pm this evening, and had a bit of a problem as i dont know the procedures LOL, i am so ashamed! So i sat down among the other patients and observed how the others did their business :p smart ass eh? So after i understood how the process was, i went and did what was needed. So when it was my turn, i entered the Medical Assistant's room and explained my predicament. He turned out to know my dad, so he was really friendly and all. Then i was reffered to another room where 2 nurses tested my eyesight (one of em was pretty cute :p). With some luck and good guessing, my right eye did well LOL.

Then i was reffered to the eye specialist who did further checks on my eye. At one time, he held my eyelids and the other hand had some sort of a pen-like instrument, and my mind went,"OMG HE'S GONNA POKE MY EYES!!!". to be honest i was a lil nervous then LOL. I dont know what and how he used the instrument for but my eyelids felt strange. Then he went,"Oooohhh...." the kinda expression when you discover something bad. And i went,"Uhh...". He then told me its some sort of an allergy and then told me the medication that i will be given. So off i went to the pharmacy to collect the medication, and there was another cute staff at the pharmacy. I was given some Chlorpheniramine Maleate tablets and a small bottle of "artifical tears", a funny name LOL made me picture "crocodile tears"

My blog was screwed

this is a test

testing 1 2 3

Band of Brothers

"From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile."

This post is dedicated to my band of brothers

Badabing badabang badaboom

First and foremost, i'm all good now, not sick anymore. But my bud dennis thinks he's got the avian bird flu, and of course he's just kidding. I hope. But if u do get it, then i won't have to settle that 25 bucks i still owe ya haha.

I forgot what i wanted to write initially, maybe i'm still sick.

well, we won the carling cup! Glory glory man united!

i still can't recall what i wanted to write.

My shoulders are aching.

oh now i remembered! I'd have to cut short my planned long sleep this morning. Turned out that i had to accompany my neighbour to the workshop later at 9am, and its 2.30am now. Darn! Myabe i should have just pretended i was already asleep when the neighbours came from across the street. What happened was, earlier on sunday morning, my uncle came and picked me up in his Nissan Frontier because he had a flight to kuching. well, when he was reversing out from our house, he bumped into my neighbour's myvi and produced a nice dent. Well, they couldn't settle it there and then i guess, as he was rushing to the airport. So about 11.30pm earlier, my neighbour and their daughter (*clears throat* ahem) came over and talked to me about the workshop appointment.

All this could have been prevented, the accident, the appointment to the mechanic. If my uncle had stick to the original plan where i was to send him using one of my parents' car, then he wouldn't have knocked the myvi. If he hadn't knocked into the back of the myvi, i wouldn't have to wake up early at 8.30am later to see the mechanic with my neighbours. i don't care if their daughter was pretty. I need this sleep. trully, deeply, madly, badly. Maybe i could play sick later...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

That's about it for the weekend! have a nice week ahead everyone, anyone who's reading my blog anyway, and that's like ummm....5-6 of you?

Don't want no ever-after kiss

We live in a small world. I live in a really small world. Sometimes it feels like major things are happening to me every minute in the life i'm living. And most of the time, i don't know what to make of them. And right now, i don't really know what i just wrote there.

I woke up this morning, feeling strange. I had this dream, that was strange obviously. I was first a bad guy sorta good guy and in the end it was the other way round. It felt good, in the dream that is being both of those characters. Though i liked the latter. So i spent most of the day thinking about the dream. Memories that makes me wanna laugh, at myself that is. A sad ending yet i found myself smilling.

I wrote a piece about doing the right thing some days back. As much as i believe and hold on to that, there were times doing the right thing brought disappointing endings. And mostly if not all, I was on the losing end. If given the chance to turn back time, i'd probably make different decisions. But then again, i have no regrets. Being at the back, together with all the losers ain't all that bad i guess, maybe i'm starting to get used to it. Maybe as i grow older, i've learnt to be happiest when others are happy and me feeling otherwise.

This is me signing off! Happy Thursday peoples :)

This thing and that thing

Okay this is a little late than i planned, but no harm done, this ain't no assignment with a due that..hah!!

As some of you may know, i sat for the PTD exams last wednesday and thursday. The night before,i guess i was a lil bit too excited for it, that i found it hard to sleep. So i attended the first of exams with a sleepy head, but it's all good, except for the last paper that day!!! Well, i had some fun in the morning sessions, interesting papers and questions. But the last one really had me gasping for air...almost literally. It's some sort of a problem-solving paper, that includes calculations and scenarios. I'm fine with scenarios, i mean, i imagine too much so it's no biggie. But on the other hand, i suck real bad with numbers. I'm talking about a guy who scored 4 out of 100...yes 4% in my business stats test back in college. But i prayed hard, and i'll just let God do the rest (fingers crossed!).

well, for this whole week, starting today till friday, i'll be caretaker CEO of the house. Mom left to Kuching for some course for that period. So it's both a good thing and a bad thing for me. Good, because i can have the other car for myself the whole day! That means i can go and have breakfast in town when i want to. But i guess the downside of it is really bad. Gotta feed dad and sis, yes you read me right. Gotta do the cooking for these 2 till friday. Lunch and dinner. If it was just gonna be me, i'd eat anything, even just rice with pusu or egg. But with dad and sis around, it's gonna be something decent, especially dinner. So for lunch today, i prepared rice with egg and leftover chicken soup for my sis. Not much of a problem, haha, as she doesnt eat much. Dinner on the other hand, were deep fried le sausages and canned sardines accompanied with onions. I'm planning a grand menu for tomorrow night, so these guys better eat then.

this particular paragraph is for this particular person, and i hope you're reading this, you'll know this is for you. I never said it'll be forever, never made any promises, never broke any promises. I did things selfishly for me and for you, but you never saw that. As i've told you, i'm just being cruel to be kind. I've apologised to you on a million things even when I wasn't wrong, and this will be my last. Sorry but you gotta fix yourself, i can't help, you have your own life, i'm moving on with mine. If you're still all bitter about this, ask yourself, why did i stay when i could go much earlier?

well, here's to a pleasant week for everybody!!! God bless, be good, and remember to flush the toilet after use.

PS: to JiwangGuy, aku tunggu kenak sponsor tok!!!

Inch by Inch...for vindication

Today, or more accurately yesterday as its already past midnight, i received a letter from SPA (suruhanjaya perkhidmatan awam) or in english Public services department. Unlike the first letter i received from them last november, this time it's something. It was to inform me that there will be some tests conducted this Wednesday(tomorrow) and Thursday. Talk about great timing! Both good and bad, i'll explain later.

Sometime in september last year, i registered my application on the SPA website for 3 positions, one of it is Pegawai Tadbir & Diplomatik (Administration & Diplomatic Officer). Pretty much concerning planning etc for domestic & foreign policies of the country, and having the chance of joining the foreign service perhaps, such as serving at malaysian embassies abroad. This has been something i've been interested in, besides dreaming of being an analyst in the business world.

So the tests would be the first stage of my quest. After passing the tests, i would then be required to attend the Assesment Centre at INTAN (which i have no idea wth is that,but i know where it is in Kuching). ONLY after passing the Assesment, will i be attending the Interview. Pretty tough eh? And after i pass the interview and approved by the SPA, i will then officially be an Administration & Diplomatic Officer.

The process looks really tough indeed. Just to get an interview, i have to sit for some tests and be assessed at some place called INTAN. I've seen the sample questions, and it's not all easy. But like Al Pacino said in "Any Given Sunday"...life's this game of inches, and these stages are the inches. Despite being a tough quest ahead for me, I believe i can do it, inch by inch. I quote "In any fight...it’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s gonna win that inch." So that's what i'm gonna do, i will do my very best through those stages. Dum Spiro, Spero.

Okay i said i was going to talk about the timing thingy. Good because i was starting to get a bit discouraged and demotivated about my maybank application. So this letter, is like a ray of light into a darkness where i am. So i have this strong feeling that, this is my moment of vindication. This is it, right now, right here. Bad? because the letter arrived awfully late, 13/2 when the tests would be on the 15th and 16th. It would have been nice to have a couple of days more to prepare for it. But i'm all for it, i'm all fired up, I will fight for that inch.

That's what i'm gonna do.

Cartoons & Love

In my previous post "Do the right thing", i wrote about the issue that resulted from prophet muhamad's cartoon published in european papers. And i also mentioned that i dont buy the idea of killing innocent civilians in the name of whatever god, as a righteous act, NO MATTER what the justification is.

So i opened yesterday's papers (being a bit late as my dad suscribes to Sarawak Tribune, and you all know what happened to the paper,will write about that later) and after reading through a few pages, i came across a report regarding Iran's largest selling newspaper's intention to hold a competition where people would compete to draw cartoons of the Holocaust (you all know what the Holocaust is, i assume, if not then read it up). So i thought to my self, "what's this??". It just shows how shallow some people can be, you can't get any lower than that. I would use the article on english.aljazeera.net as my reference, here is the first paragraph of the article:

Iran's largest selling newspaper has announced it is holding a contest on cartoons of the Holocaust in response to the publishing in European papers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

"It will be an international cartoon contest about the Holocaust," Farid Mortazavi, the graphics editor for Hamshahri newspaper, which is published by Tehran's conservative-run municipality, said on Monday.

He said the plan was to turn the tables on the assertion that newspapers can print offensive material in the name of freedom of expression.

Clearly meant to be an eye for an eye, fighting fire with fire, and not to mention to be so f***ed up as to go so low. As you may know, Iran does not believe the Holocaust ever happened and branded it a myth. Personally i don't care what these people think, being fanatical zealots .

I do not know who else may be reading this, if you are a Muslim, you may have been offended by what i've written so far. Cant blame you guys for that, in my previous post i stated my disagreement regarding the publishing of the Prophet's cartoons as well. So i hope you read this by looking from all angles. For the record, I have not studied the Quran therefore I do not have extensive knowledge on what Islam teaches. But i do know, from what is being said in television, newspapers, magazines etc that Islam preaches about peace and tolerance. And from news reports all around the Muslim world lately, i don't see that. I have to add though here in Malaysia, no violent protests have occured, which is a good thing. And again i repeat this, TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT. And it won't make that Iranian newspaper a better one than the european papers. Nor its editor Farid Mortazavi, a better person than his european equivalents.

Again, i do not mean to offend anyone. Just my personal views on the issue.

Ok, back to the local front. As some of you may know, the publication Sarawak Tribune has been suspended by the Malaysian Govt till further notice, as result of publishing a blurry small sized extract of the cartoons. On one hand i agree that it shouldn't have been published in the first place, on the other, i strongly believe this has been blown out of proportion by those politicians and people in West malaysia. Whom i also believe that 99.999999% did not and have not seen the extract in the Tribune. It is small that if one is glancing throught the pages, he/she would not have noticed it.

The Tribune has a sentimental value for me. Not just being the oldest paper in Sarawak or even Borneo but because i practically gew up with the paper. And ever since a couple of years back, the paper has published news reports/pictures of happenings in my hometown, Limbang. So it's always nice to read these stuffs when i was studying in Kuching, even though most the reports are total crap or nothing of importance, BUT still it's about my hometown. Have any other newpapers done that? Borneo Post? Very seldom. NST? The Star? Berita Harian? and the terribly biased Utusan Malaysia? These people over there don't give a rat's ass. Okay finally my emotions is starting to manifest :p. After the publishing of the cartoons, the paper have published an official and public apology in the front page. In fact, they did this for a couple of days. Guess sometimes saying sorry isn't enough. (Funny when people demand guilty parties in issues such as this to issue a public apology, but when that was done, it's not enough) Here's my bonanza question, what about those politicians who have been saying racist and insensitive statements about the nation's minorities in the press and parliament? As far as i know, no action has ever been taken against them. Got you thinking eh....

I intended to write a totally different thing today, something nice and thoughtful. but after reading yesterday's paper, i decided to write this piece. Will i get into big trouble as a consequence of writing this? I hope not. Will a complaint be lodged against me by some pissed off dude who reads this? Touch wood.

To end on a lighter note, i just realised that February is called the month of love. Sounds awfully corny dont you think? I do, gave me the shivers when i see it on TV and newspapers. So in the midst of all these emotions of hate anger, why don't we all show each other some love? :)

Cheers.

A piece of me

Okay, let me just start by saying that i don't know what to write, i'm just writing for the sake of writing something tonight.

oh...guess what? if you've noticed, i've changed the template of my blog. I got bored of the previous template, so i thought i needed a change of scenery, or something like that. So now it looks like, i don't know, like a yuppie's blog? with the colorful dots and all (rasa cool lah tek). Though not really my taste, it looks okay. I miss the large title though, and my links have disappeared as well.

I keep wondering, how many people actually read my blog. Not that it matters, cause i didnt start writing this especially for others, but for a place where i could just write away. A sanctuary, a place to find solace, whatever you call it. But still, i wonder, who actually reads my crappings? From the comments given, i know that there are at least 4 of my buddies reading this hehehe thanks people!!! But on a regular basis, maybe 2? Melody was kind enough to place a link for this page at her blog, and Roy keeps asking me when will i update my blog everytime we see each other online. And maybe there are others who do read my postings every now and then as well, thanks for reading.

Moving on, I guess i picked up a new hobby. More like something i've longed to do for a long long long long time. That is "taking pictures"...or the more decent and professional term, "Photography". And i must say that i'm proud of my initial effort with a real digicam (bye bye handphone cam) have been good :). Got thumbs up from a few people that i've shared some of the photos with :) YAYS!!! I'll post of couple of em photos here in my next post, need to resize em first, which i'm quite lazy to do so now.

Wow, from nothing in my head, i've written 3 paragraphs already. Okay that should do it :p. Cheers!!!

Do the right thing

and that's what we should be doing more often. On many occasions we hear people and ourselves saying,"Follow your heart." "do as your heart tells you to do." "Do what's best for you." etc etc etc. Well it ain't really a bad thing, nor is it wrong to say such things. I mean, i myself have said such words previously.

But at a certain point, i found out that following your heart isn't always the best thing to do. Or should i say, isn't the RIGHT thing to do. The heart, the centre of our being, is an amazing thing. From our hearts, we express compassion, sympathy, love and such. Wonderful things. But, the heart isn't perfect. It has its flaws and limits. And it doesn't tell you the truth at all times. The heart, is like the mind, it can be influenced pretty easy if not guarded. But unlike the mind, the heart is a much stronger influence on us humans.

What i'm trying to say is, time after time, we have been making decisions, taking actions etc by following our instincts, following our heart and be guided by emotions. At times, it would be alright to do so. But for many times, by doing so, we have not been doing the right thing. Doing the right thing, is like the telling truth. It won't always be nice and easy. It won't be all roses for everyone. It can hurt. It can cause an adverse effect. But still...it is the right thing.

Pardon me for my writting skills aren't top drawer, and i don't seem to know where i'm going with this myself. Just a thought that crossed my mind.

A couple of days ago, the moslem world have been rocked by the cartoons depicting prophet mohammed in a danish newspaper, and since then being republished in papers in other western countries. Even the Sarawak tribune on it's saturday edition published a mini-scale version of the cartoon. The cartoon was reportedly depicting the prophet as carrying out violence (bombings etc) as a joke.

I would like to point out where i stand, first, i'm not a moslem and second, i'm not a pro-west person. Okay, it is insulting for one to publish publicly cartoons as such, that concerns religious elements. So yeah, while as a Christian i have seen illustrations/cartoons that jokes about the Christian faith, it doesn't really bother me to the extent of experiencing hatred. As different religion, maybe it's just normal for the moslems to react the way they are now. Invited guests (moslem personalities) on news channels have condemned the newspaper, and we also see news from the moslem nations where there are street protests etc etc.

Alright so they're pissed, that's understandable. But that led me to have some confusion about certain things. We all know what happened during 9-11 and its aftermath, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq by Coalition troops (led by the United States). We all have watched the twin towers burning and the horrors that followed. In Iraq after the war, we all have watched innocent civilians, mostly westerners have been abducted by so-called 'freedom fighters' and terrorist groups on tv. And a few times, we have witnessed them being beheaded. All in the name of Jihad.

Understandably, the West and America especially have grown wary about the teaching of Jihad in the moslem faith. It is seen as inciting violence and so forth. And of course, moslems have voiced out that these westerners have misunderstood their religion. Islam is a religion that teaches peace, they say. Okay point taken.

Here's what i wanna say, i can bet that quite a few of those who are protesting about the cartoon have also celebrated publicly when 9-11 happened. When they saw that the "Great Satan" (United States) was attacked and the "infidels" at the twin towers died. And maybe some have been joyful (not publicly) when learning of western civilians in Iraq being killed/beheaded. Sorry, i just don't buy the idea that killing innocent cilivians, even as an act of vengeance can be considered as a righteous act.

So i ask this, if the religion does not teaches and condone violence, where are the protests?

PS: No, the US and european nations aren't Christian nations, they do not impose Christian laws nor do they have religious police to enforce the religious laws. And two wrongs don't make a right, peoples. I apologize if I have offended you, and i stress that i did not mean to offend anyone.

(please note that there were no name-callings and insulting words)

GONG XI FA CAI

yay...it was the Lunar New Year, a few days ago that is.
so i would still like to wish ya'll gong xi fa cai.
well it was a nice one, for the first time in 3-4 years, im celebrating it here back in Limbang. Ain't nothing like home, especially being together with the rest of the Yeo family (those that made it here) at Kong Kong's house.

I caught the flu

Yep!! I caught the flu, but no, not the bird flu thingy though. I was playing fm2006 (football management sim) for the past couple of days and a few of my players were out with flu, but heck, i got it too eventually. i thought by sending the players home and excluding them from training would prevent the flu from spreading to the rest of the team, but noooo, Me, the manager himself managed to get infected. Isn't it a wonder, how a flu can spread from a computer game to a human? Fascinating! (The alternative explanation would be because i was under the rain 2 days ago, which sounds rather reasonable compared to the game theory.) To round up, i also have a slight sorethroat and fever. Nothing to say really..except WOOHOOO!!!

Well, now to my ongoing jobhunt. About 2 weeks ago, i made the decision that i would find a 'temporary' job here in Limbang for about 6-12months. Initially i planned to go straight to kuching and work there after my practical last year, November. Then i thought i wanted to celebrate Christmas with my family, so i postponed my departure to early January. Well, as it occured, i was looking at the almanac for 2006 and i noticed CNY would fall on Jan 29. So what the heck, i wanna have CNY here with my family and grandparents, as for the past 4 years i have been away during CNY. So i set a new date for my trip to Kuching, a few days after CNY.

However, there were more drama happening. Being at home here, it gave me a picture of what my parents are and have been going through. The bills, loan payments etc etc. They have spent alot during my course of study in Kuching, allowances, rental etc but they are still feeling the strain even when i'm here. With dad retiring in June, things are just gonna get harder. Should i proceed with my plan to go to Kuching just after CNY, i would need some cash in advance from my parents. And that's not what i want from them now as i realised. So i thought of a brilliant plan, or it was given to me by God in a way hehe where i would be staying here for sometime. As much as i'd like to be in Kuching, to hangout with my friends etc, i feel that i need to put family first at this moment.

There are several advantages of working temporarily here, huge ones in fact. First, i get to save money when it comes to accomodation, food and transportation. Of course i'll chip in for the bills, and petrol. But it would still save me a lot compared if i was in kuching. Not to forget the education loan that i have to pay every month :( roughly about Rm 550. The only disadvantage of this plan would be feeling dull and bored as my buddies are all in Kuching.

Now the job options.

Option 1 : I will send in my application for the post of a temporary teacher on wednesday perhaps, just need to get passport sized photos for the form. For a graduate, the pay aint bad, from unofficial sources its about Rm 1200 per month. With that pay i could set aside Rm 350 - Rm 450 per month for savings.

Option 2 : I just got news from my mum yesterday after she got back from my aunt's house. Turns out that my aunt's neighbour is some bigshot of some sort at the local Maybank. And she asked my mum about me, what i am currently doing. Well here's the interesting news, she then said that i could apply for a position (unknown) in the bank with her recommendation to back it up. Something like i would be taking over her position because she was promoted to a different place, i dunno its all still unclear to me. Plus, i have the option to choose the local branch or 1 in Miri. Hmmmmmmm....

Commentary : I have never imagined myself as a teacher, even a temporary one or a bank officer. But at this point i need to consider every option that comes my way. And both these options are currently the best i can have here in Limbang (aint a big place peoples, so limited job opportunities). Both would have a decent pay (enough to pay my loan, spending & savings). While the teacher thingy would be interesting indeed, the bank option is largely an unknown to me. I still dont know what the position is and i have never fancied a job in a bank. But after some thought, i'd give it a shot. The experience would help me in the future. But still, it gives me the creeps as i dont have a strong Finance background. So help me God! LoL

I guess that should be all for now, i need to take a shit. Looking forward for the Chinese New year!!!

A new book

Ah well, it's already the 3rd day of the year 2006. How time flies. As much as i have liked it, i havent had the chance to write something at the end of 2005. But it's not too late to do so aint it?

So here's 2005 highlights in review:
1. Finally entered my final year of study.
2. Had a crush.
3. Got really drunk on one of Dennis' farewell parties.
4. Man Utd lost in the FA Cup against Arsenal. A bitter defeat. That summed up the 04-05 season, as we were trophyless.
5. Celebrated my 24th birthday. And again in Kuching.
6. Fell in love? LoL
7. Struggling with projects & assignments with my 'band of brothers', though at times it wasn't all brotherly.
8. Ary moved in and became my roomate.
9. My underdog team finished 2nd in the inter-faculty streetsoccer competition. Lost 2-0 to the Burmese.
10. Injured my marriage finger (is this correct?) of my left hand during my usual streetsoccer game with the guys. Hurt like hell man!!! Doctor said its a tissue injury, but i really think its a fracture as it still don't look normal today.
11. Made my debut in a major competition with Chakwaw FC in a futsal knockout tournament. Led 1-0 early in the game but conceded 3 goals in the final 3 minutes to lose.
12. The so-called "Inti-banana street thugs" gang 'announced' its arrival in inti college by vandalising the bustop and starting fights with just about everyone.
13. Started playing futsal with Cammy & gang.
14. 9 am on a Saturday, August 6, 2005. Along the hallway of block H and towards H213.
15. Sat for my final exams, that would determine my destiny (yerdeh). Staying up till early morning throughout the week hitting the books and notes. Cannot forget the final day when i sat for my last paper, did it half asleep, literally man!!!
16. Started my internship at Limbang District Office for a month.
17. Finally graduated, on November 27, 2005.
18. Still in love? LoL