Overheard over the radio this morning:
"Bumiputera will be paid RM10,000 if they marry any orang asli. This will encourage more orang asli to convert to Islam."
Claiming your reward in heaven is not good enough nowadays. People need to be financially stimulated to go out and convert by way of marriage.
What is the country coming to? This is just one of the many idiotic and mindless, not to mention heavy-handed ways that is so rampant in this country which gets harder to bear as I grow older.
The student selection for spots in higher education; the allocation of courses when they are selected; business dealings with the government; the failing education system that has resulted in and is still producing students who lack the ability to think; the whole NEP.
We are almost half a decade old and we are still "moving forward" on an archaic system, calling ourselves a developed nation. We are still very much in the nascent stage of developing, much less developed.
Soon they'll be offering the bumis cash and housing incentives to marry all non-muslim citizens just to increase the muslim population.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Hounds from hell
I am mentally preparing myself for a cordial showdown with the neighbours this weekend, if such a thing as a cordial showdown exists.
Ever since they’ve moved in across the road, we have been subjected to incessant, irritatingly ear-piercing barks from their two dogs: a miniature pinscher and a silky terrier. Now I love animals, dogs in particular, but these two freaks of nature will drive the most patient of people up the wall, if not drive them totally around-the-bend and over-the-edge insane. And I am not the most patient of people.
I’ve had it with the two monsters breaking out in a cacophony worthy of a whole horde of creatures taken to slaughter at the butchers. At the break of dawn, BEFORE the break of dawn, while I’m taking my afternoon nap, in the evenings when I have guests over or at night when I’m nice and snuggled up in bed. Initially I really did think that one of the neighbours had a switch flipped in their heads and they were doing the slaughtering of those confounded midgets. But it was only wishful thinking.
I’ve gone as far as to stomp up to their front gate and stare at the little bugger right in his bug eyes (the silky terrier was in a cage then) only to have him start jumping and lunging at me, frothing at the muzzle and ready for a fight. I yelled at him and threatened him. Little buster didn’t seem to understand that size and two opposable thumbs matter in cases like these. Finally I reached for the doorbell. The lights were on in their room but their car was not in front of the driveway. All this while the black terror is yapping his puny little head off and building up my annoyance to astronomical levels. My next-door neighbour walked over to check out the commotion and I’m more than delighted that he is just as, if not more irritated with the dogs and their owners than me. Ecstatic in fact, as he told me he’s been instigating and getting feedback from the rest of the neighbours to come up with a petition to ‘deal with’ the dogs and their owners. It would seem easier just to drop a note in their mailbox as they are never home.
It’s a good move, putting it in writing, with lots of signatures to boot. But I think I will lead off with a more direct approach of speaking with the owners first. It’s hard to keep a clear head about this as I’ve envisioned myself poisoning those dogs, running them over with my car, driving a stake through them oh, and joy of all joys, having their vocal chords cut off. Can you just imagine the looks on their pathetic little faces when they bark and all they hear is…shh…silence? Pure ecstasy.
Then I’d move on to the owners for not keeping their dogs indoors and not being home often enough to walk their dogs or lavish enough attention on them. And for shattering the serenity of our neighbourhood with their monstrosities on caffeine.
One more episode, I just need one more episode to tip me over the edge.
Ever since they’ve moved in across the road, we have been subjected to incessant, irritatingly ear-piercing barks from their two dogs: a miniature pinscher and a silky terrier. Now I love animals, dogs in particular, but these two freaks of nature will drive the most patient of people up the wall, if not drive them totally around-the-bend and over-the-edge insane. And I am not the most patient of people.
I’ve had it with the two monsters breaking out in a cacophony worthy of a whole horde of creatures taken to slaughter at the butchers. At the break of dawn, BEFORE the break of dawn, while I’m taking my afternoon nap, in the evenings when I have guests over or at night when I’m nice and snuggled up in bed. Initially I really did think that one of the neighbours had a switch flipped in their heads and they were doing the slaughtering of those confounded midgets. But it was only wishful thinking.
I’ve gone as far as to stomp up to their front gate and stare at the little bugger right in his bug eyes (the silky terrier was in a cage then) only to have him start jumping and lunging at me, frothing at the muzzle and ready for a fight. I yelled at him and threatened him. Little buster didn’t seem to understand that size and two opposable thumbs matter in cases like these. Finally I reached for the doorbell. The lights were on in their room but their car was not in front of the driveway. All this while the black terror is yapping his puny little head off and building up my annoyance to astronomical levels. My next-door neighbour walked over to check out the commotion and I’m more than delighted that he is just as, if not more irritated with the dogs and their owners than me. Ecstatic in fact, as he told me he’s been instigating and getting feedback from the rest of the neighbours to come up with a petition to ‘deal with’ the dogs and their owners. It would seem easier just to drop a note in their mailbox as they are never home.
It’s a good move, putting it in writing, with lots of signatures to boot. But I think I will lead off with a more direct approach of speaking with the owners first. It’s hard to keep a clear head about this as I’ve envisioned myself poisoning those dogs, running them over with my car, driving a stake through them oh, and joy of all joys, having their vocal chords cut off. Can you just imagine the looks on their pathetic little faces when they bark and all they hear is…shh…silence? Pure ecstasy.
Then I’d move on to the owners for not keeping their dogs indoors and not being home often enough to walk their dogs or lavish enough attention on them. And for shattering the serenity of our neighbourhood with their monstrosities on caffeine.
One more episode, I just need one more episode to tip me over the edge.
What on earth are our children listening to on national radio these days?
Fly.fm is one of my favourite radio channels. The radio in my car is set on default to 95.8. However, as fly as the DJs may seem, the things they say sometimes really do work me up into a tiff.
This morning, Fly Guy and Nat were commenting on the World Cup or something along those lines, and Fly wraps up with “…mein frau and fraulitas!”
As I sit and wait for the red light to turn to green, it strikes me that DJs really should make up their minds what language they want to convey their message across in and what it is they want to say. After all, they are on national radio.
So there I am, wondering if he realized what he said and what an idiot he sounded like. If he’d meant to complete that phrase in German, which should translate to Ladies and Gentlemen, then there is no such word as fraulita in German. It’s like an inebriated German bloke who, trying to impress his Spanish date ends up mixing the two languages together. I think “…mein frau und herren” would have been the operative phrase here. Fraulita? Might have well said fajita! He would have sounded less like an idiot.
It really irks me that DJs don’t think before they talk. Yes, a fair amount of spontaneity is required but what kind of fodder are they presenting on national radio when a DJ refers to Beyonce as “thunder thighs” Beyonce? She is the most normal looking woman among the sea of stick-thin Paris Hiltons of the entertainment world! And we wonder why our young women are afflicted with eating disorders when DJs comment on a gorgeous sexy, curvy woman as having thunder thighs. God forbid a woman should have a little meat on her legs, or her behind, for that matter.
You’re on air! Take a little bit more responsibility for what you say to the masses, for gawd’s sake!
This morning, Fly Guy and Nat were commenting on the World Cup or something along those lines, and Fly wraps up with “…mein frau and fraulitas!”
As I sit and wait for the red light to turn to green, it strikes me that DJs really should make up their minds what language they want to convey their message across in and what it is they want to say. After all, they are on national radio.
So there I am, wondering if he realized what he said and what an idiot he sounded like. If he’d meant to complete that phrase in German, which should translate to Ladies and Gentlemen, then there is no such word as fraulita in German. It’s like an inebriated German bloke who, trying to impress his Spanish date ends up mixing the two languages together. I think “…mein frau und herren” would have been the operative phrase here. Fraulita? Might have well said fajita! He would have sounded less like an idiot.
It really irks me that DJs don’t think before they talk. Yes, a fair amount of spontaneity is required but what kind of fodder are they presenting on national radio when a DJ refers to Beyonce as “thunder thighs” Beyonce? She is the most normal looking woman among the sea of stick-thin Paris Hiltons of the entertainment world! And we wonder why our young women are afflicted with eating disorders when DJs comment on a gorgeous sexy, curvy woman as having thunder thighs. God forbid a woman should have a little meat on her legs, or her behind, for that matter.
You’re on air! Take a little bit more responsibility for what you say to the masses, for gawd’s sake!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Let the dance flow on
Event :: Sutra's annual student recital
Performers :: Sister and the rest of Ramli's students
Audience :: Sam & Aisha, salsa gang, sis' other half and his mother, me and Rizal.
Weather :: Moist teetering on rain (there was drizzle)
Photographer :: Warning! This is what happens when someone who doesn't know jack about DSLR handles a D70.
Performers :: Sister and the rest of Ramli's students
Audience :: Sam & Aisha, salsa gang, sis' other half and his mother, me and Rizal.
Weather :: Moist teetering on rain (there was drizzle)
Photographer :: Warning! This is what happens when someone who doesn't know jack about DSLR handles a D70.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Sugar low
There is a serious sugar shortage in the city. I say this because a friend who’s in the F&B business had to cut down his cake production because he couldn’t get enough sugar from his regular suppliers. He went on a last minute shopping spree at Tesco and Giant last night to buy enough supplies to sustain his baking for a while. Sugar buying at Tesco was limited to 2kg per person; at Giant the limit is 6kg.
You know the situation is dire when they start putting a limit on how much of that item you can buy. And when supplies are fast running out.
I stopped by at Cold Storage Ikano to see if I could help him out with sugar supplies. I needn’t have bothered. The shelves and racks were devoid of sugar. So I picked up some Camembert instead.
I dropped by Cineleisure to see if I could get tickets to Pixar’s Cars since it’s due out on the 8th. The girl at the counter told me that their schedule was not updated yet. WTF? I asked her when would I be able to purchase tickets for the show. She asked me to come back on Thursday itself. She could not give me a positive answer as to when their booking schedule would be updated. She did give me a phone booking line to call in case I wanted to book the tickets online.
I walked away from The Curve disappointed on two fronts: no sugar, no tickets.
And then later that night I received a text message from that same friend saying that he’s convinced sugar supply is being controlled by racketeers; his dad was offered a consignment worth 2500kg.
It’s a mad, mad world when people take to hoarding sugar.
You know the situation is dire when they start putting a limit on how much of that item you can buy. And when supplies are fast running out.
I stopped by at Cold Storage Ikano to see if I could help him out with sugar supplies. I needn’t have bothered. The shelves and racks were devoid of sugar. So I picked up some Camembert instead.
I dropped by Cineleisure to see if I could get tickets to Pixar’s Cars since it’s due out on the 8th. The girl at the counter told me that their schedule was not updated yet. WTF? I asked her when would I be able to purchase tickets for the show. She asked me to come back on Thursday itself. She could not give me a positive answer as to when their booking schedule would be updated. She did give me a phone booking line to call in case I wanted to book the tickets online.
I walked away from The Curve disappointed on two fronts: no sugar, no tickets.
And then later that night I received a text message from that same friend saying that he’s convinced sugar supply is being controlled by racketeers; his dad was offered a consignment worth 2500kg.
It’s a mad, mad world when people take to hoarding sugar.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Say cheese!!
I was introduced to the wonderful world of cheese and crackers last night. More specifically camembert and crackers.
It was goooooooooooood!!!
It was goooooooooooood!!!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
There is always something there to remind me
All it takes is one trigger, then the floodgates burst open. It gets me thinking of Bangkok and everything that happened there and after. It’s not a good rollercoaster to get on.
I try not to think about it but there are a variety of triggers and these are among the many:
1) Every time I get into a lift.
2) Photos of the recent Bangkok trip.
3) The word “trust”.
4) Most things associated with the recent Bangkok trip.
5) Certain scenes in movies.
6) Stories of men and their callousness.
7) Incoming SMS on his phone.
8) Outgoing SMS he writes.
9) Sometimes in the morning when I first open my eyes.
10) Whenever I use that particular endearment. I try not to use it but old habits die hard.
I try not to think about it but there are a variety of triggers and these are among the many:
1) Every time I get into a lift.
2) Photos of the recent Bangkok trip.
3) The word “trust”.
4) Most things associated with the recent Bangkok trip.
5) Certain scenes in movies.
6) Stories of men and their callousness.
7) Incoming SMS on his phone.
8) Outgoing SMS he writes.
9) Sometimes in the morning when I first open my eyes.
10) Whenever I use that particular endearment. I try not to use it but old habits die hard.
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