Archive for August, 2005

29
Aug

::: Bollehwood :::

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: common sense and life

This August 31st will mark the 48th birthday (independence day) of Malaysia. For all the hardwork being done by the government, we had progressed from a very poor country to become a developing country. And then, we can boost about having some good highways and great infrastructures that enhance our lives. I have to admit, a lot had been accomplished during this 48 years of development.

“Malaysia Bolleh!” is a slogan trying to boost the moral of the Malaysians, meaning that “Malaysia Can!” or “Malaysian Can Do It”. That’s why nowadays our Guinness World of Record book Malaysia Edition (GWRME) is about 20 inches thick and 200 miles long. We built the biggest flag in the world, and we cooked the longest sandwich in the universe. Oh, did I forget to mention that the Guinness Word of Record book (Malaysia Edition) also registered those who became the first to register the copyright of industrial process?

There is nothing wrong to feel the pride and try to break the “world record”, but sometimes it is not necessarily to create a record. So many resources, time, and energy wasted, just for a brief mention in the news, and recorded in the GWRME, is simple not worth it. If one flip the GWRME, they cannot help but to smirk at some of those so-called world record. Oh come on, spend the time and energy in creating something more useful to us, and stop wasting time on the superficial record!

Comparing to some neighboring countries, we definitely have done a lot over the past 48 years, but comparing to yet some other neighboring countries, we are still under developed. That’s why we are still called “Developing Country” instead of “Developed Country”. So should we satisfy with our accomplishment or should we work even harder to become a developed country? Well, it is not me alone to decide.

The Americans have Hollywood, and the Indians have Bollywood. But we Malaysians have Bollehwood!

29
Aug

::: Weekend :::

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: life

:: Listening … “Me Against the World” by Simple Plan ::

Went back to KL during the weekend, and it felt so good to be home, close to my love ones. We didn’t do much, just spending some quality time together, and watch “The Maid” and “The Quill” together. (note: The movie reviews are included in this website)

Sometimes we just take things for granted, not appreciating the things that our love ones have done for us. We should all take a time-out, look around us and see what we had missed out. We might discover something that we had missed previously, and because of our ignorance, we might have hurt our love ones’ feelings. So we should learn how to appreciate them, how to love them, and how to say “Thank you” to them. A simple thank-you can do wonders. Don’t forget to put down your ego and ignorance and say “I am sorry” when you have done something wrong.

During our outing at The Curve, we saw this family in Starbucks Coffee House. The father and son were sitting right in front of us, and during the 30 minutes observation, they never said a word to each other! Basically they were not even looking at each other, and it was like both of them are avoiding each other. The mother sat down for few minutes at the beginning, and later went off to do some shopping, I suspect.

What happened? I mean, there is a serious lack of communication between the family members. I definitely wish that I won’t be like that in the future. I create chance to communicate with the people around me, and sometimes we just try our best to work things out by talking with each other. Of course, sometimes people will just say, “’nuf said. Forget about it. It’s not worth it.” But can’t they realize that they are the family, and if they don’t worth it, then who will?

I just came back from KL in the morning so now my brain is fried. I am exhausted, and I still need to go back to KL in the evening because tomorrow I will be officially on leave! It’s a long journey and it’s pretty tiring, but for me its worth all the hard work because I get to spend more time with my girlfriend and my boy boy!

29
Aug

-+= Movie Review : The Maid (Chinese) =+-

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: movie

* * *

A Singapore movie, produced by Rain Tree Corporation, which also produced horror movie like “The Eyes”, a high standard is already expected. The story is about a Philippine girl named Rosa went to Singapore to work as a maid (hence the movie title The Maid) at the home of the Teochew opera owner. She set foot in Singapore during the Chinese 7th month, which is a time when the gates of Hell open. Often known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, it is a time where the spirits of the dead wander around. Well, due to the difference in culture, the maid did something wrong that offended the hungry ghosts, and so she began the journey with ghosts haunting her all the time.

Expect some interesting twists in the movie as there are a few surprises awaiting you. The message carried out by the director, Kevin Tong, is very clear and I find the message is really true. Go watch it to find out what is the message that the director wanted to tell you.

The editing was not as good as expected, or maybe it was the result from the local censorship department’s editing skills. The story telling is not bad but there are areas to be improved, such as some puzzled and unexplained parts. Overall, The Maid is one of the better horror movies I have watched in a while and I will definitely recommend it. I personally give it a 3 stars out of 5.

29
Aug

-+= Movie Review: The Quill (Japanese) =+-

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: movie

* * * *

The other day Sabrina lend us a Japanese movie (VCD), and the title is Quill. The story is about a Laborator guide dog. Being sent to the Guide Dog Training Center by his first owner (1st separation), and trainer sent Quill to his foster parents. Bearing a birth-mark of a feather on the body, the “foster parents” called him “Quill”. After a year of love and pamper at the foster parent’s house (the guideline of the training center so the potential guide dogs will learn human interaction and unconditional love from the human beings), Quill was being sent to the Guide Dog Training Center (2nd separation), where the chief trainer discovered the true talent of Quill to be the best guide dog of all time. After the training, Quill was assigned to a stubborn old man name Wanatabe. Wanatabe used to have his eye-sights but for some reasons, he lost his eye sight and he was really reluctant to rely on Quill as his guide due to his pride and ego. After some time together, Quill finally won over Wanatabe’s heart and even his wife, who used to dislike dog so much, fell in love with Quill. Unfortunately, Quill has to go through his 3rd separation with the love ones because Wanatabe fell ill.

After Wanatabe passed away, Quill waited in the Guide Dog Training Center until his final days where he went back to the foster parent’s home.

The movie is a very touching genre and even though some part of the movie are a bit purposely-make-you-cry, but I have to admit a dog lover, like me, will definitely feel so deeply touched and felt so sorry for Quill. Tears sprang out from my eyes unconsciously and my girlfriend cried as well. Furthermore, the story is so true about the life of those guide dogs, and it talks about love, separation, and from the movie, Quill love the people around him without any condition and hence, hr received love back.

I would definitely give this movie a 4 stars! Two thumbs up! And I strongly recommend those who don’t like dogs to give this movie a try, so you can understand dogs more. If you are already a dog lover, please bear in mind that this movie will touch the deepest soul of your heart and your fear. If you can’t find this VCD/DVD on the market, feel free to write me.

26
Aug

::: communication. anyone, please? :::

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: life and work

:: Listening … “Lonely No More” by Rob Thomas ::

During lunch I was having a conversation with a guy. Basically he told me a lot of things, and I wonder how come he won’t see the other side of the situation. Most of the problems are both-sided so he should open his mind and look at the situation, and come up with a method to correct the situation. Unfortunately, he didn’t do it, and he insisted on looking at the situation from his point of view, and he didn’t know other people will look at it differently than how he treated the situation. Basically, this is what I call “lack of management skill” syndrome.

Oh! Due to the “war” in the office, there was a staff took her annual leave because she just couldn’t stand the sight of the boss. But is running away from the problem a good idea? Or confronting the situation is a better solution? I am not the one with the rights to say it, but I do believe that taking “time-out” is a very good method to recharge yourself so you will be ready for the next “battle”. Of course, the situation cannot be solved easily so all they got to do is just sit tight and wait. I believe that (in this case) waiting patiently will bring very fruitful results.

On a different topic, I believe communication is a very important but difficult skill. Nowadays it seems like people has lost the communication required, so there are more misunderstanding, more fighting, and more troubles. Sometimes when one is giving an excuse for not communicating, it is just an excuse, not a reason. I love to communicate with people, but when someone is not even taking the effort to communicate with me, what can I do?

Suddenly I lack the motivation to drive back home. I feel so exhausted suddenly and all I want to do now is to sleep. Communication, anyone, please?

26
Aug

::: Difference :::

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: about me and life

:: Listening … “Fairly Tale” by Michael (Chinese) ::

Woke up in the morning feeling so happy! I woke up even before the alarm setting, and I quickly woke up to freshen up myself and pack. I am going back today evening! I was so ecstatic today because I can finally go back to hug my girlfriend, and play with my boy boy!

Basically the office space is still loaming with a grey emotional ambient and everyone was worried the “missile” will hit them out of nowhere. Well, with this kind of tension, who can concentrate on the work and who can feel motivated? Luckily I dodged a few “missiles” yesterday and I am still pretty safe today.

Reading the Wired website, found this interesting article about the different between Asians and North Americans, and how they see things differently. One is more focus on the background and the other one is more focus on foreground. Check out this interesting reading if you are free.

Last night I went to JB to visit some friends whom I haven’t met for a long time, and it was good to see them again because we finally could catch up on life, our views about many things, and learn new things about them. I am very happy to see them together because they each had gone through some really tough period in life. Now they are really happy and contended to be together so I feel so happy for them. But I felt bad because I was dragging them out until pretty late…

Comparing myself to the old days, I am more contended with what I have in life, and I am pretty much settle-down. Unlike last time, I had to go out all the time, like the house has a lot of thorn picking me, and I drank so much until friends are scared of me. But now, I hardly go out anymore, maybe just tea and mamak once in a while with some old friends.

The other day my girlfriend and I openly talked about marriage and both of us are pretty ready for it. So tentatively we are preparing to get married early next year. We love and treasure each other so much that we found out that life is so difficult to be apart. Now we are ready to tie the knot so more news regarding this will be coming.

25
Aug

::: The Monks :::

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: life

:: Listening .. “I’ve got you under my skin” by Frank Sinatra ::

Woke up pretty early today, and the morning in Kluang actually look peaceful. Unfortunately, the peacefulness was disrupted when I was in the office. Somehow some people are throwing tantrum at the staff, and there are a lot of unhappiness in the office now.

Well, there is 24 hours in a day no matter if you are happy or unhappy. These 24 hours will pass by fairly quickly if you feel happy, but the same 24 hours will feel like years if you are truly unhappy. So you can decide how you want to feel and how you want to pass your time. There is a story I heard quite some time ago, and it was about a young and old monk. Once upon a time, these two monks traveled together to a great city, but the bridge of the river collapsed due to a storm the previous night. While taking off their clothes to prepare to cross the bridge, the old monk noticed a young lady waiting anxiously to cross the river. So the old monk asked if she needed help and the young lady replied that she needed to cross the bridge, and she was in the best dress to attend her sister’s wedding.

Without hesitating, the old monk offered the young lady help. So both the old and young monk crossed the river while the young lady was sitting on top of the old monk’s bare shoulder. After crossing the river, the young lady waved goodbye and they all went their own ways. The young monk was thinking that how could his master carrying that lady even though the rules of the temple clearly prohibit contact with women. The young monk didn’t say anything and continued the journey. He can’t get rid of that question and the more he thinks about it, he more upset he was.

Until at one point, he couldn’t stand it anymore so he stopped and asked the old monk, “Master, why did you carry that lady when our temple’s rule clearly prohibit all of us from contact with women!?” and the old monk replied, “Dear young student, why are you still carrying that lady in your mind when I already dropped her at the river bank?”

The moral of the story: When something happened, just let go of it and don’t carry it with you for the rest of your life. If it’s the thing of the past, then it is no point to dwell into it anymore, and just learn the lesson.

So basically, all I want to say is “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”

23
Aug

::: Inflation & Other :::

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: common sense and life

:: Listening .. “Lonely” by Akron ::

Inside information is that from Sept onwards, the price for cigarettes will increase by 1 dollar, meaning that a pack of cigarettes will now cost 7.50 dollars. Well, when will the inflation be slowed down?

Recently there were price hikes in petrol and toll charges. In retrospect, the general publics income has not increased for years, so one can imagine the burden laid on the shoulder of the publics. Yet with all the excuses those government bodies gave for increasing the price are not justifiable. For example, the toll management explained that there are a lot to be done, and they are still not making any money. One has to think that after operating the toll for more than 20 years, one would be able to make some kind of money. Instead, they claim they are still heavily in debt, and the condition of the North-South highway is as bad as ever. So where did the toll collect go?

And how about the petrol? Well, they said they are slowly decreasing the subsidies spent on the petrol, and I can certainly understand that the global petrol price has gone up to USD 67 per barrel recently. But we are producing our own petrol as well, and according to the calculations published by them, I don’t see how this will help much as the math is really confusing.

We should all fight inflation together, but it seems to me that the government is actually inflicting inflation and with all the price going up, then other products will be going up as well since the cost for raw materials are definitely going up. At the end, we will suffer.

Yes, increasing the price (or tax) will definitely help, but then the economy of the country will suffer in a long term basis. Furthermore, with all those prices increasing like nobody’s business, then local spending will be less, hence market will be affected with very conscious spender. So how can the government encourage local spending?

Sometimes I have the impression that we are actually falling backward instead of charging forward in term of technology and standard of living. Previously the Fast*Track system was a big hit because it is more efficient and faster for the automated toll payment. But instead, due to some funny reasons, the toll management forced Fast*Track out and instead use their 15-years-old technology; Smart’Tag. The scan-time is slower, reaction distance is shorter, more expensive to produce, and the battery life worse than Fast*Track. So does that make sense to anyone?

All the things being done don’t make sense at all. It is a very confused country indeed…

22
Aug

.:: People : Friends : Life ::.

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: life

:: Listening … “Untitled” by Simple Plan ::

I drove all the way from K.L. to Kluang (Johor) since early in the morning (4:30am) and not getting any sleep at all, so I am completely exhausted and sleepy at the moment. I can hardly keep my eyes open anymore, but there are work to be done and training to complete. Trying really hard to pry my eyes open so I won’t fall flat on the table and snore away.

This is the sixth week that I am in Kluang (and still counting), and I hate to travel so far (and so long) away from home and from my girlfriend, my boy boy (my shih tzu). But I got to earn a living so what’s the choice left?

I was watching the MV the other day on the Simple Plan website and it touched my heart and soul. It was about a sudden change in life, a devastating change that will change our life forever. Be it a mistake or not, don’t we all deserve a second chance. Unfortunately, life likes to play a cruel game with all of us and we are always denied the second chance. So while we are at it, we should try our very best to treasure what we have, and treasure the people around us. If a person who doesn’t treasure your friendship because of some silly reasons (or for no reasons at all), then screw it. You might as well as just move on with your life and look for friends that will treasure you. That’s why I treasure all my friends around me, and I also treasure my girlfriend, Maria, with all my heart and soul while trying to love her, protect her and pamper her as much as I can. (Besides, its a complete waste of time trying to figure out those weird people while you don’t even have enough time to love the people you care most)

People are really funny sometimes. We just cannot figure out what’s in their minds because sometimes their theories can be so skewed that anyone who can understand them should be locked up in a mad house. For me, I treat friends with sincerity and good faith/intention, but then some people can just walk away without any good reason. Well, at one point people can get really close together to be good friends, but then after a day, there won’t be a single word of exchange between them.

—————————————————————–

Sometimes life is not perfect. But we have to know what we should treasure in life, and learn how to appreciate what we have right now instead of dreaming of the things that we don’t have.

===============================

“Untitled”

I open my eyes
I try to see but I’m blinded by the white light
I can’t remember how
I can’t remember why
I’m lying here tonight

And I can’t stand the pain
And I can’t make it go away
No I can’t stand the pain

How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
I’ve got no where to run
The night goes on
As I’m fading away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

Everybody’s screaming
I try to make a sound but no one hears me
I’m slipping off the edge
I’m hanging by a thread
I wanna start this over again

So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered
And I can’t explain what happened
And I can’t erase the things that I’ve done
No I can’t

How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
I’ve got no where to run
The night goes on
As I’m fading away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

I made my mistakes
I’ve got no where to run
The night goes on
As I’m fading away
I’m sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me

22
Aug

My first time

By Adrian 0 Comments
Categories: about me

Lately there are a lot of raves about blogging, so I just thought of catching up with this new trent and try to start writting my very own blog. So here I am, my very first blog…

 

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