The pictures they take..

By "they", I'm referring to Hau Wei and Li Kai.
Coupla days ago SiowPing and me took a pic of our comps, as shown in the pic below. Hehhe wallpapers used were awesome photographs shot by the two of them (rather professional) photographers.


I couldn't resist posting this picture below - taken by LiKai coupla weeks ago. Simply beautiful..


*Please please please do not save/copy&paste these pics, cos they're NOT mine!! meant for private viewing pleasure only.

The Cameron pics will have to wait. LK is off somewhere, and I've yet to scan my pics. Will prob post some from SiowPing's collection soon..

A much improved immigration dept.

Yups went to renew my passport today at the old Subang terminal 3. Surprisingly, the whole process was shorter than expected. Settled everything by 10am. I suppose they had to improve, given that this department is the one receiving the most number of complaints.

One thing they did to lessen waiting time was to only allow only those with the complete set of essential documents to obtain queue numbers. Smart move, cos you wouldn't see those ppl with missing documents going "ooh terlupa photostate IC la, tunggu kejap saya pergi photostate sekarang.." in front of the counter while the rest of the innocent "rakyat" continue their long wait and curse silently..

They set up a small photography cum photostating area at the side. This morning it was terribly understaffed. There was only one very harried looking man doing the job of snapping passport pics cum photostating cum cashier cos his assistant was running late. With two queues moving at snails' pace, the queue of mostly chinese had to patiently wait their turn. What majorly irked me was a chinese man of about 50 yrs old a few places behind me uttering (racially-targeted) profanity at the poor malay fella manning the booth, and quite loudly too. Its no wonder sometimes why relations between the races are bad when people behave in that shameless way.

Moving away from that showcase of awful behaviour. FYI, one can obtain a discount of RM150 on the renewal fee if you bring along the offer letter AND you're below 21 yrs old. I emphasize "AND" cos I didn't qualify. Oh well, at least I got it done, and I get to collect it tomorrow. I can almost envision your reactions - "huh? so soon??"
Yes, tomorrow I'll have a new nice and gleaming passport in my hands.

Of English and Chinese..and my dearly beloved school (sic)

Interesting rant I read from minishorts.net about "how a single race like the Chinese, seem to be divided into two - the ones who come from an "English educated background" and the ones from Chinese schools." and being a "stuck-between"..take a look at that post!

Unlike her, I don't have much *enlightened* arguments on this issue. However, my years through the Msian education system has allowed me to experience national/English/Chinese type of educations. Undertaking my primary education in a Chinese school basically provided a very clear understanding as to what the word "work" meant. We had to work, and lots of it. I remember the teachers being dedicated to their profession. Discipline was key, and you had to do your work, whether you liked it or not. On school days, sometime in Std 5 I think, we had to be in school early to complete some mathematics exercises, there were time limits imposed, so obviously we learnt to calculate fast. Our class size was large, up to 45 per class, if I'm not wrong. Highly competitive, though we were still so young..Up till now, there have been efforts by the rest to stay in touch and meet up when possible (though I hardly join as I didn't graduate from there).

I attended a private school in KL for awhile after that. IMO, it is indeed a great change of environment. People speak of private schools as being "elitist". Its rather true, I suppose, in the sense that they aren't very exposed to life outside their circles. Its prob wrong to label them as such, as many others in national schools are like this too, but thats just my opinion. Private schools have their pros. There's the immediate focus on English, and also emphasis on non-academic classes such as arts and crafts, music, even swimming lessons. I attempted to continue my chinese studies, but the level taught in extra class was really basic. I think most of them grow up in purely "English educated" environments due to lack of exposure to the language.

Attending different schools and experiencing different systems have allowed me to have vastly different, and sometimes humorous perspectives on our beloved education system. In secondary school, when I transferred to a national-type high school in PJ, it is pretty obvious who was "chinese-educated" or "english-educated". They tended to huddle in different groups and mixed more within themselves. Me? An in-between I suppose, since I spoke both languages. I wouldn't say I was a *stuck-in-between*, since being bilingual has its benefits =) Thing is, some people hardly wish to acknowledge they know 'chinese/mandarin'. Is it really a thing to be ashamed of if you happen to know your mother tongue?? If you don't know chinese, I believe its okay if you weren't brought up in a chinese school/ chinese-speaking family. Its not okay when one actively denies having knowledge of chinese purely out of fear of people looking down on them as chinese-educated, as if there's a negative stigma associated with it.

However there were the joys of being in that particular school. I shall never forget all the funny excuses my modern math teacher used to get out of teaching, particularly on Fridays - double periods. She came up with incredulous claims of "terlupa bawa buku, tak payah ajar-lah", "terlupa prepare-lah, tak payah ajar-lah" etc, when she could've borrowed a book from us / went downstairs to get her copy. Hahha.. the Form5 days were not without its share of laughter. But things started to feel less funny when our add math marks became higher than mod math, and when she copied incorrectly the answers from the textbook..The words "dedication to the teaching profession" comes to mind..

The school authorities played their parts by "requiring" students to each "donate" a sum of money for "acquisition of computers", which when multiplied by the large number of students in school, became rather substantial. Next thing we know, there're new "additions" to beautify the school grounds, including purchases of various potted plants, the minor construction of a pond and a fountain smack in the middle of the parking lot cum assembly ground (there was some kind of district competition between schools - *beautifullest* school). To add further insult, the fountain leaks. Label me bitter if you like, but I believe there are much better uses for those funds.

University admission

Interesting to read in the papers these few days about the results of university admissions for 2004. Jeff Ooi notes in Screenshots - "We talk of university admission by meritocracy, but the bureaucracy and the media approach it by race!" Analysis by the media on the places offered were done on the basis of race, which will continue to happen, I suppose, given that our newspapers are largely "race-based" (at least, thats my mindset).

As usual with every year, people have grievances. I symphathise with those who couldn't get a course of their choice, not just the top scorers who mostly applied for medicine. Others could not get places in some in-demand business courses etc..

FYI, taken from NST - "The merit system to determine entry to public universities was introduced in 2002, and places students on a single list instead of separating them according to race. Their admission is based on academic achievement."

Disregarding the breakdown of top scorers by race, those who achieved a CGPA of 4.0 (1,774 total)
STPM - 527 (out of 56,500 students who took the exam in 2003)
Matriculation - 1,247 (out of 20,026 students, as above)

By doing some simple calculations based on the above figures (taken from TheStar 29 May p. 4):
0.933% of those who took the STPM achieved the maximum CGPA of 4.0. For matriculation, 6.23% out of the total.

Which leads to a very relevant question raised by Leanne Goh in TheStar (29 May), which is raised by many, but addressed by none:
"Although enrolment in Form Six is higher than in matriculation, the number of students with CGPA 4.0 outstips those doing STPM. This again raises the question of the marking scheme for the two systems. How equitably is the one-and-a-half year A-Levels equivalent pitched against the one-year internally examined matriculation?"

Meritocracy? When there are two vastly different grading systems for students vying for highly competitive places in our local universities, it is difficult for the "rakyat" to have faith..

I am in a private university now, though not doing the course of my choice. At times, it is indeed my wish that Msia's education system follows that of the Australian system. "Brain drain" will continue to happen while the bright realise that however well they do, even by getting 5As in STPM, they might not get the course of their choice..

Btw, sometimes I get *bengang* when I read about racial stereotypes, ie Chinese are all rich towkays etc. Just want to state that so many people are only just surviving in Msia, contrary to common perceptions, not all chinese are rich. When people talk about Malaysia, the topic seems to revolve around KL/Penang/JB/Ipoh..there is more to Malaysia ie the beauty of the land, but how many actually bother to find out? Most couldn't care less..

相見歡

無言獨上西樓　月如鉤
寂寞梧桐深院鎖清秋
翦不斷　理還亂　是離愁
別是一般滋味在心頭

南唐　李煜

testing testing..

終南別業

中歲頗好道
晚家南山陲
興來美獨往
勝事空自知
行到水窮處
坐看雲起時
偶然值林叟
談笑無還期

王維詩 ( 選自唐詩三百首 )

English translation: (previously posted on my blog)
My Retreat by the Zhongnan Mountain

Midway through life I set my heart on truth
And have come to end my days by the Southern Hills;
When the mood takes me I stroll out alone,
My pleasure shared by none.
I walk to where the streams rise,
Sit watching as the clouds drift up the sky,
And meeting with an old man in the woods,
Talk and laugh with him, forgetting to return.

Wang Wei

Some interesting stuff on Cameron..

There were some facts I wanted to post on our Cameron trip last weekend. I don't have to type more since HeeKheen has it up on his blog. Take a look, esp fact #2 hhahha we promised to assist in publicizing that stall for eveybody's benefit =)

Hopefully will have some pictures up soon.

At last!

Just received news of confirmation of my transfer! Collected the offer letter today.. Its gonna be rather rushed, but hopefully will be able to settle some things by next week or so, cos EXAMS are in less than 2 weeks time =( sobbb I still want to travel! (aww man they might be going Tmn Negara!!)

*There's this interesting site: AidCamps, where one can sign up for volunteering work (duration 2 weeks or longer). Latest is 2 weeks in India, I think..interesting..

*HauWei, I think LK might be thinking of going Vietnam year end =) Taiwan would be interesting too..only issue as you said - money, or more like the lack of that commodity..

Ooh green stuff, lotsa green stuff..

Hehhe crappy title eh..

A warning - this post is long.

Got back from Cameron yesterday night. Here's my "travel/trip report" (sounds so formal, hahh HW n Sweng you guys missed out so here's a running commentary/ramble on the trip =P )

Participants: 8 (the usual ppl plus some additions, of course)
Time we met: 7am Lorraine's place
Time LK met up: 7.30am Lorraine's place (he exists in a separate time zone from the rest of us ahaha)

We went up to Simpang Pulai, makan breakfast at Foh San, then took the new road up to Cameron. The road's actually better than expected, for me, at least. I haven't taken the Tapah way before, though everyone says that road’s really winding and steep. The new road reminds me of the East-West highway. Scenic with lush scenery and sweeping curves, oh, and also very steep drops down. Took around an hour, I think, for us to reach Kg Raja. From there could see all those slopes with agricultural produce, nopes, no tea plantations yet. Approached Brinchang after noon through Kea Farm and the Equatorial side.

SP booked us a house behind CountryLodge and whoa it was indeed a good deal. Thinking that each room had 2 single beds, it actually had 2 double beds each, so with 4 rooms, could've easily accomodated 15ppl, and all for the sum of Ringgit 200! (HW - you won't get such a good deal in Aus!! hahh gloating back here) We ended up using only 3 rooms, with 4 in our room. The double-storey house belongs to the Cactus Valley owner, plus they pack some farm produce in the house compound (which means we can get fresh stuff cheap!). Its extremely near the shops, coupla minutes walk only, so its really convenient.

Basically this trip is one which involved food, a lot of it. Hmm what did we do there besides makan and more makan - visited the Bee Farm (where Sam *bought* his best friend - Jack!), Butterfly Farm (but didn't go in), Kea Farm - market and the Sungai Palas [Boh] tea plantation. Didn't stop long at the plantation but gosh the views were fab. The road there's rather narrow and me being abit blur actually thought it was one way till I saw the oncoming cars.. By then it was about early evening, we headed over to Equatorial and bummed around at its grounds, taking more silly pics of ppl posing (not me-la, LK as usual). At night weather was cool, we didn't do much, had steamboat for dinner, visited the night market, pretty interesting. And thats a Saturday well spent..

Sunday..(by now my hands aching from typing already le)..woke up at 4.40am. Again took the Sg Palas road and continued further to go up to Gunung Brinchang. Was very steep at some parts, windy and really narrow..abit scary, cos its so dark and we seemed to be heading nowhere (we really were in the middle of nowhere, no lights, nothing)

We ended up at the peak, and it was SUPERcold up there, even with a jacket. I couldn't even tahan standing outside for long. But anyways we were too early so all ended up sleeping in the car. Hahh actually missed the proper sunrise, cos sunrise was at the other side of the mountain, as in we were facing the opposite side and the view was blocked by the communications tower and another structure. It was only after daybreak that we noticed there were stairs leading to an observation tower..Sigh...but the view was simply fantastic. Abit *wasted* that SP they all didn't see these sights. I'd trade sleep for those precious sights anytime. Coming down the gunung, views were as good, though Lorraine and Chris probably aren't that used to us stopping every few minutes to take pics =)

^Talking bout cameras..Hahh those who’ve been on our trips would know why I put the *hahh* in the beginning of this sentence! With his digicam, LK is taking more pics than usual, but the ratio of humans to greenery is probably 1:15 shots at least this time round..

Hmm the rest of the day..spent some time at the Cactus Valley, walked about most of the place. IMHO its worth visiting if you're in the area, cos there're more things to see than elsewhere. Nothing much happened after that, went to Tanah Rata for a late lunch then left Camerons. Again reached Ipoh went *makan*-ing (yes, makan again) then its back to KL at night.

END.

Final thoughts: It was nice to get away from *town-life* in PJ. Cameron, with its clear and refreshing air seems capable of clearing the clutter from one's mind, a well worth change from our typical hazy air of late, if only for a day or two..

*might post some pics soon..
*MU 3-0 Millwall (Poor me couldn't watch in Cameron, the place we stayed only had rtm1&2..)

untitled.

Finally confirmed Cameron is a YES this weekend! though its only one night, its the last chance these few months for a mini-trip for the few of us..at least till the end of the year hahahh..

Checking on room rates just now. Equatorial seems frightfully expensive, RM460++ for a 2 bedroom apartment. Wanted to book Rosa Passadena, but called up and they told me its fully booked for the weekend..what a waste, if I'd tried booking earlier, would've gotten lower rates, but since this was rather last minute confirmed, can't get the rates already.. now gotta check other hotels..worse come to worse we can always all sleep in our cars! (though the rest'd freak abit!)

Uni's getting rather strenous. Gotten back the results for 2631 test, did okay on that. Lotsa ppl failed, and if Nazim kept to his word and followed the amended marking scheme, I'd have gotten even lower marks. There's this guy in my tute class, never did notice his presence before (perhaps he doesn't even come to tute?) till Nazim told us and him, that he got 88% - highest score, next highest was only 70 something. He gets a mention in my blog cos he doesn't take notes/solutions when he's in class, he just sits there, with nothing on his desk, with his arms folded doing nothing, prob listening. Must be some boy genius or what-not..

*article on a Malaysian architect, click here.

Tenerife Concert Hall..

One of Calatrava's latest - Tenerife Concert Hall.



"The auditorium is located on the waterfront in the Los Llanos are of Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife. Situated between the Marine Park and the edge of the port, the auditorium connects the city to the ocean and creates a significant urban landmark."





All the above from Arcspace.com. For more images, click here.

Amazing stuff..

May woe befall all snatch thieves!

About 2 and a half hours ago, my sister became the latest victim of a snatch thief about 2 doors away from my house. I could hear the screeching of tyres from my living room and quickly ran out, cos I knew it was another case, but just didn't think it'd involve family. My mum was with her at that time, luckily there wasn't serious injury caused to my sis, only some nasty wounds when she fell. What has happened to the state of affairs of this country I live in, I wonder, when snatch thieves blatantly in broad daylight go about robbing people?? This time, instead of being on motorbikes, it was a Chinese young man, driving alone, with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand snatching the bag. Preposterous! Not the first time and it certainly won't be the last time something like this happens in PJ.

It is a very disgusting indicator of the depths of how low Malaysians stoop to when one thinks about how these cases become mere statistics when reported. It is much too commonplace for these cases to be highlighted, simply cos there are too many cases daily. Although it happened so early in the day, when they reported it to the police station just now, it was already the 2nd case of the day. An elderly man fell prey today too..

Unfortunately, I do not see our security situation improving, since the onus seems to be falling upon normal citizens to protect themselves, rather than the police providing some semblance of security. Its only till some sensational/serious case happens (as in the BSC case etc) that they will react to all the broo-ha and set up even more committees to look into *how to improve security* and thats that. No concrete action taken, with the usual excuse of "not enough manpower-la, ie the Sea Park police station has to take care of more than 10 housing areas etc"..With this appalling situation, its no wonder people leave the country, never to come back, or end up staying in gated communities when they can afford to.

Btw, those of you who own laptops, be very careful when you have your laptops with you, especially in PJ areas. An ex-classmate lost his laptop to robbers 2 nights ago at Taman Megah, they smashed his car's windows to get it. According to a friend who told me abt the incident, the cops told them it was the 9th case of the day already (9th case of stolen laptops!) laptops seem to be getting high on targeted items..

Such a bad ending to my week. The last time I witnessed a case was when it happened right outside my house, 2 of them on a bike, with one getting down and threatening a girl with a knife. What is the world coming to???

Ramblings..

This week things haven't been very eventful, but had some surprises as the days passed..

*Finished my assignment yesterday (finally! that was the last one!!) and today slacked off abit. This morning, at bout 11am, from far away I was staring at the really long queue at the cinema (it reached McDonalds)..I think they were all there for Troy. Well, so were we..managed to get some good seats for the afternoon show. Troy really made me think of Gladiator, all the music, some of the acting, plus the sets..ending was ok, I prefer sad endings than *happily-ever-after* stuff. (Anyways if you guys happen to be reading this, thankQ for the cake today!) =P

*About surprises..had a massive one on Wednesday, when a good friend unexpectedly showed up in front of me. Was only expecting this friend back from the US next month. Its good news for me, cos there's now teman for me to yamcha and stuff..

*Oh, I also discovered a new place to yamcha in SS2 2 doors away from coffeebean - Long Black Cafe. Didn't know it had free wi-fi, plus flat screen comps available.. they've got coffee and tea plus the usual stuff, opens till 2am..nice. Its kinda weird, this place opened some time ago and I haven't tried it till that impromptu decision to go yamcha that night..

*Sigh not much progress on Cameron next week. Apparently its a "go" but there's now the problem of transportation..supposed to sit down and finalise things soon. LK had a suggestion today - go makan breakfast at Ipoh then only head over to Cameron. Plausible? Not sure how the transportation thingy's gonna resolve itself, if at all..its getting to be rather last-minute decisions, if some of us (another question is who?) take the bus, will hv to sort out timing..though I would like stopping by Ipoh..

*Someone forwarded this cantonese personality test site, click here to take a look..

Long day..

A large mix of emotions/thoughts in my mind today. Had a test for 2631 today, which I was glad am finally out of the way. Seriously I've no idea how to sit for finals next month in this state..As the title states,today was a long day, cos I left uni only at 8pm just now, had a replacement class for 2631. Ill fortune continued in the evening when uni's network went down and all the comps couldn't be accessed, not to mention wi-fi plus my all important S drive..

Currently listening to: Elvis's "Are you lonesome tonight" whoops wrong music for my current mood..

Some brighter stuff..
*hmm I never knew Blogger supported Chinese characters till I saw H.W.'s site ..interesting interesting..but I guess I gotta get a chinese language program and learn to type in chinese first before attempting anything..

*Might have a short trip up to Cameron next weekend with the usual people. But still no idea whether its on or not, as everyone seems busy with their own things..hopefully I'll get to blog soon on having steamboat in good company while enjoying some crisp air in the highlands..? or it might not even materialise..which is highly probable.

*A dear friend sent this:
Romans 15:4 ..for everything that was written in the past was to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
-To my dear friend (you know who you are), I have this to say: Thank You. It is indeed a blessing to have you in my little life..

How I wish...

The list is long. But top of my wish list this week was to get out of town, if only for a day. Incessant hours spent pondering over text does get to me.. There's still next week to get through, with a test monday and another assignment due friday..After that I can probably slack off a coupla days without feeling guilty.. hmm though there're other people who seem much busier than me, such as my friend MunYee who's got THREE asssignments due on the same day..

also, thankQ to all on Thursday, sorry wasn't really in the mood to do much..special thanks for Wed lunch (S.P.) and to HauWei for that nice entry in your blog, and yes, I'm looking forward to seeing you soon (wondering how to yamcha in Melb hahha we'll prob end up drinking tea/coffee in each other's place)..

site to see: Architectural Competition - Machu Picchu 2004 Lodge in Cusco
*There's a virtual exhibition of competition entries, with winners already announced.

I'd really like to experience that place one day, but will have to be contented with pictures from others at the time being..such as the one below..

Microsoft security update

Pls protect your comp from the Sasser Worm. To do so, click here.

Whole day staring at this 14" screen

yeah I've been online most of the day. Unfortunate person here has no hopes of adding any sparkle to a vague life today due to an imminent deadline. Life at this few moments in life revolves around assignments and more assignments. If I actually had some idea of how to do it I wouldn't have to resort to such measures.

of course, I did do other things whilst online. Stumbled on my horoscope for the day:
"You long to buy some expensive personal items, and there's no reason why you shouldn't. Ignore the critical inner voice that says you don't deserve such luxuries. If you keep depriving yourself of things that give you comfort and joy, your self-esteem will plummet. Fortunately, you may stumble across a sale or an incredible one-time offer that allows you to buy what you want for a significantly reduced price."

hmm its true in a way cos I stumbled onto some other things online. Thats just the first few words. The rest? Nah, not unless there are perpetual sounds of *ka-ching! ka-ching!* (the sound of a printing press printing money in my attic..) hahhahh. Whatever it is, God knows best.

silly stuff..

Silly site to see: Big Bunny click on Yummy Episodes for some amusement..

A quiet Saturday afternoon..

yes! now I know how to post pics (thanks Siow Ping!) yups it works fine. Next step - blogskin..

recommended readings -
(i) In Front of Your Nose (Paul Krugman article) : (excerpt) "We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield." That's from George Orwell's 1946 essay "In Front of Your Nose." It seems especially relevant right now, as we survey the wreckage of America's Iraq adventure."

*For full article pls go to the above link. Would recommend reading George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen eighty four" for context. I always think its quite amazing that George Orwell produced such works more than half a century ago..

(ii) Europe leaves the U.S. behind

(iii) A US Diplomat's Letter of Resignation

(iv) Sorry, Mr. President, but Iraq looks a lot like Vietnam

(v) From Dream to Nightmare

(vi) Iraqi Prison Photos Mar U.S. Image this article has to be seen. "Liberators or Occupiers?" was the common question asked. Now - abusers/torturers? After reading this article and related news, one really wonders what is in the minds of all these people? Future of the people of Iraq...?

testing...