Gempa Bumi Thailand

Pusat Gempa Bumi

Sewaktu sibuk mengupdate blog, tiba2 terbaca status kawan di facebook. Gempa bumi di Thailand? Betul ke Siam kena gempa?

Cepat2 saya bukak Yahoo! News. Sungguh ada. Ya Allah! Benar sungguh janjimu! Masa dekat kiamat makin banyak gempa bumi!

Gempa bumi magnitude 6.8 skala Richter melanda Thailand, 69 batu dari utara Chang Rai, 772 km dari Bangkok dan hanya beberapa kilometer dari Mae Sai, Myanmar pada pukul 9.56 malam, 24 Mac 2011. Pusat gempa ini digelar Segi Tiga Emas dan merupakan kawasan berbukit tempat tanaman candu.
Chang Rai terletak di sempadan Thailand dengan Laos dan Myanmar.

Saksi melaporkan gegaran dapat dirasa sejauh Hanoi di mana orang ramai dipindahkan daripada bangunan tinggi. Gegaran juga turut dirasa di Myanmar. Di Luang Nam Tha, Laos, gegaran turut dirasai. Di Thailand, gegaran berlangsung selama 3 minit, memberi petanda yang cukup tidak baik.

Seorang saksi yang tinggal di Chiang Mai, 205 km dari sempadan tersebut mendakwa rumah jirannya roboh dan terdapat retakan di jalan raya.

Menjelang pukul 11 malam, gegaran susulan masih berlaku di sekitar kawasan tersebut. Gegaran susulan berukuran sekuat 4.8. Kecederaan pertama dilaporkan terjadi ke atas seorang wanita yang dihempap syiling rumahnya ketika sedang tidur nyenyak ketika gegaran selama 10 saat itu berlaku.

Walaupun jika dibandingkan dengan kawasan lain gegaran di Thailand ini dikira rendah, tetapi memandangkan kawasan tersebut tidak pernah dilanda gempa, ia menyebabkan keadaan dikira SANGAT berbahaya.

Setakat ini, memandangkan tiada media bebas di Laos dan Myanmar, laporan rasmi tentang keadaan sebenar gempa cuma akan dapat diketahui 10 jam selepas kejadian berlaku, iaitu melalui pihak berkuasa.

Sistem LMS akan ditutup 15 April?

Serdang, 24 Mac – Timbalan Naib Canselor Akademik dan Alumni Universiti Putera Malaysia hari ini mengumumkan penutupan sistem pengurusan pembelajaran (LMS) UPM berkuatkuasa pada 15 April 2011. TIndakan tersebut diambil setelah melakukan penilaian yang teliti terhadap kesan sistem tersebut kepada pelajar.

Menurut TNC, beliau dan kumpulan pengurusannya mengumumkan penutupan sistem LMS setelah mendengar khabar angin mengenai penutupan laman web sosial terkemuka facebook yang kononnya akan ditutup pada 15 Mac lalu.

“Kami mendapati gimik untuk menutup facebook telah mencetuskan satu fenomena yang menarik di kalangan penggunanya. Ia telah mengakibatkan wujudnya pelbagai respon, positif dan negatif yang akhirnya menjadi satu berita besar yang mengakibatkan facebook semakin popular.

Jadi pihak kami berpendapat mengumumkan penutupan LMS akan membuatkan LMS akan lebih popular di kalangan pelajar UPM.” ujar Ketua Unit IT UPM, Dr Zalzana Kamariah sewaktu ditemubual di Restoran Jamek Sri Serdang.

Menurut beliau lagi, dengan mengumumkan penutupan sistem LMS, pelajar-pelajar akan lebih kerap membuka LMS untuk mengetahui kesahihan berita tersebut. Ini akan menaikkan lagi ranking UPM sebagai universiti yang paling banyak menggunakan LMS dan sekaligus menandakan UPM sebagai universiti yang celik IT.

“Sebelum ini, kami sudah banyak mengadakan promosi untuk menaikkan penggunaan LMS sebagai alat pembelajaran luar kelas antara pensyarah dan pelajar, tetapi masih gagal untuk menaikkan jumlah pageview LMS. Mungkin dengan cara ini, kami akan dapat menarik pelajar untuk membuka LMS.”

Untuk mendapatkan respon pelajar, pihak kami telah menemubual beberapa orang pelajar di Putera Foodcourt. Shamsir Salim (bukan nama sebenar), pelajar Fakulti Sains menunjukkan perasaan sedih ketika ditanya mengenai pendapat beliau. “Bagi saya, sistem LMS lagi hebat dari facebook. Adakalanya, saya ketagih untuk log in ke sistem LMS dan bermain, er, permainan online dalam LMS tersebut, seperti 'Plants vs Zombies’, ‘Angry Birds’, dan ‘War of Warcraft’.

Website yang begitu canggih tidak seharusnya ditutup!” ujar beliau. Ketika ditanya adakah beliau tahu mengenai apakah itu LMS, beliau hanya tersenyum malu.  

Sementara itu, Chan Sow Lin, pelajar tahun akhir Fakulti Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi mempunyai pendapat yang berbeza. '”Bagi saya, kalau ditutup LMS, akan menyebabkan pelajar menjadi murung. Saya juga ketagih untuk membuka LMS, sebab LMS ada aplikasi yang menarik seperti forum dan juga kalendar. Di forum, saya boleh mengumpat bersama rakan sekelas yang tidak ingin membuka akaun facebook.

Dengan aplikasi kalendar, saya boleh melihat hari mana boleh ponteng, hari mana tidak boleh. Sekiranya ditutup, saya risau saya akan hilang pedoman hidup dan mungkin saya akan menjadi murung.” terang Chan. 
Sementara itu, dalam kenyataan rasmi, pihak Pro-Pa bersetuju dengan tindakan tersebut. “Kami sudah lama tidak menyokong penggunaan sistem yang canggih dalam mengendalikan hal ehwal pembelajaran.

Kami risau dengan adanya sistem LMS, ada pihak yang akan memanipulasi dan mencuri data peribadi pelajar seperti nama, alamat, nombor kad pengenalan, dan juga keputusan peperiksaan. Kalau pelajar cemerlang takpe jugak, kalau pelajar yang corot result sebab asyik politik je, takke malu namanya?” antara keratan faks yang pihak kami terima daripada pihak Pro-Pa. “Seperti penggunaan e-voting, kami juga sudah lama membantah penggunaan LMS. Kami risau sekiranya wujud agenda Yahudi dalam pelaksanaan sistem tersebut.”

Laporan asal: – Bernana-

Kesunyian

I dedicate this entry to my ever loving family, beloved friends and to those who feel the same.

Sometimes people are hit with mid-life crisis even before they reached that age. That feelings you have when you are watching the sunset alone in the evening. You feel so alone and empty, and the orange ray of the last sunlight shines the gloom part of you, where you might just cry and feel in complete loneliness and solitude.
That this life you have is too lonely, and every day passing is meaningless and one more story of loneliness. One more step to insignificance. Joy and happiness that you could only feel from those faces of people you’d love, but you could not feel within yourself. The light inside of you seems like had died out, or faded away into nothing.

Remembering people you had lost, friends you had said goodbye to. Where had they all gone? The pictures you took. The videos you made. In the end, it all ends. Even though you had put so much love and efforts, it’s not enough to stop time. They’d all gone.

Every hug, every kiss, every word. They carved something onto your heart, and they stay as emotions you would remember every time you missed them. I miss my family. My friends. Sometimes they are with me, but I could not feel them. Sometimes I feel so longing to have them by my side, but when I’m with them, I don’t know the right words to say. To tell them how much I miss them. To say that I do care.

But simple things alone can separate you from them. They would eventually have somebody or something else to replace you with. That sometimes you’d feel that this life is a battle of self worth and acceptance. You fight so much to make people love and accept you, but they just won’t stay that long. They’ll move on and leave you. It’s painful.

And to know at last, that you have the spark to ignite your own happiness, is a knowledge that should have comforted you. Life is not all about how people define you, but how you feel happy of yourself. Life is always fair, just that you need to see wisely. Life gives second chances, grab them all. Sometimes the best discovery is to find your own self and to tell that person on the mirror: ‘I’m happy with you’.

Vampire Diaries

“You’re cute Bonnie!” “Yeah, I know, it’s some spell from Malaysia. It’s susuk or something.”

Forgive me Vampire Diaries’ fans, but I just want to say something. I’d love Vampire Diaries! Though now I’d still love Glee, but VD is worth watching. Though it bores me till I could sleep while watching it, I still can say it’s quite OK nonetheless. Actually, I’ve been trying to watch the series for weeks, but watching first episode itself can make me fall into deep slumber in no time. I tried few times, and every attempt ends with a very good sleep.

So I skipped the first 13 episodes, and started at Episode 14, just when the plot is at its peak. So I would not have to see the part where the love scenes of getting ‘to know her’, ‘he’s dashing’, ‘Who are you?’ that would make me puke with no delay. I’m telling you, love scenes will not do me the thrill. It has been so overrated and unreal.

You know what I’d love the most about the show? It’s of course Bonnie Bennet! I’d love witches! Remember the Charmed Ones? She’s the new Charmed! Oh, and now I’m having a celebrity crush on her. She’s smoking hot. And I just love everytime she’s doing her magic tricks. It makes the show from tolerable to exciting.

“I know what you mean. Duh, how come you’d ever think that witches won’t use Botox? It’s the new magic, bitch!”

I am not sure about you guys, but I think love story about vampires is so 2005. And when werewolves come into picture, we instantly know that it would always be Bloodsucker vs. Sabretooth. But since they put Bonnie in, the witch literally do the spell unto me. And when Lucy, Bonnie’s cousin is introduced,

I can already see the direction of the story. I mean, for Bonnie’s character’s progress of course. Put more witches into the show Alloy Entertainment, and you just got yourself a very fanatic fan!
For more information about her, just dig here : Wikipedia

Junko Furota – Mangsa Seks yang Paling Malang

Salam semua. Tadi saya terbaca tentang Junko Furota, seorang mangsa seks yang paling dahsyat didera. Beliau telah diculik, didera, dirogol dan dibunuh selama 44 hari oleh 4 orang pembunuh paling sadis.

Honestly, sebelum ni saya tak pernah dengar mangsa rogol yang didera sedahsyat beliau. Saya cuba mencari maklumat tentang Junko dalam Bahasa Melayu, tapi masih tiada. Jadi saya mengambil keputusan untuk mengumpul maklumat yang saya ada dan mengalihbahasa kepada Bahasa Melayu. Kisah beliau perlu diketahui semua manusia.

Menurut sesetengah sumber, Junko Furota dilahirkan pada 22 November 1972. Berasal dari Misato, wilayah Saitama. Maklumat ibubapanya tidak dapat diselidiki, barangkali dilakukan oleh pihak berkuasa untuk melindungi maklumat keluarga beliau.

Pada 25 November 1988, ketika beliau baru sahaja berusia 16 tahun, beliau telah diculik oleh 4 orang lelaki. Mereka membawanya dan kemudian mengurungnya di kediaman keluarga Kamisaku, iaitu salah seorang penculik beliau. Rumah tersebut terletak di Ayase, di daerah Adachi, Tokyo.

Mereka memperkenalkan Junko sebagai seorang teman wanita kepada salah seorang daripada mereka. Berikut ialah senarai penculik Junko:

• Hiroshi Miyano (宮野裕史 Miyano Hiroshi) (Pesalah pertama. Telah menukar namanya kepada Hiroshi Yokoyama setelah dilepaskan dari penjara(横山裕史 Yokoyama Hiroshi))
• Jō Ogura (小倉譲 Ogura Jō) (Menukar namanya kepada Jō Kamisaku (神作譲 Kamisaku Jō^?))
• Shinji Minato (湊伸治 Minato Shinji)
• Yasushi Watanabe (渡邊恭史 Watanabe Yasushi)
• Tetsuo Nakamura (中村哲夫 Nakamura Tetsuo)
• Kōichi Ihara (伊原孝一 Ihara Kōichi)

Untuk menutup perbuatan mereka, salah seorang daripada penjenayah tersebut menyuruh Junko menghubungi ibubapanya dan memberitahu bahawa beliau telah lari dari rumah dan sedang berada dengan temannya dan ‘tidak dalam bahaya’.

Sepanjang dikurung, Junko pernah beberapa kali cuba melarikan diri, tetapi tidak berjaya dan akan diseksa dengan lebih dahsyat setelah ditangkap. Beliau juga banyak kali merayu kepada ibubapa Kamisaku iaitu tuan rumah tempat beliau dikurung untuk membantu beliau, tetapi mereka takut diapa-apakan oleh penculiknya. Tambahan pula, salah seorang daripada penculik beliau merupakan pemimpin rendah yakuza, dan memberi amaran akan menyuruh kenalannya membunuh sesiapa yang cuba masuk campur.

Seksaan-seksaan yang Junko deritai:

HARI PERTAMA:
Diculik.
Dirogol (lebih daripada 400 kali)
Kebuluran dan kekurangan nutrisi
Makan lipas untuk makanan dan minum air kencing sendiri
Dipaksa onani
Dipaksa berbogel di hadapan penculiknya
Dicucuh dengan pemetik api
Dubur dan kemaluannya dimasukkan objek asing

HARI SEBELAS:
Dipukul berulang-ulang kali
Mukanya dihadapkan ke lantai konkrit dan penculiknya melompat di atas kepalanya
Tangan diikat ke syiling dan badannya dijadikan punching bag
Hidungnya dipenuhi darah yang banyak sehingga hanya dapat bernafas melalui mulut
Alat pengangkat berat dijatuhkan ke atas perutnya
Muntah ketika cuba minum air (perutnya tidak dapat menerima air)
Cuba melarikan diri dan dicucuh rokok di lengannya
Dituang cecair mudah terbakar di atas kakinya, kemudian dibakar (barangkali untuk mengelakkan dia melarikan diri)
Botol dimasukkan ke dalam duburnya, mengakibatkan kecederaan

HARI 20:
Tidak dapat berjalan dengan betul kerana luka terbakar yang teruk di kaki
Dipukul dengan buluh
Duburnya dimasukkan mercun dan kemudian dinyalakan
Tangan dihempap dengan objek berat dan kukunya dipecahkan
Dipukul dengan kayu golf
Rokok dicucuh ke dalam kemaluan
Dipukul dengan batang besi berulang kali.
Dipaksa tidur di balkoni dalam cuaca musim sejuk
Batang besi pemanggang untuk memanggang ayam dimasukkan ke dalam kemaluan dan dubur mengakibatkan pendarahan

HARI 30:
Lilin panas dititiskan ke muka
Kelopak mata dibakar dengan pemetik api
Dicucuk jarum di bahagian dada
Puting buah dada kiri di potong dan dihancurkan dengan playar
Mentol lampu yang panas dimasukkan ke dalam kemaluan
Pendarahan yang teruk di kemaluan akibat dimasukkan gunting
Tidak boleh membuang air kecil dengan baik
Kecederaan yang teruk sehingga mengambil masa satu jam untuk turun dan pergi ke tandas
Gegendang telinga mengalami kerosakan yang teruk
Saiz otak mengecut

HARI 40:
Merayu penyeksanya “membunuhnya dan membiarkan semuanya berakhir”
I JANUARI 1989:
Menyambut tahun baru bersendirian.
Badannya sudah hilang rupa dan fungsi asal.
Tidak dapat bergerak daripada lantai.

HARI 44 (HARI KEMATIAN):
Penculiknya memukul tubuhnya dengan batang besi angkat berat, menggunakan alasan kalah bermain mahjong untuk berbuat demikian. Junko berdarah dengan sangat teruk di mulut dan hidungnya. Mereka membakar muka dan matanya dengan lilin.

Cecair pemetik api disimbah ke kaki, tangan, muka dan perut, kemudian api dinyalakan. Seksaan terakhir Junko ini mengambil masa lebih dua jam. Tidak lama kemudian, Junko meninggal dunia dalam kesakitan.
Update: Menurut maklumat tambahan daripada pembaca, setelah kematian Junko Furota, pembunuh-pembunuhnya menyangkakan dia berpura-pura mati, lalu membalut mayatnya dengan selimut dan menyumbatnya ke dalam beg pakaian.

Setelah itu, mereka memasukkan beg itu ke dalam tong dram 55 gelen dan membancuh simen ke dalam tong itu, dan membuangnya ke sebuah saluran di tanah terbiar di Koto, Tokyo. Sesetengah laporan menyebut bahawa ibu Junko pengsan setelah mengetahui kisah sebenar yang berlaku kepada anaknya dan terpaksa menjalani terapi, walau bagaimanapun sesetengah yang lain mengatakan ibu bapanya telah lama mengetahui keadaannya ketika didera di rumah Kamisaku, tetapi tidak dapat berbuat apa-apa kecuali merayau-rayau di sekeliling rumah tersebut.

So that’s all peeps. Menurut sumber, lebih 100 orang mengetahui keadaan Junko di rumah tersebut, tetapi tidak dapat dipastikan mereka turut merogol atau menderanya atau cuma melawat rumah tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, tiada siapa di antara 100 orang tersebut cuba menghubungi pihak polis.

Penjenayah tersebut tidak dikenakan tindakan yang berat. Mereka juga cuma didakwa atas ‘mencederakan anggota badan sehingga membawa kematian’ dan bukannya ‘pembunuhan’. Keluarga Junko cuba membawa kes tersebut semula ke mahkamah, tetapi gagal kerana penemuan bukti iaitu air mani dan bulu kemaluan yang tidak menepati DNA penjenayah. Pendapat saya, bukti tu boleh ditukar.

Sebab salah seorang daripada penjenayah tersebut ialah ahli yakuza, yang mempunyai cara untuk memastikan mereka tidak akan dikenakan hukuman yang berat. Mereka hanya dikenakan hukuman maksimum penjara 4, 6 dan 8 tahun masing-masing, dan penjara 20 tahun kepada ketua penjenayah tersebut. Keadilan tidak tertegak untuk Junko.

Penjenayahnya masih bebas hingga kini (tidak dapat dipastikan penjenayahnya terbunuh atau terselamat sewaktu tsunami melanda). Ini ialah peringatan kepada semua untuk melindungi anak-anak, adik beradik daripada menjadi mangsa kejadian seperti ini. Semoga Allah melindungi kita semua.
 
P/s : tak pernah lagi dengar kes sedahsyat ni. yang lain, lepas rogol kena bunuh. takdela sampai didera berulang2 sampai 44 hari sampai nyawa-nyawa ikan!

Belajar Memandu

“Do you ever feel, Like a plastic bag? Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again”
– Katy Perry, Fireworks

Dalam perjalanan dari UPM ke sekolah memandu, lagu ni bermain2 dalam otak saya. Sekali sekala saya senyum2 buat2 bila cikgu memandu berbual-bual. Macam video klip lagu ni, saya bayangkan dada saya akan keluar bunga api bila bawak kereta nanti.

Macam dah suksis sukses gila babeng n terror nak mati bawak kereta la. Sampai bunga api mencanak-canak keluar.

Suka ke dapat bawak kereta? Seronok ke?

Saya sesungguh-sungguhnya merasa tertekan bila belajar memandu. Minggu ni belajar memandu lagi. Rasa fail sungguh.

Semalam cikgu memandu ambil saya dekat kolej. Saya sangat taknak pergi, sebab tekanan. Minggu ni dua kali pergi belajar. Sabtu Ahad. Orang pergi finishing school, saya pergi driving school. Mula-mula dulu seronok dapat start buat lesen. Masa tu baru lagi dapat biasiswa. Sebelum ni memang takde harapan nak buat lesen sebab takde duit.

Mula-mula dulu, pergi kelas. Buat ujian berkomputer, lulus. Pergi kelas lagi. Lepas tu start belajar kereta.
Saya belajar kereta daripada sem lepas lagi, tapi dulu dengan member. Hari pertama pergi, firstly cikgu tu tunjuk macam mana nak guna clutch, minyak, brek, gear. “Siapa nak try dulu?” dia tanya. Saya offer diri. Bagi saya, tak perlu takut salah nak belajar. Masa tu kan, bongok gila. Saya tak tau pun nak masuk gear kena tekan clutch. Nak tekan brek kena tekan clutch. Saya tak tau pun mana brek, mana clutch, mana minyak.

Mula-mula try2 dulu. Minyak, clutch. Pastu dia suruh gerakkan kereta. Masuk bab ni je, terus kena maki hamun sebab tersilap. Biasalah kan kalau tersalah. Tapi cikgu tu tak boleh terima. Bagi dia, kalau dia dah ajar, kena perfect. Tak boleh tidak.

Maka jadilah kisah kelakar pagi Sabtu. Nak masuk gear tak tekan clutch. Nak brek tak tekan clutch. Enjin mati jadi blur sekejap; tak tau nak buat apa. Nak masuk gear satu termasuk reverse. Nak turunkan hand brake ternaikkan dia. Setiap kali buat salah, kena maki kaw2. “Kau ni kenapa? Cikgu ajar kau, kau buat ikut pemahaman masing-masing! Lain orang lain cara! Keyakinan tu penting!” Sungguh tidak relevan makian cikgu itu. Bukannya taknak buat ikut cara sendiri atau tak faham, tapi first time bawak kereta takkan perfect kot?

Mula-mula saya dengan member gelak2, tapi makin lama makin sakit. Sampai dia hempas2 dashboard sebab marah. Last sekali, dia turun. Dia suruh member duduk sebelah. Masa ni, elok je pulak kan saya drive. Dan-dan je.

Lepas tu member saya bawak. OK je. So dia tak dapatlah ‘pujian ikhlas’ cikgu tu. Itu baru dia suruh main gear 1 dengan reverse.

Lepas rehat, dia suruh bawak ikut pusingan. Saya start dulu. Mula-mula jalan lurus ok la. Masuk selekoh je, dah mula buat salah. Lambat pusing, kereta nak terkeluar jalan. Cikgu tu tekan brek. Lepas tu sebab gelabah, tangan saya sampai bersilang-silang dekat stereng. Enjin pulak mati. Dapat makian lagi.

OK fine. Lepas tu tengah jalan, dia suruh brek sebab ada kereta lain dekat depan.

Saya tekan brek tak tekan clutch. Enjin pun mati dengan seronoknya. Dapat lagi makian! Lepas tu jalan2 lagi, dia suruh masuk gear 2. Masuk je, gear tak masuk rupanya. Terfree pulak gear. Mati lagi enjin. Dapat makian lagi.

Dia punya berangin sampai dia keluar sekali lagi. Lepas tu member saya pulak bawak. Perfect! Dia pun suka kat member saya tu. Siap puji2 lagi. Lepas dah abis belajar tu boleh pulak dia gelak2 kan. Macam takde apa berlaku. Saya pun buat tak tau jela. Takkan nak muncung pulak kan?

Lepas tu, berapa minggu lepas tu, sepupu dia pulak ajar. Dia tak sihat. Saya pergi dengan kawan lagi. Belajar naik bukit, parking dengan 3 penjuru. Mula-mula OK naik bukit. Masuk parking dengan 3 penjuru FAIL. Kawan saya perfect lagi, walaupun masa naik bukit dia enjin mati. Sepupu dia pun bengang je dengan saya. Berapa banyak tiang tumbang masa dekat 3 penjuru.

Tak lama tu, cikgu telefon kawan saya. Suruh siapkan lesen. Kawan saya tanyalah pasal saya. Lepas tu cikgu tu kata nak setelkan kawan saya tu dulu. Sebab dia better. Masa tu rasa benci betul. Rasa dianaktirikan. Memang la saya bawak teruk, tapi cikgu tu taknak bagi chance pun. Terus suruh kawan saya buat dulu.

Maksudnya kawan saya yang sedia terer tu dia ajar lagi jadi pandai. Saya yang bongok ni dia biar dulu dekat tepi, setelkan yang pandai dulu. Saya dah kata, kalau buat macam tu lagi lambat saya habis buat lesen. Kawan saya memang cepat lagilah. Dia siap kata dekat kawan saya“Kawan kau buat kemudian.” Nampak sangat dia pandang rendah pada saya.

Lepas tu kawan saya dengan bangga buat lesen. Seminggu je dah siap. Siap masa balik, cerita dekat saya yang cikgu tu kutuk2 saya. Gelak-gelakkan saya. Kawan saya pun tumpang gelak. Dia sukalah, cikgu tu suka dia. Sabar jelah. Saya teringat daripada kecik selalu jadi macam ni. Cikgu-cikgu suka abaikan students yang tak pandai, sebab dia nampak potensi pada yang pandai je. Yang tak pandai letak tepi dulu, cikgu akan datang semula kemudian.

Padahal cikgu tu tak suka students yang tak pandai. Sebab penat nak mengajar. Saya rasa down betul. Sampai hati betul dia buat macam tu. Sampai sekarang, dia bukan kisah sangat pun. Macam dulu, beria dia suruh kawan saya siapkan lesen P.

Setkan tarikh sekian2. Macam saya, dia anggap saya takde potensi. Macam mana dia nak cakap pasal keyakinan kalau apa yang dia buat tu menyebabkan saya jadi makin tak yakin dengan diri sendiri? Dia takde pun setkan tarikh mana saya kena dapat lesen.

Lepas tu saya dah tak kisah. Lantaklah. Dunia ni memang double standard. Masa saya nak pergi belajar, saya pergi. Rasa malas, taknak pegi.

Bayangkan masa kawan saya belajar dulu, dia ajar sorang2 je. Saya kena kongsi 4 orang untuk setiap sesi. Macam mana? Pegang stereng lima minit, tukar orang. Kawan saya puluh2 kali buat, dia sorang je. Takke kita rasa down?

Dah kata lembab belajar, tolonglah fokus dulu sorang2. Takkan terus nak buat semua empat-empat? Memang susah lah. Lagipun saya bukannya teruk sangat pun. Makin diajar, makin OK. Lepas dia setelkan kawan saya,lambat betul dia nak ajar saya balik.

Masa naik bukit dengan kawan saya dulu, saya rasa saya lagi OK dari kawan saya. Dah takde mati-mati enjin. Tapi sebab saya tak pandai kawal stereng, masa parking dengan penjuru jadi susah. Tapi dia terus abaikan saya. Sedih gila! Bukannya saya dah takde potensi! Kalau dia ajar saya dengan kawan saya sekali boleh je setel sama2.

Sampai sekarang ni pun, masih lagi rasa marah dan tak suka. Entah bila nak setel lesen saya pun tak tau. Dia pun tak ambil kisah. Saya tambah jam, dia dapat duit. Saya tak pandai macam mana pun dia yang akan untung. Dah dekat sembilan bulan belajar, tak dapat2 lagi lesen P. Kalau lagi lama belajar, senanglah nak lupa bawak kereta. Maybe itu yang dia nak kot? Saya lupa, saya tambah kelas. Saya tambah kelas, dia dapat duit.

-Bengang!-

Sambungan:  Belajar Memandu (2)

Seorang Pemandu Bas

Ramai-ramai tunggu bas…

Pagi Isnin lepas saya naik bas waktu pagi. Biasalah, mana ada transport kan selain public transport. Pukul 7.40 pagi, bas dah nak jalan. Saya cepat-cepat kejar dan naik. Lepas saya naik, ada lagi beberapa budak perempuan naik. Lari-lari semua.

Lepas tu pak cik drebar bas suruh saya berdiri dekat tangga. Masa tu duduk dekat dashboard. Dia tak nampak side mirror sebab saya block. 

“Kesian budak lelaki. Asyik dapat duduk dekat tangga je!” kata pak cik tu tiba-tiba lepas saya berdiri dekat tangga. Budak perempuan yang ramai-ramai tu pun mula senyum. Saya pun balas senyum. Bas pun mula berjalan.

“Cubalah bagi yang lelaki ni pulak duduk. Kalau perempuan naik bas, laju semua cari tempat duduk. Bila lelaki naik, kena berdiri semua! Yelah, budak perempuan ramai. Yang lakinya sikit. Kalau laki berdiri kan lain-lain jantina!” kata pak cik drebar penuh jenaka. Yang lain gelak.

“Perempuan asyik mintak kerusi je. Yang laki dapat tangga. Sampai Najib pun pening. Perempuan pun nak kerusi parlimen sekarang ni.” Semua gelak lagi. Pandai pak cik ni kaitkan kerusi bas dengan kerusi parlimen – kata saya. Dalam hati jelah.

“Cuba tanya yang lelaki ni, nak duduk tak. Yelah, penat asyik berdiri je!” tiba-tiba pak cik tanya saya. Saya senyum. Mood masa tu Monday blues. Malas + mamai. Segan je tetiba semua pandang saya. Sebab saya diam semua pun buat tak tau je. Lagipun pak cik bukan serius pun masa tu. Just nak hangatkan suasana pagi.

“Kalau naik bas ni kan, masa mula-mula masuk je semua datang awal. Apa namanya tu? Yang masa budak-budak baru mendaftar?” kata pak cik drebar.

“Minggu orientasi!'” jawab dua tiga orang. “Hah, masa tu je datang sebelum pukul tujuh. Ada ketua bagi order ‘esok pagi, kumpul pukul tujuh dekat sini!’ Datang pukul 6.50, dah ada semua! Sampai ada pak cik-pak cik drebar datang awal takut budak kumpul lama. Tapi masa tu jelah datang awal. Lepas tu datang pukul tujuh, takde lagi budak-budak. 7.20, ada la sikit-sikit. 7.40, baru menderu-deru datang!” komplen beliau.

“Agak-agak 100 tahun lagi ada tak UPM ni?” pak cik tiba-tiba tanya. Budak perempuan sorang jawab “Ada. Mesti adanya”.

“Kalau 200 tahun? Ada lagi tak? Ada agaknya, tapi dah lain agaknya ye tak? Dah ada highway dekat UPM. Dari kolej nak pergi fakulti ada highway. Tapi highway jelah. Naik bas lagi!”

“Sampai bila agaknya nak naik bas ni? Ada ke transport lain lagi nak pergi kelas. 200 tahun lagi agaknya naik bas lagi tak?” Saya terasa. Haha!

Seorang budak perempuan jawab “Nanti dah ada komuter pak cik, senang je nak pergi kelas!” kawan-kawan dia pun sambut dengan gelak. Tak lama tu, bas berhenti. Ramai orang turun. Ada seat kosong, saya duduk. Masa tulah teringat macam-macam. Dulu seronok masa first year, naik bas ramai-ramai. Cerita dalam bas nanti boleh jadi bahan lawak.

Dulu kami suka duduk dekat tangga. Sebab senang nak paut. Masing-masing buat mimik muka sampai tergelak bila lalu selekoh. Lepas tu sengaja main himpit-himpit dekat selekoh nak bagi sesak. Lepas tu, banyak je perhatikan perkara-perkara lawak dalam bas.

Ada langgar perempuan tu, ada bau taik kucing. Ada awek ‘comel’ naik bas. Drebar maki-maki budak. Semua tu jadi bahan gelak masa dekat bilik. Kadang-kadang belum sempat sampai bilik, dekat kelas pun dah kecoh. “Eh, ko perasan tak budak tadi? Budak tulah yang aku jumpa hari tu!" – Dialog ni mesti keluar masa lepas turun bas.

Naik bas ramai-ramai tak boring. Ada je benda nak jadi gurauan. Dulu la. Lepas tu sorang-sorang taknak naik bas. Nak naik motor, kereta. Yelah, bas lambat. Tension lama-lama naik bas. Nak gerak makan masa. Bas macam kura-kura. Sekarang ni, most of the time, saya naik bas sorang. Tak pernah naik bas ramai-ramai dah. Tapi kenangan yang kecil tu kadang-kadang lebih buat kita rasa gembira.
Kenangan. Rindunya…

Masa Usagi mati dalam Sailormoon, dia cakap:
“When I wake up in the morning,
a pure white curtain of lace is rustling in the breeze.
The cuckoo clock in the room says it’s 7 o’clock, and Mom’s voice says, “You’ll be late if you don’t get up!”.

I’m still half asleep, and I think, “Please let me sleep for 3 more minutes.”
I’m late for school every single day like clockwork,
my teacher makes me stand out in the hallway,
and I get failing grades on my tests.
The crepes we’d all eat on the way home.
We’d gaze dreamily at a party dress in a show window.
The little things bring such joy and I’m happy.
I wish…
I wish I could go back to that kind of normal life.
I want to go back.”
Kalau boleh diputarkan masa… Semuanya dah tak sama macam dulu. Pak cik drebar ni betul-betul buat saya terfikir. Terima kasih pak cik, untuk kenang-kenangan yang pak cik ingatkan.
Waktu turun dari bas, saya senyum sendiri. “Semua ni akan berakhir jugak. Lepas ni, kita dah takkan jumpa. Benda ni pun akan jadi kenangan nanti.” Kata saya dalam hati.

BERITA HARIAN: HOW THE MALAYSIANS OVERREACTED

I decided not to update my blog for a few days to give way for test 2 and thesis. However, this recent issue of tsunami caricature by Zoy had made me itching to write my opinion of it. In case you had just been released from the jail, here is the summary of the issue:

1 – Following the tsunami and earthquake in Japan, Berita Harian published a caricature of Ultraman trying to outrun a tsunami. That caricature is a work of Mohd Zohri Sukimi.

2 – CNN later published the news. I am not sure about international responses, but Malaysians were quite raged about the issue.

People, people, people! (Anwar Hadi, 2011). I didn’t want to be offensive, but I see there’s nothing wrong with the caricature. Many people accused the editors of Berita Harian as being ‘inconsiderate and distasteful’. Many many more cursed BH with many more vulgar words, of which the words are offensive themselves.

I am not trying to back the wrong side, but take a deep breath and think. OK, first when earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan, you can see international reactions. Most of them, as usual, exclaiming their condolences and sorrow. But, there were also douchebags from many countries that had made fun of the Japanese tragedy.

See this one, as an example:



These are some of the comments left on a youtube video. 4 out of the 10 comments left were being offensive. What about 30,000 comments? 3 million?

Well, the words clearly depicted how ‘insensitive and distasteful’ these human beings are! Why oh why on the world they didn’t get any bashing from any CNN or BBC, or even from the ever considerate Malaysians? Why they only bashed Malaysia? At least, the caricature have a few things that we can ponder.

Such as, it shows how even powerful the country is, it cannot fight the course of nature. How hi-tech or developed Japan is, they still couldn’t fight tsunamis and earthquakes. Why cannot you see in this aspect? Maybe it was presented offensively, but that was what caricatures should portray. Sharp sense of humour. Cynical, yet witty.

But the comments? Porn stars? Whew, I don’t know if it doesn’t sound offensive. Maybe Ultraman is more offensive to the Japanese than the porn industry. Oh and people. Please go and check youtube. Many comments left by many people was also being inconsiderate about religion. One commenter even wrote ‘If you really believe in God, then you must know that this is his doing’. Hm. Not offensive eh? Berita Harian more offensive?

Oh and when any international media humiliates Islam or Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), why it was nothing more than a case of ‘freedom of speech’? What if Zoy tells the same? This is his freedom of speech, of how he perceive things in Japan, but in a cynical way. I am sure he sympathises the victims, and the caricature does not projecting BH and also his true feelings for the Japanese.

If really BH didn’t sympathise the victims, then they shouldn’t produce any news of them at all. But that was not the case. BH themselves extended their condolences to the Japanese. I am not being racist or whatsoever here, but Japan themselves never ask for forgiveness for their occupation during World War 2. They enslaved the locals, making the locals as their prostitutes. Just ask Koreans how do they feel until now. Their women lost their dignity to those Japanese army.

And even Malaysian women. And did Japan ask for forgiveness? Hm, maybe I am history illiterate, but if you found that one, please keep me posted.

Oh, that doesn’t mean I was being inconsiderate. Those are the facts. I’d love current Japan. Animes, comics. They shouldn’t be punished by what their ancestors had done. But as you can see, Japan themselves were trying to erase their own mistakes. Why shouldn’t we just let it pass? This is just a caricature!

This, has led me to formulate a few reasons why this has become an issue to the Malaysians:

1 – As always, politics. BH is considered as government’s paper. You should see how people suddenly turn their rage to the BN/UMNO. Oh mind you, I am not a BN supporter. And many people who supports opposition are using this issue to condemn the current government. This is the chance, people! Open your eyes!

2 – CNN was playing its part to provoke Malaysians. As you can see, America had interrupted in current situation in Libya. The IMF also interested to ‘help’ Egypt and Tunisia. This is a good chance to deepen Malaysians hatred to their own government, if not causing riot, at least Malaysians will distrust their government more. If really CNN found that caricature offensive, then they should also mention how insensitive their own people are. I am sure America will be so glad to see people rioting in Malaysia. CNN is also like BH. Government ass-licker.

That’s all dudes. I am more disappointed in Malaysians than BH. This had added to one more proof to prove how Malaysians can easily be provoked. Malaysians don’t like to think. Everything people say, especially America, they would immediately believe.

I want to stress again that the caricature might be offensive to some, but for those who have brains, it is an eye opener. It is a cynical image of even though human beings think they are powerful, they cannot fight the force of nature. Which for people who believe in God; will see how fragile human beings are at God’s mercy.

AMIR: Story of a Champion

“Jadi Amir, anda setuju atau tidak peserta dari Korea tadi sangat comel?”

Last night, my friend, Hezy invited me to go and watch Pidato Antarabangsa Bahasa Melayu 2011 grand finale at Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) together with some seniors. Oh, and I was the only guy she invited. Haha! We reached there at about 8.30 pm, and the event had just started.

PICC was so huge, I felt so excited. And I went snatching pictures of the place itself rather than capturing people’s poses; because the place looks better.Hehehe! Oh and have a look on those pictures first:

Firstly after we arrived at PICC

Some glass wall. Not related to the competition

The escalators very much like Harry Potter moving staircases!

Excited UPM supporters!

The interior of the hall. Smart gila!

After some cliché bla bla bla, the competition started with the first speaker from Russia. The competition is divided into two categories; the first category is International while the second one is Nusantara @ ASEAN. Our senior, Amirrudin Abd Rahman is the representative for Malaysia for Nusantara category. 

For ASEAN @ Nusantara category, only 3 countries made it to the final, which were Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. For International category, 5 countries made it; Korea, Turki, China, Russia and Australia.

The Russian girl was very crowd pleasing. She knew how to make people laugh together with her with her poetic use of Malay language. Oh speaking of Bahasa Melayu, I think I should write this entry in Bahasa, but due to some reason, I stick with English. I’ll explain later why.

The Russian girl was competing for International Category. It is so natural since it is most likely people from Nusantara will win if there is no category division. 

After the Russian girl left the stage, there came the Singaporean guy, Muhammad Izwan bin Othman from National University of Singapore. He took Civil Engineering. And his speech was more like a debate rather than a stand-alone pidato.

And competitors came and left the stage. There was a Turki guy with an oversized baju Melayu, the sweet and cute Korean.

And the representative from Brunei, Awang Haji Abdul Rashid bin Awang Haji Damit was also a crowd pleaser. He can make people laugh even without giving any punch line or joke. Oh and when I saw him performing, I knew that he would be landing whether on second or first place.

And then came our hero. Amirrudin. When he first entered the stage, was enough to make the crowd erupted into an uproar. He then started his speech. His speech was entitled ‘Bangsa Berilmu, Bangsa Bertamadun’. The crowd immediately reduced into a silence.
Then he spoke.

‘Assalamualaikum warahmatullahitaala wabarakatuh.
Firman-firman Tuhan yang menggetar jiwa dalam kitab paling mulia.
Santun bahasa Pali yang menggubah Tripitaka bacaan setiap penganut Buddha.
Atau helai-helai Veda yang dialun jadi lagu oleh pengamal ajaran Hindu.
Juga baris Injil, yang cekal dihayati oleh penuntut ajaran Triniti.
Semuanya membawa dogma yang sama: Ilmu wajib diteroka. Atas awal Nabi Adam mula diciptakan, penerokaan ilmu dan pembinaan tamadun sudahpun bermula. Maka percayalah kata-kata saya; BANGSA BERILMU, BANGSA BERTAMADUN.

Terima kasih saudara pengerusi-pengerusi Majlis, dif dif jemputan dan hadiran dan hadirat para pejuang dan pencinta negara bangsa sekalian.

Saudara dan saudari sekalian, saya tujukan pidato ini buat ibu tercinta di desa; wanita yang paling cekal, dan wanita yang paling saya cinta.’

Whoa! This opening itself sounded so prestigious, and the part when he mentioned that the pidato is for his mother, I can feel goosebumps. If I were him, surely my mother will be so proud. 

And then he presented his ‘isi-isi penting’ part. Of which I found very emotional, as if he was in some sort of distress. It was very good, but I can tell that he was distracted by something. And I’m sorry to say this, but I think he can be much better. 

I know he can do something really better and far more brilliant than this; I saw him debating since my junior year in University. All of his debates were greater than this pidato. And when I said so, then only I realised that pidato and debate are two different things. So it is comprehensible that Amir is more moderate in pidato, but extremely superior in debating. Or so I thought.

The kind of language he used was ‘Bahasa Melayu Tinggi’ and me myself never thought that Bahasa can sound so ingenious and classy, it was so great that every single word came from his mouth was constructing a poem that made people dream in an ocean of deep thought and emotions. The words played an important role to silent the whole audience. We were stupefied. He conveyed his pidato much better than Malaysian leaders; or even world leaders, if only they can speak Bahasa.

However, I was worried that Awang from Brunei will win. Awang was a great crowd pleaser; but Amir is a better crowd stupefi-er. If the judges enjoyed a relaxing one, they would always prefer Awang.

In his speech, Amir bashed all those people that think using English is very high class and that Bahasa is only a second class language. His speech was so convincing that suddenly me also feel very mad at those people (padahal I sendiri tulis entry ni dalam English..hehehe). Oh, and that’s why I write in English this time. I think I couldn’t explain the competition in perfect Malay like he did in his speech. Amir at least proved his point. He is a TESL student but he treasures his mother tongue more. 

He condemned people who thought that Bahasa Melayu is a kampung language and not a knowledge language. (And that explains why our leaders came up with PPSMI) Amir then ended his speech with a perfection.

‘Maka untuk membina tamadun, bahasa ini (Bahasa Melayu) perlu diangkat, dan ilmu selalu perlu dimartabat oleh kita semua; rakyat Malaysia. Akhir kata, saya ingin anda merenung satu perkara. Betapa membina tamadun tidak sesingkat hujan menjadi awan. Bukan. Awan menjadi hujan. Pasir menjadi debu. Dan api menjadi abu. Tetapi, satu perkara yang perlu kita tahu; prosesnya tidak akan berhenti dan asasnya hanyalah satu: iaitu ilmu (pause), ilmu (pause), dan sememangnya ilmu.’

Whoa! Clap clap clap! And after several cliché 1Malaysia performance from MAKUM, then it was the moment of truth. The MC, Aidil Abdul Ghaffar announced the winners.
Third place goes to Singapore. First place?

“Sudah terang lagi bersuluh; Amirrudin Abd Rahman dari Malaysia!" The crowd cheered gleefully and excitedly! But instead of feeling happy, I was more glad. Because I was so afraid that Awang will win.
For I was too lazy to type the winners’ name, you can click here for the full result.

Then the event ended. We took some pictures with the competitors. I could not pity the Japanese more, since they were still shocked due to the tsunami and earthquake. They were very worried. We took pictures with a Japanese competitor, and she was still confused and sad. Nevertheless, she was professional. She didn’t turn us down. Instead, she smiled happily in the pictures.

We tried to find Amir later, but some media were still interviewing him.

We found him later, and took pictures with him. But I can tell that he is different. Or at least he looked different. Maybe because he was in an aftershave - Nope. Maybe we never knew what great people feel.

He kept winning all the time. He was born to win. 

And to win match after match, competition after competition, we just never knew what it would make him feel. Maybe the euphoria finally used up, that winning doesn’t give any meaning anymore. Every winning that he got might makes him less valuing them. Because the winning so predictable. Or because finally nobody can compete with him on level playing field, that winning becomes boring. Or maybe that he lacked something. Something that the winnings made him overlooked.

And he won because he was just being himself. Like being yourself but people keep telling you that you are great, but you feel nothing. Because you were just being yourself, nothing more. But we never knew. I was just deducting. Maybe correct maybe not. But from his eyes, I can tell that he’s staring but not looking.

When in the car later, we were all still discussing and gossiping. That Brunei guy gave Hezy his facebook address. And Hezy was excited to have a Brunei friend.

Awang and Hezy.

Then Kak Nida told us about Amir. He said that Amir’s mother got cancer. I was obviously shocked. Never heard of it before. Kak Nida said that his mother just finished chemo, but still haven’t got any result. His older sister was there during the competition, but during the announcement, she was nowhere to be seen. 

Or maybe because his mother is sick – I asked again. Maybe that made him to fall in some sort of emotional trench. But we never knew. Because he is the one. The one of whom the emotions are centered at, the one whose star is shining brightly, with no tears people could see. 

The one who people talked so much about, but he himself is incapable of explaining himself. The one whom never have people to feel exactly the same. The one of whom other people will look at as a speaking machine; not an emotional being. The one who was just being himself, but was never looked that way. The one of whom people feel so proud of, but he never brag about himself.

He is the ONE.

My humblest congratulations to you. May your mother get well soon. And may you’d be as strong as your talent. 

Streets of Viet Nam

A street in Ho Chi Minh City

That day in Vietnam was a day when Christmas was nearing. It was the evening of 22nd of December, when the atmosphere of modest celebration was sensed everywhere. We arrived in Hanoi from Incheon International Airport, feeling unsettled and unrest, with nothing that we know about the country, except some experience we gathered from 9 hours of prior transition in Ho Chi Minh City when we headed for Korea from Malaysia.

First time arrived in Viet Nam, trouble found a way to get to us. Some ‘prebet sapu’ drivers tried to attract us into following them, but we resisted. But they kept coming back and the whole time while we were discussing among ourselves of what should we do, they kept eyeing us, as if waiting the moment for us to decide to board their cars. We would, nonetheless, if only they gave a cheaper price. We knew that tourists with less ability to speak a native language are subjected to deception. This, however, almost made us into fighting each other. Finally, we decided to take the airport bus, without knowing where to go.

The only place that we knew was the hotel which we had booked together with the flight tickets earlier. I couldn’t recall the hotel name, but I’d remember it has some ‘star’ in its name. The bus trip from the airport only cost us USD$2, which was far cheaper than the price the ‘prebet sapu’ was offering. If I’m not mistaken, the ‘prebet sapu’ asked us USD$13 for a trip from the airport to the hotel. The only thing good about them was they knew where we were heading to.

I took some pictures while on the bus. And the bus was not as good as the buses in Korea. I know I shouldn’t be so comparative, but I’m just stating the facts. It made me pitying the Vietnamese more. This is the bus in airport, where tourists from all over the world came and having their first impressions. And providing a very poor bus did not help the Vietnamese out in terms of tourists’ opinions.

View from inside the bus. Still at the airport

Open burning and banana plantation? Very Malaysian!

I remembered there was a funny show on the TV of the bus. It was some comedy show of many Vietnamese artists performing a Vietnamese version of Britney Spears’ ‘Baby One More Time’. And all the artists were wearing Vietnam traditional garments. Even though I didn’t laugh at all; well thanks to the freaking out of being a foreigner in a very foreign nation, but I could still feel it’s a funny show.

I spent most of the time on the bus reading out the pamphlets I took earlier from the airport. The pamphlets told how tourists should behave in Vietnam; tourist attractions and it was also attached with a map. On the map, we could locate the hotel where we would spend our night on, but we didn’t know how to ask the people the directions to that place. And what interested me more was one booklet itself tells that if you are to eat at any restaurant, be careful with the meat you are eating.

Some Vietnam chefs love to cook using dog’s meat and serve the meat to the patron without telling them. But the booklet tells it in a very cheerful way, as if saying that we should try eating dog’s meat because it’s fun. What harm can be done after all?

My eyes kept capturing new panoramas, and my brain would immediately compare all those sceneries with anything that they could be compared to. The worst thing I could not stand of Vietnamese streets were the drivers all kept honking while they are on road. And from the pamphlets I read 90% of the vehicles of the Vietnamese streets are motorcycles.

Ever wonder where the Vietnamese live? These are their houses. I think they look cute. Seriously!

When on the bus, I thought God had sent us an angel of a male Vietnam form. With lost of directions, we didn’t know where were we heading to. But a Vietnam guy who looked very modern and businessman-like, which had boarded the bus together with us earlier in the airport, talked with a male tourist of many things, including the directions, which made us into believing that he could help us.

We got down from the bus when that guy got down. We immediately met that guy and asked him how to get to the hotel. That guy talked to a taxi driver, and that driver soon quickly load our luggage into his boot. The Vietnam guy also wanted to board the taxi, but unfortunately, our luggage alone had occupied all the space of the boot, and we even had to bring along some excessive bags with us inside the taxi. So the Vietnam guy let us go with the taxi and he would take another taxi. I honestly felt disappointed because he was the only one that could help us to communicate with the people of Vietnam. But my friend said that that guy was actually an ‘ulat’ paid to attract unknowing tourists to board the taxis.

And then it was an adventure with that driver. He kept honking and honking, and he drove like a pelesit. If only Vietnamese are allowed to drive in Malaysia, the number of mat rempits would be countless, and maybe even biblical! After a few minutes experiencing the craziness of Vietnam traffic, the taxi driver pulled over in a busy parking near a church. Oh and here comes another trouble. The taxi driver didn’t have enough change, and it took us five minutes or more to understand his condition. He kept gesturing ‘five’ with his fingers, but we couldn’t figure out anything logical by any means. Soon after he himself satisfied with his explanation, he left us with our luggage. And that didn’t solve the enigma of finding the hotel that we booked, or even solving the confusing meaning of ‘five fingers’ he showed us.

Lost once again, we decided to combine the ‘power of three adventurers’ and start looking for the hotel ourselves. That evening was a mild cold evening. It was winter in Hanoi, but the temperature wasn’t lower than 16 degree Celsius. I didn’t know how I knew this but I am pretty sure I’ve kinda read it somewhere in the same pamphlet of the dog’s meat. Hanoi experiences mild winter because it is located northwards of Vietnam, so the climate is different from southern wise Ho Chi Minh City.

Finding the hotel was very depressing. From what we’ve heard, the hotel should be of 3 stars or more. But can you imagine a 3-star hotel located in a slum? Well, maybe only in Vietnam! We had to drag along our heavy luggage, with the motorcyclists kept honking every time they passed by. It was annoying and freaking-ly enraged me! And I think I shouldn’t be mad if it’s on the road, but it’s not. it was just a small alley with very small space for us to walk side by side, let alone having motorcycles to pass this extremely small path.
And we kept walking; like for thirty minutes, but still couldn’t find any sign of the hotel.

I was becoming more tired and mad with every passing minute. We began to think that we were cheated by that taxi driver or that businessman-like Vietnamese. I kept cursing and cursing until I couldn’t even think what to say to my friends when they were talking to me. Finally I decided that I should rest, and I will look after our luggage while they were looking for the hotel. And they agreed. For another 15 minutes, I kept cursing while they were looking for that goddamn hotel. I waited on a pavement in front of a shop, and many people passed by me. The only thing that I hoped at that time was I would not be robbed by any Vietnamese villain.

Soon, they found the hotel. And what was surprising the hotel was really located in the slum. OMG. But the hotel was very great though. It must be at least a 4-star hotel. Only in Vietnam, where a 4-star hotel located in a slum. How funny!

That goddamn hotel! See how luxurious it is?

P/s: Next time, make sure u plan before u leave. Just in case!

Last pic: A picture of the clouds; somewhere in between Korea and Vietnam.

LEWAT MALAM, MENGIMBAU KENANGAN - GAJAH

Gajah-gajah Kuala Gandah. Dari kiri: Mala, Pyan, Abot, Mawar, Cheri, Sanum

Jam sudah 2.10. Masih belum tidur. Baru siap kerjakan tesis, melantak roti + ayam brand tuna + mamee itik. ‘Awal’ lagi nak tidur. Esok kelas pukul 8. Kalau tidur lambat, jadi macam monyet kat sebelah ni ----->
Tadi Ila cerita pasal staf IBD yang terpotong kaki sendiri guna chainsaw. Erk, sakit GILA! 

Ila dengan Uji LI dekat IBD (Institut Biodiversiti) Lanchang sem lepas. Saya pulak LI dekat Kuala Gandah. IBD dengan National Elephant Conservation Centre Kuala Gandah tu dekat je, n memang dah macam adik beradik. Staf IBD ramai yang kahwin dengan staf Gandah. Tak terkira banyaknya. Hahaha! N dua2 tempat pun bawah PERHILITAN. Ok2. Sambung cerita. Ceritanya begini..Encik tu, yang baik dengan Uji, tengah menebang pokok guna chainsaw.

Masa pokok tu nak tumbang, dia pun larilah sambil lari dengan chainsaw tu. Chainsaw tu dia tak tutup. Tiba2 dia terjatuh. N chainsaw tu pun potong kaki dia sampai hampir putus. Bila pergi hospital, doktor suruh potong habis, sebab dah takde harapan. Sedih gila saya dengar.

Moga-moga dia tabah…

Teringat peristiwa menarik masa LI. In case ada orang yang tak tahu, LI stands for Latihan Industri ataupun praktikal. Ataupun Industrial Training. Ataupun Internship. Semua maksud sama.

Biasalah dulu main dengan gajah. Bukannya senang. Gajah ni dahlah besar,sensitif. Tapi baik hati dan comel , macam saya. Hahaha! Perah santan sikit.

Anyway, nak cerita pasal peel gajah2 dekat Kuala Gandah. Tapis paling muda. Usia 10 bulan (masa saya LI). Jantan. Kuat bermain, sampai pernah sondol pelancong. SUka minum susu. Oh, korang tau tak antara kerja kami masa LI ialah menyusukan anak gajah n gajah yang sakit? Mesti tak tau kan? Hahaha! Tau tak macam mana nak bancuh susu gajah? Tak tau? Nanti saya cerita.

Yang menarik dalam gajah2 ni ada a few. Antaranya Mawar. Mawar paling evil sekali. Dia kaki gaduh la. Paling anti dengan Lasah. Lasah jantan, Mawar betina. Kalau bergaduh memang ngeri. Dah nama gajah kan. Btw, berapa ramai je antara korang pernah tengok gajah bergaduh kan?

Lasah ni pulak, ada satu je gading. Gading sebelah dia reput. Orang cakap, Mawar tak suka Lasah sebab Lasah pernah gigit ekor Mawar sampai luka. Mawar tu jenis pendendam. Dia berdendam even dengan bos kitorang pun.

Mawar ni kawan baik Abot. Budak praktikal sebelum saya cakap Mawar dengan Abot gajah lesbo, sebab dia pernah nampak Abot panjat badan Mawar masa Mawar tidur. Dua-dua betina! Abot ni agak tinggi. Paling pandai antara semua gajah. Kalau ada apa2 berlaku, mesti orang syak Abot yang buat, sebab dia je yang pandai. LOL!

Berabung paling brutal. Tapi bila dia sayang, memang sayang betul dengan mahout dia. Bila mahout dia panggil, dia datang. Tapi dengan orang lain dia garang. Berabung ni jantan, dia kena halau dengan kumpulan dia sebab dia gajah yang terlebih. Dalam kumpulan gajah, cuma boleh ada satu je gajah jantan. Untuk elakkan persaingan, gajah jantan yang dominan akan halau gajah gantan yang lain. Lepas kena halau, Abung pergi makan buah dekat dusun orang. So PERHILITAN pun terpaksa tangkap. Tahun ni usia Berabung dah masuk 6 @ 7. Still suka minum susu. Saya agak ngeri kalau dengan Abung ni. Hehehe..

Sanum pulak takde ekor, kena baham dengan harimau. Lepas tu dia lari dekat kampung orang Asli, Kg Sanum, Sungai Siput, Perak. FYI, gajah2 dekat Kuala Gandah semua diberi nama berdasarkan tempat dia dijumpai. Macam Sanum la. Mawar, Lasah, Cheri. Kecuali gajah import macam Lokimala n Pyan. Lepas tu orang2 Asli pun call PERHILITAN, mintak ambil Sanum. Masa tu luka dia memang serius, perut dia berlubang, ekor putus kena makan harimau. Badan dia penuh calar-balar cakaran harimau. 

Bila masuk ubat dalam badan, keluar ikut lubang lain. Lepas lama tu, baru sembuh. Sanum paling lambat sekali belajar. Masa saya LI dulu, dia pandai duduk je. Yang lain dah pandai siram air, tunduk hormat, baring. Hehehe..comel je!  <—lagi comel dari pokok ni….

Oh, nak tau macam mana nak bancuh susu gajah? Hm, rahsia. Resipi sulit. Hehehe! Itu antara pengalaman dengan beberapa gajah. Ada masa nanti, cerita pulak pasal gajah lain. Ok, nak tidur dah. Salam n gudnite!

AYAM: Malaysian Youtube Stars

Hey y’all! Familiar with those faces? Yes, they are the new generation of Malaysian entertainers ! Say hello to these YouTube Stars: Maria Elena, Mat Lutfi, Anwar Hadi, and last but not least; Cikgu Syida! 

These four people were newly discovered on YouTube (I mean, I had newly discovered them on YouTube..)and they had stolen thousands of Malaysian hearts. My entry today would be about these four people who had their lives  changed by YouTube. 

They had went from ordinary to extraordinary; shot to stardom just by posting their homemade vids to YouTube. They even have their own fan page and followers by now. Let’s get to know them better! Oh and btw, AYAM is a term I lend from Anwar Hadi. He has a dream to create a society called Angkatan Youtubers Anak Malaysia. Haha! Goodluck for you!

MARIA ELENA

“Ah, malu la u ni!”

Who is she: An English tutor from KL. She attended SMKDU for secondary education. Fan of Tajima hijab (the kind of tudung she wears in her videos).

YouTube breakthrough: Was born on December 1987. She had her blog far earlier before her first video on YouTube. First time looking at her, people could tell that she is not some of your ordinary next-door girl. Loved for her miming videos, some of them were inspired by Cikgu Syida, and also her funny streak of expressing opinions.

What’s more: She plays guitar and sings.

“Tolong ingatkan aku..eh, macam lagu Ana Rafali..”

Favourite quote: “Assalamualaikum….kom apa, kombat, bat apa, batman, man apa, man, I’ve just made a video! ()o()”

MAT LUTHFI

“Betoi ka saya dah feymes?”

Who is he: Was born in 1990. Currently in Perth, studying in Curtin University. An ordinary guy from Kedah. Attended SMK Kota Kuala Kangsar from 2003 until 2005, before pursuing his upper forms in SBPI Kubang Pasu. Fan of Hujan.

YouTube breakthrough: His first video was a video he made with his friends while in school; uploaded in 2007. They called themselves OAG SBPIKP. His first famous video however, which introduced him to the fans was the video for Mother’s Day 2010. Who could forget the guy that speaks English with some Kedah accent? His video are mostly expressing opinions; most of them presented in sketches and short drama. Oh, and he is very funny! Only by looking at his body language will make people laugh.

What’s more: He can really act. Had tried many characters; and sometimes acts as woman; as in typical local film/drama scenes.

“Mak I yang mengandungkan I, daddy I yang bagi I duit..”

Favourite quote: “Aku taula, jenih muka tak semayang!”

ANWAR HADI

“You, I babab kang!”

Who is he: His full name is Noor Anwar Hadi. Also calls himself as anak pakman. Raised up in different places. First stayed in Kelantan until he was 6 years old, before moving to New Zealand when his father pursued studies there. Came back to Malaysia when he was 8, and stayed in Kedah until today. Currently in Australia pursuing TESL degree.

YouTube breakthrough: First video was a simple video of which he introduces himself. Soon afterwards, he produced videos that conveys his mature opinions on issues in childish expressions. Loved for his editing quality, and his fluent English. Like Mat Lutfi, also from Kedah and sometimes he produces videos in Kedah accent.

What’s more: Also fan of Hujan, like Mat Lutfi. Hm, both have many similarities!

Favourite quote: “In case you didn’t know, I tried to post every Sunday!”

CIKGU SYIDA

“Sapa nak kutuk aku, meh tengok muka aku waktu miming dulu!”

Who is she: An English teacher from Parit, Perak. She receives a wide spectrum of responses when she first uploaded her videos. Many people claimed that a teacher shouldn’t act like her. However,instead of rupturing her career, the bad reviews only pushed her further to fame. She also uses her videos as a teaching tool for her students. She taught her students to feel confident of themselves and not to feel shy to express their true nature.

YouTube breakthrough: Her videos are like contagious disease. Cannot be avoided at all and spread very fast! People will always remember her dancing to Waka Waka and her own version of Maher Zain! 

What’s more: Was invited to a talk show and she performed her miming of Kalau Berpacaran!

“Aku rasa Maher Zain mesti nak tiru imej aku pasni!”

Favourite quote: “Ada aku main telor bapak kau ke?!”  (*update: She's dead in Vlog world after a bashing from Aidid Muadib)

That’s all dudes. Till we meet next time ya!

Explorers of Life: UPM Newbies

University life had started for me; 5 semesters ago. I was disappointed for not having my course of choice; but I was still grateful nevertheless. My journey had begun in a new chapter of life; and it was up to me to celebrate the colours of my own decision and savouring the tastes of a new beginning.

It was very fun exploring things I had never known before. The first day I went to class, I didn’t know which bus should I take to get back to college. I took twice Serumpun bus; and the second time I took the bus, I went down from the bus and walked from K13 to my college. Oh, did I mention I was having a fever at that time? Yes! The night before, we were having practices for Malam Tunas Budaya.

I had to stay up late  to write the script. I woke up feeling very weak, but I had to go to class. It was my first class ever in University, I couldn’t afford to absent from the class! I felt very sick, and consider that I have to take a tour round UPM twice while my head was burning with fever before I could get back to have a rest!

We also had trouble in finding the class. UPM is so big; how should we know which room or lecture hall our class is at? How do we know where is DKAP, where is FPAS, and where is BHEP? Yes, we were provided with map, but the map sure looked very perplexing! We reached the class however, like 40 minutes before the class started. We went very early in case we got lost. Very funny! Oh, and my first class ever in UPM was Men and Environment. Will always remember that.

Next, which extra curricular program should we take? The choices available were so plenty, and I simply could not decide. I didn’t know what factors should we take into consideration when choosing one. For instance, if I was to take Bakti Siswa, which group do I have to choose? And why? Which time is the best? Morning, afternoon, evening or night? Lastly I took archery for my first ever koko.

And since the class were held in morning and evening, I chose the evening class. So I would have much time to take bus to the stadium.

And also there were many clubs with no credit hours, such as AIESEC, Golden Key, al-Biruni and such. At college level, we have HRAT, Kelab Warisan etc etc. I wondered which club should we join? And is it compulsory to join at least one?

First time buying the food in foodcourt, I took very little of vegetables and some crab balls, and I was charged RM4. I felt like screaming. It was so expensive! Back in matric, I had never eaten anything priced more than RM2.80!

But luckily we have that Holy Grail of card. The Meal Plan Card! Which literally speaks a semester worth of food.

Speaking of Meal Plan, I thought you can buy every food with that thing. Including every kiosk and coop throughout UPM. I even asked “Boleh tak bayar guna Meal Plan?” while I was buying some junk food in FEM’s kiosk. And I was lucky that that mamak didn’t humiliate me.

The first time I went to MINES, my friend from UKM came and accompanied me. We both had never been to MINES, and we took that goddammit boat to get into the mall! We had to pay RM3 per head for one trip. And what’s more, we also got out of the mall by the same way! Which means to simply enter and exit the MINES, we spent RM6 per head for one visit! Such nonsense!

Mind you, the second time was not getting better. I was with my coursemate, and we took UPM commuter bus. Instead of going down at Serdang commuter station, we stayed on the bus until the driver asked us to get down at South City Plaza. He said that it was the bus last stop. Imagine, we had to walk from South City Plaza to MINES passing the busy traffic and roads under the hot sun! What funnier more, was we still couldn’t find the entrance to the MINES.

We asked some guy, and after we asked him, only then we knew that he was Indonesian, and he answered “Oh, mines. Kamu ingin ke mines ya?” When I typed ‘mines’ he literally said it. Instead of ‘mains’ as we all pronounce the ‘MINES’, he said ‘mines’. He took the spelling too seriously!

I think that’s all dudes for this entry. We had at times difficulties in adapting to a new environment, but the process itself could be fun and memorable. With that, I want to conclude that, we should not be fear of the paths before us. We will always explore more things in life, more ‘new beginning’s, more new places.

Just believe in yourself, and more often than not, your friends, to take new challenges and to create new experiences together. After all, life is too short to be curious and to never take the first step.

Chow, and good luck!