Forget CO2!

Attention everyone! Our world is in grave danger from a very real threat - DHMO. Forget the whole ruckus about CO2 (carbon dioxide), DHMO (dihydrogen monoxide) is at least a thousand times more abundant in our atmospheres than CO2 ever will be. read the following article for more info. Lastly, don't forget to boycott all products that use DHMO! Together we CAN make a difference!


BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!
Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there.
Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.
Dihydrogen monoxide:
· is also known as hydroxl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
· contributes to the "greenhouse effect."
· may cause severe burns.
· contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
· accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
· may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
· has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
Contamination is reaching epidemic proportions!
Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage in the midwest, and recently California.
Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
· as an industrial solvent and coolant.
· in nuclear power plants.
· in the production of styrofoam.
· as a fire retardant.
· in many forms of cruel animal research.
· in the distribution of pesticides.
· as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The impact on wildlife is extreme, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer!
The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.
Oh btw, to those who don't quite get it, try writing out the chemical formula for DHMO. This goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you read from emails or blogs nowadays. Well, except for this one, of course.

Cheers, and have a good day :)

GG-ed!

Everyone's stressed out by an insane Math paper, except those who've practically memorized the answer scheme. Never mind, it's picture time!

I seriously ROFL, LOLed, BBQed, DVDed, whatever. I just love Lolcat, don't you?

The Making of a Sciencey Person

I have a friend who is an artist, and he sometimes takes a view which I don't agree with. He'll hold up a flower and say, "Look how beatiful it is," and I'll agree. But then he'll say, "I, as an artist, can see how beautiful a flower is. But you, as a scientist, takes it all apart and it becomes dull." I think he's kind of nutty.


First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people-and to me, too, I believe. Although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is, I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. But at the same time, I see much more in the flower than he sees. I can imagine the cells inside, which also have a beauty. There's beauty not just at the dimension of one centimeter; there's also beauty at a smaller dimension.


There are the complicated actions of the cells, and other processes. The fact that the colours in the flowers have evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; that means insects can see all the colours. That adds a question: does this aesthetic sense we have also esxist in lower forms of life? There are all sorts of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower.


It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts.

 -Excerpt from 'What do YOU care what people think?' by Richard P. Feynman

The short excerpt was taken from the a book compiled from the memoirs and interviews with Richard Feynman. He is sort of a hero to me, representing everything I've wanted and still hope to be.

The main reason I felt like sharing the extract was because a lot of people, I'm sure have a certain preset notion about the 'Sciencey' breed of people in the world. We're supposed to be boring, dull people who spend the rest of their days cooped up in some lab somewhere. We take everything apart, so there's really nothing left to appreciate. So it really struck a chord with me when he says, "It only adds (beauty). I don't understand how it subtracts".

A good friend of mine once told me that as a kid, he would gawk in awe at the rainbows in the sky. They has an ethereal, magical property to them. Then progressing up the ranks of study, science broke down the beautiful rainbows into nothing more than the refraction of light through water particles acting as lenses. In that sense, it removed the mystery, the wonder of something you didn't understand.

But then again, after the rain has fallen, I still look up to the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of the multi-hued arches in the sky. I understand how a rainbow is formed. I understand it on a deeper level than the average passerby. It's almost like an exclusive secret I can keep to myself. It is still magical, it is still beautiful.

It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts.

Of running, fasting

I'm now a volunteer for World Vision's annual 30-hour famine!

Click for more info.

It's this nifty thing where you don't eat or bathe (honestly, I have no idea why) for 30 hours (hence the name). Somehow or other, it's meant for you to experience the hardship and poverty of the impoverished people of the world. It's a great idea, really! But for a ridiculous bunch of people who have just as ridiculous metabolism rates (like me!), die loh. No, really. I don't know how I'm going to last 30 hours. I don't think properly if I don't have my second breakfast. I get moody if I don't get my lunch. How? HOW LAH TELL ME WEI. I thought I could get away by being a volunteer.

'Alrighty now, everyone start fasting! But since I'm a volunteer, obviously I need my energy to volunteer properly, so I won't be joining you *snicker*.'

But that didn't work. Turns out volunteers have to fast too. Bah.

I'll just have to deal with it when I get there. Stay awake all night and sleep through the 30 hours? Maybe. Play COD for 26 hours straight? Maybe. Options, options.

Speaking of which, on the exact same day of the famine countdown, there is this other event I would have reeeeally liked to have gone to. It's the (also) annual SAFRA Singapore Bay Run! The coolest thing about it is the sheer number of participants. If I remember correctly, there were about 10 to 15 thousand runners for one of the previous years. And also, Singapore has a good reputation for organising enjoyable runs.

And Singapore is a lovely place to run. I mean, all island with no place else for the smog and pollutants to go to. Lovely, lovely indeed. All urban landscape with close to zilch greenery. But let's not forget the other spectrum of the view - the girls!

I mean, honestly, probability dictates that at least some of them will be acceptably gorgeous. And they'll be running! Flushed red cheeks, windswept hair! What more could you ask for?

Oh wait.

PB and Jelly it. I can't run because I've volunteered to starve myself and deprive myself of food. GAH! NO! I can't believe the alternative. It's either Run With Pretty Girls or Starve Myself For 30 Hours.

Sigh, persevere, Jonno! It's for a good cause. Think of the little kids in Somalia, starving! Or Zimbabwe, think of the poor kids who have to lug around back-breakingly huge mounds of money just to buy breakfast only to find that the price went up due to their hyper-inflation rate, pegged at about 2.2 million % due to the power crazy splurges of their evil dictator leader who does not want to negotiate in talks with the opposition leader but oh why am I telling you all this, lets just get back to the point!

Zzz....

Dilemmas, dilemmas, but I'll keep you posted. Good night world!

I swear it!

Recently, Winson and I gave some presentation in school about some Energy Audit project we did a month ago. It was quite well met, which made me quite glad actually.

The now (in)famous picture of Riza, imprinted in the minds of them impressionable school kids.

Of course, there were a couple of things we forgot to do. Forgetting to inform Mr. Jonathon (our IB coordinator) was obviously the biggest mistake. Besides the obvious, it turns out I was also a little rude on stage. ‘’Jonathan, you don’t use words like ‘darn’ or ‘crud’ on stage’’, said he, very civilly.

‘’Oh dang it’’, thought I.

Perhaps I was getting a little used to saying not-so-rude or crude words every time something slips, or every time I stub my toe on something. Well, fine. As much as possible, I’ll try not to say ‘darn’ or ‘dang’ or anything of the sort from now on. But ah, I need some sort of milder substitute to slowly wean myself off. Sorta like a nicotine patch for chain smokers.

I know! I’ll start swearing by ‘peanut butter’.

Yes lah, it’s very lame and nonsensical, but it gets the job done. Plus, I probably get points for coolness. Imagine a situation where Dai Ah Long (gangster guy) and I are walking and both of us almost got run over by a car.

‘Beep beep beep boop boobity boo beep beep beep’ (Guy starts swearing in Chinese, obviously censored. Plus, I don’t know enough Chinese to swear)

And then you’d hear ‘Peanut butter!’

Haha, I know, it sounds insane, but I happen to think it’s insanely cool as well.

Then you’d ask me, why bother? Just swear and be done with it. Well, I don’t really know. It might just be me who thinks it sounds a little crude to be swearing all the time.

I asked one of my classmates today why he was constantly swearing all the time.

"Oh, swearing amplifies the emotion I’m trying to convey. Say, if I was happy I’d say I’m ***************** happy so I would sound happier."

Right. I don’t think that’s an adequate enough justification, but all the same, if you enjoy swearing so much, by all means go ahead. I’m not the one making a fool of myself. The thing is, with every other person uttering expletives at every other thing nowadays, it’s become just so commonplace, so ordinary. Why, I might even dare say it’s downright boring and redundant.

Take for example, an exceedingly infuriated person. If he were to swear, he would probably sound like this:

Oh my BEEP you BEEPing BEEP BEEP BEEP, I’m am so going to BEEP BEEP your BEEP BEEP BEEPing BEEP and BEEP your BEEP up so that BEEP BEEP BEEP until you BEEP and BEEP and also BEEP, but not forgetting BEEP!! You BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP and your dog BEEP BEEP argh! You BEEP mushrooms are BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!! Tuna is BEEPing expensive BEEP BEEP BEEP. . .

And so on, so forth, etcetera, etcetera. . .

Practically nothing is left to the imagination. It’s all spelt out in beeping graphic detail for you. Another thing I have against swearing outright is that it’s just so . . . brainless (for lack of a better word). Any idiot could just start shouting random cuss words (in no particular chronological order) and that would constitute swearing. Bah, such humbug. Really, I think it's a particularly bad habit, much like scratching our bums in public or sneezing in the general direction of other people.

So if anyone asks me why I'm generally 'goody-good' and why I choose not to swear, now you know. Of course, there is the whole moral perspective, but besides that viewpoint, now you know.

Cheers :)

Oh and by the way, for some good intellectual swearing (hah, I keep telling myself there is such a thing) in action, honestly, none do it better than the English. Here’s a short clip from the movie ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ for your enjoyment. Watch out for them Frenchies!

A Small Death

My mouse died on a Sunday night. It was so strange, so sudden. Walking down the stairs to get my dinner, I stopped, stopped and noticed that one of my two mice was missing. It couldn't have escaped, I told myself. Rummaging through the heaps of bedding, a small head peeked out.

It's eyes were closed. It's mouth was agape.

It was dead.


















I didn't quite know what to do then. I held it gingerly in my palm, and it was stiff and devoid of warmth. 'I suppose I must bury it', I then told myself. In the garden I shoveled a shallow pit for my mouse. It was dark, and I couldn't see. I couldn't even see when I had to pat down the earth around the small, frail frame. But it was probably better that way. I couldn't bear the sight of the carcass bloated, a mere shell of what used to be.

Later that night, as I poked at my dinner with disinterest, I would remember. Remember how my mouse used to scamper around, warm, lively, alive. I would approach their little nest, and even when they slept, their little ears pricked up when I was around. Then they would run rings around each other, and sniff longingly at the air. But that was mostly gone now. I continued eating, but it was cold. It was quiet now.

There used to be two of them, but only one remains now. There used to be two, and I'd see them play with each other. And in that small way, I suppose they did make me happy.

Was I a bad owner? Didn't I feed them enough or clean their cage often enough? Didn't I take note of the signs of ailment? I can't quite say.

As I ate my dinner, and I wondered. Why do people really bother keeping pets if they're just going to die someday? I have friends who wept buckets upon the death of a pet. I wonder if it's really worth the anguish.

I wasn't exactly lachrymose about a dead mouse, but it did leave a hollow ring in my ears when I told myself that she was gone. Really, is it worth it?

We just have to resign ourselves to the fact that life goes on, no?

Jonathan.

My Gay Thoughts

No you didn't read that wrong. I'm here to expound a little on thoughts I was entertaining as I read news on the whole political hullabaloo that has been playing out in our Malaysian circus. You know, the whole Anwar being accused of sodomy kind of thing. But, like most other bloggers, I'm quite resigned to blogging about the political viewpoint of the matters; it's just so darn confusing at this stage.

And no, I don't literally mean 'gay thoughts', but rather a few thoughts about the homosexual movement as a whole.

It just struck me as I was reading some opinions about the allegations against Anwar. Some of the more eloquent and thought-provoking writers offered their opinions on the matter, and it pretty much went like, 'Hey, we're really not interested in whether or not Anwar did sodomize the poor chap. Considering that he was a 23 year old lad, probably at the peak of his youth and vitality, and that Anwar was 60+ and had a bad back, it must have been an act of mutual consent, and we're not at all interested in what two consenting adults choose to do in the privacy of wherever. We're only interested if it involves embezzlement of the public funds, and etc etc...'.

Or even things like, 'Malaysia is homophobic for the reason that sodomy (a homosexual act) is criminalized'. Or something to that effect.

Now, note the two main criterion most people offer for an action to be justifiable morally. One, they're adults, and thus fully able to comprehend their decisions and the ramifications of their decisions.

Two, it involves two consenting adults, and from a post-modernist point of view, that would equate to 'We're just doing our thing, and it's not hurting anyone, so just let us be!'.

Well, alright. It seems to be the perception of most people that if its done by two consenting adults, just about anything is fine.

Well, then, I was just thinking to myself about what these very same people would say to a case of incest. Yes, incest, some totally whacked sexual relationship between two people in a family. After all, it does involve two very consenting adults. So if we're really all that keen on allowing people to run around being gay, I really have to ask, why not let a father marry his own daughter? Or better still, let a grandma marry her grandson, or great great grandson, or whatever you fancy?

And doesn't incest just strike you as wrong? Why then, do you ask yourself, is incest so wrong? What, it's not natural? But oh, I never really thought homosexuality was natural either. I might be wrong and my view on things might be totally distorted because I'm a closed-minded person and a Christian of all things (oh no, it's another one!); but after all, it's just my personal take on things.

You know, the thing is, I believe this whole being 'open-minded' is a farce when it comes to homosexuality. There is no real open-mindedness. Everyone is just plain selfish (I'm not absolving myself either). I think most (I'm not saying all, mind you) proponents of homosexuality are themselves closed-minded because they refuse to acknowledge that the grounds on which they justify their claims for validity are the very same grounds that can be used for a lot of other things, which would probably tickle their moral conscience as well. So really, when you refuse to acknowledge that, then it's a mockery in itself of this 'open-mindedness' that we should have.

Of course, if you could still say, 'oh yeah, sure, incest is totally fine with me', then my argument would totally fall and I'd really have nothing else to say. I'd just go home, brood over it and seriously think that our moral state of affairs is in VERY, VERY deep peanut butter (it's the best substitute I could think of to represent something brown and mushy).

And oh, don't even go to there. Where? The, 'Oh, you're another closed-minded Christian and so your arguments are so 1940. We live in the modern age! Your old school rules are no longer relevant!'.

Seriously, -.-''

One, by calling someone closed-minded, you're already refusing to accept whatever views the other has to share, regardless of its validity and rationale.

Two, how do you really know if we're 'closed-minded'? Don't you think that in this age of thinking, we (the C-dudes) would have examined and re-examined our values and asked ourselves if this is really what we believe in?

Honestly, I fall waaaaaaaaay away from the standard of what I dare to call a 'good' Christian, but even I have my core values, which I've asked myself if they were worth protecting, and come to a resounding 'yes'. And of course we've all thought about homosexuality and whether or not it was right or wrong based on both divine standards as well as on modern standards. Well, there are some people who couldn't be bothered about forming a personal opinion, but I think they're just dumb and so they don't come into the equation here.

And look, you know that highly-touted value of being able to speak up for what you believe in? A great majority of people think its great that gays and gay-like people are able to brave ridicule and sum up the courage to tell everyone they're really gay, or stuff. They think its absolutely great that they have the courage to speak up for what they believe in and all that. Well, well, newsflash, that's EXACTLY what I'm trying to do. I'm speaking up for what I believe in, whether it irks people or not.

I could probably think of a few more things to say, but I think this post is controversial enough as it is. I'm expecting backlash from some human rights group in Amsterdam or somewhere, but it's alright. I really hope this prompts everyone to actually think. If you have a nit to pick with me, then fine, but go take some time to think about it, then type it out in a readable manner. Then, we'll sit down for tea and chat.

Lastly, peace out, yo.

:) Jonathan

The World is Fat?

This happened quite some time ago, but it's so funny I just had to share it!I bought a book a couple of months back, and for those who haven't read it, it's a really good book. It's called 'The World is Flat' by this chap called Thomas L. Friedman. Isn't that a kick-tooshie name? Its sorta like Fried-man, but way cooler cause its just Friedman. Do you pronounce it Fried-man, or just Freeeedman?

Anyway, I was buying the book with my sister at MPH, One Utama, but I was kinda lazy to go get it. The conversation went something like this:

Jon : Wei, go get me a book from that corner, it's called 'The World is Flat'.

Sis : What?? The world is Fat?? Like you la!

Jon : . . .

Not wanting to be outdone, my brain coughed up what seemed to be the most appropriate answer in a situation as such.

Jon : No. The world is FLAT. Like YOU!

Sis : Nooooooooooooooooo!

Muhaha. Maybe the end was a tad exaggerated, but you should have seen her face! And I couldn't stop laughing after that. Absolutely priceless. Of course I didn't mean it, but theres always that compulsive need to insult your siblings, in a uhh, loving sort of way.

Man, when we're all old and saggy I'd really like to be able to visit my blog again and read this. I'll probably have a good time laughing it off.:)

Urban Politics

I came across an interesting display on a wall somewhere in KL as Winson and I were walking back from the MACEE US fair.



















Roughly translates to 'Give us ashes, but not UMNO'.

I thought it was a pretty interesting show of the urban mindset of certain things, their views on the happenings in our political landscape, etc etc. I'm assuming here, but I do honestly think that it was probably a bunch of Malay youths who wrote the words. For one, it's written in BM, and secondly, older guys won't resort to such 'uncouth' methods. They'd probably print posters and stick em' on walls cause they're less rowdy and more civilized. :)

Anyway, the point was that youths are beginning to show their interest in politics as well, especially with all the buzz and excitement generated from the previous General Elections. This isn't at all bad or anything, and I think that it is one of the key ingredients in a healthy democratic system. Can you imagine a a place where the young fellas couldn't give a damn about whats happening in their own country?

The only thing is, from the pre-election period till about now, that anti-establishment sentiment has been running hot in the veins of a great number of voters and the young demographic of to-be-voters. Honestly, they have every reason to be, seeing how things have been handled in our country in recent and past years.

However, you can't help but wonder if this zeal is bordering on the fringes of fanaticism and blind-faith in the Opposition?

Recently, during the fuel price hike there were emails floating around questioning the apparent inability of Petronas and the Government in cushioning the impact of the increase for the good of the people. Some people, angry with the governing body, blindly accept the allegations and are quick to jump up and condemn. Whether or not such allegations are true is a whole other matter, but judging by such outbursts from our community of Malaysians, we see that the problem with us is that we always need someone to blame.

And I suppose this is the case for our bunch of Malay youths. For whatever reason they harbor resentment against the Government, they need to put the blame on someone, and so they throw objectivity out the window and shut it tight. What else should we call this but close-mindedness?

We're the urban youths. We're supposed to be the elite ones in terms of thinking and making decisions. Where are we going wrong? Perhaps its time for us to sit back and reevaluate our mindsets on things.

:) Jonathan.

I'm back

Seriously, I thought I had lost it when I couldn't really think of anything else for a title but 'I'm back'.

I'm back? What kinda of crappy title is that anyway??

Right, so here it goes.

With this, I officially declare myself back in business. Yayness and hurrayness to all. After about 2 months of mental blogging block, I can't exactly come up with anything remotely smart to say now, so I'll get away with it by posting a picture! (Really, it almost always works)

Here's a really random picture of me in Amsterdam. Enjoy, and watch out for an update soon.

Hamsterdam!

Chem 6A

Hello all!

In our chem class recently, we studied Markovnikov's rule, and unless you’re a die-hard chem fanboy, I doubt you’ll be interested in reading a whole post about it. Srsly.

Srsly -this means Seriously, in LOLspeak, a language I happen to be quickly assimilating, unfortunately, for you. :)

A paragraph of LOLspeak would sound something like this:

Yo! Like srsly, I don’t fink u wanna heer mi speek abowt dis Chem thingy bt u’d radder heer mi talk abowt thingz asploding. Eryone luvs watchyng things asplode. Like OMGWTFBBQ! It asploded! Yeah I like asploding things too bt the teory bhind the thingz iz also impowtant. Like srsly yo. So I has made talk abowt dis Markovnikov thingy coz itz impowtant for organik chem synthesis yo.

I think you get the idea so I’ll stop now :)

I liek bizkits! w00t!

Sorry.

So one day we were sitting down in a Chemistry lesson. It was actually pretty dull. I mean honestly, as much as I love Chem, the Markovnikov theory isn’t the most interesting thing in the world. So when you’re bored you start doodling. And because you are a lifeless IB student, you start doodling and drawing cartoons about CHEM.

But srsly, how do you remember a name like Markovnikov? This is where the brilliant Riza comes to the rescue.

‘It’s pronounced My-konek-cough la!’

Liek OMGWTFBBQ yo.

Okay, so Mr Lawrence could tell we were a bit restless. I think.

‘You know Markovnikov? Have you ever seen his face? You hold on!’ and with that, Mr Lawrence disappears into his mysterious preparation room to get something. I thought he was getting a picture of the M-dude la, duh.

But no! Mr Lawrence came out with a big wad of cotton – and we were all like WHATTHEHAM!?!? Okla, it was just me coz no one else likes ham in my class.

‘You know Mr Markovnikov? He’s really hairy! Like, super bushy’, exclaims our sprightly teacher. And guess what he does?

Hilarity ensues. I tell you, we’ve lost track of how many ‘facelifts’ we’ve given the skeleton. But well, I suppose they do look quite similar.

With all do respect Sir, you’re a great Chemist, but copious amounts of hair in the scientific society always lead to you being made fun of. Think Einstein.

Who ever said scientists had no sense of humour?

And because I recognize just how important the Markovnikov theory is to man(and woman)kind, I’ll give you a brief rundown of it.

Eh, no grumbling yo, or I maek ur head asplode wif my cuteness.

Just to make it bearable, I’ll add little black and white diagrams! Ain’t that something?

Okay, let’s start with a molecule.

This is the Chick molecule, for want of avoiding ‘standard IUPAC nomenclature’ (fancy-schmancy names)

Srsly. Too complicated wei.

Ok lah. So right, the reaction involves two molecules reacting. The other one:

Okay, so the current chick atom attached to Jon is angry, because of his promiscuity and numerous reactions with atoms of other elements. But Jon spots the Chick molecule, with so many chick atoms in it, and is then attracted. Angry chick atom has enough, so they break up, leaving the Jon atom unattached.

And because the Jon atom has really high electronegativity (high degree of hotness or whatever), he gets an invite to join the big big molecule really soon after the breakup! So shallow eh? But they’re atoms, and it’s all about the chemistry! Heeey, don’t look at me like that.

But there are two places he can sit. So the big question is

WHERE WILL JON GO?

That’s all there is to the theorem. It was made to answer that question. Heheh, I feel kinda important all of a sudden. :)

Right, so back to the case of where Jon would sit. Logically, if you were an electron sucking atom (or well, in our human context it’s probably equivalent to a hot-blooded male) you’d want the spot with more electrons right?

That’s a happy molecule, if I’ve ever seen one.

That’s all there is to the My-Konek-Cough theory. Given the option,the Jon molecule sits on the side where there are more chicks la! So easy! Tersangat kekacangan! Hen pian yi! Eh, I mean, rong yi.

Cheh wa, I should become a Chemistry teacher and draw more pretty pictures.

Hope you enjoyed the lesson.

---

Putting on what Khairul calls my 'mischevious look'. Don't we all look so happy? Not the guy in the middle though, he's a real heartless dude.



























The Professors.

We're asploding your head! LOL.

---

What happens in the dark?

You know how people tell you that humans are most 'productive' when the lights go out (or when there's a power shortage).

Let's see if the old adage holds true. Without much ado, I present to you . . . (air drum roll)

Podcast #1



Kinda mo liu/tak ada isi/pointless, don't you think? But the lights were out, and I didn't have anything to do!

Watch out for Podcast #2! Don't worry, it'll be brighter this time round.

IB Bowling Outing

Today the IB students of Sri KDU went bowling, you know lah-to get rid of some steam so we don't kill ourselves slaving over Internal Assessments. We had plenty of fun, although there were a lot of longkang balls from our side of the game. All in the name of good fun :)

And here we have pictures! Everyone loves pictures. I set my camera on auto, though, so some pics didn't turn out so well. Lazy mah, what to do?

















Jorrel bowling. He was pretty good, actually. Much better than my straight-but-straight-into-longkang throws.
















Yvonne's throw. Quite funny to watch, though her expressions were probably funnier. (Picks up shoe and throws it at you!)

















Heh. I had my share of longkang as well.

















Shafiq Psychoe's exuberance. Quite amusing to watch him bowl as well, and seeing his leg pop out at funny angles when he throws. Heh.
























Eugene here, shuffle-bowling. Another happy bowler. I remember him jumping on Andrew after striking. Why though, I don't recall.
























Aleen (left), one of the co-conspirators in this whole bowling fiasco. Caught her (literally) red-handed!


















Mr. Danny contemplating his next shot. Tension betul.

















We met Ru Ann there, somehow. I thought she was somewhere in Australia when she popped up all of a sudden. Funny eh. And I do wonder what that huge thing is that Daniel's wanting to get his hands on.


















Scorpions in One Utama! What a huge publicity gimmick. Admittedly though, it piqued the interest of curious shoppers, as there was a huge crowd milling around that area. Eg: yours truly.


















I was shooting this particular snake with my Canon (man, I love that pun) when Riza pointed out a snake on top of the cage, just sitting there idly, OUTSIDE the cage. I got a fright out of that, when he so gracefully laughed in my face. It was fake. Blah.

---

There you have it, the IB people do have lives, after all. I personally doubt my team will win that much-coveted food voucher, since we bowled quite badly. Well, at least we had lots of fun. Alrighty now, back to work. EE for me, as Mr. Sai Mun so nicely pointed out.

---

Warning: Long rant ahead.

And on the way back, something happened that was pretty infuriating. I caught a cab from the taxi stand right outside the complex. I wasn't really expecting any trouble, having taken the cab plenty of times. It was a quick 5 minute hop to my place from One Utama, and usually cost anything between 4-5 ringgit.

But What-The-Ham, when I got home the meter said 7 ringgit. I so desperately wanted to expose his evil rigged meter scheme, but I thought better against it. He was this Indian guy with piercings. Not that I'm racially discriminating against Indians, but when guys like that have piercings, he might not be your average Muthu.

So right, I was already fuming and everything lah, but I parted with my 7 bucks. But no, Mr. Scary Piercing Dude told me that it costs another additional RM5, because it was a special taxi. WHAT THE HAM? It didn't look at more special than other taxis. After arguing for a bit, I relented lah.

12 ringgit indeed. This just screams daylight robbery. And bad consumerism on my part. Bah. A word of warning. Don't ever get into a cab from a company called 'Bestoden Sdn. Bhd.'. I might just be sore from my little scuffle, but I happen to think they're cheap conmen, so don't get into a taxi from the company.

And the thing is, once I got home, still fuming, I called up 103, the phone directory to get the company's number to go lodge a complaint. The company wasn't listed. I wanted to go like this: -______-"

Never mind, I consoled myself. I turned to the Almost Almighty Google and hey! they did have a listing with a number to call. But WHATTHEHAM again, the number wasn't in service.

Something about this smells terribly fishy, and no, it wasn't my socks. So, girls and boys, remember that 'Bestoden Sdn Bhd' is a bad bad cab company that cheated me of some 8 ringgit, so never never never get into a cab from them!

Muhahahahahaha cough cough cough choke faint die.

Okay, bye.

Some never learn

A lot has been said and done about the release of 'Fitna' in the recent days. I was flipping through the newspapers today when a particular article caught by attention.

The headline read 'Dutch embassy in Indonesia attacked'.




















Now, lets not jump to hasty conclusions here. I don't condone the movie, neither do I support its viewpoints. That's not the point.

First, let's follow this simple thought process.

• Movie that equates Islam with violence is released.

• Muslims get angry, because its a mockery of what they believe in.

• Therefore, we conclude that Muslims should be peaceful, since they are protesting against violence.
• Indonesian students in Indonesia (duh) angry too, because they're students, and students are naturally more emo.
• They rally, burn flags and tires and tear down the gates over at the Dutch embassy.

• Proved their point that Islam does not equate to violence.

What? Of course it's a peaceful demonstration where we wave around posters connoting that Geert Wilders (the producer of the film) should be shot!

It's not the nicest thing to do, is it? Burning the flags of other countries and all that.

Honestly, some people never learn. By inciting more violence with your rallies and passionate speeches, your shooting yourself in the foot. At the very least, I'm sure Geert Wilders would have expected protests denouncing his film, maybe even a few people being bashed up along the way. You're not denouncing the film through those actions, you're proving him right. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

I sound a little angry here. Alright, put it this way.

Extremism = bad

Instead of wasting precious time and energy being angry at the Dutch for something that ONE person did, shouldn't Muslims unite to instead curb extremism within their own ranks? After all, at the very root of the problem, its the extremists who are giving Muslims around the world a bad name.

Just my two cents, but have your say as well;

It's good for the brain.

Horrible Pun #1

Hello everyone. I know I’ve not been updating for awhile, so here’s something to whet your appetites.

So right, we were feeling really lame in Math one day. Yeah, I know. Statistics are hilarious.

Then in the spur of the moment, I came up with a pretty bad pun. No matter, I’m here to inundate your brain with the redundant and the ridiculous anyway, so here it is.

How does THIS:

Equal THIS?

Think about it for awhile. And scroll slowly.

GRAPH

G  R  A  P  H

G      R      A      P      H

G      R   A   P   H

G      R A P H

G-RAPH!








GIRAFFE!







:D

Don’t start pelting rocks at me, I told you it was a horrible pun.

Have a good day!

---

Postscript:

I tell you, this post was heck tough to format, in terms of HTML. The upside is, I learnt something new! Like this nifty cool line above this PS section.

Antoine de-Saint Exupery says that we learn through resistance. This, I believe to be true. If you haven't heard of the man, go read up one of his books. He's an excellent writer, and his book 'The Little Prince' is now clamouring for first place in my favourites list.

Quasi-political ramblings

The infamous good friend of mine, Khairul Syahir, has authored yet another post (man, I love this guy, I really do). Instead of disagreeing though, I very much agree with what he has to say.

If you actually have the time, go read this excellent article up on Malaysiakini.com - here.

What the writer has to say is that if the voters had earlier known that as many as five states would fall into Opposition hands, they wouldn't have voiced their protest through the ballots boxes as loudly as they did. It's simple, really. Regardless of however much voters were against the ruling coalition, it's a fact that the Opposition has no experience whatsoever in ruling a state. So we're all worried now for the state of our states in the coming future.

We've given them their mandate to rule, but the question on everyone's mind is whether or not they can do so efficiently? Most are worrying about dissent among the Parliamentary leaders, seeing that they come from different parties. Some are worrying that with a weakened majority, the National Front (BN) coalition will be quite crippled and thus rendered quite useless (more than they already are, at any rate).

But there is hope yet.

I've been quite an avid reader of Malaysia Today, an news site, independent of any one political party, since about a year ago. Raja Petra, the site's owner and author recently write an article titled 'The Aftermath of the Bloodbath'. Don't let the title faze you. It's been what I've been wanting to hear ever since the elections took place.

Quote: 'Malaysia Today, which is already a nightmare for the ruling party, is going to now also be the nightmare of the five opposition-led state governments. And we are going to monitor these five states even closer than we watch the federal government.

So remember who put you where you are today. Remember who gave you your job. The rakyat can hire and the rakyat can fire. We, the rakyat, made you and we, the rakyat, can break you. Just remember that and with God as our witness we shall not fail to do that if you fail to do what you promised to do.'

The rakyat have spoken, and they will again if the Opposition fails to deliver.

Another point that I feel gives us a little more security is the fact that our elected MPs (here is Selangor, at any rate) are actually accessible and contactable people. I'm sure the young generation of voters and to-be voters (like yours truly) will have familiarized themselves with the political web scene, which have seen the uprising of political figures like Jeff Ooi.

If the people doesn't like what he's doing, do you think we'll let him have it off that easily? No, we'll voice our dissatisfaction, we'll spam his site till it crashes (okla, we don't have to be so mean).

And it's not just him. We have bright, young figures like Tony Pua, Hannah Yeoh, Teresa Kok and Fong Po Kuan, to name a few. All of whom have their own blogs, all who can at any time can be found by the people, and not only when the elections swing around.

Like Raja Petra said, 'We, the rakyat, can make you, and we, the rakyat, can break you'.

We'll be watching them.

----------------------------

Alright, that sums up my political ramblings. Be prepared for more mindless posting about pointless things in the days to come. :) I'll be off to Guangzhou, China tomorrow, so no updates for 5 days (heh, not like I actually update that often). Tata, humans!

Let's talk politics

If you've noticed, I've kept politics out of my posts since I started, but I've been compelled to reply to this. Recently, my good friend Khairul Syahir authored a post, titled 'Don't talk about politics with me'. He cites three main reasons for his stand:

1. We're 19.
2. We don't know much about politics
3. When we base our judgments solely on biased sources, it is only right that our judgments are biased too.

Go read his post for the full context of his claims.

Anyway, the past week has been fraught with these 'political discussions', and just about everyone, from the canteen lady to a particular Business teacher we have has been heatedly discussing the political happenings around us. But the have every right to, seeing that they're eligible voters.

How about us then? People like me, who can't do pretty much anything but talk, talk and talk about the elections?

1. We're 19

Actually, I'm 18. And you'd be in for a shock when you find that many others younger than us do 'talk politics' as well. You might think it's a waste of time, since we can't vote or anything, but I beg to differ. Apply the same logic to say, a football fan.

Quote: 'No matter how hard we believe in any party (or team) , we are not eligible yet to vote (we can't do anything about it). So I might as well save my energy and time doing something else like doing my EE or writing my Maths IA or reading up on Special Theory of Relativity that would actually benefits me as a 19-year-old instead of indulging in politics that I cannot do anything about (watching football which I cannot do anything about).'

Why then do 19 year olds everywhere continue watching football, or even talking politics?

Look, I'm pretty darn sure that on the 9th of March, a day after the elections you picked up the newspapers and read about how everyone fared this elections. Why so?

It's simply because we have an interest in the outcome. Like the football fan, he can go die happy if his team Y wins the whatever cup. Likewise, as Malaysians, we are all stakeholders in the governing body. Whatever happens to them will inevitably affect us in some way or another. So we talk politics, to keep ourselves abreast with the news. Don't get us wrong Khairul, it's not all about bashing certain Son-in-Laws or other politicians. It's also healthy discourse, and this leads to more critical thinking. Maybe we've come across as BN bashers and Opposition worshipers, but really, we point out flaws in both, give merits where we can. It's really idiotic of us if we were to delude ourselves into thinking that any one party is perfect. We're not that stupid.

And heck, talking politics is pretty darn fun.

1. .
2. We don't know much about politics

Honestly, I see no reason why we have to dig up the history of the ruling parties, read books by leaders of parties, etc etc. What we want to know is what is relevant today. What we want to know is simply whether or not the contesting parties can deliver the points stated on their glorious manifestos. You don't have to dig that far back. Just look from 4 years ago, the previous elections, when many promises were made and not so many were fulfilled. It's not hearsay, it's not biased opinions or dubious secondary sources. It's the facts. Crime rates, inflation, economic growth. These aren't things you come by digging up the history of parties or leaders. It's facts we've felt around us, facts that have been drilled into our heads every time we read about a missing child, a horrific murder and increasingly commonplace crime. We don't have to know much about politics, we just want to know who can deliver, and who the real incompetents are.

Admittedly, I understand where you're coming from, when you consider all those bandwagon jumpers, who only stop to gossip about politics when the elections swing by. Your points would be validly justified on those people. But some of us aren't that fickle. We have a real interest in what goes on in the country.


3. When we base our judgments solely on biased sources, it is only right that our judgments are biased too.

We've been studying fallacies in TOK (Theory of Knowledge) for a year now. Do you think I would subject myself to such non-objectivity? And don't you think that through discourse we are able to apply, first hand, all we've learned in our TOK lessons, like identifying fallacies in certain ideas or thought? Like I said, there's probably nothing dumber you can do than do delude yourself by only reading one-sided views. Personally, I do try to get my news from as many sources as possible. Unfortunately though, not everyone tries.

Quote : 'When we support one view, we tend to look for everything that goes in support of it. If we support PAS for example, we read Harakah and accept all while dismissing all in the national newspaper.'

Maybe you're referring to the anti-establishment sentiments that have been running hot in the veins of young urbanites like some of our classmates. It's partly true that we can't do anything about it, but at the very least, as rational thinkers, by engaging in a discussion you might bring them to the 'light', so to speak.

There's probably a lot more we can say about this, but I'll stop here. You've chosen not to talk about politics, fine and well, I respect your choice. I, however, will beg to differ.

I will talk politics, and if not with you, with another.

A new cousin!

Eh, my titles are getting more and more literal.

Anyway, on the 29th of February my aunt gave birth to a baby boy. the 29th! Poor kid, imagine growing up only once every 4 years. Oh well, it does make you unique, and set you apart from most of the other kids, if you like all that.


















And here it is! I say it, because somehow or other the gender of the baby isn't really so evident. Like in class the other day, Kay was mentioning about how Mr Michael brought his daughter/son to school. It was pretty funny, because we were initially staring blankly at her wondering if she couldn't tell the difference between a boy and a girl.

'It's a baby laaaaa.......'

And so, congrats to my cousins, you've got yourself (another) brother.

If you look through the picture below, you'll find that the cousins are ALL very much male, with the slight exception of my two sisters.

















And now we've got another boy. Everyone's happy, but I do think my aunt and uncle were hoping for a daughter. Think about it, with three boys they'll really have their hands full.

Oh well, you know what they say . . . if at first you don't succeed, try and try again ;)

85 years is a long time

Last Saturday my grandpa celebrated his 85th birthday. It's pretty interesting, as he doesn't follow the Gregorian calendar system, but has his birthday on the 13th day of the Chinese New Year. So it's subject to date changing every year, but it's right smack in the middle of all the festivities and food, so we're not complaining.

And to mark the occasion, we had a little bit to drink. 85 Mah (it's a pun, geddit?) , and so we had to go tipsy, if not it wouldn't be much fun at all.



Heh. A little was probably a gross misnomer.

You know, since I haven't been posting for quite awhile, I really need time to get it back in my stride. So this post will be the most mindless post I've had in awhile, just spamming pictures with little captions underneath.

Pictures galore!


The cognac was good stuff. But it was so old the bits of cork were breaking up and fell into the drink :(



So here's the restaurant guy straining the cork bits out, then pouring it back into the bottle. Almost as good as old. Pretty ingenious, eh?


Kin Yip was all like 'Wah, white so gay'.

Then he changed my theme to pink.



Underage drinkers! We're obviously not very good examples, so yeah, don't drink (too much).



And there were the usual festive dishes. Yee Sang pictured here. And as much as I love yee sang, I've probably eaten the very same dish at the very same restaurant at least three times over the course of the past weeks.


More underage drinkers. Bad bad Mah family.



Well, we're not actually all that bad. See here, one glass is alcohol, while the other is relatively harmless Chinese tea. We drank tea too, but you almost can't tell the difference.

Uh oh, that might explain why the little kids were so hyper that night.



A big big, expensive dish. Though not as costly as the fish, which was a whopping RM900 for our three tables. That was one expensive life! As I was eating the fish, I really couldn't help thinking that it had lived a good life, and was now serving its higher purpose in life.

Good stuff, that fish.



Kids be kids. Long gone are the days when your childhood didn't revolve around technology. It's pretty sad actually, when I notice everyone around so obsessed with their handphones and what-not. But then again, it might just be me.



The restaurants famed 'Sang Har Meen'. It doesn’t look too appetizing in the picture, but trust me when I say that it's absolutely glorious. For the benefit of those who don't know, sang har meen (very very) loosely translates into 'big-ass prawn noodles'.



We 'Yam Seng-ed' all night. Must have scared quite a number of patrons at other tables too. And there was this other table who tried to rise up to the challenge. But with some 10 screaming kids and teenagers, it was really no contest.



Huhuhu, patience, my young padawan. . .



The biggest drinker of the night. I kid you not.



The salted egg crabs. Absolutely delightful. The next day I had this for leftovers, and got a nasty cut trying to pry open a shell. It was worth it though :)

At RM80 a kilo, they don't come cheap, but they're just so fat and succulent you really couldn't be bothered about trivial things like price! (especially since a certain grandpa is paying for the dinner)



Posing.



With cousins outside the restaurant. We really had to take a break from the steady stream of food and alcohol. So much good food, so little stomach capacity. Darn our gastronomical limitations!



Umm, uhh . . . there’s something you don't see every day.



More toasting and scaring away other customers. We're a real ridiculous bunch, I tell you.



Umm, that's not what it looks like. *hic*

(Really, it's not)



One jonathan and lots of Sprite later, this is what happens. Man, we're a big happy bunch of alcoholics.



My adorable little cousins. While they're still adorable, and (relatively) little. Kids have this tendency to become pain in the artichokes as they grow up.



Picture speaks for itself.



Another great pride of mine. I CAN READ THE CHINESE WORDS!! Hey all, I'm no bananana!





Happy Birthday, Mr Mah Peng. Something ru dong hai shou bi nan san! (Whatever that means)



Blowing out the candles, after we sang Happy Birthday in English, Chinese, Malay, and Cantonese. We're multi-lingual, yo.



Family pic. Oh gosh, I look so much like my mum it's creepy. I should consider shaving bald sometime soon.



Winding down. Laissez-faire (let it be).



How often do you see two octogenarians (someone over 80) give each other a big High-Five? The other grandpa was waving his hands in the air saying 'I surrender, I surrender' when my grandpa tried to make him drink some more.

Just classic.



The normal family picture.



The not so normal family picture. It's a pity we couldn't get Grandpa to join us.



The Kids.





The boys are (leaning) back.



Garrett. I have no comment. Except maybe a slight mention of how hilarious it was to watch him do that.



Random nonsense after dinner.



OH MY GERBIL we finished the alcohol!







There are some 20 emptied cans of Sprite. In the end, since we kept asking for more and more Sprite, they just brought out the entire carton. Smiling innocuously at them, we asked 'Free ah?'.

What to do? We're Chinese to the core.

As quirky and weird as we all are, we're one big family.



And I love my family.



Post-dinner:

Garrett and I, obviously tipsy, decided to pull off one last stint before we went home. Grabbing our emptied Cognac bottles, we marched out onto the middle of the road.

With all eyes on our sober (again, this is relative) selves, there was a quiet count of '1, 2, 3'.

Then we burst out into this drunken stupor, slapping ourselves, laughing and causing a riot for a good minute.

Unforgettable.

Sidetrack:



HAVE YOU SEEN SO MANY BOWLS BEFORE??