I like being chim!

Or at least pseudo-chim. It's fun. Better than being dumb, at any rate.

Today was damn fulfilling.

Stress..

Doesn't really have a place in my life.
School life is quite easy in Malaysia. I only have around 10 hrs worth of extra commitments every week, inclusive of CCA's(3 hrs), tuition class (1 hr), church, (2 hrs), Jap(2hrs), guitar(30 mins).
I am quite lucky.
I kind of wish it could stay like this forever. I'd change a few things though.
Ideally, I'd be able to stay home, sleep till 10 a.m, slack all day, yet bring home a 6 figure sum every month.
Then again, as I did mention in a previous post, if everyone could do this, there wouldn't be any toilet cleaners.
Maybe I should go sell chicken rice or something.

I read an article earlier today.
Supposedly, in order to become smart, I should start hanging out with smart people.

Unfortunately, the amount of smart people I know is very, very low.

I know like, 15 people that I can genuinely say are intelligent. Of these, 10 are my relatives. Extremely gifted family, yada yada. The rest are in my school. Most of these people spend their time debating about intelligent issues or playing Chinese chess.
Or whatever it is that smart people enjoy.
Certainly not attempt to stalk find out about the lives of people that they call friends but don't really care about by reading their online journals. Or blow soap bubbles, like myself. I wonder how I even got into secondary school.

On an unrelated note, school's starting to get tedious. I fell asleep in class for the first time today.
Apart from during history, that is. History is a special case. Falling asleep during History class is perfectly natural.

Law of Equivalent Exchange.

I've heard many people say that, as long as you study hard and work hard, you will eventually find a calling in your life. They say that if you persist in mounting a consistent effort to perform well in said calling, you will eventually rise up in the world, and hence retire early and go on a perpetual vacation. '先苦後甜', as it were. Not true, please don't be deceived. Appreciate your life now, because it's only going to regress into a spiral of stress, angst, and dissatisfaction in the future. If hard work and effort alone could allow you to become a rich taukeh of a large, multinational corporation, I don't think that toilet cleaners would exist.

This is why I believe that, for the most part, the Law of Equivalent Exchange doesn't really apply in today's society. Not just because its from some crappy, overrated anime(Manga is nice though), but rather, because not everyone begins with the same base aptitude and personal ability.
For each individual of great intellect, there is an individual of great stupidity. For every Einstein, there is a man without folds in his cerebral cortex. Some people can study like zombies for days on end just to pass their exams, while others can just slack, shoot the breeze, and still manage to bring home perfect result slips.

There's also the factor of economic affluence. Individuals that hail from rich, prestigious families often move up in the chain of social hierarchy, receiving opportunity after opportunity as a result of said affluence. This allows many of these individuals to undertake key positions in the world by leveraging these opportunities effectively. As a result, many of the decisions and choices they make can influence, as well as change society as a whole.

This is in contrast to poorer, less economically stable individuals, who often struggle to make ends meet. Due to a lack of financial wherewithal, they often cannot provide said opportunities to their children. As a result, the children cannot fully develop their potential, and hence move on to take the less prestigious jobs in society. However, this is certainly not to say that material wealth necessitates success in one's endeavors. There is a possibility that a select few individuals can manage to escape the so-called 'poverty trap', achieving success in life due to rewards for academic excellence or other, miscellaneous reasons. Nonetheless, the amount of individuals that manage to do so is dismally low.

History has shown, time and again, that life is rarely fair, and usually harsh and unforgiving.
One cannot always expect to move up in society by achievements alone. Take Malaysia for instance. The NEP and admission into local educational institutions based on racial quotas as opposed to academic excellence are frequent reminders that society is rarely a system that relies on meritocracy, rather, on bias and favoritism.

Another argument made by proponents of the viewpoint that 'There is no perfect individual' is that in the quest to achieve success and excellence in life, the individual forgets his sense of self and individuality, and as a result, 'loses his soul'. Certainly, there is, indeed, no perfect individual. All of us have our faults, no matter how small, whether or not they are moral, physical, mental. There's nothing wrong with aspiring to be perfect, however. These people claim that nobody can have everything, that to excel in one field, one must fail at the other. This is a stand that I vehemently disagree with. Despite the pressure to perform that is evident in the competitive, dog-eat-dog climate that is heavily present these days, I believe that one can not forget the simpler things in life, and as a result, lead a happy, fulfilling existence, although this seems to increase in rarity proportionally to one's degree of success, and hence, amount of responsibility. Perhaps it's a tradeoff between money and happiness. However, I genuinely do believe that one can have money AND happiness. I aspire to prove that with my life. It may be difficult, but it is certainly possible. Acherly hor, quite a long shot for now, seeing as I haven't even taken SPM yet. Hah.

On the other hand, however, just as someone can have everything, so too can another have absolutely nothing at all. The belief that everyone has a specific something that they can excel at is true. Everyone has the potential to succeed. However, not everyone makes use of that potential. Look at the mat rempit and drug addicted vermin on our streets. Look at the rapidly escalating crime rate. These useless individuals, in their disregard for the public and in their self-destructive pathway to hell, sadly, often have absolutely nothing at all except alcohol and drugs, usually obtained via less-than-legal means.


Will force myself to study tomorrow in an effort to avoid becoming part of the second group.

Chinese.

I never did like the Chinese language. Ever since primary school, all I did in Chinese class was stare blankly into space with my head propped up with one of my elbows. One of the factors that played a key role in my vehement dislike of the language was of course, it's difficulty. Another factor that contributed to the gradually widening gap between myself and the language is the people that spoke it. Or at least, the people whom I thought spoke it. I used to think that only ahbengs and old women spoke chinese. Guess not.

During my youth, I used to think that speaking Chinese was for losers. I always had the impression that English speakers generally sounded more articulate and mature compared to Chinese speakers. I now know that this is not true. It may have seemed like the truth at the time, but only because my proficiency in the language was(and still is, I'm sad to say) quite pathetic, to say the least. I suppose I must have projected my own lackluster skills onto others. Now I know for a fact that chinese speakers can, indeed, sound as 'chim', if not more so as compared to their English speaking counterparts.

I used to think that speaking Chinese was redundant. Due to the advent of globalization in our modern era, the English language indeed, plays an increasingly vital role as an international standard of communication. Up until earlier this year, I thought that the Chinese language actually limited my abilities. This was actually true to an extent during Primary school, up until Sec 3. Used to stress damn a lot about finishing my h/w. Work was horrible. Performance in class was horrible. Essays were horrible. Even my calligraphy was horrible. I was quite the underachiever during primary school, really. That attitude's managed to carry on to the present. Really do need to get rid of it.

Most important factor contributing to my distancing myself from the Chinese language: Laziness. I was damn lazy last time. Still am now, but to a somewhat lesser extent. Couldn't care less about memorizing Chinese characters or writing ZhongKai/XiaoKai/WhateverKai. Admittedly, I still don't. I hope to change that soon, though.

I thank the Lord that I still understand chinese grammar, at the very least. I also consider myself fortunate that Chinese school didn't warp my ability to speak English decently, unlike the way it did to many, many others.
Memorizing all those tedious, 20-stroke characters aside, it shouldn't be hard to learn how to at least hold a conversation without the other guy thinking that I'm a complete and utter idiot.
Will make brushing up on the language one of my goals this year.

Here's why.

• It's part of my identity.
• My relatives often chide me for my inability to speak in chinese.
  
• If you're Chinese, people often expect you to be able to speak Chinese. Especially those old auntie types. With my current standing, I'm pretty sure they'd start laughing the moment I open my mouth.
• Having the ability to speak chinese opens up plenty of opportunities. Jobwise or education-wise, people consider it a bonus if you're able to communicate with the world.
• Furthermore, speaking Chinese permits you to communicate with a wider range of business contacts, hence allowing you to leverage more people.
• I just realized that despite the fact that a very large amount of 'Bananas' exist in Malaysian society, Chinese-literate people, especially ones that are older than you, will tend to poke fun at you if you can't use the language.
  
• I have DAMN a lot of time to waste. None to very little of which is actually utilized in a productive manner.
  

Supposedly, I'm going on a trip to KDU college tomorrow. Again. I was actually supposed to go last Wednesday, but the trip was postponed on account of H1N1.

Hmm. At least this will be better than stoning in class and pretending to listen to Ms. Liang talk about magnets, or whatever the hell it is we're learning in Phys right now. -_-

Newsflash!

Apparently, the amount of money spent on NS per year isn't the paltry sum of 4 million ringgit, as I had previously assumed. It's 500 million per year. Yes, that's right. 500 million ringgit to sustain an overglorified boot camp full of angsty, emo, and probably suicidal teenagers for only three months. I previously thought it was 4 million because I didn't consider allowances or payment for NS trainers. I only thought of zoning and food resources. Didn't consider costs associated with meeting the basic needs of 140k people. Even so, 500 million ringgit sounds sounds quite... Excessive. Seriously. 4 million to pay administrators,100m for food, 10m for uniforms, 42m for allowances, 1m for zoning and camps, 5m for guns. Trainers probably get about 3k per month. 10m for trainers. This is quite a reasonable estimate, really. So.. Where does the rest of the money go? To Myanmar refugees? o_o

Goodbye, 500 million ringgit worth of taxpayer money. They could have done something much more productive with that money. For instance, they could donate it to me. If I had that much money, I'd make sure that everyone has a floating castle. A floating castle made of cotton candy. Then, I'd empty the ocean and fill it with Koko Crunch. The world's food shortage shall end. No child, no adult, no wrinkly old men will have to suffer the agony that is deprivation from a daily supply of over-commercialized, diabetes-inducing breakfast cereal.

No sir, no longer shall world hunger exist. Diabetes shall become a regular feature of the human population. Low-GI foods will undergo hyperinflation. Everyone shall receive a daily ration of sugar. Artificial, non-sugar based sweeteners such as aspartame will be made illegal.
All black people will receive a magical soap that can scrub off all the undesirable pigmentation on their skin in the mail. Ethnic cleansing; Revolutionised! You too shall have the privilege of living your life as a rich white woman! (Plastic surgerie(s) and money not included. Please note that your results may vary).
Wars shall cease because everyone has diabetes. Hence, everyone has to stay at home and inject insulin. World peace shall be achieved as a result.
Doesn't that sound a lot better than *shudder* NS? Now give me them 500 million bucks, you fools.

Anyway, I've decided to cheer up. Will leave thinking about ways to dodge NS to a time when I'm actually forced to go. No sense in stressing myself so much. Life is meant for relaxation, not worrying about stupid decisions made by stupid people, after all.
On an unrelated note, I really really need to improve my command of the English language. It's honestly quite atrocious at this point. My essays lack substance, cohesiveness, and maturity of thought. Should probably get an essay book to refer to. A REALLY good one. Syllabus doesn't matter. Anyone have any suggestions?

Yay for PLKN

I received some very shocking news today. Apparently, I've been selected for NS. Hallelujah. Rainbows and sunshine. Etc etc etc.

I have the privilege of spending three months in some ulu kampung shithole with other, equally unlucky shitheads that I am likely going to either hate, pity, and for some reason or another, resent from the bottom of my soul.

I don't understand how, or why the government has continued this charade for so long.
First of all, I firmly believe that all National Service amounts to is a decadent waste of otherwise productive resources used to produce products that are ultimately either destroyed, or not what they were expected to be. You spend like what, 4 million ringgit per year(Not a lot, but it's still taxpayer money) to send these helpless teenagers to a place they don't want to go, to do stuff they don't want to do, and make them miss out on otherwise valuable opportunities that they WOULD HAVE received during the period of time in which the training is conducted.

Objectives of the PLKN

• Develop a young generation who are patriotic and with love for their country
• Enhance unity among the multi-racial communities in the country
• Instill a spirit of caring and volunteerism among society
• Produce an active, intelligent and confident generation
• Develop positive characteristics among the younger generation through good values
• Develop a generation that will always obey the current government.

It's perhaps immediately evident that the even very first point is already flawed. PLKN isn't going to develop a young, patriotic generation. Instead, it's going to generate resentful, unhappy people (Such as myself) with a healthy dislike for the country. The second point states that PLKN is going to help 'unite' Malaysia. This remains a myopic view, however. Racial conflicts and other problems associated with them are not problems that can be resolved so easily. In fact, the hostile environment associated with NS is sure to aggravate the situation further, and serve to widen the racial rift. Some may argue that these youths will naturally form interpersonal bonds and friendships due to their proximity to each other. No. Familiarity breeds contempt, you fools.
Read it up on forums, the news, or you can ask your friends that went for NS. You'll see many people venting their frustrations about people of other races.

Active, maybe. Confident? That the Malaysian government has made a very mistake, yes. Intelligent? Not a ****ing chance. Spirit of caring and volunteerism? More like spirit of apathy and cynicism. Among society? That depends on how much of society decides to remain in Malaysia after their stupid programme. Personally, I'm going to migrate to Australia in a few years. Positive characteristics? Depends on what you mean. Are negativity and contempt positive characteristics?

This one is the funniest. Develop a generation that will always obey the current government. HAHAHAHAHA. WHO CAME UP WITH THIS STUPID SHIT? The keyword is 'current'. First of all, BN is notorious for it's reputation as corrupt and worthless governors. With the coming of the new generation, more and more people are gradually becoming aware of this. Recent fiascoes such as the Perak state assembly and the repeated misuse of the Internal Security Act don't contribute much to BN's credibility, either. Secondly, as a leader, you need to be able to set an example to the people if you want them to listen to you. Studies show that 92% of pre-school children in Britain show the exact same patterns of thought as their parents. Despite the fact that we are neither British, nor pre-school children, one can make a sound analogy from this. Look at parliamentary discussions in Malaysia. It's like watching a group of barnyard animals conduct a trial. If they think they can lead us around like sheep while constantly humiliating themselves like this, they are sorely mistaken.


In any case, I need to avoid NS. To this end, I will do anything that is necessary. Migration is a last resort. Migrating early, that is, since I'll be migrating anyway. I could defer if I wanted to, but I currently don't know how. I could also do the following:

a. Break both my legs.
b. Contract H1N1. They'll quarantine me and close the camps.
c. Obtain a faked MC.
d. Bribe.
e. Blackmail the trainers.
f. Hide in a hole like Saddam Hussein.
g. Get pregnant ala Thomas Beatie.
h. Die. Like Michael Jackson or Heath Ledger. Did they have to go for NS? No. As you can see, this is obviously an effective solution.

In the meantime, I shall further ponder upon any other possible courses of action.

Satisfied.

I attended school today. On a SATURDAY. god knows why. I spent the entire duration of my time there messing around with my ds and playing one of those stupid card games that you can get from old, chinese grocery stores for 3 ringgit per deck. Lifeless, stupid, pathetic, etc.
I know.

Went to OU later to watch Transformers. Lined up for nearly an hour to get tickets. Was incredibly congested. Originally planned to get tickets at three, but all of them were sold out. Decided to get tickets for the four o'clock showing instead, but at the very last minute, all of them, too, were sold out. Ended up buying tickets for the five o'clock showing instead. Even then, I didn't get especially good seats. I suppose I shouldn't complain though, seeing as those were the very last seats available in the theatre. Crazy amount of people.

To illustrate, there are five counters dedicated to Transformers ALONE.
During each day, there are at least twenty showings of Transformers. Assuming that each theatre can hold about 480 people (A-L, 20 seats centre + 20 seats sides). Assuming that every single one of the tickets are sold out for every single showing, then about 10,000 people watch Transformers per day at GSC One Utama ALONE.

The theatre administration must be damn happy I suppose, given that each customer has an average value of RM16~. (Inclusive of food and drinks)
10,000++*16~= RM160,000++ per day. Conclusion: GSC is making a freaking mint.
Most people in this country find it hard to even earn the same amount in a year.
Assuming that these conditions continue for about ten days before the hype begins to die down. By this point, GSC will have made a net profit of about RM1 mil from ticket sales alone. Imagine how much profit they must be generating from advertising revenue.

On the subject of the movie itself, I found it somewhat lackluster in comparison to the first movie. The plot feels kind of forced somehow, and the storyline is neither particularly interesting, nor cohesive. The main antagonist gets owned in two minutes during the final battle. One thing I fail to understand is WHY the Autobots look up to Sam as a leader. A leader in what way? He doesn't possess, or at least, he isn't portrayed to possess any qualities that a leader should have during the movie. Also, the movie was damn long. Nearly three hours wtf.
The most disappointing part? Megan Fox is actually a guy.
Yes, fellow males, your dreams have been completely and utterly crushed. Go cry in a corner somewhere.
Despite a few shortcomings, Transformers 2 is still a very good movie. The visuals, as I had expected, were excellent. The production values are through the roof, easily upholding the standard of quality established by it's predecessor. If anything, the transformers look better in this movie compared to the first one. Matter of expectations, really. Plenty of action and explosions. Slightly less explosions than in Terminator, but plenty of explosions nonetheless.
Either way, regardless of whether or not you want to, you'll probably succumb to peer pressure and end up watching it anyway, you sheep.

Bye.

R.I.P King of Pop, Michael Jackson. (29/8/58 - 25/6/09)





















Your course through life may not have exactly set an standard that our children should aspire to live by, but you were indeed an incredibly talented musician, a sublime dancer, and a magnificent singer. Many will try to imitate you, but all of them will fail. You will live on in our memories.

Apparently, H1N1 has reached my school.
Everyone's overreacting really, especially since the fatality rate of H1N1 is currently only 0.5%. Symptoms are mild, at best, and hey, if you do contract the virus, you get a one-week break from school!
Save the panicking and any long term vacations you may be planning for when the virus mutates and starts killing people by the millions please.