A Life to be Celebrated

It was supposed to be the perfect closing to a lovely evening. It was supposed to be the beginning of things wonderful to come. It was supposed to be a small glimpse of a happy future ...

But it ended the moment she dashed out of the house into the road. In an instant, a blinding light, a blur image of metalic green and something moving too fast in a residential area like ours... A horrendous low thud after another, and then, time and all things else seemed to freeze as her lifeless body rolled on the ground, not even a whelp, not even a cry of pain.

Something in me came to life like a blazing flame when the realization hit me so hard, it was louder than the silence that pursued - the sudden knowing that I will never be able to tickle her ears like how I did just precious moments ago.

My feet became my master, my common senses lost in the midst of my anger. I dashed across the wet field, I ran as fast as my feet could carry me. There was only one thing in my head - to intercept the speeding Citroen Xsara and avenge her murder. But I am no match for no machine. I lost. I didn't even catch a glimpse of the number.

...

Yesterday night, we lost a precious friend to a road mishap - some 'one' who is dear to Noodle's eldest brother and sis-in-law. No amount of words is enough to tell how we felt, no songs are enough to lament her departure, no praises can ever wholesomely describe how special she was in our hearts.

This post is dedicated to the memory of Bell, the smartest Daschund hound I have ever befriended, with temperaments and behaviour so human you'd think she's a child who knows no rest. Thank you for your company, and your gift of reminding us just how precious and fragile life is, no matter who you are...

Remember, Remember

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

Last night, noodle and I joined her colleague and friends for a movie after our gym session. Frequenting the theatres is something we both enjoy tremendously, especially if it is a good movie, but something which we haven't had the opportunity to do of late.

I have to admit - I didn't have much expectation for V for Vendetta in the first place, as the previous comic movies like X-Men(Marvel), Hell Boy(DC) and such were not that an impressive according to my book. Nevertheless, a few takes into the story, I was already hooked.

All in all, V is the sort of movie that has almost everything - action, gore, great music (Cry Me a River never sounded that mesmerizing to me before this), creative plot, witty and funny dialogue with a generous injection of quotes that will no doubt please a Shakespeare enthusiast and most of all, a story with meaning and depth. Youngsters should see this movie more than once, and not only for the cinematic effects, but also the message it is sending through.

But then, come to think of it really, one shouldn't have expected any less of this movie... even more so when it comes with a poster tagline like People should not be afraid of their governments, Governments should be afraid of their people. Yes, it is about (corrupted) governments, and all related issues like dictatorship, conspiracy, religion, homosexuality and what not. Most importantly, it shows that the very essence of any government is in its people. Because, like any other symbol, a government is meaningless without its people.

Well, I can't wait for the local DVD release. The dialogue in V alone is enough to keep me watching it over and over.

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Funniest quip of the day: I can't believe I'm watching a movie with my (ex) tutor.

Pasión Nueva

From this day onwards, I shall be pursuing a new passion.

And it's called W.i.M.A.X.

Take My Breath Away

Move over, baby - make way for my new love...

T'was another lazy hazy (*not) Sunday morning when noodle and I decided to drop by our neighbourhood Honda showroom to check out the latest addition to the Civic family. Perhaps it was early in the morning still, but the crowd was still bearable, and it didn't take more than 3 turns before it was our take to test the baby.

And what a drive it was - of course, bearing in mind all I have only been driving is my humble '85 Toyota Corolla LE, and me not bring much of a racer. So, there was only so much I could experience during the short 5-minute of circling around the business district, unlike a more "technical" test-drive by others like blogger damion.

But I dare say the car fitted with the newest 1.8l SOHC i-VTEC engine was really a breeze to drive. The interior was cool, esp. the sporty dashboard (really makes me wonder if noodle can handle this baby properly...), the handling effortless and responsive, the insulation good and etc etc etc. One downside is perhaps the compensation of comfort versus performance during sudden acceleration when one could feel the heavy pull as well as the very much noticable revving sound of the engine that seems to suggest it's making a lot of effort. But then again, this ain't a >MYR200K sedan so gotta be realistic with the expectations.

I would have placed my booking there and then, but my conscience told me to give it more consideration before any commitment is made. Though it would be really nice to have this baby as our second car, I am still far from being able to accept the repercussions of owning such a beauty on our budget (earlier on we were actually considering the P2 MyVi which has a standing waitlist for 4-6months! Such a turn off, apart from the looks compared to the Civic lah... muahahaha). And definitely that would mean I'll have to work harder, and worst of all, being away on a foreign land, again.

But for the mean time, I'll just syok sendiri and carry on the debate with noodle on the choice of colour - I'm hooked on the bronze silver pearl whereas she's more into the bluish silver metallic. On another note, the sure thing now is that this spells "bye bye" to my earlier target, the Toyota Corolla Altis, which is already a car 4 years older than the new Civic baby.

So move over, make way for my new baby...

Local Geniuses

Of late, I have been free enough to keep surfing the net and indulge myself with current affairs and what not (as a result, my frustration-meter has been on the high scale too). One issue that amazes me (still) is how the statistics of our annual public examinations (SPM, STPM etc) seem to have an increasing trend year after year. And 2005 was no exception.

It was slated that 4779 out of 438132 candidates for the 2005 SPM scored straight A's [Sun2Surf, The Star]. That is a whopping 1.09% of the whole pool of examinees! And we are only 55 students shy from having a thousand who dished out prefect 9A1s.

... .. .

Though I do not have the stats nor the means to the sources now, were we really stupid a few years back? Or has the government been so successful in continually upgrading (excuse the pun) education standards that more and more geniuses are being nurtured??

Which brings me to our new hero, Mr., sorry, Dr. Chan Yao Ban:

(source: The Age)

Being only at a tender age of 21, Dr. Chan is now a the youngest PhD graduate in Melbourne University, and he is currently doing a huge favour to mankind in his research on schizophrenia diagnosis etc etc etc. Cool... but too bad he is not in Malaysia any more. But who cares, right?

So again, who is saying there are no geniuses in Bolehland? They just don't live here anymore.

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Now waiting for my friend, PK's turn to make his mark in a Korean daily as the smartest PhD student in RESL@ICU, or something to that effect :)

Thanks but No Thanks

There was this story about this Taiwanese man, UncleS&M, who was renowned for his skills on the job, but PR-wise, he can really do with some lessons from yours truly.

A Malaysian engineer was working for him on contract-basis for 3 months. The Malaysian, though not the most expensive asset in his team, was always under UncleS&M's constant nagging that he was being overpaid, despite his consistent quality and dedication in performing his duties.

In a nutshell, after the first 3 months, the Malaysian was granted leave from UncleS&M's team, with the understanding that he will return for a longer-term assignment. But when the day was closing in, UncleS&M suddenly issued a statement through a third party, that the Malaysian was not needed anymore, and as far as he was concern, his contract ended long ago.

Fine, the Malaysian thought. Though uncalled for, things like these do happen in a volatile industry like this but he thought UncleS&M could've done this in a more appropriate (and professional) way rather than sneaking a dagger behind one's back like that. Moreover, the company wouldn't have to waste a return-ticket's worth of money for the Malaysian to fly back to gather his stuff.

Then one day, UncleS&M called on the Malaysian out of the blue.

I may offer you to come back Taiwan in April, he said. You can come in the end of this month...

Gritting his teeth, the Malaysian wished he could tell UncleS&M what he truly wanted to say. Instead, not wanting to burn down any bridge which he may one day need to cross again, he maintained his diplomatic front and told UncleS&M it was up to the big bosses to decide where he should go next.

So, since you have dismissed the Malaysian unfairly, who now happens to be needed elsewhere, where he may be appreciated more for his skills and such (or not, whatever), here's to you UncleS&M:

THANKS BUT, NO THANKS.

Good to be...

It's good to be back - not having to count through the days working, eating and sleeping and well, working again in some other parts of the world; the warm and fuzzy feeling of having someone you love beside you; the pain of shopping for the things to decorate your new home; the joy of hopping to the gym to burn those fat away and get those muscles pumped up...

It's oh-so-good to be home!

Except that... well, could've been perfect if not for the government's recent sacrificial call to the "rakyat" with a major (though we were promised this shall be the first and last of 2006) fuel hike; or the big fat loss of the big fat kite; or most of all, the nation-wide joke (and it's not even April's Fool yet!) on the new owner(s) of the next 3G spectrum licence.

Un-believable.

One would think that it is only an eventuality that the licence should go to the 3rd major mobile operator. But noOOooOOoo - it has to be local, and it has to go to one non-mobile operator that barely needs the spectrum for the service they provide, and another that only has junk as their network infrastructure.

Is it not about having the right man for the job? Obviously not here where they deny those with the right tools but give it those with bigger ****s. And people wonder why people are flocking out of this land for a greener pasture?

It's good to be back.