A night with a grand old man - Discussion and reading circle

In some ways, he reminds me of my late grandfather (I only ever knew one, as the other died before I was born). His smile was gentle, his voice soft (and sometimes hardly audible). Maybe age has taught him that the one that speaks the loudest is not always the most heard, whereas a person whose thoughts are sought after will have others straining to hear every enunciation.

Yesterday, my friends and I sat around the august Prof Dr Syed Hussein Alatas (thereafter known as SHA) in order to hear him speak on what brought about the inspiration for his book "Intellectuals in Developing Societies" (though apparently out of print, copies of it have been spotted at Borders Berjaya Times Square) and also to discuss some contents of the book (it being the first part of the a series of discussion on this book and others like it). The book has itself been translated into the two languages of the region, Indonesian Malay and Malaysian Malay. It was originally written in English and published in England, but it took Malaysia more than 30 years to finally recognise the importance of this work and to therefore translate it into the national language, and even then, it has sadly allowed it to go out of print (unless one can dig it out from some obscure warehouse/garage sale).

In this book, SHA writes about the appearance and existence of intellectuals within any society that prides itself in its progressiveness, as well as their function in such societies. Remember that this book was written in the 70s, which was a time of 'flower-power' and nascent period of cultural studies, when many institutions of higher learnings (and their byproducts) are underdoing changes in the curriculum and emphasis. When Malaysia was still a very young country and the PM was Tun Hussein Onn.

The gist of his argument is to differentiate the intellectuals from the intelligentsia. Just because you are well-educated (as in being well-read or well-qualified), have refined and cultured ways, speak many languages, is widely travel, and have an 'open' mind (and the latter case optional and subjected to debate), you do not automatically fall into the category of an intellectual. The one SHA terms an intellectual would be someone with profound and deep understanding of the philosophical conditions of humanity that surround his/her science and arts. Someone who can look at the bigger picture (while still paying attention to the details) and see what ails it. Perhaps an easier way of saying this is that an intellectual is someone who does not just work with existing data, but extrapolates from the data (and to collate all these extrapolations from various data) into a framework that helps him/her understand the greater issues and paradox of humanity, perhaps grappling with problems that seem to have no solution, or finding a solution that eludes even some of the most intelligent. The intelligentsia would be the sort of person I have just described above: one who might be a top-notch professional in his/her field, and possessing all the traits as suggested, but might not qualify for an intellectual. There is always some confusion in this two terms and I could do no better than to advocate that you read this book of the professor.

The book also talks about the bebals (where he gave a rather long list of, and from which he devoted an entire chapter to), which talks about a person incapable of contemplation or thoughtfulness, one who only follows the path of least resistance (even if the path is known to be inefficient and foolish)and someone who allows majority sentiments to dictate him/her, one who allows superstition and irrationality to dictate him/her as opposed to clear thinking.A bebal can be someone who is very good in his/her field of work/specialty, by could not apply holistic/intelligent thinking to every other aspect of his/her life. It could also be someone who does not understand the underpinning philosophy (reason/justification/functions) of his/her work and thus is only a blind follower of instructions, regulations and ideas without understanding why it is such as it is. He/she is afflicted with mental lassitude. When such conditions occur, he/she merely becomes an assembly worker within a conveyor belt of his/her career.

He also talks about the fool, one with difficulties to think through anything logically, one who is seemingly incapable of learning the art of learning (or maybe learning from mistakes), one who makes decisions that impact others but is unheedful of it and who does not recognise that he/she is a fool. He/she is reactive to situations and criticism but incapable of considered action. Or whose only form of considered action is to be reactive without heed to consequence.

Throughout the discussion we had with him, SHA gave many examples of what he considered to be foolish decisions made by authorities, as well as the lack holistic thinking when dealing with problems ranging from building highways and roads to combatting problems of traffic congestion, something of course that is not alien to us. He also mentions the problems of cultural lag in issues as wide as the planning and construction of society to the direction in which education has taken in this country. This was what he told me when I asked him why, inspite of the noble aim of the education philosophy of this country in its aim to create holistic individuals, have only succeeded in creating lopsided intelligentsia who while could be very good in their field, lack creative hindsigh and the ability to look at matters more philosophically. SHA did not say this, but if I were to expand from his arguments, I would say that it has to do with the strong emphasis on the material over the abstract. As SHA reiterated on what he had mentioned in his book more than 30 years ago, the inability of the country's planners to adjust to the intellectual framework that surrounds the development they have been so eager to wish on the country is that which has led to an unbalanced society, and hence unbalanced individuals. He explained that this is not only the case in developing societies, but has become more prominent even in developed societies like the America, where information overflow has led to over-saturation of the mind, and thus the inability to get back to the basics. This hints strongly on his disapproval on the direction which scholarship, monopolised by babyboomers academics, have taken, whom he felt were more interested in indoctrinating their students with their ideologies and ideas as opposed to leading them to basic questions. While I would disagree that this is the overall sense, since there are academics and students who are still interested in reading the origins of such ideas (though arguably a lot less than before, seeing the popularity of certain pseudo-intellectual polemic published and snapped out in this day and age) I agree that there is a cultural lag in still trying to make sense of the bombardment of information, and the fact that many are still trying to sieve knowledge from mere information.

When questioned as to whether there might be a need to adjust the Enlightenment traditions of the West to suit the peculiarities of our nation, I was a little disappointed that he did not address this question as thoroughly as he should, since most of the time were taken up in giving examples of what is considered as the insitutionalisation of moral depravity in the West. However he did give a rather good example of how the grandness of an intellectual idea can be contradicted by the living of his/her personal life. However, I will caution that this does not always detract from the nobility of the ideas. After all, cognitive dissonance to occur. And sometimes, simply, the person's philosophy might actually be a testimony of his personal beliefs, even if one might not see it as such from the way the ideas were put forth sophisticatedly. Case in point is Wittgenstein. Read him and read his biography and you will know what I mean. I suggest trying "Wittgenstein's Popper" as an introduction. While to a certain extend, it might be useful to keep in mind philosopher/intellectual's personal beliefs, there is such a time when we can gain and learn even when merely elucidating the person's philosophical arguments/ideas, realising then that the ideas are flawless and require continuous critique and refinement.

We also discussed the possibility of bebalisma as the reason for much superstition and supernatural beliefs in our society. While the discussion group is divided between over-rationalising and using rational/logic to explain supposedly 'supernatural' occurences, no real conclusion has been reached on this issue. SHA gave examples of some practises within the Malay culture one being the "minyak dagu" (oil retrieved from a fresh corpse) as an aphrodisiac charm and the use of dead babies to help in robberies or to ensure that one's husband does not stray. He cited examples of supposedly educated/rational individuals falling prey to such beliefs and superstition. He expounded on how the use of superstitious beliefs as a way of obtaining a child's obedience could end up producing bebalist adults. In responding to a question and comment on how one might deal with someone one perceives as one's intellectual inferior, SHA said that the way of doing so is not to act as if one is superior, but to build on that other's person's premise of reasoning, and perhaps to lead him/her to see his/her own thoughts more clearly.

While I could go on about the discussion we had, it is not my aim to report the thing as it happened, but to inject my editorial voice into this review to give my readers some idea as to what went on. There are of course too many stories and examples to give here (SHA is quite a story-teller, and some of the tales he related were pretty interesting). There are definitely some usefulness in getting the author of a book you are discussing to be present in the discussion, though there is probability of the person's present overshadowing the discussion. It of course depends a lot on the personality of the person present. Sometimes the discussion does not take off as well as you would want it to, because perhaps the discussants feel that they would rather hear the words from the horse's mouth rather than to debate on the ideas and its relevance, or its relation to an overall structure. However, I think it would be good to have sessions without the author so that we can distil our own perceptions and ideas of what the author says, because no author is infallible, and his/her intentions with regard to the book (and even the reasonings with regard to the book) can change in time.

There are many reading and literary circles around KL, but the aim of our circle here is to look more at the issues brought up by the work, regardless of whether it is a work of fiction or non-fiction, in order to contextualise the philosophy of our time and age. Where possible, we would invite the author to be present, though it is not that simple seeing that we are living in a backwater (it IS a backwater despite its facade of rapid modernisation and spanking new buildings and state-of-the-art toilets). But you have the words in the text, so use them, and the grey thing between your ears. (:

We will be doing a second discussion, to continue in areas of the book which had not been touched upon (though we have had the discussion from 8:40pm to close to midnight). For those of you living in Kuala Lumpur/will be around the area and are interested to participate, just drop me an email or drop me a note in the comment box. The discussions will be conducted in the mix of Malay and English, and you can participate and express yourself in any language you feel comfortable with, provided there is someone to translate for you should the majority around not understand. (:

In light of this review, you might want to read this article by Douglas Kellner entitled "Intellectuals, the New Public Spheres, and Techno-Politics"

A bientot!

Wearing the jilbab to be different from non-believers?

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1429171,00.html
http://education.guardian.co.uk/faithschools/story/0,,1705144,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4679058.stm (the BBC story did not mention her story, but has an equally damaging statement on how this girl equate the resistance towards her wearing the jilbab WITH western attitude. Hello, you ARE a westerner yourself. You LIVE in the west...or is this another example of mental ghettoisation? I think the authorities need no look far as to why they are breeding terrorists. It all started from young. And I think it is time to examine this trend properly?)

Check out the news above and other related news stories. While I believe that it is the right of the girl to practice aspects of her religion, what I find extremely laughable is the reason she gave to her lawyers for practising her dresscode, so that she is not dressed like other non-believers! This is so irrational I nearly died laughing. So if all non-Muslims start wearing what she does, is she gonna her dresscode again?

I believe Islam to be a reasonable religion with many profound teachings, but actions like this girl is making the religion ridiculous. She might have won her right, but professing the reasons as she did more is just another way of justifying the sceptic's criticism of the religion through the idiocy of its believers. Since the girl is young, I will excuse her a little. Somehow, I feel really sorry for the British authorities who have to start bending backwards to accomodate every whims and fancies of every "pious" persons. In context, I disagree completely with the reason for her victory. She might feel she has won a step forward for the women (in terms of dressing, but this is miniscule compared to the other problems faced by Muslim women) but she has definitely help in creating the pejorative perception of Islam. It is sad that so many Muslims understand so little of their faith. She goes as far as to quote the Quran verse, and I am looking at it right now. But it is different from what it says. My 3:59 says "The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust then said to him:"Be": and he was". I believe she is referring to the Hadith, not the Quran. Can someone tell me the name of the Hadith? And can someone tell me where in which Hadith is it said about dressing differently from the "kaffirs"


Anyhow, I am surprise that no religious leaders have come out and give any explanation to her "reinterpretation" of Islam, unless of course they are behind this?

Before I get fired at by indignant Muslim men/women, let me state clearly here that I am NOT criticising the professions of the faith. What I am criticising is her misuse of her religion get her end. It is easy to say anything and everything to a bunch of "kaffirs" in the judiciary since most lack the training on the religion, no? And I think nothing is worse that knowingly speak the untruth yet using your religion as the basis. However, if someone can tell me im which Hadith or school or thought that "differances" should be professed THROUGH dressing (as opposed to one's actions and faith), I'll retract my words with regard to this girl. I would even do so if someone can let me know that Guardian has been erroneous in its report.

I am a feminist hence I do believe in every woman's right. But what I cannot buy into is the probable stupidity of my sex and the lack of will from its collective to do anything about it. But I'll be first to happily eat my words to have it proven otherwise...due to that damn media and its misreportage :D


I do understand the concept of ijtimak, by the way.

P.S. And I hope people will begin to learn the consequences of the irresponsible use of words and flippant, thoughtless remarks.

Pressing the hot buttons (the issue of the Danish Cartoons)

Fathi Aris Omar has collated an interesting list of opinions in his latest post and also in a post on kartun. For those who have not seen the cartoons that have spark suck uproar and violent reactions, click here. If you are not on broadband or on limited connectivity, be warned that the page has really huge graphics so it will take forever to load.

In my opinion, the reason for such violent reactions from both sides, whether those who were highly offended by the depictions of the Muslim prophet or who defend the right to do so, is based on two very different planes altogether. For a vast majority of religious adherents (and I would say that this applies across the board to ALL religions), the icons of their faith are sacred (though of course, there are individual sects who pay little or no heed to such need for icons, whether in the Muslim or Christian faith, though that does not make them less offended). For the agnostic/atheist/non-believer/nihilist, everything is profane and available for critique. Seeing that each have a different level of intellect and comprehension of the world, hence the diverse and different quality of critique. Many criticism are reactionary and emotional, even by the so-called rationalists, because when all logic fails, the easy way out is always to descend into emotionalism. And in the case of these cartoons, there are merely an example of excessive emotionalism. Hence, for so many Muslims to pour so much energy into such reaction becomes a symbol of their helplessness and subaltern position in the world.

I disagree with some scholars that the Muslims are new to western influence and outlook. They are not. It is just that a period of isolation that their civilisation underwent during their version of the dark ages (as the Dark Age of Islamic civilisation) and the continuous propaganda that they have been subjected to that the Western Civilisation is evil has been the cause of their suspicion and subliminal hatred. However, Western civilisation too has its share in its propagation of stereotypes based on ignorance and hatred. In this gratuitous power struggle between the artificial divide of the East and West, one always forget that religious adherents populate all civilisations, and Muslims are not precluded. Hence, when a supposed spokesperson for the western civilisation speak of defending their right to critique the Muslims in the same way that they have accussed the Muslims of lampooning them (and I daresay that the latter are guilty of that as well), whom are they speaking for? The atheists, the agnositcs, the Jews, Christians, and Muslims in their societies. OR are they speaking for the rights of a few person who decided to make a field day out of religious lampoons? And Muslim nations who insult the religion of their minority populace are just as guilty. But using such arguments to justify their personal vendetta is childish in its extreme. But then, mental sloth is one reason why such stupidity exists in the first place. (:

Religious adherents, and in this case the Muslims, who have bitten into the bait of their detractors by their excessive show of violence, hence lending further credence to the stereotype which they should instead have been trying to dismantle. I am sure I need not say this more because others have said this before me and many will continue to use this as a way of criticising Muslims. I am not merely saying that the Muslims are the only ones with this problem, because many Christians too are just as capable of blind judgement when they respond to perceived insults. The failure of religious groups to rise to the same level of power and control as many agnostics and atheists, hence making the transmissions of their intellectual heritage and intelligent thought powerful and indelible, is the lopsided preoccupation with life after death. They lost sight of the capacity to live life to the fullest (and that does not equate to hedonism, unlike what most fanatics seem to think) and achieving the best with the abilities that God has given them. Instead of glorifying God, their reactive preoccupation is equivalent to flinging mud at God's face.

In the case of point of Muslims here, if they are really serious about Jihad, they will strive towards regaining the reigns of control through legitimate means of equitable treatment for their fellow men, respect for the rights of women, strong emphasis on liberal arts education (and this has always been equated with a secular, atheistic focus without understanding the spirit of inquiry that is the mainstay of its philosophy) that allows them to open their minds and to build strong foundations for their societies. If you feel that your enemies and rivals are despicable, why stoop even lower than their level when all they are doing is just to push at your buttons?

Or do we with to go back to the Biblical Old Testament Age (a tradition that the Quran shares) of wiping out your enemies just because we can't figure out a different way of dealing with them? Assuming that we consider the records a true depiction of the actual events, we might also be interested to know that the climate and condition of that particular age is different. Or perhas we are fast approaching the age of that past?

Any discussion to alleviate this problem will not go far as long as the two different planes of arguments of both parties are not reconciled. Or perhaps the only way out of the issue (a pessimistic way out that is) is to let them kill each other off. Or kill them fast enough so that they have no chance to breed. There is such an argument in the history of Western intellectuals that I will discuss the next time around. (:

Going back to the argument that atheists and agnostics would see everything as profane, hence they would feel that lampooning neo-Nazies is equal to lampooning Muhammad. So do the neo-Nazis have the same moral ground to react in the way that the Muslims do? And if we work under the assumption that all is equal under the principle of equitability, in that Hitler and Muhammad are mere humans (and they both are in principle just normal men), why should it be less likely for one to be lampoon than for the other? This is because for the believers of Islam, they see Muhammad as God's divine Messenger (and in calling him a divine Messenger, I am in no way saying that he is a divine figure), just as Christians would react strongly to the depiction of Christ (as they did in Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ) because they see Jesus as the reincarnation of God's Son in a human form. Perhaps it is high-time that religious adherents should also be trained to understand the mind of others who might not share their beliefs and faiths, and to realise that gentle rebuke/peaceful protestations will go towards, in the long run, in winning the admiration of others. Just as many from the faith might reneged on their professions, a number of hardcore, crusading non-believers and critics of the faith have also been converted.


There are many questions as to why people behave the way they do, or why history is the way it is, that I am still trying to figure out. Even the concept of what God would really want and require of us is still something I am grappling with. As a person who believes in God, I wonder too that all these hoohaa that has happened is not perhaps a way in which God is trying to tell us that we have miss the woods for the trees, and that instead of worshipping him and doing His Will, we are preoccupied with the worship of iconoclasts.

The above is my two-cents take on the issue.

Chinese New Year family reunion, reunion with friends, TV addiction and philosophy :D

You know it is the time of the year when certain towns in Malaysia are experiencing heavier inflows of traffic and there is the perennial jostling for space as more and more cars fight for the right to park along the narrow public roads surrounding housing estates. And since small towns lack the attractions of big cities, you see bored and listless faces streaming into the pack-to-bursting shopping centres. Restaurants are taking advantange of the yearly influx by upping prices and forcing set meals on their patrons (and in Chinese-centric towns, this is particularly severe for the lack of shops that are opened to service the appetites of the annual visitors).

I have had the usual family dinners (for some reason, my family decided to have THREE big family dinners in the space of 4 days, though I missed the third one owing to my school reunion). I also managed to visit some old friends, and especially the little pride and joy of my life. Most of all, I got to indulge in hours of tv, something which I do not get to do back in KL for the lack of a tv set. I was curious to know what's new on tv, what are the latest ads, what are the latest fads, the latest movies (well as latest as they can get in Malaysia) and the latest interactive design MTV/V Channel has (not to mention who the new VJs are).

While watching TV, I was also simultaneously reading some works on philosophy and history (YES, while watching tv, though of course, when the interesting scenes came on, you can guess what took most of my attention :P), as well as fashion and design (: It has to do with trying to squeeze in as many things as I could in the short space of time (though it also has to do with my short attention span during the holiday seasons). Yet, reading the discussion on life through the books and watching the portrayal of life via tv shows and movies, one notice a strong parallel between them. Here am I, reading works that have nothing to do with the shows I was watching (which ranged from 70s sitcoms to travellogues to Hollywood blockbusters to Hong Kong movies) yet I could feel the words of the authors resonating strongly through the visual effects created by the movies. I was reading the philosophy of Ayn Rand while watching Armageddon (believe it or not, I only just watched it for the first time on the first day of Chinese New Year), so many discussions of Ayn Rand with regards to Atilla, the crude Barbarians (the reactionaries), the Witch Doctor (I suppose you can say Rand intended these to be the communists, whom she had an aversion towards- I guess what Mr Syed Alattas would call the soft-hearted "Bebalians") and the Producers (who is her perfect exemplification of fair play, ego-centrism, original creation and capitalism, I see such different personas reenacted through the different personalities of the men who were the characters in this movie (with the exception of Liv Tyler as Grace the daughter of the hero, and the lady engineer on the space shuttle (whose name escapes me for now), there aren't too many heroic ladies portrayed in this show, which is after all about American patriachalism defending the world against end-times caused by an asteroid relentless hurtling towards Earth. I kind of feel that the Bruce Willis character epitomised the ideal of the Producer, though he has the prepondency towards being an Atilla when it concerns his daughter, with his Paternal protectiveness and dominance.

However, the two professional thieves in a Chinese comedic romance starring Andy Lau and Sammy Cheng, who gained riches through their thieving activities would not sit so easily within Rand's three categories. They did gain their riches through the use of their canny and cunning. They were not reactionaries nor were they barbaric looters. Yet looters they were nonetheless, running off with bootie that were not earned through legitimate means. Perhaps if they have decided to channel their obvious abilities into let's say, derivatives trading and fund hedging, they might to a hell of a job. In which case, they would fall into Rand's concept of the rational and ethical producer (though should one read the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, you will notice that Rand has a long discussion on the idea of ethics through her protagonists). But their thievery places them under the same category as Atilla, even if they do not use any violence, but rather their brains, to commit such acts. In fact, in the movie, it seems obvious that they intersperse legitimate activities with their highly-polished kleptomaniac tendencies. And they were both diehard gamblers. Capitalism does work on the precept of a certain amount of risk and gamble. However, these two characters epitomise more of the tendency of a rather refined Atilla rather than the Producer. (:

I also began to reread history but that is a post for a different day. As for what I've learned from meeting back old school friends? That is also another post for a different time. And I hope to find that time to write about metaphysics real soon. (:

Happy Doggy Year!

The importance of

the constitution has always been underrated in Malaysia, where laws, by-laws and rules were passed without even a glance as to whether they violate the constitution in any way, except of course when it serves the legislators to look at it. If there is such a thing as selective amnesia, there is such a thing as selective understanding of constitutional provisions.

Maybe the lawmakers in Malaysia need to undergo Constitution of Malaysia 101.

Not Metaphysics

I apologise to those who are awaiting my post on metaphysics. I will definitely write it. (:

I've finally read the more than 500 pages of the Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. She, Carter and Le Guin are the contemporary female authors that I presently enjoy, though I honestly say I have not read too much of Le Guin (though have read enough to like her).

Characters in this particular book are so real that I felt myself living through them. The annoyances, irritation, anger, hatred, betrayal, every single one. And Canada doesn't seem like an alien country at all, in fact, it is so very Malaysian, in its universal rendering. The era in which 2/3 of the book was set in has a very modern feel to it, though one is reminded of the woman's condition back then, as well as the encumbrance of seedy aristocracy. So very antebellum and even a little bit Tennysian. Frigidity, sex, love, non-love? Where can they all fall into? Can the blind love the one whom he cant' hear, but merely feel? Or can one feel trusting enough in love? And why exactly is it the gilded cage?

Atwood is not everyone's cup of tea, but her prose flows like a bridge that is bracketed at various spots, unbroken, broken and mended, interrupted by many tales that have to be told. They are poetic and poignant, and memorable. How I wish I could write like her, without being bogged down overinflated adjectives and adverbs that seem to be the bane of most mediocre writers of descriptive prose. Would help in my copywriting, which is not only selling an idea, but also peddling of words. A form of high-class whoring.

Anyway, have a good weekend to the rest of you. And I'll be back later next week.

Moving beyond the Rydberg Constant

That is what I intend to do this year, which is why I am going to brush up my knowledge of two languages, one of which I already have a slight working knowledge, and who which I could never pronounce before.

I wish I could say the same for Malaysia. In a way, some things are better than they used to be. That is a slight consolation. However, our appreciation of all things cultural and intellectual are still stuck at a very low level. Maybe we forgot to acculturate ourselves in our striving for the greenback (or whatever colour paper money) and platinum card. Despite our so-called economic ascendancy, as a nation, we are still very vulnerable to scammers, schemers and con-arists, especially if they are from the First World.

Thanks to the wonderful world of the internet, at least we no longer have to feel like a frog under the coconut shell. Information gap stil exist, and the literacy rate in this country is not as high (when I say literacy rate, I mean the ability for someone to digest information beyond high-school level). Potboilers and trashy magazines (uh-oh, I just revealed myself as a cultural snob, when in actual fact, I do read trashy stuff as well :P) are the mainstay of one's diet. People would not mind spending lots on other luxuries but most find it painful to spend too much on books. Despite the govt's tax allowance. I have friends asking me for book receipts just so that they can claim tax relief, even if they seldom buy a book themselves. And these are not high-school dropouts, but my peers from university! It is interesting that what Orwell wrote about in relation to the working-class English society is as applicable to the middle to upper-middle class members of Malaysia. Books or cigarettes, mon cherie?

Lets talk about religion. Everyone is minding their ps and qs. Hard-nosed pious religious types are now stabbing, shooting and clubbing the so-called "liberals" who are are leading the flock astray. Interesting how the same kind of thing is happening in both the Christian and Islamic world. I refuse to call it internal conflicts within the East and West, since the religions of the BIG BOOK (or BOOKS now?) did come from the confluence between east and west. Forget Huntingdon's theory on the clash of the civilization. From my vantage point (not very high since I am rather short), just let these people hack each other to death. figuratively speaking. It seems that these people are more interested in appearing holier than thou than and may God give them the best place in Heaven. Poor God must be experiencing continuous de-ja-vu with His (Her? Why do we think God is male?) recalcitrant attitudes of His (Her?) human creations. I marvel at His (Her?) patience, coz if it had been me, I would take back their ability for free will. You give them free will, they try to take it away from their fellow men. Bugger. Also, I refuse to see Goddess as the female counterpart of God. For me, it's just a cop-out. And a Goddess doesn't have the same Authority as God.

As a parting thought, I sugest that those who have not read Orwell's essays to do so online. Now! http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/O/OrwellGeorge/essay/ShootingElephant/.

P.S.I wonder what Nostradamus would have thought if he were alive today. Next entry wold be about the semantics of the word "Metaphysics".

Shalom

Embracing 2006

I've decided not to have a special post about the previous year as most of them are personal crossroads and struggles that I am sure would bore you, gentle readers, to tears. (:

Instead, what I would like to do in this post is to officially recognise that I should now strive for greater milestones and achievements this year, and make lessons learnt from the past year, however painful, my guiding principles. All I can say is, I've matured and grown up a lot in 2005, done a number of interesting as well as foolish things, met people and read books that have influenced my life in more than one way. Nevertheless,I still have a lot more growing up to do.

This year is going to be pretty exciting, I daresay. I am slowly moving out of the bloom of youth into mature adulthood. Which means, I've better have something to show for it.

How to feel like flying...

Doing very quick shuffles and dashes in a complicated piece...

Malaysia's Grub Street and Book Reviewers

I am almost a veteran of the field, despite my still relatively young years, at a time when you can live to more than 80, if you are neither accident prone nor disease-ridden. Almost. Maybe a young veteran, if such an oxymoron is acceptable. The field I refer to is book reviewing. Started when I was in my last year of my undergraduate days, which was sometime near the beginning of this century. Had been inconsistent in recent years. But I've attempted to earn a living as a freelance journalist/writer/reviewer (if such a vocation is possible). Basically, a freelance hack. Not to any great success, seeing the number of times I've crawled back to the parental fold, begging for some cash to tie me over for the next month, before I finally buckled down to a proper job 2 years back (plus a series of freelance/part-time work, not to mention that MA which I had so impulsively signed up for). Or perhaps the naive, infantile-like dependency that characterise my early twenties had been the cause of my failure in earning anything that is remotely a living?

Enough of intimate details.

I was reading the "New Grub Street" by George Gissing, which I finally completed (though I cheated a little in doing so, but will not reveal how here) at past 2 am on a Sat night, when other people are out socialising or getting pissed drunk. Maybe I am a masochistic, but I got myself through a really depressive read. Gissing isn't really a happy guy, in his novels at least. Try his "odd Women" if you don't believe me. In some ways, he reminds me of Orwell, in his "Clergymen's Daughter". I guess you know now that I haven't really been reading much in terms of modern fiction (Orwell is modern enough though), though I did start on Kerouac's "Desolation Angels". I am trying to squeeze in as much fiction reading as I can before my university library access expires come this Dec 30th. Would then take on a subscription with the BC Library I suppose. I've unpaid fines of over RM60 due to having returned two books pretty late, one of which was the remarked upon as the one by Orwell. And their collection has not tempted me enough to pay the fine and to resume my access. Another friend borrowed a book from them and I daresay, he's still keeping that book, not having bothered to return it, though it's been a year. And since KL Memorial Library has taken on some of BC's old books (and I love old books more than contemporary ones, where fiction is concerned, though I do read modern fiction and enjoy them), I'll also get myself a subscription there. But I better not forget that I will also have to start reading books which are neither in English, Malaysian Malay or Indonesian, beginning at the latest, Jan 2006. (:

Here, for your perusal, is an article by Orwell about his book reviewing days and his tips for young-wannabes (might be outdated, since newspapers and magazines have changed remarkably since his day. I know because I, a young-wannabe of unknown quantity, applied to review books for English and American pubs, and had failed miserably in that endeavour, save for one American webzine). But worth a read, as anything by Orwell is (call it blind worship by yours truly) and here is a more general article on the Grub Street. Read this if you have ever been a hack, or are now attempting to be a hack. Try Malaysian publications first. It's a lot easier and you don't need as much an impeccable command of the language (whatever the language you want to write in, except maybe French, German, Spanish, etc).

I didn't go out much this weekend, except to run errands and attend tap class. Meant to go for Yoga, but was too squeezed for time during the period when the classes are on, so did not in the end.

And my current addiction to novels are not help in my regaining any form of a healthy social life. But then, I've never been much of a socialiate. Not posh enough, it seems. (:

Public Service Announcements

This is a public service announcement. Keep this hotline number in your mobiles or filodex and if you come across any open burning, or lots of smoke coming out from nowhere for more than a few minutes (would be good if you can ascertain where it is coming from to help the enforcers), call this number at 03 88891972. It is the DOE. I called on a Sat evening after seeing suspicious white smoke floating through the air in a mearby housing estate, from my vantage point of 9 storeys high, and there really is someone at the phone. I can't confirm if anyone did come over to check (and the smoke seems to be slowly dissipating -I left it too long when I called :() since I am not that near enough to see.

On a different note, Singapore has a unit in charge of catching smoking vehicles. Too bad we do not have such a said operation in Malaysia, from the fact that so many heavy vehicles and motorbikes spouting generous amounts of black smoke ARE STILL on the roads.

Check out the News Updates next weekend as I launch the Freedom of Information principles on my website, with a view towards fighting for the right to know.

I've been reallly bad at the way I've been disposing batteries. We need more collection centres.

Dilema of the transgendered

I feel sorry for Jessie Chung and her husband. The implication of their non-legal marriage status prohibits them from enjoying the benefits that married couples have. I daresay they would not even be able to adopt children legally, should they wish to do so. See the rest of the story here

On a different note, here is a letter published on the problem faced by a transgendered person. Published in Malay, in Utusan Melayu. I am sure the mostly Malay readers of the transgendered community would be heartened to take note. I would be most interested to know what furore might arise from the other segments of the community, who might not be so opened to the idea. Especially the very conservative Islamic groups. I know that it would be a controversy with the religious group I came from.

Whenever I want to do something that the 'elders' of any religious group prohibits (though in this case, I am referring to the one I was from), I am always given this non-choice, "You should put God first above all else". So would that mean, in the eyes of pious, that what Jessie Chung did (and she's a Christian at that) mean that she has given in to the temptation of the flesh would now be damned eternally? We have read what the Old Testament says in the Pentateuch (Leviticus especially) and it has been held as Gospel truth. So let me take the conservative approach and therefore says that Jessie (and others like her) are damned unless they repent of their sin. But, if you are a blue-blooded Christian, you would read the New Testament too, which is the one that did away with many of the out-moded and cumbersome traditions of the Old Testament, when Jesus asked the first person without sin to cast the first stone at the adulterous woman. So, if Jesus would not judge, who are you, o professors of the faith, to do so? You might not agree with what they do. I too am faced with a moral dilemma whenever I come across this question. My religious learnings have leaned me more towards conservatism than liberalism (and I am still at the stage of much thinking, soul-searching and reading). But these people are grownup and know the implication of what they are doing. As the often asked question, why should they subject themselves to unnecessary social sanctions and the glare of an unfriendly society unless they feel strongly of what they do. This is the same for anyone who stands up for any unpopular belief.

In a populist culture, there is always a tendency to reinforce the dominant call of the day. In some parts of community, it is even considered embarassing to still be a virgin by your mid-twenties, nevermind that you are single or unmarried. All these 'old' virgins are either labelled as uptight, social outcasts or 'pig-ugly'.

So at the end of the day, it's all about peer pressure, isn't it? To keep up the appearances, regardless of how unhappy you might be for not being true to yourself. Or maybe because of our fall from Eden, we are doomed to a lifetime of unhappiness?

Women women everywhere

Angelina Jolie is seen with Brad Pitt visiting the disaster area at Pakistan. Click here for more news and a video

On a different note, I stumbled upon a Kyto review issue where Rose Ismail discusses about Women and Islam in Malaysia. Worthy read for those new to the issue.

Creativity - my musings

I am reading an interesting article called "The Play Imperative" by DK Holland which is published in the Sept/Oct 2001 issue of Communications Art. The feature interesting play 'institutions', ranging from recycled decrepit buildings to cutting-edge museums.
My favourite is the City Musuem in St Louis, and I like the closing para of the article, an excerpt of which I will quote here "America, the land of the individual, the land where we are all free to pursue our happiness, was built on a dream. And play is the pathway we take to get to dreaming. So it's no exaggeration to say that play is an imperative in our lives: Our happiness - our children's happiness - and the future of America depends on it."

I wish Malaysian and Singaporean parents (and many more developed Asian country parents as a whole) would see the importance of this statement. Just replace "America" with the name of your chosen country. Singapore is trying to make itself a creative entrepot in Asia by introducing many govt funded programmes on creativity. But all these is in vain until the people's mindset undergo a major shift. Why waste money trying to bring back the very natural instinct and aptitude you have worked so hard to get rid of in schools?

I do enjoy my rather idyllic primary school days. Though I didn't learn much by way of academic lessons (having a homeroom teacher for the first five years of my life who was a shirker and not much of a nurturer), I learnt a lot from play, as did my classmates. I didn't like my sixth year in secondary school because I was put in, together with the so-called creme-la-creme of my primary school, into a room where we are put on endless drills (I ended up copying most of my homework, which were as numerous at that of Chinese vernacular primary school students)to make us A students in Languages, Composition and Arithmetic. And also the drilling for an IQ test (I don't see the point of the latter)that we all have to sit for (which is not even a proper IQ test, based on my current understanding of that). We are all made rigid and had to conform to a particular style. Maybe it is little wonder that none of my classmates from there ever broke the mould. The same happened in secondary school. Many aspiring artists and musicians, and even writers, I wonder what happened to them, because I don't see them anywhere doing any of these things, anymore.

I remember some schoolmates during my form four days. I was trying to stage a play. Some classmates promised to be in it. I finished the play, some other artistic classmates finished in designing the costumes and props for the set. And these classmates who promised to be part of the play, pulled out at the eleventh hour, citing schoolwork and exams as an excuse. Most of these very same girls ended up as saleswomen, selling stuff from insurance to scientific equipments.

So, there, creativity for you.

Top public intellectuals of the world

Unfortunately, mostly those from the developed worlds, and the big USA. But then, these days, you need plenty of resources (where you don't have to hunt high and low for a book, or figure out how to afford that book) and a leisured environment to make it that big.
But it is heartening to see public intellectuals nominated from Asia. And the most famous one in the Malay Archipelago is Pramoedya, placed at 95. But then, Indonesia has always been a thriving place for the literary intelligentsia, though they have suffered more privations than us in Malaysia. Compared to them, we are Phillistines.
I see some of my favourite thinkers on the list. (:

Here are the details from Prospect Magazine, published in the UK. The list of public intellectual celebrities are as follows:

Position Name Total votes
1 Noam Chomsky 4827
2 Umberto Eco 2464
3 Richard Dawkins 2188
4 Václav Havel 1990
5 Christopher Hitchens 1844
6 Paul Krugman 1746
7 Jürgen Habermas 1639
8 Amartya Sen 1590
9 Jared Diamond 1499
10 Salman Rushdie 1468
11 Naomi Klein 1378
12 Shirin Ebadi 1309
13 Hernando De Soto 1202
14 Bjørn Lomborg 1141
15 Abdolkarim Soroush 1114
16 Thomas Friedman 1049
17 Pope Benedict XVI 1046
18 Eric Hobsbawm 1037
19 Paul Wolfowitz 1028
20 Camille Paglia 1013
21 Francis Fukuyama 883
22 Jean Baudrillard 858
23 Slavoj Zizek 840
24 Daniel Dennett 832
25 Freeman Dyson 823
26 Steven Pinker 812
27 Jeffrey Sachs 810
28 Samuel Huntington 805
29 Mario Vargas Llosa 771
30 Ali al-Sistani 768
31 EO Wilson 742
32 Richard Posner 740
33 Peter Singer 703
34 Bernard Lewis 660
35 Fareed Zakaria 634
36 Gary Becker 630
37 Michael Ignatieff 610
38 Chinua Achebe 585
39 Anthony Giddens 582
40 Lawrence Lessig 565
41 Richard Rorty 562
42 Jagdish Bhagwati 561
43 Fernando Cardoso 556
44= JM Coetzee 548
44= Niall Ferguson 548
46 Ayaan Hirsi Ali 546
47 Steven Weinberg 507
48 Julia Kristeva 487
49 Germaine Greer 471
50 Antonio Negri 452
51 Rem Koolhaas 429
52 Timothy Garton Ash 428
53 Martha Nussbaum 422
54 Orhan Pamuk 393
55 Clifford Geertz 388
56 Yusuf al-Qaradawi 382
57 Henry Louis Gates Jr. 379
58 Tariq Ramadan 372
59 Amos Oz 358
60 Larry Summers 351
61 Hans Küng 344
62 Robert Kagan 339
63 Paul Kennedy 334
64 Daniel Kahnemann 312
65 Sari Nusseibeh 297
66 Wole Soyinka 296
67 Kemal Dervis 295
68 Michael Walzer 279
69 Gao Xingjian 277
70 Howard Gardner 273
71 James Lovelock 268
72 Robert Hughes 259
73 Ali Mazrui 251
74 Craig Venter 244
75 Martin Rees 242
76 James Q Wilson 229
77 Robert Putnam 221
78 Peter Sloterdijk 217
79 Sergei Karaganov 194
80 Sunita Narain 186
81 Alain Finkielkraut 185
82 Fan Gang 180
83 Florence Wambugu 159
84 Gilles Kepel 156
85 Enrique Krauze 144
86 Ha Jin 129
87 Neil Gershenfeld 120
88 Paul Ekman 118
89 Jaron Lanier 117
90 Gordon Conway 90
91 Pavol Demes 88
92 Elaine Scarry 87
93 Robert Cooper 86
94 Harold Varmus 85
95 Pramoedya Ananta Toer 84
96 Zheng Bijian 76
97 Kenichi Ohmae 68
98= Wang Jisi 59
98= Kishore Mahbubani 59
100 Shintaro Ishihara 57

Taken from http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/intellectuals/results

KL Asia Fashion Week 2005

It's late and I have a job to go back to tomorrow. Altogether, it's been a pretty hectic 5 days, rushing either from work on Thurs and Fri for gala runway shows, and on Sat, I had to pick up my sorry ass and rush for the last day show at Avenue K before the gala event at night, featuring 6 most prominent Malaysian designers on the runway. I'll talk more about these in days to come. What I can say about the night events are, most of the celebrities are just like any person, most probably forgettable if not for their haute couture and stylish dressing, and professionally done make-up, and for the models, their very long legs (I actually have friends and relations with long legs, just that they don't tend to flaunt them as much :P). At least to me. They might be memorable to the next person dying to be part of the crowd. I have to say that point and shoot digital cameras are real social equalisers. You see celebrities and fashionistas acting just like anyone else, excitedly taking pictures of themselves and with each other. Lots of smooching and air-kissing. With my 5-minute make-up, and newly bobbed hair, I do feel under-dressed though not particularly disturbed by that.

The shows for the MIFA night were interesting, as they feature up and coming designers though my favourite show was still the one on Sat night. That's because I feel that most of the clothes featured on the MIFA night, with the exception of a few, lack charisma. They are interesting, but not fantasy-evoking. Anyhow, I am a t-shirt and shorts, and pret-a-porter person (I like the eclectic mix and match), so unless absolutely required (or if someone wants to sponsor it), I won't be wearing haute couture, or evening gowns. Besides, these kind of clothes are only tenable if you have a huge chauffeured car that does not require you to step on the muddy and wet roads (especially during this monsoon season in Malaysia), or walking further than the entrance of some posh building.

As with most industries in Malaysia, fashion is pretty incestuous since we only have a small cache of players. Of course, the patrons tend to be the women-who-lunch and their coterie. You see a number of them, though not all (since only those intimately connected are allowed the honour of attending MIFA 2005 due to the limitation of seats), at industry awards, especially that related to something as glamarous as fashion. You will see them, I suppose you can call them the Tatler set, at launches for jewelry, timepieces, wines and all things that speak of fine living. They can afford all the time and money.

I was privileged to attend a workshop aimed at professional designers and I learnt a thing of two on the history and culture of fashion, trends and the business of fashion designing. Will be writing about this later for publication. If you are interested, just pop me a comment here.

P.S. Need I mention about a particular runway show on Saturday where a designer specialising on men's wear had some hot and sexy male models on the runway. You can practically see some of them well-dressed middle-aged women seating in front (them VIPs) salivating. No matter that these men are young enough to be their sons. :D

Masa Depan Bahasa Malaysia (Melayu)

Ini komen saya mengenai kegagalan polisi bahasa kebangsaan yang telah dilaksanakan di Malaysia.

1. Walaupun pada tahun-tahun 80an dan 90an, waktu kebanyakan kita di sini membesar, kerajaan telah menguatkuasa penggunaan BM untuk semua urusan, termasuk pendidkan kebangsaan, ramai juga yang keluar dari sistem pendidikan yang tidak mempunyai sebarang rasa cinta mahupun kebanggaan kepada bahasa malaysia/melayu ini. Tambahan, ramai yang gembira tidak perlu menggunakannya lagi selepas SPM, terutamanya yang tidak berterusan dalam sistem pendidikan negara lebih lanjut lagi. Mereka merasakan bahasa itu sungguh membosankan.

Dari masa saya mula membaca Berita Harian dan Utusan Melayu pada masa remaja, dan apa yang saya lihat dalam kandungan kedua-dua akhbar sekarang, telah lebih memandang ke dalam dan menekan kepada kalangan pembaca yang dikatakan mempunyai bahasa dan budaya yang hampir serupa, iaitu kumpulan pembaca yang bergelar Melayu. Pembaca yang mungkin bukan Melayu diabaikan dalam cara penampilan akhbar-akhbar tersebut. Mungkin juga disebabkan pengaruh UMNO yang kuat. I nak kuatkan lagi penggunaan BM, tapi itu bukan bahasa diri dan jiwa saya lagi. Dan tiada banyak tulisan dalam BM yang saya amat minat baca.



2. Walaupun polisi itu dikuatkuasakan, BM hampir tidak berkembang dan hampir mati-mati katak dalam penggunaan rasmi dan nasional disebabkan ketiadaan imaginasi untuk mengembangkan bahasa itu. Kesusasteraan Melayu yang wujud pada masa akhir 80an dan 90an menepikan langsung kewujudan kaum-kaum negara ini yang juga merupakan sebahagian bangsa. Mereka dipaparkan secara stereotipikal, kalaupun mereka wujud di dalam sastera. Atau mereka telah mengalami satu proses 'pemelayuan'. Sememangnya ada kaum-kaum lain yang sifat sangat Melayu, seperti juga ada orang Melayu yang bersifat kecinaan atau keindiaan. Tetapi kekompleksan ini tidak pernah ditunjukkan. Ketiadaan pendirian atau azam kuat untuk memajukan BM dalam bidang ilmu dan sebagainya telah menjadikannya terlalu 'cacat' untuk menghadapi cabaran zaman. Sekarang, ia mula dipandang rendah, dan ketidakbolehan seseorang bertutur Inggeris dengan baik, akan diperli. Tidakkah antara ramai graduan-graduan yang mengganggur itu ramainya ialah kaum Melayu (dan segelintir kaum-kaum lain) yang dikatakan tidak boleh berbahasa Inggeris?

Summary: Bahasa Melayu tidak mempunyai penghormatan yang sebenarnya di negara yang telah menekan penggunaannya dalam kehidupan sehari. Generasi sekarang telah dituduh tidak dapat menguasai bahasa Inggeris sebaik generasi-generasi sebelum ini dan dilihat sebagai tidak dapat maju ke depan. Kenapa ini berlaku di sini? Pada masa sekarang, masyarakat di Malaysia begitu dihantui dengan pemasalahan pemelajaran bahasa Inggeris.

Hope for your comments. I think this issue is good to write about if someone here would. (:

How Islam works in Malaysia

In the course of my research for my commissioned pieces, I have to visit many websites. Here is one if you are interested to see how Islam works in Malaysia in comparison to other countries. There is an online fatwa repository so you can see all the different directives enacted by the council of ulamaks in different states.

Just go to the sidebar called e-JAKIM of http://www.islam.gov.my/portal/. There is supposedly an English version but even then, you will still get a number of documents that retain the Malay language in the "English" site. Unfortunately for non-readers of Malay, the fatwas are all in Malay as well. So, sorry if you can't read that language.

Education and Self

One of the few idioms which can be used so often in Malaysia that it becomes a cliche is " Empty pot makes the most noise" (I can't remember the exact idiom so this is merely my paraphrase). This applies to the local university, especially the that particular university I have been studying. See this and this

That said, in an indirectly related event, I have to say that many world universities too have taken a dive in quality, because of the corporatisation of higher learnings in countries like UK and the US. But, at least they still have the culture of blowing the whistle and having their voices heard, something which unfortunately is yet to happen in Malaysia.

And in a university like UM (I suppose the same applies to other Malaysian public universities, though from what I heard, many others seem to have slighly more enlightened powers-that-be) the way they treat research agendas and giving of grants is as if a fashion/visual arts magazine is dictating their choices. And the very same authories go on to complain about the lack of expertise in many fields that get little to almost no encouragement, let alone funding. Yet, the authorities have little inkling as to their direction. They merely parrot the politicus who have even less understanding on the way education/learning works. They are trying to parrot the style and workings of other industries without even understanding the mechanics that drive these industries, or their motivation. I am sad to say that I get more education from work and self-learning (and from various mentors) than I did throughout my 7 years in a local university. And never had I been so relief to finally leave.


Why does one need ISO for a university? There are other ways of cleaning up your act, and from that I see, based on the latest mishaps with regard to some problems missing forms and bad follow-up between university departments after the submission of my dissertation that woke me up bleary eyed after having slept late and nearly threw my newly acquired peace out of the window, this is merely whitewashing over a decaying structure. The fundamental issues remain unsolved, and infact, is now complicated. Think of the story of a gigantic statue made of precious metals but with a feet of clay. It is in the Bible.

Also, it is interesting that Malaysian companies and universities are commissioning overseas consultancies to provide recommendations to the problems they are facing,but none of these recommendations are made easily accessible to local researchers. And more comically, if you look at this in a roundabout way, here we are having difficulties getting grants for many basic research, and on the other end, we have to apply to overseas consultancies or research institutions to look into problems, and there is likelihood that among their staff are some able Malaysians who are disillusion with the stifling of their talents in their own country and have seeked employment abroad. Isn't it possible that we are forcing ourselves into a deficit...all the many graduates who cost so much to educate but are either too choosy or too 'useless' to be employed in the current market. Is it because they are completely skill-less and that their knowledge have become obsolete (and having no jobs, they have no money for continuous learning), or is their knowledge so cutting-edge and esoteric that it completely went over the head of most Malaysian employers? While I do not doubt that there is a chance of the latter happening (I know people who are unemployable because employers do not understand their fields or there is no job market for what they want to do locally. After all, we are still living in a country where to be a investment broker, you have to have studied banking, finance, accountancy, and stretching it a bit, economics. Apparently, mathematics and physics don't count for much in this country, though I believe the latter two have real advantage over the former), it is also likely that a majority of the unemployed graduates are too 'dumb', or have been made too dumb, to be employed. I do believe in being choosy and standing firm over your principles, because otherwise, you are merely sitting duck for your employer, especially if you have a bad employer. Unfortunately, a majority do not really understand the meaning of being "fussy" when negotiating an employment, and tend to do it in a 'dumb blond' kind of way (pardon the cliche), which could also be caused by their misguided and inflated egos (that can stagnate their lives and careers, even if they do not yet realise that). Just because you think you have the makings of a broadcast journalist fresh out of school, it does not mean that a possible employer would think of you in this manner, and a good employer who really know his or her work will be able to tell you immediately.


Yet, in my current field in advertising and communication arts, it is not unheard of for big corporations and institutions in developed countries to commission our services, from Malaysia. Go figure.

Ok, this is getting too long-winded. No more postings for the next two days. Cheers! (:

Banning of books

Govts ban book for different reasons. Before I elaborate further, I suggest checking out this and this.

The latter event happened like almost a decade ago. I suppose Malaysia is always a bit lagging behind when it comes to catching up with the latest knowledge. Which is why certain subjects that have been topics of debate since the dawn of the Internet in the developed countries (and even as recently as ten years back, in the last century) only reached the Asian soils, like, in this century? However, one must remember that the motivation, however flimsy or contradictory, is different. Malaysia has always been afraid of 'contentious' religious discourse (this perception is of course subjective, as those opposing the ban will remind us) which they fear will rile the majority of the mostly unthinking followers, or worse, make them start thinking and challenge the authorities of the ecclessiastes/ulamaks.

If you do a google on banned books, you will realise that there are loads of links that show US to be the biggest perpetrator when it comes to banning books. But, if you can find news with justifications as to why the Malaysian govt decides to ban certain books (or even its closest neighbour, Singapore, for that matter), the reasons given are entirely unrelated. But the core of reasoning is this: throughout the history of media, many self-appointed society vanguards have an inner need to shape society according to their personal utopia, however oxymoronic or contradictory their utopias may be.

IF you find any more links to stories like this, especially with regard to SEA, please post them in the comment box. Thanks!

Back from the break

I am back and feeling really good. Not only was the trip a good change of air (even if the air and climate is about the same as Malaysia), attending the forum and meeting world class leaders and experts in their fields had given me an idea as to which direction I want to go, and how to go about doing it. I think part of my depression stemmed from feeling lost and undirected. Realising that,a big part of the black feeling fell away. Plus I have better get busy, because my demotivation in the last two weeks had kinda made me fall behind in various work. I'll talk more about the forum I attended in Singapore in the next post because I really have to put my nose on the grindstone and make up for lost days.

Advertising

As I had once said, I would start talking a little more about the work I am now doing, which is my day job and one that pays the bills, once my dissertation is done with.

I will now. I recently got myself a job in the advertising and brand design industry. This is my third month into the work. I must say that it has been an exhilarating and frustrating experience.

The good thing about this job is that it is training me to be a better writer, to be better at conceptualising ideas and putting them across in the most succint manner. Which is not easy. Any art form, done well, whether for commercial, experimental or epistemological purpose, is never easy. This is especially true when it comes to commercial art. Your audience is no longer a bunch of connoisuers and fans who already have a bit of notion as to what you are doing, even if it was merely a superficial notion. In commercial art, you are reaching out to a new audience that might be blind to the subtleties of your art work or the poetry of your writing. Yet, catching their attention in this crazy age of information saturation is a feat in itself, and if you have done that, perhaps by a catchy or pyschologically engineered headline, enticing them enough to read the copy, you know that you have hit the jackpot. After all, advertising is just another way of dressing marketing in a more seductive manner. Advertising people and marketing people have different creative profiles. Not all marketing people are of the creative type, especially since some forms of marketing merely involve following pre-defined rules that has been set out (maybe memorising instructions from the company's brand manual). Yet, it doesn't mean that good marketing has no need for creative sparks, and such are the sparks that keep the business from stalemating or stagnancy.

For advertising people (and I mean those in the creative department), their creative economy is the main reason why they are hired. As I work in brand design, everyday, I am learning about how visuals can do well to complement writing. I work across different mediums, doing mostly smaller projects, from conceptualising pitches (with the other team members) to regular copywriting.

I realise I have a long road ahead as a copywriter, and I have yet to claim the voice that would allow me, in the long run, to be an excellent copywriter. But I hope to one day claim it. My journey in life has been such that I never thought I would now end up a copywriter, professionally. It has been a long, winding, path, with many heartaches and headaches. And I am still finding my way. I wonder where will I be a year from now.

Fragile race relations

I suppose they all have their Biblical roots. This article in Guardian is not even the penultimate event, and we are only 5 years into this century. So will problematic race relations be the stumbling block for this century? On the other hand, they might actually herald better things to come in the second half of this century, which most of us today might not be alive to see. But the legacy we leave behind will be our gift/curse to the next/yet-to-be-born generation. It is time we remove the blinkers from our eyes and stare at racism straight at its ugly face.
What seems to be the continuous contention is that problems are never dealt with. Instead, the temporary measure of finding a scapegoat to bear the brunt has always been the lazy/easy/irresponsible way out.

Mind control?

This is highly interesting, for certain, because of the many people who believe in the conspiracy theory about the Jews seeking world-dominion. All because some of the wealthiest people in this world have Jewish blood or roots. However, wouldn't it make you question what they have done right?. After all, having been historical scapegoats in many societies tend to make you less risk averse. There are a lot of wealthy people in Asia too, but when you think of it, closely, you will realise that they seldom have the edge that many of these monied 'Jews' have, which is the control over intellectual and creative powers and property of the world.

A power to exert influence and change mindsets (or shape them)
And not all these people are evil, mendacious bastards/bitches. Btw, did you realise that Virago is a name of a Feminist press (which is mentioned in this online document) that has published quite a number of famous feminist treatises and writings? Just do search. One of them was a book I used quite a bit in my dissertation, The Haunting of Sylvia Plath.


Here is the site. Perhaps its tone borders on the hysterical, its more factual statements are worthy of note, like the names people mentioned as the who's who in the media/publishing industry. I realise how easy it is to criticise others when we ourselves are afraid to go where they have gone, whatever their original intentions might be. While a critic is useful as a check and sounding board, one must also remember that it is always easier to tear down the efforts of another, find faults with them than to build something from scratch. When one criticise others, appreciate also the difficulties that they might have to go through. However, if a criticism is sincere rather than merely vituperative/vicious, it itself provides an informative take on the subject it tackles, and even exposes the slovenliness of the work's originator/creator. And good criticism is an accomplished art form. Not very many people are great critics of the world, remembered long after their bylines have ceased or their voices mere echoes.

On a more personal note, after the exhaustion, slump and post-dissertation depression (that set in for a few days last week) which made everything seemed so very bleak, I have finally regained my energy (thanks to yoga) and can now march forward in planning my new purpose in life. (:

A breather

The Eid has just passed. I've finally completed my thesis. That happened on the eve of Eid. Then I went back to my parents' place for a little rest and retreat from as much cares of the world as I could possibly. Read nothing except that which excites my little brain and do not require much thought (I tried reading a biology textbook for fun, as a way of revisiting my past and failed in the effort). Watched nothing except that which can entertain me. I got the thesis photocopied and today, after all the running around, found a place that I could leave for binding. For the time being, meaning, for the rest of the week, I am freed from its looming presence. Yet, I am not freed from having to go to university a few times next week (at least twice) to sort out some stuff. Bureaucracy as usual.

Surprisingly, I am still feeling brain dead, despite not having used it for the last two days. Maybe a little nap will fix it. Better not sleep too much or I might just not sleep tonight.


I'll try to plan my life after this.

A new crossroad

After 1 1/2 years, with many false starts, missed deadlines (I've missed deadlines like 4 times) wrong turns and dead ends (not to mention misguided directions!), I have finally reach near the end of my journey where the dissertation/thesis is concern. Now is just some proof corrections and minor revisions (unless my supervisor decides that she still needs me to send her one more revision - I hope not), I might be able to finally format it nicely, have it printed out and sent to the binders all by next week (since I am going out of town til Sat and most places are't opened for long/ or opened at all on weekends).

Next week will see me highly busy as I have to content with much work before going out station the week after. Maybe it is the end of the month before I can actually see down and think about what I am going to do after all this. It is like deciding what to do with your life after breaking off from a long term relationship (not too long this one, only slightly longer than 1 1/2 years but a rather intense, love-hate relationship at that which is always nagging at me even when I am away from it). This relationship has sucked out most of my enjoyment for simpler pleasures in life. I take a month to read magazines that could be read completely in 2 hours. I haven't even had the chance to savour a foreign magazine I have bought recently, on an impulse, because my mind was not at it (even though I had time since I was awaiting a verdict on my work from the other people who were reading it).

However, I did manage to read two rather interesting stuff. Actually more than two, but I am singling out these two. One is the decades old "Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan and the other is a paper on the book "Emily Climbs" by Lucy Maude Montgomery (my favourite childhood author) and F.W.H Myers on parapyschology and Lucy (I refuse the convention of calling her by her last name) had used his ideas in her writing of the Emily trilogy (could there be fans of her work out there reading this post?). I would like to write more about the latter but I will begin first by writing more on the former. On Betty's seminal work. Why? Because event though she was talking about conditions almost half a century ago, I see the revival of what she had discussed about in this part of the world (and maybe even in the western side of the world). Why do I say that? Because I can easily identify with what she said, even though she was talking more about my grandmother's time. But then, Malaysia in the 1950s and 1960s is very different from the US in which Betty was talking about. Some might say that Malaysia is still trap in the modernist age of 1950s and 60s US, but I beg to differ. It seems to me that Malaysia is living a very schizophrenic condition that is part 1950s America, some of the 1960s and part in today's world. How much of each is in each...well I might do an actual piece on that since this is quite interesting research. Maybe some sociologist here might already have done something of that nature. Nonetheless, what is more important for me is to critique on women's condition here.

But, after this thesis is sent up, I am gonna give my brain a rest and read a lot of fiction and indulge in other hobbies I have put on hold for almost a year. And exercise more!

It seems that this is a pretty bad year. Some call is bad feng shui. Bombings everywhere. Disasters. No wonder I haven't felt particularly happy since after New Year...

Book news from the frankfurt book fair and something brewing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/books/24note.html

Some of the books mentioned in there have made their way to Malaysian shores. And some, despite being bestsellers, aren't exactly airhead reads. (:

A slow day at work. Meaning, a slow day for my brain, not coz there is no work.

I need to get my brains up to speed. Wonder if I can get that damn thesis finished by this Deepavali-Raya hols. Waiting to meet my supervisor and am wondering when she will have the time for me. Anyhow, will spend this entire week editing the thesis from chap 1 to 5 while I wait. Still got quite a bit of polishing, especially for chap 1, the MOST important chapter. Hopefully, can send to the binders before the Raya hols start so that I can
1. Have a nice mini celebration of my own
2. Move on with my life and plan new projects.

Have a splendid day.

Creative Commons License?

Just a short post to document this before I forget. More later :)
http://www.kakiseni.com/articles/features/MDcyOA.html

Saturday Night Live...

...from the cyberhome of Clarissa Lee



I am back to my habit of irregular postings. I am sorry. It is just that so many things have been on my mind lately, that when I write, I prefer to do so offline, save for a few emails I send out, or messages I leave for friends. I have much and also none to write about my rather boring condition at this point. I said that I would talk more about my current job. I have put in some hints here and there but there has been nothing substantial. I promise I will get right to it sometime next week, once I delivered my final drafts to my supervisor, and cajole her into seeing me for one of the drafts that is still with her (due to some fluke).

Even as I am typing this, I am taking a break from editing my Chapter 4. Seeing how my months and free time had mostly been taken up with correcting proofs after proofs of my dissertation. I am gonna be at a lost once the damn thing is delivered, nicely bound, to my faculty. I know that there are lots of things waiting for me. Just that, I have no idea how to start, having procrastinated them for so long. I guess I'll take a week or two of break (depending on how quickly I can plan for my new life) to strategise. It is just that I have been a perpetual student for so long (despite the few months break in between undergrad and my masters, and another one I took in between semesters two years ago, when I went abroad for the first time for the entire month), even while I have been working at a number of different jobs for some income, and to be financially independent (I paid for my semester's fees on my own for the first time this semester, and it is the last semester to boot).I will soon be paying for my examination fees the next semester so that they will get some external examiner to look at my piece of work. I hope! Them bloody politicos at the university, with their timidity and fear of looking below standard, has been my bane for years. I would be glad to be rid of them once this ordeal is over. Only supportive person so far within the system, other than a few lecturers I have had, is my supervisor. Even then, there isn't too much she can do. what with those power hungry goons around. Or should I quote my thesis, them bloody phallocrats!

Will I go on to the PhD? Highly likely. But I want to take my time to choose an area I would not lose interest in after one year. And also choose a supportive system to work under. I deserve that after all these years of sufferance. And I most probably wouldn't do a Phd until I am close to thirty. Why? Because there are other things I want to do first, and I also want to achieve something else first that perpetual studenthood has limited me from achieving. No, I don't mean getting married. (:

Anyway. Enough of a break so back to more proofing. To those who are still reading me, thanks for the support. I have more or less let my website gathered dust coz I've been too busy and lazy to update the new wings. Plus I need to revamp the damn thing to make it even more user friendly (to my visitors). And that needs money, which I don't have too much of at this moment :(

Oops, just remembered that I have to do a report for the committee that has kindly given me some funds to "alleviate" my expenses.

Take care ya all

Love
Clarissa

Some Wise Sayings- On Books

Among the things I had to do at work today is to look for all possible permutations a Chinese proverb can take to come up with a hard-working sentence for my copy (your creative writing teacher would tell you about the importance of using verbs and nouns in preference to too many abjectives. In other words, make your writing lean, not flabby).


So, here are some that would cater to the bookworm in me and you :D

After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

A book holds a house of gold.

A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.


Back to work.

What really happened in Kurdistan?

Most of what took place happened when I was a mere kid, so I had no recollection of it. Yet, a chance look at a press Ad produced for the AI sometime in the 1990s (yes, I write copies for a living now so am always look at ads for inspiration), brought this piece of history to the fore, almost 17 years since it happened. There is much conflicting views as to what is actual history, and I am including here a list of sites with conflicting views on what actually happened in Northern Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime.


What happened in Kurdish Halabja?

A War Crime or an Act of War?


The Human Rights Watch report in 1991 that blame Iraq for genocide of the Kurds and for the conditions they were living in at refugee camps.


And here are more sites...
http://www.knn.u-net.com/halabja.htm
http://www.puk.org/web/htm/news/nws/howar050317.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/03/02/08_gassing.html

I am sure you will find more if you google. All I can say now is (since I am supposed to be writing copies, not blogs), the sufferings of the Kurds have become fodder for political manoeuverings, bickerings and finger pointings. Would this in effect improve their lives? NO...not when the living conditions of the majority of the people still borders on the abject

Thesis is about to come to an end (soon) so hopefully will have more time to do general reading instead of always them theories.

It has been awhile since you came knocking at my door...

Good afternoon everyone,
I know that it has been awhile since I last posted, especially ever since I left my previous job and am now in a totally different working environment. Prior to starting on my new job, I was either busy finishing up my dissertation drafts, or was back at my parents' place for a holiday and to get a few things done. After that, a flurry of events took place, including adjusting to a very different work scope and environment, getting my bearings and feel for the place. So far so good. I would talk more about my new job later. Right now, my mind is occupied thinking about completing my thesis by October (fingers crossed). Have a good weekend!

Of Malaysia's National Day and Hurricane Katrina

It is always interesting to stop and think as to what our priorities are. Do we celebrate something close to home when a catastrophe is going on in another part of the world? Lets just say that Malaysia's National Day celebration coincides with a major war going on in another part of the world to fight for sovereignty, do we still continue with our celebration or do we tone it down in respect of the other sufferers? How you answer this question would depend on your ethical and philosophical framework.

When a developed nation like US (though its distribution of wealth is highly irregular as well) faces a major natural disaster akin to the tsunami that hit other mostly third world nations on Boxing Day of 2004, should we extend help to them in terms of financial? Or should we let the country that hosts some of the world richest people to handle the problem themselves? Of course they would have a better organised rescue operation in comparison to the poorer countries, but does this mean that just because the Big Brother is a superpower, therefore, we should not be too bothered that millions of its citizens might have just been made homeless? It is a lonely position on top.

Talking about the National Day celebration in Malaysia, with its Blogging in the Malay Language campaign (I speak and write in the language pretty regularly so did not feel the special need to engage in it just for a particular day), I did not actually participate in it actively as a celebrant, other than when I walked the streets of an entertainment hotspot in Kuala Lumpur in the wee hours of the morning, coming out from somewhere where I had some business to attend to, and seeing the revellers gathering about coffee shops and cafes having their early morning meal before heading home. All dressed in their party clothings (casual or otherwise). To a majority of those celebrating, it is merely another occasion to party bigtime. I am not too sure if the actual significance of this particular day, with all its political implication, is looming much in their mind as they shout "Merdeka" and wish each other on the streets and clubs.

And today, I begin the celebration of a new chapter in my life. (:

Tap performance on video and newspaper

Hi everyone,
Remember my last last posting where I spoke about being involved in a tap performance? Well, here is the newspaper article on it (you won't see me in it as the picture only focused on the centre-side dancers but you get to see some of the dancers and the kind of costumes we were wearing) and also a link to the video if you are interested. Cheers!

Talk about the power of the press, even though this is, IMHO, not a review proper. :P
This is the video-site
-------------------------Begins here--------------------------------

The Star Online > Central

Thursday August 25, 2005

Dance expression best conveyed with passion, pride

Story and photos by CHIN MUI YOON



NOTHING quite quickens the heart and captures the imagination the way dancing does!

There are many expressions of dance and the Federal Academy of Ballet (FAB) believes that the best way is to convey it with passion and pride.

Its recent annual Dance Extravaganza 2005 was staged to full crowds over the recent weekend at the Civic Centre in Petaling Jaya.


The girls are seductive and naughty in Outrageous wearing sheer black veils and sexy outfits.


Some 600 members from FAB’s five dance centres treated parents and guests to a graceful spectacle of performances.

They represented the full spectrum of dances offered by the centre – ballet, modern, tap, jazz and hip-hop.

The youngest dancers kicked off the show with their graceful flights into realms of springtime splendour, of swans, fairies and flowers.

Lovely ballerinas in Voices of Spring.


Wearing turquoise tutus, the little dancers performing Horn Concerto were absolutely adorable while Colours in the Wind had the older girls painting the stage in swirls of brilliant orange and green.

Flowers and ballerinas blended beautifully as seen in the Flower Girls presented by 13 children and Waltz of Flowers with arches of colourful blooms. A glitter and a shimmer shone in Fairies, as the dancers lit up the stage with their starry tiaras and fairy wands.

A memorable presentation came before the interval during the Rhythm of the Tambourines choreographed by Sandra Christian.







A vibrant tap dance performance in My Prerogative.

Oozing confidence, the girls gave a bold, delightful show with smart claps and clicks of their shoes. [Bloggernote: they are talking about us, the tap dancers. Though it was not clear at first. I remembered the the tambourine dancers did not clap with bare hands]

The excitement went up a notch after the break when the older and more seasoned dancers took to the stage.

Naughty and bold were the words for Outrageous while Party was a colourful burst of fun with tunes from the 60’s in which the girls were saucy, naughty but nice.

It wasn’t all about female dan-cers, as little Ronald Tan was a charming little fellow in his dance Le Piccadilly.

Jason Lim’s dedication to fathers, Gone But Not Forgotten, was on a higher level with its melancholic expression.

Johann Strauss’s beautiful tunes accompanied Voices of Spring, where the lavender-clad dancers flitted like butterflies across the stage in this classical ballet.

“We have always worked with themes especially when presenting a show to raise awareness but this year, it’s all about happiness and just a pure expression of dance,” said FAB’s veteran principal of 38 years Lee Lee Lan.

“We love sharing our joy of dancing across borders where our dancers have performed in Europe and Asia. Proceeds from the Dance Extra-vaganza this year will go toward the Kiwanis Club of Bukit Bandaraya for their aid towards various educational needs of urban poor children.

A picture of grace and beauty in Waltz of Flowers in which the dancers twirled around with flower-entwined hoops.

“Through the years, we have witnessed FAB’s evolution from offering pure classical ballet to modern dance, hip-hop and even dancing for senior citizens.

“Dance is a timeless expression of the self. There is nothing like dancing that balances and brings out the best of both the left and the right sides of our brains. Hence, our dancers range from just two and a half to 80 years old!”


© 1995-2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

When a father have sex with a daughter (or vice-versa according to the sharia rulings on incest)

I first heard this story when attending the Sharia workshop that I had blogged about previously. I know that this happens some time ago and most probably many have heard of it. For a few months earlier this year, I stuck my head under the sand in order to concentrate on the first drafts of my thesis and only started catching up on things sometime in June. So here is the link to it
http://www.muslimaccess.com/articles/Women/rape_zina_in_islam.asp

Hearing about it incensed me. Firstly, do you think that rape always have to be brutal? Do you think that one might not actually feel physical pleasure even when one is psychologically scarred during the incident, if it IS the aim of the perpetrator to make you FEEL pleasure? How do you think that two perfect strangers, with no love or attachment to one another, can actually still have sex and enjoy it?!? When one discusses, forget about talking about it MERELy as a violent crime. yes, some rape ARE perpetrated as a means to degrade women (and even men). Some are committed by psychotic men with a hang-up but by means not all. But I doubt paedophiles sexually abuse minors for that reason. In cases of incest, it is not necessarily that the father who rapes the daughter would go around raping all other girls of her age group in the village. Perhaps, we should see that rape can be perpetrated because of obsession with an illicit desire. A desire to break taboos, screw the consequence. Perhaps, other than merely throwing these perpetrators to jail, since they are already jailed under tax-payers money (not to mention us financing the people who canes them), why not have psychologists and anthropologists study more of what motivates them to do what they do? There have been much studies done in the west on this, and from my observation (though this is not necessarily concrete as I have not researched this in greater detail), incests happen relatively often in small, closed (and perhaps repressive) communities. Not that it doesn't happen in big cities. Of course not. But, when one has less options, what does one do? Especially in rural areas. Freud and a few other psychoanalysts have discussed incest obssession. One wonders about men who decide to take wives around the age of their daughers. Is that not merely a vicarious enactment of an incest fantasy?

By saying that a girl enjoys sex with her father(especially a village teenaged girl who is most probably not very exposed to the idea of sex itself), even if her body SEEMS to say that she does (when she mentally DOES NOT), is similar to justifying an industry of pornography that feeds the fantasy of incest/incest-rape.

Perhaps I'll write an article on this later, once I have the time to do better and more concrete research. Rather than it being totally my personal opinions. (:

On a slightly different vein, read this ht

Why do we let a few ignorant and most probably misogynistic group of men dominate the way laws are enacted and therefore make Islam an ugly religion to people who are nots its adherents? Oh, btw, apparently, who is IN or OUTSIDE Islam is apparently disputable. But more on this later. (:

Sharia and Tapping

It was an exceedingly full weekend on Saturday, and a partially-filled one on Sunday, leaving me with little time for relaxation (Taken in snatches on Friday night and Sunday morning-afternoon). However, it was a great weekend. Here's why

1. I attended a workshop on Sharia law and gender, and learnt properly for the first time how Sharia laws are formulated in this country, how fatwa happens and all the details that had been rather hazy all these while. Will perhaps write a bit more on this in time. Not suitable to do so now since I am suppose to be at work (:

2. Finally did the concert for my tap dance, and I hope, well enough to convince my tap teacher to let me join the next level class.

3. Went for notthatbalai exhibition on Sunday evening. Missed the best part of it due to my not having check out the website earlier for details of their various interesting events. As usual, I assumed that it was going to be an ordinary visual art exhibition. My bad.

4. Went to some friends' birthday party that lasted all the way til midnight (and hence suffered a little of its effect by being late for work on Monday morning)

And oh, the British Council in Malaysia is having their Celebrate Scotland festival now so check out their website for more details. Maybe some might say that this is another cultural invasion by those damn Brits, though the Scottish, having been historically disenfranchised by the Anglo Saxons, cannot be blame for neo-colonialism (if they've never had the chance to colonise in the first place). Correct me if I am wrong.


A nobel laureate is coming to town but not sure what's gonna happen when he is around. Still waiting for news.

Will write more about that Sharia thing and maybe write more bout my tap dancing experience once I've successfully advance a level. (:

The danger of publishing your website in a different language

Hi again,
A follow-up to my last post. Read this
http://www.wintranslation.com/articles/art01_0001_dangers.html

I never knew that there are translation memory tools until I went to this website so looks like it is time to check that out.

Lack of South East Asia Language translator?

I personally believe, and I will later use facts and figures (such 'objective' measurements!), that the number of its users and its hegemony within the information-cyber network determines the availability/probability of the language being included in the list of web language translation tools. It is definitely difficult to find any that allows you to translate Malay to English, and the only website listed as being able to do so is not available. Let me know if any of you out there could enter because I sure can't from home. Reason for doing this is because I am curious to see how my Malay articles will look like once subjected to the machinations and polishing of natural language computational tools. Being highly interested in how intuitive language can translate itself into language AIs, I hope to later pursue my studies in this area.

Looks like, for now, I have to personally translate my Malay articles into English since I cannot afford to pay a good translator to do the dirty work for me. (:

The plight of the comfort women

Taking a break from the state of emergency that is Malaysia and to look further afield :


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4749467.stm

In recent years, whole monographs have been written about the plight of these women, and I see it as another form of Holocaust of East Asian women (and also a few non-Asians who were trapped within the gulag). As quoted in the news, when you know you are going to die anyway, you have nothing to lose.

Will write more on this issue when I have the time. Might upload more materials on this in the wing dedicated to women's issues

Some interesting links and food for thought

For any would-be historian interested in the May 13, 1969 incident in Malaysia (there is more that could be said about it), and who would like to add their two cents, Wikipeadie offers such an option
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13th_Incident


I've read this interesting article in Malaysiakini about Cyberjaya and what its semiotical implication. I am working in Cyberjaya now and can see it for what it really is, and this article will definitely enlighten the drones working/not working in this 'pastoral' techie 'haven'. Not wanting to divest Malaysiakini of its earnings, I suggest that you pay a few ringgit of subscription (for one month/day) and go read it.After all, you can afford to spend ringgits on a cup of cappuccino.


For readers from other countries, Cyberjaya is a satellite township created by the Malaysian government in their impatience to promote a township governed by high-end technology and multi-media facilities. It has now become a wasteland of 'high-tech' factories and building grounds for cost-cutting multinationals who want to take advantage of its 'flexible' offerings, usually to the detriment of the poor employees, with a mortgage and car to pay off

Worsening conditions in Malaysia

No. 1 We're gonna be shrouded in haze for the rest of the next two months. Is there a way of escaping? I might try leaving the Klang Valley for 1 1/2 weeks in Sept that I am off and hopefully things will be better when I come back. And it is not likely that they will release the API readings. You think tourists will come to a country where their health is likely to be jeopardised? Maybe the foolhardy and the ignorant would.
And if they are not declaring an emergency, I soon will go to the clinic and get MCs for the next 1 week. I am allergic to bad air.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/8/10/nation/11727033&sec=nation



No.2 The state of Perlis in Malaysia has made it easier for Muslim men to get second wives without their first wives' consent and they are making no apologies about it.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/8/10/nation/11728443&sec=nation

An academic crisis or multiply-layered hyprocrisy? -and an aside

Food for thought from the blog of late journalist, Steven Vincent.

In what particular description on how women are forced to abide to the rule of wearing abiyas, it has always been the norm in many places in Malaysia, including universities, to regulate the dressing of their students. Perhaps those who had studied abroad and never had to use the libraries or any of the facilities here might never had encountered this issue. Basically, clothes that I can wear to work (in an environment that is not strictly corporate) are not allowed in the hallowed grounds of the universities in this country. Or else, you will be accused of wearing clothes that are "menjolok mata" (I believe an apt translation would be "intoxicating" though that is not a direct translation. Basically, you might not even be wearing anything sexy, but show too much of a flesh (like forgetting to include sleeves to your garb) will have the moral vanguards go into an apoplexy. I've been told off a few times within the grounds of a local university just because I failed to look "decent" by their standards. Perhaps I'll buy a head-scarf and wear it TO university just to make a political statement. Though I am sure that will go over their heads and they will accuse me of insulting their religion.

It's not the religion that's very problematic here. It's the practitioners.

I am currently reading up on masculinities and femininities in preparation of writing the fourth chapter of my thesis. THe first two chapters came back from my supervisor with much comments which I will have to focus closely on as I restructure and fine tune my arguments. Reading up some basic tenets on critical writing posted by my friend here.

Pretty elementary for those already practising them but reading through the links there provided very necessary reminders to myself. Theoretical knowledge is one thing, but when one puts these into practice, one still encounter the pitfalls one is warned against unless one consciously bears these rules in mind as one writes. A poorly formulated argument can basically destroy whatever great theories you have thought out, as I have encountered again and again. There is a tendency to be sloppy and I have to always force myself, again and again, to be highly critical and meticulous in whatever I write, especially when it comes to more scholarly pieces.