Have been reviewing a few things, and thinking about the direction of my writing programme. I have started here and there doing some stuff in a small way, but decided that I should now focus more of my energy and shift the gear higher. The giving up of certain commitments will actually allow me more time to concentrate on more challenging writing tasks ahead rather than reverting to the comfort zone. It's a big and dangerous world out there, but I will arm myself as well as I can. Wish me luck!
A few announcements are in order to clear things up.
This article that was written at jalantelawi.com under a different name was actually written by me. Perhaps the choice of that particular pseudonym have been miscontrued as my way of undermining religions (and the hegemony of Islam in Malaysia). Firstly, I would like to say that a name has no religious affiliations. Just because it happens to be a name that came from a race where a majority of the people are muslims, it does not mean anything. I could very well use Mohamad, Ali, Yusuf, Mariam etc, and proclaim my sentiments about anything under the sun (though I have to be careful that I do not sound like I am talking through my arse), it should not be read out of context. The reason why I chose this name is because I want to use a name that is seldom used by non-Malay members of the race in Malaysia, especially since I am a Malaysian. I've been asked as to why I am "Clarissa Lee" since I am not white instead of some local name. Well darlings, firstly, I do not believe in limiting myself to anything and I am sick and tired of superficial nationalism. I damn well can call myself with some name in an unpronouncable tongue to most people in this region if I wish to. And I damn well am proud of my race and heritage (I never am "racist" but the conditions around has left me high and dry), and my name in no way detracts from the fact that I am C-H-I-N-E-S-E in every imaginable permutation even if I've been told that I don't always look THAT Chinese (and yes, my parents DID give me a Chinese name). How should a Chinese look since the nation is made up of a very mixed race and culture. Perhaps they mean I don't look very Han (the race of many southern Chinese originating from China). I can't say I like the way some Chinese have become, but we do have a strong heritage that we can be proud of in many ways. And I really dislike the ethno-centric, small-minded, and short-term thinking that do still permeate the Chinese culture of today (and of yesteryears). Anyway, I digress.
Whatever I choose has long-term implications for me and I am now too old to make choices and change directions on whim. So, one day, I decided to write using a Javanese pen-name and hence I am interpreted as an anarchic atheist. Hello, God belongs to everyone. And I never intend to be a plain jane when I write, regardless of how I might look physically. And to return to that article above, I truly believe in everything I wrote in there, even if you feel that I have mistaken notions about things. Write back and scold me with your own views and take. At worse, we can agree to disagree.
Anyway, I will be discontinuing my writing in a few places and will be concentrating on some new stuff that I have been working at developing. Firstly, I won't be writing for jalantelawi.com for now since I need all that free time I can muster. So to those who have followed my writing there (even if there were just 10 of you or less, don't miss me too much, ya? ;P). And I am also changing direction in the kind of publications I write for, as I intend to develop new platforms and maybe experiment in other places. I'll keep my faithful readers abreast of what I am up to. I welcome all forms of constructive criticism, you can even tell me you hate my style, and why (I am learning to develop a thicker skin over time and also to be even more self-critical). You can even say that you do not like the way I overuse parentheses, asides and appositives. :D
That's what I left the comment boxes for. You can even drop me emails should you not wish for others to see them. (:
Monday, March 06, 2006
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The physique :It is all in the appearances
We might wish to appear fair and equitable to others, but subconsciously, our reactions and favours are directed by an innate sense of aesthetic. It is true that people do judge a book by its cover, at least where first impressions go. Yet, in that flitting second, first impressions can actually open or close the doors to getting beyond the first acquaintance, to friendship, love and maybe marriages for some. Not everyone has the chance to get reacquainted with a person again and again under different circumstances that might allow them to see beyond the polished/raw veneer.
It might be true that a good-looking man or woman has more admirers, some even from early in life. It is especially true for a woman, for it gets people to notice her. Perhaps it has to do with how civilisation has for centuries celebrated the beauty of the female form and appearance (they did do that with the male form, though it was more on the beauty of a prepubscent or teenaged boy). All the better if she has both beauty and brains, and knows how to work these to her advantage. If she has strong personal values and/or is well brought up, she will not allow all the attention to go into her head. She has to not allow her beauty to stop her from achieving her dreams of success based on pure ability, rather than take the easy way out by merely capitalising on her looks. While many people feel that a beauty with brains has it going for her in the world (and there is no denying she does), it takes a strong character, a character with depth, to remain focus on her ambitions, especially if the ambition has nothing to do with how she looks.
How does it fare then for the less attractive counterpart, and I mean physical attractiveness. She might have strong inner beauty, intelligence and talents, and a great personality, but might not attract as many admirers at first glance. However, unlike the admirers of a natural beauty, the admirers of the less naturally physically beautiful woman are more likely to be admirable creatures, one who can appreciate the person of substance, one who is likely to be more interesting and more worthy of the strong bonds of friendship. I do not include here admirers who have reached the penultimate of desperation and hence would go for any woman that comes his way. These are not true admirers, but one who fashions his admiration based on personal calculations.
The world is one of superficialities, and a person less attractively made are bound to be faced with frustrations, and perhaps insults by less sensitive creature. She might be made to feel that she is too fat, too spotty, too flat, too ugly, too everything. Yet, to be able to rise above that shows a person of pure strength. I admit to that I have my own biases, that I too, like everyone else, gets drawn to beauty. Many people have what I would call the "ugly thermometer", where they would assign a threshold to how much physical unattractiveness they will accept in a potential partner. It does take a special person to look beyond physical deformities to appreciate the person within. And this is hard to do, and I am embarass to say that I too have such prejudices many a times, unthinkingly. But let no one despair, for such a thermometer is subjective from person to person. However, it is unfortunate that there lies no instrument to measure inner beauty.
Therefore, great is the man who can appreciate the woman for all that she is worth, and to know when he has landed himself a treasure far above rubies, and to show her his appreciation in ways that would move her. And the same goes for the woman who can appreciate the man beyond his stature, his brains, his financial successes and looks. While looks might be less important to a woman up to a certain degree, they too are guilty of making judgemental measurements of their partners.
The same goes for men and women who are attracted to the members of their sex, though there might be slight differences in terms of preference and attraction. Bear in mind that I am talking about two ends of the spectrum, one who is acknowledged (almost universally) to be beautiful and one who is known to be not so. I have yet to talk about the average looking person, and those whose looks might be more subjectively defined.
It might be true that a good-looking man or woman has more admirers, some even from early in life. It is especially true for a woman, for it gets people to notice her. Perhaps it has to do with how civilisation has for centuries celebrated the beauty of the female form and appearance (they did do that with the male form, though it was more on the beauty of a prepubscent or teenaged boy). All the better if she has both beauty and brains, and knows how to work these to her advantage. If she has strong personal values and/or is well brought up, she will not allow all the attention to go into her head. She has to not allow her beauty to stop her from achieving her dreams of success based on pure ability, rather than take the easy way out by merely capitalising on her looks. While many people feel that a beauty with brains has it going for her in the world (and there is no denying she does), it takes a strong character, a character with depth, to remain focus on her ambitions, especially if the ambition has nothing to do with how she looks.
How does it fare then for the less attractive counterpart, and I mean physical attractiveness. She might have strong inner beauty, intelligence and talents, and a great personality, but might not attract as many admirers at first glance. However, unlike the admirers of a natural beauty, the admirers of the less naturally physically beautiful woman are more likely to be admirable creatures, one who can appreciate the person of substance, one who is likely to be more interesting and more worthy of the strong bonds of friendship. I do not include here admirers who have reached the penultimate of desperation and hence would go for any woman that comes his way. These are not true admirers, but one who fashions his admiration based on personal calculations.
The world is one of superficialities, and a person less attractively made are bound to be faced with frustrations, and perhaps insults by less sensitive creature. She might be made to feel that she is too fat, too spotty, too flat, too ugly, too everything. Yet, to be able to rise above that shows a person of pure strength. I admit to that I have my own biases, that I too, like everyone else, gets drawn to beauty. Many people have what I would call the "ugly thermometer", where they would assign a threshold to how much physical unattractiveness they will accept in a potential partner. It does take a special person to look beyond physical deformities to appreciate the person within. And this is hard to do, and I am embarass to say that I too have such prejudices many a times, unthinkingly. But let no one despair, for such a thermometer is subjective from person to person. However, it is unfortunate that there lies no instrument to measure inner beauty.
Therefore, great is the man who can appreciate the woman for all that she is worth, and to know when he has landed himself a treasure far above rubies, and to show her his appreciation in ways that would move her. And the same goes for the woman who can appreciate the man beyond his stature, his brains, his financial successes and looks. While looks might be less important to a woman up to a certain degree, they too are guilty of making judgemental measurements of their partners.
The same goes for men and women who are attracted to the members of their sex, though there might be slight differences in terms of preference and attraction. Bear in mind that I am talking about two ends of the spectrum, one who is acknowledged (almost universally) to be beautiful and one who is known to be not so. I have yet to talk about the average looking person, and those whose looks might be more subjectively defined.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Is Malaysia becoming its own caricature?
I find it hard to understand why should NST be issued a show cause letter just because it published this little comic satire of Wiley Miller. It seems that we never learn from history, but just go on and on repeating the same mistakes of our forefathers (unfortunately for us, the leaders of today are spawns of those very same forefathers). Read the rest of the explanation on NST here. I do not believe that NST need to apologise and I think it is mendacious for the Informations Minister to arm-twist it into doing so.
In many ways, NST has become more interesting and newsworthy in the last few months, and it is sad if it has to regress back to a former shadow of its recent past.
I tried looking for the cartoon in the Feb 20th issue of NST's Life&Times but failed to locate it. Can someone tell me whether it might had been in the 13th Feb issue?
Strictly speaking, I think Malaysians in general lack the ability to understand satire, and it kinda shows how we have not moved much, intellectually, from our mud-racking days.
Fathi Omar Aris does an interesting dissection of this issue in his latest blog entry.
In many ways, NST has become more interesting and newsworthy in the last few months, and it is sad if it has to regress back to a former shadow of its recent past.
I tried looking for the cartoon in the Feb 20th issue of NST's Life&Times but failed to locate it. Can someone tell me whether it might had been in the 13th Feb issue?
Strictly speaking, I think Malaysians in general lack the ability to understand satire, and it kinda shows how we have not moved much, intellectually, from our mud-racking days.
Fathi Omar Aris does an interesting dissection of this issue in his latest blog entry.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
What maketh an intellectual - santai salon
This time around, we were at Prof SHA's house, enjoying the delights of a salon atmosphere with dimmed lights and black coffee (for the record, I am not really a coffee person but it was good enough coffee nevertheless).
The night started off slowly, with discussions about the current issues of the day, which took a detour into the sociology of cults, back into the time of the Second World War and the building and detonation of the A-Bomb (though I should call it H-Bomb since it is made with hydrogen) and back to the current conditions of the day. However, when I asked him why some of the most intelligent and highly educated people would propagate atrocities on behalf of a cult they've joined (and why did they join in the first place), he answered that it has to do with these so called "intellectuals" being merely technicians. Too bad we didn't get to go deeper into the sociology of it. Perhaps another time. Our talk remained pretty light, until Fathi posed to him a question on how he sees Malaysia as having developed, intellectually in the 30 years since the writing of his book "Intellectuals in Developing Societies" and that began the second half of the evening.
SHA lamented the fact that there are no structure or system that nurtures and encourages the growth of intellectual interest in Malaysia. Intellectual leadership from most academics/lecturers to their students are limited to helping them pass exams (in most instances). Many academics are not too concerned with intellectual pursuits, preferring to centre their attention on the technicalities of their specialisation. Bureaucracy is emphasised and flexibility of thought not encouraged. An important fact that he pointed out is that the lack of intellectual integrity and conviction is what led to many academics to being easily cowed through the blatant use of power (read my post about the Atilla)
He did talk quite a bit about his experience as an administrative leader at UM but I will not go into that.Maybe I'll bring it out in another post. However, what he said about the need for academics and scientist to engage with society, and to relate their work to society, is something that is being practised more and more today, though unfortunately in Malaysia, only by social scientists and humanities scholars. What happened to the natural scientists? And what about those in professional fields like business, finance, engineering, medicine, etc? Many of them do not seem to engage with communities beyond that of their own specialisation. The good prof believes that while nature might have a role to play in creating an intellectual, nurture is just as important, and thus the importance of education and the encouragement towards critical inquiry and creative thinking. What do these latter two phrases mean? Well, we might examine them in subsequent book discussions.
As many people had pointed out, and so did the prof now, Indonesia as a much more intellectual discourse. It might have to do with history, has to do with their revolutionary spirit in the fight for independence. The same goes for the Philippines. Perhaps the fact that Malaysia has always get things easy (compared to its neighbours) has made its people more complacent and mentally lazy. Perhaps they think that being in a country that gives them ready access to English books (though in no way am I comparing us to first world English-speaking countries), they are therefore cultured and cultivated, without understanding what these two words mean.
In the third half of the discussion, he was asked about his opinion on what constitutes Islamic Literature (with capital L). The answer was interesting. Most of us (myself included) are often quick to give narrow categorisation on particular types of Literature, and this is no different with Islamic Literature. Many great literatures of the world that talks about the universal values of humanity, of love, kindness, goodness, generosity and all that is considered positive traits of a human being, can be classed as Islamic Literature. Even literature that discusses human depravity and evil can be constitute as such, as long as such literature do not promote these values. If you want to know what values I mean, just go back to the respective religions of the Book. Other religions do not have such wholescale control over the lives of their adherents as do Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Though I stand corrected. (: One person pointed out how the hegemonic imposition of certain formulas into what is Islamic Literature had narrowed down the area of its reach drastically. And this could be true for other religions. Perhaps what can be called Islamic Literature can also be called Christian Literature. Unless one wishes to argue from the point of doctrines.
The good prof did give a number of very old reference to out-of-print magazines which contain some of his locally published writings. I will write more about them later once I have the time to dig them up.
Many are other things were talked about but those are not the main ideas discussed so I will not post them here. What you are getting here is just a summary of what went on last night. (:
P.S. This concludes our discussion of the issues surrounding the book "Intellectuals in Developing Societies" (though some of the ideas might come up again in future discussions of other works). Watch the news and updates blog for announcement on the next book discussion in March. We might and would include some thinkers and authors from our region, though it would be a great challenge to get copies of their books, due to the nature of the publishing industry in this region.
The night started off slowly, with discussions about the current issues of the day, which took a detour into the sociology of cults, back into the time of the Second World War and the building and detonation of the A-Bomb (though I should call it H-Bomb since it is made with hydrogen) and back to the current conditions of the day. However, when I asked him why some of the most intelligent and highly educated people would propagate atrocities on behalf of a cult they've joined (and why did they join in the first place), he answered that it has to do with these so called "intellectuals" being merely technicians. Too bad we didn't get to go deeper into the sociology of it. Perhaps another time. Our talk remained pretty light, until Fathi posed to him a question on how he sees Malaysia as having developed, intellectually in the 30 years since the writing of his book "Intellectuals in Developing Societies" and that began the second half of the evening.
SHA lamented the fact that there are no structure or system that nurtures and encourages the growth of intellectual interest in Malaysia. Intellectual leadership from most academics/lecturers to their students are limited to helping them pass exams (in most instances). Many academics are not too concerned with intellectual pursuits, preferring to centre their attention on the technicalities of their specialisation. Bureaucracy is emphasised and flexibility of thought not encouraged. An important fact that he pointed out is that the lack of intellectual integrity and conviction is what led to many academics to being easily cowed through the blatant use of power (read my post about the Atilla)
He did talk quite a bit about his experience as an administrative leader at UM but I will not go into that.Maybe I'll bring it out in another post. However, what he said about the need for academics and scientist to engage with society, and to relate their work to society, is something that is being practised more and more today, though unfortunately in Malaysia, only by social scientists and humanities scholars. What happened to the natural scientists? And what about those in professional fields like business, finance, engineering, medicine, etc? Many of them do not seem to engage with communities beyond that of their own specialisation. The good prof believes that while nature might have a role to play in creating an intellectual, nurture is just as important, and thus the importance of education and the encouragement towards critical inquiry and creative thinking. What do these latter two phrases mean? Well, we might examine them in subsequent book discussions.
As many people had pointed out, and so did the prof now, Indonesia as a much more intellectual discourse. It might have to do with history, has to do with their revolutionary spirit in the fight for independence. The same goes for the Philippines. Perhaps the fact that Malaysia has always get things easy (compared to its neighbours) has made its people more complacent and mentally lazy. Perhaps they think that being in a country that gives them ready access to English books (though in no way am I comparing us to first world English-speaking countries), they are therefore cultured and cultivated, without understanding what these two words mean.
In the third half of the discussion, he was asked about his opinion on what constitutes Islamic Literature (with capital L). The answer was interesting. Most of us (myself included) are often quick to give narrow categorisation on particular types of Literature, and this is no different with Islamic Literature. Many great literatures of the world that talks about the universal values of humanity, of love, kindness, goodness, generosity and all that is considered positive traits of a human being, can be classed as Islamic Literature. Even literature that discusses human depravity and evil can be constitute as such, as long as such literature do not promote these values. If you want to know what values I mean, just go back to the respective religions of the Book. Other religions do not have such wholescale control over the lives of their adherents as do Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Though I stand corrected. (: One person pointed out how the hegemonic imposition of certain formulas into what is Islamic Literature had narrowed down the area of its reach drastically. And this could be true for other religions. Perhaps what can be called Islamic Literature can also be called Christian Literature. Unless one wishes to argue from the point of doctrines.
The good prof did give a number of very old reference to out-of-print magazines which contain some of his locally published writings. I will write more about them later once I have the time to dig them up.
Many are other things were talked about but those are not the main ideas discussed so I will not post them here. What you are getting here is just a summary of what went on last night. (:
P.S. This concludes our discussion of the issues surrounding the book "Intellectuals in Developing Societies" (though some of the ideas might come up again in future discussions of other works). Watch the news and updates blog for announcement on the next book discussion in March. We might and would include some thinkers and authors from our region, though it would be a great challenge to get copies of their books, due to the nature of the publishing industry in this region.
Friday, February 17, 2006
What maketh an intellectual? - according to SHA and the rest of us
My friends and I had an interesting discussion yesterday. Lots of things were said and thrown about. There were talks of lack of intellectual engagement in this country, barring repressive laws. The idea that we are dry of ideas, and intellectual traditions. That our medium of intellectual exchange is non-existent, whether in the mass media or in books. Or even in Malaysian blogs. That most NGOs and political parties work on the dearth of real ideas. And the idea that we are mostly secondhanders, struggling to make sense of of principles that we may never grasp in this lifetime, or which we may grasp and let go many times over. And that S.H. Alatas is a socialist at heart :P
Oh yeah, I brought up the idea of selective intellectualism in some regimes (using the example of the former USSR where materialism is allowed to propagate but opposing forms of philosophy are repressed) and another friend asked "Are intellectuals a chance of nature or a product of nurture"?
And, to create an inquiring society, what call for action fo we need?
1. Space?
2. Conflict?
3. Engagement with conflict?
4. Critical mind?
And how does one define all those four without going into the chicken and egg conundrum?
I think another vital aspect that one has forgotten to include is that different peoples have different ways of working within groups/structures even when it comes to intellectual work, and what works for one group may not work for the other. And the most vital part, that maybe only came in fleetingly in the end, is how class wars now begin to come into play in this struggle for different opinions.
All this in the name of "Intellectuals in Developing Societies" .
And, should an intellectual be a person who has higher moral standards/ higher level of morality than the rest of us? And whose and what morality (this is subjective to whether you believe in God and absolute morality or not) :D
A bientot
P.S. Comments welcomed.
Oh yeah, I brought up the idea of selective intellectualism in some regimes (using the example of the former USSR where materialism is allowed to propagate but opposing forms of philosophy are repressed) and another friend asked "Are intellectuals a chance of nature or a product of nurture"?
And, to create an inquiring society, what call for action fo we need?
1. Space?
2. Conflict?
3. Engagement with conflict?
4. Critical mind?
And how does one define all those four without going into the chicken and egg conundrum?
I think another vital aspect that one has forgotten to include is that different peoples have different ways of working within groups/structures even when it comes to intellectual work, and what works for one group may not work for the other. And the most vital part, that maybe only came in fleetingly in the end, is how class wars now begin to come into play in this struggle for different opinions.
All this in the name of "Intellectuals in Developing Societies" .
And, should an intellectual be a person who has higher moral standards/ higher level of morality than the rest of us? And whose and what morality (this is subjective to whether you believe in God and absolute morality or not) :D
A bientot
P.S. Comments welcomed.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Should it be this? Why not that?
Here is what I feel is a well-written, balanced report on the cartoons and the furore it sparked.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/10/news/cartoons.php
Here is from today
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/15/news/union.php
I suppose when one talks about emotional issues, it is hard to maintain a clear mind.
How far can satire go, and should there be an arbitrary decision on what is sacred and profane?
I don't think this question will ever be answered. But many recent riots, sparked off unfortunately in the densely populated immigrant section of Western Europe, have made current administrations pay attention to the conditions of today's polity. And recent events have made me requestion the concept of religion, and why this religion and not the other. I see a new crisis coming up :D
On a lighter note, it is so 'on' to be an applied scientist today :D
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1709337,00.html
Damn, why did I switch to the fickle world of advertising and branding, where qualifications and formal education are less important (though knowledge IS a big asset, acquired which way) than your ability to maneuvre the world of hard-knocks, put up with corporate jinks (fickle-minded and dense authorities) and to negotiate deals. Even a PhD without the necessary survival skills and EQ (+ creative talent) will drown in this vast ocean.
Academia seems so much more of an ideal in comparison (barring the campus political back-biting and power-play), but should I ever enter it, I hope that I can also share "real-life" with them, from the horse's mouth.
Both words require smarts, and in today's highly commertical world, I doubt that a lack of industrial experience will do a book-centred academic much good, even if you majored in Egyptology or Celtic Studies, or the linguistic cognition of Trobiander Indians. (:
Time to rethink my "higher-education".
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/10/news/cartoons.php
Here is from today
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/15/news/union.php
I suppose when one talks about emotional issues, it is hard to maintain a clear mind.
How far can satire go, and should there be an arbitrary decision on what is sacred and profane?
I don't think this question will ever be answered. But many recent riots, sparked off unfortunately in the densely populated immigrant section of Western Europe, have made current administrations pay attention to the conditions of today's polity. And recent events have made me requestion the concept of religion, and why this religion and not the other. I see a new crisis coming up :D
On a lighter note, it is so 'on' to be an applied scientist today :D
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1709337,00.html
Damn, why did I switch to the fickle world of advertising and branding, where qualifications and formal education are less important (though knowledge IS a big asset, acquired which way) than your ability to maneuvre the world of hard-knocks, put up with corporate jinks (fickle-minded and dense authorities) and to negotiate deals. Even a PhD without the necessary survival skills and EQ (+ creative talent) will drown in this vast ocean.
Academia seems so much more of an ideal in comparison (barring the campus political back-biting and power-play), but should I ever enter it, I hope that I can also share "real-life" with them, from the horse's mouth.
Both words require smarts, and in today's highly commertical world, I doubt that a lack of industrial experience will do a book-centred academic much good, even if you majored in Egyptology or Celtic Studies, or the linguistic cognition of Trobiander Indians. (:
Time to rethink my "higher-education".
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Valentine's Day 2006: Some Vignettes
Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.
~ James A. Baldwin
1.
It has gone past midnight, the curfew relegated to the unconscious area of our minds. We sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the yet to be-opened-flyover, the car behind us. For the first time, I was acquainted with the inner-life of this boy, this teenager on the verge of adulthood. He spoke more than I did. He told me his dreams, his ideals, what he had done in the past. I asked if he had ever confided in his best pals the way he had to me. He said he never did. We boys do not engage in such conversations, said he. I looked at him, this young man considered to be the ideal of manhood. Smart and brawny. Popular. We were both staring down at the motorway, at the zooming cars below us. He brought food and drinks, which he shared with me. We, two, small-town teenagers, exchanging intimacies in the darkness of a yet-to-be-opened public area. Daring of us, and illegal in the eyes of the law. There were more things I wished he had told me that night, but it did not happen, as the spell was broken by the police. I shuddered at the thought, as mother would not be too pleased to be woken, after I had deliberately broken the curfew. However, the magic of that night was gone. A year later, we were almost strangers.
2.
We stood under the dusky sky, looking at the breaking waves, barely perceptible in the dimly lit area. We set up the camera and tripod to catch the full moon, and maybe a few constellations. We had to leave the camera for maximum exposure, and while waiting, we surveyed the darkness around us. We spoke, I do not remember of what. Did we touch? It escaped me. The next morning, we were up early to see the orange globe as it rose from the horizon. We took pictures once again, and the pictures came out beautifully. We also took pictures of the junks and fishing boats that were coming in with the catch of the day. We stood under the wooden pavilion, waiting for breakfast to come in. This time I remembered that we could had held on to each other, and to the camera. And the others arrived to join us for breakfast. The magic was soon lost. Few months after, we were almost strangers, a broken version of the pictures we took together.
3.
Our acquaintance was hardly usual, and under the usual circumstances, might had never arisen. We had many-shared loves, and shared-disgusts. We were alike yet so different from the other. We seldom met, yet our hearts were knitted together, sometimes sundered by unknown forces. We shared many a lonely time apart, and spent some of the most mundane hours together. Our passions were strong yet unnoticeable by others, our love mostly unspoken, then, now and thereafter, even as we engaged in long conversations. In my most conventional moments, I've dreamt of a a life together with love, a beautiful wedding to enshrine it all. Perhaps it might never come, not ever in this lifetime. The magic had begun early, and had had many fleeting moments. The first touch, the first kiss, the first of it all. Maybe the first instance wasn't all that important. The memories were what made it as it was.
Epilogue
Perhaps, the essence that defines love is made all the stronger by the lost of possibilities, of former hopes and the realisation of irrational passions.
Dans nom รข l'amour, mon ami
Happy Valentine's to each and every one of my readers.
~ James A. Baldwin
1.
It has gone past midnight, the curfew relegated to the unconscious area of our minds. We sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the yet to be-opened-flyover, the car behind us. For the first time, I was acquainted with the inner-life of this boy, this teenager on the verge of adulthood. He spoke more than I did. He told me his dreams, his ideals, what he had done in the past. I asked if he had ever confided in his best pals the way he had to me. He said he never did. We boys do not engage in such conversations, said he. I looked at him, this young man considered to be the ideal of manhood. Smart and brawny. Popular. We were both staring down at the motorway, at the zooming cars below us. He brought food and drinks, which he shared with me. We, two, small-town teenagers, exchanging intimacies in the darkness of a yet-to-be-opened public area. Daring of us, and illegal in the eyes of the law. There were more things I wished he had told me that night, but it did not happen, as the spell was broken by the police. I shuddered at the thought, as mother would not be too pleased to be woken, after I had deliberately broken the curfew. However, the magic of that night was gone. A year later, we were almost strangers.
2.
We stood under the dusky sky, looking at the breaking waves, barely perceptible in the dimly lit area. We set up the camera and tripod to catch the full moon, and maybe a few constellations. We had to leave the camera for maximum exposure, and while waiting, we surveyed the darkness around us. We spoke, I do not remember of what. Did we touch? It escaped me. The next morning, we were up early to see the orange globe as it rose from the horizon. We took pictures once again, and the pictures came out beautifully. We also took pictures of the junks and fishing boats that were coming in with the catch of the day. We stood under the wooden pavilion, waiting for breakfast to come in. This time I remembered that we could had held on to each other, and to the camera. And the others arrived to join us for breakfast. The magic was soon lost. Few months after, we were almost strangers, a broken version of the pictures we took together.
3.
Our acquaintance was hardly usual, and under the usual circumstances, might had never arisen. We had many-shared loves, and shared-disgusts. We were alike yet so different from the other. We seldom met, yet our hearts were knitted together, sometimes sundered by unknown forces. We shared many a lonely time apart, and spent some of the most mundane hours together. Our passions were strong yet unnoticeable by others, our love mostly unspoken, then, now and thereafter, even as we engaged in long conversations. In my most conventional moments, I've dreamt of a a life together with love, a beautiful wedding to enshrine it all. Perhaps it might never come, not ever in this lifetime. The magic had begun early, and had had many fleeting moments. The first touch, the first kiss, the first of it all. Maybe the first instance wasn't all that important. The memories were what made it as it was.
Epilogue
Perhaps, the essence that defines love is made all the stronger by the lost of possibilities, of former hopes and the realisation of irrational passions.
Dans nom รข l'amour, mon ami
Happy Valentine's to each and every one of my readers.
Note from a postcard 2 (first published in June 2005, two days after the first postcard)
Maria sat behind, oblivious to the battling couple trying to navigate the traffic. A cherubic child sat next to her, intermittently looking out of the window, and at her. Maria caught her glance when looking up from her mobile. Maria smiled back at her.
The four of them got to the cafe safely, after tension, as the driver had difficulties in finding his bearings, whilst his partner tried to impart his wisdom on the city's maze.
The waiter took their order. The atmosphere had relaxed. They were now all chatting amiably. Maria exchanged banter with the couple, and the child. She tried to be bright and witty, but her mind is floating elsewhere. Why did he refuse to come?
They discussed their plans, their lives and their ideals. One of the couple worked for an NGO, the other was in publishing. Maria asked one of the couple, the one who was driving. How was he? He looked at her evenly. The same.
Did he ever mention me?
Maria sat behind, oblivious to the arguing couple in front trying to navigate the traffic. A cherubic child sat next to her, intermittently looking out of the window, and at her. Maria caught her glance when looking up from her mobile. They smiled at each other.
The four of them got to the cafe safely, after much tension, as the driver had difficulties with his bearings whilst his partner tried to impart his wisdom on the city's maze.
The waiter took their order. The atmosphere had relaxed. They were now all chatting amiably. Maria exchanged banter with the couple, and the child. She tried to be bright and witty, but her mind is floating elsewhere. Why did he refuse to come?
They discussed their plans, their lives and their ideals. One of the couple worked for an NGO, the other was in publishing. Maria asked one of the couple, the one who was driving. How was he? He looked at her evenly. The same.
Did he ever mention me?
No.
Dinner came to an end after an hour. Maria went with the couple and child back into the car. She looked again at her mobile. The call never came. She sat back as they drove to their next destination.
From the corner of her eye, Maria noticed that the child was eyeing her, with a look that she imagined must meant empathy.
The four of them got to the cafe safely, after tension, as the driver had difficulties in finding his bearings, whilst his partner tried to impart his wisdom on the city's maze.
The waiter took their order. The atmosphere had relaxed. They were now all chatting amiably. Maria exchanged banter with the couple, and the child. She tried to be bright and witty, but her mind is floating elsewhere. Why did he refuse to come?
They discussed their plans, their lives and their ideals. One of the couple worked for an NGO, the other was in publishing. Maria asked one of the couple, the one who was driving. How was he? He looked at her evenly. The same.
Did he ever mention me?
Maria sat behind, oblivious to the arguing couple in front trying to navigate the traffic. A cherubic child sat next to her, intermittently looking out of the window, and at her. Maria caught her glance when looking up from her mobile. They smiled at each other.
The four of them got to the cafe safely, after much tension, as the driver had difficulties with his bearings whilst his partner tried to impart his wisdom on the city's maze.
The waiter took their order. The atmosphere had relaxed. They were now all chatting amiably. Maria exchanged banter with the couple, and the child. She tried to be bright and witty, but her mind is floating elsewhere. Why did he refuse to come?
They discussed their plans, their lives and their ideals. One of the couple worked for an NGO, the other was in publishing. Maria asked one of the couple, the one who was driving. How was he? He looked at her evenly. The same.
Did he ever mention me?
No.
Dinner came to an end after an hour. Maria went with the couple and child back into the car. She looked again at her mobile. The call never came. She sat back as they drove to their next destination.
From the corner of her eye, Maria noticed that the child was eyeing her, with a look that she imagined must meant empathy.
Note from a postcard 1 (first published in June 2005)
He sat next to me, holding my hand and bag. I looked at his face. It held an imperceptible pensiveness. He looked at me and smiled in a way that only those who understood would see it as a smile. He held his lips closed to my temple as he pulled me towards him.
I looked out of the dew covered pane as we whizzed past flat landscapes, highways and scatterings of narrow houses. I touched the cold glass, feeling the frosty tingle through my fingers. The world looked sober. I felt the warmness of his palm as he squeezes my hand nearest to him. I savoured an amniotic coziness that must soon be abruptly ended.
In the swirl of diembodied voices, omniscient clocks, people and bags, we came to a halt at our destination. We took a trolley and started looking for the counter. I noticed a dog in a leash trotting obediently behind a lady in a coat, perhaps on their way to greet someone who had just arrived. Everything was a whirl but festivity was in the air. Bags were taken away. In return, I held a pass.
We went for breakfast, our last meal together, knowing that oceans will soon separate us. I took in his liquid eyes, long lashes and gorgeous lips. We chatted amiably, wanting in vain to ignore that which was then impatient in the performance of its duty.
A long queue met us at the entrance that stood as a hatchet between loved ones, those who were leaving and those who were staying back. Some for a few days, some for a few weeks, some indefinitely.
He bade me adieu, not wanting to linger longer, having an appointment to keep, and wanting to be spared the painful parting. Before leaving, he whispered, "I love you" and kissed me on the lips, the first for that day. I looked at his back as he hurried away.
I looked out of the dew covered pane as we whizzed past flat landscapes, highways and scatterings of narrow houses. I touched the cold glass, feeling the frosty tingle through my fingers. The world looked sober. I felt the warmness of his palm as he squeezes my hand nearest to him. I savoured an amniotic coziness that must soon be abruptly ended.
In the swirl of diembodied voices, omniscient clocks, people and bags, we came to a halt at our destination. We took a trolley and started looking for the counter. I noticed a dog in a leash trotting obediently behind a lady in a coat, perhaps on their way to greet someone who had just arrived. Everything was a whirl but festivity was in the air. Bags were taken away. In return, I held a pass.
We went for breakfast, our last meal together, knowing that oceans will soon separate us. I took in his liquid eyes, long lashes and gorgeous lips. We chatted amiably, wanting in vain to ignore that which was then impatient in the performance of its duty.
A long queue met us at the entrance that stood as a hatchet between loved ones, those who were leaving and those who were staying back. Some for a few days, some for a few weeks, some indefinitely.
He bade me adieu, not wanting to linger longer, having an appointment to keep, and wanting to be spared the painful parting. Before leaving, he whispered, "I love you" and kissed me on the lips, the first for that day. I looked at his back as he hurried away.
Friday, February 10, 2006
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!
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!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
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!
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!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
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.
Maybe the lawmakers in Malaysia need to undergo Constitution of Malaysia 101.
Friday, January 20, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, January 13, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
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.
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.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Sunday, December 04, 2005
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. (:
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. (:
Saturday, December 03, 2005
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.
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.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
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?
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?
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Women women everywhere
Monday, November 28, 2005
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.
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 Vรกclav Havel 1990
5 Christopher Hitchens 1844
6 Paul Krugman 1746
7 Jรผrgen 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 Bjรธrn 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 Kรผng 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
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 Vรกclav Havel 1990
5 Christopher Hitchens 1844
6 Paul Krugman 1746
7 Jรผrgen 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 Bjรธrn 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 Kรผng 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
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
Monday, November 21, 2005
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. (:
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.
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.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
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! (:
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!
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.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
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 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. (:
Saturday, November 05, 2005
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.
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.
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