Am I wasting my time?

Since I don't get much comments of late, either nobody reads this blog, or nobody has any comments to add. Hopefully it is the latter. What if nobody reads the blog? Should I just write for myself? OR should I write for an audience

Was going through some blogs today (was a bit bored) and came across numerous personal blogs of people with photographs of their friends, their shindigs, their active social lives and everything there is to say about their lives. Would people prefer to read things like that? Do they find my jottings so pedantically boring that they aren't worth reading at all?

Only they know...

What intellectual?

I went to a talk on how intellectuals can contribute to the politics in Malaysia last Monday. Was so tired that I took a nap and managed to wake up before the thing ended. While there are interesting aspects of the talk, one of the speakers ramble a bit too much. Nothing particularly new, and I am particularly disappointed with the level of Q&A session. It seems that there are people who can't differentiate between activism and intellectual activities, and how each can feed into the other, instead of trying to make one the other. While it is easy to just attack the system, a system remains a dead thing as long as there are no people to run it. People need to be mobilised and need to achive a sort of maturity for any democratic machine to be mature. As long as constituencies themselves are immature, I doubt any amount of activism will help. People are intellectually lazy by nature. The question is, how do you motivate them to be interested? And how do you keep the level of debate from falling down the pits and remaining at such a low level as to never ever effect change?


Ok, I am rambling too much here

Recently, I have been engaged in some debate on academic publishing online, especially that pertaining to third world nations. Many debates that go on in first world nations often ignore the lack of options of poverty-stricken nations. Albeit, you could argue that poor nations should find means to fend for themselves before engaging in any academic mongering. Well, you aren't too wrong. But this divide will never go away and the playing field levelled as long as we selfishly believe that only we the 'haves' should have the right to engage in cultural or intellectual activities, while poor people shouldn't and just be satisfied with living from day to day.

Here are the two opinions I have posted and you can read others' responses and opinions on the site
http://www.comm.umn.edu/mailman/private/cultstud-l/2004-May/007825.html
http://www.comm.umn.edu/mailman/private/cultstud-l/2004-May/007838.html

I haven't been doing as much work this week as I should. I seem to feel rather restless. Less tired today, which is why I can blog. (:


Going to sound more frivolous now and ask

"How many of you think that manicures and pedicures are a necessity? How often would you do that? Would you do it yourself or pay others to do it?"

"How often do you give your hair a nice and replenishing treatment?"


A word of advice to myself :have more compassion and be nicer

Another day in the life of..

Another review came out while I was away, Voices of Injustice You are allowed to like or hate it. However, do give this book of chance, inspite or despite of my review.

I have been reading various poetic works online. I am excited by the fact that one day, we will actually be reading hypertext of literary works, instead of buying them in paper. Though part of me is of the old fashion school that loves the feel of paper, we have to face the fact the publishing on paper is not viable, unless we are willing to use recycled paper, which technology of today has yet been able to produce a high-quality version. However, more for principles than taste, I would support publications that uses recycled paper. It can be cheaper as well.

Tonight, I am going to meet some young women for a tete-a-tete. Last Wed, I met some young women for a workshop on writing. Being a rather young and raw writer, I definitely need more exposure to polish up my style.

While reading through news of the turmoil surrounding Sonia Gandhi's refusal to take office as prime minister (I am sure all of you are reading that all over), I came across a clipping on the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark to the Australian Mary Donaldson. Despite of the Prince Charles-Princess Diana saga, I supposed we who love fairy-tales can't get enough of that. I suppose now that hoards of commoner girls/women are vying for the hand of a few eligible princes left on this planet. I mean human princes. Wonder what is it like dating a prince. Can't be too different, sans bodyguards and high security. I would definitely like to keep my life under wraps. But then, never dated a prince.


Cheers all

Back from Indonesia

The trip to Indonesia was one great breather and a change of scene for me. I learn now to appreciate what I have, after seeing the kind of poverty prevalent around Jakarta and Jogjakarta. However, these provinces have their charms (Jogja is a special province of Indonesia) and the food was good. I managed to visit the various tourist traps (cottage industry crafts) and got myself a really nice set of kebaya, complete with a painstakingly painted silk scarf), a set of Rama and Sita wayang golek dolls and some silverware. Poverty make many of the craftmans and traders occasional mendacious merchants(though not done in a way that actually hurt the victim other than being a few dollars/ringgits poorer). It is easy for us to dismiss these as pure greed when taken out of context. While others grow portlier by ripping people off million of US dollars, these small-time "crooks" only do so to ensure their survival for another day in a society that is cold and cruel to them. While I do not endorse any form of dishonesty, it is better to recognise the root of the problem than to ignore it as just another irritant.

Jakarta has a thriving arts community that publishes books and high to middle brow journals. While they might not be doing anything particularly cutting edge, they are trying to move themselves forward by emulating as much as they could from the far richer West. It is hope that they would do a good and thorough soul-searching to ensure that they are not merely imitating without resolving to develop their own, original brand of products.

First day at work today. Attended a seminar organised in my absence "Religion's Challenge to Secularism in the Contemporary Age". What do you make of this headline? Ng Kam Weng, Khalid Jaafar, Christopher Merrill and Rustom Barucha were the panellists.

Really sleepy today...

Blogging from Jakarta

This is my third day in Jakarta. So far, so good. On the first day, 8th May, I spent most of the day sleeping, having not slept much the day before coming over. The flight was uneventful, and being used to longer flights, I didn't realise when we arrived. The airport is small but cozy looking, and as there were not too many travellers, we managed to get past the immigration in a relatively short time. Within minutes of arriving, I began to feel the humidity in the air striking me full force, and this despite having come from Kuala Lumpur. On the night of the first day, we spent our time eating and exploring the nightlife within Jakarta. On our way back, we passed a pathway that is a popular hangoug for the transvetite prostitutes in Jakarta. One of them actually got in front of our vehicle and attempted to bargain for some sort of work with the driver. Another one was showing off her wares, and she is pre-oped so one can imagine what could be seen. After facing some abuse for our reticence, we managed to drive away. This night, we watched some bits of the documentary "Women Film Desire". And then fell asleep.

Second Day
In the afternoon, we visited the National Museum of Jakarta in Batavia. It has a nice collection of artifacts from the various parts of the Indonesian islands, as well as bilingual write-ups in Bahasa Indonesia and English. There is a model mimbar (where the Bilal calling for prayers in Mosques would stand), a model temple and a model Dutch kerk. There were also beautiful antiques designed mostly in Batavia, made of hardwood. Unfortunately, the museum is not in as great a state it could have been, due to funding problems. For lunch, we went to a a rather high-end cafe with mosstly foreign clientele. However, the food was really good and I had a Flemish tarte with bacon for the first time in my life. THe Batavia punch that I had was actually pineapple punch and was rather refreshing after a very hot day. After lunch, we took a long bus ride to a big bookshop in Jalan Sunda. They have a wide selection of books, though more overpriced than in Malaysia due to the low turnover rate. However, they have some rather interesting selections, especially of Indonesian writers. I bought 3 books (including on on Islam) and the Poets&Writers Magazine which is published in the US but not available in Malaysian bookstores. After that, we went to another branch of the same bookshop in Pondok Indah to catch the rather interesting film on Frida Kahlo, the Mexican woman painter who became famous for her poignant and soul-ripping self-portraits. After that, we had a quick dinner at a small foodcourt in an adjacent mall and went home. After showering, I spend most of my time checking my email as well as reading up a bit more on Kahlo. Before going to bed, I watched the very 1984 type movie "Equilibrium"

For today, we haven't really done too much beyond lazing about at home. Will say more later.

Anyway, staying with a friend now so it is definitely a rather homely atmosphere. Good food and good company. Getting Indonesian home-cooked food everyday. (:

I think I should read my Sylvia Plath today. Haven't made much headway with it.

Latest news on meself

After having disappeared since last Fri, I am back again this Fri. I was and still am in Malaysia, though I am flying off to another land tomorrow morning. Don't worry, you will still be hearing from me, the erstwhile Malaysian.

There are a few things I would like to update all my readers on
1. I went to a celtic dance performance called Dance of Desire last Sunday. It was a long trip up and down from Genting Highlands, one of the most pretentious and garish Las Vegas wannabe in Malaysia. Ok, Genting (the company, not the place itself) is the only company in Malaysia licensed to run a casino. So, now you know where the people, unsatiated by mahjongs, card games, lottery tickets and the share market, would play the Russian roulette. For the information of my international readers non used to Malay, Genting means "steep/urgent". The dance performance is alright, though I could see that the sensuous desire rousing bit would come from the costumes and sexy body movements (though very tame by any standards). Though I got a bit lost during the story-dance-narration, I enjoyed the fluid body movements and resolve to take up tap-dancing (since I doubt I can take up Irish step dancing here). There was also some jazzy modern influence, as the dancers also cakewalked, with a hint of modern ballet (less pointy toe and more contemporary movements beyond the arabesque, pirouettes and gallops). I thought cake-walking is one of the most sensuous bit, and the African American dancers were traditionally known for that.

2. I am now a published poet! Ok, not in such a big way as yet, but hey, I am trying to break into creative writing, instead of always writing measly book reviews, magazine features and interviews. Not that I didn't enjoy those. I did and it has honed my writing skills quite a lot. Not to mention the many press releases I used to have to prepare at work (a practise in nondescript stylistics, an oxymoron I know).
Ok, here is the link http://scholar.library.miami.edu/anthurium/volume_2/issue_1/lee-pointless.htm
You should read some of the other poems published. They are quite insightful and good.

3. I have spent most of my week reading and reading. I am still reading Luce Irigaray's The Sex which is not One I am reading academic papers (for my research purpose), reading online articles and various other stuff. Speaking of which, I think you should check out www.popmatters.com. Good stuff. They try to be as international as they can, though currently constrained and their outlook is still rather American. I suppose you know that I used to do book reviews for them.

I should and will update some of the other parts of the site soon. Maybe when I get back from my trip. Feeling rather lazy at the moment. Today's morning was rather busy for me, as I spent it on a focus group research. Now I need to transcribe tapes...errgh. And, I have got some books to review. Plus a short story and poem to review. And two, three or more unfinished tasks.

Have a nice weekend ya all

Good/Bad week

It has been a long week. Feeling physically tired and am glad for the coming longggggggg weekend.
I will be going to Malaysia's version of Las Vegas, Genting Highlands, (yes this is a highland as opposed to a desert) for a celtic dance performance this coming Sunday. As I grudgingly make my way there, I hope the show is good. Perhaps I will write a review of it here, if someone pays me :D

Anyway, Tues was a meeting with some NGOS talking about politicking within NGO bodies. The topic of discussion, based on Petras's paper, is about NGOS in service of imperialism. It is interesting to see the many reactions that paper elucidated. I hope that they would have another session to discuss the problems and strategies to overcome so that it would not turn into another mud-slinging match like that of the politicians. What can I say. As long as there are humans, politics will never die. Even the animals have their own version of politics.

Wed, went for a haircut (just trimmed my hair a little) and then for dinner and a gig of an Australian band that was having a preview concert. The performance was good, but the sound system was horrible. Not properly tuned and adjusted, I'll say. They are performing again today and the person is called Shane Simmon. Anyone has heard of him?

Thurs. Bloody flash flood everywhere. Took me 1 hour 15 minutes to get to a place that would usually take me 15 minutes. But, had a good meeting with some people. In the course of some discussion and conversation with some people, I realised that while we may accuse the right wing conservatives of many faults, they do have their own axe to grind bout various issues that I am sure even the left-wing people could empathise with. Don't we all want financial security...whatever our beliefs may be. Perhaps practises do not always go hand in hand with theory. It is easy for us to theorise about people's miseries, unfair laws and stuff like that. But when it comes to the crux, do we really believe in helping the weak, especially if it means taking our own hard earn cash from our own pockets. I am not talking about homes, refuges or charity. I am talking about implementing a very good Social Security System. As well as good health care (which could mean higher taxes). While in Malaysia, we say that we do not mind paying higher taxes if the government is more accountable, is this really true? How much is altruism and how much is self-centredness?

Ok, that's all I gotta say, for now at least. Looking forward to my coming hols. Will still need to work but at least in my own time.

Literary (poetic?) Scam

This internet has work wonders and work evils. Scams have moved away from pure money making businesses to those preying on one's pride and vanity, or delusions, whichever way you would have it. Here are some scams that I have come my way, and I have actually tried them out and lo and behold, they are scams. Anyway I have since submitted my poetic aspirations elsewhere and have ignored their cajoling mailers. Yes, I was told that I won some medals (Can't remember what by now) though of course I have to PAY them money to publish or get prizes. I don't recall award winners of legitimate prizes ever paying to win . If I had been that vain and stupid, I might have fallen for it. What rot.
However, despite me not having paid a cent, they still retained the poem I submitted, hmmmm......they must have need to justify themselves.
5.1 million poets. I feel so.....pedestrian. Just type in the search Lee Clarissa



Check this out
International Society of Poets- this of course has morphed into various other names and denominations. I am sure some of your poetic aspirants are aware or www.poetry.com? Well, this is a scam.
Here are a few evidences
http://www.lincolntrudeau.homestead.com/poemconv.html
http://www.complaints.com/january2002/complaintoftheday.january9.12.htm
http://w3.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=Poetry.com+-+International+Society+Of+Poets&submit=Search
http://www.toad.net/~andrews/scam.html
and finally, an advice to you would-be-writers.
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/contests.html

Many of the poems in there aren't exactly poets. They write well yes (in terms of putting words to paper), but most of the verses are forgettable (which means like 99%) and does not transcend. Some would had been better as song lyrics. Most of my early verses are forgettable and not worth publishing except in my vanity pages (FOC). I have writen a doggerel which I don't see as a poem but as a skeleton for future works.

Aren't we suckers for 2 minutes of fame?

Next week: Scams aiming at models and actors wannabe

Really, someone should write a book on the culture of cyber-scamming (or has someone already done so?)

New links

Do check out my little shrine to the 10th Anniversary of Rwanda Genocide Memorial under News and Updates. On a more boastful side, I have actually been added to someone's list of weekly diversions. Be great if the people who find my site through that site would visit some of the other parts of Archive Of Learning, which seeks to morph and develop with its visitors and its author.

Btw, i have updated the Links and Consciousness pages.
I have removed a dead link and added a new link to something I found on MIT's site as well as a link to a scientist whose first novel on consciousness I am reading now. This is rather exciting in view of the research that I am conducting now, which I hope could link me to the idea of cognition and consciousness further down the road, though it is now marketed as "media research" for now. More on these as I read through and write up my preliminary report.

On a religious front

SOme of you might have heard, read or seen the book Da Vinci's Code by Dan Brown. Well, here are some critical reviews of it, and its 'facts' by Leader University

groom or broom?

Just can't resist doing a bit of announcement saying that a review I wrote of a grooming tips book published in Malaysia has just come out. Caveat : not a very flattering review. Anyway, read it if you have the time. If not, don't bother. I suppose that now Malaysia has its first Malaysian Guess Face, ther would be many ladies of various aspirations and pretensions harbour the secret of getting the "model look" ? What more with today's feature on the new Miss Malaysia/Universe 2004 Review appearing at an apt time, no? I have jumped into the bandwagon of fashion and beauty!

More later.

anthropology of office politics

Best way to find out bout humans at their worst. One thing I like bout working in an institution that impinges into industry is that you get to be a hanger on to corporate office gossips :P

Face and the market

I was reading through the Malaysian Edition of Marie Claire and marvelled at how fashion has not really change much over the decades. Sure, there is always something claimed to be the new look which we all know as just recycled stuff from centuries of fashion developed since the beginning of civilisation. What is of greater interest to me now, beneath all the make up and clothes touted by the magazines to make you look like the hottest mannequin on the runway. The face of the mannequin. What makes them so popular and saleable? What makes them so highly marketeable that they are paid thousands just to pose, to be made up and dressed beautifully and to transform fashion photography into an art from the various pouts? (or as the dadas might call it performance art). A young Malaysian model, Amber Chia, is now touted as a soon to be supermodel, based on her success on being one of the faces for Guest Watch. What was Paul Marciano thinking when he picked her? Flipping through magazines would have various marketing directors of various luxury brands telling you why they pick this or that model (who inevitably has either been taken from winners of beauty pageants, modelling contests or high profile celebrities) to represent their product. But how does one put a face to a product? Is physical beauty now about being able to put a face to a luxury brand? How does a person associate a face with a brand? Why the need for branding using faces of men and women. Do we feel better using products that have for a spokesperson, a highly commodified individual, that is usually unreachable (despite all the rhetoric of being down to earth, simple, girl or guy next door). There are now fansites dedicated to these former clothes horse turned "models" (as opposed to the posthuman ideology that dehumanises human from the humanous to the posthumanous, fashion goes through dehumanising, humanising and dehumanising while humanising)
I am a woman on the street asking this question. I am no model nor do I have a marketable face. However, I am definitely intrigue by the idea of sex, body, face and the market forces.

Do these people live happily ever after, with all the applause that came with such enviable positions? Or do they go the way of expired products, with only an exceptional few breaking out? One can't trust what they tell you via media nowadays. Being in the fringe of the media industry, I do know that there are reporters and writers out there who don't believe in all that they write. There is always a need to emphasise the normal and the glam. Hence articles subterfuging the advertorial. Do luxury brands (like CD, LV,Dunhill products) expire or will they always remain timeless (as their ads like to tout).

This got me thinking of a movie starring Vanessa Redgrave and her sister (forgot the name) about a former child actress who spend most of her middle age thinking back of the glory days and feeling bitter about her current status.

If anyone knows of any studies done on this, let me know so that I can link it to ArchiveofLearning. This might be my next research programme, especially as part of my project on women and media.

sympathy

One things, based on varying interpretations , as to whether a person deserves sympathy for any act or misfortune that befalls. Or perhaps life is that merciless and therefore nobody deserves sympathy of any sort.

What makes art? I am struggling with this idea. I will attempt to recreate my own art, based on the idea of contingency - inspired by a book I read, which I will review for this site soon enough.

could a piece of concept be an art? Would something that causes aesthetic or sensual pleasures running though our very veins be considered art?

would a poem with very good concept and idea but lacking in metaphorical transcendance be considered artistic?

Can't believe that I am thinking all these things in the first half of my workday

Admittedly, I am getting bored with strict hours. My colleague has just gone to Hong Kong to view an art exhibition, courtesy of a sponsor. Sigh...

I could do with junkets like this.

Environment

I suppose that it never occured to us as we plan our holidays domestically or to exotic places abroad, we might be aiding in the destruction of the eco-system, what contributing to non-sustainable economy.
Articles on environment have of course come up again and again in various newspapers in Malaysia. Unfortunately, they never seem to occupy the same importance as what some minister or another has to say about something (like the recent brouhaha (a joke, if you ask me) on the National Service issue-for those who not in the know, Malaysia has tried to implement a national service system like Israel, Singapore and various strategically (or imagined to be) threatened countries.
I find it interesting that an article about how the indiscriminate building of holiday resorts in Port Dickson is juxtaposed next to an ad to the reader about booking a holiday with a resort in Terengganu. See Crowded Beachfront. What would be an academic or lay person's take on this? A way to forget about the gravity of the issue by immersing yourself in the epicurean pleasures of a decadent holiday in the yearly holiday plans?

Also, check out this Notification on Further work on the effects on forest biological diversity of insufficient forest law enforcement Thematic area: Forest Biological Diversity. Perhaps you might want to check if your respective countries participant to this proposition. To know where all this is coming from check out the website for the Convention for Biological Diversity

Tired

I seem to be perpetually tired every afternoon after lunch time, no matter how much sleep I have had. This does not only happen on weekdays but also on weekends. I think it is time to review my eating habits. Or it could have been the heat stroke (apparently 2 ppl I know are now suffering from that). It has been rather warm lately, followed by thunderstorm and shower.

I now realised how hard it is to find works of Malay classics in Malaysia, strangely enough. After going to a few bookstores known for selling more local works, I have yet to find any of the books I want. This reminds me of reading a particular comic strip by Lat, where there was this guy going around trying to get HIkayat Abdullah Munshi, canvassing areas from big bookshops to our august Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka and finally finding the book he wants at a local indian newsagent. Though I wasn't so lucky. If anyone out there reading this blog knows a good place to find these books, please let me know!

I attended a study session (well, the final hour of it) and realised now that many of the issues plaguing the religions of the Book are similar (I know people who would choose to disagree with me on this), as various factions and believers wrestle with multitudinous interpretations, problems caused by uninspired/dogmatics writers by certain theologians/religious scholars, and narrow worldviews that refuse to observe one's own short comings. I am making a study on this end whenever I could, though I have been rather lax in doing so of late. (:

Another problem that I had experienced over the weekend is realising how complex a poet I had picked to study for my dissertation. While many good poets are complex, this particular poet's complexity has so many layers to pick that one does not know where to start. She is not simple in anyway. Period. I realise that it would be a long while before I could reach such standards in my quest to write poetry, but then I will drill myself at it.

On a lighter note, I had the most delicious French dinner last Sat, though I was tired out when the final course was eaten and the bill was paid.

When my car gave me grief again over a traffic jam, I contemplated not driving in this notoriously bad public transport country of Malaysia but I shudder at the thought. Maybe I will just drive less and take public transport where possible.

I realise that I did not quite do everything that I set out to do over the weekend, but it was a good one nevertheless.

Hullaboo

It has been almost a week since I last blogged. In fact, it is a week. Many things have happened since, including one of the most relaxing weekend ever, which means not having to run errands or do work, other than picking up some stuff on the way out, renewing some library books and doing some grocery shopping ( ok, a bit of errands but nothing tough). It is also one weekend spent on loading up the calories so I am going to spend this week, and the followings ones, unloading them. Through regular exercise of course.

Due to my heavy work load last week, I wasn't able to go anywhere really much. However, I succeeded in reading through some essays by a group of Englightenment scholars, talking about subjects as wide ranging and as familiar today as civil liberties, governments, rights of (wo)men, politics etc. One realises from reading ppl like Rousseau, Voltaire, Herder, Priestley et al, that ideas and ideals haven't changed much (though Voltaire made boo boos when talking bout the science of anatomy by saying that a negro (black be the PC word) innards differ from that of the white men. However, the gaffe was more funny than insulting, and basically, he was trying, in that particular essay (title I have forgotten since I returned the book) that all men are as good and as bad as the next person and that it is mostly the system they live in that render them bad.

Best way to begin reading these people is to begin by looking at anthologies compiled by scholars of today. That way, you get a feel of each writer before endeavouring to explore them further. I wish I have had the time to finish up that particular anthology (it was from the Cambridge Series) and write a longer critique on the essays by doing a comparison with some of today's political systems. I will do that in due course, but I am too busy with work and various projects right now.

This particular anthology (called keyword search "Enlightenment", sorry, forgot the full title) was targetted at introductory courses in political thought, history and all related fields. It is by reading works like this that I realise how "uneducated" I am, despite spending 4 years doing undergraduate in university , taking my sweet time to learn as many subjects inside and outside my field (which was Physics) as I possibly could, while having the time to absorb everything. Of course, 3 years was not enough for a person as unfocussed as I was, though a majority of my coursemates who went in together with me (from Physics) had graduated by then. Maybe I am a slow learner. Even then, despite doing my MA now and having completed all my coursework, I still feel like I am lacking in the liberal Arts education. Could it be that the way "higher education" is structured today leave many students feeling inadequate and half-educated? Was the old system better?
I guess in this age of specialisation, people know more and more about less and less. But then, I seem to encounter people who seem to know less and less about more and more.

What say you?

101 things

I have, to quote one of my bosses, 101 things to do for these past few days, hence the sparseness of updates. Bad excuse, I know. I realise that I need to find a more effective way of sorting out not only my work, but my personal life. Hard when one knows that one is an impulsive person who likes to live spontaneously. Trying to categorise between work, personal work (as in work done outside work hours) and personal life (which includes, among other things, my social life, family life, other lives (not saying), hobbies and personal interests done to merely feed my satisfaction and ego (doh!)

I thought that blogging could help organise my thoughts, besides being a receptacle to my thoughts, ravings, rants and jottings.

Since I started blogging more regularly 3 weeks back, there is of course a few things added/revived on a professional and personal side. Professional being that I have got a research ongoing, and on a person front...not telling in this public-private blog :P

Hope that all of you would have a better day than me. Oh yeah, gonna attend something tonight which I will enlighten you about later. Ta ta, my sweeties.

Lack of practicability

Glossary for overseas readers
BN - National Coalition
BA - Alternative Coalition
PAS - Islamic Party of Malaysia
The last weekend would had been great if my car had not broken down halfway, partly due to inexperience and carelessness on my part. I supposed I have not bother to keep up to speed with the general condition of my car, having lost my paranoia that it would and could break down anytime. I have forgotten that my car is old and needs constant attention, by keeping a hand on its pulse. Hence I am now without my car for three days.

Having have this happened to me, I realise now that the reason why BN won big time, and perhaps opposition lost big time, is the latter's inability to keep to the pulse of the nation. Perhaps we could blame the apathy in the people, of being afraid of change, of being afraid of losing their perks, or being afraid that they will be ill-used if the Big Brother found out about their 'betrayal' (very real fears for some of them), of couldn't care less as long as the country is still surviving, or perhaps a narrow worldview (knowing more about what is going on in the US than in their own home country). Nevertheless, all these excuses aside, I think in general, the BA has not provided workable manifestors- I don't mean that all their plans are unworkable, in fact most of the plans are good, though lacking in details (but very few voters bother with details, come to think of it). It is always good to have the ideal. But one should not forget what kind of voters one have. And how they think. In a country that places economic well-being above the well-being of the masses, you are not going to get any support for change during the 8 day campaign period. Though I do not always agree with Mike Moore, I do agree when he say that you are not going to buy over your voters by giving them altruistic and idealistic agendas unless they are already converted to that belief. You have to educate them bit by bit. Harping about human rights (something which I feel strongly about), will not work in a constituency who cares more about earning money to feed their kids than about getting minimum wage. Some might think, "what if voting for these people might cause me to lose whatever meagre perks I have now?"

I also believe that the Opposition, should not make small issues their BIG issues, because it would make their voters think that they are reactionaries, people who could react to issues but have nothing solid to back up whatever raw assertions that they make. Take the case of mother tongue education. I am all for learning your mother tongue (or whatever language that you choose to learn), but I believe that it should be done in a way that would benefit the students who are SUPPOSED to be the beneficiaries. What is the point of talking about government conspiracy in oppressing vernacular education (even if it exists) as it would not help these students in any way. I know of course that all schools do not receive equal funding. This is not only the case with vernacular-language schools, but also even government funded national-language (Malay) schools. When the government fails you, you have no choice (until the next election comes about) but to organise yourself and work around them (even if they are trying their level best to screw you).

I do know that the Opposition are hampered by being a minority in Parliament. Perhaps the people are partly to be blamed for it (and for taking the easy excuse of 1. Nobody to choose from 2. BN will win anyway 3. I forgot to register 4. Better the devil we know). But I always think, even with the odds against you, that it is possible to still work around it. Grassroots organisations within oppressed countries like Burma have allowed the various minority ethnic groups their voice. I think that it is a shame that PAS, after having won Kelantan and Terengganu, did not choose to make a difference, even in small ways. In fact, they have oppressed the people further by introducing a host of ridiculous rules that I suspect have little to do with Islam in the first place. I believe that the people voted them into power because they were fedup with BN. But they realised that they weren't getting anywhere with PAS. So why not vote for the devil that we used to know, especially since there is a new Prime Minister who is the son of a Muslim Scholar (as the national dailies are so fond of harping on). DAP, despite its altercation with its allies, have managed to sustain a rather impressive performance. Perhaps we should thank its various MPs who had tried to make a difference, despite the limitations which they have to face.

So, what do you think? In face of a governmental machinery that would make life difficult for you when you choose to work change from the outside, should you then swallow your pride and be its bed partner? Or is it still possible to work around the system for change. This is what I am trying to figure out to determine what I hope to do for my future. Looks like party politics aren't going to go away, since everyone have to campaign under a party flag in order to get the required support (from campaign workers down to the voters). Of course, certain outstanding indivuals have managed to get support even from previously apolitical people, but that is few and far between. Looks like Malaysia is still a long way from achieving a thinking democracy bereft of flags, posters, slogans, propaganda ads and mud-slinging leaflets. One where the media is free to air a list of information and the rest of us to click online and vote based on the candidate's track record (not necessary as an MP, especially for a first timer). Maybe we are still at the phase where we need to consult our astrologer and feng shui instead of listening hard to our minds and heart....but then, how many people are thinking types?


Any thoughts?

Singletons in Kampungs and Towns, big and small

Following from my orevious posting, I can write about young single men and women around Malaysia, their lives, their happiness, their misery, their values, their dreams, goals etc etc. And then, there is plot..

Makes a good novel. Anybody interested?