We need more articles like this...

http://www.kakiseni.com/articles/reviews/MDY4OA.html

as most of our discussion of the art scenes in Malaysia tend to be rather bland...

What is to become of us?

And no more sexy clothes for women across the board. So, forget about making Kelantan a target for fashionable clothes (according to fashion magazines) and concentrate on clothes that are in fashion according to the new rules.

I wonder what will the muslim women say to this...looks like their hands are tied now.
And teenagers won't get to wear miniskirts, unlike their mothers. Here is the full post. Sorry, no time to translate to English so try using a web translator if you can't read Malay. (:

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http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/37309
Denda maksima jika tidak pakai tudung di Kelantan

Jun 24, 05 4:28pm


Terjemahan Kerajaan PAS di Kelantan akan mengenakan denda maksium ke atas wanita Islam di negeri itu yang tidak memakai tudung.

Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu – ibu negeri Kelantan – akan denda maksima RM50 ke atas mereka yang melakukan kesalahan itu.

“Sudah sampai masanya untuk mengenakan kompaun (denda) maksima. Kami berharap ia akan meningkatkan lagi kesedaran (mengenainya),” kata jurucakap majlis tersebut, Azman Mohamad Daham seperti yang dilaporkan oleh akhbar New Straits Times.

Akhbar itu berkata, 80 wanita, sebahagian besarnya pembantu kedai, telahpun dikenakan denda RM30 sepanjang lima bulan pertama tahun ini.

"Ramai Wanita didapati tidak memakai tudung pada waktu malam dan pada hujung minggu kerana mereka menjangka tidak ada pegawai penguatkuasa bertugas pada waktu itu,” katanya.

Menurutnya, penguatkuasaan akan diteruskan bagi memastikan peraturan memakai tudung itu dipatuhi.

PAS, yang memerintah Kelantan sejak 15 tahun lalu, memperkenalkan peraturan pakaian pada 1995 yang mewajidkan wanita Islam yang bekerja di tempat awam, memakai pakaian yang menutup badan mereka, kecuali tapak tangan dan muka.

Mini skirt dilarang

Pekerja di kalangan wanita bukan Islam pula dilarang memakai mini skirt atau pakaian yang mendedahkan badan mereka.

Sejak itu, majlis perbandaran yang menguatkuasakan peraturan itu, telah mendenda wanita yang tidak memakai tudung dan memberi amaran tidak akan membaharui lesen perniagaan majikan yang pekerja mereka tidak mematuhinya.

PAS, yang mahu menubuhkan negara Islam di Malaysia, telah memperkenalkan banyak peraturan di Kelantan.

Ini termasuklah larangan membuka salon uniseks, tempat urut dan majlis menyanyi dan menari di tempat terbuka. PAS juga menggalakkan wanita Islam supaya tidak memakai gincu.

Bagaimanapun, parti itu kehilangan Terengganu kepada Barisan Nasional (BN) dalam pilihanraya umum tahun lalu, selepas berkuasa selama satu penggal.

Dalam pilihanraya umum itu juga, BN hampir merampas Kelantan daripada PAS apabila parti itu hanya mampu mengekalkan kuasanya dengan majoriti tiga kerusi sahaja.

- AFP
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And as this guy rightly says, we do have more pressing concerns, though I disagree with his inability to see that some small things DO MATTER. http://www.geocities.com/ummahonline/suratpembaca/050625shatibi-hampas.htm.. Like whether one has the space to interact to learn the art of respecting each other. Over repression of freedom lead to much ugly undercurrents, as Victorian history, and extremist Muslim countries (and Christian countries, though the latter don't really exist in a big scale today),clearly show.

However, if we should be concerned with more pressing matters of the country, why is everyone more interested in petty matters like whether women would or would not cover themselves?? Couldn't they decide that for themselves or do we need to hark back to the age when women are considered, inspite of all their education, too stupid to think for themselves (sounds very Nietzschean)?

A thorn to one's flesh...

I remember once when an acquaintance mentioned that once you have achieved the ultimate goal in one life, you can just slide into complacency and no longer worry about achieving excellence. Meaning, as long as the status quo is maintained, there is no need to worry your head about looking for new and greater challenges.

Well, this seems to haunt Malaysia nowadays, in all fields, and especially in academia, where the ethos has always been to strive to be better and better in your field and your job, whatever post you hold. But here, it is a matter of buttering up just to maintain your position. So, all talks of excellence are rattlings of empty vessels, made worse by a fawning media who seemed to take over the roles of spin doctors.

So, has the fact that system make it so easy for one to stay in one position without continuously proving oneself been a source of many flowering talents that just disappear, or has the system actually been the source of the creation such "flowers" who wouldn't had been there in the first place? This seems to range from excelling in public school exams all the way to the top positions in the country.

Even for those with grit and determination, it seems to now require a more extraordinary sort to actually go beyond complacency and delusion of self-grandeur...

What's the difference between an A1 and an A2 in Malaysian School Leaving Certificate Exam? The ever *yawn* debate continues

Well, in some ways, I really like the Spectator. They do get some good old-fashion ideas right:-

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php?id=6255

Little musings on a slow day

Today is a slow day, and the Internet kept going up and down. I just lost a big chunk of what I had written here when I hit the back button. Drat.

I spent most of the time indoor, with the exception of dinner time, when I went out to have a meal of banana leaf rice. In between falling asleep and reading up theoretical works for my thesis, I was catching up on some short stories by a group of American writers. I suggest to everyone who have not, to get a copy of The Oxford Book of American Short Stories edited by Joyce Carol Oates. There, you get to see the various styles of the best of American writers for the last two hundred years. What made them all fantastic were the gripping, beautiful, evocative and imaginative use of words. The most banal becomes sublime.

For a long time, I live half my life imaginatively, within the land of fantasy. Should reality threaten to upheave, the fertility of my thoughts would go into hibernation mode. I remembered, a few years ago, when attempting to study for my Calculus III finales, I found myself building an entire novel in my mind, using conversations and descriptions and vivid images, so much so that I hardly new what of the squiggles on the white sheets had entered into my subconscious. What was worse, I have not even studied much in way of Calculus III prior to that night, and finals was tomorrow. Maybe something did get into my mind, as I managed a C+. That was when I realised that I was not meant to be a mathematician.

AS a physics major, I had to spend a lot of time reading about every aspects of physics. But, I spent even more time reading every aspect of other things, from feminist theories to literature. It seems that I spent most of my hols reading everything, including Literature, except physics. And I love Literature to death, so much so that I did electives in it. I read politics, psychology and other humanity fields, but Literature was always an area that excited me most. Perhaps, I unconsciously realised that I was never going to be a professional physicist. Nor did I think my grades would make me a good one anyway. Maybe that's why I am doing Literature now. Now and then, I still wistfully think about physics.

This is like choosing between two persons, two that you love. You are in love forever and a day with the first person, feeling secure and whole in him or her. Suddenly, someone comes a long and you find your life going into turmoil. Passion ignited and your heart ache. A feeling is kindled that you have not felt before, or have not felt in a long time, or had not felt as strongly. What do you do then? But, you aren't sure if this is a passing fancy, a probably infatuation, or lasting love.

You are not certain...

Petty affairs that preoccupy a petty country

I try to be proud of Malaysia. I am proud of Malaysia as a land but the ongoing drama of pettiness that has become so ingrained in its culture made me want to stick my head in the sand. Oh (blasphemous phrase), looks like we are still very much coolie mentality. The British never left us, they just went and hide and snigger while we all make a fool of ourselves. Wanna know what I mean? Just go look at the country's media (but then, who wants to bother with the pettiness that is Malaysia, right?). Maybe best if you read could check out the letters section of http://www.malaysiakini.com since it's free and you can more or less figure out what's going on from reading the many responses. In a country that likes to believe that it lives by the maxim, "Kepimpinan Melalu Teladan" (Leadership by Example) has turned into a nightmare of "Turutan melalui Paksaan" (Do it or else...)

In a way, I have to feel sorry for the majority of people living in this coconut shell country. They have no idea...

Read this and this and the whole saga on academia (you will find them easily in the letters section).

That said, I've better buckle down and try my best to complete my dissertation as soon as possible to get out of the local ivory tower...arrrgggh


Why should I bother about human rights in this country when a big percentage of the population aren't even humans...

Note from a postcard 3

Lights were lowered, such that one is not distracted by the squashed bodies littering the room, drapping chairs, sofas and floors. Some were quite bohemian, while some are steeped in high-street fashion that is such a rage in Malaysia. This definitely no place to see anyone in folksy garb. Perhaps, when it comes to enjoyment, one will not see a much more multiracial crowd, though mostly speaking the same language. The language of culture, language of communication and language of the body. Curvaceous bodies of wood and plastic, with metal strings, are the stars of the evening, together with their human apparachiks.

Bodies swayed and heads nodded to the rhythm vibrating from the bodaceous neutered creatures, lovingly strummed by men and women, boys and girls. At times, the amplifier threatens to drown out its sometimes mellow and sometimes intense melodies and riffs. Neither whispering heads nor clinking glasses could divert the attention from the performers sitting on the highstool, at the far corner of the room.

The room obeyed the principles of Brownian motion. Bodily vibrations were mostly confined to the occasional jerk when bodies were jammed against each other. The writer wonders about erotic activities that could have been inspired by the penetration of intimate space. Yet, while PV = nRT did not take time into consideration, yet it is probable to plot a graph against the latter, and one would most probably see an exponential decrease between zero and t (where t = time), before plateauing at around 2330.

With the room mostly emptied out, the organisers packed whilst the writer and friends adjourned for supper.


(A review of the first KL Singsong performance launch at La Bodega, Tengkat Tong Shin, KL, on 5th June 2005)

Cliches of life

We have this oft repeated statement that your birth, wedding and death are the three most important events in your life.

For the first, we tend to have very little conscious memory, though by digging through the recesses of our cerebral storage, we might find incidents both pleaasant and unpleasant. I have never cease to marvel at the imprints that incidents can make in your mind, and how a trigger can help you recall a smell, a touch, a taste, a sound.

In our early adulthood and for the rest of our lives, we will be getting invites from friends, acquaintances and strangers. From your twenties onwards, especially between mid twenties to mid thirties, you get an influx of wedding invitations from your peers,sometimes in such abundance that you can choose between going to a church wedding, a wedding dinner, a Malay kenduri and Indian temple ceremony within the space of one day. This of course is also the age when everyone will start asking as to when your turn will be. Perhaps it is great to be married, perhaps it is not. As with every part of life, there are ups and downs, boredom and exhilaration.

Then, you get invited to parties celebrating the various stages of their offsprings' infancy.

As your temple starts greying and you are assailed with various minor ailments that often get blown out. When you start worrying about your cholesterol and blood pressure. When you wish your kids would quickly become independent so that you need not be the tree where money grows on. You start reading about your peers in orbituaries. You begin to get an ever increasing amount of funerals to attend just as the wedding invites peter off, with occasional invites from those a decade or more younger than yourself.


You still get invited to parties celebrating the various stages of their offsprings' infancy. Perhaps you do the same with your children and grandchildren, after you capitulated to the conventions of marriage and popped out kids who go on to have kids of their own. Or you might just eschew the entire institution of marriage and adopt your children (or have them out of wedlock), but then, the flexibility of such arrangements depend on your social and economic circumstance. Or you might choose to lead a life of solitude, spouseless and childless.

The circle of life continues as you grow wrinkled and frail. If you are lucky, the Grim Reaper might decide to come before your earthly body fails you completely.

And then, what?

Malaysians against moral policing

Sign here!
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/mamp

Cheers
Clarissa

Freedom of Ideas/Information? Forget it!

I received a post not too long ago regarding the banning of the movie "Sweet Sixteen" by Ken Loach (I have yet to seen it but this incident made me want to watch it more!) because it was construed as highly immoral (though one of the lame excuse given was that the heavily accented Scottish language would not be understood by the Malaysian audience. Yeah right. You think we are all frogs living under the coconut hus, is it?) because of its used of explicit expletives (I love pairing words like these!). This coming from a well known academic (well, at least within Malaysia). They, are supposedly our last bastion of enlightenment. We are living in a dark age indeed.

Also, being a minority member of a Muslim society that is becoming succeedingly rigid (it stupefies and worry me that the people who might one day change a progressive thinking society into the bastion of Jumud . Best way to explain this is that it means ignorance and regression into the dark age and has its origin in Arabic) regressivity and probable repression are actually of my own age, some younger, some slightly older. I have actually met some of them, and they personally seemed rather nice. I am sure most people are rather nice, until you attack their ideologies.

Many of the discussions happening tend to happen in the Malay language, so an outsider exploring might not be aware of all that is going on. It seems that many equate liberal interpretation of Islam with hedonism. While I would shy with overly extreme interpretation of any religion, regardless of which end of the spectrum their veer towards, one must realise that there is no way that one can actually no the actual intention of the founder to the dot. We can only approach as close as possible. And as the religion travels through time, there would have been certain amount of additions and deletions to the knowledge, though I know that I would be crucified for saying this by the religion I belong to.

Yet religion shapes the very core of a person's being, so when that gets challenged, they will rise and close ranks to protect themselves from the infidels and the polluters. I wish I have something more substantial to contribute now, but being in the throes of much confusion and needing time to sort it out, I could only offer such generalised views. Perhaps I might be able to say something more cogent a few months from now. One hopes.

In the meantime, keep adding to my comment box. I feel really lonely, you know (:
And ongoing debate that never wanes is that of moral policing. Somehow, this has to do with the need for power. Perhaps it is high time I should read The Prince properly. But I have got another controversial religious scholar to read now. And yes, my ever-unfinished thesis to do :(

More links on POD

http://www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html
http://www.booksandtales.com/podframeo.htm

Haven't gotten around to looking through them all yet, but will do so later.


Cheers!

Best-selling books.

This is for those who make it their business to know the provenance for future best-sellers. Surfers and lurkers are welcome to browse.

http://bookpagebuzz.blogspot.com/

And a newspaper article about a Cambridge student who wrote her first novel while still doing A-levels (The Icarus Girl).

I actually read about it last year but forgot to blog it down, so here is a rather late entry.

AS I have discussed in my earlier postings, I think there are many interesting tales to be told at a local level that could excite an international audience. One needs to know one's audience, the right publisher and most importantly, maybe the right agent?
I've surfed to many sites belong to publishing houses and I can assure you that no big publishing house worth its salt would take on an unrepresented author, unless if you are planning on academic monographs or you are a close kin of the publisher?

And something more recent. I have seen many articles in Malaysian newspapers (I apologise to my international readers who might not care) touting the latest fad in POD (Print on Demand) publishing. Before that, was E-book publishing as a cost-cutting measure for people desperate to get books out (though some established authors have had their books reprinted as an e-book. I know because I'd be asked if I wanted to review e-books published by a big publishing house. Apparently, most book reviewers didn't like that idea). Somehow, I was rather skeptical as to the whole process. With so many books needing my attention, would I want to buy a book promoted by an unknown author when I am inundated with not-so-good books published by major publishing houses (this is my take as a book reviewer). Somehow, I am old-fashion in the sense that by not going through the editorial process, one might somehow end up with an inferior ware. Not every author is born a Virginia Woolf, and even she has her misses.

Anyhow, two articles on E-Publishing and POD might be of interest in light of the above discussion. Somehow, in some ways, POD books just a stone throw away from vanity publishing (or perhaps adjacent to?). However, the concept of printing books on demand might work for more academic or avant garde works that might not find a ready receptive audience. However, I believe it needs to go hand-in-hand with old fashion reviewing and editing. Meaning, find probable subscribers (or reviewers) for the first print run (wasn't that what they used to do in bygone days?), with some extras for just-in-case, then gauge from there and print more in the next runs. But, working in the production line of publishing, I do realise that it can be more cost-effective to sometimes print in bulk, especially paperbacks.


Any takes on this?

Human cyborg?

It all started with http://202.186.86.35/services/printerfriendly.asp?file=/2005/5/13/nation/10943441.asp&sec=nation

So I did a search and unearth plenty of information about this man who wants to be in one (sync, harmony, ) with his computer.

The scientist in me tells me that I should be both excited and sceptical about this. The wanting to realise the pomo (oops, I mean postmodern) dream of syncing the human as being a gentic makeup of ideas with the greatest human creation (well, maybe not that great) sounds like a wet dream to all hardcore nanotechnologists. But of course, there are many sceptics, and I wonder that if he really is a step closer to finding the ultimate cure for Parkinson, why isn't this being shared more widely?

Remember the 'Bad Science' column run by The Guardian? Well, I do wonder if anyone has posted anything on this. Here are some news from Wired


Anyhow, you can always google for it (see, a trademark that has become a ubiquitous verb) yourself. I have captured a link for you under note it. Also, check out http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id174/pg1/

Have to be careful as to what I do at work today as many big-wigs are around (not that they wear wigs anymore. We need to find a less cthnonic word).


A lot of work out there, both discussing the merits of popularly written science books and badly written science books.

Can someone tell me how I can be a freelance science writer? I've got a degree in science! Anything to get out of this place where everyone above production seems to think that they are doing such important things that the world will come to an end should we fail to satisfy their highnesses requirements, when all of them, up to the highest boss, are merely slaves to the monied beings..called THE CUSTOMERS. Yeah, they pay my salary too. Bleah.

One lesson I learnt from my job... Forget about climbing up the ladder to reach for that eponymous carrot. Trust me, the higher you go, the more likely it will be moved up. Work for your own money and for yourself. Be rich. Then you can dangle everybody's weenies. Yes, even that of the big big big obese boss you once worked for, and do sexist and politically incorrect things.



From a disgruntled employee

It has been a long week until today...

With three different deadlines, and the dissertation I did not manage to start revising, it had been a very long week.

Managed to complete the first two deadlines, and also migrated my website onto the new server, which has more funky features. As you might notice, the look for the blog has changed slightly. Meaning, there is now an archiving feature for my personal blog. This is to streamline the look and make it less chunky and more searchable. As the year goes on, there would be some changes here and there made to the look of the site. But being the busy person that I am, I can't be bothered to do too much tweaking at a time.

Work is both fine and boring. Have to deal with a lot of administrative and human problems. As well as technical problems. Consolidating amending acts into legislation publications is no fun way to spend the best part of one's day.

I'll write more when I feel less cranky.

NAM women's meeting

Taken from The Star, 9th May 2005

A good turn-out

DELEGATES from more than 76 countries who have confirmed participation in the NAM Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women (MMAW) in Kuala Lumpur from May 7 to May 10 began arriving on Friday.

As delegates began to converge for registration, security at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), where the meeting is being held, was tightened.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, as host minister, said she was pleased with the good response from NAM member countries towards the meeting.

The main objectives of the two-day meeting, themed “Empowering Women in Facing the Challenges of Globalisation”, are to share experiences among member countries on best practices, achievements, and gaps and challenges in empowering women; and on achieving gender equality, peace and development.

It was preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), which was held on Saturday. Chaired by Women, Family and Community Development secretary-general Datuk Faizah Mohd Tahir, the SOM met to draft the Putrajaya Declaration on the Empowerment of Women in NAM countries.

The declaration will be considered for adoption on the second day of the Ministerial Meeting.

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I hope that something good will come out of this meeting.

long weekend

It begun with me falling ill on Thurs. However, I still had to prepare for a presentation which I had to give on Saturday morning. Hence, between long drowses, I managed to scrap up a rough draft of the paper. Helps that I took half day off

Fri morning. On leave because I had lots of admin to take care of, including going to the police station to get my road accident case decision, and have them posted back to the workshop for insurance claim. It was a rather busy Friday. At night, finally managed to get my butt into the hotel where the seminar was going on, with a former lecturer of mine giving a talk on a paper which I had to comment on the next morning. Had to do a lot of fact-checking on what he said, and spent the time flipping through my reference book. After much problems, managed to get a room to stay for the night so that I need not make that arduous journey from home in the early hours of the day the next day.


Saturday was a long day. Talk went well. Many things happened. Shan't talk too much about it now as I am supposed to be working. It resulted on me being sleep deprived on Sunday because I couldn't get enough sleep on Sat ..arrgh

Anyway, now I have to settle down to sober work and earn my keep. Good news is, my univ has reimbursed some of the money I have spent on my dissertation research, which helps to ease the expenditure (especially since reimbursement is not in full). I wish I can get a nice part time job in publishing. Anybody wants to hire me? :/

Also, here is a link to an article I did on philosophy, in Malay. I have the English version. If anyone is interested to read or publish it elsewhere, in English, let me know.
Here is the Malay version Wittgenstein dan Popper: Benarkah Falsafah Mereka Berselisih?


Orite, back to work

Cheers!
Clarissa

A man who does not believe in magic

Erm, hope you can read Malay as I have no time to translate to English.
http://www.geocities.com/ummahonline/wawancara/050427uolteam-fathi.htm

Read an interview with Fathi Aris Omar on liberalism vs fundamentalism (or should it be read as extremism?) and about the man himself.

A day for crime

In between reading Lacan, I decided to listen to some music on the net. In powering up my
Realplayer , I came across an ad for a new movie about the infamous madame, Heidi Fleiss. Which of course led to some googling (not that I don't know about her already), which brought me to the crime library and an afternoon spree of reading through all the stories on criminals. This is not the first time I've been to this site, the last time being last year and an entire night spent on going through all the historical scums of the earth. However, after reading the brief story on Fleiss (what a coincident that a psychoanalyst mentioned by Lacan in his Ecriture I was reading is a Dr Fleiss, I decided to look at a few on child criminals, and one which caught my mind was one who used to be labelled "Long Island Lolita". However, she is now a far cry from the wild and troubled teenager, and has her own column. It is always heartening to read how someone who has fallen to the lower most pit of darkness has risen up and made something of her life, and now fight for causes that most people can't be bothered with. Here was a former juvenile murderer, a victim of statutory rapes (read her story in the Crime Library) and an unrelenting press who could not get enough of demonising her. Her column is defnitely NOT trying to vindicate herself of her follies, unlike the memoirs written by many adult criminals.
I wonder in a small country like Malaysia, would you have a chance to escape your demonic past?

Today is a public holiday in Malaysia. I am supposed to be home relaxing. I am home, relaxing (whenever I fall asleep) but reminding myself that I've got many deadlines. Sometimes I feel so very alone. Sometimes I feel sad. Sometimes, I just want to leave everything and disappear, to write and create without all these problems I am faced with. Give up all my responsibilities.

car batteries

I was just wondering today how to top up the electrolytes for my car battery, which is the flat-top Yokohama type.. And I found this site
http://www.tkyoko.com/eng/modules.php?name=products&file=yokohama-automotive_battery-flat_top

Looks like I don't have to use them saline watter anymore. :P

I think I should always ask about specs whenever I try something new. But I keep forgetting. :( Thank the good Lord for the Internet. :)

I appreciate comments from my car-geek readers out there.

women's careers and slate

I feel the need to share this article
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/04/08/summers_displays_new_understanding_of_womens_careers/

And I suppose some of you might already have encountered slate.msn.com? I think it is a cool way of utilising blog-style to create an online magazine. There is a vibrancy and cutting-edge feel to it.
What salon.com used to be like