Undilah: A baffle to minds

It is too late to write about this. But it is never too late to convey the positive message brought by a campaign through Youtube recently. I could not grasp the fuss with the Government for banning the video. Is it because the sometimes-stupid Namawee was in the project? Well, I could accept that and many of us cannot because to some, he said the 'real thing' although what the 'real thing' hit them right them (the supporters) in the nose.

However, banning the video on mainstream media would be a much stupid political act, I would say. We are not even trying to go down the streets to protest (in which I don't support either), but this is a simple act of calling others to do the 'Must-do-thing' for the nation. We should give credits to those who have worked hard to make the campaign. 

The video tries to convey the message to encourage as many voters to do their right as a citizen of this country. And yet, the Government banned the video. I know this campaign came at the right time since my close friends are all not registered although qualified to become one. Hence, to put it simple why does the Government 'curbed' this movement of doing the right thing to Malaysia. Not everyone can become Nicol David to become the world's No.1 player but still they want to contribute to the nation. One of the ways is to encourage others to Vote. How was that wrong still baffled my mind. 

Do not say that the Government already has campaign on their mind since what they are doing with the 'Mari Mengundi' ads made by Jabatan Perfileman Negara was one of the campaign programs that made some of us say 'euww'. The ads should go to the list of the worst ads ever. I do not know how to make the Jabatan or any Government's Jabatans to change with today's 'changes' except with that kind of harsh criticisms as previous constructive criticisms were like going down the drains.

One thing that we are sure of is that even Ku Li was present in the video and that was significance in encouraging Malaysians to cast their vote especially the young ones. Do not say that what am I saying is illegal as I am still a student. How about the rights of me as a Voter? Don't you think that it is a kind of contradicting when they want us to register as voters at the age of 21 but asked us to stay away from politics. You shut up, just register! Woo..

Instead, the Undilah.com website is actually a good ground for the short-message Twitter generation. Here are some of the contents (in which the video was banned!):

Who shall I vote for?

In a democracy, you are entitled to your personal political preference. We don't care who you vote for as long as you do vote.

What do I need to do to vote?

You need to be a Malaysian citizen over the age of 21. You also need to be a registered voter.

How do I register myself as a voter?

There are many voluntary organizations, NGOs and political parties who regularly promote voter registration in public places and events. You may register through them. You may also register at any post office. Just bring you identity card and ask at the counter. It is very easy and takes about 10 minutes.

When should I register?

You may register at anytime. However, if you intend to vote in the coming general election, please register yourself as soon as possible. The Election Commission imposes a voter registration cut-off period counting back 3 months from the date of the election. In other words, you are only eligible to vote if you had registered at least 3 months before the date of the general election.

My friends, you know you have responsibilities to your nation. I have registered myself as a Voter. How about you? It is hypocritical to talk politics when you are not registered as a voter when you are legally qualified to become one. Undilah!-The Chukai Insider

At least we are exposed to English. And understanding comes straight after that.

I was educated in a daily school in a place where urbanisation transcends the village-look of the district. Worth to mention, that my place is located in a state in which education is a very serious thing. Another thing worth to mention, the parents of most of the students are not educated in the sense that majority of them only pass primary school level. As in the case of my father. 

More importantly, it is a stupid thing to mention again and again that when we want to apply for high-income jobs (which could eradicate poverty of the parents),  they interview and ask for your level of proficiency in English. Well, I was born a Trengganu, with minimal-educated parents, never speak English at home, exposed to Sesame Street as a kid (but failed to understand most of the words, except for One, Two, Three and A, B, C, D, E ...). Then, in what sense will I get exposed to English so that my Trengganu tongue is flexible enough to say 'the' the correct way? Or flexible enough to say 'What is your name?' instead of 'Wak is yor neng?'. 

Some quarter of people say you cannot master the English even you are exposed to the language through Science and Mathematics. Boo ya! 

I made efforts to understand the language so that I will not be left behind in those subjects. Only Allah SWT knows how many Goosebumps I read when I was in Form 1 just to build up my confidence in the language. When others read the books when they were in Primary school, I crawled when reading them. 

My parents made efforts to make sure that I really focused on my studies. And surprisingly they are very very supportive. And so was other parents. Because they know the importance of English. To them, this is their access for their children to be 'on-par' with the children of the West Coast. To them, most parents in West Coast speak English to their children, and so the language is really their Second Language. To us, there was only One Language.

Teachers made tremendous efforts to master their teaching in the language, although some failed but their efforts were shown, and the students felt the urge to study and even become better than their teachers in English. Most importantly, we did not learn English. We learn sciences and mathematics, but our mind was set in English and hence, words of 'increase, decrease, set instead of sex' came out of our mouths. Even to those who were 'considered' back-class students (students kelas belakang). Oh, maybe because of your school, it's located in an urban area where most of the people can speak English. Boo ya! This is Chukai where most parents don't speak English, and do not allow their children to be exposed to excessive entertainment (hence less English language exposure!), no English ads whatsoever but they are made in Jawi!

So, yeah we can learn from the environment! Boo boo ya!- bullshit that comes never end from politicians.

* My father's word- It does not matter what language they are teaching you, it depends on you to succeed or not. If others can do it, why not you? 


He was right, hence the issue of students dropping performance because of English, is stupid because they are not on numerical basis. Numbers cannot deceive. In common sense, if students cannot even motivate themselves to study in English, how much better they are motivated to study in Malay? For Trengganu, the so-called bahasa baku is sometimes different than our Mother Tongue. So, whatcha say?

Thus, it should be Dr. Mahathir that I should thank.

*Read the cat's line. You can find the message there. The Truth is always the best!

To those who said English dropped the student's performance, what can you say to the reports during my examination result that says 'student's performance increase' which implies 'PPSMI worked for students, even for the rural ones'. 

Where is the numbers? I thought previously you said
students are performing even the teaching
is in English.

There was no studies conducted and then BANG, you switched again. 

What's the fuss with English? Well, to the most uneducated parents of Trengganu, it matters.

They want their kids to get exposed to the language, because they cannot provide the environment, and they want them to get used to the language, and so they can get jobs which are high-income from Shell, Schlumberger, Petronas, Exxon Mobil (from what they see in Kerteh probably) which requires you to SPEAK, WRITE, LEARN ENGLISH. 

Barbers, farmers, fishermen, pembuat keropok lekor, satar, otok-otok, pembuat lemang Kijal will ask their sons and daughters to do this "Gi wat keje mu, gi belajo" (go do your work, go study) because in their minds that is the only way for their sons and daughters to succeed and help them later on. Hence, if you educate them the wrong way, don't you think that you deny their rights of access to good education? 

If you want to switch back, ask not international companies, but your local companies such as Petronas, Bank Negara, Khazanah or TNB to speak in Malay during their functionaries because so far as I can remember, they always say 'I will proceed in English because we are a multinational company and we have employees from many different countries' and not just that, even the companies which are confirmed to have most Malaysians working for them like the Bank, still English is the medium language.

How can you answer that Mister TPM M? I know, the same old crap we are strengthening the English teaching bla bla bla. 

Wait wait, where are the politicians' sons and daughters educated? I think PM's son was sent to an English school in UK and then sent to America. Why my Trengganu people cannot get that?-The Chukai Insider

Moon Tiger

OK, I have two more days left of my book challenge and I think that gives me, or should give me at least, enough time to finish one more book. So yeah, I FAILED. But in my defence, it IS the summer holidays and I have five more days of it left. So get off my back.

I wouldn't have read as much though if it wasn't for this stupid, totally do-able of course if it wasn't for the given circumstances, but I'll call it stupid now, challenge. So I'm grateful that I took it up.

Shut up, Faidhi. 

Anyways, Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. 

This is definitely not a book I can appreciate in the span of three days. The narrative changes from first to third person so fast, and the time setting changes too. One has to be very patient, or at least very educated I guess, to fully appreciate this. I am of course, lacking of both. My knowledge of literature encompasses only that which I have read, and a little bit of high school KOMSAS, which is next to nothing out of the SPM world. My knowledge of history, on the other hand, is slightly more than your average twenty one year old, I think, but only very slightly. So armed with all this, I was able to tolerate 208 pages of this novel within the LIMITED days that I had. Sure, I knew I was losing the book challenge but that doesn't mean I'm giving up before the EXACT date. I am a Hufflepuff for a reason you know. I soldiered on, trying hard to finish this book as fast as I can, although I knew it pretty much killed a lot of the story for me.

There were times when some of the passages passed like a trance for me, to be honest. My eyes and occipital lobe (that's doctor talk right there, people!) were reading for me, but the rest of my brain didn't work so well with them, I didn't understand anything. So thanks a lot for the pressure, Faidhi.

Observe:

“The place didn't look the same but it felt the same; sensations clutched and transformed me. I stood outside some concrete and plate-glass tower-block, picked a handful of eucalyptus leaves from a branch, crushed them in my hand, smelt, and tears came to my eyes. Sixty-seven-year-old Claudia, on a pavement awash with packaged American matrons, crying not in grief but in wonder that nothing is ever lost, that everything can be retrieved, that a lifetime is not linear but instant. That, inside the head, everything happens at once.”

Very beautifully written, no?

The story is about a dying woman, recollecting her memories and slowly but surely unravelling everything, her history, to the reader. 

I hate the protagonist. But I realized what a wonderful book this truly is when my heart broke for her in the end. It really is a remarkably written book, perfect for reading for days on end with a cup of warm tea during the monsoon season. You just have to stopf for a a while when reading a paragraph sometimes. It could be just me of course, to each his own. But read the book. It kind of reminds me of Life of Pi. The beginning was just so daunting for me to read but once all the sea-action started, I truly felt all the background was worth it. 

It feels like the monsoon season right now in Terengganu, by the way. It rains like every night! Beautiful. I've missed Terengganu rain for so long :) 

The Remains of the Day

Afternoon all.

So here I am, doing something more substantial with my free time after someone told me very blatantly to 'Get a life'. I can't say that certain someone is mistaken though. I have been playing the Smurfs Village way too much after I discovered how to cheat (very effectively, I might add, and very un-Hufflepuff like) for my brother. It's just so much easier to plant your crops, wait a few seconds for it to grow and watch those smurf berries add up rather than waste precious hours fretting and making sure you don't forget to harvest those darned potatoes.

So anyway, here I am. Getting a life.

I finished Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day a few days ago and it really deserved the 1989 Booker Prize. It's so nicely written and Kazuo Ishiguro's knowledge about the English world is so extensive that you won't believe he's not a native. Although I guess he pretty much is, growing up there and all. Still...

The book is about an English butler, relating to you his past experience and the 'remains of his day' (he's pretty old). It gives a LOT to think about, not one of those speedy light books that you can skim through and get the gist of, so it's fortunate that the book is only about a hundred pages long or it would have taken me longer to finish. I've realised this relation between they type of content and the duration of reading only this year. Late, I know. Stop sniggering and hear me out. I always thought it was a matter of how fast you can read in general that determines how long it takes to finish a book, a very pompous misinterpretation on my part, but the 'weight' of content really adds up to things. This I discovered very painfully after comparing Solar by Ian McEwan with Garth Nix's Lord Sunday. Solar was a PAIN. More on that later.

The essence on The Remains of the Day, from what I personally gathered and could relate most with, is tradition. And dignity, to some extent.

“It is sometimes said that butlers only truly exist in England. Other countries, whatever title is actually used, have only manservants. I tend to believe this is true. Continentals are unable to be butlers because they are as a breed incapable of the emotional restraint which only the English race are capable of. Continentals - and by and large the Celts, as you will no doubt agree - are as a rule unable to control themselves in moments of a strong emotion, and are thus unable to maintain a professional demeanour other than in the least challenging of situations. If I may return to my earlier metaphor - you will excuse my putting it so coarsely - they are like a man who will, at the slightest provocation, tear off his suit and his shirt and run about screaming. IN a word, "dignity" is beyond such persons. We English have an important advantage over foreigners in this respect and it is for this reason that when you think of a great butler, he is bound, almost by definition, to be an Englishman.”

― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day

Pretty nice and thoughtful, eh?

But what I most related to was this:

"Now naturally, like many of us, I have a reluctance to change too much of my old ways. But there is no virtue at all clinging as some do to tradition merely for its own sake."

Being orang Terengganu, born and raised and a girl no less, I understand how it feels to have to 'cling to tradition for its own sake'. I don't know much about the traditions in other Malaysian states, call me ignorant, maybe I am, but I just haven't met anyone from any other states who have had to follow their tradition as badly as what Terengganu mothers and grandmothers have imposed on their daughters. Maybe we do have the same traditions, but since we're the younger generation, we rarely practise them on each other. I personally love it that we have so much tradition but at some point, it does get rather daunting.

Observe;

Tradition number one: when you have a boyfriend, NEVER go to his house, NEVER interact too much with his parents ESPECIALLY his mother and NEVER buat macam nok sangak ke dia. The logic? If the parents get to know you too much and for too long, they might begin to find fault *gasp*. This would still naturally happen of course, once you're married, but once you are, you're pretty much safe from being rejected seeing as no parent would want his son divorced! *gasp*.

I like this tradition :)

Tradition number two: When going to a person's house, always bring 'buah tangan'. And when a person brings buah tangan, always 'balas' when you go their house. IF they happen to visit your house TWICE before you visit them, the next time that you do visit them, you have to bring DOUBLE the buah tangan next time you go to their house. Whew~

This tradition, I've observed, is more practised when going to an elderly person's house, an aunt or uncle for example, and much forgotten in the younger generation.

Tradition number three: When you're the hostess and you're serving your guests a heavy meal, DO NOT join them but get yourself something light instead, like cakes and Raya cookies. The logic: you're the hostess. You're supposed to flutter about, busy entertaining guests and responding to their every whim, YOU SHOULDN'T be tied down eating with them! What an awful thing to do! Have you no manners? (I'm writing this in a very sarcastic way of course)

But I do agree with this bit of tradition. It seems very logical and polite. Unless you have a butler or something. Having a maid doesn't count, by the way. You're still expected to flutter about pleasantly with them in the kitchen, invisible.

Tradition number four: A Terengganu girl must always wear gold jewellery, at least ONE, and bring with her kain batik wherever she goes. I don't mean like the mall. I mean when you leave to study and live an independent life. These items are what you call, semangat tubuh. The logic: kain batik is IMMENSELY useful, I cannot stress this more. It can serve as anything! Sejadah when you need one, alas for practically anything when the surface is too dirty, and the obvious of course; you can wear it. And gold? It just means you'll always have cash on you. Literally.

Tradition number five: When you're married and your mother in law asks you to do something, always ask her how she wants it done. For example, when she asks you to help out with the potatoes, ask her how she wants it, diced or simply cut in half? These things matter you know... The logic: people are different. What you prefer might not be something your mother in law wants in her household.

Tradition number six: Always tukor cebek bila visitors datang. This is totally wrong of course, and is on the verge, if not entirely immersed in, arrogance. Cebek is chair backs, by the way, those lacy things people put on sofas of old. It's not trendy any more so don't do it.

I was discussing this bit of tradition with my mother yesterday and she claims that we have pretty much abandoned the old state of mind where one's household décor and choice of utensils is the essence of one's rank in society. This is pretty much true but we have actually evolved into an even more nasty way of thinking where one's children's education level and choice of university has taken over the role of whimsical cebeks. Now isn't that sad? Who cares where you managed to get your children into or what grades they got?! Ingat, harta dan anak-anak itu cubaan di dunia. (Sorry banyok updates, Faidhi. Aku rasa semangat pulok. Lama doh aku nok tulih pasal ni)

Sahih International

Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and Allah has with Him a great reward. [64:15]

Tradition number seven: Don't serve boiling hot drinks and add cold water to make them drinkable. NEVER do this. They're rendered even more undrinkable from what you've just done! *gasp* This is perfectly alright of course if it's your own personal cup of coffee but never when entertaining guests. Never.

I don't see any logic in this, though. It escapes me.

Tradition number eight: Never serve food in the periuk straight onto the dining table. Shame on you. Unless you're using a Pyrex periuk or something on par with that. Again, arrogance.

Tradition number nine: Don't serve mugs without coasters, cups without saucers. Don't drink with the teaspoon still immersed in your coffee. Put it aside nicely on the saucer and drink. Don't take the mug out of the kitchen, you might forget to bring it to the sink later and have hell to pay when your mother in law finds out.

These traditions, I have sadly, pretty much ignored :)

Tradition number ten: ALWAYS HAVE RICE in the house. Try to serve rice to visitors as often as you can for rice is considered the best harta you can offer to share. Melayan tetamu itu wajib :)

Tradition number eleven: When older people are conversing with each other, sit quietly, back straight and smile politely. NEVER forget to smile. Muka masam is a crime!

Well, I feel I've more than gotten a life now. So I will continue brewing potions on Pottermore now if you don't mind. I still don't feel like a Hufflepuff :(

“The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.”

― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day

I am having withdrawal syndrome

So here we are, the first of my so called book reviews. I'm only writing this to vent my frustration and to get over my Percy Jackson phase.

I'm scared I might not be able to finish all the books on my 'challenge list' on time because I just finished the Percy Jackson series and like all good typical teen fantasy series, it's leaving me with this huge bottomless pit full of agony and sadness in my stomach.

Reading your favourite childhood book is like visiting an old friend.

I first picked up Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by sheer luck (pause to rip off my sister's ridiculous keyboard protector thing off her laptop. I don't understand why people put up with these flimsy plastic things. To keep of the dust? Why?) when I was fifteen, or sixteen. It was a great book! Fast paced, very sarcastic humour (my favourite kind) and full of Greek mythology, a subject I've always been interested in. I stopped after the second book and now that I'm out of teens, I'm finally continuing with the series which is great!

I read the third, fourth and fifth book feverishly in the span of two days and since they're all pretty much one story, all the books are blended into my head so that I can't recall which plot detail is from which book anymore. All in all, my favourite is the final one, Percy Jackson and The Last Olympian (whoops, almost wrote Harry Potter there). I love the final battle, I love figuring out who's the bad guy, who's the spy, who the prophecy is about. I love googling more info about each Greek character that comes up (Yes, that's the kind of person I am, guilty).

Rick Riordan is a very good writer in his genre. He doesn't try to show off with his words and he's created a very believable world. There's not too much detail and no extensive explanations as in some fantasy books, Garth Nix's The Morrow Days series, for instance. That makes for a very fast read, lots of laugh out loud moments, and the plots are very neatly tied together.

The thing about the series is that there's no happily ever after ending, like The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. I mean, when you finish those books, when I finished them at least, I felt content. The characters were all given a 'place' in their world, all was well. Bravo. But the Percy Jackson series ended in a way that you still wanted to know what was going to happen to all of them, hence the withdrawal syndrome. So I'm glad that Rick Riordan is picking up from where he left of with his Heroes of Olympus series. I haven't, and will not be getting around to reading that just yet cause I don't want to experience this ache of waiting for the next book all over again. Most of the same characters will be in the new series, I heard, so there'll be more of Percy Jackson and my favourite character, Annabeth Chase.

And here ends my book review.

It's a great book series if you enjoy light fantasy. It's funny if you have my sense of humour. I'm sure most people are aware of the Percy Jackson series due to the highly-not-true-to-the-book-but-pretty-good-and-well-cast-movie-version-if-you're-not-a-crazy-die-hard-fan-and-willing-to-watch-the-movie-with-a-grain-of-salt-and-open-mind so I don't think an extensive introduction to the series is required.

Read if it's your cup of tea. And if you didn't finish the series when you were in high school like me, read it to visit an old friend.

The Chukai Insider Great Challenge 2011

OK Faidhi, let's make it official.

Challenge Accepted!

The challenge: I have to finish all the books I listed in my summer book list by the 23rd of September, 11.59pm. 

As proof, I have to write reviews of all the books on The Chukai Insider. 

If I don't finish the challenge, I get HUMILIATION! And you get to gloat.

If I win, you get HUMILIATION and as a gift, you will buy me a sofa set of MY CHOICE when (and if) I get married. 

The List:

Lord Sunday by Garth Nix
Percy Jackson & The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Solar by Ian McEwan
War of The Worlds by H.G. Wells
War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Twelve by Nick Mcdonell
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Remains of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
The Assassination of Jesse James by Ron Hansen
Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy
Orchard on Fire by Shena Mackay
The Rainmaker by John Grisham
Muhammad by Karen Armstrong
The Tyrant's Novel by Thomas Keneally
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Memory of Running by Ron Mclarty
Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy
Skellig by David Almond
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle 

Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard
Staggerford by Jon Hassler
July's People by Nadine Gordimer
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf


The catch: NO CATCH

'Till the 23rd~

The Chukai Insider