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Dreams On Fire

Posted by narrowband - 03/02/09 at 05:02:31 pm

Chinese New Year has been rather boring, save for the occasional gamblinggathering among friends, it was largely the same old thing as previous years. Many people are worried about how the economic downturn is going to affect them, especially after Chinese New Year. Because it is said that bosses will likely begin laying off workers then. I hope none of you are affected…

Yesterday I come across a very nice song in a movie (guess?), thanks to Duncan.

[audio:dreams_on_fire.mp3]

You are my waking dream
You’re all that’s real to me
You are the magic in the world I see

You are the prayer I sing
You brought me to my knees
You are the faith that made me believe

Dreams on fire
Higher and higher
Passions burning
Right on the pyre

Once for, forever yours
In me
All your heart
Dreams on fire
Higher and higher

You are my ocean waves
You are my thought each day
You are the laughter from childhood games

You are the spark of dawn
You are where I belong
You are the ache I feel in every song

Dreams on fire
Higher and higher
Passions burning
Right on the pyre

Once for, forever yours
In me
All your heart
Dreams on fire
Higher and higher

To those of you who have heard this song before, tell me, did you enjoy the movie? I think it was simply brilliant!!

Keutamaan

Posted by narrowband - 31/01/09 at 11:01:19 am

Terbingung saya apabila mendapat tahu kerajaan Malaysia berhasrat membawa pulang dua orang rakyat Malaysia yang kini ditahan di pusat tahanan pengganas AS Guantanamo. Ini berikutan pengumuman presiden baru AS yang menyatakan bahawa pusat tahanan di Guantanamo itu akan ditutup. Sebagai seorang rakyat Malaysia, saya berasa kecewa kerana kerajaan kita masih mengambil berat terhadap kedua-dua orang ahli pengganas itu. Laporan berita juga menyatakan bahawa kes dua tahanan itu akan dibicarakan di AS, jelas sekali bertentangan dengan hasrat kerajaan Malaysia yang ingin memenjarakan kedua-dua tahanan tersebut di Malaysia, di mana kos kehidupan mereka dibiayai pembayar-pembayar cukai.

Tahanan-tahanan tersebut dikatakan pernah bersubahat dengan pengganas-pengganas lain dalam melancarkan serangan bom di Bali, Indonesia, dan pernah menjalani latihan di bawah pimpinan kumpulan pengganas antarabangsa. Walaupun belum disabit kesalahan secara sah, bukti-bukti pergaulan kedua-dua orang tersebut dengan pengganas-pengganas lain cukup meletakkan mereka dalam kategori ‘individu-individu berbahaya’, di mana mereka mampu berhubung dengan ahli-ahli pengganas yang lain pada bila-bila masa sahaja. Apa buruknya jika tahanan mereka dilanjutkan dengan sabitan kesalahan bersubahat dengan ahli-ahli pengganas lain dalam melancarkan serangan bom di tempat awam? Jika dibandingkan dengan ISA di Malaysia, pusat tahanan di Guantanamo tidak banyak bezanya.

Mungkin kerajaan Malaysia ingin melaksanakan tanggungjawabnya dalam mempertahankan hak kedua-dua pengganas itu sebagai warganegara Malaysia. Mungkin kerajaan ingin memastikan supaya mereka diberi peluang pembicaraan yang adil. Selain daripada kemungkinan yang dikemukakan, saya langsung tidak dapat membayangkan sebab-sebab lain yang menyebabkan kerajaan kita bertekad ingin membawa pulang kedua-dua ahli pengganas itu. Namun, hairan juga saya apabila mendapati seorang warganegara Malaysia yang baru-baru ini tidak diberi peluang pembicaraan yang sewajarnya apabila disyaki terlibat dalam sindiket pencurian kereta. Apa yang lebih menggemparkan adalah nasib yang menimpanya semasa dalam tahanan pihak polis – mati didera walaupun telah bekerjasama dengan pihak polis dalam siasatan mereka.

Jika benar mangsa tersebut merupakan seorang ahli sindiket pencurian kereta, apakah dia perlu dijatuhkan hukuman mati? Jenayah yang dilakukannya jauh lebih ringan berbanding kepada jenayah yang dilakukan oleh kedua-dua orang ahli pengganas Malaysia yang ditahan di Guantanamo itu. Ahli-ahli pengganas itu telah menyebabkan lebih 200 nyawa terkorban, dan mungkin lebih banyak lagi jika mereka tidak ditahan pihak tentera AS. Pada pendapat saya, kedua-dua orang pengganas rakyat Malaysia itu patut dilucutkan kewarganegaraan mereka dan dibiarkan dalam tahanan kerajaan AS. Malu saya apabila mendapat tahu rakyat Malaysia terlibat dalam aktiviti keganasan dan mengancam nyawa orang ramai. Lebih malu lagi apabila saya membaca laporan berita yang menyatakan kerajaan Malaysia sedang berusaha membawa pulang dua orang ahli pangganas tahanan tentera AS dan dipenjarakan di Malaysia.

Perlukah kita berusaha membawa pulang dua orang ahli pengganas warganegara Malaysia yang kini ditahan di Guantanamo? Terbeliak mata jiran dan kawan-kawan kita di Thailand, Singapura dan negara-negara lain apabila mendapat tahu hasrat pelik kerajaan kita. Apakah pengganas-pengganas di pusat tahanan Guantanamo tersebut penting bagi negara Malaysia, sedangkan terdapat banyak lagi masalah-masalah lain yang lebih patut diberi perhatian? Sebagai contoh, masalah kemelesetan ekonomi, kelumpuhan politik, perselisihan perkauman dan bencana alam. Bagi saya, perkara-perkara ‘remeh’ yang tidak memanfaatkan kebanyakan rakyat tidak patut diberi perhatian yang berat. Ini termasuklah hasrat Malaysia yang ingin mempamerkan lukisan Mona Lisa di Kuala Lumpur. Usaha yang ditaruh dalam mencapai permintaan-permintaan tersebut tidak setimpal dengan manfaatnya kepada rakyat Malaysia secara menyeluruh.

Di manakah letaknya keutamaan kerajaan Malaysia sebenarnya?

Tujuan saya menggunakan Bahasa Malaysia adalah supaya pendapat-pendapat saya hanya dapat direnungi mereka yang faham Bahasa Malaysia, iaitu rakyat Malaysia.

Happiness

Posted by narrowband - 23/01/09 at 07:01:05 am

Had a mini reunion with my ex-housemates last night. Everyone’s doing very well, and I’m really proud of them. Alicia’s doing R&D in an electronics giant, cooking up kickass electronic products – one of which practically blew my mind away a couple of weeks ago! LW’s happily working for the country’s largest telco firm while Hui’s with an IT solutions company which requires her to travel around and meet very hot and rich (middle-aged) ladies. She recommended that I joined the sales team because she reckon I’d have a chance of getting pau‘ed*. Damn tempting LOL.

And Steph, who not only works for a huge MNC in Penang, but also runs her own small hobby-turned-business selling her own hand-made artworks – and it’s paying off! Big bucks at that! Totally awesome if you ask me. Business has been brisk and orders have increased. It’s a dream come true for anyone who could use her hobby to earn some income. In this case I think she doesn’t even need to worry if her company’s forcing its employees to take unpaid leave! Anyway, be sure to check out her online catalogue and drop her a line or two!

Yesterday was my happiest day in a long time! :)

*Pau: It means men keeping a mistress or, in the case of women, a toyboy.

Nihon-go

Posted by narrowband - 20/01/09 at 11:01:14 pm

In December ’07 I decided to pick up Japanese language because I felt it was the right thing to do. Life was slowing down abit and besides working my ass off at that time, I had little other activity. I needed some kind of a boost. A new short-term goal. And I actually missed the feeling of going to classes and be a student – much like what I had been doing since I was 6. So I decided to enroll in a language class. Since I was with a Japanese company I thought learning the language would do me some good. Furthermore, sis wanted to learn too.

We chose the Wednesday night classes and I would pick up sis on the way from work and we’d head to class together. It was the first time I sat next to my youngest sis in a classroom to learn something. She is 9 years younger. As we progressed I realized that I hadn’t regretted a bit in picking up a new language. In fact, when I was in Japan for about 2 months, knowing Japanese was my greatest relief! Despite knowing only the basics, it was certainly much better than not knowing at all, considering I was alone for more than a month out there.

Timing was just-nice too because my Japan trip came shortly after the completion of my beginner’s course. While I was overseas, sis advanced to the next level herself. As soon as I returned, I registered for the next level which was Beginner level 2. It took a while for me to get started because timing was odd and there were not enough students to start a class. When a class was finally formed, I was informed that I would be going to Japan for another project. A few weeks into Beginner 2, I froze my lessons (flexible language school! Two thumbs up!) and took off. When I was ready to resume lessons again, there was no immediate class that I could join.

I had to wait til end of October before I could join one. The sensei was great, my classmates were awesome. Class was always fun and enjoyable. Last night I sat for my final exam, chalking up another milestone in my learning journey. The paper was okay, oral exam was okay. I hope to move on to the next level – the one which sis had just completed recently. I’m glad that at least I have a ‘sparring partner’ at home and whenever I need help, I don’t need to sweat. Sis is much better than me in Japanese thanks to her obsession with Japanese entertainment (no, not the AV kind) and culture.

I hope to have the same classmates again in my future courses. The sensei, too. They make Japanese so much more fun to learn. I’ll continue learning, although I’m no longer attached to that same Japanese company. That’s because I discovered something else as I progressed. I discovered that there’s joy and satisfaction in learning itself. Of course best of all ‘least now I can tell people I speak the language. Hopefully before I hit 30 I’ll still be up for another language. Likely French, because I did the beginner’s course while in university about 3 years ago.

Anata wa Nihon-go o benkyo-shimashitaka…?

Dae Jang Gum

Posted by narrowband - 18/01/09 at 02:01:45 am

In Chinese, that’s ‘Da Chang Jin’! We’re not talking about that popular Korean drama though; I’m referring to a restaurant (now it’s got several branches around the Klang Valley) that serves Korean BBQ food. Btw there’s been a huge rise in the number of Korean BBQ restaurants lately huh!

Continue reading Dae Jang Gum…

Mraz

Posted by narrowband - 18/01/09 at 12:01:15 am

Made a trip down town to get Jason Mraz’s concert tickets today. Friends and I are gonna be at the free-standing zone. Anybody else who’s gonna be there? Helped a couple of other friends buy theirs. Apparently each person could only purchase a maximum of 4 tickets. We needed a total of more than 4 so we had to split our purchases. Oh we were told that if you’re a visa platinum card holder you could get a 20% off your tickets too, but only applicable to a max of two tics. So many limitations!

The queue wasn’t that bad. In fact, on the same concourse level, there was another booth selling A-Mei’s concert tickets as well, and it had more people lining up, haha. Interesting observation though it does not mean anything. We joked about attending A-Mei’s one as well because we also love some of her songs. But naw we were more charged up for Jason Mrax’s one instead. We braced the hot sun, packed LRTs, monorails, spoilt escalators and rubbish-filled pedestrian bridges to get to Sungai Wang to take advantage of the 15% discount off the original prices of tics.

Since we were on a roll, we decided to drop by our neighbourhood karaoke joint (again). Crazy stuff. The last time I went for karaoke, it brought me down with a bad throat and subsequently flu and all that nonsense – a flying start to a brand new year. On another note, I think Neway are doing a pretty good job at providing the best facilities and food. Best of all they’re located in neighbourhoods hehe. That makes them so conveniently accessible to bored patrons who would otherwise stay home and rot. Most other karaoke joints are in shopping complexes.

Anyway, after a day’s labour..

Have you gotten yours?

Peek-a-Boo

Posted by narrowband - 17/01/09 at 01:01:13 am

Nothing to update la… how…? :(

The Year That Was: 2008

Posted by narrowband - 31/12/08 at 06:12:37 pm

In a few hours’ time we’re going to be ushering in the new year, with renewed hopes and dreams, resolutions and aspirations. Year 2008 has been eventful for me. There were good times as much as there were bad times. It started off pretty well actually – a lot of photo-taking, traveling and fun. Things began to slide as I approached Q4, which made me think that there was probably a small price to pay for being too happy earlier in the year. Anyway, on this final day of the year I’d like to take a stroll down memory lane and recap some of the highlights that made my year what it was.
Continue reading The Year That Was: 2008…

Thinking Happy

Posted by narrowband - 02/12/08 at 10:12:22 pm

Did you know that whatever you’re thinking in your brain can affect your health and emotional well-being? For example, when you’re thinking happy thoughts, your brain releases a certain type of feel-good chemical called endorphins. On the other hand, when you’re feeling worried, angry or afraid, your brain releases a different type of chemical which may or may not harm you. If it is toxic enough to your body, the chain-reaction that follows could even result in stroke, cancer, hypertension, migraines, allergies, diabetes, etc!

I recently read from a book (“Who Switched Off My Brain?”) borrowed from a nice friend and it says that in order to prevent this undesirable consequences of unpleasant thoughts, we need to control what we think. We need to control our thoughts, so that the brain only releases feel-good chemicals or endorphins. The brain can also be triggered to release endorphins when we do something pleasurable, like eating ice-cream or something. Exercise also helps release endorphins – which is why it’s a good idea to hit the gym if you want to de-stress.

I have not been feeling my best lately due to a host of reasons which include anxiety and worry. Therefore I always look forward to going to the gym because I know I’ll come out feeling refreshed and good. It’s like the bad mood and worry miraculously disappear after my workouts. Same goes to my Japanese language class. Sometimes I would feel tired and moody before class but everytime I will return home feeling happy, satisfied and stress-free. I love attending my Japanese class because there’s always so much laughter and fun. More importantly, I’m actually learning something, which is always a good thing.

I’m now going through a rather rough patch I’d say, as you can tell from my lack of updates and stuff. And I mean real updates – not just on my blog or FB, but in my life. At times like this I feel really grateful for having my friends around, who’re a great source of strength and motivation when I needed them most. Even more so those who refrained from asking me repeated questions, lest I’d get annoyed by them. I really appreciate that. Right now I’m really taking things one step at a time. It’s like inching a car slowly into a thick blanket of fog, with visibility down to almost a couple of feet. I can’t see or plan ahead.

I hope things get better once 2009 comes. I just can’t wait.

P/s. Weekend was great. I had the company of my little cousins, visited my little nephew and found comfort in reading and playing music. If only life was always that simple…

Malaysia International Fashion Week 2008

Posted by narrowband - 30/11/08 at 12:11:05 am

Today marked the first time I shoot at a fashion show, although the quality of the show was just so-so. I heard that the quality of models and designs on previous days were better. To be fair, that particular show I attended was actually a showcase of young talents. For their effort, it was commendable.

Continue reading Malaysia International Fashion Week 2008…

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