Tuesday, July 31, 2012

MPO used to be my favourite team before....

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BOOM!
Corporate Attack!

Bye bye MPO
You will be sorely missed.

Why am I saying this?
Refer to this article:
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/07/just-in-musicians-federation-calls-for-world-boycott-of-malaysian-philharmonic-auditions.html

Why MPO?
WHY?

I can't comprehend why would you sack great players with great sense of loyalty for the team. To add insults to injury, some of them were the pioneering members! And they got sacked...For what reason? Reason can't be disclose

WHAT
THE
FFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFF
FFFFFF
FFFFF
FISH!


Yeah, true, those players are not 'Malaysian'
But they serve Malaysian for years, some until 14 years
And they don't suck at music either.
They have been called as guest players for many of the world's renown orchestra
Even being offered a spot in the said orchestra.
But yet, they still came back to Malaysia. AS AN ACT OF LOYALTY

Seriously,
We Malaysia send students overseas to learn
And in the end, they left Malaysia for good.
Are they professional? Bagus sangat ke?
HELL NO
Fresh grad je pun...
Yet, they think they are too good for Malaysia and LEFT

And these players, although from different nationalities, STILL CAME BACK
And how do you repay them?
Oh, let us sack them without disclosing any valid reasons.
Great...Very nice and Malaysian-like of us
Perfect example of Malaysian Hospitality

Yeah, true.
MPO don't have many Malaysian players.
So what?
Our talent pool are very very small, and still fresh and inexperienced.
With our 'overemphasis' on Science subject and the shunning of Arts subject,
You expect they will be people to be playing classical music at a world-class level?
Those so called 'immigrants' or expats you call, it actually trying to make more musicians in Malaysia while making the existing musicians to be better and better.
They actually have programs to teach and tutor young aspiring musicians to become like them, and ultimately take over MPO
But that program was cancelled...
And they got sacked...

I believe arts in Malaysia should be appreciated, not shunned.
Because arts shed light on the other parts of the human soul.
Sure, science and maths are important, I'm not denying that.
But to ignore Arts completely is an act only to done by fools.
Arts nourishes the soul
It make us feel emotions and make us more humans.
I met a lot of Arts people, they are mostly nice and a visionary
Why labeling them as 'unintelligent people with no future'?

From a young age, we were taught that Arts stream will never guarantee your future, even jeopardizing it.
That's why, things like this happened.
We can't appreciate arts
We bring disgrace to arts
We focus on Science,
And truthfully, it didn't bring us far.
In the end, we still lose.
Specialization is important, but ignorance is simply unacceptable.


Friday, July 27, 2012

ReGenesis is on WATTPAD

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Wattpad is one of the best ways to promote a story/book.
Therefore, ReGenesis is on Wattpad now!

http://www.wattpad.com/story/1762316-regenesis

Take it look at it and be my fan ;)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A Journey of Words, Stories, Emotions and Memories

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In the midst of me being unproductive at home...
FINALLY!
I did something productive yesterday!
Yeah, me!
*Cue Fanfare*

So what did I actually did?
First of all, I found an awesome translated light novel on the internet. And I daresay, it really inspires me and kinda burns my spirit with the flames of passion and determination (heh...cliche')
Which light novel is it?
It is Sword Art Online by Reki Kawahara.
A dark story of a MMORPG of death, similar to .Hack. The story is really compelling with a HUGE dash of romance which kinda balance the action side of it.
And it also just released an anime with the OP sung by LISA! :)))))))
Kirito with the overly cute Asuna <3

By man, I'm getting side tracked.
Anyways, after reading the novel I found my writer's spirit burning once again.
And after a turn of events, I began to read through ALL of my previous writings one by one...cue many memories and nostalgia.

I remembered my very first venture into the writing world. It was back in 2003, when I was only 9 years old (Yes, people...THAT young)
I remembered there was this site called crazybone.com with a feature called 'Interactive Stories' where users can upload stories for others to see. My cousin persuade me to join the site and write some stuff.
Since I was just a kid, living in the Pokemon/Digimon era, I wrote a story called E-Monsters, the concept very similar to Digimon while my cousin wrote Virtuapets.
Time and time passed and I kept on writing. I love writing and creating my own world for others to experience. Although my proficiency of writing in the English language was of a kid, I still kept on writing E-Monsters. Even when my cousin gave up his Virtuapets, I kept on writing E-Monsters.

I remembered, the last updated on E-Monsters was chapter 22, almost half way through the original story.
Then, I lost my touch...

Enter 2006, UPSR year.
Suddenly, I feel like writing again.
I rummaged through my files and founded E-Monsters, my passion sparked again.
So I wrote a more mature version of E-Monsters, with better writing styles and structured plot.
But again, it didn't last long.
I outgrew writing about kids with pet monsters.
And I stop E-Monsters for good.
With the last written story is E-Monsters: The Clash of Zunama and Unama

I found FanFiction.net not long after, a website where I can read fanfiction...TONS of them.
So I read and read and read.
I sharpen my 'writing and character insight' through this.
I can separate the cliche from the unique, get the sense of character development and various writing styles.
The only downside is most people who wrote fanfiction didn't have that powerful grammar...so my grammar suffers.

Enter highschool, year 2007.
For some reason, I started writing again.
This time, it was Moonlight Heir- a story about a boy who found out he has a power that can turn the tables of the war. Inspired by Eragon, I wrote until 13 chapters.
I did share my writings with my classmates, they were impressed.
I used this as motivation to kept on writing Moonlight Heir

Then again in 2008, I stopped.
The original manuscript of Moonlight Heir was scattered, making me frustrated and stopped entirely.
I didn't write anything...until
The long holiday of 2008
During this time, there was no internet during that time.
So I found myself writing again.
I wrote one of my best writing during this time.
Step into the Night
This was my very first writing where I utilize every thing I learned since 2003 to create what to be a masterpiece during that time.
I love it.
The feeling of euphoria when I finished a chapter drove me forwards.
I love Step into the Night

Step into the Night sustained until 2011
I rewrote Step into the Night for around 5 times.
Chapter 1 to 6 then rewriting it back and back again...
To get the perfect storyline, plot, character and feel.
I drafted SitN until it was a huge franchise.
With 2 books for the first part and another 2 books for the second part with 3 parallel worlds, it can accumulate to 8 books in total
Unfortunately, because of an unfortunate event in 2011 where my laptop was stolen, ALL of the data was lost.
And I was heartbroken.
Really I was...
All my hardwork...
Lost...
Then only remaining signs of Step into the Night was in Writing.com
The raw, unedited version of it still lurks in the net.
But people will never see the continuation, as it has been lost along with my laptop.
SitN dies at chapter 8.
http://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/view/nazran456

End of 2011, the end of my school days.
One of my beta readers came to me and asked:

"Nazran, when do you want to continue writing. I missed your stories so much"

I was touched. There are people who wanted me to continue writing stories.
Therefore, I began drafting once again.
And my best work currently was born:
ReGenesis
With a much mature narration than before, I daresay it is a piece of work worthy to be published once it is finished (Not to brag or anything, I just wrote to the standards of today's novel)
Now, it stood at 12 chapters.
38 000 words.
The longest piece of writing yet...and it doesn't stop there.

Along with it is The Renaissance's Melody, a parody story for my orchestra.
I has a more light hearted feel to it.

Here is the link for both pieces

Looking back, I had a long history of writing including writing for blogs.
It is one of the things that I love, despite my impotency in it before.
I stop a lot of times but I never gave it up.
I still want to write and write and write
Until one day, I can see my book on the selves of MPH 

Never give up on something you love.
Stop you may
But never give in.
Pick it up back where you left it
Dig it up from where you bury it.
Feed it with your passion
And you may...can feel what it is like to be alive

Monday, July 23, 2012

Home...The Place where Productivity Rate Drops to 0%

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Home...
Home Sweet Home...
Ever since my surgery, I have been home for an extended period of time. A treat, you see as I seldom spent my time home during the other times. I usually spent my time in school, in college, or out venturing the world out there.

There is a reason for this...

Sadly, this so called 'Paradise' is also a place where my productivity rates plunge into the depths of Lazy Town. It's a weird phenomenon see. The moment I touched down or entered my house's perimeter, my vigor and drive vanished into thin air and it replaced with the need to screw everything and chill.

I blame my five years of boarding school for this. In school, there was no room of absolute relaxation. So, I trained myself to push and push and work to be productive. The results? A great school life with a balance between academia, social interactions, extra curricular activities and soft skills development.

But there were times where you are permitted to go home for the weekends and those times were a godsend for me. I would screw my productivity and have a nice two days of relaxation. When, I came back to school, I would put on my 'Game Face' back and continued being productive.This repeats until the end of my school days.

However, this tricks my mind into associating home with total relaxation which caused me to not work when I'm home. I did tried my best to correct this mind association but I was successful just like the Greek's economy. Rather than changing this mindset, I adapt and tried to minimize my home time to the least as possible.

And now, I'm what you should say 'crippled' and can't go out from the school.
Therefore, I'm subjected to a very long unproductive streak.
This disturbs me
Considering my Finals is in two weeks
With my classmates already being so ahead from my in SAT preparation
My Kiasu-ness inside me was restless
Even so, I still can't break this unproductive streak...

I WANT TO GO BACK TO COLLEGE!!!
SAVE ME FROM THIS TORTURE OF UNPRODUCTIVITY!!!
T_T 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Ramadhan...Just Ramadhan

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Although it is a little late, but happy Ramadhan everyone!

So it is time to get rid of those sins and get back to the right path of Islam.

It is time to be nice!
It is time to be religious!
It is time to stop smoking!
It is time to stop watching porn!
It is time to lose weight!
And it is time to cry as those expensive Ramadhan buffet your girlfriend demands eat away the insides of your wallet like gastric juice.

Good luck on your journey towards a better you!
And if you fall,
Close your eyes and pray

Friday, July 20, 2012

Operation: A.P.P.E.N.D.I.X

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WARNING
THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST MIGHT CONTAIN DISTURBING AND GRAPHIC IMAGERY THAT CAN CAUSE YOUR LUNCH TO BE LURCH OUT FROM YOUR STOMACH ONTO YOUR LAPTOP/COMPUTER WHICH WILL CAUSE HEAVY SWEARING AND POSSIBLE SCOLDING FROM PARENTS OR AN UNCOMFORTABLE FASTING SESSION SINCE RAMADHAN IS COMING UP.

OH, YOU WON'T BE EATING ANY LUNCH DURING RAMADHAN

SILLY ME

So what's up with Operation Appendix?

To tell the truth, I just recently had my Appendix removed. 
That's right folks, Nazran finally has his first surgery...and now he didn't have any appendix.

HAHAHA sucks to be you bro!

But wait, appendix don't have any important function to the human body.
So back at ya...I didn't lose anything...
Well, except an appendix, 2 weeks of college, my sanity, my manliness for 3 days and quite a lot of money.

So how did it happened?

It happened on a Monday
I was derping around with the usual food court gang when a weird sensation hit my stomach and I might say it hit me hard. I remember that I ate Nestum for breakfast that morning so I might have a slight gastric. Figuring that out, I decided to take the bus back to Casa Subang...

Well...
Being the busy body I am, I took the bus after meeting up with my new room mates, an old friend, a few Petronas scholar and also with my Malaysian Studies group mates. With every activity, my stomach pain grew.

I arrived at Casa after 30 minutes in the 30 (The traffic was bad on that day)
Upon reaching my unit, I dropped all of my things, and limped to the kitchen (while expertly avoiding the exploded tiles from yesterday) I grabbed the Gaviscon from the cabinet and guzzled down its content (Not after meticulously measuring it using a measuring cap)

After consuming the antacid, I felt a slight relief from the pain and decided to take a nap.

ZZZZ
Zzzzz
Zzzzz
ZZZzzz

And its 4.00pm
I woke up and
BAM!
EPIC PAIN IN THE GUT NOOOBBBSSSS!!!!
Yes, the pain strikes hard in the gut, particularly at the lower right abdomen.
I tried to fend off and withstand the pain but within minutes, I was groaning.
I called my mom and dad, obviously blurred of what to do.
They can't do much so I carried myself to the living room; every step send more surge of pain to the gut.
Once at the living room, I grabbed the laminated paper which has the important numbers and called the Warden.
...
...
No answer.
Serious, I swore out loud.
Then, I called the office
And for some reason, the douchebag on the line said "We don't cater to medical needs"
Well, F U then. I'm in frickin' pain
Again, I swore out loud.
Then, I tried to think objectively.
What is the cause of my pain?
I pulled out my trusty Iris and googled "Abdominal Pains"

Abdominal Pains
May cause by gastric
*random medical jargon*
*random medical jargon*
*random medical jargon*
*More random medical jargon*
If pain occurs at the lower left of abdomen, maybe it is because of *random medical jargon*
If pain occurs at the lower right of the abdomen (I held in my breath, the pain came from the lower right) it is maybe of Appendicitis.


Yup, my heart sank.
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
I remembered my late-great grandmother who had her appendix burst...and it was not pretty...and it jeopardizes her life.

Shit just got serious.

I called the Warden again and he answered!
I frantically explained my situation before he agrees to send me to the hospital.
He told me to wait at the parking.

And as if the world is against me, it was rain...heavily....with strong winds....oh, and did I mention LIGHTNING
I grabbed my valuables and traverse into the storm.
It was cold and it made my muscle shivered
Shivering amplified the pain for some reasons.
I arrived at the parking lot only to find out

There was no van 0.0
So I wait...in the rain...for 10 minutes...
Before a van came
But I was already pale, cold and in pain.

The warden rushed me to the hospital...
BUT
The world is against me remember?
BAM!
Here is a GREAT TRAFFIC JAM FOR YOU, NAZRAN!

So fast forward one hour later.
FINALLY!
I arrived at the hospital (The pain...oh the pain...)
And the nurses came with wheelchairs and such.
I contacted my parents and they say they are on their way. Dad already settled my GL earlier...Thank you Medijaring.
A doctor came to inspect me.
With a couple of pushes, he concluded that I have appendicitis and required surgery by tomorrow.
Oh my....
I never had surgery before in my life!
Nervousness clenched my heart...

But thank god the emergency ward has wifi.
To ease the pain a little, I contacted Tsun-chan...which she suddenly went into worry mode instantly....(And she cried too..awww :(((

So I go a room...
And I need to fast...
Then came next morning, the nurse came and brought me to the operation theater.
I made some jokes with the nurse to ease the tension.
And before I know it, I was staring at the huge light thingy above me.
The anesthetic put on an oxygen mask on my face...

And POOF!
MAGIC!

I was now outside of the OT, seeing double visions.
When it cleared up a little, a nurse came and said : "Operation Successful"
I thank Allah immediately.
Then she showed me this picture:
  Uuuuu
That the culprit!
I thank god I didn't ate anything for 24 hours...
If not, I would have puked...

So,
That is about it!
Now, I'm resting at home...
Relaxing
Recovering
And worrying about my Finals, SAT and TOEFL while the others had already started their prep classes.
My Kiasu-ness went overdrive these past few days....

Well, I hope things will get better soon...
And this is one heck of an experience to write as my College Application

Sunday, July 15, 2012

An Inspiring Address- MSLS

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For those who had known me personally, you know I have this 'activist' kind of personality. I get excited when there is a volunteer program or an event where I can make a difference; especially youth development program.


So when my blogger friend/ uncanny twin, Syaza/Nazu told me about the 6th Malaysian Student Leader Summit, the decision was clear. 


I'm definitely going to participate in this event.


So flash forward to the day itself, I woke up early despite sleeping really late last night (Regretted every second of it) I even had thoughts to just sleep and screw this Summit thing.


But when my dad send me to Intercontinental Hotel my fate was sealed; I'm still going through with this event.


So flash forward once again, and I'm in the grand ballroom of the hotel. I met a few interesting people and strangely enough, I'm among the youngest one there. (And they say I look 25...What the?)


That 'epic' spell check error
The theme of the Summit is:

The Malaysian Metamorphosis 

It has a nice ring to it imo. :3

Then, Tunku Zain Al-Abidin, President of IDEAS (And my new-founded idol) gave his opening speech which in my opinion, very very very inspiring, witty, frank and straight to the point.

I will be copy pasting my Evernote post of his speech and will be commenting on the points in italics.

"Embracing the Future, preserving the past" by YAM Tunku Zain Al-Abidin ibni Tuanku Mukhriz

"Stand out of respect, not out of order"
He started off with this statement referring to the event when students rise up to greet him. He told us to stand up due to respect of the said person, not just because the person is a politician or a man in power. A truly butt hurt statement.


The embrace the future part is easy. But preserving the past is hard
Everyone wants to fight for the future but we tend to forget about the past. We are ignorant of the past and merely depend on the school textbooks for historical facts which he argued may or may not be true

Rote learning for history is bad
He believes that Arts and Science stream should be hand in hand, not viewing one is superior or inferior to the other. This is because, due to the overemphasis on the Science stream and the social perception of 'Science Stream being superior than the Arts stream' led into several kinds of social phenomenon like the ignorance of our own country's history and culture.

He argues that Arts shouldn't be ignored. He laments that today's generation don't know the steps of Zapin and the tuning for Cak Lem Pong (I got butt hurt because I didn't know)

Controversial topic should be discussed, not avoided, avoiding is a form of ignorance
We often hear people say "Weyh, benda camni tak boleh bincang, nanti ISA tangkap," Well, Tunku said that is a form of ignorance and we all know that ignorance is the inhibitor of change. When we discuss on a topic, we shed more light to the truth behind it as you can exchange views and ideas, giving you a wider perspective to the said topic. However, as Farquar Haqqani cite in his remarkable article: 'Debating in Malaysia', We are prone to debate destructively rather than constructively. This caused our debates to be driven by emotions and the need to see the other crumble to our argument, not to know more and see the truth. I think this way of debating is why we don't discuss these topics openly; people are prone to emotions and go out of control.

Political and social progress should be hand in hand
I once heard a quote that says : "The leaders up there is the reflection of its people." The way I interpret it is that, if you want a great leader to lead the political scene, you need to change the society to be great to. If you want progress in politics, you should have progress in society too. A great leader won't be miraculous appears from a society that is a far cry of it, wouldn't it?
Controversial books, videos are ban. Why?
Same thing why we don't discuss controversial issues openly. People here are driven with emotions and the last thing we need is a catalyst to cause more divide. But think, once the damage has been done, actions need to be taken to forge it back together which includes addressing the issue from both side of the divide. Once the issues being addressed, a best solution could be decided. Won't it be a better world if it is like this?

Labels can be politicize and cause divide

Malaysia was not a product if strife, not united

We are not as free as the past

Politician must be loyal to the rakyat, not the political leader

If you want to mature politicaly, we need practice when we are young


For that above points, I really don't have much comment on that due to lack of knowledge (Or, I'm just plain lazy)

Argh, I really having problems with time constraint to post about this topic.

Will be updating more soon



Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Ironies...Ironies everywhere

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‎"...When toll price increase, you complain. When petrol price increase, you complain. When you go Starbucks buy RM10 coffee, NO COMPLAINTS.

When you cannot find parking in a shopping mall and have to walk very far, you complain. When you go inside the shopping mall and there's SALE, run from one end of 1Utama to the other also NO COMPLAINTS..."

~ kennysia.com

Change 2.0

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The view from my room...Constructions...constructions everywhere

Sometimes when I'm staring out of the window, I wondered about my life. Self reflection is a need, no? Among the things I wondered about is:
  • My past
  • My achievements
  • My dreams
  • My present
  • My future
  • What to eat for dinner tonight
  • How to manage my finances
  • How the heck scientists discovered Higgs particles
  • Why is my apartment full of ants
Jokes aside, I do stare at the window a lot and the most recent topic that accompanied me more than the others are: my past and present.

I find it rather surreal. To be in an apartment (alone) in the middle of Subang, with a thick Calculus book and an even thicker SAT book on your desk. Your food are mostly processed, devoid of any sort of homey aura. There is no laughter or chatters or the ear piercing "WOI TURUN BOLA!" There is no junior to be your slave (hehehe) fulfilling your every demands. And most importantly, there is no one to accompany you.

Yes, people...
I'm alone

A far cry from my past where I'm always surrounded with friends of many, many different personalities. Sains Selangor has a lot of interesting people. Genesis has even more. As I find myself typing this blog post, my mind wanders occasionally, reminiscing the wonderful past of my life as a student in SM Sains Selangor. Although I despise that life before, but more and more I'm longing to return to that said past. 'Time wait for no man' As cliched as it sounds, it's the truth. Moving on the best option while cherishing the memories of the past.

The winds of change greeted us all...

Some find it hard to believe that school life is over.
Those hectic fun-filled days were replace with days where you compete and fight with others.
There is no more goofing off, and if there is, the amount is at absolute minimum.
As if you goof off to much, your future will be in jeopardy.
Because of that, WE became distant.
Invisible walls appeared one by one as WE became more and more self-centered.
Our personal goals are far more important in this current time
And I'm not denying that.
As bitter as it sound, this is reality.
The cold harsh reality we must face. 
The change we must accept.

BUT

That doesn't mean that we are not friends.
Remember:

"The bond between us are unbreakable because we had faced monsters together.
Without a strong bond, we would die a long time ago
But yet, we survive.
That is how strong our bonds are."

The bond is still there, strong and steady and as resilient as ever.
It's just we need time to sort out our own goals in life.
Adulthood is a confusing matter for most.

We still had gatherings and outings to catch up.
If any news came up, sad or happy, share it to the others.
We still talk and mention and comment and IM in Facebook and Twitter.
I admit, it was just like those days again, just without a physical presence.

And the winds of change greeted us all...

It is almost surreal once again.
The worst batch of SMSS, they said...
But we fared it of quite well I might say.
One by one, Genesis made their name known to the others.

"Hidupku diselubungi bdk2 sek men sc slangor. Everywhere i go, mesti ade SMSS. yg genesis pnye batch tu HAHA.”
There are going to be people in US
There are going to be people in UK
There are going to be people in Australia
There are going to be people in Egypt
There are going to be people in Japan
Not forgetting the most important part of all,
There are still people in Malaysia, ready to inspiring others in the name of progress.

Sure, we are a naughty bunch during our school days.
But I know you guys
And without you all realizing it, I have been observing you.
Each and every one of you.
I remembered the time when I was the Batch Leader in 2009
I made a profile of almost all the member of Genesis back then.
And in 2011, I made another profile.
Why did I made that profile?
Because I wanted to learn more.
You guys are a very interesting bunch.

How Sabah wants to destroy himself and later proved to be a great student.
How BK wanted to find his true calling which 2 years later, he finally got it
How Naqi faced a dilemma with the rugby team
How Aqil wanted to study but can't find a teacher who is willing to
How Mullah tried so far to get the girls of his dreams
How Emi fend off social perception and be strong under pressure
How Wazir desperately tries to be the best and make his life better
How Arif deals with his broken heart
How Jeevan strife to prove himself
How loving Hilfi can be behind his exterior
How thoughtful Pijie can be behind his loudness
How Mafis worked really hard to overcome his weakness
How Jas and Amal solve their problems when everyone didn't trust them
How Sapek managed to smile despite all those teasing
How Khair proved to the others that willpower transcends handicap
How Adib continues to serve the society that did appreciate him
How strict Syamim can be to uphold justice
How Mike attract attention to make life fun for him and the others
How Flintstone realized his inferiority and promised to overcome it
How Amek envied other but then work on his strengths
How Karo did a job he hates in the name of upholding the institution
How Ilham read through tons of book to prove others his worth and capabilities. 
How Farah Nabilah work on and on with her studies and never give up a slight

I wish to list more and more but then it will go on forever.
I remembered all of those things
And it taught we a lot.
I won't be here, as a scholar, going to a university smack right in the middle of a city, now sitting alone in an apartment in Subang, typing out one heck of an emotional blog post.
If you guys didn't taught me the subject called 'Life'

And the winds of change greeted us all.
But remember guys, no matter how strong the winds are.
Our bond stayed strong.

I made a promise
If I were to depart from Malaysia in pursuit of knowledge, I will wear the official sweater.
With the Genesis crest etched on my back, I will rise my right hand up, as a sign of "I'll be back"

And who knows,
When we all came back together,
A year from now,
5 years from now,
10 years from now,
We, as an individual has change for the better.
But our bond and identity remains the same.
Within the Grand Ballroom of Dewan Perdana GCorp, our laughter echoed through the night again.



Friday, July 6, 2012

Loyalty and Knighthood

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Never since I was a little child, knight fascinates me.
With their shinning armor, trusty sword and handsome face, they were my first 'race addiction' (Just like those who were obsessed with vampires, werewolves, zombies etc.)
I was so fascinated by them that my first online nickname is: EmperKnight (A cross between Emperor and Knight) I even took the trouble to dismantle those wood planks from my bunk bed and decorate them like swords so I can play knights in my room.

Aside from their appearance, another thing that made me attracted to knight characters is their ideology and principle of life.
What about their ideology and principle of life?

Loyalty to the ones you serve

Correct me if I'm wrong but from all those knights stories I had watched, they all lived with one principle: Loyalty.
Loyalty can be in different forms.

Loyalty to the kingdom
Loyalty to his master
Loyalty to his princess
Loyalty to his family

And the list goes on, but no matter who they are loyal with, once they serve you, they serve you until their dying breaths. That is what makes knights noble and gallant and deserves respect. It is not their sword or shining armor, it is their way of life. Giving your whole life into serving someone or some institution is not what most people want to commit. Most people would want to live their life themselves, not others. 

In my life, I stick to this 'Way of the Knight'
One of my highest values is loyalty.
I won't betray or disappoint someone who did a good deed towards me.
Because I believe that those people helped me, and because of that somehow, I'm successful. Therefore, I need to be loyal towards them.
Same goes to my school and the orchestra.
Although I had some bad memories relating to that places, but without it, I won't be where I'm now.
That's why I'm fired up when I got a chance to serve back the school or the orchestra.

Give back what they had given
Maybe not the equal in material
But equal in value

Why am I talking about loyalty?
Specifically, loyalty towards the country
Because I found an interesting trend of selfish people nowadays.
Especially regarding career choices.

Why did you choose to be a doctor?
For the cash and money la bro...

Engineer? Wow, that's cool!
Of course, the pay is high!

Those statements made me wonder. People are driven by money. Their eyes are on money, not the greater things beyond. 

I believe that every career choices supposed to be for the development of the country, not for monetary benefit.
Yeah sure, the pay is high but that is more to a secondary objective.
The primary objective here is to serve the society....serve THE COUNTRY!

That is why civil services here in Malaysia is not up to par...Everyone is thinking about money. Money is the goal. Salary is the zenith of my career. I'm working just for the sake of money.

When money took over one's mind, he or she will lose their humanity in work.

Why they are thinking about money?
It is because they lack loyalty to the country and didn't want to serve the country.

Okay, maybe people will ask.
My family is financially unstable, I need to work for money.
But then, I think that will put you into a circle.

Unstable finance->Work for money->Became robotic->Sucky performance->Hard to increase salary->Unstable finance

If we try to think our objective is to serve the country

Serve the country->Happy with work->Increase in performance->Increase in salary->Stable finance

Another thing I noticed is the trend of staying overseas after finishing their studies.

All for what?
MONEY
Loyalty for money
Not the country.

Which caused us be to brain drained.
Imagine how many bright students we lost due to brain drain. And they are helping big and established country like USA or UK while leaving their development homeland, Malaysia suffering from lack of talents which we need to outsource to the immigrants

And now you complain the lack of professional workers.

The lack of loyalty to the country is the reason why we are slow on productivity.
Why won't you serve your own country?
The place where you were born, raised, educate.
Don't you want to give back to the country?
So it could be a better place for your kids?

Why work so hard for money?
As it is a short term pleasure.
But, when you work for your country
Be loyal to your country
You will be proud when you see your kids gaining a lot of benefits
From the work you had done in the past.

PS: This is my personal opinion only. Ignore the randomness. You know my style

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

How low can you go?

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I just read something from my Facebook news feed just now. It was from the Number 1 SPM 2010 student, Muhammad Putera, a fellow ADP at Taylor's University

Here's what I meant by "I almost got beaten up" (last post).

"So I'm cycling back home with my lil bro leisurely when, at the junction to my neighborhood, we come across two kids our age (okay, more like near-adult teens) hanging around and lepak-ing. Being all high and hyper, I give them a loud "YO!", a wave and a big Colgate smile while we cycle past them. 

"Kau apahal nak "YO" dengan kitorang
? Datang sini balik!"

Since I've been trained to obey orders since before I could remember, I do a 180 without thinking and cycle straight back to them, wondering what I did wrong. My lil bro tags along, bored.

The older of the two grabbed my shirt and started threatening me. His accusations, threats, logic...didn't make much sense to me.

"Kau siapa nak 'yo' kat kitorang?" Apparently I have to be a 'somebody' to 'yo' them. Brings to mind underground social hierarchies dominated by testosterone-fueled teens where those at the upper echelons greet each other with 'yo's.

"Kau pikir kau hebat sangat ah?" So I have to be 'great' now? Great people 'yo' each other, is that it? Fascinating.

"Apahal kau senyum2? NAK KENA TUMBUK KE!?"

Okay, that's it. I think he's serious now; his fists are clenched, his eyes almost rabid. Must be an experienced fighter too, since I can see a scar on his eyebrow now that I'm this close to his face (ohmigosh-the-scar-thing-is-so-cliched-i-know-right). Now the last thing I wanna do is be involved in a fistfight, because
1. I'm weak
2. My dad will kill me if he finds out.

Did I ever tell you how easy it is to act scared?

"Okay2, sorrylah bro, aku tak buat lagi dah!!!" (Actually it was way more elaborate and involved all sorts of frightened facial expressions and frantic hand gestures, but that's basically it.)

So we escaped, me and my bored lil bro (I should stop saying "lil" since technically he's bigger than I am), and well that's it. Sorry if my real-life story didn't quite match up to your expectations... it's REAL LIFE for goodness' sake, what do you expect, a heroic battle with the Underworld where I emerge bloody and triumphant with a pretty damsel in distress safe in my arms?"



You know, after reading his post. It makes me wonder...
How low are the society nowadays?
Why a friendly gesture is consider a crime?
Haiz, the people nowadays

The Renaissance: The Tale of Hardship, Perseverance and Glory

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Guess that above picture...
Come on, it's not that hard.

That my friend, is they very proof of COLD HARD SUCCESS


Why did I say that?
If I were to travel back in time to five years before, people say I would be crazy to say that SEKOLAH MENENGAH SAINS SELANGOR is the Champion for Wind Orchestra SBP.
Because SMSS back then was one of the worst team in the whole competition, period...
But with a vision in mind,
With Perseverance,
With Passion,
SMSS Wind Orchestra push on and after only 7 years since its inception, achieved the title of Champion.

This is the tale of The Renaissance aka my beloved Orchestra

Year 2012 was not a great year for TheR at start.
Depressed from their initial failure to get the title of champion in 2011, most of the team's morale where down. I saw it obviously during my visit in January. Everything was in shambles. There were no organization in anything. Almost no one went for training. Even the teacher predicted that this year TheR might not even be into the Finals. It, sincerely, breaks my heart to see it...and it breaks me more to know that I can't do much to help.

Enter MANAGEMENT TEAM 2012
Led by no other than Faris Asyraf aka Dan
This year's management team faced a huge handicap; they had the least members.
Plus with their lack of credibility, the future seems bleak.

YET
They did meetings, strategy meetings.
They figure out the problems of the band and tackle it straight.
They formed a close bond with the Manager, Abang Rizal.
They formed a close bond with the orchestra
And soon the situation started to brighten a little by little.
Although they were underestimated, they pressed on...something most of us will give up after the initial failure.
And there you go,
The Management Team which lead the orchestra to being the champion.

Congratulations my junior

Enter Arief Daslim...
A virtuoso flutist.
However, he has been chosen to be a conductor...
AGAINST HIS WILL
Initially though...
Without any prior knowledge of being a conductor, he accepts.
So it began, his challenge of juggling around with being the conductor and supporting Dan in the Management side.
Honestly, he had it rough this year, BIG TIME.
But yeah, he pressed on.
And look what we have here: The conductor of the winning team
Something even the most stylish (Faliq) and the most expressive (Me) conductor had not achieved yet.


Me talking about all this factors that made TheR champion made me realized one thing.
The one guy who pressed on more and the others
The one guy who inspires more and more after him
The one guy who laughs and cry with the orchestra every year
The one guy who handles all the big big events
The one guy you saw running around handling errands
The one who starts it all
The one with vision.


The one guy called our Orchestra Manager
ABANG RIZAL


Under his management, the orchestra flourish year by year.
And he of all people demonstrate the meaning of true perseverance. 
So,
Thank you for all the thing you had done.
And not to forgot also,
The Mother of the Orchestra:
PUAN SHAHRUL BARIYAH
For sticking with us...
Since 2002! (Fact maybe wrong)

As I watched the orchestra played last Sunday, all I can do is to hold back my tears.
As being in the orchestra was one of the best times I had in my life.
It taught me a lot of things and changed me ultimately.
If I took another road and joined the rugby for instance.
I think I will be a completely different person.
If I were to write my college application to Stanford, I will definitely write about the orchestra.

I missed being in the orchestra.
I really do.
Being a saxophonist, oboist and later the conductor, it cherished those times.
Although I didn't personally earn the trophy but I knew, I did my part of teaching and inspiring my juniors to aim high and become the champion.

So there it is,
The Tale of The Renaissance
The Worst Band into the Best Band