Deepavali Is Here

Its that time of the year again and with just a week left, Deepavali mood kicks in and its visible almost everywhere! Even Dell advertised a good Deepavali deal for its PCs and Notebooks in the papers today. What makes of that!

Anyway with all the busy schedule, we spared a few minutes yesterday to put up some festive stuffs in the office to reflect the mood. Although it was done in a rush and in a small scale, the impact was there anyway.

Spare a Thought

Its been over a week since my last post. Work is taking its toll on my social life! Dang and there isn't anything I can do about it. I have a dozen or so new projects am currently working on and some are running concurrently. I just need to get a few of the more important ones off the book and things should get better.
Either way Deeps is just one week away! Lots of things to be done in preparation. Its not like how it used to be those days but nevertheless its a celebration indeed. A few of us colleagues took some time off last Sunday morning to spent some time with the childrens at the Vision Home , First Garden Silibin Ipoh. Since its Deepavali time, we just wanted to share the festive mood with the less fortunate kids there as we most certainly wont be able to do so on the day itself.
Vision Home is a privately run shelter home for orphaned kids and kids with troubled family background.Though they have a few homes running, this particular one is for young boys only. The youngest kid here is aged 4 and the eldest is 16. They have kids from all sort of backgrounds. Some being orphaned, kids with medical conditions and the most disheartening - physically abused kids. Some of the kids had suffered serious injuries mostly by their own parents before being brought to this home! Why have childrens when they only end up being punching bags?? We are talking about kids below 6 years here. This kind of parents should be stoned to death in my personal opinion after looking at all the injuries. That's not to mention the mental torture the kids must've endured.
Either way looking at the kids , you would hardly notice their troubled past! They looked as normal as a kid can be and it was somewhat heart warming to see them running around just like how a normal kid would be. Some of the kids here are just plain fun to be with I should say. It makes you wonder , if they can swing around their life from all the hardship what makes of us the better offs! We can learn a thing or two from them on how we perceive life! They treat each other with respect and learn to share things. Be it food, toys, books....even prayers! You even get to see a mentally challenged Chinese kid talk in Tamil with his friends! The satisfaction when looking into their eyes when they received their new toys we bought for them is just unmeasurable. It worth every minute and every penny!
It was a very very satisfying moment that few hours we were there from morning till after lunch. It must've been some of the best spent hours in life for me. You get to play with them, read books, have lunch together and the best part is the interview sessions! You should see how open the kids are to the subject of discussion even at that young age. Plans are to take them all out for a day out on a picnic to Lost World , Sunway Lagoon, Tambun with our own families in December for Christmas and maybe a trip to the cinema if a nice animation movie comes out.
For all those reading this, please share some thoughts for all the unfortunate kids and humans in general when we celebrate the Festival of Light this year. Its the least we can do for them! And for those who have the means to do more, spread the festive joy around!

Adios Steve McClown

Finally! A good chance had presented itself to the English FA to sack Steve McClown and save England from going into further international football oblivion! Last nights loss to Russia in the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier is the final straw. Enter Moanrinho! hahahah fat hopes indeed. But then I do not see any other credible candidate out there to take over the helm for the 3 Lions. Terry Venebales you might say?? Yeah right! That would be like taking it from the lion's mouth and feedin it to the croc's mouth.

England will need a miracle now to qualify for the Euro 2008. Correction! They don't need 'a' miracle, they need a couple of miracles to happen. First miracle, Russia will have to loose or draw to Israel in the game at Tel Aviv. This is not far fetched but looks unlikely now that Israel is out of contention. Second miracle is for Andorra-who-you may-ask to beat or draw with Russia! Now, Andorra is pointless after 10 round of matches and sitting at the bottom of the table with just 2 goals scored and 39 against! Maybe David Blaine might lend a hand of help! With England only having 1 more match and that is against the group leader Croatia, even if they win(3rd miracle) this they will have to pray that Russia drops points at Andorra or Israel.

Personally I don't see that happening and looks like I will have one less team to support at Euro 2008 as it stands. That would probably make the tournament incomplete but it serves the English FA right. What were they thinking??? Steve McClown took the team backwards instead of forward. Heck even Sven did a good job in my opinion! I guess this is what get when you end up with the 3rd choice manager.

Darn! There goes my hopes for a peaceful Thursday morning! What the SUI!

Remembering Kavi Arasu Kannadasan

24th June 1927 - 17th October 1981

Its been 27 years today since Kavi Arasu Kannadasan left us to meet his creator. I cannot claim to know him very well but I am just like thousands if not millions out there who must've been touched by him in one way or another. Although he is also a known poet, for me his impact had been restricted to song lyrics for I have never been into poetry at all! That could partly be due to the fact that I don't write or read Tamil. Now, I see that more as handicape than an embarrassment. Its not too late yet to acquire the know how though I know . That is for another day.


What is important is today. And this post is a tribute to a man who in my personal opinion depicts the very basic and real face of an ordinary man although some do make him otherwise the opposite. What made him so special? There are notions that he is better than Barathi himself. But then it would be an unfair comparison as highlighted to me by Sara recently. Some how I agree with her. Now back to the question , whats so great about Kannadasan?


Kannadasan was an epitome of a man who lived his short lived life at the best of everything. He was 54 when he passed away at Chicago USA on the 17th October 1981. At such an age which could still be said young he had reached the height of his life in every aspect it had been said. His style of writing reached all level of masses. From the down trodden to even the elites. His simplicity and down right practicality in writing is what endeared him to the masses. Together with MSV he delivered what can be said a Golden Era of Tamil Music just as the latest(now might be defunct) successful partnership of AR Rahman and Vairamuthu. Some say he writes from his heart and not just for the commercial value. He represents his life and his surroundings in his songs. He might have his publicised shortcomings, but he remained true to his principles and worked his magic around it.

One do need to love the songs of that era to really understand the magic of Kannadasan, especially during the period of 50s to 70s and even early 80s. His first song lyric was Kalangathiru Maname in the movie Kanniyin Kadali in 1949. Even after his death in 1981, his lyrics was still used in Tamil songs. His last and one of the most famous lyric was for the song Kanne Kalaimane for the movie Moondram Pirai in 1983. What a song this is! Was it the lyrics?? Was it Raja's music?? Or Balu Mahendra's picturisation?? I dont even need to go as far as to Kamal or SriDevi do I? But this goes to show the influence of Kannadasan in the Tamil Movie Music industry.

From love songs to 'thathuvam' ones, he excelled at bringing out the best of words to carry the meaning of what he wanted to convey. But he kept it simple.Some of his 'thathuvam songs' that
I like are Paramasivan Kalethilyirenthu, Pirekum Pothum Aalugendray, Aaru Manameh Aaru, Atcham Yenbathu Madamay, Aatho Andhe Paravai, Ponal Pohgathum, Satti Suttathada and Oru Thai Makkal.

Some of his love song masterpieces that I love include songs like Kaadhal Siragai, Kanne Kalaimane, Naan Paarthethile, Paatu Padava, Pavadai Thavaniyil, Chippi Irekethe , Thanimayileh Inimaiy and Thangathileh Oru Kuurai.

Of course the small examples above cannot do justice to the approx 5000 song that he had written. But those songs above are some of his best in my opinion. I would love to have his total collection but that would be impossible. Thus far I only have about 100plus songs of his collection which I hope I can add to. That is just a fraction of what is out there!

All I want to say in the end... Thank You Kannadasan! May you rest in peace knowing your legacy will remain forever in our hearts!

Below are some Kannadasan based resources and further readings

This link HERE provides live streaming of some of Kannadasan's best songs

The link HERE provides some interesting snippets of him

The link HERE provides a brief intro for Kannadasan

The link HERE provides more details about him

History-Revisited

Its been over a week since my last post. Life been super duper hectic with work and other related matters that I hardly have any time to update the blog. Its gonna remain like this for the next few weeks or so. Too many projects in the office with the start of the new financial year. I am breaking my own promise of at least 2 posts a week.
Anyway, something really turned up during my usuall blog roll this morning. Origins of Malays! The two blogs I refer to is Unspun and BJ Thoughts. This is a very sensitive and dangerous topic and question to discuss and talk about in our country. The post at BJ Thoughts is a nice piece and as admitted by the blogger, a long piece as well. But then I suggest you to read it. It might shed some light to the biggest coverup in Malaysian history! hahahaha sorry Dan Brown!
Need to get a few more things done before I shoot back to Ipoh shortly.Not sure when will I be able to come back to my usuall routine in life. I just need to finish some very important long outstanding projects real soon. This means more work on the road and be travelling even more.

I have a dream

Finally after scouring the net I have found the complete text of the 'I Have a Dream' speech made Martin Luther King on the 28th August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This speech is regarded as one of the most important and finest speech ever in the history of United States.

After reading it, I was able to relate myself to the issues raised by King during his freedom struggles in US until his assassination. King was a well known Gandhi follower hence the non violence freedom movement.

In my opinion, this is a very important piece that every Malaysian should read and give a thought about. It might be written with the colored ppl struggle in mind but we can easily relate it to the current state of our country. Its a long piece but worth reading.

Reference :
Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net - aa300)
Distributed by the Cybercasting Services Division of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN).

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon of hope to millions of slaves, who had been seared in the flames of whithering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the colored America is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the colored American is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

One hundred years later, the colored American lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the colored American is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our Nation's Capital to cash a check.When the architects of our great republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence,they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed to the inalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given its colored people a bad check, a check that has come back marked"insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.

We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.

Now it the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Now it the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

Now is the time to make justice a reality to all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of it's colored citizens. This sweltering summer of the colored people's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end but a beginning. Those who hope that the colored Americans needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the colored citizen is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the colored person's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."

We cannot be satisfied as long as a colored person in Mississippi cannot vote and a colored person in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of your trials and tribulations. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by storms of persecutions and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our modern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you, my friends, we have the difficulties of today and tomorrow.

I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day out in the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be engulfed,every hill shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low,the rough places will be made plains and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'this of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.So let freedom ring from the hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that, let freedom, ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children,black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

One Small Step

'I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.' - Martin Luther King's 'I have a Dream' Speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedoms on the 28th August 1963.

The above line had been reverberating in my mind since early morning today. I have been following closely both the Monks March in Myanmar and also the Lawyers March at Putrajaya and been waiting for the update on both the marches and by late evening news began to appear.

The Buddhist Monk's March against the Myanmar Junta had now turned violent according to reports at BBC Online. The military junta had finally turned against the peaceful monk protesters. Reports indicate death, injury and arrest had occurred during the crackdown earlier today. Its really disheartening to see innocent people dying and getting hurt in their struggle to uphold freedom and peace. But the perseverance and determination of the Myanmar people to acquire that freedom and peace was evident when civilians formed the human shield chain around the monks to protect them from the military. Lets pray and hope the march will end without any further bloodshed and justice will prevail there for the sake of the Myanmar people.

On local front, the Lawyers March at Putrajaya in relation to the judiciary crisis was held today and it went on well as planned according to various news websites and prominent blogs. This march might not have been as huge as the Myanmar one, nevertheless its a start for what I think more things to come. Even if someone is not well informed about the recent crisis, seeing lawyers march to protest against something might have caught their attention. Thankfully this march ended in a calm and peaceful manner without any incidents as reported.

All this comes back to us, asking what is this all about? Where do we stand in view of it? The Myanmar march might be totally unrelated to our life, but isn't the motive behind it is seriously related to our current state of affairs in the country? The lawyers march for judiciary reforms might not be closely associated to the man on the street. But it affect the future and the governing of the country in whole which indirectly DO affect each and every one of us in this country.

This is about justice! And when justice itself is in question, where else do we turn to? When the justice itself is accused of being injustice we the people have no else to go to fight for our rights! In any just society or country, Judiciary Powers and Executive Powers are separated to ensure fair and uncorrupted implementation of laws. But if the current crisis are to be followed about, then we are looking at a future where a totalitarian government is what our children will inherit.
I cant help but fear for the 'already hanging on the edge' freedom we currently have. We've been facing one crisis after another and by the way it looks this will not be the end of it.

What tomorrow will bring??????

I am going to look for the excerpt of that Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' on the net and post it in my next post.

80's Cartoons Revisited

Its been almost a week since my last post here! Been super duper hyper busy with work and other stuffs that had limited my access to the Internet.However, hopefully am back to my normal routine now.

The past week, news highlights had been filled with news about the little girl's brutal murder (get that bloody asshole and leave the parents alone) and the usual-nothing-to be-surprised-knee jerk reaction news about corruptions and misuse of powers in the country. Things are getting too stale these days from the political point of view.On the sports front, the sudden departure of Jose MOANrinho(can't resist the dig mate! heheheh) from Chelsea hogged the limelight.

Speaking of Jose Mourinho, either you love him or hate him and there is no way anyone would sit in the middle about him. I hated him to the max for his arrogant attitude. The self proclaimed 'The Special One' was humbled out in a acrimonious fashion. But on footballing terms , he is one heck of a manager. His main strength? He is a too darn good of a motivator. How many times we must've seen Chelsea going into a break chasing a game only for them to come out strongly winning in the second half. For that I salute the bloke. I surely be gutted if he ends up in Liverpool (which he almost had before choosing Chelsea in 2004) but I will approve his rating if he takes over from Steve McClown for England!

Now on entertainment front, 2 news really caught my attention! After the humongous success (I told you so!) of Transformers, work are now in progress to bring to the silver screen 2 more great heroes from the 80's - Voltron and Robotech! Wah wie.. am drooling already!

For all those 80s kids like me , this is surely a sight to behold! Like most 80s kids I grew up watching these evergreen cartoon series. Just to name a few of my favorites, in no particular order - Transformers, Voltron, Robotech, Macross, Mospeada, Thundercats, MASK, GI Joe, Silverhawks, Ghosbusters, Smurfs, Care Bears, Denver the Last Dinosaur, Inspector Gadget and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This list is inexhaustive of course.

So naturally when news broke out about the Robotech and Voltron silver screen adaptation , I was delirious about the whole prospect. I had the same feeling when I heard about the Transformer project by Michael Bay in 2004. The wait for 3 years proved to be worthwhile what with the way the movie turned out.

Coming back to Robotech, for those who cant recall what this cartoon is all about, think of those transforming fighter jets and motorcycles. Robotech is actually the convergence of another 3 Japanese anime namely Macross, Mospeada and Southern Cross. This had also spawned the ever famous video game Super Famicom - Macross Scrambled Valkyrie.News is Tobey Maguire(Spiderman) will be producing the movie and will have a key role to play in the movie as well. This will be made into a 'live action' movie just like The Transformer instead of the famous animated version. The director is not named yet, but I bet it wont be Michael Bay for sure. Whoever it is , I hope he will do credit for the original animated series.

Voltron is the other famous cartoon being made into another 'live action' ,movie. It will interesting to see how they will manage to adapt the 5 lions into the big screen. There are not much news about this venture on the Net though. One site I found had this to say 'The script, by Justin Marks, is described as '...a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City and Mexico. Five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders.'. Lets wait for further news on this.

Hopefully all this remakes do justice to the original series and keep US the fans wanting for more. I have read that more and more 80s cartoons are in the pipeline to be made into feature films in years to come.

I cant wait already

HARDtalk Interview on BBC - Updated

Finally I managed to watch the entire interview courtesy of YouTube.. yet again! What will we all do without YouTube!. Anyway imagine watching the entire 20 plus minutes of clip over a dial-up Internet connection! I almost gave up after the first 2 segments.
But I was really intrigued about the whole thing and decided to finish watching it by hook or crook and finish it I did. It was the same old Spinning Jenny in action throughout the interview. Frankly speaking I was really embarrassed by the answer given by the minister and the way he went around answering the question. Mind you , this show must've been shown worldwide and I cant help but think about the image being sent out about the country.
Below are some of the answers/comments by the minister that caught my attention :

• Indians in Malaysia have a better household income vs Malays
• 'Total' University intake in the country is higher for Non-Malays vs Malays (notice the 'Total', maybe the minister forgot to mention the difference between the private and public U intakes in the country)
• Government scholarship is open for ALL races without bias
• Non-Malays, especially the Chinese enjoy a bigger chunk of the government contracts vs Malays
• Malaysia is not a racist country and its citizens are NOT racially polarised either
• Lina Joy only wanted to change her name and she is/was not blocked to convert to Christianity or any religion for that matter
• Syariah Court is for Muslims ONLY
• Malaysia is an Islamic State

Apart from being embarrassed , I found it very amusing and funny - the answers given. I suggest you go and view the YouTube clips if you want to be amused. I am just lost for words.

What the SUI!

Have beens.. and what comes!

First of all, thousand apologies to ASTRO for my outburst about the non-live telecast of last Saturday's Liverpool match against Portsmouth. I stated that am pissed with ASTRO due to no live coverage when indeed there was a live telecast after all. Although I do not want to indulge much about that match... sigh.. 2 valuable points dropped....sorry to ASTRO anyway!.
Apart from that the weekend been eventful indeed. Some interesting things happened. Ahem.. ahem.... Lets see where it all ends up at! Although not all are for the good, some do have a silver lining hidden somewhere I guess. I just to find it and pawn it at the nearest pawnshop! I need the money! My dream house is now finally ready but I have no money even to fix the fittings! Super broke... lets hope the plan am working on pays off and I can move in before this year's Deeps!
Next 3 days is gonna be hectic with field works and travelling.Good thing is the Champions League starts today. Let the kicking begin!. Good luck Liverpool! You'll Never Walk Alone
Just hope the week will end in a better note vs last week. Keeping my fingers crossed!

HARDtalk Interview on BBC

Am sure most of you must've received the SMS today about the BBC interview with our Foreign Minister - Syed Hamid Albar on the current state of our country racial integration. I must've received at least a few dozen of those SMSes. But deep down I had this hunch that it will not be shown at all. It was suppose to be aired on Channel 93- BBC at 10.30pm. Am sitting in front of the TV now alternating between BBC and Discovery and true enough its not being aired.

We have seen this happen once before. Recently there was another SMS reporting that Al Jazeera will be airing a news piece on the recent apostasy case in Malaysia.IN particular it was related to the Revathi case. This was also taken off from the channels and never made it back to ASTRO. For those of you who missed it, you can watch it HERE courtesy of YouTube.

Now coming back to the today SMS about the BBC interview. This interview did happen, yesterday during the famous BBC show called HARDtalk.I have watched a few edition of the show before and let me tell you, this interview is not for the faint hearted as the interviewers can get real hostile if they dont get a good answer for their questions. This is why the show is very famous on BBC.They touch on real issues and the interviewers is not lame enough as well.Apparently our Foreign Minister got grilled over a host of issues in this edition of HARDtalk. Issues like university quota,racial discrimination of the Chinese and Indian community and much more. He is lucky it wasnt the other guy who is the original host of the show.

You can watch the interview at BBC HARDtalk website HERE. The clip is about 23minutes long it seems. I was unable to watch it myself as am still using dial-up at home and my new Vista is not installed with RealPlay which prevents me from streaming the show.

Further checking on local blogosphere, there seems to be contradicting information about the interview.Either way go and watch the interview yourself and make up your mind.

P.S Big up to Julie for watching the streaming on my behalf and updating me on the summary in order for me to update the blog here.

Pain in my tuuutt

What the sui! Thats putting it mildly on how am feeling at the moment. Its almost 10pm, am still stuck in the office. I was suppose to go back early after badminton and continue watching The Hitchhiker. It was suppose to be just another day at work and another day gone by.
But as always , there are always some ppl in my life who have this tendency of calling me at the wrong time and say the wrong things just to rile me up. SUI! Its seems like ppl are taking turns to turn my day upside down on a weekly basis. Are they having turn numbers like we have in banks? How many more in the waiting list??? Gimme me a break!

Some ppl got the cheeks to call me and screw me for not calling them or telling them things! Alooooooooooo! I make it a point to at least send one SMS per week to everyone in my few SMS group list in my phone. Thats like 40 to 50 ppl in the biggest list. And how many replies I would get? Two hands is all I need to count it. Darn! But I aint complaining to them am I? And its not about the money or the effort mind you. Some ppl will just go on a hibernation mode for weeks even months and when they come back, its as if the world had been on PAUSE mode for them.

Its ppl choice whether to reply or not. As a friend am just doing what am suppose to do , expecting nothing in return. And what I get in return?? Some of them have a field day wreaking my days. Last week it was someone, today another. Funny thing is this are the ppl that I care about the most in my life! Darn!

Am not angry at them anyway. Am just darn pissed with myself. I should've seen it coming. But I still take things in the stride. I try to be lean mean but I just cant do it. So its my stoooopid fault! Sui Sui Sui Sui Sui! And you know what, next week I will be doing the same thing again. Hahahahah in despair!

Its Friday tomorrow and weekend is taking a peek at us! All am asking is for the weekend to go by just like that. Thats all am asking. Darn there wont be a Liverpool game live this Saturday. They are showing all the games except for Liverpool's. Another SUI for ASTRO. And am on leave on Monday as well. Perfect! That will be 2 weeks in a row without futsal. Life is eventful indeed!

WHAT THE SUI! in FULL CAPS

Remembering 9-11

Same day today, 6 years ago, the world was shocked by one of the worst terrorist attacks ever. 2 Airline planes hit both the World Trade Center Towers in New York City causing it to collapse. Another plane hit the Pentagon and another crashed in the fields off Shanksville, Pennsylvania.In the aftermath of the attack, the world as we know had changed forever. A total of 2974 souls lost their life's on that day of infamy. Another 24 person are either presumed dead or missing.

I was having a day out after work with a few of colleagues , having 'naan' at our usual hangout food court on that very night. Having just reached back to the apartment at around 10pm , Sue called on my handphone informing of an attack on United States. She asked me to turn on the TV. Having no Astro at that time , I told her I don't have CNN access only to be told its being aired LIVE on all the terrestrial channels.

I was just awestruck at the images I saw on TV. By the time I turned on the TV , both towers were already hit and news were just filtering out of the Pentagon attack. I just slumped in front of the TV for the next few hours thinking of whats gonna happen next. Too many questions started lingering in my mind. Is the start of worst things to come? What is happening to the world now? There I was watching history being written as it happened.

As the ashes slowly settled down, more related news started to appear. Stories about how the 4th flight, United Airlines Flight 93 which was originally intended to crash on the Capitol Hill was thwarted by the heroics of the flight passengers and crashed. Stories about the courageous rescue efforts by the emergency personnel at the World Trade Center. And more stories that followed about the inefficiency of the various US agencies in handling the situation on that day. Suddenly the world's only Super Power nation looked so vulnerable and weak! Never had they been in such a situation since Pearl Harbour.

Whatever the failings there can be, we have all learned a lesson from this. Nothing remains the same forever. Things can get better to worst in a split second. Events that happened thousands of kms away have adverse effect on our lifes and future. I belong to the generation that escaped the wrath of the 2 World Wars and even the Communist Insurgency. So going thru this served as a reality check. Suddenly the world seemed so dangerous and volatile that your life is not safe as we grew up to believe it was. Even in Malaysia!

In remembering this day, let us all pray for the lost souls. The inevitable reality is, this will not be the last attack we will ever see in our life. The world is definitely going to the dogs. So while we are still here , lets make the best out of this life!

Surely for the next few days, the TV channels will be inundated with various reports, documentaries and movies related to the 9-11 which is fair enough. I have watched my fair share of those as well. Of the best, there are 3 movies in my opinion that really portrayed the tragedy without much hoohaa of the usuall Hollywood fanfare. The best of the lot would be Fahrenheit 9-11 by Michael Moore. Followed by the Nicholas Cage starer World Trade Center and the less known United 93.

The are also the usuall conspiracy theories surrounding the 9-11 but that itself will take a few more pages of blog to start with. Maybe one day the truth if there is any will finally see the light.

May GOD bless and save us all

Shop Lot Schools?

Shop lot schools?? What next? A tree top school? Dang for crying out loud. This news article came to my attention thru my Gmail. As per my usual nature I had to check the authenticity of the news first before forwarding it and the mail turned out to be TRUE! There really is a Tamil school located at a shop lot in Lukut.
You can get more details by going here.

The article is titled The Amazing Tamil School but I think it should be more aptly titled The 'Future Smart School of Bolehland! Somebody better be prepared for an explanation for this. I can just feel sorry for all the poor kids who had to end up there.

A second news also came to light when I was scouring Google for something else. UK Government sued for USD 4 Trillion by a Malaysian human rights lawyer. What the sui! Is this for real? Apparently this new is TRUE as well. The said lawyer, one Ponnusamy Waytha Moorthy had filed the suit at a London court last week. He is also asking the the British court to declare the in place Malaysian Constitution as null and void.

The news was carried here by an Indian based website and also by The Sun here.

This is an eye opener for us indeed. I just hope these 2 news makes waves. Its not like this will start a chain reaction of changes or anything but then this serves a reminder to us on what is happening around us these days.

I just hope I get my hands on that 1 million pound if the lawyer wins it. Chances are I wont but then I think this action is more to delivering a statement and making a point rather than the monetary reasons in the first place. My wished to him.

Camex Escapade

The football season had barely started and already there is a break! Duh! we were just warming up for the runaway with the title....hahahaha. ok ok some would say its just fat hopes. For now I just hope this short 'honeymoon' does not have any adverse effect on the team when they return.

Either way ,the Camex (thats Cameron Highlands for non locals) trip turned out to be a distraction in the end. A short vacation was long overdue indeed. Around same period last year it was a trip to Bangkok with the geng that filled up the vacation quota last year. This year a few plan had to be scrapped for various reasons and Camex came as a last resort. Not that I have not been to he highland, I've must've been there almost a dozen times before. Thats what you expect when you live just 1 hour drive from Tanah Rata!

But then this is the first trip there for the ever charming (cheh wah) Sara and Reggie! And not to forget the indomitable 'demon slayer' VJ! In my opinion it WAS anything but a proper vacation! We didnt manage to get a hotel room, it was raining all the way, most attraction was closed and we finished everything by 3pm having only started the travel at 10am.

The only worth mentioning stuff was the cup of tea by the tea plantation estate and the not that bad Rose Garden. Given a choice I would not want to visit Camex again. But maybe for this year Deeps I might drive up to get some cheap flowers and vegetables. I mean where else can you get 5 stalks of sunflowers for RM10.00?? So the flowers and the greenery was the only bright side. But I do want to have a visit where I would put a night. I was told that you should experience a night at the highlands to get a feel of it!.

Nevertheless, the whole trip for the 2 girls to Ipoh wasnt wasteful anyway. We managed to go on a field trip of tasting Ipoh specialities. No trip to Ipoh would be complete without tasting the famous 'nga choi kai' and the old town white coffee would it?. And of course the visit to the pristine surroundings of the Gunung Lang Park.

Already I am looking forward for my trip to Sarawak in November which would be the proper vacation that had been long due. Latest news is I might be making 2 trips to Sarawak on November. Let see how it goes. Dont be jealous ppl!.. hahahahah I earned it

As for now, back to the reality of work! Arhhhh its Monday again!

Life is Such? Says Who?

What a week this is turning out to be! Just a few days back I managed to gather whatever strength I had balance and buried a few old demons I have been carrying on my back for some time now. It was not an easy decision nor a stroll in the park to do it all.

Right when I think that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, someone UP THERE forgot to pay TNB for the electricity bill and decided that I should be in the dark again. Newton's Third Law of Motions says 'For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction'. In my case both the action AND reaction is NOT from me. If YOU cannot or will not pay the bill, at least let me pay in myself. Let me hold my destiny in my hands. Thats the least fair thing I can ask for from YOU.

George Orwell once said, (this is also one of my fav quotes) 'He who controls the past commands the future. He who commands the future conquers the past.' Here I am trying to put everything behind by controlling my past and commanding my future. But fate's got different idea about the whole thing. Its my past that is trying to conquer me and put a control on my future.

The last few days had now been easy. No matter how much I try, history keeps repeating itself. Some of the times I sense that it is indeed partially my fault. But each time I try to correct a fault, a new one keeps popping out. Most of us face this all the times dont we.

It makes us wonder, whats the fight for?? whats the struggle for?? Is this a neverending story?? Nevertheless I refuse to be broken! I refuse to bog down! I refuse to be made useless! I refuse to give up my faith! I refuse to give up hope! I am who I am!

This reminds me of one of my fav songs. A song that gives me strength whenever I need em the most. And right now its playing on a continouos loop on my desktop. A song titled HANDS by Jewel

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all ok
And not to worry because worry is wasteful
and useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
I won't be idled with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
for light does the darkness most fear
My hands are small, I know,
but they're not yours they are my own
but they're not yours they are my own
and I am never broken
Poverty stole your golden shoes
but it didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
but i knew it wasn't ever after
We will fight, not out of spite
for someone must stand up for what's right
cause where there's a man who has no voice
there ours shall go singing
My hands are small, I know,
but they're not yours they are my own
but they're not yours they are my own
and I am never broken
In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees and I will pray
I will get down on my knees and I will pray
I will get down on my knees and I will pray

My hands are small, I know,
but they're not yours they are my own
but they're not yours they are my own
and I am never broken
My hands are small, i know,
but they're not yours they are my own
but they're not yours they are my own
and I am never broken
We are never broken
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's mind
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's heart
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's eyes
God's hands
We are God's hands
God's hands
We are God's hands

An Interview with GOD

This is something that I practically look at on a daily basis as its pasted on the wall right next to my office table. I cant remember who sent it to me but I thought the message is simple yet so true...

An Interview with GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God
'So! You would like to interview me?' God asked.
'If you have the time.' I said
God smiled. 'My time is eternity. What question do you have in mind for me?'
'What surprises you most about humankind?'
God answered....
'That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.'
'That they lose their health to make money... and then lose their money to restore their health.'
'That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that the live in neither the present nor the future.'
'That they live as if they will never die, and die like they had never lived.'
God's hand took mine and we were silent for a while.
And then I asked...'As a parent, what are some of life's lessons you want your children to learn?'
'To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved.'
'To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.'
'To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.'
'To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.'
'To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most , but is the one who needs the least.'
'To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.'
'To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.'
'To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.'
'Thank you for your time,' I said humbly.
'Is there anything else you would like your children to know?'
God smiled and said, 'Just know that I am here.. always'.

This might just be an imaginated piece, but its quite thought provoking aint it? It did to me. We might not be angels but mere humans but if.. just if.. we can put some effort... we can learn at least one lesson from all those listed above. There are more lessons in life but I think none are more important than above.

Make a change!

Music Review Anyone?????

Well well well , lets see... hmmm I've blogged about movie, sports and socio politics so far. I've always never wanted to blog before ,despite the urge or suggestions but for someone who actually did, this is not bad at all for a few weeks of writing.

So for my next shot , lets try music review. I am a self proclaimed music buff in the first place. Although am a lil picky and choosy about what kind of music I listen to , first impression matters to me. If I listened to a track for the first time and didn't like it , chances are it will never make it to my all time playlist at ALL!.

So few days back I got my hands on songs from the Tamil movie Sivi. Now the music director for this movie is Dharan of Parijatham fame. He did OK for his Parijatham project. But the real reasons I got the songs??? Gotta be the bloke Dr.Burn.. Yupsie.. thats right.. the guy that brought us the Hip Hop album Vallavan with the GREAT Yogi B and Emcee Jazz.

Its not always we get our Malaysian folks to break into the music scene in India. We've had our fair share of Astro Vanavil Talent show winners trying their luck there. But I think Dr.Burn will not be a one off flame to catch fire there. Already he made waves with the Vallavan album and boy he doesn't disappoint in Sivi.

Although in any music compo the music director gets the upmost credit , singers do play a part in making the song stand out plus good lyrics of course. This album Sivi got this sense of something different from the usual plethora of stuffs we get from Tamil movie songs.

Lets start with the first song, Sivi - Movie Theme. When i first listened to it , I got this feeling that I have listened to the same thing somewhere. After thinking hard , I found a big resemblance between this theme song with the Anniyan's theme song - Stranger in Black. I mean its not a direct lift from the Anniyan one but surely an inspired piece. Further searching I found out that Dharan is actually an understudy for Harris Jeyaraj who did Anniyan. No wonder the same style. Nevertheless the tune is nice and then a lil eerie! By the way, the song is performed by Subhiksha who also gave us the Carnatic version of Kanda Naal Mudhal from the movie of the same title.

The second song is also credited as a Theme song for Sivi but the Rap version. This is by our guy Dr.Burn. This is a typical hip hop piece with the usual turntable effects. The lyrics are not that very audible but hey its the style and delivery that caught my attention. Nice catchy tune though. And oh yeah the lyrics by Dr.Burn himself.

Moving on we come to the song that I liked most in the album, Mayavi Neeya. Its performed by Shruthi, Krish (June Pona - Unnale Unnale & Karu Karu - Patchaikili Muthucharam) and Haricharan (Thoduven - Deepavali). The first thing that caught my attention is the smooth deliverance of the chorus by Haricharan. Somewhat flow with the tune. A very good piece indeed and should top the charts.

There seems to be a trend these days by the music directors to practically remix their own song in the same album. Regardless of whether the remixed piece is used in the movie , everyone seems to be jumping in this bandwagon. No one does it more than Yuvan himself. And in my opinion, the remix version usually over perform the original ones. One good example, Jalsa in Chennai 600028! The remix version is way too cool vs the ori version. Dharan used the same concept here for what could be the next best song(s) in the movie. We have 2 songs title Oh Nenje in the album. Both songs are credited to Benny, Shwetha, Dr.Burn & Dharan(assuming its the director himself).

The first version Oh Nenje is the mild version with minimal rap bits. The remixed version comes with more raps by Dr.Burn. But both songs came out well indeed. And the lyrics just flows with the tune. Good job by the lyricist. Benny gave us the Balleilaka song from Sivaji with SPB. Watch out for this song to be as famous as June Ponal song from Unnale Unnale.

The final song in the album is Neruppum with a sprinkle of Arabian flavour. The song starts with some Arabic humming and it gave the song a different feel. This piece is by Ranjith,Sunitha Sarathy and Benny. This is a fast paced song with some nifty work with the tunes by Dharan. Ranjith is an upcoming singer who gave us songs like Jalsa - Chennai 600028, Dol Dol - Pokkiri and Ennama Kannu - Tiruviliyadal Aarambam. His voice reminds me of Karthik and Tippu, almost the same kind of voice. You might recognise Sunitha Sarathy from Uyire Uyire- Kaaka Kaaka and Yaakai Thiri - Aayutha Yelethu.

There you go, my first music review of sort. Its not always we have an album than really satisfy the taste with ALL the songs being great or reasonably good. This soundtrack can be said to be a complete one. It do lack the usual sentimental or sad tracks but more than make up with the raps and fast beats. Dharan is destined to make more waves in the Tamil music industry. He caught my attention at least. Get a copy and enjoy the songs

Will we EVER learn??

What a way to start a Monday! I was going thru my usuall list of blogs in the morning when I came across an interesting article by a friend of mine. Idealistm isn't dead in Malaysia, wrote galadriel. Although the whole article is not the idea for this post, one particular part of it really struck me.

Part of her article is republished below :

Of course local Indians are terribly divisive. Taking after the class distinctions of many centuries. After all Apartheid was conceived in India right?
Here in Malaysia, when we are filling forms, in the race column, most of my brethren would put Indian. But there are those who would take pains to set everyone straight about their ancestry.

Here are some of the refrains that make me wish to “Avra Kedavra” these assholes.

“Ah, we Ceylonese always consider ourselves one up over the rest of the Tamils. We are very strict about our religious rituals you see.” (Same bunch also secretly route funds to the LTTE)

“I’m a South Indian Brahmin. We are Iyers. We are pure vegetarians so we can’t eat at most places”

“Maybe you don’t know this, but the Aryans who came down to the southern parts of India only set roots in Kerala. That’s why we Malayalees are fair.”

“We are Tamils, but we are not like the rest; We are Chettiars (oh…this goes on with other permutations like Mudaliars, Kaunders, Thevars)."

Bloody fools…wake up…now you see why local Indians can’t prosper as a community? In the eyes of many Malaysians (though they may be too polite to say it out loud) you are all just KELINGS.

Now what do you think about this perception? Now then dont let that brain run riot just because you see the word keling there! Heck I get the blood pumping each time I see or hear it too. But then , I think gala is absolutely right here.

I always tell ppl around me especially Indians, 'how do you expect ppl of other race to respect us Indians when we dont respect each other in the first place!' We run riot when someone from another race mocks us or call us names but we do the same to each other with no guilt!

This is the bloody bane of this society. How can we expect change or improvement in the society when we are not united in the first place as we are so vastly divided by our own caste or ancestory groups. I used to think that the mentality must've changed over years of development and multiracial interaction, that the current generation will be able to distance itself from this plague. However now I feel as if things got even worst that it was way back.

There was a recent gathering at Putrajaya organised by some NGOs to submit a memorandum to the PM for him to look into the plight of the Indian soceity. The intent itself is a noble thing but whats the point of doing it when we cannot even identify ourselfs as ONE INDIAN. Who is this memorandum meant for??? The Tamils?? The Malayalees?? The Telugus?? The various Kaunders?? WHO???

Come on ppl! Have we come to a stage that we are asking for handouts? I think we have! The country is turning 50 in a few days times. The world is already in the 21st Century. Bugger we are even going to have a Malaysian astronaut for crying out loud. But where are we?? We are still asking each other...What caste you and what ancetory group you are! Get a life! Is this how we are to progress in this country.

A news article recently highlighted the fact that Foreigners (legal or illegal) in this country numbers more than Indian in total. There are right about 1.8 million Indians vs 1.9million foreigners in Malaysia. And we cant even get the 1.8million ppl to voice out our concerns as ONE VOICE. Why?? Go figure!

This society is going to the dogs for sure. If 50 years in integration did not yield any result another 500 hundred years aint gonna make a hoodwink of a difference.

What makes of me in this matter? As for me, I know what I am doing! One man can never change anything but at least I making a stand on my own. I am the 'man in the mirror'. May GOD save us all.

Remember, remember the 5th of November!

The line been playing in mind since last night after finally getting my hands on a DVD copy of the movie V for Vendetta. I've been looking for this movie for some time now. The reason being... The Wachowski Brothers!

Wachowski Brothers is the guys that gave us The Matrix Trilogy together with Joel Silver. But this time instead of being the directors, they produced V for Vendetta together with Joel Silver. Another reason for me to hunt for this movie is of course Hugo Weaving! One of the best thing that happened to Hollywood after Michael Bay.

Matrix fans would never forget the beloved 'Agent Smith' what with his style of dialogue delivery. I can still remember the way he says 'Welcome back Mr.Anderson' to Neo. And he didn't disappoint as V in this movie. Given the fact that you will never see his face in the movie (he will be wearing a Guy Fawkes mask at all times) reminiscence of The Phantom of the Opera. It was as if the dialogues were written specifically with Hugo in mind although he was not the original actor slated to be V.

But if you are a fan of Wachowskis, be prepared to experience a kind of movie totally different compared to the Matrix. The style and aura that is them is still there but this movie is completely void of the CGI wizardry that made the brothers famous. Here they relied solely on the powerful performance of Hugo as V and Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond. Gone are the flying acts and super human fight scenes and enter human feeling and compassionate pleas.

Overall this is a must see movie if you are a fan of DC Comics ( I am not ONE!) but for neutrals its an interesting way of killing of some spare 2 hours. With the current state of political situation in the world , the idea brought forward in the movie doesn't seems to far fetched, Infact maybe its already happening around us, its just that we are oblivious of it or choose to ignore it.

"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh... Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof."

BBC's Quote of The Week - 21st August 2007

For those of you who frequents BBC's Sports Website, you must've come across the Quote of the Week section there. For those of you who don't or never, its essentially a collection of quotes from various parties concerning SPORTS in general over the past week.

Here are some of my fav entries for this week. Some of it are pure classic!

"I think I have a naive team. They are naive because they are pure and they are clean. We don't have divers, we don't have violent people."
Jose Mourinho on his clean-living Chelsea boys, following their dodgy penalty against Liverpool.
Yeah yeah naive my tuuut! As if I put a finger into Malouda's mouth and he wont even know how to suck it! - stormlead

"If Chelsea are naive and pure then I'm Little Red Riding Hood."
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez disagrees.
And I am Ultraman Gaya..nice one Rafa - stormlead

"Sadly, I have been unable to persuade Fifa, Uefa, and the Premier League to allow me to use 12 players in every game!"
Benitez defends his rotation policy.
Finally we have enough depth in the squad to put up a different team every other week! - stormlead

"I bet that was one of those times for Hleb when he wishes he had one of those Inspector Gadget extendable legs which he could use by pressing a button on his hip and it would bring the ball down enabling him to score... unfortunately he doesn't."
BBC London commentator on Arsenal's Alexander Hleb. (Thomas Roche, England).

"If Sven keeps on like this he'll be the next England manager!"
Gary Lineker on MOTD after Man City went top. (Gareth, England).

"Everyone deserves a trial. Even Saddam Hussein got a trial. One question I have is what was I sacked for? A former manager commented on some of these people, referring to mushrooms. But he was being very unfair to mushrooms. They grow on their own and they can stand on their own. The people involved here can't."
Ex-Clare hurling manager Tony Considine hits out after being sacked by the board without even being informed of their decision! (Karl, Ireland).

Don't hoover up while Chelsea are playing because if you knock the telly, Robben will fall over."
Former Dutch international Ruud Gullit quotes chaos theory scientists to give his verdict on Chelsea! (Phil, England).
hahahaha! Am laughing my socks out! Good one Gullit! - stormlead

"Anton Ferdinand on Championship Manager."
Bobby Zamora in West Ham's matchday programme when asked the worst thing he has ever bought. (Davey, Essex).

Rob Styles Robbed Liverpool with Style

Unbelievable! Its just unbelievable! Ridiculous..Utterly Ridiculous! Those were what Rafa and Andy Gray had to say about the so called 'penalty' decision that Rob Styles awarded Chelsea during the game at Anfield!. Martin Tyler went one step ahead and said 'That is the most ludicrous penalty decision I have EVER seen'. Bear in mind that Andy Gray and Martin Tyler are NOT big Liverpool fans!

The ref's apology is not gonna change anything now. The damage is done! As long as this decision does not comeback to haunt us during the season end. A weekend that started off brightly, ended in despair. What a result it could have been if not for the man in black to ruin it all. We had the opportunity to go 4 points clear of Manure with a game in hand but now stuck with just 2 points advantage.One consolation would be the fact that Manure lost! Well , I don't really like Sven either but then any team that beat Manure or at least create a draw is worth the applauds from me! Good job Sven..but don't continue this winning streak ok.. At least not till you meet us that is!

Bring on Sunderland next!

Mirror Blog

Since I have started updating my Friendster blog recently, I have decided to have a replica of that blog to be hosted in this blog as well. Those without my Friendster detail can view the blog here instead.