Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

Long sighs of relief for all of us (in ACS at least, hehe), today was the *official* last day of our year end exams... Look what I did to the time table...

I do suppose we all deserve some rest after a year of studying, but I dont think we're quite done yet. We still have quite a bit of the syllabus not completed.... Unless we keep on with teachers teaching (or, of course, spend the holidays self-studying.. >.<), we'll be starting handicapped for next year. I got a teeny bit of BSMM work to finish off, and for me at least, waiting for the results will be unnerving, because according to my exam statistics (position in whole form):

As you can see, my drop of position from mid year to end year gets worse, so what will happen this year? *Fingers crossed*

Windows Live Messenger 2009 Fails.... Again.

After I had my computer reformatted last month, I was finally able to try out the new WLM 2009. But however, after a month of using this stunning looking thing (considering I was on Ebuddy for 1 1/2 years prior to this), I finally got fed up with the annoying bug of WLM not sending and receiving some of my/ my friends' messages. I've Googled high and low for any working solution from techies or Microsoft themselves but nothing.  In fact, lots of other WLM users are complaining too. And to think that Microsoft will be phasing out all older versions, leaving only WLM 2009 as the only option and that already isn't the best one. http://www.scmagazineus.com/Microsoft-mandates-Messenger-upgrade-for-security-flaws/article/147932/.

Well, sad to say, I would strongly recommend Ebuddy over WLM 2009. Guaranteed reliability, albeit sacrificing lots of features and nice looks. But then again, whats the point of having a flashy nice car or smart phone if it doesn't work properly?

The lost cause

I feel that there has been an exaggeration about scholarships (among my school mates at least).

Look up in any dictionary, be it Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Wikitionary, Wikipedia, etc, and what you get for the definition of scholarship is roughly like this: "Financial aid award for students to further education"

Notice it has the words 'aid', and 'award'. Does it ever mention the word 'must, compulsory, important, urgent' or anything of the sort? No right? No dictionary would define a scholarship as something you MUST achieve to further studies.

And yet, so many of my friends in school, they always keep stressing about all these scholarships, like government JPA, PTPTN or whatever. I see them studying their heads off, and if the reason is not because they are scared to drop class, then it will be because of scholarships. Then they'd go on and on and on about how vital scholarships are, how they can save the burdens on their parents, they work so hard and bla bla bla...

But then think about it, how did your parents further their studies back then, when scholarhips were unheard of in Malaysia? And in times when your grandparents' income was so small then compared to today? How did they do it last time?

Students should come to realise that although a scholarship has benefits financially, it has never been a must for all students. Even with our current education system, what are the chances of students now earning one? You will then reason that your parents have worked so hard to earn money for your future education and what not, and you dont want their efforts "to go to waste". What about your grandparents; and how did they fund your parents' education back then?  And honestly speaking, it would only go to waste if you cant even qualify to enroll in ANY college.

If you dont get a scholarship, that doesnt mean you've failed your parents. You wont die if you dont get a scholarship. You still have yet to look for a job; earn a living and then you can return the favour to your parents, when you are actually, properly financially able to look after them. You may then say that oh, your other siblings have used up so much money for education, without scholarship how will you continue? Dont you think that parents can set aside a college fund for each of their children? And they forgo luxuries and desires to save up for their children so that there will be enough to make it through?

You may then say what if they run out of money halfway? That isnt the end either. You can look for part time jobs and build yourself up. Read Hikayat Mat Jenin for a lesson. You cant be always pessimistic about it.

It may be harder without a scholarship, but please knock some sense into your own brains and remind yourself not to commit suicide or become emo over this. It's not impossible. It will not be a dead end without scholarships. If thats the case this world wouldnt have so many working professionals. If you think you, promising students are moaning and groaning and what not over getting scholarships, what about those who arent even smart enough to have one? And their parents dont have bags of money all over the house? They can still make it through and land jobs. Do all graduates have scholarships? Nope. Do all rich, successful people have scholarships when they went to college/university? No. So why the fuss?

Of course, who doesnt want a scholarship right? If you gave me one I'll take the offer for sure. But we must realise that scholarships arent the ultimate goal in exams, neither is it the straight As. Every person can only understand so much, and memorise so much. If the limit of how much we can understand and memorise and apply formulas etc etc (aka, the best we can do in exams) isnt good enough to qualify for a scholarship, we cant do anything else about it. We just have to accept it as part of life and learn to move on.

Weekends and holidays will never be nice again until I leave Form 5

unless one of the following happens:

my mum is sick
my mum is out of town (which is very unlikely)
my mum gets fed up of Facebook (which is impossible)

I'm sure you have read few months back about parents hopping abord the social-networking bandwagon, joining sites especially Facebook. Yea, my mum's no different, but how she's getting VERY addicted to it like how my friends are addicted to DoTA. Morning she play. Afternoon until evening she play. At night she play. Play play play wat I duno and I dun care her punya pasal lah restaurant city ke farm empire ke apa ke lantaklah. The really annoying, irritating, agitating, frustrating, hair-ripping, forehead-wrinkling, cringing, agonising, and aggravating thing comes on non-schooling day at home. She would play and play and play and play and play and play past 11pm when I already have nothing else to do but not feeling sleepy and then she would say "short while summore ah...." and her definition of a short while is anywhere between 15-45 minutes. by the time I have the computer back, pretty much everyone in my Messenger list is already asleep, and that spoils pretty much the whole point of me coming online. Especially now, during this Raya break, and exam is nearing, I lock myself in my room the whole day except to eat, drink, bathe, and take a piss or a shit, she enjoy computer whole day takpa la her. Evening I just use around 30mins-1 hour, then I go back to study. when I'm done for the night, and I want to come and have chats with friends, inilah jadi. Of course, being my mother, and the one who paid for the computer and internet, I cant tell her every holiday night I want the computer (well, pretty much pointless anyway because she'd play for another half hour), otherwise she'd think I'm being demanding and we'd get into a fight and the house will be as cold as Antarctica. Looks like a lose-lose situation for me eh?

*update* She's eating into my evening sessions as well!!!!!!!!! X(


Do you know how annoying, irritating, agitating, frustrating, hair-ripping, forehead-wrinkling, cringing, agonising, and aggravating  this is?

58

Dad's turning 58 this year... nearing the not-as-big-as-reaching-the-half-centenarian age of 60...

Then it got me thinking.... I'm 16... 16 years.... sounds like I've already come a long way, doesnt it? And how odd, when I look back on these 16 years, it seems to have flown by so fast, and some of the past still clearly stamped in my memory... School, kindergarten, all the times there, all the times I used to snack in the evenings like a hungry pig...  from the time i was a small boy with a  large tummy, i've now become a big (not fat-big, but age-big, fit-big, you get the idea) boy with a small-ER tummy...I remember the times when we had a big, black, chunky TV, so many things we;ve watched and learned from that tele, now it's off to charity. Same with my bro's old, torn (yes, torn) bed. Holes everywhere. Now I recall when he slept on it, me on the mattress beside him, every so often dad bunks in with us. Then I look at Clinton, or Rychard, or Christine, or anyone who went to the same Tadika Morning Star together with me, and now they've grown up and matured so much, transforming into handsome boys and pretty girls... It all seems too fast to happen...


When the PMR trials was on, I cant help but think that 1 year has past by so fast...all the hardship endured last year is now just a memory... and these 16 years roaming Sitiawan... its no different... 16 years have past so fast... in another 16 years, I'll be (well, I should be) out working, happily married, with children, and our own house. And in that 16 years, you may be thinking why is life dragging on so slowly, but after that 16 years, you'll realise just how fast time passed, and how much further you've come.

Even Dad has told me:

You're now already 16 years old. You've grown into a big boy. I'm already nearing 60. I know I dont really have much time left, I can go anytime, maybe in 2 years, maybe 20 years later. Time passes really fast. I remember when Abang was still in From 1, Form 2, and now he's already out of college, has his own job, soon it will be your turn. Now you're already 16, next year is already SPM, before you realise it, you will be looking for a job as well. You will have to prepare yourself for the grown up world, you will reach it very quickly.

From the times a father and his 2 sons shared a room to sleep, now one sleeps alone, the other has a job, and the father has retired. Think about all the years in between, then I think of how fast that change has come.

Im sure Dad has lots more words of wisdom, perhaps he'll save it for next time. That next time, I dont know when, but I'm sure it'll come soon enough....

Aiyo....

I've been long itching to voice out how annoyed I am about how some smart students have such a strong tendency to forecast their doom in any exam or tests. I mean like, records already show that they are such high scoring students, and yet they keep saying things like:

Aiyo, I die liao....
Aiyo, very bad la.....

Aiyo, everything sure wrong la....
Aiyo, I sure fail wor....
Aiyo, I sure lose a  lot of marks eh....
Aiyo, I did this and that wrong lor....

Come on lah, you ALWAYS come out as among the highest scorers in class/form and yet you say such demoralising things? But what irks me most is that they just say it blatantly in front of people regardless of who they say it to. Perhaps they have too high expectations for themselves, but dont they realise that other students (especially those who arent as smart, me primarily) can feel terrible, even worse than them after hearing those kinds of things. I know when I've done well, okay, or not good. And every time I know for sure I havent done well, and I hear these clever ones say negative things, I just feel like kicking them until they fly to China. Dont they consider how the less-smarter people will feel, when they have already done exceptionally well and still say "very bad larrhhxxx....". Ugh.

Like the time when I got 66 for Add Maths (I thought that was rather okay), a friend of mine got 78%, and she so pessimistically says "No, this is just terrible...."  *gawks*

And when comparing tallied marks, I got 800 something,  when I asked a friend for her total marks, she says "its very low lar......", only to find out that 900++ out of 1100 is considered "very low" GEEZ

And many times too often, smart ones will say negative things about how was the exam, predicting all sorts of pathetic outcomes, only to have them score 80-90-95, while I only manage 70s-80s. GEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's this? some sort of psychology game they want to play, make their competition distracted by negative thoughts, just so they can show their excellence?  &gt;.&lt;

Aih........

Holidays are ending.... cant believe I didnt spend a single day studying, finals are a month away, still got these untouched:

3 Bio chapters
2.5 Physics chapters
2 or 3 Chem chapters
1 or 2 Sejarah chapters
2 Add Maths chapters
2 Modern Maths chapters
1 Sivik Folio
2 Moral Kerja Amal reports

And all of these have to be crammed in the next 1 month... Aihh......

And then there's the BSMM farewell party.. damn it, had to be postponed so much because of SOME people delaying the finalisation of the board, then the actual day we had settled to do it (15th August) turned out be a replacement school day, then the Ramadan month began so early this year taking up September, everything have to tangguh tangguh tangguh...... so that means exams, projects and this occasion will be mashed up all together.... Aihhh...........

Im losing motivation to go for badminton training every Sunday... none of my badminton gang goes anymore, and whatever regime I've been doing since I joined at age 7 Im still doing now 9, NINE years later. Moreover without my kakis to join me, it gets really boring and not worth spending RM5 on. Aihh.....

World's Best Jokes 2009 (Readers Digest Asia)

September issue of RDA just dropped off at my doorstep, and its main feature this month is 30 of The World's Funniest Jokes (Sorry, Malaysia not included). I've found some entries that are really damn hilarious, so here are my favourite picks. You can view the full list at www.rdasia.com and perhaps vote for your favourite joke (which may not be here, depending on individual sense of humour). But dont do it just yet, the website hasnt updated itself yet, you can check it starting September.

Argentina-
An elderly couple goes to Burger King, where they split a burger and fries. A trucker takes pity on them and offers to buy the wife a meal.
"Its alright. We share everything." the husband says.
A few minutes later, the trucker notices the wife hasnt taken a bite.
"I really wont mind buying your wife her own meal."
"She'll eat. We share everything." the husband assures him.
Unconvinced, the trucker asks the wife, "Why arent you eating?"
The wife snaps, "I'm waiting for the teeth!"

France-
President of France Sarkozy visits a steel factory. To the boss's surprise, the president greets an employee, Morton, with a warm hug. The same thing happens when Obama and Vladimir Putin (Prime Minister of Russia) visits the factory. Unimpressed, the boss says to Morton, "I bet you dont know the Pope."
Morton shrugs, " We play golf together."
The boss pays their way to the Vatican in time for the Benediction. Morton slips away, and sure enough, returns side by side with the Pope.
Two Chinese tourists tap the boss on the shoulder and ask, "Who's the guy in white standing with Morton?"

Hungary-
Doctor: Have you taken my advice to sleep with the window open?
Patient: Yes
Doctor: So has your asthma disappeared completely?
Patient: No, but my watch, TV, iPod, and laptop have.

India ( especially for those who dont understand Mandarin)-
A business executive visits his dear Chinese friend in the hospital.
"Li kai yang qi guan" says the sick man. The exec desperately wants to help, but he doesnt speak Mandarin.
"Li kai yang qi guan!" says the patient as he draws his last breath. Later that year, the exec is in Shanghai on a business trip when he finally learns that Li kai yang qi guan actually means "Get off my oxygen tube"

Korea-
A fortune teller advised me, "Do everything your boss says."

Sage advice, I thought, as I was working on an important project. As if I needed more proof of just how good the psychic was, that night I read the newspaper, and I noted in my horoscope:

Do everything your boss says.

Netherlands-
A starlet sits next to a lawyer on a long flight. She craves sleep, but he keeps waking her up.
"Lets play a trivia game," he suggests. "If I answer wrongly, I'll pay you $50. If you answer wrongly, you owe me $5." The starlet agrees, and the lawyer goes first.
"Whats the distance between earth and the moon?" The starlet hands him $5. Now's her turn.
"What goes up a mountain on 3 legs but comes down on four?"
He's dumbfounded. He scans the internet, his pocket encyclopedia and asks every scientist he can find. No luck. Hours later, he wakes her up, hands her the $50, and asks, "So whats the answer?"
Without a word, she gives him $5 and goes back to sleep.

Philippines-
Joe, Mike, Mary and Tom were discussing their dream jobs.

Joe: I want to be a lawyer, so that I can defend my countrymen.
Mike: I want to be a congressman, so I can draft laws to benefit my countrymen.
Mary: I want to be a doctor,, so I can cure all my countrymen.
Joe: What about you, Tom? What would you like to be?
Tom: I'd like to be a countryman.

Poland-
Nearing the end, Stainslaw is surrounded by loved ones. As the final moment approaches, he gathers all his strength and whispers:

I must tell you a secret. Before I got married, I had it all. fast cars, cute girls, and plenty of money. But a good friend warned me,'Get married and start a family, otherwise, no-one will be there to give you a glass of water to drink when you are on your deathbed.' So I took his advice, I traded the girls for a wife, beer for baby food and sold my Ferrari and invested in a college fund. And now here we are. And you know what?

"What?" everyone else asks.
"I'm not even thirsty!"

Romania-
Vlad gets pulled over after a high speed car chase. "Im going to help you out. Give me a good excuse and I wont write you a ticket." says the officer.
"Three weeks ago my wife left me for a cop," Vlad explains. "So when I saw your car coming I thought you were trying to return her back.

Russia-
Due to the recession, to save on energy costs, the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off. - God

Taiwan-
Papa Turtle is telling his son a bed time story.
"Once upon a time there was a white bunny."
"Aw c'mon Dad, that's kid stuff. What about some science fiction?" the little turtle says.
"All right. Once upon a time, there was a bunny in outer space..."
"Dad! Make it more grown-up."
"OK, OK. Promise me you wont tell Mum."
"I swear."
"Once upon a time, there was a naked bunny...."

Oh PLEASE!!!

*ahem*

Our Malaysian education takes a giant leap backwards with PPSMI thrown out the window come 2012. A lot of us are complaining, I'm no different. Sure, My generation will be out of school and not having to worry, but what about our children? Our future? Reverting PPSMI back to Malay does nobody ANY good at all. Heck, let me ask you, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin:

WHY?!!!!??!!@!^*^*^*$@!(&*%^!#*(@#

1. English is an international language, and in the field of Maths and Science GLOBALLY, what language is used to communicate? ENGLISH! Is it BM? NO!

2. Who were the people who had that 2000+ people rally to abolish PPSMI? ADULTS! But who are the ones going to school to learn? CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS! Have we widespreadly complained about reverting the PPSMI??? NO!!!! So why change that, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin? Huh??? Instead of caring about the future of your country you decided to cave-in to the measly complaints of 2000 ( minute number compared to our hundreds and thousands of students) adults ( who are in fact the irrelevant people in this) who are just making noise without any reasonable, sensible, logical and rational cause. Isn't that right, Mister M.O.E?

3. Oh, the rural folk are struggling with PPSMI. Are they the majority group of student and teachers? NO! Just because they cannot cope with PPSMI doesnt mean you just throw away the whole system! Why cant you consider training to ramp up their English fluency??? Dont you realise that more people are coping well with PPSMI rather than those who dont??? Just to favour this petite group of people you make the whole student-teacher population suffer. Logic??? I think not.

4. Think about this flow of language usage for a Form 1 student this year:

Form 1- English....
Form 2- English....
Form 3- English....
Form 4- WHAM!! Malay! From primary school right until after PMR, Every single term phrase and definition has to be relearned in BM!! CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TROUBLESOME THAT IS FOR THEM???!!!!

Form 5- Malay

Further Studies- WHAM!!!! ENGLISH AGAIN!! EVERY SINGLE TERM, PHRASE AND DEFINITION HAS TO BE TRANSLATED BACK INTO ENGLISH AGAIN!!!!

THINK!!!! Do we use Malay to study science/maths courses in any collage?? NO!! ENGLISH!!!!!!! So why do you want to trouble us with so much translating and adjusting to?? It does not make any sense!! You say that the changes is a good move just because performance in exams are dropping? HELLO!! If they excel in Maths and Science in BM, how are they to cope on the world stage which speaks ENGLISH?!

Your change was just to make 1/10s of your people happy, but little do you know that you've made 9/10s of your country UNHAPPY. Then let me as you this final question:

After floods of anger-filled feedback against abolishing PPSMI throughout all forms of the media, the move still stands. SKIN COLOUR perhaps?



********************************************************************************

Another thing that really gets on my nerves... History and Moral.... Lets start with History:

The thing I HATE most about it is that it is absolutely REDUNDANT. Well, the history we learn in Malaysia at least. Come on, we want to be doctors and engineers and accountants, why on earth do we need history for???

"Well, some of us like it and we want to learn about it and be historians blablabla...."

Form a History Society in school then!!!! Or go study history yourself!!!! I can bet, only a very teeny tiny number of peope actually LIKE history and would consider it as a career option. Why in blazes must be a COMPULSORY SPM subject??!!!! Whats the point of learning history?? Everything that has happened, has already happened. We cant do anything about it, we cant change it, just ignore the damn things and move on with life already!

"We can learn from the mistakes made in the past and we can learn from historic role-models blablabla...."

Lets face it, how often do we (or do we even BOTHER to) really make use of it in everyday living? How often do we refer to historical events and people in daily living? Hmm?

Form 4 History sucks. Why is there so much Islam to learn??? What use can we make from 5-6 chapters with EVERYTHING about Islam??? What is the point of me learning about Nabi Muhammad s.a.w, Makkah, Madinah, Bani Umaiyah or whatever? For goodness sakes why, WHY should I learn Islamic history if I want to further studies in the automotive/motor sports industry??? Why should aspiring accountants learn about Islamic history??? Why should aspiring doctors, veterinarians, programmers, designers, pilots, etc. etc. ever need it??? Why cant it be just an optional subject for those who REALLY want it, instead of forcing us all to wear songkoks and be named Muhammad???

I also HATE having to memorise all the *&@%#@&*(#&!(#* damn things in it. Exams are about testing what you UNDERSTAND, NOT MEMORISING!! Why should I split my brain in half to remember all these freaking damn things that I cant be bothered to learn and will have absolutely no use in my life and ambitions???

"No, no, you cant do that. You have to imagine it as a story, then you can understand...."

The fact of the matter is these "stories" for which I have to read are utterly BORING, UNAPPEALING, UNINTERESTING, DULL, USELESS, IRRELEVANT, UNIMPORTANT, AND POINTLESS!!! If I'm already never inclined to read these stories what's the point? This whole subject is pointless. In fact, everything I do for this subject is pointless.

"Hey, get A for History mer, can improve chances to get scholarship you know...."

Look, just because you dont get a scholarship doesnt mean you automatically are not qualified to further your studies. Why all the fuss??? Furthering studies may be (much) harder, but by no means is it impossible. Besides, some companies/societies/organisations may give loans (Proton Edar for example) if you meet minimum grades for only relevant subjects, so should I worry about that A for History? NO!

"Aiya, if you really work hard at it then can get A lor, then your chances for better scholarship is higher lor...."

As I have mentioned, I HAVE NEVER had the slightest minuscule interest for history, I cant be bothered.

To top that off, have this for a thought:

Interviewer (Int): So, John, you're here to apply for position of accountant for CIMB Banking?

John: Yes sir.

Int: Right. Lets start shall we. What can you tell me about Tok Janggut?

John: Uh...... I dont know.... but is that even.....

Int: Im sorry, but if you dont know your history, you cant apply for the job of accountant. Goodbye.

Really? Will this ever happen?

*******************************************************************************

Moral. The whole point of this bloody subject is to memorise, memorise, memorise, memorise, memorise, memorise, memorise, memorise, memorise, memorise.

32 THIRTY TWO, moral values and definitions, 76, SEVENTY SIX key phrases. Total items to MEMORISE: 108.

And you know what's the suckiest thing about it? Every single word, spelling, sentence structure, prefix, suffix, MUST BE 100% same as in the scheme! A teeny tiny bit off target, thats it, your whole question (essay's the worst) and marks fly away. Example:

Nilai: Bertanggungjawab

Definisi: Kesanggupan diri seseorang untuk memikul dan melaksanakan tugas serta kewajipan dengan sempurna.

Lets just say I write the value "Tanggungjawab". WRONG! WHOLE FREAKING QUESTION WASTED!

or " ...melaksanakan dan memikul tugas...." WRONG!

or maybe even "Kesanggupan diri SEorang..." WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!

That's not all, the entire scheme itself is a sad case. You cant just answer as how you understand the question or your facts. You have to "know what the scheme wants. You cannot answer anything else apart from the marking scheme." How the f*ck am I supposed to know what the f*ck the shit scheme wants?! Why is it that the scheme wont accept the most logical, sensible, and practical of answers? That is already something illogical, and irrational!

"Oh, I'm sorry, but your answer is not in the scheme. I have to mark you wrong." Is this what is meant by testing what you understand??! Over my dead body! *spit*

I mean come on, what kind of rationale is behind a subject to be taught in this manner? So what if I can memorise all 108 items? What does that prove? I may still be a rapist who can recite every single word and detail flawlessly. I bet even Mr Yassin HIMSELF cant remember all of them.

************************************End*******************************************

The King of Pop passes on.

Michael Jackson has passed away at the age of 50, June 25/2009. Very sad day indeed for MJ fans the world over. I've been listening to his songs since around the age of 9, and till this day I never get tired of them. In fact, I still move my feet and tap my fingers to the beat of his songs even today. Even after hundreds of songs I've listened to, Billie Jean remains my all time favourite. After watching numerous dances, nothing beats his smooth as silk footwork. And I'm pretty sure it will stay that way until I'm old. This is how magical, how awe-inspiring he is as an artist to me, and the whole world.

A true artist, and perhaps the only one who has captivated me more than any other singer, probably because I've been listening to his songs at a young age. He's truly one of a kind; no other artist in history has made such an impact in the music industry, and has made smashing hits that has lasted for some 30 years. On top of that, he has the best selling album of all time - Thriller. He is indeed a true music icon, the curly hair, high pitch squeals, slick dancing, crotch grabbing moves, and so on. Nobody will forget the man, for nobody ever forgets the King of Pop. Nobody can forget the unmatched talent this man was born with.

Michael Jackson, the world will miss you, but we will never forget you. R.I.P

1958-2009

Deputy or No Deputy

As I was refreshing back my Add Maths (yes, shocking as it may sound to some people, I have to really start work to bring up my grade), this thought came across my mind:

The interview for Deputy Head Prefect is in about a month's time. Should I take it? A lot of the prefects say I have to be or should be the next deputy. But, frankly, I dont feel like I want the job. I mean, studies always comes first, and being Deputy Head Prefect is a very heavy burden. At the moment I'm already having problems with Add Maths and Moral, and being AJK Spotcheck is already burdening enough on me. By the looks of it being Deputy will only make things worse. On top of that, Devindran has already put me as Badminton Club President for 2009-2010, my fate in BSMM is unknown, but surely I can't run away from a place on the BSMM organising committee. The current AJKs even wanted me to be their next president as well! But I declined, I know it will already be too much. I know my limits; ukur baju di badan sendiri. Thankfully they understand and will look for alternate future presidents.

But unlike BSMM and Badminton, I WILL be the one to make the decision. Now when I think about it, I dont think it will be worthwhile to have all this workload on my back and at the same time having to focus on studies. It'll be too much. But then again, I wouldn't want to dissappoint my seniors (and maybe teachers, I dunno) who already have so much confidence in me. They already are looking up to me as one with the potential and the abilities to be a Deputy. But they dont realise the current state of my studies, they only assume that I can handle it. Assume nothing. If I'm starting to lag behind in studies, why should I make it worse? Not everybody is capable of juggling chainsaws you know. Everyone says be optimistic and work "extra harder" to balance everything. If I'm working very hard enough, why should I push myself to the breaking point? That's not a student's life. No, I dont think I can accept this.

So what if I reject? What will happen? Most probably I will have to keep my current job, but honestly I've had enough of it. Besides, a Form 3 prefect should take over at the beginning of the new term, perhaps I'll coax the teachers to give away my position to the next-gen Spotcheck AJK. Then where does that leave me? Jobless? I would prefer that, not having any extra burden to carry. Some of you may call me a coward or a chicken for running away from all this. I dont care. It certainly beats having these distractions from my study life and having to handle extra stress. I know myself better than any of you, and definitely I know my limits better than any of you.

If I were to make a decision right now, and probably for the interview; I'll reject the Deputy offer and forfeit my current position. A different place on the Prefects Committee Board? We'll see what the teachers have in mind and how things will be talked over.

What would you do in my situation? Take the position anyway or step down from the offer? Or do you have something else in mind?

Twilight retards strike again

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090601/ap_en_mo/us_film_mtv_movie_awards

"Twilight," the popular vampire drama starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, sucked up golden popcorn trophies for best movie, best fight, best kiss, breakthrough male performance and breakthrough female performance during Sunday's freewheeling and often-bleeped ceremony at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif.

"The fans are the ultimate driving force," Stewart said while accepting her best female performance trophy (which she promptly dropped on the floor, breaking off a chunk of the golden popcorn). Awards were decided by fan votes.

Other winners included "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" star Zac Efron for male performance and his co-star Ashley Tisdale for female breakthrough performance. Miley Cyrus accepted the best song from a movie prize for "The Climb" from "Hannah Montana: The Movie," preventing "Twilight" from sweeping all six nominated categories.

Ah yes, the fans. The crazy lunatic zombiefied people that are now Twilight, HSM3 and Miley Cyprus fans have done the damage once again as they (stupidly and irrationally) vote for these horrible, terrible, pathetic, lousy, worthless, disgusting, useless, atrocious, appalling, failed, annoying, irritating, stupid, senseless, and most of all unrealistic, sorry excuses for movies and songs. Kids, This just goes to show what braindead or brainwashed people can do, and just how terrible the effects are to the whole world. It's a shame the MTVMA was not decided by a panel of experts and proffessionals (WHY NOT?!?!?!?!), otherwise none, NONE of these abominations would even be NOMINATED on the MTVMA.

Of kisaus

Right, about kiasuness. The fact that pretty much none of these education slaves are in our class does reduce the tension in the mood of 4sc2. But anytime in exam season, you can feel the aura of the kiasu 4sc1's seeping over to our end.Why are they this way? Even the top PMR student admitted that she doesnt watch ANY television, has ZERO computer access, and plays NO sport whatsoever. Are things really this dire, wearing ultra-thick glasses, crying and sobbing away at even one wrongly answered question, fighting for even half a mark, all in the name of reaching for that magical triple digit score?

Parents? Well, what can I say, having grown up from a background of not-so-high-achievers themselves, I wonder if parents who push their children to the breaking point were top trumps in their time.
If so, then it should be made consciously that their offspring should not be under any extreme pressure to keep the trend running in the family. Just because their parents were geniuses should not be made an excuse for their offspring to be just the same.
If not, then why is it that they do this to their children?? Pride and honour? Robbing them of a normal teen life, playing sports and going out with friends occasionally? Thats wrong!

And when you think about it, does this lifestyle guarantee them a secure, successful future? Unless you are a physchic gypsy, the answer is a straight no. So many successful people today have come onto the world stage, without ever being mentioned of grabbing top honours in school. Look at Thomas Edison, he discovered electricity and invented the lightbulb eventhough he was a school drop-out. Even my uncles and aunts were never kiasu or fighting for top spot in exams, and yet now they live such an easy, yet successful life. Likewise, have we heard of successful people who REALLY were kiasu and being #1 in class consistently?

Kiasuness, and this battle for honours will ultimately lead them nowhere. Job requirements never once stated about a minimum requirement of 5th place in the school exams or such things like so. What is important is that you really truly learn what you do in school and apply it in everyday life. If all you do is cram and stuff and squash facts and figures into your brain just to win the race, and then forget them the moment you leave school, then your "hardwork" is actually no work at all.

Why Twilight sucks *Part 2*

Courtesy of http://www.bookstove.com/Fantasy/Why-I-Hate-Twilight.623147

1. Bella is a perfect character (“Mary Sue”), which Meyer hides by calling her clumsy.

2. Being clumsy is not a flaw if Edward always catches her.

3. She can’t do anything without Edward.

4. And when he leaves she attempts to commit suicide.

5. Meyer is living out her own fantasies by writing about Bella, who is clearly herself.

6. The books aren’t well written, just because every other word is a fancy adjective doesn’t make it good writing.

7. All the rules Meyer sets for being a vampire are broken by the end of the series.

8. Not only that, she breaks rules set by more esteemed authors.

9. The world population will come to an end because all girls who read this book will think they are Bella and will wait for their Edward to come until they are old. And he’ll never come.

10. Bella almost dies fifty thousand times, but Edward always saves her. This is boring.

11. Edward is too perfect and has no flaws either. Even vampires should have flaws besides wanting to suck human blood because it’s natural to them.

12. The reason the books became so popular is because Bella has no personality and any loser can put themselves in her shoes.

13. If Bella is so ‘plain’, why do so many guys fall for her within the first two chapters?

14. Bella teaches women to let the man handle everything, which pretty much is a huge step backward for women everywhere, who have fought for equality.

15. Isn’t it convenient that her father always leaves her alone and doesn’t question her? Real parents aren’t that way.

16. Lack of character development.

17. Bella is a useless, whining, doll that suddenly has become the idol for girls everywhere.

18. People say that Twilight is better than Harry Potter. Guess what? WRONG.

19. Edward is extremely possessive, border-line abusive, and boring as anything.

20. It’s too cliché.

21. This book contains no real sex, so it’s not really a vampire novel.

22. Read Anne Rice - those are vampires, not the girly men that Meyer has created.

23. You don’t have to describe the character every two pages, we know all about Edward’s ‘perfectly toned chest’ the fourth time she mentions it.

24. Bella reflects upon herself through the entire novel to tell important plot developments. Hey Meyer, ever heard of "Show, don’t tell"?

25. She never uses the word fangs in the entire book series, and it’s supposedly about vampire.

26. Her vampires sparkle. Enough said.

27. Supposedly Meyer never uses the word ‘said’ in the entire first book, instead using breath.

28. There is too much face touching.

29. It’s predictable, and childish.

30. We read the entire series just to laugh at the stupidity of it.

31. Meyer can’t think of original names. The only original name she used was Rennesme, which is combination of two names and doesn’t count.

32. Vampires can’t get people pregnant. SPOILER!

33. Vampire baseball was just a disgrace.

34. People think Meyer is the best writer ever.

35. The plot drags on forever, when it really could have been completed in two books.

36. Wow, yet another ‘original’ plot of forbidden love.

37. Why is it called the Twilight Series if only one book is titled Twilight?

38. It’s too easy to mock. Go on Youtube, how many mocks on Twilight do you see?

39. They use a drug reference in a book written for ten-year-olds.

40. Stephanie Meyer creates some interesting characters ie: Jasper and Alice. She then ignores them, and gives them no development.

41. Every Other Facebook bumper sticker is about Twilight/Edward. EVERY OTHER ONE.

42. Fangirls are so blinded by their love for Edward that they don’t realize the book is terrible.

43. Stephen King agrees that Stephanie Meyer can’t write ‘worth a darn’.

44. It’s stupid.

45. Bella.

46. Bella is Edward’s beard.

47. Meyer wrote four books about nothing, really.

48. Straight men sparkle?

49. It’s teeming with grammatical errors.

50. Bella Swan means beautiful swan, which is horribly cheesy.

51. Edward Cullen is sparkly; crows like sparkly things.

52. Do any guys actually like Twilight?

53. If the first 200 pages of your book rely on the mystery of a character's identity, don't slap "First, Edward was a vampire" on the back cover.

54. There's far too little actual conflict in the story. But this probably stems from having a flawless main character.

55. They fall in love way too quickly and it seems fake because no one falls in love instantly, especially teenagers.

56. They only love each other because she smells good and he’s hot. There’s no other given reason why.

57. It's just not healthy to teach young girls that True Love involves the guy watching you while you sleep.

58. Edward is HOT. We get it.

59. She had only been in Forks for a month when Edward had been watching her sleep for two months.

60. There’s something disturbing about Carlisle turning only teenagers into vampires.

61. All Twilight fans are insane, proved by several responses to criticism such as…

"What is your name, address and phone number, just so that i can track you down ank kill You with my super awesom vampire powers THAT I AQUIRED FROM READING THE SERIES!!!!!!!!!!"

62. And this…

"do you WANT a cult of angry twilight luvers like mysef at your doorstep at night trying to behead you????? you shouldnt voice an absurd oppinion like this on the internet."

63. And this…

"you must have not read much good litterature in youre life, because if you cannot appreciate the quality of this art.....YOU ARE MENTALLY UNSOUND!!!!!!!"

64. Isn’t funny how Twilight fans can’t spell and use proper capitalization? By the way, 61, 62, and 63 are real quotes.

65. The reason Edward can’t read Bella’s mind is because she doesn’t have one.

66. T. Pain would totally win Bella’s heart and beat up Edward because he’s on a boat.

67. Edward hits on the school faculty to get out of classes.

68. We applaud Stephanie Meyer, as she's got to be a rich woman by now, having found her forte in the insane cult of teenage girls who go rabid over her writings.

69. Vampires vs. werewolves (isn’t that a Facebook application and such a original idea?)

70. There's nothing worse than a fan girl going insane over a fictional guy. It's rather pathetic actually, so, um, yeah, get a life and keep reading those books, chickies.

71. This book was not worth the paper on which it was printed.

72. Bella has no goals and no future, her life revolves around Edward.

73. WWJTFD: What Would a Judgmental Twilight Fan Do? Answer: attempt to attack with the ‘cool vampire powers’ they gained from reading the series. Awesome!

74. Even if you like the book, it doesn’t live up to its hype.

75. Edward is a good VILF, that’s it.

76. “And I cried numerous times upon realising there would never be an Edward in this world.” – quoted from Almuvira Anona on Yahoo Answers.

77. A hundred years difference = pedophile.

78. It's a co-dependent relationship stripped down to the bare essentials. Girl: "I can't live without you. I want to change myself to be with you." Boy: "If you leave me, I will kill myself."

79. Stephanie Meyer must really be into pedophilia: first Edward and Bella, now Jacob and Renesseme? SPOILER.

80. New hot couple name for Bella and Edward = Bedward

81. You may think Edward Cullen is smart and fast, but Chuck Norris could take him.

82. Bella’s only deep thoughts are, ‘Edward is so perfect. I love him.’

83. The only reason I kept reading was to see if Bella could redeem herself by getting over him.

84. Jacob, who didn’t abuse Bella and was nice to her, was dumped and she chose Edward. Hmm, masochistic much?

85. Ms. Meyer writes the way I did when I was twelve years old, doodling in my journal.

86. “It would have been much better if Jacob and Edward discovered they were gay: no sequels, no whiny Bella. Amen to that.”

87. Many people have enjoyed the making of this, many have helped with it too…in other words lots of people hate Twilight.

88. You are allowed to have your own opinion, just like we are allowed to have ours. Get over it. Twilight fans don’t seem to understand that though and attack at the mention of flaw in the book.

89. Light Yagami doesn’t approve of Twilight so neither should you.

90. “Cause it’s dumb.” – Random Person on the Street

91. “It’s annoying as hell.” – Random Person on the Street #2

92. Martin Luther would not have not have approved if the book was written during his lifetime.

93. Harry Potter could beat Edward any day with his magic powers.

94. It’s offensive to the entire human race, both male and female.

95. The book was so bad we wrote 95 reasons why we hate it.

Why Twilight sucks

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=33846825833&topic=6700

Ok, so I know this is a little long, but if you hate twilight with the same passion, you will find this to yours tastes.

Admittedly, writing a review of a book published 3 years ago makes me a little late. However, seeing as how the book has risen to such popularity that it has encouraged Hollywood to pump out a movie based on the novel, I feel slightly more justified.

The Bad: What I really want to convey to my esteemed audience is how awful, on every level, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer is.

So, I’m sure many people are recoiling after that statement. I can already hear the cries of “Well, if it’s so bad, why is it so popular (or “why are they making a movie”)”? I think the real answer lies in the insecure, lonely girls that make up a large part of the demographic supporting this novel. When reading the book, the female population of fans unconsciously place themselves in Bella’s shoes and, at least while they read the book, can feel that they are loved as much as Bella apparently is.

Grammar and usage errors aside, the story and overall writing is atrocious. Here’s a quick summary: Some banal shenanigans make it impossible for Bella Swan, the female antagonist from whose point of view the story is told, to live with her mother. She goes to live with her father in Forks. To make a long story short, her life is saved by Edward Cullen, she finds out he is a vampire and… Boom! They're in love. Madly, deeply in love. It just happens. All within the first few chapters. The rest of the book? Lots of smiling, glaring and boring Q & A sessions ensue, revealing all answers to any questions Bella or the reader may have. No suspense and no build-up at all. Bella apparently poses a threat to the entire non-evil vampiric subculture, so of course Edward asks her to go steady with him. But not until they've spent many, many, many chapters engaged in tedious 'banter' that is possibly intended to remind the reader of Pride and Prejudice ( or rather a fanfic loosely based on a bad film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice). The conversations are dully predictable. Example: Edward: "You are beautifuller than whole lots of things." Bella blushes a deep red colored color. Edward chuckles at the blushing, because, for some reason, he finds it amusing and attractive. Bella than snaps a 'witty' retort at said chuckling, conversation follows. You'll find several points in the book like this one. Then they hook up, and Edward glitters in the sun a bit like a fairy. Only within the last pages of the book do you get an exciting (which is up to interpretation) story that includes an antagonist for approximately 50 pages. The first 400-some pages were as bland as bland can be.

But my main issue is the supposed love between Bella and Edward, the two antagonists of the story. What is Bella and Edward's love (if you can call it that) based on? They have NOTHING in common. On Bella’s part, it's all based on looks, or magic, rather than character. Bella goes on and on about nothing but Edward’s looks and how “dazzling” he is. All the over-designing of Edward's appearance ended up feeling like was the author relishing in her own personal fantasy. Bella is too dependent on him and it's an unhealthy, disturbing addiction. (Stalking is illegal in all 50 states, Bella.).What is Bella to do, say when college becomes necessary? Judging by the hyper spasm she had at the end of Twilight, she couldn't possibly be separated from Edward for more than seven hours, tops. She has no sense of self. Her entire future has been put in the bin due to Edward.

As for the other side of this “love”, Edward only took interest in her since he couldn't read her thoughts. (Trust me, Eddie, I'm looking right at 'em, and there isn’t anything up there worth wondering about.) It's like a paranoid obsession. And Edward, as is the ailment of most beings that are considered more impressive than humans, is vain and finds humans petty and dull. Thanks a lot. But Edward loves Bella. I mean, he lusts after her. I mean, he wants to suck her blood. I mean, sniff her creepily. His love would be more convincing if Bella was more appealing in a unique manner. The author attempts to make her endearing by being shy and clumsy (a cheap appeal to the insecurity that lies in most women), but she fails. Bella instantly makes friends, eliminating the self-ascribed shyness and the constant clumsiness seems to be more like some sort of neurological problem.

There are apparently sequels, but unless they involve Bella Swan and the entire town of Forks being obliterated in a nuclear devastation, I don't intend to read them.

*Disclaimer* - This isnt MY actual review of the book, but since this one was so perfectly written, I had to put it up here.

For me, I hate Twatlight for 3 simple reasons- It's fake, it's unreal, its DISGUSTING ROMANCE-FANTASY!!!!

Wesak Day

Today, Buddhists across the world celebrate Wesak (sometimes spelled Vesak) Day, the day that Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was born, achieved Enlightenment and also died (not in the same year mind you).

The highlight of the Buddha's life is his attaining of Enlightenment, or Nirvana. On the night of his Nirvana, as he sat under the Bodhi Tree to meditate, 3 watches, or periods along with corresponding events had occurred:

During the first watch of the night, when his mind was calm, clear and purified, light arose in him, knowledge and insight arose. He saw his previous lives, at first one, then two, three up to five, then multiples of them .. . ten, twenty, thirty to fifty. Then 100, 1000 and so on.... As he went on with his practice, during the second watch of the night, he saw how beings die and are reborn, depending on their Karma, how they disappear and reappear from one form to another, from one plane of existence to another. Then during the final watch of the night, he saw the arising and cessation of all phenomena, mental and physical. He saw how things arose dependent on causes and conditions. This led him to perceive the arising and cessation of suffering and all forms of unsatisfactoriness; paving the way for the eradication of all taints of cravings. With his complete cessation of craving, his mind was completely liberated. He attained to Full Enlightenment.

In other words, the Buddha attained Nirvana when the 10 Chains that tied him to the Cycle of Endless Suffering and Rebirth were dissolved, liberating him from all forms of suffering. The 10 Chains are:

Belief in a permanent individual self

Doubt or uncertainty, especially about the teachings

Attachment to rites and rituals, the infatuation that these rituals will suffice;

Sensual desire

Ill will

Lust for material existence, lust for material rebirth

Lust for immaterial existence

Pride in self, conceit, arrogance

Restlessness, distraction

Ignorance

Along with the dissolving of the 10 Chains, he also reached Nirvana after fulling understanding his two teachings; the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the latter now being one of the main practices of Buddhists everywhere.

Four Noble Truths-

1) The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha)

"This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering."

2) Suffering's Origin (Samudaya)

"This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination."

3) Suffering's Cessation (Nirodha)

"This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it."

4) The Way (Mārga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering

"This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."

Just before Gautama Buddha died, he saw his faithful attendant Ananda, weeping. The Buddha advised him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all compounded things (including even his own body) must disintegrate. He advised everyone not to cry over the disintegration of the physical body but to regard his teachings (The Dhamma) as their teacher from then on, because only the Dhamma truth is eternal and not subject to the law of change. He also stressed that the way to pay homage to him was not merely by offering flowers, incense, and lights, but by truly and sincerely striving to follow his teachings. This is how devotees are expected to celebrate Vesak: to use the opportunity to reiterate their determination to lead noble lives, to develop their minds, to practise loving-kindness and to bring peace and harmony to humanity.

We need not necessarily look upon Buddhism as a religion, although there is no wrong or harm in doing so, as it is just our perception and belief that it is a religion. Gautama Buddha is actually not a god nor goddess, as he is actually a spiritual teacher, and regarded as the Supreme Buddha. We do not necessarily worship him as the almighty, or the creator of the universe, what is important is that we follow and practice his teachings, for it is his teachings which guide us to a better living, making us better humans, and ultimately a life without suffering, not by merely praying to Gautama Buddha everyday for protection and happiness, etc.

I'm taking this 1 1/2 hour or so to reflect on how much Buddha's teachings have made me who I am today. I thank the Gautama Buddha for his teachings which have kept me away from the realms of corruption and wrongdoings, and just thinking about The Buddha, Buddhism and it's teachings are enough to bring me at peace whenever in stress.

Before I end, I wish Happy Wesak Day to all my Buddhist friends and Family.

Inmates Got Talent (too)

Hey Chuah, you got Susan Boyle, I got this (although not as raved as she is):



and here's a (near perfect) comparison to Michael Jackson's original dance video:



you can see more of these dancing inmates at http://www.youtube.com/user/byronfgarcia

Bringing back the good ol' (digital) times..

Waaaaaaaaay back when I was about 5 years old I got bitten by the automotive bug when I watched my first Formula 1 race (Canadian GP 1997). Ever since, there was no turning back on this passion that has grown till today. Along the way, Mum had brought the Playstation 1 into the family. The first games I had laid my hands on were Gran Turismo 2 and Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed. Probably till this day, one of the best racing games I've ever played. As time passed, the PS1 wore out, now rendered unusable. Thankfully I had stumbled upon these PS1 emulators that replicate the software environment of a PS1 on your computer, which means you can play PS1 games on your computer. Thanks to these softwares, I can bring back these great games I once cherished so much....

NFS: Porsche Unleashed


NFS 3: Hot Pursuit



Gran Turismo 2

ACS Badminton Championships 2009

Yeah, take a look at the scores below, you can see my progress through the championship up till the quarterfinals where we got knocked out:

Round 1 - 21-10, 21-13

Round 2 - 21-13, 19-21, 21-14

Quarterfinals - 22-24, 7-21

I am pleased at least, that I achieved my personal goal of reaching the quarterfinals of any badminton tournament. But, arghhhhhhhhhh, I was really bitterly disappointed with my partner to be honest. We clawed our way back to lead 20-18, but my partner wasted many points and let the opponents come back to win the first set. I felt that I was playing the best game of my life then, I was stretching and lunging and attacking like I never have before, rescuing points I never imagined possible, but I just can't help but see all my hard work come undone by novice errors from my partner. Come the second set, we were confident we could still take the fight to them, but my partner fumbled up even more, and the opponents targeted him throughout, right until the last point.

Well, there is the final chance next year, and hopefully we can go three steps further than we did this year.

BSMM Camp 2009

As the title says, I've been away from 20-22 March for the annual Bulan Sabit Merah Malaysia camp at school. Initially I didnt intend to join, since I had joined last year, and planned to come back next year. But since my First Aid Quartermaster "could not" come, I had no option but to take over her place to prepare the for the first aid quiz on Day 1. However, taking over meant I would be holding a senior AJK's post, and that meant I'm excluded from all the campers' activities, and I got to experience the behind-the-scenes plans of the activities; something only the Form 5 AJKs are eligible of.

Day 1
8.45am - All campers and AJKs prepare the classes to sleep in. Who would want to pitch tents in the middle of the rainy season?

9.00 - Members are divided into groups and discuss on their group name and group cheer. The 6 groups formed are:

Strikers
Rockers
Kaya Cat Evolution
Alpha
Teen Ace
8 Lucky Stars (8 being number of members. At the end only 6 remained.)

10-ish - Members start their cooking activity. Meanwhile, AJK's were supposed to have steamboat lunch like last year, but apparently in the end we had to make a "steamboat" out of a kuali and a metal pot, with twigs, sticks and charcoal.

1-ish pm - I found out that the noodles that were supposed to go with the steamboat had gone. Thrown away, eaten up, I dont know. In the end I borrowed RM2 from Siew Huang for a plate of bihun and boxed juice from the canteen. ''--

3pm - My turn had come to carry out the first aid quizzes. Devin and Syafiq acted out burn wounds, broken jawbone, bee sting, venomous snake bite, heat stroke and a situation requiring CPR. Everything went smoothly, except that most of the members could not carry out correct emergency situation procedures. And me being the stand-in First Aid AJK, I taught all of them the correct steps to identify and treat victims in such situations.

Rest of the evening was time for the campers to discuss their sketches for Malam Kebudayaan. For us AJKs, goyang kaki la... hehehehehe

At night, we had our ice-breaker session. First activity went like this:
Each camper is given a piece of paper, with different characteristics and features of people (e.g hadsome, wearing short pants, etc.). Everyone had to find somebody else who matches only one of the given features, and write down their names (handphone number optional too. ^^).

Next was a game of dodgeball with a partially deflated volleyball. The game works by aiming the ball at the opponent's knee and lower leg. If he/she has been hit at the said area, he/she is eliminated from the game, until all the members of one team are KO-ed. The final dodgeball game was between the AJKs and the Strikers. It became a one-on-one showdown, but in the end we lost. Nyeh.

Before tucking in, we had to say goodbye to Rahul due to an inflammed left leg (he broke it last year while playing basketball, and underwent operation) due to too much walking and standing.


Day 2

7.30am - Morning aerobics exercises brought to us by Devin and Loogeswarran, and also a Chicken Dance by the AJKs.

9.00 - Campers are divided into 3 platoons for the following day's marching competition. Whole morning was used up for them to practice, while the AJKs gave help.

1.30pm - Each group was given a piece of A4 paper and a small bottle of paint. Members have to create a logo of the group, using only the paint and their fingers.

4.30 - Treasure hunt time! Me and Syafiq joined team Alpha because 2 of their members were involved in organising the game. We were given 2 eggs and 3 water balloons. If we were unable to find the clue, we would have to sacrifice either 1 egg or 1 balloon. We were also tied in a ring by string so that we dont cheat. My group got off to a really poor start with the "hardest clue" of the game. Later it turned out that the plastic bag holding the next clue had fallen off from where it was supposed to be, that's why we cant find it. We were then given the next clue without sacrificing anything. We pretty much blazed through the following clues, and ended up first! :D

9.10 - Time for Malam Kebudayaan. Special guest Syahir (who had left last month for boarding school) dropped by, and we had a 2-hour non-stop chat while watching the groups performances. To be frank the performances this year were confusing and lackluster. Probably because there was only one microphone and passing it between actors/actresses was a hassle, and then adding that I couldn't hear what they were saying. The only two performances I liked was KayaCats' version of Harry Potter and Teen Ace's Ugly Betty. Last year's show was properly entertaining.


Day 3

9.00am - Time for the marching competition. Platoon 1 went pretty okay, until they did the "tukar langkah semasa berjalan" command when their timing and footsteps went out of sync.

Platoon 2 was a disaster, the commander gave a few commands wrongly, and the platoon stalled when given the "skuad akan bergerak ke kiri semasa berjalan, ke kiri pusing" to turn into the field. Looks like they had forgotten that order. Even when I was training them I was told they'd do a simple "kiri belok".

Platoon 3, personally, I felt was the best, eventhough they had some minor hiccups like Platoon 1. No matter, Platoon 3 Commander Arif was rated as the best commander of the competition.

11am - Prize giving ceremony. The standings at the end of the camp are as follows:

1st - Strikers
2nd- Kaya Cats
3rd - Alpha
4th- Teen Ace
5th- Lucky Stars
6th- Rockers

And we topped it off with a group photo shoot. There you have it, what pretty much goes on during our BSMM camps every year. Overall, I could say I enjoyed it, and next year, well, time will tell how it will be.