Archive for the ‘Malaysia’ Category
Cinderella Castle is Really NOT That Tall!
Never Too Old to Be a Disney Fan!
The first of our 2-day Park Hopper quest… Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We took the 9am shuttle from our hotel near Downtown Disney and arrived at Animal Kingdom about 20 minutes after.
Park Hopper is one of the Disney Park packages offered that allows you to go to any of the Disney Parks in Orlando (Magic Kingdom, Disney MGM, Animal Kingdom) for unlimited number of times within the span of 48 hours. It is much cheaper than buying day passes at each park, especially if you plan to go to more than one Disney Park in a day.
It wasn’t even 10 am yet and Animal Kingdom was full of people. Unless you’ve waited at the gates since before the park was opened early in the morning, you would always see hundreds of people around — tourists, families, field trip groups, and of course the park staff.
A picture before entering the park. There were 3 signboards for Animal Kingdom… one with an elephant’s head, one with a dragon’s head, and other one I can’t remember (someone help me on this, please). We chose the elephant’s head. No particular reason though. Maybe because it was the middle one.
We saw the enormous Tree of Life from afar. One look and one might think it’s a real tree, but in fact it’s man-made. Inside the tree is a theatre where we got to see a Bug’s Life 3D presentation, which was definitely a lot of fun.
The Tree of Life’s bark is full of animal motifs… we can spot a few obvious ones from afar, but for some they are so small or hidden you really have to search.
A cute set of statues of Huey, Dewey and Louie with Daisy hiking along a small stream. It looked like Daisy was really waving at us.
A must-do for anyone visiting a Disney park… photo sessions with the main Disney characters. We lined up for about 15-20 minutes to meet and greet Mickey and Donald. One of my friends remarked that all of us seemed too old to be doing this, but everybody does it anyways regardless of age, so we waited in line, being the only bunch of twenty-somethings without a kid in the group taking pictures with Mickey and Donald. I didn’t think it was childish at all. Someone’s that insecure, I guess. Anyway I had fun shaking hands with them, Donald even tried scanning the barcode on one of my friend’s t-shirt, which I found amusingly hilarious.
Then we went to a Lion King’s musical theatre presentation… which was awesome. Being the only Disney fan in the group, I was the only one among my friends who was able to sing along to the all the Disney songs they sang in the musical, even though my singing voice some would prefer not to hear at all. A lot of singing, a lot of dancing, awesome choreography. One performance I found most entertaining was a group of acrobatic ‘monkeys’— they were really good at doing flips and jumps and balancing acts, it seemed more like a themed circus show to me at times. Definitely an entertaining presentation I must say, the performers have really done an awesome job, no doubt.
Then there was the African safari ride, the Everest ride that we didn’t have time to go to, and the dinosaur show that we didn’t see. All because of time constraint and the weather, which seemed like it was about to rain, and it did, for a couple of minutes, which caused a lot of the outdoor rides to be closed, but then afterwards the sky cleared. I feel bad for the people who lined up for 90 minutes for the Everest ride only to find out that it was closed because of the lightning, thunder and rain. I was glad that I abandoned my waiting in line for Everest, otherwise it would’ve been a waste of one hour of my time.
The sky cleared in time for the 4 pm parade. The main ‘streets’ were closed, thousands of people lined up the sides of the streets to watch the colorful parade. We were fortunate enough to find a good spot to sit and watch without having to stand for hours.
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After the parade, we left Animal Kingdom via shuttle to our next destination – Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
Insects Mating after Feb 14th
The day after February 14th, we went for a family getaway in Batang Kali, Selangor where my uncle owns a piece of hillside land that includes a brook / river creek and a riverside shack.
Most of the family, after having breakfast, went for a dip in the brook and literally stayed there till evening. I joined them for a bit before grabbing my camera and traversed along the brook looking for small creatures to shoot. And I got a few that I liked.
Dragonflies Mating
I saw a pair of dragonflies flying around, one chasing the other, so I followed them until they stopped and landed on a blade of grass. The dragonfly in front started to attach the tip of its abdomen on the neck of the second dragonfly.
After that, the second dragonfly attached its abdomen tip onto the underside of the first dragonfly…
Hard to say which one’s male and which one’s female. I’d say the one behind is male. Notice that they form a kind of heart shape in the process. The nymphs are conceived in love!
The Mating Water Striders
Capturing any decent pictures of the water striders was really hard. I had a hard time focusing on any of them due to the small size, the amazingly clear water (made the AF focus on the objects in the water) and their superfast and sudden movements. I spotted an extraordinarily large one which wasn’t as fast as the others, and it wasn’t until I took a picture that I realized it wasn’t a large water strider, it was a pair of water striders mating!
You can kind of see how the weight of the both of them bend the surface tension of the water.
They also dance along the surface of the water while they’re at it!
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I have more pictures of other brookside insects, but let me save those for another post. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I enjoy sharing them with you.
Ninety Percent of the Way to Thirty
February 16th was my 27th birthday so the family got together for a small celebration.
The chocolate mousse cake that was completely devoured within two minutes. Because the whole family was busy with preparations and other stuff, I went to town and bought the cake myself. Glad I picked this one because usually at the end of the birthday celebration we ended up with a big chunk of uneaten cake, but this time my cake was the first one to be gone from the food table. I have chosen wisely…
The birthday feast was a simple lineup: chocolate mousse cake, mashed potato with mushroom gravy, salad with hard-boiled eggs, tomato and sliced cheese, turmeric fried chicken, and sliced oranges (Happy Chinese New Year of the Tiger, btw!)
Cutting the cake. As always, Abu my brother refuses to smile in the picture. He does this deliberately sometimes. The frown doesn’t necessarily mean he’s upset, he just wants to make a face in the picture.
This is my excuse for being overweight =). Whenever I’m home, there’s such an abundance of wonderfully cooked meals that I find it hard to restrain myself from finishing up leftovers. My family feeds me well =)
Some of the presents. My sisters like to prepare and wrap each present themselves. Plus they always make (and not buy) the birthday card so it has a personal touch that you can never get from a card purchased from the store.
They spelled ‘successful’ wrong. My sister said it was deliberate. Yeah right =D
The symbolic t-shirt. The absent present (oxymoron!) was represented by the mock t-shirt my sister made. The actual t-shirt was left in our apartment in Seri Kembangan.
Mya gave me a personalized t-shirt with my family nickname on it spelt in Korean. Besan (or Abesan) is a portmanteau of the Kelantanese word ‘Abe’ (means big brother) and the last part of my name, ‘San’ (from ‘Ihsan’).
Milah and Shaz gave me a pair of Crocs. Each half of the pair was individually wrapped in two different presents, which meant that they each gave me half a pair =D. I guess in some ways, it meant that I have to use both their gifts equally and am not able to prefer one over the other… maybe. I thought that was quite amusing =)
Another personalized birthday card made by my sisters, with a two-layer birthday cake and a pair of candles shaped like the number ’27′.
There are presents yet to be received, and those are the ones I am quite excited about!
I am so grateful to my beloved family for the wonderful celebration this year. I have to say this is one of the best that I’ve had in a long time =)
Thanks for all the presents and the well-wishes. I am ninety percent of the way to being thirty. The past three-cubed years have been a journey, and I’m glad I got to share those years with my family and friends, and you guys, my blogreaders.
Thank you for those who’ve been there for me, both in body and in spirit. Those that I haven’t seen for quite a while, do know that I really miss you and would love to have you around. I’ve had nothing but wonderful times with everyone and I hope we get to make more wonderful memories in the coming years.
Here’s to being three to three-oh.
Cheers!
My Personal Views on the ‘Allah’ Issue
I suggest that, for those who have little or no idea of what the issue is about, the following articles be read first because otherwise none of what I’m about to say will make sense to you.
CNN Article — Malaysia: Churches firebombed amid Allah dispute
AFP Article — Malaysia defends Allah stance amid new church attack
BBC Article — More Malaysian churches attacked in Allah dispute
Or you can google ‘Malaysia’ and ‘Allah’ and look at the news results if you have several hours to spare.
Below is a verbatim copy of what I wrote in an online forum with regards to the issue. Please bear in mind that this was written in the usual communicative form of Malay and may not be understood immediately by some who are new to the language, or have mastery of Bahasa Indonesia. Since what I have to say here mostly applies to Malays and Malaysians, I shall have it remain untranslated, unless I receive requests to have it translated.
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Bismillahirrahmaanirrahim
pendapat peribadi saya je la ya…
1. byk lagi perkara lain yang boleh melumpuhkan akidah umat islam selain penggunaan kalimah Allah dalam penerbitan Katolik, malah perkara2 lain ini lebih teruk lagi (bomoh, khurafat, judi, arak, tenung nasib, nombor ekor, hedonisme, dsb)
2. masalah penggunaan kalimah Allah ini lebih bersifat lokal di mana ia cuma memberi masalah bagi kaum melayu sahaja. bagi umat islam secara keseluruhannya di dunia ini, tiada masalah kerana ‘Allah’ adalah bermaksud ‘God’ dalam bahasa arab. di serata dunia perkataan ini digunakan untuk merujuk kepada ‘tuhan’ tak kira agama apa sekalipun. Tetapi biasanya digunakaan untuk Tuhan Yang Esa (yakni yg dirujuk oleh agama2 samawi seperti yahudi, islam dan kristian)
3. maka ancaman ini bukan satu ancaman terhadap islam secara keseluruhannya, tetapi adalah sesuatu yang boleh menjadi punca kekeliruan bagi kaum melayu. ini kerana bagi kaum Melayu, perkataan ‘Allah’ hanya digunakan dalam konteks Islam sahaja.
4. bagi saya, adalah perlu untuk diwujudkan garis panduan atau undang2 yang menetapkan secara mutlak bagaimana penggunaan kalimah ‘Allah’ ini dibenarkan dalam negara Malaysia (spt yg saya katakan sebelum ini, ini adalah masalah lokal bukan global)
5. segelintir orang terlalu cepat melatah dgn isu seperti ini sehingga terjadinya perkara2 yang ditegah dalam islam seperti merosakkan rumah2 ibadat. bagi saya, isu ini bukan ancaman yang sebesar ancaman2 lain terhadap akidah umat islam khususnya melayu (seperti yang dinyatakan di no. 1). ini sama juga seperti yang berlaku sewaktu penerbitan gambar2 kartun yang merujuk kepada Rasulullah s.a.w.
6. adalah penting bagi kita umat islam untuk mempersiapkan akidah masing2 supaya tidak tergugat dengan perkara2 yang seperti ini. jgnlah kita terlalu jahil sehingga tidak dapat membezakan Allah, tuhan sekelian alam yang kita sembah dengan ‘Allah’ dalam penerbitan katolik. sekiranya kita terkeliru, itu menunjukkan kelemahan akidah kita sendiri.
7. bagi saya, penyelesaian yang baik adalah supaya digubal undang2 yang menetapkan bahawa kalimah Allah adalah untuk merujuk kepada tuhan sekelian alam seperti yang dirujuk dalam agama Islam, dan tidak boleh merujuk kepada entiti ketuhanan lain dalam agama2 lain. ini untuk mengelakkan kekeliruan serta kekacauan dalam keharmonian masyarakat majmuk di Malaysia.
8. juga kita jgn terlalu ‘bara’ sgt nak bela islam dgn menimbulkan kekacauan antara kaum, sedangkan ibadah khusus serta persiapan akidah kita masing2 sendiri masih lagi tak terbela. perlu diingat, jihad yang paling utama adalah jihad melawan hawa nafsu.
9. perlu ingat juga bahawa tiada yang milik kita di dunia ini, segala2nya adalah hak allah semata2.
semoga kita semua dilimpahi hidayahNya serta diberi petunjuk ke jalan yang benar. maaf kalau ada pendapat saya yang menyentuh sensitiviti sesiapa.
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I am interested to hear what you have to say regarding this matter (and for those who understood my post, regarding what I said in this matter).
CLS at the Beach
Last week a few friends of mine from back in college decided to have a small picnic together by the beach in Bagan Lalang.
Of course, for me it’s another excuse to take more pictures.
The evening sky that day was not too bright with lots of thick clouds and the sun peering in through random patches of sky. Occasionally some sprinkles of rain came down, no more than mere 5 to 10 minutes of light sprays, and the weather was nice again. Perfect for an evening picnic.
The tide was ebbing that day so there were no waves or deep water for almost half a mile out. Close to sunset we walked out to the water to get our feet wet and take some pics. I was more interested in the silhouette figure I saw standing in the shallow water just looking at people, as if he was guarding something precious in between his feet.
Later when it got a bit darker I set my camera for CLS shots. I took a couple shots of my friends just talking and drinking before Zul asked me to take a picture of him being the ‘model’ for Seasons’ canned soy drink.
Hisham was our guest of the day. He flew back to Malaysia from the States for three weeks just to visit family and friends. It’s been a while since we hung out with him so any chance we got to chill out together with him was indeed treasured.
And of course, Hisham was ecstatic to get to see us too!
We decided to do some jumping shots before it got too dark. Being an amateur, it wasn’t easy for me to set up the shot with off-camera flash synchronized with ten people jumping at the same time. This shot was taken with the flash not firing, resulting in a very dark underexposed photo. Using Adobe Lightroom, I turned it into a black-and-white photo with grains not removed to get that ‘vintage’ feel. There are advantages to not delete failed shots. There are certainly ways to salvage them and turn them into something wonderful.
Finally after quite a few tries, the flash fired in-synch, and I was able to capture this photo of everyone having a wonderful time, albeit some shadows falling on some of their faces.
We finally separated and went our own ways after having some ghost stories and lame jokes told around an imaginary (read: non-existant) campfire.
(More photos added) The Judicial Affairs Division Building
This is the building for the Judicial Affairs Division, Prime Minister’s Department Malaysia in Putrajaya. I went walking about Precinct 3 of Putrajaya on a Sunday afternoon, so there was almost nobody in sight — Putrajaya is the administrative capital of the country, so all government workers are at home or away for the weekend.
I wanted to go up to the roof of this building, because I feel like the top of this building would provide me with a better view of the Sultan Mizan Mosque right in front of it. But, as with most government buildings, access to non-patron areas of the building are restricted, especially on a non-working day, so I went home disappointed.
EDIT: Here is the picture of the Sultan Mizan Mosque that I managed to take. I am not satisfied with the angle and point of view here. I still am convinced that the best point of view would be from the top of the Judicial Affairs Division building.
EDIT 2: More photos of the Judicial Affairs Division building added.
I like the tree/plant-based motifs on the windows and underneath the arches. I don’t know why, but they somehow remind me of Lord of the Rings. Weird, huh?
I do realize that I might need a wider lens for these building shots. I might consider getting a wide converter for starters. That depends on my financial situation, as usual.
Hope you liked the photos!
Introducing… the family
Just scanned this family photo a few minutes ago, thought it’d be nice to be able to show everyone my wonderful family, finally united in one picture. For the past few years, my sisters and I have been away in the U.S., Japan and England for our studies so a full family photo is something that we look forward to every time there’s a chance to get everyone together. This photo is the only one in existence that has every single one of us together, including our housekeeper.
(Click on the picture to view full size)
Top, from left: Tina, Karmini (housekeeper), Ihsan (me), Jayyid, Mya, Husna, Kim.
Sitting, from left: Shazni, Dr. Khairir / ‘Ayah’ (Dad), Abu, Rashidah / ‘Emak’ (Mom), Milah.
P/S: Hoping that soon, another person would be added to future family photos…
(Updated with translations!) bagai kacang lupakan kulit.. a story of how some Malays forgot their skin is ‘sawo matang’ and not putih…
today i met the absolute representation of the idiots that we should get rid off from this country if we are ever to even DREAM of reaching vision 2020… i have been observing the people in Malaysia for the past months i been home, and i must say i am not liking what i see. through a myriad of factors intermingling together, including the economic prosperity enjoyed by the middle class and upper class society, many of them comprising of sons and daughters of govt officers (and i am not always proud to say, I myself is a member of this group) we have created a new class of people, who have appointed themselves and regarded themselves as the “elite” Malay group.. (note the inverted comma) and these are the youth who walks along the street with a certain kind of swagger and pompous arrogance with their proud shirt with the humongous ‘horse and number/roman numeral’ emblem on their chest.. yes u know which brand of shirt i’m talking about.. ooh not forgetting their fancy rust dyed hair and their huge shades, and cargo pants. and usually they’ll be walking in pairs proudly holding hands, gee i sure hope they are married, bulan puasa pon tak reti nak hormat? hmm… today i met a group of these people, and they were rudely harassing a makcik at a stall at pasar ramadhan.. yes, granted it was hot, and there were a lot of people around the stall, for sure laa the makcik cannot layan everyone immediately.. but these group of people, who always think they are better than other Malays, by the virtue they can afford more stuff (paid by dad of course) apparently dah x tahan sgt nk kene tunggu lama were throwing rude and unneessary comments to the makcik… stupid arrogant people.. “haih makcik, kalau tak reti nak layan orang cepat2, baik jgn bukak gerai (Hey auntie, if you don’t know how to quickly serve people, better not open a stall)“ said one of the skinny idiot, while holding the hands of his girlfriend, and this unnecessary comment was greeted by laughter from a few more youth, 3 boys and 2 girls, apparently they were all in the same group.. the makcik (old lady), displaying some hurt on her face teruslah melayan si kumpulan Melayu ‘elite’ ini.. and apparently got the order of these idiots wrong.. “makcik, i said two laa, two! T-W-O.. dua! D-U-A… dua! adoi.. dh laa lambat, x reti bahasa inggeris pulak tu rupanya, cakap ‘sorry’ pon td tergagap2.. haih, kan elok if science and math ajar in english, makcik ketinggalan zaman! (Auntie, I said two laa, T-W-O… two! Ahh… so slow… plus you don’t know English… even stuttering to say ‘sorry’… wouldn’t it be better if science and math were taught in english, auntie you’re so left behind!)“ and the group laughed again.. i could see the makcik was very ashamed and offended, and suddenly i was offended, coz that couldve been my aunt, my grandma, my mother! Think about it, what if that happened to somebody in YOUR family… so naturally, me with my recently discovered hot head and temper, decided to defend the makcik.. (this is an attempt to recreate the conversation as best to my memory as i could, pls be reminded that i was temporarily insane and blinded by rage, hehe) “hoi, yang korang ni ingat korg mcm bagus nk mampus ni apahal? bley tolong relax tak kalau nak kutuk2 org pon, pahala puasa tu entah campak ke mana (Hey, why are you acting like you’re so darn awesome here? Can you please go easy on the insults, your fasting is pointless, gone to waste)“ i said with a stern voice, and oh yes it turned a few heads.. the group was stunned for a bit, then the idiot-leader had to reply.. “oi brader, ni bukan hal lu so baik u jgn masuk campur, kalau tak… (Hey brother, this is not your problem so don’t be meddlin, or else…)“ “kalau tak apa brader, ko nak tampar aku? tumbuk aku? and aku plak tak kan laa nak biar laa ko kutuk makcik yg x bersalah ni lebih2? (Or else what brother, you wanna slap me? punch me? and you expect me to just let you insult this poor innocent lady incessantly?)“ yup, i was reeeealllly geting to be pissed off.. “eh bro, jgn cabar aku (Eh bro, don’t challenge me)“ said the idiot-leader while his gf was pulling him back asking him to stop, and the rest of the group konon2 nk tunjuk kuat closing in on me.. “1st thing 1st, aku bukan ‘bro’ ko, and 2ndly, tolong simpan jaguh2 kampung ko ni, mintak maap kat makcik ni.. yg ko mcm bagus kutuk2 makcik ni x reti bahas inggeris tu pehal? ko ingt english ko tu bagus sgt? (First things first, I’m not your ‘bro’, and secondly, please do away with this village champ thing, apologize to this lady… why do you think you’re so great that you can insult this lady for her poor English? You think your English is good enough?)“ i was really pissed by now.. “eh yg ko berani nk marah2 aku ni pehal? ko ingt bapak aku ni org biasa? (Hey why are so bold to be scoldin me here? you think my dad is one of you common people?)“ the idiot leader replied.. gosh, they all look like they were about 18/19 years old.. arrogant 18/19 year olds who still turn to daddy in moment of need.. at that moment i knew that this was the group i was talking about, the self-appointed ‘elite’ Malays, the family where the mom and dad made good money, but forgot to teach proper manners to their offspring, and their offspring thought they were better than other Malays, esp those they regard as coming from the kampung.. just because daddy could afford to send them to private college doesnt make them better than the others! “owhhh bapak ko bukan org biasa? habis dia apa? org minyak? org bunian? (Ohhh, your dad is not one of us common people? So what is he? Orang minyak? An elf?)” i personally liked this line best, and judging from the laughter of the crowd behind me, so did they.. haha how did i come up with that in the heat of the moment i wonder myself.. “just because ko ni anak org yg ada kuasa, n tahu sepatah dua english, please please la jgn ingt ko tu lagi bgs dari makcik ni, or the rest of us ok? sedar sikit diri tu, manners gone down the bloody drain! urghhh u make soo mad! people like you just makes me sick! dah aku nyer pahala puasa pon dh ke mana ntah sebab aku dok menengking org2 mcm ko ni.. sila jgn perasan ko ni omputih dgn dressing ko n rambut dye laa, jam mahal laa (Just because you are the offspring of some bigshot, know an English word or two, please please don’t think that you’re better than this lady, or the rest of us ok? Look at yourself, manners gone down the bloody drain! Urghh you make me so mad! People like you just make me sick! Now my fasting is pointless because I’m angrily yelling at people like you… please don’t think you’re so ‘white man’ with your dressing and yor dyed hair and expensive watch)“ by now, there was a sizeable crowd against us.. for some reason, the idiots wre quiet, i guess they were shocked, and ashamed coz they know they did wrong.. and i overheard this from someone behind me.. with his face red, and heavy breathing with a pissed off face, he walked off slowly as he was pulled by his gf and his group.. while a group was chanting “belah, belah, belah (beat it, beat it, beat it)“ to the group.. and as they left, the group clapped.. and the makcik thanked me for standing up to her, and i got some free kuih from her as a sign of her gratitude.. hehe.. thanx makcik! but i did it not for the kuih, or for the attention, the praises.. i did it coz i cant stand this group of people, who think they are better than the rest of us! come back down to earth please~ and when i wrote this, i AM NOT targeting all polo shirt wearing hair dyeing tindik sana sini people, and also those who comes from a well-to-do family, i know that 99% of u are polite people who knows the boundaries of joking about, and are humble people with kind hearts.. but this 1%, you ppl are the bane of society, and bring shame upon other Malays.. i’m sorry if i offended anybody, but this entry is written with the purpose of reminding us all to be humble, and not to insult others.. your medical degree, tertiary education, overseas scholarship, all these do not make you better than other people, and all these mean NOTHING if you don’t have manners, or basic respect for others.. do unto others how u wud expect to be done on urself, and respect begets respect.. p/s: sorry again for the negative tone of the entry.. … The above is a repost of a Facebook note written by my friend Ahmad Firdaus Yaakop, better known among friends as Robo. He is currently studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. I reposted this with permission from him because I sincerely feel that the message should reach a wider audience/readership than just his circle of friends. I hope we all (especially Malaysians) can learn a thing or two from his recollections; that for one thing no matter where you are in the socioeconomic ladder, it doesn’t mean squat if you don’t have manners. Manners can take you further than just plain money and things from your dear ol’ mummydaddy.
“kalau kulit putih mcm abg baju hijau ni ok laa gak, ni kulit sama jek sawo matang mcm kitorg, tp perangai lebih2 dari omputih la plak (If you’re white-skinned like this green shirt dude its fine, but you’re just like us brownskins, but you’re more snobbish than a white man)“ and yes, i was the one who he referred to as ‘abg baju hijau (green shirt dude)’.. lol~
peace out~
*EDIT: (Roughly) translated versions of the Malay speech are underlined for your convenience.
P/S: I wish I was there to witness it all. And probably take a picture of Robo in his heroic moment of glorious righteousness.
P/P/S: I wish I had written this myself. Kudos to you, Robo.
My Personal Issues with 1Malaysia Theme
I have issues with the 1Malaysia theme: Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan
Generally, the theme translates to ‘People First, Achievements Prioritized’
I’m keeping all my political inclinements aside (you should too) for the moment as I’m typing this.
I have issues with the theme. I don’t like it. In my opinion, it’s inappropriate, it sounds weird, and it gives the wrong messages.
Please put away the parangs and the torches and bear with me for a while.
I have said that the issues are entirely personal. And here they are:
1. As a theme for the National Day 2009, it’s just too long. It’s the predominantly the longest theme so far (compare the lengths here). Plus, 1Malaysia is not even a word.
2. National Day themes are usually meant to inspire the people to greatness (see past years themes here). Look at this year’s theme. Do you think it’s meant to inspire the people, or to reflect the aspirations of the government?
3. ‘Rakyat Didahulukan’ (‘People First’). When someone is put first, someone else is put behind. This part of the theme begs the question: who’s being sidelined here? The foreigners? Non-taxpayers? The Nine Rulers? The government? Government cronies? Like I said, wrong message here.
4. Also on this year’s ‘Rakyat Didahulukan’. It’s as if previously the rakyat (people) wasn’t first, this year we’ll start being first. So it some ways, it gives the message that the government has not been putting the rakyat first. Also it kind of in some ways acknowledge some people’s opinion on the government not putting the rakyat’s interests first. It gives the message that the government wants to change to a ‘people first’ government, and saying that this change is for the better acknowledges the existence of bad governance in the past. Again, wrong message here.
5. ‘Pencapaian Diutamakan’ (‘Achievements Prioritized’). This sounds like some milestones have been set and we must achieve and possibly go beyond those milestones. And achieving these milestones must be prioritized. Sounds so… corporate governance. This is not the rakyat’s aspiration. This sounds more for an organized body than the general public. An organized body like the Cabinet, the government departments, et cetera. Again, this is more about the government’s aspiration instead of the rakyat’s.
In general, my issue with the theme is that the theme is more suited for to promote the government’s aspirations and goals. The National Day is for the rakyat. Let us have a theme for us instead. After all, we the rakyat should be first, right?
What do you think about the theme for Malaysia’s 52nd National Day celebrations?
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P/S: Some may judge me as narrow-minded, ignorant, leftist etc for posting this. I say let them judge. I know who I am, inside and outside.
