I went down to the nearby JUSCO today to purchase a few DVDs. I have gotten quite sick of the free TV in Malaysia and was in the mood for some Korean movies. As there was a convenient Speedy Video store there, I walked in and browsed through some of their wares and I came across several surprises.

The price of original DVDs in Malaysia can be anywhere from about RM15 (£2.50) to 10 times that. So, I felt that I could definitely buy a few original DVDs here. There were 2 shelves full of Korean stuff but they were mostly Korean dramas. I guess that not many people actually like to watch Korean movies (me being an exception). About 10% of the wares were VCDs and not DVDs so, I had to be a little careful when choosing the titles.

In the end I settled for 5 movies, 3 random movies that I had never watched before, 1 favourite movie of mine (My Sassy Girl) and 1 very famous Korean war movie that was the most popular box office hit in 2005. Although I have already watched “My Sassy Girl” a large number of times, it still did not fail to touch me and bring a tear to my eye when I watched it again today. I just love that movie, which is the reason why I happily paid £4 for it.

Then, I decided to go look for some Siti Nurhaliza DVDs and that was when I encountered my next surprise. There were hardly any of here CDs, let alone DVDs on the shelf. So, I thought to myself that this was an extremely sad situation. If our country’s most popular artiste is unable to stock the shelves in a major chain store, it must be extremely difficult for the rest of the artistes. In fact, the shelf that was marked Malay videos did not even hold many Malay videos but were mostly filled with Chinese ones.

Finally, I walked to the counter to pay for my purchases using my newly minted Malaysian credit card. I decided to ask about their return policy and was promptly surprised when I was told that I could return my purchases if any problems were found with them within 14 days to any of their branches. Good thing they had this policy as I had already encountered a problem with one of the movies starting Son Ye Jin, which brings me to the final surprise.

The quality of the local original DVDs are a bit of a disappointment. The local licensee who brought in the movies had to comply with the requirements of the National Film Board. As a result, even movies that are rated “U” for universal consumption, have bits of it censored off. This is quite disappointing as it interrupts the flow of the story. Also, the problem movie had an audio track that I could not play on my DVD player. So, I will be bringing it back for replacement within the next few days.

Overall, my experience in buying originals in Malaysia has been mixed. I will have to further explore other shops and other types of movies, before deciding on whether or not to return to my old decadent ways.

PS: Western movies cost a bit more than eastern ones, which means that I will probably be buying more Korean, Japanese and Chinese DVDs from now on.

Nothing much to say. Just enjoy the photographs. Leave comments if you so wish to.

Optimism.

A friend of mine mentioned the other day that I was fairly optimistic about the future. I quipped back that it was because I was still young. I could use this excuse because he was a family man and several years older than me. However, the truth is that my optimism does not come from my youthful exuberance, but rather my grim outlook on life.

When I was 19, I was told by someone many years older, that I was too jaded with life and that at 19, I should not be jaded at all. The truth is that I have been jaded with life, since a very young age and I am optimistic, because I am jaded. When I see things, I tend to see the worst possible outcome of any scenario. After seeing the worst possible outcome, every other possibility becomes a much better prospect.

However, convincing oneself that a better scenario will ultimately emerge over the worst possible outcome, is quite another matter altogether.

Anyway, enough of the morbid talk.

I had recently gone to a very modern kopitiam in KL called Oldtown Whitecoffee, which should be familiar to people from Ipoh. It is an odd establishment. It is styled and priced like an up-market coffee place, sells low-end food and beverages, and is frequented by the kind of people that you would find at any mamak stall at 4am in the morning.

We had a mixed coffee (i.e. neslo), enhanced chocolate (i.e milo kau) and two slices of butter and kaya toast for a whopping RM12! That’s a whopping RM6 for what is essentially two slices of bread and water each. My friend decided to pick up the tab, which was awfully nice of him. It was surprisingly packed, even at 4am in the morning.

Too bad I did not have my camera with me at the time.

As you all know, I have been doing some shopping recently, to slowly replace the various items that had to be discarded at Heathrow because I had excess luggage. One of the things that I had to buy was a pair of sandals. Thinking that I would settle for a cheap pair, I went to the nearby Bata store for a random pair.

At the Bata store, there were a number of different cheap sandals available. So, I tried them on and they were all pretty much similar. You cannot really expect much from a RM20 pair of sandals (£3.50). Then, I saw a more expensive pair and I thought to myself, why would anyone pay RM100 for a pair of sandals. It is not even a branded pair of special sandals like Nike or what nots.

So, on a whim, I put on the pair of pricier sandals. That was it. I had never worn a pair of sandals that felt so good on my feet before. There seemed to be various points of support and cushioning around the sole. So, I quickly made the decision to get the more expensive pair. So, it was just a matter of choosing a design, colour and size.

Honestly, I have never ever spent as much on a pair of sandals before. I grew up in a strictly middle class family and I grew up on pasar malam fashion. In fact, I don’t even normally spend that much on proper shoes either. I have only spent this much on leather shoes, in Malaysia. My feet must hate me for all the torture that I have subjected them through.

I guess that there is a reason for them being pricier than the rest and the money isn’t being paid for the brand since it isn’t Nike anyway. All I hope for now, is that this pair of sandals lasts me for a year. The cheap ones usually fail me in half that time. If they do last that long and provide my feet with tender loving care, it would be money well spent.

I have just read this article today, on our governments’ interest in introducing a special law, called the Race Relations Act. The first thing that occurred to me was that, if they succeeded in introducing such an act, it would be the greatest accomplishment that our government had ever achieved in its 51 year history.

The reason that I say this is because, such an act can only exist if the concept of race is clearly defined. If the definition is not sufficiently clear, then it may be difficult to enforce any of the details of the act. Under our present laws, only the Malay race is clearly by Article 160 of our Constitution.

The article defines a Malay as a Malaysian citizen born to a Malaysian citizen who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay language, adheres to Malay customs, and is domiciled in Malaysia or Singapore. So, our legal definition of a race is bound by a combination of religion, language, custom and place of residence.

Assuming that the government uses the same system to define all the other races, I would definitely be interested to see what kind of definition the government can come up with. Goodness knows, I think that I will probably slip through the cracks and be in limbo. I profess an Indian religion, speak the English language, and adhere to a random mix of customs (as evidenced by my choice in clothes).

I am sure that I am not alone in this. Ask yourself if you would fit into any stereotypical definition of a Chinese, Indian or any one of the other 50 odd races that are supposed to exist in Malaysia. I can already tell you that although 90% of Malaysian Chinese speak Mandarin, most of them do not believe in Confucianism (a truly Chinese religion) and they are certainly not Buddhists.

I think that most of you should get my point by now.

Race is an artificial construct. Throughout history, man has done various studies to try to define race clearly, but has failed to do so utterly. So, if our government is capable of working out the legal definitions for the various races in Malaysia, they would have accomplished no mean feat. I would certainly congratulate them for doing so!

The Hari Raya sales are on until early October. So, I decided to go do some shopping today, for a few new shirts. As I had mentioned earlier, I was forced to bin all my clothes at Heathrow because my luggage was too heavy. I did some shopping at the beginning of the month, but only for essentials as I was waiting for this sale season to start.

While shopping for new shirts, I have come to realise that most mens’ shirts are of one of the following variety: plain, striped or checked. All very boring. So, I have decided to buy something else instead. After owning some barong shirts for the last few years, I felt that wearing embroidered shirts was a good idea. So, I only shopped for shirts with embroidery on them.

I bought a really nice Punjab shirt a couple of weeks ago. I bought it because I liked the pattern on the shirt and it is a formal shirt that has no collar. So, I would not need to wear a tie with it. It looks really smart with a suit (even without the tie) and can also be worn as casual wear if it is left tucked out. So, it is quite versatile.

Today, I bought a few more casual wear embroidered shirts. At one points, the sales girl spoke to me in Cantonese and said that she was surprised that I could appreciate shirts like these, because most Chinese men would not buy these kinds of shirts. I did not really know what to answer her as I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a compliment or otherwise.

What can I say, except that I embrace the wonderful diversity of Malaysia. I don’t really care if it is not very Chinese (What is a Chinese shirt anyway?) as long as it looks good on me. My family has always been like this. Both my mother and sister wear all kinds of clothes, often mixing and matching elements from different cultures, as long as they look good.

Isn’t that the whole point of getting dressed in the first place?

Alright, I will need to go look for a good mens’ tailor later. I intend to have a suit tailor made. I already know what I want, in my head. However, I’m afraid that the tailor may not understand what I need. So, I will need to find some examples to show him/her later. As usual, I like wearing formal clothes that are not very typically formal.

Anyway, I went to a pasar malam (night market) last week and brought my camera with me. I stood out like a sore thumb and people were staring at me while I took my photos. I guess that I did not look enough of a tourist to be snapping away with SLR at a night market. As usual, these shots were all taken handheld, without flash, under a low-light condition. I’m starting to love this lens.

I’ve barely been home for two weeks and my family has been stressing me out non-stop. I had barely stepped off the plane at KLIA for 2 hours, when the inquisition started. Even my sister is getting in on it. In fact, she’s applying more pressure on me than my parents. I am getting more than a little annoyed at this now. If it does not stop soon, I will have to make it stop.

I do not understand why they need to apply so much verbal pressure. Thankfully, it’s still only verbal pressure and they have not yet resorted to arranging any sort of physical pressure (although they have already suggested it to me several times). I know that all my elder cousins are already married with kids, and even a couple of my younger cousins are too. But still.

Some of the suggestions that they have been throwing around, border on the ludicrous and crazy. I wouldn’t even want to go into the details here as they are definitely out of my realm of possibility, and probably out of this world. I don’t think that I will ever become desperate enough to even try some of the things that have been suggested.

I have told them several times, by now, that I am not ready for anyone. All I have inside me is pain, bitterness and anger. So, I need to resolve all these issues, personally, before I can even begin to fathom asking anyone out. Otherwise, I really pity the person whom will be the target of all the pent up negative emotions. Now is definitely not a good time for me but they seem to be ignoring me.

Today, I have been feeling slightly hypoglycemic again. I spent most of the afternoon in bed and even all the nice siew pau from Seremban could not keep me filled. Hopefully, this is just for today. Otherwise, I will have to tell my whole family to just shut their traps and leave me alone. Personally, I would not wish this on anyone.

This is worse than PhD stress!!

PS: As you can probably read from this blog, I am not particularly happy with this situation.

A very timely episode on ISA in Malaysia, by Al-Jazeera, which was only shown a few days ago.

It seems that the show is starting…

RPK has just been arrested under the Internal Security Act, today. He obviously knew that it was coming and he has been well prepared for it. Whether or not it was right to detain him under the ISA is another question altogether. Some will think that the government has abused it’s powers while others may think that it was justified. We can argue about this till the cows come home and it won’t change a thing. Personally, I am not really sorry for him as he is well aware of the consequences of his action.

The person that I’m feeling sorry for is the reporter from SinChew who reported on the idiotic remarks made by one specific UMNO politician from Penang. All that Tan Hoon Cheng did was to do her job, which is to report incidents as they happened. Nobody has come out to deny the reports. In fact, the person who uttered the remarks has since admitted to doing what was reported.

So, it is really funny when the person who uttered the racist remarks, is still free while the reporter who merely reported the issue, is now under indefinite detention in Kamunting. I think that the government is doing her a big favour. Her future is now secured.

Since she is from Penang, all she would need to do is to run under a DAP ticket for either a state seat or a parliamentary seat. ISA detainees are not criminals and have the right to run for office. Then, even if she is still languishing away in Kamunting, she will need to be paid a salary as a politician. If she stays long enough in ISA and wins for two terms, she will then qualify for a full government pension.

And the latest news is that Teresa Kok, the MP who won with the largest majority in parliament of 36,600 is now under ISA detention as well. I cannot possibly imagine how much her majority is going to be in the next general election. They should have a new category in the Malaysian Guiness Book of Records for her. I think that her majority in the next GE is going to be enough to form a small town by itself, probably in the 50,000 range.

This is a live action comedy in the making. I should go get some pop corn and sit and watch.

It seems that the government may just end up reverting the teaching of science and mathematics back to the mother tongues, instead of the present system of teaching it in English. The logic and evidence behind this decision is also highly flawed. Personally, I do not think that it is a good idea.

Educational policy should never be dictated by the electorate. Parents do not know what is good for their kids, especially parents who are themselves, products of the non-English education system. It is undeniable that English is the lingua franca of the sciences and the children will have to face it at some point. If we choose to let them face it at university, it is no different from what we have today and we will end up producing graduates who are forced to study with a dictionary by their side, have a poor command of the language, and are unable to find jobs inside or outside the country.

Many people blame the fact that the content isn’t as important as the delivery. So, there is no point teaching it in English if the teachers themselves are unable to deliver the content in English. This is precisely our problem. The current crop of teachers today are the very byproducts of a system that reverted away from English, decades ago. If we decide to revert away from English again, we will just end up producing more of the same teachers who are unable to teach in English. Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.

Statistics given by the government reveal that the kids themselves are not doing as well in primary school, as their seniors did when the subjects were taught in non-English. Obviously, if the kids have parents who are unable to comprehend English and are unable to help them in their school work, it is perfectly understandable that they will be at a disadvantage. So, the parents will not be able to brag about their child’s progress in school. So, what?

The correct response to this problem should be to fix the delivery of the curriculum instead of reverting back to the mess it was before. I can appreciate that it is going to be difficult to retrain the existing crop of teachers, whom are byproducts of the previous mess. Heck, even the trainers themselves are probably from the same mess. So, I would propose an alternative solution. One solution is to bring in existing people who are already capable of speaking English.

This may entail recruiting expatriates into the teaching fraternity. As there are many unemployed foreign spouses around, this may not be as difficult as it may seem at first. I am sure that almost everyone of them would be capable of teaching primary school mathematics and science, once they are given some teacher training. It would also solve the problem of them not being able to secure jobs within the country.

If there are not enough foreign spouses to go around, hire in other expatriates. Considering that we are not really paying the Phillipino maids more than a teacher, it may actually be a good idea. Many of these maids are actually graduates themselves, and have a good command of English. They may actually be willing to teach, which is far easier to being a maid, and pays just as well, if not better.

If this isn’t enough, hire actual expatriate teachers from any country. Open up the teaching profession to anyone from anywhere, as long as they are properly qualified to teach science and maths. Pay them better than the other teachers. In fact, any local teachers who are willing to retrain themselves to teach in English, should be paid equal to these expatriates. That should be sufficient encouragement to induce people to actually make the switch.

We will not need to do this forever. We will only need to rely on the expatriates for several years, until the current crop of students make it through university and are reinserted back into the system.

Anyway, I am biased. I personally think that regressing back to the old mess is a bad idea.