Don't just pass it. Experience it.

A Preliminary Thought

So, a lot of things are happening lately. All of which I have a mix feeling about.

1. A couple of new legislation by Parliament

2. Abolishment of PTPTN movement by University Students.

3. Bersih 3.0

4. The movement against Lynas operating in Malaysia.

5. Press Freedom

I am not going to pretend that I know everything here, so allow me to begin with what I learnt in my Public International Law lecture on the Wednesday that just passed. The lecture was on International Human Rights.

The good Doctor asked, what was it we wanted to know and we told him; Bersih 3.0 and he said something that answered a lot of my burning questions and my divided heart. He said; the freedom of expression does not include violence.

The lecturer then begins by stating that Human Rights is not something that is given to you. It is something that you already have. In the legal world, the word ‘inherent’ would often be used to refer to this type of situation. The lecturer then admits that every freedom must have a limitation. And this is something practical as we live in a society and our right to do something should not serve to interfere with the right of others. He then gave out examples like racist views and call for violence.

The lecturer then went on to add that; because Human Right is something inherent in us, our aspiration should always be for the recognition of complete Human Right. Therefore, though there have to be limitations towards our right, there should also be limitations imposed upon those limitations.

At this juncture, I started to get a clearer picture as to why it is, that when Parliament passes a bill that affects our freedom, within a short time frame of deliberation, cries of outrage could be heard from various groups.

The limit for the limitations imposed is not made clear or is absent entirely.

The lecture then proceeded with the history of the recognition of Human Right and how it became International.

From the lecture, I got this; what is it, that we have a right to?

Within the weeks that passed, two of our Freedoms took centre stage i.e. the Freedom of speech and the Freedom of Assembly.

Bersih 3.0 got a little bit murky for me. First, there was Ambiga and then there was the opposition. And though right now there are many calls for people to stop being neutral, I would like to reserve my right and remain one. Because for me, neutral is not the absence of an opinion, it is the freedom of one. Neutral does not mean the inability to make a decision, but an ability to make a decision free of any political ideologies. Basic Human Right at the forefront of our priorities. I am choosing to keep my loyalty to what is best for society as a whole, minority and majority combined and not a particular political party. For if there was one thing that Constitutional Law thought me it was this; ‘Power, corrupts and absolute power, corrupts absolutely.’

I watched the debate between Ambiga and Khairy Jamaluddin on youtube and for the sake of having a complete understanding of what the debaters were saying, I rewind a couple of times. Ambiga has a point. However, I believe she should’ve controlled the participation of the opposition in her mission. Though it is the principle of Bersih that anyone with the aspiration for a free and fair election is welcome to join the walk, having the opposition there and in a prominent role nonetheless, only serve to stir the waters as it, at least for me, gave a picture of an opposition versus government event. Bersih is about the people and the only flags that should be flown should be the Malaysian flag and the flags of the various States.

There are a lot of videos on youtube showing what happened on that day and I believe that all of us are fully capable of forming our own opinion on the matter.

A few weeks back, a friend of mine tweeted; Truth is what we perceive, facts are sacred.

And sometimes words fail us and all that we can give are moments of silence. Today, all the problems of the world seems so trivial. All the joys seem out of place. Funny how a person whom you seldom spoke to, could leave such powerful impressions and lingering memories. May his soul rest in peace.

“The Biggest Challenge of my Generation”

The title of my 3 minutes impromptu speech for English. I babbled on about money, education and love. Thinking back, I would think all that, a whole lot of diversion. The biggest challenge of my generation I would say would be, finding an identity.

I was born in 1990. I was not born in a purely technological age, so I know the joys of playing in the sun. I grew up with strict parents that hold together as a team so though I had the experience of tough love, I do know love. My parents didn’t really fancy the idea of my siblings and I watching television and opted instead to instil in us (my siblings and I) the love of reading. So though I didn’t watch that much television growing up, I was reading quite a bit. Most of what I know come from books, television filled the gaps.

Growing up in Malaysia, you’re taught about ‘eastern’ values. Calling an older person from their name is a no-no, cursing, is a no-no. Smile and be polite, even if you don’t feel like it.

I can’t remember off the top of my head when Malaysia first aired ‘Malaysian Idol’ but I remembered watching it and seeing contestants that were rejected cursing and swearing about how unfair the judges were or how unhappy they were that they were not selected to go to the next round. And I remembered saying to myself, how fake their curses sound. It felt as though they were trying to imitate what they saw ‘failed American Idol’ contestants were doing. The anger felt staged.

Compared to the US or the UK, Malaysia is a fairly young country. Created only in 1963 with a history of colonisation that saw the emergence of a dynamic multiethnic community, our exposures and influences are plenty. Both internally and externally. And sometimes it could get a bit tough because we have so many people, politicians and religious leaders alike, telling us what we should believe in, which party of a war we should support and who has our best interest in mind.

We also have television shows and movies showing us what popular kids look like and how they act. Maybe in the US those kind of kids are a product of natural evolution. Daddy’s rich, so here’s my license to be rude and obnoxious. In Malaysia however, I do not believe that that should be the case. Most people come from new money. Once upon a time, daddy was pulling out weed in the paddy field. Mommy was tapping rubber. Hardship to a Malaysian was not ancient history. To live ignorant off the fact of poor and less privilege communities and to walk around as if you own the place or as if the world revolves around you is called being an overtly arrogant child.

The word is respect. The word is selflessness. The word is kindness. The word is love.

The television and the media can tell us a lot. And speaking from experiences, neither mainstream media nor independent media is fully capable of telling the ultimate truth. It took us quite awhile to get here, but my point is this, people can tell us a lot of things and we can blame people for a lot more. But shouldn’t we take our own initiative to find out more, to hear from more than one side, to believe in something because that is our principle and not because we want to belong in a clique, because we want to be accepted or because we want to be popular.

I am still trying to figure out who I am and to find my place in this world. Along the way, I have made friends and lost friends. My Public International Law lecturer once said; the friends you keep, define who you are. As of today, my close circle of friends is close to none. People that I meet on a daily basis seem to be too overly obsessed with worldly items that all they think about is what is in it for them. I don’t believe that is how life should be lived. We are not alone in this world, there are others as well and the working of society depends on the working of everyone.  

The Hunger Games just came out and I am rather ticked off by people who describe that the story is about ‘children killing children’ while in actual fact, the story is about a whole lot more. People who don’t have a habit of reading would then hop on the idea that that was what the movie was about. They then would come out of the cinemas thinking that what they saw was a movie of ‘children killing children that then developed into a love triangle.’ How much more wrong can you be?

The problem is that not many have a habit of reading. Because of that, they allow other people’s interpretation to be theirs. And as a result, they have no opinion of their own. Before a personal identity could develop they pick up identities that belong to others.

I remembered, awhile back, seeing something that goes a little bit like this; ‘Generations today are reduced to status updates, 140 character tweets and tumblr reblogs.’

Who are we really? Are we going to allow others to define who we are? Have no thoughts, no opinions because how our hair look or how long our makeup lasts means so much more?

Do the worlds a favour, read more, think more and once in awhile, allow yourself to experience a little hardship. I know daddy earns a lot but trust me; there is a whole world beyond daddy’s wallet. And I’m not talking about the inside of your boyfriend’s pants.

Hunger Games, Review

Hunger Games, The Movie.

Firstly, the casts were an excellent choice. Each maintain a great amount of respect for the characters they play. Going as close as possible to the way they were written. Books which are turned into movies always run the risk of disappointing and for Hunger Games I would say that they did a truly good job in translating the book into a movie.

A few minor glitches for me for example how Katniss came into possession of the Mockingjay pin, how Rue died was downplayed, and how Peeta was left unharmed by the mutts during the finale.

In the book, the Mockingjay pin was given to Katniss by the Mayor’s daughter (Madge) and the pin actually belongs to Madge’s aunt who was a tribute to one of the Hunger Games and met her demise on the game’s field. The Mockingjay pin coming from this origin was interesting to me because it is as if each time Katniss fights, she fights for all those who fell victim to the game and the game itself served to oppress the people of Panem. Now that the movie showed that it was bought, the meaning for me just diminished a little bit.

Rue’s death as was written was a lot more dramatic and the way Katniss said her goodbye was even more emotionally taxing. The book descibes Katniss findnig Rue ‘hopelessly entangled in a net. She just has time to reach her hand through the mesh and say my name before the spear enter her body.’ It continues with ‘the boy…dies before he can pull out the spear. My arrow drives deeply into the centre of his neck.’ In the movie, Katniss was in time to pull Rue out of the mesh and shot Marvel through the chest. It was less messy in the movie. But its PG 13 after all. But it’s not that sad when you downplay the gore. When reading the book, I was also taken away at the tenderness, which was so human, that Katniss showed Rue as she imagined that it was her sister there dying, was not fully captured by the movie.

Peeta in the finals was helping Katniss up the Cornucopia when ‘a pair of teeth ring together just centimetres from my hand and then I hear Peeta cry out, feel the yank in his body, the heavy weight of boy and mutt pulling me…’ Peeta lost his leg at the end of book one and needed a prosthetic. I thought that was an important part, as the book following the first makes many reference to the prosthetic leg.

Well, that was the book in comparison to the movie. The book has much more gore, then again a book’s value is relative to your imagination. And I need to continuously remind myself it is a PG13 movie.

The game maker set though was fantastic. Truly futuristic. And the flaming dress which Katniss debut with surpassed my expectation and even my imagination. Though the relationship between Peeta and Katniss in the movie was not so clearly defined, at least Jennifer and Josh did not blow the romance out of proportion.

So, except for minor glitches, the movie was quite alright. It was not superbly awesome but it was better than good. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was an excellent choice. Josh as Peeta was o-k. Haven’t fallen in love with his embodiment of Peeta, I feel like he’s holding back a little. But then again, Peeta even in the book have always been a little bit of a mystery. Liam as Gale, not much to say. As even in the book Gale did not make much of an appearance. Lenny Kravits as Cinna was brilliant! Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, I did not see coming. But he was good. He did his part.

There we go, Hunger Games. Can’t wait to see how Catching Fire would go. I think Catching Fire would be a little bit difficult as a movie as most of what went on in Book 2 was Katniss thought process. Much more than book 1. A lot more romances though. Something for the tweens to look forward to but I hope the movie do not over do it. The beauty of Hunger Games is it’s interpretation of love. Which I believe not many people get. It’s not a love at first sight thing. Katniss have known Gale for so long and Katniss never paid attention to Peeta and in book 1 as far as Katniss was concerned, was an act. Katniss is not Bella, Gale and Peeta are not Edward and Jacob.

Thunder Roars and Fallen Skies.

I guess when you’re in this phase of life, where the end of your university life is nearing and the beginning of your working life is teething, you can’t help but feel a little bit scared and inferior and helpless.

Sending out resumes could be a little bit intimidating especially when you know that about another 100 of your friends are doing the exact same thing and some of them have far better resumes than you do. Then when you receive a reply you are filled to the brim with hope just to have it torn down a few days later…or weeks, when a further reply does not come.

All this emotions that fills then comes to a boil when you hear about friends who already have a position somewhere and are being paid better than good. Then when you yourself get accepted you are filled with this sense of intimidation and inferiority at the prospect of what awaits you. Then a world of worry sweeps you. Unfound worry is what I believe it is called. And really, it is all insanity.

Things don’t come as easily to me as it does others. If life were a game of cards and how we progress through it depends on the cards we are dealt, my future looks a tiny bit depressing.

I guess all that is left is for you to work harder. Keep on pushing and keep getting back up. It seems rather silly that I am demanding for fairness for it seems that there is not a single person out there who could give me just that. What is life really? An endless struggle? But for some there seem to be no struggle at all.

My religion teaches me to be patient. To be humble. To keep my peace. And I keep reminding myself that. Lately I feel as though my faith is being tested each day that I wake. Maybe that is it.

I fear the day that I could no longer take the pressure or the disappointment. Though I know my ego wouldn’t allow me to be defeated.

My life has always have a habit of developing a twist to what seems to be just another mundane plot.

Why can’t Life be a merciful teacher?

Because Enough is Enough!

The culture and tradition of the Natives of Sarawak is being fast forgotten and this could be easiily seen through the ‘traditional’ costumes that are being worn and heard in the languages that are being spoken.

What makes it even worse is that a culture or a character which traditionally belong to one race is being infuse into another and this infusion is not told unto the world that is watching. Consequently, what now authentically belong to a single race is no longer known. One might say that the change that has taken place is inevitable due to the interaction among races and inter-racial marriages. However, I believe that we owe it to our ancestors (to those of us who are natives, like myself) and to the memory of the people who first walked the great lands of Borneo to honour their tradition and custom, to respect what they believed and created and not remix their culture so much that it reaches a degree where if they were to see us today in a costume we declare as theirs, and speak to them in a language we believe is theirs, they would deny us and be insulted by us.

To all the natives of Sarawak, be proud of who you are. We would not make it this far if our race were weak. If you see a potrayal of your race that you know is so very, very wrong, speak up and refuse for it to continue. The power is now in your hands to insist that your culture be respected and that the accurate memory of your people continue to live.

To those who are not natives, respect the culture of others. The natives of Sarawak may not have had very good publicity due to the ignorance of people who write about them and a lack of interest to actually find out the truth before publishing a theory and we may only be called upon if the country want to boost its tourism sector but how would you feel if we create a random culture and declared it to be yours?

My father is a Bidayuh, and my mother is an Iban and though I come from a mix marriage between two natives of Sarawak, I wouldn’t think of combining the two cultures to a point where I am unable to distinguish what is one and what is the other and even if I did, I wouldn’t even dream of showing the world my creation and proudly say that it belong solely to one culture over the other. Preservation of a culture does not in any way mean that I am disregarding progress or modernisation nor does it mean that I am refusing multiracial unity.

I hope this make you think before you act and question before you agree.

(Posted this up on my facebook account last Friday as a result of annoyance and fury after seeing a photograph which blatantly belittled the culture of my people. Albeit that however, blatant ignorance and plain disregard towards the culture of another has always bothered me and what irks me even further is when the wrong teachings emanates from a person who claims to belong to that very ethnicity. I think that it is high time that something is said.)