NEW AND HOT!!!

An unexpected turn of events that led to one another allow me to acquire what would I called "a great masterpiece". Want to know the story??? Scroll down, mademoiselle et monsieur.........

It began with a thought: I wanted to go to Queensbay.......blah, blah, blah...Okie before I crap any further, lemme just cut to the crap that I wanna crap about (credit to Syahmi for the word 'crap').

Okie, yesterday I was tutoring Marcela on C++ and it happened that she brought along her laptop. I asked for movies and she did gave me, however, unfortunately, the battery went out. But (there's always a but) not before she gave me The Vampire Diaries, which is a television series instead of a movie I was hoping to watch (she gave me Constantine but it stuck third-quarter through the film, dammit...). So I came back to my room and start to wikipedia-ing "The Vampire Diaries" and OMG for some reasons below:

i) The show is relatively new, aired on September 10, 2009 and in its 14th episode, first season so far, and I happened to have the first full 14 episodes...hahahahahahha

ii) It's about the life of Elena Gilbert, a resident of Mystic Falls, Virginia (fictional, of course) who falls in love with vampire brothers Stefan Salvatore and Damon Salvatore.

iii) What make this drama appealing to me is that it's not just the whole drama thingy between the aforementioned characters and their friends as well as other residents of Mystic Falls, but the town itself harbors a dark secret of its own: lair of vampires during its founding in the Civil War era (to be exact the founding date is 1864). The Salvatore brothers happened to live in this era too and it also happened that the two loved the same woman, Katherine Pierce.......

iv) .......which surprisingly looks similar to Elena Gilbert! And here where's the story get interesting: Katherine is a vampire, who turned both Salvatore into vampires too and it was also revealed that Elena is adopted by her parents, hence there is a possibility that she is a descendant of Katherine.

WOW. Well for me WOW. For those who are reading this, you might think I am nut over these things but, supernatural is my genre. And let see, TVD (The Vampire Diaries) got what I called the perfect ingredients: small, old town charms, add mysterious too, hot,sexy babe, and powerful vampires as well as lineages (don't ask) and like I said, it's different from any other supernatural based TV series; it focused more on the history of the town and its relation to the present day story rather than just high school teenage drama. It also attracted the largest audiences in the history of the network that aired it, CW Television Network since the network began in 2006. Oh, oh...did I mention witchcraft too???

So far, up until the 14th episode, besides the fact mentioned above, first season focused on Damon attempt to find Emily's crystal, a descendant of Elena's best friend, Bonnie as well as other vampires who wanted to find and resurrect Katherine. Wanna know more???You just gotta see it....ahhaa

From left to right: Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), Elena Gilbert/Katherine Pierce (Nina Dobrev) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder)

Look at Nina above, isn't she hot!!!!!...Fuh, and it happened that the 15th episode is not gonna aired until March 25. WTF!!! Owh...have to wait for a month, and I'm dying to see her again....hahhahaa. Just kidding...

Until next time...

Au revoir...

Medley

The New Year songs fills the air. Splendid fireworks decorated the night sky. Shops, especially run by the Chinese, closed for the celebration of a new year. This is the usual scene whenever Chinese New Year comes around. Everyone celebrating it, including me, though I'm not Chinese (I looked like one, but it doesn't mean that I am Chinese). Guess that's the uniqueness living under one roof and one name, Malaysia. We get lots and lots of holiday due to our multiracial society, something that is often taken for granted. Anyhoo, Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Holiday to all my friends.

Chinese New Year in London's Chinatown...

I'm wikipedia-ing Chinese New Year, and I found this: "According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nien (Chinese: 年; pinyin: nián). Nien would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nien ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nien was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nien was afraid of the colour red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nien. From then on, Nien never came to the village again. The Nien was eventually captured by hong jun lao zu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nien became hong jun lao zu's mount." Okie, so I C&P (that would be copy-and-paste), but it's for your reading pleasure, if you are reading my blog. We celebrated holidays a lot, but none of us never took the opportunity to ask how it came into being. We are always ignorant of history, something that most of us considered boring, but actually helped us a lot, if you know what I'm saying. Okie, Edy, stop the crap!!!

But this year CNY celebration is somewhat dreary, mainly due to the recession. To be honest, 2009/2010 is not the best term ever for me; everything is slow, everything is not right, and everything...everything...well, everything is bad. Convex 2009, is not the best compared to 2008/2009, TOT committee is not that good, well to be honest (again), I'm doubtful of the leadership capability of my director, and NRIC committee is not that cheerful as it used to be (2008/2009). Whenever we have free time, most of us (NRIC 2008/2009) would go to the Bilik Gerakan, either to wait for the next class, finish our assignments, lab reports, tutorial, etc, or we just wanna have fun. And for me, that moment is fantastic, to be able to spend precious time with my friends. And I missed the laughters that often fills the air of that room.

And how do I connect all of this to the economic recession??? Let us see:

The economic recession of late-2000s, which begins in December 2007 in the United States and with much intensity since September 2008, affected much of the world, plunging it into the greatest economic meltdown (is this the right thing to say???) since the Great Depression of the 1930s (which also drove the World War II). Malaysia, affected by the recession, has implement necessary steps in order to save what little of the economy we have (cewahh, ayat tu), hence laying off jobs and cut the budget. Budget cut means that companies are not able to support other activities other than their own, thus the word sponsorship does not exist in their account books...hehehe. And laying off jobs means that students nowadays, especially us, the undergraduates, have to study hard to achieve good results, hoping (as well as crossing their fingers) that jobs will be available to them once they graduated with Hons. So, putting all the pieces together, no sponsorship, no money, minimal things to do, no fun. Even Mark commented that their sponsorship for Convex '09 is not good. No jobs, study hard, no time to do fun things, no fun either. Huh...I hope you can see the link. Wow, imagine, how reckless and unsustainable lending practices resulting from the deregulation and securitization of real estate mortgages in the United States could lead to one another, like the book I read about climate change in Europe, which resulted in centuries of warm climate, good harvests and population growth. You got to admit even though we are continents apart, there are still things that links us to one another. One that I could think of: Facebook.

The new feature in Facebook is striking. I like it, centralised, although a bit confusing. It will take a while, before I can wind my way up in this new feature. The old one is easier to manage, i.e. (FYI, that means ib ed), the log out button is easier to find. Anyway, it's good, just good. Facebook is an integral part of our life. For me, I can't survive without knowing what's happening in Facebook. The problem is, I can't access it from my own room, due to the wifi connectivity here in Tekun. And that leads us to our next topic: Wifi connectivity in USM's Desasiswa. Okie, this topic might be a little sensitive to others, but hey, I have freedom to express my  thoughts and hence my words (the pact that I made a long time ago in my first post). To begin with, USM HOTSPOT IS SO BAD I CAN'T EVEN DOWNLOAD A 1.0 MB SONG!!! Just 1.0, that's all (there is a 1.0 MB song). And to top it all, the building structure, the low performance of my laptop, and other interference such as the networks between laptop used to play DoTA weaken or appear to weaken the signal, and that leads to zero Internet...huh. But now, USM have taken steps to ensure that every room have Internet connectivity, by installing some kind of router in every cluster of 4 rooms. And yet, the Internet connectivity is still weak, but don't judge others quickly. Besides, the system is still in its infancy, and the low Hotspot connectivity may be attributed to my weak-performance laptop. Time to get some formatting.

Speaking of formatting................hmm...I guess I better stop. The eyes are a bit heavy now...I better get some good sleep, which I'm struggling to have, since my body clock change.

Well, that's all...

ZzZZZzzzzz...

It's Over

After weeks of much hard work plus the stress involved, finally it’s over by the time that Prof. Omar Osman walked out from Dewan Budaya. As soon as he stepped out into the foyer, a relief filled my lung. Huh, the event has ended already. And it was great. Although there is technical difficulties here and there, Majlis Penjenamaan Sekretariat Sinar Perpaduan/Rukun Negara were successful and the sustainability theater “Ish..Ish..Ish..” was a box office one. The crowd’s big applause yesterday was an indication how much the theater captured the attention of the whole crowd especially the V.I.P., Prof. Omar Osman and the Pemangku Pengarah Jabatan Perpaduan Negara & Integrasi Nasional Pulau Pinang, En. Saidi bin Midin. The message is deep but somehow they can capture it. It was so exciting, and although a bit nervous and inexperienced in this whole “pengarah projek” thing, it’s still a blastful one. And special thanks to the committee and the university and the government for their big support, especially money in order for this event to be a successful one. Just a simple event, but it is enriching.

That’s the good part. Now for the bad part; apart from the apparent technical difficulties (it’s not a big deal actually, but it kinda make me embarrassed somehow…), yesterday is TOO MUCH HECTIC. Long story short: 3 tests, the whole day event and NRIC meeting at night.

The long story: I have MAT263 (Probability Theory) test at 10 a.m. and I don’t even study for it, given that I have full rehearsal the yesterday’s yesterday night (Monday night) and I have to finished my text before the event (which I managed to finish a few hours before the event, more like an hour before the event) and I’m staying at PUMA late at night until 4 a.m. and I have to supervise the placement of the sculpture at Pohon Perpaduan. After 4 a.m., me and a couple of friend went back to our own desa, take my bath and sleep for four hours before waking up at 9 a.m., went to DK V and guess what? I am going to get zero for the test because most of my answers are blank. Nada! Zip! Shit! This is the first time that I went for a test and didn’t even study for it. And it is a mistake that I’m going to learn. And I have to escape the Persidangan meja bulat: “Hala Tuju Perpaduan dalam kalangan Warga Kampus” which is held at Konkos at the same time I’m having my test.

Finish my test, I went to the Computer Sciences School, to meet my lecturer, Dr. Yap, see if he could postpone my test to other day, and my intuition was right. He won’t let me, because I told him at the last minute, and he said if you want to score for the test, do properly for next Test 2, which mean that for any mark that I scored in Test 2 will be the mark for my Test 1. Nothing beats experience: Test 2 is generally harder than Test 1, and I doubt my ability to get higher mark for the next test. So, I strike a deal with him, I said I wanted to do the test at 6 to 7 p.m. and he gave me green light. Yes! One problem solved, another came up. Now I have to supervise the whole event and finished my text, the last obstacle.

I’m not really good with words but when idea came in, I wrote like a storm. Seriously!!! After the deal, I went to PUMA, finished my text, went to the banquet and entertain the guest from IPT North Zone. And one thing: my communication skills are not that good, so it’s kinda difficult to entertain them, but still it’s fun talking to a lot of people. And finally after much hard work, the event started. First En. Saidi came, and we escort him to the VIP room; next came Prof. Omar Osman, and still we have to wait for Pengarah Bahagian Pembangunan Lestari dan Korporat, Prof. Muhamad Jantan to come but after 2.30 p.m., there’s no sign of him so without further hesitation, we invited Prof. OO to the stage and started the whole thing. We have to sing Negaraku without music, the technical difficulty that got me blushing, and En. Saidi talked a lot. And I am lil’ bit disappointed when nobody talked about the sculpture during the gimic, but never mind, at least they saw it. And the best part of all is the theater. I like the concept, and the message, although some people commented what relationship does Rukun Negara have with the theater. But for me it’s still a bomb. And like I said, the moment we walked outside after the theater was over, I was a bit relief. A bit? Yeah, because we thought we have already inserted the resolution from the meja bulat along with the gift inside En. Saidi bag, but we haven’t. I will solve that later.

Although the event finished early, I took time to hang out with my friend before sitting for the test; I deserved to rest after so many hard work okie!!! At 6 p.m., I went to DK R for CMM222 test (that would be Database Design; I’m minoring in Computer Sciences). My comment: It was okie, and I am able to answer a lot, although my answers maybe wrong. But still, I have to satisfy myself with the answers and I’m not even listening to the lecture being held.

Last obstacle: MAT202 test (Introduction to Analysis) and for this test, I am happy with it. Some answers maybe wrong but still, I am happy. Fuh…all tests done, and after that NRIC meeting at Bilik Gerakan (we share the same room with Convex). Last night meeting was attended by our new Project manager, Nik Hussein, and I was bit shocked because they said the new PM is Nur Hazim, the NYDP for MPP 09/10. The meeting was also attended by Wafi, the new YDP for MPPUSM 09/10. By this time, I was a bit sleepy and tired, YES, I AM TIRED, but still in mood for the meeting. Ooh, I didn’t take my bath for the whole day…hahhaa.

Okie lah, that’s was my day for yesterday…

Don’t even know what I wanted to say next so I’m going to leave it like this…

Tada…

MPP

This morning (around 3.00 a.m.) was the announcement of the new Student Representative Council or Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP) USM for the academic year 2009/2010. And the new MPP for the Konstituensi Umum is:

Abel Benjamin Lim

Ahmad Wafi bin Sahedan

Aishah Mohd Marsin

Bazilah Mohamad Zaki

Muhamad Nur Hazim bin Mazlan

Sivaneswari Muniandy

A big applause and congratulation to all of them, be it the winner and those who didn't make it. The winner: I hope that all of you realize that this is a big responsibility and dedication of leading an APEX university and I hope that in whatever you are doing, always remember your supporters because without them you wouldn't be here anyway. Do your best towards driving the USM student body and the whole to greatness. HIDUP ASPIRASI!!!

For those who didn't make it, don't worry. Even if you couldn't represent your university, you can still do your best leading the university, albeit from behind the throne. Always contribute to the university and in whatever you are doing, give your full support. 

For me, become one of the MPP doesn't matter at all, because it's just a title given to you and well, several privileges. But deep down inside we are all, still, students of our beloved University. Bearing the MPP title does not make any difference at all, because those who doesn't bear the title can still make a huge difference. But the privileges that they enjoy set us apart. Yeah that's true.

Some people asked me, why I didn't run for MPP? The answer is simple: I don't want to be 'bounded' by one organization. That's it. My friend told me once that people like me, who joined quite a lot of activities, described them as 'gila event'. I refuted the statement but when I think about it, yeah, you could say I am 'gila event'. Well, not gila lah, it's just that I've been so bored and that's the reason why I joined a lot. I have this what I called as 'volunteerism blood' running in my vein. Everytime another event showed up, one that involves the University, somehow there is this hunger in my heart, and my brain telling me "join it". And automatically I walked to that place and my hand signing my name on it.

Freaky huh??? Now I imagine myself as Sylar, craving for all that power...

Luckily for me, I'm not the only one with this kind of 'hunger'. Some of my friends do joined quite a lot of activities and sometimes we do happen to be in the same event. A coincidence? No...

Well, back to the "Why I didn't run for the MPP?" question. First of all, there is not a single, even a slightest notion in me telling that I have to run for MPP. NO, NO, NO. And second, I am quite a "playboy" event. Think about it, if I do run for MPP and win, then I wouldn't be able to join a lot of activities such as NRIC, TOT, Rukun Negara, PERSIS and so much more. Those things are fun and exciting, something that I have been looking for since I graduated from high school years ago and lost my sense of excitement. After all, I am gila event and not wanted to be bounded at all.

Ahhh...finish talking about MPP...bla, bla, bla. Now, back to my life, I had my first motorbike accident on Wednesday. HAHAHAHAA...yes, and proud of it, although I have to endure the humiliation of being lying on the road and with the motor. And worst of all, I'm riding my friend's motorcycle, but it's fine, just a minor scratch. Me??? I have this modest abaration near my left elbow, and now it hurts. Ouch. And I wish I have those power of spontaneous regeneration (like Claire Bennet have) which can heal me in seconds. But at least I have scar to show off to girls...hahahhahahahaa. Am I crapping??? Maybe...hehehee

Well, that's all for today. Until next time...

Au revoir...

What happened???

Well, it's been a while since my last post, not sure when is that. Been preoccupied with my work in NRIC, TOT and Rukun Negara really make me hectic nowadays, the URL speak for itself. Huh, miss this blog so much, my very own bloggy...heheheee.

Well, as a start, a big HAPPY 20TH BELATED BIRTHDAY TO YOU EDUARD EDWIN. I should have written these words in my blog a few days ago, but only now that I have find the time needed to write in it, or the time needed to write a new blog. I'm celebrating it with a few surprises here and there and word of encouragement from my mother: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON. Semoga Tuhan memberkati dan memberi engkau kebijaksanaan. I LOVE YOU". These words make my day, and this is the first time she ever said this to me. I LOVE YOU TOO MUM, the strongest person I have ever known. GOD BLESS YOU TOO. And that day is the happiest day ever for me. Hope with a year older (uwaaaaaaa...) I'll get a lot wiser and be able to do so many great things and God Bless Me, AMEN.

On a happier (maybe sad) note, I get to know what happened to SYN, which stands for Steven Yeam Network, the corporate institution that I joined (once) with the hope that I could get through these economic recession and more importantly, I don't have to work for money, instead people work for me. Sounds familiar enough??? If you're thinking about MLM (Multi-Level-Marketing), then 10 points for you. Yup, it's all network marketing, but it's different from door-selling (which is horrible...really) and although the marketing plan is difficult (yet attractive), many have five-figure income once they attained the Marques status. Hmmm...want to know more what I'm talking about???

SYN stands for Steven Yeam Network (or as we say it "Sexy, Young and Naughty", generally because they're all still young and pretty much sexy, and naughty, myself included) is an independent team of distributors (Network Marketer) founded under the vision and leadership of Arch Duke Steven Yeam. With almost 20 years of network marketing exposure and experience under his belt, he has successfully created the biggest and most influential movement which manifests through SYN, in the network marketing industry throughout South East Asia. They revolutionizes the network marketing industry with the induction of a Pay Forward System, not sure what that means and I don't understand it, still. During the course of this organization, they have helped a lot of people to achieve success, donate to a lot of people, helping to make the world a better day, because of their motto: "We Care". Want to know more? Google DCHL and you'll find the answers.

Reality is, world doesn't always worked like that. They are a lot of good stuffs and bad one too. Some people who joined them do achieve success, but others like me, that's what they called "dead" (or mati in Malay). We joined them in the hope that after we graduated, we would become a Marques, or Duke, and then we could help people too. We paid a lot and we hope that we are able to withstand any challenges that comes ahead. But some, on their way to success, like me, falls out, cut off and hopeless. The once dream that I had was no longer there to keep me alive. Because when I joined them, I act before I think. Because I was afraid of them, that they gonna cut me off. I was freshman at that time, being alone in a new territory, friends are essential. So I had to do it, but face the consequences up to this day. But I can't denied I had a great time with them; they're the best friends I've ever had, up until today. They taught me things I've never known before. But I'm not into these things anymore, okie? I'm done. I'm just not cut out for business. To think like one, everybody can do that, but to act like one? It's going to take a little bit more than just dream; passion, great will, leadership capabilities. I try to asked my friends but I failed. Now damages done, no can undo. But I'm happy with things nowadays. Found my peace too, hmmm...

On my birthday, I got to found out what happened to them, as well as the rest of my once sidelines too. August 2009: Arch Duke Steven Yeam announced that he's going to form a new company, similar to DCHL (Digital Crowns Holding Limited - SYN very own umbrella) but different in business strategies, titles, marketing plan. Not only network marketing is the main core of business, but also online business, and hmm...forgot the rest, but as far as I know they are 5 main business core of this company, including the aforementioned one. And guess what's the name? 1Company. But it doesn't have nothing in common with Dato Najib concept of 1Malaysia, or so it seems. He claimed he thought about it WAY before Najib became Prime Minister. So when Najib sits on the throne, Steven introduced the company to all the SYN members during that August NDO (which stands for New Distributor Orientation, an important part of the organization, a complete exposure of the company and how to become an effective network marketer). I don't know if these are true or not; I'm "dead" anyway, but I can guess they don't like to see their capable and respected leader walk away from his own team and DCHL. Well, if Steven Yeam walked away, they're always gonna be someone who's replacing him, and I'm thinking of Duke Winnie (the Winner's team - I was on her team once), but from what I heard, he's taking other leaders too off DCHL into his new company. So, think, if the main pillar of power has gone, they're always gonna be someone to be the other pillar of power provided that they still there, but if all the capable and future pillar of powers has been taken away, what do you think would happen to the other small pillar of power or all those Marques, Count, Baron and Franchisee? 

Well, they're in the mess right now. Some still hold on to this business and believe there are still a bit of hope to recover but generally, many have stopped doing it, or at least temporarily hold on. Lost. Hopeless. Just like I was. I don't know the state of their mess, but this word describes it all: chaotic. Kucar-kacir, berterabur. From what I heard, Steven Yeam (ex Arch Duke) tried to lure them back together into the new companies. But it's gonna be very hard for him. He's expanding into Penang as well, open a new office on mainland side of Penang. For those who are still in this business, it's be gonna extremely hard for them, considering that there are no more NDOs (I heard so), hence training of the new distributors, if they managed to get one, have to be postpone or even if they tried too, they lack the former glory of orientation they once have, with all the leaders went away. Hmm...sad to think about it...even though I have, well, "dead", I still love them and miss them so much. Even though they are no longer in this business together - my upline is in Kelantan right now, medical study, my up-up-upline involved with all these photography thing, and the rests just stop or temporarily hold on - they still gather together, at that one place I favour a lot, Gee Tomyam. And boy, how much I miss being able to stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning at Gee and sit there talking nonsense, just enjoying our time together. Hmmm...seriously I miss them. And the reason I didn't contact my upline? I was ashamed that I got out from this business, ashamed that I cannot do better and to prove to him that I can do well in this business. Now, I'm starting to miss them

Well, that's all I'm gonna said now. I didn't said that this business is bad,  but some people are just not cut out for this kind of business, or for business in general. Some have great things going on for them, they're just gonna have to search for that subtle signs. Others have the abilities to do whatever they wanted to do (I'm not talking about Heroes); it depends on which side of the road that you choose. Some, like me, are still certain of what they wanted to do in life, but are still searching for the other roads, to seek other great opportunities, one that carved out the best in me and make me a better person. I hold on to my sister's word: learn from mistakes. History tends to repeat if you keep doing the same thing all over again........

ZZZZZZZZ...