Mind Blowing

Thoughts and other crap on people, life and maybe footie...
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Sunday, January 30, 2005

Global Meltdown

yep....she's hot alrite. 'she' is Malaysia. and for those not here to experience it...it's friggin' hot here lately. i can't remember the last time it rained in KL. this afternoon, we were lucky to get 5 minutes of drizzling rain in seremban. yup...u read that right...5 minutes....or was that 3? and this coming from a tropical country where we get rain all year long. something is seriously wrong with the global climate, and i don't need no NASA scientists to tell me that.
as i sit here sweating in my own room at midnight gives u an idea of how hot it is. last night, i even slept with the air-condition on....something i don't do often coz i'll end up in the morning with my nose running like the Ulu Bendul falls. the heat really makes it tiring to go anywhere. i just feel like staying indoors until this heat wave is over. but then, i'll be almost 30 by the time i get out.
speaking of heat, just completed the PTD exams today. the exam was held at the KGV school dewan, where the afternoon heat was really felt. i was sweating and feeling sticky all over, and to be in this crummy dewan...mannn...u'd wished there was a swimming pool nearby. the exams was okay, i guess. just trying out my luck. kutuk-kutuk Gomen pun, nak keje gak ngan Gomen. heyyy...if someone's gonna be KSN, why not me? hehehe....
i really hope this heat wave will be over soon. it physically and mentally drains you. everything looks crummy. grasses are no longer green and my car looks like a piece of junk. gotta send her for wash tomorrow. usually it's the rain that does this job, but haven't seen that for a while.
i guess all of this has got to do with the crazy global climate that we're experiencing now. first, there was the snow in Dubai, freak storms in the US and even floods in Mecca! something fishy is seriously going on here. sometimes i just feel that the end is near. memang kita umat akhir zaman pun, but i honestly hope i'm long gone before it happens. this is no doomsday alarm here. it's just how i feel and it's funny that i may acknowledge it, but do nothing to prepare myself. let's hope for better weather and to better times ahead...

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Movie and Me

ughhhh...it's been a hectic week for me. no mood to bitch about work and shit. yeahhh...so everybody says work sucks. i'm not gonna add to that. baik aku cite benda lain. at least it keeps my mind of this load of shit that's been piled upon me.
so they announced the nominees for this year's Academy Awards yesterday. not much suprise. ohhh yeahh..Puteri Gunung Ledang wasn't nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category. as if laaaa, but u know being malaysian...u just hoped...mana lah tau kan?? it was a long, long shot anyway. and besides, the movie wasn't all that great.
i love the Oscars. i've been in love with it since i was in school. i dunno...it just made me feel so good to watch an 'Oscar Nominated' film. it's like you were with the 'In' crowd at a film critics' society or something. but more often than not, Oscar winners seldom dissapoint. who could forget Tom Hanks running for his life as the cry of 'Run, Forrest, run' plays in the background. or the sight of a stuttering Dustin Hoffman recalling every name and number in the phone book in 'Rain Man'. or even the great Sir Anthony Hopkins asking, 'Have the lambs stopped screaming, Clarrreeesssss?
i'm a big fan of movies, but then...who isn't? whether it's a summer action no-brainer or the heaviest of all dramas...i love them if they entertain me, whether mentally or just for the fun of it. but at times...it's great to have movies that make you think, because movies are about life and the world we live in. it could be superman flying around in his underwear or just about a small-town family in rural America...somehow, u could relate to it.
and because i consider that nothing much happens in my life, it's great to escape reality by indulging myself in a movie. movies inspire, teach and comfort me. they move me, make me laugh (but not cry). the closest i've ever come to crying in a movie is 'I Am Sam'. itupun aku dah sebak habiss, tapi sebab hati dah stone...the teardrops didn't fall. so powerful are movies that they can unite and yet...make people go to war. the world seems to be an interesting place from a movie's point of view. that's why if it's 'Based on a true story', the story usually sells. which shows that life IS interesting. it's just us that go about whining about it. (or is it just me?)
so who will be reciting their long-waited acceptance speech this February 27th? what oscar moment will be lived and remembered for this year? who will be cheering? who will be whining? the big studios have already started their marketing campaign. it's an all-out war. it's not pretty, but that's Hollywood. i've always dreamed about winning an Oscar. i even have an idea of how my acceptance speech will go like. but then reality strucked and i realise that i'm stuck here in my office at 6.30 typing out my blog. sigh.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Dial M for Marriage

hmmm...seems the only thing i've been hearing about these past 2 weeks is about marriage. a couple of friends are getting married soon if not later this year, my sister's planning one end of this year and cousins? well...let's just say i've got the school holidays pretty much occupied.
as i hit the magic number that is 25 this month, u can't help but think about this. (kalo tak caye, ko tunggu until u hit 25 and tell me). actually, it doesn't bother me that much. and i mean that in the most honest way possible. problem is, everyone around me is worried. not worried about me lah silly (though i know some of u kesiannnn tgk stone...hahahha), rather...they're worried about the big M word. Kawin...ehhh..Marriage.
yeah..marriage is not an easy thing. it's too big to be jotted down in a couple of paragraphs in this stupid ol' blog of mine. actually...i just wanna write about my thoughts on marriage as i am now at 25 years and 13 days. it might change completely as time goes by...but at this particular moment in time, let's just spill it out on the table.
first question everyone from your long-lost cousin to your friendly neighbourhood mamak asks is of course....'Calon dah ada?' which of course leads to the question, 'Bile nak kawin?' what is it actually about Malays and kawin? it's like the most accepted question no matter where u are, be it at the post office, kenduri kahwin (duh!) or even the toilet. i won't be jumping the gun to answer these questions here. but it IS something i think about and one which i really take seriously...no matter what u people think.
honestly and truthfully.....i don't see myself marrying in one or two years. i'l stick my neck out here and say well...let's just say the 'Calon takde' part is not part of the equation. some may say...'Pompuan bodoh mana laaa nak tunggu ko.' then i consider myself lucky to meet that so-called 'Pompuan bodoh'. (no sexism intended here)
i have to agree that women don't have time on their side. the biological clock is alive and counting down fast. so it would then be rather logical that it would be the ladies to think of settling down earlier than the man. i dunno about u guys, but for me...a 27 year old guy and a 27 year old girl are worlds apart in terms of thinking. it's some kind of wonder that women mature faster than the men...coz when 12 year old girls are worrying about the size of their breasts, 12 year old boys are still wondering how on earth does Ultraman go to the toilet?? and to think that us men have 2 heads. probably we're using the wrong one....hehe.
jokes aside...for me, marriage is a really big thing. it's a commitment by two individuals to live together for the rest of your lives. to share your ups and down, your friend, partner, lover, listener. i just look at my parents to enjoy the beauty of marriage. yeahh..they have fights once in a while, and it's not all smooth sailing. but by hook or by crook, they get thru everything. Together. when my mom had to rush home from the States to deliver me, leaving him alone and working part-time at a meat factory. it's not all rosy, but then it's not all that thorny either.
maybe it's just my family, coz i have lots of older cousins who are still in line to the errr...throne? trust me, i won't be melangkah, but rather leaping benduls if i get married this year. so what's the rush? but that's being little selfish me, without thought for the other one. coz..well, u know..u need 2 people to get married rite?
i dunno. i guess it doesn't run in my blood to marry early. my mom once told me she didn't care if she didn't get married at all. she had her job, her family, u know..the usual. but that was before my dad came to her in his shiny armour, of course. and i guess 33 years later...if i ask her the same question again...i would surely get a different answer. and besides....tak dapat la anak cute macam aku ni...hehehe...
but i don't believe in rushing into marriage. (except khalwat laaa..but that's a different story) it's something u've got to prepare urself for. actually, the financial part of it is the most vital. i mean...if u hardly have enough for urself...how the hell are u gonna support 2-3 people?? i don't wanna marry just for the sake of marrying. i want to have enough not for myself, but for everyone. money can't buy happiness? well, maybe it can't...but it certainly can buy a house, car and some diapers and milk. but how much is enough? i dunno...tapi bak kata orang, 'Kalau dah tiba seru tu..' well, i know i haven't heard that seru yet.
besides, unless i feel that i can give the best that i can to my family, i'd rather menyusahkan diri sendiri. marriage is no joke and i don't wanna be the one laughing alone.
this of course depends on each individual and family backgrounds. i'm lucky, i guess..to have a family who doesn't bother much about this thing. maybe they bother, but they sure don't look so. as i write this, i too...long for that special day, being the Raja Sehari. to have a family of my own. to watch your own child's birth. to watch them take their first steps. to...ehhhh...apa aku mengarut nih...hehe. but who wouldn't? tapi bukan nak cakap apa laaa...unless u plan to be a hermit, everyone has that desire to settle down and have a family. i guess mine's not anytime soon. but u never know, right?

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Quite a fee for a pee

yesterday, i shelled out 2 bucks....well..it was more like a buck je coz kuman belanja singgit. still, it was the most i ever paid to go to the loo. 2 bucks mannnn...for a wee-wee? i can just imagine it, saying to my kid..."Masa time ayah dulu bayar 2 ringgit pergi toilet pun dah mahal" as i shelled out 5 bucks for him to go to the toilet. so oil prices have soared...but the loo?? c'mon laaaaa....
well, that so-called luxurious toilet can be found in Suria KLCC. it's been around for some time, but after some coaxing (and some incentives, i might add) from kuman...i reluctantly stepped inside the 'Taj Mahal' of all toilets.
inside, i found the place very clean...something unusual for a public toilet in Malaysia. the smell was nice, and they even had this guy (like a butler) on standby. for what reason i don't know. maybe he'll give me a back massage or something kot...i thought. inside the toilet cubicle they had this full-size mirror in front of you so that u could watch yourself peeing (i think). seriously i didn't know the purpose of that, but if the toilet is for both ladies and men...then a million ideas pop up to mind...hehhehe. baru la Ally Mcbeal. and the toilet was supposed to be automatic too. well, automatic my ass lahhh coz i had to flush the darn thing myself. so much for technology.
but u know how i like my toilets....with water pipes of course! there was none available, but you could utilise the cute tissue papers they provided in Kimberly-Clark dispensers. 2 bucks and no water?? toilet pe bende ni?? i shall not start on that coz that'll take another entry all by itself.
it was kinda funny coz they provided some body spray, talcum powder and i think some kind of moisturizer at the sink. it gets weirder and weirder as i explored this 2 dollar toilet. apa? ada orang mandi sini ke? there was no shower, so throw that idea out. but it was all Body Shop lah so i guess some part of the 2 ringgit goes there kot. and they even had those wet towels u could take that smelled nice. that was kinda cool, coz it really helps to freshen u up.
so that was my trip to the 'Two Dollar Loo' in KLCC. but here's my idea of what a real 2 ringgit toilet should look like...
1) firstly, get rid of the guy inside. replace with a girl. and vice versa for the women's toilet.
2) WATER! get me some water, for goodness sake. not cute, white tissue paper. ingat ni wedding ke??
3) improvise on the things at the sink la people. talcum powder? baik letak je some cheap immitation perfume for all i care....
4) 4 until 10 cannot be explained here due to explicit content, but it has something to do with No. 1

so if u ask me was it worth the Two Ringgit, well...let me say that after a full nasi lemak with lauk in the morning...u wouldn't give a damn if it was 10 bucks punnn. when nature calls...u BETTER come calling!
*for other perspectives and pictures, click HERE*

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Friday, January 14, 2005

MasterCard My Ass

Birthday cake: RM 39.00


Birthday present: RM 79.95


A simple birthday wish: Priceless


There are some things in life money can't buy. My friends are one of them.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

25 Signs You've Reached 25

what is about being 25? everything. u can hardly ignore it when there's telltale signs like these:

1. mother, father, aunts and just about everybody starts talking about marriage (yours that is)
2. u wonder what happened to Chickadees, Vanilla Ice and Wan Zaleha Radzi
3. half the bands u once listened to are broken up, bankrupt or just plain dead
4. 'Mmmbop' is playing on Classic MTV
5. the store clerk calls u 'Abang'
6. u first watched porn on video tape
7. Laser Discs used to be part of your life
8. Michael Jackson was once your idol
9. money starts to become a problem
10. your dream job as a kid doesn't seem to be so dreamy after all
11. u feel old to get into the mosh pit
12. buckles on your bell-bottomed 'seluar petak' used to be cool
13. old women get offended when u call them 'Makcik'
14. your childhood friend introduces you to his son/daughter
15. people wish you 'Selamat Tuakan Diri', 'Happy Silver Anniversary' instead of the usual Happy Birthday
16. your student ID card is null and void
17. your IC still has a black and white photo
18. u hardly know anyone back in college
19. no one asks you anything when u step inside a pub, snooker centre or even the 'kedai kuda'
20. the term 'Teenager' and 'Youth' no longer apply to you
21. people address u with an 'Encik' in front of your name
22. supermodels are younger than you
23. u're affected by price hikes
24. some of your friends watch Bloomberg and CNBC seriously
25. u wished u were 10 again

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Monday, January 10, 2005

Cry, and the world cries with you

"A tragic situation exists precisely when virtue does not triumph but when it is still felt that man is nobler than the forces which destroy him."
George Orwell

how true it is.
i find it kinda sad that people unite only in times of crisis. the tsunami tragedy that shocked the world over the last 2 weeks have seen humanitarian efforts unlike any seen before. it's like the whole world stood at a standstill on December 26 as news of the tsunami and its aftermath spread out. suddenly everyone from Penang to Pennsylvania, Singapore to Switzerland felt the wrath of the tragedy as the images started playing on our screens. as the death toll increased, so does the amount of donations and aid to the victims.
Malaysians too, were not left out as donation after donation started pouring in to the various charities that were set up in the immediate wake of the disaster. yesterday's Mingguan Malaysia exclusive with Dr. Jemilah Mahmood revealed the emotions and turbulations that Mercy Malaysia had to deal with, being among the first foreign aid service to arrive in Acheh. such a strong character, she is. bless her and everyone at Mercy Malaysia. but it's not just them who arrived early in Acheh, the people from the Malaysian Red Crescent Society and our SMART team was also among the first outsiders on the desolate earth that is now Acheh. it's times like these u feel proud to be a Malaysian. but the feeling doesn't stop at being a Malaysian alone. suddenly u feel proud of humanity.
the story of the homeless man in Britain who emptied his pockets to give out whatever he had to help out, the little kids who broke their piggy banks to chip in and countless other stories of people giving, providing help to a fellow human being. in these dark times, it is truly remarkable to see the human spirit propser.
but there are of course, the bad side of us. the ugly face of mankind. we know the stories, the people who dump their trash to give out to charity, the ones who kidnaps children to be smuggled out and others who take advantage of such a tragic incident. that we are men, who can be so kind and yet cruel at the same time.
but let not these be distractions to the real heroes in the front line. the givers, the aid workers, leaders and their Governments, and yes...even the media. for if not for those powerful images on TV, people would not have been moved to act swiftly. even i become close to tears upon watching the footages they play on CNN. never have i felt so touched and inspired by the courage and generosity of people in this tragedy. we can only hope for mankind to be like this during happier times. somehow i feel it is just hope.
i could keep on blabbering about this, but Kalimullah Hassan has it well written here. this is my tribute to all those who contributed one way or another to the tsunami tragedy. in however way, whether directly or indirectly, u have my upmost respect because in these times of grief...u don't differentiate color, race, name or status in giving to a fellow man. because in the end, we are all the same, just inhabitants on God's earth.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Rasah Road Revisited

a week or two ago, while on my way to Tampin for my cousin's wedding...we passed by my late gradmother's house in Rasah. i was shocked to see it partially ruined. "ehhh..bukan lambat lagi ke diorang nak runtuhkan?? kajun tak inform pun." we were already aware that the house was to be demolished to make way for a by-pass highway along that road. even my friend was an engineer working on this project. so in a way...i hold him partially responsible. no lah, gurau je...hehhehe. and anyways, my mom and all her 10 siblings have already received partial payment as composition for the destruction of the 80+ year-old house. it was from this that i learned that they pay even higher (almost double) to business premises. should i have known this earlier, maybe i should have made a makeshift burger stand, operating on the weekends for an hour or so. kaya aku....hahhahahaha.
but anyhow, i managed to grab a few shots that afternoon before they demolish it entirely. last i checked during the past weekend, the whole house was down. so maybe i was half-lucky to get some pictures of the house before they tore it down. but even the shots i got was the house in semi-demolished state, with half the house already in ruins. it was a sad sight for a place that holds so many wonderful memories for a lot of people, which included me.
99 Jalan Rasah atau lebih glamour...99 Rasah Road was the place where i grew up on. i actually stayed here for more than a year when i was 10. this was my playground, my shelter, the home away from home. masa aku sunat pun aku duduk sini. i remember walking around naked in the house, coz i hate the feeling of the kain sarong brushing against the skin of my u-know-what. because i loved this place so much, i wanna give a short tour of this house, more affectionately known as 'Rumah Tok Chik' becoz my grandfather passed away when i was 5 and most of us remember the house as my grandma's house, rather than his. i cannot even write a miniscule of the stories that the house has been thru, but since pictures speaks a thousands words..i hope that it at least gives a glimpse of the story...


View depan
this is a view from in front of the house. as u can see from the picture, the house is situated very closely to the road. there's also a railroad track nearby, with a crossing..so u could guess how noisy it would have been. i find it funny that we didn't bother much about the noise then. come to think of it, this would explain why my mother and aunts like to talk very loud when they're together. we call this area 'Depan rumah' (duh!) or more appropriately the living room lah. my cousins and i used to play football in the lawn area here. the goal area would be the stick of grass u can see at the bottom of the picture. i couldn't count the number of times we broke the living room windows because of a great 'sepakan tonjol' in front of goal. this lawn also served as a badminton court, rugby field, aussie rules pitch (due to cousins coming back from Australia), mercun and bunga api pitch, galah panjang and BMX stunt action arena, not to mention countless other mind-boggling games we played back then, which also included making a bomb from some used batteries, lubricant oil, paper and cloth. nothing happened, but u get an idea where the chemical mind comes from....hehe.



View dari belakang
this is a view of the back of the house. see that piece of wood danggling from the tree? that used to be part of a so-called tree house we built back then. it's a so-called tree house becoz it looked nothing like the tree houses u see in movies. it was just a few pieces of wood nailed to a tree, but u could put 3 kids up there. we abandoned the place after my dad got bitten by a centipede when he tried to pick some rambutans. and oh yeah..the tree here gives of some sweet rambutans during fruit season. i remember that we had to utilise 2 kids to handle the galah to pick the fruits. one to hold the galah in place, the other to turn it around.



Tangga dapur
this sad part that's in ruins is one of my favourite spots. it's a picture of the staircase adjoining the house to the kitchen. during Ramadhan, when we haven't yet mastered the art of fasting, those who didn't fast had to sit out of the dinner table to give way to others who were fasting. i would sit here watching everyone talking and eating their meals while waiting for my turn to go. as a kid, u looked forward to the day that u were part of the group eating at the dinner table. it's like a rite of passage, a small sign that u've grown up and started fasting. this staircase also has bit of hitory in me where when i was a little over 3 or 4, i fell down here and cracked my head. it required a few stitches and i still bear the sign on my head till this day. the only memory i have of that day was sitting in the back seat of my late Atuk's Peugeot with blood running down my face.



Toilet Rasah
this was another fun place in the house, the toilet and bathroom. the stairs lead directly to my late Tok Chik's room. this staircase was also notorious in bleeding some of my other cousins in the head. as kids, we loved to play with water, so this was our paradise. we used to bathe together ramai-ramai (the boys la) and swim around in the kolah air as our own swimming pool. mannn..that was really nasty. we would have been killed if our parents knew about this then. i kinda pitied with them now knowing they took their baths and wuduk using 'kid-contaminated' water. Tok Chik's room was another story itself. during my 1 year spell here, i would sleep together with her in this room. she loved all of her grandchildren...though she has favourites, she would never show so. i miss her so much, she passed away 5 years ago in this house when i was in my first year of university. i'm reminded of her whenever i smell the aroma of Cuticura talcum powder and ZamZam oil. how times have gone by...



Bawah rumah
this here is called 'Bawah rumah' becoz basically it's a room underneath the house. it's our own basement, where all the junk goes to. i've never been inside the room as a full-grown adult, but i would imagine it being so small and the ceiling was low. we would love to hand around here as well...being kids u never cared about the dust, insects and other God-knows-what down here.



Antiques
and finally, as i was looking thru some stuff at the house, before they get their dirty little hands and bulldozers over my Tok Chik's property...i found some interesting items. from left to right:
an issue of a 1970 Time magazine with the cover story of the crisis in the Middle East (after 34 years...what else is new??), an old vinyl record of 2 P. Ramlee songs taken from a movie (i can't recall the title). i'm thinking of auctioning this off on Ebay Malaysia with a starting bid of 100 Ringgit...any takers?, the next one is a gem...a book titled 'Day by Day 1963 Horoscope'. i think if i ever made a book, i certainly would want it to sell for more than ONE year, rite?? i mean...i could always rely on my 'Day to Day 1963 Horoscope' in 2005. 2005 man!! we don't listen to Garfunkel and we don't 'Make Love Not War'. the green book at the far right is a collection of malay proverbs...it has my Pak Long's name in it when he was studying in Kirby. i didn't return it to him though...didn't think he would mind.
and so...a brief tour of 99 Jalan Rasah. if u happen to head down to Port Dickson from Seremban, just after Masjid Rasah, a short distance from the railroad crossing...u would find my paradise. this was the place i grew up on, my kampung in the city, the place where dreams of Yang Yang and Van Basten were played on, where the only worry was tonight's home work and how Tok Chik would nag when we played till Maghrib. and now everything's gone and all that is left is memories. one which will live in me forever.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Welcome to Bukit Jalil Hell

why do we even bother? why do we even bother getting stuck for more than an hour in a traffic jam? why do we bother rushing back from the office that afternoon? why do we bother coming from all parts of Malaysia, from as far as Labuan? to brave the thousands of sweat and smell just to get in the stadium? to shell out a couple of ringgits so we can bring the family along? why do we bother to take a day off so that we can watch the team play? why? because we believed. and the Malaysian team failed us. and failed us miserably.
last night's Tiger Cup semifinal between Malaysia and Indonesia has got to go down as one of the worst nights in Malaysian football. first of all, we lost the match 4 - 1 after taking a lead in the 1st half. but the misery doesn't stop at the field alone. in the stands, from a spectator's view...we were pathetic as well. the behaviour of some malaysian fans last night certainly rivalled the football hooligans of England. it was mayhem and chaos all over the place. and not to mention blood and sweat. one hell of a concoction.
actually, i kinda anticipated this. but not this bad. i was snickering when TV3 reported on the incident in Jakarta and some official (i think it was Dr. Ibrahim Saad) said that malaysian fans were not like that. obviously, he was spending too much time in the VIP box. non-provocative, good-mannered and obedient football fans? must be from outer space.
but that's no excuse for last night's behaviour. it kinda reminded me of the scenes on TV of the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Turkey, without the flares. i happen to be sitting (more like standing) on the tier above the Indonesian supporters. people were throwing plastic bottles, firecrackers, food, almost anything at the indonesians below. this one guy near me...i don't think he came to the stadium for the match, coz he was busy provoking the indons the whole time. but to be fair, the Indonesians were rowdy and throwing things as well. u would expect that as football fans but in this pressure cooker atmosphere, it was a perfect brew for chaos to follow.
and to think it started out perfectly for Malaysia. the stadium was packed, with a sea of yellow everwhere (including yours truly). we got the 1st goal, which i happenned to miss as i was still searching for a place to get a good view. people were singing 'Inilah Barisan Kita' , the mexican wave was on, the crowd was noisy...it was a perfect setting for a football match.
and then the second half started.
to be fair to the Indonesians, we never deserved to win yesterday's match. we were lucky in the 1st leg as well, as the Indosians kept pounding away. but even the football gods have little patience for our pathetic display. 4 - 1 truly showed how we were outclassed by the strength, skill and speed of the Indonesians. it wasn't coincidental that the indonesian scored 3 goals in the last 30 minutes, because at the hour-mark, our boys looked like they just finished the marathon or something. we were huffing and puffing while the Indons launched their full-scale attacks. and it occurred to me.....what the hell are these people doing during training??
it was a truly dissapointing display by the boys yesterday. and u could not have asked more from the crowd. i've never been to a full-capacity Bukit Jalil stadium before but yesterday gave me a close idea to what it might be. people came from near and far, only to see Malaysia being whipped like schoolboys.
after the match was another story itself. it even got scary at one point during halftime when some Indonesian went amok in the stands. people were running and the police were all over the place. i saw some guy getting beaten up, not to mention countless other stories from friends who each had their own first-hand experience. it was a chaotic night with us Malaysians at the sad end of it.
as the dust settled on the pitch of the Bukit Jalil Stadium, we were all losers in the night. the team played badly, the fans were wild but at least the Indonesians have a cup final to look forward to. so another dissapointing outing by the Malaysian football team ends. we're getting used to this, aren't we?

note to self:
another resolution to add in 2005: will not see Malaysia play at the stadium again this year. will reconsider in 2006, only after Viera, Shevchenko and Ferdinand decides to have a change of climate and become honorary citizens of Malaysia. :)

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Monday, January 03, 2005

My 2004

1st working day of the year. so we're in 2005 now. wasn't it just yesterday we were worrying about the Y2K bug and how we were gonna solve the two digit problem? 5 years on...at the half-decade mark..a lot of things have changed. and i mean a lotttt...
but i won't dwelve on that issue for now...i just wanna reflect on the year that was for me. yup, it's always about me. me, me, me. (say it like Agent Smith in Reloaded).
anyways...2004 was a good year for me. this was the year i finally graduated from university after years of labor, and not to mention earfuls of blabbering by the family. Alhamdulillah, I finally got up on the sacred stage of the DTC to get my scroll. i also switched jobs this year, from the rough, sweaty environment of the Shah Alam factory to the air-conditioned, but sometimes stinky place near KLCC. yup..it was a contrast of workplace, but i think it was for the better. only time will tell....
other highlights include seeing Brandon Boyd live for the first time ever as Incubus set foot on our shores. it was a memorable night...i remember trying to sneak out of the factory early just to catch the show that night. me, kajun, pullah, mandom, achit and not to forget tippie. i guess it can all be summed up in Brandon's own words...
"The audience was one of the more animated that we had ever seen and proved to be so until the last note of our set. I'll never forget seeing all the girls in the crowd with their veils over their heads and dancing as hard as their Chuck Taylors would allow! It was a cultural paradox at it's finest! We'll never forget Malaysia!"
take a bow, guys....hehehe...
i think 2004 was also the year that i saw Malaysia playing live the most number of times. first, it was the showdown with Norwich City (courtesy of free tix from Radio 4), the Asian Youth Tournament in Cheras and the ongoing Tiger Cup. u can never get enough of football, no matter how teruk the Malaysian team play. oh well...
and how can i forget Old Boys' Weekend in september. ahhhh...being back in school after all these years felt great. seeing old buddies, teachers and landmarks that you grew up on...it reminds you how much time have gone by and how u wished u never grew up in the first place.
and us bloggers should be celebrating 2004 because according to ABC news...we're People of the Year. so blog was THE word of 2004. it's kinda funny being part of a cultural icon. it's like saying to your kids you were a hippy in the 60's or u danced the night away in discos back in the 70's. every generation has their own trademark...i'm just glad i had nothing to do with big hair and huge shoulder-pads.
and finally, how could we end 2004 without mentioning the tragedy that strucked us as the year ended. the tsunami disaster in Asia will go down in history as one of the worst ever and how we recover from this will be a true testament to us as human beings. with this tragedy that befell us, we can only hope for a better year ahead.
and oh yeah...i met someone special this year. truly glad i did....

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