Home of the Shrimpy Baron!!

I dont want Najib's 100 storey tower!

2010-10-21T18:43:00.003+01:00

A short update for a poinient reason!

My blog is effectively dead and I doubt anyone ever reads it anymore...

Oh well by now surely everyone knows of najib's dream of a 100 storey tower Menara Warisan Merdeka or whatever. More money for croneys! I for one dont see why the taxpayers should spend RM5 bil. or whatever for another megalomaniacal landmark soley to outdo Mamakthir's Petronas Twin Towers.

Now I love skyscrapers and Im sure the tower will be beautiful (I hope!) like the petronas towers (Esp at night) but this isnt a private enterprise! This is a POINTLESS taxpayer funded building.

So I say NO to the 100-storey tower. Najib - build it with your own private money or dont build it at all.

Join the facebook campaign here to register your protest!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/1M-Malaysians-Reject-100-storey-Mega-Tower/162774653750749?v=wall

Back in Malaysia! Yet I can scarsly call it home...

2009-06-25T08:07:00.002+01:00

Yup got back on Sunday evening. Dosen't really feel like home for some reason...Just feels like this place I visit every now and then. Maybe its the fact that i never really fit in in the first place, or it could be something else. At any rate, while its all familiar, it dosent feel like 'home'.

Im bored cause there dosent seem much to do (a perfect testimonial would be the fact that im even bothering to update this unread blog!), my face is swelling up since I had to get my wisdom teeth extracted, and I cant eat for the same reason. The ONLY plus side is my dog =)

IM OLD!!!!! - 20 years old to be exact :/

2009-05-28T18:30:00.003+01:00

Im old.... my life is withering away.....ive passed teens into 20 so byebye life its now downhill all the way! :P

PS: what I did for my Birthday? - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. (Typically me eh?)
Ive been doing maths all day.

Earth Hour 2009 - be part of something amazing!

2009-03-25T21:42:00.003Z

Hi guys! Long time no post! Yes its time for Earth Hour 2009!! I hope you will be part of this fantastic GLOBAL event this year. Earth Hour gets bigger every year, and 2009 is the biggest yet!! Its simple, at 8.30pm (your local time) on Saturday the 27th of March, simply switch off your lights for 1 hour. Millions of people, organizations, and cities across the globe are coming together to make this spectacular event. So please show your support, after all its not like its alot of effort! You could organise a torch-light party or a barbeque with friends and family or something!

So please be part of something special - switch off your lights at 8.30pm this Saturday!

I flew my plane into a tree :(

2009-02-26T00:30:00.003Z

Well like my title says...its been almost two weeks now, but I took my plane out a sunday afternoon and withing 30 seconds of it being in the air, a gust of wind caused me to lose control of the plane and sent it right in to a very evil tree, nice and high up.

The tree is evil because its almost as if its designed to capture anything that gets into it and never ever release it. The hold on my plane (and anything else i threw into it for that matter) s unbelievably strong. In a vain attempt to get my plane back i flung sticks at it while moving the flaps and knocking the engine around, but to no avail. All i suceeded in doing is lowering it slightly, and possibly breaking the tail boom.

Sigh...so thats the end of my plane i guess. 12 days on and its still there, exactly as I last left it....

Ive installed MacOS X on my notebook!

2009-01-30T17:20:00.002Z

Im a very lazy person... I like to procrastinate...more like I like to do nothing, and then hate the fact that im doing nothing LOL. Blogging is just an example of this.

Anyway...I just want to say that ive successfully installed leopard (MacOSX 10.5.5 for those of you who dont know) on my notebook. In fact im writing this post fromOSX. I was lucky...it was a straightforward process, and someone had written up a tutorial for hardware not so different from mine.

So whats my take on the all famous macintosh? I dont think much of it to be honest. years of windows has made me comfortable with a particular way of using the computer. A way thats somewhat alian to mac.

I find it to be a very 'mousy' OS lacking even the simplest of keyboard conviniences such as home, end and DELETE!! Yes the snobs at apple pride themselves in not including a delete key for mac's...a fact which irks me as its a favorite key of mine (im thinking back to my early days of the 386 when my aunt used to scare me...NEVER TOUCH THE DELETE KEY!! she used to thunder lol...)

Anyway, it does have its perks...I quite like the convinience of spaces and of courset heres the clean and simple (un)installation of applications by simply dragging or removing the file (yes usualy one file! - or a contained folder to be more accurate) to the applications folder. Yup its really as simple that! Though the lack of customisability of application location installation (or perhaps my lack of knowhow) is something that concerns me. I suppose most macs just have a single partition, so its not really an issue i guess...

Anyway, OSX is just my current 'experiment' or 'toy' and I still use windows for a lot of things. 6 months down the line when I get bored of mac, id probably remove it and install solaris or something... a statement that would absolutely mortify mac-heads and even linux fanatics. That I would choose to stick with windows, and simply play around with other operating systems as I fancy...

Happy New Year from London!

2009-01-01T22:16:00.004Z

Well time certainly flies dosent it?

Today is the 1st of January 2009, and Id like to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR from merry old London!

yes ive gotten my new notebook, but Ill blog about that some other time.

Ill blog about my london trip later as well. so far Ive had a very good time. Been staying at Ian (Han)'s place with Derek, and I got to meet some of Hwee yin's friends. Tomorow my brother is coming down, and ill have to "jaga" him till the 4th, after which its back to Notts to prepare for my exams, so in the mean time ill leave you with this pic of the fireworks, which isnt mine, but i stole from the BBC, because ive yet to transfer any pics from my camera.

Stupid Dell, Stupid Nvidia

2008-12-23T19:19:00.003Z

Heys I have some stupidly bad news.

Got back from Scotland on the 20th of December. The next day, as I was playing Sid Meier's Pirates! my GPU overheated and died...Now my pc is stuck with no graphics what-so-ever... Turns out this is a design flaw with the GeForceM 8400GS, and the inspiron 1420 (my model) has the tendancy to burn out the gpu-> meaning i need to change my mobo.

This is possibly the worst time for this to happen...Christmas just round the corner, my stupid bussniess nonsense report, BBC and U-21 applications due in january, my EXAMS!! no i dont really study on the comp but still...

Anyway, Dell support is USELESS. After hours on the phone, they finaly agree to send someone over with a new mobo the next day. I was like finaly thank god... BUT a few hours later they call me up and tell me tht becuz its a Asia-Pacific model which they dunt sell in the UK they cant fix my pc...WTF!!

Im thinking of DHLing my lappie home for a "measely" 75 quid and having my dad get dell in malaysia to fix it. Yes my warranty is still valid because i thought it would be a good idea to get 3 years extended warranty. All in all it would probably take 3 to 4 weeks before i get my compy back if i do that.

The other option is to just buy a used mobo of the 1420 from ebay (about 150 quid) and do it my self, voiding the warranty, but at least i will get my comp back up in maybe 5 days (except that im going to london on the 30th and wont be back till the 4th so what happens if i dunt get my mobo before the 30th?) But also id have to spend more time on my pc at a time when i need to be revising for my exams.

The final but completely out of the question option is to wait for 3-4 weeks while Dell transfers my details from malaysia to UK since i bought the pc in msia and did not transfer it before this problem happened). THEN they will take my notebook and send it for repair (US or asia i presume since this is not a UK model)..all in all thats what 5,6,7 weeks?

Im seriously thinking of just getting a new notebook (still from dell since i can customise it the most). I figured out a way to back up all my data (quite literally in the dark) but it will involve a little trial n error. hopefully i have enuf space on my external HDD

sigh...n i was hoping to reinstall vista and maybe install dual boot with OSX this xmas break.....

Irrelavant Friends

2008-11-11T17:28:00.003Z

I wonder just how many people realise that they are quite irrelavant. Not just to the world, or country because you just a nobody - like another ant going about its businiess in this big wide busy buzzing world. Thats fine because hey, as long as you truly matter to your friends and family and co-workers...who cares right? Not everyone can or aspires to big things or to be a somebody.

But being an irrelavant friend??! What on earth is that supposed to be? Heck people are probably wondering whats up with me right now. Im bound to get questions from whoever cares and can be bothered to read my blog occasionnaly(if there are even such people anymore - a consequence of not updating my blog)

Before I continue. No i dont want such questions. Youd just piss me off. If there was something wrong with me, I douldnt tell you because you asked me. Id tell you in my own time if I felt like talking to you. Chances are im not interested in talking about anything that bothers me to you - ie: you are an irrelavant friend.

Im not sure which is worse, having untrue friends, or having irrelavant friends. With untrue friends, well their not really your friends anyway....Theyd be the first people out the door the momement you cease to be an asset and are in a spot of REAL trouble.

Ok what am I saying! Having untrue friends is B-A-D! Its probably the worst thing to trust someone very much, only to have them betray you and scoot in the moment of your greatest need.

But most of us dont have untrue friends (I hope! - choi! pantang! touchwood and whatever other mumbo-jumbo the supersticious lot yell out the moment something bad or unlucky is uttered) Having irrelavant friends is well.... i suppose its up to the individual to decide what it is.

The thing is about irrelaveent friends is that...they dont actually matter or make much of a difference when your in need. Not because they dont want to help you or they run away. Im sure they mean well and will sympathise with you if your down. But really? they are irrelavan.

Hmm i bet im not making much sense am I? No im probably not. Think of it this way then. They are friends who you hang out with and have fun. You may or may not get close to them, but chances are your not going to get very close.

You cant really depend on them help you out when your down, because you woud'nt really want to talk to them about it, and you'd rather not go through the hassle of their comments or sympathies. At times when you need someone, its not that they wont be there for you, but rather that it dosent matter if they are there or not. Maybe youd rather they wernt there.

You cant trust to open up too much with them, and thus you cant really depend on them. They are the decorative dummy pillars that hold no weight. Pretty but strcturally irrelavant.

So whats the point of this rant??
*shrugs* Dont Know!

~Baron Out~

I wana go out SOMEWHERE for Haloween...

2008-10-29T22:17:00.001Z

Hi long time no see! This is just a short post...

yup...basicly I wana go out somewhere Haloween night. ISIS is having a student nite for haloween...only 4 quid. Im sure Ocean Oceana n all the other clubs are doing the same. Sad thing?? CANT FIND PEOPLE TO GO WITH ME!!!!!!

Odd right? People are either not around (for some strange reason??) or broke or..wana go out with their boyfriend :S

sad.....

So Im back in the good city of Nottingham...

2008-09-22T20:21:00.004+01:00

Well, as its typically me, this is a delayed post!
Well I planned to blog in dubai with my 4 hour transit n all that....didnt happen (sleepy/lazy)
Then I thought Id blog on the train from London to Nottingham...didnt happen (no wifi even though there was supposed to be)
Then I thought Id blog once I got back to my room. Well technically im doing that but its alrdy Monday night and I arrived on saturday evening.

So.... 2nd year is about to begin...*groan* its supposed to be ALOT more work than last year...and well with my brain rotting away for three months in Malaysia....NOT GOOD!!!

On the plus side...I finally managed to meet up with Hwee Yin!! Ya i know its been YEARS. Guess what we met up at London St Pancras. Dumb huh? we had 3 months to meet up in malaysia and it didnt happen. So i went for a BurgerKing with HY n her friends. Stupid thing was that I had to rush off after like 15 mins just after we started catching up (face to face for a change!) because my train was due to leave at 3.30. So at 5.10 i rush across the street back into STP and run all the way from the international terminal to the EastMidlandsTrains side.

I go to the ticketing counter...and get a ticket printed for 3.55pm instead!! LIKE WTF MAN>>> I finnaly meet up with Hwee Yin and have to rush off only to find out later I could have spent like half an hour more with her n her friends had I printed my ticket FIRST...BAH!! Anyway, she should be coming over for the Notts Games (like any other good malaysian in the UK would!) so well have more time to catch up then.

Still I was very happy with the train service. Very new very comfortable (nice bathroom too! >.<) and it still arrived at 5.30 in Notts.

Got to HuStu..n Steve the porter was there to greet me! Got david to help me lug my stuff up from the basement to my room. (belive me some of the stuff was HEAVY - I could not have done it without help). Then we headed over to the 'clubhouse' to chill for awhile.

I came back to my room bout 9.30pm and well just brushed my teeth and CRASHED! I didnt even put my sheets on. I was tired but not really sleepy. thought id just lie for a moment..n before i knew it i was asleep. Hey travelling for more than 24 hours + jetLag is goanna take a toll on you ya know!

I woke around 3am and started unpacking.....then I went back to bed around 7am as the sun was rising. but no I hadnt finished unpacking. In fact the last bits of unpacking have yet to be done even at the time of writing.

Let me see...what did I do on Sunday...hmmm leme see since i slept at 7 am it was only natural that I woke up around 1pm. Took a shower, and by then many of my new neighbours had started moving in. Got to know them. More like just introduce ourselves n chat a little. Im rubbish with names anyway!

Then took one of them to beeston for a subway (my lunch) and sainburys. Sorry cant remember his name...think it was mike :p

After that..more unpacking before dinner and the warden's address. Didnt bother going for the fresher's stuff after dinner. Headed over to the 'clubhouse' instead (if your wondering what the clubhouse is..ask me sometime and ill tell you ;)

Slept over there and came back this morning. been lazing and unpacking all day really. Went to the bank to get some stuff done and thats about it.

Oh yea! All the stuff i stored in the basement has a very funny smell. And alot of the organic stuff (clothes wooden spoones etc) are pretty moldy :S aigh. Looks like im gona have to wash some of my clothes even before Ive worn them. Oh well should have occured to me that it would happen when you put it in a very OLD basement for 3 months!!

So anyway..Im back in the good city of Nottingham...the land of Robin Hood, and life goes on.....

~Baron Out~

Stay Calm, Don't fall into their trap

2008-09-13T07:24:00.003+01:00

You've probably been bombarded with this type of message ever since the ISA crackdowns, first on RPK, and then on the Sin Chew reporter Tan and Teresa Kok. No idea who else is on their hit list but rumors are of Haris Ibrahim and LKS. Anyway I cant repeat it enough STAY CALM and dont do anything stupid. Please please please spread this message around to as many people as you know.

Last I heard the situation at Bukit Mertajam was extreamely tense, im sure thats how it is in KL. The Poor Orang Asal couldnt go ahead with their march to the King's Palace (but we didnt actually expect it to be allowed did we??)

Anyway our protests and outbusrts go out in intelligent civilized ways:

1) SIGN THE PETITION ON THE JUDICIARY NOW!!!

Click Here to go to the petition site

As of 2.44pm 13/9/08 only as miserable 25334 people have signed. This is only HALF of the hoped 50,000 people!! Cummon! RPK has asked for 150,000 signatures! Go sign it if you havent and ask your family and friends to sign it. and MAKE SURE that they spread the word. Blog about it, and put it up on facebook even! You want to do sumthin meaningful? THEN DO THIS

2) ATTEND THE CANDLE-LIGHT VIGILS TONIGHT AND SPREAD THE WORD

DAP is holding a Candle-light vigil at the headquaters in PJ at 7.30pm tonight.

GMI (the Abolish ISA Movement) is holding a Candle-light Vigil infront of Bukit Aman police Headquaters at 8.30pm tonight.

A vigil will be organised in front of the Sin Chew Jit Poh office in Macalister Road, Penang from 2.00pm to 6.00pm today. The vigil is to express solidarity with the Sin Chew reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng, who was detained last night. Hopes are rising that she may be released soon.

I cant attend these, and if you cant either at least do this. Spread the following SMS around:

RPK, Teresa Kok and Sin Chew journalist Tan Hoon Cheng arrested under ISA. Join us tonight, 8.30pm at the entrance of Bukit Aman, in peaceful solidarity vigil for them. Let us be free from ISA. Please spread the word

RPK, Teresa Kok dan wartawan Sin Chew Tan Hoon Cheng ditahan bawah ISA. Datanglah ke pintu depan Bukit Aman pd 8.30mlm ini sbg tanda bersatu hati bersama mrk. Mari kita bebaskan diri dari ISA. Sila sebarkan SMS ini

You can also call a few friends and have your own small Candle light vigils at your padang or in your house. Whats the point of this? Its the spirit of the act - All of us coming together for that which is most important right now.

Finaly id like to refer you to The People's Parliament.

Thanks
~Baron Out~

ALIRAN's Statement on the RPK Arrest

2008-09-12T10:26:00.000+01:00

RPK’s detention is unjust as it denies him his democratic right to defend himself. He should have been charged in open court in relation to the earlier charges made against him under the Sedition Act. By resorting to the ISA, his innocence can no longer be proven. This is indeed undemocratic, unjust and un-Islamic.

That is why we, other civil society groups and concerned Malaysians have opposed the use of undemocratic and unjust laws such as the ISA and the Sedition Act. Even individuals who express and do things that may cause anxiety and pain among the people and possibly inflame ethnic and religious sentiments should be accorded their right to natural justice and be allowed to defend themselves in an open court. They deserve this in any democratic society.

Moreover, the government’s drastic action makes us wonder whether this is a politically motivated prelude to a 1987-type of political clampdown, which involved mass detentions of innocent individuals most of whom were not even remotely involved in creating the supposed ethnic tension at that time.

The government’s latest moves reinforce the suspicion that these are desperate measures taken to undermine what is seen as the unstoppable Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat mounting a real challenge to the Barisan Nasional..

Whatever the case may be, we urge the government to release Raja Petra unconditionally and also retract the show cause letters issued to the three brave newspapers so that democracy can flourish and justice be served.

Aliran Executive Committee
12 September 2008

RPK arrested under the ISA!! (updated)

2008-09-12T07:49:00.003+01:00

SOS!!!

At around 1.10 pm today, the Police showed up at Raja Petra's house in Sungai Buloh to arrest him under Section 73(1) of the Internal Security Act.

SPECULATIVE (meaning that its just what people say and that theres nothing to give any proof of truth) word on the net is that this is part of a wider plan by UMNO-BN to rile up people and trigger mass protests (and subsequently arrests...Ops Lalang II??) giving excuse for the government to declare Emergency Rule and Martial Law.

So please spread the word for all people to remain CALM but VIGILANT. Updates will be available on http://mt.m2day.org/ and http://www.malaysiakini.com/ as news trickles in.

update: Pakatan Rakyat is celebrating the anniversary of Malaysia Day on 15th September 2008 at Kelana Jaya Stadium. It starts at 8pm and all are invited to join. A show of solidarity is being organised at that event for RPK. At the very least please spread the following SMS around.

'RPK detained under ISA. Pls come to Kelana Jaya Stadium 8pm 15th September, 2008 to show solidarity for RPK. Plz forward.'

'RPK ditahan bwh ISA Tolong dtg Stadium Kelana Jaya 8pm 15 Sept 08 utk tunjuk dan beri sokongan kpd RPK Sila forward kpd kawan2'

currently unkown where RPK taken but he was removed from his house by around 1.50 pm. Police have also confisicated some books VCDs and his computer (again)

MORE IMPORTANLY: Id like to extract abit off the People's Parliament (http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com) emphasis is mine.

I’ve received sms’s asking if we are going to take to the streets.
People, do not play into the hands of the authorities.
Let’s not knee-jerk.
If we are going to do any vigils or peaceful demonstrations, let these be planned.
Will keep you posted on these, if any.

The following incidents have lead me to believe the speculations stated above:

A band of PKR fellows heading over to Taiwan today to meet the BN prospective crossovers
Racial Sentiments being flared up by U-Must-Noe-whO
Army General coming out with a warning recently
Show Cause letters sent by Ministry of (mis)Information to Sin Chiew, theSun, and SuaraKeadilan

I cant further emphasise the significance of these turn of events and therefore the ever increasing importance of signing the "Save the Judiciary" Petition to the DYMM Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. PLEASE.

ON THE LEFT YOU WILL SEE A NEW PRANGE POSTER FOR THE "SAVE THE JUDICIARY" PETITION. CLICKING ON IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE WEBSITE OF THE PETITION WHERE YOU CAN READ IT AND SIGN IT.

Please spread the word to your family and friends. Ask the to ask people to stay calm and to sign the petition.

At the very least DO THIS FOR RPK. P-L-E-A-S-E

Joint Press Statement by National Alliance of Bloggers (AllBlogs) and Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI)

2008-09-10T06:50:00.003+01:00

SOS on Raja Petra Kamarudin to Fellow Malaysians

During the last few days there has been an ominous and increasing crescendo of messages – written and verbal – indicating the imminent arrest and detention of fellow blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

We hope that the Government is not contemplating this action. To alleviate the widespread public uproar and concern – national and international – that this shortsighted action will precipitate, we call on the authorities that may be planning this action to take heed of this SOS; to immediately cease all targeting of Raja Petra through the ISA or any other repressive measure; and to come out instead with an assurance that

1. no such ISA order is being envisaged to be served on Raja Petra
2. Raja Petra is free to continue his writings on the vital matters affecting the country
3. the draconian legislation of the ISA will not be used on Raja Petra or any other Malaysian blogger to punish them for their dissenting views and opinions.

In our view - and if the Government should care to undertake an independent survey, in the view of the great majority of Malaysians and non-Malaysians - Raja Petra in no way poses a threat to the country’s peace and security. Rather, he poses a threat to those individuals and organizations that he perceives as engaging in unconscionable and dastardly acts and activities that are bringing ruin to the nation. Many Malaysians too are of the opinion that his website contains some of the most incisive analysis on the ills that beset our nation. Further attempts to take down his website or to shackle his freedom of expression is not only an attack on a fearless, principled and ethical patriot but they will also be construed as an attempt to restrict our freedom of information and expression, a move that will take the country further down the road of authoritarianism.

While we respect the right to freedom of speech and information, we also advise all Bloggers and other online writers to exercise the same high ethical standards expected of journalists in the traditional media. We do not condone lies and malice in the Internet and should not only stand by what we write - we must be able to defend the truth of what we write.
We emphasise that in our view the current laws pertaining to Sedition and Defamation apply equally to print and online media and should be deterrent enough to check "irresponsible" writings. Hence we urge that there be no resort to a draconian law such as the Internal Security Act to hold peace-loving Malaysian writers to ransom."

A democratic government should not for one moment entertain - let alone pursue - the charges that have been leveled against Raja Petra. To isolate those forces in the system that are bent on using the repressive instruments of the state against various opponents for their own benefit, we call on

1. all fair-minded and honest leaders from the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat parties to speak out - privately and publicly - against any attempt to use the ISA against Raja Petra;
2. component parties of the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat to publicly oppose any intended incarceration of Raja Petra under the ISA;
3. civil society, professional and other organizations and private individuals to demand that the Government guarantees Raja Petra’s freedom of expression and undertakes not to use the ISA against him now or in the future.

We hope that good sense will prevail in our country’s leadership. Any act of repression against Raja Petra especially at this particular time will not go unquestioned or unanswered. We are confident that hundreds of thousands - if not millions of Malaysians – will stand firmly to make their dissenting views known should the Government choose to silence Raja Petra through the use of the ISA.

Statement released by:
Ahirudin Attan -Interim President, National Alliance of Bloggers (AllBlogs)
Dr Lim Teck Ghee- Director, Centre for Policy Initiatives.
Kuala Lumpur, 9 September 2008

Plant a tree or two! Do your bit to save the planet

2008-07-30T11:46:00.003+01:00

Hello everyone! Its been a loooong time since my last post hasnt it? 2 months to be exact!
Why? A combination of lazyness, and the sheer fact that so much has been going on recently that if i were to blog about them all...well you know. So i ended up not blogging at all! LOL

Well today, i've decided to take a break from the whole Anwar's not-so-tasty Sodo-Mee fiasco, the shambles the economy is in, the Proton vs Terrenganu 'gomen' and their Mercs, and what other shitty nonsense going on in Ma-lai-see-ah.

Heck im not even posting about more personal stuffo (despite the fact that it would have been more expected) such as my trip to Shweiz or how things are going with my summer job, or even about my darling dog!

This post is ment to be breif. The goal? plain and simple!
To ask and encourage you to pledge to plant a tree or three (and actualy carry out that pledge)

Well. I suppose the title of the post speaks for itself. Anyway, when I came back in easter, I pledged to plant some trees to offset my carbon footprint due to those 'evil' flights to and bck frm Malaysia that produce so much of CO2 and all else. I did abit of research and came to the conclusion that 2 trees is a resanoble estimate for a one way flight to Msia frm UK. Thus i planted 5 trees in various locations. 2 for departing, 2 for returning, and 1 spare just for the sake of it.

I did a check last weekend when i returned to Malacca to see how they were coming along. I found that 3 of the 5 have sprouted and are growing healthily. Anyway, i thought I would plant a few more trees as my bit to stave off climate change as well as increase the shade in oh so hot n sunny Malaysia.

Im hoping that you will join me. Its simple. Just take a seed or two, any seed will do. If you have a particular tree in mind (eg umbrella tree for shade in frnt of ur house, or mango for fruits) go out n get that seed. Then find a nice spot where it will not be a nuisance. (no point planting a tree only to have the stupid government cut it down later, then again they cut trees down for no reason whatsoever).

It would be best to plant a tree in an area thats open and could do with a bit of shade, howabout on the opposite side of your house to block out the evening sun, and as a place for your visitors to park their car? Also, do be considerate and dont plant it in fornt of other peoples lawns without first consulting them (even though its public property, the tree is likely to annoy them if they didnt want it there).

Dig a shallow hole with a spade and put the seed in and cover it up. Wet the soil throughly and then put some stones as a perimemter so that the grass cutter wont cut the little sapling as it has just started to grow :)

Its fast and simple! Maybe you could go to your local park, or just plant a tree in open areas that could do with some trees instead of just lalang! (Thats what I did anyway)

So do take up the tree pledge (http://passport.panda.org/campaigns/campaign.cfm?uNC=76553998&uCampaignId=1761) and plant a tree! An effortless task which is still your bit to help save the environment :)

Im back in Malaysia

2008-06-16T18:16:00.001+01:00

Yup Im back! Actuly ive been back since thursday, just been too lazy to do anything realy esp blog....I had a good time in Switzerland though it was rainy. Too lazy to blog about that now, maybe some other time. In the mean time you can view some of the pics on my Facebook. Anyways I start work next monday, and finding a place to stay has been Hell, since I only need it for a short time...
Cant think of anything else to say for now
~Baron off~

Im going to Switzerland Tomorow!

2008-06-03T17:08:00.002+01:00

I know its been a LONG time since ive had an update ....Hehehe Im going to Switzerland tomorow! Weee!!
For those of you who dono, im going from the 4th to the 8th on a whistle stop tour of Geneva, Zurich, Lezern, and Bern (in that order) LOL. 4 days 4 cities! Hope the weather will be good.

oh yea, NO ASKING FOR GIFTS!! I will entertain no such requests hahah! This is a blooody expensive trip as it is...

Okay! Baron Out!

First RPK, now Haris???

2008-05-08T17:51:00.002+01:00

Word on the net is that the Gestapo (aka Polis DiRaja Malaysia) came for Haris this evening while he was at Dataran Merdeka for a personal candlelight vigil for RPK. I underlined PERSONAL, because its just him doing his own thing. He posted that he would be at dataran merdeka, and invited all who wished to join him. From what I gather, Haris was just minding his own bussniess, perhaps waiting around for more ppl to come, when the Gestapo came and dragged him off to Dang Wangi 'Police' station, for god knows what....

This police nonsense is realy getting too much. This morning Lim Kit Siang brought up the issue in parliament is the move against RPK is the begining of "The Empire Strikes Back", after BN's humiliating loss at the march 8 polls. Im becoming more and more inclined to think LKS is right.

So to all you idiots out there who can say to me "No la! How can you say that malaysia is a police state??!!" and then say something so stupid and contradicting like "Careful! They will throw you into ISA!!" go back to blissfully burying your stupid heads in the sand.

Haris was later released from the police station, after what they Gestapo claimed to be a 'misuderstanding'. RPK ahs also agreed to post bail and has called off his hunder strike. He is expected to be released frm Sungai buluh Prison tomorow.

Free RPK Now!

2008-05-07T23:18:00.003+01:00

If you have no idea of what the title of this post is about, for the love of Malaysia PLEASE take your heads out of the sand! Raja Petra Kamarrudin has been charged for Sedition for his article "Lets Send the Altanthuya Murderers to Hell", which directly implicated Najib and his wife in the Altantuya murder. Read the article on Malaysia-Today (you may have trouble accessing it because of high traffic hehe): http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/6604/84/

Now its an open secret that Najib is involved in Altantuya's murder. Theres realy no need to go into details (and it might be considered seditious too!) but the Taxi-driver, Pisang goreng man, the Towkay and the marketing manager all have one thing in common: they will tell you that the government (or gomen) is desperately trying to cover up Najib's involvement. I mean cummon-LAH, malaysians are doing what they do best! Spreading half-truths, rumours and 'Official Secrets" in the kopitiams and mamak stalls.

Anyway, Im all for Najib to clear his name. (Though im another ordinary malaysian who wont believe him either way!) But to bring down the full weight of the governments machinary, the police, the AG's chambers; on RPK will only serve to enforce the public's opinion AGAINST Najib. The speed and ferocity of the government stinks to high heavens of a politically motivated charge that seeks to silence RPK. Who knows, this whole drama may turn into another Anwar Ibrahim cum CorrectCorrectCorrect! if you know what i mean...hehehe...The foreign media has already started to play up the issue, and im sure RPK is gona become another media darling.

Ok I dunwana say too much la, but its clear that the UMNO led government still dosent understand how the court of public opinion works. so bottom line...

FREE RPK NOW!!

Oh of course Lim Kit Siang brought up the issue in parliament. he tabled the whole fiasco as "The Empire Strikes Back" LOL! You should watch it if you can, though im abit upset that LKS only uploaded 4 parts of it. He didnt upload the rest of it, leaving us hanging... :(

My trip to Cambridge

2008-05-02T15:50:00.006+01:00

Haha Yes! I went to Cambridge before Derek! (or Cumbwitz as he would call it :P) LOL.

Well I took hours n hours of video (which im gona have hell cutting together- esp since its like 20GB) but i didnt take that many pics...
Anyway, I went with Edith to cambridge on a SU active lifestyle trip. It was only me n Edith cuz long long ago when I bought the tickets no1 was sure if they wanted to go or not. So i just bought 2 tickets cuz i didnt want to go alone, but I didnt wana take the risk wasting too much money either, so i just bought 2 tickets! A few days before the trip, I asked everyone if they wanted to come with me during lunch. Jen said she had something on, Half the people ignored me :( and Edith jumped in to grab the ticket as soon as Jen said she couldnt go! LOL. So thats the story of how Edith n I ended up going to Cambridge together.

The coach left frm East Drive (my uni la) sometime around 9.45 am. The bus ride wasnt that nice...I sat RIGHT at the back, with no leg room and got my usual bout of motion sickness...To make things worse the journey was around 2hours+

Anyway, arrived at Cambridge around 12.40 or so. Dizzy and slightly hungry, I first breathed the nice fresh air and enjoyed the sun for a few minutes. Yes it was a lovely sunny day! Now...we had to find out where exactly we were on the sorry little map were given by the SU. Turned out to be somewhere behind queens college.

So proceeded towards the town centre. While there I opened my sandwich that i brought frm notts. Gave one to Edith cuz she was sooo hungry, and we decided to look for a Subway for lunch (was hungry and didnt know what else to eat).

Id say this, for a small town with hardly and resodent population except students, Cambridge is pretty big, and CROWDED! (yea cuz it was a weekend id say 95% of the ppl were tourists!) Cambrdige has more high street shops than Notts! Oh well, now we all know what sorta shops Derek will be visiting then. There are ALOT of churches too! In terms of shopping your needs are as fulfilled as any other big city! In fact, theres a certain lacking for cheap shops...but then again its cambrdige....youd expect everyone to be loaded anyway ;)

After walkin all around the town (more than once...it can be pretty confusing as your always going in circles! lol) we finaly found a subway. Grabbed lunch n off to the park to eat!

Yea..nice sun, of course you gota eat outdoors...Nice and refreshed started to tour the place...

Ok im seriously getting lazy. I think ill just post a few pics. By the time we got back it was around 8.30pm. (Though the sun was still up all you Malaysian peeps!) Realy tired, but happy. The bus ride home was alot quicker and better too. ok...PICTURE TIME!!!

Kings Cathedral, opposite Kings College. Unfortunately I didnt actully take a picture of the college itself :(

Cant remember the name of this museum, but its really BIG! This is just the main entrance

The Senate House, next to Kings College. Not exactly sure what this is.

Derek's (future)College! I cant be bothered to remeber the name cuz its quite long. Compared to Kings or Trinity its pretty small! HAHA!

At the park where we had lunch

Cambridge University Press. This was one of the better shots. Its a really nice building, but because of the narro streets I just couldnt get a nicer picture.

Bridge over the River Cam (hence the name Cambridge)

St Catherine's College (I think) Stupid cyclist just had to whizz by...

Ok anyway, as you would have probably deduced by now, i didnt go inside any of the colleges. Why? I didnt feel like paying the entrance fee! Plain n Simple! That and, the outdoors was jsut too good to pass up (excellent conditions for filming). Ill go into the colleges some time when I go to visit Derek. And ill be sure to bring my bike too!!

I realy didnt take that many picture, but I have a few hours worth of HD video. Maybe Ill take some stills from the videos and put them up some other time, but theres an awful lot to go through...

Ok thats all for now!

~Baron Out~

EarthHour 2008

2008-03-11T22:50:00.004Z

WWF is calling for a global event in the fight against global warming, known as EarthHour 2008. On the 29th of March 2008, please switch off your lights between 8pm and 9pm, local time wherever you are

The idea is that by each time zone of the earth simply switching off their lights for a mere 60 minutes, awareness on the need to combat global warming will be spread, but also dramaticly reduce electricity consumption for that day, thus showing how much of an effect it has.

Many cities, corporations and individuals (including myself obviously!) have pledged to support and participate in this event including Sydney, New York, Toronto, Manila, Tel Aviv, Coca-Cola, HSBC, Citibank, and many more!

Im thinking of trying to get Malacca, and maybe even Kuala Lumpur involved once I get home, but obviously my priority is to contact as many people and maybe some organizations I have relations with to spread the word and try and get them involved. Please people! its just a mere 60 minutes, and it dunt cost you any effort! Besides, it could be a great social event! Campfire, Torchlight party, Candlelight social, you name it!

Im gona try n get Astro involved, and maybe ask my mom to push MMU on this as well.

Anyway, please sign up through my EarthHour page (simply so that I can track how many people I have roped in) this is the link to my EarthHour profile: http://www.earthhour.org/user/hUXD

and the general EarthHour page: http://www.earthhour.org/

There is also a small promotional video on youtube:

PS: I created the Image you see at the top of this post, and release it according to the Creative-Commons Licence. I will send a copy to WWF for them to use if they wish. Feel free to take and distribute it!

"Please Go Mr. Badawi!" Protest at Istana Negara

2008-03-09T20:57:00.003Z

It seems that there is going to be a peaceful protest at 9.30am in front of Istana Negara tomorow to ask PakLah to resign as Prime Minister. The idea is for him to see the people telling him to leave as he drives into the palace to seek His Majesty the King's permission to form government. All are welcome to attend

I've yet to form any opinions on this matter, considering that Najib and that Kerismuddin bufoon are next in line. Also, with the power tussle to come between Najib n Khairy realy dono which way id want it....Ditelan mati mak, Diluah mati bapak??

Also let none forget how radical Najis and Kerismuddin can be....Najib's 1987 threat to spill chinese blood ring any bells?? Whatabout the mysterious allegations of Najib's involvement in the Altantuya issue?

I realy dont have an opinion on this matter, but one things for sure, weak, ineffective and sleepy though Bodohwi may be, he certainly feels more moderate than the alternatives. Also, its pretty certain that his clock is ticking....Mahathir's wish for him to b just a one term PM may just come true...

BN's 2/3 majority BREAKS! 5 states go to the Barisan Rakyat

2008-03-08T15:22:00.006Z

SAMY VELU IS OUT! SHARIZAT IS OUT! KOH TSU KOON IS OUT! ZAM IS OUT! KAYVEAS IS OUT! But Khairy is in...

Ok by now, everyone probably knows all the news of who is in or out...so this is no longer an actively updated post...needless to say that I am in general pleased and happy with Barisan Rakyat's immense success in breaking the BN's 2/3 majority as well as taking 5 states and reducing the majority in the others. Now its time for these Yang Berkhidmats (as opposed to the yang berhormats) to get to work. Im hoping that they will introduce local government elections in Penang Selangor and Perak. This will force BN's hand to reintroduce it nationwide....

Im trying to keep live updates from Malaysiakini. But due to high traffic, i cant. But this is the big news!

DAP has taken Penang. They won 19 seats. together with PKR and PAS the opposition has 22 out of 40 seats. DAP is expectd to form the new state government with Lim Guan Eng as the new Penang CM

Selangor has been taken by DAP-PKR. PKR's Khalid Ibrahim might be the new Menteri Besar, with DAP taking the Deputy position.

DAP-PKR-PAS will form a new coalition government for the state of Perak!

Semi-value is now NO VALUE! HAHHAHA high time la....

PAS and PKR have together taken over kedah!
Terrenganu is still in BN hands, PAS keeps kelantan

So we now have 5 states in opposition hands

Elsewhere DAP and PKR are doing very well

Wee Choo Keong (PKR) has won in Wangsa Maju
Nurul Izzah (PKR) has won in Lembah Pantai
Sivarasa Rasiah (PKR) has won in Subang
Tian Chua (PKR) has won his seat too!

Lim Kit Siang Lim Guan Eng, Karpal Singh, Jeff Ooi, Teresa Kok, Fong Po Kuan, all no need to say lah! hehehe

Malaysiakini Goes FREE!!

2008-03-04T17:58:00.002Z

Yup! just for this election season, starting today (4 March) Malaysiakini will be 100% FREE for all the 4 languages (English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil) and will stay free for one week.

You people have now absolutely NO EXCUSE not to read Malaysiakini for REAL and TRUTHFUL news. Please spread the word far and wide. No need for all the rubbish Star, NST, Nanyang, Sin Chiew, Tamil Neesan, Makkal Osai, Berita Harian and what other waste of money brands of propaganda are out there. Read Malaysiakini. Free, fair and informative!

www.malaysiakini.com

Barisan Rakyat - The last hope of the people

2008-02-24T15:36:00.004Z

CLICK HERE TO GET THE PAKLALA-RINGTONE FOR YOUR PHONE NOW!!

Some time ago, The Peoples Parliament launched The People's Voice, and The People's Declaration.

DAP, PAS, Keadilan, PSM, and MDP quickly endorsed it. Pasok was the only BN party to endorse it, but now they are keeping mum on the issue.

The above mentioned opposition parties have not only fully endorsed and supported, but have incorporated these 2 important civil society documents into their manifestos.

A Barisan Rakyat has been born people!

The People's Declaration and The Peoples Voice are now a bridge between all these parties, essentially making a joint manifesto.

spread the word to all! Read the People's Declaration and People's Voice!

By endorsing it, the Barisan Rakyat has pledged to voice out and fight for the people. Thats why i hope you will encourage everyone you know to support the Barisan Rakyat, who are (for the most part) going on 1-on-1 fights against the Barisan Nasional.

Below is the link to the People's Voice and People's Declaration. Please read it and understand it. Im sure you will have no problems supporting it.

http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/the-peoples-voice-the-peoples-declaration/

Also, here is Malaysiakini's coverage of the event:

mms://122.0.17.3/23Feb08_PeopleDeclare.wmv

HIDUP BARISAN RAKYAT!!

Comedy Court and the elections

2008-02-21T20:27:00.001Z

Comedy Court has come out with something great for the elections! Funny as it is, I hope you also read the message behind it! Say no to RTM and the sleepy PM! Enjoy!

A James Bond style dumb spy-comedy it is!!

2008-02-20T19:28:00.002Z

Its settled. Derek and I have had a chat and we have decided that we are going to go with an Action-Comedy film, with a James Bond style theme (although this will be a dumb comedy instead of something serious). Apart from that we havent realy gone past that idea, but at least we now have a definate heading!

Maybe we can do something called 'The Spy who Laughed at Me' as opposed to 'The Spy who Loved Me'?? LOL just a random thought. Who knows....

So now that we have a definate topic and heading, I hope to see more input from other people! Start sending in your ideas and suggestions people! We need a story for a funny James Bond style spy comedy! What would YOU like to see incorporated into such a film?

Remember, this is a comedy. So anything appropriate to the dumb spy idea whether its slapstick, idiocy or a witty line; all suggestions will be much appreciated. It just occured to me that Jhonny English made an attempt at such a film, but maybe we can take a slightly different approach? Rather than a stupid spy, maybe we can have a semi-intelligent spy who ends up in funny situations instead? Just a thought.

Anyway, for this idea to work, I think we are realy gona need more input from other people. SO please send us your ideas, and maybe even talk to other people to get ideas from then! Once again please send them in as comments.

Hopefully by Easter there will be something concrete to start updating the BlueMarble Productions website with!

~BV Out~

Proposals for our next film

2008-02-19T19:52:00.002Z

Heya! back to the discussion on the film!

Ever since shoe suggested stop motion, it seems a host of people have jumped on the bandwagon and called for a stop motion film. Unfortunately, though interesting it may be, I currently dont have an interest in stop motion. On top of that, stop motion would be ALOT of work. First theres the story...We need to come up with a story appropriate to a stop motion film. Secondly, theres the making of the models. Whether you use clay, or plasticine, or whatever, itll be alot of effort. Finaly theres the whole process of filming it...TIME CONSUMING!! Might as well take loads of pics and use motion jpeg! :P

So anyway, glad got that cleared. 2nd idea is by me!
I saw a ghostbusters fan film last night (pretty good actually, even though lame), and thought to myself "hmm...this might work!" The problem with ghostbusters is that I forsee even more work than starwars, esp with the effects department. Star Wars was rudimentary (albeit time consuming) effects. Ghostbusters is sumthin else... Also, we will need better actors, as unlike star wars, effects cant realy patch up shoddy acting! Actors will need to be able to potray the silliness and serious stupidity necessary to make the film good.

And the third idea is back to the action-comedy. Here it branches into 3:

Rush Hour style
Asian/Apologetic Viking (yet to decide)
James Bond spy type (but stupid comedy instead of serious)

As usual, all will need a kick-ass story, good actors and great filming and editing (the third is covered by me! :P)

Comments and feedback more than welcome. As usual please leave in the form of a comment and NOT on Cbox. Thanks! Ive turned off the moderation so that it is easier and quicker for comments to go up, thus acting more like a forum / discussion.

BluRay Wins!!

2008-02-19T16:25:00.001Z

The great format war of the early 21st century has finaly come to an end. Toshiba has announced that they will cease production of HD-DVD players. With this announcement, the path ahead for BluRay is clear. The format war is over.

Of course this will not realy come as much of a suprise to those of you who have been following the developments of the HD arena, most of us were solidly backing BluRay anyway. But for most people out there, it comes as of little (if any) consequence because both BluRay and HD-DVD have been so remote back in Malaysia.

For most people the only mention of BluRay was from the PS3. It comes therefore as no suprise that one of the major factors in BluRay's triumph was the Playstation 3. The final blow to HD-DVD came when 20th Century Fox switched allegiance to BluRay, marking the eventual end of HD-DVD. Microsoft is probably at a loss now since the Xbox-360 (while supposedly superior to the PS3) supports HD-DVD (although you have to buy an external drive unlike the pS3). The PS3 also had the edge in that it came out first (correct me if im wrong). Though I guess MS probably erred for caution which is why they decided with an External HD-DVD player, that way it be much easier to make the switchover to BluRay.

The battle between BluRay and HD-DVD was a big one in America, and to a slightly lesser extent in europe. Only this year did BluRay players appear on the Malaysian market (albeit with ridiculous price tag XD) HD-DVD? well i think they might have come a little bit earlier, but in general it was never that economical to sell either back home. This will probalbly change in the near future of course, now that BluRay has won. And with BluRay having being successfully cracked by the pirates (WOOHOO!!) its only a matter of time... Heck pirated BD discs might probably appear before the original ones....

A must see film

2008-02-17T14:29:00.003Z

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

A very educational and moving film that is guarenteed to change the way we view the world around us, and all things living

Its 1.5 hours long, but please spare the time to watch it. Dont ask me what its about. I purposely do not want to elaborate because everyone will just brush off the topic, secretly knowing that they are more comfortable being blissfully ignorant.

I am opening up this blog for all to have a frank, open and mutualy respectful discussion regarding topic.

JUST WATCH IT DAMN IT!!!!!!!

Parliament has been desolved...time to start making demands!!

2008-02-16T11:45:00.006Z

On the 13th of Feb (1 day before Valentines Day), our sleepy PM Badawi turned into the Lying 'caretaker' PM Bodohwi when he announced that as of that day (the 13th - his favorite number) Parliament will be dissolved as His Majestey the King has given his assent to his request. This is a 180 degree turn from his previous statement less than 24 hours beforehand. I quote Badawi

"No, not tomorrow, (the date parliament is to be dissolved)"

and when pressed further if its going to be the last cabinet meeting before elections:

"What makes you think it's going to be the last cabinet meeting? The cabinet meeting will go on, go on and go on. You are the smart aleck, you all enjoy circulating the rumours” .

Mr 'Nice Guy' Bodohwi has blatantly lied to the Malaysian people, and his pathetic excuse was that he needed the King's permission before he could say anything. Granted that the Agong has to give his consent, but that dosent give him the right to lie! He could have said that he is still unsure, or simply evaded the question, or even just say no comment! But he chose to openly and blatantly tell a LIE. Im wondering if he actualy didnt intend to dissolve parliament, and if is sudden change of mind was due to the monkey KJ (the son-in-law) whispering stuff into his ear while he was dozing!

Anyway back to my topic: Now that elections have been announced for March 8, with a 13 day campaigning period (again Bodohwi's fav number) the BN goons are bound to be about putting up flags and posters, and going door to door seeking your vote by giving you election goodies. NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR DEMANDS!! Ask for whatever you want, no matter how ridiculous it may be. Its election time!! Milk it to the max while you can, and then when you go to the polls, kick their lying, cheating, vote-buying, ISA butts!

haha of course do the same to the opposition too! (that is if they go around trying to buy your vote) As Jack Sparrow says "take all you can, give nothing back" Harvest the fruits while you can, or youll miss the boat! If your not eligible to vote, tell ur parents and relatives to do it for you. Make as many demands as you want! At the same time, if theres a ceramah or whatever in your area, you can go and publicly ask the MP-wanabe whatever you want, ask him(or her) for his stand on things important to you, and humiliate him if he cant give a proper answer or lies.

On a more serious note, if your from any of the Constituencies below, please take a look at the 'Get an MP' initiative by the peoples parliament. They are seriously trying to find an MP (wheter opposition or independant) that will stand up for the people. If there is anything that concerns you, now is the time to voice it out. Hey its election time! It may just make a difference who knows?

http://getanmp.blogspot.com/

http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/get-an-mp-1/

Ampang
Bandar Tun Razak
Batu
Bukit Bintang
Cheras
Gombak
Kapar
Kelana Jaya
Kepong
Klang
Kota Raya
Lembah Pantai
Pandan
PJ Selatan
PJ Utara
Puchong
Rembau
Segambut
Selayang
Seputeh
Serdang
Setiawangsa
Shah Alam
Subang
Titiwangsa
Wangsa Maju

Rembau has been hilighted RED because it is rumoured that Khairy Jamalludin (the Beruk SON IN LAW) will be standing for MP there!

Rasuah Sayang

2008-02-10T15:20:00.000Z

I just had to post this. There is a new version of Rasah Sayang going around the internet. It describes everything thats wrong with Malaysia. Not sure which is the original, but Ive put together the version which I thought was the funniest. ENJOY!

Rasuah sayang ehRasuah Sayang Sayang eh,
He lihat Pak Lah tidur
Rasa sayang sayang eh,

Budak mongolia di luar pagar,
Ambil C4 tolong letupkan,
Saya budak baru nak mengajar,
Kalau salah you duduk diam - diam.

Rasuah sayang eh Rasuah sayang sayang eh
Eh lihat monkey Zam bodoh
rasa sayang sayang eh

Zainuddin kita nak marah al - jazeera,
tapi sendiri tak berpengetahuan,
Mungkinkah dia belajar di MARA
Kerana jawapannya macam ketam.

Rasuah sayang Eh rasuah sayang sayang Eh
Eh lihat parliment kita
rasa sayang sayang eh

Parliment kita macam zoo negara,
Penuh dengan banyak binatang,
Ada beruk, monyet dan kera,
Kalau pergi sana bawalah kacang,

Rasuah Sayang Eh rasuah sayang sayang eh
Eh lihat rempit jaguh
rasa sayang sayang eh

Khairi kata rempit sangat terer
Mereka ialah mat cemerlang,
Otaknya sekarang entah mana,
Mungkin dah jadi rempit di longkang.

Rasuah sayang eh rasuah sayang sayang eh
Eh lihat bola kita
rasa sayang sayang eh

Dulu kita main bola peringkat antarabangsa,
Sekarang main macam ketam,
Kalah 5 - 1 kepada Cina,
Semalam pula kalah kepada vietnam.

Rasuah Sayang Eh Rasuah Sayang Sayang Eh
Eh lihat Indonesia jauh
rasa sayang sayang eh

Rasa sayang milik indonesia
Malaysia kata mereka punya
Otak engkau lagu ini milik kita
Kita punya Rasuah sayang sebenarnya

Rasuah sayang eh rasuah sayang sayang eh
Eh lihat polis jauh
rasa sayang sayang eh

Bila nak tiba hari raya
Polis kita merata rata
Muka mereka semacam saja
Bagi IC dan Ringgit Malaysia

Rasuah sayang eh rasuah sayang sayang eh
Eh lihat Pak Lah tidur
rasa sayang sayang eh

Air di Johor melimpah limpah
Pak lah beli rumah di Australia
Bila Mahathir kita marah
Dia kata rumah itu orang lain pula.

Rasuah sayang,Eh rasuah sayang sayang eh,
Eh lihat kaum India
rasa sayang sayang eh.

Protes Hindraf memang patut,
Hak mereka telah diragut,
Kuil diroboh sehingga kaput,

marah kecewa India terus melaut.

Rasuah sayang, Eh rasuah sayang sayang eh,
Eh lihat Samy vellu
rasa sayang sayang eh.

Kata Samy pula jangan dihasut,
Mau sapu isu di bawah selimut,
Bila Samy naik gelabah and kecut,
akan luput kareernya di sg. siput.

Rasuah sayang Eh rasuah sayang sayang eh
Eh Malaysia sudah mau hancur
rasa sayang sayang eh!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

2008-02-06T17:14:00.000Z

GONG XI FA CHAI!!!

My first CNY away from home. Im so sad! I have no idea what to do for CNY, but either way it doubly sucks cause Thursdays are my busiest in the whole week!. Sigh, this year i guess its gona be quiet. No Ang Pows, no long visitng streaks. No CNY goodies (haha used to stuff myself silly!), No crazy time with friends.... SIGH............

Anyway, happy chinese new year to everyone, and hope you have a good time, even though most of us arn't around (either UK or Aussie or wherever).

PS: About the film, I came up with the idea of 'The Apologetic Viking', or better yet. 'The Asian Viking' LOL what dyu guys think. Shu, stop motion would be realy alot of effort. Satya, yea I was thinking along the lines of Rush Hour, but then we need good action and actors.... COMMENTS WELCOME!!

Any Ideas for a new film?

2008-02-03T20:22:00.001Z

As I said before, Derek and I have been talking for sometime about making another film, but that we've been brain-dead when it came to ideas. Now before you all jump onto the Star Wars idea, stop. I dont think I want to do ANOTHER Star Wars film, partly because its waaay to much work (no matter how fun it is), but also because I want to try my hand at other types of films as well. OK I admit it, I love doing sound and special effects, but theres more to the world of film thatn star wars!!

So anyway, back to topic. I just sent a message to Derek proposing that we do some sort of Action-Comedy. Im not sure when he will reply with his thoughts on the idea, but I thought Id want to start looking into the idea seriously. Problem is, I have absolutely no idea where to start!!

So Im here asking around for ideas, suggestions and comments. I realy need to know what you guys think about us making an Action-Comedy. If you have an idea or a story that you want to see turned into a film, PLEASE do share it, and it will certainly be most appreciated! (weather or not we take it up)

Please leave any genuine and concrete ideas in the form of a comment to this post and NOT on the Cbox! That way itll be more permanant. Once we have started on something, Ill post an update here regarding the matter, and hopefully it wont be too long before there is some news regarding another film on the BlueMarble Productions website!

My 2007 Christmas Trip!! (Part2- London)

2008-01-28T14:20:00.000Z

Okay! Finaly its time to update on my christmas trip! Today is monday, and since I have nothing better to do, I might as well do this.

Right. I landed in London Stansted on the evening of the 24th, and took the tube to South Kensington, which is where Imperial College is. I was staying with Norman, for those of you who dont know. Unfortunately, I couldnt use the route I planned cause they were doing works at Victoria station, and so no trains were going there. Hmm, I had to make a (literally) last min change, but it was ok becuase the new route ended up being faster and cheaper!

A word of advice if you want to go to London. Get an Oyster!! (sumfin like a TnG) Its much cheaper with an Oyster rather than buying tickets. Youll regret it if you dont.

Anyway. It was WAAAY foggy that night. I oculd barely see in fornt of me. Haha Norman had to come out and meet me near the station exit because I could find my way(due to the lack of visibility).

Next morning he took me round Imperial College. No I dunt have many pics! Dont forget I didnt take my camera along... Anyway. Imperial is a very beautiful Place. Hahah most of their physics labs are underground. I figure its not just due to lack of space, but also becuase if anything happens, itll be contained underground. LOL.

Well, after that, Nomz took me around Kensington area. He took me to the Royal Albert Hall. Very grand place where all sorts of music and arts performances are held. Then we went to Kensington Gardens, which is just adjacent to Hyde Park.

There we saw the Royal Albert memorial, which bsaicly looks like a giant That building from a distance. It has a solid gold statue of Prince Albert (husband of Queen Victoria). Shows just how rich the British Empire was. At kensington gardens, we basicly just relaxed, and fed the birds and stuff. Walked around the area, then went for lunch somewhere nearby.

In the afternoon/evening, I basicly just walked around the area alone(Norman was tired and took a nap :P) I walked up to Harrods, and around the area basicly. Took some pics, and even got abit lost LOL. (thank goodness for my map of london). Later that night, met up with Ce Dong, Yevonne and Ian. There was a christmas party at Imperial, held by Malaysians (who were mostly studying at Imperial). Had quite abit of fun. I realy wanted to go to church though, and there was this great big catholic church that was having a grand midnight mass with Ochestra and choir. Unfortunately, before I realised it, the time was already 1am, and so I decided that there was no point going to church, so I stayed on at the party. Sigh. Ian and Yevonne stayed over at Imperial.

Next day was Christmas day!! The one day where England is practically dead. No public transport whatsoever. So Ian and I took a slow, long walk from Imperial to UCL (where he is studying). We went thorugh ensington Gardens, and enjoyed the scenenry. Walked through Oxford street, and urmm, what else. Of course the cristmas decorations at Oxford Street were absolutely beautiful. Anyway, you can probably tell Im abit lazy to blog. (somehow this feels more like a chore that I need to just get done...)

That night, Ian took me around UCL. Its also very old and beautiful, and I took one or two pics with my phone. Ian cooked me dinner, and urmm...what did we do that night? I realy cant remember! I think we just watched TV! LOL there realy wasnt much to do....

Next day? BOXING DAY SALES!!! It was off to Oxford Street! OMG it was sooo crowded! And all along Oxford streeet you could see the word SALE. LOL. Boxing day sales are realy big here.

Funny thing is, just off oxford street, it was quite the opposite. There was hardly a soul around. Most were just people who parked their cars and were walking to Oxford Street. I didnt realy shop, because I wasnt sure of what I wanted to get. LOL. Some people will call it a waste, but then this IS england. SO ill be paying in pounds....

So that was how our Morning and afternoon was spent. In the evening, the guys (Ian, Norman and CeDong) took us round Central London. We first went to Trafalgar Square, then to Bond Street, Down to the riverside, past Westmister Abbey, then to Big Ben. Oh BTW at this time Jolynn had allready arrived in London, and we were trying to meet up with them. Between debating on who should go where, giving her travel directions, and begging Jo to get a UK number ASAP, my phone bill skyrocketed, as I was the one in constant contact wif JO. Dont forget that she is using an Irish number, so its not included in my minutes.... Worst thing? In the end we didnt meet up at all!! AIGH....

Anyway, after all that we went back to Norman's place for dinner. After that? Ping Pong!! HAHAH yea, I learned to play ping pong, and we practically played that the whole night. LOL.

My memory is seriously failing me now... I cant remember what happened on the 27th. I know i spend the whole day at the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum, but after that, I have no idea as to whar happened..... :s

On the morning of the 28th, I packed up and left. I didnt even get a chance to say bye or thanks to Norman, becuase he had work, and so had to leave. I went over to Ian's place and got the rest of my stuff (which I had left there), thanked him, and said goodbye. Then I made a quick stop at Oxford street to get some souviners. After that I headed over to my grand-uncle's place for Lunch. His place is pretty far away, Zone 5 maybe??

Anyway, spent the night at his house, and ot to know them. I havent seen them in AGES. Then I left for home on the morning of the 29th! I was back in Nottingham by mid afternoon, and thats the end of my christmas trip!

So...what now? Pictures of course! ENJOY!

The Royal Albert Memorial

Harrods!!

The Famous London Underground

An Original London Bus! Very hard to find these nowadays...

Cute eh? This is at Hyde Park

Me at Marble Arch
Me, Ian and Norman at Trafalgar Square

Still at Trafalgar Square, but this time against the National Gallery

I know its a crappy picture. The Christmas Tree and The Pole at Trafalgar Square

Big Ben!

The London Eye and City Hall from Westminster.

Silly pic of the 3 of us at Norman's Place

Say No to the Spectre of May 13

2008-01-23T16:05:00.000Z

Im writing to give my thoughts to the lattest hot issue going around back home:
The statement by PJ Utara MP Chew Mei Fun(MCA) that “If there is insufficient Chinese representation in the Barisan Nasional, it is not a good thing, the Chinese community cannot afford another May 13 incident.”

This statement was aired by China Press. Obviously I cant and dont read the China Press, this is just news gathered around from the blogs. This statement has caused an uproar by civil society groups because of the highly threatening nature of this statment. Anyone with half a brain cell will be able to tell the meaning behind this statement:- That if chinese dont vote MCA, we will have another 13 May incident.

Now, China Press has aired an apology stating that the reporter had "misquoted and misrepresented Ms. Chew" in their coverage of the event. They state that Chew actualy said “If we do not have enough representation in the Barisan Nasional, then to the Chinese community, the lesson of 1969 is sufficient. I think we cannot afford another such scenario.”

Now of course these are all translations, so there are bound to be inaccuracies. (I figure her speech was in mandarin, and CP is in mandarin).

If this is true, and the translation accurate, I feel abit sorry for the MP because of the storm that is now hitting her. However, She didn't deny it (to my knowledge), and anyway what did she mean by 'the lesson of 1969 is sufficient' (or insufficient??). Some people claim that what she meant was actualy the shamefully huge loss MCA suffered in 1969 (and UMNO too for the matter). But of course what did that end up with? 13 May of course! So the way I see it, it is no different (IMHO) from the previous statement, except that this is what she may have actualy said, whilst the reporter might have just written down what she meant.

Either way, I feel as an MP it was highly irresponsible to make such a statement(whichever it was). The fact is, you say 1969 the first thing that comes to mind is 13 May. And anyway, UMNO has been calling out the 13 May Bogeyman for sometime now right? So why not MCA? BN Buddies! LOL.

The fact is that making such statements are realy playing with fire, and until she comes out with an explanation as to what she 'actually' meant by her statement (if that isnt what she meant) people can, will, and should see it as a dangerous and threatening gesture.

Hence, several civil society groups(Bersih Included) have come out with a joint statement, and many other individuals have endorsed it. All who agree with it can put it up on their blog. I have reproduced the statement blow, for you to see(and to keep yourselves informed!).

My POV? I will endorse this statement untill an apology, explanation, and statement that all should not fear their safety when voting is issued by MP Chew. These are of course just my thoughts, and I would very much like to hear your view on the matter.

~Baron Out~

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY CONCERNED MALAYSIANS ON 22 JANUARY 2008:

We, the undersigned civil society groups and concerned citizens of diverse ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, stress that all Malaysians have the right to choose their representatives and the government in a free, fair and clean election. No individual politician or political party should resort to threats or intimidation to influence the voter’s decision.
We lament that Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, MCA MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, as reported in the China Press on January 21 (Monday), has conveyed this fear-mongering message to the public: “If there is insufficient Chinese representation in the Barisan Nasional, it is not a good thing, the Chinese community cannot afford another May 13 incident.”

The May 13 ethnic riot in 1969 was a dark chapter in Malaysia’s political history where political violence and manipulation overshadowed the democratic process as well as the voice of the people. Invoking the bitter memories of this tragic incident for political gain is a huge insult to those who died, the surviving victims and their families. This veiled threat to voters not to support the opposition parties is shameless and unbecoming of a responsible political leader.

If Chew is aware of certain quarters planning to use violence in response to a certain electoral outcome, she who has been speaking tirelessly on public safety should lodge a police report immediately and assist in the police investigation.

If she is merely speculating, we are truly disappointed that she has stooped so low in fishing for support. Politicians should not behave like gangsters. They should not use the threat of violence to solicit vote, as gangsters do to extort money.

By making this statement, Chew has in fact violated Section 9 (1) of the Election Offences Act 1954:
Undue influence9. (1) Every person who, before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence, or restraint, or inflicts or threatens to inflict, by himself or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm, or loss upon or against any person in order to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting, at any election, or who by abduction, duress, or any fraudulent device or contrivance impedes or prevents the free exercise of the franchise of any elector or voter, or thereby compels, induces, or prevails upon any elector or voter either to give or refrain from giving his vote at any election, or who directly or indirectly interferes or attempts to interfere with the free exercise by any person of any electoral right shall be guilty of the offence of undue influence.

While waiting for the Election Commission to investigate and lodge a police report, we call upon Chew to do the honorable thing. She should retract her statement and apologize unreservedly for her fear-mongering act. She must condemn unreservedly the use of political violence in Malaysia.

Voters must be assured of their right to vote for any candidate or party of their choice in an environment that is free from fear and intimidation.

We also call upon the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi to disassociate his administration and party from Chew’s fear-mongering statement and condemn unreservedly the use of threats and intimidation on voters.

We must not let Malaysia become a failed state where political violence rules, like Pakistan. We must not allow any party to ‘play with fire’. We categorically reject anyone who uses the spectre of May 13 as a bogeyman to threaten Malaysians.

All individuals or civil society organisations in support of democracy may endorse this statement by displaying a copy of this statement on their premises, vehicles or the front page of their blogs or websites, until Chew retract the statement and apologizes.

Civil Society Organisations:
Coalition For Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH)
Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC)
Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)
Malaysian Voters Union (MALVU)
Save Ourselves (SOS Penang)
PJ Utara Get an MP Initiative

My first attempt at a Zoom Out to Space!

2008-01-20T14:40:00.000Z

Well, you probably are expecting part 2 of "My Christmas Trip" but im feeling a little too lazy to do that right now. Its going to be a very long post, and I may just break it up!

Anyway, just writing to announce that Im back into playing around with After Effects, after quite some time, and Im very happy to show you my first attempt at a zoom out to space. It starts at the Petronas Twin Towers (rather unoriginal, I know).

Its kinda crappy, but its just something I did. Id like to thank Andrew Kramer for all his wonderful tutorials that help me to learn more about After Effects, and try out new things. Been spending a long time at your site, http://www.videocopilot.net/

Also Im spending more time, coming up with a HD version for the intro screen of the BlueMarble Productions sequence. And whilst it dosent appear to be faithful to the 'blue marble' theme, I think its coming along pretty good. But havent come up with the entire sequence. Lets just say is going to be BIG! LOL.

Yup! That means that BlueMarble Productions might be facing a comeback soon! (Infact Im planing on redesigning the website, but its pointless unless there are any new developments) Speaking of which, just want to say that Derek n I have been talking (more like thinking) for a while of seriously doing another movie, (and no this time I hope its not Star Wars, we want to try something else!) But for now, we dont realy have any ideas at all!

Well enough of my rambling, just watch the video!

My 2007 Christmas Trip!! (Part1- Dublin)

2008-01-18T15:43:00.000Z

OKAY!! EXAMS ARE FINALY OVER!!! YAY!!

Now I can finally tell you about my Christmas Trip which Im sure your all simply DYING to know about yeah?! Overall it was a fantastic trip, except for one f***ing blunder. I FREAKKING LEFT MY CAMERA AT HOME!!! Bah, I still cant stop hitting myself for it. I mean like, what the HELL is the point of having a super great and EXPENSIVE vidcam, if im gona leave it behind on such a trip?? Ireland is sooo beutiful, and its the perfect place to take outdoor HD, imagine 1080p!!!! So, I have very few piccies, I had to survive with my phone (which is thankfully a k800) as well as tumpang Jo n Norman's camera. Or course Normz has an SLR which leads to fantastc pics!

DUBLIN:

First, I went to Dublin on the 20th, and spent a few days with my cousin Anu, and Jolynn of course!! It was sooo nice seeing both of them after such a LONG time!! OMG!!! IRELAND IS SOO BEAUTIFUL!!!! you can tell im getting all excited thinking about it! XD. I will DEFINATELY go there again. Next stop Galway!! HOOITZING HERE I COME!!! muahahahaahh.

Lol im going nuts. I didnt really go around very much in dublin itself, but from what I saw in the city centre, it realy is a beautiful city. My cousin DID say that 3 days was too short a trip. SIGH. NVM Ill go again. One thing, dublin sure isnt cheap!! But its definately worth going.

My flight was delayed by several hours, so I arrived at Dublin in the late evening. In fact, by the time i got to my cuz's place it was already 7pm!! BAH!! Went out for dinner with her, had Malaysian food!! Oh. I will NEVER take a cab in dublin unless i absolutely HAVE to. about 60% of the money i took with me to Ireland went off to the taxi man! (im not gona tell you the exact figure!)

Next morning I met up with Jolynn n Elaine! Yup!! Elaine is in UCD too! I had no idea untill I saw her waiting with Jolynn. LOL. Had Lunch at her place, then we went around abit. We ended up going for a movie at the biggest mall in Dublin (cant remember the name). Then went around a little bit more around the town at night. Went to Grafton Streeet ( think thats the name, forgot so muh di!) to see the christmas decorations. Since it was already late, I slept at Jo's place that night, cuz next morning we were going HIKING!!!

Following Morning, we headed out of Dublin, to the small town of Bray. If you wana see Ireland, thats the best way to go. Head out, cause Ireland is all about the great outdoors. We climbed Bray hill, and it was absolutely fantastic!! The scenery at the foothills as well as the top of the hill is awsome! (scroll down for pics) You see, the hill is by this lovely pebble beach, and from the top of the hill, there is a giant cross, and you can see the town of Bray, and the whole of the Dublin metropolitan area in the distance. The view is absolutely BREATHTAKING!

Ok, so maybe we had planned to do too many things in one day, cause we had to dump the trip to the Guiness storehouse. The Irish are very proud of their Guiness. Practically all souviners are about Guiness. LOL. Anyway, next place we went was Ennis-kerry (doubt I spelt it right), which is EVEN further away from Dublin. At Ennis is a old English Lord's mansion, with B-E-A-utiful gardens. Words simply cant describe the whole area, not just the gardens, but the whole of Ennis. One word. AMAZING. (I soooo wish I had my cammie)

It was a very long walk from the bus stop, and by the time we were done touring the area, it was already dark. (bout 6pm I think). Before we went around we had Lunch/Tea there,enjoyed the view and fresh clean air. Its just sooo peaceful. Anyway we spent quite alot of time there since we had already decided to not go to the Guiness Store House, which was ALL the way in Dublin, and it closed at 5pm. But, we were practiclally in the middle of nowhere! After a very long walk back to the bustop, we were abit lost, because we were unsure of which way was back to Dublin! :S Well, one very lovely Irish couple gave us a lift ALL THE WAY BACK to Dublin! They were so friendly and kind, and went out of their way to help us. Bet you will never find that kind of people in Malaysia!!

I promised my Cuz that Id go with her to her friend's Xmas party, so I rushed back, took a shower and out we went! Got to meet my cousin's friends, and I had a good time. (Apparently they enjoyed my company too. YAY!) Oh my cousin n her friends are all around 26 (graduated n working, most of them), so they were all like "you're soo young!" LOL, but you know what, its 2008 now and im gona be 19! I feel so old.....

Anyway, came back reaaly late the next morning (obv, its a party!). Woke up late, so rushed to town to get some souviners, and then took ANOTHER cab to the airport! Sigh that morning was such a rush that I didnt even get to take any pics with my cousin. Oh well, I will next time I go! Deffinately! Maybe ill even get to meet her BF?

So! That was my whirlwind trip of Dublin! Even though it was waay to short, I had a blast! Got to see 2 people who I hadnt seen in a very long time. Then it was on to London! Malas to blog about that trip right now, so Ill continue later, but for now.... PICTURES!!!!

City Hall at O'Connel Street

An Interesting Tram Bridge

Christmas decorations at Grafton Street

Me n Jo at the Square in front of the Mall I told you about

Me n Jo halfway up Bray Hill

The Beach at Bray

At the Summit, with the hills at the back. Its really windy!!

The City in the distance! The picture dosen't do it justice!!

Me n Jo with the giant cross. Outstandingly Wonderfull!

Somewhere in Enniskerry, on the road to the Mansion. For some reason I realy liked that hill.

Dublin is full of Statues! but this one is just one of the many at the Mansion

The last picture I took in Dubin. The Three of us, somewhere in the Gardens.

Just a quick update

2007-12-18T14:07:00.000Z

OK! Christmas Holidays have begun! Whats all the exciting news? Well not much really, yet. its just a quick post cuz I have alot of work I need to get done.

First of all, if you don't already know, Im leaving for Dublin this thursday. yup! Ill be away till around the 28th of December. I wana get back before the new year. Need to study!! Exams start as soon as the holidays end. Im heading down from Dublin to London, where some ppl from our Sunway gang will be havng a get-together. Yup, Xander, Norman, Yveonne, Jolynn. Oh yea, of course Im gona ronda around Ireland with Jolynn. You didnt think I was going alone did you? But, Im also realy looking forward to spending some quality time with my cousin Anu. Weve been so out of touch lately, I think itll be great staying at her place.

Anyway, Iv been soo busy lately. With the Xmas break now started Ive been forced out of Halls, cuz the Uni is so cheapskate (lol). My friend has been kind enough to let me stay at his place for free while he's gone home over the break (thanks a mill Arun). So, yeah. Ive had to move out. AIgh so much work! Thats why im so tired.

Anyway, I have to organise my notes, pack for my xmas trip, do all the final coordination, and study!

~Baron Out~

MALAYSIA BOLEH! but for yet ANOTHER wrong reason!

2007-12-09T11:24:00.000Z

Hello again! yes its another part of my "Criticisms of Bolehland Arc" LOL.
This news is abit old now (2 weeks old i think), but I decided to delay this post to leave the write to your MP bit on as no 1 for awhile. Im dissapointed I couldnt convince any of you to at least TRY and make an effort for change in our country....

Anyway, today Im going to talk to you about the Environment in Malaysia.. WAIT!! Dont run away! This is important.

Malaysia is yet another number one! The UN has recently announced that Malaysia is No 1 country in the world for increasing Carbon Emmisions! WOOHOO! Malaysia Boleh again! Though, Im sure most Malaysians could'nt give a damn. From 1990 to 2004, our CO2 emmissions have grown by a whooping 221% and now were are the 26th Biggest cause of Global Warming!! I dont think our government can afford to shunt anymore responsibility under the guise of a developing nation, and neither should YOU!!

Why do we seem to be getting all the fame for all the wrong reasons? How did this happen?
Well Ill give you my unprofessional take on this. US MALAYSIANS!!!
The number of cars on the road have quadrupled in the last 2 years! Practically every house has at least 2 cars. To go to the 7 eleven down the road malaysians take cars. We have factories that pollute without control, farmers that burn their paddy fields which result in THICK SMOG, Every kampung has a daily ritual of burning rubbish around 7pm. Need I say more?

So what can you do to help correct this grave error?

For one, you can start by writing to your local MP, or councillor to ask them to start acting more eco-friendly. That means less tree cutting, and more parks and green lungs! Stricter laws and greater enforcement. Ask our PM to commit to a definative and unambigous plan to cut emmisions like the EU.

but more importantly, it boils down to you guys. At the ground level, we are the biggest cause, and we can be the biggest factor for change. So what can you do?

For one, make an effort to use your car less. If you can PLEASE walk or take public transport. When going with family or friends to the local mamak or restaraunt down the road, why not walk instead of taking the car? A little bit of exercise is good for you, and besides its a good oportunity to spend quality time with family of friends. Theres no need to take the car when its just a 10 minute walk. Lazyness is not a reason. Its a VERY POOR EXCUSE! Its the type of excusee thats killing your body and killing OUR planet.

RECYCLE!! Yes you have heard this ALOT but it is one of the most important thing to do. Take the trouble to collect your recyclables and take it to the local recycle bin or centre. Wheter its at the nearby Jaya Jusco, or in a padang nearby, why not make this small effort? Its easy! Just keep a cardboard box somewhere in your house where you put all recyclables, and when its full take it out to the local centre. In KL, there are many recycle centers that actually PAY you for your rubbish! Isnt that an added bonus? So Start Recycling TODAY!

Oh, recycling dosent just mean that you send trash to be recycled. Thats just one part of the CYCLE. You should also buy recycled goods. Many products that use recycled material will proudly say this. Buy goods that used recycled products. Whether its a shampoo bottle or a tub of yogurt. If what you want isnt available using recycled material, at least buy a product that uses recyclable items.

One more thing! CUT DOWN ON PLASTIC BAGS!!! This is by far the WORST aspect of Malaysian culture. Our bloody plastic bag culture. When going shopping, why not bring your own bag, instead of taking a new plastic bag from the shop? We all keep acumilating so many plastic bags its ridiculous. Its a complete waste, and to top it off they take like a bazillion years to decompose. Cutting down on plastic bag usage will reduce its production, and hence reduce carbon emmissions. Need I say more? Just make a TINY effort. Bring your own bag to the shop, and tell them you don't want a bag. If you shop without planing in advance, reduce the number of bags as much as you can. If you can carry it by hand, do so.

This goes without saying, but we realyl should cut down on our electricity usage. That means cut down on AIR CONDITIONING!! If you can, why not open a window and turn on the fan? If mosqutoes is the issue, how about putting up mosquito netting? If you HAVE to use the A/C dont put the temperature too low. Just put it at a comfortable level like say 26 degrees? Thats ok isnt it? I know everyone is changing to energy-saving lightbulbs so I dont need to talk about that. Basicly, about 70% of our electricity is enerated from fossil-fuels. Cut down on electricity usage, and you wont just be helping the planet, youll be reducing that monthly blackhole sucking up your precious money in the form of bills!

Finaly, belive it or not, try cutting down the ammount of meat you eat, especially heavy meas like beef and mutton. Nono, Im not asking you to become like 'Shrimp the Vegetarian' but committing to 5% less meat a week can reduce your carbon footprint by about 7%! That means if you just cut down the ammound of meat you eat by 5% You are 7% less responsible for anual global warming! Thats not a very big sacrifice is it? How does it work? Well he thing is, most animals you eat, but especially cows, emit large amounts of methane gas into the atmosphere by their FART! Methane is 3x more efficetive than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. By reducing the ammount of meat you eat, you are reducing the demand, and hence eventually farmers will rear less cows for the slaughterhouse.

Plant some trees! I know it dosent reduce CO2 emmisions, but it helps to offset it! Howabout planting one tree for every member of the family? Thats not much effort right? You dont have to do it in you garden. You can always plant a few trees at your local padang. Just make sure that the grass-cutters wont accidentally cut it while their still young!

Please people PLEASE I know I keep telling you this, but we have to take action NOW. What Im asking of you isnt much. But these little things go a long way to helping our environment. Educate your family and friends. The more people do this, the more effective it will be.

LETS ALL WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE MALAYSIA A CLEANER, GREENER, MORE ECO-FRIENDLY COUNTRY THAT WE CAN ALL BE PROUD OF!

Stop BN's Shadowy Constitutional Amendment: Write to your MP NOW!!

2007-11-30T01:14:00.000Z

To quote from Haris Ibrahim's blog, "There they go again, messing about with our constitution for their own ends."

Whats up you ask? A very serious issue that few people are likely to care about, when infact everybody should.

On 20th November 2007, Nazri 'the nazi' (aka bodoh!bodoh!bodoh! from his famous outburst in parliament) tabled the bill that seeks to ammend the constitution so as to change the mandatory retirement age of Election Commision (SPR) members from 65 to 66.

So what you say? Heck, you're probably even wondering why on earth would the constitution need to be changed for such a trivial thing? Am I really making a fuss over nothing?

Well I hope you've also realised that they want to raise the retirement age by just one year! Why go through so much of effort just to raise the retirement age by one year? Heck if its just a year it don't really matter does it?

Well heres the thing, the chairman of the EC, Rashid Abd. Rahman, is due to retire on 31st December 2007! As we all know, its widely expected that elections will be held sometime next year? Hmmm..... something fishy isnt it? Why is the Gov rushing to extend Rashid's term Now? that too by just one year??

Clearly BN wants Rashid in the SPR for the upcoming elections. My guess is that they need Rashid so that the SPR can continue to 'toe the line' and ensure yet another overwhelming 'victory' for BN in the coming elections. If Rashid remains head of the SPR next year, I think it's almost certain that there's gona be more dead people rising up from the ground to vote for BN, 'tutup-satu-mata' cases when it comes to missing votes, and most importantly, Gerrymanderring. (more on gerrymanderring below)

Anyway, its late, and I don't feel like elaborating too much on what's going on. Please read this article instead. http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/people-we-got-rid-of-fairuz-now-get-rid-of-rashid/

The point is that this is an unwarrented and unjustified change to our constitution, of questionable nature, and strongly suspicious intentions. This amendment can only be to our disadvantage, and that is why its been kept so hushed up and mysterious. As i understand id, the mainstream Msian media dunt really say anything about it do they? Nor do MPs talk about it. Funny how they go about trying to secretly change our constitution.

So what do you do? As said in the article above, please Write to your MP!! Demand that they vote against this stupid amendment. Remind them that they are wakil rakyat not wakil parti, and as such have a duty to do as you want, and not toe the party line.

Tell your family, friends and neighbours to do the same. Tell them to tell their family friends and neighbours to write to their MP. (and while your at it, consider sending a copy of these letters to 'The Peoples Parliament')

You can get all the info on MPs at http://www.parlimen.gov.my/DewRakyat_AhliDewan_2.php

if your not sure about which constituency your in you can check here http://www.spr.gov.my/index/parlimen_dun/senarai_parlimen_dunBM.xls

To make life easier, Im just gona list the constituency, the areas which fall in this constituency n the MP for a few places which I think will be relavent to you guys.

Melaka:

Bukit Katil: - Ayer Keroh, Bukit Baru, Bukit Beruang, Bachang

Dato Dr. Mohd Ruddin bin Abd. Ghani (UMNO):
Kementerian Sains, Teknologi & Inovasi,Aras 7, Blok C5,Parcel C,Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,62662 Putrajaya.

Kota Melaka: - Melaka Town , Banda Hilir, Kota Laksamana

Mr. Wong Nai Chee (MCA) :
52, Jalan Melaka Raya 32,Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka.

Klang Valley:

KL - Cheras:

Mr. Tan Kok Wai (DAP)
NO 532A, Batu 3 1/2,Jalan cheras,56100 Kuala Lumpur.

KL - Bukit Bintang: - Maluri, Kampung Pandan, KLCC (i think plz double check)

Fong Kui Lun (DAP)
No. 20-A, Lorong Brunei 2,55100 Kuala Lumpur.

KL - Titwangsa: - Kampung Baru, Dang Wangi (maybe)

Datuk Astaman bin Abdul Aziz (UMNO)
Pusat Khidmat Wakil Rakyat,Ahli Parlimen Titiwangsa,No 93, Lorong Raja Uda 2,Kampung Baru,50300 Kuala Lumpur.

Selangor - PJ Utara: -Damansara Utama, Damansara Jaya, TTDI(i think)

Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun (MCA)
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat,Aras 6, Blok E, Kompleks Pejabat Kerajaan,Bukit Perdana Jalan Dato' Onn,50515 Kuala Lumpur.

Selangor - PJ Selatan: - PJ Hilton, Bukit Gasing, PJS 1 - 4, SS17, Taman Medan

Dato Donald Lim Siang Chai (MCA)
Kementerian Pelancongan,Tingkat 36, Menara Dato' Onn,Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra,50694 Kuala Lumpur.

Selangor - Kelana Jaya:- Subang Jaya, USJ, Seri Setia, Bdr Sunway(i think)

Mr. Loh Seng Kok (MCA)
Pusat Perkhidmatan Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Kelana Jaya,No:1-61, Jalan PJS 9/1A,Lagoon Perdana, Bandar Sunway,46150 Petaling Jaya.

Selangor - Puchong: Seri Serdang, Bdr Kinrara

Mr. Lau Yeng Peng (Gerakan)
No. 26, Jalan USJ 4/1J,Taman Seafield Jaya,Petaling Jaya,Selangor.

Selangor - Klang: Klang town, Port Klang

Datin Paduka Dr. Tan Yee Kew (MCA)
Kementerian Perdagangan Antarabangsa & Industri,Tingkat 14, Blok 10, Kompleks Pejabat Kerajaan, Jalan Duta,50622 Kuala Lumpur

Selangor - Shah Alam:- City, Batu Tiga

Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz bin Shamsuddin (UMNO)
Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah, Aras 9, Blok D9,Parcel D, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,62502 Putrajaya.

Unfortunately, my MP is an UMNO man (and he dunt look too friendly either!), but still as my wakil rakyat he has a duty to listen to what I have to say. And I say that a constitutional ammendment is a big deal, no matter how trivial it may be (in this case its very trivial, 1 year, but with far reaching possible consequences)

So please, please write to your MP. Make your voice count. It probably wont make much of a difference, but at least you didnt sit down on ur butt and do nothing. People have asked me if they can just have one letter with many signatures. Obviously you can. its up to you. But I feel that sending many individual letters would have a better effect. Politicians seem to need constant prodding and reminding for things to sink into their heads. One letter can be chucked away. But many letters will have the effect of a constant reminder!

This is our country, our constitution, and our rights that are being impenged upon. So rather than grumbling with family and friends, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!

Otherwise whatever you don't like about the government or the country is your fault.

PS: What is gerrymanderring? Im not gona quote wikipedia or anything, you can go look it up yourself. But basicaly, its where the boundries of parliamentary constituencies are tampered with, such that it creates an imbalanced electorate, with the aim of giving an unfair advantage towards a certain party. Obv in our case its done by, and for the benefit of UMNO/BN.

Generally its done by diluting the votes of the opposition-oriented constituencies (especially the non-malay urban areas which are typical OP strongholds). This is done by having a large constituency in such areas, and a small constituency in areas which support the ruling party. Because of this, an urban(opposition) constituency can have 100000+ voters, and only one seat in parliament, whilst a rural constituency of only 5000 voters (who support BN) also has one seat in parliament.
This is how the BN can get 92.1% of the seats in parliament even though only 60.3% of the Malaysians voted for them.

Another Idiot Minister makes a fool of himself and Embarasses the Country

2007-11-20T21:55:00.000Z

YES! an update at last!! Why so long?
1) MALAS
2)Very busy cathing up with events from home (Bersih Rally n onwards)
3) Got alot of work
4) Dono wat to blog about

Anyway, I hope all you people out there know about events at home like the recent Bersih rally and its aftermaths. If not, SHAME ON YOU!!! Go read http://www.malaysiakini.com/ and http://www.malaysia-today.com/ DONT TRUST GOVERNMENT SOURCES PPL!!! That means Bernama, Star(MCA), NST(UMNO) Sin Chew & Nanyang (MCA) Tamil neesan(MIC) etc etc.
They are just spewing mainly UMNO propaganda and government nonsense.

Anyway, back to my topic. The idiot Minister of (mis)Information (aka Minister of Propaganda), Zainuddin Maidin(ZAM) blasted Al-Jazeera for reporting on the actions of the FRU at Masjid Jamek. To borrow a phrase from Lim Kit Siang's blog, ZAM litterealy acted like "a monkey gone bananas over nuts" on international TV. If you dont know Al-Jazeera is an international news group of similar standing as CNN, BBC and Reuters. Anyway before I go on, Here is the video for you to see.

Also here is a transcript of the whole conversation as per the blog uhaveavoice.wordpress.com Also I have colour coded it and added some emphasis here and there.
Red is for the sentences that I feel completely memalukan negara.
Yellow is for sentences that I feel just makes a fool of himself and shows how stupid he is.
underlines are emphasis that I hope you pay abit of attention to.

Minister: I commend yo-yo-man, you-your journalists trying to project… to exaggerate more than what actually happened. That-that-that-that’s it. We are laughing the-the and I-I congratulate your journalists behaving like an actor, that-that’s it…

Reporter: As you say that, sir, we’re watching scenes of protesters being sprayed by chemical-filled water!

Minister: YA! I am watching! I’m here! You’ve been trying… trying to do it this - to do this everywhere but in Malaysia people are laugh you, you know? We know our police head as our colleague… Police have what err allowed the procession to go to the Istana Negara, you know? Do police, first police might be, like, they handle them with the tear gas, they attack them, they… police don’t, don’t, don’t fire anybody!

Reporter: Our correspondent came back to the office, sir, with chemicals in his eyes!

Minister:You-you-you-you are here with the idea, you are trying to project, what is your mind! You think that we Pakistan, we are Burma, we are Myanmar. Everything you-you are thinking!
WE ARE DIFFERENT! We are totally different!

Reporter: Well unfortunately when you refuse to let people protest, it does appear so.

Minister: Ya ya we are not like you! You-you have earlier perception, you come here, you want to project us like undemocratic country. This is democratic country!

Reporter: So why can’t people protest then, if it’s a democratic country?

Minister: YES, PEOPLE PROTEST! People do-do… of course they protest. We are allowing them protest, and they have demonstrated. But we just trying to disperse them, and then later they-they-they don’t wanna disperse, but later our police compromise. They have compromised and allowed them to proceed to Istana Negara! Police, our police have succeeded in handling them gently, right? Why don't you report that? You take the opposition, someone from opposition party you ask him to speak. You don’t take from the government, right?

Reporter: Why did you not break up these protests…

Minister: Pardon? Pardon? Pardon?!

Reporter: Why did you not break up these protests more peacefully?

Minister: I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!!

Reporter: Why did you not break up these protests more peacefully?

Minister: No we-we are! We… this protest is ILLEGAL! We don’t want..this… the… NORMALLY…

Reporter: OK, so let me return to my former question. Why is this protest illegal?

Minister: YA! It’s a illegal protest! Because, we have the erection in Malaysia. It’s no-no point on having a protest! We are allowing to every erection… every five years never fail! We are not our like, like Myanmar, not like other country. And, and you are helping this. You Al-Jazeera also is helping this, this forces. The, you know, these forces who are not in passion, who don’t believe in demokrasi! Right?

Reporter: Alright, many thanks for joining us.

Minister: I don’t, ya, you, Al-Jazeera, this is, is Al-Jazeera attitude. Right?! RIGHT?!!

Do you see what I mean by a monkey gone bananas over nuts?? He cant event speak English to save his life!! He has to st-stu-stu-stutter for every line. Heck he probably dosent even know what hes saying! Also he is the one who equated us to Pakistan and Burma/Myanmmar (which ZAM obviously dosent know is the same thing).

Under scrutiny he breaks down and resorts to typical UMNO style of hitting out at you instead and making stupid statements. "Why did you not break up these protests more peacefully? This Protest is ILLEAGAL!" Like DUH! its so-called Illeagal so it must be crushed mercilessly right?? Yea typical UMNO democracy is just the ballot box right? it dunt matter how its done or freedom of speech, right to peacefull assembly? NO you dont like something show it through the ballot box!! Thats all! Once every 5 years thats all

Im not even gona BEGIN talking about ZAM's errections! LOL Go over the blogs and you see peoples comments on UMNO and their errections. Hmm...no wonder there are so many rapes going on... they just can't keep their blood in their brains can they? LOL!!

"the forces who are not in passion, who don’t believe in demokrasi!" Passion?? I expect no on is as "passionate" about him and his errections! Whoe dont belive in democracy?? Yea maybe UMNO rubbish democratic farce! If BERSIH dosn't belive in democracy why the HELL are they fighting just for that? Free and fair elections! Proper democratic principals! Because they are undemocratic right? What a passionate idiot!

"this is, is Al-Jazeera attitude. Right?! RIGHT?!!" This is completely beyond me!! I was stunned to absolute silence when I first saw this. This is a MINISTER??!!! Well I suppose anything is possible in "bolehland" (MALAYSIA-BOELH!!)

The troubling thing is How the hell did a buffoon like him become a Minister let alone minister of Information?? Heck how the hell did he become an MP?? Did people actually vote for this guy?? Well I guess this proves the point BERSIH was making right down to the floor!!

MALAYSIA BOLEH!!! WOOO-HOOO!!!!

Oh here is another fine example of how big an idiot ZAM is. He thinks he is very smart and makes a fool of himself when he announcs he is going to publish Lim Kit Siang's blog on TV. He thinks he is making a fool of LKS when in fact he is only making a fool of himself again because he clearly cant understand the english in LKS blog let alone speak English without stu-stu-stuttering!

On thing, towards the end, Zam said the first correct and intelligent thing I have ever heard from his mouth. He said that someone like LKS is not a nobody. That as a somebody in society, as the leader and the face of a major political party, he should be more responsible in the content of his blog. I agree with this, even if I don't agree with the context he was referring it to. He actually said something proper!

Also, a final video of LKS blasting mr zam-zam-AlakaZAM! HAHAHAHAH!

~Baron Out~

The Palm Oil Contraversy

2007-10-22T14:38:00.001+01:00

STUPID BLOGSPOT KEEPS DESTROYING MY PARAGRAPHING. IM FED UP OF CORRECTING IT ONLY TO FIND IT RUINED WHEN PUBLISHED. SORRY BUT YOU'RE JUST GONA HAVE TO READ THIS BIG BLOCK OF TEXT

This is a picture I just HAD to upload. It was in an advertisement I saw for fair-trade cookies in the portland building. Like I have said before, environmental awareness and social responsibility is something which the people here have very much more of compared to us Malaysians.

However this doesn't mean that it's always right. Before you start thinking "Oh great its yet another environmental blabber or another dumb East vs West argument" allow me to say this, I am not presenting any hardcore evidence in this post. While I have done a very tiny amount of research into this subject, the purpose of this post is mainly to get you thinking, and for you to find out information for yourself. Therefore, I do not claim everything I say to be true, mainly because I am stating my opinions.

In the days before I left for the UK the Malaysian government was blasting western environmental organizations for being racist and 'anti-palm oil' saying things like

"they are actively discouraging the use of palm oil by telling false lies about how palm oil is destroying the Orang-Utan habitats. In truth they are being payed by western crop farmers to make such claims so that sales of western oils such as sunseed and canola will rise at the expense of palm oil. The west will stop at nothing to destroy our palm oil industry. First they said that it was bad for health. Now that we have proven otherwise they say this instead."

Again I remind you that I am not stating any facts. This is not a direct quotation. It is however, the gist of what I remember a government spokesman was saying that was published in the NST several weeks ago. At first I was just thinking Nonsense! Typical of the government being anti-environmentalist as usual.(which they are btw). Why? Most of us should be quick to defend our country and our industry in one way or another. (belive me you will feel something once you leave malaysia. trust me. Its one thing when you are at home, and another when you are not)

But the fact remains that it is true, at least in Sabah. Sabah as we all know is famous as the habitat of the orang utans. Unfortunately Sabah is also famous for logging and deforestation. Now, it is becoming a heaven for Palm oil plantations. Some time ago the Sabah government gave permission to vast ammounts of land to be turned into palm oil plantations. Since most of this will come from Sabah's vast tropical rainforests what is going to happen to the orang utans?

Why should we care? Well, for starters orangutans of Sabah are highly endangered, and in Indonesia it is even worse. Like most other Indonesian wildlife the Sumatran Orangutan is critically endangered. Typical of Indonesia isn't it? Yes I am Anti-Indonesian, and if you don't like it screw you! (the anual haze, the flood of criminals into Msia and the extinction of the Javan Rhino are just several of the reasons btw)

BTW, Sabah is not the only place in the world there are orangutans. While Sabah is most famous for them, the Borneo Orangutan lives mainly in Sabah and Nothern Kalimantan, but there are some even in Sarawak. Yes! This is yet another catalyst for the issue above. You see, the Penan resistance towards deforestation of their ancestral land (in Sarawak) has gained some prominance here in the west. The fact that there are orangutans just makes it worse dosen't it? The irony here is that the Penan people are traditionally migratory farmers, ie: they burn down forests to grow their crops.(hmm not exactly the most environmentally friendly is it?).

However the penan people have a terrible struggle fighting against deforestation, mainly because they are fighting those supported by the government. As usual the government onyl care about filling the pockets of their cronys whithout any regard for the environment or the rights of others. This is one of many good reads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penan Anyway Im going off topic here.

So far with everything I've said it completly contradicts what I've said about defending our country hasn't it? Well yes. But that is because It is true. Or at least I believe it to be true. I do hate the political system of our country, and I d hate the politicians of our country. And I especially hate the fact that our government dosent give a damn bout the environment despite the facade they so often put on.

HOWEVER, there are several arguments I have against the west that I have too. For one, besides the orangutans, the argument is that the rising demand for palm oil is a cause for global warming because of increasing deforestation. Now I am vilhlemntaly environmentalist.(did I spell that right?) I am completaly and definately against continued deforestation. However, the fact remains that the humble oil palm is actually a big consumer of carbon dioxide. Yes palm oil plantations are like a sponge helping to suck up those vile green-house gases. LOL I remember during a visit to a palm oil estate, the manager of the estate was proudly explaining how palm oil is good for the environment because it helps reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. "Well managed oil palms sequester more carbon (C) per unit area than tropical rainforests, and oil palm estates are predicted to become an important part of C offset management in the next century. ("Oil Palm – The Great Crop of South East Asia: Potential, Nutrition and Management" by Ernst W. Mutert and Thomas H. Fairhurst, Potash & Phosphate Institute, Paper presented at the IFA Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14-17 November 1999)"

There is one other thing, here there is an avid promotion of healthy vegetable oils. That is good, but unsuprisingly, it is promoting western oils. For example, Doritos corn chips (aka Nachos) proudly advertises that they use 100% sunseed oil. Supposedly better for your health. Now I'm sure that sunseed oil is healthy, but ist palm oil healthy as well? Much of the promotion of healthy oils is also an anti-promotion of certain asain oils, particularly palm oil, since it is by far the most popular asian oil. One anti palm oil website stated that tropical oils such as palm oils are bad because they are high in saturated fats. They claim that because of the warmer climate these plants do not need to produce the harder to make, but healthier unsaturated fats present in western oils. Im sorry I lost the website so I can't give ypu a link or an exact quotation.

Correct me if Im wrong, but this sounds explicitly anti-asian. Palm oil has been proven time and again to be one of the healthiest oil in the world. Also, we do not fully understand the roles of fats and cholestrols in our body, so we shouldnt blindly state that all saturated fats are bad and vice-versa. Also, red palm oil (which is also expensive btw) contains many vitamins and some rare fats which are supposed to be good for us.

Anyway, I wont comment too much on this issue because, not only is this debate raging on, but also cause this is a very long post. To top it all off, I dont particularly have a stand on the issue.

What I am urging you to do however, is to do your own research on to the matter and find out the truth. Read up on arguments from both sides, as they are always leaning towards their own benefit. Wikipedia is not sufficient. The article on palm oil IS biased.

Also I remind you that I have done very little research on the subject. I do however ask that you tkae what I have said with at least some degree of seriousness. I am very sure that what I have said is fairly correct.

One other thing, Malaysia is often singled out in the anti-plam oil campaign because we are the most famous for it. However, West Malaysian palm oil has largely been unchanged in the past 30 years. We have not increased our plantations that much compared to East Malaysia and especially Indonesia. Indonesia is now the largest producer of palm oil in the world. The Indonesian palm oil industry is also the biggest cause of the Malaysian Haze. Also, not all oil palm cultivation is bad. Venezuella is now supposedly trying to promote itself as the base for environmentally friendly and sustainable palm oil.

So how do I sum it all up?

Indonesia is evil. Most of the 'environmental disaster' of palm oil applies to Indonesia and East Malaysia. The oranguatans ARE losing their habitat because of palm oil. Its not fair to blanketly unsupport palm oil because of this issue. Palm oil IS good for you (imho) and PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!

PS: The Sabah government recently realised the environmental impact of uncontrolled oil palm plantations, when it found the Kinabatangan River to be polluted with chemicals from oil palm plantations. This not only affected the river life but posed a hazard to pygmy elephants and also humans living downstream.

The sad state HuStu's Pianos

2007-10-20T21:22:00.000+01:00

Well its been 2 weeks now since my last post. Whew! Obviously I do have other things to blog about, but in line with my previous post I will first present to you the two pianos here at Hugh Stewart Hall.

CANDIDATE ONE: A Steinway & Sons Baby Grand Piano

WOW! A Steinway!!! When I first found out about it I rushed to the Middle Common room to check it out. At first glance it looks like everything is A-OK. However, the fact that the top is down should already indicate that something isn't right. Apart from the fact that its really very old (1875 I think), these pictures should describe some of the many problems this piano is having.

What a waste!!! Its like a freaking Steinway! And not just body, playing it is soooo crappy. The dampers are damaged so is like theres a perpetual semi pressed sustain pedal on. Speaking of pedals, the sustain pedal is crap. It doesn't work properly and you have to press it all the way to lift the dampers. The soft pedal is ok but either way its not nice because they are too close to the ground making it very uncomfortable to use and giving it a very 'flat' feeling. I prefer some inclination to the pedals, so they should have been raised al little higher from the ground.

Some keys don't sound so this indicated some mechanical problems as well. I do know that one of the hammers are about to break which is why one key has a very soft sound. If you look carefully you will notice that one of the keys is slightly broken making it dangerous. Its easy to injure your finger. Also the lid cant be lifted because the support bar is missing (broken I presume). The hammers have some lines (not really an issue) and overall the piano is out of tune.

However despite all of this the piano still has a semblence of a lovely touch, and each note still carries a sense of grandeur. We are trying to get it fixed, but initial estimates for the cost of repairs is a whooping 9000 POUNDS!!!! Well, it still IS a Steinway after all...

CANDIDATE TWO: A Knight Studio Piano

This humble little studio piano is in the Don Reeds Library and is in decent condition (probably because less people go there and also cause its much newer than the steinway). This piano's keys are slightly higher than the baby grand (typical of upright pianos), but since like most people I too am more used to that it is easy to play. You can actually play it properly, though the Hammers have very deep lines, making the piano very very LOUD, even when you play softly. It is also out of tune, but overall it is ok. The condition is that of in any ordinary pianists home, and I don't really have any qualms about playing this piano.

FINAL VERDICT:
The fact that the Steinway has been greatly vandalised makes one very reluctant to play it. Even though the touch is mouch neicer and softer than the Knight, the Knight piano will defniately be the choice of any person who truly intends to play and enjoy music simply because it is in very much better condition.

Also the more private location of the Knight piano in the library is an added bonus, which is why I always play this piano. I only play the Stienway if I feel like tinkering with it, or if I don't want to disturb other users of the library.

A Virtual Tour of my Room!

2007-10-04T17:09:00.000+01:00

HEY!! This is yet another addition to my string of long overdue posts. LOL! This time Im gona introduce you to my room (aka the place of my residence for the current academic year). Well first lets start with pictures of how the room was when I first came in. Well ok fine, I actually took the pics the following morning as I moved in to my room in the evening. But anyway Ive taken the pics from the four corners of my room to try n give you a complete view. This is after all a virtual tour! (albeit a 2D one :P)

Top Left: My door with my towel hanging on it (actually its for your coat lol)

Top Right: behind the door. Just empty space (its a big room)

Bottom Right: My wardrobe. The far side with the doors open is actually where my sink is!

Bottom Lfet: My table n bookshelf by the window. Pretty lousy curtains right??

Well instead of properly unpackin n arranging my room I just sorta lived out of my suitcase n made it messier n messier throughout week one HAHAH. That the main reason for the delay in this post! Then came the following weekend when I finnaly decided its time to change things to the way I want them to be. Sooo.......

TADA!!!

Notice how Ive shifted things about? For starters, My bed is now by my table so that its near my clock! Yes Ive brought my blue AIWA clock along!! Hahahha i dont really stay anywhere for longer than a few days without it! LOL!

Secondly, Realise there are a nice new set of curtains? No I didnt buy them. The hall changed them. Good that they put a much nicer set of curtains in. The previous one even had some holes :s

Third, I moved my fridge and all the other furniture to the far end of the room (by the fire exit) Thats right! I have a fridge and I also have a FIRE EXIT in my room! Hahah so if anything happens I can get out first!(only the 2 corner rooms in the top floor have their own fire exits) Im guessing that it actually connects to the next block. See even though its the same building its been devided into several small blocks for security and to keep things simple.

So thats about it! Its quite a nice room (it should be its really VERY expensive). HuStu (thats what we call Hugh-Stewart Hall) is one of the oldest (and grandest) halls of residence in all of Nottingham. We even have a Stienway & Sons Baby Grand piano. But sadly its in terrible TERRIBLE condition. The HuStu Library (ya we even have a small library) has a small Knight studio piano which is also old but in much better condition. More on the pianos in my next post

Well thats all for now!

~Baron off~

PS: I cant seem to get the photos in the arrangement I want it to be. Bear with it ok?

Goodbye Malaysia Hello UK

2007-09-21T17:29:00.000+01:00

Well ok so im sure you people out there are just dying to know whats been up since I left for the UK right? Well i've been here for almost a week and i've FINALLY been able to log in to put a new post.

But First: To those of you who dont know I finally got my video camera! (YAY!!) i got it about a week before I left Malaysia. if your interested its the Sony Handycam HDR-SR5. I was supposed to blog about it but i never finished writing it lol.

Anyway. So far so good. People here are nice n helpful. The weather is ok. Im used to the cold. No problems there. Campus is pretty big so its annoying that I have to walk from one end to the other all the time. And NO. I dont have a british accent. yet. ;)

Ive taken a few pictures here n there. But ill upload them later once the internet in my hostel is up n running which should be tomorrow. Public transport is really great (but expensive). Actually EVERYTHING is expensive because of the 7 to 1 exchange rate. Things here are generally one-to-one currency wise so its quite nutcase for me. Imagine paying RM14+ for a return bus ticket!! (its actually £2.70 but i feel its high even in pounds)

I've yet to get a new phone or number. Since im getting a contract phone i can only get it once ive got a bank account. Anyway things close up pretty fast here. the library closes at 8.30pm!! the city centre aint dead at night but evrerywhere else is. Even in the city most shops/offices are closed. One thing la. Malaysia's banking system is certainly better and more efficient than in the UK. Yup! belive it its true. (or maybe its just HSBC UK) lol.

anyway cant think of stuff to write about. so thats all for now.

Cheers!
-BaronV-

Bon-Voyage one by one

2007-09-02T16:17:00.000+01:00

Aaah one by one everyone is leaving. Time sure flys and as the time for me to say Goodbye Malaysia draws ever closer, I see myself having to bid farewell to many people; those who are leaaving before me, those who are leaving after me, and those who arn't leaving at all. Its certainly a sad time, and whilst many people will be excited about going off overseas, Im in no hurry to leave.

Yesterday was Hooi Tzings farewell (well the one she held for herself la). We had fun, but its quite sad a moment. I've known Hooi Tzing for such a long time (FYI longer than Derek which is already LONG). We took some pictures n all but u know we gona do this wif everyone. At least if you leave later u have a bit more time to say goodbye to all the people you care so much about in this world, but if your leaving soon, you find time to be REALLY insufficient to do n say all that you want to do n say. Even if your not leaving yet you'll find yourself saying goodbye one by one to all your friends. Well ok la im being dramatic. Its not like were going off for good and will never see each other again n stuff but just how often will we get to see each other? How will we be keeping in touch? Ok la you say so many of us are going to the UK or even Ireland but still.. the British Isles are BIG. Its not like you can just pop over now n then so conviniently! Even though many of us will be in the same time zone, in Uni we gona be very busy I doubt we would be able to keep in touch. What more for people who are back home or worse AussieLand?? Die lor 10 hours time difference!! No way to MSN man....

Aya im just ranting. But then again I guess this whole post is just gona be a whine n rant. Tonight I sed goodbye to Hooi Tzing. Jolynn is leaving 2 days after Tzing. Then of course theres Sarah who I have absolutely no chance of seeing before I leave for UK. Watabout Faye n Min-Soon? 17th is soo freakking close. At least I managed to see Kenny one last time, and have a proper goodbye(to a certain extent la: these type of things you can never be happy wif it). I really hope I can make time to go up to KL one last time. And of course my melaka frens who are oh-so-busy wif STPM...

Anywayz I dont really know where Im going wif this post la. Im just rambling cuz of all the goodbyes that are in store and the sad feeling you get. I still have to rush off n pack! I havent started at all. But my house is getting messier from all the shopping being done. (im just leaving the shopping bags around here n there). So Ill just post a few more pics. I havent quite decided what to post, but chances are its going to be about recent events wif frens n all the people I care about and are going to miss. Next chapter of my life is about to unfold, and its pretty obvious that its going to be a difficult and emotional transition.

~Baron off~

PS: DONT GET LONG-JOHNS!! repent your evil ways before its too late! Long-Johns are the most obsolete n idiotic form of clothing ever! Dont get it!!!

The Many faces of Hooi Tzing!

Me n Kenny! Great pal. Im gona miss you...

Haih! Sarah! Im not gona get to see you again before I leave!! *sob*

Pei Yuen: Yet ANOTHER person Im really gona miss once I go UK

I wonder when the five of us will be able to get together again like this...

Home Alone...

2007-08-23T12:40:00.000+01:00

Aaah!! Im Bored....I have no idea what to blog about. My parents went to vietnam n left me behind. Well actually i THINK i told them i didnt wana go to vietnam. Well i dono i think they asked me along time ago, sumtime during my alevels lol.

Anyway, I went to KL on monday for the stupid Astro Scholarship Awards Ceremony. Lol I got to shake Badawi's hand, And i got to talk to SITI NURHALIZA!!! Hahaha well I wasnt all that excited. I mean sure Siti's a really tallented singer.(She really is) n I guess our PMs pretty good. I think so far hes been the best we've had, or maybe atleast his agenda is at least to sorta try to correct our country's wrong direction. But anyway, Im not that typa guy to get all excited about such these type of famous people. Ill tell you one thing la, my dad FINNALY got his DSLR n so the past few days me n dad were playing with it ALOT. So anyway, on monday my dad decided to take the DSLR to KL. Guess what? He was sooo busy taking pics of Badawi that when it came to my turn to stand on stage n shake his hand CAMERA BATTERY FINISH!!! BAH!! so unfair right? so i dunt have a picture for myself!! :/

Anyway after that I rushed to college to go collect my actualy A-Level results n see my breakdown. My B is official. u know why? I got a freakking C for P3!!! )#&$)*#&)$(*#&)$ god alone knows how that happend. Nywayz im not gona appeal even though i think sumthin is reaaaly wrong cuz i got into uni n i got A for further maths. Hahahah my first time ever not getting straight As...Record broken...SOB!! My relative who used to mark Cambridge Alevel papers says that they make lotsa mistakes during marking, so it dont necessarily mean that I screwed up my P3 so badly. who knows?

Anyway I guess ill just post a few random pics, mainly from Sa, Faye n Barney's melaka trip.

Chin Soon is HoT n DiZzY!!

FayEmo

Sarah Enjoying her "Cum"!!!

Haha we look like some sorta performance troupe! (mom wud scream if she saw us standing on her cushions)

Sarah's new look

Chin Soon enjoying the Egg-Banana concoction Hooi Tzing n I came up with

PakLah shaking hands wif my mom (I think)

AND LAST BUT DEFNINATELY NOT LEAST...

My Sweet Darling Dog!!(Isnt she cute?)

Accomplishments?? Sigh...

2007-08-11T16:28:00.000+01:00

By the title of my post people would probably think im emo... but im not really la. They are sorta two seperate things, sumtimes rolled up into one. I've generally been ignoring my blog (much to Sa's dismay....) but the thing is I dono wat to say!!

Hahaha truth is I have lotsa stuffo, but at the same time cant be bothered to say it. So i guess maybe this post will be about a few stuff? Thus the title. The Accomplishments well, read on la. The sigh? obv cause im sad right??

Okhay! Here's been my recent Accomplishments..... The funny thing is they really arnt that much. and in many ways there are stuff about them that isnt really great.

ONE: Getting an A for Further Maths (Yay!) but a B for Maths!! (Gasp!/WTF??)

I also got A for Physics and Chem so its AAAB...

In the words of the (not so) Famous Mr. Yong, Im a "Hero" for being the first to accomplish this dumbfounding, sensless and seemingly impossible feat! He actually called me up on the results day halfway while I was having lunch in SS2 wif the Min Soon, Chwan Long, Siew Mei, etc just to scold me about it EVEN BEFORE I COLLECTED MY RESULTS!! Hahaha! too bad for him the line was soo blur I couldnt get wat he was saying. Lolzy! I heard sumthin bout a B and maths! So i tot I got B for Further Maths! Then I tot I got an A becuz knowing him i tot he was just scolding me for fun! lol. Turns out I DID get an A for FM, but a bloody B for Maths!!

It was SOO FREAAAKING EMBARRASING!!! Bah! At first i found it really funny, but now im quite pissed about it. The whole bloody A-Levels knew about my results even b4 I did!! even the admin staff n all who I didnt even know existed! The only good people who did NOT know were of course my fav lecturers: The KING and Ms Chong!! (luv them) Oh! Ms Chin too, but thats because shes alwys soo busy. Everyone wants me to appeal, or says that dont worry its just the ibkube results.Hopefully the actual results show all As!! But fat chance la. That one stupid partial fractions question destroyed my A-Levels cert....%^$#@^$#!$&!!!
ANYWAY....(hahahaha! sarah.....)

TWO: I've Humbled myself before the front of all the Lousy Videocams out there. Maybe I still might get one??

I thought the issue was settled, but dad brought up the whole camcorder subject again. He pointed to an ad in the newspaper n sed "why dont you go for sumthing like this?" It was like 3800, which was over his RM3000 limit (which is y i told him i dowan in the first place) but I was like "but it dunt have a viewfinder!". He was like BAH! n left. lol

But I got thinking, hey! he went over that stupid limit of his! So i thought OK la look around again. Lo n Vuala! Fotokem has lowered their prices AGAIN!! So I tot, ok la I guess can get a fairly decent SD camcorder thats within the 3000 limit or abit over nvm la ;-) . Ok so I go around looking again, but evrything dont have something that I can be very happy with. for one, Sony makes good videocams, and has the most variety for HDD camcorders, but pretty much all of them done have viewfinders!! JVC on the otherhand barely has any HDD camcorders in the first place..... and im NOT going to consider any other brand TQVM.

On top of that.... Sony is so freakking proud of their stuuuuupid SteadyShot they INSIST on putting that instead of optical stabalization, so again AIGH!! only a select few have that, so nice that they are the more expensive cams eh?? talk about dumb and unfair. Well now im torn between High-Def but no optical stab or SD with optical stab (both are close to 4000) OR SD with digital stab BUT good HDD space and 25x optical zoom. NONE OF THEM HAVE VIEWFINDERS!!!!!!! Bah, so anyway tomorow im gona go to the cam shop and test out evry itsy-bitsy-bit there is to test about all those dumb cameras to see if I can ever be happy with any of those! Bah! Like I said I still may not want to get one, cause if its really so stupid itll probably be a waste of money...sigh....

THREE: Im going UK because I've got the ASTRO Scholarship.

Yes! for those of you who dono I've got the ASTRO scholarship. So Im going to Nottingham UK. Aigh its so fast, and its so much of work! Sad la, gona say bye to all my frens (especially from sunway) I would LOVE to have summore time here in Msia, BUT pretty much all of my frens r going their seperate ways anyway, so sad...SOB! SOB!

So anyway Im leaving for UK on 17 September. Theres barely a month left to do everything that needs doing. Oh well just as well Sa made me start this blog lol. How else are my frens to keep up with my goings onz? Im abit scared to go away, but more so Sad cause Im gona miss my friends. And I really hope i dont like lose contact with them or basicly lose interest in them like what happend to most of my school friends. Its true la, people appreciate and bond wif college friends more than school friends! See, Ive known ppl like Sa, Faye, Chin Soon, Daniele, Jolynn, etc for a much shorter time than most of my school friends, but I feel much closer to them, n value their friendship alot more! Derek is a BIG exception la :p. Now Im making an effort to recontact alota frens b4 its too late. I AM leaving in about a month. and there are some friends i REALLLLY care about who are in this giant kampung of Malacca.

Talking about missing friends, Sarah's gona leave in such a short time!! n Faye? ever since she went to China its as if she dunt exist! lol. No wait!! NO LOL!! Theres nuthin funny!!
Sarah's gona leave on Tuesday!! How la! Cant even say goodbye!! Bah...im drilling her that she better come back evry weekend :D at least untill i leave for UK la! Im REALLLY gona miss frens like her....

Well ok la. Im sure I had more to say, but Ive forgotten by now! Plus dads telling me to go to bed. Normally he wont but I have what I hope to be my last ever driving lesson at 7.20 am tomorrow (well today actually its past midnight!) Im retaking my driving test on monday n i Better pass!! Im gona be very pissed if I fail again. Im an OK driver BTW. Im quite convinced that the reason he failed me is because of my race....(better be carefull what I say Online. The whole gov crackdown on blogs n all....) Truth is, most nonMs from Melaka feel the same way bout this issue. Hope it aint true. maybe the guy fought with his wife earlier that day?? who knows....

My First Post!! Confessions of a Blogging Noob

2007-08-04T06:03:00.000+01:00

Hahahah! Iv finally got a blog! Mostly I've started this blog because Sarah was bugging me to do so... well untill I figure out what to write in this blog I guess either Im gona write nonsense or I could just ignore it :D Dont mind the plain outlook. I need to get used to this whole system, PLUS iv forgotten all of my HTML. LOL!!

Well what to write, what to make my blog about?? hmm...
Politics? can la but lotsa ppl are unfortunately uninterested (typical Msian attitude eh?)
Friends? well it can be great, but i don wana turn this into a bithcing avenue... PLUS its gona be boooooring.
MySelf?? Nah! few people (if any) really know who I am, n i guess id like to keep it that way!

I guess Ill just make it some wierdo rojak of whatever I feel like saying... lol Im talking nonsense as usual. But what to do? I created a blog becuz i was being bugged to do so (Dunt take this negativly Sa) not becuz I got anything in particular to say, or becuz im soo free I got nothing to do with my time.

In fact there are like a thousand other things I should be doing now, but im not cause Im typing this! Like looking up camcorders! Im leaving for singapore in like 4 hours time n I still dunt really have any model in mind. Sure I know what i WANT in a camcorder but if I go to the shop now, I wont be looking out for anything n my dads gona be pissed. Or whatabout filling in that crazy Visa App form! Its like soooo freaking nuts n im only like 60% through it. All the wierd questions, aigh. 2 days ready still havnt finish.... Reminds me of Dereks cambridge app! (though I bet that was 100x worse tee-hee!)

So to all you people out there whoz been dying to read a blog by me... for the hunderth milionth time... IM NOT A WRITER!! so gimie a break la k?? Its gona take me a while to get the ropes cuz hey I dunt even visit blogs! Well things change la eh? I now visit one or two ppls blogs OCCASIONALLY, so I guess maybe the first thing to do would be to put their links on the page eh? Yeah.... I guess Ill start with that...