Royal Immunities?

The Regent of Negeri Sembilan asking for reinstatement of the royal immunities. But I'm wondering whether he represent ALL the Malay rulers or he's speaking based on his own opinion. Waiting for statement from Raja Nazrin.

Why they should be immuned? Should I ask this question? Or put it bluntly... do I have the right to ask why they should be immuned?

How You Read This???

Taking cue from Niamah's blog (Patrick Teoh's blog).... I made comments below based on the selective headlines of Malaysiakini. The thing is tat I was so lazy yet so disgusted with everything.

1. For the whole 50 minutes of his first press conference today, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda maintained repeatedly that the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife were not involved in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.
- Either Abdul Razak is with Altantuya 24 hours a-day or he's 24-hours tagging with Najib or Rosmah, if not how the hell he's so sure about this. I think a small kid also know this.

2. Wanita Umno deputy chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil announces that she will contest against incumbent Rafidah Aziz in next year's party polls.
- Finally. Secretly I hope Kak Pa will not be contested and Shahrizat lost the race to her supposed challenger Kamilah.

3. Permit conditions for the Nov 16 candlelight vigil in Petaling Jaya stipulated that candles cannot be lit and there should be no anti-ISA paraphernalia among the protestors who were present.
- Wow..... Do they understand the whole thing? Police really are the wise one. They lay out the food on the plate but tied both your hands and didn't give any eating utensils.

4. There are many Sabahans without ICs and therefore no legal status, but the National Registration Department is now issuing new documents to those of suspect nationality.
- Now they blatantly legalised all the Project IC participants is it? Gosh, this is the greatest hoax of all. And they do it in front of your eyes!!!!!

5. The opposition has trained its guns on former Pempena head Chor Chee Heung over the millions lost by the the state-owned company under the Tourism Ministry.
- Whoever it was... just reveal everything! And how about the PKFZ thingy under Ling Liong Sik? How's that going on Ah Tee Keat?

6. The Bollywood star is too busy to attend the award ceremony which was to take place on Nov 29, says a state official.
- The Star online has a better written title : Shah Rukh Khan't come

Less hectic huh do like this? I know... I know... it's not authentic. Next time.

Mana Tu? Tenom? Kat Mana?

Well... who knows where's Tenom? Well, for many Sabahans, Tenom is synonymously associated with the famous Tenom Coffee, the local style and also the Agriculture Park as one of its tourist attraction. Having said that, not many been to Tenom.

However, it recently made the headlines as the Parliamentary Seat that used the most allocation for the festive season such as open house and other celebrations in 2007 alone. It used up to RM988436.00 for a total of 58 functions averaging RM17042 each. And on the top 10, Putatan (86), Tawau (66), Silam (40)and Sepanggar (54) also made the list with about RM900,000.00 each as well but with more numbers of functions.

Just take Tenom for example. According to Wikipedia, the population in Tenom in 2006 is 46,200. Wow..... Tenom people really had a jolly good time. I wonder whether any of the press go to Tenom and ask how many celebrations they KNOW and WENT in 2007. It's good to note that Tenom is about 4-5 hours driving from KK deep in the rural Sabah. There's a Chinese saying literally means... "Mountain Is High, King Is Far"

See the response of some of the MPs of the respective area here :

Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui (SAPP – Tawau) has clarified that she was not the MP last year. It was Shim Paw Fatt.
Datuk Dr Marcus Makin Mojigoh (BN – Putatan) denied spending that much: “I am not aware of the allocation.”

So, what do you expect???? Well, wait for another episode with Azalina on the Pempena probe.... In a way, Azalina didn't yell out the response by Dr. Chua above but it's interesting to see the response of the ex-Tourism Miniter the so-called Tengku Adnan..... but hey, he's kinda low-profile lately kan? Thought the last I saw him in the news is when he sat smiling next to the Ahmad-pendatang-fame during his press conference. Answer lah Tengky Adnan.... pity Azalina has to answer your doings and at the same time got questioned on her own previous Sports and Youth Minister too.......

IT, BT now ET???

Well, move aside IT and BT. Now it's the time for ET. Not Spielberg's ET but Energy Technology.....

And how are we doing in Malaysia? Don't even mention ET, just look at our Information Technology and Bio-Technology.....

Malaysia Boleh!!!! Speaking of which I think we are good at IT and BT; just that our IT is Ignorance Technology (we don't face recession.... our economy still growing.......) and our BT is Boleh Technology (everything boleh.....)

Be Scared..... Be VERY Scared but Don't Worry Cox We're In Malaysia.....

DSB HK cut 900 - Hong Kong and Singapore
HSBC to cut additional 600 - worldwide
Pepsi Cola - 3,300 - worldwide
Sun Microsystems 5,000 - 6,000
And CITIBANK cut 52000

U might said aiyah.... that one in America mah.....

In today NST....

1. CIMB Aviva offers VSS (wow..... VSS already!!!!!!!!)
2. MK Land to unveil turnaround plan on Nov 28 (turnaround plan to return to profitability? what a polite word for employee lay-off/cut???)

So, now.... are we still insulated from the recession? Deputy Minister Kong Cha Ha (MCA) said it's slowdown but not recession. Hmm.....

What Is This????? Coming from a Cabinet Minister and so-called constitution expert???????????

I don't hate old people but with people like TDM and this one.......

Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has called for the strengthening of Malay politics through numbers so that other races will stop denigrating and ridiculing Malays. ~ BERNAMA

.......really tops it off. Where's the sedition act when we need it? Isn't this some threat masked in the name of Ketuanan Melayu?

Gosh... I really fed up with all this thing. Every time UMNO having elections, these are all the sandiwara being played to the gallery. Tonnes and tonnes of them and these are all the buggers who's running our country. With oil and palm oil price coming down globally, which our country solely depend on, the economy should be the top priority but yeah... party election more important.

How To Choose???

I look at the list of the nominees in the UMNO Deputy President post in its coming election.

Muhyiddin Yassin

Mohd Ali Rustam

Muhammad Muhammad Taib

Now our nation's No. 2 has to be chosen from the three above?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I suddenly thought of somethings else.

What if I have to choose between......................................

如花** in 吃神 (God of Cookery or sik sen) OR

如花** in 大内密探零零发 (Forbidden City Cop or dai noi met tam ling ling fat) OR

如花** in 唐伯虎点秋香 (Flirting Scholar or tong bak fu dim chao hiong)

如花 (Flower-like or yu fa) ** is the famous character that appears in quite a number of 周星驰 (Stephen Chow)'s movie.

SO HOW TO CHOOSE???

P/S : This is the 777th post of the blog.

Indonesian Music 1 - Afgan

OK, I'm gonna do a series of music album review and to start that off, it has to be Afgan. When I was in Bandung about half a year ago to attend a friend's wedding plus own holiday, the TV is playing the song by a young chap called Afgan. Yes, the name is Afgan so it's something like Obama to Osama. At the time, his MV is playing all over and I mean REALLY all over the TV and while channel surfing the TV in the hotel (Indonesia has soooo many TV channels), I gave the young chap a miss, sort of boxing him to some cute young boy marketing himself to the young gals and stuff oh... remember the Mawi mania we had here in Malaysia not long ago???

But when I was taking a train (forgot how long was it but I think it should 4-5 hours) from Bandung to Yogyakarta, I managed to watch his MV after finishing my Indonesian koran (which means newspaper). The song was his 1st single called Terima Kasih Cinta (see... it's a mushy mushy love ballad) and it's not bad actually. And his voice is good. I mean it's like a deep thick voice in a 20 yo chap.

And the 1st single is not the best in my opinion. I particularly like his other single called Sadis. Nice melody and his voice really shines in this number. Another song I like is called Betapa Aku CInta Padamu a slightly jazzy tune with very apparent old-skool feel.

A nice album. And seems like Malaysia caught the flu of his popularity in Indonesia. He's scheduled to promo his album this month I think, with a group in Facebook as well. But with the recent hoo-ha about 90:10 ratio of local:foreign songs airplay in local Radio, it will take a slight dip but good voice is still a good voice. Play Afgan anytime but no thanks, no Mawi. Seriously, no Mawi for me.

P/S : More Indonesian albums to come... to have a feel of how many.... read here

Learning From TV (#6) - Brothers and Sisters (Season 2 - Episode 10)

Danny Glover (Beverly Hills Cops anyone???)

Sally Field

The characters played by Sally Field (Nora) and Danny Glover (Isaac) were having some parental talk after a disastrous dinner scene, which is always one of the cleverest and best-dialogued scene in the Series (I always waited for dinner scenes which can be funny, acerbic and disastrous at the same time!!).

[Isaac] :

children test us ~~~ we know that

but that.... that doesn't mean we stop believing in them.

it simply means that we have to fight harder.

[Nora] :

growl

parenting is so hard

[Isaac] :

you're preaching to the choir

[Nora] :

amen

Into The Wild (2007)

UPDATED : NOV 13

Road movie and coming of age travelogue. Don't judge.

Directed by Sean Penn, it's an interesting feature. Boasted a great cast with Marcia Gay Hayden, William Hurt, Jeena Malone, Vince Vaugh in practically a cameo-role and my favourite Catherine Keener it's basically a vehicle carried solely by Penn's direction and the star himself, Emile Hirsch which I am pretty sure will have his star shine like Penn in the future; not in the blockbuster box-office type of movie star. And of course Hal Holbrook the veteran who managed to snatch an Oscar nomination in supporting role.

Coming of age travelogue about a youngster who want to challenge his limit in his life, giving up everything after his graduation and live alone in Alaska. (Oh... did he get the consent from Ms. Palin?). Interesting.

WARNING : It's a slow-paced movie. Not as bad as Terence Malick in The Thin Red Line but it's definitely slooooowwww.

I'm Not There (2007)

UPDATED : Nov 13, 2008

All I Can Do Is Be Me Whoever That Is

Great casting. You get Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Christian Slater, Heath Ledger and Julianne Moore and lots more. OK, Cate really worth the buzz about her turn as Bob Dylan in one of the stories here and she's really amazing. Ms. Blanchett is the new Streep. I am waiting to see her in a musical but maybe not so early. I wonder if she can sing and dance. She totally immersed herself in her character which is a man, a well known Bob Dylan. Maybe due to her voluptuous-less body, she can do something let say..... Salma Hayek can't. Draw another parallel to Hilary Swank turn in Boys Don't Cry. Though she lost to Tilda Swinton in 2007 Oscar in Supporting Role, I think Cate will have more chances on her way.

And the late Heath Ledger was here too. The show stealer besides Cate is definitely the small black kid. He's just naturally old. I mean in Chinese we call 老水 old water . A great watch. You have to have patience if you are not familiar with Bob Dylan. Mr. Dylan's fans will be delighted to watch this with his musics spanning through his career were played.

Malaysia Boleh : Language I

Malaysia Boleh????? Aku tak tahu apa yang kita boleh!!!!! Can you believe this? It's in government office, in fact it's one of the MOST VISITED and MOST CROWDED government in Sandakan, which all Sandakan people who visited the National Registration Department (NRD) or JPN (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara) at Wisma Persekutuan, Mile 7 can testify.

Guess What Song Is This..........

yeah.... Paul Anka is swinging it~ It's Bon Jovi's It's My Life and never I imagine that a Bon Jovi number can be swung this way!!!!!!!!!!!!

1111 : The Singles' Day

Yeah... today's the Single's Day. Those anti-Valentine's people will rejoice on this day I guess. And you must be wondering why, of 365 days a year, why Nov 11? Wiki says that this particular day was originated in China and in Chinese, single men are called 光棍 which literally translated as bare stick hence the choice of 1111 as the day representing the Singles's Day.

So, to all you singles out there! Enjoy the day! And survive the other 364 non-Singles' Day-days.

Listened to HK radio and the DJ played "Lovefools" sang by a Japanese singer in bossa nova version. Reminded me of the original versions by The Cardigans. And the video above is an acoustic version. The anime MV puzzled me and I'm still wondering is the singer is the original Nina Persson. By the way, anyone know the Japanese movie featured?

陈绮贞 Cheer Chen QI Zhen - 还是会寂寞 Still Feeling Lonely

One of my favourite singer. Armed with a degree in philosophy and a child-like voice, she strived on in the music scene with her own brand of music and now even released her own album without being under major label.

What It Lacks in Presentation........

...... it makes up in its taste hahaha................

the scramble egg and fried Winged Bean (kacang botol or Goa Bean) with frankie and dried shrimps

oh... of course the nicest lotus root soup boiled by mom.

Graceful and Sporting Spirit

OK, I admit I don't like McCain, well in a way, not that it's anything important but his defeat speech really captivated me. I think that's his best speech ever, too bad huh? A little too late....

O........ba...........ma...........

O.............

ba............

ma.........

I wish that my ba and my ma will be able to live in our country that treat its citizen with due respect. Well, we always say Malaysia Boleh.

Now I really want to know what can Malaysia boleh beyond that tired slogan.

What To Do In 17 Years?????????

OK. John McCain is A QUARTER CENTURY older than Obama. I was watching CNN in the gym and seeing McCain struggling visibly with his speech and forcefully projected energy and enthusiasm made me think of something else.

25 years age difference is really big and let me reiterate that I have no discrimination against aged people but I can't help but thinking of McCain's remark in SNL something implying that Obama is young and have another chance. So, all this is just because he just want to have a shot at the presidency?

OK, still, this is not what this post is all about. I am thinking let say.... I mean let say Obama wins and it's a history blah blah blah and if he managed to stay 2 terms, then he will be 55 by the time he retire!!! That's VERY young indeed!!!! I mean that's the legal retirement age in Malaysia isn't it? So what will he do after that? I mean McCain is still taking a shot at 72 and let say Obama is living till McCain's age now, there's still a freaking 17 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I hope if that's happening, he will not end up like TDM who's still churning out his unwanted racist statements to protect his own interest.

Sigh~~~thought of not writing anything about the dire state of Malaysian politics but can't help huh?

那些情怀 those nostalgic memory....

UPDATED

Some songs are just so memory-provoking. When you listen to them, your mind wonders to the time and space where you first listen to them or you automatically switched to the people and things or occasion associated to them. And this album is definitely packing a great lot of them for me. Some of the songs in the album....

回家

reminded me of the 1st album of Shunza that i bought. heard the song over the radio and the MTV was nice. still remember that. and Shunza rocks!!! her 1st debut album remained the best to me.

情雪

the original song which Faye Wong covered as 暧昧

新不了情

the old song "re-heat" by strings of attempts by the participants of various reality-style singing competition. a fresh "bossa" take of the classic by 万芳

心动

another classic by 林晓培

是否

wow....though not my era, this oldie written by 罗大佑 sang by 苏芮still proved its punch

飞机场的10 点半

1st song of David Tao that I listened over the now defunct Voice of Asia 亚洲之声 radio. i dun like this new take, a bit overdone on the vocal, to me.

不愿一个人

a so-so retake of 周华健's work

喜欢你

i love this rendition as much as the original one by Kit Chan 陈洁仪

不只是朋友

another classic from 黄小琥 famous for her husky voice

哭沙

tear jerker number from Tracy Huang 黄莺莺

我要我们在一起

sang by 范晓萱 this number written by 李泉 used to haunt me with 李泉's amazing fingerwork on the piano and yes, in this fresh take, Roger's amazing fingerwork is the kick!!!

The album is called 2V1G which means 2 voices 1 guitar is a collaboration between 何芸妮 & 戴丽津 as the main vocals and our local famous Sabahan guitarist Roger Wang. Truth to be told, I am not especially awed by the vocals but the re-arrangement of the songs made its place in my heart and of course, Roger's guitar is great and is especially impressive in the last song, 我要我们在一起. Those who know the song will appreciate the difficulty level of guitar plucking for this particular number.

Some inexplicable emotions were provoked and coupled with the gloomy sun-less weather these 2 days in Sandakan definitely set the mood for the weekend. Hey, where's my cup of cheap kopi-O?

P/S : Thanks to Sophia who helped me buy the album, well....with signature from Roger too!!!

Unfinished : Goodies from Indonesia (A Long Overdue Post)

Yeah... that's the whole stack of CDs I bought during my trip to Indonesia couple of months ago and yes, good music. Way much better than Malaysia's as they are more vibrant and plenty of varieties. I will elaborate more after this.

Reza - Keajaiban

Soulvibe

d'Cinnamons - Good Morning

Bali Lounge

Afgan - Confession No. 1

Two Triple-O - Finally

Sevensoul - Long Journey

Aditya - Be Mine

Marcell - Hidup

(Nina, you will like this :)

Love Love Love - Bibus

Tompi - Playful & My Happy Life

Maliq D'Essentials - 1st & Free Your Mind