Peperiksaan Online Pegawai Tadbir Dan Diplomatik Gred M41 Siri November 2014.

Foreword: Is this how my blogging pattern's going to be? Event happened more than a week ago, commentary only appears now when topicality has waned long before. In time of instant gratification of InstaTwitFaceVine generation, this is way too late. Nonetheless, unnecessary sense of responsibility persisted and so here I am, divulging (in what I thought) interesting and reasonably unknown bits of my life that my peer would have (as I would have thought) be interested to know about.

...sebuah ulasan dan rumusan peribadi pengalaman sulung menduduki peperiksaan kemasukan.perkhidmatan awam terutamanya melalui sistem dalam talian/online. Setakat ini sahaja penulisan bahasa Malaysia untuk masukan blog ini dan ulasan ini akan diteruskan dalam bahasa Inggeris, bahasa yang paling saya fasih dalam menyampaikan buah fikiran saya.

*Clear throat or rather, stretch palm since this is more of typing than writing*

As mentioned in my previous post, I have been called to attend the online examination for the Administrative and Diplomatic Officer post I have applied with PSD which took place on 1 November (Saturday), 8pm sharp (examination system opens 7pm sharp). Weary of the potential server congestion when tens of thousands of applicants across the nation clogging the same website, I had begun setting up my so-called "exam table" at about 7pm right after dinner time by moving my laptop from the privacy of my own room to my younger brother's crowded study table downstairs which is near to the ADSL Router to be connected directly via a LAN cable that my home happened to have and logged into the exam system about 40 minutes before exam actually taking place just to prevent any last minute mishaps. For the next two hours, I have to endure oldie dance music emanating from the park within earshot from my house where the local senior citizen association practice their community dance as well as curious/concerned family wandering in and out of the house occasionally stopping by to check out my progress. The anxiety is stifling.

The very first thing that I need to fill in as I logged into the portal is the location where I took my exam which I select Sarawak since I am AT home. Now I am not entirely sure whether this is for statistical purpose (the press release by PSC as soon as the exam finished do note about the locality of 303 applicants who took their exam overseas. 44,908 applicants completed the exam successfully) or actually related to the allocation of servers because unlike the server congestion fiasco occurred during the previous online exam session for Custom Officer, PSC seems to have learnt their lesson and buffed up their server capacity in anticipation for this "mother of exams" as noted by PSC Chairman. So here I am, survived to tell the tale of my examination.

Now, the first page greeting applicants for PTD M41 is this:

Seksyen A: Pengetahuan Am. Section A: General Knowledge.

The first section is a mix of actual news and current affair with knowledge about government and governance of Federation of Malaysia. Questions about news and current affairs are fairly straightforward such as a question about Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) 2014 Conference which took place in Putrajaya not too long ago which asked which of the following choices is incorrect (which I choose D: to discuss and promote Malaysia's GTP and ETP simply because this is a Commonwealth level conference and surely that's not the only focus of the conference while the other three choices are basically about exchange of knowledge and expertise etc, the usual things that happen in international conferences. Good thing I vaguely know about it because I followed SPA/PSC's Facebook page!). I almost got tricked by one question however which asked where did our Angkasawan landed when he's done with his mission on board ISS. The choices are Moscow, Russia; Astana, Kazakhstan; Arkyik, Kazakhstan and Baikonour, Kazakhstan. My first instinctive answer was Baikonour where the Cosmodrome is but only upon second inspection of the question realized that it's a trick question as it asked about where he LANDED not where he DEPARTED. A change of answer followed to the seemingly obscure but most likely true Arkyik, Kazakhstan since Moscow is where he trained and Astana is just the capital of Kazakhstan.

It is the part of government and governance of Malaysia that really gave me lots of headache which eats up valuable time for answering (and let me say this: there's no time to actually grab books to check for answer. Believe me.). There seems to be a sizable amount of questions that asked about division of power between Federal, State, Local Government and Shared Powers referring specifically about 9th Schedule of the Constitution of Federation of Malaysia like asking about which of the following powers falls under the jurisdiction of State Governments and the likes...and people who set up the questions deliberately selects the innocuous ones (instead of those dead on obvious like Foreign Affairs or Defence or Internal Security which firmly under federal list or conversely Land which is firmly under state) within the federal/state/shared list just to confuse the candidates like Orang Asli Affairs (Feds), Sewerage and Drainage (Shared), Public Health and Hygiene (Shared), Forestry and National Park (State...I think. At least for Sarawak it is.) and so on.

Then there is that one particular question about which of the following combination is unwritten/uncodified law, choices being I. Local/ethnic customs, II English Common Law, III Legal precedents and court decisions and IV. Local government statutes. IV is definitely out because it is written law and I, II and III is plausible but lo and behold, the choices available (after eliminating choices that has IV) are B. I and II and C. II and III. Surely local/ethnic customs is part of the unwritten/uncodified law and legal precedents can't be written law, can it? After much contemplation and flipping through my Form Six Pengajian Am textbook (that actually says I, II and III is unwritten/uncodified law!), I choose II and III.

Another particular question which I have no idea of is of course Government Transformation Programme referring specifically of who are responsible for the specific sectors/thrusts within GTP which I hastily choose Ministers after a cursory frantic search online for any random clues and am not even sure I am right or not. The questions also highlighted about my lack of interest to business as I have zero idea what is Liability and which of the following is wrong. In the end, I finished the question barely within seconds before system closed for this part.

15 minutes of rest time later and Part B begins!

Seksyen B: Daya Menyelesaikan Masalah. Section B: Problem Solving.

This section which devoted to Mathematics and logic would've been straight forward if THERE IS MORE TIME. The logic question such as indicating what's next in this sequence or what's the next picture going to be is fairly straightforward....except ONE which essentially is a chart containing and assortment of numbers going bigger and I just can't see the connection from all these jumbles of seemingly random numbers and no amount of adding/subtracting/dividing/multiplying gives any indication. Then there's that question about the cow salesmen and how many cow has been sold to this particular customer. I am sure I didn't read the question wrong but I just can't get the accurate answer so the only choice I can do is to click the closest answer to it. Again, I plough through this section all the way in which I basically guessed five questions at least at the very last twenty seconds and still I didn't manage to answer one question before the system stopped bang on time.

Seksyen C: Ujian Psikometrik. Section C: Psychometric Test

In this section, we need to answer Yes, Unsure or No to various statements which is suppose to gauge various aspect of your character, pretty much no way to cheat whatsoever because it's about YOU. For me, at least I know clearly I don't want to be in anyway close to being an entrepreneur by stating NO to "Do you want to form your own business" or "Do you want to be a (property) speculator" or "Do you want to be a salesperson" etc. I do choose Yes for "I like to meet up with dignitories" and "I like to talk about politics" so...I wonder what do PSC sees in me with the way in answer these questions.

Sesi Peperiksaan Tamat. Examination Completed. Just imagine my sigh of relief that the server did hold on for me. (While apparently some did encounter technical problems as noted by comments on their press release but nonetheless much smoother than the Custom Officer furore).

44,908 candidates took the online examination successfully...result out on 3 November (Monday), just mere two days later! I guess this is where the advantage of online exam really shines. Just a few simple clicks and voila! Exam form (for Part A and B) marked in a jiffy!

"Tahniah anda BERJAYA". [JUBILATION] One stage down and two more stages to go and if it is true, they're going to implement interview immediately rather than going through Professional Assessment Center stage such as last time which involves essay writing...or essay writing is going to integrated with interview itself? *finger crossed and hope it's interview directly)

Meanwhile, I wonder when did the other posts in civil service that I applied will begin their own examination/assessment/interview too. I am interested with Registration Officer or Parliament Interpreter or Language Planning Officer too, you know.

Afterword: I missed out of going to USM's 50th Convocation Ceremony this year, first time in eight years. Oh well, I will just look at pictures on Facebook then.

[Heavy Breathing]

Preface: Procrastination remains (or even more pronounced!) when at home. Only the first post after almost a month at home in Kuching!

Right about two weeks ago, I was loafing at usual at my Facebook when Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam/Public Service Commission's Facebook page posted an announcement about an upcoming exam for a particular position in the Federal Civil Service...

MAKLUMAN PENTING : PEPERIKSAAN ONLINE BAGI JAWATAN PEGAWAI TADBIR DAN DIPLOMATIK GRED M41 PADA 1 NOVEMBER 2014 (SABTU)

That's one of the post that I did apply for with PSC! Following the link that leads candidates' database, filled in my IC number and lo and behold...

[Heavy Breathing] Finally after months of anticipation, the first among numerous posts I applied for in Federal Civil Service has been processed and I am now at beginning of the various hurdles before clinching a position as Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik (Administrative and Diplomatic Officer or PTD) M41, one of the most sought after post in the civil service. While this post seems like a fairly generic middle-management level just a cut above from the support staff in the civil service, this post is THE pre-requisite to enter the most prestigious class within the Civil Service that is the Diplomatic/Foreign Service Corp which is the one that I am interested the most rather than being an administrator. Therefore, [Heavy Breathing].

As stated by the exam portal, the exam is consisted of three parts namely 1) Malaysian History, Governance, Current Affairs and General Knowledge, 2) Problem Solving (i.e. Mathematics, Logic and Comprehension) and 3) Psychometric and Aptitude Test (i.e. quantitatively determining whether your character fit the profile (whatever that is) the Civil Service is looking for). Unlike the previous years in which candidates would actually sit for the exam at examination centers nationwide, Public Service Commission is implementing online entrance examination in processing applicants of PTD, in which candidates are allowed to sit for the exam at the comfort of their (connected to internet) computer. Online Exam for PTD can be both boon or bane for candidate; boon for doing away the tedious written (Bahasa Malaysia and English!) essays section of the exam but bane simply because of the medium i.e. internet. Despite the supposed "at the convenience of home" advantage of online exam, PSC still insist of having a fixed PERIOD of TIME (8pm, Saturday 1 November. System opens at 7pm and exam will last for three hours.) for the candidate to take the exam. With the mediocre quality of Malaysian internet network (My neighbourhood is still 1Mbps max dangnabbit!) coupled with heavy server load when tens of thousands of candidate logging in to the same portal for the exam...one could imagine the horror of server downtime, the danger of Error 404. In fact, it did happened during the previous online examination for the post of Custom Officer in which at least 37% of candidates didn't manage to complete their exam within time limit. So...*touch wood, fingers crossed and hope they add more servers to cope!*

...enough worrying of the system. Because there' nothing to be studied about for part two and three of the exam being Maths and Aptitude Test, my first immediate course of action upon assessment of the situation was to dig out the tome of a book that is my Form Six Pengajian Am (General Studies) textbook (which I still kept on top of the old wardrobe in my room collecting dust. My room is essentially laden of high school years paraphernalia which I can't bear to throw away.) to handle the first part of the exam. Almost immediately however that I noticed there might be a slight...issue.

Sukatan Pelajaran Terbaharu 2004. Exactly ten years has passed since the book is written and eight years since I left Form Six (2005-2006). Malaysia has since experienced two general elections (2008 and 2013) and two Prime Ministers (Tun Abdullah Badawi "Pak Lah" and our current PM, Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak) with each period of a PM's administration introduced a whole slew of national programmes and ideologies which saw fads come and go. With PM Najib now at helm, programmes under 1Malaysia, Government Transformation Programme and Economic Transformation Programme is what on the rage at the moment. Internal Security Act (ISA) has been repealed, AUKU/UUCA has been amended and lots more has changed. While most information related to governance contained in this textbook of mine is still by and large same for the past 10 years, crucial current information such as those I mentioned are definitely missing from this book.

With the first part of exam covering not just governance of Malaysia but as well as history of Malaysia (which means tracing back my knowledge all the way back to when I was Form Four and Five!), a backup is certainly required. Off I went to search for books specifically tailored for PTD/Civil Service Exam. After a fruitless search at Popular Bookstore, only then I manage to find the sort of reference book I wanted at MPH Bookstore at The Spring.

The clue is on the title indeed. This book which is basically a much thinner version of my Pengajian Am textbook with sprinkles of Sejarah Tingkatan 4 dan 5 contains selected key information arranged in point form to facilitate quick revision ahead of exam which is all very well as an emergency measure but otherwise might not be sufficient for in depth understanding with key information still missing out such as the hierarchy and jurisdictions of courts in Malaysia. Regardless of which, have to get the studying going!

Four years has passed since I was last in the exam game (Universiti Sains Malaysia Semester II Exam, 2010...and yeah, no exam for my gap/Postgrad years) and eight years if we are talking about undertaking a nationwide standardized exam where your competitors are numbering at tens and thousands with ridiculously high stakes, I found to my detriment that it getting harder for me to get going with studying for exam as proven the number of times I fell asleep as I attempt to study (location of study that is my bed at home is one major factor too). Even though I did manage to read through and highlight whichever information I deemed most relevant and important in the PTD exam reference book I bought, I can't help but to feel edgy about whatever information that I might be missed out and overlook especially when it's only five days away from the exam. I can't afford to flunk Part 1 for it will be an insult to the A (4.00) I achieved in Pengajian Am for STPM 2006. Meanwhile of course, I would have to borrow a scientific calculator from my younger bro for Part 2's math question and last but not least...err what to do with Part 3 (Aptitude Test) anyway? Let's get serious and get the groove on!

Last but not least, godspeed and good luck to myself and all my peers and juniors who will be tackling the exam this coming Saturday. Hope to see everyone of us going through the hurdles landing a spot training to become a cadet of the Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatic. Oh and again, fingers' crossed for the exam server to be smooth and not overloading!

Postscript: Meanwhile...have to brace myself for viva voce too for the eventuality is growing as time passes...let me survive all ordeals in one piece, safe and sound.

Scotland Decided. For Now. #indyref

Foreword: Getting the hang of using hashtag (#) largely around Twitter but also on Facebook as well (it's only a while ago that Facebook decided to catch the hashtag wave as well) thanks to Scottish Independence Referendum 2014 trending as #indyref.

After a couple of exhilarating years of campaigning with opinion polls from various pollster indicating a race too close to call between Yes and No (particularly due to the surge of support for Yes) as the polling day edged closer, 4,283,392 Scots in Scotland (which forms 91% of people eligible to register as voter, an unprecedented rate of registration.) head to the poll on Thursday (18 September) to cast their vote on the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?", with all the hopes, promises and concessions from both the leaders of YesScotland and BetterTogether on their mind.

Today on Friday (19 September) as the results are tallied across 32 council area in Scotland, the majority of Scots has made their decision heard. With a decisive 55.3% of the electorate voted No against 44.7% that voted Yes, Scotland remains in union with United Kingdom of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The 307 years long union remains and poised to be so for a least "a generation".

Despite decisive Yes victory in Glasgow, the most populated council area in Scotland as well as Dundee, another major urban centre, it is still not enough to stem the growing leading margin between the Yes and No vote and in the end, the Yes camp only managed to secure victory in four council areas (with the biggest upset at Inverclyde losing only 0.1% of the vote) while the rest are clinched by the No camp particularly at Edinburgh, the second largest urban centre in Scotland. The final voting share seems to be consistent with the pollsters' prediction in the running up of the election.

The outcome of the Scottish #indyref on the first glance seems to be disappointing or even upsetting not just for Scottish nationalists in Scotland but also for all the other sovereignty movements both established or nascent across the globe who are inspired how organised and upbeat the YesScotland campaign has been. However, this is not the end just yet as paraphrasing Nicola Sturgeon (Deputy First Minister of Scotland/SNP/YesScotland), the outcome of the vote is not in anyway an acceptance of status quo with Scots regardless of Yes or No has made their voices to heard by the Westminster in London, and Scotland has definitely changed forever regardless of the outcome. With the unprecedented level of civic engagement, discussion, debate and awareness across all level of society (especially to the youth usually disenchanted by politic with special attention to the 16 years old and above being extended right to vote for the first time.), perhaps this will be the start for the greater wave of political reform across United Kingdom. From this point onward, Scotland will make sure that the Westminster in London to be accountable of all the promises and concession made during the campaign, working closely with all parties in both Yes and No camp on issues particularly of devolving more legislative power to Holyrood. The rest of UK like Wales, Northern Ireland and all regions within England too can expect more power to devolved to local government of all levels paving the way for United Kingdom to embrace a federal structure.

From the perspective of a Sarawak regionalist/sovereigntist, Scottish Independence Referendum has shown to the world that it is perfectly possible to achieve regional autonomy/sovereignty through mutual respect and understanding, diplomacy and most importantly, democratically through ballot box, a reflection of people's will and sense of honour. Independence/sovereignty need not to be arise only after from ash heap of war and toil, from military struggle and weapon, from oppression and reprisal. Let the people decide to ballot box.

However with the latest series of intimidation and threats issued by the Home Ministry and Police against what they paint as "secessionist" claiming the idea of secession is seditious, it seems it's going to be an arduous journey ahead for the Sarawak and Sabah sovereignty movements in Malaysia, current still in its infancy and support level remains latent before the idea is even able to gain traction. Will there be a fairer Federation of Malaysia in the future that might actually facilitate the condition leading to referendum similar to what is going in Scotland? Only time will tell and may awareness spread.

~Dum Spiro, Spero - While I breath, I hope - Haraplah Selagi Bernafas~ 

Afterword: Speaking of complex decision...

I have been summoned/pleaded by my mom to go home to help the family at least for a month plus or so while waiting for my Viva Voce to happen. My gut has vaguely anticipated that it will eventually come to this conundrum when Tate relayed mom's message when I went down to KL for paternal family gathering at the beginning of September. Still, receiving mom's direct phone call with this plea/summon still caught me by surprise and upsetting enough to cause me tears up and sniffle for a few minute, probably from a combination of guilt and fear. Nonetheless, another week has passed and by the time the second call came by, this time to book the flight ticket back home, I've already spent enough time rationalizing and largely resigned to fate, with the consolation being that it's just a temporary arrangement and I will be back for my Viva Voce in due time anyway. As for duty at home...while I have no problem with sending and picking Sebastian from school doubling as catching up with whatever change that happened in Kuching, the change of home dynamic due to the opening of backyard kopitiam changed the dynamic of what I consider as home so much that I feel more weary and jittery than being homely. But I am not in any position to dispute or change it anyway...

So yes, my fellow Kuchingites especially the 38-gang: I will be coming home next week and I want all the limteh I can get within the month plus I am back!

Hello, Goodbye.

Foreword: Belated update that should have been done two weeks ago but was away on a paternal extended family gathering + one week sojourn down under at Kuala Lumpur. Photos about the sojourn are progressively uploaded (I still haven't completely uploaded it yet due to procrastination.) on my Facebook profile so check it out if you are in my friend's list!

Recommended accompanying tune: Hello, Goodbye by The Beatles.


As I (almost certainly, one way or the other, finger's crossed!) bid farewell to one stage of my life, so too my time with a humble little crow's nest that I call abode for the past one year. My rental contract is approaching end and my landlord has finally decided to move in...along with the rest of his family planning on extensive renovation of the house which means I definitely have to search for a new place.

A frantic search on rental listing website resulting in checking out a series of less than ideal (transport and budget wise) rooms later, I stumble upon an unclaimed gem. A medium room for a price less than I paid for my crow's nest but with better living condition in an apartment? OK, it doesn't have a fan and the shared internet is basic (Streamyx 1mbps) but at the very least it has a bed and a closet, Streamyx won't die for no apparently reason, kitchen actually has a functional stove and the rest of the house is fully furnished with everything that is need. What a bargain! What a lifesaver! *DEAL SEALED*.

Come end of August after I am done submitting my thesis for examination and right before I head off for family gathering, I have two days for moving. Seven years of accumulated possessions moved into the new place, all by myself (aided tremendously by the car of course).

So goodbye to my crow's nest on the tenth floor with open corridor. Thanks for sheltering me for the past one year.

...meanwhile, hello to my new abode and am looking forward to shinier state of living. Sure it's not the at the top floor but being somewhere in the middle is fine with me.

Of course, moving to a new place with an existing shared internet means I finally got to sever that love-hate relationship that is within Penangfon. With 2mbps bandwidth for only RM60 a month, you were fantastic with unlimited and unfiltered internet connection...when you are actually up and running. When you are down however...it's HELLISH. TWO full months of total downtime over my area within one year of my subscription and further miscellany hours of disruption most often immediately after rain due flimsy infrastructure affected coupled with customer service that is noncommittal AT BEST and the only functional department in the company seems to be the billing department. The reason I stayed for the full sadomasochistic year is simply because I can't bear to lose the three months deposit. On the day I moved to the new place, I went to Penangfon's office immediately to cancel my line. Now I wonder when will they return my deposit.

There might be a couple more Hellos and Goodbyes in the immediate months to come and hopefully everything will be smooth and willing when happened...

Afterword: Speaking of which (in a vague link of subject to current affair as well as in conjunction of September 16), Scotland will be deciding whether it will be a goodbye or not to a 307 years old union to the United Kingdom on this coming Thursday. Any regionalist/sovereignty movement across the globe, nascent or established, will be following the development of the Scottish Independence Referendum (or hailing to the Twittersphere, the #indyref) with bated breath complete underlying anticipation, nervousness and excitement. The outcome of the vote regardless of Aye or Nay and its subsequent follow up in years to come will serve an example of how sovereignty can be achieved democratically and peacefully. As for me, I sure as hope that Sarawakian (like me) has the opportunity once again to decide the destiny of their homeland some time in future, hopefully in my lifetime. Who knows finally, Fair Land Sarawak will be embracing true sovereignty and self-determination. I would've wrote an detailed opinion piece about this prospect but now, let me have a rest first.

~Dum Spiro Spero, While I breath, I hope, Haraplah Selagi Bernafas~

The Dog Days are (almost!) Over.

Song of the day: Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine. The one and only song best suited to describe my current state of being.

After four full years of toil and procrastination and grief and demotivation and pain and (insert more adjective),  my thesis has finally came into its proper physical form on 27 August 2014...and at a cost of RM517.50 for a good ten copies of it courtesy of the long time photocopy shop underneath USM Library. Why did I let them print instead of printing myself? Saving self from sorting hell (regulation demand four coloured copies of draft thesis during submission. Imagine trawling through the sheer number of coloured pages.) is one reason while my own printer (or printer setting) is being a tit to me being another. Whatever that I printed using my own printer seems to be smaller than actual size so not sure is it paper size setting problem or something else. Anyway enduring torrential downpour lugging two boxes of thesis, the merry go around begins.

First (and most important) stop): Institute of Postgraduate Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, THE coordinating body for everything postgraduate. Paid my thesis examination fee (RM750 of it), check if there is any outstanding debt (jumlah: RM 0.00), compile all requisite forms, drag a random bystander who was waiting together with me (she's graduating this November, god's willing. Hope that she can submit her hard cover copy in time) to sign my Declaration Form as witness (good thing it's allowed!), got myself a little scare when thesis title in Draft Thesis Submission Form missing a single quotation mark as well as a word when compared to what is written on thesis and system (good thing officer allows correction of form using pen), forgot to enclosed report for Turnitin scan, rush off to the photocopy shop again to print the first page of Turnitin report, went back to submit...and I am done with IPS. Oh, updated my research progress report in my Campusonline profile too.

Next stop: School of Humanities/Pusat Pengajian Ilmu Kemanusiaan to submit the six remainder of the thesis to school. Staffs and supervisor wished best of luck and be prepare to receive a call for Viva within a few months time. Small convocation date (in April. For those postgraduates and undergradute who finished their study in odd timing) remains uncertain despite persisting rumour of it being integrated into a single large convocation in November. If that's the case...I might just attend the same graduation ceremony as my younger brother (!). Submitted my expense claim too so at least the pain of burning RM1300+ in three hours will be alleviated.

Pusat Pengajian Ilmu Kemanusiaan/School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia. I will be back again for a couple more times in a few months time. Meanwhile, fingers crossed for submission process and godspeed!

As I left School of Humanities, I can feel the burden and fatigue slowly fleeting away, not just figuratively but literally as well with loads of hefty sized theses being submitted at these two location. One step after another pacing towards the car with legs of my cargo pant drenched because of the prolonged rain since last night, I let out a series of sigh of relief mixed with a slight smile and nervousness. The end of the tunnel that was so dim and seemingly endless for the past four years of existential torment and guilt has finally appeared, all inviting and hopeful.

I do understand there are at least two more hoops to go through namely surviving Viva Voce and completing final edit for hardcover before one graduates but at least I would dare says one major phase of my life as a Master of Arts student in Universiti Sains Malaysia is by and large, over. I can proudly proclaim that..

The Dog Days are (almost!) Over

...and all before my candidacy ends on 31 August which happens to be my birthday as well.

Now...the waiting begins and fingers crossed.

Afterword: Meanwhile as a part of the whole moving on theme, I am moving staying places too and everything has to be done for the next two days! *looking at the unkempt rubble that is my current room* This is going to be quite a challenge and the rain better stop!

Juadah Sungkei Kamek Bulan Ramadan 1435 Hijrah/2014 Masehi.

Prakata: Meniti detik-detik terakhir "riwayatku" sebelum datangnya "ajal". Padahnya parah, parahnya padah. Lesapnya tanah, serlahnya lesu. 

Sungkei k.n. sukuan: Berbuka puasa dalam bahasa Melayu Sarawak. Bersamaan dengan sungkai dalam bahasa Bajau di Sabah.

...tapi kamek sik pandei kelakar bahasa Sarawak. Tedah.

Dengan melabuhnya tirai bulan Ramadan dalam masa sehari lagi, para Muslimin dan Muslimat boleh dikatakan sudah bersedia untuk menyambut kedatangan 1 Syawal yang menandakan berakhirnya Puasa dengan perayaan Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Namun bagi masyarakat bukan Islam, bulan Ramadan lazimnya bermaksud peluang keemasan untuk mengunjungi Pasar Ramadan untuk membeli dan mencuba juadah yang tidak pernah dirasai pada hari-hari biasa lalu memperkayakan lagi sajian malam sepanjang bulan Ramadan.

Saya sebagai anak perantauan yang perlu memenuhi perutku yang lapar setibanya waktu makan malam turut mengambil peluang untuk mengunjungi beberapa pasar ramadan sekitar kawasan kejiranan ku sekarang dengan tujuan bersungkei dan sebaik-baiknya mencuba juadah yang aku tidak pernah cubai.

Pembuka selera bulan Ramadan untuk tahun ini: Roti john yang tidak akan aku lepaskan peluang untuk menjamahnya.  Pasar ramadan pertama yang saya kunjungi untuk bulan Ramadan ini ialah Pasar Ramadan Bayan Baru di perkarangan Masjid Bayan Baru. Namun begitu, kunjungi pada hari pertama bulan Puasa ini kurang berjaya kerana saya tiba lewat pada tapak Ramadan iaitu pada 7 petang, hanya 20 minit sebelum berbuka puasa dan para peniaga sudah pun bersedia untuk mengemas tapak gerai mereka sebelum bersolat di Masjid.

Masjid USM turut menganjurkan pasar ramadan secara kecil-kecilan di perkarangan masjid dan saya turut mengunjunginya untuk melihat apa yang ditawarkan oleh peniaga (sebahagiannya terdiri daripada siswa sendiri yang masih berada di dalam kampus) di situ. Telah mencuba nasi ambeng + begedil, selera Muar, Johor.

Antara pasar ramadan yang paling berdekatan dengan kawasan Sungai Dua terletak di Pantai Jerejak/Sungai Nibong dan untuk kunjungan tersebut, saya telah beli satay ayam dan daging.

Berbuka puasa bersama rakan taulan. Yalah, saya tahu tempatnya warung N'Jawi di Plaza Ivory dan bukannya juadah dari pasar Ramadan seperti yang saya uar-uarkan pada perenggan pembuka tetapi apa salahnya kalau saya nak kongsi detik berbuka puasa dengan rakan setelah sekian lama menjamu makan malam secara bersendirian?

Kunjungan kedua ke pasar Ramadan Bayan Baru pada masa yang lebih awal ternyata lebih berjaya dengan terbelinya lebih banyak juadah. Di sisi kiri dan kanan ialah roti john dan kebab yang sudahpun menjadi pembelian lazim saya manakala pada sisi atas dan bawah pula ialah pasembur (selera Pulau Pinang) dan kuih akok (selera Kelantan). Pasembur dibeli sebagai ganti makanan ruji seperti nasi.

Pada malam Ramadan yang terakhir sebelum menjelangnya Syawal, nasi lemak special dari Pasar Malam Sungai Dua yang berlangsung setiap malam hasi Sabtu. Bersempena dengan malam Ramadan yang terakhir, hampir separuh daripada gerai Melayu yang menjaja di Pasar Malam Sungai Dua sudahpun mula berehat untuk menunggu datangnya Hari Raya Aidilfitri pada Isnin hadapan.

Demikianlah juadah sungkei yang saya terdaya untuk cubai pada bulan Ramadan tahun ini. Sebagai penutup tirai untuk masukan blog ini...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada Muslimin dan Muslimat.

Maaf Zahir dan Batin. 

Semoga Raya ini dan yang akan datang dicucuri rahmat dan keberkatan serta dipenuhi keceriaan dan kebahagiaan bersama orang yang tersayang.

dan

Selamat Bercuti untuk seluruh rakyat Malaysia di mana jua anda berada tetapi terutamanya di negeri tercintaku Sarawak Bumi Kenyalang, Darul Hana*. (Poetic name in bahasa for Fair Land Sarawak. It was used even during pre-Malaysia days).

Penutup bicara/Afterword: Menadah tangan mengharapkan pembebasan dan kebebasan abadi. Bilakah derita dan duka akan berakhir. Dahagakan mimpi indah tatkala pejamnya mataku.

...and why am I suddenly become poetic in bahasa Melayu anyway? That definitely falls under bajet jiwang.

Terjemahan Karya, Karya Terjemahan (I).

Pembuka bicara: Kalau tidak silap saya, inilah pertama kalinya blog saya yang tidak seberapa ini memperkenalkan karya puisi terpilih berserta terjemahan bahasa Melayunya. Penterjemahan karya kesusasteraan, terutamanya sajak dan puisi, merupakan antara bidang yang paling mencabar dalam kerjaya penterjemahan. Seseorang penterjemah sastera itu bukan sahaja memberi perhatian kepada perbezaan bentuk penyampaian puisi dan sajak antara dua bahasa yang beliau kerjakan, beliau juga akan menelusuri minda dan pandang dunia penutur kedua-dua bahasa, mendalami budaya yang tersemat dalam kata-kata puisi dan peka dengan nuansa dan nada kiasan. Erti kata lain, penterjemah menempatkan diri sebagai pembaca yang terharu dengan merdunya puisi dan sajak sebelum beliau sendiri pula memainkan watak pujangga mengolah rasa yang dialaminya dalam sebuah bentuk karya yang orang lain pula berupaya merasainya.

Penterjemahan penulisan bahasa asing ke dalam bahasa Melayu sering kali dikritik dan dicerca, dianggap kurang mutunya berbanding karya asal dan bagi terjemahan karya sastera, kurang puitis dan kurang ataupun hilangnya makna yang karya asal sampaikan. Tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa penterjemahan bahasa Melayu masih ada ruangnya untuk perkembangan dan permatangan, sekiranya pandangan sebegini atas sebab munasabah ataupun tidak terus berlarutan dengan khalayak ramai memandang enteng sebarang karya terjemahan bahasa Melayu, karya-karya terjemahan bahasa Melayu yang adanya bermutu akan dihanyut kritikan membanjir, terus diketepikan tanpa dibaca dan dihargai. Sekiranya kita perlu menongkah arus negatif ini, karya-karya terjemahan bahasa Melayu yang baik perlulah diangkat dan disuluhi tumpuan supaya khalayak ramai boleh kenali karya terjemahan bahasa Melayu. Karya yang masih boleh diperbaiki pula juga boleh diberi perhatian juga, memberikan cadangan membina dan mengasah kemahiran penterjemah itu.

Adakah masukan blog ini akan menjadi titik tolak untuk memperkenalkan karya terjemahan yang muncul di lingkungan awam tetapi masih memerlukan daya tolak untuk memperluaskan lagi penerimaannya? Kita nantikannya...

Aku Mati Demi Keindahan - (penterjemah awanama buat masa ini sehingga dipastikan)

Aku mati demi keindahan, namun baru saja
Menyesuaikan diri di pusara ini,
Tiba-tiba ada seorang yang mati demi kebenaran terbaring
Di liang sebelah.

Dia bertanya perlahan kenapa aku gagal?
"Demi keindahan," jawabku
"Dan aku demi kebenaran, kedua-duanya sama;
Kita saudara," katanya.

Dan begitulah, seperti dua saudara bertemu di waktu malam,
Kami berbual dari kamar lahad masing-masing,
Sampai lumut menyelaputi bibir kami,
Dan melitupi nama kami.

I Died for Beauty - Emily Dickinson

I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth, -the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.

Afterword: It has been a while that I write most of a blog entry in bahasa Melayu and it's definitely getting rusty. Anyway, Emily Dickinson: the late 19th century American poet and recluse best known for her penchant for the macabre but also best remembered by many Malaysian secondary school students for There's Been a Death in the Opposite House. I came across I Died for Beauty and its translation, Aku Mati demi Keindahan over a photography exhibition titled Unpack Repack: A Tribute to Ismail Hashim (1940-2013), incidentally the very first programme that goes on in the coming George Town Festival 2014 officially kicking throughout the month of August. Being a tribute exhibition, it features mainly selected lifelong photography works and life of Ismail Hashim all the way from black and white prints that he painstakingly made in his own darkroom (recreated as a part of the exhibition) to a digital slideshow featuring the last batches of photos he took using the very digital camera he carried along on his untimely passing August last year due to motorcycle accident. It is right before the digital slideshow that I Died for Beauty/Aku Mati demi Keindahan is featured which made the selection of this particular poem particularly poignant.

I have learnt from the his works that he was once a lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia over School of the Arts teaching graphic design (a couple of the photography works exhibited were captured in Universiti Sains Malaysia in front of Perpustakaan Hamzah Sendut I, different snapshots of students walking along...in 1996. Another one is with his Graphic Design students), he was social activist which appreciate humanism (which was espoused in his approach to photography) and was one of the founder for Penang-based Aliran, one of the first modern post-independence civic movement in Malaysia which he also designed various Aliran Monthly's covers. Certainly an interesting figure and a great loss for his untimely passing. It's also interesting to know that Universiti Sains Malaysia is quite a hotbed of intellectual rigour from time to time and I wonder how much of USM still is today.

Just as a closer, this post is just going to be about highlighting selected poetry translation work in Malay and one thing I like about this exhibitions is that all of the explanations, quotations of Ismail Hashim and even quoted literary work (even an excerpt from Ulysses is quoted) are done bilingually in English and bahasa Melayu thus providing a rich corpus for comparison of original and translated text. Speaking of which, am still wondering who's the translator for the quoted literary works in the exhibitions as well as the explanations whether it's by Ismail Hashim himself (some of it like the photo above features written manuscript right beside it but I forgot to give it a detailed look) or by the curating team (after all, I am sure contacts in USM will be very useful). As for photos from the exhibition itself...you will have to wait until I upload them on Facebook.

I am a Twit(ter User).

Foreword: Alas, my poor abandoned abode on the internet. Here it was, laid bare and neglected for months in a single stretch, unloved and untouched, barren and deserted, lonely and longing for the author to blow the breath of life onto it. As the owner's inspiration remained beleaguered in drought and attention occupied by other worldy matters (and distractions), it is anything but wishful thinking. Once in a while however, there is a glimpse of hope, a hope that this little presence on the wide abyss of the internet will once again flourish, fulfilling in its full potential as a window into the life and thought of the author. For now however, one has to contend with sporadic post which may or may not become the seed to revive this spot in need of more love., such as this following one right here.

After 500+ miliion users have preceded me, I have finally become a Twit...ter user.

How's that for description of self? Those who are my friend on Facebook might notice something familiar...

Despite thoroughly enveloped in the procrastinating embrace of the social media behemoth that is Facebook (1.28 billion users) as well as other worldly matter to tend to, I have made the belated move of signing up to Twitter about a month ago or so. The initial motivation to do so is fairly straightforward that is to follow what are the selected interesting people (i.e. comedians/media personalities/legend such as @Stephen Fry) that happens to be Twitter users) up to, getting first hand information as the news breaks locally and internationally (e.g. @theborneopost for news from my home or @bbcworld for the rest of the world) and catching up with bits and facts from pages of particular interest (e.g @qikipedia for Quite Interesting (tm) facts or @OED that I liked a little while ago to learn interesting English words in Oxford English Dictionary (tm)). Ohh, that random part of the internet e.g @common_squirrel or @big_ben_clock has made its presence all too soon enough. I might even favourite and retweet things that I think worth sharing (which is my current policy on Facebook status at the moment), such as THIS:

Yang Dipertua Negeri Sarawak TS Taib Mahmud terima Darjah Kebangsaan Seri Maharaja Mangku Negara yang membawa gelaran Tun dari YDP Agong
— BERNAMA (@bernamadotcom) May 26, 2014

(Oh the collective groan of bleeding hearts after getting balls twisted across Sarawak is deafening. I actually grinned gleefully with amusement and bemusement in equal proportion with this news and the knee-jerk reaction. ALL HAIL LORD WHITE HAIR.)

Within hours of setting up my Twitter however, a bemusing phenomenon have occurred.

Followers as of now. Guess which one is an actual friend I know personally? (Hint: not a woman.)

Who are these vacuous, shallow boobs-and-duckfaces "fine ladies" and why would they randomly follow a Twitter user who hasn't even get the hang of Tweeting with only a handful of Tweets anyway? As it turns out however, they're all spambots (fembots?) masquerading as legitimate Twitter account being programmed to post vague Tweets about love and I am missing you, the type of things these boobs-and-duckfaces "fine ladies" would post in hoping some idiotic men "romantic men" would follow them back and then spam them with direct message probably for malicious intent like getting your bank account or passwords. (In fact, one of them, the so-called Matty Machudri has revealed its true colour by Tweeting techno-babble of coding and commands. How did these spambots came up with their names and photos anyway? Name randomizer?) Of course, I am not one of those idiotic men romantic men so a quick visit to Settings and Secured My Tweets which allows control over who can follow me as well as not allowing my Tweets to be shared publicly.

On the subject of Follower and Following, I felt that Twitter is actually much more impersonal and less social than Facebook especially if one intent to connect with actual friends that one personally knows. At least on Facebook, the activity your friends are doing may appear on your news feed and one can feel certain your activities may appear in your friends too thus maintaining an impression of connection (it has to be said however Facebook do select which activity to appear in your news feed and one can always to to highlight or hide according to one's fancy.). For Twitter however, it is not necessarily so you can choose to follow to someone (your friends or something else) but your friend might not (and can choose not to) reciprocate thus creating a communication deficit. Then there this question of privacy whether to keep your Twitter publicly accessible (which means everyone can see you and a mere Tweet away from snowballing into a full blown free-for-all flame war with random faceless eggs bashing incoherent abusive tweets to you) or private (hence nobody barring your Followers can see your gems of wisdom or you left with aching curiosity of what are your friends' thought because they protected their Tweets).

Another peeve that I have with Twitter is course its 140 character limit in a Tweet. Being someone not exactly adept in expressing sentiments in concise manner while preferring to embellish with verbose prose (that's why all my recent posts are largely unreadable), Twitter is a very restricted and constrained medium of expression and communication. One is compelled to either deliver catchy, edgy one-liner (which some may consider as an exercise of dexterity in self-expression) or just condensing sentence into indecipherable glyph of LOLs and #. One can always circumvent the limiting factor by breaking up long sentences into multiple Tweets (cumbersome to Tweet, cumbersome to read) or if you are fluent in Chinese/Korean/Japanese, Tweet in those languages instead as 140 characters is good enough to be a paragraph for them thus one can pack more content into a single Tweet. I guess this is also why URL-shortener take off in order to allow Twitter user to share posts while being economical with the 140 character limits. With Facebook removing their character limits in Facebook status years ago (the unfortunate side effect being essay length statuses which are a pain to read and an insight to how deranged/incoherent your Facebook friend is as well as spams on public Facebook pages), Twitter's 140 character limit is seemingly regressive. Perhaps it is my own limitation too for I don't have a smooth glowing rectangle that is a smartphone with a broadband plan that allows me to take a selfie, Tweets of my whereabout, snap of what I am eating at the moment before sharing it on Twitter while on the move thus enabling Twitter of its full potential.

So as of now, Twitter for me is much more of news aggregator (mostly by @guardian. Yes I can be categorized as The Guardian reader now.) and interesting facts and links provider than performing its social function...so...Follow me? *inner voyeur talking*

For my friends who still haven't allow me to be their followers: let me follow you. Please. I beg you. *inner stalker talking*

*headdesk in shame* Anyway, just check out my Twitter @ZRLiew, aye? Yeah I know you can't see anything now because I protected my Tweets so...Follow me if you want to see anything else beyond my face and header. Then again, there's always Facebook anyway which I still spent most of my time on and have no intention to abandon at any moment.

Afterword: The end is in almost in sight. Am seeking release from the stifling bind. Let this be a peaceful or at the very least, uneventful end. But first...*continues to be distracted*

BB1M & BBW.

Foreword: So here's the so called regular update about snippets of my life after mulling ad nauseam about the possible repercussion of such flagrant display of my current life's vacuity. Oh spot the slight change of format? 

-ここから嘘ばっかです。-

Masih layak menerimanya atas sebab yang tidak boleh dielakkan. No. KP, telefon dan no. siri digugurkan untuk keselamatan diri sebagai pengguna Internet. *bajet celik IT*

Sebagai tanda penghargaan yang tidak berbelah bagi, saya ingin mengucapkan jutaan terima kasih kepada kerajaan Malaysia yang senantiasa tanpa penat lelah prihatin terhadap keperluan para mahasiswa dalam membeli buku rujukan untuk tujuan pembelajaran dengan meneruskan lagi pemberian Baucer Buku 1Malaysia. Marilah kita siswa-siswi teruskan lagi mendukung kerajaan Malaysia demi mengekalkan kesinambungan Pelan Transformasi Ekonomi (ETP) yang kian rancak dijalankan dan melaksanakan pelbagai bantuan rakyat yang bertumpu pada keperluan khusus dan terperlu sejajar dengan Pelan Transformasi Ekonomi. Terima kasih, Kerajaan Malaysia!

-ここまで嘘ついてすみませんでした。-

Enough gratuitous grovelling.

Being given RM250 worth of book vouchers again presents another round of dilemma for all university student about where and what to spend their rather restrictive handouts (compared to say, the RM300 given to senior citizen and low income/unemployed youth via BR1M. By the way, the "more focused aid" scribe is the justification used by PM Najib for reducing petrol subsidies, a "more focused" kick in the nut for car owners.).  Good thing there are plenty of businesses out there ready to cash in the handout spending sprees by university students, myself included.

So I spent my first RM50 vouchers on buying myself a new mouse and earphone at a computer fair held in USM in conjunction of library open day. My four years old mouse is pretty much fucked with scrolling wheel ceased to function for years while my current earphone is pretty wonky not entirely suitable for outside usage when leeching of wifi. Vouchers left: RM200 (or four RM50 vouchers).

The biggest opportunity in spending however only came some time after that...

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale back in Penang for the second time, ready to flog off more discounted books for clearance by spendthrifts or fellow government handout receivers like me. "We Accept BB1M Vouchers!" proclaimed the Big Bad Wolf.

Occupying the still currently unused and unfinished section of Penang Time Square, BBW is divided into three general sections: non-fiction at the front, fictions in the middle and children's section right at the back before the payment counter. Basically, fleecing off unsuspecting overexcited money fountains catering to all level of customer needs.

After going through mountains of books for whichever categories relevant to my interest, (meaning mostly non-fiction without giving any thought for fiction and children section with the exception of visual novel/manga section), I can't help but to feel increasingly disinterested with no particular titles that immediately grab my attention. Has the novelty of spending reckless on cheap books worn off? Why isn't there any manga that I really wanted? What's with the repeated placement of the same book over different section of the pile? Just as I was flipping through book after book with little enthusiasm, magically a book bearing a face that I am all too familiar with appeared. Magically because it certainly doesn't look like it belonged to that section as if it has been left there unattended by someone. Taking no chance and not entirely keen to search its original stack somewhere in the mountain of books, I grabbed with little moral consideration for the possible someone who left it there but with much crazed glee.

Charlie Brooker - "writer, producer, self-indulgent cry baby" with "a face like paedophile walrus". Writes a column with The Grauniad in which this book acts as a compilation of his writings up to 2012. Host of the Wipes series on the BBC (watched liberally online by the virtue of not being license fee payer in UK.) with specific remit of providing wry, caustic and incisive view of British tellyland. Personal inspiration for cynicism in writing, exactly the way he don't want it to as noted by one of his column in his book. I wonder if there's any more of his book over BBW with only a few more days to go before it packs up and visit other region.

Riding on the euphoria of hitting a jackpot, the spendthrift inner has been switched on culminating with all the other purchases below.

For the first time in my life, cookbooks! I would've preferred any cookbook that featured cooking with rice cooker because that's the only home appliance that I have over my rented place. Not available though so one-pot meal and soups would have to suffice. Other books are there because they vaguely appealed to me and I have to make up the numbers to fit the book vouchers.

Not to be left out are more books about facts and trivias about language, science and all sort of questions you wouldn't have wondered or largely ignored all the time.

...and indeed continue reading ever after they do with the mountainous amount of book they bought. Total spending: RM150. Vouchers left: RM50.

There you go, a sordid tale about young man splurging government handouts on personal desires rather than actual needs. Despicable youth these days.

Afterword: Crap it's the end of March. Time flies fgsfds

#MH370

Prologue: We interrupt the regular programme (note: mundane tedium of irregular blogpost) to bring you a special update.

~8 March 2014 (Saturday), sometime around 8am in the morning~

As I was browsing through my Facebook news feed like I have always did every single morning, one particular update caught my eye. One that I certainly didn't expect to happen. One that actually sent chills down to the very core of my spine.

Sepang, 8 March 2014: Malaysia Airlines confirms that flight MH370 has lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am, today (8 March 2014).

Malaysia Airlines Fight MH370 operated on a Boeing 777-2H6/ER (reg.: 9M-MRO) bound to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur at 12:41am has lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am. The flight which was scheduled to reach Beijing at 6.30am didn't reach its destination.

What's heading Malaysia Airlines' Facebook page at the moment apparently as a part of their social media outreach SOP in information dissemination in time of incident/distress/tragedy. Definitely one of those SOP you didn't wish to happen and do in anyway...but inevitably it did happen.

While I am fairly exposed (and in a way desensitized) towards civil aviation incidents by the virtue of being civil aviation fan (e.g. hanging about A.net ever since there is internet at my home), the fact that the incident involves a Malaysia Airlines flight departing from Kuala Lumpur on a widebody Triple-7 strikes right onto my latent fear of flight. Even when I am well-aware that flying is statistically way safer than driving on the road and thousands of flights going on across the globe with hundreds and thousands of people flying in the air comfortably and safely at any given time as well as civil aviation being among the most rigourously regulated transport sector, no one has ever wished to be a part of that statistic more so in event of such magnitude and proximity.

As the realization sets in with every news outlet as well as social media users both within Malaysia and across the globe caught wind of the incident, Malaysia Airlines page is immediately inundated with endless stream of prayers wishing for the safety and well being of MH370 and all their 239 passengers + crews (complete of course with a #PrayforMH370 hashtag) which is the appropriate action for anyone in time of tragedy.

However...there's always THAT particular section of social media users. Those irresponsible, irksome, heartless, nauseating section of the social media users which are painfully out of touch with the gravity of the incident. Those who spread unverified rumours around (the earliest one being the plane has made emergency landing at Nanning, China. It didn't, says China Civil Aviation Authority and the plane has not even entered Chinese airspace when it lost contact) whether in a desperate but ultimately futile attempt in clinging on to any figment of hope or just plain malicious in spreading lies. Those who thinks Malaysia Airlines has lied or doing a media blackout for not confirming it's a crash. Those who thinks that this is God's wrath/musibah/ujian towards whatever "injustice" that's going on in Malaysia. Those who thinks this is all a part of the conspiracy to divert the public's attention from THAT court verdict of THAT politician. Those who dabbles in speculation as self-appointed armchair critics about what causes the incident. Those who unleashes their poisonous drivel while hiding behind the anonymity of a fake account.

Yes, THOSE of you.

Have you ever stop for a moment before mashing on your fucking keyboard to give a thought about the families of all the 227 passengers coming from various nationalities on board MH370? All the Malaysia Airlines crews and personnels equally concerned about the well being of their 12 colleagues on board? Their anxiety, their consternation, their anguish, their remorse, their grief, any of their emotions and feelings?

Do you think they have expected this to happen? Do you think they (or all of us for that matter) ever wanted this to happen?

Do you even care?

Malaysia Airlines cannot make any concrete assertions in their statement simply because they HAVE TO wait until any of the search and rescue team found any concrete and verified evidence of MH370's fate. You say it's in the news, but 24 hour rolling news being as they are means that they have to fill every single of their awkward idle minutes with anything from any angles complete with any talking heads remotely relevant regardless of their veracity (so long as they put the tag "unofficial sources said" or "unverified information said") complete with dramatic footage of reporters crowding the anguishing families  which does nothing but to perpetuate further confusion among already confused and misinformed "public". Everyone in Malaysia Airlines, Civil Aviation Department as well as members of multinational search and rescue team are trying their best to make clear of the situation as minute goes on so WHY MUST YOU BE MUCKING ABOUT, YOU CUNT?!

The only thing we can (and should) do is wait for the official verification from Malaysia Airlines and in the mean time be better informed of the situation and other relevant background knowledge (like the one about Air France Flight AF447.) Simply put, shut the fuck up if you have nothing better to say.

In the meantime, I reserve my final comment until the event unfolds completely and confirmed.

*And then...(Not Quite) Final Comment:

There is/are no god/s, only a missing airliner with 239 souls onboard confirmed lost. Based on the latest satellite tracking and projection, it has been officially announced at 10:00pm GMT+8 that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 B777 (9M-MRO) airliner is "assumed to be lost beyond reasonable doubt" with final location of plane ended over southern Indian Ocean, one of the remotest part of the globe beyond reaches of safety. A tragic end to 17 days of trepidation, dimming whatever tiny glimmer of hope left for the anguishing families of everyone onboard the tragic flight.

The few things left for this tragedy of such magnitude is to hope for the black box as well as any signs of the wreckage to be found as soon as possible to provide closure for everyone after prolonged suspense and anguish as well as to shed some light on why the ill-fated airliner ventured off course all the way to southern Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, extensive inquiry and revamp towards civil aviation safety of all level is to be forthcoming to rectify whichever security risks that may have existed within the current system and reduce them further to their absolute minimum implementing even more stringent safety and security measures.

Last but not least, 
To the conspiracy theorists: remove your tinfoil hat and shove it down whichever orifices you have. Go make Darwin proud by chlorinating yourself from the gene pool. 

To the sanctimonious pseudo-pious who see this as god's punishment (you know, the like of Ridhuan Tee Abdullah): Happy now? Your god is a trigger happy, vengeful, demanding, selfish asshole who enjoy seeing death rather than hope. 

To the political scaremongers who questioned about the timing of announcement being right after that by-election: ever heard of coincidence? Your Dear Leader/Generalissimo/Ketua Umum doesn't deserve the death of 239 people. Ever. 

To rolling news who desperately projecting news out of nowhere to the point of stupidity: now that the plane is confirmed kaput, can y'all report on actual NEWS for once? No more stupid shaman, no more grand ma "spotting" plane in the sea, no more crowding anguishing families with flashes and lenses, no more BULLOCKS to fill your dullard screen time for once? 

To social media users who just can't help but click share misleading news and information: chop off your fingers and get yourself a lobotomy. Make a status that is useful or a very least, harmless, like mourning the loss NOW.

There is/are no god/gods, only the lost of an airliner and 239 souls onboard. #rememberingMH370.

Epilogue: We now return to our regular scheduled (or lack thereof) updates. For once, a rare post about what I think about a current event. 

[Filler] 地獄の沙汰も君次第 by 獄卒音楽連盟

Prologue: First post of the year...on 1 March. Two full months of hiatus. Definitely the longest hiatus in the history of this blog. It is really hard to keep up with this decaying medium considering how the sheep that is the public has pretty much moved on to instant gratification, image bombardment and constant stream of tiny bits of information which makes reading on a slightly longer sentence in blog comparatively tedium. Or it's just me that has long lost the wit and will to write even when LOADS of thing worth blogging does happen in my life and reality.

So there, you have to settle for this filler post. But hey, it's good stuff worth sharing so JUST EAT IT.

I've always have a thing for dark humour and cultural/pop/contemporary references in anime so when I came across Hoozuki no Reitetsu (鬼灯の冷徹 lit. The Cool-headedness of Hoozuki) as my younger bro downloads it for the Spring season anime collection, I was immediately hooked.

In a nutshell, it's a slice-of-life story about the inhabitants, officials, minions, deities, spirits and deceased in Japanese hell/naraka/jigoku (地獄) featuring the titular character Hoozuki 鬼灯 as he face and solve the often whimsical problems and encounters as the terrifyingly efficient right-hand man of the amicable but bumbling Great King Enma 閻魔大王. So far there's even appearance of Satan, the lord of EU hell in which his plan to annex Japan jigoku was inadvertently thwarted by culture shock as well as Hoozuki's efficiency.

...and Goldfish plant (金魚草). おぎやああああああ！

It has been quite a learning experience watching this series which began right at the opening song. It has to be one of the happiest, catchiest song about Hell/Naraka/Jigoku. In fact, I've learned that Japanese jigoku consists of eight burning jigoku and eight freezing jigoku, each of which further divided by 16 sub-jigoku which rounded up into 272 divisions of jigoku overall (16x16+16 counting the major division as individual jigoku too). The reason for such complexities is because they referred extensively to China and India before incorporate it to fit Japanese taste and norm. Nonetheless, the fellow minions of jigoku are proud of their hell claiming they are able to cover all sins of human.

...just listen to it and see what I mean. (no full lyrics yet though but will post it as soon as available!)





*now updated with opening MV!

~地獄はあるかもしれないよ
この世の行い　気をつけて!~

~Hell/Jigoku/Naraka might actually exist so better watch out what you are doing in mortal world~

Epilogue: Considering the situation I am in currently, I do feel constantly being watched by reality in both literal and metaphorical sense.