Friday, August 31, 2007

Basic Needs, Simple Life

Today we celebrate Malaysia's 5oth year of independence.I'm careful of the way I mention it as a collegue remarked yesterday that this is our 51st independence (instead of the 50th) because 31 August 1957 is the 1st, geddit? He also mentioned that it may not even be correct to say that it is 'Malaysia's' 50th celebration, as Malaysia was formed in 1963, not 1957. In the interest of not getting too technical, I'll follow the buzzword of poular media- 2007 marks Malaysia's 50th year of independence (2007-1957=50). End of story.



Where was I? Oh-just yesterday me & hubby were reading the reprint of a newspaper that was published in 1957, courtesy of NST and Sime Darby. It cost 15 cents then (compared to RM1.20 now)- the news have this feel-good halo about them (could be because it was close to Merdeka) and the advertisements were very simple- straightforward, even. Strictly about the features of whatever they were selling and nothing of the competitive, over-the-top claims commonly seen today. There was one particular advertisement about a tractor for farmers- smashing!



I can't help to think how simple life must have been then. By simple I do not mean that there are no hardships of daily life. I'm sure that there were plenty of things on each Malayan's mind then- how to rid the country of communism and racial politics; self-governance once the 'orang putih' leaves; maybe even how to get on with normal daily life. From what I see, the needs were simple. People were grateful, based on the news items. Birthdays, social events and are celebrated, there were reminders of unity- how everyone should work together to rid the country of the 'Reds' i.e. communists. There were also the makings of a Malayan government then, the design of police uniform, appointment of government heads etc. The news do translate to a nation that is together, proud and determined to make "Malaya" work.



Let us not forget that- how it all happened- how it felt to be free and united. How it felt to be grateful for our basic possessions. How it felt to rule a country that we can proudly call our own.



Merdeka!! Merdeka!! Merdeka!! Merdeka!! Merdeka!! Merdeka!! Merdeka!!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The 'Royal' Treatment

The Royal London Circus is in town- I watched it with my daughter from the C seats on Friday afternoon. The seats are terrible- I don't think they should be called seats at all. They're benches.. with gaps below them.. and if you drop anything from your 'seat', you've gotta go below the circus tent to retrieve it. Why bother having the C seats anyways? They're small, uncomfortable and you can't lean back because you'll fall off if you do.

I had initially thought that since the circus is a ring, any view is an appropriate view. I thought wrong. In fact, I'm having pain in the arse from sitting on that blasted bench all night. Note to self: if ever we're going to watch the RLC again, we'll get the better seats- those which have earned the right to be called seats!

As for the show itself- it was alright. I'm not the circus person I thought I was. I particularly enjoyed the magic show and the 2 guys on the rotating circles in the beginning. Other than that I was pretty bored. There was nothing new. You'd probably have seen them on TV or on previous shows. Shouldn't the performers reinvent themselves or something?

Earlier on Friday me and the boys went to Petrosains. Now, that was a treat! Loved what they've done with the displays & games. There are also lots of assistants on and about in case you need to ask questions. Maybe 1 tiny disappointment was the dinosaur diorama- just T-Rex without his posse. The diorama was more focused on how the earth evolved and how petroleum came to be. Well, it is Petronas' baby- what did I expect?

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Sabbatical

I have been away too long. I blame it on hubby who's been hogging the PC day and night with his WoW. Blame's on me too.. been busy with my MSc classes. I'm glad to announce that I have completed my final module on Wednesday. That was a hugo relief. So.. on to the thesis!

Am reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman now, in between my writing of the Lit. Review. His writing just pulls you in & gets you involved. I like that very much- the 'escapism' factor. And I particularly liked the 'dedication' at the beginning of the book. I have GOT to get all my Death comics from BP- I wonder what's happened to them- I haven't seen them for a long while. I hoped that Umi hasn't burned them already! There was a termite infestation at Umi's last year- oh please let my comics be intact.

What I have found about Lit. Review is that I may we ill-equipped to do it. Takes me down memory lane when we had to do our Law assignments. Similar expectation but 10-fold effort. My brain's gone mush and my vocabulary's frazzled and I don't know what to do. I have borrowed a sizable number of books and am just staring at them. My supervisor says to me that I need to read 50 journal articles yada3x. Am I beginning to sound that I am having a panic attack? I maybe am- but I have also bought a couple of what I call 'diversion books' to read in between my Lit. Review. It does my brain good to switch to the Left Lobe (or is it the Right?). Well, encarta says Right- well, Right it is!

Segmentation or specialisation? Gaiman writes about God and the Underworld while King is into the horror genre. Sid Sheldon's work is about strong women, families & scandals while Adibah Amin is the home-girl that writes perceptively about Malaysia and its people. If I become a writer, whatever shall I write about? My marketing lecturer talked about segmentation and customer focus in marketing. Can that be applied in art? I suppose Picasso did what he found interesting to do with joy in his heart, never mind segmentation and what-have-yous.

I can't write fantasy to save my life- the magical fairy world is beyond me. Politics will be another area that I will stray from. Shall I write children's book? Or I can write about a clumsy girl that is me in essence- something like the Bridget Jones diary. Truth be told, there's a lot to think about. I'll do that thinking after I get the whole Masters business out of my head.

What I 've deduced from my Masters experience is that I have had to focus so much into the subject I can't multitask. It's a very male thing, don't you think?