In the light of Selangor Government abolishing the BTN, and Muhyiddin Yassin chastising the move, gossip happy Malaysians all wants a piece of the limelight. Apparently , indoctrination isn’t cool nowadays and people wanted to be part of the cool culture. Hence, hate is all around dissing the BTN.

I find the hate-mongering very peculiar.  I read one headline that goes:

Students Traumatised by BTN’s ‘Racist’ Indoctrination Programmes

Now, thats a bit gloomy doesnt it?  Whats with the hate, people?

I particularly find BTN very entertaining.

Its entertaining to see that they actually believe that they can shove views down our throats and we will agree to it. No objections because we’re all gullible that way.

It is entertaining to see them do it in such gusto and with great dedication, i almost feel sorry for them.

It is entertaining that the common situation in BTN is that there exist a huge elephant in the room, but everybody chose to ignore it( probably its much more fun watching)

It is entertaining to joke about the various indoctrination efforts and the great lengths they do for it with friends in the dormitory

It is entertaining to chuckle inside whenever they say something funny like ” You know, a great disaster will befall our country if the government doesnt get two thirds majority” in great seriousness.

It is much more entertaining when we participated in one whole hour workshop dedicated to the above statement.

It is entertaining the things they do that makes no sense and afterwards i was hard pressed to find any point of them doing it. Shining example: Showing a picture of Anwar ( not that i’m a big fan of him anyway) with Zionist or IMF hotshots and declaring: ” Look!, hes being chummy with the very people who wanted to destroy our financial system!”.

Right.

If i’m pictured with a Jewish friend that makes me a sympathizer with the Zionist agenda?

If  i’m pictured with a person who is holding a glass of wine , you’re going to assume i drink too?

I trust that we are not at all THAT intellectually challenged. Its a picture of two people laughing. . Give him a break. That guy cant even have a drink with friends.( Hes foreign minister for Gods sake).

Swiftly remembers the time where a picture of Dr Mahathir wearing a Christian priest-like clothes circulating and all the accusations essentially shouting : ” Dr M is a bloody Christian!!!!”

It is too entertaining to witness that the ceramah sessions after the Fajr prayers mainly talks about justfying ISA based on various hadiths and examples from Islamic history rather than how to mobilize young minds to improve the ummah. I had a great laugh , which was good because usually it’s hard to keep my eyes open during ceramah after Fajr.

It was more fun to watch that the people who are at the forefront of this agenda are educated, grown and well positioned people in the society. It is almost hard to believe such stupidity can stem from them.

OK. All sarcasm aside, i find BTN most useful for delivering this most important message to young Malaysians: Loving your country and making them realize that they have a responsibility to come back and shape the country in the future. This is an important message that needs to be drilled. Whatever shit thats happening and you dont like it ? You dont like the status quo? Stop complaining. Come back and change it then. We can change all of this together. BTN did a pretty moving job in delivering that message. I am mostly proud of BTN due to that part.

As for other elements?

Well, i just sat back and enjoyed the show.

P/S : I dont want my scholarship to be taken away or go to ISA for this please. Thank you very much.

Presenting another round of musika for this semester’s version. These songs are the the stuff that i stumbled upon somewhere here and there. Stuff i that i reckon that are not too shabby to be included into that empty 20GB space iPod playlist. I try to shirk from what is available en masse, not because they’re not worth your iPod placings but rather for exposure purposes. You like a non-radio friendly music , you share em’ , thats the spirit. All in all, if you’re thinking “Shes gotta be kidding me”, then the onus is on you to make me stumble into a good one.

1)- ‘Sometime Around Midnight’- The Airborne Toxic Event

I ignored the lyrics but damn does the violin and the guitar sound great.

2) – Carol Brown- Flight of The Conchords

Additional listening: “Friends” and “Hurt Feelings”

3) Who’d Have Known-Lily Allen

For this one, I recommend getting the whole album. She can be capable of both sweet, and i don’t give a shit mode so go get “Its Not Me, Its You” pronto. This one however, is when she’s sweet.

Additional listening: “Chinese”, “22″, “Kabul Shit”

4) ‘Mari Shalawat’- Wali Band

I’m still trying to get my head wrapped around having a rock band actually rock out a salawat… and doesn’t come sounding too awkward. Besides, their ” Cari Jodoh” song is absolutely to the roof hilarious.

Additional listening: “Cari Jodoh”, Aku Sakit”,” Tetap Bertahan”.

5) ‘Relator’- Pete Yorn & wait for it…SCARLETT JOHANNSSON.

But this one’s NOT the duet tough, its something to tease you ( although that wasnt a sham just now, its all over Youtube).Everybody should know Pete Yorn. I think his “Music for the Morning After” album is solid. I found out about him when his “Lose You” came out on House the episode Dr Kutner died. A sampling:

‘June’- Pete Yorn live @New Jersey

Additional listening: “Lose You” ( MUST HEAR), “Murray”,” Bandstands In The Sky”

6)  Lets Stop Calling It Love- MoZella

Ah MoZella. MoZella the Andorid ad. MoZella the Nivea ad. MoZella the Grey’s Anatomy song. MoZella the Hollister playlist. It’s not really hard to figure out why. Her tunes are catchy as a ratat-tat-tat. She can also belt out a mean, tugging at your hearstring melancholy as well.

Additional listening: ” Magic ( Oh Oh Oh), “Thank You”, “Light Years Away”.

7) “Little Lion Man”- Mumford and Sons.

This London band  are fresh faces. Although this particular number is commendable, their other works sounds erm, meh. But any band with a cello and a banjo should be given a shot dont you think?

Before you’re accusing me as one of those hippie music snob, i’d like to declare my affection towards songs that receives heavy radio airplay.  I have normal ears like everyone else, haven’t i?  Posting the songs here however, is a redundant venture. You already know how the song sounds like. Top favourite mainstreams:

1) “Thinking of You”, “Waking up in Vegas”- Katy Perry. “I Kissed a Girl” single was a terrible mistake. Thank God she made it up beautifully with others. This is gold.

2) ” You Belong To Me” – Taylor Swift. Oh yeah. Just pretend you dont hear those cringe inducing lyrics.

3) “Love Drunk”- Boys Like Girls. At first glance , this band looks like any other lame, angsty, teenage rock band that are destined to share the same fate of  The Calling, The Rasmus, and The Click Five et al.  I mean, with that NAME, even more so. The shock? The album does not suck. Its a safe bet for those who just want to appreciate normal, nothing too out of the ordinary rock songs but not compensated by lousy writing at the same time.

4) “Time To Pretend”- MGMT. I decided that other songs are just too weird.

5) ” One Foot Boy”, “Touches You”- MIKA – The second album “The Boy Who Knew Too Much” is obviously not in the same stature as the first. It is no doubt still good, however it needs more to live up to its fantastical predecessor

6)”What is Happening” – Alphabeat- Such. Honest.Earnest.Pop.

6) James Morrison and Bon Iver. Because James Morrison is everything James Blunt is not.

I have yet to encounter a discovery recently that gave me the same exhilaration when i stumbled upon the works of Bon Iver, Hawskley Workman, Pete Yorn, I’m from Barcelona, Ingrid Michaelson and Lenka. Help me find one?

P/s: Due to exams season ( and because i am so damn busy this semester), White Green Yonder has to be  degraded into short bursts posts such as these. Sorry.

I know. *Cringe*

One month absence wow.

En francais is an Engineers Dilemma

Unlike previous semesters, the local smart kids from Quebec make up the largest demographics in the majority of the class i’m taking. I reserve the most admiration for  this particular group of comrades, because from an Asian point of view,  it is without a single doubt that they come from a very different sphere of education system. In contrast to their Asian/Middle East counterparts, Quebecois kids may not be the geniuses in town. However, they are the most creative, most proactive, adventurous, highly curious and the most helpful go-getters i have ever seen. Their outlook in academics is such a drastic 360 degrees turn from ours in a way that i get really jealous. I am not jealous at their smart alecness, but rather of their education system. I envied the most of their mindset of how their academics experience should be formed.

There is a notion that in university life, one should adopt an attitude to be educated as much as possible as opposed to with the goal to pass exams. For the misinformed, that view was bludgeoned from the young minds in Asia aeons ago.  Main culprits are elite high schools,where  the pressure to perform well in national exams surpasses all other  priorities. In effect, matters pertaining the subject that doesnt revolve around the exams generate mild interest/disinterest. Screw the wonders of  Wolfram Alpha, i dont get an A with it anyway.

Granted, both types of outlook may brought success in academic life . Although, they differ drastically in undertaking strategies. The latter can be achieved by getting assignments and past papers from graduates,doing late night religious studying, following the exam fromat to the dot and targeting questions that the professor have an inclination to ask in examinations and probably a little plagiarizing thrown in. In retrospect,following an academic experience that is configured to best  fulfill the examination system.

Still confused? Think SPM.

How was the preparation like? Do you learn the subject or do you learn how to answer questions the right way about the subject?

Case in point.

Now, the former is what i call an idealistic view( and now scarce to find in real practice with the high academic inflation phenomenon nowadays) of an individual’s academic experience: you come to class to be inspired, to learn , be intrigued by new frontiers of your area and to contribute daily to a ping-pong banter of ideas and hypothetical experimentations. In restrospect : God Damn exams.

This sounds highly Utopian to my SPM educated ears.

But not to these Quebecois kids. They are the rare bunch of people of who still view academics along that vigour, or at least try to encapsulate the  same along-said spirit in daily practice. Note that the attitude is applied even with the examination system in place. The ability to hybrid the ideal view of academics and still beat the current system is something i find wondrous, even mesmerizing. In McGill engineering (with its tight curriculum and hectic schoolwork), trust me, idealistic is best to let rest in its laurels for 4 years and one is better off sticking to late night studying and FarmVille.

The point here is this:

How am i supposed to contribute in the lively discussion of wonderful enlightening and knowledge if i dont speak the same language as they are. Heck, i cant even contribute to the casual conversation of what i had for lunch today with them. In effect, i am an automatic outcast.

This is somewhat a depressing pickle i find myself in. The being minority female thing was one and now this? Come on now.

I am not kidding, this is a real and genuine problem. Learning is best done with participation, especially so the case with myself whos darn slow in the brain department.  This problematic issue is even more compounded when youre clueless in what to do in a lab demo( as is often the case) but everyone else is happily frenching away with each other.

It felt really rude to intrude in english. So all i can do is just gape in awe over; 1) their brilliance in the stuff,  2) their brilliance in french, 3) brilliance of chinese and indian guys in french all the while  still fumbling with the oscilloscope dials to get a non-noisy sine wave signal.

P/s :”…. and Quebec French doesnt even sound that good!”- me complaining.

Two things i never grew over are :

1. Dragonball Z ( or any japanese comics for that matter,i once devoted to those weekly hong kong fight comics  of Mah Wang Sing, i wonder what happened to them )
2. The X-Files
3. Glass bottled sugarcane soda.

Oxford:

Oxford City Hall property

Sheldonian Theatre. Major place for graduation

One of Oxford colleges grounds. They were massive. Horses can gallop comfortably on them.

The scholarly tradition seems to be imbued in every inch of this city.

Oxford projects a certain aura: a scholarly aura. Almost immediately there was an urgency to walk straight, chest out and look as cleverly as possible. Buildings and structures adorning the city is really ancient, with strong Beaux-Art influences. It was exam season at Oxford, and students crossed the roads and walked around in full Oxford uniform called the sub-fusc.  See, if one happen to walk around in them anywhere else, it’ll look utterly ridiculous. To demonstrate how very un-21st century it was, it includes a tail-coat and a flower pin on the chest pocket. A real flower pin. Sub-fusc was nothing ridiculous in Oxford. Here, the sub-fusc have a certain perverse (or adverse, depends on your perspective) effect to residents not owning one. They certainly made me feel jealous. People look at you with a certain respect in that uniform. After all, its a mark to identify an Oxford scholar.

In essence, Oxford bore one similar trait with Montreal: it is a passionate bike city, where any residents with common sense ride the bicycle to navigate around instead of the car. There are no subways or metros, just the occasional bus. The highest polluting source would be the huge tour buses. The roads are narrow and sometimes cobbled. Like any other bike cities, Oxford is plagued with the same problems such as bike parking shortages and rampant thefts.

A-rowing.

It is a pity I did not tour the halls or insides of the colleges since it was a bit late (spent half of the day with my host in Southampton, with the highlight  being the wicked Fererro Rocher milkshake) However, I am unnerved. I managed to sneak into one. Pretending my best to pass off as a student, touring the insides of halls induced a love-hate relationship. It was majestic and gorgeous and everything Harry Potter-ish however i hadto curb my jealousy in check.  I was soo green with envy and one couldn’t help but have the occasional ‘ if only i was an Oxford scholar’  stray of thought once in a while.

Oxford in a nutshell: Nice, comforting place to visit.  Beware excessive amount of jealousy.

Up next: Coventry and Shakespeare..

Nation, Happy Independence Day.

At 52, let us show maturity and bravado beyond our tender age.  Let us steadfastly believe the impetus of keeping it close to the rakyat’s heart.

And never, ever shall we bow to disgusting, idiotic, kepala lembu politics.

MERDEKA SEGALA-GALA

Dont let this man down, folks.

Godspeed.

Heishh.

How to fix this? I fell asleep right after zohor and woke up at 7.00 pm. Just nice an hour left to pray Asar, make Mi Ruski and milo before breaking the fast at 8.00 pm.

And after Isyak and Terawih i cannot sleep.I tried forcing , but ended up waking on hourly basis. Finally resigned and did all my unpacking and cleaning and rearranging  in the wee hours in the morning.

12 hours difference needs major time-span to adapt but haiyyo too long laaaaa. i still havent done my groceries because splitting headache overwhelms me if i dont sleep during the day. This is not Malaysia, where got Tesco opening until 1.00 am????

Anyways, check this out: 15Malaysia . Apt doodling for the Merdeka Month.  I’ve read about it couple months ago in Off The Edge, but i never knew the videos came out already.

Will Miss both of you and Dad and Edah

Another weird coincidence is my flight itinerary was the same as my two new TNB juniors coming to McGill.

Inilah barangkali namanya berkat Ramadhan. I have no doubts about God’s hand in this because in London, i was waiting for them at the baggage pick-up. I didn’t find them. I waited so long at the bay where lots of people came to pick up their relatives at  the ARRIVALS section  in TERMINAL 3 . After that, i gave up. Just when i was resigned to hang around all alone,  guess where i bumped into them? At the DEPARTURES  section in TERMINAL 5. trying to figure out how to use the London Underground to jalan-jalan. I could have gone out first, if i choose not to linger say, more than 10 minutes. But no, i actually pondered around for an hour and a half at the airport.  And here they are , semangat gile nak tengok Oxford Street but all the shops are not opened yet:

Boleh guna ke tefon ni nak call mak kat Malaysia?

Lilian and Jundi, lost (not exactly, sebab ada me heheh) in London

P/s: Salam Merdeka everyone.

Each Ramadhan, i always regret that i did not take as much advantage on the abundance of  barakah promised on the Holy Month. This year, i strive to perform better. Please God, dont forget me just yet.

I’d love to write a contemporary post about ibadah but never dared to because i am not an arifiin. (one whos knowledgable). This is an area i would like to improve on, since blogging is a great medium to spread dakwah. Writing about matters of  God is a road that must be tread carefully, because we are responsible to the people reading our written articles. Misleading people is  a great sin.  In fact, a muallaf once told me that the devil is actually the uncertified articles and webpages about religion spawning around the internet, its sources and writers questionable. The unknowing muallaf , even practicing Muslims themselves easily fall prey to misleading articles ( remember friendster forwarded bulletins?). Just because an article talks about religion does not mean it is right. Check the writer’s sources first. I welcome artciles that is written with the spirit of nasihah ( to remind ), or informing the masses about what is already known to be set on stone. Usually , these articles are written by an individual with a certain stature. The worrying trend is the emergence of posts deliberating about hukum-hakam islam, novels of supposedly religious stories, and writers condoning an action or quoting words supported by hadith with weak sanad. If it is not from a convincing webpage, read it but take with an open mind.

So I copy paste. From a creditable source, of course. Sorry. But this piece is quite neat.

Bismillah.

Before the Sand Slips Away
By Muhammad Al-Shareef