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Cruxstone Alias on "How to live your life (commencement speeches)"

Cruxstone Alias — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:24:12 +0000

Wow.

Cruxstone Alias on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

Cruxstone Alias — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:40:21 +0000

LOL Ced, love that pic. Haha, I'm gonna put one here too =D

Just to clarify, I see more similarities than differences. Say we have two groups of people who possess the same values (of being united). Group A lives in East Msia while Group B lives in the Peninsular

In Group A, there is no apparent effort to effect unity because there is no significant possession of the lack of unity. All sunshine and ripening corn fields.

Group B is very much like Group A, but since there exists a lack of unity (or more of it) which goes against their personal values, they huddle together. They try to advocate their values and therefore they are more vocal and conscious about them.

We can say that Group A = Group B, just that they are reacting to different environments. This is the unity group.

Then we can think about what Sam suggested - difference in unity can be observed by population size (and probably population lifestyle and history). Let's just outline some arbitrary traits a society should have in order to see past race and be in the unity group.

1. Inter-racial mingling
2. Education - I don't mean the Msian system. I mean more of being learned/intelligent. Especially if someone knows that the colour difference occurs as a result of skin pigmentation. The human race started off as black and some lost their pigmentation when they shifted away from the equator. And now we're quarreling over that.
3. Healing of scars - The older generation may have experienced some severe dealings with other races. They're only human, so a generalization may have been started by that hurt (like if someone killed/raped their entire families as a result of a race riot).

There are approx. 20 million people in the West and 6 million in the East.

If only 1/10 of Malaysians fulfill those unity traits,

West (total = 20 million): 2 million are united vs 18 million who are racist
East (total = 6 million): 0.6 million are united vs 5.4 million who are racist

So,

For every 2 mil united citizens from the West there are 5.4 mil racist citizens from the East.
For every 0.6 mil united citizen from the East there are 18 mil racist citizens from the West.

Rounding up the proportions,

For every 1 united citizen from the West there are 3 racist citizens from the East.
For every 1 united citizen from the East there are 30 racist citizens from the West.

And like magic, we observe an illusory difference between the East and the West.

Kubuk on "FAT PRIDE"

Kubuk — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:26:13 +0000

Most of the girls are bigger than me mah. Take what god gives. Be thankful.

Jeryl on "FAT PRIDE"

Jeryl — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:24:59 +0000

Andrew like bigger girls? :P
Never knew....

Me like tall, skinny , awkward girls :P [Nicole from ANTM Cycle 13] *drool*

Kubuk on "FAT PRIDE"

Kubuk — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:28:28 +0000

More to see and more to press/hold la.

dienasty on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:28:18 +0000

Eradicating all the DIFFERENCES between us and focusing on the ONENESS?
Guess that isn't taking root huh.

Oh for God's sakes Malaysia memang all about slogans. Our campaigns almost all never work, you wait for 2020 la, sure people make excuses. (Which is the direct opposite of Singapore, here people complain the people too docile, ALL the government campaigns seem to work @.@ CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW WEIRD IT IS, IN THIS ISLAND COUNTRY?!)

I should stop. *looks over the shoulder* But yeah, I think you're right. We're more sheltered, therefore we're less jaded, less tired with other races. This may or may not be a good thing. It may be good because we're nicer as a society. But it may not be good at all, too, because it's not fair comparing two different kinds of exposure. I mean, it's wrong to conclude that Sarawakians are nicer better people. You cannot say that, because we were never exposed to the kind of history the West Malaysians were. You can only say that if both of us were exposed to the same events, zeitgeists; and one of us chose to respond differently. True?

dienasty on "FAT PRIDE"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:19:48 +0000

But so guys like non-skinny females occasionally. Maybe personal preference.
Or maybe just something to soothe the insecurities.

Well, there IS more to hug ...

*ducks*

Samsi on "FAT PRIDE"

Samsi — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:16:24 +0000

I give props to the people who are just big, not fat.
You know, just...bigger.

And it annoys the hell out of me when my clothes do not fit, so I don't really get the whole being proud of outgrowing your wardrobe.

But so guys like non-skinny females occasionally. Maybe personal preference.
Or maybe just something to soothe the insecurities.

As far as fat pride goes...I'm not as...against it as you are Jyl. Big pride, that I smile at because they are pretty gorgeous just as skinnies are.

Samsi on "Good luck with your exams!"

Samsi — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:12:51 +0000

ZOMG ZAMAN GELAP EUROPEANS ALL DICKS CAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE KNOWLEDGE!

Goodluck to you with your rage Paul.
And Kim.
And Aldrin.
And err, Cedric?

Samsi on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

Samsi — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:09:21 +0000

I agree with Paul. We here are very "tien zhen"
And by that sentence, I am agreeing with Tze Lun. WE ARE DIFFERENT LIKE OOH.
Granted, everybody in each state is a bit different from the other. KL more metropolitan, Kch less fast paced, Penang more...err... I dunno, char kway tiaw?

Just as we are different in terms of char kway tiaw, belachan beehoon and Swak laksa, we're pretty unsimilar in terms of political maturity as well which is probably what sets us apart in the whole racially aware blablabla sense.

Swakians are relatively sheltered. We get our funding, White hair dude does his talking, the BMW's and the Mercedes' on the road keep increasing, RM2 chicken rice keep spreading, everybody happy.

But we're not all that different in the more major ways. I mean, still two arms, two legs, one head, half a brain at times and other... appendages.

Funny though, isn't this what 1Msia is supposed to be about?
Eradicating all the DIFFERENCES between us and focusing on the ONENESS?
Guess that isn't taking root huh.

dienasty on "adjective video"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:44:35 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiOqa1nWgI

Oh, it would be funny if Glass weren't a serious composer, and the music wonderful.

dienasty on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:41:29 +0000

Damn, Paul, you're good.

Cruxstone Alias on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

Cruxstone Alias — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:22:46 +0000

LOL HAHA, ok this is funny =D

But, from what I see here, and I really don't mean it in any offensive way whatsoever, is that East Malaysians see themselves as a different kind of Malaysian? Again, I mean no offense. It's really just an observation in a very limited and narrow environment.

If we were to take this thread as the only sample space, Tze Lun is essentially saying: The Sarawakians here think that they are different.

Tze Lun's point is actually quite empirical based on the number of people who agreed that Sarawakians are different, who are Sarawakians (unless they agree that they're different, but do not think that they're different) =DD

It may be right or wrong, but that was not the thing here.

Based on my limited experience (mostly if not all from national or international debate tournaments), I think that the only difference between East and West is how innocent the people are ^^. The people I mingle with around here seem to be not even conscious that they are from different races/countries. And when they hear about ppl making a big deal of it, it'll be like 'haha...what?', then they'll go back to their own little world of sunshine and ripening corn fields.

In the west I see that most are very conscious that they are of a different races, but they're are really action based and will actively voice out their concerns against racism. In international tournaments that's not even an issue - everyone is fighting for malaysia and malaysia only - and many times specifically against singapore =DDD (sorry Ced, but I think you know that).

I think I've posted something about my experience in west msia before in the thread with a racism theme (the one with yasmin ahmad).

If anyone's brain logic decides that 'hey, this guy needs to be flamed', first read this:

1. This is based on my experience with debaters from west msian unis like IIUM, MMU, UiTM, UM etc. and students from my uni (australian campus) in the east. This is also based on the acquaintances I've had from my childhood - teenage years.

2. This is a generalization. It will not speak for all the people I've met but it can describe most of them (the people I've met).

3. I know fully well that this is different when generalizing the entire nation. Why? Because I'm not talking about the entire nation here.

4. Now everyone can say: Alright, Captain Obvious!

5. Now you can flame me.

dienasty on "How to live your life (commencement speeches)"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:18:23 +0000

David Foster Wallace - the greatest American author of the decade, gave this commencement speech to Kenyon College's 2005 graduating class. He committed suicide late last year. This is his speech:

This Is Water

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys, how's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?"

If you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise old fish explaining what water is, please don't be. I am not the wise old fish. The immediate point of the fish story is that the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about. Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude - but the fact is that, in the day-to-day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have life-or-death importance. That may sound like hyperbole, or abstract nonsense. So let's get concrete ...

A huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded. Here's one example of the utter wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute centre of the universe, the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely talk about this sort of natural, basic self-centredness, because it's so socially repulsive, but it's pretty much the same for all of us, deep down. It is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: there is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute centre of. The world as you experience it is right there in front of you, or behind you, to the left or right of you, on your TV, or your monitor, or whatever. Other people's thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real - you get the idea. But please don't worry that I'm getting ready to preach to you about compassion or other-directedness or the so-called "virtues". This is not a matter of virtue - it's a matter of my choosing to do the work of somehow altering or getting free of my natural, hard-wired default setting, which is to be deeply and literally self-centred, and to see and interpret everything through this lens of self.

By way of example, let's say it's an average day, and you get up in the morning, go to your challenging job, and you work hard for nine or ten hours, and at the end of the day you're tired, and you're stressed out, and all you want is to go home and have a good supper and maybe unwind for a couple of hours and then hit the rack early because you have to get up the next day and do it all again. But then you remember there's no food at home - you haven't had time to shop this week, because of your challenging job - and so now, after work, you have to get in your car and drive to the supermarket. It's the end of the workday, and the traffic's very bad, so getting to the store takes way longer than it should, and when you finally get there the supermarket is very crowded, because of course it's the time of day when all the other people with jobs also try to squeeze in some grocery shopping, and the store's hideously, fluorescently lit, and infused with soul-killing Muzak or corporate pop, and it's pretty much the last place you want to be, but you can't just get in and quickly out: you have to wander all over the huge, overlit store's crowded aisles to find the stuff you want, and you have to manoeuvre your junky cart through all these other tired, hurried people with carts, and of course there are also the glacially slow old people and the spacey people and the kids who all block the aisle and you have to grit your teeth and try to be polite as you ask them to let you by, and eventually, finally, you get all your supper supplies, except now it turns out there aren't enough checkout lanes open even though it's the end-of-the-day rush, so the checkout line is incredibly long, which is stupid and infuriating, but you can't take your fury out on the frantic lady working the register.

Anyway, you finally get to the checkout line's front, and pay for your food, and wait to get your cheque or card authenticated by a machine, and then get told to "Have a nice day" in a voice that is the absolute voice of death, and then you have to take your creepy flimsy plastic bags of groceries in your cart through the crowded, bumpy, littery parking lot, and try to load the bags in your car in such a way that everything doesn't fall out of the bags and roll around in the trunk on the way home, and then you have to drive all the way home through slow, heavy, SUV-intensive rush-hour traffic, etc, etc.

The point is that petty, frustrating crap like this is exactly where the work of choosing comes in. Because the traffic jams and crowded aisles and long checkout lines give me time to think, and if I don't make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, I'm going to be pissed and miserable every time I have to food-shop, because my natural default setting is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me, about my hungriness and my fatigue and my desire to just get home, and it's going to seem, for all the world, like everybody else is just in my way, and who are all these people in my way? And look at how repulsive most of them are and how stupid and cow-like and dead-eyed and nonhuman they seem here in the checkout line, or at how annoying and rude it is that people are talking loudly on cell phones in the middle of the line, and look at how deeply unfair this is: I've worked really hard all day and I'm starved and tired and I can't even get home to eat and unwind because of all these stupid goddamn people.

Or if I'm in a more socially conscious form of my default setting, I can spend time in the end-of-the-day traffic jam being angry and disgusted at all the huge, stupid, lane-blocking SUVs and Hummers and V12 pickup trucks burning their wasteful, selfish, 40-gallon tanks of gas, and I can dwell on the fact that the patriotic or religious bumper stickers always seem to be on the biggest, most disgustingly selfish vehicles driven by the ugliest, most inconsiderate and aggressive drivers, who are usually talking on cell phones as they cut people off in order to get just 20 stupid feet ahead in a traffic jam, and I can think about how our children's children will despise us for wasting all the future's fuel and probably screwing up the climate, and how spoiled and stupid and disgusting we all are, and how it all just sucks ...

If I choose to think this way, fine, lots of us do - except that thinking this way tends to be so easy and automatic it doesn't have to be a choice. Thinking this way is my natural default setting. It's the automatic, unconscious way that I experience the boring, frustrating, crowded parts of adult life when I'm operating on the automatic, unconscious belief that I am the centre of the world and that my immediate needs and feelings are what should determine the world's priorities. The thing is that there are obviously different ways to think about these kinds of situations. In this traffic, all these vehicles stuck and idling in my way: it's not impossible that some of these people in SUVs have been in horrible car accidents in the past and now find driving so traumatic that their therapist has all but ordered them to get a huge, heavy SUV so they can feel safe enough to drive; or that the Hummer that just cut me off is maybe being driven by a father whose little child is hurt or sick in the seat next to him, and he's trying to rush to the hospital, and he's in a much bigger, more legitimate hurry than I am - it is actually I who am in his way.

Again, please don't think that I'm giving you moral advice, or that I'm saying you're "supposed to" think this way, or that anyone expects you to just automatically do it, because it's hard, it takes will and mental effort, and if you're like me, some days you won't be able to do it, or you just flat-out won't want to. But most days, if you're aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her little child in the checkout line - maybe she's not usually like this; maybe she's been up three straight nights holding the hand of her husband who's dying of bone cancer, or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the Motor Vehicles Dept who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a nightmarish red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness. Of course, none of this is likely, but it's also not impossible - it just depends on what you want to consider. If you're automatically sure that you know what reality is and who and what is really important - if you want to operate on your default setting - then you, like me, will not consider possibilities that aren't pointless and annoying. But if you've really learned how to think, how to pay attention, then you will know you have other options. It will be within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same force that lit the stars - compassion, love, the sub-surface unity of all things. Not that that mystical stuff's necessarily true: the only thing that's capital-T True is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it. You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't. You get to decide what to worship.

Because here's something else that's true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship - be it JC or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles - is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things - if they are where you tap real meaning in life - then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already - it's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness. Worship power - you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart - you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

The insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default settings. They're the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that's what you're doing. And the world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom to be lords of our own tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talked about in the great outside world of winning and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. That is real freedom. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the "rat race" - the constant gnawing sense of having had and lost some infinite thing.

I know that this stuff probably doesn't sound fun and breezy or grandly inspirational. What it is, so far as I can see, is the truth with a whole lot of rhetorical bullshit pared away. Obviously, you can think of it whatever you wish. But please don't dismiss it as some finger-wagging Dr Laura sermon. None of this is about morality, or religion, or dogma, or big fancy questions of life after death. The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about simple awareness - awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: "This is water, this is water."

dienasty on "How to live your life (commencement speeches)"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:16:07 +0000

Found this NTU convocation speech here (via this blog); wanted to share it with you guys:

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.
by Adrian Tan

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.

dienasty on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:51:17 +0000

Okay guys, chill ...

@Tzelun: I suppose we did deserve that - I mean, we were a bunch of Sarawakians who were puzzling over how different we are - and in this context your observation is a valid one. The proper answer to your assertion, then, *pokes Jylene* is to justify why we're not just wanting to believe we're different as Sarawakians.

@Jyl: Like you, I disagree with Tzelun's second statement. But I'm more interested in the whys. Everyone here has a right to an opinion, regardless of whether or not they're right or wrong/qualified to make one. If it's wrong, justify that counter-assertion. Don't attack his right to have an opinion. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons we think we're different, and I'm interested in finding the right answers.

I think, for the record, that Sam has hit on a right answer:

The amount of people in West Msia vastly outnumbers East Msia and it is easier to meet someone who isn't proficient in the language. Whereas that group who ARE proficient however, are (in simple terms), bloody amazing.

Furthermore, back here at home, most of us come from Mission schools where English is for most, our main language. Our interaction with other students normally [admit it] involve people who speak english just as well. There are plenty of people in East Msia who have a rubbish command of English, we just don't.... talk with as many of them now do we?

Third part of the theory, vernacular schools in West Msia can be found more easily than here in East Msia. Especially the Chung Hua's. And also the Islamic schools.

This sounds like the truth. And it gells well with Abe's earlier theory - the people who do speak good English seem to speak better English because of the vestiges of a British education (particularly so when they're of a specific socio-economic class).

dienasty on "Good luck with your exams!"

dienasty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:48:54 +0000

@Aldrin, Kim: thanks for the advice. It's much appreciated. =)

@Paul: I read your post with a smile. I'm trying to do just what you say now - reading week's coming up (you do have reading week too, right?) and I'm quite far behind on my Math. Assignments really threw quite a punch.

Good luck, you, and you, and you. And thanks.

tzelun on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

tzelun — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:37:47 +0000

Like I said, I was answering Ced question and frankly, that's what I perceived. And I emphasized that it was an observation made in a very narrow and limited environment - right here. I'm not affirming any parts of it whatsoever.

jylene on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

jylene — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:54:40 +0000

the 2nd part duh!

Like who are you to say that us sarawakians think of ourselves that way?

You can definitely have your own opinion but not when it comes to making assumptions about what other people think they stand for.

That's what we're here for.

Cruxstone Alias on "Good luck with your exams!"

Cruxstone Alias — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:05:33 +0000

For college students, I suggest that everyone be a bit mad. Have the 'rage' and awe for your field and learn till the sky falls down not only before the finals but from the very start. Learn deep (deeper than whatever notion of really deep you have, as there's always a deeper deep) just for the sake of learning. Don't feel that for the subject? It's just your mindset. Like, would you believe me if I told you that if you're a straight guy/girl, you could become bi if you wanted to (you could literally be aroused by the same gender. I've not tried but I have friends I know really well who are not born as bi)? You can then become straight again if your mind is strong enough. The mind is seriously powerful.

The more you learn, the more time you have for other things. You can therefore join all the clubs and social activities you want at anytime (you can even go to dodgy fairgrounds right before the finals, something which I'll never want to do again =\), and you'll have less stress and you would be a happier person. It will be very relaxed if you do that. I failed to do that this sem =( so I'm cramming right now and I'm not exactly happy. So the most important thing is: Rage.

But only you're too lazy.

kimmmmmmm on "Good luck with your exams!"

kimmmmmmm — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:16:36 +0000

college students who are dying right now

Lol. Explains current situation for me just.. perfectly =D

Last paper of my 3-papers-in-3-days triathlon. Physics. yuck.

I suppose I can't complain. I was sitting next to this girl from my Chem tutorial. She told me she had a paper on Mon afternoon, Tues morning and Tues afternoon. Lol.

Uni exams... Don't know about your side... But mine, we tend to repeat past year questions. My physio friend said hers was like they ripped a page off the past year and stuck it into her exam - question number same, wording same etc. I got some repeats too. So ya DEFINITELY do the past year.

Don't hesitate to listen to the recorded lectures if you really really don't get something - that's if your lectures are recorded. At the same time don't listen to ALL of them - PERFECT way to waste time. lol

Oh and.. Jia you! ^^

saykhia on "Good luck with your exams!"

saykhia — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:29:43 +0000

For university exams:
Do your past semester papers! Most lecturers will sneak in one or two questions from previous exams into your finals... And the lazy ones will just change the date on the old paper and call it a new one.

tzelun on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

tzelun — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:26:44 +0000

@Jyl

No rights? What rights do I need for me to voice my own personal opinion?

Are you faulting me for saying I don't see East Malaysians being any different? (Which is nothing more than my own perception, and has no bearing on what you or others may believe)

Or are you faulting me for saying I see East Malaysians seeing themselves as different? (Something which I have absolutely nothing against. By all means, you define who you are. I was just answering Ced's question on what I think of East Malaysians)

Is there something else I missed? Enlighten me.

jylene on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

jylene — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:39:07 +0000

Haha I think tzelun has no right to say that. Tell me that after you've lived in Kuching for a while and got to know the people and lifestyle there. Seriously. So what your sis married an iban? You only know him when he's here in this environment.

I know a man who is around his mid 40s who has lived in KL his entire life. He moved to Kuching and he told me about his amazing Chinese new year experience. He's Indian btw. He was saying how he was at some big shot's house and they were so friendly and everyone was getting together and his friends of all different races were having a blast. He said Kuching is a really nice place to live and people here are just nice.

But yeah I agree with Abrahams theory about the British in Sarawak. Also, I think we had different education system with wm for a little while back then. They changed it to all Malay later than wm.

And Sam is right. But you know people here speak a lot of Malay. Even the Chinese. Which I find weird because you don't hear Chinese in kch speaking Malay! Hshahah

dienasty on "Good luck with your exams!"

dienasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:47:32 +0000

Oh, and err, add your exam tips if you'd like: I'll start by warning the SPMers to IGNORE YOUR FORMER PAPERS and DON'T COMPARE ANSWERS. What's done is done. Keep looking forward to your next one. =)

PS: Any advice for university exams?

dienasty on "Who here hates fries?"

dienasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:45:03 +0000

Hosted your potato skin image on zoomr. It looks GREAT, to be honest. Tho to tell you the truth - I really do like potatoes, I just ... don't like fries. (Or McD fries, to be more specific)

How do you make 'em? Carve out the potato meat, wash the outsides, take out the eyes ... and then what? Fry? Boil the potatoes beforehand? Bake? Add lots and lots of CHEESE? =P

MiSeLoCiN on "Who here hates fries?"

MiSeLoCiN — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:37:30 +0000

Bleh. I'm gonna try to add bananas/peanut butter inside. havent tried that yet.

Have you tried Potato Skins?

They are Really really good! Cass LOVES them!

Samsi on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

Samsi — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:36:07 +0000

I've heard the English one time and again. After meeting a ton of our West Msian counterparts, I have a loose theory.
Think about it this way, draw a line between those who are better in English and those who are not.
The line will always be higher up, making the group of people who are better in English smaller than the group who are less proficient.
The amount of people in West Msia vastly outnumbers East Msia and it is easier to meet someone who isn't proficient in the language. Whereas that group who ARE proficient however, are (in simple terms), bloody amazing.
Furthermore, back here at home, most of us come from Mission schools where English is for most, our main language. Our interaction with other students normally [admit it] involve people who speak english just as well. There are plenty of people in East Msia who have a rubbish command of English, we just don't.... talk with as many of them now do we?
Third part of the theory, vernacular schools in West Msia can be found more easily than here in East Msia. Especially the Chung Hua's. And also the Islamic schools.

As for the bitterness. I think it's safe to say our Western counterparts care way more about politics than we do. We make noise sure yeah, but after everybody's been pushing and shoving, guess which big state is still under BN.

dienasty on "Good luck with your exams!"

dienasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:32:33 +0000

God bless you Nickki. *sends some online-time luck*

dienasty on "Who here hates fries?"

dienasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:31:53 +0000

Those fries look like the burnt foreskin of a thousand-year-old eunuch. That sauce, on the other hand ...

Oh, and what is that upgrade of a tanah kemarau that you have up there?

MiSeLoCiN on "Good luck with your exams!"

MiSeLoCiN — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:27 +0000

cute ced. cute.

Good Luck ppl! i only got 15 minutes left of online time today :)

MiSeLoCiN on "Who here hates fries?"

MiSeLoCiN — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:29:12 +0000

Bow at the AWESOMENESS of my FOOD KNOWLEDGE :)

Got a list of things to learn and perfect after SPM is over

including this

these fries look nice~

dienasty on "Good luck with your exams!"

dienasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:26:48 +0000

This is to wish all UGS-ers good luck with their exams (ESPECIALLY THE SPMers). Yes, that means even you college students who are dying right now *coughAussiescough*.

God bless you.

And a lolcat for good measure.

dienasty on "Who here hates fries?"

dienasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:22:08 +0000

@Nickki: I don't mind number 3, and MY GOODNESS NUMBER 1 IS MAKING ME TAKE MY WORDS BACK:

I don't agree with McD's no.2 spot, though. It's exactly that which I don't like ... it's too light. Too weightless, like it's made of air and bad oil, and it makes me feel like I'll get a sore throat everytime I eat 'em.

OOH, and AUSTRALIAN CHILLI FRIES. I HATE YOU, NICKKI. HOW YOU FIND THESE KIND OF THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND ...

dienasty on "Is Sarawak really that different?"

dienasty — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:17:21 +0000

@Jyl: why do you think our English is better? Don't you find that a little bit curious? I mean, considering the fact that we're from the most undeveloped state in the country?

and yes the west malaysians are very racist. it's horrid. over here people are horrible with other people. it's like a racial tension is about to break out at anytime. at least when we kuchingites were in school, we all hung out with each other disregarding race. it's not that way here.

My God, that's ... sad, if it's true. =( I have no experience with this, though I do read extremely strange racist remarks in the newspapers from time to time. But really ... I think I just don't get the atmosphere that can lead to such remarks. At least, not yet. (Oh and race absolutely doesn't matter in Singapore - they don't care if you're ang moh or indian or chinese ... on campus, at least. So no comparison here - all these people care about are grades. Or money.)

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