Monday, November 12, 2007

The Recent Rally

I am very sure many Malaysians are now aware of last Saturday's rally led by the Oppositions party to demand for fairer elections. I have seen the videos, RTM or Al-Jazeera and also got some infos from some insiders. I am sorry that I couldn't join the Gelombang Kuning simply because...

... it's an illegal rally.

When you don't get a park permit to put your car in a council area I would see it as a common thing to do in my younger days but after I was issued 11 summonses for illegally parking everytime I went to Takaful Ikhlas for an internship programme in 2005, I now consider obliging the rules is one way of getting people's respect and of course will prevent you from getting into trouble.

Personally, if I were the PM (I wish lah kan), I will let the people express their feelings through peaceful rally as we had last Saturday. In fact, I will see it myself into the details on what demands they are asking for. However, the question is, is the rally really necessary?

I am more interested on the consequences for each incident. Will it change anything after the rally? Was it for a greater good? Is it good for the media? How would the world perceive us?

Will the US now try to invade Malaysia for not thoroughly practising democracy?

Oh-oh. Lets not think like those imaginative dillusioned bloggers trying to hijack the Malaysians youths' minds with tales from hell. Of course it's stupid to think that way... or was it? Come to think of it they might though. Are they not the so called Sherriff of the World?

What I see now is how some foreign investors packing their bags and leaving the country as they don't feel they are in the same wavelength with the government as peceived by the rally and the video blogs. Hamish from Al-Jazeera even said that he was sprayed with ACID and I started to imagine, 'did it feel like how the bad guy from the movie Robocop got washed up completely by a drum of acid?'.

Oh my I can't blame the reporter I know he was just doing his job exagerrating things at the same time. I mean, acid it's not the word to use when describing such things! It's merely mild acid that only irritate your eyes for a few seconds. It's not like pH 2.3 acid that can penetrate your skin into your black heart! Of course the common public will be terrified by that statement. What more, the prejudical minds of some westerners thinking we muslim leaders actually torture our own kind, remember Chemical Ali?

Well that's the problem with the media. They blow things out of proportion to sell.

Ok-ok enough chit chat on the outworlds lets concentrate on the rally and its domestic impacts. Having look at the memorandum, I think the demands are quite clear and I am happy for it. I don't see any problem with the recommendations they made but only for one thing.

3. Hapuskan undi pos. (Abolish postal voting)

Personally, I want to vote as well. I have only recently registered to vote dammit! (Sorry I'm still angry with the way trojan viruses attacking my PC). It went the same way to 'Abolish ISA' or 'Abolish NEP'. These idealists didn't even see the impacts before coming out with those slogans!

I think I have touched on abolishing ISA and NEP being damn impractical at the moment. So dont let me start on it again because it will go on and on and on. But to be fair there are many loopholes in postal voting but we have our rights too! There are like so many Malaysians outside the country who are hoping for a change/continuity in the government but, 'abolishing postal voting' will not make you popular. What you can suggest is actually insisting on having the country of current residence to accomodate for voting facility or something. I think that would be a wiser demand to show how intelectual you really are. I know it's a hassle yada-yada but it's simply a recommendation that you can make not only winning the votes but even the government as well! You might get lucky with the way you ask for things, being persuasive and all.

Like it's gonna change anything!

Remember Hartal? Well I don't. How can I know about Hartal? I was not told about in my entire life! I only got to know about that WORD yesterday! Did it change anything? Their leaders in fact were jailed by the British invaders in 1948.

Were their demands approved?

Like I said, I am more interested in the end result. What will be the end result?

You tell me.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Enjoying football in London

Recently I've been quite busy playing rather than studying and it sorta like reminding me of the old days in KMYS which can be a good or a bad thing. I remember leading the Sapphire team improvise our position in football while enjoying it at the same time and I was told of how the Blue Team Sapphire conquered all after we left.

I have to admit I am always looking forward to play football rather than going to school. This is obviously a bad thing. However, you know how I can't resist football it's like a second wife to me. With Arsenal playing well at the moment, I'm sure it will further fuel up the desire to improve my game week in and week out.

"Macam star je Jeghui"

I think I remember a close friend telling me of that quote and I still do not know who said that.

As if he was that powerful.

I never take football so damn seriously to be honest and this might be a contradicting statement with what I said earlier. But generally it is an understatement really. First off I never lose my marbles on the pitch despite provocations from the opponents and I tend to laugh off whenever it happens. I have to keep reminding my fellow teammates not to lose control of their emotions in the coming tournaments especially in Notts Games where it could turn very ugly.

Come on! This is not World Cup. It's a shame when I heard how fightings occurred in major Msian events over some bad calls by the referee. I bet everyone has got the minerals to flex some muscles but come on. This is not World Cup!

Kalo Zidane headbutt takpa gak, dia memang superstar!

I will try to bring the same method I used before when leading the team this time. I think we have such a wonderful character in the team where everyone is trying to improve their game each time in our weekly football (sometimes twice a week). We admit our mistakes and try to bring our game to the next level every next game, which is very-very important. Although we lost the vocal and reliable former NS player Ismas, I think the morale in the squad is superb.

I will try to give each player minutes to play as I did last time. Like I said, I prefer enjoying playing football and getting the results we wanted rather than keeping players unhappy and provoke disharmony with that sort of leadership. As for now, everyone will play.

Come on this is not World Cup!

Of course we are all prepared for some emotional moments that might occur on the pitch and the only way to win that feud is to keep your heads down and get on with it. No point arguing with emo people you see. I will start laughing if someone from the opposite side started shouting and abusing verbally. Meanwhile, I will talk to the refferee each time there was a bad tackle or a poor decision and hopefully he got the minerals to take control of the game. That's what referees for; control the game.

However, I will be very disappointed if it came from our side which I think will have a probability of 1 to a miliion. In fact I will be responsible for it but I have faith in my team's attitude.

On the other hand, the undergrads are playing well too and their first years really, really put good depth in their squad. It's worth mentioning of Hsien Loong's talent and leadership on and off the pitch. We have been playing quite regularly against each other recently and I have to say it's been a pleasure.

For the Notts Games, we already registered two teams for City University. Last year, I missed out on the Games through squad unavailability (apparently my KMYS friends tend to avoid Notts Games since the 2005 incident) but I really think we look better this year. But then again I am more particular about the teams' character rather than winning the trophy. I also find myself on an unfamiliar but effective role in central midfield but this is 5-aside football. Running up and down the middle dictating play is somewhat crucial.

"Kalau menang, menanglah"

At the moment it's not really about Notts Games or Cardiff Games. It's about playing regularly so that we feel good to .... study..... err.. hopefully that's true in all cases!

Probable line-up (from); Mushana (GK/DF), Saiful Azril (DR/SW), Nik Harris (DL/WB/FW), Nurman (DL), Mohd Azrul (MC/SC), Afif Ter (SC), Arwin Idham (FRL)