a few notes..

friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of dissapointed love - jane austen

to a very dear friend: i could not tell what’s best for you to do, or explain why everything happens the way they happened..may be the best suggestion i could come out with is to be grateful with whatever you have, even if they’re bad, at least you can learn from those bad things, of what is nicer in every means..i’m nobody to say this to you but i say this as a reminder to myself too, as every human being deserves to be respected and accepted the way they are, not as who you want them to be..it’s human nature to be forgetful, so take this as a very humble reminder..

to c-11: it’s been 3 yrs now since we last gathered for buka puasa..it’s not that bad either undergoing Ramadhan and buka puasa over here, it’s just a bit different without you guys around..i miss the “unintentional silence” when it’s time for buka and everyone concentrates on their food..it’s like “ah nobody exists when i’m breaking the fast”..and it lasts only for a few seconds..then we’d continue the talking and evil laughs again..and now since some of you have got good jobs, you guys can afford breaking the fast at some good restaurants and yes, i envy you guys..i’ll be there next year so, i’ll ask for compensation and no rejection will be accepted..owh, what if i’m still here for honours..?gee~the next next year then..

to this person who’s been crossing my mind like so oftenly lately: i have butterflies on my tum tum..i like you..i guess..

of my country..

Image via Wikipedia

it’s August and as a Malaysian, this is the month where we celebrate our independence..this year, it’ll be the 53rd anniversary of independence as of the 31st of august..in 53 years, humans could have produced the second generation of their breed, and as for the first generations, they should have lived long enough to be wise in every actions..they have seen more things than the second generation could have seen, they have experienced more things in their lives and more importantly, they should have learned more..

let’s look at what Malaysia have achieved so far..it’s true, we have moved from an agricultural and mining based country to getting more industrialisations going on..it’s true too, there’s a significant decrease in poverty rate per household and  impressive rates of developments in education, health, infrastructure, communication, transport, industry and corporate sectors..

here’s a question, how successful are these developments..?

and..

1) is education successful enough in giving the graduates suitable employment..?

2) what about providing good service in government hospitals..?

3) i think i’ve been to a village in sarawak, where there’s no electricity supply in it..not good uh..?

4) don’t you think the telco companies have been charging us a tremendous amount of unnecessary charges for their so-so service..?and yes, we pay because we don’t have much choice..and why there’s not much choice at the first place..?i’m not the right person to answer this..sorry..

5) i have to agree Malaysia has one of the best highways in the world and it’s improving its public transportation systems but here’s a question..are these facilities safe and clean..?come on Malaysians, we are the users, so it’s up to us to make it safe..and CLEAN..we’re a Muslim country for God’s sake..cleanliness is part of our faith, remember..?

6) and with the emerging industrialisations, why is it still not enough to help develop our economic growth..?where has all the money gone to..?ah~familiar with the word corruption..?we are not Greeks are we..so why we do that..?and again, we’re a Muslim country aren’t we..?

don’t get me wrong..i’m not pinpointing whose faults are those and who should be blamed..i intend to highlight what we could have done right..it’s a shared responsibilities so this is me carrying my duty, in opening some closed eyes..let’s make 53 isn’t just numbers..

i love my country and i’m proud of it..happy independence Malaysia..

ah, it’s a good free time from school..

it’s mid semester break + ramadhan, so i’ll just use this time of the year to not have any trip outside wellington..2 weeks will fly fast before i know it so i’ll just make sure, i know how it flies.. 🙂

i’ll have a few sessions of study group, spend some time for some presentation works, some more time to finish several assignments and attend fencing training..so, when Eid comes, i’ll have no reasons not to enjoy myself..wish everything turns out well, as i’ve planned..hopefully..

happy holiday peeps 🙂

of a visualisation of an art..

for every colour there’s a resemblance..

for every catch there’s a resemblance..

for every move there’s an effort..

for every word there’s an appreciation..

parachute

random thought before sleeping..

seriously, i really feel like flying and be on the road again..no matter how much i hate air travel, the satisfaction of being in a different place, seeing different people of different skin colour and speak different language(s) is indescribable..i want to be in morocco tonight, so dream, fly me over there.. 🙂

happy ramadhan..

zzzzz..

of one’s first language..

i’m on my way finishing my sociolinguistics and yeah, that’s when the urge to write is at its explosive level..i have several situations to share, and hopefully get you to thinking..

-situation 1-

abang : i know malay language..in fact, i speak to you in malay..ask me any malay words, see if i don’t know its meaning..

mama : i know your vocabulary is good, thanks to mama and papa..because we are the only people around you speaking malay..but i know you couldn’t spell words correctly..let alone knowing the meaning of malay proverbs..ok, what about penjodoh bilangan..do you know what is the penjodoh bilangan for pisang..?

abang : which one is penjodoh bilangan..?give me some clue..i know i knew it..

-situation 2-

me : are you a muslim..?*this person attended an islamic function*

she : no i’m not..i come over because i’m interested in all these religious thingy..i’m doing several religious studies courses..

me : ah~alright..are you a kiwi..?

she : technically yeah, because i was born here..but my parents are both from fiji..we’re fijian indian..

me : owh! so you speak gujarati..! owh do you..?or is it hindi..?

she : haha..gujarati..my parents speak gujarati..but no, i don’t speak gujarati..i hate it even more!

me : owh..ok..

-situation 3-

me : do you understand how vernacular language differs from national language..?

he : em..em..

me : em, so you’re chinese, right..

he : yep..

me : where are you from..?

he : owh, i was born here..but my parents are from hongkong..

me : cool..so your parents speak cantonese, right..?

he : yep..but they actually speak both..english and cantonese..

me : ok, say cantonese..when your parents speak with their friends from the same community and use cantonese as a medium, they are using vernacular language..because in NZ, cantonese is not the national language..but among your parents and their friends, cantonese is not vernacular because it’s the standard language among them..

he : yep2..but they use english too..not so cantonese though..

me : i was just trying to draw an example..do you speak cantonese..?

he : not really..but i can understand though..because i use english..

-end of situations-

those are the situations where the second generations of immigrants seem to lose their grasp of the mother tongue..i can say, in all three cases, their mother tongue could’ve been english; no longer malay, gujarati or cantonese..and as for situation 2 and 3, it’s even embarrassing for them if people identify them as having a different first language..

i couldn’t put the blame on them because being an immigrant in a foreign land is not as beautiful as some people might imagine it would be..there’s a high tendency of being discriminated if you don’t look like the majority..and there’s a tension of wanting to able to fit in the society..since people could not change their skin colour, they change their language..and with time, they eventually lose their first language..the hypothesis being then, with language lost, a lot MORE of the cultural aspects associated with that particular first language will lose too..

i’ve been learning a lot about various cultures and i’ve seen examples of identity conflicts resulted from negligence of first language..language death is not a new issue and it’s not impossible to happen to our own language..try to embrace and be proud of our language and culture..not that one cannot learn some other languages, just don’t acquire another language for the price of the first language..

i’m making a list..

i’ve just finished watching 2 movies in a row with my housemate..just to clear up this messy mind a bit..what’s been bothering me..?

1) suddenly i was informed that i have 5 meetings to attend to, and i need to arrange them so they can fit into my busy schedule..

2) i have accidentally picked up a presentation date on a very busy week..and, with not much time left, i have to change the topic, and start researching for it, from square uno..

3) as for another presentation, i didn’t realise the reading was the longest..and the most complicated..thank you william labov..

4) as for the nearest submission, there’s no more book available in the library that i can use for that specific assignment..so, any idea how could i finish that assignment..?

i am so officially married to linguistics..sorry guys..

ya ya i know..

sebab tgh rindu sekolah gila2..maka, g blog skolah, copy lagu sekolah letak kt blog sendiri..schoolmate ku sekelian, sila jangan buat2 lupa lagu sekolah..nyanyi2..

owh, ade video perhimpunan yg nyanyi lagu sekolah *semangat ok carik* lagu starts on 2:30..tu super senior nyanyi..derg f.5 ms ktorg f.1..and they’re in f.4 when this video was made..*and ms tu en. md. zin pengetua*

here goes;

Sekolah Muzaffar Syah Melaka

Ikhlas mendidik putera dan puteri

Hasrat mulia tersemat di jiwa

Bersikap membina amal sentiasa

Majulah Muzaffar Syah Melaka

Bonda kandung yang kami kasihi

Inilah janji kami padukan

Nama harummu tetap dijaga

Semoga yang maha kuasa

Memberikan restu setiap masa

Kita pelajar bertatasusila

Amanah rakyat dijunjung bersama

Mencari ilmu dasar utama

Untuk pertiwi kita berjasa

tbe2 teringat, lepas dh naik upperform, bdk2 lelaki started to play for the band during assembly..masa tu dzula akan main keyboard..ok, tu je aku ingt..montel macam main gitar..tp knp aku terbayang dia main keyboard jgak..?sape je main drum..?adekah blues..?paan..?aje..?owh aku tak ingt..

pastu ms f.1 and f.2, bdk2 lelaki kena susun kerusi utk senior..on monday night..so on that tuesday morning, the chairs are ready to be used during assembly..pastu bila dh naik f.3 bdk2 lelaki dh tak pyh susun2 kerusi dah..konon2 dah ada adik2 untuk buat keja..sket pn tak gentleman..pembuli ok namanya tu..ok2..over dh..hu~the good old days~

nak puasa kt sekolah~!!!

i just watched a video made by some juniors from high school and seriously, it brings back all the memories i’ve had into mind..i know high school was so history now but no, i couldn’t stop being emotional about it..high school was my second home after home and 5 years was long enough to create concrete attachment between me and school, me and friends, me and teachers and me and all the memories..

the video reminds me a lot about my time during that exact time of the year – celebrating and undergoing ramadhan with teachers and friends, well, mostly friends..i couldn’t really recall if we undergo ramadhan when we were in f.3..but I knew exactly that we went through ramadhan together when we were in f.4 and f.5..i remembered sitting for SPM while we were fasting but around that time, the juniors have already started their final semester holiday..so it was quite quiet and not so much fun to tell about..i’d like to tell about the ramadhan when we were in f.4 (2003)..

buka puasa selalu dalam pukul 7-7:30 ptg kat malaysia tu..so dalam pukul 6.30 ptg ramai yg dah beratur kat dewan makan ambil makanan masing2..selalu banyak je makanan kt dewan makan tu tapi selalunya, lepas dh amek makanan kt dewan makan, beli pulak telur goreng dkat kantin k.bedah..tak pun beli air..padahal kat dewan makan tu ada je air, tapi nk jugak membazir beli air kt k.bedah tu..selalu derg (begum chi2 bella LEA) *to name a few* g kantin sbb selalu adik2 contact derg akan lepak depan bilik gamelan, area dewan or surau al-abrar *aku ingt nama surau!* so derg sbnrny nk cuci2 mata..kalo nasib baik bdk2 badri xde derg dpt la borak kjap dgn adik2 derg..aku tak terlibat ok aktiviti korg..aku mmg nk beli air horlicks kegemaran je..rekod aku bersih k..xde ny adik2 contact..korg je gatal..haha..

selalu bulan puasa akan ada turn pergi bazaar ramadhan kat area blkg umah bent..owh ok aku dah lupa apa nama taman rumah bent tu..begum, apa nama tempat bazaar tu..?damn it..yang penting bazaar tu kat kawasan sempit dan selalu jam sbb dekat dgn Melaka central and tesco..kenapa la sekolah aku agak bijak pilih bazaar yang tu..?ok tak kisah..selalu kalo bukan turn batch sendiri, akan kirim kat junior J ktorg tak mkn masa buka, ktorg save utk makan malam2..masa org smyg terawikh ke..ok..kantoi eskep terawikh kt situ..*sekali sekala je ok*

selalu lepas buka ktorg akan smyg magrib kt asrama, pastu berkumpul kt basketball court utk smyg isyak and terawih..kalo semayang terawih ktorg akan dok either 2^nd row from front *sbb front row bdk2 badri and alpha dh penuhkan – (tp 2^nd row pn view still ok..ehem)..masa tu, adelah a few guys batch sendiri yg menjadi objek perhatian..masa tu derg la yg dirasakan memenuhi semua ciri2 lelaki yg bleh dibuat laki..apekah..?masa tu, antara yg menjadi objek perhatian ktorg adlah amir, anas, opie, amatmu, apaino, ROHAN dan tak lupa jugak keteng, daus, shakar..haha..sorry weh, korg menjadi topic perbualan ktorg tp ok ape..c-11 tengok korg k..*apa signifikan nya..?*or row plg blkg, senang nk baring2 di luar medan penglihatan cikgu mail..

check these out (there are two, one photo each link)..

tp ktorg penah je eskep smyg terawih *masa tu dh hujung2 ramadhan, dh xsabar nk raya, and ms tu final exam dh abes kot..org lain dok beribadah di bulan yg mulia, ktorg bleh main2 kad kt dorm C..em, ade lagi, senior buat sesi bermaafan pn ktorg x g..agak kurang ajar la jgak..owh well, budak2 lagi masa tu..tp ktorg make up blk dgn junior ktorg..ktorg agak baik la jgak dgn junior setahun ktorg..sbb most of us bdk2 band..ktorg byk spend masa sme2, so, sbb tu la kot bleh baik..ok rindu band plak skrg~!!!

Owh, sungguh rasa nk g panjat bukit muzaffar tu..datang masa bulan puasa..beratur pakai baju kurung kt dewan makan..buka puasa sama2..kagum dengar amatmu azan utk buka..smyg terwih kt court..g kelas tgk berapa org je dtg prep..kantoikn bdk2 yg x g prep kt asrama..wuaaa~!!! mahu puasa kt msia..sobsob..i miss my school years..