Avenged Awesome Sevenfold

This has been a long time coming, but I finally did this concert review. 

So i missed the L'arc En Ciel concert on 28 April. I mean, I was really gearing up for that. Listening to the old stuff, buying the new stuff, downloading the other stuff, looking up the lyrics, though I have absolutely no idea what they were singing (without translation of course). I mean really, I wanted to go for that. But then Bersih 3.0 came and went. 

My only saving grace was the Avenged Sevenfold concert on 29 April. I was half hearted into it. Daren gave me an entire mp3 CD worth of Avenged Sevenfold songs. I listened to some, but I was listening more to L'arc En Ciel songs just so that I'm familiar with them. 

OK. So I listened to some songs from the A7X CD and there were some that I really liked. Afterlife, Beast and the Harlot, Nightmare, Buried Alive. And then Colin introduced me to the really epic musical sounding piece titled A little Piece of Heaven. Sounded corny but when the metal bits kicked in, it was hardrockin'....and funny at the same time. But that was about it. Nothing more than that. 

So i went to the concert without knowing the names of the band members. OK, to be honest, I heard of Zacky Vengeance and M Shadows. But that was about it. And the ex-drummer was called the Rev and it was a pity he passed on. The new drummer is this dude from a band of Christians called Confide. Really awesome stuff, that Confide. Daren and Colin told me that his name was quite hard to pronounce. 

So, we queued up in Sunway Lagoon. We waited and waited and waited. And finally we were in! a good 45 minutes later, but this is standard la. Queued even longer for Muse! :)

We bought the RM98 tickets, which is the cheapest and effectively, we were at the far end from the stage. Zone B and Zone C (where we were at) was only separated by a metal barrier. Those that you see in your school canteen, ok, at least my school canteen, just to make sure the students  formed a uniformed line when buying food. That kinda metal barrier. 

Love Me Butch opened and the energy was intense. I thought their set was pretty good and I was headbanging to Generation SOS when it was played. Unfortunately, the crowd behind was not so responsive. I figured that they didnt know who Love Me Butch was. Nu metal or post metal they are deemed. But whatever their called, they knew how to rock! :)
Once they were done, then it was back to the waiting game and this time for the main event. 

Whilst waiting, I turned to look at where we were after 30 mins and suddenly Colin was in the front! Daren and I were quite puzzled cause 3 young punks were suddenly standing in front of us. But it was ok, they were cool.

And suddenly a bunch of kids were standing behind me. They probably are too young to even drive. But one of them, the skinny douchebag, was ultra irritating to say the least. He kept shouting the stupidest things like "M Shadows! I love you. I wanna suck your.................(let your imagination run wild here)..!" 

"I wanna have your babies!". HIs friends thought it was funny. And then when they played Metallica songs, he sang the Kirk Hammet's guitar solo bits, annoyingly! He started playing air drums and said to his friends, "hey man...uh uh.....look I'm a one man band...uh uh....heh heh  heh..you think it's easy being a one man band? Uh Uh heh Heh..!" DUDE IF IT AINT EASY THEN SHUT THE HECK UP!! I told him to shut it when he started encroaching my space and nudged me a bit doing his stupid air drum impersonation. 

Now, I've been to many concerts, probably more than this punk right here and I know human proximity is pretty high. That's fine. What's not fine is stupid douchebag punks who think they are funny but are not. 

Even his friends eventually got tired of his antics and just asked him if he still has any energy left for A7X. That didn't stop him though. In my head, I would have loved to elbow him when the band starts playing. You know jumping in the euphoria and then Ooopps..."sorry that's your head right?" :D. Of course common sense held me back. 

And then the band started playing. Nightmare was the song If I was not mistaken! And what an intro it was! The skinny douchebag screamed and into my ear no less! I actually felt the pain! Dumb kid! By then everyone was jumping like crazy and the mosh had begun! We were too busy jumping and headbanging when suddenly the barriers collapsed and we all suddenly rushed into Zone B, which is the RM198 area and we were so much closer to the band!

(My utmost sympathy goes to those who bought the RM198 ticks who now had to share the space with us, the cheapskates :)too bad..) 

The songs then kept coming. Critical Acclaim was next, followed by Welcome to the Family. I didn't know the song titles so I had to keep asking Daren. Earlier he fell behind because he helped a guy to get on his feet and from being trampled by the crowd after the barriers collapsed. Such heroism :) 

Other songs were played. Things got emotional when they played So Far Away. A song for their fallen comrade. It was emotional as the crowd lighted their lighters and started swaying their hands. The continued with assault after assault of metal goodness. And when they played the Beast and the Harlot, the crowd was in a frenzy. The video below was taken by my Iphone.

It took magical powers to even hold the phone when the moshing began. And then they played the twisted musical of a love song, A Little Piece of Heaven. The crowd was alive. And the chorus was resounding, 

It was also a good thing that M Shadows was really putting effort in conversing with the crowd. It was nice of him to try to chat the crowd up, like asking if we have been to the United States. And if So, they would take us to Bat Country and the riffs started for that one :).

They did 3 encore songs; Fiction, God hates Us and Unholy Confessions.I know the crowd desired further.

I personally left the concert wanting more. Though I wished I participated in the mosh pit but I know I'm not getting any younger. And besides, I had a trip to Korea to catch so, ending up with further torn ligaments (I have a torn ACL as we speak) was the last thing in my mind. The energies of youth. How I miss thee.

From a non-believer, I probably left the concert a disciple :) Why? Because I liked their music :- heavy chugging but melodic riffs. Metalcore plus harmonies and double guitar solos are always my thing. So, I missed L'arc En Ciel but this makes up for it big time.

And so, I leave thee with pictures from the A7X Malaysian concert.

Our night was truly Avenged......Sevenfold :)

Bersih 3.0 - New Experiences, New faces, Same Fight, Same outcome - The fight for the country continues

 Bersih  - 10 November 2007 - 10 years after Reformasi, street rallies were still taboo. Street rallies were still deemed illegal, but we went anyway. The objective was to march to the Palace and to deliver the memorandum to the Agong for cleaner elections. Reports back then said around 30,000 - 50,000 people. Mission accomplished. This is the link to my experiences after Bersih and what happened thereafter, back in 2008. First account of teargas and water cannons. Something new.

Bersih 2.0 - 11 July 2011 - ILLEGAL! The PM, Home Minister and practically the govt had a pre-emptive strike to stop Bersih 2.0 from happening. Bersih 2.0 was ILLEGAL! Wearing yellow was a crime (ridiculously true)!! The city was at a lockdown. Stadium Merdeka (the proposed venue) was closed and barred and heavily guarded by the police and the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU). But still we pressured on. Though no memorandum managed to reach the hands of the Agong this time, the presence of the people sent tremors across the country and internationally. Police violence against protestors made international news and people get to see the other side of things. I personally met new faces as well as old ones, and the motley crew of us once again experienced teargas and water cannons. Only this time, the effects were more painfully potent. 

But it became a wake up call for many Malaysians. 20,000 rallied that day and it was a beautiful event on all accounts. My accounts on that event are here. 

Bersih 3.0 - 28 April 2012

When Bersih 2.0 announced that the rally would be held on April 28, my heart sank. It sank because I had bought concert tickets for a really awesome band called L'arc En Ciel. Now, who are they you would ask me? They are a Japanese band who are really awesome. The video to their latest single is posted below :- 

I thought I would go for the concert this time instead. I spoke to the usual fellow rally goers, Colin and Desmond. And Colin said it right, that if I do go for the concert, I would be missing out in another piece of history taking place in Malaysia. And he said that I wouldn't go for the concert in the end. 

Indeed he was right. I didn't go for the concert cause I know I would be much too bothered about how my friends are doing and I can only read tweets from afar and only wonder that much on the state of things on 28 April 2012. Tried selling my tickets though and was desperate enough to post in FFK.Me.com. Well, tickets for L'arc En Ciel are not exactly Russell Peters material and in the end, my mate Aaron (another L'arc fan) took his wife instead of me to the concert. If I can't sell it, best to bless others right? 

Prelude

The momentum leading up to the rally was rather quiet this time round. The euphoria surrounding the rally wasn't as great as Bersih 2.0. I suppose the police knew that any more negativity on their part, since the last crackdown would heavily damage the ruling coalition's hopes of retaining the heart of the people it purports to serve. However, that is not to say that there is no news on this matter. In fact, the Occupy Dataran Movement served as a prelude to what was to happen on 28 April. Applications were made to DBKL and the Police for the rally to be held at Dataran Merdeka but it was rejected (no surprises eh? yeah, I had none too). 

The Home Minister instead, offered Stadium Merdeka and would insist that DBKL allows for it.

Less than a week before the actual day itself. Bersih 3.0 insisted on going ahead with the Sitting protest in Dataran Merdeka. 

By 26 April 2012, the entire Dataran Merdeka was cordoned off. Not only with barricades, there were razor wires actually used instead of barbed wires. Such is the fear of DBKL to allow people to use it. The Police later said they would allow the rally / assembly provided no one goes into Dataran Merdeka or some other roads as stated in the Court Order obtained by the Police. However, despite all this, the numbers in our group swelled and by the end of Friday night, our group numbers at or around 60 odd or so. Old faces and new ones. Rally veterans and first timers. It was exciting to say the least.


We read of news that the police would use a new weapon, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) as a means of crowd control this time round. Advice to bring headphones or earpolugs were then circulated.


The Morning

The few of us, consisting of my sister (miracle of miracles), Wil Liam, Alvin Cheah and Kien Mun took the LRT to the city at around 930 am. We were met by hordes of yellow shirt wearers. The atmosphere was pretty different from that of Bersih 2.0 where many had to hide their tees in their bags for fear of being arrested (orders were given out for the arrests of anyone who wears yellow - a crime only in Malaysia and in June 2011). Our spirits were uplifted. 

When we reached Pasar Seni, we rallied at the first point which is Lai Foong Coffeeshop and this time, the coffeeshop was bustling, once again unlike Bersih 2.0. We met familiar faces, but at the same time new ones.


Some of us then headed to Petaling Street to meet up with another group, my sister's church group, and we had breakfast there instead. Believe me, chicken rice was the first to go, so I ordered some rice with sotong sambal. Not good. :) 


We then rallied back to the Central Market car park, the original rally point and all the satellite groups met up to form the original group which was co-ordinated and facilitated by Colin Pal.There was a crowd gathering and more and more people gathered. 


Ambiga and perhaps, some members were giving speeches on stage. We were quite a distance away however. 


The atmosphere was carnival-like and we entertained ourselves while we wait for further directions to move towards Dataran Merdeka. People from all walks of life greeted each other and new friends were made by many I'm sure. 

 

 
The Protestors and their afternoon prayers. I truly admire their discipline in prayer :)

The March


At about 130pm, orders were finally given to the crowd to start walking from Central Market. By then, on an estimate, it could have been about 3000 here? My estimate is quite horrible I must admit. 




 
 

We took the Kota Raya route which took us to Leboh Pasar Besar. We continued to walk towards the Leboh Ampang. I had the opportunity to meet Haris Ibrahim and as usual, he always came across as a really humble chap. Haris Ibrahim, the person who coined up the Pakatan Rakyat moniker and his life is a testimony of the good fight. A true Malaysian hero! 

 DUDUK BANTAH !!

We arrived at Leboh Ampang finally and that’s where we met the PR convoy of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang. Ambiga was already some platform on top of a truck and speeches were given. We couldn’t hear much from behind and we proceeded to the front. At some point, orders were given for the crowd to sit and that’s where we DUDUK BANTAH (Sit In Protest). 

We arrived at Leboh Ampang finally and that’s where we met the PR convoy of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang. Ambiga was already some platform on top of a truck and speeches were given. We couldn’t hear much from behind and we proceeded to the front. At some point, orders were given for the crowd to sit and that’s where we DUDUK BANTAH.

 

Calm Before the Storm

Around 15 minutes into the DUDUK BANTAH we were asked to later disperse. That was the end of it. Or was it? The crowd was curious, some of us were asked to push back. Then again there were some who said to march on into Dataran Merdeka. Here is where I got a suspicious. We rallied on however. As we passed the KL Bar (Wisma Kraftangan), protestors started to chant ‘Buka Buka, Buka Pagar!” (Open up the gates). And here is where I felt that something was about to go down. We had promised not to go into Dataran and that is that. But to open the barricades, that wasn’t part of the plan.

And before I know it, the police started firing teargas. From afar we saw the smoke and I knew, we have walked into a trap of sorts!

I opened up my salt pack and started taking some to avoid the sting of the teargas (experience helps this time round).  We offered salt to people around telling them to put it in their mouth to avoid the sting! We pushed back as more and more tear gas canisters were fired.

“B*stards!”  I thought to myself. I knew all too well that they would use their teargas canisters, cause they’d probably need to achieve a quota of how many canisters were used for the day. The more canisters, the higher their brownie points would be recorded.

Some protestors, who were falling back started shouting to the others to run for it. Together with some of the more experienced protestors, we shouted in reply “TO WALK! JALAN! JANGAN LARI. BERTENANG!”  (to walk and not to run and to keep calm) knowing full well that anything out of control would cause a stampede and that is the last thing this peaceful rally really needs.

Most of got separated here and some of us decided to rally back to Central Market since the Rally is over. We took the exit on the right off Burger King to head back. More tear gas was fired but by then we were at a safe distance (at least the remaining few). We walked back to Central Market but before that, stopped to get some water. 

I received texts of others who were separated to rally at Central Market and we all agreed and decided to head there. We were then at Central Market waiting for the rest to get back. And this is when we received news that the police had fired tear gas in these few spots, Kota Raya, The Bar Council and Central Market. This was absolutely ridiculous!! We hear that the Bar Council was also attacked with the FRU Water cannons! Believe me, chemical laced water is the last thing you want on your skin. And this is what the rally-goers at the Bar Council had to endure. 

As the group re-assembled once again, teargas was coming our way and this time the effects were more  potent than before. I had to admit, I choked. But thankfully, the tear gas formulae was not as potent as the ones used in Bersih 2.0. But it was still bad nevertheless. When I recovered, I joined Colin and the others to offer salt to some of the others.  This is when we see police personnel starting to assemble and we decided to leave for good. Those who were separated were already on their way to KL Sentral and we decided to rally at that point since the Pasar Seni, Masjid Jamek and Dang Wangi LRT Stations were now off bounds (another ridiculous decision made by the powers that be for no good reason).

 

We reached KL Sentral and had our really late lunch at Burger King. And this is where we found out that some protestors were knocked over by a police car in the Sogo area. Not only that, the car was subsequently overturned by angry protestors. At that point, we felt really sad for we know that this would be the talking point and the negative aspects that Bersih has been trying to steer clear off, would now be pinpointed based on this incident. 

Colin told us that Ambiga and Co would be doing a press conference at KFC in KL Sentral. We headed over to KFC once we are done only to find out that the press conference was already over.

However, we managed to have a word with Wong Chin Huat, member of the steering committee. In light of all the negativity that had happened, he requested that we help mobilize a team to clean up the streets which have been left littered. The streets were Masjid Jamek, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Raja Laut.

By now, some of us were really tired. We informed those who were realluy tired to go home first while the rest who still had the energy, to do something, start mobilizing themselves and gather people for the cleaning up exercise. We started tweeting and see if there was response. Eddy, Sean I and some of the rest who had left earlier decided to come back.  However,  we told the rest that we would go to Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman since there was news of unrest in Masjid Jamek. With the help of a very nice Burger King manager, we got ourselves black plastic bags.

Rubbish Collecting

By the time we got there, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman was empty. But the police formed barricades, and they were looking really serious. We didn’t bother and we continued our cleaning up exercise. We met another chap, Rahul who decided to help us with the exercise. Now this is 1Malaysian spirit. J

Anyway , I got nearer to where the police barricade was to pick up some rubbish there. It was there that one of them confronted me and asked me if I was paid for doing this. I said I wasn’t paid and that this was a voluntary exercise in good faith. A plain clothed police, Inspector, I reckon then told me “Get your friends, your family and stay out of here. If you don’t want any trouble, get out now. A police has just died!”.  I didn’t exactly believe him but he has spoken. I retreated and told the rest of this. We decided to then head to Raja Laut and continued to pick up the rubbish and see what the conditions were like over there. We perhaps heard sounds of police approaching and we got scared. The idea of being arrested now is even more so real since, now its just the ragtag group of less than 10 of us VS the PDRM. We then decided to head home, but not before throwing the bags of rubbish that we had. At least for that moment, we made the world a cleaner place.We were dead tired and we called it a day.

 Post mortem of Bersih 3.0

 It would seem that the tables have turned this time round for Bersih 3.0.

Protestors’ acts of violence would now be the main drawback of the otherwise peaceful rally by protestors (notwithstanding the acts of the police).  Especially the turning over of the police car aka the SOGO incident.  Was this action warranted?  After viewing some of the videos, I could reconcile the fact that they overturned the car because there was genuine suspicion that someone could have been trapped under the car since the car was seen ramming through a protestor before hitting the wall.

Was the police man at fault in driving at such a pace?

No. If one was to observe, he was probably in shock from the attacks carried out by some of the protestors and he could have sped for fear of further endangerment to his life. It was truly tragic then that someone was hurt in the process, an innocent bystander no less. I was informed later that the police car was attacked at traffic light junction. Now, violence by protestors cannot be condoned. What is shocking to me is that the usual group of protestors are usually very well behaved and if you can see from one of the youtube videos posted here, some of them tried to protect the policeman from being harmed by other angry protestors. Surely, there are people who still act responsibly and I’m truly proud of them.

However, there will be other questions which perhaps would be left unanswered.

Was the barricades breached by the protestors or on some accounts, was the barricades removed as part of an enticement and a trap for protestors to enter Dataran, and to give the police full reason to retaliate? I'm not sure, but from the accounts that I read such as Marcus Van Geyzel's post, it could be well possible that it was a trap. As for me, I believe that this would have been carefully planned out and hence my suspicions as earlier mentioned in this post. 

Other questions would be, was the force inflicted by the police against the protestors warranted? The excessive use of tear gas, the water cannons and finally police brutality against unarmed protestors? I read news and heard reports of reporters being harrassed by the police and having their camera equipment snatched and destroyed. Truthful reporting is dangerous and this is a proven fact with these incidents.

Below is a video of excessive force administered onto one individual.

The force of police retaliation can never been seen as equal or proportionate. As Edmund Bon tweeted, its about proportionality. You don't bring the entire house down to catch a fly. 

And it is sad, that this is prevalent in this country. 

Above is the comparison between what is reported by International media and what our mainstream media wants us to see and believe.

I was also disturbed to read that someone said that "if the someone swallowed their pride and accepted the offer to hold it at Stadium Merdeka instead of going ahead to rally at Dataran Merdeka, this won't happen". I wish it was all that simple but time and time has proven that offers from the government always end up as empty promises. If anything, it is history that has taught us that (Bersih 2 is an example). For me, I would be supportive of sticking to the plan of rallying around Dataran Merdeka and that was not a mistake. 

What I believe would be a mistake is for DBKL and the Police to cordon off Dataran Merdeka without any cogent reason or valid excuse. Clearly what they have done is unconstitutional and goes against the spirit of Article 10 of the Federal Contitution (I believe the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 is also in itself unconstitutional).

 

All said, I believe there will be more questions in search of answers in days to come over all this.

But please, amidst all these negativity and euphoria, remember that the people gathered at their own will to voice for one goal. That is, for clean elections. To stand for what is right and just. And to tell the powers that be, that we will never be scared of bullying tactics. T

And that is what Bersih is for. Let not all these things take the beauty of solidarity as I have seen away from Bersih. The beautiful view that I share with thousands and thousands of others. 

There may be allegations that the rally was hijacked by the Opposition. I believe even if it was true, the people know full well what goes on in this country and has chosen, with or without an opposition card, to gather at Kuala Lumpur to voice out against tyranny.

And we hope that what happens at Bersih 3.0, let us remember that the fight for this country continues. Even if there is a need for Bersih 4.0 for better governance. 

For this peeps who have been fighting alongside, it is such an honour walking with you guys. You know who you are. Of course you do, your pictures are posted here !!! ahahahaha! 

Thanks for reading. 

Bersih 3.0 - Sit. But walk if we have to.

28 April 2012.

Once again, Malaysia will be in the international spotlight. 

As we move closer to the 13th General Elections, we see the government's efforts in trying to gain the upper hand. 

It's nothing new. But this time, we see that these efforts are getting desperate. And in this desperation, desperate measures are employed to make sure circumstances favour the ruling coalition. 

Hence, the 13th General Election promises to be the dirtiest of them all. 

After parliamentary drama and fiasco on Friday, 20 April 2012, amendments were bulldozed pertaining to the Election Offences Act 1954, to give room for further abuse. Parliamentary sitting on that day, as I was informed and understood ended in the wee hours of the morning (around 2 am, though I stand corrected if this is not so).


Below is the press statement made by Dato' Ambiga, co-chair of Bersih 2.0 after the proposed amendments.

The Bill for the proposed amendments can be seen here. 
I urge you readers to read this and if it doesn't make you angry, I don't really know what will. 

Other bills were passed and amongst them is the replacement for the Internal Security Act, the said bill known as the Securities Offences (Special Measures Bill 2012). I haven't truly scrutinize the said Bill but said Bill can be viewed here for anyone interested to read it.  Feedback is that it may not be any much different from the previous ISA. I'm not too sure but it would be worth a read to see if the Govt's promises hold water. 
From the wonderful track record of Government promises, we already know what to expect. 


And to further incense things, peaceful campers who had camped at Dataran Merdeka (the official gathering venue for Bersih 3.0 and also known as Merdeka Square) for the Cccupy Dataran protests for free education and the abolishment of the PTPN, were harassed by thugs in the morning. This happened on 19 April 2012 at close to 3pm. 





Now, I have my reservations on the PTPN issue as well, i.e. that whatever loans taken must be paid no matter what, but if it is for free education, then it is worth looking into and to study the potentialities of it.

But regardless of this, NO ONE is to be subject of any harassment by thugs! Unfortunately my suspicions on who these thugs are only lead to one conclusion. Yes. If you reading this and your suspicions bring a wry smile on your face, your conclusions should be the same as mine. 

Furthermore, when the police were asked to intervene (as they should!!), their lacklustre attitude shows even more so that these attacks could have been planned. Orders from the upper ranks? Perhaps :) 


The latest is that our Home Minister seeks to provide the protestors a venue for the rally. Playing the role of the reasonable minister and perhaps pushing the responsibilities on DBKL for not allowing the peaceful assembly to take place at Dataran Merdeka (by the way, the reasons given for the rejection were simply unfounded and to put it simply, STUPID!)


Anyway, back to Home Minister: Here's what someone has to say. An opinion that DBKL is not as independent as the Home Minister puts them to be. Read it, analyze it and decide for yourself if the Home Minister is truly sincere in his offer. 

Well anyway, forget my rants. If you love your country, then be there to support the cause. We will peacefully assemble and be at our best behaviour as I still have faith in my country. 
So, I'm not sure I will be there and I'm making my arrangements to be there quite badly. But spread the word if you will. And God-willing I'm there, I will see you there. Either in KL or in JB. 

Here's some interesting posters I've downloaded from this website. Very nicely done. So enjoy :) 

Will do another write up of my experiences soon on this :) Hopefully I will be able to. 

5 Ways to Get Through A Jam

Traffic Jams.
If you live in Kuala Lumpur, then you've gotta endure that kinda crap everyday.
I know, cause I do endure that kinda crap everyday when I go to work. Even in my hometown of Ipoh, traffic is starting to get congested.
Very rare back in the good ol' days. But not in KL. KL is the jam capital of Malaysia.

I was even told off by a judge once that traffic jams is never an excuse for being late in court. I agreed wholeheartedly and all I could only do is muster my most sincerest apologies. I had nothing more to say about being late as it is the truth but the truth is just never enough on those occasions.

Why do traffic jams happen? Sometimes a stalled car. Sometimes an accident. Sometimes, people stopping by the side of the road to offer help to these victims. Sometimes people stopping by the side of the road to GET THE CAR PLATE NUMBERS of those victims (my best guess is that they feel lucky and their next destination would be the lottery joint). Sometimes events only God will ever know.

So, what do we do when we are caught in a jam? Do we get angry? Do we complain? Is complaining going to help? Nah. It won't but we complain anyway.

Here are 5 ways to make your jams less intolerable:-

#1
Lots and lots of music in your car

Be it your CD collection or stuffing butt-loads of music into your mp3 player or even listening to HItz FM gotcha calls in morning, it works. Well at least it works for me. If I'm feeling intelligent I would listen to BFM, 89.9, the only business radio station :).
If you had a long hard day and you just wanna let loose, play some heavy metal music. Or equally as loud and bad, play some classical music or opera! Or if you feel that your heart is heavy, play some jazz or some Engelbert Humperdinck. And if you're feeling suicidal, some BSB or N Sync might just do the trick :)

#2
Play your favourite air instrument

If you are a musician, then play your favourite air instrument. Be it the air guitar (this is / or should be by far the most common of air instruments), the air drums, the air cello, the air bass, the air harmonica, or heck, even the air harp if you will.
Well if you are not a musician, it doesn't matter. It's not rocket science and you don't need a musical degree or background to play air guitar, I kid you not. Just follow the music and it will flow naturally.
As for me, I choose the air drums, but I would alternate between bass and guitar too. Oh, the air harp too at times.
If the car next to you thinks you're crazy, so what? I bet he secretly wants to play the air harmonium if only he knew how!

#3
Get a smartphone

If you have smartphone, i.e. Iphone 4S, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab or the rest, then this is the best time to utilize the smartphone. See, now you can check your Facebook or your friends' Facebook statuses even in a jam. Or you can complain and tweet about how bad the jam is on Twitter, and if you're in luck, your friends are probably stuck in the same jam as you are! And if you have Words with Friends, isn't this the best time to reply and think of an awesome 'word' to put on the board? That way you don't have to waste your sleeping time or your work time to play Words! Now, please don't start playing Temple Run in a jam though. Just because its on a smartphone, it doesn't work the same as what I mentioned above. And if your car is stationed next to a police car, please for the love of Pete, throw that smartphone away!

#4
No Smartphone? Then do a car census
Find a specific car that interests you. Count how many same type cars are on the road. What better time to observe and make your own census without getting into an accident right? Yes it is harder to do census cause you need to concentrate on your driving when you are actually driving! By the end of the week, you will know which are the highest and fastest selling cars in the market after this exercise! Please do not do any Perodua or Proton car census as your efforts will then be futile. Too many of those on the road.

#5
See if the driver in the car next to you is a hottie
Whether we like it or not, we often meet people in the pathways of our lives. A jam is no different. So, look to the left or to the right to see if the driver next to you is a hottie, or an 'auntie'. At least you get to 'cuci mata' and this makes your jam more bearable. Who knows, that person may be observing you too. And if your eyes meet and sparks fly, who knows what may come eh? If not, please don't stare too long. It will probably creep him/her out and if he/she whips out her phone and starts dialing, you can bet your ringgit he/ she ain't replying his/her friend on Words with Friends!

Ok. So, there you go.
Some suggestions to make a more pleasant driving experience under terrible jams. But please practice safe driving alright. Especially do not practice #3 when there are cops in the vicinity. I won't be responsible for your driving summons. And #5 if you see Jealous girlfriend or boyfriend sitting next to hottie.

Of course if you have court attendance in the morning, please don't ever be late! Nothing above will make a pleasant experience, this I can promise you!

Or, if anything goes, you can always do a Dave Grohl :)



Ok. Good night now.

KONY 2012

With all the hype surrounding KONY 2012, naturally I decided to have a view of the youtube video which has been circulated like wildfire.

But before watching the video, I wiki-ed this person, this war criminal known as Joseph Kony. And that's where I learned that Joseph Kony or Kony (as he is now being made famous for) is the head of the Lord's Resistance Army or the LRA which operates in Uganda and formed as early as 1987.

This LRA is a militant group which has syncretic Christian ideologies, with an intent to build a theocratic government based on the 10 commandments.

However, their methods are extreme and like every other despot or tyrant, it is all about how much power one holds. The LRA is known for the atrocities committed such as murder, abduction, mutilation, rape of children and women and most notably drafting children into the militia. Children as young as 4 I believe, training them to become killing machines.

Before this, I have only read of Taliban children children soldiers and that itself is a horrible thing. Children shouldn't be carrying guns, and the only guns that they should be carrying are those that emit light and sounds and not pellets and bullets.

The video that I post below, is an endeavour by an American NGO called Invisible Children to bring awareness to the globe at large. Awareness that only tools such as Facebook and Youtube can garner. Usually, people would only be made aware of issues such as these from Time or Newsweek.

But the media landscape is changing and the media is now a very powerful tool, more powerful than ever. And perhaps it is with the hope of this awareness, that we may see a tyrant who is currently number one in the indictment list of the ICC (International Criminal Court), once and for all be brought to justice.

I won't blog much about this, but as stated in an article posted by my friend, Simon, Kony may not be the last, but at least its a start, for lay people like me, to be aware that as we live our lives in blissful slumber, there are others out there who are suffering under tyranny.

And this is how I lend my support, to spread the awareness all around. The video speaks volumes for itself, more than what i could ever write.

Let's Go Green!

I wrote a post about the Lynas rare earth plant not too long ago.
That was almost a year back. It is encouraging that nothing has been set up yet.
The Plant is still not up but our genius of a government via the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) has approved a Temporary Occupational Licence (TOL) for the start up on 30 January 2012. What deems shady is the public consultation process which only took four days to convince the AELB to issue the TOL.
Hey, if we can serve fast food justice in this part of the country, why should this be any different eh?

Anyway, on 26 January 2012, the world got greener. At least particularly in Kuantan. People from all over the country gathered in Kuantan to protest against the setting up of the Lynas plant. The dressing code was green. Green is a nice colour, soothing to the eyes.

As I was following tweets of various people who attended the gathering, it made me wish I was there to personally see it for my own eyes. Even as early as 8 am, people were already tweeting about it and by 12 pm it was all over. The atmosphere that, I read was carnival-like to say the least. People setting up picnics all over the padang, there were cyclists, jugglers...ok, I made the jugglers up, but they could have very well been there :)
I suppose to sum up, the gathering went rather smoothly without hiccups and the police, were co-operative and well behaved :). Nope, no water cannons and tear gas. After all, those are not natural substances and the theme of the gathering is to "go green", so it only made more sense :)
Brownie points for the PDRM yeay!

There were satellite gatherings all around the country as well, like in Penang and in KL. Though I understand that BN managed to send some thugs to well, spice things up a bit. Perhaps for every Yang there is a Yin. Though slogans of "Hidup Lynas" don't really make sense and I'm sure the blokes who chanted this, knows nary of what it actually meant.



Naturally, mainstream news under-reported those incidents, stating that it is a failure and it did not attract its intended crowd of a zillion people. Only 1000 people turned up. Oh, how we Malaysians suck when it comes to calculation, or in this case, simple estimation. Look below and decide for yourself if it was only 1K people.

Around 1K? Really? You think so? :)
Apparently statistic showed a healthy figure of 15,000. Now that's more believable.

It is good to see people power in action. Especially when it involves issues of the nation and the Lynas rare earth plant issue is one.

I had a discussion with a friend, on whether the people who protested, would they have studied the reports or that they had prejudices without cause? I don't know. But it is always easier to judge from a vicarious role, to say that people fear what they don't understand. And it is perhaps this fear, that people don't fully comprehend the effects that the rare earth plant brings or not, which kicks in the natural response of self preservation. "Why take the chance?" - and this would be the natural response of any right minded man (or woman) who lives in Gebeng.

After what has happened in Bukit Merah, if we are already smarter, then perhaps the best way is to make sure that history will not have its chances of repeating itself.

This is a clip from Malaysiakini, an interview with a Bukit Merah survivor - I am deeply saddened (I'm not trying to be dramatic here) and I'm sure you, watching this would feel it too.



Is economical growth more important than the lives of people, even if its comparatively, just a few? Is it? I hope and I pray that I will never put myself in a position where I regard the lives of other people so scantly, that they are no more than collateral damage for economic wealth.
No. Damn if I do.

Our PM says that it is safe. If it is so safe, why is the Australian government refusing to take responsibility for the radioactive waste that Lynas may produce whereas our government take it so lightly? Reports that may be, but actions speak louder than words. And if the Australian government's actions of debunking any responsibility, surely the proposed actions of our government fly in the face of reason!

Anyway, I believe, if the people continue to pressure the authorities, then we may see a breakthrough and Gebeng will be safe from its potential harm. But the people must forge on. Fight the good fight, and hopefully we see the fruits of it.

So I leave you with Namewee and his controversial but ultimately funny MTV, dedicated to Lynas.

Sidenote: We don't hate any Australians, and no Australians were dissed in this video, except of course Lynas :)

Lawan tetap Lawan.

Honda's Oddysey

This is a story of a Japanese bloke named HONDA who lived in rural Japan.

So, deciding on embarking on an ODDYSEY, he went, on his own ACCORD to the CITY. He has heard many evil things about the CITY from his father, but nevertheless decided to have his own INSIGHT on things.

He found that there were many CIVIC minded people in the city, and his venture there FREED him from his prejudices.

“What CR-Zy ideas my father have” he thought to himself.

He made many friends and soon STREAMS of e-mails and whatsapp messages flowed.

Along the way, he picked up some JAZZ cds as well.

So ends the PRELUDE to this story.

Now…try this with TOYOTA