...these are a few of my favourite reds...

this is the shizzle if ya gizzle ma' dizzle, ma' bizzle?

if you watched the dark knight and had this linger on your mind, fret no more. here it is...



ok ok ok... so it was not a red band, but why... so... seriousss....? or wha tabout this one? this should be what an anti-piracy ad blitz be about.



so yeah, let's get on with the reds...















till next time.

the malayan borneo grasscutter ninjas union quartet

like all things weird that pop up, an unauthorised cover of the "whole year inn" by the maharajah commission. cannot believe how low people go to rip off other people's work without permission. i'm joking, of course. these lads have our blessings. here's "whole year inn" by the malayan borneo grasscutter ninjas union quartet.

KAMI a view through the perspex

the worst thing about penning my thoughts about KAMI - this is not a review (haven't done one of those for a very long time - is when you gotta do the dirty on a friend, or in this case 2 of them. me? I know fendi and fizzi and i know them well enough to feel awkward about writing this. on one hand i couldn't just let it be and be totally apathetic about it, or simply pretend i didn't watch the movie... with the usual euphemism, "ohh... busy-lah." but then again, i promised fizzi, i would. this could be a case of being careful for what you wish for.

so let me get this out of the way. in short, i liked it*. the asterisk is there, because i feel i have to qualify that statement. since i'm going gonzo on this, bear with me. i watched 3 movies this raya weekend, KAMI, Eagle Eye and Painted Skin. the last two were sheepishly bad... baaad. EE was mindless turdshit, i.e. shit of shits, while Painted Skin really offended my sense of wonder, the editing was bad, the story sucked seven types of floaters and the actors puked out their lines like the triads forced them to say stupid shit. WTF. how do people bankroll stinkers like these?

with that, i think KAMI became my favourite movie of the week. on its merits, i liked KAMI in parts, small measures. the acting was interesting, but the thing that annoyed me the most was the lack of dialogue and excess of posturing... "oh, look at me.... i'm misunderstood" or "oh... don't ask me too much... the truth will eat you alive and give you a migraine". "oh... look at me smirk, an evil smirk... i'm such a baddie", i could go on. i know its motivation but when people spend too much time on the screen with the difficulty of not being able to speak their minds, you have a problem.

let me try to explain myself. if you watched an arthouse/outhouse movie and there wasn't much dialogue or even an attempt to speak, it's cool... in an artie fartie sense... or on the flip side, if there was too much talking, you'd end up with a bunch of kevin smith poser retard characters whom you have not affection for, and case in point jay of the jay and silent bob. i like jay but he doesn't stick because he says too much.

but what we have in KAMI, is chilling. people with sooo much to say but having difficulty saying something. so if you watched the movie you'd be wanting to shout at the characters to "fucking say something!!!!" before the next fuck-up happens. can it be possible that so much shit happens in the movie because these kids have a problems talking to each other, even though they are friends? or are they even friends? go watch the movie and tell me if it is not fuck-up by numbers, and the determinant being a lack of chat time. dear readers, "what we have here is a failure to communicate".

it's bad enough the bunch have problems with their parents, or don't really have much to say to them apart from the pouting and storm offs, but even among themselves...? i was steaming in the cinema. that said, i do hope there is a sequel, just to see if these characters actually grow up - even if they don't, what fuck ups will they endure... like the rambo series or the nolan batman franchise, the theme of escalation may work out here.... let the failure to communicate escalate, so that they ended up doing really odd things... and we can all them have a laugh.

by the way, where's this university of norwedon? i'd like to know... cos' if i have a kid, i'm not sending them there... who in their fucking right mind would give sofie a placement in a university when she only just finished her SPM... bearing in mind her results are still weeks away. don't medical students have to at least have A-Level requirements....?

so, no.... i do not think the following, that:-

(i) ali's an underachiever with an oedipal complex, and how can he not with mommie being a hottie;

(ii) abu's a nut job, but after so many beatings in juvie detention, and no one really doing anything about it... an intervention may have saved him, but that wouldn't have sold as many tickets, i suspect, unless of course your uncle's tony soprano.

(iii) lynn's the other nut job and clueless glue that binds. so she can't articulate, but she can write... hatchet jobs. i'm guilty of those and i relate very well, all the way up to receiving my paychecks...

(vi) sofie's such a princess but her mommie's utterly bonkers. what happened to jamal, may not have been necessary to the plot, but leaving it unresolved means leaving it muddled and not ambiguous with regard to her mom's intentions of hiding sofie's offer letter.

(v) adii's my one true spark. she may as well be the allspark. i've never seen a character this whoreishly virginal and spunky in local cinema. may be an original.

(vi) boy's just an asshole who get's his comeuppance and not much else. the one thing i could not get was why was he a drug pusher, channeling paedophilic tendencies... you see that smirk and glint in his eyes? i thought he was just horny.

there were one too many sub plots that didn't matter, for me to really make sense and have closure. i didn't need it nicely wrapped up but it feels to unresolved. would there be a director's cut? i hope so.... all these little things would add to a lot.

i just wish there was some polish to KAMI, rather than a diamond in the rough. so i do like it, while reflecting on my childhood, the annexe, paul's place, doorbitching and bad jam sessions. but that's life and all that. i just wish i had a longer glimpse of what was or never was, than the 1 hour and 50 minutes afforded.

so just in case, you "think" i'm slagging the film off, please stop thinking... i'm just being honest here. i know i made a point somewhere in here, but that's up to you to figure out. i'm going for a dump right now. until next time... kill the lights and pray you don't see daylight.....

don't give up... oh siti, don't give up...

The outcome of the Siti Fatimah case, while a well earned victory for the applicant, Tan Ean Huang, raises more questions than it answers. Notwithstanding the constitutional issues pertaining to the jurisdiction and scope of Malaysia’s syariah framework vis-à-vis the Malaysian civil courts on the issue of apostasy, the Siti Fatimah decision as reported in the local mainstream media does provide Malaysians with the necessary clarity needed on such sensitive matters.

It may be noted that constructive discourse on the matter cannot be made just yet, as the decision of the learned Syariah Judge has yet to be published. However, as a commentary of the tone of the various reports in the local mainstream media (in particular, The Star and Bernama) the following issues, amongst other things, appear to have arisen:-

(i) that the MAIPP intend to appeal on grounds that her marriage would not have been annulled by her renunciation of her faith; and

(ii) that MAIPP appear to have been negligent in its role of “guiding” her back into the religion;

The MAIPP’s statement on the annulment is unnecessarily belligerent and obnoxious. While Courts and the religious authorities take the view that a civil marriage is at end when a conversion into Islam by either spouse occurs, it would appear to be repugnant that it is not the same if a renunciation were to happen as it has in this case. Why the double standards? Clearly all Malaysian citizens are equal in the eyes of the law.

What was it that MAIPP was required to do to ensure that Tan Ean Huang did not fall by the way side? There have been concerns and misgivings that an application to renounce one’s faith in Islam within the Syariah framework in Malaysia would lead to persecution and human rights abuses arising from the manner in which religious authorities conduct and discharge its obligations when “guiding” an applicant back to the faith after such an application is made.

We have only to look to the outcome of the Revathy case and the atrocious manner in which the accused and her child were treated to know that something is not right with the present system of handling apostasy cases. The Malaysian Courts, both syariah and civil, and the relevant authorities have to bear in mind that the Syariah framework, is a creature of statute, i.e. the Federal Constitution and not a separate “constitution” of Malaysia.

While freedom of religion is a reality in Malaysia, under the Federal Constitution, it must be clearly affirmed that Malaysia is a secular state and as it so, all Malaysians must be guaranteed their freedoms to enter and leave their respective religions by their own will and conviction, despite the affront that it may cause to another’s belief. It is paternalism, a misconceived notion of public order and this ever growing need for certainty that will diminish one’s faith, to which all Malaysians of any faith will ask, “whatever happened to faith in God?”

activism, action & acceptance

been on an ADF buzz for the last few weeks.... here's some stuff i pick up along the way....

1) rebel warrior - live



2) flyover - live



3) oil - live




... and here's an article on ADF. this next one's a personal favourite of mine from Dr Das.

gangsta hype

'nuff said, dude.

dude, i'm a Malaysian for the first time.

the 12th General Election has validated how a lot of us longed and yearned to feel... to mean what we see printed on our identity cards. I went to sleep knowing that for once we have become Malaysians and i woke up thinking it didn't matter what my skin colour was nor what i subscribed to. for this brief moment, i can look down a barrel of a gun and say it with conviction.

to those of you who voted, give yourself a pat on the back...no, no... more than that, take your arms and hug yourself and let out a huge zany grin. the voter turnout was on an average 75+%. that's a wildly OTT figure. even the americans can only dream of 30+%.

democracy rocks and it prove one point, the right not to vote - is mere apathy and not part of the democratic process. the BN did filter out with reports that in a number of places, the BN votes never came through, which to my mind seems to mean that the usual apathetic bunch rightly stayed away but to their own detriment.

right now we are on the cusp of a new balance, and it pays dividends to remember not to take the paths our predecessors took on May 13, 1969. I for one believe that path was never a righteous one and brought out the evil we sometimes see in the glint of our eyes when we look in the mirror. we have to learn from our past. period. Today, is a new day. Malaysians have spoken with their "X".

The NST and the the Star have shied away from stating that the BN have lost their precious 2/3 majority. The Star alludes to it by merely stating the number of seats taken by the BN and the Opposition. I did the math and the Opposition have 36%.... and that's the significance of it.

Although the BN has won the right to form the next federal government, that right should not be begrudged. it's democracy at work.

what the BN should do is realise that, "we've lost. we"ve lost" in Badawi's own words, and be mature enough to understand that from this day onwards, the politics of the brave have come to the fore, and the new BN government has to learn how to engage the Opposition with due respect, candour and courtesy and not simply discount or pooh-pooh the Opposition.

Today, the BN can no longer conduct themselves as though, no one is looking at them. Gerakan, PPP, MIC and the MCA are mostly now academic exercises. Who's National Front are they heading? Although the BN is a fractured beast, it is still a sentient one.

I can say this, the BN - before anyone says anything stupid from the BN camp - ought to be magnanimous and not kick up a fuss about the "evil" Opposition, because not only have the people made themselves heard by the ballot, foreign investors will taken note of your reactions to decide whether we rightly deserve their money, the same money that this country depends on to thrive economically.. the FDI.

the HINDRAF 5. the indian community have clearly spoken. the "community champions" have prevailed. what more can the BN do but to listen to indian community and release the HINDRAF 5 back to their families. the days of unlawful detention are at a twilight. this election has hammered the message home. Hadhari-ism is a failure and we need to look at fundamentals and not racial or religious politics.

By fundamentals, i mean... that we have to understand that we are first and foremost humans and we all bleed red. we also share the same salinity in our blood. and despite our diverse environments and cultural differences, we all share the same sense of emotions and a common desire for change. we cannot simply tolerate... that is no longer acceptable. we have to embrace our differences and bring something to this glorious table we call, Malaysia.

i'm fuzzy with excitement and hope. until yesterday this country was gripped in the claws of the "politics of fear". today we grew up and rightly deserve our 50 years of independence, as we embrace "the politics of the brave".

thank you for bearing with me, and thank everyone around you for this "brand new day", we all deserve it, "warts and all"