awwww.. this is simply adorable!~~
actually found myself laughing my head off at the sight of this. This dog abviously seems like the man's best friend~
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Haha! a pleasant surprise.. and a passion
hhoho... didnt know that there actually were who did ''stumble' into dis place..cz i just noticed that there actually were comments to my posts.. muahahaa... boiling over with sampatness.. *bluEK*
one of my church mem aka cell group mem aka great friend just left for Ipoh-his hometown. The place that he very fondly refers to as -the land flowing with milk and hoNey.. hmm guess everyone loves their roots. but this guy, is darn in love with it. cant blame him, that place is indeed a good place to live in for the rest of your life.
nyway, will always miss you kheng hoe. dont u even dare to forget us. As Moni wrote in the book we gave you, "we'll reach there soon"...so...beware.. *thunder & lightning*
it has been around 2 weeks since watching sepet. but what really kept be clinging on to is the kononnya 'philosophy' or the writer/director Pn Yasmin Ahmad. Her blog is on my Favourites list and i just cant seem to get enough of it... All her pieces have been my unspoken thoughts and undone actions.
i think in the nex few blogs, i would be posting extacts frm her work. Hope any of you that stumble into my blog would enjoy it. Now, iv finally found a passion. Not one that could take the place of Christ but, well, a natural one. I could say, apart from God, this whole big topic, plays an extreamly big role and has huge influence on my life.
Frm the blog- The Storyteller
Question: Is Sepet political?
Answer: I don't know. Is it? I can only tell you my intentions which were true and stated in my writer/director notes. If, by advocating the choosing of love over hate, I happen to touch on some political issues, then there it is. I don't care much for politics, and often have very little opinion about it, but I guess no one can fully escape it.
Q: Your director's note may say it's less about race and more a love story. But the cross-cultural juxtapositions, the tangential issues of ethnic perceptions raised throughout the movie AND the fact that you're trying to show racism is superficial, that the underlying problems are more about basic human weaknesses... isn't that political?
A: Hullo brudder, you just laid out a long list of HUMAN issues, and then asked me if it's POLITICAL. What gives? But to answer at least part of your question, I had to make it obvious at the beginning that these kids were of different races before I could ignore the fact with any degree of aplomb.
Q: Cinema, for an outsider, can seem to be a strange endeavour where lots of money (and it is a lot) is poured into a project, usually by people who are not exactly tycoons who could easily risk such sums, which is directed (and spent) by people whose abiding preoccupation is the artistic value of the project, and not whether they could make the money back. At least that's how it sounds like from an indie filmmaker. Why do you make films? Do you make films to make money? Do you make films to impress people? What is the filmmaker's responsibility - if you can call it that? Did you set out to make your films marketable, as one of the objectives, if not THE primary objective? What is the market for Sepet?
A: If you think you can become a millionaire by making films in a little country with a population of only 20 million people, you're either insane or on drugs. I make films because I feel I have some stories worth telling, about things I care about, to people that matter to me. I believe my responsibility is to tell that story as well as I can, creating as much pathos as I am able to. Whether or not a film makes money in this country, I think, is not the responsibility of the writer or director, but the people who put money behind the idea. I just write a story and try to make a film. They'll have to decide for themselves if my ideas are worth their financial backing. I can't decide for them.
Q: What did you learn from making Rabun that helped you in making Sepet?
A: I learned that if you rehearse and rehearse first-time actors, after a while they stop acting and start being themselves. That was a lovely discovery.
Q: How do you think local indie filmmakers can or should develop to the next level?
A: I urge some of us to start writing scripts and making films about things we know and have had personal experience of. I loved Amir Muhammad's "The Big Durian" because it was a funny and sharply-observed story about us. And Yuhang's "Min" touched me deeply because he portrayed the difficulties we have in communicating with each other sometimes, and he did it through such loving eyes. I know of one or two "indie" filmmakers here who are so enamoured by foreign directors like Tsai Mingliang, Hou Hsiao Hsien and Wong Karwai that all they do is try to duplicate the look these great directors achieve in their films. It all comes out hollow, of course. We may be able to make carbon copies of a "look", but feelings and pathos are a different thing altogether. They have to come from the heart and from our field of experience.
Q: What next. "Pekak"?
A: I hope you realise that you are about the 576th person to crack this little joke. Usually it's "Buta" or "Juling" or "Tempang", but yeah, "Pekak" is no less un-original. ;-) Anyway, next, hopefully, is "Gubra".
one of my church mem aka cell group mem aka great friend just left for Ipoh-his hometown. The place that he very fondly refers to as -the land flowing with milk and hoNey.. hmm guess everyone loves their roots. but this guy, is darn in love with it. cant blame him, that place is indeed a good place to live in for the rest of your life.
nyway, will always miss you kheng hoe. dont u even dare to forget us. As Moni wrote in the book we gave you, "we'll reach there soon"...so...beware.. *thunder & lightning*
it has been around 2 weeks since watching sepet. but what really kept be clinging on to is the kononnya 'philosophy' or the writer/director Pn Yasmin Ahmad. Her blog is on my Favourites list and i just cant seem to get enough of it... All her pieces have been my unspoken thoughts and undone actions.
i think in the nex few blogs, i would be posting extacts frm her work. Hope any of you that stumble into my blog would enjoy it. Now, iv finally found a passion. Not one that could take the place of Christ but, well, a natural one. I could say, apart from God, this whole big topic, plays an extreamly big role and has huge influence on my life.
Frm the blog- The Storyteller
Question: Is Sepet political?
Answer: I don't know. Is it? I can only tell you my intentions which were true and stated in my writer/director notes. If, by advocating the choosing of love over hate, I happen to touch on some political issues, then there it is. I don't care much for politics, and often have very little opinion about it, but I guess no one can fully escape it.
Q: Your director's note may say it's less about race and more a love story. But the cross-cultural juxtapositions, the tangential issues of ethnic perceptions raised throughout the movie AND the fact that you're trying to show racism is superficial, that the underlying problems are more about basic human weaknesses... isn't that political?
A: Hullo brudder, you just laid out a long list of HUMAN issues, and then asked me if it's POLITICAL. What gives? But to answer at least part of your question, I had to make it obvious at the beginning that these kids were of different races before I could ignore the fact with any degree of aplomb.
Q: Cinema, for an outsider, can seem to be a strange endeavour where lots of money (and it is a lot) is poured into a project, usually by people who are not exactly tycoons who could easily risk such sums, which is directed (and spent) by people whose abiding preoccupation is the artistic value of the project, and not whether they could make the money back. At least that's how it sounds like from an indie filmmaker. Why do you make films? Do you make films to make money? Do you make films to impress people? What is the filmmaker's responsibility - if you can call it that? Did you set out to make your films marketable, as one of the objectives, if not THE primary objective? What is the market for Sepet?
A: If you think you can become a millionaire by making films in a little country with a population of only 20 million people, you're either insane or on drugs. I make films because I feel I have some stories worth telling, about things I care about, to people that matter to me. I believe my responsibility is to tell that story as well as I can, creating as much pathos as I am able to. Whether or not a film makes money in this country, I think, is not the responsibility of the writer or director, but the people who put money behind the idea. I just write a story and try to make a film. They'll have to decide for themselves if my ideas are worth their financial backing. I can't decide for them.
Q: What did you learn from making Rabun that helped you in making Sepet?
A: I learned that if you rehearse and rehearse first-time actors, after a while they stop acting and start being themselves. That was a lovely discovery.
Q: How do you think local indie filmmakers can or should develop to the next level?
A: I urge some of us to start writing scripts and making films about things we know and have had personal experience of. I loved Amir Muhammad's "The Big Durian" because it was a funny and sharply-observed story about us. And Yuhang's "Min" touched me deeply because he portrayed the difficulties we have in communicating with each other sometimes, and he did it through such loving eyes. I know of one or two "indie" filmmakers here who are so enamoured by foreign directors like Tsai Mingliang, Hou Hsiao Hsien and Wong Karwai that all they do is try to duplicate the look these great directors achieve in their films. It all comes out hollow, of course. We may be able to make carbon copies of a "look", but feelings and pathos are a different thing altogether. They have to come from the heart and from our field of experience.
Q: What next. "Pekak"?
A: I hope you realise that you are about the 576th person to crack this little joke. Usually it's "Buta" or "Juling" or "Tempang", but yeah, "Pekak" is no less un-original. ;-) Anyway, next, hopefully, is "Gubra".
Friday, March 25, 2005
"you'r so blessed u know..?"
These were the words that came from my sis just a few minutes ago.
It all started when i was listening to some songs frm my PC.One of it was Dare You to Move -by Switchfoot which was also my caller ringtone. I wonder whether that phrase meant what it plainly was, or was there a hidden message, a little phrase that was meant to make me feel bad?
well its hard to say, because, thats what she normally loves to do. those one liners said out LOUD (literally) just to annoy, irritate, and sometimes make me feel very very bad. I know she hasnt had the best of things in life, exspecially when its bcoz shes staying with my parents which happen to be the MOST diffecult of people to live or even to have a simple conversation with without ending with huge disagreements. Be it any topic [b]at all[/b] !
i admit i am blessed. VERY Blessed in almost everyway. Years ago, I didnt think i would even have half the the stuff i have right now. It was also since years ago i have been asking God for something simple yet hard to find. [b]LOVE.[/b] Many other things too, like good friends,finace, and that i would not lack of any good thing. But it has been a very personal and urgent prayer need for a long time, and that is to be loved.
oh no.. it raining and thundering and lighteningning... got to leave. i'll add more 2mr la..
It all started when i was listening to some songs frm my PC.One of it was Dare You to Move -by Switchfoot which was also my caller ringtone. I wonder whether that phrase meant what it plainly was, or was there a hidden message, a little phrase that was meant to make me feel bad?
well its hard to say, because, thats what she normally loves to do. those one liners said out LOUD (literally) just to annoy, irritate, and sometimes make me feel very very bad. I know she hasnt had the best of things in life, exspecially when its bcoz shes staying with my parents which happen to be the MOST diffecult of people to live or even to have a simple conversation with without ending with huge disagreements. Be it any topic [b]at all[/b] !
i admit i am blessed. VERY Blessed in almost everyway. Years ago, I didnt think i would even have half the the stuff i have right now. It was also since years ago i have been asking God for something simple yet hard to find. [b]LOVE.[/b] Many other things too, like good friends,finace, and that i would not lack of any good thing. But it has been a very personal and urgent prayer need for a long time, and that is to be loved.
oh no.. it raining and thundering and lighteningning... got to leave. i'll add more 2mr la..
Thursday, March 24, 2005
The Enchanting Story Teller
i remember talking about love vs religion in my last post.OK.no use hiding anymore. i watched SEPET. TWICE last week. and still swimming in its plot and emotion ever since.
So,heres how i feel about Sepet: its the [b]MOST Enchanting[/b] ive seen in a very long time. It its director has successfully put on screen many things a lot of us often think about but and not say out loud. It is not only a long-awaited breakthrough for the Malsyain Film Industry, but also in the mindsets of the the rakyat.
i picked up the lasted issue of What's Up Wanita? at college this morning. and was especially delighted to see that the cover story was on Pn Yasmin Ahmad a.k.a. director and writer of Sepet. This women has truly broken the remaining 'great wall' that seemed to yet separated us from each other in the proudly claimed 'open-minded' Malaysia.
No doubt i love my country and all that is in it. But,until now, many other things have taken that first place in our hearts that should have always been [b][i] LOVE [/i][/b]. Yes, the word highly praised and spoken highly off in 1 Corinthians 13. It is often said but undone.It is often misused in many circumstanses for the profit of selfish desire. huhhh!
I just visited Pn.Yasmin's personal blog.Its truly truly enspiring and encouraging. Its controvercial, and not what any other melayu would agree in. But i love it. So heres some stuff that i found interesting:
Love On Trail
There were, if my memory serves me, 12 people in that viewing theatre.
Somewhere in the middle of "Sepet", a panel member who was nodding off at the back, was rudely awakened by the thud-thud-crash of his own songkok falling on the wooden floor. He bolted up, his severely thinning hair sticking out in all directions, looked around in slow-motion like a camel, picked up his songkok, slumped back into his seat, and went back to sleep.
As soon as the screening was over, the only woman in the appeal panel stood up, teary-eyed, and said, "Puan Yasmin, I enjoyed that film very much. Thank you both for making it. Congratulations."
My producer and I muttered under our breath, "Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah."
Next in line was a Chinese man in his 50's.
"That's not a Malay movie or a Chinese movie or an Indian movie," he declared, "That's a Malaysian movie."
Rosnah and I heaved a big sigh of relief. Clearly, we were counting our chickens before they were hatched, because from then onwards, it went downhill.
"Why didn't you bring up the issue of religion?"
"Why didn't she try to convert him? The Malays would have liked that."
"Why did you make her walk into a Chinese restaurant where non-halal food was probably served?"
"If she's supposed to be liberal, why did you make her wear baju kurung all the time?"
"A long time ago, the Malay people had two bad habits. The men liked to lie down on the floor wearing only sarongs, exposing their tummies, while the women liked to waste time picking lice from each other's hair. Are you trying to revive these old habits?"
And of course, their coup de grace, articulated by a Dato':
"We represent the rakyat (the people). We showed your film to some members of the rakyat, and I'm afraid the verdict was not favourable. They want your film stopped."
To which I replied, "My mother always tells me that my rezeki (my lot in life) is in the hands of Allah, and not in the hands of people like you or anyone else."
And on that note, Rosnah and I thanked them, and bade our farewell.
The final verdict has YET to be made. - Pn Yasmin Ahmad
More to come as i dig deeper into her blog. till next time.
So,heres how i feel about Sepet: its the [b]MOST Enchanting[/b] ive seen in a very long time. It its director has successfully put on screen many things a lot of us often think about but and not say out loud. It is not only a long-awaited breakthrough for the Malsyain Film Industry, but also in the mindsets of the the rakyat.
i picked up the lasted issue of What's Up Wanita? at college this morning. and was especially delighted to see that the cover story was on Pn Yasmin Ahmad a.k.a. director and writer of Sepet. This women has truly broken the remaining 'great wall' that seemed to yet separated us from each other in the proudly claimed 'open-minded' Malaysia.
No doubt i love my country and all that is in it. But,until now, many other things have taken that first place in our hearts that should have always been [b][i] LOVE [/i][/b]. Yes, the word highly praised and spoken highly off in 1 Corinthians 13. It is often said but undone.It is often misused in many circumstanses for the profit of selfish desire. huhhh!
I just visited Pn.Yasmin's personal blog.Its truly truly enspiring and encouraging. Its controvercial, and not what any other melayu would agree in. But i love it. So heres some stuff that i found interesting:
Love On Trail
There were, if my memory serves me, 12 people in that viewing theatre.
Somewhere in the middle of "Sepet", a panel member who was nodding off at the back, was rudely awakened by the thud-thud-crash of his own songkok falling on the wooden floor. He bolted up, his severely thinning hair sticking out in all directions, looked around in slow-motion like a camel, picked up his songkok, slumped back into his seat, and went back to sleep.
As soon as the screening was over, the only woman in the appeal panel stood up, teary-eyed, and said, "Puan Yasmin, I enjoyed that film very much. Thank you both for making it. Congratulations."
My producer and I muttered under our breath, "Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah."
Next in line was a Chinese man in his 50's.
"That's not a Malay movie or a Chinese movie or an Indian movie," he declared, "That's a Malaysian movie."
Rosnah and I heaved a big sigh of relief. Clearly, we were counting our chickens before they were hatched, because from then onwards, it went downhill.
"Why didn't you bring up the issue of religion?"
"Why didn't she try to convert him? The Malays would have liked that."
"Why did you make her walk into a Chinese restaurant where non-halal food was probably served?"
"If she's supposed to be liberal, why did you make her wear baju kurung all the time?"
"A long time ago, the Malay people had two bad habits. The men liked to lie down on the floor wearing only sarongs, exposing their tummies, while the women liked to waste time picking lice from each other's hair. Are you trying to revive these old habits?"
And of course, their coup de grace, articulated by a Dato':
"We represent the rakyat (the people). We showed your film to some members of the rakyat, and I'm afraid the verdict was not favourable. They want your film stopped."
To which I replied, "My mother always tells me that my rezeki (my lot in life) is in the hands of Allah, and not in the hands of people like you or anyone else."
And on that note, Rosnah and I thanked them, and bade our farewell.
The final verdict has YET to be made. - Pn Yasmin Ahmad
More to come as i dig deeper into her blog. till next time.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
no One is arounD
it has been quite a long time not blogging here. Many things have crept up. Multiple exams, homework piled as high as the heavens, many thoughts to settle, and many emotions to quiet down.
i watched MeetJoeBlack just now. mainly because it stars Brad Pitt.But little that i know, it reflected a lot on whats happening around me now. "How can you love someone that you dont know?" You dont know the person (as in very personally), yet you feel comepletely, head over heels in love. Theres never a minute in a day that passes without thinking about that person.
after watching another movie that talks about love vs race/religion , goshhh.. how many things could coincide all together at the same time? it all seems so simple and harmless.. other things just dont seem to matter al that much..you like who you like la.. but, thinking furthe and deeper, just cant help but wonder whether this is just another trap of the devil. God, if possible, i would like to love this person and be loved back.But, let not my will but Yours be done. Someone said, that if he would accept JC, then i would become a completely different story. I wonder how it will go.
i watched MeetJoeBlack just now. mainly because it stars Brad Pitt.But little that i know, it reflected a lot on whats happening around me now. "How can you love someone that you dont know?" You dont know the person (as in very personally), yet you feel comepletely, head over heels in love. Theres never a minute in a day that passes without thinking about that person.
after watching another movie that talks about love vs race/religion , goshhh.. how many things could coincide all together at the same time? it all seems so simple and harmless.. other things just dont seem to matter al that much..you like who you like la.. but, thinking furthe and deeper, just cant help but wonder whether this is just another trap of the devil. God, if possible, i would like to love this person and be loved back.But, let not my will but Yours be done. Someone said, that if he would accept JC, then i would become a completely different story. I wonder how it will go.
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