Developing the true "North"- by Stephen Covey

True North

When managing in the wilderness of changing times, a map is of unlimited worth. What’s needed is a moral compass.

When I was in New York recently, I witnessed a mugging skillfully executed by a street gang. I’m sure that the gang members have their street maps and common values, the highest being “don’t fink or squeal on each other”. But this value, as interpreted and practiced by the gang does not represent “true north”- the magnetic principle of respect for people and property.

They lacked and internal moral compass.

Principles are like a compass. A compass has a true north that is objective and external, that reflects natural laws or principles, as opposed to values that are subjective and internal. There is little disagreement on what the constitutional principles of a company should be when enough people get together. I find a universal belief in fairness, kindness, dignity, charity, integrity, honesty, quality, service and patience.

Consider the absurdity of trying to live a life based on opposites. I doubt anyone would seriously consider unfairness, deceit, baselessness, uselessness, mediocrity or degradation to be a solid foundation for lasting happiness and success.

People may argue about how these principles are to be defined, interpreted and applied in real life situation, but they generally agree about their intrinsic merit. They may not live in total harmony with them, but they believe in them, and they want to be managed by them. They want to be evaluated by “laws” in the social and economic dimensions that are just as real, just as unchanging and unarguable, just as the law of gravity in the physical dimension. The degree to which people in a society recognize and live in harmony with them moves them toward either survival and stability or disintegration and destruction.

In a talk-show interview, I was once asked if Hitler was principle-oriented. “No,” I said, “but he was value-driven. One of his governing values was to unify Gremany. But he violated compass principles and suffered natural consequences. And the consequences were momentous- the dislocation of the entire world for years.”

Just as the laws are fixed, so too are consequences. In my seminars I ask audiences, “when you think of your personal values, how do you think?” Typically, people focus on what they want. I then ask them “when you think of principles, how do you think?” They are more oriented toward objective law, listening to conscience and tapping into eternal verities. Principles are not values.

The German Nazis, like the street gang, shared values- but violated basic principles.
Values are maps. Principles are territories. Correct maps will impact our effectiveness far more than our efforts to change attitudes and behaviors. However, when the territory is constantly changing, when the market is constantly shifting, any map is soon obsolete.

A compass for the times.

Why is a compass better than a map in today’s business world?
The compass orients people to the coordinates and indicates a course or direction even in forests, deserts, seas and open, unsettled terrain. As the territory changes, the map becomes obsolete; in times of rapid change, a map may be dated and inaccurate by the time it’s printed.

Inaccurate maps are a source of frustration for people who are trying to find their way or navigate territory.

Many executives are pioneering, managing in uncharted waters or wilderness, and no existing map accurately describes the territory. An accurate map is a good management tool, but a compass is a leadership and an empowerment tool. People who have been using maps for many years to find their way and maintain a sense of perspective and direction should realize that their maps may be useless in the current maze and wilderness of management. My recommendation is that you exchange your map for a compass and train yourself and your people to navigate with a compass calibrated to a set of fixed, true north principles and natural laws.

Strategic Orientation

Map-versus-compass orientation is an important and strategic issue. We are locked into certain mindsets or paradigms, locked into management by maps, locked into and old model of leadership where the experts at the top decide the objectives, methods and means.

This old strategic planning model is obsolete. It’s a road map. It calls for people at the top to exercise their own experience, expertise, wisdom and judgement and set 10 year strategic plans- only to find that the plans are worthless within 18months. On the new environment, with speed-to-market timetables of 18 months instead of 5 years, plans fast become obsolete.

If our planning is centered on an overall purpose or vision and on a commitment to a set of principles, then the people who are closest to the action in the wilderness can use that compass and their own expertise and judgment to make decisions and take actions. In effect each person may have his or her own compass; each may be empowered to decide objectives and make plans that reflect the realities of the new market.

Principles are not practices.

Practices are specific activities or actions that work in one circumstance but not necessarily in another. If you manage by practices and lead by policies, your people don’t have to be experts; they don’t have to exercise judgment, because all the judgment and wisdom are provided them in form of rules and regulations.

If you focus on principle, you empower everyone; they will then understand those principles to act without constant monitoring, evaluating, correcting or controlling. Principles have universal application. And when these are internalized into habits, they empower people to create a wide variety of practices to deal with different situation, no matter how uniquely challenging each of them are.

Leading by principles as opposed to practices requires a different kind of training, perhaps even more training, but the payoff is more expertise, creativity and shared responsibility at all levels in an organization.

If you train people in the practices of customer service, you will get a degree of customer service, but the service will break down whenever customers present a special case or problem because in doing so, they short-circuit the standard operating procedure system.
Before people will consistently act on the principle of customer service, they need to adapt a new mindset. In most cases, they need to be trained- using case-studies, role plays, simulations and some on-the-job coaching- to be sure they understand the principle and how it is applied on the job.

The president of a major corporation recently asked me to meet with him and his management team. He said the corporate mission statement had no impact on their style. These executives felt that the mission was for the people “out there’ who were subject to the law, but that they were above the law. The idea of moral compassing is unsettling to people who think they are above the law. Because the constitution, based on principles, is the law; it governs everybody, including the president. It places responsibility on individuals to examine their lives and determine if they are willing to live by it.

We must deal with people/ culture issues to improve implementation of strategy and to achieve corporate integrity. We must be willing to go through constitutional convention, if not revolutionary war, to get the issues out on the table, deal with them, and get deep buy-in on the decisions. That wont happen without some blood, sweat and tears.

Ultimately, the successful implementation of any strategy hinges on the integrity people attach to the governing principles and on their ability to apply those principles in any given situation using their own moral compass.


By Stephen R Covey, taken from The EDGE Msia Nov, 27 2006

Law

Awesome piece on life..

The Law in These Parts

Never lose your self-respect. Let your integrity be the true standard of all your actions. Your self-assessment should be stricter than the laws that govern human behavior. You should avoid evil because of your own strict standards over and above mere laws.

“In these parts, I am the law.”

It’s a classic western line. One man stand between a cowering town and a gang of hostile outlaws. And while the town has certain laws in the books, the sheriff makes it clear in no uncertain terms that he has the authority to do whatever is necessary – law or no law- to protect the ones entrusted to his care.

Each of us has on obligation to protect the parts that have been assigned to us- hands that are tempted to steal when no one is looking, feet that treathen to take us places we ought not go, ears eager for malicious gossip, eyes that gaze on things better left unseen. There are laws that draw lines between what is permitted and what is punishable, et those laws don’t always slice cleanly between the right and wrong.

Regardless of what laws are in the books, YOU are the law in your parts. YOU have the final say on what is and not allowed.

We can spend our lives searching for loopholes to allows us to cross certain moral lines while remaining within the law. But is that really how we want to determine our actions? If so, life become more a matter of “getting away with stuff” rather than living according to principles we believe in our hearts to be good, right and true.

We would do well to forget the code of the rest. What matters more is the internal code of conscience that keeps us focused on integrity.

So when your temptation assemble and threaten to do damage to your reputation, immediately call up your ‘law-yer’ and plan a counter attack in compliance with The Book of Law.

A Race

The Race -from canaanland devotions

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7

There is much satisfaction in finishing something you have begun! The success of a race is determined not only by how well you begin but also by how well you end. Many athletes can begin a race impressively, but if they stumble or are injured or lack the stamina to finish, their good start is useless. Paul rejoiced that he had not only begun the race; but he had also finished it. His prize was a robust faith in God and a life filled with God's powerful presence.

The Christian life is not easy.

Some mistakenly assume that once they become children of God, their struggles are over. Many Christians begin their walk with Christ enthusiastically; but as the pressures mount, they lose heart and abandon their pilgrimage.

Paul described his Christian life as a battle. There were times when he struggled, and only through perseverance could he continue. It may surprise us to know that the great apostle had to struggle at times to be faithful to God. Paul faced persecution, misunderstanding, betrayal, and death threats. His Christian life was anything but easy, yet he persevered.

Our faith in God is not proven by beginning the race but by enduring to the finish. Publicly announcing your commitment to Christ in your church does not compare with a lifetime of devotion to His cause.

Use Paul as your model.
Live your life in such a way that you can one day conclude, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith!"

Notes: Peacekeeping

Leaving some notes here as the Friendster blog..i think.. is too exposed. This is is resevered specially for more serious stuff.

Peacekeeping

Definition

1. a way to help countires torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace.
2. monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed.
3. such assistance comes in many forms

• confidence-building measures
• power sharing arrangements
• electoral support
• strenghthening the rule of law
• economic and social development

4. remain members of their respective armed forces, do not constitute an independant "UN Army".

5. Well-equipped, well-trained and disciplined military.

6. Examples: NATO mission in Kosovo, Multinational Force and Observers on the Siani Peninsula.

Nature of peacekeeping

• anything that contributes to the furthering of a peace process
• monitoring of withdrawal by combatants from a former conflict area
• supervision of elections
• provision of reconstruction aid

1. Peacekeepers are often soldiers, but do not have to be.
2. Sometimes armed, do not have to engage in combat.
3. Deployed parties to the conflict had given their consent.
4. To observe from the ground and reported impartially on adherence to the ceasefire, troop withdrawal or other elements of thr peace agreement.
5. Gave breathing space for diplomatic efforts to address the underlying causes of conflict.

Structure

1. Official Leader: Special Representative of the Secretary-General (responsible: all political and diplomatic activity, overseeing relations with both the parties to the peace treaty)
2. Second: Force Commander (responsible: military forces deployed, senior officer of their nation's armed services, from the nation committing highest number of troops to the project)
3. Third: Chief Administrative Officer (responsible: supplies and logistics, coordinate the procurement of supplies needed.

History

1. need a neutral party to observe the peace process.
2. Ensure ceasefire is honooured by both sides.

Potential harm

1. can be extremly stressfull
2. potential harm to individual military participants.

Long-term probelms

1. leaving conflicts unresolved
2. effect maintaining an umstable status quo that will inevitably collapse in the long run
3. goal: stabilize a situation so as to give politicians and diplomats the opportunity to establish a permanent peace.
4. we create a stabli environment and conditions for sustainable peace.

I received a word on 23/8/06 (WED) while in office from God about the current "warfare" that is going on in ourmidst. Although a technical "ceasefire" has been achieved, the spiritual acpect of it is still on-going and is extremly tensed. I then seraceh the net for the meaning. To a very enlightening feeling of the meaning, i was still wondering and waited on God for a further explaination.

The 1st confirmation of this word from God is when Moni unexpectedly called for prayer for Me, Mling & Con on Saturday. I shared on the meaning of a Disciple and being an Armorbearer to our leader.We prayed from 11am-12.45pm for the section and memebers by name and need and let the Holy Spirit move with word of knowledge for specific areas.

2nd confirmation is when I msged Moni and asked if i could speak to her. When she replied in the early part of the morning, she mentioned that we would have many things to pray about for the section, and asked to pray twice a week with mling for the section. The matter of her saying those things, when i didnt even tell her yet what i was about to talk to her about. It is certainly a kairos time.

Therefore, i will also stand guard in prayer for the situation of the mentioned "warfare". To enforce peace and the ongoing process of conviction,repentance, and contrition. I did complain that I personally dont want to think about the situation any more, and wouldnt it be easier for a neutral person did it? God did not say further. Mentioned that this is indeed a strong warfare. Corrupted moralities are no longer the primary concern or source of conflict, but now it is demons and principalities that are having a hold on the person and many other people involved. Deliverance is no longer an option now.

Colossians 2:15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Matt 18:18 Assuredly i say to you, whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.

Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for ALL THE SAINTS..

Romans 8:37-39 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerers through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angle nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to seoarate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isa 55:11 So shall My word be that goes firth from My mouth, It SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME VOID, But it shall accomplish WHAT I PLEASE, and it shall prosper in the thing for which i sent it.

Thank You Father, for who You are.

here today,gone home the other..

I was wondering..what in the world is wrong with me? Circumstances normally do not have an effect on the normal way i do things, the way i think, the way i react, or even the way i speak.This time, it was different.

My dearest tata passed away on sunday morning.To descibe the scene..i think..would be crazy..and agonising. I would just leave here some of my unspoken thoughts..just to get it out, because someone reminded me to let go.

aihh ..so fast.. too fast.. The glass of wate didnt reach him. i guess..there would be more than enough of that in heaven. Water..that is farr tastier and far purer than the world can offer.
He was a fighter.. a warrior for his family.He was a moderate man..but an extravagent spender. he could have been a rich man..if not for his lack of formal education, bad smoking habit, and drinking.
And im proud to say that..haha..i was his favourite grdchild. The first and the most loved. I did achieve some good stuff that made him extremly proud when i was little.He would boast about me and my good results to the neighbours..shopkeepers..restaurent owners, his friends, and family. China-kutti was the word the always called me.. being of chinese-indian parentage. i hated it!! just hated it!! i would corrent him..and remind him.."hey..can u not forget that i am half indian too..??, i am your grdchild..therefore..its tamila-kutti. OKEY? "
Those times when he used to take me on his bicycle early saturday morning to the chinese stall to have breakfast.. His favourite was wan-tan mee and curry mee.He would have his kopi-O pour unto a sauce for it to cool.i would always get a few RM to walk over to the next door mamak stall to get a copy of Galaxie magazine.
He would have things done fast and effectively. He left no room for lazyness, sluggishness, or time wasters. Thus, they had his funeral done in exactly 12hours after his spirit went back to God..
When at indian weddings..he never put up with the looong ceremonies.. and would opt to go get some briyani rice and curry at the buffet table..haha ..sometimes he would take me to a wedding..just to have some briyani rice.He was the kind that ; everything that happened to him was never a big issue..but if it affected the ones he loved..then he would never let it go unsolved. He would pick a fight with the shopkeeper for being late.. the old-newspaper man for being too slow..the bread-lady for coming too late at night.
His work was his passion. Uncle Joginder Singh told me that he would have been in a higher position from the beginning..if he could present a formal paper qualification. His boss was his friend. and he was his own boss. okay..i think i feel better now.
Its never a lost.. why should it be? went he went to the fathe's house so much earlier than us... What a privilege!

In the beginning..

whats in a happy ending?
"and then they lived happily ever after"?

what about when its a no tear, no sad goodbyes, no see you next time, no 'take care of yourself', no 'all the best' in the future', no 'keep in touch', no 'love you ya'.. what do you make off a parting without these phrases?
just thinking of this is getting me emotional.. -sheeehh-
not that it bothers me..it just leaves me in awe..of how in each of our hearts..we all know and hope for the best for each other...the assurance that we will all be doing great things in the near future, and that if we would know, if someone is going thru a hard time.














it was one of the many things we did unplaned. after our last paper at 11.30am, we decided to go Genting. Spent some quality time talking, playing cards, sipping coffee in the wee hours at Starbucks playing cards again.. with the cold air in our faces. The last moments of being together as a group. I wonder when it would be again.
Just thanking God for these people who will remain special to me.

Benson

yes. Introducing a new member of the family. Here he lies under my chair, biting my big toe and turning over every once in a while calling for a stroke. We just brought him back from laikuen's house this evening (jason,me,meiling,and connie), after 3 long months of waiting in much anticipation.

After a few hours of watching him and observing his behavior, we(my family n I) notice that, he is a dead sleeper...(the guys pulled him right round d coffee table while he lay fast asleep.)~~, he is scared of the dark~~ hohoho... and has not ate anything since he arrived. Also since this evening, he had pee-d 4times and shat once. The rug we gave him to sleep on, he turned it into a teething rug (ring).. havent got my own foto of him yet..

Oh yes..Moni's section (moni, meiling,connie,zhiet shuang,EB, timo,belinda) and jason were at me house for a dinner..we dont actually celebrate deepavali (except my grddad), but being true malaysians, its a good reason to get together for a good meal( my grdma cook wan ok) and some great fellowship~~ alerady got orders for muruku from elaine who is back in taiping now.

This was a geat evening.

YOU are amazing!

Indescribable. Uncontainable. YOU placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.. YOU are amazing God.

Incomparable. Unchangable YOU see the depths of my heart and You love me the same.. YOU are amazing God.

Lord,i thank you for all these beautiful people You have put in my life.Though we dont look like a bunch that is serious about life or any other thing..but search our hearts oh Lord,to see that it belongs to You,and none but You.

Happy Birthday to me...=)

i mean..happy belated birthday to me.. another year of fulfilled promises and excruciating trails have passed. and thee right before me , lies yet another year

to give thanks

to learn

to glorify Him

to seek wisdom

to share the Gospel and

to trust in Him

to become a better disciple

to be more obedient =P

and to walk closer to Him.

iv also leant that, miracles do happen even in our daily lives.during the times where you put your complete trust and reliance on Him and the expectation of seeing Him actually do His work in our lives. we really have no other purpose on earth at all. Except to win the world, and to glorify Him in all things. Yet at times we do intimidate the word "ALL" and sorta stray away frm its actually definition.

it was a great day of relaxation after a string of examinations. iv no papers next week.!~ Hallelujah

went to elaine's place for a joint birthday BBQ for me,Jen, and Kam. Was awesome. late rushed back to Alpha fo cell group and a time of prayer and thanksgiving to the Lord. Iv got the best birthday present: to see all 3 of my main contacts get saved and coming regularly for CG and church. All the credit go to God.

"in ALL THINGS give thanks...for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for me."

Thank You dear Lord.

Hellos and goodbyes

within the past 3 weeks..iv experienced the amount of hello and goodbyes to last me a year really. maybe two. The people that i know and loved have crossed my path..some stay for a while,make an impact, and go.. some will always be here and are impossible to leave...
obviously, saying goodbye is prolly one of the hardest things to do in life... especially to those that have brought u tremendous amount of joy,closeness, togetherness and the sense of belonging.
*i just met an uncle of mine whom i have never met in the entire 20years of my life. towards the end of the visit, i just cant explain the feeling of cloneness and that fact that we belong to the same family.*
im just so greatful of having such wonderful people in my life and pray that they too will come to the knowledge of God, so that i could have them with me not only on earth but i heaven as well.

Thank you God, for everything

wooohooo.. my last post ...21June.seems like ages ago..2day is the 14 august. i still cant believe, the things dat have happened within this mere 2months are equal to to stuff dat suppose to happen in 1/2 a year.. time flies... too fast... bt i think its my prob that i never really managed my time wisely, n use it to the max.

I have began to understand this verse even more duing this period of time. " God uses the good and the bad to work together for our benefit.". These 2 months was a spiritual & maybe physical desert for me. People always say that God may take away many things from you; things dat are most dearest to you, things dat you wouldnt let go for the world, things dat you thought was from God but actually wasnt, things that block your vision from seeing the really of things, things dat seem so good to have bt u wonder why God doesnt think so, even good things dat blur you from seeing the actual great thing dat God has in store for you.

Today, Ps Gloris had a msg from God in which she shared with us at the end of PC1. She said that she saw God peeling away the skin of sumthing, den scraping the dirty stuff of something.The final poduct left was now clean, out of spot, and in its purest form. There ae many things dat God needs to empty in ou lives in order to fill us more with His spirit. Today, God has taken away a relationship,my pride, exam results, my visitation time,and my ego. For a moment, i wondered whether it was the devil taking these good things away. But the msg confirmed that i was God and Him alone. He has dug deeper into d depths of my heart,and expanding the structure and capacity in my life for a bigger and greater work. i'll just leave this passage here as a reminder :

Matt 8:26
" He replied, You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"
The he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

People who havent chosen to follow God usually pray only when their circumstances get really bad.They seldom give God a second thought until the bottom falls out of their lives and then they hit their knees.
You're different.
You've made a choice to follow God.
For you to revert to panic prayers is like saying " i believe you'r a loving and kind God with my best interests at heart, but do you see what i'm going thru here?"
As a believer,you have the confidence in God unbelievers dont have.
Its this confidence that will carry you thru the breaking point and BEYOND.
Others hit that point and fall apart.
You wont.
You have faith.
Others may start looking to you when they loose their footing because you're always on solid ground.
You've prayed this before, but say it again."God, I'm Yours."
This time pray it with confidence in your voice and in your heart.
What ever life throws at you, you can handle itbecause you believe that one simpla statement.
"God, I'm Yours."

HAVE FAITH
BE CONFIDENT
STAND TALL
BELIEVE

thank You for everything dear Lord.

Defination : Perfect Heart

batman begins
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

One day a young man was standing in
the middle
of the town proclaiming that he had the most
beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd
gathered and they all admired his heart for it was
perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes,
they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful
heart they had ever seen. The young man was
very proud and boasted more loudly about his
beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the
crowd and said, 'Why your heart is not nearly as
beautiful as mine.' The crowd and the young man
looked at the old man's heart. It was beating
strongly, but full of scars, it had places where
pieces had been removed and other pieces put in,
but they didn't fit quite right and there were
several jagged edges. In fact, in some places
there were deep gouges where whole pieces were
missing. The people stared -- how can he say his
heart is more beautiful, they thought?

The young man looked at the old man's heart and
saw its state and laughed. 'You must be joking,'
he said. 'Compare your heart with mine, mine is
perfect and yours is a mess of scars and
tears.' 'Yes,' said the old man, 'yours is perfect
looking but I would never trade with you. You see,
every scar represents a person to whom I have
given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and
give it to them, and often they give me a piece of
their heart which fits into the empty place in my
heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have
some rough edges, which I cherish, because they
remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away,
and the other person hasn't returned a piece of
his heart to me. These are the empty gouges --
giving love is taking a chance. Although these
gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me
of the love I have for these people too, and I hope
someday they may return and fill the space I have
waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?'

The young man stood silently with tears running
down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man,
reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart,
and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old
man with trembling hands. The old man took his
offering, placed it in his heart and then took a
piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in
the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not
perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The
young man looked at his heart, not perfect
anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love
from the old man's heart flowed into his. They
embraced and walked away side by side.

Here for a second, gone the next.

double bass
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

hmm came accross this column by NST journalist Kalimullah Hassan. Iv been enjoying his writing so far. But this column written on yesterday 5thJune05 was somewhat mesmerising, thought provoking, but also brings along a cloak of sadness.

K.Hassan wrote:

We hardly ever know what to say to the close ones of those who depart so suddenly. I scoured books and surfed the Internet trying to find out what people say on such occasions.

But there never seems to be the right thing to say because only time heals grief. I came across a letter on the Internet written by a young child who had lost someone she loved. She wrote:

Dear God,

Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t You just keep the ones You have now?

We always find difficulty in accepting the inevitability of life. We have all gone through such personal tragedies in our own lives.

And unsurprisingly, someone always raises the question: "Why did I not do more? I could have made life happier (for the departed one)."

We all live with such regrets.

In an anonymous Internet posting titled If Tomorrow Never Comes, a tormented writer wrote:

If I knew it would be the last time that I’d see you fall asleep, I would tuck you in more tightly and pray to God, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door, I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise, I would videotape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute or two to stop and say "I love you", instead of assuming you would know I do.

If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day, I would not think, "Well I’m sure you’ll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away."

For surely there’s always tomorrow to make up for an oversight, and we always get a second chance to make everything right.

There will always be another day to say our "I love you’s", And certainly there’s another chance to say our "Anything I can do’s?"

But just in case I might be wrong, and today is all I get, I’d like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget that tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike, and today may be the last chance we get to hold our loved one tight.

Why wait for tomorrow when you can do it today?

For if tomorrow never comes, you’ll surely regret the day that you didn’t take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss and you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear, Tell them how much you love them and that you’ll always hold them dear, Take time to say "I’m sorry", "Please forgive me", "Thank you" or "It’s okay". And if tomorrow never comes, you’ll have no regrets about today.

As we grow older, and as we learn to accept that we will not live forever, we try to make the best of what we have.

But we keep learning new things and keep meeting extraordinary human beings who teach us that there are so many different perspectives to life.

A close friend of mine, a very generous and charitable human being, always says "it is more blessed to give".

He lives by what he preaches, trying to help people whenever he can.

But I never realised the depth of what he meant until he emailed me a story which I have always cherished. It is about a young man writing about a car given to his friend by his brother.

It is probably fictional but it tells us that we can always help make people happy and make ourselves happy. The story goes thus:

A friend of mine named Paul received a car from his brother as a present. One evening, when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.

"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.

Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me as a present."

The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated.

Of course, Paul thought he knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that.

But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels. "I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment. Then impulsively he added, "Would you like a ride in my car?"



"Oh yes, I’d love that."

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again.

"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while he came back, but he was not coming fast.

He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.

"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him and it didn’t cost him a cent.

"And some day I’m going to give you one just like it, then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the shop windows that I’ve been telling you about."

Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shiny-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable ride.

That evening, Paul learned what it meant when people say "It is more blessed to give..."

The lesson in all these is that we should not wait for tomorrow to do what we can today. There is never a "more right" time than the present to do the simple things that we can to make our lives and that of others happier.

Giving is a virtue that we could all easily adapt to.

It is not easy to be magnanimous all the time. Somehow, it has become the natural tendency for people, especially in the city, to be spiteful, selfish, self-centred, hurtful and malicious.

Altruism, philanthropy and humanity are getting to be rarer commodities in our world.

Back to me *michelle* again.
to anyone who reads this, if anyone is to worry about the amount of money needed to spent on getting a loved one a gift, taking em out to posh eat-outs, buying that Tiffany she always wanted, or getting the whole world for the person just to make them happy.. i bet there aint nothing wrong with that. But even a beggar could afford a smile, a hug, a kiss, to care, and to love.

"The greatest of ALL, is LOVE."

Shane West

Shane West
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

Eiiyerr when got something impulsive to write oni ahh..the system will suddenly become VV down wan ya no.. totally DOWN nehhh.. yuckzzz

Nvm..i shall type in in MsoftWord. Pastu ambil, copy , paste bile ni system jadi baik.

Was watching A Walk To Remember a few days ago. As usual, cried when I saw the poor Shane West cry. It was a very touching &heart warming story.Again, like something u feel would never happen to you in lifetimes. Still,who knows.

After reading a number of other people’s blogs, I wonder why some go on with stuff that are like…very down..like..always complaining about stuff, and how terrible life is. Well maybe it might not be the same for everyone, but, there still are many things to thank God for ..right? this movie inspired me to write about things I like. Things that would make me happy. It need not be expensive, but simple and nice. Something like the song ‘My favorite Things’ from The Sound Of Music.

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with stings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eye lashes
Silver white winters that melt into spring
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and slay bell and snitchzel with noodle
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when im feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel…soo bad..


Ok… now… about MY favorite things.haha gonna be fun. Not anything rhymy la..

I like.. polka dots, hot chocolate, dark chocolate,
dancing ladies (aka golden showers),
Sunrises, sunsets, clean towels, smiling children,
my 7 best friends, cold nights, cat fights,
a warm hand to hold, BIG BEAR HUGS, flying kisses,
lame jokes, soft curly hair, curry mee,
cheesecake, coffee, quotes by successful people,
romantic movies, jazz, 50s, 60s music, stage plays,
jazz bands, car rides, whispers, slow dances,
grooves, smiles, sleepy faces, short haircuts,
long walks, biology, people who are fleshy,
diversity, relationships, clean cuts…so on and so forth.

(ohh that reminds me, my fav actors.. happen to be those who sport short cleancuts and The nominees are : Jude Law, Hayden Christianson, Even Mcgregor, Denzel Washington, EdisonChen, Brad Pitt, John Mayer, Shane West and Adam Brody.) haha my ohh my.. what in the world am I blogging about.

Tu la.. if given a chance of doing whatever I want.. once in a while.

This here is a picture of Shane West. The guy that played Landon in A walk to Remember.and with much better acting skill if compared to Mandy Moore. Then again, why compare?

Tentang Dia

Gadis- in Tentang Dia
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

these pass few weeks, iv been longing to go to the cinema. Not so much for Kingdom Of Heaven, Star Wars3, or any other movie that i would have wanted to watch. But since no one i knew actually liked or mentioned about wanting to watch this movie,(and the only darling that did wasnt off yet) i thought that 4 the sake of my despeation, i'd just go by myself.so there i was lining up at TGV klcc full of enthusiasm, despite me doing this all alone which is is something i have never done before, buying my ticket for the movie i literally craved to watch.

From the maker of the teen-love movie "Ada apa dengan Cinta?"
a movie about friendship, kinship, relationship,faith, hope,& love,-

Tentang Dia.

Here in this pic, the gal named Gadis. in the movie,the boyfiend that she loved very much betrayed her by making out or literally slept with her best friend. Ever since,she became very very bitter, in anguish, and began to withdraw from her fiends and family and her guy classmate Randu, who was a very popula boy in school who liked her very much. Gadis would write about her feeling to "TUHAN" on her laptop.

One day when she was driving home, sad and all,in a beautiful blue metallic Honda jazz , she accidently hit another gal on the road, a gal named Rudi who was a tomboy but loved to write song lyrics. Rudi was heavily bruised on the arm but nothing too serious.Gadis offered to clean up the wound and sent udi to he workplace. Things go on. Rudi and Gadis became VV good friends.Rudi helped Gadis re-open up to the world again. And there was Randu who also frequently visited Rudi's workplace, a road-side restaurant and hung out thee till they closed the place,often leaving untouched food. Rudi figured that Randu too was going thru a tough pace in life, and often gave him one-liners of encouragement.

Rudi was sick for a long time, down with TB i think as she often coughed out blood. Gadis did not know. Rudi cared very much about Gadis, so much that it soon lead to Gadis thinking that Rudi was a lesbian because of what Rudi often said: "i will not let anyone hurt you anymore." Gadis felt disgusted and walked away. Rudi went after her to explain.When both were at opposite sides of the road, Rudi confessed who she actually was and that she lost her younger sister who was killed by her father at a very young age, and that she only loved Gadis as a younger sister. But bacause of the heavy traffic in between them, Gadis could not hear Rudi too clearly. Rudi was very sad of what Gadis thought of her.

On her way home from work, it began to rain heavily. Rudi walked home in the rain.While she stop to open her lyrics book, she saw the photos that she and Gadis had taken together. When blown by the strong wind,one of it flew onto the road, Rudi went to pick it up, she was hit but an oncoming car, and, died.

Co-incidently Gadis on-ed the tv to the news channel the next morning. to her shock, it was broadcasting an accident that happened the night before. It was the death if Rudi. Randu too happened to be wathcing the news and got to know of Rudi's death.

Gadis was broken, having lost everyone she really cared about. He Ex, her best friend, now..Rudi. One night Randu was calling for Gadis outside her house in a pouring rain. he told her that he would never bothe her ever again if only she said that she does not like him. Gadis in return poured out eveything that was in her heart to Randu. Randu said that he promised neve to leave her. Then they both got together lohhh..

Gadis caried a box full of paper planes which she had always been making everyday when she was down up to a rooftop of a very high building. The place Rudi took her in one of their outings, a place where she thought about thingsand hung out. Their place. she emptied the box of paper planes.

It was a wonderful movie. Not as substancial as Sepet but, touching. Coz it talkes about reality. Those stories were the real things which happened to real people in real life.It also talks about having hope to face tomorrow despite what happened today.

The actors on the other hand, did it all with real emotion. Audiences would know it. Coz when you do, it shows!!

i would love to watch movies, stories told by people of their lives. about events and happenings that have made an impact on their lives. Movies that captivate me are those that would make me say, "yea, at this time this is how i felt." that would make me think "what i did to overcome those stuff", how it felt liking a person and not being liked back. or how painful and excruciating it felt when someone you truly loved diead in YOUR arms. How to be loved, and loved back. Those feelings that could not be out into words, but could immediately be identified by actions,expressions, simple gestures, and tones of you voice. i like it when actors arent to much aware of the camera, and talking as if they have succesfully momorised the script by heart, word-for-word.

Ng Choo Seong in sepet did it like Jason was HIM. the real HIM. and His friend ah Keong was also the same person in real life. They were extreamly spontaneous. It makes me think what actually dives people to the cinema to watch movies like Cinta Fotocopi, Gila-Gila pengantin etc local movies who used the 'already famous peopel to make movies. The only thing they succed in doing is increasing the actor/singers popularity, PLUS the filmmakers actually get to SELL their movie. Why then do you think they always come up with already well-known people, to draw the blur(eyes only can see 'STARS')crowd to watch their sometimes exaggeratingly BIG budget movies?? What ARE they tying to sell?? hey, dont get me wrong but if the actors can ACT ir make the viewers feel something, that is good. really good. some malay drama actors ae good, like Rosyam Nor, Jallaludin Hassan. i for one still cant get it. Someone plz tell me. You just know when u walked out of the cinema, that you have watched something worth your money.

hehehe since when did i become a movie critic? whateverrrr...

Something Sincere

before school got to him
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

hahah wow.. i couldnt help but spend a minute just laughing at this lil boy. He's seen poking at the older kids in the truck..before school got to him. I wonder what on earth was going on on this lil guy's brains at the moment. Where did he pick up the guts to do that? Or was it his only of showing the bigger kids "who was boss" ? haha

All those things where gone, once we grew up. Imagine him all grown up, with cloths on ofcourse, i bet you woudlnt get to see anything more interesting than this.

mahnn..
i just finished my Bio1- okla, and Maths1 - totally suckz coz 1.not enough to finish 2.left my "maths-doing brains" at home.. and forgot to bring it when i really needed it. *sighhhhh*
99% gotta resit end on the year lahh..

something really weird has happened to me. counting from 10am on 17/5 until 6pm 18/5. After asking God for some really urgent sleep, i managed to have 1 hour sleep. that was from 5.30am-6.30am this morning. i woke up feeling alright, went through a day of 2 papers ok, reach home at 5pm today feeling not bad. on my way back from college, i even considered the idea of sleeping pills. At least 1/2 of it would do la. Just needed some sleep. to my success, without the pills but with some prayer, i managed to do a 6pm-8pm just now. Thank you Lord. I could do with more later.
i wonder,if a situation of shock and anxiety could have been the cause of this. nvm.

i thought id treat myself to a bit of The Storyteller.
This time, she wrote on her favorite quotes from all time greatest artists.

MY favs :

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs." - Ansel Adams

"Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better." - Andre Gide

and from The Storyteller herself>

"I believe that the great artists in the history of mankind were able to produce such inspired works of art because they saw the Words, heard the Sounds and felt the Love. And that unlike most of us, they looked and listened with clear, sincere hearts." - Yasmin Ahmad

The saying of not letting other define you,finally hit me as a real truth. And neither does your vocation, what you are good at doing. I think it is what you desire to do having looked into yourself deep enough, and knowing yourself well enough. Sincerity, now, is easier to stumble upon than to go looking for it. Coz i doubt you would find it. The best of it is heartfelt, seen in actions & unspoken.

I think Yasmin Ahmad portrayed her sincerity and understanding of life by making Sepet.& I bet this photographer was sincere when he took this picture of the lil guy bumming around.

The carebears-one of my favourite cartoons

carebears-one of my favourite cartoons
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

Thinking about this brings back soooo many memories.Wherever good feelings are nurtured and shared! Care-a-lot is where the Care Bears live. It's a star-speckled, rainbow-trimmed, cotton candy, cloud world that's as brightly beautiful as a summer sunset and as snug and loving as a mother's hug. Care-a-lot is a child's weightless wonderland—a "positively anything's possible" kind of place and a perfect playland. In the heart of Care-a-lot is Care-a-lot Castle, where the Care Bears gather to help others. It's home to the "Hall of the Heart", a beautiful gallery where the Care Bears meet around a heart-shaped table.


Where's Care-a-lot? It's here, it's there, it's everywhere there are hearts that love and those who care!
There was Braveheart, Tenderheart,Cheer bear, Champ bear, and Friend bear ...they would do the Care-Bear-Stare and force back all evil. And also the Care bear count down 4-3-2-1.

They were the SUPERSTARS of the 1980s. One of my favourtie cartoons besides Jem, My Little Pony, Moondreamers, Transformers, Gummy Bears, Gumby, Sesame Street, The Smurfs, and Noddy!

It has been a long week thats coming to an end pretty soon. I got all my resluts which were not as bad as i thought it would be, but still, bad.

Supposed to go clubbin' right now, but went to Alexis to chill instead.It was a time of sharing many truths about each other. We played a tivia game, that anyone could ask anything about anybody with an honest answe in return. Ofcoz we could pass if we really didnt want to answer.Between a special 2 of us, we discussed on things about each other. ans came to some conclusions. We reached a good agreement and that things would have to wait till both of us are a bit more grown up and also for me to finish my course. In ou story, it was as if it was picked right out of a review, the one i last posted. "How odd is it that one could find empathy with someone of a completely different race?" Its all about subjectivity, about the person.

iv spent many days thinking and rethinking, and re- rethinking about this. Should pause fo a month till the exams finish. We will wait and see.

Care bear ....STARE!!!!!!

sepet-eyes wide open

sepet-eyes wide open
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

This, again is one if the review articles from Kakiseni.com about the movie Sepet. (i just love the movie)
what caught and got me glued to this atricle was the way the write explained the word "sepet", how it has become a trademark fo particularly chinese guys. How it has come to define and distinguish people in society. a lot of it has been my unspoken thoughts. Here it goes:

Eyes Wide Open
Yasmin Ahmad’s Sepet looks at the romantic possiblities of colour-blind love

Sepet: to possess single eyelids, or used pejoratively, slit-eyed. The condition of being slit-eyed sometimes goes beyond its physical designations to enforce racial stereotypes. The sepet person is associated with certain personality traits: either a shifty inscrutability (you can’t read the person’s eyes), or handicapped by narrow-mindedness (surely someone with eyes like that is bound to have a limited field of vision).
There is much to be said about how sepet-ness is employed to categorise the racial Other. In Malaysia, for example, where the Malays form the dominant race, the otherness of the Chinese is expressed not via skin colour (having fair skin is still considered a virtue; compare the damning ‘hitam legam’, neutral ‘sawo matang’ and the almost-euphemistic ‘hitam manis’ with the praiseworthy ‘putih bersih’, ‘putih melepak’ and ‘putih berseri’) but by other physiognomic features, like the aforementioned ‘sepet’.

Sepet is also the name of a film by director Yasmin Ahmad. It concerns the romance between an 19-year-old Chinese illegal VCD seller, Jason (Ng Choo Seong) and Orked (Sharifah Amani), a 16-year-old Malay schoolgirl.

The film opens with a scene of Jason reading poetry, in Chinese, to his Peranakan mother. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the film: it turns out that the poem was written by an Indian poet (one assumes it to be Tagore), and Jason’s mother makes a remark on how odd it is that one can find empathy with someone of a completely different race. There’s a certain tinge of clumsy speechifying going on here, and one senses that the director is eager to establish her humanist credentials at this point.

But of course there’s more to the scene than that. Asian mothers always possess strange prophetic gifts, and in true mulut masin fashion, Jason is to discover that not only is empathy possible between people of different races, but also ta-da: love! One busy day among the bustle of Ipoh’s street markets, Orked visits his makeshift stall and makes some enquiries about Wong Kar Wai movies. Their exchange is brief, but long enough for them to be caught in the cross-hairs of Cupid’s crossbow.

It is to the director’s credit that she refuses to rationalise the instant attraction between her two leads: it is not the product of some deep-rooted scar (nobody was molested by a babysitter of another race, for example) or a superficial taste for the exotic. Of course one can do some lazy pop-psychology and state that Orked’s attraction towards Jason is an extension of her idol-worship of Jap-Chinese cutie, Takeshi Kaneshiro. But infatuation rarely blossoms into the kind of romance the two find themselves in, filled with the flush of endearments like ‘sayang’ and desolate pillow-burying sobs.

Much of the criticism of inter-racial relationships is that they are built on the fantasy of stereotypes. The White Knight. The Oriental Kitten. The Hypermasculine Indian Man. The Sopan-santun Malay Woman. There is always a lingering suspicion among its detractors that the glorification of the Other is accompanied by some level of ethnic self-loathing: The Redneck. The Personality-Deficient Wife. The Serve-Thy-Lord-and-Master Husband. Or quite simply, ‘He/she who reminds me too much of my father/mother’. This is when love is perceived as pathological, as a kind of fetish, because it involves objectification.

The point that Sepet makes is that quite often, inter-racial relationships happen precisely because of an inverse scenario: what the two leads are interested in is each other’s subjectivity. If the skin is a garment, then like all genuine and frantic lovers, they are more interested in what lies beneath. They do not, in other words, obsess about the texture of silk stockings or the smell of briefs.

The director makes a few other points too: racial categories are descriptive, not prescriptive, and even when they describe they are woefully inadequate. When you have a Peranakan in the cast, you know that’s always a big Up Yours to strict Chinese/Malay classifications. Orked’s maid (played to earthy perfection by Adibah Noor) listens to Thai pop songs. She duets to a Chinese song with Orked’s mother (Ida Nerina), a Cantonese serial addict. Who often converses with her husband (Harith Iskandar) in a mixture of English and Malay.

Sometimes, though, the film loses control of its own political subtext and the dreaded message starts to rear its ungainly head. And thus we have a long explication on the genesis of the Peranakans, and speculation on the racial identities of the legendary Malaccan heroes. We also have Orked explaining Franz Fanon to her friend, which does make her character come across as precociously intelligent, but also makes her sound like she’s spelling out the movie’s manifesto.

In my opinion, the scenes that really embody the complexities of living in a multiracial society like Malaysia are the ones that are wordless. A particular scene comes to mind: Jason selects a song on his karaoke player – that classic whose lyrics go along the lines of, ‘Dia datang, dengan lenggang-lengguknya’. The intro sounds like something on Middle Eastern strings, and he’s miming air guitar to it. He freestyles to the music, his arms spread wide, hands flapping, making ducking movements. You might ask, how does this Chinese boy dance to this Malay music? Or rather, how does anyone dance to this music at all?

But it’s happening, before your very eyes. Jason’s friends ignore him, as if this is a routine they’re used to, or they’re deliberately ignoring his impish appeal for attention. The fascinating thing about the dance is that it’s impossible to tell if it’s parody or tribute; the expression on Jason’s face is a curious mixture of self-absorption and mock-seriousness. If it’s mockery, then is the gesture racist, the way people make fun of Indian dance by trying to move their heads in a horizontal plane or refer to lion dance as ‘tong-tong-chang’? If it’s not, then isn’t this one strange boy? But you watch him dance again and you think, who cares, it’s a body that’s moving to music, and it’s communicating such joy, and perhaps that’s what matters.

Ng Choo Seong delivers a natural, charming performance as Jason, although one might quibble a little with his sophisticated English diction. He is ably matched by Sharifah Amani, who manages to segue into headstrong and wistful modes with equal ease. The director’s choice of locations reveal an indisputable affection for the city of Ipoh, with its street vendors, generic fast-food chains, old-world photo studios and frenzied traffic.

I feel lucky, and I’m not gloating here, that I was able to attend a private screening of the uncut version of Sepet. I had been told that one of the censors’ consternations involved the fact that Orked had not broached the subject of Jason converting to Islam, and thus proceeded along their dogmatic agenda by circumcising the film eight times. There will be those who will consider Sepet a film that stretches plausibility, avoiding the ‘realities’ of inter-racial relationships. Where are the parental oppositions? How convenient to have authority figures who are liberal-minded. What happened to the inevitable, crashing realisation of cultural incompatibilities? Who will sembahyangkan whom?

Yasmin Ahmad will, of course, be accused of a rose-tinted utopianism. One function of art is of course to reflect reality as we know it. But another much-neglected function is to propose other realities, to portray the exceptions, because these lead us to imagining possibilities. I think there are parts of Sepet where the sentimentality or grandstanding could have been restrained. But I still believe it represents a landmark attempt at articulating the subject of a multiracial Malaysia.

In one scene of Sepet, Jason asks Orked about the decline of Malay cinema from its gilang-gemilang heydays. I recall a scene from P. Ramlee’s Ali Baba Bujang Lapuk, where Leng Husain basically performed a yellowface act (much like Paul Runi and Loiuse Rainer in ‘The Good Earth’) as a cobbler credited as ‘Apek Tukang Kasut’. The famous scene involves Sarimah leading the blindfolded Apek through the streets of Baghdad. They sing a duet, and much of its humour lies in the Apek’s exaggerated Chinese accent (one of his lines go: ‘semua hitam lagi banyak gulap, macham olang Habsyi negeli Alab’).

Contrast this with one indelible scene from Sepet, during the moment right after Jason’s first encounter with Orked. The historical blindfold is off. A medium shot of Jason, with his undeniably Sepet eyes, the very symbols of inscrutability, even hostility. But the expression conveyed on his face, via those eyes, is unmistakable. Curiosity, enchantment, yearning – the boy is lovestruck. At this moment, I would like to think that Malaysian cinema (or at least the films made by Malay directors) has come of age, because we are looking through his eyes.

ohhh musnt miss this: LOve On Trail

kkk.. this is the post from Yasmin Ahmad's own blog with i wanted to put here as a keepsake.i forgot about it but stubbled accross it at Kakiseni.com, so i thought, might as well.. its a wonderful piece of reality. and people who never got a taste of it. so all of this is from Kakiseni.com

Love On Trial

We the rakyat, as represented by the Censorship Board, are being spared of Yasmin Ahmad's new film Sepet, which features - god forbid! - interracial romance. It does not seem to matter that every year, we the rakyat have also seen many of Yasmin Ahmad's famously muhibbah Petronas advertisements on TV, with their interracial teenage romance and interracial neighbourliness.

Following her previous film Rabun, about the love between an elderly Malay couple, Yasmin, the romantic with an edge, have decided to make Sepet.
Here's the cute synopsis from the website: "19-year old Ah Loong is in charge of a stall selling pirated vcd's. Contrary to what you might expect someone of his social standing to be, Ah Loong is an incurable romantic with an unlikely hobby - he loves to read and write poetry. Quite content to carry on being the Romeo of the slums, Ah Loong's life takes a sudden turn one day when a 16-year old Malay schoolgirl arrives at his stall in search of Wong Kar-Wai's films."
Sepet won the Best ASEAN Feature at the recent Malaysian Video Awards, and has been invited to the San Francisco International Film Festival, Barcelona Asian Film Festival, and Creteil International Women Directors Festival. But our National Censorship Board has imposed nine cuts on the film. If the filmmakers fail to cooperate, the film will be banned.

The following is an account, in Yasmin's own words, of what happened during the appeal with the censors. -- ed.
~ ~ ~

There were, if my memory serves me, 12 people in that viewing theatre.

Somewhere in the middle of "Sepet", Jins Shamsuddin, 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 someone called Abdul Aziz:

"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.

THis was the reality Yasmin Ahamd had to face before we even got to watch the movie. But however the matters of the heart triumphed.

jason and orked. another wonderful piece

jason and okied. another wonderful piece
Originally uploaded by crimson2810.

hehe now how cute is this?? This is adorable and very touching at the same time. its like..."wah.. the guy like her so much sampai wanna wear t-shirt with her face on it.." then again, best on-screen couple mahh..
People in advertising really can do wonders. i wonder..in real life, how many people have been through or are even living this same story. i for one am. and boy, is it interesting, confusing, and wonderful. hmmm lost for words la.

The movie makes it look so simple. For one, there no opposition of WHAT SO EVER from boths sides of the family. Thrue la coz, ae u gonna marry the person or their family.
But to think again, i think its both. When u marry, u mary INTO the family, and thus the relationships between every member counts. Even if u decide to stay apart from the in-laws, still , u'v caused a drift between family bonds. If only every one was as thoughtful and as understanding rite. aihhhh wat 2 do??? Can i just wait and see? Or must i choose what i want to see? *oh im darn full after those Mcds*

got my Mechanics trial results today. was ok, but with a lot of bonus marks la.. if not, i really dont know what would have been the out come.Bio 1 and Maths 1 will be in exactly one week. and im planning to go check out a club in KL on friday. hmm exams next week + clubbing on friday?? what the????