Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Adoi!! Comelnye!!!! *

OKaay! Last youtube post for today... this week... the entire freaking Easter! But this is just too cute not to post!



Alright, gotta start looking for all the time I've wasted browsing through MADtv and Bobby Lee clips.

*Malay for: Oh my!! So cute!!!!

Child heroes or child zeroes?

Since one Muhamad Firdaus Harris (who could not swim) jumped into a pool to save a four-year-old from drowning, they have reinstated the Hang Tuah award after 20 years for courageous bravery in children. Or to quote:

For 23 years [since 1960], many child heroes received the award, named after the Malay warrior known for his strength of character and the nobility of the causes he served. These were children who put themselves in harm’s way to save the lives of others.
I don't know about you, but opening up the papers and telling your young ones "Eh, look! If you risk your life to save a drowning adik, you also can win award one and can also meet the Queen!" [sic]. Sure, courage and valour shouldn't go unrewarded but by making a big deal out of it... quite a thoughtless message you're sending out there.

And to add comic relief to the whole issue - along comes 60 year old Mohamed Nor Omar, the first recipient of the award who's complaining about being a forgotten child hero. I like how he says:
...people had forgotten him and had not given him the proper respect as the country’s first child hero.
Thus yesterday
a Chief Minister, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, paid him a long overdue visit, gave him 10,000 Ringgit from the state government and promised to give financial help to his youngest daughter who is only 15 and furthermore APOLOGISED for the lack of recognition in the past.

Huh??? What is there to apologise for? Is the state obliged to help every single child hero for the rest of their lives? How could I have missed out on this point while growing up? Why did they not teach us about this in Moral studies instead of inventing ridiculous situations of "What would you do if you ran over a farmer's cow (with your Kembara) in the middle of a kampung?" (CL's version includes angry villagers running towards you with pitchforks and parangs but whatever). Now they can include more realistic questions like "Why would you want to save a small child from drowning?" - because you can win the Hang Tuah award for an act of bravery [1 point for listing down appropriate moral nilai or value] and thus be supported by the state for the rest of your life which is rational and sayang kepada nyawa diri sendiri (love for one's own life) [2 points for 2 other nilais].

And what about everyday heroes? What about that fat girl who caught a thief by sitting on him? Or the little girl who ran back into a burning house to save her baby brother? Or the wonderful person who caught the 'ear squat' incident on camera phone and exposed the inhumane actions of the Royal Malaysian Police Force?

I think real heroes don't sit around complaining about a lack of recognition. Real heroes don't even need to put themselves in harms way thinking "Hey, I'm doing a noble deed!". Real heroes do what needs to be done, because its the right thing to do. And that's all.

Sounds like one of May's thought provoking questions:
When I make a decision to do the 'right thing', is it because I sincerely want to do the right thing for its own sake, or because I want to feel good about myself?
Is it?

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Football's only sexy when you can see their faces...

Football has never been a god-given talent for me. You see, I can't get the offside rule, can't remember names or teams or premierships or leagues and I spend half the game bugging Lionel with "What happened?" to which I'll get back a snappy "Watch lah!" or else a good case of the ignoramus.

Anyway, yesterday Lionel decided that the footballers on the screen were just too small for his liking... no, not really... so we trundled up the Victoria line to Seven Sisters together with Lu and Khairiah. I was feeling really hyped. Tottenham Hotspurs vs. West Brom. My second live football match is something to be proud of! (I was also feeling hyped because Lu gave me his last piece of sushi and carbs really perk me up! I'm a fun tong (rice pot)... it explains the thunder thighs!)
Me and my rarely worn Spurs cap had to fight the wind to make it to White Hart Lane, but once I got there, I swear the deafening roars would have swept my cap off faster than the wind. We had bets on the game being extremely exciting, only because West Brom was desperate not to be kicked out. And it really was a heart clenching first half with 1-0 to West Brom and I thought the guy beside me was about to collapse from a burst artery as he hurled abuses at West Brom and continuously coached the Spurs players from the upper east stands.

Nevertheless as exciting as it was, I had to entertain myself by giving the Korean Spurs striker YP Lee several names. In the first half he was Kim Jong Il. Towards half time he became Pak My Kha and finally he was christened Ginseng Boy! Lionel was quite amused that I was amusing myself, but I sure wasn't done with names. The moment West Brom substituted with a Japanese guy - Sushi Boy was born!

During half time, things became even more complicated - I had to find a ladies toilet amongst the masses of testosterone. Not only did I have to try and spot a female sign, I had to push my way through several beefy, beer guzzling, white men. Not exactly my dream situation. If it were, they would all be Ewan McGregor. Upon realising I was clearly the minority, I spent the second half of the game amusing myself by yelling out to the players in Cantonese and Malay. Mr Excitable next to me wasn't to be outdone and proceeded to jump off his seat and waved his fist threateningly to the players who were decidedly ignoring him.

Luckily Tottenham decided to score in the second half with an extremely tension filled penalty goal which saved Mr Excitable from an early death.

The verdict? I like football matches, only when I get to make a nuisance of the players and give the Asian ones funny names.

Me, Lionel, Lu and Khairiah - happy that we made it worth our money (10 quid a goal!)

Lionel and me with my Spurs cap. Girls like me don't take sides. You just love the team they love.

No reason at all

Haven't been able to get this song out of my head for a few months now. Think I'll put it here for safe keeping

Softly now,
You owe it to the world
And everyone knows that you're my favourite girl
But there're some things in life that are not meant to be
I'm not meant for you and you're not meant for me
Here's to our problems
And here's to our fights
Here's to our achings
And here's to you having a good life
From me
Good life

Softer now,
You owe it to yourself
And don't think that you will be left on the shelf
Cause there's someone for you and there's someone for me
Like me you'll meet them eventually
Here's to your lover
And here's to my wife
Here's to your children and here's to you having a good life
From me
Good life

Louder Now,
You've lost all your pain
You're married with children and happy again
And now I'm regretting the move that I made
Fatal mistakes are so easily made
Enough of my problems they only cause fights
Forget that I rang you
And promise you'll have such a
Beautifully happy and painlessly romantic
Good life
From me
Good life

-Francis Dunnery

Monday, March 27, 2006

Public perceptions...

The wearing of the tudung (hijjab/head scarf) has always been an issue wherever I've been. No, not because I wear it, but because I come from a Muslim country and well, people always expect you to have an opinion about it.

Well, I don't have an opinion. It isn't my religion and so I shouldn't. But this short video by On Par productions says everything that society thinks about the tudung in the 21st century.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Invasion of the Amar

I woke up yesterday morning to find 2 cartons of lime diet coke and a box of krispy kremes in the kitchen. There was a bottle of Small Talk 'bed hair' wax in the bathroom and several bottles of facial products I never use. And the living room smelt of overpowering Vera Wang perfume and stripey scarves.

Yup, the Amar has landed. And my little flat is now a minefield of everything metrosexual.

When Amar rolled down to London, quite unannounced, and planted himself in our living room it took us awhile to realise:

"Hey, are you here because there's no one in Warwick to celebrate your birthday?"

The boy turns 22 today. It's 3pm and he's still sleeping. Maybe he's feeling old. It can't just be the clocks going forward. We went all the way to Selfridges to buy him a Mandoline (which is a fancy way of saying food slicer and grater). We also put 4 candles on a Krispy Kreme for him to blow out. We were feeling generous.

In return, Amar made Cachaca from a huge ass bottle of sugar cane liquor he bought from Selfridges (which resulted in Lionel and I bumping into him at the same time we were buying the Mandoline which is too stupidly big to hide).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other exciting things happened this weekend. It's finally the end of term, and after submitting the Finance and Financial Management coursework around noon, I sat in the computer labs vegetating - trying to take in the surrealness of having absolutely nothing to do. Its a creepy feeling... of time passing by so slowly when there are no deadlines to meet.

A few hours later, I managed to grasp the concept of freedom and joined Odac Batch XVI for dinner at Chinatown. Wee Lee and his girlfriend, Julie, were visiting from the US and so was Thanan, who managed to catch some sort of bug from the Frenchies in Paris which didn't seem to affect his all too kemp sense of humour or his very American accent ("Twalk to da hand"). Lester gave us very strict instructions to meet at the Big T at Chinatown at 6.30pm. Being Odac, no one really knew what he meant by the Big T and to Lester's annoyance we all arrived somewhat together at Leicester Square tube station at 7pm.

It was rather funny that it was raining after dinner. I thought Batch XVI was rain repellent. Or maybe it was me and Batch XVII being rain prone.

Anyway, Saturday got even more exciting. Lionel's classmates, Sebastian and Gary, were celebrating their birthdays at Busaba Eathai (on Store Street, highly recommended!). We ended up at a pub after dinner which seemed like a good idea at first until I had a Breezer and a pint of Fosters in front of me. I'm not sure why, but the Thai food had made me feel really parched and downing rum alcopops and beer in quick succession is really not a smart way of quenching your thirst. But I do some pretty dumb things sometimes. Besides, I've always held my liquor well... maybe too well most times, its pretty shitty being one of the most sober around... but point of the story is, I ended up regurgitating almost half my dinner.

Now puking when you're wasted is one thing (and something I haven't tried yet). Puking when you're still fully sober really isn't funny. Puking out a pretty expensive dinner... well that's just me being a calculative Malaysian.

Later that night, at Jun and Matt's house party, I had to make CL watch me so I wouldn't take even a sip of alcohol. That didn't really seem to work, as Matt kindly spiked my lemonade with vodka and I could taste my dinner again. Setting my cup down, I spent the rest of the evening only touching solid foods. I risked the jelly being alcoholic but well, you only live once.

So there I was, sitting in a corner, almost alcohol free and thinking - its shitty to be the one damn sober person at a party with so much free flowing liquor! Not only did it make me realise how the lack of alcohol can make one feel old and anti-social (it was a junior's party and you could count the number of 3rd years on one hand!), it also made me wonder about something Jere said a few days ago when I told him I was preparing slides for a Christian Praise and Worship Session

Jere: No!! You're kidding right??? Charlotte Yeow! Don't play games with me!
Me: Huh?? What? I don't seem like the kinda person who does this sort of thing?
Jere: No... I thought you were more of a 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor.

Oh thanks. Years of trying on the 'Charlotte the sweet (and sometimes anal)' facade has been eroded by:

Hi, I'm Charlotte and I'm an alcoholic.

Anyway, weekend's almost over and we're going out to celebrate Amar's birthday at some Greek place. At least I think its Greek. Let see if its worth his fancy schmancy food slicer.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Just one day more...

Easter holidays are so close I can almost press my face into its sweaty palmed, nightmarish revision filled, midnight oil burning weeks!

And yet, here I am vegetating in the Computing Department trying to print past year papers. Last I checked, I was number 105 in the queue. My print jobs will be ready in time for wrapping Christmas presents.

After this am out for a night on the town. Chinatown that is. Wee Lee and Thanan are here from the US and Lester has given us strict instructions to meet in the middle of the Big T. I'm not sure what that means, I'll just walk up and down Gerrard Street until I find them.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Making exams easier? Why? Too hard ah?

Ooh! Big news! Our Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein is making extreme education reforms ala Tony Blair. While Tony the tiger is on a warpath to curb discipline in schools and improve the level of reading, Hishammuddin has taken the "relax-lah" approach and is making the way for easier exams with less subjects and demoting their importance.

"What for?" my anti-rote learning, anti-memorisation, Singaporean (quite contradictory, right?) boyfriend asks. "Exams too hard ah?"

"Must be lah, I think... so hard yet number of As in SPM keep increasing every year. Now 10A1s not normal adi, like that is sub standard. Now must get at least 15As!"

There's an obvious non-correlation here. And thus the Education Minister has decided exams don't seem to separate the cows from the sheep and so, lets not try and review the exam system and make questions more analytical, lets not involve more critical thinking. Lets take the easy way out - take out more subjects, put in more practical/project based assessments. After all a subjective evaluation will make it easier to tell cow from sheep now. (And this way if we give more marks to a particular segment of society, no one can argue what! It's all subjective).

Now some people would think this is a great move away from the old fashioned exam based system. But in a young country like Malaysia - where our exams are barely internationally recognised, where we have only just made the switch to teach in English, where teaching is a lowly paid profession (and these days you only become a teacher if you don't have the SPM/GCSE results to get a better job), where meritocracy in scholarship awards is still a new fangled idea - you can't bring in a system like this. We'll fall apart.

Good Malaysian teachers (of whom I've only met about 8 in my life) will make it succeed. But what about the other 80% of incompetant teachers whom I've had the joy of meeting? I'll tell you what more project work will be like. In chemistry it will mean following a list of instructions as if baking a cake and instead of asking "why it oxidises" or "did the covalence bonds matter" it will be "teacher, solution not enough lah"... "teacher, this bunsen burner no gas"... followed by an inept teacher being unable to give answers or coaxing her young students to think. Worse still, I can imagine the project work for History, for 'The effects of WWII on South East Asia" will be directly plagarised from the internet, and then translated into Malay to avoid being caught. And no one will be the wiser.

And they want this to start from primary school? What other projects can you give young kids that aren't already being done? "Fototropisme in a shoebox"? (I did that in primary 4, ok?) What if the poor kid's taugeh beans (green beans) refuse to grow? Give the kid a D which forever plague him?

Here's what we really need in our exam system! We need kids to pick up math much faster and earlier. We need kids to pick up critical reading before they hit secondary school. We need more subjects to be taught in English (do you know how much more History I could have learnt!!! I think I would have learnt so much more if we were allowed to debate History in class). We need a marking system where keywords matter NOT the exact replication of phrases (i.e. Moral Studies - in fact we need to do away with this exam altogether). We need more creative and better set exam questions with a proper answer scheme that isn't sold to Sasbadi for publication rights.

We need so much more. I could rant for days. But I have to make a call and get to Uni to hand out hoodies. Sorry for the abrupt end. Mud coloured EE hoodies await.

Monday, March 20, 2006

I've forgotten the lyrics to this one...

Third post in a day... I get distracted too easily.

I think my current playlist is outdated. I need new music (but shush! Counting Crows and Tori Amos are ageless). I haven't properly listened to the radio for 3 years now. Tell me something new. No, play me something new.

This is project 'play me a new song'

Tell me your current favourite song(s). Mine's Good Life by Francis Dunnery. It makes me remember. Its depressing.

Ich spreche keine Deutsche and the misfortunes of taking on a fourth (fifth?) language

Hilft mir!

I'm not sure German is taking to me as much as I'm taking to it. Which isn't much to begin with.

Currently I'm memorising lists of adjectival endings (and muddling them up in the process) and I'm just sick and tired of dissecting a language into objects, subjects, imperfect, dative, genitive... when did language become a science? Definite article + adjective + noun (plural or singular?). It's a freakish form of math and this engineer needs to get use to it before Thursday's oral and written exam.

I've taken English grammar way too much for granted (Malay grammar on the other hand has hardly any use other than sitting for SPM/GCSE). Tenses and sentence structures that come so easily to me in English are like a major disability in German - and that's just written German.

I foresee myself staring blankly at the oral examiner on Thursday. "Wie bitte? Ich verstehe nicht. Bitte wiederholen Sie die Frage?" (repeat while(true) )

Guns in the Hands of Babes II

It's been what, three years since my brother had his lucky escape from the chaotic mutiny that is National Service - and three years since its notorious beginnings the ministries (note plural!!) still haven't come to a consensus on the use of firearms?

NS Training Council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the proposal to include the firearms module would be put on hold until approved by the Defence Ministry.

“I received a lot of queries from parents regarding this issue this morning when they sent their children here. In fact, they are very eager to let their children participate in the basic firearms training.

“But all I can say now is there will be no firearms module until we get approval from the ministry,''


No, seriously! Which parent said that? Welfare and Child abuse organisations ought check in on them.

I remain steadfast in support of NO FIREARMS for NS. If they were training to be soldiers or in voluntary military service - by all means, please learn to use firearms for the sake of defending our country. BUT National Service has never been (and this has been quoted time after time by the great defence minister himself) a military conscription. We CANNOT compare ourselves to Singapore's NS and ask that we hold guns because they do (and do NOT argue this point with me, you will end up sounding ridiculous). They are training an army. We are not.

Learning to use firearms doesn't build character and doesn't instill discipline. So what is the point of it being brought into National Service besides a being a great waste of the RM 4.4bil we're saving by increasing the price of petrol?

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Malaysian Night in The Star!!!

Oh I'm so proud of MSoc! They've gone one step further in reputation!

See Ghastly sights and spooky thrills

And as Tao would say "It's because of our teaching..."

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Asian Boys and other stories


If you haven't made up your mind, I'd reeeeally encourage you to watch Asian Boys tonight. The homophobic squeemishness only lasts for about 20 minutes into the play, but after that you really marvel at the brilliant little plots by Alfian Sa'at and the wealth of gay issues you never knew existed in non-gay Singapore. The actors (and actress) were very convincing, despite some of them actually being straight with the exception of our very own drag queen - Fidel "Stage Whore" Anaya. So if you've got 2 pounds to spare... go to LSE tonight and watch it! Well worth my money. Lets see if Rojak tonight can come a close second.

As for other stories, its great to feel a big sigh of relief wash over me as I can finally stop worrying about wasting away my summer, knowing that I will be spending it cooped up in a little office in Hong Kong. Except for the fact that that office will be carrying the name Goldman Sachs.

And as for more stories - its coming to the end of term. That means 5 weeks to the start of exams. And I'm not sure I've learnt anything at all this year. Prepare for a barrage of study-induced rants littering these pages. I'm not gonna apologise for any of it.

** Later Edit **
Did I forget to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day yesterday?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I wanted a Guinness clover hat but didn't know where to get one.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Linstead, I'll be back!

So here's to another year at Linstead.

I finally made up my mind and sent an email back to Anthony, the warden, accepting the position. And then a letter to the Willis Jackson warden, rejecting the position. And then a letter to Teresa telling her how sorry I am that I won't be living with her next year. I really am sorry. Teresa's been like the best senior from the start of my days at Imperial, and now its closing in on three years and the words Final Year are growing clearer.

It's vague, it's unpredictable, it's scary... but worse of all... I'm afraid it's going to be oh so lonely.

Anyway, congratulations are in store for the new EESoc committee, and their new treasurer. Gary's going to be a great chair. And when I think of it, does anyone get to be a great table? I'm disappearing until Gary starts putting bags of money in my hands. THEN we'll talk!

Will be watching Asian Boys tomorrow. Yes, it's as every bit as dodgy as the title implies. A play on the Asian homosexual scene. Anyone else wanna come along? Fidel's acting!

Crunch time!!!

After the agonisingly long process of applying for internships, guess what I've succeeded the most in? Getting re-app positions!!!

I mean, think about the statistics of it. I made 8 or 9 internship applications... and I'm still waiting to hear from some of them while most of them rejected me straight out. I applied to just 2 halls to become a re-app and I get both of them. And you'd think one of them would reject me, just to make life a tad easier.

So now, quick - IC people - Willis Jackson or Linstead? I think one of them is the more obvious choice, just for the proximity, the food, and for old times sakes. When I went back to Linstead last night for the re-app meeting, the carpet smelt just like it used to when we used to hang around outside the dining hall after dinner and do stupid things for the camera. Ahh... nostalgia.

BUT Willis Jackson is newer, bigger, and Teresa will be there (who I might add has been bugging me to choose WJ or in her own words "You'd better move in missy!") and the carpets don't really smell and the colour themes are interesting and the common room is huge. But its far and there's no food and I've never lived there before.

How??? I've to make up my mind by today!!! This is killing me! I'd wish I was asking "Google or Goldman?" instead!

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Dumb terrorists in the making

Here quick! Hide the evidence!

Mustapa, will you turn a blind eye?

This very humble letter in yesterday's issue of The Star (Malaysian English daily) caught my eye.

An Open Letter to Mustapa

The good doctor, Azmi Sharom (an associate prof in the Law faculty of Universiti Malaya), is a brave man indeed - questioning the new education minister and putting his career on the line. I salute him, and all other academics 'keeping it real' back home.

Will cut and paste excerpts if I have the time.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

If you are in EEE or ISE please take 2 minutes now to go to www.union.ic.ac.uk/vote to vote Charlotte for treasurer, and if you're a doll you'll also vote Gary aka Siulun Leong for Chair. Thank you, now please continue reading.

I'm trying to muster enough courage to go to the Vidal Sassoon Academy for a badly needed haircut. Would anyone like to go with me? I'm not sure that I can face the scissors of a drunken bohemian Russian by myself.

Malaysian Night 2006 was last Saturday and my favourite bits are in the videos below

1. The immensely creative Hakka-inspired Dikir


2. The Chinese fan dance (especially Wei Li's bit)


3. Ayish's Bharatnatyam solo bit


4. And the funky Hip-hop bit


I would put up all the songs too, but there aren't any good videos of them and Alan's beautiful voice just doesn't come through quite as well on a limited bandwidth. Oh well, I know the ex-comm's tired of me saying this but - SEE! I TOLD you Alan could sing!!!

All videos are courtesy of Tock. And as much as we (the ex-committee) loved M-Night 2006 (I mean the acting, the jokes, the whole plot was WOW)... we couldn't help meeting up the next night at As Greek As It Gets for a 'bitching' session. Or in other words, we were just trying to relive our own M-Night memories through the latest one.


That's the old team - CL, Cheng Chun, Tock, Nicole, Tao, me and Jia Hong... and you can just about see half of Ayish! Ah... days gone by...

I have a feeling Amar is rolling his way down to London from Warwick as I type. The darkening clouds have to be a sign.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Happy Birthday, Anu Babu!

Yes, I do give my friends strange names. I doubt they appreciate such affection, but nevertheless -Here's to one more year, Anu! Older, Wiser and Fatter! It's about time you put on a bit more weight and stopped resembling Skeletor! Imagine, next birthday (or the next, next birthday?) you'll be DOCTOR Anushia - ready to be set loose on the unsuspecting disease-ridden public. Beware of her wielding scapel and latex gloves in skeletal hands!

Oh and because I assume you're rather confused by now, no that isn't a photo of Anu and me above. In fact, its a photo of my sister with a friend who strangely resembles Anu. Here's a more accurate one:

Anu, me, and Sugi outside Swensons in SS2 - which we had to sneak Anu to cos according to
Anu's daddy, my neighbourhood is a 'dangerous place' to be!

That's us, some four or five years ago, before we set out to destroy the world as potential doctor and engineers. Oh, and for my adoring public - yes, there was a point in time when I didn't give a damn about my hair. Compare that with this:

Me, Sugi and Anu at Anu's VERY belated 21st birthday dinner - some 9 months after her actual birthday!

4 or 5 years, coupled with the lack of sleep and coursework/dissertation deadlines strangely makes everyone look A LOT better! Oh and owning a digital camera helps too. I mean it even makes the guys look so grown up!

Sugi, Ravi, Sharmila, Ramnath, Anu, Prashant and Me
Just for fans of Bunga Raya's & Coconuts (M-Nite 2005), yes that is
the original Ravi who inspired me to create our beloved lead character!


And just for your birthday, Anu, I'm making you feel nostalgic. That's my present to you. You can thank me later... and also scold me for wishing you a day after your birthday. In my defence I have a pile high of excuses, but I'll save them for later. *HUGS*

Monday, March 06, 2006

A vote for Charlotte, is a vote for organisational freakiness!

It's election time again, and this time I'm running for EESoc Treasurer (read my manifesto here). And what do I stand for? Immaculate accounts and overall transparent subsidies! Now be a dear and go tell that to all your friends in EEE!

I've got to work on my campaign posters. Anyone wanna help?

Friday, March 03, 2006

George Clooney, reigning Hamas king!

Am I the only one who thinks the new Hamas political leader, Khaled Meshaal and George Clooney were switched at birth?

I mean, take a look at this:
And then, go watch Syriana:
Uncanny isn't it?