Summer '09: Receving My First (Mistaken) Racial Remark

As the title goes, I can cross that off my list of things to experience in America. My 11-months uncut hair has given me the license to look like a Hispanic. Hence, the "(Mistaken)" in my post. The story goes like this:

I was waiting in line for the 126 NJ Transit bus to Hoboken at Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal after enjoying the night at Roseland Ballroom watching Rise Against and Billy Talent besides moshing to Rancid in between. There I saw this short, half-bald white guy talking to one of the gate operators.

When he was done he passed by in front of me and shoved me with his hand. After walking four to five steps while mumbling something he stopped and said "Papi, fuck you!" Then he left whilst the people lining-up behind were laughing in bewilderment.

I don't know if he's inherently racist or just pissed because USA lost to Mexico 5-0 in yesterday's Gold Cup final (it seems Americans DO care about their soccer) but it's kinda funny though that he totally mistook me as a Hispanic since I'm Asian through and through. It gives me a bad impression on New Yorkers and the city in general: ridiculous parking fees, dearth of public restrooms, people who are less friendly and helpful & now this xenophobe but I can accept that it's just part and parcel of life in metropolitan America.

Green Day 21st Century Breakdown Gig Recap

Finally, I can die a happy person. I have seen the five bands I want to see in America: it started this March with Dropkick Murphys followed by Bruce Springsteen, Explosions In The Sky, Less Than Jake and topped off with the first band that got me into music: Green Day. So, here's the random things I've experienced during & after the concert at the Spectrum, South Philly.

• After the opening act, The Bravery, was done I went to the restroom and saw two girls queueing into the men's. They made a smart choice since they knew that lining up into the women's will take ages & the men's line was pretty quick.
• Five minutes before Green Day started, a giant pink bunny came on the stage with bottles of Miller Lite (I saw it was light blue in color; product placement, duh!). That bunny proceeded to dance around and "drank" the three bottles. Simply weird since there were a lot of kids and teenagers at the show.
• A girl with a red Phillies tee went on stage and was "saved" by "Reverend" Billy Joe Armstrong during the East Jesus Nowhere. I think the girl was really shocked when the pyrotechnics exploded midway through the song.
• A saxophonist came on stage and did a solo during The Static Age & a disco ball descended up on the crowd for Are We The Waiting.
• During the hour mark (the show was more than two & a half hours long), Green Day played the oldest song of the set: 1992 Kerplunk's 2000 Light Years Away. A timeless classic before Dookie made Green Day the band they are.
• King for a day! Princess by dawn. King for a day! In a leather thong. King for a day! Princess by dawn. Just wait till all the guys get a load of me...
• Being totally fan-friendly, they let three fans sing three verses of Longview & for the encore, one fan played guitar for 3/5 of the epic Jesus Of Suburbia!
• While waiting for the train back to Ardmore, I had a chat with an old lady who also went to the show. Apparently, her son bought her a ticket as a Mother's Day present (Oh, she guessed my age as 23. Am I getting old faster...?)

Musings Of A Manchester City Fan

You saw it right: the Sky Blues, the Citizens, Blue Moon Rising, City Till I Die.

Why side with the less glamorous, always underachieving blue half of Manchester then? I have always been the non-conformist, pro-minority, underdog loving type so when I first got into football (as rest of the world calls it) i.e. the English Premier League, I just wanted to dissociate myself from the typical Malaysian who set Manchester United as their default team hence I became a fan of their local rivals. In a way, I would jump in joy & have that smile of satisfaction when United got beaten by City in a local derby especially two seasons ago when we did the double over them (thank you Sven-Goran Eriksson!).

Fast forward to the summer of 2009, Manchester City under the managerial team of Mark Hughes and Garry Cook bankrolled by the Middle Eastern oil money of Sheikh Mansour Zayed Al-Nahyan are on a project to make this Eastland club one of the big guns in the league. With four new players in the bag & two on the way, here is my opinion on City's transfer dealings:

1. Striker Diversity - the acquisition of Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz added to the incumbents Robinho, Craig Bellamy & Valeri Bojinov has shown that a variety of strikers are needed to deal against different types of team. This was glaring last season whereby the tiny Robinho was spectacular at home but struggled away especially against "tough" teams that like to stifle their opponents. By having a strong target man ala Santa Cruz or the incoming Adebayor will increase the chances of getting more points on the road.
2. Strength At The Center Of The Park - Adding Gareth Barry, the England international and former captain of Aston Villa, to the likes of Vincent Kompany, Nigel de Jong & Michael Johnson is a smart move by Hughes to have a strong core in central midfield, thus giving the licence and confidence for attack-minded players to roam forward. This is important as exemplified in the Champions League final whereby United's midfield was overrun by Barcelona's maestros, Xavi & Iniesta, costing them the title.
3. What's Going On At The Back? - The defence is already a-okay with adequate cover for the full-backs and center-backs but we still need a commanding central defender since Richard Dunne's self-implosion and Micah Richard's loss of form last season, with John Terry mooted as the prime choice by Hughes followed by Joleon Lescott although I prefer the latter over the former.
   
4. Guardians Of The Goal - The winter transfer of Shay Given is a masterstroke and buying Stuart Taylor while loaning Joe Hart to Birmingham City has given City a balanced mix of goalies from the early 20's to the mid-30's. Hopefully we can keep Hart as he has a huge potential and is earmarked into the future England national team.

One thing I noticed is that all of Mark Hughes' acquisition are all established EPL players (except Samuel Eto'o). I believe that his first summer transfer window is used to get these kind of players who know the league in-and-out so that they don't need a certain period of time acclimatizing to the footballing atmosphere in England. Furthermore, the weaking of the Great Britain Pound vs. Euro has made it costlier to buy players from other major European leagues. I think Hughes will start venturing into mainland Europe next summer when he has current squad settled and his culture and work ethic ingrained into the minds of the current crop of players.

Here's to an optimistic season at City!

You Know You're In Malaysia When...

1. KTM 2 minutes early is actually the previous one 17 minutes late.
2. Yellow on the traffic light means "speed up before it turns red!"
3. Just red on the traffic light means "there's still a chance to go!"
4. Al fresco dining is chairs & tables on sidewalks AND roadside.
5. The national sport is watching the English Premier League.
6. Popcorn & pretzels are sweet, not salty as they should be.
7. People buying original DVDs are deemed crazy by society.
8. Towing for illegally parked cars is virtually non-existent.
9. Shopping malls are the unofficial community center.
10. Your broadband internet actually feels like dial-up.
11. Tipping to waiters at a restaurant is a myth.
12. People go out to have teh tarik, not beer.
13. It feels like summer all year long!

Bahasa "English"

The verdict is out! The Malaysian government has decided to revert the teaching of science & mathematics in both primary and secondary in English back to Bahasa Malaysia (BM); note that this is the second time the English-BM reversion has happened. GMP [Gabungan Mansuhkan PPSMI (Pengajaran & Pembelajaran Sains Dan Matematik Dalam Inggeris)], the movement who wanted BM to be used as the sole language of instruction in all subjects taught in school are rejoicing that the decision was made in their favor.

This begs the question: bagus ke tak bagus? My take: BAGUS!

Odd, you may think that I agree with the government's decision since I dreaded learning Fizik, Kimia, Biologi & Matematik Tambahan in BM (I was in the second last batch before PPSMI was implemented in 2003) and had to "translate" all this knowledge to English when I entered INTEC & later at Penn State University. I have to say I was one of the lucky ones to have been taught English by my family when I was small so I was competent enough to switch between languages when it matters.

Some of my friends who are currently studying in the States are against this reversal since they know the uphill struggle of going to and fro between BM and English especially in the field of science where technical terms and definitions are the norm. They might overcome the whole word translation shenanigan but weaving those jargons together into sentences, heck even essays, would present a greater challenge in an already independent environment that is of university life. But what about the millions of Malay, Chinese and Indian school-goers back at home: have we ever thought of what they are going through?

Syahredzan Johan made a good point that the problem with PPSMI was the poor implementation rather than the concept itself and this has caused major problems to the students and teachers ("Tikus-Tikus Ujian PPSMI") as the statistics have shown. His musings make sense and I would like to pull this issue into a larger context i.e. this is intrically connected with the tertiary education, the workforce and ultimately the Malaysian identity. Here's my breakdown of these three entities:

Tertiary Education
The problem arises post-SPM where colleges and universities are in a tug-of-war between teaching courses in BM or English since most text books in specialized courses are in English and no effort are being made to translate these books into BM. In some cases, you would have students reading English text books and BM notes from the instructors! Thus, a similar decision must be made in line with the non-teaching of PPSMI in school because you just don't want students to be still confused jumping from one language to another, do you?

Workforce
This is another area where the English-BM paradox applies. The over-emphasis of employers on an applicant's proficiency of English had struck fear onto people's minds that if you have major problems in speaking and writing in English, you can look forward to a career in flipping Ramly burgers. So, why take all the hassle learning in-depth BM when you already speak the language and when your future employers treasure English like the 16th-century Portuguese treasure Melaka?

Identity
And these two areas led me to the Malaysian mentality and identity; bangsa Malaysia. The paradox I mentioned just now surmises that we love our bahasa but somehow we put our colonial master's language as number one hence the problems in college syllabus and getting a job. Whose expectation was it that all Malaysians must be good in English? We are learning a totally different language and not everyone can master it even after 11 years of schooling. It's not a video game where you can master it in a couple of hours, it's a LANGUAGE!

This is a matter of self-realization and soul searching for each and every Malaysian to decide whether to put Bahasa Malaysia or English on the throne; if we collectively decide that BM is the king, implement a pro-BM policy for the whole nation i.e. prioritize our mother tongue in books, billboards, forums and resumes. Of course you can still learn English (or any other language as guaranteed by the Perlembagaan) and strive to be fluent at it but at the rate we were going, we are as much eroding our own cultural identity as we are ignoring our language.

Remember: Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa.

Michael Jackson Media Overkill

Why, o' omniscient media, why?

Why do you need to concoct such an intrusive barrage of coverage on the death of Michael Joseph Jackson, the acclaimed King Of Pop? Is it not enough for you to just reminisce on his tour de force on pop culture during the 80's and 90's? You just have to explore every possible avenue to milk another cash cow of yours by examining every nook and cranny of Neverland ranch and even bring his former chimp Bubbles, who was enjoying his life in some zoo, into the frame.

Personally, I had no affection to Michael Jackson as he was not part of my childhood (if Green Day were to suffer the similar fate, touch wood, I'd shed some tears) but the excessive coverage has made me feel disgusted and repulsive. It's as if his death must be the talk of the town and be made known to everyone in all four corners of the globe. Yes, we know he has passed away so can we just lay the body to rest? But nooo, the body had to be paraded to the citizens of the world in many of your EXCLUSIVE and BREAKING NEWS, pushing all other headlines however significant it may be, to the backburner.

I'm not saying that I don't give a shit; all I want is for you to pay your respects to him and just move on with life. Yes, he brought joy to the world with his melodies and has been significant to many people's musical upbringing but it is time to part and it would be best to remember him through his songs rather than trying to look for skeletons in his closet before going on another posthumous witch-hunt. Do not get absorbed into all the hype because some media outlets honestly do the coverage for what Michael Jackson did while most see him as means to gain extra "ratings."

Summer '09: Of Post-Rock At Central Park & The Greyhound Bus

A Soaked Out Post-Rock Gig
Hullo! I just got back from New York City on a short 4-day trip to watch "One of My American Bands To See Before I Die", the majestic quartet Explosions In The Sky from Austin, TX. It was a wet (approx. two hours rain before they came on stage, the only shower I had in New York!) but terrific show with Munaf Rayani, one of the guitarists, playing like a man possessed.

During the show, one idiot shouted "Please....I want First Breath [After Coma]" while everyone else was quietly focusing their ears and minds to another song; this heralded someone to shout "Shut the fuck up!," generating a couple of chuckles towards that mood-spoiler. Nothing feels better than crowd justice.

Greyhound: We're On Our Way
Once I was chatting with this American friend who asked me how I travel from State College to Philadelphia. My succinct answer was "Greyhound" and I got a rather interesting riposte: "Don't homeless people take the Greyhound?" I wasn't able to answer that until this trip. While waiting for my transfer at Harrisburg, PA I came upon a rather friendly guy who gave the ubiquitous remark "How you doin'?" and offered me a smoke which I politely declined. Then, that guy proceeded to chat with a woman beside him telling her that he was homeless because both his parents died in a car crash and he has been going from town to town vying his trade as an odd-job worker.

Shifting aside from this sad but true story, Greyhound with its bus terminals have that bizarre charm of producing all the quirky characters that you can imagine. While waiting for the bus at New York, I glanced upon this middle-aged man pushing his elderly mother on a wheelchair towards the departure gate. They were there for some time and suddenly were gone for about 20 minutes. When they came back again, the man was wearing a glittery red dress that was quite tight around the waist (to show his curves?!?) and had lipstick on. I don't know if it's a gag but doing it at 9:30 a.m. during morning rush hour is not the right time to prove a point. Fortunately, both went missing again and didn't board the bus to Harrisburg.

In the bus, I had the privilege to chat with this girl who came from Montreal, Canada to visit her family down at Newark, NJ. We had some small talk about our backgrounds and also about music whereby she put on a baffled face when I mentioned "Explosions In The Sky" and I envied her for being able to be part of Coachella (at least I still have All Points West to look forward to). Even though I have answered my friend's question about the nature of this bus company, I would say that it is more than just homeless people using it to get around. It is like a meeting point of people's journey through their lives: you have tales of sorrows, the downright weirdos and the formation of friendships.

Well, there you have it. The many faces of Greyhound.

Sejauh Manakah Anda Cintai Bahasa Malaysia?

Kalau anda peka dengan keadaan semasa di Malaysia, sudah tentu anda tahu mengenai isu PPSMI dan "pemelayuan" kosa kata Bahasa Inggeris (BI) yang hangat didebatkan oleh pelbagai pihak daripada ahli politik sehingga ke para cendekiawan bahasa. Namun, saya ingin menyedarkan anda mengenai satu lagi wabak yang telah menyular di kalangan rakyat negara ini, terutamanya di kalangan rumpun Melayu; nampaknya, kebanyakan pengguna sistem pesanan ringkas (SMS) dan internet gemar memotong dan menambah perkataan-perkataan yang sedia ada kepada hasil yang lebih buruk seperti Frankenstein: nampaknya seperti manusia tetapi wajahnya keji dan buruk.

Contohnya, ayat "Saya keluar sekejap sahaja/je" telah diadun dengan penuh kreativiti kepada "Sy kuar jap jew." Para pengguna tegar SMS mengatakan pemendekan perkataan adalah perlu supaya intipati pesanan yang sama dapat dihantar dengan lebih cepat dan mudah. Alasan ini boleh diterima pakai kerana pemendekan kata telah lama digunakan seperti "yang" kepada "yg" & "dan lain-lain" kepada "dll" tetapi apabila "je" (bahasa pasar untuk sahaja) tiba-tiba boleh disebut sebagai "jew" (Yahudi dalam BI), itu sudah dikira melampau. Kenapa perlu tambah huruf "w" sedangkan tiada pula orang yang ingin menyebutnya sebegitu?

Rakan-rakan, kita sedang hidup di zaman di mana segelintir, malah kebanyakan, daripada masyarakat kita mengambil mudah Bahasa Malaysia (BM) dan lebih teruk lagi mempersendakan BM sebagai satu bahan mainan. Kita sering kali melaungkan cogan kata "Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa" namun apakah kita benar-benar memartabatkan bahasa ibunda kita sebagai entiti yang tinggi nilainya terhadap bangsa? Kita harus sedar bahawa banyak akibat buruk telah dan akan berlaku apabila sesebuah masyarakat membuat endah tak endah mengenai jati diri mereka. Misalnya, masih terdapat sejumlah pelajar Melayu yang gagal dalam mata pelajaran Bahasa Malaysia di peringkat PMR dan SPM.

Selagi sikap ini tidak dibendung, tidak hairan BM mungkin senasib dengan hieroglif tamadun Mesir Purba: hanya dijumpai dalam buku sejarah. Oleh itu, cubalah mengekang diri daripada mencemarkan keindahan bahasa ini yang telah wujud selama ratusan tahun. Bagi pengguna SMS dan alam siber, sudah tentu amat sukar untuk menggunakan perkataan dan ayat yang lengkap tetapi kurangkanlah "penyuntingan" kerana kita mahu membentuk bangsa Malaysia sebagai masyarakat yang amat menghargai keluhuran bahasa sendiri.

Mari Belajar Sejarah! / Let's Learn History!

This post is specially written to all my fellow Malaysians who had the privilege of learning Sejarah throughout our five years of Secondary School. Take this as something to ponder about rather than a piece that (might) offend your sensibilities.

Pertaining to the topic at hand, do you remember the reasons you had to study Sejarah for your PMR and SPM examinations? Well, most of us would simply reply "So that we can score an A in them." Yes, if I were asked with that question four or six years ago, my answer would be something of that nature. After finishing my uniform-wearing, perhimpunan-going part of my life I realized that I, and probably most of you, overlooked a small yet immensely important tool used in this subject: bias.

Does that ring a bell to you?

That sub-topic was covered in the first chapter of Sejarah Tingkatan 1 that detailed "his-story" as events that involved certain parties in a certain period of time and bias is the interpretation of the story based on which side you're on e.g. Western Orientalists would label Tok Janggut, who fought against them in the state of Kelantan, as an influential rebel leader while Malaysian historians would depict him as a freedom fighter against the opressive tyranny of the British Empire. Ingat tak?

Although it was passed off as a meaningless and minute part of our Sejarah education (there was no necessity in memorizing it since it won't come out in the exam; remember the spotting culture too?), I realized that it gave a huge bearing on me to be more of an opinionated person rather than just accepting the facts as absolute truths. Thus, my bias on that example given above would be:

"Tok Janggut and his contemporaries actually did it to protect their self-interest. When they were under the Sultanate, they were appointed as statesmen (pembesar) who collected taxes from the people for the Sultan but their powers were usurped when the British came and colonized Malaya. Losing their income and status, the only option was to fight the invaders since they did not get a strong backing from the royalty."

So, who's theory is correct: the westerners', the locals' or mine? Well, that's the beauty of bias; no one opinion should be taken as something total because it allows us the freedom to form our own interpretation of history. Therefore, this has led me to form my own stand on other topics in Malaysian history e.g. the concept of derhaka (treason) against the Sultan made it available for unjust rulers to abuse their power for personal gains thus blind loyalty to the ruler should not be glorified, not to mention countless other issues and controversies the world has to offer.

As for you, start by using this small piece of knowledge to critique our own history rather than just regurgitating all the facts printed in the text book like what we used to do because you will get a clearer sense of the whole picture when you begin examining it from different angles. It's not wrong being neutral but it's right to have your own personal conviction.

Resistance Is Futile: BrokeNCYDE

"1-2, We're coming for you!"

So, while scouring Facebook (again) on a wet and gloomy Wednesday afternoon, I stumbled upon this group that my friend joined called Stop BrokeNCYDE. After doing a quick 10 minute research, I found out that BrokeNCYDE is a 4-piece crunk/rap group hailing from Albuquerque, NM. So, why stop them? Seems that their music sounds like "ear-rape", as one of many music critiques would put it or to be more exact, has "...offensive lyrics, a shallow image, and no actual musicianship." On the other spectrum, one of the defenders of this group said BrokeNCYDE "...CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER!"

"3-4, Lock your door!"

Heck, even mothers of daughters whom are die-hard fans of this group set up a website, Mothers Against BrokeNCYDE, who wants the organizers of Warped Tour to dump BrokeNCYDE from this year's roster as they cite that this group encourages "racist, sexist, paedophilic and demeaning music that glorifies underage sex, hard drinking and 'getting crunk' and unpatriotic views!" So, where will this controversy lead us to?

"5-6, Suck on my dick!"

Remember the 1950's when Elvis Presley did his dance gyrations on The Milton Berle Show and he was branded as the epitome of the decay of morality among teenagers of that decade? Well, here we go again! Except this time BrokeNCYDE does not bring any cultural or historical importance to the world and their lyrics are "stronger" than Elvis' thinly-veiled metaphor for sex.

I believe that it would be relevant for people to oppose them but since America is a country that believes in freedom of speech, then it would be very hard to justify their means. So far there has not been any cases of teenage girls being gang-raped by guys who did it after listening to one of BrokeNCYDE's songs but if it happened (whether or not they were influenced by BrokeNCYDE), expect this group to be one of the scapegoats.

"BrokeNCYDE will never die!"

What can we do about it, then? Honestly, just do nothing because the stronger you oppose it, people who initially support it will be more loyal and protective towards it. As most of the people who comment on it know, those who like this group are volatile teenagers around the age of 12 to 16 that are still searching for their identity and find that going against their parents bring some sort of personal satisfaction and achievement (been there, done that). So, attempting to ban BrokeNCYDE will make their fans want to sacrifice their lives for the existence and preservation of this group.

To those sensible enough on knowing that this group has bad taste, ignore them. To the mothers worried that their daughters might whore themselves in front of a BrokeNCYDE gig, just keep check of what they listen to. Or better, do a trade-off like "I'll allow you to see Cute Is What We Aim For/other contemporary generic bands that teenagers listen to nowadays on a school night but you have to promise me not to listen to BrokeNCYDE anymore." And...for those who swear in the name of God that they will devote themselves to BrokeNCYDE, I just wanna see if you guys would take the same oath when you're 21.