1Malaysia - The Government's Denial

What do you think of 1Malaysia? Please explain your answer (likes, dislikes, emotions etc) in details. What is your vision of Malaysia in the next 5 years?

We can lie and negate our true thoughts to avoid possible prosecutions, but the truth is the only thing that can really help the country and it will be always brutal - whether the government likes it or not:

1MALAYSIA DOESN'T WORK

After half a century of political parties playing the racial card, making a certain race feel special just to gain votes and creating this long-term community psychological effect, does the government really expect everything to change because they designed a number using the Malaysian flag?

It's like chopping down all the trees on earth and putting up a "GO GREEN" sign, expecting the trees to magically reappear. Any Tom, Dick and Harry would know that this isn't how it works.

1Malaysia is nothing but a meaningless statement. Something like Malaysia Boleh. If screaming 'Malaysia Boleh' brings our country to great heights, why are we now at the verge of bankruptcy? Why is 'The Dot' beneath Malaysia 20 years more advanced when it doesn't even have water, oil, rubber trees and palm trees? The same goes for 1Malaysia. Using the phrase in speeches, news reports and articles isn't going to change anything. There are hardly any significant initiatives we can see that upholds what the phrase stands for.

Sure, we know 1Malaysia is all about racial togetherness. But how do you expect a nation to change when the people have been literally brainwashed for the past half a century?

The question is: what is the difference between now and then that will cause racial unity? If nothing has changed, how do you expect that mere phrase to cause a nationwide psychological revolution?

As far as I am concerned, I'm still required to disclose my race when I'm filling in forms, I still need to tell the government what religion I belong to and I'm still being denied equal citizen rights because my ancestors were from another country. What is this, original sin?

I shall not go to my visions for the country because honestly, I don't have one and I'm not going to think one up for the sake of this post because then it wouldn't be sincere. Let's face it - Malaysia is in a mess. The executive is controlling everything, the parliament fails to represent the people, the judiciary is not transparent, the monarchy has lost its powers and the written constitution has been violated with no consequences. As a notable blogger said, "We must first cure the cause, not the symptoms". This subconcious racial segregation arises due to a problematic country management, fix that problem and it shall be solved. 1Malaysia is completely unnecessary. I hope that the government will refrain from further wasting more of our diminishing money reserves (as if we have any) to market this pointless slogan.


What do you think about the various races in this country? Do you think about your race or country first? Why? Do you think there is a tension between the various races in this country or not?

What do I think of the various races? You see, this is what my rant is about. Everything has to be broken down into Malay, Chinese, Indian and others. I'm not blaming the person who set this question; as I have said above, it is a psychological thing which has been carved in stone in the minds of the people. I'm not saying that it is a permanent effect, but the stone is not going to change its shape within a short amount of time.

That being said, the answer to the second question will be: I think of my race first. I'm sure any Malaysian who is asked this question will give the same answer, provided that the answer is truthful. However, many people, like the Prime Minister or even the Opposition Leader, wouldn't be caught dead giving the answer I just gave.

The tension? The tension is but an issue concerning inequal treatment. Some may say that those without special rights are jealous people, but I beg to differ. I'm one of these 'unloved' citizens but I don't see a reason to be jealous. I live a good life and my family can afford the occasional luxury. Plus, it's not like special treatment is going to give me enough money to build a palace. But the question is: why divide us? Does the government not see that these segregations totally contradicts 1Malaysia? How is 1Malaysia going to succeed when Malaysia doesn't love her children equally?

Then again, I'm sure I'm not the first person who said this. But no one is listening, not even the Parliament.

How do you think people from all over the world see Malaysia? Do you think there is a typical “Malaysian” stereotype? How would you want people to view “Malaysians” in the future?

I am about to sound somewhat unpatriotic here, but I think that Malaysia is too insignificant a country to exist in someone's perspective. I mean, Singapore a.k.a. The Dot is a developed country and we are not. Many a time, I have chatted with people online and I when I tell them I'm from Malaysia, they'll ask me, "Where is that?" And when I say it's above Singapore, they'll go, "Ohhh, now I know where it is."

Conclusion: People all over the world see Malaysia as a humungous, resource-filled flab of land embarassingly situated above a highly developed, resourceless dot.

I also think that the citizens do not live in harmony enough to form a stereotype, unlike Singaporeans who are generally kiasu and Americans who are generally fat.

And for the last question, I don't care how people view Malaysians in the future. I believe every person succeeds as an individual. Countries, on the other hand, succeed because of a group of successful individuals, also known as its citizens. As long as we live a long, happy and prosperous life, who cares how the world look at us? Low self esteem ah? :)

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And this concludes my last post for the Real Voices 2 Youth Blogging Project. I want to thank the organisers for providing a platform for us youths to collectively voice our thoughts so that we stand a better chance of being heard.

Thank you for reading and take care everyone!


~ Angelina

Branding & Its Significance

Branding is but a marketing gimmick to gain consumer curiosity and loyalty. Does Gardenia really taste better than High 5? Does Colgate really clean your teeth better than Darlie? Is Tesco's salt any saltier than Giant's salt? What makes you choose one more often than you choose the other?

True, some products are differentiated in all obviousness. For example, you can tell that Famous Amos cookies are much more delicious than Chipsmore, that Milo is better than Ovaltine, that Steven Strait is cuter than- Whoops, wrong product.

Then again, if no branding exists, all companies will produce identical products and all companies will receive the same amount of profit. They will not be motivated to innovate and upgrade their products to improve the lifestyle of the consumers.

However, successful brands tend to have a 'cult' following. What I mean by that is some groups of consumers are so brand-minded that they will buy that one brand and that one brand only. I believe that that is a form of unhealthy branding.

In conclusion, I think that brands should exist to differentiate themselves from one another, but not to form a religion with a group of staunch followers.


Are there any brands that you think stand up for something (an attitude/cause or point of view) that you agree with? Tell us more. What brands do who think are the best at communicating with youth? What do they do that gets your approval?

Google is one of many brands (like Facebook, Microsoft, etc.) which goes green on the big scale. They built loads of windmills, green architecture for its offices and established green employee programmes. I always think that one should play their part in improving the environment whenever one can, especially if one is as rich as Google.

Plus, did I mention that they go green in style? Here are some pictures of Google's office:

If you're rich and already have every material thing you want, you should really help restore our environment, not destroy it further by chopping down more trees and building million-dollar buildings like this:

Save the world, man, save the world.

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I think in today's world, it's not about brands communicating with youth. It's more of youth looking for good brands to communicate with. Did Apple dangle an iPhone in front of youth to entice them? Did YouTube put up posters around the world inviting youths to visit the site?

It seems as if companies are trying to create products they think will suit the youth market, throw it in a box and hope that they win the lucky draw. It seems very difficult to gauge what youths want. If you had asked me before the existence of Facebook if I wanted a social networking site, I'd say I already have Friendster/Myspace, why would I need another one? If you proposed a concept like Twitter, I think most people would say there isn't a need for such a service. Yet today, millions of youth sign on to these sites everyday. Again, every youth wants an iPhone, while other touch-screen phones with (possibly) the same features are less appealing. Why is the world so?

Are all these because of their super effective method of communication? Or did these pins in the haystack got found? Even as a youth, I find it hard to really understand why these sites get my approval; since I wouldn't have even dreamt of wanting these services before their existence.

List down your favourite brands and tell us why do you like them.

I don't judge items by brands, so I can't answer this. Although, I've got to admit I've been a loyal Nokia user for years now, but it's mainly due to my bad experience with other phone manufacturers. Like Samsung that shocked my ear and Motorola that lags like nobody's business.

Can you upload two advertisements (picture or video) that you like and tell is why you like it.

I always like funny advertisements. These two are not local but they definitely are funny! Local companies should really make more of these commercials!

Are there any brands or products that you would be embarrassed of using or being associated with?

I don't have any and I think that nobody should have any. If you like a product/brand, it must be that you derived some sort of benefit from it. Why let what other people think get to what you like to do? Does it matter if they think you're weird? It's not going to affect your life in any manner. I've been trying to make this point apparent to some people but it sure takes time to teach an old dog new tricks.

Does religion influence your choice of brands? If ‘yes’ explain your answer.

No, because I have no religion.

What/where do you find new information about products that you like?

I find them on the internet because almost anything can be found there. If due to some reasons I cannot find any online, I'd probably ask my friends, look through relevant magazines or browse through the newspapers.

I like...

Uhhh, ermmm, ehhh. You know what? Let's just get to the questions.


Tell us about 3 things that you have seen, read or listened to recently that you love and have recommended or share with others (in Facebook, face to face conversations, online, etc)?

1. Syu Shu

Isn't that pair of shoes just absolutely stunning? I found these on a Facebook online shoe boutique run by a model named Syu. She is based in Indonesia and doesn't have a physical shoe boutique yet but she does do international shipping. I haven't ordered any of the shoes before because of the price but I will once I start earning my own money. The available styles are just so beautiful that you'd want every single one of them if you can afford it.

2. Chinese boy singing exactly like Whitney Houston (Youtube)

Just watch it and you'll know why I recommended this video. By the way, he's not lip synchronising.

3. Tibetan Mastiff

No, that is not a lion. That is, in fact, a dog. I really want one of these just because they look so cool! I found some puppies on Mudah.com.my, but they were priced at RM18,000! More pictures here.

What is on your ‘must see’, ‘must do’ and ‘must have’, list for 2010?

Must see:
1. An increase of money in my bank

Must do:
1. Start my online business.
2. Get a temporary job.

Must have:
1. PUPPY!

Yep, that's it. You see, I like to be focused. I like to achieve things slowly and systematically, then and only then can my achievements can be truly sustainable.

What is your favorite outfit/set of clothes at the moment, please send us pictures and tell us why you like them.

Y'know what? If I didn't know better, I'd think that some fashion designer is on to us. I mean, they seem to keep asking us about our favorite clothes! This must be the third time I'm answering this already. But anyway, my favorite set is the white blouse with big buttons, big collars and zip with black office trousers and black heels. Sorry, no picture this time.

I like it because, for the hundredth time, it looks elegant. And I like to be elegant. Therefore I dress with elegance. Now can we finally get off the topic of fashion?

Put picture and show us your top favourite gadget, collections, toys, things or any items that you can't live without and tell us why.

1. Laptop

No, that's not my laptop. But it will definitely be mine in the future. I can't live without a laptop because, well, I need it to go online. And in this virtual world, the possibilities are endless. Besides, I have learnt loads of computer skills and I need an avenue to flaunt them on :)

2. Phone

That's not my phone either. Not that important a thing to me because I usually use it as an alarm clock and as a convenient communication purpose only.

Yeah, that's it. I'm a low maintenance kid :)


Till the next post, enjoy!

Entertainment For Your Entertainment

Entertainment is a very subjective matter. What is entertaining to one may not be entertaining to others. Many people stay up all night to watch football, whereas I can literally fall asleep before the match has even begun. On a more gruesome note, serial killers may find murder entertaining, while most of us can hardly imagine it. I find web design really fun, but my lecturer can be heard exclaiming, "That petty semi-colon was the thing that ruined my entire site?!"

Oh, and, while many of you can immerse yourselves in the world of comic books for days, I'll die even if one comes near me. Comics are boring, novels rock my socks. Now flame away.

Which are your favorite TV shows and how do you watch them (TV, Youtube, download, friend, stream)?

The Nanny (TV)
I've watched like six reruns already and I'm still laughing! This show is what makes what I just said above totally irrelevant. It is THE entertainment for everybody and anybody.

Merlin (download)
First of all, I must say that I'm in love with everything medieval. Their costumes are SO awesome and their custom and accents can make my heart melt. I just love their lifestyle then; slow, peaceful and with the most handsome princes. I wonder if all the princes are really that handsome in the past. I mean, all princes portrayed in movies are always drop dead gorgeous. Like the one in Merlin. If I ever get to travel through time in the future, I'd be really disappointed if I find a prince that looks like an ogre. But there must be some truth to their looks, right? I mean, how can hundreds of movies and TV shows be wrong? I think I'm in denial. No, wait. I can't be in denial because there is nothing to deny because there is still a chance that the princes in the past are really handsome.

I really should stop before I blabber more nonsense.

The Legend of Aang (TV and download)
Anyone who knows me would know that I hate watching anime, because to me, anime = manga = comic = don't like. But when I was bored one day, I turned on Nickelodeon to see if Fairly Odd Parents were on. They weren't, so I watched this. The storyline rocks and I have downloaded all the seasons, which took up few gigs of my hard drive. I've yet to complete watching it, but I plan to one day.

The Oprah Winfrey Show (TV)
This show is kinda cool because it gives me lots of general knowledge. But I don't like it when she invites celebrities and also the days when she does home design because I lack interest in these areas. I also don't like when she interrupts her guests because then what's the point of inviting guests? Who's listening to whose talk?
 

Do you like music and fashion? Where do you learn about new trends in music and fashion (from friends, celebrities, magazine)?

Admittedly, I'm not one who's crazy about music and fashion. But of course, one has to wear something and have something to listen to on the one-hour journey to college. As I've mentioned in my first post, I love to wear what I think looks good, not what people think looks good, i.e., I don't follow trends. Just as an example, let me describe what I wore to college today. I chose a white blouse with a zip, two huge elegant-looking buttons and huge elegant collars. The blouse is also short so that it matches with the office pants I'm wearing which has a high waist-line. As for shoes, I wore a 3-inch black heels with straps around my feet. I left my hair flowing with just a pin to get my annoying fringe out of the way. I guess I dress the way I dress because I think that what may look good on others may not look good on me, so why not have a style of my own?

As for music, I prefer the more sentimental songs as compared to rock ones. I don't really choose which artist to listen to because I choose the songs, not the person who sings it. I may like certain songs out of an album, but the rest my be really horrific to listen to. Again, I don't follow trends here. I don't even care if I'm the last person ever to have listened to the song. I just have to love the tune of it, that's all.

Please tell us about singers and bands you are into, and why do you like them? Where do you get most of your music? (download, buy CD, take from friend, etc.)

I found this Gothic metal band a few years ago which I really like - Within Temptation. As scary as the genre may sound, the tune is actually awesome! The lead vocalist is Sharon den Adel and her voice is better than all the American Idols combined. The notes she can hit are so high I think even metal can shatter.

The lyrics on the other hand can be quite eerie as it's quite pessimistic as it often times talk about shattered hearts and how the world is going to end. But the tune is so good that I can totally ignore what the lyrics say, even if it talks about sending angels to hell.

I get most of my music through downloading. I mean, seriously, who in Malaysia doesn't? A diagram to ponder:

Do you enjoy reading books? What are the last three books you have read?

Is this question even necessary? Doesn't my huge, multi-storey home library already explain my love for books?

Kidding. Of course, if I really wanted so many books, I'd just go to the bookstore and sit there all day. Those places are sort of like libraries without a membership fee. I'm still kind of a romance novel person, despite my age. Plus, I also love reading about fantasy, because I just love to imagine how our world would be like if these fantasies were real.

Latest books I've read:

1. The Secret

First off, I must say that this is quite an expensive book, even when I got it at the MPH warehouse sale. This book basically talks about believing what you want to achieve and the force of the universe will ultimately guide you to your dream. I feel that it is quite repetitious throughout as it mostly revolves around the same point, 'believe that you can achieve whatever you want'. Nonetheless, it is quite a good read as phrases from it will somehow pop into my mind when I'm being pessimistic.

2. Vampire Kisses

Okay, I understand that the question says 'three books', but I feel that these 3 should be considered as one since they are so short individually and the story has continuation. Anyway, the story is about a girl called Raven who likes everything Goth - black platform boots, black lipstick, black blouse, black skirt, black everything. Kind of like me, except I do wear blouses of different colours (though, I only wear black pants, shoes and hair accessories). Then there's this hot guy (of course he has to be hot, else no one would read the book, right?) who moved into her 'dullsville' who was all Goth too. Then she fell for him, he fell for her and she finally discovered that he's a vampire.

Yeah, I know. Typical of vampire stories, so much so that I can make it up without buying the book. But I just love to read how different authors describe their fantasies differently, which sort of fuels the details of my imagination.

3. Night World

I've only read these two books of the 10 in the Night World series. There are three stories in each book which are completely independant of each other. All kinds of fantasy creatures are featured in these stories; angels, werewolves, vampires, witches - you name it, they have it. Though, I doubt I'll get another book in this series because I think the stories are too short. I prefer long stories with hundreds of chapters because I don't like stories to end. Like TV dramas, I feel sad when a good story ends. Nobody wants a good story to end. If it's possible, I'll want to follow a character throughout his or her life and read about the obstacles he/she have to face. They should also write eternal novels for immortal creatures!

What/where do you find new information about entertainment that you like?

The internet is definitely the best place to find anything. It is like a combination of all the newspapers and magazines in the world. Besides, online information is usually released way before a magazine or a newspaper is published. If you like a certain artist, you can just subscribe for e-mail updates at the artist's site and get free lifetime updates in your e-mail. There should be no reason at all for anyone to buy magazines and waste trees anymore.


Till the next post comes, enjoy!

Communication - The Revolutionary Ways

During the early stages, man communicate with other tribes by giving out smoke signals and playing drums. China even wrote letters and notices on bones before they developed the first ever postal service in 900 BC while the Greeks used pigeons. Then paper was invented and the postal service was the main communication medium. The telephone only emerged in the year 1876 and the radio followed shortly after. In 1944, the first computer was invented and was only sold commercially 7 years after. The internet was only invented in 1969 and even then, the American government only released its control over it after more than 20 years.

Today, we have what used to be a heavily-monitored communication system at our fingertips. Yet, many of us do not think twice about how these technology emerged and the future possibilities it can bring.

What communication medium (SMS, Instant Messenger, Phone, Twitter, Facebook), do you and your friends use the most to communicate through and why? What are the positives and negatives of each?

Most used (in sequence):

1. Facebook (and similar sites like Myspace, Tagged, etc.)
Positives: Pictures, walls, messages,... basically lets you connect with friends.
Negatives: Easy to get addicted.

2. SMS
Positives: Can communicate with friends anytime, anywhere.
Negatives: Costly when overused.

3. Phone
Positives: Can communicate with friends anytime, anywhere.
Negatives: Costly when overused.

4. Instant Messenger
Positives: Immediate communication without having to meet up.
Negatives: Lessen the time friends spend together.

5. Twitter
Positives: Allow friends to know what you're up to.
Negatives: Spammy, few quality reads.

Are social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter making your life better or worse?

It makes life better by allowing us to connect with friends so that we do not lose contact with them. However, many of us tend to over use these sites due to the addicting applications/interesting communities and waste too much of time on them. However, I believe moderate use of them is beneficial to maintain relationships but it may also be a little bad because we don't feel the need to meet up as frequently as before.

Please list the number of online social networking sites (Facebook, Friendster, Twitter, blog) which ones you are a member of and why you chose to have a profile/account on each of them? What activities do you usually do when you are social networking sites?

Facebook, because everybody has it.
Friendster, because everybody used to have it.
Twitter, just to see what the fuss is about.
Myspace, because every western kiddo has it.
Tagged, I'm not sure why I have it.
Bebo, because I was bored.
Bolt, one of my first social networking sites.
DeviantART, because today's artists are better than Picasso.
Flickr, because I have a Yahoo account.
Flixster, because I was invited by an online friend.
Fubar, because I was invited by an online friend.
Gaia Online, because one of my friends plays it.
Hi5, because... I forgot.
Last.fm, just want to see why so many has it.
LinkedIn, because I wanna pretend to be a lawyer.
Multiply, because loads of people have it.
Netlog, because I was bored.
Orkut, because I have a Google account.
Renren, the Chinese version of Facebook.
StumbleUpon, because I stumbled upon it.

By the way, blogs are not social networking sites. But just to answer the question:

Blogger, because I need to blog my opinions/feelings out.
Wordpress, just to see if it's better than Blogger.
Xanga, just for fun.
Vox, because it sounded cool.
Windows Live Spaces, because I have a Hotmail account.

What do I do there? Stalk people.

Shhhh.

How many Facebook/Friendster/MySpace/Twitter friends do you have? Who are these people? How many of these do you consider ‘close friends’? How many of them have you not met before?

Since I join so many networks, I'll just list the main ones here:

Facebook: 461 friends
Who they are: Friends, family, (ex-)classmates, online friends, random people.
Close friends: <5
Not met before: >400

Myspace: 23 friends
Who they are: Musicians, random people
Close friends: 0
Not met before: 23

Friendster: 138 friends
Who they are: Friends, family, (ex-)classmates, online friends, random people.
Close friends: <5
Not met before: ± 100

Do you prefer to meet people for the first time online or face-to-face? Why?

No preference. Because it's like market segmentation and they are from totally different markets. Usually the ones I meet face-to-face will possibly become an on and offline friend; whereas the ones I meet online will, 999 out of 1000 times, remain online friends. Not that I have met anyone of them, I'm just allowing space for unseen possibilities.

Do you have Twitter? If yes, how many followers do you currently have? Who do you follow?

Yes I do. I think I have about 15 followers, and I only know two of them - one of them my uncle, the other my long-time online friend. I follow mostly singers which I'm a big fan of and politicians just to keep up with the latest news.

The Internet, My Life

Once a pathetic internet addict, the online world was literally my life support system. And this is not even a joke.

The first time I had discovered the internet was when I was about 10 years old, almost a decade ago, in my uncle's shop. Then we got it at home. But we had no broadband then, only prepaid dial-up. Going online was expensive at that time, comparing the speed with the cost per minute, so my mum limited my usage. Soon I was going online longer than I was allowed to, and the prepaid credit diminished to nothing in just a few days. Then came broadband, which was much faster and cheaper. I was immediately hooked to the net.

What do I do online, you ask? I did everything. Blogs, games, software downloads and even plain surfing the web. Till today, I still do not know what had intrigued me so much that I couldn't get my eyes off. I was so obsessed that I clicked everything that blinked, played every game I came across and joined every forum I see. I did not know that I was addicted, until a few things struck me.

At the start, I noticed that I had this urge to go online every once in a while, for no apparent reason. Then I noticed a feeling that I'd rather spend time online than hang out with my friends. Then my results started deteriorating and I lost interest in my studies. The breaking point for me occurred when one day, the lightning striked the modem and it stopped working. It was during one of my long year-end school holidays and I had to wait for a week before we can get a replacement. For days, I felt so angry and frustrated that I actually balled up in a corner and cried, and cried. I was kicking furniture and throwing my books around. This was not a tantrum that a 14-year-old sane person would throw. I was literally gasping for air. My life support was taken from me.

I did not really understand the word 'addiction'. Until then. The lightning strike incident was literally a cold-turkey withdrawal from the internet addiction I did not know I possessed. The funniest thing is, I don't even have to touch the computer. I just need to know that I'm connected to the internet. That, is sufficient to keep my heart beating. Yes, it is that serious. After that incident, I came up with my very own internet addiction withdrawal programme. I restricted myself from going online for one day a week. I then gradually increased the number of days to two, three, four and I finally can go for a whole week without the internet. As easy as it may sound, I must say that it was a painful process. It's like taking away a blind man's walking stick, like taking away a skydiver's parachute, like taking a fish out of the water. Nevertheless, I continued my silent battle towards killing my addiction. Silent, because nobody knew of it.

The greatest obstacle in my journey would be when I was chosen to participate in the compulsory 3-month National Service programme. Three months, I thought to myself. Three months where kicking furniture will only get me sent to the firing squad. I was surprised that I survived there for three months, without an urge to go online. We do feel like we were out of technology's range, though, but that's totally unrelated with my addiction.

As of now, even though I do go online very frequently, I am proud to say that I'm no longer an internet addict based on the fact that I can survive long intervals without the it. Some of you may find it funny, some may think that this whole story is a joke; but I can assure you that this is an addiction that really exists, because if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone else.


How many hours do you go online everyday? What do you usually do in the online world?

It really depends on what day it is and what I am online for.

School day, back at 2pm: 3pm to 7pm, 10pm to 11pm = 5 hours
School day, back at 6pm: 8am to 12pm, 6pm to 7pm, 10pm to 11pm = 6 hours
Non-school day: 10am to 7pm, 10pm to 11pm = 10 hours
Saturday: 10am to 5pm, 11pm to 1am = 9 hours
Sunday: 11am to 7pm = 8 hours

Average
= [(5+6+10)/3*5 + 9 + 8]/7
= 7.4 hours per day

Oh. My. God. This is the first calculation I have made and I am officially declaring that I go online too much. But, I am glad to say I am not all for games and other 'time wasting' activities. I do lots of reading on my areas of interest like website coding and I have recently started reading on internet marketing. In times when I need to study, like now, I will mostly look up notes (British sites have awesome notes!) to help me study.

I used to play a lot of downloaded online games but I have totally cut them off now. Web-based games are all I play now which makes my online times more productive. Oh, and, I used to hack games through packet-editting and almost got myself banned :(


When you go online and interact with other users, do you use any nickname/alias profiles online? Tell us why you use it or don’t use it.

I still use my first name, Angelina, when I register for any forum, site, email or game. Because a first name like mine is rare in Malaysia and people tend not to believe that it is my real name. Often times, conversations will go like this:

Random person: Hey, nice to meet you. What is your name?
Angelina: Hey, nice to meet you too. My name is Angelina.
Random preson. Yeah, I know. But what's your REAL name?
Angelina: My real name is really Angelina.
Random person: Why won't you tell me your real name? :(

Yep. They think I'm being anonymous when I'm really not.

Have you become good friends with people you first met online? Tell us stories of how you make friends in the online world. How do you know whether to trust them or not?

I have met hundreds of people online, but only a few remain as good friends. And most of them are guys because hardcore gamer girls, like me, are rare. I'm not one who start conversations because I am an introvert online and off, so usually they will start a conversation if they see I have equipped awesome equipments on my character. We would start by chatting about the game and doing quests together for some time before we start talking about our offline lives. Some have already been my friends for more than 5 years. Although, I have never met anyone of them before because our intentions are not to become real life friends, just to have a good online friend to talk to you whenever you feel happy, bored or down.

The issue of trust seldom comes to mind when I am chatting with them because it's not like I'm going to give them my address or phone number and neither are we going to meet up. Of course, there are those who pester for numbers, which I will eventually block all contact with because well, everyone knows why. In the past, though, I have to admit that my stupidity made me give my number to a few people, but they never call (either that or I will never answer). Normally, we'd still remain online friends because I always check their background thoroughly, ensure that they are nice people, before I give it to them. Nevertheless, I am thankful that I am still safe and sound and now that I have learnt about the dangers, I will never ever give my number out again. Ever. No matter how thorough my investigations are.

Tell us if your parents monitor what you access online? Is it effective, or do you know ways around the controls? What do your parents think about you going online all the time?

My mum doesn't monitor my online activity, mainly because my computer skills have surpassed hers a long time ago! Even if she did monitor my activity, I'd probably still know ways around it (not that I have anything to hide, I'm just answering the question).

She doesn't really mind my going online all day because she knows that I have self-cured my addiction. Although, she'll nag at me once in a while when I play games. By the way, I don't think games are a waste of time. I feel that games can stimulate our brains and make us smarter.

You know what, we should all participate in a global plot to make adults addicted too, so they have no good reason to nag on us. Muahahaha, MUAHAHAHA! Ahem. Kidding.

Do you think the online world has made you to become more disconnected with your friends?

If you read my story above, the answer to this question is 'yes', at the start. However, as of now, I think it actually helps keep us bonded. After secondary school, most of us will go our own ways with all the different colleges/universities, different courses and I'm sure we will all meet more new friends of the same interest there. Without an online portal like Facebook, we may have totally lost all contact already due to our new and busy lives.

I guess that is all for this entry. Take care peeps!

Show Me The Money!

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In a rich man's world!

Does this song sound familiar?

We live in a world where money almost always determines one's sovereignty in the society. In countries more corrupted than ours, the rich can even use their wealth to determine if someone lives or dies. Of course, these things are happening in Malaysia too, but that's not my story to cover ;)

What is this money thing that is keeping everybody on their toes? Aren't they merely pieces of paper we get from chopping down trees? Aren't they merely digits in a bank? As insignificant as I may have made them sound, these 'digits' and 'pieces of paper' can actually determine how extravagantly people live. Or how 'unextravagantly'. But I prefer to see the glass half full.


How important is money to you? Tell us what do you think about money.

Money, undoubtedly, is very important to me. In fact, I believe it is to everyone else too. True, money cannot buy happiness. But it sure can buy me things that will subsequently give me happiness! Sure, sure. You may say that certain things cannot be bought, but I'm not going to desire things that I know is unachievable and that will only cause me to wallow in misery.

Money is the main determining factor of how the world grooves today. It plays a significant role in everybody's lives. Except maybe not for the indigeneous people. Heck, we even spend money autonomously by not doing anything. Electricity bills, Astro bills, etc. They're not free; we just don't have to pay for them yet.

From a wider point of view, money also determines how strong a nation is. The richest nations tend to have the best defences around. They get the better share of technology and the language they speak will also be of more importance. Not to mention, they also have better educations due to more advanced research and the people there generally live longer. In essence, developed nations are generally, if not compulsorily, rich nations.

Sad as it may seem, our lives inevitably revolve around money. I guess we'll just have to accept the way the world is. I mean, it's not like we can change the way 6.8 billion people live. Well, at least it's better than barter trade!

Where do you get your money? Do you have a part-time job or do you receive an allowance from your parents, or both? Have you done any part time jobs before to earn your allowance?

I get my money by participating in the YouthSays Real Voices project!

On a more serious note, I am sad to say that I am still incapable of supporting myself financially. I mean, I with classes from 9 to 5; from Monday to, sometimes, Sunday. My schedule is so irregular that it is difficult to fit any part time jobs in between.

Okay, I admit. It's because my life was perfect enough for me to not want anything more. That was until I made myself a wishlist, which made me realise the imperfections in my life. I realised that I want need a new gaming laptop, that my bottom teeth need fixing due to my indiscipline in putting on my retainers everyday, that I need a gym membership because I'm getting fat, that I need to get all the awesome gadgets like the Nintendo Wii, the PS3, the PSP, the Nintendo DS, the iPhone, the iPad, etc., that I need a new massage chair because the one at home sucks, that I wanted a faster internet connection (UniFi!!!), that I want to have the most awesome suite life in the UK when I go there for my degree,... I'll stop here. Because I don't want this post to be a million miles long and I don't want to exaggerate the imperfections too much, else I'll be emo.

And no, I'm not going to see the glass half full here. I'm going to see it as half empty, which will be the driving force for me to fill the glass. And then, it wouldn't be half full anymore, WILL IT? :)

If you want to buy something, do you usually save up or will you get it straightaway?

It will depend what is the 'something', wouldn't it? I'm sure if I wanted food, I'll definitely have some because, come on, which kiddo doesn't? But if I wanted something listed in my spontaneously generated wishlist above, then I'd definitely have to earn them myself.

You see, I don't go on an X amount of allowance every week/month. My mum will give me spending money as and when I need it. I will only spend those on food, petrol and sometimes to pay for some photocopied materials in college. And when I run out, I get some again. So technically, I don't get an 'allowance', I just get spending money. I can't bank in a portion of that because I'll feel like I'm siphoning money, haha. I guess this method of allowance can only be used when there is trust between parent and child. I mean, anyone could easily spend that money on a bottle of wine or something. I also kind of like this method because it doesn't disincentivise me from earning my own money, because I know that if I don't work for it, then I won't have any.

That said, I don't 'save up' because I have nothing to save. I will start earning money soon, though, because I'm planning to get a temporary job (in fact I've already applied for an internship!) after my A-level exams so that I can earn some money to live like a queen.

How important to your generation is having a strong work ethic and be hardworking in work?

Have you even seen the rat race? By the way, if you're into betting, bet on me. I'm the fastest rodent around. You'll even get a money back guarantee.

Back to the topic. Strong work ethics are of utmost importance, in my view, more important than knowledge itself. A knowledgeable person may not be hardworking, whereas a less-knowledgeable hardworking person can work hard to achieve that knowledge. Then again, maybe that is why knowledge and hardworking people generally come as a package. I mean, if you claim to be smart, you should be smart enough to know the importance of being hardworking at work.

My mum is an employer herself and she usually complains of staff not being initiative enough and only pretends to work hard when they see her watching.

When the boss is around.

When the boss is away.

Through many years of indirectly observing how a company works and what managers look for, I have learnt that work ethics are definitely very important in today's world if one wants to stay employed. Managers are willing to train hardworking but underskilled workers but skilled and lazy workers are just 'unfixable'. Let's not even start on the underskilled and lazy ones.


What do you think about the current economic climate? Did it affect you, your family and your outlook on the future?

Currently, we all know that the world's economy is on for a bumpy ride. Companies closing down, people going out of jobs and UK ministers leaving notes saying 'there's no money left'. But it's all part of the economic cycle, we suffer recessions and we celebrate economic booms. But the fact that these recessions and booms are getting steeper, I feel that we are in for more than a bumpy ride.

Warning! Economical error detected.

Just about a century ago, many of our ancestors were enjoying serene lives living on subsistence without having to worry much about when the prices of vegetables will go up. Now we have more food than ever before but they are unavailable to some due to lack of circulating money in the economy.

I am going to make a potentially idiotic statement here due to the limitations of my knowledge on the economy, but I think the problem of our economy now arises from overpopulation. I mean, I understand that one person's spending is another person's income. But I feel that the more times this limited amount of money is transferred between people, more will be hogged up as savings (the bank is not going to lend 100% of the money out, they will keep a portion in their reserve). More money will also be kept as precautionary cash-in-hand. So the more populated our world is, the less money people will have on average. This means that there will be a decreasing average wealth with an increasing average price, causing people to be unable to afford many things, which in turn cause companies to close down due to lack of sales.

This is just what I think. It may sound stupid to a professional economist, but to me it sounds quite logical.

On an individual note, I don't think that the economic situation has affected my family much. Or maybe that's because I don't feel it because I'm not the bread winner. But we are not cutting down on our spending or mortgaging anything, so I guess the weather is fine here in my family.


What do you think are the three coolest jobs in the world and why? What are the three jobs least coolest job in the world, and why?

This question, I think, will be the toughest for 'under-undergraduate' youths to answer. I mean, we hardly have any idea what we want to pursue after form 5. If we had known what were the coolest jobs, we'd be off happily studying already, wouldn't we?

To me, the coolest jobs are not 'jobs'. They're hobbies. If we like what we do, then that 'job' is cool.

So here's my list:

The three best jobs in the world

1. Island Caretaker

Your job is basically to swim in one of the clearest waters in the world and spend months in a luxury suite with all expenses paid for. And you get paid on top of that. And I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. All you need to do is to blog your experience out. Just like what we are doing now. Dang, I feel underpaid now.

Just kidding.


2. Malaysian Astronaut

I mean, you are paid AND you get to go to space at the expense of everybody's taxes! How cool is that? Heck, I'd pay to go to space.


3. Video games tester

Note: For gaming freaks only.

Why is it good?

1. You don't have to pay an insanely high price for the game (of course, in Malaysia you can get these games for an 'extremely low price', but don't get caught!)
2. You get paid.
3. Did I mention that you get paid?

Yep, those pretty much sums up the best jobs in the world. Getting paid for doing something you'd do for free!

And now for the worst jobs...

One:

Two:

Three:

'nuff said.


Time to study! Less than 24 hours to my exam. Palms getting sweaty, legs getting shaky, heart beating violently... It's gonna be a long, long night.

When I grow up, I want to be a...

I believe everyone has used this sentence a million times in their lives. When we didn't know better, we all wanted to become doctors, lawyers and engineers. And as we grew, we wanted to beocme accountants, scientists and astronauts. Then came more complicated career names like actuarial scientists, archaeologists, biochemists and financial economists.

But what do I want to become? I sat down and thought long and hard. After 5 days, 17 hours, 23 minutes and 47 seconds, I came up with a definite answer. I was going to be a monkey.

That's why I'm messing with you! :)


Share with us any success or achievement stories you have got so far, whether it is big or small.

My first success is similar to everyone's success. Know what it is? We won the sperm race! Did you know that out of millions and millions of sperms, we were the only ones who made it into an ovum?

Along to achievements that really addresses the question...

I came from an environment where everyone speaks to me in English. I was the playful type and often skipped my kindergarten lessons. Knowing only a few words of Mandarin, I went to a Chinese primary school where everyone spoke in Mandarin. I could barely utter a few words there. One day, I lost my pencil and had to borrow one from someone. My language skill then was so bad that I only realised that I had tried to borrow a 'nose' when the boy burst out laughing. I picked up fast because the environment forced me so and during my second year in the school, I was in the top 20 of hundreds of students of the same standard (back then my report card showed class position and school position). I guess that was my proudest achievement then. Oh, I also won a trophy during primary one for a Malay story telling competition!

I subsequently earned two trophies in my mental arithmetic class, one when I was the second best in the class, and another when I was the first. During my final year in school, I was awarded as the champion of a Scrabble competition which I participated in. I then won two trophies during my prefect camp, which I really forgot why I got them. I think one of them was because I was the group leader there and the other said 'Torch Bearer'.

Trophies aside, I'm also happy that I survived five years of being a prefect in my secondary school. The reason why I said 'survived' is because being a prefect is really not easy. Under the constant watchful eyes of the teachers, I can hardly keep my nails looking long and beautiful before having to cut them off again.

The reason why prefects are so easily spotted.

Being rebellious while under watch can be a very tough matter. I guess it's kind of like a minister opposing his party's policy. You want something to change but you cannot do too much for fear of losing your position. I think my balancing of the two should count as one of my achievements!

I believe that I, at my age, have achieved in life what many others have not. Proud as I am of this, I also have my upbringing to thank. I was brought up to love reading, allowed the freedom to explore and be my inquisitive self and given the encouragement to rebel against anything which are not in line with my reasonable and logical beliefs. Without these, I would probably now be a dysfunctional gossiper calling up a random person to tell him or her about the weird outfit X's friend's sister's cousin's friend's brother's girlfriend's classmate's friend is wearing today.


How do you define a ‘successful person’, what are the elements that make someone successful? Tell us why.

Everybody defines 'success' in their own ways. Some people's main goal in life is to get married, settle down and have a nice family. Others want to invent revolutionary technology to improve lives.

I believe a person is successful when he achieves his goals. And to be able to do that, one must first and foremost have a dream. You may say that that was unnecessary to mention, but I think it plays the biggest role of one's success. I once heard a short story on a Youtube video, which I think is very interesting. Here's a summary:

One day, a man (let's call him Joe) asked a successful man, "Can you teach me to be as successful as you?" The man agreed, but first asked Joe to meet him at the beach the next day. Joe found it strange but met up with the man anyway. The man then said to Joe, "Come, let's walk into the water," as he signaled Joe to join him. As they slowly descend into the water, the depth gradually increased and the water finally reached their chins. Out of a sudden, the man pushes Joe's head into the water and held him there for a while while Joe struggled helplessly against his grasp. Finally, the man let go and Joe lifted his head and took a much appreciated gasp of air. "How did that feel?" The man asked Joe. Joe replied angrily, "Are you insane? You almost drowned me! My lungs hurt so much as I couldn't get even a breath of air!" The man just smiled and replied, "To be successful, you must want to achieve your dreams so much as you wanted that breath of air. Once you have that desire, then you will be successful."

Focus, in my opinion, is one of the most important element of success. I find that many people lose their focus in life easily. And most never get back on track. Some have nothing to focus on in the first place. I must admit that it is quite difficult to keep a 100% focus on my dreams with all the distractions around me. TV shows, computer games and beautifully written novels often cause me to lose my focus, and I always try my best to recollect my thoughts. That is one of the reason why I have made myself a promise to not get married until my dreams are achieved. This is because I want the driving force of my success to be my dreams, not the need to put food on the table.

I also think that successful dreams should not be easy to achieve. They must have some degree of challenge. If millions of people can achieve that dream without much difficulty, then that's not a dream, that's called life. I'm saying that there is a difference between what you will already have to go through and what you choose whether or not you want to go through.


What inspires you? Do you have any role models?

Life's possibilities inspires me the most. There are so many possible things we can achieve in our lifetime. Isn't it strange that while everybody is born the same, very few succeed? Life is indeed a game. But it is not a multiple-choiced one. In fact, it is a very subjective one. We can write our own story, determine how the story ends and whether the legend of our 'hero' a.k.a. ourselves will live on. The fact that there is a chance, regardless of how small, that I can succeed in this world has been a great inspiration for me. I believe that the more I work at it, the better the chances and the greater the possibilities I have for me to grow and achieve.

All these while, the world has been my role model. There is always something useful we can learn from everyone and every creature in this world. Yes, even from the annoying person from your school or workplace. You'll learn never to act like that because it pisses people off! I am always fascinated about the lengths every creature will go to just to survive. People work towards bringing up successful children so that the next generation in their family will live a better life than they do and migrating birds fly hundreds of thousands of miles throughout their lifetime just to survive the weather.

I will never point at someone and say, "I'll walk his footsteps." I believe every footprint we leave should be different and we should all be unique in achieving our dreams. That is what makes life fun and challenging!


Do you have any ambitions? What three ambitions/goals have you set yourself for the next year, the next five years and your life?

Next year

1. Excel in my studies (Law)
2. Start my own online business (my business plan is ready!)
3. Improve my web coding skills by learning more markup languages.

Next five years

1. Secure a place in a reputable law firm/corporation.
2. Graduate with First Class Honours.
3. Pursue my Masters in Law and maybe one in Financial Economics.

Life

1. Become a millionaire by 30 and double that wealth every two years or shorter.
2. Build a beautiful mansion with medieval features while incorporating green technology.
3. Travel to almost every country in the world.

Of course, the list is not exhaustive. The ones I've stated are those that are of utmost importance to me. Failure of either will cause me to be utterly depressed and have suicidal thoughts.

Just kidding. I told you I wanted to be a monkey. And I also told you that I will always get back my focus. Haiyo, that's why you should focus! :P

People Around Me

Okay, I totally have to squeeze my posts in between revisions because my Contract exam is in 3 days! Sorry to say, but this project is totally launched at the wrong time - right before the most important exam (so far) in my life! Anyway, what can we do? I guess it must be in conjunction with the Hari Belia thingy. So anyway, let's get to the questions! :)

Tell us about your family structure and members. Tell us stories about your time spent with family. Bring us to become part of your family!

 Here is my family structure:

Yup, just mummy and I.

It has been just the two of us since I was two, when my dad passed away. I was too young at that time, so I don't really have much memory about him. To hell with cancer.

Due to the abovementioned circumstances, I am, therefore, the only child in the family. As you can imagine, with only two people in the house, it can get pretty quiet sometimes, especially when I'm engrossed in my reading and my mum's hidden behind the newspapers. The sound of lizard calls can be pretty deafening in our house and you can even hear a pin drop.

Okay, so I've been exaggerating. Two people can create a lot of noise. Because the noise mostly come from me! I'm often heard whistling, singing and making strange noises around the house. Don't ask me why, maybe I'm just naturally noisy at home, cause I don't seem to do that in college.

Saturday is sort of our 'family day', in which we'll usually go shopping and have a nice dinner together. And Sunday is our relaxing day! On this day, we usually talk or stay behind computer screens with her catching up on political news and work while I mess with graphics, codes and games.

Yep, that's pretty much all we do. A small family in a cosy house doing their everyday stuff.



Tell us who are your best friends and why do you like to hang out with them and the activities you all frequently do together.

I don't really like to name 'best friends', because people may get hurt if I left them out.

Activities... Hmm, activities. Let me see. I'm an introvert - that means I rarely 'hang out' with people. I do go for the occasional movie and stuff but that's about it. I'll have more to say next year onwards though, cause me and one of my good friends are going to the UK together to pursue our Law degrees!

Since pictures speak a thousand words, let me just post some of my friends and I here.

We were in Taman Negara where we tortured a fish (sorry fish!) Don't worry fish lovers, we let it go in the end. I think.

Form 5 class gathering!

When you are meeting new people how do you describe yourself?

Hello, I'm Angelina; I'm 19 this year, and I'm a Malaysian. I love gaming, I'm a Law student and I like chickens... yadda, yadda.

No, really. Do people really describe themselves to strangers these days? Even extroverts? I really doubt so. Most people, if not all, get to know new people better by socialising. Not by carrying out some interview session! :)


Is identity important to you and your friends? How important is standing out / being different to you and your friends?

I don't know about my friends, but deep down inside, I love to stand out. I mean, who doesn't? If they could, everyone would want to be the top student in their class, everyone would want to look beautiful/handsome and everyone would want to be successful in their lives. And on top of that, everyone wants to be unique. The way we dress, the way we carry ourselves and the way we communicate with others all contribute to creating an identity that is unique to us.

I don't follow fashion trends, I wear whatever I think looks great. My friends describe my style as 'elegant', which I am happy with because that's what every person want to achieve! You can find me on a typical day wearing office trousers and a random top, usually double-layered - because I think jackets and coats look absolutely awesome! Because #1, it disguises your waist to make you look slimmer and #2, it gives you a really curvy body even if you don't really have one!

Psst, that's how I get away with my binges without anybody noticing!

It cannot be denied that one's outlook is very important, but I think one's knowledge can be even more interesting! That said, I love reading and learning about new things during my free time. I believe knowledge has helped me meet some very great friends who have really interesting facts to share. I guess that's what I meant when I said I'm very picky about friends (in my Day 1 post). I socialise with people with something to talk about. I absolutely cannot stand talking to people who only know gossip. Because I don't care what X's friend's sister's cousin's friend's brother's girlfriend's classmate's friend did. And I don't care if A is dating B. I don't even care if they got married and had kids. These have absolutely nothing to do with my life.


Does religion affect your choice of friends? Explain your answer.

Let me get it out first. I'm an atheist.

atheist (n.) One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

Yep, I don't believe we have a god. But that's a totally irrelevant and long-winded discussion, which I will not get started on.

And yes, I believe it has somewhat influenced the way I choose my friends. I'm not totally against religion, because I think a lot of people base their morale on it, but I don't think people should be blinded by religion and religion only, because we really should make our lives more useful. I have friends from all religions, but let's just say they don't put up scriptures from their holy book all over their walls, stick quotes on their car windows and use them as their bookmark. They also won't drop dead if their God suddenly disappeared. They are religious, but not insanely religious, let's put it that way.


How do you and your friends like to categorize people of your age group . i.e EMO, Skater, JPop, KPop fanatic, Hip Hop, Goth, freak, geek, shutterbug, others? What are the three most popular groups/looks amongst you and your friends?

This question is a fun one :)

Let me just put them in list form:

The Americans
The Americans are not really Americans but try to act like one.
How to spot an American:

1. They speak like, you know, like, they have, like, a freaking, like, speech problem and they, like, make every sentence, like, sound like a question.
2. They wear extremely low-cut tops and expose as much cleavage as they possibly can with a push-up bra.

The Dramatics
The Dramatics like creating big scenes out of small issues.
How to spot a Dramatic:

1. They drop their pen/ruler/book/paper 98381437 times during class.
2. They tear and crumple their paper dramatically when they write more than one word wrongly.

The Intangible Interference
The term 'intangible interference' can be found under a chapter called 'Nuisance' in Tort Law. It refers to something intangible that interferes with the enjoyment of the land, such as noise.
How to spot an Intangible Interference:

1. They have an extremely loud voice.
2. They interrupt (almost) anything you say.
3. You can probably hear them from the other end of the room when they're talking.
4. They burst out in a loud laugh even though they are too stupid to catch the joke - a fake laugh is so easy to spot.

That's about all I can remember so far. What groups my friends and I belong to, you ask? Well... We don't like to label, ya' know :P

Me, Me, Me.

Oh, and today's youth. Sorry I almost forgot.

First and foremost, let's talk about me! Greetings, fellow Malaysians and the occasional Martian, my name is Angelina and my surname is Tan but my last name is Kim. But, since I find it difficult to fill out the "last name" column of most forms, I am sometimes known as Angelina Tan and sometimes as Angelina Kim. But you gotta agree, the latter sounds better, right? RIGHT?

Ahem, enough of confusing you guys. Let's get to the questions!

What's the best thing about being a youth today? Do you think the future is bright for your generation or do you think the future is something to worry about?

Why is it good to be a youth today? Definitely the technology. The fact that we can do so many things that we cannot do before is enough reason for anyone to want to be a youth. I mean, with the click of a button you can find out what your friend did last summer? Within a flash you can know how your brother's secret girlfriend looks like? With the click of the 'publish' button you can get yourself into trouble with the IS-... okay, let's not go there. But you get my point. Today's technology is such a wonderful thing. With iPods, iPhones, iPads... The next thing you know, they'd come up with an iPizza. It might even be virtually edible. You never know.

Now let's talk about the future. Yes, I think the future is something we should worry about. We all might live in some happy-go-lucky world, "Que Sera, Sera; whatever will be, will be." But one day, when we do wake up and realise, we'd see that the world is not as perfect as it seems. Overpopulation, global warming (and no, it's not a hoax), neverending tsunamis, earthquakes, an economy collapsing on itself... the list never ends. I mean, don't you see what the adults are doing? They're putting it all on our shoulders! Ever heard of the phrase "the future is in your hands"? Or "the future will depend on you"? Do these phrases sound ever so familiar? Do you not see the global insinuation that is going on today?!

Then again, we can worry about those tomorrow, right? The iPhone is ringing, the TV is booming and Call of Duty is, well, calling. Besides, why today's youth? Tomorrow's youth can do it... *wink*

Do you think “youth” (people like you) are rebellious in nature? Do you think youth today rebel like they used to before? Explain. Do you/have you rebelled against anything or anyone in the past? Explain.

Hmm, rebellion. Interesting question. I guess it depends how the said youth was brought up. My friends were not rebellious, though I have witnessed some at my college who are. But, I have my own interesting story to tell, of how I rebelled against the Malaysian education system.

I came from a Chinese primary school and anyone who came from one will tell you of how much they were tortured there. "One error, one stroke; if it's a careless one, then you get two". This was the general rule of caning we get there. We get caned for practically every single mistake we make, no matter how minor it was and no matter how absurb it was to cane. Fed up of such treatment, I asked my mum to write me a letter to all my teachers asking them to not cane me, in which I personally handed to them. My class teacher responded most unusually. She shouted in Chinese, "If you don't like it, I won't even cane or care about you. If you don't want to come for my lessons, you can get out of my class and that's fine with me too!" Those words weren't directed at me, but the class knew better and all eyes were on me.

The years went fine without as much caning as the others and I finally got a 'B' for my kelakuan, which according to my class teacher, only the worst of the worst of students will get, as she said she had awarded an 'A' to most of her students. I was barely moved by her words. At least I got my A's academically.

Then came secondary school. One day, I had borrowed some science notes from my friend from another class right before an exam for some last minute run through. I thought her notes looked strange and incomplete, but according to her, her teacher said that these notes were 'sufficient to allow students to score'. They didn't look sufficient to me, but I didn't pursue the matter further. During the exam, to my horror, the answers to the questions were exactly the same as the 'notes' my friend's teacher gave! I felt disgusted as I think it is really unfair to spoon feed students knowing they will suffer in national exams. I reborrowed my friend's notes and together with a copy of the exam paper, I went to the Head of Student Affairs in my school (Penolong Kanan Hal Ehwal Murid). I showed her those, and she said, 'enough proof'. I felt relieved that action will be taken, but at the same time worried. I told her to protect my identity for fear of being victimised in the future. She agreed to do so.

But one fine day, I realised my cover was broken as the said teacher sent a student for me, asking me to meet her. I was terrified that she would skin me alive. I confronted the Head of Student Affairs but she told me not to be afraid and to go ahead and see her. I was furious. Yet, I faced my fears and went up to her. The teacher started telling me off by describing the 'problems I had caused her'. I told her that it was unfair that she did that and she asked me, 'Are you jealous that my students got higher marks than you? What did you get for that exam anyway?' I told her my marks and she was stunned. Let's just say I did quite well. She continued defending herself and saying that she only did 'what was best for them'. The conversation ended with her saying that she'll forget that this ever happened.

Two years later, a nightmare came true. She was my science teacher. Some problems arose and she screamed, 'I still remember what you did to me in the year 2004!'. This reminded me of a horror movie I had watched. I confronted her after class but she ignored me. I walked out of the classroom and went home, asking my mum to meet the Head of Student Affairs with me as it seems that I cannot win this battle as a minor. The Head promised to investigate on this. Two weeks later, she summoned me to her office for an interrogation. If I didn't know better, I'd think that I was detained by the police. The conversation went somewhat like this:

Her: The teacher said you screamed at her in class.
Me: That never happened.
Her: But she said you did. I asked the whole class and they ALL said you did.
Me: Well, they must be lying then.
Her: The whole class? Lying? You must be kidding me. Besides, a teacher never lies.
Me: Well, this teacher sure did.
Her: You were disrespectful to her. I want you to apologise to her, but I'm not going to force you to.
Me: Good, because I won't apologise for something I never did.
Her: ... You have a high ego.

I lived up to my words. I did not apologise to her, even though some of my friend suggested I should, just to 'get this matter over with'. I stand by what I believe in, and I believe our education system needs all the help it can get.

These are just some of the major 'rebellious' acts I've ever done. But we must all note that healthy rebellion exists as well.

Do you think youth today have an easier or harder life than our parents' generation? Please explain your answer.

Well, it depends what is 'easier' or 'harder'. Back then, education wasn't of utmost importance. Money was. Most of them dropped out of school early and started working. Many could not even afford to go to school.

As for us youth, we substitute the hardship of life with the hardship of our horrible education system. We are forced to memorise hard facts with the holy existence of Wikipedia. I still don't get why. I believe we should be allowed to choose what we want to do. Why force those who are incapable of studying to continue? Professionals aren't the only ones who can survive. Why not give these poor kids some vocational skills since they're probably better at them?

I guess, overall, we have an easier life. But I guess when I say 'we', I mean youths belonging to families in stable financial situations. What about the millions of struggling youths around the world? If you compare them as well, I guess 'our' struggles will seem equal.

What is your biggest fear in the world... other than death?

The fear of the non-ability to recover from failure. I've met people whose main aim in life is just to relax and have fun, but I want to succeed. I have a lot of dreams I want to fulfill, but I will leave those for another related post. I know we always hear of the phrase 'we must fail in order to succeed'.

But what if? What if we failed and we could never get up? What if our dreams become a mere fantasy? With all the optimism, we have to give ourselves some room for fear as well, and wake up to the reality that the phrase 'nothing is impossible' is but a big, fat hoax.

What makes you happy?

Money of course! I'm an extremely materialistic. My mum is pretty frugal and we almost never buy things we don't need. But there are some things which are absolutely vital to mankind's my survival! Such as the iPhone, the iPad, the iThis, the iThat and the Alienware M17x. Because I know I'm not going to get any of this by throwing tantrums because now I'm all grown up, I've decided that I'll earn it all myself! I'll go to lengths just for $1.

Really.

What has been the most difficult hurdle you have overcome so far in your life? What did this experience teach you?

My most difficult hurdle was my battle with the Malaysian education system. As my story above, you can see that this battle is still on-going and that it is quite impossible that I can win this single-handedly. This experience taught me that many people live for themselves. They, or at least from what I have observed, do not care if others live or die, so as long as they can put food on their table, they are willing to do harm upon others.


Which has more importance today in your life - family or friends? Why? In your experience, did you ever have to make a choice between your friends and family? If ‘yes’ please explain your answer and why did you do so?

I believe that almost everyone will put their family first, as the saying goes, 'blood is thicker than water'. I'm the kind of person that is very picky about friends. I don't mix with 'just anybody'. I guess that's just the way I was brought up. Or maybe it was because of the environment, and therefore I am such. In today's world, most people are for themselves, and the only people you can really rely on are your immediate families.

Besides, I can totally ransack my room looking for my favorite shirt and still have my parents accept me for the pig I am, but if I were to ever let my friends into my room... well, let's just say I won't have any after that.

Tell us more about yourself!

Since I am usually tongue-tied during introductions, let me just write a short biography about myself.

I am 19 this year and I will be sitting for my A-level finals in less than a week. After which, I will pursue a Law degree in UK. I am the only child in the family. My favorite past time is reading, web coding and gaming, making me a geek.

And... I prefer filling in 'About Me' questionnaires than talk about myself like this. Therefore the abrupt stop.

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That's all for today's topics, I guess. I will continue my next topic when Streamyx reincarnates from the dead. Till then, take care and adieu!