Eh ben ça y est !

So that's it from me, folks !

(Now, you'd probably be wondering why I put in National Service pics, but well... I thought I'd end this with a bang. :D)

Ten topics, several gruelling days of writing, and I hope you enjoyed my stream of posts, and more so, Real Voices 2 ! I'm pretty sure we've had our frustrations during the whole writing thing, but we've certainly had our joys too.

I wish you all the best in life and the Lord's blessings every day of your lives. Thank you for being a part of this wonderful story, even if it's for a short while. ^_^

And don't forget to keep in touch !

Twitter / YouTube / Blogger / Flickr / DeviantArt

Au revoir, tout le monde !
troisnyxétienne

1Malaisie... eh vraiment ?

This is the 1Malaysia banner which I made in my National Service stint. Whilst everyone helped to paint and print on the banner, the drawing and idea was mine. The one thing I wanted to highlight on the banner is that the people come first.

1Malaysia was announced somewhere last year, and back when I was in National Service, we were all gung-ho about the idea of 1Malaysia, people being united without fear or favour, the symbolism behind the whole thing… I, like many other Malaysians, reserve hopes that this isn’t gonna be some sort of political play on words again, like what had happened with many of the previous policies and/or campaigns. With the whole concept of 1Malaysia brought out in full force during publicities, in naming things, I’m pretty sure we youth have our hopes for 1Malaysia… and our doubts. In fact, sometimes I begin to ask myself… 1Malaisie, eh vraiment (oh really) ?



I shall end the stream of posts just as I began : I shall answer the questions given to me in interview form.



What do you think of 1Malaysia ?


The whole concept of 1Malaysia (hereafter referred to as 1MY), as I view it, isn’t entirely new. It’s an age-old concept brought back to life, a concept which we should be practising by now : the unity of all ethnicities and backgrounds without fear or favour. Tunku Abdul Rahman obviously had it in mind when he and the rest of the Alliance party fought for our independence some 50+ years ago.


This concept, like many others, does not come without its flaws :


1. Politicians, particularly from the ruling party and the leading opposition, are constantly playing the racial card and undermining the spirit of 1MY.


2. An oh-so-familiar slogan… wait, it’s too familiar, isn’t it ? And it’s coming from a country whose sovereignty we do not recognise, apparently because they don’t have land and/or resources. Pff, so much for “loving our neighbour” and looking with love on the poor.


3. Our elders, some of our teachers and our parents, are the kind to constantly spread statements about racial stereotypes, and because we’re brought up in this manner, we pass them down to our offspring. Until and unless this problem is remedied, we won’t see a day where all youth would act just as when they were kids – colour blind and ready to love the other.


4. The sign for 1MY – the pointer up – is the exact same sign as the French sign for Chut ! (meaning “silence !”). Awkward, isn’t it ? Especially when I’ve been immersed in the language and culture for 6 years and counting. What’re they trying to tell us now, eh ? Appreciate the silence and don’t cause an uproar ? :P


Now don’t call me a naysayer, now – I love my country, and even though it’s too problematic a child for me to handle, there are still things which I cherish… and which I have grown to love. Mixed meals – dim sum, char koay teow, nasi lemak and/or roti canai at various times of the day, Bahasa Malaysia (no, seriously, even though my BM is textbookish, I’ve grown to truly love it), hanging out with friends of all kinds… these are simple things, but these can go a long way in spreading the spirit of 1MY.

 I’m not sure what my vision for 1MY would be, even for five years down the road, but I’d definitely love to do my part in uniting the people. Heck, I’ve even imagined myself in a unification concert, a night vigil to promote unity and peace among the many people in MY. That image still remains vivid in my mind.

 What do you think about the various races in the country ?


“Races”… Now that’s too strong a word. I’d prefer the word “ethnicities” instead. And in my honest opinion, all of them rock. Seriously. Yes, sometimes we get negative vibes because of what the politicians say (again *rolls eyes* back we go to the whole discussion about their play on words and the racial card), but otherwise, the essence is that they’re people who want to love and be loved, and our calling is to love one another – regardless of ethnicity – just as God has loved us.


A difficult thing to do, indeed, n’est-ce pas ?



Do you think about your race or country first ?


My country first, definitely.


I’m a third culture kid. In essence, I’m Indian. I have mixed Northern Indian and Southern Indian blood, so that makes me a kid from two different cultures altogether. I’ve never had any sympathies towards the values of my ethnicity, and I’ve accepted and embraced Christian values completely. When I was introduced to French culture, I embraced that too. So now, I seriously don’t give a damn about my origins because despite my last name being Singh, my first name is Annette – a name whose origins people might not be able to point out – and it’s taken from the name of a saint, and I cherish it ! Some people have gone to the extent of branding me a devil, an India sesat or a Punjabi sesat because of my disregard towards ethnic values. But do I look like I’m the least bit bothered ? On top of that, did I even ask to be born in any ethnicity ? It’s nothing for me to be proud of, damn it !


I have found spiritual renewal in Christ, I am who I am, the Lord has given me this wonderful person who is… me. That’s all that matters to me as an individual.


As for Malaysia, it’s my home. All the memories which I have, and stuff which I have forgotten (and which I’ve given to God for safekeeping), are in this country. Sooner or later, I’ll be going abroad, but the fact remains that I’m especially proud when a compatriot of mine does well in his field of choice. I salute Nicol David, Lee Chong Wei, Sudirman, Yasmin Ahmad (I was a follower of her blog to the very end) and P. Ramlee, for their heartfelt involvement and their contributions in their fields. I partake in the many things that make us Malaysian – open houses, discussions over teh tarik, Independence Day campaigns, and lots of other things – wherever and whenever I can contribute, I contribute with fervour. On Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki, I mention that I’m Malaysian and whenever I find the occasion, I wear my country’s colours with pride. I sing Jalur Gemilang and a whole lot of patriotic songs with pride, because I know they can make Malaysians from all walks of life cry if rendered properly.


To put it simply, I’m Malaysian, and I’m identified by my faith, but I don’t wish to be identified by any other labels, INCLUDING ethnicity.



Do you think there is tension between the various ethnicities ?


Yes, there is tension. More so in the peninsula, and even more in the capital. It takes just one person’s statements to fan the flames of hatred, and smouldering embers, no matter how harmless they seem to be, need to be put out immediately.


I’ve witnessed this during my National Service stint in Camp Miri, Sungai Rait, Miri. To sum up my whole lesson on tension between ethnicities, there were some 200+ trainees, the majority of which came from several towns in Sarawak – Limbang, Miri, Bintulu, Bekenu and Kuching. The rest of us came from Kuala Lumpur, and one trainee hailed from Johor. Now, you and I would agree on the fact that East Malaysians are a lot more overt than we are. They’re willing to touch on things which we West Malaysians would deem as “sensitive”, as “distasteful”, and laugh them off. And believe it or not, all the seven major brawls that broke out in the camp were started by trainees from KL.


There are several factors - *rolls eyes again* politicians playing the racial card, environments where there is only one major ethnicity, or to put it plain and simple, sheer disgust for the other. Just burying the tension or sweeping it under the carpet isn’t gonna be enough. There needs to be a move from all sides to put aside differences and accept others with open arms. (And again, see how muhibbah I’ve become – that was calqued directly from the Malay expression tangan terbuka.)



How do you think people from all over the world see Malaysia ?


Well, judging from the perceptions of my friends from outside MY, they think that we’re a diligent lot, but they also believe that we’re lacking in the human rights department – which is quite true. On the one hand, whenever we immerse ourselves in something, we do it with passion and pride. On the other hand, we parade, make lofty discussions about the right to life when people are still being tried, condemned and sent to the gallows !


I’ve heard a lot of them say that they wanna visit MY one of these days. They love the Petronas Twin Towers. Oh wait, anyone would love the Twin Towers. And we’ve got a lot more to offer too.


And I remember another friend of mine from the Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki once remarked that we’re all multilingual, and that he’d love the chance to be just like us. Wow. :D

 Do you think there is a typical Malaysian stereotype ?


Not that I know of…

 How would you want people to view Malaysians in the future ?


In short – diligent, loving, able to see things from a point of view which people won’t see.


The latter requires a serious cultural change, though. By cultural change, I mean that there are two traits that currently define us – fear and ignorance. We’re either too scared of the people breathing down our necks (aren’t we all ?) that we just can’t bring ourselves to change things, or we just don’t care. Everything is explained by one simple example : the long traffic jams on the highways which turn out to be people watching the aftermath of an accident. We’re too afraid to step out and lend a hand, or we just follow everyone… with the attitude that “if it’s not my car, I’m not bothered”.


In truth, my expectations for 1MY are extremely high. But I have hopes to realise them… because in essence, I’m Malaysian.


À la suite (you’ll soon know why I’m saying this),



troisnyxétienne

Meh.

I was obliged to write something about brands. Well, there are brands I can trust, and there are brands I just can't. Now I'm not gonna write a lengthy post like I always have, because I'm gonna sum up my stance towards the whole obsession about brands in three simple words :

Je m'en fiche.

I don't care.

Which is why, to be honest, I haven't found a rather catchy advertisement, or one that really touches me, because their ultimate gain is profit. Even the ads during festivities seem to have lost their meaning. After the whole talk about the Coca Cola Company's and Pepsi' "vitamin water" (consider 8 tablespoons of sugar vitamins ?), I've had it.

I've never had any favourites.... except for one company when it comes to gaming consoles and phones : Sony. Seriously. PlayStation2 was a success that gaming companies chose to release for the PS2 until late last year. The last ever production I know which is for the PlayStation2 is Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, released by Square-Enix and Disney. And my phone is... well... a Sony Ericsson. I'm not gonna go at length and specify what models I've used (because you probably wouldn't care about that anyway).

And no, religion doesn't affect my choice of brands. Simply because I believe that if everything was created by God, then everything would be fit for consumption. We can't declare unclean what God has declared clean. Those of you who have read the Acts of the Apostles should know this by now.

So, to some sum it all up in one sentence : where brands are concerned, I'm probably not the least bit bothered.

I don't know, but for some reason, the whole talk about brands just turns me off...

Favoris (and yes, I know this thing is a few hours late)

For those of you who have been anticipating this post, I'm glad, and I'm sorry to keep you waiting. But before I continue, I must congratulate every single member of Real Voices II for doing a wonderful job on the blog ! All it needs now is a little restyling and we'd be a full-fledged blog ! :D Great job, everyone.

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Alright, so today, I'll be speaking on the eighth topic on the list that I was asked to write on : favourites, or in French, favoris. Now, I wouldn't get carried away and start belting out an off-key version of My Favourite Things, because I've got quite a bit of content to show... again. ^_^


Favourite show, ever :





Mind Your Language. I'm a huge fan of it, even after the show has been discontinued, and I've even gone to the extent of subscribing to the user who put all the clips up. Forget the "racial slurs" and the "mild language". It was friendly viewing, even for kids, but it just wasn't meant to continue...


Favourite music :
Now, this will be divided into two categories - song and background music. I admit that there are quite a lot on my favourites list, but for the purposes of shortening this post, I'll only put one of each. So here goes :





Pick of the day from my list of favourite songs :

Mylène Farmer, C'est dans l'air.

Title literally translates to "It's in the air" and it talks about the kind of lackadaisical, worldly attitude a lot of people have chosen, as well as the indifference some people show about it. In graphics and vids ranging from PG-13 to R, of course.


Favourite background music has gotta be... Well, it's a very recent release and you probably wouldn't have heard about it, but I was introduced to it by one of my friends, so here goes :





Kainé Salvation, written by Keiichi Okabe for Nier Gestalt and Nier Replicant.




I don't know why, but I have a feeling that the person singing in this is Amy Lee, the lead of Evanescence. It just sounds like her. Truth be told, I haven't played the game because I don't have a PS3. I've only listened to the soundtrack. Seriously, if you love this one, listen to the rest of the soundtrack. Because, as I said earlier, I'm trying to keep this post short (as in, I don't wanna overcrowd it with ten videos from the Nier Gestalt original soundtrack).


Favourite game series :





Kingdom Hearts.


For those of you who have a PS2, borrow, buy, acquire the first and second editions (as well as Re:Chain of Memories) by whatever legal means possible - I admit I was initially curious over the whole idea that Donald and Goofy were in the game. Then, I discovered that it was a crossover between Final Fantasy and Disney franchises. And not only did Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) do it well, they, like in all other games, managed to make players cry.


And whilst I'm on the subject of Kingdom Hearts, the long-awaited prequel, titled Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, is on my must-watch list, if not my must-have list (because I don't have a PSP).




I'm not sure about my must-do or must-have list, even though there are some things I'd like to have, but I'm only hesitating to ask.

Okay, as for tangible items, I'll need another section. Or another post. Let's hope I'm not lazy. :P
I'd need to whip out my phone once it's fully charged, and grab pictures of the stuff I can touch and feel, and that I have in my favourites.

Donc, à la prochaine…

troisnyxétienne

Divertissement !

Finally, a post where I'll have to put in LOTS of vids and pics. This one's gonna be really heavy on content, so stay tuned. And if you have a crappy internet connection, then désolée, you'd be missing all the fun.

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To start, I hardly watch TV. When I used to watch TV, years ago, my favourite show was Mind Your Language (yes, that 80's show featuring Jeremy Brown and his myriad of international students). I don't know why it was stopped, let alone why people thought some of the comments were racist. I, like many other viewers, took it in good faith and we had a good laugh.


For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, here are some sneak peeks into what you've missed :





I also watched Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader ? and American Idol (right up to Archuleta's time, and after that, I stopped). Today, I watch anything that tickles my fancy on YouTube - but of late, my Kingdom Hearts Wiki friends have been persuading me to watch YuGiOh ! - The Abridged Series (YGOTAS for short). Two of the clips can be found in my previous post.

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I'm not a follower of the fashion scene, so I can't say much about it.


Yet, I LOVE MUSIC. And yes, even though the mainstream really disappoints me, I try to find artistes which have my tastes. Most of my music info comes from the Net, especially fan sites with access to documents, news and/or updates from the artistes themselves. The rest of it comes from Twitter (as is the case for Coldplay and Taylor Swift).


I don't follow the English mainstream much because what I often hear on Fly FM and Hitz really disappoints me. And as you might've noticed in my previous posts, as you read on, you'd notice that most of the artistes I support are not household names. On my blog, I've stated (despite the two YGOTAS videos featuring Lady Gaga songs) that I hate Lady Gaga with a passion. Well, now, much less, after the single Alejandro was released. It seems to have a sound that echoes that of my favourite artistes (read on).





But still...


So, moving on, the artistes I like are mostly from the French scene. For instance, Alizée :





(Note, though, that the only time I really liked Alizée was when she was under the guidance of Mylène Farmer.)


Oh, and now that I speak about her, here's Mylène Farmer :





Despite her PG-13 to R-rated performances, Mylène Farmer remains my perennial favourite. The sad thing is, the live performance of my favourite song from her, C'est dans l'air, cannot be embedded, and I've no choice but to provide a link to the page.


And then, there's Zazie :





Shows how much I love French pop.


As for where I get my music, it varies. I either download, get it from friends or buy the album. The last album I bought was Alizée's third album, Psychédélices, but it was lacklustre compared to her first two. Now I've become all disillusioned with what she's become, and I've resolved to buy stuff from artistes whom I know are established. Here's the reason why I dislike Psychédélices :





A far cry from Moi Lolita (the first song of hers I placed in this post) and the time she was under Mylène Farmer. Honestly, I've no problems with her breaking free and creating her own identity, but I saw nothing particularly bad about the Lolita image she once had, as well as her previous style of vocals. Electronica is JUST NOT me, and that's also the same reason why I loathe most of Lady Gaga's songs. When I heard Mademoiselle Juliette I was like, okay, maybe this was a desired change....... until I saw the back cover of the album and instead of Universal Music Group, it read...... *gasp* Sony BMG.


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On to the subject of books. I enjoy reading books, it's just that of late, I haven't bought any, I've hardly read any and I can't pick out a favourite out of the hundreds of books I read in my entire lifetime... well, perhaps the whole lot of Shakespeare I read, but otherwise, if I have to pick a favourite from the last few books I read, it'd be...






Honk If You're Malaysian by Lydia Teh.

Seriously, if you haven't picked up that book, I say DO IT. NOW. :D Because I'm only going to put it down in one sentence : no one sums up Malaysian life with so much flair like Lydia Teh.

Alright, so I believe I've spoilt you guys with enough videos and ramblings of my outlandish tastes. Stay tuned for the next post, which I'll be putting up tomorrow morning !

À la prochaine !

troisnyxétienne

This one's gonna be really quick

I'm going to answer these in "interview form" as I did on my first post - this one's gonna be really quick.


What communication medium do you and your friends use the most to communicate through and why ? What are the pros and cons of each ?
It depends on the social circle. I'd say each of them has equal distribution - Twitter messages, Facebook messages, Kingdom Hearts/Kingdom Hearts Francophone messages, SMS.


The good thing about SMS, Twitter and Facebook messaging, as opposed to other messages, is that I get them on the go (yes, I sometimes use m.twitter and m.facebook). For other messages I'd have to wait a few hours until my classes end, and then return online.


Yet, on the flipside, the online messages are the ones that put a smile on my face more than the others. I don't know why, but they just do....... ^_^ Since it's not expressed in 450 characters (or worse, 120 characters), and it gives the sender the liberty to say what he has to say, it's more heartfelt.


Of course, the best medium of communication would be face-to-face conversation, but what am I talking about ? This is social networking !


Are social networking sites making your life better or worse ?
Well, I can't say it's changed my life for the better or the worse (Twitter's made it better, YouTube's made it better, but Facebook... um.......... I wish I could quit because of its ultra-relaxed privacy policies, but everyone's there. Yes, everyone).


List the number of online social networking sites which you are a member of, and why you choose to have an account/profile on each of them. What activities do you do on these sites ?


Blogger
I've had a blog on Windows Live Spaces earlier, but the layout couldn't be customised as WL does not accept HTML and/or Javascript. In late 2007, I switched to Blogger because I knew of the functions : scheduling posts, customising layouts, and ultimately, being able to switch to one's own personal domain when the need arises. I jumped at the opportunity. I was initially asked to try Wordpress, but naw - it doesn't give me the flexibility that Blogger gives me.


Oh, and just so you know, YouthEcho, the site for which I used to write, was hosted on Wordpress.


Twitter
Come on, status updates in 120 characters ? Quick peeks at what your friends are doing when you're in the middle of a boring class ? Statuses and pics in the middle of a shopping trip ? You know you want to. I'm known for replying and retweeting, though I often tweet about new works, projects and/or wiki developments.


Facebook (no link for this one, sorry, I'm not handing it that easily)
As I said, EVERYONE's on Facebook. I can't do anything about it.


YouTube
I used to have it only for fan-made AMVs of the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy series, but now, I've begun uploading my own works - National Service videos, drum practice vids and more recently, a cover (you can find a few of these vids here).


As for what I watch on YT, it varies. It could either be movie trailers, game trailers, original soundtracks (as in Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and more recently, NieR Gestalt), video game footage (where I source for screenshots, strategies and/or renders), videos of my school choir performing, drum vids, and music vids. Oh, and Yu-Gi-Oh ! - The Abridged Series. :D Or YGOTAS, for short.


To entertain you with a little bit of YGOTAS, here are some funnies :








DeviantArt and Wikia
Wait, those aren't social networking sites, are they... ?


Sites which I used to be on include Friendster, Skyrock and I'm not sure what else - but I removed the accounts.


How many friends do you have on each account ?
Facebook - 400+.
Twitter -  95 followers, 72 following.
YouTube - Some 60+ friends, 37 subscribers.
DeviantArt - I'm not sure, but I think I only have ten watchers. And a few more friends than watchers.
Blogger - Thus far, only three people are following OH TEH NOES !.


And a lot more on Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki.


I have grown to know more about the friends whom I 'don't know', and thus, I'm proud to say that I know 99% of them.


Do you prefer to meet people for the first time online or face-to-face ? Why ?
Online, definitely, because it's a lot safer, and if I know the person is trying to sweet-talk his way, then he can't even THINK of meeting me face-to-face.


Who do you follow on Twitter ?
The majority of people whom I follow on Twitter are my friends. Notable personalities and/or groups in my abonnements include Paula Abdul, Coldplay, Project Hope, the members of the YouthSays team, Taylor Swift, Ryan Seacrest and the Twitter team themselves.

À plus !



troisnyxétienne

Déconnexion

The second part of my take on the subject of going online will focus on whether or not the Internet has made us disconnected with our friends, rather than making us stay connected.


I decided to put that in one single post because I know that I can just go on and on and on about this.


The thing about most online communities - be it massive multiplayer online role-playing games, or blogging platforms, or DeviantArt or even a wiki, is that when we start out, we start out with a few people. These few people that become the first few members of the project are close-knit, and you want it to stay that way. But when new members come into the scene, the closeness is gone. You start to lose yourself, and you begin to feel as though this thing is just going nowhere.









I've experienced it with O2Jam (back when it was still in its heyday) - YES, I PLAYED O2 JAM :D - I first got in there when a neighbour of mine introduced me to it, and wanted to have musical duels with me. I obliged. Then when I saw the characters being customised, I wanted to customise my own too. I wanted to be this young girl with a yellow shirt and purple hair and black pants playing the drums (so far, I never got to see a single avatar with a drum kit in its possession, and I wanted to be the first).


But the same problem of overcrowding came about, and when I was in Level 11 (I already had my hair and shirt on by then), I knew I just wasn't going to be close with these people anyway. I quit. And a few months down the road I discovered that O2Jam's servers just collapsed and that was the end of the entire game.


Right now, the same thing seems to happen with Facebook (especially when I have some 400+ friends - all of whom I do know) and to a certain extent, Kingdom Hearts Wiki (though the regular users, admins and I have to remain close-knit. We have to).


The goal of many online communities, as I've noticed, is to make users gather the most number of friends possible, without giving regard to how close we all get. Instead of connecting us, as they claim to be able to do, they're making us rather disconnected.


The onus ultimately lies on us to mingle with our friends, ask them how they're doing, even if it's been ages since we saw them. But how many of us do that ?

Internet communities have mushroomed, and the most popular of these today are Twitter and Facebook. Yet, almost all of them fail to address the one human weakness, which is bound to make us disconnected : constant communication. Yes, Facebook occasionally has this function on the home page (Accueil for me, since I'm using the French version) which screams out someone's name (but only on the sidebar, darn it !) and right below it, Prenez de ses nouvelles (Find out what's new, or something like that) or Dites-lui bonjour (Say hello to him/her). I don't think this is working very well, especially for someone with more than 300 friends. And many of us fit into this category.





And the worst part : the Like button, which everyone has not been expected, but rather, OBLIGED to click. I can understand if it's a simple nod of approval for a status update or user-uploaded content, especially if it's among friends. But if it's for something which needs critical approval ? Even YouTube has followed in Facebook's footsteps now. What happened to the star system where we could judge the way our works and/or site performed based on what people honestly thought ? Now it's based on likes and dislikes. How many likes does it take for someone to get five stars ? How many dislikes does it take to get fewer than five stars ?

I lament the demise of the old layouts. And the blatant disconnection all this has caused. And now, someone please teleport me back to Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki, because there, I can at least meet my close friends.

À la prochaine.

troisnyxétienne 

En ligne

Introduction

I spend my mornings and nights online. Yep, I spend long hours in front of the PC. What do I do there, you ask ? Well… *counts with fingers* I check my YouTube, Twitter and/or DeviantArt, I check my blog when the need arises, I edit on Kingdom Hearts Wiki and Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki, and speak to my friends over MSN ; if there’s a sketch, video and/or photo-manipulation to put up, I’d put it up… But otherwise, I also do quite a bit of offline activity – in that I edit and/or colour pictures, I listen to music and whatnot.


Oh, and here's some eye candy that I posted online on my blog, which I thought I'd share with you guys - this is just an example of the stuff I do :

Emotes

Photomanipulations
Country First

Heroines in our own little way

Soirée du spectacle

Remember That Day

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My username, as you may have noticed, is troisnyxétienne. I often use the short form troisnyx on Blogger and on places where usernames longer than 10 characters aren’t allowed. I developed this username when I was about 14 or 15, and I’m not going to budge from this. So as I said in my first post, you’d be wondering why I went on to use something as bizarre as Troisoisfngnxogaoshrtuggvh. Well, let me divide the components for you :


Trois = French for “three”. Three is a significant number in Scripture as well as in the world – lots of things happen in threes, and it takes three times for something to happen for it to be really significant… We count from one to three (or vice-versa), and not from one to any other number, and don’t get me started on a 1000-word-long essay of admiration of the number three.


Nyx = Nyx is the name of the Greek goddess of night. I take it to represent “darkness”. Life has its darkness, and I’m still groping my way through this darkness.


Étienne = The French equivalent of Stephen. I look up to St Stephen the martyr.


Friends


I’ve made close friends online, while not forgetting the ones I have real-time. I don’t know what attracts me to them. Some say that I’m a maternal figure, as on the Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki where there are so few female members (only two). Something about me attracts them, and I honestly hope it’s my faith and charisma. Or something to that effect.
I’m aware that there are some people whom we just can’t trust online. Their mannerisms, the way they speak, the information they ask… sometimes just turns us off. I can tell if a person is trying to sweet-talk his way or not. My two years on Skyrock (a France-based blogging platform, owned by the radio station of the same name) have taught me a lot. There are quite a few people whom we can call our friends, but there are quite a lot of sleazy characters out there who couldn’t care less about what the people around them are guarding against.


Having said thus, the online friends who have remained close to me so far are people whom I can trust, and people who are willing to let me take things in my stride. If you’re not overly pushy, or overly reserved, I wouldn’t have second thoughts of getting to know you. And this especially applies when my online friends and I are involved in projects together. Like Real Voices, for example.

My closest online friends (whom I shall simply called Unbirth and TKH2, as per their usernames) are from the Kingdom Hearts Francophone Wiki.


Controls


My parents (at a time when mom was still around) were indeed concerned about my online activity, and they always used to monitor me, where I went, what I did… They used to loathe the fact that I often went online, and sometimes I’d be scolded for speaking to certain people. It was needed, in a way, because no one can have me talking to sleazy characters, and I definitely acted like a fool back there.


I shall not proceed to give you the control method - ask for it yourselves.

In the next post, I’ll ramble about whether or not the Internet has made us disconnected with our real-time friends. I can only give you two words : Social networking.

 

À la prochaine !


troisnyxétienne

Petite notif'

"Even though the morrow is barren of promises,

nothing shall forestoll my return"

- Genesis Rhapsodos                         

That came from one of the Final Fantasy VII games, by the way, I can't remember which one it was.

I'm supposed to blog about going online, but gah. Just when I want to begin, I realise that I have to go offline. Paradoxical, n'est-ce pas ?

I'll be back with an article. Tonight. Or anytime soon. Promise.

troisnyxétienne

Oh, and----

All targets met

All customers satisfied

All systems fully operational

All staff keen and well motivated

All pigs fed and ready to fly.

Workforce

Yeah, fine, we all have to work one day. Do I look like I'm the least bit bothered ?

Well of course, that owes to the fact that I have several obligations to fulfill.

Yes, when we work, we apparently build up the country's economy. Very often, the emphasis is placed upon ethics, accountability and transparency, especially if you're working in a multinational company. As workers, we apparently make names for ourselves. Okay, to be honest, I'm kinda disillusioned on the whole subject of work. I'll explain why, as I go along.

The economic climate is bound to fluctuate. As I said in my first post, booms and recessions are bound to happen ; we can't do anything about them. And it's bound to affect us at some point in time. I, for one, have been a bit of a spendthrift when the economy was down - simply because everything was cheaper. And not to mention the amount of lunches I had in McDonald's. But that's also the time some people are more hesitant to spend. After all, it's their hard-earned money. *rolls eyes*

Now here's the part where I'm really bound to explode.

Seriously, I don't get it when people say that one job is better than the other. Each person has a different set of strengths and weaknesses. So if anyone asks me what the three coolest and un-coolest jobs are, I'd probably yell at him until his hair stands on end. Seriously. What makes an engineer better or worse than an accountant ? What makes a recording artiste better or worse than a lawyer ? (The latter sentence applies to my current state of affairs, of course.) I'm all for jobs which allow me to have my own liberty to work, and to be myself. I'd rather not have an office job, and I'd rather not be stuck in a court of law, for fear that I'd turn out to be like this :

  

So much for boosting the country's economy.

It's for this reason that I AM EFFING FED UP when someone (especially someone close to home) says that this job is better than the other and expects me to take it up. NO.

And if we're true to ourselves, then ethics and moral work habits would come naturally. I'm pretty sure that is the case for most of us, though work environments ARE DAMN FRUSTRATING. So you can't expect people to be prim and proper all the time, though it's their ideal. All the same, you'd rather have someone who is passionate about his work and comes late, rather than someone who is punctual but does nothing in the office except flirt around with the girls. There are absolute values in the corporate world, like ethical obtention of resources (speaking of which *rolls eyes again*, I wonder how many local companies actually do that),  accountability to shareholders, transparency and whatnot, but some values are more important than others when it comes to choosing workers personally.

I mean, come on ! A person who has the DRIVE to even work in that damned office is no doubt passionate about his work. And how often do we find people with drive ? More often than not we're pressured to get into our respective jobs, and we'd obviously wish ourselves somewhere else ! I, for one, would wish myself to be in a recording studio more than anywhere else on the planet (well, except home, and church, and with my friends, and in front of the computer...) ! We're in a society where people's expectations override our very own expectations, and this trend IS KILLING ME, DAMN IT !

Seriously, guys, you don't usually see me writing in ALL CAPS or rolling eyes in blog posts, but I only do that when I'm really exasperated. And the state of affairs of our workforce is something that I'm truly exasperated over.

Alright. I need a moment to calm down.
À la prochaine – j’espère.

troisnyxétienne

« Toi. Oui, toi. Montre-moi le grisbi. »

In case that passed off as gibberish to you, this is what it actually means :

"You. Yes, you. Show me the money."

To be frank, I'm pretty much unfazed by a world which is pretty OBSESSED with money. Yes, obsessed to the point that the stupidest things can be done. I'm not going to start the whole debate on whether money is the root of all evil, or not, but let's take the relatively recent atrocities committed in the global scene :


Why did Tony Blair declare war on Iraq by way of Royal Prerogative ? His answer was "to stop them from using weapons of mass destruction." In actual fact, there were none. So what motivated it ? Money.


Why is American Idol continuing - and becoming more and more lacklustre ? With Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul gone (well, Cowell's gonna depart soon), will the charm of the first few episodes still be there ? Definitely not. So what do you think would've motivated it ? Money.


Why are horrible Hollywood sequels made ? Okay, so maybe they have the idealisation that their project would be better than the first one. But they discover it isn't. For those who know the second story isn't better than the first, again, what motivates them is the revenue that they get from ditzy, screaming fangirls and enthusiasts. In short, money lah.


Why is corruption rampant, why are we getting substandard stuff and substandard food in the National Service camps ? (Believe me, I can be very vocal about this !) Allô, 95% of us in Group 3 Series 6 2009 may not have been fully educated, but we're not dickheads not to note that the people up there are more interested in the deals and connections which have been made. In short : money.


Now having ranted about money, I might as well go to the more interesting bits about money. The bits about me and money.

Don't you wish money was handed to you on a platter um, from the computer screen just like that ?

So, above rant says it all - I'm not very much interested in money. Indeed, it can be used to get stuff. But all I've been doing is saving up, and that's it. To me, money, like fame, like success, is something that comes and goes at its own time. God gives, and God takes away.


As for where I get my money from, most of it comes from my parents - whatever extra cash I have after a week, I set aside. I even set aside 50 sen coins. Some of it comes from YouthSays (though it's not time for me to cash it out yet), and some of it comes from other projects - translations, blogging, whatnot. And the rest of it comes from angpow ! :D

Kaching kachinnnnnnnggggg ! Yes, even I have my share of these.

If I ever have to buy something, I'd save up. I'm hoping to invest in a proper MP3 recorder (but now, given that I'd soon be getting a laptop, I might as well drop that plan). Oh, and a nice pair of Vic Firth drumsticks (see my post #4) - which I can already get with the money I've saved up, but because I dare not go anywhere......... I'M STUCK HERE ! -__-

But otherwise, I haven't really found the need to get up, drag my trunk to the coin box and keep those coins inside. Which shows how I care... or not... about money.

Stay tuned for post #6 - the post on work. If I'm not as lazy as I am about money, I'd probably work on it this afternoon.

Salut et à la prochaine !

troisnyxétienne

ZOMG MOAR ASPIRATIONS !

The post should've been in my actual blog by now, but since it's been dated some six months ago, I'll probably upload it there later.

As promised, here's my (current) full list of dreams, and I might be adding more when the time comes.

I hope...

1. To be a good person and a good Christian. The thing is that we notice that there aren't many truly good people around.
2. To sing.
3. To obtain first-class honours for LLB*.
4. To make Bravo Company win oh, I did that already.
5. Become the Best Trainee in Camp Miri, Sungai Rait I did that already.
6. To penetrate the francophone market with my songs. By saying that, I mean that I'm going to create songs for a French-sepaking Speaking. Speaking. I meant speaking. French-speaking audience.
7. To open a production house, which I hope to name La Maison TNE.
8. To transform my National Service journal and subsequent episodes into novels, games and musicals.
9. To pass the last level of French exams. I'm yet to do it.
10. To take part in the Fête de la Musique*.
11. To have a personal laptop.
12. To record my proper covers and/or songs and diffuse them at will. I've just begun with the content in this post.
13. To unite my family.
14. To move the audience who is listening to my music/my voice.
15. To read and appreciate the Bible from cover to cover.
16. To give the people around me a reason to believe.
17. To play every single Kingdom Hearts title in the market.
18. To acquire the French versions of the Kingdom Hearts games.
19. To become a Wikia bureaucrat I am, for two wikis.
20. To pay a visit to my friends in France, to visit that place entirely and to live as one of them... even if it's for a short time.
21. To visit the place my ancestors came from - Punjab.
22. To be a voice actor for a main character (be it for my own productions or another company's productions).
23. To play the guitar, drums and bass well. Right now, I practise on the drums from time to time, and... I've got a long way to go.
24. To create a percussion ensemble, even if it's one among friends.
25. To visit every country in the world.
26. To visit the Holy Land.
27. To meet the Pope face to face. Now, I know there is much criticism hurled towards us, and especially towards the leader of the Church. But I don't care - it would be uplifting to address the issues which ordinary believers face, and ask him how it's like being the shepherd of an entire big group of people.
28. To learn Japanese !
29. To use a weapon no, wait, I've already done that in National Service. I used an M16 and scored zero marks in target practice. -__-
30. To own a Keyblade, and it must be an exact replica of the one in Kingdom Hearts. My personal choices would be the Kingdom Key, Oathkeeper, Two Become One and/or Fatal Crest.
31. To have a Kingdom Hearts styled party complete with sea-salt ice cream and KH-related games. I'll create those on my own, by the way.
32. To write songs and/or background music.
33. And, obviously, to earn accolades for my work. Don't we all want accolades ?
34. To have a church wedding, French style, with hints of Indian influence (now why am I thinking about this ? I know I'm dreaming big ^_^ But it's definitely not the time for marriage yet.)
35. To be loved and accepted for who I am. Now some of you might turn around and say that there are people who love and accept me for who I am. I know God loves me. But where the people are concerned, there are very few who cherish me - I am aware of this - and it is every person's hope and wish to be accepted and loved for who he is.
36. To find a loving and kind husband. That's every girl's dream. ^_^
37. To cook well. I can prepare some quick decent meals, but beyond that, no.
38. To write a recipe book - preferrably for deserts.
39. To have some experience working in the United Nations or any one of the bodies governed by it, and to have experience working abroad.
40. To sing alongside Mylène Farmer, Zazie, Alizée, Axel Bauer and Pascal Obispo. Now THAT'S dreaming big.
41. To sing alongside Enya, Dolly Parton, ze great Archuleta, Taylor Swift (she needs a backup) and Vanessa Amorosi.
42. To teach English to children, just like my mom did.
43. To buy or acquire a pair of signed Vic Firth drumsticks. Mom had hoped to get them for me when she first saw me playing the drums... but she died before she could get them for me. Till now I'm still waiting for someone to fulfill that promise she made to me, still hoping, although I doubt that anyone would even care.
44. To teach French to a close friend.
45. To have a personal online domain.
46. To write really good French lyrics like Zazie.
47. To highlight my hair.... ? Maybe that's a bit too much. ^_^'
48. To have a comfortable house that's safe from all harm.
49. To be an official sheet music writer/song arranger for a choir, preferrably one at national and/or international level.
50. To make short videos from my sketches. I'm far from reaching that dream, but I know I'll get it too. I've started with this video.
51. To play the drums really good... and (I know this sounds outlandish, but) to get into the Hall of Fame.
52. To use my past sketches as album covers, book covers and/or site/promotion designs. I hope I get to realise my main aspirations of singing and producing first...
53. To ice a cake. Professionally.
54. To make my own dessert, whatever it may be.
55. To write really good contracts. Now, really good contracts in my opinion shouldn't have small print and shouldn't be worded in legal terms unless it's really necessary. It should have font size 12, be worded in plain and simple English, so simple that the last term should read, "And if the promissee did not understand all the terms above, then the promissor declares him to be a monkey's uncle."
56. To maintain a weight of 58kg.
57. To use Photoshop or a similar software well no, wait, I'm already using GIMP, and considering the works I've done within two months of GIMP use, I'm quite satisfied.

Projects I would love to realise - these are the proposed names and purposes of the projects. Many All of them are musical projects.

1. Rêver (lit. "To dream") - An idea of a concert, with lots of indie musicians and big names, all on one stage, to promote respect among all people in Malaysia. It has to end with one climactic finale... a sort of vigil for peace and harmony.
2. Patriotism and Gift-Giving - The idea is exactly what it implies : patriotic songs made better. Seriously. Look at my post #3 and you'll notice that I've changed Jalur Gemilang here and there. The original recordings sound so.... ughhhhh ! And they don't move people to tears. I know just what to do... only that I'll need resources and people.
3. Charité (lit. "Charity") : A Christmas Album - Christmas carols made better. I'm hoping for 100% of the proceeds to go to an organisation for the poor and deprived.
4. We Are All Children - Another musical project, with lots of indie musicians and big names, but this time, to promote world peace. Or, it can even be a small-scale production. As long as it promotes peace and the value of humanity.
5. Jeanne d'Arc : a musical - the title says it all. I'm intrigued by Joan of Arc, and the wonders worked through her hands. To put the entire story of birth, childhood, adolescence, mission and death in a musical... now that's something which I yearn to realise.

Right. This is the current list of aspirations I have. Now that I've written it all, I place it all in His hands with the hopes of realising them one day. I know the journey ahead is difficult, but if I don't realise them, then there's practically no point in living.

* EXTRA NOTES

LLB = Legum Baccalaureus, or Bachelor of Laws.

Fête de la Musique literally translates to Music Festival, and it corresponds to World Music Day on the 21st of June. KL and Penang, being the only two places with Alliances Françaises, are the only states that observe it. Performances by newbies and seasoned performers alike can be seen on that day, out in the open, and it's a day where everyone gets to appreciate the joy of music - without cost !