Happy Independence Day Malaysia!

I consider myself as a bloody patriot, easily goes to flame when hearing / witnessing any insult against the country or what it stood for. If it was up to me, SEVERAL individuals would be deported out of the country, their assets seized and many many more thrown into jail with the key conveniently tossed into the Straits of Malacca.

History is the best teacher. The fall of mighty empires always started from within. I hope the rest of the good citizens of Malaysia realized this. And the foolish bastards who created chaos and discord among the people, I hope you lot rot in Hell, and your names printed in our school history books as traitors to the Motherland.

See, I just set myself on fire again. :)

Tomorrow, the 31st August is the 52nd Independence Day. Malaysia Boleh!

Of Exams and the Easiest Job On the Planet

Exam week is finally around the corner for the rest of the students. Above is of the trial PMR exam for Form 3 (15 years old) which was held last week. I didn't teach these students but I took some pictures anyway for the school records (and mine too).

I rarely revise for any exams when I was a student. Yes, I was sloppy and lazy. You can say I might not even care if I passed or not. But for some fantastic luck, I didn't do that badly after all.

I teach Science to Form 2 students and Physics for Form 4 and 5. I just love teaching Science because I know I am bloody good at it. But teaching Physics to students with average intelligence is an uphill battle. I cannot be hard on them or they'll lose interest. Too much play and nothing gets into those thick skulls.

Before this, I wrote an entry about being a teacher is not the easiest job. But hey, during exam weeks, it should be. No extra classes, no co-curriculum activities and of course, no teaching. We just sit and monitor the students taking the exam. But usually I take up a good book and read the while away while some students cheat and copy right under my nose.

Well, at least they made an effort not to fail, right? The purpose justify the method, no matter how crooked. But I hope they'll learn soon enough that in REAL exams, harsh and deliberate actions will be taken if they are caught.

I warned them. Thrice.

p.s. - for your info, I DID copy during my SPM exam in 1995 and was never caught. It was during Physics... Now I am doomed to teach the subject for all eternity. Ironic.

What I Did Today (10.30 am to 4.15 pm)

1. Persuaded a friend to accompany me to the city. I live in a town. Main objective was to pay my car loan.

2. Arrived at Tesco, the appointed place and was vexed to know friend at a workshop, trouble with car (via my aforementioned LG handphone).

3. Fetched friend from workshop and stopped by a familiar pet store, and bought 10 kg of Iam's Premium Kitten Kibbles (for Kiki and Kaos, and of course the coming new unnamed ferret).

4. My friend lost a valuable keychain (which I lovingly displayed on the dashboard) right in the damn car! The great MYSTERY was, it was still missing, even after we turned the car inside out. My temper was flaring high then.

5. Paid the extravagant car loan at a cash deposit machine. Paid my post-paid at a Maxis centre. Feeling so drained of blood a.k.a. money.

6. Bought two tickets to watch the animation 'UP'. It was different, very unique and quite good. There were so many impossibilities of Physics (the Teacher within), yet what you expect from a Walt Disney?

7. Went to a major mall to gawk at more Transformers toys. Visited another posh pet store and had a go with some doggie-carrier bags (for the ferrets). But decided against it because my ferret(s) are so destructive in nature :) Awwwww..... cute evil bugger(s).

8. My friend bought a new keychain, not as good as the one he lost, but the same price tag. The vengeful Darklord was appeased.

9. Last visit, a real Japanese thrift shop. We were so excited. The Japanese knew how to fill in those little unnecessary gaps in life with cute and practical gadgets! In love with the shop, will come again soon. Bought a huge plastic case as my new pencil box there.

10. Return back home, after dumping friend by his stricken car, now repaired. Nobody at home. Sleep.

p.s. - the painting above is 'Lady with an Ermine' by Leonardo Da Vinci (1489). The ermine is actually a close cousin to the ferret. :) I always remember this painting because it introduced me to ferrets (and the passion to search and finally have them).

Of Facemasks and Poor Innocent Pigs

I should've touched this topic a long time ago.... but you know what? YOU guys made me do this. NONE of you (at least that I am aware of) had touched about the H1N1 devastation in your blogs. So as a morbid explorer of things not-very-nice, here we go again...

Months ago when the first outbreak of the virus in Mexico, the rest of the world was in total indifference, including truly yours. "Oh, it is so far away. Good luck for you Mexicans and serve you right for eating pork."

And now, H1N1 has came knocking on the front door, with a few fatalities so very near to my workplace!! The horror! The dread! The revulsion! (not)

And as usual, during a crisis, some people are so quick to make a few extra bucks. The price of facemasks sky-rockets to 500%. I say this is one of the evil in capitalism. I never wear a facemask myself, because (*snigger*) it make people look like invading amateur ninjas. And I loaded up myself with vitamins and garlic to avoid getting sick. And successfull for now at least.

The new urban legend; You eat pork, you get the virus. Even if it starts with the pigs, the H1N1 virus does not widely spread with our porchine friends. People spread the virus - I taught all my students, so don't blame the pigs. People got into aeroplanes and buses and irresponsibly sneezed / coughed in public, spreading the virus at an alarming rate. So imagine the travel plans for the virus, from Mexico to your very own neighbourhood... It's very global minded :)

And why oh why when I see people from abroad in tv, most are still not wearing facemasks? Are Caucasians (excuse me if I am wrong) immune to the said virus? This I-don't-care-attitude is the main ingredient for the world wide spread.

And come to think of it, the spread of the virus reminds me of the RESIDENT EVIL series (in films and games) where people turns to zombies by a virus. It's Umbrella Corporation fault again :)

p.s. - and this pic is of some female teachers in school wearing masks. They are not going to thank me doing this, but hell, they never monitor my blog anyway. :)

Hello Dad

Visited dad yesterday, on the first day of Ramadan, the fasting month. The cemetery was very quiet in the evening, and the grass were dying in the hot sun, severely ended by the herbicide sprayed last week by the caretaker.

I rarely visit my father's grave, though he is only less than a 5 minute drive away. If my mom didn't prompt me the other day, I might continue through life without remembering him (much).

So I visited him, cleaned up around his gravestones and had a mental chat with him; about me being divorced, his expectation of me coming true - a not so devout son with indifference to life, about my lost LG cable etc etc. He didn't answer. So what do you expect?

So here's a pic of the cemetery, with my Dad's grave foremost. And no, I don't feel anything about being alone in a place filled by dead bodies. In fact I did real photography sessions at some Chinese tombs because of my fascination with their ancient statues.

Bye Dad. We will meet again.

This Is A Very Bad Week For My Finance

1. I lost the USB cable for my LG handphone, so need to buy the damn stuff soon. Somebody had stolen it from me, my own household. Who the hell has LG phone other than me?!

2. My crystal bracelets need new elastics. Though the strings are cheap, I have many bracelets.

3. Severely over-budget by the PS3 maintenance. Next time, will patronize other shops.

4. Have only RM 10 in wallet. Though pay day is only a few days away, this cramped my style seriously. Have more cash in coins, but too heavy to carry around.

5. Health insurance had cut twice the amount this month from pay. And I am always so healthy all the time!! Felt cheated.

6. Some students and a few significant others whined for handphone top-up credits and I obliged because I have plans to dominate their future. Which is ok.

A Little Bit Of Persuasion Goes A Long Way, eh SLC?

Secret pond. Legacy of my late father. There are huge and ancient cat-fishes within.

Driveway from the gate to my house (left). About 80 metres long.

To my mom's secret garden. I have nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Scene from the front gate. The biggest house in the county, and will be bigger still. Our neighbour is a millionaire.

View of the front. There used to be a grassy lawn.

One Ferret Is Never Enough

I was always wondering when I can have another fuzzy to accompany Kaos, my pet ferret at home. Ferrets are cute, lovable and very very active. My Kaos for instance, always look forward for me to play with him, never bites and would be very bored if left alone for long.

I like male ferrets better, because they are bulkier, bigger than the females. And male ferrets looks more like cats too.

Anyway, this afternoon as I was lazing aroung in the laboratory waiting for students, the guy who gave me Kaos for adoption called. Firstly we talked about my ferret well being, such a responsible breeder he is. Then he asked if I was interested to adopt another male ferret, which is younger than Kaos, who is now 7 months old. He told me that they have 30 ferrets altogether and needed responsible people who know and love ferrets (moi) to care for them.

I jumped to the bait and said yes. Personally I love these fuzzballs and two ferrets is actually better than a lonely one. [Ferrets are so social. Happy ferrets live longer] So my new ferret will arrive this middle of September, somewhat near the Eid.

Will tell Kaos of his new roomie this evening. He'd be delighted to have a friend to brawl with. The cage is big enough for four fuzzies actually.

Ferrets owners / masters will tell you that these mammals are many times better than a cat or a dog in many ways (maybe except the pooping part). And I happily agree with them. :)

Something to think about; Ferrets are the 3rd most popular pets after cats and dogs in the US. But many people do not have any idea how to care for them well enough...

Musings Near Midnight

I always consider myself to be a morbid and heartless person. So I can imagine killing people I hate in real life and not feeling bad about it later. I don't believe in the crap that murdering can tarnish your soul. Or something even more foolish; Killing can tear the soul into two (from the Harry Potter series).

But this post is not about ending lives (before the rest of you run screaming to the nearest police stations). This is only a self study of me by my ownself. If I was born during the Middle Ages, I never see myself as a great king of people. I'd rather be someone behind the throne, preferably a Duke's or even a lowly baron's. [Working for royalty can be hazardous for the health, and the lowly nobles do appreciate their people better because they cannot spare any].

And what shall I do around the place? Of course I am the bloody executioner! Oh and the Inquisitor too! Two very unpopular jobs in any castle, any country, any century. [Thus they wore masks to avoid being recognized. It's very hard to go to the local market for a plum bun when everybody ran away from you].

Bah, I am rambling... lack of fresh air in this humid room.

Eh, come to think of it... Lawyers and tax gatherers are more hated by the people. Urm.

Anyway, back to chopping heads and torturing people. I think death by hanging is SO BORING. But people like to watch a bit of some hemp fandango of the dying man. I think as there was no tv back then, a hanging must be prime entertainment for the peasants. Beheading is much more interesting. We can lay bets on how far the fountain of blood goes. :)

Cutting people's body parts off bit by bit is somewhat I learn from the many mafia movies I watch. It will do you wonders having your own fingers in your shirt pocket WITHOUT the hands in it. I can always make people sing like a canary (if I can get away with the process).

I think the iron maiden is so cool. The torture device, not the girl, ok?

Wha? wha? Who wrote this??!! (in mock horror!!) I swear I didn't type this at all.

A Letter to Play Station 3.

Dear PS3;

My life was dull without you. Mr Acer the Laptop had tried to amuse me, in the two weeks of your absence, but he was only successful to dull the ache of missing you.

I was really happy when you finally roll out of the shop. No price is too high to make you feel better. We have so much history, you and me. I don't know if you still remember me, when your memory is now empty, wiped out because of that severe malfunction last month. Darn it, it was REALLY my fault you got hurt. Hope you can forgive me for it.

We had great fun last night. You performed really well and I was morbidly happy murdering monsters and people alike in the games. This was ten times better than 'The World of WarCraft' on PC. It was virtual holiday all over again with you.

So I promise I will take better care of you from now on. I gave my PS2s to people for free because I wanted to be with you, only you.

Don't leave me again, dream console.

I Love Candy!

Watched 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' on dvd last night. Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka is both funny and a bit creepy. When I first saw the film years ago, I thought the chocolatier was going to kill the children one by one, from the way Mr Wonka glanced at them. And then I remembered that the film was based on a popular children book. My hopes of watching little children torn from limb to limb was dashed.

Oh well.

Anyway, my point is, after watching the delicious display of chocolates in the movie (I think a waterfall of chocolate is so posh!) I felt the urge to sink my teeth into a chocolate bar. But it was 10.30 pm! What to do?!! Fortunately a 7-11 is not far away and I drove (yes, adding air and sound pollution in the process) my car even though my bicycle was begging me to use it.

I bought a bar of chocolate milk, mainly because I hate nuts or raisins in any candy I eat. Went back and ate the bar standing in the kitchen. The RICHNESS. The AROMA. The STICKINESS (it was melting in heat of my loving grasp).

But the SWEETNESS got into me. Too bloody sweet. So I put the other uneaten half into the fridge for later consumption. Hope my mom didn't find it. She always take my candy and give it to my younger brother for 'my very own health'.

Appaloosa And Sex

I don't watch tv much nowadays because I am simply disgusted with the many soap operas and silly programmes which are aired. Seriously, I can feel my IQ slipping whenever I 'accidentally' watched some local drama on the telly. These are the garbage programmes which have no intellectual values and useful information whatsoever. [Most are about struggling love, pretentious power hungry people or just the endless drama of one particular family. SAME OLD SAME OLD]. No wonder many people are so zombie-like; they are programmed to be stupid by the broadcast.

And then you might point your accusing finger at me; What about the movies you watch at the cinema? Well, that is not a useless investment for me. I greatly learn English (good, bad, and even the naughty) from the movies. I get to see different places, real or fabricated. Movies now are so advanced, we can see some technologies that we can only imagine in our wildest dream work (my fav; red crystal light sabers).

And sometimes I refer to a specific movie or two for Scientific examples. Eg; the nuclear submarine scene in Pierce Brosnan's The World Is Not Enough - harnessing nuclear power in Physics. The huge radioactive monster in Godzilla - mutation in cells by radiation. Why you cannot kick a wall down, but Superman can - force and motion. I think I am the only teacher in school who use such examples in class...

Anyway, after watching Watchmen on dvd last night (nice thoughtful action movie, fabulous casts), I watched the cowboy flick by Ed Harris, Appaloosa. It was different, it was strange and it was full of sex. Not graphic, just the heavy tint of sex, and its consequences. (Renee Zellweger as Miss French; the trollop @ unsatiated bitch @ respected hooker. Ed Harris as Virgil Cole, the peacemaker who fell in love with the aforementioned trollop). I think Viggo Mortensen potrayal as Everett Hitch was very cool. We should have more cowboy films like this, but hold the sex please. If I want sex, I'd better watch porn. (Anyway, if I had an unfaithful lover like Miss French, I'd blew her brains out the first chance I get, which never happen in the movie).

Oh and I watched G.I. Joe two days ago. It was fun, but very chaotic. The plot did not matter much when you only wanna see the action. Oh and as you might have guessed, I rooted for C.O.B.R.A. when I was very young too.

Deceptive, Impolite and Vicious Buggers

I was referring to the youngsters today, mainly from what I see in my own students. OK ok, the number of said people is miniscule but as the saying goes, a drop of ink paints the whole glass of water black.

These are the hardcore students. They refuse to hand in homeworks and assignments. Never pay attention in class. Sowing discord and chaos among peer. Encouraging others to follow them suit. Sometimes I GREATLY pity the parents of such children. I believe that the fates of parents and their children are intertwined. If the child did badly, the family would suffer the consequences. This I preached almost on a daily basis in class. Yet somehow, some people would never care less.

I believe in public and corporal punishment in school. But UNFORTUNATELY the World believe that the brutal way to shape discipline is unjust and redundant. So, when a teacher is unable to control his / her students, he / she is in hot soup. Not every teacher can inspire respect and love from students. Teachers are human too, with flaws and minds of their own. A person like me can never have the everlasting love of my students, but I KNOW I will be remembered till their dying days (from the way I teach)... Yes, the kind of teacher you always remember and told your sons, daughters and grandchildren about.

The teachers of ancient times got it too easy. Students SEEK them for knowledge and the transfer of wisdom is much easier when the students are very willing to study (the reason they seek the teacher in the first place). This millennia, its the other way around, youngsters are not interested much to gain knowledge and the teachers must push hard to make better people of reluctant individuals. I blame materialistic wealth and the easy life we have now. No pain, no gain. They never feel any hardship, so they never try harder to gain more.

Isn't it CRUELTY to force knowledge down the throats of the unwilling? Yes or No.

If I was the Prime Minister, I'd make school NOT compulsory. So the lazy useless bums can stay at home and the real future builders of our nation can study in peace. There is a highway to Hell and it is paved by the no desire to improve oneself.

Of Walls and Happy Thoughts...

I don't make friends easily as people around me noticed. And my forbidding aura of utter dislike and superiority drives many away. Psychiatrists mention a 'wall' around people, more magnified around 'special' persons like me.

To be my friend, you have to climb / tear down / ignore that wall.

Anyway I met a stranger for drinks today. Yes, I do TRY to socialize outside my occupation scope (teachers can be boring friends). We talked and we had an instant liking of each other. Nope, not sexually. And heaven forbids if I found another evil minded demon to be my new partner in crime. I DO like to befriend nice people, at least my life would not always full of gloom, doom and other things that end with 'oom'.

Befriending nice people makes me feel... well, nicer. And I am a heinously sinful person to start with.

Well, we talked and talked and time really flies when you are enjoying good company. He never disagrees with me and a complementer, meaning he fills in whatever I carelessly left open. Not judgmental. Leave the judging to me.

I found a new best friend.  And he lives quite near too! Better still, we are related.

Tomorrow evening, I'll be accompanying him to his friend's father funeral ceremony. Anything for somebody who made me happy. :)

Transformers 2 - To Buy Or Not To Buy, That Is The Damn Question...

Although the second Transformers movie pissed me off royally because the Decepticons lost (yet again) I was seriously thinking of buying one or two toys just to commemorate the event. 

Went to the malls and damn it! most of the good ones are already gone. I will never soil my hands by touching the Autobots merchandise, because deep down inside YOU know I never have any truck with good guys. Only two Decepticons on sale; Devastator (the huge construction robot murdered by Prime in the beginning of the film) and Demolisher, another construction-bot. But I didn't buy them yet, have to consult a few guys...

So I talked to Megatron (Big Boss, movie version), Megatron 2 (pistol), Starscream (lieutenant), Brawl (stupid tank), Bonecrusher (farming vehicles, ha ha) and Blackout (helicopter) about this dilemma. After cursing the Autobots for the millionth time, we decided to get only one new Decepticon. Mainly because my robots are complaining about the very limited shelf space, and the arrogance of the Gundams not wanting to share their more spacious place on the dresser. [The Gundams robots are much bigger, and greater bullies].

Oh for the sake of evil....