Wish to Wish

Posted by: hafiz | October 13, 2008

Datuk?

The movies – no one single human being could get enough of them. From the legion of Star Wars fans, to the faithful followers of Hogwarts; enjoying them has definitely evolved from being a luxurious penchant, to an indispensable hobby in anyone’s life. And reading the news lately, it would be tempting to say “up yours!” to the whole years and countless money spent on literature, devoted to studying the ever-so-important subject of marketing – for with the admission of Shah Rukh Khan into the Datukship of Melaka, it just goes on to prove that when it comes to promotion, nothing beats the silver screens.

Recognised for his contributions in promoting Melaka through his film roles shot in the historical city, one could only now begin to recall the countless times that such portrayals have swayed us. I mean how many times, while watching a Bollywood movie, have it crossed our minds that our next travel destination will be India? Or while watching the love story of Acha and Irwansyah unfolds, we thought of saving money to go to Indonesia? I bet plentiful.

The hard facts do exist if you think about it – if movies have no impact on tourism, why would the New Zealand Government maintain the Hobbit Village set from the production of the Lord of The Rings? And closer to home, why only after Korean dramas started playing on our local channels do we see the influx of tour packages to South Korea? Think about that…

Admittedly on the whole, our movies and dramas are crap when compared to Hollywood, Bollywood and K-Dramas, though some works by Suhaimi Baba and Yasmin Ahmad have actually gone international. Thus we take the only relevant route that any sane person would take given the chance – to appreciate the contributions of a well-known foreign actor, for acting in a foreign movie, set in Malaysia. Hey, if there is anything I’ve learnt from the pointy-haired boss (read: Dilbert), is that the longer the reason is, the better it is.

So I say, why stop here? Now is the opportunity for all of us to start the paperwork and propose the title of Datuk be conferred to other foreign stars.

Hence, I propose the first James Bond to be conferred the title – making Datuk Sean Connery.

The best 007 ever? (Image from ruggedelegantliving.com)

My reasons are as follows:

The pre-requisite: Sean Connery also acted in a movie set in Malaysia – The Entrapment. And like Shah Rukh Khan’s, his film also has scenes filmed in Melaka and KLCC.
Economics perspective: Sean Connery will appeal more to the westerners, who with extra disposable income in their hands (well, maybe not now, but soon again hopefully), will bring in more foreign exchange into the country – hence affecting the exchange rate in our favour.
Coverage: You might not know Shah Rukh Khan, but everyone knows James Bond 007; and if you know Bond, you know Sean Connery.
Mojo: James Bond is also a ladies’ man, and the movie Entrapment also features a sexy actress named Catherine Zeta-Jones – hence making every sane viewer go “Damn, that’s hot! Book me a flight to Malaysia baybeh!”
British: He is British, and we love everything British.
Worthwhile: Sean Connery is older, and more likely to go into retirement and concentrate his efforts fully into making more movies to promote Malaysia.
Misc.: We already have a Bond Girl (Datuk Michelle Yeoh), so why not Bond himself?

The name’s Bond. Datuk James Bond.

1 Comment

Posted in General | Tags: datuk shah rukh khan, melaka

Posted by: hafiz | September 21, 2008

Du’a In A Different Language

It has definitely been a memorable few weeks indeed.

In Malaysian politics, the ISA had once again showed its ugly head to the unsuspecting public, with the arrest of prominent political blogger RPK, opposition MP and Selangor Exco Teresa Kok, and a chinese daily reporter. The reporter was later released, but no indication whatsoever on how much longer will the other two be detained. Following this unethical move, the de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim resigned from his post, citing his disagreement with the mobilisation of ISA as the main cause. DSAI on the other hand, had issued a pre-ultimatum to the PM, calling for an emergency parliamentary session – in order for the opposition leader to call for a ‘vote of no-confidence’ against the much-criticised Malaysian Prime Minister.

From the “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave”, comes the biggest economic crisis of our generation. The American financial system took another huge blow last week when Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, while another independent investment bank Merill Lynch was digested by the Bank of America. With the AIG having to be bailed out by the Fed as well, much reassessment has been made about the cause of this mother of all crisis. Dubious asset holdings, murky Credit-Default Swap market, short-selling, and bad accounting practices were tops on this list – but regardless of the reasons, these fallouts have undermined the American public’s faith in the financial market, proven by an all-time high withdrawal from the money market fund of about $169 billion. Like it or not, half of the world is America – and let’s just hope that Poulsen’s proposed $800 billion ‘rescue fund’ can do something to aid this.

On a personal and spiritual level, we have entered the last 10 days of ramadhan, of which during this time the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. had promised a special night – Lailatul Qadr. If during ramadhan itself the reward for our prayers and supplements are increased in folds, we can only imagine the benefit of this special night. The Prophet S.A.W. was quoted as saying that the night is “better than 1000 months”, which about 83 years – around the average lifetime of a modern human being. This is when we will see again the increase in numbers attending the Trawikh and the early morning Qiam – such is the power and attractiveness of Lailatul Qadr.

Kiss the Cook

It may have the same odds as Steve Jobs resigning Apple to join Malaysian politics, but I do love cooking.

Mates from LSE may have a hard time believing this, since I am always passionate about cleaning the cookwares. Ever since our first cooking session during the night before Eid 2005, up till my days of staying within a few feet away from Sofe’s room; I have always assumed the role of the honourable dishwasher.

Dishwasher at work

The reason: I love cooking so much, that I prefer doing it alone. I enjoy experimenting, exploring new ingredients, trying new techniques, and working on instinct – thus having another brain in the kitchen will only limit me. I thank my interest in Iron Chef for this.

In layman’s term: I am stubborn when it comes to cooking.

But having little cooking time under my apron, there is at least 60% chance what I cooked will be inedible. Or if judging by taste, there is 80% chance that it will end up tasting like your average dish – only using different (and usually more expensive) ingredients. This is also another reason why I don’t cook when there are other stakeholders in it.

Ironically, I enjoy laughing at myself whenever things don’t go right. My first blog, “Of stoves and animes”, is a faithful documentation of my first few cooking experiments – and having no experience being in the kitchen, you can only imagine how bad it was. Among the bad decisions, was during a time when I was loosely following a recipe for a fried item. When I finished preparing the item to be fried, it looks as if it could pass as a dim sum – and so I steamed it instead. It was horrible at best, and just plain stupid.

And now being back home, where I have my arsenal of cooking utensils, I’m replenishing this long, unpolished, interest of mine that is cooking. I have two advisers who I (sort of) don’t mind listening to – my parents, who each have their own forte when it comes to cooking. I have my kitchen helper, which is my maid, hehehehe. I also have my in-house critic, which is my sister, who although have no idea about cooking, knows a good deal about eating. And as an extra, Apam is also a friend who enjoys experiment cooking, albeit with more knowledge.

So, in danger of this blog ending up like my previous one, I’m sharing it here.

Practising only the Islam that you want?

Was reading The Star this morning on my way back from Melaka. And came across this one article.

I quote and unquote, The Star, page N6, the article entitled “Explain arrests, cops told”, in paragraph 10:

“He also lambasted those who wanted to use religious principles to justify whether the ISA was Islamic or not, adding that they must differentiate between what was criminal, civil and syariah laws.”

A downright, typical, textbook example of the disease that is infecting the Islamic world today – to practice only the parts of Islam that you want.

No wonder this peaceful religion of mine is always misunderstood.

A Muslim Cabinet Minister, of a country that claims to be ‘Islamic’, uttered those words.

How morbidly obese.

Of ‘Once’ and ‘Enchanted’

Forgive my backwardness in movies, but I’ve only watched Once this summer.

(This post contains spoilers, so if you, like me, is cinematically-challenged, proceed at your own risk 🙂 )

Datuk?

Du’a In A Different Language

Kiss the Cook

Practising only the Islam that you want?

Of ‘Once’ and ‘Enchanted’

Categories

The Music In My Head

Kiss The Cook

Recent Posts

Blogroll

Friends and Family