What Kind Of Idiot Are You On Facebook?

I had this for quite a while now & I felt compelled to list down the idiocy of people that Facebook created after reading my mate Shafar's parody on Facebook addicts, moi included. Here are five things I find troubling about our human race when we go about with our "social networking."

1. Posting a status/link then "Liking" it - that just reeks of loneliness & the need to grab people's attention. Please, get a life.
2. "Liking" a person's post on another person's wall - I know Facebook put it there for you to join in the fun but must you be so intrusive? It's as if you're being nosy snooping about other people's conversation. 
3. Fans demanding their favorite artists to come to their state/country - you know they give fuck all about your comments. They wanna go on tour wherever they wanna go on tour; please, stop deluding yourself with "fan power."
   
4. Fans proud to be the first to comment on a post - ah, the joyful monkeys that get the banana peel instead of the banana.
   
5. Deactivating account then reactivating it again - the worst of the lot; primarily done because he/she is "having a turbulent time" (in other words, being emo) or just wants cheap publicity.
   

My Top 10 Albums Of The Decade

Yes! It's the time of the year for people to do lists & one list I won't be doing is "My New Year's Resolution" because face it, you'll be trying to break each and every one of those resolutions you wrote down before the end of next year. So, since this will be the end of the first decade of the noughties, I'll wrap it up with my best ten albums that holds dear to my heart & are musically, if not culturally, significant to the masses.

 











Green Day - American Idiot (2004)  
Green Day was the first ever band I listened to when I got into music & when this album came out I said to myself: this is the rock opera of the 21st century. Clocking at nearly an hour, this album takes you through the life of Jesus of Suburbia filled with hope & despair in typical three-cord punk rock fashion. All songs were solid but what surprised me was their two 9-minute epics "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming" that consist of five medleys played furiously non-stop, not letting me catch a breather at all. 
Favorite tracks: Letterbomb, Whatsername, Jesus of Suburbia.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (2005)
Move aside The Killers, the real post-punk revivalists are none other than London's Bloc Party. First introduced by my cousin, it took a while to get into their groove but when it clicked, I just got hooked to it. Blending intense guitar rhythms, tight drum beats & Kele Okereke's hallowing voice, "Silent Alarm" also packs a punch with socio-political messages in their lyrics e.g. "Helicopter" is basically a bash on George W. Bush ["Just like his dad, just like his dad (the same mistakes); some things will never be different"].
Favorite tracks: Helicopter, This Modern Love, Pioneers.

Butterfingers - Selamat Tinggal Dunia (2005)
I dare say that this was the album that sparked Malaysia's indie music scene three years later. Although panned by the local media,they made a right move in shedding their Nirvana-esque 90's grunge & took their experimental progressive folk a step further by launching a full-Malay album. The result: an absolute bliss of fusion  between their brand of music with Malay culture e.g. "Tentang-Tentang" was adapted from a traditional Malay tune ("Geylang Si Paku Geylang") and turned into a protest-folk song.
Favorite tracks: Daulat Tuanku, Selamat Tinggal Dunia, Kabus Ribut 

The White Stripes - Elephant (2003)
There's only one word to describe this album: monu-fucking-mental. Everyone thought "Fell In Love With A Girl" was a one-off hit for them but they came back with a big one. It's garage rock at its purest with Meg White pummelling the drums & Jack White plucking the guitar strings like the gods of rock riding on a thunderstorm. Case in point: the  mind-blowing "Ball & Biscuit" intertwines calm verses with gargantuan rollicking guitar solos by the male half of The White Stripes.
Favorite tracks: Ball & Biscuit, The Hardest Button To Button, There's No Home For You Here.

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006) 
These Sheffield lads' debut album took the whole world by storm because 1) they used the internet to give away free songs and 2) they're just that good. What makes them differ from the rest of the garage/post-punk pack is their relentless tempo, that sexy Yorkshire accent & even more relentless tempo although they can tone down a bit with songs like "Riot Van" & fan favorite "Mardy Bum." Perfect album if you want to go mental.
Favorite tracks: A Certain Romance, I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor, Dancing Shoes.

Explosions In The Sky - Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever (2001) 
Truth be told, I became a fan of post-rock about two years ago but once I understood it, it's one of the best genres of music there is; this brings me to Explosions. They are a four-man orchestra that craft amazing songs that will evoke all kinds of emotions in you & you will always experience something new every time you play it. This album was my choice because out of all the five albums they released, somehow this one just gets me. 
Favorite tracks: Greet Death, Have You Passed Through This Night?, The Moon Is Down

 Couple - Top Of The Pop (2006)

I wanted to put in Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut but once I remembered Couple, there's no way Walcott's gonna get out of Cape Cod. "Happy, clappy but not crappy" aptly describes this band and their brand of power-pop is just a joy to behold; you just can't not dance to their music. Although the lyrics are cheesy, but hey who cares? This album is the best remedy when you're down. From "Now That I Can See" to "Are You Ready", your frown is guaranteed to turn into one big smile.

Favorite tracks: Now That I Can See, Rock N Roll, Tentang Kita 

 

Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)
Before they started to spew mediocre mainstream rubbish, Coldplay was actually a pretty legit band. "Parachutes" was a breakthrough phenomenon but I had to go with their sophomore effort as this album layed-down the "Coldplay sound", stamping their own genre on the music industry. From the thunderous opener "Politik" to the maniacal "A Rush of Blood to the Head", this is Coldplay at its peak.
Favorite tacks: Politik, Green Eyes, A Rush Of Blood To The Head. 
  
 











Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (2004)
I'm not a fan of dance music, but dance-able music, now that's an interesting proposition. Scotland's very own art-rock outfit Franz Ferdinand got me first sucked in to their infectious  rhythms with their debut single "Take Me Out" that started out in typical indie strumming fashion before breaking out into an "everybody move!" moment. Yup, even when I'm doing assignments on my laptop while listening to them, I'll still imagine shaking meself on the dancefloor.
Favorite tracks: Take Me Out, Darts Of Pleasure, 40'.

Gorillaz - Demon Days (2005)
Everyone's favorite animated band continued where they left-off from the self-title debut four years back & its just got better and better. Still having that gritty British feel to it, this album is a musicologist's wet dream with funk/rap ("Dirty Harry"), 80's-dub ("Last Living Souls") & dance ("DARE") mixed into the fray. They also had a "is it the music or are we high?" moment with their last three tracks that featured a spoken word ("Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head") proceeded by a haunting choir ("Don't Get Lost In Heaven" & "Demon Days").
Favorite tracks: Last Living Souls, Dirty Harry, DARE.

Winter '09 Movie Marathon

Hi there people! 'Tis a long time since I've updated my blog as I was pretty much committed to my academia this autumn & it's been going well. I have a couple of interesting posts coming up celebrating the end of the noughties but I'll leave you first with the list of movies I'll be watching before & after my trip to Miami, Florida (because I'm not that rich to stay there for three whole weeks); not as sophisticated as my summer list but I need to catch up on some of 'em.

1. Otis
2. Jaws
3. Gadoh
   
4. Choke
5. The Eye
   
6. Memento
   
7. Dark City
8. District 9
9. Waking Life
10. High Fidelity
    
11. The Hangover
12. Public Enemies
13. Batman Returns
14. Minority Report
15. Sherlock Holmes  
    
16. Dial 'M' For Murder
17. Crank: High Voltage 
    
18. North By Northwest
19. Paranormal Activity
20. Tim Burton's Batman
21. Terminator: Salvation
    
22. The Blair Witch Project
23. Blade Runner (Director's Cut)

Random Ramblings

Random ramblings about whatever is going on in my head right now. Since I haven't updated my blog in a while, I'll try to do it every week by at least giving you five piece of my minds. Oh, don't you just love the beauty of memory, storing and retrieving all those worthless garbage information?

"Non-biotech quote from a biotech instructor of the week: 'Marketing people are the most evil people on the surface of the earth, they bring to the downfall of civilization' - M.T."

 "Whoever does that two-finger peace sign (V) in a picture should have those two fingers cut off."

"My parents are evil. Yesterday morning (Malaysia time), my dad lied to my grandmother (who's living with us) that I was in a deep financial crisis causing me to live in hunger and poverty. This made her breakdown and cried, immediately called me to check on my well-being; yes, she was literally sobbing and at first I thought she was faking it. Oh, pity too my sister too who just woke up and was absolutely clueless to the hoohaa in the kitchen."

"Things To Do In America #49: buy local produce i.e. apple cider from the Amish - check."

"My housemate's criteria of a Malaysian being 'Americanized': the ability to wear a t-shirt and pants/shorts without bringing along a hoodie or sweater during fall."

"Whatever that can be put on the bread, will be put on the bread."

"I know I'm a non-conformist. But I now realize that when I'm in a group of non-conformists, I'll try my best to be THE non-conformist of that group. Individuality at its best."

"I've been playing Vampire Weekend's "A-Punk" all week long. Fucking catchy song, that is. Oh, and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" too."

"Facebook Statuses of the Week: "Biar mati anak, jangan mati pucuk" - A.A. & "Don't worry, be hippies" - S.I." 

"Now that my hair is long (nearly shoulder length), I think I wanna try the wet look."

"Understood only by Penn State students: you know that person is a freshmen when he/she looks both ways on College Ave."

Is There Such Thing As Underground Bands These Days?

This is my second "forgotten" MySpace blog regarding some menial definition on how relevant the term "underground" is in today's local music scene.

A friend of mine asked me one day, "Is indie the same meaning as underground?" A good question which prompted me to write this blog since nowadays I rarely hear the term "underground" being used instead indie is widely used as the "in" word by those who are involved in these scenes. So, are there any differences between these two words? Is underground irrelevant in the era of MySpace? Has indie replaced underground or does the underground scene still exists?

To answer the first question, I checked out some websites and what I got from Wikipedia was

"Underground music is music which has developed a cult following, independent of commercial success. This music generally speaking has little or no mainstream appeal, visibility or commercial presence."

while this is from *Malaysia Local Act

"...their album and songs only consists 80% of quality...All the songs are produced just to satisfy themselves and a group of their fans only.

These two excerpts give good definitions on the meaning of underground which is clearly understood as music which has a certain type of fans, small fanbase (presumably smaller than independent bands' fans) & most importantly does not have any commercial appeal. However, underground music is actually a subset of indie where it is still a DIY culture but according to *Malaysia Local Act, underground music differs from indie in terms of " ...their songs' quality, quantity of fans, type of gigs they are involved in, type of fans and how they perform on stage."

Consider this: in the 90's where our scene first exploded, the internet is mostly unheard of by people: if you want to go to a gig, you must search and labor for it by asking friends or try to get flyers. However, the advent of MySpace causes the word underground to become vague as more people and fans are now able to get to know these underground bands, listen to their songs and attend any gigs they perform. If your want to know who is Bleeding Mascara or Lord Sunny Day, just type in their name and click the search button! Thus, in the long run, their fanbase would eventually grow and for this situation are they considered underground anymore?

To my final question, I would strongly say that indie has not made underground irrelevant as the underground scene STILL exists. But technology has enabled their music to be heard by a broader set of audience thus making the words "cult following" in the definition null and void. Currently, I can safely say that the word "underground" is loosely used to define bands that are down to the roots of their own music; they play music not to sell albums or garner popularity but they play music for the sake of music.

How Indie Are You?

(Cleaning up my MySpace account, I stumbled upon a couple of blogs I did about Malaysia's music scene. So, I've decided to repost it here!) After going to many gigs, I have seen many kinds of people & now know which "indie" category they fall into. If you have any ideas or categories you wanna add, do drop me a line!

The One-Band Hardcore Fan
This type of fans are the ones who come to gigs ONLY to see their favorite band perform. As for the other bands performing, they just simply couldn't care less. They would rather waste their time waiting/lepaking outside for these other bands to finish before their idols take the stage. As an example, during early 2008 I would always get pestered with this question at gigs: "Bila Hujan perform?"

The KAMI Wannabe
An interesting category whereby these type of fans sprouted from nowhere post-KAMI. Suddenly you can see them dressing in "happening" (I don't wanna get into the details) neon clothes wandering aimlessly around MCPA Hall or Annexe, doing almost anything except enjoying the bands. Basically, they are quite easily influenced by the modern media and now feel that indie is the latest fad. Seriously, do you wanna spend RM15 so that you want to be seen?

The Serial Moshers
Those who come to gigs to really enjoy the bands, showing their appreciation by moshing/pogoing/crowd surfing/hardcore dancing etc. Not necessarily a fan of certain bands but just wanna have fun or in Malay, memeriahkan suasana! Warning: those who are afraid to sweat it out or get bruised should not place themselves in this category.

The True Indie Spirits
Like the title suggests, this type of fans are placed on a higher category than the previously mentioned three although sometimes Serial Moshers can be put under this category. The true indie spirits are the ones who come to gigs to enjoy their favorite bands while supporting other bands performing on that day. They do not discriminate & think of being trendy; they sincerely pay their entrance fee for the sake of supporting their local independent scene.

Zee Avi's "Honey Bee": Anti-Establishment Protest Song?

By now, I think you should know who Zee Avi is. If you don't, she's a Sarawakian singer/songwriter who gained fame by signing with Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records, slowly establishing herself in the American market. Her music can be described as a melange of acoustic, jazz & folk but what intrigues me is her lyrics. Her first single, Bitter Heart, is basically about a housewife worried that her husband is out fooling around with another woman.

I've decided to analyze another innocent looking song on her debut album, Honey Bee. My interpretation on the song is that its a quintessential non-conforming rebel/protest song which in a way blends in with my personality (the first song that defined me was Green Day's Minority). So without further a due, here's my verse-by-verse take on her ballad of fighting against the establishment.



I am a honey bee / Shunned off from the colony / And they won’t let me in. The bee has been made an outcast of her own group & banished forever from the hive. The thing is, why? A bee in a colony was born to do its specific job i.e. mainly to serve the queen but being kicked out shows that she has a problem with the hierarchy, possibly insubordination.

So I left the hive / They took away all my stripes / And broke off both my wings. She must did something serious on par with treason to the extent that the other bees made sure the identity of this rebel is stripped off and disassociated as far away from their colony.

So I’ll find another tree / And make the wind my friend / I’ll just sing with the birds /They’ll tell me secrets of the world. Now she is set on revenge; by being "friends" with the birds, she'll gather enough knowledge and connections to build a strong opposition with the other animals in the habitat.

But my other honey bee / Stuck where he doesn’t wanna be / Oh my darling honey bee / I’ll come save you / Even if it means I’ll have to face the queen. Now we have a new character in the frame: the bee's lover. It could have been a case of forbidden love whereby he should be mating with the queen but instead fell for the her. This could be the reason she was booted out: their liaison was uncovered by the other bees.

So I’ll come prepared / My new friends say they would help me / Get my loved one back. By now, this rebel has gathered enough friends to launch an assault on the hive in order to rescue her lover. Such a daring and risky act, but bold nonetheless.

They say it isn’t right / The bees have control of your mind / But I choose not to believe that. Apparently, the rebellion managed to rescue the lover but the birds had reported that he did not want to leave its community and they feared that it had been mind-controlled by its peers. However, the resolute rebel still has hope in its heart to somehow be together with her lover again.

So we’ll meet in the darkness of the night / And I’ll promise I will be there on time / We’ll be guided by my new friends the butterflies / Bring us back to our own little hive. I'm not too sure about these verses since it seems that he might not be brainwashed anymore (the power of love; a kiss to break the spell?). However, they secretly met each other (the lover was drugged by the butterflies perhaps?) and both were brought to their new hive which she made.

Oh my other honey bee / No longer stuck where he doesn’t wanna be / Oh my darling honey bee / I have saved you / And now that you’re with me / We can make our own honey. A happy ending as the bee is finally reunited with its lover who was being opressed under the colony's regime by mind-numbingly serving the queen. To rub salt on wound, this radical bunch of minority bees decided to start their own colony, hoping one day they could bring down the "evil establishment."

Now, do you get what I mean? It's romantic in a way that it kinda reminds me of the "love conquers all" theme but I was pretty much amused that this song is pretty much serious about fighting against the establishment portrayed by the all-powerful queen bee. Was the bee's actions justified in order to find her own happiness or should she be executed for committing such a heinous crime against her fellow bees?

It is a question for us to ponder.

Movies I've Seen This Summer

In between those days I went traveling or hanging out along the Eastern Seaboard, I spend my time in State College by receiving a movie education; if you'd notice I had periods where I was digging into noir films (no. 3 - 9) & Spaghetti Westerns (no. 23 - 26). Hopefully next summer I'll find other stuff to do other than going on a movie binge.

1. Serpico
2. The Big Lebowski
3. Double Indemnity
4. Sunset Boulevard
5. The Big Sleep
6. Once Upon A Time In America
7. LA Confidential
8. Citizen Kane
9. The Postman Always Rings Twice
10. Vertigo
11. Once Upon A Time In The West
12. A Fistful Of Dynamite
13. Barton Fink
14. Metropolis
15. A Streetcar Named Desire
16. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
17. 12 Angry Men
18. Requiem For A Dream
19. Forrest Gump
20. Paths Of Glory
21. The Wild One
22. Wall Street
23. A Fistful of Dollars
24. For A Few Dollars More
25. Django
26. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
27. Supersize Me
28. The Truman Show
29. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
30. El Orfanato
31. American Psycho
32. Training Day

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

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

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

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

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

Green Day 21st Century Breakdown Gig Recap

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

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

Musings Of A Manchester City Fan

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

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

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

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

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

Here's to an optimistic season at City!

You Know You're In Malaysia When...

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

Bahasa "English"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember: Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa.

Michael Jackson Media Overkill

Why, o' omniscient media, why?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sejauh Manakah Anda Cintai Bahasa Malaysia?

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

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

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

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

Mari Belajar Sejarah! / Let's Learn History!

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

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

Does that ring a bell to you?

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

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

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

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

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

Resistance Is Futile: BrokeNCYDE

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

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

"3-4, Lock your door!"

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

"5-6, Suck on my dick!"

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

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

"BrokeNCYDE will never die!"

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

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

We're All Slaves Of The Machines

Well, whaddya know. The first decade of the 21st century is coming to a close and one gift that mankind received was the power and beauty of online social networking. To put it into generic terms, Facebook and now Twitter. Good, huh? It just makes the world smaller and smaller; 20 to 30 years ago my mother was so proud to correspond with her pen pal who lived in England and those snail mails, as our generation call it today, took weeks or even months to reach the recipient. But now, at a click of a couple of buttons, you'll know that your friend is currently backpacking in Vienna and is having Rahmschnitzel mit Champignon for lunch! Good, huh? Think again.

We have become absorbed with these cyberspace contraptions that some have chosen it as an end; the first thing that Samantha would do after taking photos at her friend's birthday party is to upload all those photos on Facebook and tag everyone that is on her friends list in order for them to comment on how they look like. Or take for instance Saiful who would Twitter every 10 minutes about the story of his life:

8:50 am - good morning, people! rise n shine
9:00 am - making some scrambled eggs and pancakes for bfast
9:13 am - yum yum
9:25 am - gotta poop. last nite's curry was too hot to handle...

Is that what life has become?

Apparently, it is on the way. More and more people are taking up this "social expert" pill as they are willing to communicate with a larger network of people but at the same time they are slowly sacrificing precious face-to-face interactions with their friends, colleagues and perhaps family. It would be easier doing it online, isn't it? Of course these sites are an excellent way to keep in touch with those who are far away from you like my family back in Malaysia or my Australian cousins but I don't see the point of writing on your friend's wall who lives in the same apartment block as you do since you could just go to your friend's place and have a proper, meaningful chat.

As of the time of typing, I am on my Facebook account to check people's updates on what's going on in their life. Yes, I'm still an addict who would just refuse to click that "Logout" button till I am satisfied with all those (almost) meaningless information on other people's lives. But slowly I'm restraining myself from mercilessly commenting on other people's post (nowadays it seems you can comment on anything!) & abstaining from those dreaded quizzes that others are so fond of. I only interact by writing on people's wall or by sending them a message & limit the number of photo albums in my profile. Call me a control freak but that's the best way to curb my enthusiasm on it.

As for you, try as much as you can to not make it as part of your life. I know it's very hard but there's more to life than being consumed by it. Be as much as independent from this technology because you don't want to be slaves of the machines, do you?

Summer '09: Backpacking America (Part II)

Hello again. After filling my last five days watching 1940's American noir movies (Humphrey Bogart is the coolest actor of his time; he gets the ladies twice as fast as James Bond could), it is high time for me to continue on my tales during my travels.

Free Spirit
One of the many quirks that singles me out from the rest of my friends is my liking on traveling alone. Words that would come out of their mouth upon hearing that I'm going solo include "Wouldn't it be boring traveling all these places all by yourself?", "Wouldn't it be kind of dangerous; what if something happens to you?" and my favorite, "Ko gila ke?"

Well, my first dose of this kind of travel actually happened on a cold December night at England. I was at London for 12 days with my friend and his family during my school holidays & while walking around Tottenham Court Road, I stumbled upon this booth selling concert tickets and one my favorites during that time (2004) was The Darkness was performing at Wembley Arena. Since my pal wasn't interested, I decided to head to Wembley all by myself.

After the concert ended around 10 pm, I took the bus from the arena to Wembley Central and passed by ghettoes upon ghettoes of outer London which are creepy and dodgy at night. Anything you thought that could go wrong might just happen. I had to get off at a stop to transfer buses that'll take me to the city and whaddya know, behind the bus stop was a cemetery! I don't know how or why but I didn't feel scared a bit.I got on the second bus, passing more ghettoes, eventually reaching home safe & sound. So, I thought to myself: why not I do this more often? Of course it has its risks but its all fun!

Back to that favorite question, I answer "Yes. Aku gila." Since I had survived that episode when I was only 16 years of age, then of course its worth a shot doing it again someplace else. Well, since I've already grown-up to the "old enough" age of 21, I've gotten less daring and more philosophical about it. I see myself as a lone ranger who travels from town to town just wanting to grab the juice of knowledge out of that place; meanwhile, I'll befriend other traveling compadres and just hang out with them till my time has come. Once the bottle of juice is full & everyone parts with smiling goodbyes, I'll just move on to the next joint. Pardon the Wild West pun, I was thinking of Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad & The Ugly while doing this post.

And yes! It's true; New Orleans was the best time of my life. The hostel had a great atmosphere where people can lepak and just have a chat and it even culminated to a get together of mostly strangers and acquaintances from all around the world (dominated by Brits, they seem to be everywhere!) and we headed out to Frenchman St to check out the scene over there for a crazy Memorial Day weekend night-out. On another occasion, our group consisted of a couple of Germans and Dutch with a Canadian, an(other) English, a Danish and me, a Malaysian. Talk about multicultural!

There are a lot of untold (not untold really, just don't wanna bore you) benefits of traveling as a free spirit other than forming a web of networks with people from around the world. I'm not gonna force you on doing it but if you get the chance, try it once. At least for a short trip. An unexpected twist to your adventure or a wacky compadre could just etch an everlasting memory to your mind.

Summer '09: Backpacking America (Part I)

Greetings people of cyberspace. I have recently completed my 29-day journey of Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans and Pittsburgh and am safely back in rural central Pennsyvlania that is of State College. This serialized post would not be a detailed experience of what I did throughout my trip but what I learned as I skipped from city to city.

Stereotyping Stereotypes

Before we begin, if I say the word "Texas" what would be the first things to come to your mind? My guess would be cowboys, desert, George W. Bush & rednecks. Thanks to television and the silver screen all of us just simply know how a typical Texan look like: a gun-toting, horse-riding, take-no-for-an-answer, tough guy. Well, my experience at Austin seemed to disprove any stereotype I had before. One of my acquantainces whom I met during my travels told me that "Austin is a liberal oasis smacked in the middle of a huge conservative desert." How true he is.

Throughout my five days at Austin, I didn't see anyone wearing full cowboy gear except the occasional hat & contrary to the fact, people over there do not speak with a Southern accent. If you were to meet an Austinite in any other state, you wouldn't have guessed that person to be from Texas. It was only during my second last night at Austin that I finally savored the accent from a waitress at a Mexican restaurant at SoCo but there was still a suspicion that she might come from Oklahoma or Alabama.

Besides that, people over there are very friendly (think Southern hospitality) and modern; one example would be while I was paying for my falafel at Whole Foods Market, a quite high-end supermarket that sells local and organic food, the cashier had a chat with me about my t-shirt which portrayed the post-rock band Explosions In The Sky and when we shifted to the topic of music festivals in America, he told me he had been to Coachella six times! Really made me felt like a rookie.

Fat Americans
Another stereotype that citizens of other nations like to make fun about or to express disgust is Americans are a bunch of fat and lazy sods. True. BUT this premise only holds in the southern states. I was quite shocked to see a proportional number of fat people at Austin, San Antonio & New Orleans as compared to when I went to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City; one glaring reason for this apparent quantity of large people per square mile is down to their diet.

Food in the south is the best that you can get: steaks are in abundance, hence making it their staple and almost everything that can be deep-fried will be deep-fried while up north people tend to be more health conscious and have more variety to choose from. However, the media would spin it around and generalize that all Americans are overweight. This is a hasty surmise since their diet has already become part of their lifestyle and as far as economics is concerned, demand would not diminish as long as there is cheap supply.

Summer '09: Rockin' Around The Eastern Seaboard

Yes, this is a self-indulgent list about the bands I will be catching this summer since I'm one of the few remaining not to go back to Malaysia (bold indicates not confirmed yet).

5/30 - Coldplay @ Post-Gazette Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA
6/05 - The Black Keys @ Point State Park, Pittsburgh, PA
6/06 - Zee Avi @ Point State Park, Pittsburgh, PA
6/22 - Camera Obscura @ TLA, Philadelphia, PA
6/30 - Explosions In The Sky @ Central Park, New York, NY
7/17 - Warped Tour @ Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
7/21 - Green Day @ Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
7/31 - All Points West @ Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ
8/12 - Blink 182 @ Hershey Pavilion, Hershey, PA

Here's to a long summer!

Danial's Alternative Summer

Well well, spring semester has ended & three months of summer beckons! So, besides going back home (for most of my peers), going backpacking and concerts (me) I have decided to compile a list of crazy, Jackass-approved things to do to fill my boredom when in State College. Because eventually I'll run out of money traveling, right?

1. DIY Summer Sauna - close all doors, windows and any means of ventilation in your bedroom and set your heater to its maximum temperature. Let it steam for 10 minutes and enter this "homemade sauna" with your friends. Last man standing wins!
2. Molotov Poop - Fill a paper or a plastic bag with poop (any source will do ut I heard human feces has the best flammability) and light the bag on fire. Throw it to any object you desire & be proud that your waste might grab the attention of the fire brigade.
3. Semen Shoes - When you feel the need to discharge your "little you's", do it in a friend's shoes! But make sure your friend wears the shoe/s before it dries or you have to do it again.
4. TV Is Bad For You - so, buy some hammers, perhaps even a saw, and trash the television out of the living hell. If you're not done with it, you can throw it off the sixth floor of your apartment building. Still not satisfied? You can always couple it with the Molotov Poop and see the idiot box melt in flames.
5. Fecal Fridge - Oh, don't we just love poop? Something learned from watching too many episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (told ya TV was bad) is poop IS fun. So, why not pass motion into a tupperware and store it in your friend's fridge? By that way, everyone can enjoy the fun (and poop)!
6. Winter In Summer - In line with being crazy, why not wear full winter clothing during mid-July when the sun is ablaze and wearing less clothes is better? Do it with your friends as a competition to see who can survive winter....in summer!
7. America Runs On Dunkin' - Taking advantage that Dunkin' Donuts is one of the few food joints that operates 24 hours, try hanging out there for a day! You know, chatting with your friends, using the store's internet bandwidth, consuming ridiculous amounts of caffeine & taking naps. If possible, try bunking in for more than a day & see when will the manager kicks you out.
   
8. Treasure Hunting - Shiver me timbers! End of Spring semester is when the seniors move out to the real world & when we get to sieve through their unwanted trash that are like a chest of gold to us. As of now, I've gotten a coffee table and looking for a disco ball and a rattlesnake for my new apartment.
   

Since it's just the beginning of a very long holiday, this list will be updated from time to time. Stay tuned!

The Enigma of Allen Park: A Difference in Socialization

Disclaimer: This article expresses the opinion of the author and does not represent anyone or any group whatsoever; this is a theoretical explanation of group dynamics and should not be misunderstood as means of personally attacking any parties. Any ideas and comments, either supportive or dismissive, are highly encouraged BUT sensitive and offensive posts will be banned.

It has been brought to my knowledge that the residents of Allen Park are seen as a “unique” bunch whereby a number of us prefer not to mix with the rest of the Malaysian community at State College during group activities or gatherings which was expected of us and this has caused some to question our behavior.

I would like to offer a theory based on the concept of socialization i.e. the process whereby a culture teaches its members about its beliefs, customs, habits and language (Kenrick, Neuberg & Cialdini, 2007). In this context, it refers to how our sophomore/junior batch was socialized in comparison to the current freshmen batch and this feature is telling since both batches came from the same learning institution in Malaysia.

The prominent factor that distinguishes the socialization of these two batches is the time spent learning in Malaysia: due to the nature of the program, the people of Allen Park had an extra year of college than the freshmen. This extra year gave everyone from the same batch time to know their peers and form bonds of friendship with each other; most of the residents here are in the same major not to mention were classmates and even roommates!

This familiarity has led us to increase our circle of friends and to trust members of our own group to provide social support, diminishing the need to seek help from people from their out-group. Besides that, our batch came in a large number and all lived in the same apartment complex far from campus (approx. 1.2 km to downtown) which contributes to us more willing to invest and share our material and emotional resources among each other.

In contrast, the freshmen had one year of study in Malaysia and based on my experience, this time frame was not enough for me to know all my batch mates. So, upon arriving to this university, they are more open and receptive to make new friends among Malaysians other than the local and international community in the area.

In conclusion, as time passes by, more and more residents of Allen Park have established a relationship with other Malaysians at Penn State while those who remain to be exclusive should be respected for their decision since they feel that they can be independent and survive on their own. Well, there would not be “Allen Park” anymore since many of us choose to go our own way and will be scattered around State College come next fall.