Al-Fatihah, kak Yasmin..
Posted: July 26, 2009 Filed under: Digressions 1 Comment »Just this morning, I was telling my family that kak Yasmin’s condition was deteriorating.
And now, I read THIS:
KUALA LUMPUR: Renowned film and advertising director Yasmin Ahmad died here at about 11.25pm on Saturday night.
Her death was confirmed by Media Prime Group Chief Operations Officer Datuk Seri Ahmad Farid Ridzuan, who was at the Damansara Specialists Hospital, when contacted by Bernama.
The news has yet to sink in.
Earlier this year, I got my friends to watch kak Yasmin’s Sepet, telling them that if they wanted to know what Malaysia looked and felt like, this was the movie to watch.
I had been following her blog since last year.
I had loved her Petronas commercials since she started making them.
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Al-Fatihah, kak Yasmin. May you rest in peace. May your family find the strength to deal with your sudden departure. And may the stories that you pushed so hard to tell be told to millions and millions more.
You will be missed dearly.
Praying for Yasmin Ahmad’s recovery
Posted: July 24, 2009 Filed under: Digressions 1 Comment »From Malaysian Insider HERE:
PETALING JAYA, July 23 – Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad is in critical but stable condition after underging emergency surgery at Damansara Specialist Hospital here following a stroke.She collapsed earlier this afternoon while presenting a working paper at Sri Pentas, the headquarters of the TV3 television station.
Bernama quoted her brother-in-law, Datuk Dr Zakaria Zahari, as saying that Yasmin had suffered a stroke and haemorrhaging in the brain.
“Her heart is being supported by drugs to control blood pressure … the next few hours are extremely important but she is now stable even though she is still unconscious,” he said.
She’s one of my favourite Malaysian directors so far. I hope Kak Yasmin has a speedy recovery.
1Malaysia camp?!
Posted: July 20, 2009 Filed under: Politics, Society 3 Comments »From The Malaysian Insider HERE:
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin plans to introduce an annual 1 Malaysia camp for students to instil a sense of unity in them. The deputy prime minister and education minister said 1 Malaysia was one of his four key performance indicators (KPI) for the Education Ministry.
“In this camp, I hope that the eight values of 1 Malaysia will be learned and planted in all the participants and therefore help push the concept of 1 Malaysia and the national education philosophy,” he told the audience at a workshop on the Education Development Master Plan (PIPP).
I don’t know what to make of this.
What is this, if not another National Service? And why do we need this 1Malaysia camp, if NS is working like how they say it is?
Sometimes I don’t know what our Education Ministers are thinking. How is it that an annual camp is going to instil a sense of unity? How? If the sense of unity is not already in them, how is an annual camp, which I doubt will last any longer than the December holidays, going to solve matters?
I’m actually cringing at this moment, thinking about the possibility of yet another rashly made policy that doesn’t go through the necessary steps of proper discussion. Sometimes just discussing the objectives is simply not enough. Do they ever discuss the implementation?
We need not look too far. We can just look back at the number of sub-standard camps that our 18-year-olds had to go to for National Service. I’m pretty sure that not too long ago some buildings built as an NS camp collapsed. And then there are the numerous food-poisoning cases. How about the deaths? The ‘rumours’ of trainers acting unprofessionally?
Obviously, despite all good intentions that the NS might have, implementation has been anything but satisfactory.
But I digress.
Back to this thing about the 1Malaysia camps. I think it’s an idea that is a complete waste of time and money. It’s one of those ideas that you have a single look at, and throw promptly into the rubbish bin. It just isn’t worth it.
I’m at a lost on what to say, really. Because frankly speaking, I just think it’s a stupid idea that’s heading in the wrong direction. If unity is important to the Education Minister, which I think is great, I think he’s looking at the wrong place for the solution.
There is a solution to be found if the Education Ministry would just look closely enough at the present education system and identify the problems that form the roots of our present dilemma. It’s all there. They just need to have vision, to look further than the next general election, and simply have a heart for the future generation.
Seriously, 1Malaysia camps or whatnot are just not going to cut it.
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Postscript: Just imagine the amount of money that’s going to be dumped onto this idea. The amount of contracts going out to companies to provide lodging, food, clothes, laundry etc.
My condolences
Posted: July 19, 2009 Filed under: Digressions 1 Comment »This post may be coming a bit late, considering that the tragic death happened a couple of days ago. There is already so much being written everywhere about Teoh Beng Hock’s untimely death after questioning at the MACC office, I feel that this late post might not even matter. But still, my deepest condolences to Teoh’s family.
I have given myself some time to absorb what has happened to this 30-year-old man, very much just reaching the prime of his life, having planned to get married and start a family, and having what should have been many more years ahead of him. Now that his life has been cut short so suddenly, leaving behind his would-be wife, pregnant with their first and only child, one can only hope that the family he left behind finds the strength to overcome this very sad occasion.
I will not speculate about the cause of his death. Whether I believe that he committed suicide, was murdered, or that this was a case of pure bad luck and accident is not important. What I believe is not important. But I do think that what the family believes is important.
At this point, the authorities have the responsibility to answer to the family that Teoh left behind. Teoh died while still in their premises, though he was found on the roof of the building next door. And the authorities owe it to Teoh’s family to carry out a full investigation, if for no other reason than to help them come to terms with his passing.
Teoh’s family would do well without politicians from either side playing politics during such a sensitive time. Neither accusations of foul play, nor complete denial of the same is going to do the family any justice.
Like I said, what I believe is not important. But it is of extreme importance that the family gets closure. And it appears that only a fully transparent investigation with nothing held back can give this to them.
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Postscript: There is a civil society joint statement on the People’s Parliament HERE. I would like to make known here that I fully endorse the said joint statement.
Postscript #2: I’ve just found out from Haris’ blog HERE that the blogger Ancient Mariner has just passed on. Al-Fatihah.
Things I’m shaking my head at..
Posted: July 14, 2009 Filed under: Politics, Society 1 Comment »These days, there seem to be quite a number of happenings that, when reading news about them, I just shake my head silently.
Like the decision to scrap the PPSMI. I was just thinking about my cousin who is in Form One this year. He’s been studying Maths and Science in English for the past 6 years, and will continue to do so up till Form 3. Then when he enters Form 4 in 2012, and assuming he goes into the Science Stream, and assuming that there is no drastic change to the education system, he’ll be learning Fizik, Kimia and Biologi, instead of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Add on top of that Additional Mathematics, which is already difficult enough without needing to juggle again the terms from English to Bahasa.
And then there is Muhyiddin saying to the voters of Manek Urai that they have to vote Barisan to get a new bridge. Since when did holding the voters ransom become the smart thing to do? Why should anyone be punished for exercising their right to vote? And if that new bridge is really necessary, why is it that Barisan is refusing to build it unless they get voted in? Read Nat Tan HERE.
Also the Kampung Buah Pala thing. It’s so all over the place, I’m not even sure I know what’s really going on. Who owns that plot of land in the first place? Who are the people living there? Have they been paying rent? Are they legally allowed to stay there? Who sold the place to the new “owners”? It’s a plate of spagetti there, and I’m not getting anywhere near it.
But surely the one that takes the cake is this piece of news I got on my email today about two people being detained for trespassing Universiti Malaya. It reads exactly like what Nat Tan has posted HERE. I’m not sure if what Nat is saying is true, which is that the duo have been detained for trespassing the Islamic Studies area as non-Muslims. Apparently non-Muslims, aka Chinese, are not allowed there. From the original email that I received, which Nat posted verbatim after his comment, it only mentions that they intended to go into the building, but does not mention that it is because of the reason stated by Nat that they got detained.
But no matter what the reason, that the duo got detained for trying to enter a public university is outrageous to say the least. (It mentions that they were detained under Penal Code 447, which is criminal trespassing). Like Nat, I will be following this issue very closely to see what comes out of it at the end. But I have to say, at this point, I am only capable of shaking my head.
