Breakfast Muo style in PJ! Alhamdulillah, semua sedap; sate, lontong, ubi, roti jala, kuih, kopi 434. Retro aesthetics, service tip top! Definitely one of the best breakfast spots in the Klang Valley.
This morning we're at The Global Youth & Peace Conference for Palestine at Mahsa University. Heart wrenching performances children of Palestine and rousing speeches by Khaled Beydoun, Nurul Izzah and others.
It's a really interesting and valid question. Some rather serious answers given were how it taught us breathing techniques, and that it provided us with a nice break from all the studying.
Have to say that I don't actually know what the thinking was behind it, nor can I give you the pedagogical reasons. But probably it was simply to introduce a form of arts appreciation in schools.
Of course, this is one area we've never been good at. In fact, the ARTS has always been seen as the "less intelligent" stream, and that it could never be as important as the other subjects in school.
As such, the thinking has been cultivated from young; that arts and culture have no value to real life, and could never be a real career alternative.
I believe this has led to disastrous consequences to society in more ways than one. Without the appreciation of the arts, there's no appreciation of the artistes. That's why for so long, we've grappled with widespread piracy (cetak rompak). Because people simply do not appreciate the creative process.
Even today in the digital world, there is little respect for intellectual property. People think arts and culture are merely hobbies that have no value. They don't think this as "work" for those who depend on it for their livelihoods.
It doesn't help too that there is no balance in the media when it comes to entertainment, arts and culture. Sure, we all enjoy gossip now and then, but the fascination has always been with the "artis", rather than what's "artistic". Hence, it's all lumped together as just entertainment, and nothing more.
Even deeper than that, the lack of appreciation for the arts, literature and culture has created a society of binary thinkers. A piece of of art can mean different things to different people (there is no right or wrong), but generally our people can't, and won't, agree to disagree, cos the answer to everything is either this or that.
Everything must be on the nose, subtexts are often ignored, and it leaves us with a society that only judges others by what they see on the surface, and material gains.
Oh how I wish we had learned more than just the recorder...
My current obsession: Watching these historically important videos on the FINAS YouTube channel. Seriously, you won't believe how well-produced these are. There are more than 200 videos on the Retrospektif playlist and I urge everyone to watch them.
So much to learn and so much to appreciate about our own history. Thank you Finas for restoring such wonderful and important content for our viewing pleasure.
When I was serving on the bench, what I hated most was juvenile and drugs cases. For such hearings in chambers, you'd usually get family members to attend. And this was always a problem for me.
Especially for juvenile cases, we'd have parents coming in, and most of the time they would have no idea what their children have been up to. Upon reading the facts of the case, I'd usually get annoyed and riled up at the stupid things these kids have been accused of doing.
But the mood would change when the parents are given a chance to speak. Especially the poor old moms, they'd immediately break down and would plead with me, with tears in their eyes and their hearts broken, to give their kids another chance. They'll say that their kids are actually good kids and they didn't know why they've made such bad turns.
Being a person with "jiwa sensitif", I'd usually struggle to hold back my own tears. It's not easy seeing these old folks who have given their heart and soul raising their kids, only to get a phone call from the cops to say that they've been up to mischief and might be sent to some "sekolah budak jahat".
And every time, I could feel the sincerity and hope from the parents to give their child another chance. Of course, being juveniles, we would always give them a second chance to start anew, and release them on bond of good behaviour. But the process was always an emotional one for me.
So kids, behave, stay out of trouble, and think of your parents before doing anything you might regret later.
But I waited, and waited, and waited, and I never caught sight of the thing. One day, the neighbour buried the pond. I was crushed cos I never got the see the kraken.
But I can still see the kraken eating up some kids in Kg Melayu in my head till today... 😬😬
(WARNING: READ ONLY DURING THE DAY)
After my brief posting in Kuching, Sarawak in 1996, I was relocated to Miri as a magistrate. It was done rather quickly, so I never really had the time to make accommodation arrangements etc. But when I arrived in Miri, I was told by the senior magistrate that I could stay with him. Apparently, he was given permission to stay at the Judge's Mansion along with a clerk and his wife, cos for some reason, the judge didn't want to stay there.
So during lunch time, he drove me from the courthouse in town to the place somewhere in Tanjung Lobang (picture). It was a beautiful drive as it was along the coast. Then we turned into the area which had a small one lane road, and I could see all these huge government quarters there as well.
Our place was almost to the end on top of the cliff, and you could actually hear the sound of the waves of the South China Sea from there. It was actually a big half wooden, half brick house with a "kolong" underneath. I was impressed, although it had not been kept well by the current occupants : /
At that time, I really thought: "Damn, I've made it. Never thought I'd be living in a place like this with the sea nearby and everything."
But when night came, it suddenly felt very "different". The surrounding area was really dark, and the only lights came from the other houses nearby. Immediately I thought: "Oh man, I sure wouldn't want to stay here alone."
To cut a long story short, after a few days, I knew there was something really wrong with the place. And although the senior magistrate and clerk avoided my questions in the beginning, they finally admitted that the house was actually... haunted.
They've bumped into creatures before (especially in the kitchen) and once, they even fired mercun at a pontianak "hanging around" by this very big tree behind the house. But they said that most of the time, they just made "donno" lah.
Of course I immediately made plans to move out to my own place. BUT before I could, the long Gawai holiday came and everyone balik kampung, leaving me alone in the house.
On the first night, I told myself I'll just make donno and chill out. I remember sitting on the sofa watching TV and I felt like someone was standing behind me, watching ME. I read whatever surah I could, but it just got creepier.
THEN... (I swear I'm not making this up), a storm came, complete with the obligatory thunder and lightning. That was my cue to get the hell out of the house.
I changed my clothes, grabbed the senior magistrate's car keys (he left it for me to use), and went down to the car. We also had cats, and they were running helter skelter as the storm became fiercer.
I got into the car and turned the key, but (and I swear I'm not making this up too)... the car COULD NOT START. By this time, I felt a presence near me. My hands menggigil and all, I opened the hood of the old (yellow) Toyota Corrolla, and jiggled a few wires, and ran back into the car.
I closed my eyes, said Bismillah, and turned the key again. This time the car started. I reversed it, and drove out as fast as I could.
I spent the night driving around town and eventually slept in the car. The next day I checked in to a motel and only returned when the holidays were over.
A few weeks later, I moved out after finding a place at Taman Bumiko, and the senior magistrate followed me as well. So that was that. But every Gawai holiday, that dark and stormy night would be the first thing I think about...
Not a great picture but that's New York City in the Fall of 2000. I took this from inside my Greyhound bus, while on my 2 1/2-hour journey from Albany.
I remember not seeing much until we made one turn and NYC spectacularly emerged before my eyes, including the World Trade Centre. The "Friends" theme immediately played in my head and I felt like Tom Cruise in "Cocktail". Almost a year later, 9/11 happened...
By the late 90's, the dot-com boom hit Malaysia and suddenly things became very interesting for freelancers and media practitioners.
I was still working in a different industry, but opportunities were abound as investors basically threw money at any sort of interesting idea, even without a proper business plan. (Monetisation wasn't key at all!)
Websites popped up every other week, declaring to be "the best" or "the most exciting" of this and that. Of course, entertainment was an easy game to get into, so there were plenty of those around, for sure.
I remember writing for a couple of them, mainly live-e.com. The work was pretty easy, I must say, but it was a lot of fun, especially with all the parties to go to.
Others I could remember include Octopus, M-Cities and that was also the time when Catcha first emerged. I can't remember what was the page views then were like though. Or even the kind of Internet connection we used. Haha.
But, of course the bubble burst just as swiftly, especially after the stock market crashed in the US. With millions spent on parties and fancy offices, it didn't take long before the cash ran out, and teams had to be downsized and plenty of brands basically bungkus-ed.
I then continued to write for some new ones that emerged, and even became a regular contributor for UK sports site teamtalk.com (which still exists until today). But for most, it was back to doing work for good 'ol print.
So yeah, nothing lasts forever, but for everyone back then, I'm pretty sure we all enjoyed the ride : )
Walaupun tidak berapa faham akan apa sebenarnya tugas seorang majistret ketika aku pertama kali menonton filem tahun 1962 ini, yang aku tahu, bunyinya canggih dan sangat berprestij.
Namun, seperti yang pernah aku sebut dalam kolum lalu, minat aku sendiri dalam bidang undang-undang lebih dicetuskan oleh beberapa siri televisyen yang pernah aku ikuti seperti “The Paper Chase” dan “LA Law”.
Dan selepas enam tahun belajar di Universiti Islam Antarabangsa, Petaling Jaya, aku memohon dan telah terpilih untuk melalui proses temuduga yang agak panjang dan mencabar, sebelum diterima masuk ke dalam perkhidmatan kehakiman dan perundangan sebagai pegawai undang-undang bergred L3 pada tahun 1996.
Tawaran diterima, aku terus terbang ke Bumi Kenyalang untuk memulakan karier dan kehidupan baharu. Selama tiga minggu, aku dan dua orang pegawai lain menjalankan “latihan” dengan seorang majistret senior di Mahkamah Kuching, termasuklah duduk bersama-sama dengan beliau di bangku majistret untuk memerhatikan tugasan dan keadaan di dalam bilik bicara.
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