"Wake Up, Malaysians!" (Roslan Aziz 2005)

Disclaimer: Up ahead are rants from the writer. The rants are not meant to be prejudiced but are from personal opinions based on the talents that were heard.

Life is unfair. A good example of this statement can be seen in the recent Malaysian Idols results. Two of the most talented among the 11, Trish and Atilia, were eliminated from the Idols. They were eliminated not because they do not have the talent but because they were not as pleasing to the eyes as others. I could name a few people who should not be allowed to continue in the Idol journey and at the top of the list is Ash.

I've heard Ash's performance during the Workshop round and during the Spectaculars and frankly, I feel that he doesn't even deserved to get past the Workshop round to be in the top 11. His place should be given to somebody who deserves it better. But no, Malaysians seem to have their eyes on him and he sailed through to the spectaculars. During the Spectacular performance, it was so obvious that Ash sang out of tune a couple of times. I had high hopes that he would not garner enough votes to sail through but once again, Malaysians seem to have their ears plugged when they were watching the Spectaculars. Clearly, they are just watching it with their eyes, but not listening to the singers with their ears. I don't consider myself as a Malaysian Idol fan but this is just too much. Ash should be at the bottom of the list. Not Trish. Not Atilia.

When the results were announced, I sat shell-shocked. I wasn't able to move a single limb and all of a sudden, I just seem to have lost my voice. When I finally found my voice and ability to move my limbs around, I practically screamed my head off and kept yelling, "That is so UNFAIR!! That is so freaking UNFAIR!!" Just like what Roslan Aziz had said, "Wake up, Malaysians!" Wake up to real talents instead of voting for your friend or family who clearly doesn't show much versatility. Yes, Ash has the voice quality to sing certain songs. Yes, his voice is suitable for the right songs but he just doesn't have the versatility and talent to go far. And it doesn't help that he has a cocky attitude at times. When Roslan Aziz criticise his performance, Ash gave this really cocky shrug and even I'm turn off by the gesture.

All the judges were upset and in shock, except for Paul Moss who managed to control his emotions. He seemed to have given in to the thought that Malaysians would always pack a punch of surprises during the Idols results. Even Jien, the Idols host looked clearly upset over the results that were announced. You can see his face clouding all over and he just seem to lost his spring and bubbly attitude after seeing Trish and Atilia leave the show. I wish things could have been better for Trish and Atilia. I wish they were the ones who got to stay instead of leaving. But clearly, Ash has the support of his friends and family and we cannot change the results. I'm still in shock. It is all so surreal. I've never been affected by any reality TV show like this before and this is a first. I still can't believe that most Malaysians and tone deaf to the extent that they can't distinguish between a good and bad singer. Oh, how I wish Ash got eliminated in this round of Spectaculars. Looking at the way things are going, I doubt I'll stay tune for long to Malaysian Idols. If Ash manages to sail through round 2 of the Spectaculars, I'm just going to give up on the show and my fellow Malaysians for losing their common sense.

Difficult Housemates

If you do not know how to read English or if you do not understand English, then fine, I can accept the fact that you do not understand the signs I'd put up around the house. But if you DO understand English and you DO know how to read English, I rather you cooperate with me to keep the house clean and make it bearable for 5 people that's living under the same roof.

Sometimes, I really do not understand my housemates at all. What is so difficult to understand about keeping the toilet clean and dry and use the bathroom to bathe? Why can't they understand that sometimes, people tend to throw their dirty laundry into pails in the bathroom and it's essential to keep the area clean so that the clothes do not have black spots because of the dampness in the area? Why can't they just use their heads for once and try to understand?

They do not have the whole house to themselves. They are sharing the house with 4 other people. The most important thing is to compromise, not being selfish and leaving a wave of destruction behind them each time they use the toilet, bathroom or kitchen. Oh...and the house fridge. I've only been away for a month plus but they've managed to left milk powder (or was it glucose?) in the fridge and as nobody wants to clean it up, it's begun to rot and contaminate the whole fridge to unbearable smell. Each time I open the fridge, I have to close my nose, literally, and take whatever I want out from the fridge. I have resorted to keeping my food stuff in tupperwares before leaving them to chill for fear of contamination to my food. And I refuse to clean it. I'm going to tell them to clean it when the chance arises. I am not going to clean after something I did not do and let them take the responsiblity for once. I'm so sick of cleaning after them. I should not have clean after them at the beginning because once they get use to the idea of having somebody to clean after them, they become instant invalids that refuse to throw the rubbish, sweep and mop the house, or even, clean the kitchen sink once in a while. Aargh!!!

I miss my ex-housemates so much.....we used to work together to keep the house clean for everybody's comfort. But not these bunch of unruly, young girls whom I bet had never ever in their lifes done any housework before. Somebody please kill me before I sink into the darkness of insanity.

20th July 2005

Awkward

Just last Sunday, as I was trying to sleep for the night, some thoughts flashes through my mind and my mind begun to think about things and events that had happened for the last 6 months.
First, there was the whole incident about my bf, Al's, so-called infidelity. Frankly speaking, I still have some doubts on what is and what is not the truth. The trust I have towards him had dwindled down considerably. But somehow, he has shown tremendous efforts to save our relationship and thus, here I am, giving him a well deserved second chance although some thinks he does not deserve it.

I admit that my studies were greatly influenced by Al's so-called infidelity. I did terribly during the first half of the semester. I did not get the grades that I expected and my studies plunged from top to bottom. However, I managed to pull myself up and forced myself to concentrate on what's important - my studies - and managed to pull through. Overall, my grades were rather good I should say since I expected the worse from myself this particular semester. After the private and personal turmoil that I faced for the last few months, I still managed to pull 2 Distinctions and 1 Credit. And I really thank God for that.

When my thoughts begun to slowly settle down, I lingered on the thought of Mabel leaving the college for good. Mabel's one of the nicest and friendliest lecturers around in college. And I'm really happy to get to know her as a friend also outside of college. She may be strict towards us students at times, well, most of the time but at the same time, she's leniet (sp?) and understanding towards those of us who were loaded with problems. Conclusion, she's one of the favourite lecturers around in college that practically every student adores and look up to. To me, she's somebody I truly admire for her tremendous courage and determination in everything that she does.

Time sure passes very quickly. At the blink of the eye, I've known Mabel for nearly a year and a half now. And all these times, I've always taken it for granted that she would continue to stay in the college and lecture even after I leave for Perth to continue my studies. I've always thought that there would be new batches of students that would get to know her as well as I and the others do. When she called one day during the holidays informing me that she had just handed in her resignation letter, I was shocked beyond words but most importantly, I was sad that she was leaving all of us. I knew no matter how much I pleaded for her to stay, no matter how much all of us pleaded for her to stay, she would still leave because her boss happens to be a real b***h who has been making life miserable for her at work for the past few months. Thus, I kept quiet and accepted her decision to leave without ever pleading for her to stay.

And so, last Sunday as I was drifting off to Slumberland, I thought of how awkward it would be to go to college and classes knowing for a fact that Mabel would not be around in the office anymore. She would not be around whenever I burst into the office looking for her. She would not be around to have lunch with whenever time is available. She would not be around counselling students and just gossip around about work and studies. There would not be any bumping into each other around the college. In short, she would not be around in college anymore doing what she loves - lecturing. Of course we will still meet up for lunches or coffees or just plain hanging out whenever we're free. But it still would not be the same anymore in college.

On a positive note, leaving her job might open up better prospects for her in her career and life. I know she wants to go back into the industry to work and I pray and wish her luck that she'll get what she wants and is happy doing it.

Mei, I know all of us are sad that you left the college and I'm sure everybody misses you already. It's been a pleasure being your student and I've learnt a lot from you. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you in the near future outside of college. Good luck in hunting for the job that you like!

Update: Mabel had found a job as a sub-editor in Cyberjaya with a better pay than being a lecturer. Hope she'll enjoy her work and feel happier at her new work place when she starts work next month. Cheers Mei!