Farewell Bro ...

My dearly beloved brother, the one and only guy [except me dad] who has been with me through those times be it rough and sweet. Lived with this big guy for the past 27 years where 21 years we basically lived under one roof especially those 4 memorable years we have been staying together renting our auntie's house.

Well as people says good times does not last forever, me bro and sis in law has moved to their new paradise in Bandar Sentul Baru last Saturday. Mixed feelings drowsed thru my heart, one part excited and happy for my bro and sis in law because they hv finally been able to move and find their promised paradise and at the same time commencing the next stage of their life in their new found paradise. On the other side, I am a little depressed that after 4 years living under one roof with this big fella I would certainly miss his presence ... though at times can be annoying with his ultra-egomaniac [i think i am not any better also lar] ... but he is above all a very caring and understanding brother being there lending a helping hand through my rough times giving me opinions and advices. Those moments when me and him will stick our throats off debating of topics would be happily embedded into my very memories.

I would really miss the presence of the big guy and my sis in law in days and months to come. Without their voices around the house ... I will need to get used to the more hollow environment now and then :P
Anyway life goes on and bro and sis in law, I wish u all the best in ur pursue to eternal happiness with Lil Renee [and in the future baby Ryan :P ] with the moving to ur new house as the starting step.

Lastly, bro and sis in law thanks for all those support and helping hand that you lend me during my rough times. I will miss u all dearly especially little cutie Renee ... I will mostly miss the presence of this little cutie everytime she come and 'pest' around my room ... she is just sheer fun and enjoyment ! I will definitely miss her ... !!!!

Counting those who owe me meals

I am not a very good mathematician of any sorts but the last time I counted the stack of meals owed to me
is not so staggering but I think they can make me fell to the extreme obese category. Well thats how a kind and good hearted men get ... helping people with such they end up trying to repay you by promising you meals of any sorts. If my memory still counts correctly below is the list of those who still owes me:

i) Michelle Khong - 23 meals [1 meal equals to a LARGE value meal in MCD] since 2004 and she still mums on
it !!!
ii) Hooi Sin - 2 Japanese meals
iii) Cindy Phoon - [Special Egg Tarts + Devils Curry]
iv) TYTan - [Chicken Curry (pending when she cook it wor ... )+ 1 Cheese Cake ]
v) Sam - [Chillis]
vi) Afrah - Cozy Corner or Victoria Station
vii) SBHoo - Victoria Station
viii) Penny Tan - Secret Recipe Lamb Shank
ix) Soon Beng Wooi - Hee Lai Ton

Now who said good men easy to do ? Have to claim so many meals ... hurts the heart leh !

Tianamen Square - The Tank Man

I guess most if not all of us have heard of Tiananmen Square protest back in 1989 which led to a bloody civil bloodshed. Tanks and army personnel were deployed and gunned down thousands of protesters fighting for better civil rights, economic reforms, freedom of speech and against the ever corruptable ruling government.

However, we are not here to talk about that since most of us knew the background of the tragedy. The topic here as stated above is about the Tank Man. I doubt many would have known about the "Tank Man". Me in particular knew nothing about him until I watched a documentary of the symbol which the Tank Man carries.

Purpotedly happened a day after the bloodshed [5th June 1989] where the army tanks are to make their way back, a young man apparently carrying shopping plastic bags stood in front of the tank and blocked the path of the tank. Apparently disgusted with the massacare of unarmed civillians, the young man defied the military threat and hurled abuses at the army commanding the tank. It has been heard that his piece of mind have been carried out through words of anger "Why are you here? My city is in chaos because of you"; "Go back, turn around, and stop killing my people"; and "Go away."
The somehow "powerful" army tank couldnt do anything but just withstood the young man verbal attacks. These happened until a few people eventually hurled the young man away before he would suffered the same fate of his buried comrades.

What significance does this young man bring ? In the West, many lauded the young man as a SYMBOL to the Chinese democracy movement. A feeble young man, braving himself against tirades of juggernaut tanks eventually becomes the symbol of an individual's power to halt government and force a change in direction

But what becomes of the young man's fate ? The identity of the Tank Man remains a mystery though there are numerous reports claiming him as Wang Weilin(王维林), a 19 year old and was executed then. However the last official statement has it said that the Tank Man was not being executed in an interview between Barbara Walters and then ex-President Jiang Zhe Min in 1990.

For those who are interested in the documentary here is the link for the torrent : Tiananmen Square: The Tank Man

For those who wants to watch the 26 seconds video clip in youtube: You Tube - Tank Man

My tribute to my Alma Mater

SAINT PAUL'S INSTITUITION

( Founded in 1899 )

School ... a definite pathways for most of us if not all. Sweet and fond memories beckons and now I have left school [University Malaya] for good 4 years now. In my schooling life, I have been enrolled into different schools:

i) SRK Saint Paul - primary school
ii) SMK Saint Paul - Form 1 - early Form4
iv) SMK Teknik Tuanku Ja'afar - Form4 - Form5 studying Civil Engineering
v) SMK King George V - Form 6
vi) Malaya University - Computer Science

I can single out my time in Saint Pauls Instituition as the most memorable and cherished. Those thug fighting times, class ponteng times, study times, scratch teacher car times and yes,"flirting with those Convent gals times" has never faded and still vividly lives in my ultra-GazillionByte memory.


A school of old traditions, we called ourselves Paulians and as a self-professed True Blue Paulian I am proud to live my teenage days with my Alma-Mater . We used to have a spirited shout of "Whos The Best ?" and echoed with proudful roars of "SAINT PAULS !!!!!". My particular favorite are times when we manifest our love to our Alma Mater whilst singing our School Rally. But the highest of "highs" is when we sing our Victory March ! a spirited rendition of a song which carries the TRUE BLUE Paulian spirit to battle.

School Building ClockWise From Left: Old School Building located at Seremban Town, Primary School in Labu, and finally SPI Seconday School situated on top of Mount La Salle

What is so unique about Saint Paul's ? Well just the Paulian SPIRIT and its tradition alone is unique so to speak. Roars of "Saint Pauls The Best Of The Best" was never alien to us and our love to our Alma Mater has always been deep burrowed into our heart.

Serving Brothers Directors:
Highest Row From Left: Bro.Isidore (1909), Bro. Basilian (1910-1914), Bro. Adrian(1914-1921),
Bro. Lewis Edward( 1921-1930) , Bro. Dominic (1928-1930)
Second Row From Left: Bro. Barnitus (1930-1931), Bro. John (1933), Bro. Joseph (1933-1939), Bro. Anselm (1939-1941), Bro.Henry (1941-1946)
Final Row From Left: Bro. Lawrence (1947-1953), Bro. Chronan (1953), Bro. Casimir (1954-1959),
Bro.Celestine (1960-1963), Bro. Thomas (1963-1969), Bro. Felix (1970-1975),
Bro. James (1975- 1991)

Note: Brother James Macken served as the longest Brother Director of Saint Pauls Instituition building an era of unprecendented success

Saint Pauls has their classes and sport houses name after their serving Brothers. While other schools names their classes Science 1 or Kebaya1, we Saint Pauls has the classes named after our serving Brother directors.
In alphabetical order are Anselm,Basillian,Casimir,Dominic,Felix,Henry,Isidore,James,Lawrence,Thomas.



If class naming is not enough, try matching our Sport Houses as well ... we are too much into those unclassy Rumah Merah,Biru,Hijau,Kuning but Saint Pauls again with their past Brother Director has Adrian[Yellow], Barnitus[Red],Edward[Green],John[Blue],Director[Grey] and Paul[Purple] as the names of our sport houses. Now try beating tat for unique and meaningful naming for classes and sport houses. A symbol of class, history and uniqueness which also defines Saint Paul's Instituition.



Well as what people say, you dont proclaim yourself to be famous unless you are in Wikipedia, and guess what? Whilst I was searching somethign on Wikipedia, I somehow got this urge to search for my Alma Mater and GOD the search result is SPOT ON and for the next hour or so, I was back in memory lane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul%27s_Institution%2C_Seremban

Eventually I was also brought to Old Paulians Association (OPA) and came to the knowledge that for a Semi-Government school-English medium-Christian based school, we were offered the "Sekolah Bistari" status. Now what are the odds of that happening ? And heard that finally we were to have our own school hall !

My apologies to my Alma Mater again because of my poor command of English here though enrolled into such prestigious English School, my command of English has not been up to YOUR expectation.

The Great Alma Mater of mine reached its Centernarian earlier than Manchester United or Real Madrid and the tradition has never faded and hopefully will stay intact for centuries to come.








Hail Alma Mater ! , Hail John Baptist De La Salle !!!

And my tribute to the following teachers who made an impact in my life:
Mr Chang Yok Son[Form2 Science Teacher],Mrs Wong Tee Soon [my Form 1 form teacher], Miss Wong Lai Kwan [ Form 3 Science Teacher], Puan Khor Yul Lin[Form3 History Teacher],Puan Velayuthan[Form2 Geo teacher], Mr James Wong[Form3 Form teacher], Puan Ng Yen Yen [Form3 M3 teacher], Cik Koh Seow Pen[the pretty and sporting teacher] and Mr Jakob [the discipline teacher who always "hentam" me]

Not to forget Mr Lam [My Form6 Maths teacher in KGV, he is the biggest role model]

[Review] The Departed

I fell in love with Infernal Affairs the first time I watched it. For me, its a new and refreshing to have the idea of a mole of a mobster living within the police force. Unforgetably, with first class acting dished out by HK's finest made this a classic to be remembered and amongst the finest HK shows that have graced HK movie scene for ONE decade. Two uneventful and unnecessary spin off sequels dampens the already highly acclaimed Infernal Affairs movie but it did not deter Hollywood from engaging their own version of Infernal Affairs ... Mafia style ... well not really Mafia .. but Irish thugs.

The Departed represents a badder, meaner and more violent version of Infernal Affairs which also promises amongst the finest and brightest stars of Hollywood with Matt Dammon filling in as Andy Lau's character as a high flying cop who is also a mole for the mobster boss of the show in which Jack Nicholson did a splendid job potraying the role of a mobster [played by Eric Tsang in Infernal affairs]. And how can we forget the purpoted hero of the show Leo Di Cap who plays Tony Leung's masterly potrayal of a police undercover working under the same mobster.

I think most of you already know the storyline rite? Well I would say 98% of the show follows back the script from Infernal affairs with minor adjustments to a few unrelevant characters and also a new character has been slated for Martin Sheen and Mark Walhberg.

Review:
As I said earlier, The Departed is just plain Infernal Affairs -> US style, simply badder, meaner and more violent. Unlike Infernal Affairs, The Departed is more physical and brutal and no hold barred. And of course 4 letter words flies here and there. Personally for me, the only enjoyment I found watching this show is to relate back to Infernal Affairs. I gotta say I am not too impressed with Martin Scorsese tis time.
As for acting, kudos to the ONE and ONLY Jack Nicholson for his ultra potrayal of the Costello the mobster. His trademark facial expression has always made him amongst the finest in Hollywood. Let me put it this way, this show was supposed to be Dammons and Caprio's .. but somehow Jack's acting simply blew the others away .... and I really mean blew them away like an F5 tornado.

In a nutshell:
I will watch it again in my PC ["when the original version comes out"] because watching in cinema the censoring of the show made me feel uncomfy and at times confused coz the conversation suddenly stops. So by watching in my PC I can hopefully grasp the entire movie ...
The feeling is like to watch a movie based on a book ala Da Vinci Code where u compare the movie against the book. This time is to compare a Hollywood made movie against a HK classic ... same feeling just different experience.

[Review] Death Of A President

Me buddy Mudz passed me this video a couple of weeks ago. I wondered why it took me so long to actually finish this 1.5 hours movie-documentary. Well actually it mades headlines back in the States recently where it got a big bashing from Republican politician calling it a movie of bad taste and exploiative. Too add wounds to it, 2 of American biggest chain of cinemas [something like our GSC,TGV lar] refused to screen the movie. It eventually won the International Critics Prize (FIPRESCI) at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival recently.

Well, what makes this documentary-movie to generate so much fanfare around? For those of you all still scratching your heads, this movie is purpotedly reporting the "actual events" prior to and post of the "ASSASINATION OF PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH, The 43rd President of The United States Of America.



Minor spoiler alert:
We are being brought forward to the events that "have taken place" in 19th Oct 2007 whereby President Bush is being fatally shot and eventually pronounced dead on the table. The whole movie revolves a documentary styled show whereby the "witnesses" ranging from "Secret Service" to the "suspect" as well.
Eventually and unsuspectedly, the whole assasination is being used by the US government to point the finger at the Islamic world [purpoedly Syria] as those behind the assasination. At the end of the day, a "scapegoat" has been caught, "tried" and death sentenced with just minimal evidence of gun residue on the shirt [which could be a contamination] and so initial reports of him being "involved" in al-Qaeda training during his visit to Afghanistan. The actual killer is a disgruntled father of 2 US soldiers that served in Iraq and ONE was killed, whom was angry at the President sending troops to Iraq for a rather senseless cause.

Review:
Its a very interesting movie for me as usually documentary based show are more towards events which already happened but this one is rather fictional one. I was particularly impressed at times on the level of details being potrayed by the show ranging from the CCTV shots, "secret service agents" rendition of events, footage of George W Bush being gun shot ! [i heard that its technologically imprinted on .. see the above pic] ... and I am still figuring how Dick Cheney could give a "BUSH" speech at the funeral because the source footage of the funeral is the funeral service for ex-President Ronald Reagan. [ I could actually see his lips uttered George W Bush !] ... cant imagine what i am talking about ? Watch it to see what I am talking about ... [its in most torrent sites anyways].

The storyline aint bad but yet is very expected. I can predict how the storyline goes from the assination of the president to the Syrian finger pointing to half -cooked trial of the scapegoat but not the actual killer ... [i tot his son, the other surviving US soldier did it].

Verdict:
3.8/5 for being creative and bold to have such attempt taken, enough homework being done on the events of the "aftermath", current global political climate.

Summary:
Death Of A President is a MUST see for those who follows the events of the current global political cimate especially those pertaining to the "main actor" here, how he was loath by both the Middle East Nation and also people in his own backyard. For those who dont have a SINGLE clue who George W Bush is, then dont bother watching this ...