I have a dream!

The great Martin Luther King, Jr. once said :
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Well, i do have a dream similar to that; Malaysia will rise from all the racial and religious nonsense that's been spilled by the politicians. I've heard and seen too much hatred being seeded by the unscrupulous and irresponsible people playing with racial sentiments and religious believes.

I've refrain from making much entries about politics lately due to me getting really sick and tired of the same old non-sense . I've ask when will the politicians grow up way too many times. I've seen too many fellow Malaysian that has given up hope. I've seen too much people talking the talk and not walking the walk. I've seen too many hypocrites. The lists goes on....... but on Tuesday, majority of my fellow Malaysian has shown they're fed up with the status quo.

We are born on the same piece of land, under the same sky and under the same flag, why act as if we're not? Why act as if there's a natural law of hierarchy in every damn thing about this country? We share the same values, the same surrounding, the same resources, so why not instead of going on about who own what, everyone work together to ensure NO one gets left behind? Poverty knows no skin colour. Help those who need help. Excuses are useless to those who need our helping hand. It is our duty as a human and a fellow citizen of the world to help everyone.

Why cover yourselves in a thin veiled cloth of protection when you've already seen that it is not working? The poor aren't getting any richer while those with big guns behind them continue to rape and pillage the country. But, now it's not the time to willow and be sorrow about the all the crap that's has already been done. After 50 years of independence, it is time for us the Rakyat, Malaysian of all races to stand up, to be counted and to say we want our country back. We want a Malaysia by the people, of the people and most importantly for the people.

I will hold on to my dream of a just, safe and prosper Malaysia for everyone. You'll be sure i'll play my part, how about you?

Rejoice my fellow Malaysian, for this August 31st we celebrate our true independence day and the dawn of a new Malaysia! Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

I need a long break!

Been feeling tired and pretty run down the past 3 weeks or so. Physically tired is easy to recover from, but mine is more of a case of being mentally tired. Doing too much thinking and brain storming is some how sucking the life of me brains.

Stress from work and more so from the huge undertaking of trying to create the MyRAWK homepage with just another fellow MyRAWKite and IT geek is taxing to the mind and to some extend my body. Continuous sleepless nights for the last 2 months is certainly not helping me physical and mental health. I have only myself to blame as i kept on staying awake till the wee hours of the morning: 2 or 3 am to be more exact, every single day.

The only time i can continously sleep uninterupted is on Sunday (thats if the pesky kids next door don't freaking tear the whole house down next door with their incesive crying, fighting and running). I 've been known to sleep for >12 hours straight and can even skip my breakfast and lunch during that oh-so-good-and-dearly-missed dozing time. A fair number of you have listened to my blur-sounding voice when you called me on Sundays before, hehehehe. Guess any phone call before 2 pm will result in some "ummmmm! ahhhhhhh! yaaaaaaah!" replies.

Well, i've learned that sleeping alone ain't gonna be enuff to sure mental tiredness. You'll need total relaxation to achieve that. Hence, i'm thinking of really taking a long long break away from the hussle and bussle of Klang Valley. Would be good to take a week long vacation to some quiet place like maybe an island to relax - nothing but the sand, sea, blue sky and warm breeze. Would be good though to have a chick in tow. Geeez! Its only 10:30 am in the office and i'm already freaking sleepy, half doozing off and day dreaming. Kekekekeke!

Till the dream holiday trip ( Bora-Bora - if i strike lottery) happens, i shall continue to be a freaking walking zombie in the office and a rather angry looking RED at the MyRAWK footie gatherings!

HTML / Java Scripting: Teaching an old dog new tricks.

Surprisingly for a self confessed web savvy IT geek, i have never bothered to learn html coding and java scripting. I've always concentrate on the hardware side of things after my nightmare of working with programming languages from my college days. Thinking back to the countless numbers of sleepless nights trying to code and debug the programming assignments for my comp science course is enough to send shivers down me spine.

Most will argue that web programming is still much simple compared to application programming. Well, as far as i am concerned any form of coding is a death sentence to me. I like opening boxes of new IT toys; hook 'em up, set 'em up and run 'em, not sitting in front of a PC typing thousands of lines of codes.

The opportunity to drab myself in web programming / designing came about when MyRAWK guys decided to expend our web preference by running our own website and domain. Me being the resident head IT geek, was tasked to lead a team consisting of Alvin (a fellow LFC supporting and Momo Sissoko loving IT geek), Danny (our LFC loving and gracious web host) and Jeremy (web designer, programmer and developer). Things started out with a flier as everyone was eager to get the whole thing up, but as time went by and burdened by workload (hey, we got to earn a living), the web development pace was left crawling.

To cut things short, we left it literally to the last week before the roll out date to actually do the domain registration, domain ip setup and the web programming itself. We got access into the preliminary website that was designed earlier on last Thursday and decided we need to make substantial changes - queue major coding work ahead. Numerous long nights and countless phone calls followed before we were satisfied enough to have a "soft" launch of MyRAWK's new home in cyberspace - www.my-rawk.com. The green light to proceed was given only hours before our dateline.

As i speak, the site development is still on-going and the look of the site will improve daily as we add more contents and features. We're gonna launch something that will allow everyone to interact in a much better way soon. The whole site will be fully functional and standardized by the game against a certain mortal enemy.

This brings me back to my coding experience - i have never touch, let alone bothered to learn html coding and java scripting. I was on a one way collision / crash course to learn to do it in literally a couple of hours. Alvin, sorry mate to have to call and bug you to no end and thanks for doing the hard coding work before i came in to add those more simple contents and features. WYSIWYG editors with click and drag features can only do so much, so i still have to get me feet wet and into the deep end to do some debugging by looking at the pages of codes. Thank goodness after wondering for a few hours i finally managed to catch enough coding lines to understand what was going on.

Irregardless, please do not ask me to help program a website. I'd be happy to give you pointers and tip and some basic designing rules. Coding wise, i'd suggest you to get hold of one of those WYSIWYG html editor that will allow you to cut and paste stuff much like Ms Words and allow you to view the actual look of the web page without the need for you to type a single line of code. For bloggers, stick to blogspot or some other blog sites that has user friendly setup interfaces that allow you to customized the basic look and colour along with giving you plenty of flexibility to upload pictures. They work well and simple enough.

Looks like there will be more coding to be done in the days ahead...... and more things to learn. Who says ya can't teach an old dog new trick? Must be someone not from the information age!

-JonC-

One World, One Dream - You & Me, We're Family

Let's just take a breather and think about the Olympic Spirit. Look at the deeper meaning to the Beijing 2008 Games motto - One World, One Dream, its universal value is so simple and easy to understand. Unfortunately, understanding it is so much more simple than doing the necessary to achieve it.

In light of the shenanigans thats been happening to Malaysia - the political uncertainty and the seemingly unnecessary racial tension, i'd say this to everyone. Take a back seat, look at these simple words and listen to the beautiful and simple theme song to the games.



Lyrics - You & Me

我和你，心连心，同住地球村
(Pinyin: Wǒ Hé Nǐ, Xīn Lián Xīn, Tóng Zhù Dìqiúcūn)
(English translation: You and me, heart to heart, we live in the same Earth's village)

为梦想，千里行，相会在北京
(Pinyin: Wèi Mèngxiǎng, Qiān Lǐ Xíng, Xiānghuì Zài Běijīng)
(English translation: For dreams, we travel a thousand miles, to meet in Beijing)

来吧！朋友，伸出你的手
(Pinyin:Lái Ba, Péngyou, Shēn Chū Nǐ De Shǒu)
(English translation: Come! Friend, reach out with your hands)

我和你，心连心，永远一家人
(Pinyin:Wǒ Hé Nǐ, Xīn Lián Xīn, Yǒngyuǎn Yījiārén)
(English translation: You and me, heart to heart, forever we are one family)

You and me, from one world, we are family
Travel dream, a thousand miles, meeting in Beijing
朋友，来吧, put your hand in mine
(Pinyin:Péngyou, Lái Ba)
(English translation: Friends, Come!)
You and me, from one world, we are family

You and me, from one world, we are family
We are family
Travel dream, a thousand miles, meeting in Beijing
朋友, Friend 来, Meeting in Beijing
(Pinyin:Péngyou, Friend Lái, Meeting in Beijing)
(English translation: Friends, come Friends, meeting in Beijing)

我和你，心连心，同住地球村
(Pinyin: Wǒ Hé Nǐ, Xīn Lián Xīn, Tóng Zhù Dìqiúcūn)
(You and me, heart to heart, we live in the same Earth's village)
You and me, from one world, we are family

为梦想，千里行，相会在北京
(Pinyin: Wèi Mèngxiǎng, Qiān Lǐ Xíng, Xiānghuì Zài Běijīng)
(English translation: For dreams, we travel a thousand miles, to meet in Beijing)
Gather...in Beijing

来吧！朋友，牵住你的手
(Pinyin:Lái Ba, Péngyou, Qiān Zhū Nǐ De Shǒu)
(English translation: Come! Friend, reach out with your hands)

You and me, from one world, we are family

*Lyrics taken from wikipedia*

The art of being a prick!

I've been the "victim" in 2 of my previous relationship from a couple of years back and hated the after taste from it. Seriously think it did something to my head and made me that little bit colder in my future relations, as most of the people around me will a test too.

Last weekend, i had a reversal of roles and played the part of the victimizer. Had to spill the beans to someone who i do not see myself being attached too. The whole thing last for a couple weeks but as with all matters of the heart - somebody will get hurt. I had hoped that the short period time we were together, will meant less hurt, hence i took the decision to end it before it lead on to a bigger emotional mess and uneasiness. I've made it clear from day 1, i will not lie about it when the going gets tough and pretend that everything is rosy and happy.

I was to blame for allowing things to get out of hand in the first place, this i admitted willingly. Had this uncanny feeling, i won't be able to give my all and give the other party what is needed and deserved. That lingering thought made me feel very uneasy and i was bothered to no end. After some soul searching, i laid it all out.

I had to take charge of my life and be that little bit more selfish to move forward. I do not want to be the "nice" guy anymore all the time and act as if i'm happy when its clearly not working.
Wished it could have ended in a better way, but nothing ever turns out right when it comes to ending relationships. No words or apologies will ever be enough to sooth the pain to the other party, but i do hope time will help heal that.

I am relieved, i don't have to deal with the emotional anguish of being in a relationship thats heading no where. But, that doesn't make the act of being THE prick any better. I will take this as a lesson on life and use it to help me grow into a better person.

PS: Thank you to a good friend for listening to me whine about it, and offering me words of wisdom on how to move on.

-JonC-

My History, My Future: From Middle Kingdom to Malaya to Malaysia

The coming Olympic games in Beijing, China has got me thinking about the "motherland" and my ancestors. I'm a 2nd generation Malaysian of Chinese origin from the Han ethnicity (China consists of man other ethnic groups). My grandma and grandpa came over to Malaya from prefecture of Longyan in the province of Fujian. Technically that makes me a Hokkien "kia" but then again, those from the mentioned prefecture classify themselves slightly differently as our spoken dialects do not sound like Hokkien at all and it's called "Longyan Huà." Please don't ask me how the heck it sounds like as i do not speak a word of it as i grew up on a diet of Hokkien and Cantonese dialects. Funny enough, even my late dad can't speak a word of it but he could understand it. As far as i can remember, only 2 of my cousins can actually speak it. Sound confusing eh? Well, i'm 31 and myself is still pretty much blur so i won't blame ya. In order to simplify things, i just say i'm a Hokkien.

My surname is Cheah (Xie 謝), same chinese character as those with Chia, Seah, Hsieh, Tse, Tze. The chinese character when used as verb, means to express gratitude and when used as noun means thank you. "Xie xie" sounds familiar right? ;0) Apparently, the surname was a that of a prominent aristocratic family from the Jin Dynasty.

Both my grandparents came to Malaya to find a brighter future as it was tough back in China then. There was civil war amongst the Kuomintang and Communists Red Army while the people was suffering from famine. My grandma's brother who was studying in university was killed by the communists, so naturally she hates them. They arrived in Malaya like most early immigrants, through Penang and chose to settle in Lumut, Perak - which is where i am from.

As i understand from the stories told by my uncles, aunts and me late father, my granddad was a well respected member of the community in my "kampung". He owned one of the biggest rice and coconut trading companies back then. He was a self-taught man, he had no formal education and was from a poor family. Apparently he was sort of a medicine man as well. My grandma was your typical "superwoman" housewife from back then. She single handedly took care of more than 10 people (8 of them children) in the household. She was a firm but fair mother, and my dad was always boasting about how he was the youngest in the family and was always her favourite. An interesting but freaky fact everyone told me about the family was that every child that had an official straits birth cert would fall ill and pass away. Needless to say, none of my uncles, aunts and also me dad had one.

Being the typical community came first type of person, my granddad went all out to help new arrivals from back "home" to settle into Malaya. Well, i personally call it naivety as it ultimately got him into financial trouble after being the guarantor to numerous dubious business deals for others. Subsequently, the family business went down hill and finally closed shop when none of my uncles could handle it after the passing of both my grandparents about 40 years ago.

As mentioned before, me dad was the youngest and according to him the most spoiled (that is if you consider having to work long hours helping the family collect coconuts and dry em for sale and help sort out rice as fun). Among all my uncles and aunts, my second last uncle and me dad had the best education. They finished their high-school education - my dad was sent to chinese and later english school while my uncle went to a reputable boarding school in Penang. Dad was a quite the looker hence u know where i got my good look from ;o) and was an active athlete. He was drafted into the army reserves for a good year or two and was based in Port Dickson during the Emergency period with Indonesia after the independence. I am at a lost when it come to when did both my parents met but i do know they have been happily married for close to 40 years before my dad's untimely death in a car accident 3 years back. (Still miss you dad, and not a day goes by that mum and i do not miss you.) They gave life a Red in the form of me after close to 7 years of marriage.

Like most of my generation, i consider myself more Malaysian than just Chinese. However, it's still important to know your own roots. I believe in the concept of "no future without history" so i personally find it important to know where i come from and what my ancestors have to go through to get me to where i am. This helps keep me grounded and appreciate what my ancestors went through to give me what i got now, even though it isn't much. It's also the reason why i strive to help Malaysia grow into the kind of great country all of us hope her to be. We've got everything to be one of the most outstanding country in SEA region. We have so much to gain as a united nation working together for the better.

Why dwell on racial segregation politics and puny issues? Why not work towards the best Malaysia can be? What does religion got to do with politics? Why the disparity in income distribution? When can our apathy mentality be changed? Why help have to be based on your political views, skin color or social status? Where do we see ourselves and our children as a nation in the next 50 years?

If none of us are in anyway concern about the above questions, then we as a nation of 50 years in existence is on the verge of collapse. Personally, I will not give up on my beautiful country i call home. I will not give in to those irresponsible people who try to divide me and my friends. I will not take the non-sense the propaganda machines have been feeding to the "rakyat." I will work with my fellow Malaysian towards better governance and education system that will ultimately lead to a better Malaysia for everyone irregardless of race, political view and social status. This is my vow.

-JonC-