My Bagful of Purchases at the PC Fair

I just got back from PC Fair held at the KL Convention Centre. I had forgotten all about it until I heard my colleagues talking about it.

The crowd was not so big compared to the weekends. I could breathe properly and move around unlike the last time I was there on a Saturday when all hell broke loose!

Here's what I bought at the PC Fair this evening:

Lappy bag at RM73. Saw three different booths selling exactly the same bag at varying prices.

Camera bag to fit my beloved Canon Ixus 110IS. Costs me RM22.

Reason I bought the lappy bag is because I'll be bringing my lappy back to hometown more often during the weekends due to a few writing assignments that have come up.

And the camera bag is for me to fish my camera out easily when I go to England in September. Bath, Canterbury, London and Stonehenge are so waiting for me!

Yasmin Ahmad - Malaysian Born Talent Extraordinaire

Every festive season I wait in anticipation for the Petronas advertisement on television. I like those advertisements because they tug at the heartstrings.

Some tickle the funny bone like the Deepavali advertisement which told of the feud between the owners of Raju restaurant and Paandi restaurant. Hilarious!

I wondered who was the talented person who conceptualised brilliant ideas for those advertisements without fail each year.

Soon I learnt that those advertisements were the brainchild of a talented lady by the name of Yasmin Ahmad.

Then I watched Sepet, Yasmin's award winning movie of a forbidden love between a Malay girl and a Chinese boy.

I remember the part in the movie where Sepet's friend told him that if he converted to Islam he won't be able to eat pork anymore. I salute Yasmin for adding that into the script because these are things we don't talk about openly because it might offend certain groups of people.

Last Friday I read in the papers that Yasmin suffered a stroke and was rushed to the hospital for an emergency operation. I prayed that she would have a speedy recovery.

On Saturday night when I reached home in time to catch the final minutes of the 12.00 midnight TV3 news, I heard the newscaster concluding the news by wishing condolences to the family of Yasmin. My heart sank.

Last month Michael Jackson passed away. This time a brilliant Malaysian talent is gone forever. It is not everyday that a Malaysian born talent of such calibre comes into our midst.

Yasmin deserves to sit in the same prestigious entertainment league of Malaysians who have enriched our lives and the local entertainment scene with their tremendous talent.

I think each festive season would not be the same again without Yasmin's brilliant advertisements that makes us look at ourselves and the values that we take for granted.

Rest in peace, Yasmin.

Boss in a Crappy Mood

After so many weeks of literally shaking legs at the office, 2 major events will take place next month with both events falling a week apart. As such I'm rushing to complete whatever that needs to be done.

My boss has been in a crappy mood since the one whom she reports to is giving her a hard time with these 2 upcoming events. And she takes it out on her staff.

Just 2 weeks back she called me a bloody fool to my face. And she used the F-word on her staff. I think I've lost all respect for her.

Language Barrier in China

I would love to go to China one day. I’ve heard and read so much about this fascinating country – the good, the bad and the ugly.

But what’s holding me back is the language barrier.

Thanks to my parents who didn’t send me to Chinese school as well as my Peranakan background, my language skills in Mandarin is hopeless.

Cantonese I can handle, but I’m hopeless when it comes to Mandarin. I attended Mandarin classes a couple of years back, but gave up because writing Chinese characters is a mind boggling task especially for someone who has no foundation.

Many ang mohs return from China with fascinating travel stories and experiences. But they don’t look like the locals. So the locals don’t expect them to speak Mandarin.

In my case, I look like the locals and therefore they’ll be conversing with me in Mandarin wherever I go.

I can imagine myself saying, “Wo poo hueh chiang hua yee” (Translation: “I can’t speak Mandarin”) everywhere I go.

Ordering food and asking for directions would be a nightmare.

I asked my mum the other day:

Would it be easier to travel to a country where:
1) You look like the locals but can't speak the language, or
2) You don't look like the locals and can't speak the language.

My mum chose the second situation.

Plagiarism is Plagiarism

As expected, Jason Tan defended himself vehemently claiming he didn't plagiarise, blah blah blah.

And he brought his entire army of 5 person's to stand by him.

For the sake of transparency and to let you know what type of person Jason and his friends are, I've approved all comments (nasty and not so nasty) from him and his friends on my blog.

You can read their comments by clicking here, here and here. Scroll down to the bottom of each page and read what they've written.

Now let's get down to what Jason & Friends have written.


Point Number 1

In Jason's reply to my comment not to plagiarise anyone's work, he wrote this sentence:

"The answers were there as well.AND I DID NOT COPY AY OF THEM. I merely used them as reference to insert my own answers. "

What does "used them as reference to insert my own answers" mean? To me, it could only mean one thing - copying someone else's work.


Point Number 2

Some of Jason's friends said it's pure coincidence that what we wrote were similiar.

Well, like I said in my previous blog:

"What are the chances in the universe that 2 individuals who have never met would have written the exact same sentence: "I wouldn't be a crayon in the first place. I'd be a Mont Blanc." (Q20)?"

Exact same choice of words and exact same example. He could have used Caran d'Ache as an example.

So did Jason plagiarise my work or not? You be the judge.


Point Number 3

Jason also wrote this sentence in his entry:

"For fuck's sake its just a tagged survey that we do for fun! What's up with the fuss??"

Well Jason, let me ask you one thing. How would you like it if someone use your work and claim it as theirs. Wouldn't you be mad as well?

Those who are in the creative field like song writing, photography, writing, etc. would understand what I'm saying.

This might seem trivial to some of you, but plagiarism is stealing someone else's intellectual property, no matter how small it is. In fact, small plagiarisms could lead to bigger ones.


Point Number 4

In Jason's blog entry, he wrote this sentence:

"If it wasn't for the comment you posted me this afternoon, I wouldn't know you blog ever existed!"

Now let's go back to the beginning ...

How the hell would I know that Jason existed to know that he plagiarised my work in the first place? Who would have given me the tip-off?

Let me tell you how I found out that Jason visited my blog - it was through Nuffnang.

I was checking my Nuffnang account and saw that Jason was a Nuffnanger who recently read my blog. I'm always curious and grateful to see who are the people who dropped by my blog. So I clicked on the link and low and behold, there was my some of my work right before my eyes.

That was how I found out about a Jason Tan who was reading my blog. Otherwise I wouldn't even know that he existed!

My biggest guess is that he was looking for material to blog about, snooped around in Nuffnang, read my blog and snitched ideas from there.

Point Number 5

One of Jason's friends, shameonyou (a.k.a. no-balls-to-admit-real-name) wrote this:

"... c'mon, guessed u're already a WORKING LADY, let's say 20-ish yet u're posting a post about some college guy copying ur ans. err...only primary kids do that."

Are you saying that it's ok for a younger person to plagiarise from an older person?

Plagiarism is plagiarism, whether it's committed by a college student, a 10-year-old kid or a 70-year-old person. And it's definitely NOT ok.

Jason & Friends can say what they want, verbal attack all they want, but I'm not going to say anything more because it's pointless arguing with a bunch of college students who condone plagiarism and who wouldn't admit their mistake.

I rest my case.

Someone Has Plagiarised My Blog

I am pissed cause a guy by the name of Jason Tan has plagiarised my blog entry containing Q&A bout myself titled Getting to Know You/Me.

In case you're wondering, these questions were circulating in Facebook not too long ago. People would post their personal answers to the questions and tag their friends to answer too so that they can get to know each other better.

You can click here to read my Q&A. Then click here to read what Jason has 'written'.

If you notice, Jason's answers for Numbers 6, 11, 14, 38, 44, 45 and 46 are similar to mine. I give him benefit of the doubt for that because people could have similar answers.

However, his answers for Numbers 4, 17 and 20 are EXACTLY similar to mine, written word for word.

What are the chances in the universe that 2 individuals who have never met would have written the exact same sentence: "I wouldn't be a crayon in the first place. I'd be a Mont Blanc." (Q20)?

Like they say, "Kalau nak tiru pun ... tirulah pandai-pandai". (Translation: "If you want to copy, copy intelligently")

Obviously Jason is not pandai (clever) at all.

I left a message on Jason's blog not to plagiarise another person's writing again. And he left a defensive reply which is a load of bullshit. And one of his friends, Chin Hong Lin has posted a reply in support of Jason.

Hong Lin says in his 'perfect' English, "The answer is seriously soo simply even my little bro 10 years old might even giving the same answer."

What a bunch of fuckhead college students!

By the way, if you go to Jason's blog, you'll see that he calls himself 'ToiletPaper' in his Plurk journal widget. You can find the widget on the right side of his blog.

Now which sane human being would refer to himself as paper that you use to wipe your arse with? Only someone suffering from dementia would do that, that's what. Maybe that's why he needed to copy my answers in the first place.

So Jason ... if you're reading this, don't be an arsehole and remove or modify that particular entry if you have a conscience.

One of the Guys

I laugh alot.

If I find a situation extremely funny, I'll burst out laughing till my eyes water. Laughter is part of my everyday life.

I've also been told that I have a great sense of humour, which I think is cool and interesting. We all must see the humour in things and be able to laugh at ourselves.

Now, the downpart about all this is that when I laugh and exhibit my sense of humour, guys tend to treat me as one of the guys.

It's not a problem if they are guys whom I treat as friends. But if it's a guy whom I like, then it'd be a problem.

They say you should be yourself when dating, exploring relationships, etc.

But what if my authentic personality of laughter and humour limits my chances of being one of the gals whom guys go after?

I noticed that many of these hot chicks whom guys adore tend to have personalities that resemble a walking corpse.

Let's take a look at Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie.

Aniston has a great smile. She looks like someone with a great sense of humour, someone who would make a good buddy.

Jolie on the other hand does not have a killer smile like Aniston. She seldom smile in her pics. Even if she does, it's just a sultry smile with a slight turn at the corner of her lips. To me, she comes across as someone who is cold and unapproachable.

But look where the 2 ladies are today.

Aniston is divorced and single, hopping from one relationship to the next.

Jolie has bagged herself Brad Pitt, one of the most sexiest man alive. And together with a brood of kids, she is living the life.

In fact, Pitt left Aniston - the warm, buddy girl with the killer smile for Jolie -the cold, unapproachable one.

What does this tell you?

That men think with their dicks? Maybe ... but at the end of the day, it's the gal who does not laugh that gets everything.

What do you think?

Transformers - Less Than Meets The Eye

I managed to get not-so-great seats to watch Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen at GSC Pavilion last Wednesday.

After controlling my bladder throughout the 2.5 hour movie because I didn't want to miss a single scene, these are my comments about the movie.

Complicated Visuals

I can’t see where Optimus Prime’s eyes, nose, mouth and body parts are because the visuals are too complicated and the scenes changed too fast.

Keep things simple, man!

Steps to Transform

How many steps does it take for an Autobot or Decepticon to transform?

From the Transformers: Generation 1 cartoon series (my fav), my guess is an average of 5 steps.

In Michael Bay’s life-action version, I think it's an average of 10 steps. Ten steps to me is one step too many. By the time an Autobot transformed, the Decepticon would have whipped his arse.

Confusing Battle Scenes

During the battle scenes, I couldn't tell an Autobot apart from a Decepticon. This is because the movie was too fast moving.

Now I know why my sister's friend watched the movie 4 times.

Egypt

Did you know that for the Egypt scenes, the movie was shot in Cairo and Luxor (about 325 km apart), but made to look like it all happened at the Pyramids in Cairo?

I know cause I recognised the places, having been to Egypt a couple of years back.

I don't know bout you, but I don't like watching movies where the location is distorted.

It's like when Hollywood conveniently placed the Petronas Twin Towers along the Malacca river in the 1999 movie, Entrapment. How Malaysians crinched at that.

Now all the poor Transformers fans are going to visit the Pyramids in Cairo hoping to see the temples in the Valley of the King which are actually located in Luxor.

Autobots Battle Decepticons in Kuala Lumpur

If there is gonna be a third Transformers movie, I hope Michael Bay would consider using KL as one of the locations.

Imagine Optimus Prime shooting the crap out of Megatron while partially destroying the Petronas Twin Towers. Imagine Autobots engaging in gunfire with Decepticons on Jalan Ampang. Wouldn’t that be nice for a change?

I hope ...

Note: Julie has been a Transformers fan ever since she was a kid growing up in the 80’s. Optimus Prime and Bumblebee kept her entertained every week while mum took care of younger sister.