Pudu

“I am dead sexy. You are crap.”
-Fat Bastard
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For the moment:
Trepak-Tchaikovsky
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To one of the places I avoid in KL.
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I have school on weekdays. And because it is my students final year in high school, I avoid taking the weekends off. I don’t get to go away as often as I like. When I can, I seize.
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I had a test this morning, tomorrow (50th Merdeka celebration), and on Monday my class begins at two. I wagged todays class at 2pm so I could catch an early bus down to Singapore and be back in KL by 12.30pm Monday.
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It is a long weekend for Malaysia and school holidays for Singapore. I did not buy a ticket in advance.
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Opposite Pudu, where the ‘quaint’ shop lots are, there are small counters selling bus tickets. I asked around for tickets to JB. I either got a no, soul out, or they just shook their head. Most of the time, they didn’t even bother to look up.
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I was agitated. I could go on Friday with my brother in his car, by waste the free Thursday.
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So I go into the main station. I checked 5 more counters. Sold out.
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At 1.40 pm, as I approached the next one, I saw that it had bus leaving for Singapore at 1.30 and 2.30pm. The lady raised her head to me like a latina saying ‘hello’, (George Lopez fans, you know what I’m talking about), but this one was asking ‘where to?’
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Singapore.

Got got got now.

*Sensing the tourist vibe, I purposely spoke in Malay.

2.30 punya?

No no. Now. Now have. 35 ringgit.

*Indicating that I should make haste.
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As I fiddle with my wallet, she picks up a walkie talkie and says,

Singapore singapore singapore. Ada satu, satu. Satu lagi.

She puts it to her ear, and then before answering she looks at me, and then says into the walkie,

Mat salleh.

She passes me the ticket, with the destination and the number plate of the bus and says,

Platform 2, now.

At Platfrom 2, before I could walk down the steps to the basement of where Platform 2 really is, this stranger looks at me and immediately gestures that I should follow him.
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(Wtf?)
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He walks away and does not look back. I follow him and I say “Singapore?!” he nods without looking back.
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Outside the station, by the main road, while doing the twinkle twinkle little star gesture, he says,

You nampak itu bas sana? Yang lilap liplap.

(*What is ‘liplap liplap??!!)

Itu? That one?

Hah.

Yes.

Ok go.

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I walk pass 4 busses only to discover that we were talking about different busses earlier. He was talking about the bus across the road. With the hazard light, blinking.
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Liplap liplap bitch.

Foreign imposition, representation & womens day

“There has been so massive and calculatedly aggressive an attack on the contemporary societies of the Arab and Muslim for their backwardness, lack of democracy, and abrogation of women’s rights that we simply forget that such notions as modernity, enlightenment, and democracy are by no means simple and agreed-upon concepts that one either does or does not find, like Easter eggs in the living room. The breathtaking insouciance of jejune publicists who speak in the name of foreign policy and who have no live notion (or any knowledge at all) of the language of what real people actually speak has fabricated an arid landscape ready for American power to construct there an ersatz model of free market “democracy,” without even a trace of doubt that such projects don’t exist outside of Swifts Academy of Lagado.”
-Orientalism, Edward Said
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For the moment:
Yo Quiero Bailar-Ivy Queen
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On 25th August, I went to the Putra Stadium for the 2007 Womens Day celebration.
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I wouldn’t have known about it had Riri not asked me to come. She hooked me up with some court side floor seats. We sat right across Ari, Vince and E. Brilliant. Many thanks for that. It was unfortunate that we didn’t take a photo together, dressing in the theme colour, but at least you readers have this (1, 2,) to view. Courtesy of Riri.

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The celebration was massive. Place was full. During one of the two speeches, I was made known of quite a number of interesting facts. Some essential ones I will share it here scantily. With detail later.
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Before we move on to that, if you have come to note that a lot of international instruments, conventions and conferences (with impact or have played a significant role on the whole) have taken place in northern hemisphere or the west.
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Now while there is international representation all over, the fact that most of these things occur on that side of the world, says something. And as a result, evidently, the eastern and southern hemisphere population of the world have been under represented and their interests and concerns not taken fully into account.
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*Keep in mind that there are more human beings on the east and south side of the world. I believe primarily for three reasons;

1. rubber is cheap, but not when it is boxed
2. perception of children and family differ
3. a stronger fucking culture

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Few examples are the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Geneva Conventions, the Hague conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Vienna Convention, to name a few.
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*A number of Muslim nations, Pacific Island nations and the Vatican has not signed CEDAW. Either due to political reasons or not congruent with their society/culture/religion/custom.The U.S. have signed but not implemented it into their domestic laws. The U.S. also did not sign the ICC Rome Statute.
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Peculiar isn’t it?
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How many people from the decolonized nations of the world (let alone people of the world or those from the colonizing nations), know of the Bandung Conference? Where all the former decolonized nations got together and discuss their concerns. Where even Observer Status to the conference to the colonizing nations or any other observing nations, were denied.
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Let alone its impact, we don’t even know about it. The lack of the awareness (on whoever’s part) and the degree of impact is a resemblance of how much the concerns and significance of the issue (of the people ‘here’) is being taken into consideration.
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*In reference to the quote by Said, above…
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That was a mere example of one part of the world that has been under represented.
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Going back to Womens day…
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What I find appalling is that the make up of their (women) direct contribution to the workforce (be it the (supposedly) “professional” or “non-professional”, a familiar demarcation that irks me). On the average, they make up at least 40% of the workforce of all professions put together (in Malaysia).
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Now I am not insisting that there should be more women leaders or politicians with significant ranks, but my concern is that the when they are significantly under represented in this man made system of democracy, logically and inevitably, this significant imbalance does not work well for anyone and everyone on the whole in the long run. Just as how the UDHR is not working very well for us on the South or East.
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It is not the concept of Women’s rights that I am propagating here, it is merely the balance of representation under this self-righteous failing system of democracy. It seems to be the best thing around among its pool of other failing doctrines such as its arch nemesis, communism. What I’m saying is, if we are going to go by it, then optimize it to the best possible way.
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My concern is, while Adam came first and then Eve and then the order of society in the past was more of men(significantly supported/supplemented by women) led as oppose to women, the apparent public presence of women in authority (today) is worrying. Not in the sense of fairness, equality or representation, but in the sense of how long more has this world have left.
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Perhaps you would follow better with this. At the nearing of the end of time, be it even before society goes out of order, one of the signs is that things will be the opposite. In almost every aspect of life.
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I am not challenging the reality nor the theory nor the word of the Messenger Prophet Muhammad, deriving that of from my faith. But while it is inevitable that human beings and humanity will deteriorate post Prophet Muhammhad era, the pace is indeed worrying.
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What a way to end a post on my take and experience from Womens Day.