A 42 in klue’s 20 under 40 list

Every year, KLue magazine does a 20 under 40 feature. Zain HD, RA’s frontman who happens to be 24 (although he looks 42), is one of the 20 KLue magazine selected. Others are such as Kokokaina, Hardesh Singh, Tan Hong Ming & Umi Qazrina, Nurul Izzah Anwar & Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor.

yo congrats on the 20 under 40.
- Ro Hashim

We were not planning to talk about this here, but to our surprise, the above what how the Homepage of KLue magazine’s website looked like. Naturally that poor unbefriending look of his, got some folk around town talking and setting up a charity so we can sponsor a facelift.

*It’s not a super special feature on him. It’s just a blog post feed that will eventually roll down as KLue’s blog gets updated.

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Every year, KLue magazine does a 20 under 40 feature. I’ll use their explanation to better illustrate to you what it is,

wei. quite the famous right you.
- Jules Tang

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*Observe how these quotes change from complimentary, to…something else.

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Zain HD, RA’s ‘frontman‘ who happens to be 24 (although he looks 42), is one of the 20 KLue magazine selected. Others are such as Kokokaina, Hardesh Singh, Tan Hong Ming & Umi Qazrina, Nurul Izzah Anwar & Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor.

Thank you all for supporting RA. And to KLue mag, loads. Namely Sarah Chan @ DJ Salah , Shermen Mukhtar & others responsible at this fascinating publishing house.

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nurul izzah, khabir bhatia, ZAIN HD?! maju lah bukit bintang!
- Al Alif

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muka stoner bro.
- Rashdan Harith

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damn man, were you auditioning for a new zombie kampung pisang movie?
- Xul Fariq

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Sabbatical lion pictures

3 pictures from an outing at Arab Street Singapore.

Due to my self employed unpaid fluctuating motivational job arrangement, the last time I was in Singapore was 4th May. For me, that’s a long time. I needed the break I’ve been long longing for.

Little did I know, I became restless. Either due to not having work to do, or not having work close to my fingertips. And as all my previous trips to this land has been, I get many random thoughts and inspirations. Material for me to write. At one point while my thoughts were sailing as I was lying down, my aunt said,

you look far. Far away from here. You are somewhere else.

Inevitably I did what I normally do when in trial separation with my computer. Type it all out in my handphone as SMS and save it as Drafts. I suppose this is why academics go on sabbaticals. I’ll share that with you (perhaps), later.

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For now, make do with a few pictures I snapped today at Arab Street fasting month bazaar.

Above, was actually a snap I wanted to get of the font for a new project I’m working on, but later found the contrast in the picture made it ‘something’. If that is, you see what I see. Below, is a sign board. Below that, is the Sultan Mosque from one of the pedestrian street malls in the area. There were a number of interesting shops and cafes within these colonial architecture that flanked the lively path.

Pictures: rwp wellington, eindhoven, kuala lumpur, melbourne, singapore

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In Civic Square, Wellington. Photo by Alastair Smith

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Read while Waiting Project

“To think that it was just an idea you had some 3 months ago to where it is now. You’ve done so much, am proud of you.”
- Miss Not Ascertainable

RWP first crossed my mind in early May 2008. While I was pushing my bike on the highway after it ran out of petrol. It was one of the best times of my life.

I’ve been a law graduate since December 2007, and could be earning perhaps RM2000 a month for an employer silly enough to pay me that kind of money. But I’m not.

Instead I’m a self-employed unpaid pseudo activist doing what I feel like doing and persuading as many people as I can reach, convincing them why they should listen to this madman.

Whether you commend or criticise the Read while Waiting Project, but henceforth at some point in your life, it has (even) subconsciously moved you to read as oppose to not doing anything productive with that time, I then, have achieved what I set out to do.

*All pictures you see here are also available on Facebook.

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Melbourne

“I just left the place. Although tak ramai, I’m really happy with it. Ada dalam 6, 7 orang, and they are all totally strangers, grouped together to read books. Best douh. Thanks a lot bro. You taught me something there and I felt it.”
- Izhar Moslim

To promote the participation and awareness of RWP, RA has done 3 things (1st video, 2nd video & 23rd August flashmob) and have 1 more remaining. That is, the BookCrossing gathering.

It is where people, strangers and friends, would meet up to either loan or give away books. This gathering will be done in a few months time.

Below are pictures from Melbourne. It was coordinated by Izhar Moslim, who arranged for 400 RWP Pay It Forward Bookmarks to be delivered to Melbourne at the last minute via Afiah Hafiz.

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Eindhoven

“P.S. = it was .. niceeee !!!”
- Chiara Mafucci

RWP has 2 main objectives
1. To see more people reading (any form of literature) whenever they wait
2. To make people more conscious of whenever they are about to go somewhere and know that some waiting will be involved, then bring something to read

Below are pictures from Eindhoven. It was coordinated by Chiara Mafucci. Chiara is from the south of Italy and works in Eindhoven. Zain HD had dinner with her in when he was in Eindhoven for one night (November 2007).

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Singapore

“Hmmm..it’s raining here.”
- Sofiah Jamil

The reason why RA picked the ‘waiting’ element is because of the baby steps approach.

Don’t try to get someone who does not even read to start the habit, buying literature and/or set an over optimistic goal.

Below are pictures from Singapore. It was coordinated by Sofiah Jamil. She is researcher at the NTU Rajaratnam School of International Studies and co-founder of Itchy Traveller.

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Kuala Lumpur

“Zain, great fun meeting you yesterday. Enjoyed the RWP. Let’s think of something fun for World AIDS Day please!”
- Marina Mahathir

The idea was to get a person comfortable with the idea of reading in the first place, and then what that person does subsequently, is up to them.

And the simplest way to do it, is to get them to not allocate a time of the day specially for reading, but to fill it in between things they already are doing.

Below are pictures from Kuala Lumpur (taken by Joshua Ong). It was coordinated by Zain HD of RA. He needs a break.

RWP also got picked up in New Zealand by two influential bloggers. Social commentator Paul Reynolds and former managing director & publisher of Penguin NZ, Graham Beattie. With the help from Paul, RWP was promoted on the Christchurch City Council Library Official Blog and the National Radio of New Zealand.

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RWP is one of RA’s pro bono projects. Support our projects by donning these t-shirts.

Poffidges and longkang

This Sunday’s batch of photos cover, from my perspective, what a student traveller would see. And to some extent, a fusion of what they experience and marvel at.

The photo above, reminds me too much of poffidges. And also teh tarik air longkang.
Below, is a man playing a violin.
Bottom most, I suppose justifies my earlier statement of what a student traveller would see.

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*Photos by Safiah Durrah Hashim. She is an art student based in London & currently works at the KL Performing Arts Centre.

Dutch dykes

This week’s set, features the waters of Amsterdam. It is the place of land below the sea. As a result, the Dutch are masters engineers at building dykes.

The top one is just brilliant. Would have been better if there was more light on the houses.

The bottom one, is just an angle of what a person should see, be and experience for self. One of the things that I do when I ‘tutor’ teenagers public speaking is that, I get them to stand on the table and read/speak. Or face the wall. It’s a totally different angle and feel that one usually underestimate and definitely not expect. Try it for yourself, the next time you’re on a river. Or take public speaking classes at home (have my picture on your computer, works better if you know I’m supervising).

Bottom most is one of the criteria of this weekly pictures post. Which is, not to show only pretty things. And this one does it well. Especially when it’s a picture of a foreign land, because I’m exhausted of listening people who speak poorly of their soil, and highly of others.

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*Photos by Safiah Durrah Hashim.

Jom CariFoto competition

Haikal Herobear* told me about this competition and I thought it would be brilliant to help where possible. Participate if you’re interested. Clap your hands and shake your head if you’re crazy.

*Contributed a significant amount of the photos you see in the RWP video.

Weird amsterdam theatre

This week’s set of photos were taken at The Music Theatre @ Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam.

Had I known about this place when I was there, I would have paid a visit. Assuming the entrance fee cost peanuts as I had spent a ridiculous amount for a t-shirt at the amazing Van Gogh Museum.

Back to the photos.

I like them because of its creativity. And, it’s weird. Weird people are often incomprehensible and have a rather reserved facade. Making them appear, or allowing others think they are cool. Which is what I am trying to be.

Weird. Cool.

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*Photos by Safiah Durrah Hashim.

Some sydney sun

All these pictures have 3 things in common, some sun.

I know we’ve seen the one above many times, but this is the first for me to see the sun reflection on many parts of it as captured.

The one below, those four lights on the left, that’s the communication tower for E.T.

The one far below, is clearly the work of a 7 year old pilot.

*This week’s photos by Alia Baizura.

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