RANDOM.....black&white love

Now…
Out of sheer randomness, Antu would like to talk about

LAT

Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid, more commonly known as Lat, (born 5 March 1951) is a Malaysian cartoonist --wikipedia.com

I grew up with his 'karya' (works). In my opinion, his works are genuinely awesome. Even though i have read it trillions of times, yet, when i read again, still makes me laugh =D

"Tak lekang dek panas, tak lapuk dek hujan"

its a Malay saying which means ‘it would last through any harsh weather’ – a metaphor used for any karya (great works) of an artist.

His works includes all subjects.
From the yummyness of banana leaf....
...to government officers.....
...to dealings of teenage crisis......
.....or odd situations in a chinese restaurant....
......even transportation.....
...and of course....durians.......
....yummy...yummy...durians.....
And at the end of the day, the massage that he trys to convey is hidden, yet beautifully constructed to be deliveried into the people's hearts.

=D


And for the love i have for Dato' Lat, I would like to make a shout-out:

KEEP ROCKIN THAT HAIR-DO.....IT's AWESOME!!!!

What do you think? Write your views and comments about the column. I would like to hear your opinions. Anything & everyone is welcome.

RANDOM.....following the footsteps of our older generations

Now…
Out of sheer randomness, Antu would like to talk about

Nenek (the mother of my mother)


This is my Nenek (grandmother). She is the last of her generation. By ID, she’s 81 this year. But by reality, she’s supposed to be 83.

Why?

When she was born, her dad, my great grandfather, had difficulty going to the town and registering her. Hence, after 2 years, then only he was able to make her birth cert.

I believe that without my nenek, I wouldn’t be who/what I am today. She contributes certain part of my personality. Following her footsteps, I learn patients, endurance, being grounded, following my roots, and many more.

Nenek was born in Malacca; her early childhood years were spend there. Later, the whole family moved to Klang. When she was 16, she was force to marry a Syed from the east. The best part, she was still playing in the dirt and still have a running nose. In other words, she was still a kid.

The Syed had another wife, the first one. When his wife got to know about the marriage, with the thought of ‘how dare you take my husband away’; she came with a parang to my great grandmother’s house; wishing to seek and slay Nenek.

But when she arrived and asked for Nenek, what she saw was just a little kid, playing around with flowers in front of the house.
Nenek told the story where she remembered the 1st wife asking my great grandmother:

“Ini orangnya?” (is this the person?)
My great grandmother nodded
The 1st wife burst into laughter “budak hingusan ini? madu aku?…ahahahah….” (this little kid?...hahaha…)

Nenek just stood there puzzled and didn’t know what was happening. The 1st wife went back, and a week later a divorce letter were sent to the house.

“Dengan ini, saya ceraikan Khadijah…” (with this, I divorce Khadijah) that’s what the letter wrote.

So after that, she stayed with her mom and her sister. She went through a lot of hardship especially during the Japanese occupancy.

She told me the stories of what the Japanese done; how some of the villagers were tortured and how hard to get food, plus many more.
They survive it all, fortunately.

And only at the age of 31, my grandfather came and asked her hand in marriage, and she replied yes. How did they end up in Banting? Well, Tok Babah (my grandfather) got a job offer by the government, to be one of the manager at the tea plantation there.

I wish I’ve known Tok Babah. I didn’t get the chance to meet him. Tok Babah passed away when my mom was only 8 years old. I’m sure he was a great person. And note to all, he’s a Chinese from China, who came to Malaysia with my ancestors to seek wealth here. He got married to a Malay woman and had 8 kids. She passed away, and later on, married my grandmother.

Nenek had many stories in her life. And she would tell the stories to whoever wants to listen to them.

If you asked her about Merdeka, she will tell the story on how she was very grateful of the day Malaysia claim independence. And how she was happy carrying her one-year-old daughter (my mom) around during that day.

“Syukur la jugak bila kita dah merdeka….dulu memang susah, susah sangat…” (Thank God for the day of Independence…it was hard during those days, very hard)

You can see tears in her eyes, and you know how that reflects the destitution during those time.

Nenek is the last person in her generation, and still, going strong. I’m very proud of her.

I love her very much and hope my children will get the chance to meet her, Insyallah. So they can hear the stories and know how great and strong my nenek was, and be proud to know our ancestors and our roots.
Through her stories, Nenek taught me to be grateful with what we have. And with that, I have learned the skills to be grateful very well. Very very well, I must say.

I have learn that by being grateful, I can appreciate what’s in front of me, and try to make better improvement if needed so.

By being grateful, we tend to minimize complains.

By being grateful, we will appreciate more.

And by being grateful, we will automatically try to improve our self for the better future.

But the sad part is that 90% of learning to be grateful is by losing certain things in the 1st place.

“manusia akan menghargai selepas kehilangannya…” (Humans will only be grateful after losing it)-Wise words from Nenek, and this, I must agree.

My wishes on this 31st of August 2010:

1.For those who complains about Merdeka: to stop and think carefully the main reason you are complaining. And before you start presenting your files of complaint, please study thoroughly about Merdeka, the process and the intentions in the 1st place. You’ll understand once you go deeper.

2.For those who complains about Malaysia: Sadly, 80% who complains are somewhere outside the country. They complain about transportation, wi-fi, technologies and even movies etc. Please bear in mind, for a country that is developing, I repeat, developing, we are pretty good on track. You are currently living in a developed country, now, that’s different. It doesn’t take a genius to different shed the word ‘developing’ and ‘developed’. So please, stop complaining about your own birth place. Malaysia is beautiful country, with many potential and opportunities to grow, and only an ungrateful citizen like you doesn’t realize that.

Just be grateful with what we have. And strive to be better in the future.

I hope you learn it NOW, then learning it after you lose it. Be grateful, aight?

Happy Merdeka all!

What do you think? Write your views and comments about the column. I would like to hear your opinions. Anything & everyone is welcome.

RANDOM.....kaki conteng

Now…
Out of sheer randomness, Antu would like to talk about

Graffiti

"Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property" --wikipedia.com

"Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings"

and mostly people, when mention the word graffiti, will vision writings/letters of graffiti-like

and in antu's case...she liky simple 'conteng' markers and spray cans *love*

and so today, antu's boss is out
in conclusion of refusing to do work, antu decided to do something that she havent done for a very,very,very
longggggggggggggggg (finger on 'g' 3 seconds) time

Before......

After.......

HOHOHOHOHO <--cute sinister laugh followed by national anthem played at the back

-_-"

What do you think? Write your views and comments about the column. I would like to hear your opinions. Anything & everyone is welcome.

RANDOM.....when fire becomes an ocean

Now…
Out of sheer randomness, Antu would like to talk about

Oceans Of Fire

“We butchered ‘chan-mali-chan’, and it becomes belacan”
– Kelvyn Yeang, on the in-take of a Malay traditional song.

Oceans of Fire are a quartet set to put music on fire, from the tempo of Jazz, to the beat of metal music. Their creativity in songs seems limitless. Having fun and putting all tunes mash-up together. This rising band hopes to ascend and put new colors in our air waves.

The band member consist of Kelvyn Yeang, band leader and lead guitar

Chiat on rhythm guitar

Jonathan Chen on bass

and their drummer, Jonathan Scully

They are no stranger to Penang music scene, as they have been actively participating in Penang Jazz Festival and the winner Malaysia Northern Region Yamaha Asian Beat Finals in 2006.

“We cannot sing, so we play instruments. We are an instrumental band.”

When ask to describe about their music, the word ‘eclectic’ would come to mind. No denying it, as each one of them comes from different music locale. Kelvyn is from a rock background, working professionally in projects and teaching guitars. His good friend, Chiat, is also the co-founder of Ocean of Fire (OoF), jamming together since their high school years. Scully, their drummer, is also teaching drum professionally, loving jazz and rock, and anything in between. The bassist Chen is classically trained. He plays the violin, piano and drums.

“We are not trying to compete, we are just offering a different sound of music”--answered Kelvyn when asked on what OoF focused on.

I couldn't agree more. For the plain passion of music, this band had been performing endlessly, sharing their views and offering new types of music each time. Recently, the band had just release their album called ‘Destination’. During their recent performance, Kelvyn gave an in-take of every song and its history. Example the song ‘Run Run Run’ was created after hearing their friend had been chased by a man-eating goose, ‘Papadam from China’ was created when they eat papadams sold RM1 at a mamak stall and the song ‘I Found You’ was produced by Kelvyn, for his wedding proposal on the day of the band’s album launch.

I got to catch them perform live at NBT and asked a few questions:

Describe the music of Ocean of Fire and what does OoF have to offer to music lovers.
We are a little bit of everything. Our music is different as we are experimenting and exploring different tunes every time. Its vast music: OoF is offering listeners and music lovers an alternative music to listen to. As music is an expression of emotions and feelings for us, we deliver it by playing it.

OoF is Penang-based band. In your opinion, what’s the difference in Penang’s music scene and KLs?
Penang Island is small. The music scene there is ‘warm’, as in, people know each other. It’s cozy as everybody would acknowledge and know who’s who and what’s what. Here in KL, as we know, it’s a big city, with lots of talents, variety, and countless of musicians; thus knowing contacts and fellow music friends is quite a challenge.

If OoF can change one thing in our music local scene, what would it be?
Actually, there are many things that we would love to change, but if it’s to choose only one, it would be, as we all know, for the media to play more of our local music scene. It would be great to hear our song to be played in the air waves and to be seen in the media. There are many talents out there, and media should take an extra bit of effort to showcase them. It’s a good platform for bands like us to deliver what we have to offer.

What is Oof in-take and opinions on music itself?
Music is an expression of a person’s view. Either if it’s on life, love or anything. Thus, I believe that Music cannot be a culture by itself. A little bit too much of one kind of music, in our opinion, will effect a lot in one’s life. We believe that variety in music is good and the explorations of sound are limitless, it creates new waves each time.

Where do you see OoF in 5 years to come?
Reaching out to more and more music listeners; having variety of music listeners who listens to our songs. That would be great as we want to reach every corner of the earth, bringing music to their ears and passion in doing so.

Any quotation that OoF would like to point out?
“Music is a powerful tool”, it delivers one’s mind, opinions and views. Abusing it would be a shame, thus, a musician must know their responsibility in delivering positive message across to their listeners. As we said, music can affects one’s life, so delivering a ‘healthy’ music is a musician’s responsibility.

And that night, was a awesome night indeed










From the pictures, need I to say more?

For more details on their music and album, go to
http://www.myspace.com/oceanoffire1
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ocean-of-Fire

Hhmmm...

Fruit for thought:
1-we have many talented local acts
2-we have internet
3-we have our ear

Then whats stopping you (yes you) from exploring and supporting our local music scene?


If its not you, who else?

What do you think? Write your views and comments about the column. I would like to hear your opinions. Anything & everyone is welcome.

RANDOM.....a 'giler-mahal-siot' house

Now…
Out of sheer randomness, Antu would like to talk about

ANTILLA

This is the house of Mr. Mukesh Ambani, india’s richest man, the fifth, in the world.

This is the most expensive house ever built.

This is the biggest house ever built.

To make things short, antu will list down certain features of this ‘house’:

1. The shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects. (a large energizer bateri lo)

2. no two floors are alike in either plans or materials used (repetition is not welcome)

3. six stories of parking lots. (Muat utk kapal selam sekali)

4. lobby with nine elevators (kalah airport nye lobby)

5. large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers (final destination anybody?)

6. There is a "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax (keja jadi pak guard pun tak pe)

7. A yoga and dance studio (gojet lambak tu babe)

8. It has an ice room, where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries. (if its in Malaysia, it’s called ‘mines wonderland’)

9. An open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns (jadi tukang kebun pun, ok gak)

10. It has a two-storey health club (kalau tak sihat lagi, aku tak tahu nak habaq ape)

11. A theater that will fit in about 44 people. “The theater is more like those seen in George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch’ -Forbes.com(watdafak….)

12. It has a lap pool.(A pool that you can do laps & laps in -_-")

These are the least features that the Antilla has.
Danggg...



Antilla was named after a mythical island.

Antillia (or Antilia) is a legendary island which was reputed during the age of exploration to lie in the Atlantic Ocean far to the west of Portugal and Spain. – wikipedia.

Now...

Antu’s version of ‘Antilla’ is

any kinda house, full of laughter, a big happy family, together with a house pet
(i would like a platypus for my family's pet)
Family guy anybody?

Home sweet home…

What do you think? Write your views and comments about the column. I would like to hear your opinions. Anything & everyone is welcome.