Food for thought

"The vice of capitalism is that there is an unequal share of blessings; the virtue of socialism is that there is an equal share of misery."

In my opinion, this basically sums up the left-right debate, with the leftlist arguing for more equality and in the process, less efficiency; the rightlist, more effciency and less equality...

I vote for the right ;)

-gAvIn-

阿拉伯传说中有两个朋友在沙漠中旅行，在旅途中的某点他们吵架了，一个还给了另外一个一记耳光。被打的觉得受辱，一言不语，在沙子上写下："今天我的好朋友打了我一巴掌。"他们继续往前走。直到到了沃野，他们就决定停下。被打巴掌的那位差点淹死，幸好被朋友救起来了。被救起後，他拿了一把小剑在石头上刻了："今天我的好朋友救了我一命。"
一旁好奇的朋友问说：为什麽我打了你以後，你要写在沙子上，而现在要刻在石头上呢？
另个笑笑的回答说：当被一个朋友伤害时 ， 要写在易忘的地方 ， 风会负责抹去它；相反的如果被帮助 ， 我们要把它刻在心里的深处 ， 那里任何风都不能抹灭它。
朋友的相处伤害往往是无心的，帮助却是真心的，忘记那些无心的伤害；铭记那些对你真心帮助，你会发现这世上你有很多真心的朋友...

Found this from a chrismas message people send to friends...how true it is!

An early Merry Chrismas to everyone!

-gAvIn-

寂寞，字典里形容成冷清孤单，也是我近几天来的感受。
当平时跟你很好的两位朋友开始谈恋爱时，你就像旧袜子
一样被丢到一旁去。。。实在是很无聊！
唉，只好借酒消愁了 J

汉仁

Some pictures of Bordeaux (okla, not that beautiful....need to borrow Zarf's SLR)

城市：未命名的辭海 作者: 王沛芬

當列車交會，我俯身看你
語言飛翔在窗口的瞬間
化作一雙灑落微光的翅翼
掠過黃昏的書頁，輕輕圈點

你的呼吸是永恆的潮汐
溫柔地撫愛我赤足的信任
單行道流動如無聲之河
光與影清澈了擁擠的分貝

星光漂流，穿越細密建築
月色是一張探險的風帆
你悄悄尋覓未眠的燈塔
為我索引湛藍的遠方

旅人的鄉愁回到了航向
失落的記憶重新拼圖
而你成為我生命的部首
刻印著夢想的出處

我翻閱線裝的風景
沒有難以檢索的想像
湧動的語言拍岸而來
你是未命名的辭海

第八屆台北文學獎現代詩佳作

I wish I could write poems as beautiful as this...can someone explain the title for me...wo can lai kan qi kan bu dong...

-gAvIn-

Found this on the net... translations on the way...

Un amour sans frontière

Un jour, il y a une jeune fille qui fait le voyage sur Mars avec son chien par la fusée. Dans ce jour – là, Pierre – un Martien est en train de rester dans sa tente. A première vue, il est très étonné par les gestes ondulants de cette fille. Un coup de foudre qui vient à lui. Il coupe une lettre " Invitation de mon amour " et la colle sur la toile de tente. Il prend la flûte et souffle une chanson traditionnelle de Mars. Il l’attend, l’attend…. La jeune fille écoute attentivement cette chanson et elle se souvient tous les bons souvenirs quand elle vivait dans sa grande famille. Elle s’approche de la tente, elle doit grimper difficilement sur des rochers blancs avec son chien. A ce moment là, Pierre est derrière le rideau, il entend des pas très légers. Il sort de sa tente. Cette fille est surprise devant sa beauté et son géant. Quatre yeux se voient. Ces deux personnes trouvent leur moitié.Après un an, ils décident de se marier typiquement sur la Terre. Ils y retournent par l’ascenseurs très moderne. Tous les oiseaux chantent, tout le monde des deux planètes souhaitent à ce couple bonheur, bonne santé et longévité. C’est le premier mariage de deux personnes qui viennent de deux planètes différentes. C’est un amour sans frontière.

Do Huong Tra

-aDRiANo-

Time flies

The first semester is going to end soon, or has it already? No idea. The point is that time flies, it has been more then 3 months since we quitted Colmar, yet, the time there seems so distant. In 3 months, we have moved to different places, met new friends, had new classes, speak better French, I would never dream of returning to life in Colmar, even if I miss some good friends and teachers there. Life just continues, swiping you along whether you like it or not.

-gAvIn-

Birthday
Although there were many people who came to my birthday party on the 25, the thing that actually matters the most were the few close friends that were there with me…the others…they are the others, they are there to enjoy only. I treasure my good friends as they have helped me immensely, you know, friends that are willing to stay back with you after the soirée to help you clean up ;)
For my part, I always hope that I can be a trusted friend.

PS: I received a birthday card from my family and I can say that I was very touched…it is very different when you write to someone with your handwriting than some plain emails.

fuck feelings!!!

they're there to eat the hell out of u... lately i've been feeling like crap... the worst part of it is having no one to fuckin talk to...

sorry for the language... i noe gavin's dad reads this... so excuse me...

but have u ever felt so lonely and at one side uve got to think rationally coz u have responsabilities and on the other u just want to break down and cry or just scream... that's the fucking feeling i have now...

sometimes u doubt urself... sometimes u doubt others... things seem normal and real... and at times, they seem like a lie... feel betrayed, lied to... not knowing what is real, and what is not... i don noe wut im doing here... gtg... got a fucking group work to get done...

u c, before u can get some time to shout out and cry... ur already burdened with other responsibilities... and those hurt feelings get pent up so deep that finally u end up in a mental ward... if not u really start doubting ur fuckin sanity...

-fucked up-

Idiot

I washed my handphone in hot running water with a handsome dose of soap yesterday...idiot!
It happened after playing football in Mériadeck which as you guys should now by now, is full of dog shit. I had inevitably got some in my hand and as I handled my handphone before going home, I wanted to sterilize it alongside with my watch and specs. For some unknown reason, I though handphone nowadays are water proof, so whosh, I did what I did and now my phone is dead. I am such a genius.


-gAvIn-

The following article was writen by an Australian that was published in theAge...It's always interesting to see what foreigners have to say about Malaysia.

While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry

Michael Backman
November 15, 2006

MALAYSIA'S been at it again, arguing about what proportion of the economy each of its two main races — the Malays and the Chinese — owns. It's an argument that's been running for 40 years. That wealth and race are not synonymous is important for national cohesion, but really it's time Malaysia grew up.

It's a tough world out there and there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.

Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.

"Malaysia boleh!" is Malaysia's national catch cry. It translates to "Malaysia can!" and Malaysia certainly can. Few countries are as good at wasting money. It is richly endowed with natural resources and the national obsession seems to be to extract these, sell them off and then collectively spray the proceeds up against the wall.

This all happens in the context of Malaysia's grossly inflated sense of its place in the world.

Most Malaysians are convinced that the eyes of the world are on their country and that their leaders are world figures. This is thanks to Malaysia's tame media and the bravado of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The truth is, few people on the streets of London or New York could point to Malaysia on a map much less name its prime minister or capital city.

As if to make this point, a recent episode of The Simpsons features a newsreader trying to announce that a tidal wave had hit some place called Kuala Lumpur. He couldn't pronounce the city's name and so made up one, as if no-one cared anyway. But the joke was on the script writers — Kuala Lumpur is inland.

Petronas, the national oil company is well run, particularly when compared to the disaster that passes for a national oil company in neighbouring Indonesia. But in some respects, this is Malaysia's problem. The very success of Petronas means that it is used to underwrite all manner of excess.

The KLCC development in central Kuala Lumpur is an example. It includes the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world when they were built, which was their point.

It certainly wasn't that there was an office shortage in Kuala Lumpur — there wasn't.

Malaysians are very proud of these towers. Goodness knows why. They had little to do with them. The money for them came out of the ground and the engineering was contracted out to South Korean companies.

They don't even run the shopping centre that's beneath them. That's handled by Australia's Westfield.

Next year, a Malaysian astronaut will go into space aboard a Russian rocket — the first Malay in space. And the cost? $RM95 million ($A34.3 million), to be footed by Malaysian taxpayers. The Science and Technology Minister has said that a moon landing in 2020 is the next target, aboard a US flight. There's no indication of what the Americans will charge for this, assuming there's even a chance that they will consider it. But what is Malaysia getting by using the space programs of others as a taxi service? There are no obvious technical benefits, but no doubt Malaysians will be told once again, that they are "boleh". The trouble is, they're not. It's not their space program.

Back in July, the Government announced that it would spend $RM490 million on a sports complex near the London Olympics site so that Malaysian athletes can train there and "get used to cold weather".

But the summer Olympics are held in the summer.

So what is the complex's real purpose? The dozens of goodwill missions by ministers and bureaucrats to London to check on the centre's construction and then on the athletes while they train might provide a clue.

Bank bale outs, a formula one racing track, an entire new capital city — Petronas has paid for them all. It's been an orgy of nonsense that Malaysia can ill afford.

Why? Because Malaysia's oil will run out in about 19 years. As it is, Malaysia will become a net oil importer in 2011 — that's just five years

away.

So it's in this context that the latest debate about race and wealth is so sad.

It is time to move on, time to prepare the economy for life after oil. But, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, the Malaysian Government is more interested in stunts like sending a Malaysian into space when Malaysia's inadequate schools could have done with the cash, and arguing about wealth distribution using transparently ridiculous statistics.

That's not Malaysia "boleh", that's Malaysia "bodoh" (stupid).

-gAvIn-

now that i've got time on my hands...

pretty ironic, how the phrase works for me here; now that i've got time on my hands... u c, i just got operated on on thursday, it waz a correctional operation on my right hand for an injury i got three bloody months ago!!! so now that i've got time on my hands to write this piece of crap of a blog entry, i kinda have no hand!!!

yeah, not as funny as i tot it wud be... newaaaaay...

i wuz hospitalised on wednesday right (there was a tv in the room and One Tree Hill was on, so i was alright... just for the record, Sophia Bush is a babe!!!), and the operation was thursday... thursday morning at approximately 6 sumthin, the nurses wakes me up for a bath. gotta use this medical soap thingy u c before the operation. then they let me go bek to sleep. the next thing i noe, i get woken up by this male nurse and he starts wheelin me off... got the whole ER scene in my head. the lights from the lamps on the ceiling and all that jazz. only thing is in ER there aren't holes in the ceiling and there are a whole load of hot 'female' nurses around... damn shows that give false hope!!!

i am taken to a room where they try to cheer me up telling jokes and makin a fool of themselves (the nurses)... only thing is, the jokes were in french, and i dun reli think the french are funny... except Gad El Maleh that is... well, they r funny, i just dun get their jokes sumtimes...

then the jokes stop, and they get serious. an anaesthesists (i dun noe how the hell u spell that and frankly i don give a damn now, as my hand hurts and i forgot to take my pain killers with me... and i gotta get home!!! dun noe y i am xplainin this coze it just takes up more time!!!) arrives. they spread me out. both hands spread wide open and on the left one, they poked in a bloody huge needle (i am not too fond of needles) and attached a tube into my arm!!! the right hand they numb it and voila!!! redi for operation...

the operation lasted about an hour and then they wheeled me bek to my room. i dun reli noe what happened as i kinda dozed off durin surgery, which is not supposed to happen, coz they didn't actually drug me... i was just bored, and seeing as to how powerful the anaesthesicsesxsss was that they injected into my arm, i cudn feel jack... i slept!!!

after that i was totally out!!! my right arm was totally "senseless" and my left one was also un-movable thanks to the tube in it and i felt the weakest i have ever felt in my entire life!!!

flashback to when Lucas Scott was hospitalised in Tree Hill... only difference was, his was a near death experience and he had frens hu actually visited him... me on the other hand... ehem...

so thatz it, i got half the experience of all that shit for half the pain... there were no frenz at my bedside going; "yo man, u gotta get better man, we miss u here back down at the river court", and no gurl squeezing my LEFT hand going "i wish u cud hear me... i... i... i love u..."

but then again, i wasn't reli in a coma now was i??? so thatz that. one thing ive learnt from all this; NEVA CLIMB A FENCE!!! and if u do, at least wear reli thick leather gloves...

merdeitis is back in business baby...

signing out,

aDRiANo

Yo

This blog was not updated for more than 1 month because both of the authors were without home (12 days) and still without internet connection. I am writing this from a McDonald (Wifi, thanks to Starbucks for this wonderful idea) in Rue St.Catherine, Bordeaux. Got to go for now.


gavin

Three decades ago, in 1973, 78 percent of the students attending the nation’s public schools were white and 22 percent were minorities, a category including blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and “other,” according to Education Department statistics. In 2004, the last year for which numbers were available, 57 percent of all public school students were white, while 43 percent were minorities.

From an article in the NY Times, Here.
Such is the strengh of the USA, diversity.

-gAvIn-

An interesting perspective on the Mahathir-Abdullah spat.


Monday, August 21, 2006
Malaysia and its discontents
VIEWPOINT

William Pesek Jr.
Bloomberg News

Journalists in Asia have missed Mahathir Mohamad. The region has been pretty colorless - leader-wise, that is - since Malaysia's firebrand prime minister stepped down in 2003. His successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is the anti-Mahathir: press-shy, affable, soft-spoken and diplomatic. Asia in general features a paucity of larger-than-life, charismatic leaders who speak their minds and, at times, dare to take on the global elites. Blandness often pervades the halls of power from Seoul to Singapore and from Beijing to New Delhi.

So you'll excuse us journalists for rejoicing at Mahathir's return to the spotlight. Yet many Malaysians are less than thrilled. Ditto for investors monitoring Asia's No.10 economy.

Mahathir, 80, has returned with a passion to criticize his handpicked successor, and it's tantalizing this nation of 27 million people. Mahathir's gripe: Abdullah is reversing some of his decisions, including a massive project to build a bridge to neighboring Singapore.

"I gave him time," Mahathir said this month. "I didn't say anything for two years. I was quiet. I observed his promises. I had high expectations. I expected his view to be different from me, but I don't see the government doing what it promises to do."

The former prime minister's impolitic comments may prompt investors to avoid one of Asia's more underappreciated economies. In recent years, most of the surprises in Asian markets came not from reports on growth or inflation, but politics. Asia has seen all too many market-shaking spats, scandals, disputed elections and impeachment efforts.

And so Mahathir's rebukes of the prime minister are unsettling Malaysia's markets, too. "It seems now to be having some effect on a domestic economy which is already slowing," Gerald Ambrose, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management's Malaysian business, said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

Record oil prices are weighing on Malaysia's $131 billion economy, slamming consumer and business confidence. Add to that a slowing U.S. economy and concern about the nation's ability to compete with Asia's upstarts. Malaysia could be too affluent to outperform China; too underdeveloped to join the ranks of Japan or South Korea. It also has a public relations weakness.

That became clear in interviews with investors in the United States and Europe over the last couple of months. There was, of course, huge interest in China and India. Yet in cities like London, New York and Stockholm, I found great interest in economies such as Thailand and Taiwan. In Chicago, Paris and Lisbon, folks wanted to talk about Korea, Singapore and Vietnam. In Brussels, San Francisco and Washington, it was Indonesia and Japan.

Oddly, Malaysia didn't come up unless I mentioned it first. Given its rich resources, technology industries and unique status as a moderate, predominantly Muslim nation, you'd think Malaysia would be a bigger blip on investors' radar screens. It's not, and politics bear some of the blame.

In his 22 years in power, Mahathir morphed a tropical backwater into an Asian tiger. While it doesn't excuse him for bizarrely blaming Jews for Malaysia's troubles in the late 1990s, Mahathir had his economic successes. Yet Malaysia has been too slow to boost entrepreneurship and move beyond manufacturing and resource-based industries.

Whether it's wounded pride, an attempt to look out for associates hoping to profit from his megaprojects, or anger at the release from prison of his former rival, Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir is back with a vengeance.

Mahathir has a point on at least one thing: Abdullah can be painfully indecisive. Many Malaysians are disappointed by how timidly Abdullah has attacked corruption and policies giving preferential treatment to the ethnic Malay majority. Abdullah should also go further to convince Malaysians that his family hasn't benefited from government contracts, as Mahathir has alleged.

Many of Mahathir's other protests are weak, at best, relating to megaprojects that seem more about pride than necessity. If the former prime minister is upset that Abdullah is unilaterally scrapping his initiatives, he has himself to blame. It was Mahathir who masterminded the centralization of power that Abdullah wields. In Malaysia, for example, one man acts as both prime minister and finance minister. It's an awkward arrangement that should be reconsidered.

Even if Mahathir's concerns are legitimate - and one certainly meets businesspeople who share them - he needs to learn to bite his tongue for the good of Malaysia's economy.

"It might be difficult to swallow at first, but for the sake of keeping his dignity intact and sparing us unnecessary embarrassment, he should disabuse himself quickly of any notion he might continue to harbor about his indispensability to the Malaysian body politic," Tunku Abdul Aziz, a former head of Transparency International Malaysia, wrote in the New Straits Times on Wednesday. Mahathir must learn to "eat humble pie once out of office," he said.

Mahathir is anything but a spent power. He still has charisma to spare, and retains a clear vision of where Malaysia should be in 2010, 2020 and beyond.

Yet along with tarnishing his legacy, his tirades could unnerve investors and dent the government's credibility abroad.

Fair or not, Malaysia still has a lot of work to do on its public relations. The economy deserves more attention from international investors than it receives. It won't get much - at least not the kind it wants - with its present and former leaders trading barbs.


-gAvIn-

-gAvIn-

月亮代表我的心 -经典


Found this in youtube (i was bored...), beautiful voice and girl, what can you ask for more? It's just the voice and some simple guitar chords, nothing fancy, but it's sublime!




-gAvIn-

Some TV is worth watching

Some TV is worth watching

From Google Video, we can now watch the classic (which means the eighties) Milton Friedman television series Free to Choose. Watch them if you want to understand more about economics.

Volume 1: Power of the Market
Volume 2: The Tyranny of Control
Volume 3: Anatomy of a Crisis
Volume 4: From Cradle to Grave
Volume 5: Created Equal
Volume 6: What’s Wrong With Our Schools?
Volume 7: Who Protects the Consumer?
Volume 8: Who Protects the Worker?
Volume 9: How to Cure Inflation
Volume 10: How to Stay Free


-gAvIn-

http://www.google.com.my/

As a Malaysian user, I am really surprised that http://www.google.com.my/ is only offered in English and Bahasa Melayu. If we would take a look at the demographics taken from the CIA World Factbook, the population is composed of : Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, Indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.) Although it is right that the majority of us do speak English and Bahasa Melayu, the usage of Chinese (simplified) and Indian (tamil) are widespread, and thus, should be offered.

If you were to use the argument that there are not enough potential users or that it does not make economic sense, we just have to simply take a look at http://www.google.ch/, which offers English, Français, Italiano and Rumantsch, although the population speaking Italian and Rumantsch are only 6.5% and 0.5% respectively. I do hope that they add the language options soon.

-gAvIn-

Food for thought - schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a common english word borrowed from German, it means enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others. While at the superficial sense it seems terribly immoral, most of us, if honest enough, would remember occasions in which we practiced schadenfreude. According to classical evolution theory, we should feel happy if our rival took a fall; however, a newer generation of evolution scientist actually found some compelling reasons for teamwork, rather than the old fashioned adage of "every man for himself".

I for one, would commit myself to be as un-schadenfreude as possible.


-gAvIn-

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Many Malaysians are well aware of the 1992-1995 war that engulfed Bosnia. It was a three way conflit between the orthodox Serbs, the muslim Bosniaks and the catholic Croats. It was by far the bloodiest and most widely covered of the Yugoslav wars. I remember the massive donation drive in our newspapers and TV and the military and humanitarian aid our country offered to them later.

A fews days ago in a volunteer work in Sondernach, near Metzeral, I had the opportunity to actually meet a bosnian political refugee. When he knew that I come from Malaysia, he warmed up immediately and we had some good chat together. According to him, the serbs, croats and bosniaks are actually of the same origin, the same root; the only difference between them is their religion. This was enough to actually cause the bloody war and the ensuing sufferings. After 3 years of war, 100 000 are killed and 2 million displaced, which is a very significant proportion of the population considering that their habitant is only around 5 million.

In his family alone, his brother, whom he says to be the smartest fled to the US in 1993, just 1 week before the war. His second brother fled to Sweden after the war ended while he came to France in 2004. He bemoans the fact that his country is in a deep mess now: with 3 seperate government and ruling councils in his country, massive corruption, more than occasional violence and massive sell out of Bosnian assets to foreigners.

I asked him if he plans to settle down in France since things are alot better here, he shaked his head and told me that he does not like France. He says that people are more friendlier in Bosnia, with neighbours having lively debates around BBQ and children playing animatedly around whereas here, the buildings are beautiful, households are affluent but where are the children and what happended to the camaraderie among neighbours? He told me that although his son, who speaks fluent french may want to stay back, he will always return to Bosnia. What a true patriot!

Talking about Malaysia, he told me that our country greatly aided Bosnia and he is very indebted to us. He mentioned also about a big mosque that the malaysian government donated for them in Sarajevo. He also asked about "sarong", "nasi lemak", our former pm mahathir and also talked about how blessed malaysians are. Frankly, I am humbled that whatever contributions that Malaysian gave did not go unnoticed by the Bosnians amidst the great sufferings they have gone through and I am very proud to be a Malaysian. Throughout the day, sadness and regret were clearly written on his face, I wish him the best and that one day he could go back to Bosnia in peace. Shalom.


-gAvIn-

Top 10 Most Strange Monuments



-taken from http://archibase.net
-gAvIn-

Grand Corps Malade
Les voyages en train

J'crois que les histoires d'amour c'est comme les voyages en train,
Et quand je vois tous ces voyageurs parfois j'aimerais en être un,
Pourquoi tu crois que tant de gens attendent sur le quai de la gare,
Pourquoi tu crois qu'on flippe autant d'arriver en retard.

Les trains démarrent souvent au moment où l'on s'y attend le moins,
Et l'histoire d'amour t'emporte sous l'oeil impuissant des témoins,
Les témoins c'est tes potes qui te disent au revoir sur le quai,
Ils regardent le train s'éloigner avec un sourire inquiet,
Toi aussi tu leur fais signe et tu imagines leurs commentaires,
Certains pensent que tu te plantes et que t'as pas les pieds sur terre,
Chacun y va de son pronostic sur la durée du voyage,
Pour la plupart le train va derailler dès le premier orage.

Le grand amour change forcément ton comportement,
Dès le premier jour faut bien choisir ton compartiment,
Siège couloir ou contre la vitre il faut trouver la bonne place,
Tu choisis quoi une love story de première ou d'seconde classe.

Dans les premiers kilomètres tu n'as d'yeux que pour son visage,
Tu calcules pas derrière la fenêtre le défilé des paysages,
Tu te sens vivant tu te sens léger tu ne vois pas passer l'heure,
T'es tellement bien que t'as presque envie d'embrasser le controleur.

Mais la magie ne dure qu'un temps et ton histoire bât de l'aile,
Toi tu te dis que tu n'y est pour rien et que c'est sa faute à elle,
Le ronronement du train te saoule et chaque virage t'écoeure,
Faut que tu te lèves que tu marches tu vas te dégourdir le coeur.

Et le train ralentit et c'est déjà la fin de ton histoire,
En plus t'es comme un con tes potes sont restés à l'autre gare,
Tu dis au revoir à celle que tu appelleras désormais ton ex,
Dans son agenda sur ton nom elle va passer un coup de tipex.

C'est vrai que les histoires d'amour c'est comme les voyages en train,
Et quand je vois tous ces voyageurs parfois j'aimerais en être un,
Pourquoi tu crois que tant de gens attendent sur le quai de la gare,
Pourquoi tu crois qu'on flippe autant d'arriver en retard.

Pour beaucoup la vie se résume à essayer de monter dans le train,
A connaitre ce qu'est l'amour et se découvrir plein d'entrain,
Pour beaucoup l'objectif est d'arriver à la bonne heure,
Pour réussir son voyage et avoir accès au bonheur.

Il est facile de prendre un train encore faut il prendre le bon,
Moi je suis monté dans deux trois rames mais c'était pas le bon vagon,
Car les trains sont crapricieux et certains sont innaccessibles,
Et je ne crois pas tout le temps qu'avec la SNCF c'est possible.

Il y a ceux pour qui les trains sont toujours en grèves,
Et leurs histoires d'amour n'existent que dans leurs rêves,
Et y'a ceux qui foncent dans le premier train sans faire attention,
Mais forcément ils descendront dessus à la prochaine station,
Y'a celles qui flippent de s'engager parce qu'elles sont trop émotives,
Pour elles c'est trop risqué de s'accrocher à la locomotive,
Et y'a les aventuriers qu'enchainent voyages sur voyages,
Dès qu'une histoire est terminée ils attaquent une autre page.

Moi après mon seul vrai voyage j'ai souffert pendant des mois,
On s'est quitté d'un commun accord mais elle était plus d'accord que moi,
Depuis je traine sur les quais je regarde les trains au départ,
Y'a des portes qui s'ouvrent mais dans une gare je me sent à part.

Il parait que les voyages en train finissent mal en général,
Si pour toi c'est le cas accroche toi et garde le moral,
Car une chose est certaine y'aura toujours un terminus,
Maintenant tu es prévenu la prochaine fois tu prendras le bus.


Grand Corps Malade is a slameur. What does a slameur, or rather slam means? A slam is a text sung a cappella, which means without melodie. A slam can have music accompanying it, but the song itself is read aloud. A slam lasts generally no more than 3 minutes and it is before all a mouth that gives and ears that receives. Thats not really my point anyway, my point is that this is a really nice song with beautiful lyrics and meanings. It talks about how our quest to find love is like taking a train, with friends waving goodbye at the station, finding your right compartement and destination, how love fades after a certain time etc etc...if you speak french, you should not miss this one.

-gAvIn-

A picture a thousand words

You probably won't understand this picture unless you are a Malaysian/Singaporean. :D

these chinese words meant "bring puki home".

PS: This picture was taken in a Metro station in Taiwan.

-gAvIn-

Shame in UPM


http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=14837

Mob heckles seven undergrads in UPM
Pauline Puah and Charles Ramendran

PETALING JAYA: Gangsterism reared its ugly head in Univerisiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) when about 50 "pro-establishment" students took the law into their own hands and manhandled seven students who are members of an organisation perceived to be "anti-establishment" last Monday (July 17, 2006).

A video clip obtained by theSun showed the large group surrounding and pushing about six members of the UPM Student Progressive Front (SPF) in the campus canteen.

Giving an account of the incident to theSun today, third-year Chinese Studies student Lim Sok Swan said she and six other friends were manning a help counter for new students when the incident started.

Lim said a group of about 50 students led by a student council leader suddenly surrounded and scolded them for setting up the help counter when the SPF is not a registered body.

"They demanded we leave within 10 minutes, saying we are not allowed to be there to disturb students.

"We replied that we were just helping students' welfare and denied disturbing anyone as it was in a canteen that is open to everyone," she said.

"We had done nothing wrong ,so we declined to leave. They then pushed us away and removed our tables, chairs and flyers," she added.

She alleged that campus security officers who were present did not offer any help and merely watched.

"I was very scared," Lim said, adding she called the police as she felt the tension was escalating.

"They only stopped harrassing us when police officers arrived," she added.

Another student said she was pushed and fell on the floor when trying to take some photographs of what was happening.

The student who said her camera broke when it fell lodged a police report at the Seri Serdang police station.

"A similar incident took place on July 11(2006) where a group of 'pro-establishment' students tore up our materials at the help desk," she added.

Meanwhile, Suaram coordinator Chang Lih Kang urged the Higher Education Ministry, the police and UPM's authorities to investigate and take action against the culprits.

"It's a crime to intimidate someone," he said, adding that at least 15 police reports have been lodged over the incident.

Meanwhile, Subang Jaya police chief ACP Mohd Fuad Talib said police have received five reports from the students.

He said investigations revealed that the incident arose as a result of a misunderstanding over an event organised by the students.

He said apart from some pushing and jostling among the students at the time of incident, no one was reported to have been assaulted.

Mohd Fuad said police have spoken to UPM officials and have left the matter to be resolved internally.

"But our officers will continue monitoring the situation to avoid any untoward incident in future," he said.

UPM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah and deputy vice-chancellor (student affairs and alumni) Assoc Prof Dr Azali Mohamed could not be reached for comment today (July 20, 2006).

for the video, click here.
for more context, visit malaysia today.

Things like this should not be allowed to go unpunished...those involved should get a severe warning at the very least, even an expulsion should not be ruled out. Shame on those officers that stood silently and did nothing. I salute the 7 students who stood up against those monkeys, they are courageous.

-gAvIn-

Yap- the place where you can buy things with stone

Yap is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, the westernmost state of the Federated States of Micronesia. The "island" of Yap actually consists of four continental islands (hence the alternative name of the Yap Islands).

Yap is notable for its stone money, known as Fé (see photograph at left): large donut-shaped, carved disks of (usually) calcite, up to 4 m (12 ft) in diameter (most are much smaller). The islanders know who owns which piece, but do not necessarily move them when ownership changes; their size and weight (the largest ones require twenty adult men to carry) make them very difficult to steal. There are five major types: Mmbul, Gaw, Ray, Yar, and Reng, this last being only 0.3 m (1 ft) in diameter. Their value is based on both size and history, many of them having been brought from other islands, as far as New Guinea, but most coming in ancient times from Palau. Approximately 6,800 of them are scattered around the island. As no more disks are being produced, this ceremonial money supply is fixed (Washington Post, 1984). The United States dollar is the currency used for exchange in Yap.

Yap Proper (known as Wa'ab or Waqab) was initially settled by ancient migrants from the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian Archipelago, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The Yapese language is related to the Malay languages of Southeast Asia, though with strong New Guinean influences. In contrast, the people of Yap's outer islands are descendants of Polynesian settlers, and as such have significant ethnic dissimilarities from the people of Yap Proper. Their culture and languages (Ulithian and Woleaian) are closely related to those of the neighboring islands of Chuuk.

taken from wikipedia, here.

-gAvIn-

Creating a Sustainable Business among South Africa's Poor 'One Bite at a Time'

Take a look here. The cookies looks very tempting and the website, succinct, cool and professional. Alicia Polak was an investment banker who worked for Merrill Lynch, in the course of her work, she had the chance to visit Africa and she realized how ineffective and wasteful charities and NGO aides are. Determined to do something, she went to Khayelitsha (a poor and violent quartier in South Africa) and started a cookie company which markets to the high end market. (hotels, restaurants, etc)

The ladies of the KCC ( Khayelitsha Cookie Company) were formerly unemployed. They survived on a small grant from the state. Since joining KCC they have been trained in baking, packing, labeling and customer service. We have seen the effect of full time employment on their quality of life and self esteem. The mere act of commuting to work they have said has made them feel part of mainstream society. They love what they do.

Bridge the gap between poverty and profitable business, and you'll get a virtuous cycle of wealth creating activities, lifting thousands out of poverty. These activities are definitely more "sustainable" (yeah, its cliché) than throwing billions in the form of aid which encourages the feed-me attitude. As Kong Zi said (cliché again, but who cares? :) ), give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he'll never go hungry. I salute her work.

-gAvIn-

MEET THE WORLD

Icaro Doria is Brazilian, 25 and has been working for the magazine Grande Reportagem, in Lisbon, Portugal, for the last 3 years. He is part of the team (with Luis Silva Dias, João Roque, Andrea Vallenti and João Roque) that produced the flags campaign which has been circulating the Earth in chain letters via e-mail.







taken from http://www.brazilianartists.net/home/flags/index2.htm

-gAvIn-

Zizou!

Back in Malaysia when the europeans played during mid night, I never had the chance to watch him play, what a pity. Well, this video speaks for itself why this guy is so good...

Sad.

After one year living and studying together, we are leaving Colmar soon. Everyone, yes, everyone was very nice, warm, tolerant accomodating and humorous. I can say I learnt alot from them. The profs here are like...our mothers...haha. (My mom in Msia, don't be jealous as no one will ever replace you :) ) Well, as I was walking back home, a poem came to my mind...a very famous chinese poem usually read during Mid Autumn's day...well, although 中秋 still have like one month to go, I guess it doesn't matter that much:

水调歌头

苏轼

明月几时有？把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。

　　我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间！

　　转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？

　　人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Translation:

"Thinking of You"

When will the moon be clear and bright?
With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky.
I don't know what season it would be in the heavens on this night.
I'd like to ride the wind to fly home.
Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me.
Dancing with my moon-lit shadow
It does not seem like the human world
The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors
Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?
People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart
The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane
This has been going on since the beginning of time
May we all be blessed with longevity Though far apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.

- Poem written during the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival of
1076 by Su Tung Po (Translated by Shun-Yi Lee in 1998)

-gAvIn-

Berlin!

I just came back from Berlin, what I wonderful 4 day trip. (actually, 2 full days only, but nevermind) The first morning, Berlin was ironically empty! Amir, Ali, Hadi and me went to Alexanderplatz to see the Weltzeituhr (the TV tower) and Fernsehturm (the World Time Clock): Surprise, it looks more like Permatang Damar Laut (pick any half dead town haha) than a city who will be hosting the World Cup finals that night, maybe its due to the fact that everyone partied the whole night after German's victory against Portugal and eveyone is trying to catch some sleep ahead of tonight's match.

Taking bus n.100, we past the Berliner Dom and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is one of Berlin's most famous landmarks. The damaged tower is a symbol of Berlin's resolve to rebuild the city after the war and a constant reminder of the destruction of war. We proceeded on foot along the Ku'damm shopping street towards KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), the second largest shop in Europe (after Harrods), and sells practically everything you want but barely anything you could afford.

Feeling hungry, we headed towards Stadmitte where Checkpoint Charlie (the most famous of the checkpoints between east and west germany lies. I bought some postcards to send home here. We ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant, which serves cheap and tasty kebabs, unlike the ones we find in Colmar. :) Btw, Berlins hosts a large number of turkish immigrants, which went there in droves during the recontruction of Berlin after WW2. Kreutzberg alone hosts up to 100 000 turks. I had the chance to stroll around Kottbusser Tor while my muslim friends performed their prayers...everywhere, signes and names where in turkish.

After lunch, we walked from Stadmitte towards the Brandenburger Tor (Tor means gate...Strasse means road btw). Since the fall of the wall, the Brandenburger Gate has become the symbol of a reunified Berlin. The desolate area that Pariser Platz was during the cold war, is now completely redeveloped and has regained much of its 19th century grandeur. Here, the atmosphere is hot. Supporters from both sides, chanting "força italia" and "allez les bleus", singing their national anthems , waving flags and compete to see which side make their presense felt the most. So far, Italy seems to be winning.

To be continued...
ps: pls bear with me the gibberish photos...