A look into the so called name identity

Hi there, everyone.

I know that I've been unfaithful by not posting anything. In fact I have so many things that I want to post about, but I have not been able to. Guess I am lazy.

But what I'm going to post may be controversial. Here's what.

I suggest, for the sake of unity, Malaysians should rename themselves, follow the nationalistic approach of Thailand and Indonesia.

Heck, I don't mind if i can retain the word "Badi" in my name. "Hang Badi, Hang Jambul" or whatever. As long as the names are standardized.

Now, I am going to break some rules of blogging. I don't mean to, but I want to put the message across. And this is how I do it.

Anyways, here's the thing. 50 years of nationhood, and I'm a second generation Malaysian. Spesifically, of the chinese ethnic. Now, I think I once posted that there's something to be proud of being a Malaysian. No, its not about a countryman of mine going around earth's orbits or the even recent one about winning a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics for male's singles badminton (God dammit, we want the Thomas Cup!), or any of that sort. Its the passport. Noticeably, the most advanced passport in the entire earth. Heck, that's something to be proud of.

However, there's also something about the passport that irks me and many other people. You see, I hold a Malaysian passport. When I go to Singapore, I am called a Malaysian. When I go to any parts of the world, despite the fact that I have a similar skin tone to those of banana fruits (its an insider racist joke, folks) I am still called a Malaysian.

Heck, that's part 1.

Now, here's part 1 extended. A Malaysian friend of mine, of chinese ethnicity, "returned" to China. Why did I use "return" instead of 'visit'? That's because many chinese in Malaysia still thinks that China is their motherland. Irregardless of their generation. The term 'many' may be questionable, but it is still a sizable group of humans in a piece of land called Malaysia, who are somehow yellow skinned (or kins to yellow skinned people)and thinks that way too. Now here's the situation. He went back, and proudly proclaimed "I'm back to visit my motherland".

He turned a few chinese heads. And at one point, he got an answer "You're just a fucking Malaysian". End of story.

He 'came down' back to Malaysia. And the people called him "you're a Chinese!". Look at the nouns.End of story.


Heck, what's the point of upholding the name "Yee Tzyypirng" if my 'fucking' grandmotherland (since it ain't my motherland anyway) refuses to even recognize me as part of hers? No, i'm not insulting the Chinese nationality, and neither am I insulting Malaysian chinese, but hear me out on this one before you guys start to comment.

For years and generations the Malaysian chinese have argued that we ought to keep our names because it represents who we are. Culture, heritage, traditions. I say its all a lost game. Do you see Malaysian chinese kids running around greeting their elders with a bow? Do you see the young Malaysian chinese pausing in their steps to allow the elderly cross before them?

Heck, the point here I'm trying to put forth is that, we young Malaysians have our own culture, tradition and values that we uphold. Irregardless what race we are. But if we insist on being 'a part of a another group', please for the sake of upholding the argument, check the reality. I only think that the only 'real chinese' are people of Taiwan and people of Hong Kong. And when I meant by this, I meant the Han Chinese (not including the minor ethnic chinese of other chinese 'sub-race' [again the use of sub race is arguable]) (I hope this isn't a derogatory term for them). And I mean as in how they live, how they think, how they act, and how they presents themselves.

Those are the real 'fucking chinese'. Malaysians are just fucking Malaysians. You can try hard to be a chinese, but in the end you're just another 'ngoi chut yan' (outsider) to them. Now you can understand my angst. Because I think its time to really think forth and speak for ourselves where do we stand.

Change the name. Check. But does that mean we erode our rights to practice what we believe in? Definitely not! It's not like we can't celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, or have Dragon dance or Lion Dance thrown in to it. Even 'gwai lous' are doing lion dance in Australian chinatowns. It doesn't mean that because we give up our names, we give up our rights to live as we chose to.

I know many chinese are going up to be upset with what I've said. Some will call it substant-less, some will call it derogatory. Some will call me a traitor to the race.

But I put forth my opinions, and stand by with it. Because in any part of the world, I am just another Malaysian. And not a fucking Malaysian chinese. Because I'm quite fed up with racist elements in people around me. And I'm trying to propose a way to tackle the issue in the roots.

We should have changed our names 50 years ago.

And no, I don't know how the Indians and other natives of Malaysia think. I put this argument forth for West Malaysia situation. Sabah and Sarawak are alright in their way. That's why we have 'Sino's running around. They are Sabahans and Sarawakians in their own right.

On ICT, Teaching and Technology

A few years back down the memory lane, let's see... I was in Form 1. That would be year 1998.



I started having my own hotmail address. It was "hyperyouth@hotmail.com". It died after a year, due to inactiveness (I forgot to login). Then I had a new one, hyperyouth_firepower@hotmail.com. It was due to attributed to "Team Hyperyouth Syndicate". Then I started MIRC. And moved on to the most popular IM at that time, ICQ by Miranda. Little by little, I went on to Napster, and I went on to many other programs the beatiful World Wide Web had to offer.

The very first online MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that I tried was Utopia by SwerveGames. It still lives today. I play World of Warcraft now.



All of that in the year 1998. Imagine my joy of being an adolescent who was bestowed with these knowledge of the internet. Search engines were rudimentary, crude and direct to the point (look at Yahoo!) that it was basic, and no frills. To know a site search engine, it was like "godsent". To know the methods of searching through a search engine was to be an 'information angel'. You hoard the knowledge that you seek, and for once, you feel like you're ahead of your peers and time.



Until you suddenly realize, that the world wide web just made you look like a fool. But it was fun. I was able to get EVERYTHING (or almost) that I wanted to know.



While all these wonders took place, the only teacher that I knew that could rival my prowess and ability to use ICT was my father. Mr Yee Wai Chiong. He was the first of the 'non-malay' batch that entered UPSI. He was the first of the 'non-malay' batch that took up ICT (it was actually offered to him, really) in Education. And he graduated at late 1998. But that's not the point. Imagine his horror and surprise when he finds out that his own son was able to rival his abilities in using / implementing ICT, with exception of 3 programs (Database[the old DOS version], Adobe Photoshop and HTML programming). He still maintains that 'skill edge' in these 3 programs, but when it comes to broader application, I win. Hands down.



Now, at this moment, the situation is replicated, but not entirely. I am an English about-to-be teacher, and kids in schools (its a common thing to call even 17 year olds as 'kids') are going to be as good as I am, or even better. I am outclassed in almost all basics. Image / Video / Media manipulation, CSS, HTML, Java, C++ and various other programming language, the knowledge of hardware, the knowledge and practical application of hardwares and softwares, etc. And the same anxiety that befell my father 10 years ago is now replicated in me. Am I "up to date" enough to convince the kids that I'm relevant to their education? (Or at least able to provide a sufficent, useful / meaningful input) Am I in a position to guide, fascilitate and assist their learning should they wish to adopt the usage of ICT tools and skills? Am I only going to be an insult to their intelligence?



Today business web standards are on web2.0 standards. Whereas in communications we're already way past 3G, going into 4G (and nations advanced as Korea and Japan are already gearing up for 5G), and it will be ongoing, not waiting to stop. Amazing future lies ahead. Take a breather, grab all you can, move on. Take a step.



When my old man studied ICT in Education back in 1998, to the teaching community it was a marvel, an unwarranted future. A risk. Today, the very same level of understanding of ICT (compared as for these 10 years) would be "rudimentary", "crude" and "fundamentally out of date". Today, it (refers to the ICT in general) is a generic skill that every individual who proclaims to be a teacher is a 'must have'. Without it, one is a fail. I do not intend to fail my students. Not as of now, not as of 20 years later. I intend to keep up, and I intend to stay 'in tune'.



Welcome to the reality of ICT.

If it seems like its too late, the ever golden proverb proves otherwise. "It is always never too late". Happy reading, and happy looking forward on the fun side of ICT.



Mucha Gracias.

I need my internet!

Today, we had no wireless internet. I am absolutely frustated. I rely on internet. The real issue? DiGi haven't rolled out their 3G. Wait, you're telling me to jump the wagon and hop on Maxis or Celcom? No, no, no... I am not that desperate to enjoy HSDPA. Of course, I want a low latency, high speed, uninterrupted, unfiltered * cough*torrent*cough* connections with no filters and intrusion of privacy. I want a connection that I can be proud of whenever I speak of it, and whenever I use it.

DiGi has always somehow managed to tailor their products and services to my appeal. Back then when 384kbps / 512 kbps broadband were the hype / rage of the day (that was way back in 2003/2004) I took up DiGi EDGE because Celcom didn't have anything of that sort, and Telekom were completely hopeless with their own wireless based landline broadband (it wasn’t even available in Kota Kinabalu back then!) It was not long enough until DiGi actually had a better offering than Celcom in terms of all in one package. Better call rates, better SMS rates, better packaging, everything. It was evident that I soon dumped Celcom in favour of DiGi. Well, I have been a ‘faithful’ DiGi user up to now, and I don’t really see a reason why should I change or add another telco (even though I am tempted to buy another new phone from time to time).

Yes, like many other DiGi customers and mobility broadband enthusiast, I am quite upset at DiGi’s “failure” to obtain a 3G license. Some says it may be a rigged ‘competition’, I don’t know. I won’t go as far to support that claim, but neither will debunk it. I mean, come on… DiGi being one of the largest telco companies in Malaysia would lose its 3G bid to Time Dot Com and MiTV, just because Telenor (the Norwegian supercompany in the telecommunications industry) held a 51% controlling stake in DiGi. I blame the minister of Energy & Communication at that time. But let’s not dwell into that, shall we?

So DiGi loses out on a 3G deal. Big deal. Yeah right. But life goes on. I still need a mobile internet, and like others I was tempted to hop on the Celcom / Maxis bandwagon. However, something made me laughed real hard at Celcom and Maxis at that time. Till now they haven’t ‘fix’ the 3G coverage, let alone the bandwidth allocated. One base station, affirmatively can only manage up to 10 users at one time. So users who were expecting a full HSDPA (3.5G) would be really disappointed because in really congested “peak time”, there would only be 10 HSDPA users, and the others would be kicked to a mere EDGE connection. Now, the real reason why people can’t get UTMS connection when there are others hogging on HSDPA connection is that HSDPA and UTMS equipment share the same hardware, but the only difference is the software coding. (Source: Mobileworld Malaysia 2005). So 10 lucky users get to using HSDPA, and the others will be running with EDGE / GPRS (if they really have EDGE)

So here was what was happening back then. DiGi were rolling out EDGE on virtually every base station that they can reach (yes, even the most interior of places, the most ‘ulu’ of places were getting EDGE connection!), and they hit fast, and they hit hard. Notably, at that time, EDGE did had an edge over UTMS connection in terms of data packet handling and also stability. Hey, it runs on GSM connection, so expect the fullest out of it! Constant fine tuning were done to EDGE, while Maxis and Celcom were desperately trying to outdo each other on the ‘nifty’ 3G market. Of course, the market take-up is low. Very low. And then a snag happened. It seems that since both telcos only got the license without the equipment, and there were lots of bugs that needed fixing. Maxis went ahead and installed 3G stations in Klang Valley (with exception of ‘The Round Table’ (the area that encircles KLCC Petronas Twin Towers) and Celcom were hastily trying to conquer the less illustrious but equally rewarding Johor Bahru area. DiGi were then still very, very comfortable with their EDGE offering

To Specialization

So here am I typing this out again (for the umpteenth time) on a personal notebook. I can't seem to access the Wi-Fi hotspot access in my hostel (maybe the administration should do something to alleviate the situation) because it seems that i'm out of range, even though I am indoors. Perhaps the walls, I don't know. I'm suspecting somehow the angle and the thickness of the walls actually presents itself as a form of signal inteference. If I could, I would like to make a self made coil (to strengthen the signal), but so far so good I have not been able to identify any good electronics shop anywhere in Larkin, Johor.

Speaking about Larkin, the theme today I would like to write more about specialization. You see, I have already been here for a week, but I have yet to find a decent laundrette here in Larkin. Erm, yes, the institution does have coin laundry machines but I don't use them because of one main reason: I find it more of a hassle to find the coins, grab a soap, determine which pair of clothes goes in first, which goes second, which goes together, which doesn't, etc and the entire process goes on, all the way to the “fold and store” stage. One can say I'm lazy, but I can live up with that tag if I have to; I just save lots of time and effort in which I can do something else.

So here's the deal about “specializing”. The government trains me, teaches me then proceeds on to offer me a 5 year contract to teach, train and tutor the future generation of the Malaysian population. By now you should have known (or guess intelligently) that I'm a teacher in training. So, it happens that I'm specilized in B.ed(TESL) or so my degree says, and I'm contracted to educate the general student populace on how to be proficient in English (in all aspects of it). Here's to note that there are other teachers as well, and they are specialized in different subjects. Thus far the question would be; can I deviate, and to what extent can I deviate?

Look no further for the answer. I can, and if I have to I will. No, I don't mean that I do have the capabilities to deviate, (just like my old man who I think he's a super teacher that can teach any subjects with the knowledge accessible right on his fingertips) but the needs of the situation may force the school administration to consider some form of deviation. For example, an English teacher to coach a futsal team (with little or very minimal knowledge about the game and the finer aspects to it).

On the other hand, let's look at this. I am hereby contracted to educate, to teach, and to enlighten the younger, innocent (yeah right) populace on English Language. And every aspect of it. That is because I am supposed to be the “expert”, or the “specialist” in that field. (English, my friend, English!) So while my colleagues who teaches science will come running after me asking “what's the matter”, I will be in turn bugging him / her (that poor soul) with the question “what's a matter”. That is specialization. We consult, we refer to those who are the specialist in the arena.

Well, lets take the idea of of “specialization” to a higher / deeper level here. Here's another situation. Now, as the government gives me the contract to educate the populace, I am compesated with imbues and allowances. They range from “life management allowances” to “home financing allowances”. Yes, the government of Malaysia is very generous. Unfortunately the cost of living is high, so don't fret. Its only an allowance. That is if you work for the government (I'm only a trainee, and therefore not eligible to apply for all these nifty things), my friend. Now, I have an issue. I need someone to take care of my food (because I can't be bothered to cook, and I can't really cook good food), and at the same time I need to look after my laundry. So, technically, here's how I do both; I sub-contract them. It is really simple. I give a lum sum to a diners to take care of my food, and I (am still trying to find one) fund a laundrette shop to take care of my laundries. So what I need to do is just go to the said premise, do what I have to do (whether I pick up, or dine in, or drop / pick up my laundry) and let the people who 'specialize' in their fields to do it for me. Solid idea, no? Even I am not an IT technical expert myself ( I am somewhat limited unlike many others on the general IT-literate populace out there), but I can take in a few sub-con jobs *cough* translation, editing *cough*. So yes, what I wrote here can be scorned at, because I may be giving the impression that I'm leading everyone “off to Holland” (its a Malaysian Chinese saying, that means to deviate way off course) in this post, but here's something that I would like to ask;

1)Who 'contracts' or 'subcontracts' you, and do you find yourself bridled in one single task?
2)The idea of giving someone to do something. Do you actually hire people to do it? Laundry, lawn cleaning, pipe repairs, etc.
3)How do you view yourself as a 'specialist' (if you see yourself that way?)

And dang, my laundry's just finished spinning. Now I have to hunt for clips and a place to dry them (not to mention to watch over them as people DO steal clothes nowadays) under the sun. Wait, the sky's dim. Ah, crap. I should have just sent it to the laundrette. Save my time and my effort.* Sigh! *

A quote owned, borrowed or adapted?

There was an interesting incident over the cyber cafe today. Yes, I am at the cyber cafes because I can't get a decent connection in the house I am in. Too many Xunlei clients hogging a 1mb connection (if I count correctly, there are supposed to be 3) without any QoS split in the broadband router makes me an unhappy human being.

So what happened? A friend asked me to use Zoosk. So it happened that it was some sort of a networking tool that can be added as an application in your Facebook(tm) account. Pretty nifty fort those in need of finding a social network of the opposite sex, but not exactly my type as I'm not the very approaching type.

But here's a question that struck me. "Write a quote", or "Write a story". Where do you begin? Where do you end? What do you reply when people ask you "describe yourself?" How do you know if your answer is what they seek, yet at the same time successfully describe yourself?

It struck me that we have many ways of approaching this question from different angles and meeting a different criteria. In interviews, its different. In common 1st time encounter, its also different. So what do you do? How will you do?

I did nothing. I just hoped that I will get to know them better over time, and let them get to know me better over time too. Pretty dull for many if one may insist, but that's me.

So, do you borrow a quote, make your own, or adapt a quote to "quip" it as yours?

That question left me hanging for a moment when I wanted to try to make an approach towards a girl whom I wanted to know her more today. Oh, she's my superior from the finance department (but we didn't meet today because she fell ill. I hope she gets well soon.) during my 9 day tenure as a Mark's & Spencer staff (I work for their stock take event).

Funny, because I restrained myself. Because lack of confidence.

I wish you people out there to have more guts. Best of luck to you, and me, and everyone.

Nights!

Facebook account as a front

Hello everyone. I'm not posting this because I'm bored, neither am I posting just to spam post so that my blog looks livelier.

It doesn't matter. But here's something interesting I've noted about my Facebook account.

Right now, its a place where everyone spams "i love you', 'I miss you', etc. And I delete them, cordially without returning them.

Does that make me a jerk? Maybe.

Does that make me an ungrateful person? Maybe.

Does that make me an ugly person (characteristic wise)? Maybe.

On one side, I don't mind my friends or colleagues never leaving a real note. When I mean a real note, I mean something that has a slight personal touch in it. A picture is a picture, a pictar is a pictar. If you don't get what I mean, all I mean to say is that a picture that you send me is a picture, while a picture that you copy-paste from somewhere else will remain as a "picture that you copy-paste from somewhere else" and send me. It is that simple.

I don't mean that you shouldn't send me pictures, drawings or greeting card. However, a personal message included in it means something personal to me. I am a sentimental person, after all. I work, live and play with emotions attached.

oh well. You can reach me at hyperyouth_firepower [at]hotmail[dot]com for my facebook account. Hope to meet you there.

Stock take counts

Hello everyone. Its been a long time.

Let me update what has happened.

I've moved place. Let's see.. I'm now over at SS2, Petaling Jaya with my cousin. I'm going to move back to Johor later at July.

I'm also working for Marks & Spencer. As a stock taker. Here's some interesting insight.

I've managed to find myself a part time job as a stock taker in Mark's & Spencer. It is really a refreshing experience (even though the work can be boring). I've met many kinds of people, and I've worked hard enough to survive for the rest of the month (and god willing, for June either).

Stock taking is basically making a count check on your stocks, to see if the items that you have in inventory tallies with the one that you have physically or not. Different companies uses a different system to perform their stock takes, but as for now, I will not divulge anything. Let me put it in this way, just to give an idea (what is allowed).

I have worked in many places related to Mark's & Spencers.
I have worked in 3 retail outlets, with 1 more coming up (if the working agency gets it).
I have an idea how Mark's & Spencer will move in its merchandizing directions.
I have come to understood how Mark's & Spencers (Malaysia) works and operates at operational level.
I have also had the opportunity to work for Mark's & Spencers (Malaysia) and DHL (you know which one you are) and experience first hand how their day to day operations take place.

On the bright side, I have gained my employer's trust and eye to see that I'm a qualified and dedicated staff. Although it has only been a week, Mark's & Spencers have already placed their trust in me equivalent of a insider staff worker (as in like a permanent staff).

I thank Arubaito Mukuya for introducing this job to me.


And as you may have it, I've met many interesting people. I cross my fingers in hope that I can continue to continue a certain professional relationship with these people in future.

It was fun, even if that was just part time job.