The Problem with Reincarnation

My first conception of reincarnation as a kid was through a Hong Kong drama adapted from Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels from ancient China. It was a story about the pilgrimage undertaken by a monk, accompanied by his three proteges to India (the birth place of Buddhism); hence Journey to the “West”. The flesh of the monk, as the story goes, is highly desireable as it is believed to be the key to mortality, so it was an interesting journey full of pitfalls as the demons and spirits attempted to feast on him while his three proteges struggle to protect their master.

The story flirted with various metaphysical story elements. The Buddha would appear out of nowhere in the middle of the show, so would the lady sitting in yoga position on a giant lotus flower (the Goddess of Mercy). I was also exposed to the concept of hell and heaven. Such depiction on television definitely had some bearing on my early perception of the universe that I inhabit. For a while, the boundaries between the realm of the show and the real world was blurred. I was god-fearing. I would not lie, not even a white lie that bears not the slightest malicious intention, for fear that I will go to hell, which, again through the depiction on the tv, occurred to me as an unpleasant place that I certainly do not want to be in.

The Past 8, the Future 9

In 2008, I:

1. Played on a Steinway & Sons Model D Concert Grand Piano in the house of the 573rd richest person on earth. Bill Evans’ Very Early was the first song I played on that 8′11-feet baby.

2. Played in an orchestra for the first time

3. Drew my sister and the Portrait of Mona Lisa

How I Spent my Gap Year?

1. In January to April, I was working on a project which eventually, well, failed. It exhausted energy, ego, and confidence, but I walked away with many lessons, one of which include “Over-planning leads to inaction”.

2. Also in January till April, I auditioned successfully for the KLPAC audition, and played for the Spring Festival concert. It was my first time in a full-fledge orchestra. I was really excited that I showed up at every bi-weekly practicing session without fail, except for once when I have to work. The Star called us “professional amateurs” although I personally do not assume ownership of that commendation because my violin skills were one of the worst among the violinist.

So. Orgasm-Inducing

What do the male species love?

The Color-changing Chameleon and My Deep-Seated Contention

Chameleon is one of the many things that you just find it hard to describe to others. What’s a chameleon, someone ask you. And you just can’t put on a description on its color like you normally would when describing an object. Because you don’t know what its true colors are, as it desperately tries to fight for its survival and protect itself from enemies. Surrounded by the greens of the leaves, it turns green. And no prizes for guessing correctly its color when it clings to the tree trunk.

Student Council’s Election

Aaron Lo’s usually mundane life gets jazzed up a little today.

Today was Student Council’s Election, and like last semester, the spotlight is on students running for positions in the Student Council. The speech that was required by all participants in the election was a great chance to hear about the student’s credentials and past experiences, as well as to discern how diverse our student body is. Or so I thought.

I ran for Publicity Officer, which is primarily like a PR person, although I’ve always interpret it as an advertising job. At some point of time before deciding on the PR job, I thought of running for President, but upon much deliberation, I decided that I do not want to repeat my mistake in Grade 11 of holding too much leadership positions and do just little (that have always made me feel like a jerk). Much to my surprise, I won uncontested, which grants me a little ambivalence. For one, it feels darn good to win uncontested. On the other side of the coin however, no competition exists, which took away all the fun, excitement and risk.

So my speech basically covers my past experiences in the field, rather that trying hard in desperation to beg people out there to vote for me. My speech went like this:

-Introduction, greetings, etc
-Illustrate the role of Publicity Officer (just a little bit)
-Why Student Council needs an advertising or publicity person to do the job
-Explain why I am in a unique position to take on the job
-My winning of that competition organized by Ogilvy & Mather
-Ads appearing in national newspaper recently as case study of a good ad
-Was in Student Council last semester, did posters last semester
-Did copywriting work and issue press statements for NGOs (publicity related stuffs)
-Made an ad presentation in front of the Education Minister of Malaysia, posters available in all secondary school in KL, coz’ that’s where sex is rampant..
-My advertising club (did some advertising too, asking people who are interested to join)

After I gave mine, there were a few other speeches from those running for Vice President and President. Some speeches were really short and succint, while some were as lame as that of Hao-Wei. Some goes extra miles to stress how many presidential positions they hold in high school.

Pardon my expression, but I personally have cynical views about people who boast how many presidential positions they hold. I mean, it doesn’t really show anything about you, apart from manifesting your audacity to stalk the teacher in charge to grant you a presidential position. I believe the most important thing to share, is what have you done and what impact and legacy have you left behind during your tenure as the president, not how many presidents you have in your resume. It is a typical quality over quantity notion.

Those who did not ask people to vote for them but insist that people only vote for them only if the people have confidence in them, have total reverence from me. I believe the most noble thing is to leverage on strengths, credentials, and experiences to win something, not through campaigning and asking friends to vote for you. Here, I can’t help comparing this situation with our government. Why do the Member of Parliament even want to appear to campaign for the election? Do a good job and people will judge for themselves, not appearing only when the general election is coming. The roads near my house were recently resurfaced, perhaps an indication an upcoming general election?

During the voting session, everyone is free to move around, so I was walking around with these lecturers telling me that I made a good speech, which sounded a little superficial to me. I mean, I know what I did. I screwed up the first part of my speech. I was totally tired after playing the piano till 1am the night before for some competition. Some lecturers were asking me about the Education Minister. First it was Miss Woi, then Miss Najjar and another new male teacher, Mr La Voie I think. Mr Welch too came to talk to me about it. So did Puan Dzura. And all of a sudden my otherwise mundane life turns wow.

The most memorable thing, however, is when the Program Director aka Principal Mr Terry Butcher (Bu-Shey) came to tell me that he hoped I can contribute in a profound manner to the Student Council. Ok, that was fairly expected. But what was not expected, was when he told me that he’d heard a lot about me, good things. I must admit that I am a little flattered, but hey, HOW? I mean the program director had just arrive a month ago and today was my first contact with him (Insert random enigmatic theme). He also opined that I am an “articulate young man”, much to my surprise.

Enigma and mysteries aside, today is a fun day for me, but probably not-so-fun for Hao-Wei. He claimed he screwed up his speech, which I thought he kind of did too. As a person who values remarkable friendship a lot and whose purpose of existence is to bring joy and alleviate sufferings of the people around (that’s me), I decided to use my new-found philosophical problem solving technique to help him. This week’s reading materials are all about Philosophy.

I told him that he screwed things up because God wants to teach him a lesson on the importance of preparation (he did not prepare his speech before hand), so that he will get it right the next time, where the stakes could possibily be higher, like running for a position in Donald Trump’s company. He called me in return to tell me he felt better, albeit he did it in a subtle manner (he’s too afraid and shy to admit that I am the nicest friend he ever had..)

[ I might have interpret his words wrongly though]

I shall call this a day. A great day.

Ok, this is hilarious.

For some obvious reasons, I believe Google didn’t think Paris Hilton is a whore (coz’ I tried it on Google search), and that it is completely made-up by some photoshop savvy people out there. But the idea itself is crazy though.

Me on the News, Again

This time, it is for a noble cause. And the novel thing is that I am on a Chinese daily.

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China Press National Edition

June 29, 2007 17:55

登記成選民勿遲疑
動力青年隆雪華堂辦活動

(吉隆坡29日訊) 你已登記成為選民嗎？

凡滿21歲的大馬公民，即可登記成為選民，但根據大馬選舉委員會統計，目前還有490萬人尚未登記為選民，其中70%的年齡介于21歲至35歲之間。

國內非政府組織動力青年（Y4C），已與隆雪華堂民權動委員會，聯辦“青年選民登記與教育運動”，宗旨是透過各項運動，呼吁年輕選民參與登記，並喚起年輕選民對于選舉，以及公共生活課題的關注。

青年是社會改變的發動機，因此這項運動的目標，主要是鎖定這群尚未登記的青年，希望通過集體力量，讓年輕人的聲音變得更具意義。

“青年選民登記與教育運動”工委會今日拜訪《中國報》，在交流會發表談話。

首炮活動反應躍踴

出席者包括動力青年召集人李凱倫、協調員蔡依霖、隆雪華堂民權委員會主席謝春榮律師、動力青年義工羅之成、林翠妤和黃瓔琪，他們獲得《中國報》助理新聞編輯張金權接待。

李凱倫說，首炮活動已于本月24日，在吉隆坡蒂蒂旺沙花園成功舉行，反應鼓舞，兩小時內吸引106名新選民登記，這不包括更換地址者。

他指出，“青年選民登記與教育運動”將于本週日（7月1日），在蒂蒂旺沙花園（網球場對面）掀開序幕，選委會兩名官員將到場助陣。

李氏補充，這項運動閉幕禮訂于7月15日，在隆雪華堂盛大舉行，邀請各朝野政黨到場設立櫃台介紹各自的政見，為選民提供諮詢服務。

他說，目前已答應出席的團體，包括巫統女青團、馬華女青年工作坊、尚在接洽者包括民政黨青年團和3個反對黨青年團。

“這項運動設定目標是召集1000人參與，設有表演，現場將派發小冊子（備有中、巫和印三種語文），同時義賣T恤，每件為20令吉。”

動力青年選民與教育運動行程表
日期	時間	地點
7月1日（星期日）	上午9時至下午2時	帝帝旺沙花園（運動序幕）
7月1日（星期日）	中午12時至下午3時	蒂沙文良港
7月5日（星期四）	上午11時至下午2時	英迪學院
7月8日（星期日）	上午9時至下午2時	蕉賴
7月15日（星期日）	上午9時至下午2時	隆雪華堂禮堂（運動閉幕）

選民登記教育運動
將走進校園招義工

由動力青年（Y4C）和隆雪華堂民權動委員會發動的“青年選民登記與教育運動”，計劃走進校園，號召更多義工參與，成為一項長遠性的播種運動。

動力青年協調員蔡依霖說，續上週在學院舉辦活動后，目前工委會正與與拉曼學院及馬大，接洽合作選民登記與教育活動。

這名理大畢業生表示，除了登記運動，希望召集一批年輕人，帶動更多的年輕學院生加入這項有意義的工作。

“雖然過程難免會碰釘，但我們會勇敢出第一步，向年輕人講解選舉的重要性，並說服他們成為選民。 ”

關注國家政治

隆雪華堂民權委員會主席謝春榮說，通過這項運動激發在象牙塔中的大專生，更關注國家政治，至少不會覺得政治是骯髒的，而是貼近我們的生活，並將相關訊息帶回同學和同鄉好友。

動力青年召集人李凱倫指出，工委會將以新穎有趣的方式，推廣選民登記與教育工作，譬如以小博士形象、戴上帶有玩具款式的眼睛，接觸選民。

他說，工委會總動員，以年輕人接觸年輕人方式，號召同齡的青年朋友，踴躍登記為選民，以履行公民義務和責任。

工委會成員主要由動力青年和民權動委員會組成，另加上部份志願工作者，聯同友族團體加入，組成跨族群的隊伍。

李凱倫說，目前整個組織約有20名活躍成員，義工約30至40人，並通過這項運動，號召100至200人建立起網絡，設定永久網或定期舉動活動，針對各項課題交流和討論 。

任何查詢，可致電或傳真至：動力青年（03-7783 1164）蔡依霖（012-7355 025），或電郵：vling1983@gmail.com

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And yes, the Chinese character in blue is indeed my Chinese name. (Phew, haven’t been seeing it for quite some time)

Is it OxBridge, or is it Camford?

My college has gotten a little cooler recently (that’s Sunway University College).

Just last Saturday, we have an Oxbridge (or Camford) event going on in college. And I was showered with serendipity to discover some volunteer jobs for this event. Students from high schools across Malaysia congregated in college once again, like how merchants from all corners of the globe converged in Malacca in the 15th century.

The OxBridge event, as you would have known from the word “OxBridge”, is all about the two most proverbial elite universities in the United Kingdom – Oxford University and Cambridge University, albeit you would want to call it CamFord if you are from Cambridge and/or uses the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

The event is organized by the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Malaysia, and as its name suggested, it is an alumni association of sort, for ex-graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Intriguingly, the president of the OxBridge Society of Malaysia is Ms Elizabeth Lee, who is also the Executive Director of Sunway University College, which explains why SyUC has the privilege to host this event.

The event comprises 4 sections, with the first one being an Essay Writing Competition for high school kids, and then there are two workshops: writing and speaking skills, and of course, a campus tour, and finally there is an OXBRIDGE ADMISSION TALK! (in fact this is the only reason I volunteered).

So for the first two events, I was in charge of bringing these group of 30 odd students from SMK Seri Bintang Selatan around the campus. I really enjoyed bringing high school kids around my campus, especially bringing them to the library and the School of Hospitality,Tourism and Leisure Management (SHTLM) floor. You see, our library is *arguably* the biggest among all private colleges in Klang Valley, and in the SHTLM, there is a hotel room, a cafe, and a fine dining restaurant, which I thought was really cool. So, there are actually quite a lot to brag about.

I enjoyed the speaking workshop and the writing workshops. The first was conducted by a famous thespian who actually starred in “Entrapment” (famously known as the movie filmed in the Petronas Twin Towers) along with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. He started his speaking skills workshop with a “song” from My Fair Lady or Pygmalion, and throughout his workshop, I can see that he is indeed a proficient speaker by virtue of being able to secure the interest of the students seated in front of him.

What turned me on, was the writing skills workshop. It was conducted by Mr Mark Disney, an Oxford grad and a British national who now lives in KL and has a Malaysian PR. He founded and owns the Education Quarterly magazine, and he writes extensively on freedom of press, and education system in Malaysia. Not to mention he is extremely vocal about the conduct of western media organizations like the BBC and the CNN.

The writing tips was fairly uninteresting to me, because it was not meant for me after all. And Mr Disney, as a person of burning passion in media and education (just like me!!) constantly digressed to talk about these issues in the midst of his presentation, which I thought was so darn cool. He aptly illustrates the difference and discrepancy of editorial directions of the NST and the Sun, on the human trafficking issue. NST, which is government owned, ran articles on the Malaysian government criticizing the US for ranking her unfavorably in the rankings, while on the very same day, the Sun (which is not owned by government) ran an article about the Malaysia’s unfavorable position in that ranking. In short, the former was a little more of a subjective account of the issue, while the latter was an objective account of the very same issue.

So why the discrepancy in a same issue? Blame it on government’s ownership.

Some issues pertaining to education system raise by Mr Disney resonated so powerfully with me. He touched on several key issues in education, like how the entire flawed system suppresses creativity and innovation, among others.

And being a person who wants to connect with others who think alike, I immediately knew I have to talk to this person. Alas, he left the hall immediately, and my effort was in vain.

Anyhow, no big deal. I managed to find his email address (the world is shrinking, don’t you think so), and emailed him.

The final part was the admission talk. There are two surprises here. First, OxBridge Society of Malaysia managed to get Mr Tony Pua to the hall. And I was like, wow. I longed to meet Mr Tony ever since I came to know the Education Malaysia blog, which he co-authored.

He represented Oxford University and touched on a variety of topics. As underwhelmed the topic might sound (because I’ve heard things like this many times), the very thing that caught me was a sentence out of his own mouth, ” You don’t judge whether you’re good enough or not; you apply and let the university judge you. “, referring to Malaysian students’ reluctance to even submit the application due to the lack of confidence. This is one phrase that I will always remember.

Other than that, he showed quite a lot of pictures. And wow, the campus is really beautiful. Like what I told Hao-Wei, these buildings resemble the castles in fairy tales we read when we were younger, and that I will cry if I am physically there.

Next it is a Cambridge University representative, Mr Alen. It is indeed unfortunate that he did not have the time to complete his presentation due to time constraint. The agenda has to cease to make way for the arrival of a Queen Elizabeth like British lady, whose identity still remain a mystery.

Surprise number two came when I found out that the admission rate for both OxBridge is rather high, as high as 20%, that’s 1 out of 5, compared to an admission rate of only 10% for most elite US schools.

As trite as it might be, it is an exciting and fulfilling day, and I managed to make contact with Mr Mark Disney and Mr Tony Pua.

Two months of Evaporation into Thin Air

I tried. (really hard)

Tried really hard to keep the atoms that hold me together intact, so that my existence could resonate through the postings of blog entries on this blog. Alas and alack, there are always forces trying to disperse my atoms that composed me, trying to cease my existence.

Blame it on the ever increasing workloads!

That’s Independent Study Units, lab reports, maths assignments, essays, plays reading, etc.

Blame it on the laze and idleness in me!

That’s procrastination, a series of dilly dallies, and that dread, that binds together with a sheer amount of guilt at the end of everyday.

Time to catch up on blogging, my conscience chided me. And I planned to do just that, out of the new found freedom and relief upon the completion of the first semester of senior high.

These are a few notable events that I would like to tell the world!

1. My meeting with the Education Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Hishamudin Hussein (and all the media frenzy and publicity that comes with it!)

2. My attendance at a workshop at 95% Training Academy, at which I met the person who won Malaysia’s first international advertising award – Janet Lee.

3. My presence at the MIT admission talk, where I was utterly inspired, utterly.

4. My meeting with international best-selling author, Tash Aw, the author of The Harmony Silk Factory.

5. The whole brouhaha over my lack of suitable “credentials” to be the right person to be conferred the award Valedictorian 2006, although it was already awarded to me for nearly 2 months now.

6. The ending of my senior high first semester, that includes an emotional Physics period on the last day of school, for Mr. Anton Gillich will be leaving for Canada (He misses the maples).

7. My new-found burning passion: Media, freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of expression.

That’s a lot of topics to cover! And it is a tormenting start for a supposedly fun and relaxing “summer” break…