Malaysian Idol

I wonder sometimes what all the hype is about Malaysian Idol.

True enough, I'm one of the people faithfully sitting behind the tv every week in time for the show. But it doesn't mean that I'm a total fan of the show. Heck, I can think of so many stupid reasons why the show here is so much worse than its american couterpart.

1. The contestants lack talent.

This is one thing I really don't get. During the auditions, I really thought that there were quite a number of talented people who really could sing (apart from the William Hung wannabes). But the moment they were put to the test to perform on a stage and to let Malaysia be the judge, my mind kept going... 'I suppose we have to choose the ones that sound the least worst?'
Not aall of them are bad though, but some are really lame. They'd probably qualify for Akedemi Fantasia (that's another thing I wanna talk about soon... ish!). Mainly, I found most of them rather forgettable. Come to think of it, I don't remember many from last week's episode. I know the first one was a Mariah Carey wannabe... she has a real knack for hitting the high notes, but I think she overdoes it. It's like...she sings pretty fine along the way and suddenly she decides to break a window or two. Only to prove that she can... Not that she can't, she does it pretty well but it always seems to stick out like a sore thumb despite hitting the right notes. Then there's the slut. She kept touching herself all over and making really stupid poses while she sang. The one that did impress me was the singer who was suppose to have been kicked was called back. She even mde it to the next round... *applause*

2. The judges... "..."

I really don't know what to say about them. Firstly, both Paul and Roslan seem to be constantly vying for Simon Fuller's role. But none of them quite fit the role. I'd say Paul's doing a better job at it though. But his criticisms lack the sharp wit of Simon's.
Roslan tries but seems quite pathetic in doing so... sometimes he does criticizes but it's not interesting. It just sounds rather annoying.
Speaking of annoying... I think Fauziah Latiff needs to increase her vocabulary. If she brings up more 'pitching' and 'the camera loves you', I'd just like to fling the camera at her. And my God, sometimes I wonder where she gets her tastes from... I was so disgusted by her comment (one of her favs) "The camera loves you" to the slut from last week. She barely says an ounce of individual opinion, except for her 'opinion' on style.

3. The quality

I dunno what it is about the quality... it just seems to be pretty weak in that point. The lighting seems awkward. And I think the atmosphere lacks the glamour. The small stage seems like a miserable little spot for u to show your stuff.

4. The hosts

Yes, I do like Jien. But has he looked at himself in the mirror recently? There's nothing wrong with him...just only his clothes. He certainly pulls himself off well as a typical Ah Beng. Okei... just to give face, not A Typical Ah Beng, but a good looking Ah Beng. And as for the other girl who I can never remember the name, as far as I know, she had always irritated me from the moment I first saw her. I can't remember when or where I saw her first, some kids program, but she annoyed me with her voice then. Still does now.

5. The slang

I can't stand the slangs I here from some of the contestants to date. Malays singing english songs but sounding like a Malay, some singing malay songs sounding english. If you can't speak it, or pronounce it well, why don't you just stick to your own language? I mean, sure, I have a horrible slang when I open my mouth and say something in chinese, but that's for talking. I'm not performing in front of Malaysia acting like some Kuai Poh, I'd rather sing in the language that I was brought up speaking with. And some of the pronunciations are atrocious!!!

6. The multi-racial thing

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that we love together happily, harmoniously, peacefully, lovingly in this multi-racial community of ours (had to crack my brains for those old moral lessons for those words).
But I don't think it quite works out on Msian Idol. There's such an obvious clash of culture in the show. Whenever Roslan and Fauziah criticizes on a malay song, there's a tendency for Paul to announce it's crappiness. Sometimes, it works the other way. Our cultures forces us to think differently. It just doesn't seem to blend as well as it should.
Same goes for the songs... the style of english songs and malay songs are so different, it's hard to compare them on the same level. It may be because I've been brought up listening to mainly english songs but I feel that a lot of malay songs don't really bring out the singing talent in a person. But then again it may be also due to our ideas being different on the defination of talent. I mean, we have a culture that looks up to many  Chef Wan types.
And of course, not forgetting the hosts. One english and the other malay. I respect the idea of being able to reach a wider range of audiences but it just doesn't seem to hit the right note.

I know I have a lot of criticisms against Malaysian Idol. So wy do I still watch it ever so faithfully? Well, they aren't all bad, there's still some talent around. I'm betting on that really talented indian girl to win... I don't know her name. Ah Beng as he may look, Jien still looks adorable. Oh, and it's much better than a lot of the other reality talent shows around especially Akedami Fantasia.
Nope, I don't actually watch it (God forbid if that day shall ever come). But I have caught clips of it before, while channel surfing. I'm very thankful that Msian Idol doesn't have finalists as bad as those in AF. And judges too... I think a lot of the judges there seem pretty blind and tone deaf. I remember hearing this one contestant totally ruining a perfectly good song, "I will Survive". She sang out of tune in certain parts and just lacked the emotional stregth for it. And the judges loved her!!! The best comment I heard (I'm being sarcastic...) was this lady who applauded her for making the song 'her own'!!! So what if you sucked? All you have to do is suck originally and the judges will love you. This usually only happens when they attempt english songs though. I think they're better off with malay songs.
So I guess I don't really mind MI. At least there's better talent and judges.

Mood: Feeling rather evil, and guilty about it. Was I being too harsh? Can't help it if I'm over critical on certain things

Late night jitters...

I've learnt one thing new, staying up all night, heartburns and coffee don't go well together.

We finally made a move to finish up the HR assignment to hand it in by this morning. The work was split, and at night, everyone started getting their parts done (almost everyone... you know who you are! Sleepyhead!!!)
We worked and worked, and I think the fact that I was doing the research on my dad's company as well as having gotten so much help and information from him, I really wanted to make this assignment work. Furthermore, it was one of the few assignments that we really put a lot of effort into the research and I think most of my group members were quite satisfied with it. So is it really surprising for me to stay up all night editing the parts?
I had a lot of help though, Ayana kept asking me if there was anything else she could do, but I had to let her sleep because she was going to have a long trip on the bus today, and I know she can never really sleep there. Tink (when she finally got up =P) helped loads too. When I realised I couldn't edit everything and not kill myself, I just handed her more share of the work.
But I have to admit... I quite liked the finally resukt of our work. It looked nice... with all the photos (I even used the more expensive wire binding instead of plastic one to make it look more impressive!), the purple ribbon tying the hard cover brochure for the millionnaire's home (I still can't get over the cost of the homes!!! I so wish I was rich enough for a place there! =(  ) and of course, not forgetting our little bribe, Pak Lah's book, sponsored by BKP.

By the time I had finished up as much as I could, it was 9 am already. And I did have a cup of coffee earlier in the night. So I took an hour nap while Ayana handled the last bits and pieces which I didn't tie up. She needed to go to the bus stop but it was raining. And knowing that my other group member needed to go to campus to hand in the other assignment and buy some printer ink, they arranged to drive my car there and back. It was after my nap, when they wanted to take the car out that I realised how out of sync I was from the lack of sleep, the coffee and the heartburn. I woke up aching all over, really sleepy and disorganised, and felt extremely jittery. I'm sure the jitter part had a lot to do with the coffee but it usually affects me only after taking at least 3 cups. When Ayana searched all over my table for the car keys, with my help, I couldn't even think straight. Not making any progress, I decided to go wash up my face. It was only when I calmed down there that I managed to think straight and remembered that it was in my bag. All went well right till the part that we exited the guardhouse. We forgot the smartcard damnit!!! We couldn't park the car back inside the carpark lot without the card. So in the rain (looking like a lost for for hope, drug addict) I walked back to get it and did all we needed (It didn't help that Montha kept on giving me a heart attack with her driving skills). Thank god we got back safely =P

I think the funniest thing that happened today, that really made my day was handing in the assignment. I went to campus around 2.20pm and was really worried that the lecturer wouldn't be in because it was prayer time (of course it hit my head that I seriously doubt he'd have gone for prayers). I didn't mind dropping off the assignment to him without meeting him but the bribe needed an explanation.
I knocked on his door... no reply. Tried the handle, it was locked. Then I decided to peep through the hole... Damn!!! He was sitting behind his desk but he was ignoring me...jerk! So I knocked again, and with no reply I left. There wasn't even a box for me to leave the assignment in! Just as I was walking off, I heard the creak of the door opening. He walked out with his handphone in his hand, that must have been what had been occupying him. So I gave a big smile (fake =P) and walked up to him with the assignment in hand.
He gave me a shock when he took the assignment out of my hand ignoring the cute purple ribbon that we tied to hold the brochure to the assignment =( But he made me leap for joy when he said I made it in time for the bonus marks. And also, he looked at the thickness of it and said I think you'll get quite high marks...WOOHOO!!! Heheh... overreacting here. But then he saw the brochure and ask what it was. I told him that it was a brochure of one of BKP's projects, and he was surprised. "Fattest brochure I ever saw". With a grin, I told him about the RM1.6mil house. You should have seen the look in his eyes... it was glimmering. I think he must have really been thinking of how he can take advantage of a company like this. He kept saying things like, "I can really use this for my research". And when I handed the bribe over saying it was a gift from BKP, he was so anxious to get in touch with the company. He asked for the GM of HR's phone number, and all I was agree to hand it to him later. I didn't want to let it out that my dad has heard a lot of insulting views of him from me =P In fact, I didn't want him to waste my dad's time with his crap...hahaha. Obviously I couldn't say all that. So I smiled and said thank you.

So... am I really a phony? I criticize him fully in my head but I would never, or at least avoid it as far as possible, show all my thoughts. But I feel that at least my opinions of him are mere criticisms. I'd hate to be something like Ayana who can easily decide if she hates someone. Yeah, she hates him, or at least I think she does, considering how often she mentions it.

Mood : Distracted... trying to think, type, play online games, watch Malaysian Idol on TV all at once isn't easy. But multi-tasking is certainly my way of life

Of group work, jeans and toasters...

Group work: synergy or waste of time?

I just realised that the meeting to discuss the audit case 2 nights ago was probably one of the rare few cases that our group assignments can actually be described as a 'teamwork'. Weird, considering almost 80% of all our assignments are group assignments. But there's the tendency to just split the work and do our parts. Even I have to admit that I'm the type who prefers to do group assignments on my own... not the entire thing but work on my part alone. Working with people tends to get me frustrated if I feel that they don't contribute enough or do not meet up to my expectations.
But the meeting we had the other night, it was the case which my group kept reading repeatedly and still got nowhere. It was one of the few rare cases that we actually worked in a group! Surprisingly, it felt interesting... we were throwing ideas back and forth. I think this was what most lecturers wanted us to do when they assigned group work but unfortunately, this rarely happens.

Arrrggghhh... I was suppose to be really happy with my jeans (yes it's completed) but how can i be when I acted like an idiot!!! TWICE!!! As it is, I already knew that the marker ink wasn't gonna last through the wash, but what i stupidly did was to wash my hand and touched my jeans =( 1st time was bad enough, 2nd time was worse. And I never got to take a photo of my completed jeans before I ruined it (Only because I was desperate to wear it out!) Oh well, I'm not pleased with the jeans now although it's still my 'baby' =D I'll probably get started on the skirt I bought soon enough. Probably during my coming holidays.

Oh, and it's about time I finally got my sandwich toaster! YEAY! I've been collecting loads and loads of Tesco stamps just for it. Heck I drag my mom there for weekly shopping. My dad calls it the waste of modern consumerism. Buying for the sake of getting the stamps. When I finally got enough stamps to make the exchange, the 1st week, I forgot to bring along my stamped card =( *slap my head*  Making things worse, that was the 1st time in weeks that I actually saw them having a new stock of toasters. It is usually out of stock. The 2nd week (yes, I actually remembered my card this time), surprise surprise... out of stock. When I asked them how long before they replenish a new batch... the lady actually said, why don't you check back in 2 weeks? No offence but is she stupid? 2 weeks from then would have been after the end of the promotion. What was I going to do with a stack of stamped cards after the promotion ended? Anyway, after a lot of annoying talk, she told me to call the customer service to check for availability. That's what I did... and I finally got it!!! Hooraaaahhh!!!

This entry was supposed to be made yesterday but I was too busy. Only managed a draft... so I guess the date's off, but I'm not going to change it.

Mood: Heck, I forgot my mood for yesterday

New Links

Just for the sake of it, I'd like to add that I finally made use of my links column in the sidebar. I didn't really have any links that I wished to share, so I just added the links to 2 of the online games that I've been constantly playing.
Neopets is a game that I started playing more than 6 years ago I think. I don't play it as often nowadays but I still like to open it up every once in awhile (only because I like seeing the amount of neopoints I have in my account and make it grow).
Gunbound is something I picked up only slightly more than 1 month ago. The Internet here sucks so I don't play as much these days. Other players may complain about my connection lagging and I think it's unfair for them to have to wait for me. But I still play it if the net's good.

Mood : sleepy Zzzzzz...

Brain freeze buffet...

I wouldn't mind going through the idea of brain freeze only for the sake of a Haegan Daz ice cream buffet.

Ok, so I haven't actually gone for it yet, but the thought of it seems rather appealing. Maybe I can try to drag my parents into it this weekend =D Yummy for my tummy!!! Heck, I'll probably be feeling guilty for weeks if I ever decide to go for it. Just imagine all those calories!!! =(

So I'm feeling great at the moment (even despite the pain I'm still suffering which I've now identified as heartburn) because I've finally completed another of my seemingly-never-ending list of assignments. Hmm... I think I have only 2 more to go after this. Not only that, my jeans gets the top priority of my free time once again (for the moment). I hope to finish them by tomorrow!!!

I don't really know why I'm not bothered by all this heartburn issue. My friends tried to persuade me to see a doc, but I refused. Mainly, I feel that this is another one of those things that will pass in a couple of days. I even ate a lot for supper again (2 pieces of fried chicken and 10 pieces of lekor)!!! Problem is, I still think that the heartburn had been caused by my late night snack 2 nights ago... but I'm as stubborn as a mule, I guess. I don't really care about all these small things.

Mood : Still hungry and thinking about food =P

Hectic!!!

What a tiring day today was!!!!
 
The day started out at 8 a.m. when I woke up because I had class at 9. And it started off really well too. Just imagine, sitting in the Human Resource class for the 4th time in the entire semester, and walking out of it with 2 free movie tickets in my hands =D How I actually managed to spot the 'quiz' quetion for a presentation was rather unexpected.
 
All of us had been looking forward to this day for quite awhile... only because we had plans to go to Mid Valley in my mum's car. And buy crystal beads!!! Between 3 of us, we managed to spend more than RM 100 on crystals alone. It helps with the fact that we got some of the crystals very much cheaper than it's original price (so much so that we bought their entire stock on that particualr colour =D). Plus, I also bought some clothes... I know I spent way over my budget today but shopaholics never learn anything.
 
After MV, we had to attend an interview with my dad in his office for our HR project. It went surprisingly well. I kept worrying about getting criticised for every detail. From the time of arrival, to the interview and questionnaire questions, a lot of other stuff. But it nothing bad happened. In fact, my dad seemed pleased with the questions but he was a bit annoyed with the fact that we were late (and I couldn't tell him we were too busy shopping in MV!). Everyone there was nice and cheery, we all seemed to think that they must really like it there. When my dad stated that more than 200 employees were needed for the company to qualify in an event and they only had about 70, I was almost ready to tell him that he'll be adding another 5 more of us soon =P I just really likes the atmosphere of the place...
 
We had class at night and did more assignment work after that. It was a bit tiring with the audit case which we kept running into speedbumps with, but we finally got through most of it today, thankfully. But I have to admit, I think one of our members qualify for the last part of the quote at the bottom, no offence meant. But it annoyed me that throughout the whole time we were discussing, I don't think she barely mentioned a word or contributed anything. We ended it all with going through the answers for today's interview to clarify them. I'm glad the day has ended... I really do feel worn out, especially since I keep complaining about a pain in my stomach every few minutes the entire day. Karma for being greedy I think... must have been yesterday's late night snack.
 
The day is finally ending at 3.35 a.m. Goodnite!!!

Mood : extremely tired but satisfied
 
Quote of the moment : "I have just learnt that it is not true that people are your greatest assets. GREAT people are your greatest assets... lousy people are your biggest liabilities." NK Tong, Managing Director of Bukit Kiara Properties

Mixture of feelings...

I'm really not sure how I should feel about the whole event with Adam today.
 
The most obvious feeling I'm sure many people noticed today was being really sad. I'm not sure how many of my friends actually saw that I had been crying right after leaving his room today though. I'm glad no one said anything...but the worst part was to cry in front of him. I seriously can't handle all that he said...worst of all was how much of a disappointment I must have been to him. And I think he really was sincere in his hopes in me.
 
I guess I could say I was touched by it all too... when he said he really wanted to try to guide me through my professional papers in the first sitting, it felt nice. I mean, it must be nice to know that he cares, even past his duties beyond his duties as a university lecturer.
 
Then of course, there's the feeling of relief. I've been reminding myself over and over to tell him how sorry I had been, and now that it's been done, I'm glad I got it past me. Funny he said it didn't matter though, he never did take anything into heart...but it's still a lot of load taken of my chest.
 
Oh, but despite all that crying, one thing did make me happy. He actually commented on me being an objective thinker and furthermore, he thinks that I can understand tax better as compared to Joseph. I mean like... WOW! Oh gosh... it's Joseph we're talking about. He's like all brains. I've always felt that Joseph was like waaaaaayyy up above me. But it doesn't really bother me because I never believed in studying as much as he does, I mean, look at the amount of time he spends in the library. Sorry, but I'm not interested. I don't know if Adam actually meant what he said, but it sure does make me feel a lot better... loads!!!
Hmmm... it does seem to have a bit of deja vu effect on me though. My parents also tell me the same thing (comparing me with my brother that is...). It's like, I don't really get grades as high as he does but still, my parents do think I understand things faster. And I communicate and handle situations better than him... but my biggest flaw (which I believe almost everyone close to me can vouch for) is my laziness. Not that I'm intending to make any drastic changes about that flaw.
 
Oh well, after that was over, the rest of the day isn't so bad...my jeans project which got stalled due to my marker running out of ink was back in progress. My gang had a nice dinner out for a change making full use of my mum's car. Although I'm not exactly that keen on spending 10 bucks for dinner (we accounting students have the right to be stingy... it's in our nature) but all's fine by the end of the day =)
 
Mood : Very eager to get back to my jeans, better to make some progress now before I drag myself to work on the AIS assignment.
 

Memories of the past...

It's nice to chat with my dad sometimes...
 
The topic of my chat with him this afternoon was some stuff which happened in the past. They weren't particularly fond memories, heck I don't even remember some of them. But there are 2 things that I found worthy of mentioning.
 
Firstly, it was rather interesting that my brother was born chubby, and I was tiny. My dad said he looked like a little monk with the chubby face and bald head. We even have a framed photo of him gleeing away happily leaning against the armrest of a sofa. Right after that photo was taken, he fell off the sofa, toppled over the armrest. My dad likes to point out that he was too fat then. Funnily enough, he grew to be really skinny in his both primary and secondary school days.
As for me, the tiny baby grew to be really greedy. I'd pick up stuff from the floor only to stuff it into my mouth thinking that all things are edible. My dad said I was a real nuisance because I'd be running around in my baby roller, trying to pick up things and toppling over all the time. I grew up to be really chubby and put up with a lot of fat jokes in my schooling days. I still remember the 'kind' words some people used for me..."She's not fat... just big-boned". Isssshhhh...
Oh, my brother's height shot up during his university days and grew broader, so he's not skinny and gawky anymore. I lost weight when I entered university as well, so I'm not fat (but I'd still love to be thinner).
 
Another story my dad reminded me off today was one that happened when I was in Form 5. I can't remembered what argument I got into with my parents that time. But it was quite a big one, and my dad had threatened to send me off to study in Catholic High school. I dreaded that place. It was full of chinese educated people, and I know I'd never survive there, being a 'banana' and all. What I did the next day was locked both my room as well as my brother's (his was connected to mine and he was studying in Johor), and placed a note on my door... 'Since I'll be changing schools, there's no point in attending school today'. And I nicely slept without bothering to wake up.
Boy was my mum pissed. She knocked on my door repeatedly really loudly and my dad had to talk to me to get me to go to school (it helped that he promised not to change my school). My dad later added..."even until today, I never quite understood the logic of that note". Funny, even until today, I still see a lot of logic in it!!! Oh, my mum made me do all my cooking and washing and everything else for awhile because she kinda refused to be my mum =P It took awhile for her to cool off...
 
It may not really be the nicest memories but it's still nice to think back about things that happened in the past sometimes. It always amazes me how serious things can be when that particular event is taking place at that time. When we are 'in the moment', emotions run much stronger and you can't really be a judge of the situation fairly without being influenced by that emotion. It's very much later when you look back at your life that you realise a lot more had happened, that you were too blind to see then. 

Mood : I'm not sure, it's kinda a mixture due to my memories but I am a bit frustrated with the quality of the assignments I'm involved in these days