why 6000? because that's the amount of words for FYP. then why 1500? because that's the amount of words for 50% of a 3AU-course. Crap. For 8AUs and 1 whole year, they only need to write 6000 words, but for one sem and 1.5AUs, they want me to write 1500 words!? That's just so not proportional.
and the worst part is? i haven't started a single word. 0 down, 1500 to go. Man, am i doomed, or am i doomed? i think this is the SU-effect, the result of me being affirmed that the course can no longer do me any harm, and therefore i slack off with it. however, no matter what, it just still doesn't make sense... yes, the course is screwed up, but if i'm screwed, so would others right? afterall, the test system is on a bell-curve, so as long as i'm less screwed than the other, i'm fine! the only problem is how do i know where am i on the curve, and the fact is i won't know, because for the course, there is only a final exam and this long essay! oh, if you are wondering what course is this, it's kinda like a philosophy course revolving on one phrase: art as a representation of life. with that, we start to look upon various forms of art, to actual paintings, to movies, or stage performances and what not... sigh, i think my main concern now is whether or not to SU this course... and the main reason why i'm wondering, i believe, is because of this other 3AU-course that is equally screwed up, but one i feel others may not be as screwed up as me. decisions, decisions, decisions... sometimes i wonder, what made me took this course? i never thought the university actually offers courses on philosophy... *gasp* OMG!! watever just happened!? is that right, is that right?? LOL, facebook is really an amazing place... i just found out that my sister is engaged! LOL!! that was sudden!! at the same time, hall is very sucky place, every now and then, it kicks me out of facebook, it kicks me out of msn, sigh...
oh right, i think i wanted to write a bunch of craps here as a start for my 1500 words essay... kinda like searching for ideas and stuff... i'm currently supporting this notion that your life is really only 10% yours. Basically, at birth, you have already been determined to be a male or a female, given certain predispositions to be of a certain kind of person, such as being talented in this and not that, or just naturally taller or shorter... more possible to be obese, inheriting various genetic diseases... before you even know who you are, you are already made to be somebody, whether you like it or not. being born into a poor family, or as heir of royalty, life is different no wonder you like it or not. A poor man can never become a royalty, nor can a royalty live like a poor man. Such things are not changeable by effort, or in other words, beyond our control. isn't it interesting that most people from any race or region has religion? or that the word "fate" exists in various languages? Such is the proof that people are not free to be what they want to be in their life. Many would argue that my points are certainly valid, but are too extreme an example to be applied to the general public. Are there not many examples of great men rising from harsh conditions? Such examples of course show that it is possible to change our lives, but it also show just how rare this happens. Indeed, i did not say that we are totally not in control of our lives, but rather, we control only 10% of what we think, say or act. Yes, even the things you think may not be what you want to think, or rather what you think you want to think. To put it simply, I will illustrate this to you. First, think of the future job that you want to be. How do you know if that is what you really want? Are you sure you are not just acting according to what your parents told you to? if you are actually defying your parents, how do you know you are defying because you want to? This can go on, but i believe you get my point. The thing is, the person we believe we are, the choices we believe we made, sometimes are really just a delusion we give ourselves to make us feel in control. Explicitly, alot of people will say that they have done something because of a bunch of reasons other than out of their will, but even if the minority who said that they have acted out of their own free will, subconsciously, the world has already shaped their "free will". This concept is heavily explored in the movie "The Matrix". In the movie, we see Neo being tied to his fate, no matter how hard he tries. It would seem that he is acting out of his own choice, but if that is the case, then how is it that the Oracle can predict what would happen? Throughout the trilogy, the idea of choice is explored recurrently, such as when Neo was offered candy by the Oracle, he asked if he still has a choice of taking the candy or not if she has already know whether or not he is going to take it. The reply was, we are not here to make a choice, we have already made our choice, what is left is to understand it. From my point of view, what it is saying is that we have no choice, because whatever choices we made, we made it because... you know what, i think i shall stop here. lol, getting abit long...
Friday, March 5
Monday, January 11
Religion and Malaysia today
Monday, January 11
So they are bombing the churches now... seriously, i don't find it that surprising... if you have truly considered the possibilities, you will find some inevitabilities in the action patterns in these ruling ppl... yes, i bring them up because i believe this whole thing is just another of their plans to stay in control... it fits prefectly well with what they have previously done, and the whole "Allah" taboo totally came out of nowhere... just like them to think of something like this... following, i will give my opinion on why they have done certain things:
Why Allah?
or another way to phrase it, why Islam? why religion? because it's the most sensitive issue available in malaysia. We boast ourselves as a free religion country, but no sound-minded person will actually agree with that. Come on, Malaysia is an Islamic country, admit it! No thanks to Mahathir, of course... totally screwing the Malays' minds with all his extremist attitude and propaganda... so, anything islam, and guarantee a group of malays will stand up in support... they don't have to bomb everywhere, just one place, one time... and the rest will follow, like bee to honey... next thing u know, we can't even use the word Islam!
Why church?
Yes, why Christianity, and not Buddhism or Hinduism? Simple. First i'll explain why not buddhism, which is really very easy, cuz there won't be as big a public outcry as it is now! buddhists are not as passionate about their religion as christians, and the effect that they hope to create (i will talk about this later) will not be of impact, of value... but of course that's the case only in malaysia... as much as they hate to admit it, malaysia is still alive thanks to China, so they don't really wanna do anything that could get this big power all worked up... the other country of concern is Thailand, where their monks hold quite a prestigious status despite being monks... since these two countries would not hesitate to take actions, best not mess with them! moving on to hinduism, first reason: too few people. Yes, there are too few Indians left in malaysia nowadays, at least percentage wise. second, Hindu temples are sacred to them, as we can see from all the articles on building, destroying of hindu temples... a Hindu temple takes years to build, since they emphasize alot of craftmanship, and therefore prefers things build by humans, and not machines... hence, the whole bombing hindu temple business will not be taken lightly, and this time, we may even see bloodshed... that's not what they want... and so, to christians... bombing a church will create the necessary outcry, yet not the unnecessary retaliation, simple because christians are more... civilized, for lack of a better word... they dislike agression, and so they will have all their group supports, rally etc, but no more... christians in other countries will probably do the same, and maybe sign some petitions and stuff, but the country leaders will be least likely to take actions, since afterall this is a political matter which is none of their concern, and they are restricted by all the associations that they form. hence, the choice of christianity is perfect.
why bomb it?
now comes their motive. why do it? of course it's not because we use the word Allah, duh! what they are doing is simple: divide and conquer. what they want is to create a gap between races, religions, people... they do not want a One Malaysia, because if we were united, then they will definitely fall. It's like how they have always been doing, as it is taught to them by the countries that once took us as their colony... after so many years divided by the single act of Special Rights to the malays, are we going to be fooled into another trap by this stupid bombing? from the looks of it, we are. examining facebook is the fastest, as we see many groups popping up about this arson incident... this is precisely what they want! by being in a group, you are isolating yourself from all the out-groups, condemning all who is condemned by your group... how many years of education, have it taught us nothing?
Why Allah?
or another way to phrase it, why Islam? why religion? because it's the most sensitive issue available in malaysia. We boast ourselves as a free religion country, but no sound-minded person will actually agree with that. Come on, Malaysia is an Islamic country, admit it! No thanks to Mahathir, of course... totally screwing the Malays' minds with all his extremist attitude and propaganda... so, anything islam, and guarantee a group of malays will stand up in support... they don't have to bomb everywhere, just one place, one time... and the rest will follow, like bee to honey... next thing u know, we can't even use the word Islam!
Why church?
Yes, why Christianity, and not Buddhism or Hinduism? Simple. First i'll explain why not buddhism, which is really very easy, cuz there won't be as big a public outcry as it is now! buddhists are not as passionate about their religion as christians, and the effect that they hope to create (i will talk about this later) will not be of impact, of value... but of course that's the case only in malaysia... as much as they hate to admit it, malaysia is still alive thanks to China, so they don't really wanna do anything that could get this big power all worked up... the other country of concern is Thailand, where their monks hold quite a prestigious status despite being monks... since these two countries would not hesitate to take actions, best not mess with them! moving on to hinduism, first reason: too few people. Yes, there are too few Indians left in malaysia nowadays, at least percentage wise. second, Hindu temples are sacred to them, as we can see from all the articles on building, destroying of hindu temples... a Hindu temple takes years to build, since they emphasize alot of craftmanship, and therefore prefers things build by humans, and not machines... hence, the whole bombing hindu temple business will not be taken lightly, and this time, we may even see bloodshed... that's not what they want... and so, to christians... bombing a church will create the necessary outcry, yet not the unnecessary retaliation, simple because christians are more... civilized, for lack of a better word... they dislike agression, and so they will have all their group supports, rally etc, but no more... christians in other countries will probably do the same, and maybe sign some petitions and stuff, but the country leaders will be least likely to take actions, since afterall this is a political matter which is none of their concern, and they are restricted by all the associations that they form. hence, the choice of christianity is perfect.
why bomb it?
now comes their motive. why do it? of course it's not because we use the word Allah, duh! what they are doing is simple: divide and conquer. what they want is to create a gap between races, religions, people... they do not want a One Malaysia, because if we were united, then they will definitely fall. It's like how they have always been doing, as it is taught to them by the countries that once took us as their colony... after so many years divided by the single act of Special Rights to the malays, are we going to be fooled into another trap by this stupid bombing? from the looks of it, we are. examining facebook is the fastest, as we see many groups popping up about this arson incident... this is precisely what they want! by being in a group, you are isolating yourself from all the out-groups, condemning all who is condemned by your group... how many years of education, have it taught us nothing?
Saturday, January 2
New Year Resolution 1: Done!
Saturday, January 2
Before i begin, just wanna complain: WHY CAN'T I CONNECT TO FACEBOOK?? zzz... ok... moving on...
Today i went and watched Sherlock Holmes with a friend, and truly it was pretty entertaining... the story is not so much on mystery, keeping you in the dark at all times, but rather an unobtrusive way of showing you how holmes has noticed all the little things that would fit into the puzzle. Some would compare it to the Prestige, but these two movies are very different, in that the latter presents the story in a more indirect way, making it hard for you to make head or tail of it, and then making it all clear in the end. Sherlock Holmes, however, presents the story directly, just that his process of investigation may seem like a report, plain yet difficult to distill what is important, and therefore though the finale may not come as a surprise, yet it still astonishes you as to how the pieces managed to all fit together nicely.
The movie also gave a touch on the relationship between holmes and watson, but sadly, the whole thing was left in a "in progress" stage, and there is no real conclusion to the whole drama. Still, i suppose any future sherlock holmes will still have his trusty assistant in it, playing one role or another.
However, what i find most amusing is the evolution to Sherlock Holmes, from the old book era, where it's all about looking at the clues, and connecting the dots together, without him actually being involved in collecting the clues; to now, where it is not enough to just have the brains to be a famous detective, but you also need to appropriate physical ability to carry out what the brain thinks. To some extent, it gives the character a more realistic touch, since afterall, what makes a good detective is in his ability to find important details that others would usually leave out, and with today's more and more popular CSI shows, we learn how crime scenes may carry information vital to solving the crime, but only human failure to locate it can diminish its value. Therefore, it is logical to assume that Holmes would have to be very active as well in his role of solving mysteries. More importantly i think, is the change in our time, when being specialized is no longer enough, and people are expected to be holistic, capable of dealing with diffferent fields and integrating the knowledge, a time that demands much more from man, and this demand will also be transferred and expected of the world greatest detective, however fictious he was. Hence, we see the man that used to be depicted as a fine gentleman, be transformed to a more quirky person, believing in hands-on actions in his investigation, rather than just sitting around, drinking tea while looking through piles of papers. We are indeed witnessing a change in our time, where the standard of extraordinary has just become even higher, and the norm is no longer normal anymore... there was a theory that human as a race has two choice: evolve or extinct. Now seems like the crossroad between these choices, and our decision, action may very well influence the outcome of our entire race... hopefully mankind is ready for this change.
Today i went and watched Sherlock Holmes with a friend, and truly it was pretty entertaining... the story is not so much on mystery, keeping you in the dark at all times, but rather an unobtrusive way of showing you how holmes has noticed all the little things that would fit into the puzzle. Some would compare it to the Prestige, but these two movies are very different, in that the latter presents the story in a more indirect way, making it hard for you to make head or tail of it, and then making it all clear in the end. Sherlock Holmes, however, presents the story directly, just that his process of investigation may seem like a report, plain yet difficult to distill what is important, and therefore though the finale may not come as a surprise, yet it still astonishes you as to how the pieces managed to all fit together nicely.
The movie also gave a touch on the relationship between holmes and watson, but sadly, the whole thing was left in a "in progress" stage, and there is no real conclusion to the whole drama. Still, i suppose any future sherlock holmes will still have his trusty assistant in it, playing one role or another.
However, what i find most amusing is the evolution to Sherlock Holmes, from the old book era, where it's all about looking at the clues, and connecting the dots together, without him actually being involved in collecting the clues; to now, where it is not enough to just have the brains to be a famous detective, but you also need to appropriate physical ability to carry out what the brain thinks. To some extent, it gives the character a more realistic touch, since afterall, what makes a good detective is in his ability to find important details that others would usually leave out, and with today's more and more popular CSI shows, we learn how crime scenes may carry information vital to solving the crime, but only human failure to locate it can diminish its value. Therefore, it is logical to assume that Holmes would have to be very active as well in his role of solving mysteries. More importantly i think, is the change in our time, when being specialized is no longer enough, and people are expected to be holistic, capable of dealing with diffferent fields and integrating the knowledge, a time that demands much more from man, and this demand will also be transferred and expected of the world greatest detective, however fictious he was. Hence, we see the man that used to be depicted as a fine gentleman, be transformed to a more quirky person, believing in hands-on actions in his investigation, rather than just sitting around, drinking tea while looking through piles of papers. We are indeed witnessing a change in our time, where the standard of extraordinary has just become even higher, and the norm is no longer normal anymore... there was a theory that human as a race has two choice: evolve or extinct. Now seems like the crossroad between these choices, and our decision, action may very well influence the outcome of our entire race... hopefully mankind is ready for this change.
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