The singer vs the space tourist....

This topic is purely accidental.

I was google-ing Che'Nelle's song "I fell in love with a deejay" just now because I was trying to find out how to spell her name.

I wanted to post something else that involved her you see but I guess that'll have to wait.

After google-ing the song title, I stumbled onto the Youtube page featuring the song and started scrolling through the comments posted there.

Scroll scroll scroll.... and guess what I found?

This:

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ppppesaaaa (1 week ago)
alah!!! nak bangga buat menda..bukan dia yang naik kat atas langit i mean ISS..tadek jasa pon untuk negara...kalau nak cakap orang sabah best pon tak jugak..orang dayak mana sesuai nak menyanyi..melalak dalam hutan boleh laaa.ramai artis malaysia lagi best dr budak nih...cuma diorang nih tak stay kay luar negara..budak nih jadi popular sbb dia dok oversea..orang luar nampak talant dia..

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Let me first go on record to say I'm not a fan of Che'Nelle.

Sure she's a Sabahan, sure she's attractive , sure she's got a nice voice and knows how to sing.

I think her song sounds good, especially when you're partying away to it in clubs.

But hey, I'm not much of a clubbing person so I guess that's why I'm not ecstatic over it. That's why I can't say I'm a fan of hers.

But when I saw that comment on Youtube, I got cheezed off. As in REALLY cheezed off.

Not only was this clown dissing Che'Nelle, but he was dissing every Sabahan as well. I can't take that lying down now, can I?

See, I don't get why the clown who posted this (a West Malaysian no doubt, most likely Malay - I'll tell you why I'm so sure of this later) had to attack the entire state of Sabah just because he (or she) didn't think Che'Nelle is good enough.

This clown seems to think that just because someone had "naik kat atas langit", that means he's all that. I suppose that makes you berjasa kepada negara la.

Well, sure... jasa indeed.... if spending a few million (or was it billion) ringgit to become a space tourist is considered berjasa.

Instead of spending the tax payers money on something that makes a difference to the lives of Malaysians like making sure the public delivery system is efficient or pave the pothole-ridden roads, the millions and millions of ringgit get channeled to satisfying our egos as citizens of Boleh-land.

(As I write this, I think the Government is actually considering spending some MORE money on acquiring the space craft that our beloved space tourist was on.)

I don't have anything against our beloved Angkasawan. It's just that our government seems to be more pre-occupied with trying to convince people that we're sending a full-fledged astronaut up there to the ISS, when clearly we were not.

One live feed that they showed on Astro had me laughing non-stop.

Here was our beloved Angkasawan posing with the rest of the crew and all he could do was start shaking his hips around like he was playing a hula hoop up in space.

All this on live national (ahem, should I say international just to stroke our Boleh ego again) television.

Although I can't confirm this, I heard our Science, Technology and Innovation Minister also made a fool of himself when he mistook Louis Armstrong as the first man on the moon.

"What a wonderful world" indeed if this is true.

I don't know what that clown, ppppesaaaa, was thinking when he wrote that comment but maybe this'll open his eyes a bit.

Eh wait, stupidity has nothing to do with the eyes.

Anyway, this clown should get his facts right before he started posting comments on the internet.

Dayaks are found in Sarawak, not Sabah. And yes, we are two different states although I doubt you, ppppesaaaa, have enough IQ to tell the difference.

And guess what ppppesaaaa, Che'Nelle didn't really have to "dok oversea" for "orang luar" to "nampak talant dia.."

"Orang luar nampak talant dia" on her MySpace page.

I have no idea what "melalak" means but hey, as a Sabahan, I 'm proud that my state still has hutans (even though there are parties who are trying to strip that away from us).

And as for the other Malaysian artistes who are "lagi best dr budak nih", by all means show the world what you can do. Talk is cheap.

As for you ppppesaaaa, go crawl back under the rock that you came from. You belong there.

Keep making music Che'Nelle! The world is listening... and a lot of them are Sabahans who are proud of you. Very proud of you...

Size... matters?

Take a look at this map of Malaysia which I stumbled upon at the Kuala Terengganu airport.

Notice anything weird about it?







Maybe this is not such a good example.



Try this next one, which was published on the front page of a national English daily.

Notice anything yet? No?

Okay, now try this little billboard. Look for the Malaysian map on it.

Here's a close-up:

Get my point yet?

Such misrepresentations - Sabah and Sarawak being made to look smaller than Peninsular Malaysia - are everywhere.

Would you believe there are even some people who think distorted maps like these represent reality?

A friend of mine from Pahang once claimed her state was bigger than Sabah.

This was until I pointed out to her that Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia, with the largest being Sarawak, and that Pahang is only the largest state in the peninsula.

While we're at it, let's have a little geographical facts about Malaysia:

According to VirtualMalaysia, Malaysia has a total area of 329, 847 sq km.

I can't find the total area of Peninsular Malaysia or East Malaysia anywhere on the site so let's do some math using some information from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia says Sarawak has a total area of 124, 450 sq km while Sabah has a total area of 76, 115 sq km.

So that means East Malaysia as a whole covers a total area of 200, 565 sq km.

That leaves Peninsular Malaysia with 129, 282 sq km.

Now compare the sizes of Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia... quite close no?

Then how is it that some idiots can still screw it up when they draw the maps?

If you wanna enlarge the peninsula for some reason, then put a bloody disclaimer there to say that the map is EXAGGERATED!

Otherwise, it's MISLEADING!

And sometimes it's not just the maps...

Ever hear commercials that go: "We have branches nationwide" and when you check, they only have branches in the peninsula?

Or the ones that go, "Available throughout Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak."

Does that mean Sabah and Sarawak are not included when they say "throughout Malaysia?"

Granted, the only people who realise these things (and get offended by them) are the East Malaysians.

The reason is probably this: Our part of the country is being belittled literally.

And you wanna know the saddest part about all this?

These "crimes" are not just committed by private companies. The Government is equally guilty.

Just look at these maps on Tourism Malaysia's website.

In its Map Resources page, this is what the map of Malaysia looks like.

And then, they have a "detailed map" of Malaysia that looks like this.


You even find something similar in the Prime Minister's Office's website under "States of Malaysia."

Is the East side of the country that much of a threat to the West that it has to have its size reduced to accommodate the West?

Is it not bad enough that Sabah and Sarawak are referred to as the "less developed states" in VirtualMalaysia?

Until these mistakes are corrected, I think there can never be any true equality in this country of ours.

And we haven't even touched on the racial topic yet.