This is probably familiar to most Sabahans out there.
And now for a different version of this song...
Happy Kaamatan people!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Stupidity...
It's not often that I blog about things just simply because they bug me.
My criteria for posting on this blog has always been this - STICK TO THE THEME! STICK TO THE THEME!
Well, actually I won't be breaking that rule this time... it still does relate to the theme, although it somehow becomes secondary to how stupid some people can be.
My story starts out like this...
I was at The Curve with my girlfriend and her mom and we happened to walk outside to the "park" section (if I may call it that) where SPCA was putting up dogs and cats and bunnies for adoption. I think there were various other pet-related stalls there too.
So there I was minding my own business looking at the furry little animals when this lady, probably in her 40s or so, walked up to me and tried to strike up a conversation.
At first I thought she was just one of the SPCA volunteers who were trying to gauge potential fosterers for the pets there.
The weird, or shall I say stupid, thing was the manner in which she tried to make small talk with me.
Her first question was if I was a student.
I was like "Does it matter what I do when I just wanna come look at some pets?"
Then she said she thought I was a student because I was wearing a cap, which apparently made me look younger. Riiiiight....
She then asked where we lived and whether I kept any pets at home. At this point I already feel uncomfortable with the barrage of questions.
I mean for crying out loud, I just wanted to have a look. If I start asking about the adoption procedures, then it's a different story coz that would mean I'm actually seriously thinking of adopting. But hell no, I haven't even had a good look at the pets!
I said I didn't keep any because I rented a room somewhere and then when she pressed on about where we lived, my girlfriend's mom just told her all three of us lived in different places - I live within the Klang Valley, my girlfriend's mom lives in a different state and my girlfriend works in another country.
Obviously, she wasn't paying much attention because she only latched on to the foreign country bit and started querying if we were foreigners.
It took a while before she got it into that thick head of hers that we were ALL Malaysians.
And then came the pitch - she said she wanted to show me something and proceeded to pass me some WWF brochure.
Now it becomes clear to me. She wasn't an SPCA volunteer. She's with one of those agencies that solicits funds for WWF.
Ok, fair enough, she wanted to see if I'd be interested in making donations to WWF. Why the hell didn't she say so in the first place??? Instead she had to "act" friendly and attempt to make small talk, which she failed miserably because she was extremely fake.
And guess what she asked me after handing me the brochure?
"Have you heard of WWF?"
Goodness, I was thinking to myself "Of course I've heard of WWF lady. What, you think I lived under a rock for the past two decades of my life or something?"
She then started probing to see if I'm already contributing to the fund or something like that.
I made the mistake of telling her that I have a relative who works for WWF and that this relative of mine tells me about their programs all the time.
Again, she asked where this relative of mine was based.
I told her that my relative was based in KK, and she gave me a look and said, "Oh... KK... that's so far..."
Annoyed that I already was, I disagreed and said KK's not that very far because I'm from there.
Whatever that came out of her mouth next really justifies why I set up this blog in the first place.
First, she was like "Oh... you're from KK, no wonder you look a bit different. People from there look different than people from here. Here people look very city-like. There, the people look like.. like..."
As she struggled to find her words, I said sarcastically... "like we're from the jungle right?"
And guess what, she agreed with me.
"Ya, people from Sarawak, you all look different... that's why... and you guys like to wear caps... more sporty..."
I was thinking to myself: "WTF, man? Which rock did YOU just crawled out from? Punyalah main bodoh kau..."
First, she couldn't even get the state right. I mean it's forgiveable if you mistake which state I'm from if I say I'm from Ranau or Sandakan or Tamparuli, but hello? KK? Kota Kinabalu? That's a capital you know?
Penang has its Georgetown, Perak has its Ipoh, Kedah has its Alor Star, Pahang has its Kuantan, Kelantan has its Kota Baru, etc....
Then, she had to go on and on about my cap. I was having a bad hair day... so sue me. I think people on THIS side of the country wear caps too, just like people from the OTHER side of the country where I'm from...
Finally, I decided I really couldn't take it anymore and just told her: "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a look at the animals now."
Gila eh.... I think this was just like the scenario in a documentary I saw that claimed Christianity was a sham. Before you start declaring that I'm the son of satan for even uttering Christianity and sham in the same sentence, don't get me wrong, I'm a Christian myself. I just like to keep an open mind.
Anyway, the guy in the documentary was pointing out how the age of the world was different scientifically as compared to the Bible and asked to explain the existence of dinosaur fossils.
One staunch Christian replied: "God put them there to test our faith."
The guy's reply? "I think God put you (the staunch Christian) here to test MY faith."
In my case, I seriously think God put that woman there to test mine.
Oh, and would you believe just about five minutes later she approached my girlfriend's mom again without realising she had already spoken to her?
Go figure...
My criteria for posting on this blog has always been this - STICK TO THE THEME! STICK TO THE THEME!
Well, actually I won't be breaking that rule this time... it still does relate to the theme, although it somehow becomes secondary to how stupid some people can be.
My story starts out like this...
I was at The Curve with my girlfriend and her mom and we happened to walk outside to the "park" section (if I may call it that) where SPCA was putting up dogs and cats and bunnies for adoption. I think there were various other pet-related stalls there too.
So there I was minding my own business looking at the furry little animals when this lady, probably in her 40s or so, walked up to me and tried to strike up a conversation.
At first I thought she was just one of the SPCA volunteers who were trying to gauge potential fosterers for the pets there.
The weird, or shall I say stupid, thing was the manner in which she tried to make small talk with me.
Her first question was if I was a student.
I was like "Does it matter what I do when I just wanna come look at some pets?"
Then she said she thought I was a student because I was wearing a cap, which apparently made me look younger. Riiiiight....
She then asked where we lived and whether I kept any pets at home. At this point I already feel uncomfortable with the barrage of questions.
I mean for crying out loud, I just wanted to have a look. If I start asking about the adoption procedures, then it's a different story coz that would mean I'm actually seriously thinking of adopting. But hell no, I haven't even had a good look at the pets!
I said I didn't keep any because I rented a room somewhere and then when she pressed on about where we lived, my girlfriend's mom just told her all three of us lived in different places - I live within the Klang Valley, my girlfriend's mom lives in a different state and my girlfriend works in another country.
Obviously, she wasn't paying much attention because she only latched on to the foreign country bit and started querying if we were foreigners.
It took a while before she got it into that thick head of hers that we were ALL Malaysians.
And then came the pitch - she said she wanted to show me something and proceeded to pass me some WWF brochure.
Now it becomes clear to me. She wasn't an SPCA volunteer. She's with one of those agencies that solicits funds for WWF.
Ok, fair enough, she wanted to see if I'd be interested in making donations to WWF. Why the hell didn't she say so in the first place??? Instead she had to "act" friendly and attempt to make small talk, which she failed miserably because she was extremely fake.
And guess what she asked me after handing me the brochure?
"Have you heard of WWF?"
Goodness, I was thinking to myself "Of course I've heard of WWF lady. What, you think I lived under a rock for the past two decades of my life or something?"
She then started probing to see if I'm already contributing to the fund or something like that.
I made the mistake of telling her that I have a relative who works for WWF and that this relative of mine tells me about their programs all the time.
Again, she asked where this relative of mine was based.
I told her that my relative was based in KK, and she gave me a look and said, "Oh... KK... that's so far..."
Annoyed that I already was, I disagreed and said KK's not that very far because I'm from there.
Whatever that came out of her mouth next really justifies why I set up this blog in the first place.
First, she was like "Oh... you're from KK, no wonder you look a bit different. People from there look different than people from here. Here people look very city-like. There, the people look like.. like..."
As she struggled to find her words, I said sarcastically... "like we're from the jungle right?"
And guess what, she agreed with me.
"Ya, people from Sarawak, you all look different... that's why... and you guys like to wear caps... more sporty..."
I was thinking to myself: "WTF, man? Which rock did YOU just crawled out from? Punyalah main bodoh kau..."
First, she couldn't even get the state right. I mean it's forgiveable if you mistake which state I'm from if I say I'm from Ranau or Sandakan or Tamparuli, but hello? KK? Kota Kinabalu? That's a capital you know?
Penang has its Georgetown, Perak has its Ipoh, Kedah has its Alor Star, Pahang has its Kuantan, Kelantan has its Kota Baru, etc....
Then, she had to go on and on about my cap. I was having a bad hair day... so sue me. I think people on THIS side of the country wear caps too, just like people from the OTHER side of the country where I'm from...
Finally, I decided I really couldn't take it anymore and just told her: "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a look at the animals now."
Gila eh.... I think this was just like the scenario in a documentary I saw that claimed Christianity was a sham. Before you start declaring that I'm the son of satan for even uttering Christianity and sham in the same sentence, don't get me wrong, I'm a Christian myself. I just like to keep an open mind.
Anyway, the guy in the documentary was pointing out how the age of the world was different scientifically as compared to the Bible and asked to explain the existence of dinosaur fossils.
One staunch Christian replied: "God put them there to test our faith."
The guy's reply? "I think God put you (the staunch Christian) here to test MY faith."
In my case, I seriously think God put that woman there to test mine.
Oh, and would you believe just about five minutes later she approached my girlfriend's mom again without realising she had already spoken to her?
Go figure...
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Spotlight's on us!
Hey, guess what?
All eyes are on us again...
If all the speculations about the impending jumps are true, then I can see it now in the front pages of the newspapers...
SABAHANS JUMP!
*ribbit*
*ribbit*
All eyes are on us again...
If all the speculations about the impending jumps are true, then I can see it now in the front pages of the newspapers...
SABAHANS JUMP!
*ribbit*
*ribbit*
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Only in name....
The Malaysian Bar.
National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE).
National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
What do these three bodies have in common?
They are but a few examples of how the words "national" and "Malaysian" are misused in this day and age.
Why?
Well, all three of these organisations do not represent the people from their respective professions at a national level.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Malaysian Bar only represents lawyers practising in Peninsular Malaysia.
NUBE even states it very clearly on its website that it's a "national union representing workers in the banking and financial institutions in Peninsular Malaysia."
As for NUJ, it only has branches in Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd, Berita Harian Sdn Bhd, New Straits Times Press, The Sun Media Corporation, Star Publications, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Kwong Wah Yit Poh, all of which are peninsula-based.
For such big organisations, you'd think they'd come up with names that properly represents who and what they really represent.
Unfortunately, they must have overlooked this little detail, or rather, perhaps they overlooked entirely the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak once again.
After all, to this very day, there are people who still think Malaysia = Semenanjung Malaysia only and Sabahans and Sarawakians are "foreigners."
Heck, I remember one guy I met in the course of my work who referred to "an Indonesian, a Sarawakian, and a Peninsular Malaysian" as "orang Indon, orang Sarawak dan orang Malaysia."
Go figure.
National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE).
National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
What do these three bodies have in common?
They are but a few examples of how the words "national" and "Malaysian" are misused in this day and age.
Why?
Well, all three of these organisations do not represent the people from their respective professions at a national level.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Malaysian Bar only represents lawyers practising in Peninsular Malaysia.
NUBE even states it very clearly on its website that it's a "national union representing workers in the banking and financial institutions in Peninsular Malaysia."
As for NUJ, it only has branches in Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd, Berita Harian Sdn Bhd, New Straits Times Press, The Sun Media Corporation, Star Publications, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Kwong Wah Yit Poh, all of which are peninsula-based.
For such big organisations, you'd think they'd come up with names that properly represents who and what they really represent.
Unfortunately, they must have overlooked this little detail, or rather, perhaps they overlooked entirely the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak once again.
After all, to this very day, there are people who still think Malaysia = Semenanjung Malaysia only and Sabahans and Sarawakians are "foreigners."
Heck, I remember one guy I met in the course of my work who referred to "an Indonesian, a Sarawakian, and a Peninsular Malaysian" as "orang Indon, orang Sarawak dan orang Malaysia."
Go figure.
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