Hujung Ramadan 1431.
Alor Setar.
Nikon D40 kit + Adobe Lightroom + Nasi Kandar Yasmeen.

Sofort, unverzüglich

On the 9th of November 1989, Günter Schabowski, the spokeperson for the East German regime gave a press conference announcing after much protest and the mass exodus of its population out into West Germany, that the government is finally allowing them to travel abroad.

Back then there was the Berlin Wall. It was built as a defense for the socialist side of Berlin against supposed fascist influence from the capitalist side. While the wall was physically built to surround West Berlin, not unlike a castle wall build around medieval fortresses, it was the people who was on the other side of the enclave that was being imprisoned.

Inside the wall, freedom.

Quite ironic, ja?

Herr Schabowski, while about to finish that rather boring press conference was passed by an intern, a simple note stating that the central committee of East Germany is announcing that its citizens are to be allowed to travel outside of their country without let or hindrance where previously they were required to apply for a visa which of course was often turned down.

See, Herr Schabowski was away during the meeting in which the decision was made and he himself was not aware of it and the simple nature of the note did not help him understand more. The decision was supposed to take effect the following day as to give the border guards enough time to prepare for any eventualities. Instead, after reading the note, Günter Schabowski was asked by journalists on when will the borders be opened, in which he answered "Sofort, unverzüglich".

Immediately, without delay.

The two simple words he uttered was the ending to the long struggle the Berliners, Germans, had against the wall that divided them. The Berlin Wall fell with those two words. Germany was henceforth reunited. The Iron Curtain came down. Communism in Europe ended and eventually, the Soviet Union collapsed.

Sofort, unverzüglich.

Immediately, without delay.

I am often guilty of being not sofort, unverzüglich. I fail to realize the power in being sofort, unverzüglich. Thank you Herr Schabowski for making me realize it, eventhough you never meant it for me, just like how you never meant to tear down the Berlin Wall, just like how you never meant to change the world.



Sofort, unverzüglich.

Syawal 2010.
Batu 5 Suku, Jalan Langgar.
Nikon D40 kit + Adobe Lightroom + Cousins, brothers.

1 Syawal 1431.
Batu 5 Suku, Jalan Langgar.
Nikon D40 kit + Adobe Lightroom + The one that got away, and the one that stuck around.

Towering Things

Just where exactly is the center of Kuala Lumpur? Do we set the colonial edifice of Dataran Merdeka as the center or is it our shine modern spires of KLCC as the center? Well, it has to be KLCC isn't it? Why would they call it the Kuala Lumpur City Center if it wasn't.

I like the skyline of my city, with the Twin Towers on one corner and the KL Tower on the other, bracketing the other smaller buildings between it. It's immediately recognizable, even if you were to draw just the outlines and fill it black. That's KL. The only other city with a skyline quite like ours in Cologne by the Rhine in Germany with the twin spires of the Kölner Dom on one side and across the river, the ubiquitous German TV tower.

But of course, Cologne is smaller than KL with a more rustic look than our messy city.

A Malaysian newspaper a while back reported on the Menteri Besar of Johor talking about how Johor Bahru is getting its own 'KLCC' whereby the land on which their turf club now sits on will be repurposed as the new center of the city and at the center of it all is a tower, no, two towers that is going to look like the Petronas Twin Towers in KL.

Why oh why?

I believe that each city should have a landmark of its own, a distinct landmark mind you, not one 'inspired' by others in some other places near or far. You guys want to show of to Singapore or what? "Owh, those buggers can't see our KLCC, so far. We build one in JB la, baru diorang tau". Senseless. I'm sure there are plenty of skilled Johorean architects that would love to see a modern building as a landmark of their city, a city smaller only to KL itself, rather than having a cheap imitation planted on their soil.

You know what? Take the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower. Go ahead. I think it would serve JB better than it would KL. You want to brag right? Want Singaporeans to see what we can do right? Build that la, so that they can't stand on Bukit Timah without having it on their sight. Good idea what? With a name as kitsch as Warisan Merdeka, JB is the most apt location. Datuk Onn Jaafar, the father of UMNO hails from JB, UMNO started in JB, Johor is the true Malay stronghold, their Sultanate traces its root back to the mighty Malacca itself. Such glory!

So yeah, Dear Leader sir. If you happen to read my blog, I promise to vote for your party if you take that penis-like tower of yours away from Victoria Institution and build it in JB instead. Dangerous la sir, those VI boys, their school is all boys you know. If they see that tower from their classes everyday, they'll get all horny and gatal-gatal.

You surely don't want another MCKK with its Defacto Leader bothering you don't you?

I believe in natural light photography.

1 Syawal 1431.
Batu 5 Suku, Jalan Langgar.
Nikon D40 kit + Adobe Lightroom + Lazing on a Syawal afternoon.

Disclaimer

Ini bukan blog gadis-gadis nak lepas geram dekat bekas kekasih, tapi nak tulis statement-statement vague yang hint-hint kau tak move on lagi tapi buat-buat macam kau dah move on. Kalau kau dah move on kau tak buang masa tulis sajak-sajak dalam bahasa baku yang penuh dengan statement-statement vague yang hint-hint kau tak move on lagi tapi buat-buat macam kau dah move on. Ini bukan blog yang nak mintak maaf sebab dah lama tak update, sorry ya peminat-peminat sekalian, I sibuk dengan kehidupan as if kau betul-betul ada kehidupan. Kau tak tulis sebab kau tak ada idea, bukan sebab life kau happening sangat sampai tak ada masa nak update. Kalau life kau happening sangat kau patut lagi rajin nak update pasal life kau yang happening sangat. Maybe kau boleh post gambar-gambar kau lepak-lepak dengan kawan-kawan, lelaki dan perempuan so bila bekas kekasih kau singgah blog kau tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat kau punya chatbox, dia frust sebab nampak kau happy tanpa dia dan instead of tulis sajak-sajak dalam bahasa baku yang penuh dengan statement-statement vague yang hint-hint kau tak move on lagi tapi buat-buat macam kau dah move on, kau betul-betul move on dan sekarang gembira dengan life kau yang sangat happening yang kau tulis dan post untuk peminat-peminat kau baca sebab life kau betul-betul happening dan kau tak payah nak menipu dekat peminat-peminat kau kata kau tak post lama sebab kau sibuk dengan life kau yang happening walhal kau tak ada idea selain tulis sajak-sajak dalam bahasa baku yang penuh dengan statement-statement vague yang hint-hint kau tak move on lagi tapi buat-buat macam kau dah move on. Blog ni tak ada peminat. Blog ni tak ada orang baca. Blog ni tak ada peminat-peminat baca. Pembaca-pembaca blog ni bukan peminat. Pembaca-pembaca blog ni bukan peminat yang rajin nak tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox. Blog ni tak ada peminat dan tak ada chatbox untuk peminat-peminat nak tulis 'tumpang lalu'. Pembaca-pembaca blog ni yang bukannya peminat tak minat nak tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox sebab diorang tak minat nak tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox dan kalau diorang minat pun diorang tak boleh nak tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox sebab blog ni tak ada chatbox. Pembaca-pembaca blog ni bukan peminat yang akan komen apa-apa saja seperti tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox semata-mata nak jaga hati penulis bagi dia rasa happy dia ada kawan. Kalau penulis tulis sampah, diorang tak comment, senang. Bila penulis blog ni tak update lama sebab dia memang tak ada idea dan bukan sebab dia konon-konon tak ada masa sebab life dia sangat happening, diorang tak kecoh-kecoh nak tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox untuk mendapat perhatian penulis harap-harap dia tulis apa-apa pasal life dia yang happening sampai tak ada masa nak update blog dan kalau diorang nak pun tak boleh sebab blog ni tak ada chatbox dan memang pun diorang tak tulis sebab diorang tak buang masa nak tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox sebab diorang nak kena posting dekat blog sendiri pasal life diorang yang happening sebab diorang tak buang masa tulis sajak-sajak dalam bahasa baku yang penuh dengan statement-statement vague hint-hint diorang tak move on lagi tapi buat-buat macam dah move on. So kalau kau baca blog ni maknanya kau tak buang masa nak tulis benda-benda macam 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox sebab kau ada chatbox sendiri yang banyak orang nak tulis 'tumpang lalu' sebab diorang suka tulis benda-benda macam 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox blog kau sebab kau selalu posting pasal life kau yang happening sebab kau tak buang masa tulis sajak-sajak dalam bahasa baku yang penuh dengan statement-statement vague hint-hint korang tak move on lagi tapi buat-buat macam dah move on dan kau tak comment dekat posting-posting sampah dekat blog yang pembacanya yakni kau bukan peminat sebab blog ni tak ada peminat-peminat sepeti yang suka tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat chatbox tapi tak boleh sebab blog ni tak ada chatbox so diorang tulis 'tumpang lalu' dekat blog korang after baca sajak-sajak dalam bahasa baku kau yang penuh dengan statement-statement vague hint-hint kau tak move on lagi tapi buat-buat macam dah move on yang kau tulis dalam blog kau lepas kau mintak maaf sebab lama tak posting sebab life kau happening sangat sampai tak ada masa nak update blog.

Step 1

I wish I were a Warhol silk screen hanging on the wall. Or little Joe or maybe Lou. I'd love to be them all. All New York's broken hearts and secrets would be mine. I'd put you on a movie reel, and that would be.. just fine.

Ian Curtis.

Nikon D40 + Helios-44-2 58/2 + Adobe Lightroom +

You know times when you call up some people and they're just happy to hear your voice? Best feeling in the world. 

I think about the effect Facebook has on friendship. Maybe the fact that we have a person in our friends list, that we read the things they wrote everyday, skim through the photos they post, laughed at the videos they share and clicking on those occasional likes makes us feel that we are well in touch with them, that it is okay, that it fills in for the lack of a more physical contact with them.

It's either that our interpersonal skills are degrading because of Facebook, or it is our human nature that has yet to accept the change in how we communicate. It's quite relative actually, this technologies in communications. In one way it helps us communicate across distances like we've never been able to before. Getting to talk in real time with your loved ones across a dozen seas, getting to see, and not just hear their smile.

We are all sentimental romantics aren't we?

Still, there are still those occasions when you just cringe when people use technology to communicate such as wishing your birthday on you Facebook wall, tagging your name onto a photo of their wedding invitation, wishing Hari Raya via status updates. Sometimes it feels like we deserve a bit more than that.

Well, maybe that's it really. Effort. It's not really the thought that counts isn't it? It's how you hard you strived to deliver that thought onto that other person that's worth its value in gold. A friend told me once that two persons being in a friendship is much like two gardeners planting flowers. You want that flower blooming you can't just sit inside, sipping tea by the window and look at it. Neither can your friend.

Dreams mean work. Work means fun if you're doing it with the people you love.

When R.J. Willkinson set out to create at The Malay College, 'A vigorous and intelligent race of young men who will be in touch with modern progress but not out of touch with old traditions; who will be liberally educated but not educated out of sympathy with their own families and people; who will be manly and not effeminate, strong-minded but not strong willed, acknowledging a duty to others instead of being a law unto themselves and who will be fit to do something in the world instead of settling down into fops, spendthrifts or drones', he was talking about Izham Ismail.

Happy Birthday.

People change.