The Star That Doesn't Fade

Mazzy Star - This is an American dream-pop band that didn't suit my music taste in the 90s. They were too mellow and too "country" for me (Yeah, I hated country music before). I only discovered the beauty of the mellowness and the great voice of the beautiful Mexican-American singer, Hope Sandoval, in the last 3-4 years through the song "Fade Into You" & "Happy". Their music is dark and sad usually, just like the songs of Portishead, although Portishead is from a different genre - trip hop. Mazzy Star was active in the late 80s to 90s but I stopped hearing from them from year 2000 onwards. The band does not officially split-up and I hope they will continue to release more album in the near future to add up in their list of the current 3 albums: She Hangs Brightly, So Tonight That I Might See & Among My Swan.

Here are some video clips from the star that never fades...

"Halah":



"Happy":



"Fade Into You":



"Flowers In December:"

Musical Adventure

A number of friends often ask how I managed to find out about so many unknown bands. The answer is simple: Explore Music With An Opened Mind. Without internet, we explore the bands at the friendly record stores that are willing to let us try the CDs. Trust me, it is a time consuming activity and requires a dedicated passion. If you come across any CDs you dislike, just skip them. The main problem is when there are too many CDs you like - more cash flow going outwards. Sometimes, you need to be a regular at the stores and be friendly to the salespersons. If you're lucky, you may come across a salesperson who "clicks" with your taste of music and they could be very helpful in your exploration by supplying hints and suggestion. I know it is very rare for alternative music in Malaysia. I only come across 2 salespersons who are really helpful for the past 20+ years. Honestly, I also rarely come across people who are as adventurous as my friends Joe Kidd, Wei Chuet and myself. Anyway, that's why it's called "alternative music" - we are the rare alternative species! With the availability of internet, music exploration is HEAVEN!!

This morning while checking out an old music video of Chapterhouse, I discovered a noise-pop band named Thrushes. The band is originated from Baltimore, MD, U.S. Yes, it's very common to find dream-pop, shoegazer, noise-pop bands from the U.S. these days being influenced by the 90s British bands. I find this new band interesting although relatively unknown. I could hardly find any information about them online except for a few video clips and their website. They remind me of all the shoegazers of the 90s. I am very impressed with the music of Thrushes. I am now thinking of ordering their album online. If you're adventurous and willing to explore alternative music, this could be your starting point:

A Link to the website of Thrush

Thrushes with "Trees":



Thrushes with "Heartbeats":



Thrushes with "Aidan Quinn":



As a true music fan, the exploration does not start and end at only new bands. You should also stray beyond the border to old bands. It's like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you're gonna get...like the saying of Forrest Gump. Here are some video clips I have been exploring.

1. The Charlottes with "Liar" - a shoegazer band that was unknown to me until this morning. I could not find any information about this band at all. By the way, to those wondering why these bands are called "shoegazer", check out this video. It's a shame that the video is half way through when it is cut off. #@*%



2. Chapterhouse with "Pearl" - this is another old 90s British shoegazer band that I have almost forgotten.



3. Fleeting Joys with "The Breakup" - this is another unknown band that sounds like My Bloody Valentine to me. Still unknown to me. They sound so similar to My Bloody Valentine that I do not hesitate to call them as My Bloody Valentine's copycat.

Good Old Rock N' Roll

Ever since I re-discovered my childhood song, Walk The Line, by Johnny Cash, I realised that the roots of my music taste was based early Rock N’ Roll, Rockabilly and Country. Therefore I started to dig for the roots and re-discover them.

I remember growing up watching the tv sitcom, Happy Days, in the 70s. I always thought the character of Fonzie played by Henry Winkler was cool. When watching the sitcom, I was indirectly exposed to Rock N’ Roll especially “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets. The Rock N’ Roll genre eventually grew on me slowly as I discovered Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wanda Jackson, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, etc, over the period of about 20 years in my life.

At the same time, I heard Country, Rockabilly and Rock N’ Roll stuff from my dad’s or sister’s vinyl records and cassettes when I was a kid. The genre of Country, Rock N’ Roll and Rockabilly often overlap one another and a lot of singers hopped around those genres. The singers I remember listening from my family’s music collection was Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Connie Francis, Wanda Jackson, The Beatles, The Shadows, etc. Some time in the 80s, I discovered Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee on my own. “Crazy” by Patsy Cline and “Rock Around The Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee caught my attention. I believe I heard them in movies initially. What makes these 2 singers and these 2 songs special were the melody and their excellent female vocal.

I believe Wanda Jackson is almost forgotten in today’s music industry. I remember asking my sister about Wanda Jackson when I was about 10 years old about Wanda’s voice. I thought those songs were sung by a kid. Yes, I do agree that Wanda Jackson has a very unique voice that makes her sounds wild and rebellious. Honestly, I had never seen any photo of Wanda Jackson before yesterday. I used to imagine her as a black lady that dressed up in black leather jacket like Joan Jett. Yesterday, I was shock to find out that she was beyond my imagination based on the following photo and she was not wild at all:



Buddy Holly has been an inspiration to a lot of artiste today especially alternative music. He was another rocker that did not look like a rocker. He looked like a nerd with the big old fashion spectacles. I believe a lot of nerd punks today have been greatly influenced by him – making rockers look cool in nerdy spectacles. His hiccup style of vocal is distinctively unique. Today, any singer who sings using this method will automatically be associated to the great Buddy Holly by default. Unlike Wanda Jackson, Buddy did not live very long. It’s a pity that he passed away in a plane crash at such an early age together with the other 2 legends, Richie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

The Forgotten One

There are some 90s shoegazing bands that I have almost forgotten although they're some of the early indie bands that I used to be crazy about. They just sank and faded somewhere in my memory over the years. Lately they happened to re-emerge from my memory and I started to check them out in YouTube. Surprisingly I could not even remember their songs these days. Sign of old age I guess. One of the bands is Pale Saints.

Pale Saints with Half-Life:



Pale Saints with Blue Flower:



Pale Saints with Throwing Back The Apple:




Pale Saint with Sight of You:

I love this song. I think it's very beautifully written.



Sight Of You
the sight of you
the sight of you
makes me feel blue
makes me feel blue
the things you said
the things you said
make me feel bad
my heart is sad

i think of him
i think of him
soaked all in red
i wish him dead
you say that he
you say that he's
nothing like me
but how can that be?

what can i do?
what can i say?
the world was large
and i felt very small
what's gonna happen?
how will i know
when things are back
the way they used to be before?

the sight of you
the sight of you
makes me feel blue
i feel so blue
the things you said
the things you said
make me feel bad
my heart is sad


Pale Saints with Kinky Love:

Cansei de Ser Sexy Is Not Tired of Being Sexy

I was introduced to a Brazilian indie electro new wave revival post-punk band by chance when I was on a radio show with a former Traxx FM DJ, Maya, about more than 1 year ago. Maya bought the CD all the way from the U.K. when she visited the land of punk. The band was Cansei de Ser Sexy with the abbreviation C.S.S. for those who could not pronounce the band's name. The album was a self-titled album. It was love at first hearing for me regarding Cansei de Ser Sexy. Most of the songs were very upbeat. I was a little bit surprised that the traditional grunge label, Sub Pop, was the label of this indie new wave band. It was not a complete surprise for me because Sup Pop also signed up some indie shoegazer bands that could be categorised as very close to dream-pop such as Velocity Girl and The Spinanes. Since the era of grunge had cool down over the years, it's pretty normal for an indie label like Sub Pop to explore beyond the territory of grunge.

The year is now 2008. Getting any album by Sub Pop or any indie record label is obviously not an easy task in Malaysia but I managed to get it by crook or by hook. Yes, I managed to get the new album of Cansei de Ser Sexy called Donkey. It's not love at first hearing for this album but don't get me wrong, it's not a bad album after all. As usual, most of the songs of Cansei de Ser Sexy are very upbeat. There is no such word as boring in the dictionary of Cansei de Ser Sexy. The songs do not hook you up like the first album but they will grow on you. I love one of their weird songs called "I Wanna Be Your J Lo". It's a strange song with very strange new wave beat...not a cup of tea for everyone but it suits weirdo like me. The other songs I enjoy are "Left Behind" (their first single from this album), "Let's Reggae All Night" & "Beautiful Song". Some of the short songs from this album such as "Hollywood" and "Sô Lora, Sô Burra (Disk Putas)" clearly show their punk roots. They remind me of the early Huggy Bear, Bikini Kill and other riot grrl bands from the early 90s.

Here are the video clips from the old album (Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above) and new one (Rat Is Dead (Rage)):

Race & Religion

It's very sad indeed that in modern days, the world is still generally divided by race, religion and politic. The races and religions are not to be blamed but we may blame power greed irresponsible politicians and the evil of human’s brains. The situation is very obvious throughout the world regardless whether you're in Malaysia, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China, etc. There is no denying that racists and religion fanatics are still walking among us. The world thought that when the greatest racist in the world, Adolf Hitler, was dead and when Apartheid was crushed, the world would be free of racism. Unfortunately, it was just a dream of mankind.

When we were kids, we didn't bother about race, religion and politic. We played and befriended anyone. As we started schooling, we were slowly being brainwashed by friends and the segregation started. The segregation could be based on race, religion or even informal "gang". The "gang" I am referring may not necessary related to gangsterism – it can be just a group of kids with common idea/opinion/interest that other groups may not share. I hated this when I was in school because I wanted to remain friends with other races and I wanted to learn more from other races, instead of isolating myself and stick to one particular group of friends. In fact those days, at Standard One/Primary One, one of my closest friends was someone outside my own race that was sitting next to me. Maybe my exposure to someone outside my own race at such a tender age has led me trust them. I am thankful to have this particular friend who has unknowingly shaped my perception towards other races in my life.

Sometimes I question our education system. Has it failed in educating us to unite as one human race? Does it deserve to be called education in the first place if such a basic goal is not achieved? Education is not just meant for generating income in a capitalist world. The more important element is humanity. It is supposed to teach us not to act like a bunch of wolves or wild boars. We do not deserve to be called human if we act like animals. If our education system fails, there is a danger of having another Adolf Hitler on this planet and there is a possibility of World War 3. Do we want that?

I was so surprised about what I heard from a Muslim friend lately. My friend’s 6 year-old niece overheard his children speaking in English. She asked why they spoke in English and English was meant for non-Muslims. Obviously my friend was shock to hear that and asked her who told her so. She gave him a greater surprise when she said that her kindergarten teacher told her that. I wonder whether her kindergarten teacher should be fired or should remain in the kindergarten …. as a STUDENT. It was fortunately that someone in the family could teach the 6 year-old child the right thing from the wrong. I am now very curious about the fate of other children in the same kindergarten that were given wrong advice.

I am also aware of some families that cultivate racism in their children directly and indirectly. Sometimes a scare tactic used could give children wrong impression that other races cannot be trusted.

For example:
A Chinese family member tries to scare a child to prevent him/her from loitering outside the gate by saying “Indians will catch you if you go outside”.

A simple scare tactic like this may lead the child not to trust all Indians. What will happen if one day the kid needs help and the person offers to help him/her happened to be an Indian? This kind of small issue may lead to a major issue because the children may grow up to be the leaders of the country one day. The way we shape our children is the way we shape our country.

Ideally in a multi-racial country like Malaysia, we should be known as Malaysians rather than Chinese, Malay, Indian, Kadazan, Eurasian, Dayak, etc. Race should be removed from the identity card, forms and even our CVs. Race based political parties should not exist. You may accuse me for trying to get rid of race but what's the point of having a race if we're dead because of racial riot? Sometimes I question the necessity of struggling for race and religion because if everyone fight and struggle for his/her own race and religion contradicting with another person's race and religion, aren't we creating a conflict? Don't you think it's more proper to struggle for your country as Malaysians? I know some narrow minded Malaysians may not agree and accuse me lack of knowledge about race and religion. Those people are dangerous and considered extremists in my opinion because they're more likely to be the ones that sparkle racial/religion disharmony in a country, comparing with a non-religious person who mixes with anyone regardless of skin colour and religion.

Hard To Be Polite In The City

Sometimes, I find myself hard to be polite in the city. Sometimes you get an odd stare for being polite and sometimes some pretty young things will mistaken you as a pervert. Once I greeted a security guard "good morning" inside a lift. I got a blank stare in return. Those days, I had just returned from a smalltown in England and I was used to the culture of greeting people I saw in the morning including strangers. It was a norm to thank the bus drivers as well. I miss those kind of politeness in Malaysia, especially in the city like Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya. Certain people say that the Westerners are not sincere in their politeness. In my opinion, who cares? It's better than being rude.

Today, I was coming out from a junction at a petrol station/gas station. I noticed a car purposely increased the speed to prevent me from coming out. When I was driving behind it, I saw a brown skinned hand coming out of the car with a middle finger. Since it's a muslim fasting month and the driver was a muslim, I had to prevent him from destroying his purpose of fasting. So I returned him the international hand signal. I was just doing him a favour.

Once a friend told me about a Canadian using his car horn less than 3 times in his life. In Malaysia, I guess an average driver may have to use at least 30 times per year. Are we the impatient rude Malaysians? Obviously, we cannot beat drivers of certain countries but bear in mind that in some countries, they do not honk at anyone of of anger the way Malaysians do. Sometimes, we are forced to use the horns because there are simply too many psychotic drivers on the road who think the road belongs to them.

Freedom Writers

I was watching a movie at HBO channel in Astro today that I came across by luck - in other words, I was just browsing the channels when I found the movie. The title of the movie was called Freedom Writers based on a true story. The movie was about a dedicated teacher that went against all odds to teach her students something beyond the text books could teach - day to day life! It's rare to have a dedicated teacher like Erin Gruwell. I would say I have personally come across very few teachers like her.

Somehow she reminded me of my former Biology teacher, the late Mrs. Cheah Chin Beng (we called Puan Cheah). I was one of the weakest student in my class those days. Although it was a top class, my motivation to continue studying was very low because I could not compete in the class. I felt like an alien in the class because of my examination results and I hated almost all the subjects besides English, Geography and Malay. My request to be transferred to another class (both the second class and art stream) was rejected by the headmaster. Although Mrs. Cheah was not the form teacher, she noticed it the way other teachers failed to do so. One teacher even insulted me by asking me not to attend her class for failing Chemistry all the time. Mrs. Cheah called me up one day after school to discussed about it and she asked the top student in my class (now a doctor) to teach me. Due to her effort, indirectly she gave me the encouragement to struggle and passed my SPM (government exam) with grade one unexpectedly. She was a unique teacher graduated from Australia. She was a very opened minded person that could joke about it when the Biology lesson touched the topic of sex (other teachers might skip the subject). I still remember that she warned us that the topic was not meant for practical at our teenage years and it drew laughter in the class. I am also aware that she helped a student who didn't have sufficient to buy books. She was the most caring and helpful teacher that I came across. Unfortunately, she didn't live long enough to see most of us graduated. She passed away falling from the stairs when I was in the college. Good people does not live long sometimes.....

The movie also indirectly touched the topic of freedom in writing the way bloggers like us do. In the movie they used diary but we use internet. Sometimes the authority would find ways to block us from writing something straight from our hearts. It's not fair to prevent people from being sincere even if it's a criticism. That's the reason I loath Internal Security Act being used against bloggers in Malaysia. It's undemocratic and against freedom of speech. If the people are well educated and have the appropriate brains, they should be able to think whether the stuff written by bloogers make sense or not. It's unnecessary to lock the bloggers up in jail.

The following is the link to Freedom Writers Foundation:

Frredom Writers Foundation

Because You Said So?

I was watching a movie at Astro, Because I Said So, just a few minutes ago. The comedy was about an over-protective mother (Diane Keaton) that was trying very hard to be a matchmaker of her own daughter (Mandy Moore) but ended up with bad consequence. It's neither the best movie nor a bad one, but it has a special meaning to me and it sends a very powerful message to the viewers.

I can easily relate this movie to any over-protective parents. Generally, I find Malaysian parents being over-protective. Every parents want their children to be doctors, engineers, lawyers and all the boring occupations. They may be shock with anger if their children say that they want to be an artist, singer, barber, firefighter, etc. I have personally gone through similar experience when I told my grandmother that I wanted to be a soldier - I was beaten up by my mother. From a soldier, my ambition eventually proceeded to scientist (a mad scientist), pilot (actually a military pilot), singer (actually a punk rocker), linguist, astronomer, inventor, etc. None of them came true. I ended up with a boring occupation eventually for the sake of making money to pay for loan. Crap, isn't it? I believe parents should let their children do what they wish. Even if they screw up doing silly things, they will find out and learn eventually. If the parents do not give them the freedom, they will never grow up. Call me Western minded if you wish, but don't you think Westerners are more creative, innovative and more willing to open up their minds, comparing to Asians?

From the movie, I can also relate it to the current Malaysian leaders. Malaysian leaders are generally over-protective. Look at the way they over-protect some of the Malaysian companies (every Malaysian should know what I mean). They also over-protect themselves - they cannot stand any criticism and threaten the people with Internal Security Act. In my opinion, being over-protective absolutely does not grant any benefit to the general Malaysian population. We will never grow this way. I hope some of the politicians will grow up or step down some day.

The Rave On Ronettes

Here's another Danish indie band I have admired for the last few years, The Raveonettes. The duo consisting of Sune Rose Wagner (on guitar, instruments, vocals) and Sharin Foo (on bass, guitar and vocals). The name of the band is originated from Buddy Holly's song, "Rave On" and The Ronettes. You may notice some Buddy Holly and The Ronettes influences in some of their songs. The other more obvious influence that I notice in this band comes from the famous British noise-pop duo, The Jesus & Mary Chain.

Honestly, I came across this band by accident years ago on the internet when I was surfing for noise-pop & dream-pop material. Yeah, I am a sucker for noise-pop and dream-pop. I used to confuse them with The Ronettes due to the name similarity and furthermore some of their songs have 50s and 60s influences. The only difference is they incorporate more noise.

Here's a video clip from the great Raveonettes with the song, Heartbreak Stroll.



Lyric:

Take A Little Time To Get To Know Me
The Night Is Open Don't You Feel The Same As I
Cause I Can Do Everything
A Heartbreak Stroll With Someone Special
The L.a. Lights Will Never Be The Same
Tonight I Kill Those Memories

Get It All Now Cause I'm On The Prowl
Come On Baby Right Now
Get It All Straight Cause You're Whistle Bait
Come On Baby Right Now
Come On Baby Right Now

Feel The Earth Move When You're Shaking That Thing
Hard To Be Around When You Got Nothing To Gain
I Gotta Go Home And Sleep It Off

Be The One

Due to lack of good radio show in Malaysia, I have started listening to online radio shows of the U.K. I am returning to my roots. Yes, British radio station was my roots. Malaysian radio shows did not suit my taste in the late 80s and 90s, so I tuned in to BBC, Voice of America and Singapore's Perfect 10 at short wave frequency. Those were the radio stations that got me exposed to The Cure, Jesus & Mary Chain, New Order, The Smiths, Nirvana, etc. In the mid 90s, I was studying in the U.K., so obviously I listened to BBC's Radio One daily - my favourite radio shows were hosted by the late John Peel (alternative music)& Andy Kershaw (world music). Unfortunately, both of my favourite British DJs are no longer on air - John Peel has passed away years ago & Andy Kershaw has some personal problem with his relationship.

Last night, I came across the song, Be The One, by the British duo, The Ting Tings, at Zane Lowe's radio show at BBC's Radio One online. The Ting Tings are Jules De Martino (drums, guitar, vocals) and Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drum). They are basically unknown in Malaysia but they are considered the hot new band in the U.K. The genre of their music is basically a mixture of indie-pop, dance and tiny bits of punk. Their album is generally too cheesy and poppish for my taste but Be The One caught my attention. It's something that could cheer me up after having a depressing week due to the political situation in Malaysia. The guitar of this song reminds me of New Order. The female vocal is sweet but not cheesy here. This is also a more matured/serious song from their album in my personal opinion. I hope The Ting Tings will generate more songs like Be The One in the future.

Here's the video clip:



Here's the lyric in case you wish to sing along:

You say it's not what you do,
It's what you're thinking of
Well I think it's just an excuse
It's what you put across
And I don't wanna be the one
Only overjoyed
Yeah I don't wanna be the one
Making all the noise
Yeah I don't wanna be the one

So make sure you're thinking it through
You've let me down again
Offer me something
I know you really meant
Cuz I don't wanna the one
Only overjoyed
Yeah I don't wanna be the one
Making all the noise
Yeah I don't wanna be the one
Hey!

What you gonna offer now?

I don't wanna be the one
Only overjoyed
Yeah I don't wanna be the one
Making all the noise
Yeah I don't wanna be the one
Hey!

What you gonna offer now?
What you gonna offer now?
What you gonna offer now?

This was not my idea
Don't you keep me waiting
This was not my idea
Don't you keep me waiting
This was not my idea
Don't you keep me waiting

Internal Security Act

It's sad that the government has decided to use ISA (Internal Security Act) against fellow Malaysians again.

ISA is an outdated "tool" used by our former colonial master to overcome the attack of the communists in Malaya decades ago. When Malaysia got the independence from the British, ISA was carried forward to the new born country because it was still threatened by communists. However, when the communists put down their arm struggle, the relevant authority decided to keep ISA. The reason was obvious - it was a great "tool" to crush the enemies. What other better "tool" was available better than arrest without trial?

In my opinion, ISA is very undemocratic and it is against the principle of human right. It has no difference from dictatorship. It is an extremely dangerous "tool" used against the innocents. In the post-communist threat era, ISA had been misused very frequently to crush political opponents. This is very unprofessional from political point of view. It's a dirty tactic!!

The call for the abolishment of ISA by opposition parties, various NGOs, the government of U.S. and even some members of the ruling party has been ignored for decades. In the modern era, the tool used to suppress the communists has turned even more dangerous than Communism.

I salute the minister, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, from the ruling party that threatens to resign if the government continues to use the ISA against political dissidents. His action proves that he is a responsible leader that cares for the well being of the nation. He is a good example that more Barisan Nasional leaders should learn from. I hope his sacrifice will not go to waste. The ruling party often loses good responsible leaders. It's ashamed that Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is also undergoing suspension for criticising the UMNO Disciplinary Board which was considered as insulting the party. When will the party learn to accept criticism? No wonder the popularity of UMNO is fading!

Free Teresa, Abolish ISA Online Petition


Download MP3 of Carburetor Dung dedicated to ISA: Hanturaya Putrajaya


Lyric (Courtesy of Carburetor Dung):

Suara mu yang lantang melawan, siapa punya?!
Rumah mu yang indah tersergam, siapa punya??!
Hidup mu yang kenyang senang-lenang, siapa punya???!
Kebebasan mu yang ada, siapa punya?!

Cuba-cuba naikkan suara,
Aku heret, aku ikat, aku tangkap, aku sumbat!
Cuba-cuba naikkan kepala,
Aku ketuk, aku lepuk, aku luku, aku cantas!
Cuba-cuba celikkan mata,
Aku cucuk, aku sembur, aku genyeh, aku jolok!

Jangan lupa!
Aku yang berkuasa!

Pagi hari kan ku terkam!
Pintu rumah kan ku terjang!
Kan ku berkas, kan ku bungkus!
Kan ku heret mu kedalam!

Jangan kau lupa!
Jangan kau alpa!
Ingat lah semua!
AKU YANG BERKUASA!

Traitor

Based on the legend of Hang Tuah, I remember my History teacher taught us a very good lesson about who was the actual traitor. It's sad that the younger generation may not get to learn this due to the fact that it has been removed from the text book. The reason for the removal is full of speculation and I do not intend to elaborate here.

Being the more fortunate one that had the opportunity to be taught about the legend, I would like to share my personal thought. I believe Hang Tuah was the actual traitor - the traitor of friendship. When the Sultan ordered Hang Tuah to be killed for messing around with the Sultan's concubine, the Bendahara betrayed the Sultan by hiding Hang Tuah instead. I admire the courage of the Bendahara. When Hang Jebat heard about the fake news that Hang Tuah was killed, he ran amok and went against the Sultan. He did it for the sake of friendship. Unfortunately when the Sultan found out that Hang Tuah was alive, he ordered Hang Tuah to kill Hang Jebat. The "blind" Hang Tuah obeyed the Sultan and killed his friend. The act of Hang Tuah truly showed he had no compassion towards his friend. He could have done what the Bendahara did to him by hiding Hang Jebat. In this event, I consider the Bendahara and Hang Jebat as the true heroes - they cherished their friendship. As for Hang Tuah, he was just a puppet of the cruel Sultan. The biggest villain was the Sultan who misused his power.

I hope someday the young generation will somehow managed to learn from this legend from somewhere. History and legend are not for us to read and sit for an exam. We have to learn from the mistakes and prevent them from happening to ourselves. Sometimes I still see people repeating the same mistakes in the real world today - people that behaves like Hang Tuah and the Sultan. This is very sad indeed!!

I dedicate this article to my favourite History teacher in secondary school, Cikgu Zainol. I will always remember the lesson he gave us.

Tasteless!

Some people find the latest movie of Adam Sandler, Don't Mess With Zohan, tasteless due to the sex scene and making fun of Isrealis and Arabs being offending. In my opinion, a lot of movies by Jim Carrey and Stephan Chow are equally tasteless. However, there is something about this movie that is very meaningful. If you observe the movie and use your brain a bit, the movie is not just about making fun of the Jews and Arabs. At one part of the movie which the Jews and Arabs started talking politics, it showed that they are so similar and they have something in common. The movie also shows us that Jews and Arabs can live together peacefully if they try hard enough - there is hope for peace! This is something that Malaysians should learn from this movie that many Malaysians find disgusting and angry with the censorship board for not banning it. I am not praising the Malaysian censorship board though because they did a major mistake for rating the movie as suitable for all ages of audiences.

Related to the topic of tasteless, I find the agenda of the politic and social issues in Malaysia very tasteless these days. We have too many stupid leaders and politicians running the country. There are so many leaders from the ruling party saying things they should not have said and do things they should not have done - their behaviour show that they are childish and stupid.

Example Number 1: When non-Malays asked about the special right of the Malays, a "smart guy" said non-Malays had no right to question it. Are we living in a country run by a dictator? Is this a Malaysian Apartheid? You call this equal right? As a good leader, this kind of question should be tackled smartly and not just sweeping it under the carpet. I dare to bet that a few years down the road, someone will ask the same question again. The question may not come from a non-Malay, it may come from a Malay. I have come across some Malays who are actually smart enough to worry and think something is not right about it. I am not trying to cause any racial tension - I would not want that. I personally have many good Malay friends and I don't want to lose our friendship and trust....all because of race. It's not worth it!

Example Number 2: A "Mr. Smart Guy" called non-Malays as immigrants. However, it's only true for the ancestors of non-Malays. Why bring up this issue when it has nothing to do with the current generation in the first place? Isn't he stupid enough to create trouble for himself? If we trace back the roots of Malaysians, I wonder how many Malaysians are not immigrants based on history. Chinese came from China. Indians came from India. Malays came from various parts of the world (i.e. Arab, Indonesia, China, etc). Even some of the natives were immigrants. Why dig for the roots of our ancestors? If "Mr. Smart Guy" is smart enough, he should focus on the current issues and solve them. We don't need any leader that talk rubbish.

I am pretty sure that these kind of nonsense coming from Malaysian leaders and politicians will never end unless we kick them out of their power to keep their mouth shut permanently. We don't need these leaders/politicians, do we?