Happy New Year's An Anagram Of Oh, Damn, Not Again.

Greetings, humans.

Yes, I realize in your language 'Happy New Year' isn't really an anagram of 'Oh Damn, Not Again', but it is in the language of my home planet, Snaktuf. Yeah, I hate it when jokes are lost in translation, don't you?

Anyway. New year, new year. The big One-oh, people, it's here. The end of the decade. 50 years from now, stations'll have "Music from the '10's Hour" and call Rihanna's Umbrella a Golden Oldie. Shiznit. We're getting old.

And 'So-and-so of the Decade' lists are popping up everywhere. Song of the decade, Body of the decade, Look of the decade, Gadget of the decade, Playmate of the Decade. My favourite, though, I saw a 'Celebrity Death of the Decade' list somewhere. Guess who won that one? Hah.

So my New Year's Eve was pretty good. Dinner with the Sayang at Michelangelo's in Solaris MontKiara. We tried our hand at fine dining, so to speak. And we did fail pretty badly (I farted audibly in the presence of the waiter, and the juice was terrible, so we ended up mixing them in an attempt to synthesize something palatable), but it was fun. An experience. Hell, we're just too used to mamaks and Mickey D's to start playing the upper-class couple now. Haha. Soon, maybe. Lemme earn a 7 digit salary first.

I'm working hard on Maths now. I'm almost-kinda satisfied with the progress I'm making. I'm still not practicing anywhere near as much as I should, but I think I'm slowly getting there, as Mr Conquest would say. We're getting there. Which reminds me. Shit. I haven't started Econs.

Mmmmf. I'm just not used to extended blogging now. I'm so used to the micro-format of Twitter and Medium-size of Tumblr that i'm reaching for points here, as you may have noticed. Behold, the Internets indeededly destroys minds and attention spans! So i'm gonna stop here and start packing for college. Check back in a few days for a quality post for a change*.


*Author will not be held liable for feelings of outrage due to poor quality of promised high-qality post.

Why I Wanna Go Back To KYUEM This Time.

1. Clean air.
2. No nagging about state of my room. I want it slightly messy cause then I KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING IS!
3. Daily lunches with the loved one(s). =)
4. Seeing the outoftowners (cheh! =P) again.
5. Give Suman his effing present.
6. Fish nights (cause this usually means a great bonding session over cafe food.)
7. Making fun of the lovable Mr. Conquest and Mr. Brookes and proudly say that we’re their last batch of seniors.
8. Jamming room in close proximity.
9. Watching and commenting on the 10/11 SC and House elections.
10. Get A-Levels OUT OF THE F*CKING WAY SO I CAN F*CKING FLYYYYY!!!!!!! WOOOOO!

I like No. 10 the most. Sure most of you would agree. =D

Happy Is Sad

My car, Happy, broke down today. Poor thing. The fan’s not working.

The car doctor’s coming on Monday. *fingers crossed*

Pray for him, all.

Also, reminder. Visit aimanarif.tumblr.com! =)

Malay Nationalism And What A Touchy Subject This Is Indeed

So there I was, early morning, sitting in my middle class home with my middle class mom, enjoying middle class fare such as jumbo beef hotdogs (Ha. Ha.) from the middle class grocer Cold Storage. Very comfortable. About halfway through our meal, all of a sudden my mum asks me,

Aiman, what do you think 1Malaysia means?

I drop my sausage in surprise (Ha. Ha).

Hardly normal Caezar family table talk, this is.

Well, mom, I say, swallowing. I suppose it means whatever past nationwide unity campaigns means. Racial unity, desegregation, a united front to sell to foreigners. The difference now is a slicker logo and a less crappy theme song.

Oh, okay, she nods and returns to the mushrooms frying in the pan. Hmmmm.

I couldn’t resist. =(


Me: What do you think 1Malaysia means, mom?


Her: Well, at first I thought the same as you...


Me: At first?


Her: Yes. At first. Then I learned (here I add that my mom is friendly to what some term the UMNO old guard, and can’t help but absorb some very convincing nationalist arguments, bless her soul) that 1Malaysia is, in fact, a move to remind us and this generation of the Social Contract signed by our forefathers prior to, during and after Independence. It’s the idea that each race can and will provide and care for their own ‘people’ (hence the function of race-based parties) and we’ll all in the end work together to form 1Malaysia.


Me: Ah.


Her: Because what we’re seeing now is a failure in that. People forget the social contract that our leaders signed 50 years ago. Tunku Abdul Rahman, along with everyone else, got us independence. Then he asked the leaders of the other races, “Do you want to be Malaysian?” They said yes. Alright, but here’re the conditions (the Contract, if you will):


1. The land belongs to the Malays. You cannot just buy it up and redistribute it.
2. The culture here is fundamentally Malay. Do not try to change that.
3. You can work here, live here, and be happy here, so long as the above two conditions are met.

So the other races said, fine, we accept.


Me: Hmmm. (ponders upon the significance of such an agreement)


Her: It’s a failure on another front; a failure of each race to protect/care for their own people. That’s why I’m so angry at Samy Velu! (Here she continues into a 15 minute rampage on the irrelevancy of MIC and why UMNO is going down the drain)


I slipped away quietly after this, with much to think about.


1. How true and explicit is the Social Contract my mom mentioned? I assume there’re bits of it in the Constitution, but clearly nowhere near identifiable enough if people are still arguing about that now.

2. The first point is a valid point. Personally, I think that Malaysian Government and leadership has not matured enough to truly say that, for instance, a Malay guy can truly empathise and fight for the rights and economic wellbeing of, say, an Indian in the estate. Similarly, you’d be hard-pressed to find an Indian politician who will truly fight for the welfare of people in the depths of Kelantan.

3. Talking to Mishyan, we agree that the danger of the ‘each race for his own’ approach is, of course, a lack of racial integration. I mean, I like hanging out with Mish! And an approach that is purely race-centric will inevitably mean that everybody will be looking in, not out. And the lack of understanding of other races that this, in turn, leads to is, frankly, dangerous.

4. The Social Contract perpetuates the immigrant mentality. A provision of the contract says that the Indians and Chinese can work here live here and be happy here and be part of mainstream society. But the fact that there’s a wall, a boundary (that says Malay rights to land and culture cannot be touched) means that a Chinese guy or an Indian dude can never feel truly, truly, an equal member of Malaysia.

There will always be opportunities closed to them. One of a friend's friends, very smart guy, in Cambridge now or something. Why doesn’t he want to come back to Malaysia and live here, work here, be happy here instead of anywhere else? Because (in his words), “Do you honestly think that I could be the CEO of a GLC someday?”

Now, you may argue that he could be the CEO of any other company, but the fact that Malaysia is not a truly free society and that there are opportunities that will forever be closed to Chinese or Indian people is driving them away. They’re not part of Malaysia. They may call this place home, but they will never feel truly part of society unless we are truly free.

5. The above being said, I think that the reasoning behind the Malay quota is solid. The Chinese have one definite thing going for them: capital. A Chinese guy always has the capital, and this, I think you’ll agree, is a fair assumption.

Now, if TAR didn’t say Malays owned the land, then 2/3 or the factors of production will be Chinese owned. Hence labour, the only remaining job opportunity, will have to be divided among everyone else (read, Malays and Indians).

The idea behind Malay Reserve Land and the quotas are simply to make sure Malays are given a bit of a leg up, an opportunity to acquire and accumulate land and capital, so that one day (soon), we’ll see Malays and Chinese and Indians compete on equal footing.

Admittedly, this seems like the Indians have drawn the short straw (i.e. labour). But, good leadership can always make sure that the Indian community will organise itself best to the point where Indian labour becomes a great thing indeed. Unfortunately, MIC has failed in that.



Okay, before the post becomes too draggy (like it hasn’t already), I’m just going to point out that the Malaysian situation is a completely unique one, and I don’t think this has been pointed out enough. Malaysia is a former colony where the original residents are still here!

In America, the Native Americans were virtually wiped out, and they are not a sizable population (sorry if I’m wrong there). In Australia, the Aborigines were exterminated like animals. The closest parallel is India, but in India, we do not see the same phenomenon of a three major, economically-significant races sharing a single economy. Nor do we see a single race dominating an entire factor of production.

Malaysia’s situation is unique. We must treat it as such.

And so we’re forgiven (and must forgive each other) for the sizable amount of mishaps we’re bound to make as we move forward.

Third Post In 24 Hours! I'm On A Roll!

Okay, yes. I have seriously decided now.

Tumblr will now be my social blog. Due to its ease of use, it will now feature (theoretically) more frequent posts and lighter content. This blog will mainly be used for essayish posts, short prose (in the increasingly rare cases that I produce any) and generally 'sit and think' topics.

Here I'm trying to keep this blog relevant and serious(ish).

So go to http://4stringfrequencies.tumblr.com/, and see the Aiman that is fun (HAH!) and happy (HAHAH!).

See ya. = )

Malay Nationalism and What A Touchy Subject This Is Indeed.

So there I was, early morning, sitting in my middle class home with my middle class mom, enjoying middle class fare such as jumbo beef hotdogs (Ha. Ha.) from the middle class grocer Cold Storage. Very comfortable. About halfway through our meal, all of a sudden my mum asks me,

Aiman, what do you think 1Malaysia means?

I drop my sausage in surprise (Ha. Ha).

Hardly normal Caezar family table talk, this is.

Well, mom, I say, swallowing. I suppose it means whatever past nationwide unity campaigns means. Racial unity, desegregation, a united front to sell to foreigners. The difference now is a slicker logo and a less crappy theme song.

Oh, okay, she nods and returns to the mushrooms frying in the pan. Hmmmm.

I couldn’t resist. =(


Me: What do you think 1Malaysia means, mom?


Her: Well, at first I thought the same as you...


Me: At first?


Her: Yes. At first. Then I learned (here I add that my mom is friendly to what some term the UMNO old guard, and can’t help but absorb some very convincing nationalist arguments, bless her soul) that 1Malaysia is, in fact, a move to remind us and this generation of the Social Contract signed by our forefathers prior to, during and after Independence. It’s the idea that each race can and will provide and care for their own ‘people’ (hence the function of race-based parties) and we’ll all in the end work together to form 1Malaysia.


Me: Ah.


Her: Because what we’re seeing now is a failure in that. People forget the social contract that our leaders signed 50 years ago. Tunku Abdul Rahman, along with everyone else, got us independence. Then he asked the leaders of the other races, “Do you want to be Malaysian?” They said yes. Alright, but here’re the conditions (the Contract, if you will):


1. The land belongs to the Malays. You cannot just buy it up and redistribute it.
2. The culture here is fundamentally Malay. Do not try to change that.
3. You can work here, live here, and be happy here, so long as the above two conditions are met.

So the other races said, fine, we accept.


Me: Hmmm. (ponders upon the significance of such an agreement)


Her: It’s a failure on another front; a failure of each race to protect/care for their own people. That’s why I’m so angry at Samy Velu! (Here she continues into a 15 minute rampage on the irrelevancy of MIC and why UMNO is going down the drain)


I slipped away quietly after this, with much to think about.


1. How true and explicit is the Social Contract my mom mentioned? I assume there’re bits of it in the Constitution, but clearly nowhere near identifiable enough if people are still arguing about that now.

2. The first point is a valid point. Personally, I think that Malaysian Government and leadership has not matured enough to truly say that, for instance, a Malay guy can truly empathise and fight for the rights and economic wellbeing of, say, an Indian in the estate. Similarly, you’d be hard-pressed to find an Indian politician who will truly fight for the welfare of people in the depths of Kelantan.

3. Talking to Mishyan, we agree that the danger of the ‘each race for his own’ approach is, of course, a lack of racial integration. I mean, I like hanging out with Mish! And an approach that is purely race-centric will inevitably mean that everybody will be looking in, not out. And the lack of understanding of other races that this, in turn, leads to is, frankly, dangerous.

4. The Social Contract perpetuates the immigrant mentality. A provision of the contract says that the Indians and Chinese can work here live here and be happy here and be part of mainstream society. But the fact that there’s a wall, a boundary (that says Malay rights to land and culture cannot be touched) means that a Chinese guy or an Indian dude can never feel truly, truly, an equal member of Malaysia.

There will always be opportunities closed to them. One of Mishyan’s seniors, very smart guy, in Cambridge now or something. Why doesn’t he want to come back to Malaysia and live here, work here, be happy here instead of anywhere else? Because (in his words), “Do you honestly think that I could be the CEO of a GLC someday?”

Now, you may argue that he could be the CEO of any other company, but the fact that Malaysia is not a truly free society and that there are opportunities that will forever be closed to Chinese or Indian people is driving them away. They’re not part of Malaysia. They may call this place home, but they will never feel truly part of society unless we are truly free.

5. The above being said, I think that the reasoning behind the Malay quota is solid. The Chinese have one definite thing going for them: capital. A Chinese guy always has the capital, and this, I think you’ll agree, is a fair assumption.

Now, if TAR didn’t say Malays owned the land, then 2/3 or the factors of production will be Chinese owned. Hence labour, the only remaining job opportunity, will have to be divided among everyone else (read, Malays and Indians).

The idea behind Malay Reserve Land and the quotas are simply to make sure Malays are given a bit of a leg up, an opportunity to acquire and accumulate land and capital, so that one day (soon), we’ll see Malays and Chinese and Indians compete on equal footing.

Admittedly, this seems like the Indians have drawn the short straw (i.e. labour). But, good leadership can always make sure that the Indian community will organise itself best to the point where Indian labour becomes a great thing indeed. Unfortunately, MIC has failed in that.



Okay, before the post becomes too draggy (like it hasn’t already), I’m just going to point out that the Malaysian situation is a completely unique one, and I don’t think this has been pointed out enough. Malaysia is a former colony where the original residents are still here!

In America, the Native Americans were virtually wiped out, and they are not a sizable population (sorry if I’m wrong there). In Australia, the Aborigines were exterminated like animals. The closest parallel is India, but in India, we do not see the same phenomenon of a three major, economically-significant races sharing a single economy. Nor do we see a single race dominating an entire factor of production.

Malaysia’s situation is unique. We must treat it as such.

And so we’re forgiven (and must forgive each other) for the sizable amount of mishaps we’re bound to make as we move forward.

On Onety One.

I have recently formulated a theory that will blow everyone's (yes, even you) mind.

Have you ever wondered. Why 11 is pronounced 'eleven', when it should clearly be 'Onety-one', i.e. "WUHN-tee-WUHN"? Like. 21 is 'Twentyone', and 34 is 'Thirtyfour'. Similarly, I think that 11 should be pronounced (and would be if not for the reasons I suplpy below) 'Onetyone'!

BUT

Ah, here's the 'but', ladies and gents.

I posit that the reason why we refer to 11 as eleven and not onetyone is solely because of CORPORATE CAPITALIST PIG CONSPIRATORY CABALS. Yes, my friends, these CORPORATE CAPITALIST PIG CONSPIRATORY CABALS (CCPCCs) are the reason why a whole NUMBER SYSTEM has been raped of its regularity and logic!

See, the CCPCCs have a little something they call the Law, or as I like to call it, SOUL CRUSHING CONFORMA-RULES (SCCR) with which they came up with something called a 'Trademark'. With this 'Trademark' comes the necessity to ADVERTISE, which is, as we know, a regular tool for any fascist-whore CCPCC. ADVERTISE here meaning 'to destroy the very substance of what is called the human thought process'.

Now, previously, advertising has been limited to newspapers, radio, tv and tap water. But it is not enough for the capitalist bastards! They want MORE! They want to extend their reach so far that our own unborn children will enter this world with the desire to buy the latest Nike shitshoe!

HENCE, my friends, the CCPCCs (manifest in the 7-11 corporation) hath altered an entire NUMBER SYSTEM to surreptiously ADVERTISE their CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN!

THINK!

Whenever you say '11' after '10', don't you immediately think of that goddamn chain of stores selling crappy stuff that's just down the street? Don't you feel the urge to grab a $20 overpriced Slurpee from the CONFORMA-BOT running the counter?! They WANT you to, my friends.

The CCPCCs have blocked reason and logic's true path in order to advertise 7-11 in every single acdemic lecture that mentions '11'!

Yes.

But we shall fight, my brothers and sisters. We shall fight.

Join me. As from now on I boycott the pronunciation of "Ee-Leh-Vehn". I will now say "Onetyone", and refer to the number after 10 as such.

And for the sake of your dear soul.


I hope you do too.