barrier.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

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A friend of mine in London told me a story recently. He had been on the KTM, and he saw a Malay, a Chinese and an Indian sitting next to each other; they were all deaf and spoke to each other in sign language. The train ride had otherwise been silent.

I would have liked to have taken a picture of that.

Posted by Zhi Wei at 7:14 PM Comments

london bridge is falling down.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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London mornings are uninviting. Nothing seems truly alive as I take that 20-minute walk to university every day. I'm a stranger here, and so are a lot of the other Londoners, but having something in common doesn't really mean anything when everyone has something to do, somewhere to go.

We've all got big, important things to do, and god, those traffic lights are annoying as hell. One after another, one after another. Our world is pulled to a sudden stop and I like to think that we're all observing each other quietly, wondering where our place is, searching for some hint of interest and colour in our surroundings, but most of the time, I find myself where I was the day before, just drowning in dull hues of cloudy grey. The green light comes on and we're on our way again. The sad thing about this is, it's not even disappointing anymore.

Every day, I walk past a few homeless people, fishing off the sympathy or generosity of the public. It always reminds me of that Boston Legal episode where Denny Crane shoots a homeless guy with a paintball gun, much to the disapproval of his best friend Alan Shore, who happens to be a staunch Democrat. I am also reminded of my social policy classes and what I've learned about welfare systems. Speaking of which, I'm getting back my first social policy essay back tomorrow. I wonder how I did. But I digress.

I've been hesitant to answer questions of how I'm doing over here in London. Most of the time, I lie. The fact is, my life in the big London city is... lonely, dry and uninspiring. A mass landscape of cosmopolitan ...grey. I couldn't think of another colour which looks like grey. I've never been very good at descriptive writing, really.

But not all is bleak, of course. Every couple of weeks or so, I look forward to 10 minutes worth of stage time at an LSE open mic event. And for that 10 minutes, I sing my heart out, leaving the stage with a renewed sense of who I am. That's what I love about performing; when it ends, you get the feeling that everything is just starting to begin. Like you're a new person. Anyway, until I manage to get my band together (which is a work-in-progress) and start getting gigs outside university, I'll have to hang on to that.

I miss college. Amidst the unnecessary melodrama, at least there was some measure of life. And things were so much easier, really. Maybe I just haven't found that here yet.

And here's a random thought: I think people get lonelier as they grow older. Go figure. Meanwhile, I wrote a rap song with swearing in it. Me so cool now y'all. :P If this entry bored you, try listening to the song at ordinarypoetsings. That's the only compensation I have to offer to you, dear reader.

Cheers from London.

Posted by Zhi Wei at 8:59 PM Comments

Can you say... Budget 2010?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

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Forget about the Budget 2010, I found a much more interesting thing for you to read! :D


Taken from an article in The Star (Italics are my own comments):
KUALA LUMPUR: Who in their right mind would pay RM42,320 for a laptop?
(Uh... no one?)

Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang not only paid the price but bought two units of the same brand – Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI, at a whopping price of RM84,640, said the Auditor-General’s Report.
(...oops. Shame on me for being wrong!)

In addition, the college purchased 450 units of computer CAD with network card at RM3.45mil for 12 labs. Each 19-inch monitor costs RM8,500 while a 17-inch monitor costs RM7,500.

“A check with local companies showed that the market price for the latest model is between RM5,350 to RM6,500 each. Worse still the computers, Precision 390 Dell, that were supplied are no longer in the market,” it said.

Also purchased were 15 laser printers, Hewlet Packard P3005X, at the price of RM7,722 each when the market price was about RM5,000 per unit.

In reply, Mara said the equipment were purchased in a lump sump and there was no price breakdown for the laptops.
(What the fuck. Can somebody explain to me what this means?)

The price breakdown was only done after the equipment was supplied for the purpose assets record and it could not be used as a basis for reference.

“Nevertheless, Mara has created a task force and is conducting a price adjustment for all the equipment,” it said.

The report also stated that the college had paid between RM1,398 and RM2,945 for 204 teaching manuals.

“Checks found that the teaching manuals supplied were bound using comb binding. The teaching manuals obtained at a cost of RM358,476 is a waste because they were never used,” it said, adding that the supplier has been notified to provide the original version of the teaching manual in hard cover.

Mara also spent RM2.08mil buying computer software it didn’t need.
(I think this is my favourite sentence in the whole article.)

[For the unabridged version of this horrifying tale, click here; my blog can take no more!]
With such bizarre and exciting events back home, who says it's hard to keep reading Malaysian news? :D

Posted by Zhi Wei at 6:56 AM Comments

I love fast internet.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

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I found this profound, moving and beautiful presentation by Benjamin Zander on TED. It's over 20 minutes long, but trust me, it'll be worth your time. This includes readers who don't have the lovely luxury of speedy internet which I am enjoying here in London, haha. :)




His presentation said a lot of things that I usually say about what music means to me, and what I think music means to people in general. And that's not a self-absorbed attempt to put myself on the same ground someone as accomplished as Zander; rather, to demonstrate my point about the wonder of music, which is its transcendent, universal value which allows it to reach out to the hearts and minds of many, especially to those of the ordinary people of the street.

More importantly, the manner in which he speaks about music is deeply inspiring. It is purposeful, empowering and sincere. This is what I call passion; passion which we should all aspire to discover within ourselves. Sometimes, I think it could be the highest (and rarest) value one could achieve: to live with passion. Because, as I've mentioned before, I can't think of people I know who can tell me genuinely that their day-to-day living experience holds a greater meaning which extends beyond their everyday routine.

What a saddening thing to know.

Posted by Zhi Wei at 11:01 PM Comments

The London entry: as a result of much procrastination.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

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A million apologies if you have been waiting for me to update about London!


Unlike most other entries you will find on the blogs of 1763512735123 other newly enrolled university students, I will not be adhering to the standard blogging procedure which is putting up random pictures of the London people/architecture/me with famous landmarks/whatever. Why? Because I'm such a non-conformist and I'm cool like that.

...Actually, I just haven't been taking pictures. Ha ha. :P

I figured that since I'm going to be here for three years, I have plenty of time to snap the same kind of photos that every bloody tourist/new student seems to have on their Facebook profiles. Sometimes, the tourist-y camwhoring process can be so self-indulgent that we forget to appreciate the finer details of our environment for what it is!

Speaking of which, the street performers here are amaazzinnggggg! There's nothing street about their performances, I tell you. Especially the ones at Covent Garden! There was this male opera singer once - initially, I was completely sceptical, but as I got closer, it quickly turned into an overwhelming feeling of awe and respect. Such showmanship! Such talent!

Now if only we had something similar in Malaysia. ...but it'd probably draw Rempits like a moth to a flame, which would ruin the whole environment, really. And I think Malaysians aren't too generous when it comes to paying the street performers, without which the street performing scene would not be able to survive. :( *long deep sigh*

By the way, if anyone's wondering, I think my dreams of busking in the streets and tubes of London are GONE. :(((( ...Legally, anyway. You see, you need a license to busk around here, and I checked the UK government website; they're not accepting applications for buskers anymore! :( So my only option is to do it illegally, haha. What say you?

On the not-so-hippy and slightly more academic front, my lectures have already begun. I'm currently taking four courses: 1. Accounting, 2. Economics, 3. Mathematics and Stats and 4. Foundations of Social Policy. The fourth is an outside option which isn't final yet, really. I have the choice of picking and outside option because I don't want to take a fourth maths course... I haven't confirmed my choice because there's a pretty diverse number of courses to choose from. See Paper 4 here to look at the approved list of outside courses that I can choose to do.

I'm very interested in doing a language course, but it adds to many hours to my week, which I'd rather spend doing other things on my own time. And then there's politics! Economic history! Philosophy! Social policy! Choices, choices! So many things, so little time. :(

Now I have to run again. Laundry calls.

Posted by Zhi Wei at 10:56 PM Comments

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