Government fed by the people
Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.
Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?
When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.
Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Visit Malaysia Year 2007
Eye on Malaysia, our answer to London Eye
Fans of Semi Value
Welcoming 'Guard of Honour'
Fans of Semi Value
Welcoming 'Guard of Honour'
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Learning the guitar in the '60s and now
While jamming with a nephew using 2 acoustic guitars, he asked since when have I started learning how to play the guitar. I was taken by surprise as normally this question is asked of someone really good and I was just the opposite. Perhaps that was why he asked!
It is quite unfair to compare between us (33 years difference) as when I first picked up the Kapok guitar, it was in the ‘60s and we relied on classmates to show the simple 3-chord (C,F & G7) songs and the chances of us meeting were few and far between. When we needed exposure most, we had only black and white tv with ½- hour shows like Shindig and cartoon Beatles which could hardly be informative.
I still remember having to listen to radio, then tapes and records, over and over again, just to get the lyrics right. Chords were by ‘trial and error’, and notes were from ‘OK’ song books, using numbers from 1 to 7.
Suffice to say, unless one was really talented and determined, the likely scenario was someone who tried to learn and play for a period of few months, gave up, take up again, and so on. Instead of stopping at a level of plateau, it was more likely a case of being stuck in a trough now and again.
The truth is, I am still unable to play lead guitar without making mistakes and I play songs with major chords and ignore those with ‘sus’, ‘aug’ and so on.
Unlike the nephew, what I show him can be easily absorbed but what he shows cannot be easily followed by me. So the gap widens just like our generation gap. When I used that as an analogy, he was quick to point out that though I cannot take his ‘metal music’ he listens to and dig songs of our generation by Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin! In fact, he is also into oldies like Shadows and Byrds!
Now, guitar players are spoilt for choice with modern aids ranging from CD, VCD, DVD to gadgets which can slow down the tune to help in identifying the notes. There are countless ‘how to’ VCD/DVD produced by well-known guitarists to choose from, not to mention songs, lyrics, chords and tabs downloadable from the internet.
Here again, I wish to point out that though all the new gadgets are also available to old-timers like me, it is difficult at our age to learn new tricks unless we have the passion for it. It is past our ideal age for learning anything new. Availability is one thing, affordability is another, and there is the question of whether it will serve the purpose. If some knowledge is gained then the satisfaction is wonderful just like before.
My ex-classmate who has a passion for exploring the techniques of professional pianists, sent an email via a friend to me of his first recording experience with his ex-band mates:
I am still in Bangkok, we were quite near the bombsite. We were actually in MBK at that time, but could not hear a thing.
Wished you were with me during the 3 days of recording just one miserable song, Tequila, will forward to you when I get back to Sydney.
Recording is one thing, but the main game is the mixing session by the sound engineer. We had one day to practice, another day to record individually.
The first to record is the drummer who has to listen to the guide song for timing and when to do his drum roll etc., then the bassist, then the keyboardist, lead guitarist, lastly, vocalists.
I played 4 different sounds and 4 different tunes. The drummer had almost 10-12 mics, one facing each of the drum equipment, so that the volume and wave length for each equipment can be adjusted.
Playing "live" of course is very much easier, but recording...every mistake is very load and clear.
The sound engineer then has to mix all of the tracks together...this process took almost a day. Since Thomas wants to be perfect and each one of us want his own instrument to sound the loudest, it was best to leave the mixing to the engineer instead.
It was fun though, since it was my first attempt to record anything, but a huge learning curve for me and thankful for Thomas to show us since he has done this quite often in Singapore.
At night, we went to a studio (Arkakayar - I think) in PJ (recording studio was in Chow Kit area = Channel 11), to practise more songs for Thursday night gig at Duta Vista.
We did quite well actually at Duta Vista since the resident band was quite slow and sleepy and some Shadows songs thown in.
Ken
It is quite unfair to compare between us (33 years difference) as when I first picked up the Kapok guitar, it was in the ‘60s and we relied on classmates to show the simple 3-chord (C,F & G7) songs and the chances of us meeting were few and far between. When we needed exposure most, we had only black and white tv with ½- hour shows like Shindig and cartoon Beatles which could hardly be informative.
I still remember having to listen to radio, then tapes and records, over and over again, just to get the lyrics right. Chords were by ‘trial and error’, and notes were from ‘OK’ song books, using numbers from 1 to 7.
Suffice to say, unless one was really talented and determined, the likely scenario was someone who tried to learn and play for a period of few months, gave up, take up again, and so on. Instead of stopping at a level of plateau, it was more likely a case of being stuck in a trough now and again.
The truth is, I am still unable to play lead guitar without making mistakes and I play songs with major chords and ignore those with ‘sus’, ‘aug’ and so on.
Unlike the nephew, what I show him can be easily absorbed but what he shows cannot be easily followed by me. So the gap widens just like our generation gap. When I used that as an analogy, he was quick to point out that though I cannot take his ‘metal music’ he listens to and dig songs of our generation by Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin! In fact, he is also into oldies like Shadows and Byrds!
Now, guitar players are spoilt for choice with modern aids ranging from CD, VCD, DVD to gadgets which can slow down the tune to help in identifying the notes. There are countless ‘how to’ VCD/DVD produced by well-known guitarists to choose from, not to mention songs, lyrics, chords and tabs downloadable from the internet.
Here again, I wish to point out that though all the new gadgets are also available to old-timers like me, it is difficult at our age to learn new tricks unless we have the passion for it. It is past our ideal age for learning anything new. Availability is one thing, affordability is another, and there is the question of whether it will serve the purpose. If some knowledge is gained then the satisfaction is wonderful just like before.
My ex-classmate who has a passion for exploring the techniques of professional pianists, sent an email via a friend to me of his first recording experience with his ex-band mates:
I am still in Bangkok, we were quite near the bombsite. We were actually in MBK at that time, but could not hear a thing.
Wished you were with me during the 3 days of recording just one miserable song, Tequila, will forward to you when I get back to Sydney.
Recording is one thing, but the main game is the mixing session by the sound engineer. We had one day to practice, another day to record individually.
The first to record is the drummer who has to listen to the guide song for timing and when to do his drum roll etc., then the bassist, then the keyboardist, lead guitarist, lastly, vocalists.
I played 4 different sounds and 4 different tunes. The drummer had almost 10-12 mics, one facing each of the drum equipment, so that the volume and wave length for each equipment can be adjusted.
Playing "live" of course is very much easier, but recording...every mistake is very load and clear.
The sound engineer then has to mix all of the tracks together...this process took almost a day. Since Thomas wants to be perfect and each one of us want his own instrument to sound the loudest, it was best to leave the mixing to the engineer instead.
It was fun though, since it was my first attempt to record anything, but a huge learning curve for me and thankful for Thomas to show us since he has done this quite often in Singapore.
At night, we went to a studio (Arkakayar - I think) in PJ (recording studio was in Chow Kit area = Channel 11), to practise more songs for Thursday night gig at Duta Vista.
We did quite well actually at Duta Vista since the resident band was quite slow and sleepy and some Shadows songs thown in.
Ken
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
2006 - the year that was...
Myself
The wrinkles and creases on me were due to my being a natural worrier (not the fighting kind) over her financial burden.
My wife
My son, to the rescue.
Monday, January 08, 2007
New Year's Eve in London
New Year's Eve was a hotchpotch of accidental events. The plan was to have a nice Afghan dinner at Jabi's (his new shared flat some 20-minute walk from Dollis Hill, an obscure Zone 3 station on the Jubilee line) before going for fireworks and celebrations near the Thames.
Dinner was great (thanks to the ever-dependable Jabi!), so was the company, which included Jabi's Polish girlfriend (a Cognitive Science student of Westminster University) and her Polish friend (a film-making student who works at a cinema in London).
Unfortunately, I had my massive backpack with me. Jabi suggested that we leave it at his cousin's flat near Notting Hill, which we did but that meant having to rush to the Thames before midnight (and the fireworks!), which we eventually failed to do.
Our original destination, Westminster station was closed and there was already a 'tube queue' nearing the station before it. We decided to leave the teeming tube a few minutes before time.
Finally, midnight was 'celebrated' at the entrance of Sloane Square station as the Tube officer wished us a Happy New Year over the loudspeaker. What followed after was a long three-hour walk across St James's Park, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, etc. London central was swarmed by the merry (or plain intoxicated) English, foreign students and tourists. Bobbies were as ubiquitous as adult English men pissing at the nearest wall or bush.
I almost forgot why we had planned to celebrate New Year's Eve in London. Besides that, it was awfully nice to be back in London and Dartford again! Other than Jabi (who now works for the BBC regional section for Afghanistan), I met up with my Russian former classmate from Essex. She is temping in Gap at Bond Street while waiting for her work permit and lives with her Turkish boyfriend (also from Essex, now doing his MA at King's College). I stayed over at their brand new single-room apartment - great location, right next to the tube station which is on the convenient Central Line (Zone 2) but comes with a hefty 1000-quid a month rent.
I had a nice Christmasy meal at Uncle Alex's. Ko helped with the turkey which turned out lovely. Paula and Carol came too, and there were the usual wine, roast veg (I loved the parsnips!), burnt Christmas pudding and cream.
Auntie Clem gave Ah Nee and I nice loose-fitting Middle Eastern blouses as Christmas presents from Egypt. Ingenious Ko bought a case of wine and made sure we had presents for everyone (i.e. "Merry Christmas... from Beng Kiat, Cheng Boon & Cheng Yee") including Ah Dee whom we visited on Saturday afternoon.
Little Jun has grown so much, physically and mentally (especially for Nee who hadn't seen her for over a year). She speaks three languages (English, Mandarin, and Cantonese) and comprehends way beyond her age (two-and-a-half).
After a few quick phone calls and text messages, I managed to meet up with Teru and arranged a dimsum brunch with two other HELP kakis, Rowan and Kelvin. I haven't met the latter since HELP because he finished his LSE external degree in Malaysia instead of England. He is now doing his Masters in Investment Management at UCL while applying for jobs related to asset management in London.
Teru is finishing his Accounting degree soon but is planning to stay on to do his ACCA. I stayed overnight at Teru's new place near Canary Wharf. Good location too (on the Docklands Light Rail line) and he pays 400-quid for his room, excluding bills.
It never fails to impress me, how expensive it actually is to live and travel (the cheapest single tube ticket is three pounds, before the recent increase for 2007) in London. Comparatively, living in other European capitals can be considered inexpensive. For what you pay for a room in London, you would get a whole flat in central Berlin. The film-making Polish girl who had spent some time in Berlin agreed and commented that the high cost of living in London is superficially inflated, i.e. you don't get real quality/value for the price you pay.
It's a shame really, otherwise London is an interesting place to be - so many different peoples, sights and events. I've learnt to appreciate the diversity of London after my term in Luxembourg. =.)
Cheng
Dinner was great (thanks to the ever-dependable Jabi!), so was the company, which included Jabi's Polish girlfriend (a Cognitive Science student of Westminster University) and her Polish friend (a film-making student who works at a cinema in London).
Unfortunately, I had my massive backpack with me. Jabi suggested that we leave it at his cousin's flat near Notting Hill, which we did but that meant having to rush to the Thames before midnight (and the fireworks!), which we eventually failed to do.
Our original destination, Westminster station was closed and there was already a 'tube queue' nearing the station before it. We decided to leave the teeming tube a few minutes before time.
Finally, midnight was 'celebrated' at the entrance of Sloane Square station as the Tube officer wished us a Happy New Year over the loudspeaker. What followed after was a long three-hour walk across St James's Park, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, etc. London central was swarmed by the merry (or plain intoxicated) English, foreign students and tourists. Bobbies were as ubiquitous as adult English men pissing at the nearest wall or bush.
I almost forgot why we had planned to celebrate New Year's Eve in London. Besides that, it was awfully nice to be back in London and Dartford again! Other than Jabi (who now works for the BBC regional section for Afghanistan), I met up with my Russian former classmate from Essex. She is temping in Gap at Bond Street while waiting for her work permit and lives with her Turkish boyfriend (also from Essex, now doing his MA at King's College). I stayed over at their brand new single-room apartment - great location, right next to the tube station which is on the convenient Central Line (Zone 2) but comes with a hefty 1000-quid a month rent.
I had a nice Christmasy meal at Uncle Alex's. Ko helped with the turkey which turned out lovely. Paula and Carol came too, and there were the usual wine, roast veg (I loved the parsnips!), burnt Christmas pudding and cream.
Auntie Clem gave Ah Nee and I nice loose-fitting Middle Eastern blouses as Christmas presents from Egypt. Ingenious Ko bought a case of wine and made sure we had presents for everyone (i.e. "Merry Christmas... from Beng Kiat, Cheng Boon & Cheng Yee") including Ah Dee whom we visited on Saturday afternoon.
Little Jun has grown so much, physically and mentally (especially for Nee who hadn't seen her for over a year). She speaks three languages (English, Mandarin, and Cantonese) and comprehends way beyond her age (two-and-a-half).
After a few quick phone calls and text messages, I managed to meet up with Teru and arranged a dimsum brunch with two other HELP kakis, Rowan and Kelvin. I haven't met the latter since HELP because he finished his LSE external degree in Malaysia instead of England. He is now doing his Masters in Investment Management at UCL while applying for jobs related to asset management in London.
Teru is finishing his Accounting degree soon but is planning to stay on to do his ACCA. I stayed overnight at Teru's new place near Canary Wharf. Good location too (on the Docklands Light Rail line) and he pays 400-quid for his room, excluding bills.
It never fails to impress me, how expensive it actually is to live and travel (the cheapest single tube ticket is three pounds, before the recent increase for 2007) in London. Comparatively, living in other European capitals can be considered inexpensive. For what you pay for a room in London, you would get a whole flat in central Berlin. The film-making Polish girl who had spent some time in Berlin agreed and commented that the high cost of living in London is superficially inflated, i.e. you don't get real quality/value for the price you pay.
It's a shame really, otherwise London is an interesting place to be - so many different peoples, sights and events. I've learnt to appreciate the diversity of London after my term in Luxembourg. =.)
Cheng
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