check and balance

So it's now the end of February. Those aspiring to be their respective wakil rakyat have just one more week to campaign in Malaysia. A lot of money has been spent by BN to ensure they regain their majority in parliament.

During the last election, they had a landslide victory. I guess people saw Pak Lah as this good and religious guy who would stamp out corruption in the government, especially after the Mahathir era. Look how that turned out.

I don't deny that BN has brought a lot of progress to the country. Hey, after decades in charge, they should have achieved that, or else they would be a very big failure.

What I'm concerned about is the amount of corruption and scandals that seems to be swept under the carpet. They seem to think that just because the majority voted for them in the elections, they can do whatever they want. Their arrogance let them pijak kepala those who are weak, those who cannot defend themselves. They close one eye to friends who are in wrong and people's complains just fall on deaf ears.

what we need is check and balance, not cheque and balance
(disclaimer: reference in this picture to any specific commercial product, process, service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise is/are purely coincidental)

So that's why I'm hoping that BN will be denied a two thirds majority. We need check and balance in the government. We are all human, so we make mistakes sometimes. Hence it's the duty of the other people in power to correct these mistakes. Since in Malaysia it is forbidden for members of BN to disagree with the party, the opposition should be acting as something like the conscience of the government.

In the UK, the official parliamentary opposition party have their own shadow cabinet. They have shadow ministers who provide counterpoints to the ministers of the government. It is their responsibility to pass criticism on the current government as well as offering alternative policies.

This is a great concept since the government will always ensure that they are doing the best thing for the country and the people, because if they don't, the opposition is there to correct and criticise them. By criticise, I don't mean the kind that usually happens in our parliament, where grown adults fight like small children who just lost their favourite toy. What I mean is respectable, positive criticism.

Now I don't think this could be applied in Malaysia. Not currently anyway, and maybe not for the next 10 years as well (or probably never if we can't change our close-minded and 'I'm right you're wrong' attitude) . This is mainly because the opposition isn't strong enough. It's true, they have finally decided not to contest in the same area, but they are still not as strong as BN. Nevertheless, they are getting stronger.

It pains me to have to watch all this from afar. I really would like to join in the 'action' in Malaysia. For those of you who think that my reason not to register/vote is unacceptable, I would not hold it against you. I just hope that you could respect my decision. Unfortunately, respect for people is very much lacking nowadays.

So people, if you ask me, I'll tell you to vote for anyone other than BN candidates. But then we don't know if the opposition is good enough or capable to run an effective government. It's a catch-22 situation. If they want to be elected, they need to show that they have experience and are very much capable, but to have experience, they must first be elected by the people.

So what should you, those who will be voting, do? Will you choose BN because you like what they've been doing so far (progress, economy, corruption)? Or will you choose another party, whose candidate you see as untried and untested? Well, that's up to you to decide.

Use the greatest gift Allah has given you (Allah means God for those of you who don't know, and I also don't mind non-muslims refering Allah as God). Or if you don't believe in God, then use the greatest asset that you have. No, not your heart. That just pumps blood you know. And it's not the hati either. It's your brain. Your very smart and intelligent brain. Use it. Wisely.

“Change we can believe in.”

house nite

Last Friday night, Flat 2 Chamberlain House residents (me, Hairy, Helmi, Hanafi, Pear) plus our usual guests (Ammir, Colin, Faizal) and Hanafi's friend, Dzul (or D-zul or however you want to spell it, I don't know hehe) went to Fulham Broadway to watch Jumper. It's a movie about teleportation, starring Hayden Christensen (that Star Wars guy) and Samuel L. Jackson.

Faizal arrived a bit late, so we left without him (Hanafi was late as well, but that's another story). When the movie finished, we were surprised to find that Faizal was seating behind us.

“Eh, camne kau ada kat sini? Teleport eh?”

Well, the movie had some good action sequences but the ending was terrible. The plot wasn't developed very well. Nevertheless, Pear brought along his new SLR camera, Nikon D-40, so a lot of nice photos were taken.

We then went back to the tube station to go back home. All except Faizal that is. He mysteriously went off on his own. Hmm.. he must've wanted to teleport somewhere where we couldn't see him.

colin and hanafi liked their photos very much

Back at home, we made chocolate peanut butter fudge, poured it on waffles and sprinkled almonds on it. Deeeeelicious!

Pear wasn't the only one who's invested on something new that week. Hairy bought a new camcorder, Everio GZ-MG36EK. He's already posted a couple of videos. Check out his first video about 2 clones and a cup here. Here's his second one, recorded while we were making the chocolate peanut butter fudge:

mari bersama mari bersama...

Maybe I shouldn't have posted this video, since the last part is quite embarrassing for me. Haha.

We then played Uno. Colin (usually an Uno victim) was really enjoying himself, especially when he finished early and when he successfully beat Hairy and me. If you want proof, just go ask Hairy for the recordings that night. You could hear Colin's laughs a mile away. Hehe jangan marah eh Colin.

Jom house nite lagi!

symbiosis software ltd

“Hello. I’m Muhammad Fadhli Mustaffa. You called me on Friday, but I couldn’t answer your call because I was busy.”
“Hold on Muhammad. Let me get your file.”
“Okay.”
“So how do you think you did during the Assessment Day?”
“I think I did okay.”
“Good. Well, the good news is you did really well.”
“(Hmm.. kalau ada good news, mesti ada bad news.. the bad news is we had too many qualified candidates, and I’m afraid your application isn’t successful…? ) Okay.”
“And I’m pleased to say that we’re offering you the job.”
“(Yes!!!) Thank you! Thank you.”
…

A few days later…

“Fadhli, parcel ko dah sampai.”
“Parcel?”
“Aku ingatkan videocam aku yang sampai tadi. Tengok2 parcel untuk kau.”
“Aku x order pun apa2. Eh written job offer sampai dalam kotak ke?”
“Bukak la tengok.”
“(Opening...) Yup. Offer.”
“Ada casing kecik lagi dlm tu. Mcm case laptop.”
“Ehe ada bag jugak.”
“Seronoknya.”
…

To the other companies, thank you for your interest, but I regret to inform you that I no longer wish to pursue the application process to your respective companies. I wish you all the best in your search for fresh qualified graduates!

eligible but ineligible

So the Malaysian parliament was dissolved on 13 February 2008, 15 months earlier than the end of the 5-year term which will end on 16 May 2009. Some speculate that BN was scared of Anwar and didn't want him to contest. He'll only be eligible to contest in April whereas election day is on March 2008. But of course, people can speculate whatever they want. Pak Lah and co will of course deny it, what with the mainstream media in their control, they can say whatever they want.

For the next 2-3 weeks, you'll see a lot of news in the Malaysian mainstream media telling people the 'great' things BN has done for them, the 'excellent' things they're doing now, the 'superb' plans they have for the people in the future etc. This is good if it were all true. And if the opposition side can do the same as well. But no. They have to be one-sided. They don't want a fair fight. Everything they say is the truth and everything the opposition say is a lie.

Just read this news story about poor students who'll receive financial help. Yes, it is very noble of you to do this, but why now? Why not do it last year or the year before?

the symbols below does not necessarily show
which party i'm politically inclined to hehe

What saddens me is that they also resort to negative tactics. Tahun merawat Kelantan? Come on la, why do you need to potray them as a sick state? Is that the only method you could think of to try win over Kelantan voters? Why stoop so low? I'm sure many of those living in Kelantan don't have the same view.

Personally, I think you should change it to Tahun merawat Malaysia. I feel disappointed when reading and watching news on the sad state of affairs in Malaysia. Something needs to be done to improve and elevate the current status of my home country.

I also do not think it was appropriate to compare people with animals. I don't know the full context of the speech, but it's just not right. Especially if you're in the opposition, considering that the mainstream media is controlled by you-know-who. They'll be delighted with this since they can use it to gain political leverage.

Let's move to another sub-topic. I'm sure everyone knows that Pak Lah is the Imam of Islam Hadhari. It was his idea to 'implement' Islam Hadhari in everyday life in Malaysia and anywhere else in the world. But if you're learnt in Islam, you'll know that Islam is a COMPLETE religion. It's supposed to be implemented in our everyday life. We have guidelines for everything; praying, communicating, politics, even sleeping.

You DO NOT need to add a certain word after Islam, for example 'Hadhari', to rebrand Islam, or to show that you're now implementing it. So what were you practicing before this? Just Islam? Too boring for you ey? Islam is supposed to be a religion that suits every period of time. You don't need to change it.

Recently, the World Conference of Al-Azhar Alumni was held in KL. Its objective was 'to assemble personalities and Islamic scholars, as well as those who have succeeded and have influence within the society from the Al-Azhar University Alumni to bring about unity amongst them and the society'. (I got this from their website plus corrected some grammar here and there).

And I seriously doubt the Al-Azhar scholars who met there understood what Islam Hadhari was about when they agreed that Islam Hadhari is suitable as a foundation of a new Islamic civilisation.

I think I should start stepping on the brake pedal now. This post is getting a bit too long. And I can't even vote. So I don't think I have much right to say this and that when I'm not even going to vote.

But in my defence, I'd like to say that I was working when I was in Malaysia last summer and didn't have much time to register. And I didn't even know where and how to do it. But even if I did register, the only way I could vote is through the mail since I'm currently not in Malaysia.

And I am not confident that my vote will go in the ballot box the same as how I wrote/crossed it. Know what I mean? I'm sure you do. Since I'm an EEE student, let me give an analogy. Let's say my vote is an input signal to a filter. The filter will screen out any noisy aspect of the input signal cough opposition cough cough. So the output signal, which is the signal that arrives at the ballot box, is the desired signal that BN wants.

Don't understand? No worries. It's not important.

I have a friend who didn't register as well, but somehow his name is on the SPR list. And apparently his gender is female according to their records. Hmm.. very mysterious.

And don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-government. I really appreciate all the good things that they've done. I'm just anti-corruption, anti-liars and anti-hypocrites. It shows that one is a great liar when on one day, one says the parliament isn't going to be dissolved on a certain date and on the next day, one says otherwise. So do you want your country to be run by liars? I certainly don't.

To those who are voting, I do hope you really think about it long and hard. Make sure you are really informed before making your decision. I personally hope that this certain party will not get a 2/3 majority, for the good of the country.

But that's just me, the guy who's eligible to vote because of his age, but ineligible because he hasn't registered yet. Good luck voting!

food and food and food and food

It seems that most of the posts in my blog are about food. Well I guess it's appropriate considering that the blog title is 'the milk', though milk isn't one of the ingredients of any of the many delicacies mentioned in this blog of mine.

I was thinking of writing something about politics, with the current situation in my beloved home country, but my weekend was full of food yet again.

ammir's nasi lemak

Ammir had some guests from Warwick who wanted to come over his place for lunch and he decided to make some nasi lemak. My housemates and I wanted nasi lemak as well, so he invited us all to come join him. Pear went there earlier to help.

I went there later to eat. Hehe. Ammir also baked a new york cheesecake. All the food was delicious as usual. Ria and Shimi really enjoyed them as well.

I stayed there to watch the FA Cup Fifth Round match between Man Utd and Arsenal. What a joy it was to watch Man U thrash Arsenal 4-0. Oh yeay! And since I just bought a Man Utd jersey with Nani 17 printed on the back that very day, it was double joy for me because Nani was superb during that match. He assisted 2 goals and scored a brilliant one. Tak rugi beli jersi dia.

Later in the evening, we went up to Flat 12 Chamberlain House. They were hosting a Chinese New Year steamboat celebration, especially for their non-Chinese friends if I'm not mistaken. Well, it doesn't matter. The important thing was that there was tons and tons of food to be eaten. Hanafi was very very happy.

flat 2 and 12 chamberlain plus our usual guests. yup, we've eaten up all the food.

Other guests were there as well, but we couldn't squeeze them into the photo. Thanks guys for the tasty and savory steamboat with the fishballs, squids, chicken, sauces and all!

mr beanie/snowcap/wooly hat guy, cepat la jalan

After we were all full, we (residents of Flat 2) and our frequent guests (Ammir, Colin and Faizal) turun to Flat 2 and played Uno and watched some funny clips on Youtube.

What a fun and 'foodful' day.

cheesecake 1.2 and friends

theme: outrageous oreo

o o oreo

Yes, I know. It's a ripoff from F&N's Outrageous Orange. But who cares anyway.

I made this during the weekend. I didn't have enough oreos actually, so I used chocolate digestives as the base instead of oreos. And thanks Ammir for the oreos.

Dah la ada sikit je oreo, pastu ada la 2 org ni, Faizal and Hanafi (bukan nama sebenar), pegi ambik oreo and makan. Haih.

I had guests during the weekend, Hairel and Fawwaz, friends from Kusess and their friend Ikhwan. They said it tasted ok. In my opinion, it was ok but lacked the taste of oreo a little. Hmm.. I wonder why.

Hanafi (nama sebenar) also made one last week. He made a peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake. It's the one on the left. It looks delicious but did it taste good? Hmmm.. hehe jgn marah Hanafi. Sedap2.

And Wan Aimran and Ammir also made one. It was a new york cheesecake. Nama bukan main lagi. But I must say it was delicious. They made the kind that needed to be baked.

I didn't bake mine, so it was quite easy really. The new york cheesecake is the one on the right.

I'm thinking of making one that needs to be baked, but not in the near future. Asyik buat cheesecake je, kena la try benda lain pulak kan. So what should it be?

steamboat at royal oak

Last night, Pear, Hairy, Hanafi and I went to Wan Aimran's place. He invited us over for a steamboat dinner. Of course, it was an invitation that I couldn't miss.

"Apa occasion ni? Sempena Chinese New Year?" - Fadhli

"Oh, sebab Abn dah lapar." - Wan Aimran

wanna know why it looks delicious? because it was delicious! hehe

We started with the fortune cookies. Some of them were funny. Some were okay. Here's mine:

"Happiness is not having what you want. It's wanting what you have."

I guess it means that we should appreciate what we already have. So, I was really appreciating the steamboat dinner. Hehe.

yummy

There were noodles, salmon, chicken, prawns, fish cakes, mushrooms, carrots, lettuces.. Lots and lots of them. Aimran used tomyam soup to dip and cook the food in. Sedap! We ate until we were really full.

makan, makan, makan dan makan lagi

After eating, we watched Puaka Tebing Biru. I advise you to not watch it because it was very dragging. And the plot is pointless. Boring.

We then went home at midnight. It was an enjoyable night, hanging out with friends, eating together. Thanks to Wan Aimran and housemates for preparing the steamboat dinner! (Sorry to hear about the toilet incident though. Hehe.)

Bila nak buat lagi?

cheesecake 1.1

Almond bug fixed.

theme: scrumptious strawberry

scrumpelicious

Adoi, lame lagi theme. Ehe.

For my second cheesecake, I only used 2 drops of almond extract. For the topping, I used St Dalfour Strawberry Fruit Spread (rhapsodie de fruit). I also mixed some of the strawberry with the cheese.

The verdict:

• Sedap
• Delicious
• 美味的
• Delizioso

Hehehe. You get the idea.

Thanks Zeehan and Ammir for the tips! And thank you Hanafi for buying that book, and helping me mix the cheese.

Apa? Nak makan sikit? Sorry, dah habis!

paradise won

Yeah! We've won the Burnout Driving License!

In case you're wondering, the license upgrades are as follows:
Class E License -> Class D License -> Class C License -> Class B License -> Class A License -> Burnout Driving License.

Basically, we've won the game, but still haven't completed all the events. We've won 60% so far. To get the Burnout Elite License, we need to finish all of them. Banyak tu.

road rage

It's been a week now and we're really enjoying the game. I personally think it's terrific. It's better than Burnout 3 in a way. There's a lot of freedom in choosing which routes you want to go to. That's good in Road Rage, but in a Race, it's a bit of a disadvantage. It's hard to look at the roads and the little map at the bottom corner at the same time. That's not much of a problem though if you have your mates watching. They can be your navigators while you're driving.

There's also the Super Jumps, Smashes and Billboards to be crashed into. And Showdown... fuih..

"Macam hantu kat jalan." - Hairy

Well, it's time to play Burnout until we burn out...