Of Photos and Photoshop

Have you ever looked at a good picture, and upon knowing that it's been photoshopped, said that "Chehh like that hor"?

I had. In particular, I have more than once been disappointed that in real life, travel destinations look blander and less interesting compared to pictures in travel websites. I have always blamed photoshop for that. However, as I learn more about photography, I am starting to see the other side of the coin.

I learnt that every single photo, no matter how original and pure, must have been photoshopped by the time it appears in front of you.

When we took film photographs in the past, we thought that our pictures all turned out bright and colourful. But that doesn't mean that the colour and exposure of our pics must have been right in the first place - the people in photo shops have been "photoshopping" colours, brightness and levels for decades before Adobe Photoshop came along. That's precisely where the software's name came from. All your pictures in the good ol' albums, regardless of its quality and age, had been photoshopped.

How about digital pictures, one might ask. In most digital cameras, the pixels of a picture are recorded with digital sensors, processed by a processor and converted into a jpg file. The quality of the picture coming from the process is largely dependent on the quality of the lens as well as the processor. When I visited St. Kilda beach with my friends last time, when I compared the same picture (e.g. group picture) taken with different cameras, I noticed that my Canon A70 produced much more vibrant colour out of the camera. Colour, contrast, saturation, sharpness etc, they have everything to do with the lens and the processing of the camera.

So my point is, every picture (apart from professional unprocessed RAW files, but that's another story) has already been through some level of processing, sharpening, colour-changing, white balance tuning etc. Some photo-purists take pride with not photoshopping pictures to the extent that they have this holier-than-thou attitude towards the whole practice of photoshopping. I feel that it's a bit ignorant for them to do that. Yes it's a good thing that your pictures are already beautiful straight out of the camera, but that doesn't mean that you are naturally better than people who do more post-processing. Probably unbeknownst to them is the fact that their cameras have already done a fair amount of "photoshopping" in the 'original" version. Unless you are talking about composition (which can't be changed with photoshop except simple cropping), or you are comparing two photographers using the same camera system, it's hard to make any meaningful comparison based on the usage of photoshop alone.

Also, with regards to the "cheating" travel photos - I came to term with it with the realisation that they were never meant to paint the actual picture for us anyway. Photos are now more a form of art than an item of realism.

To finish off, I will show you one of my recent efforts in improving a photo with photoshop. The techniques and results are nothing to rave about, but it's just a concept I am trying to get across.

This is my mum and dad. We were happily shooting some random portrait pictures in Ampang recreational park, Alor Star. We saw this stone structure which is perfect to sit on, and I snapped away with 3 shot-per-second continuous bursts to capture their expressions. This is the original picture that I got (actually already modified a bit of exposure, but not much different from the real original). The colour is not too great, but my dad's glance at my mum is priceless. It's not staged at all, it's one of the pictures chosen from the 20+ shots taken in 10 seconds.

In my attempt to make this picture stand out more, I changed this picture to sepia at a click of a button. Not too special but looks more nostalgic now.

I tried black and white instead. Black and white pictures are good at capturing contrast and is occasionally used to remove unnecessary distraction from colours in the picture. I preserved the original composition, but cropped a little bit and performed channel mixing. Channel mixing is a slightly more complicated way of turning colour pictures into black-and-white, and it's able to manipulate contrast to our desired effect. With the right setting, channel mixer produces better looking picture than the ones you get with one-click change-to-black-and-white function. Learn more here, or google "channel mixer".

This is my third, and final attempt at the picture. I cut out the legs and the background trees, leaving the limelight to the two of them. For those who are technically inclined, I also did some extra colour-burning, sharpening and level adjustment. This picture will not win me any award, but I like this picture so much that I am setting it as my wallpaper and planning to get a large printout for them. The full size gives you an even greater impact. Also, do compare this with the original pic above - it's definitely an improvement.

Ahh the joy of photoshop.

Photography - A Journey

I have never been artistic. I have no idea how to colour properly, I do not appreciate art galleries, and I barely pass my arts exam in school every time. In fact I dreaded arts exams in secondary schools, because they tend to lower my average result by a significant amount. Not helping is seeing numbers like 60 on my result slip while others revel in scores like 80 or 95.

So, if you asked me six years ago whether I would pick up photography as a hobby, I would reply you with a loud guffaw, and "siao ah you?". Photography is an art, and art is never my cup of tea.

Kuala Kedah, taken with Xuan Ni's Sony DSC-P73.

As you can see, I am in love with photography today. Just how did that happen?

The story began when I got my first digital camera at the dawn of its popularity in Malaysia, back in 2003. Before the purchase, I did a thorough research on various cameras as it's a rather costly item. The amount of praises on Canon A70 greatly impressed me, so I ended up with one at the cost of about RM1500. (Today, similar but better cameras e.g. Powershot A560 cost about RM500) The main attraction of that camera was that while designed as a compact camera, it comes with various manual controls which paves the way for learning photography.

The articles I read during the research and the pictures I saw totally mesmerised me. I was intoxicated with such thoughts as "wow this is what I might be able to achieve!". It was so uplifting - the thoughts that I can also create art - it became the defining moment of my love for photography.


Near Cape Jervis, South Australia. Taken with Xuan Ni's Sony DSC-P73.

My Canon Powershot A70 served me well for two years in Shah Alam and one year in Melbourne, before giving way finally to wear and tear (and falls). Throughout the three years of its honourable life, it took thousands of shots for me. Although not all pictures are good, the experience imparted me lots of knowledge about the technical and artistic aspects of photography. I learned to use manual controls like ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance etc; and with the great guidance from the legendary Cheok Quen, I was acquainted to the basic operations of Photoshop. My interest in photography grew over time - I often end up in photography section whenever I visit a bookstore, and I engross myself in everything from Digital Photography for Dummies to Photoshop Bible.

I make no claim of myself being a good photographer; but I am confident to say that after years of practice and theories, I am starting to take above-average pictures. In year 2006 I was attracted by the newly established "Fotoholics" which was a new photography club in Melbourne University. Eager to improve my photography skills and know more people, I joined the club. The experience turned out to be eye-opening. I witnessed how ordinary people like you and I are able to produce stunning pictures we see in magazines. Equally memorable is the amount of money some people can spend on the equipments. :P


Gibson's steps overlooking the Twelve Apostles, one of the greatest attractions along Great Ocean Road, Australia.

Over the last year, I became increasingly involved in Fotoholics activity. I helped organising a "photography workshop" where I actually gave one of the lectures about the basics of photography i.e. shutter speed, aperture and ISO. I am also currently responsible for the Fotoholics website. Besides, I participated in various outings and activities in the club.

After almost two years of going without my own camera, I decided to get a decent digital SLR. For the uninitiated, a digital SLR is a category of camera which you would usually refer to as the "pro" or "big" camera. I know that it costs quite a bit, so I started saving up for it through tutoring in Melbourne. After almost one year of sporadic tutoring sessions, I finally earned enough to pay for a decent "starter's package", and that's how I ended up with my EOS 400D.

A digital SLR doesn't automatically transform a bad photographer to a seasoned photojournalist. The photographer matters more than the camera - the most expensive DSLR in an inexperienced hand will produce a picture worst than a cheap compact in a good photographer. However, this is not to undermine the capability of DSLRs (why would I have bought it if it doesn't matter at all). A DSLR enables control over every single aspect of photography. When you master the control of a DSLR, you pretty much tell the camera to produce the picture as you have in mind; instead of clicking the shutter and wishing that the camera somehow gets the brightness, sharpness, colour etc right.

One of the aspects I liked about DSLR is bokeh, the "out of focus blur" effect. Consider these two pictures of Kangaroo in Tasmania (click to view larger version):

The first picture is by myself using compact, second picture by a fellow Fotoholics with SLR.

The first thing you notice is probably the colour, but that isn't really related to the camera as colours can be easily manipulated with Photoshop. But look at the larger version, and notice the background - the compact version has a sharp, distracting background; the SLR version has a blurred, smooth, aesthetically pleasing background. That kind of bokeh is not achievable with a compact - and when I took the picture, I was like, "if only I have an SLR". There are also other aspects like the sharpness which would have been more controllable and hence better if I took it with SLR.

Enough with grandmother stories. So yeah, now with my new camera, I look forward to more exciting journey in photography in the future. If you are interested, do take a peek at my photos at my Flickr album. Comments and criticism are much appreciated.

Say a Prayer

We are not exactly devout believers of Chinese Folk Religions, but we went to the temple for prayers on the Lunar New Year.

Guang Fu Temple (广福宫) is one of the most popular temples in Alor Star. I never enjoyed my experience there because the smoke from the incense suffocates me badly.


For me, burning joss sticks is more of a symbolic gesture than any other thing. It symbolises hope, dedication and sincerity.


However, I am not too sure what it means to this granny. All that harboured in the gigantic stick could be her wholehearted wishes for the wellbeing of her family. Or the prosperity of the country.


Lotus candles, yet another way of conveying wishes to the Gods.


When a family does it together, you feel the harmony.


To wrap up the ceremony, one lights the paper money...


... and hopes that the well-wishes reach the Gods through the flames.

Note: I am using poetic license in the description above. It's not meant to be a perfect depiction of the meaning and implication of various ceremonies.

Some Recent Pics

I went shutter crazy on last few days.

Images from:
Flickr - Neighbour Wedding Feb 08
Flickr - Family Members Jan 08
Flickr - Visiting Alvin Jan 08

Alma Mater

I went back to Keat Hwa yesterday.

The path from the trunk road to the classrooms is now fully sheltered.


Right next to the path is a housing area under construction. What an eyesore.


The congestion that used to plague the school is now alleviated by improving the traffic flow. Cars are not allowed in the school compound now, instead, they have to drop off and pick up outside the main gate. On the left of this pic is that same path in the first picture, at the far end is the famous arch of Keat Hwa. By the way when I took this pic a guard came to me asking me whether I am a photographer from newspaper. Hah, my school, forever afraid of negative publicity.


There is now a roundabout. To make room for the roads, St. John garden had to be demolished.


To curb the flood problem that has deteriorated over the years (no thanks to the new housing area abutting on the school), what used to be the Interact garden is now excavated and turned into a giant pond to serve as the "SMART Tunnel" of Keat Hwa. The rain water is supposed to accumulate in the pond and the water is then pumped out.

Jasmine: The pond is named 大禹塘 （Da Yu Pond), after 大禹 who were famous for solving the flooding problem in the ancient Chinese history.


Another new (?) feature is the "reinforced" parking lot for the VIP of the school. :D


Among the people I met was Jasmine who was working on her last day as a temporary teacher. I also met many beloved teachers, and had some interesting small chats with them. When I asked them "How are you?", the most common response I got was, "十年如一日" (Things are the same year after year) Indeed. The same thing applies to their replies too. :D


The battery ran out just when I was about to take more pictures. But I felt contented with my little visit, and I will certainly go back again when there's a chance.

By the way you can read more about Keat Hwa's recent drastic change in one of Tian Poh's blog posts.

Home

A year has gone by
While another sojourn ends
I'm back in heaven

Going Home

After 343 days in Melbourne, I am leaving for home tomorrow and will spend 27 days there. I am not going to write a reflection about the last year, at this moment I am just thinking of... how I should carry the cherries and mangoes.

Bye 41-degree Melbourne and hi 33-degree Malaysia! :)

The Other Side Revealed!

Two years ago, I wrote this post on the joyous day of my homecoming. Not many people realised what it meant.

The answer is: they are the antipodes of my travel origin and destination.

In other words, if I digg a hole straight down from Melbourne and go through the whole Earth's interior, I will come out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. If If I digg a hole from Malaysia, it will come out some where in Ecuador, South America!

Try to find out where your favourite location's antipode is: Link. If you stay in US, don't bother: you are going to drink salt water in Indian Ocean. The next time your kid ask you "what's at the other end of the Earth", don't tell them it's China.


Note: This is part of my effort to clear up my "unfinished posts".

The Old "My Little Moments"

I started this blog since 2003, and this blog has been my "cyberspace home", an icon of my online presence. But if you think that my cyberspace existence only began since 2003, you are wrong.

Check this out: The old "My Little Moments"!

Back in 2000, Eric and I were in a craze of making "personal homepages". In that era the word "blog" was still rather unheard of in human civilisation, let alone in the rustic town of Alor Star. In 2000, personal home page was the in thing. I was in Form 3, still chubby and bouncy, and out of narcissism I decided to make myself known in the inter-web. I borrowed a HTML textbook from Chyuan Wei, and I learnt all the HTML tags like <a>, <i>, <u>, <table> etc from scratch. Then, I wrote the whole home page in Geocities using notepad and created the graphics with some free softwares which I have already forgotten. After one to two weeks, the result was what you see in the homepage.

After successfully creating the fancy homepage, somehow I managed to abandon the whole project. The whole homepage degenerated to a faint memory of my bygone enthusiasm. After a few years, I even managed to forget the password to the whole account. It has been 7 years since I last updated the page, and I seldom mention the existence of this homepage to my friends. For some reasons, Geocities has been such a great site that it preserved my site all the while, despite me not maintaining it for seven years. Eric's old homepage, on the other hand, has unfortunately succumbed to the closure of the hosting company, an event which is not terribly rare in the Internet industry.

So you are in luck. Have a good look at Chang Yang's® Personal Homepage. Meanwhile I will forgive you for laughing at my deplorable language. ;)


Thanks to Heng Liang, I am reminded of my old homepage today. After some password-recovery processes, I managed to obtain a new password and now I am a happy owner of the said Geocities account again! Haha I don't know, I might update this site when I am in mood in the future.

Calling All Keat Hwa Alumni

This is a call for fellow Keat-Hwa Alumnis - Keat Hwa needs some help. I came across the news in Tian Poh's blog, via this blog. I quote from Tian Poh:

敬爱的马来西亚吉打州吉华囯民型中学校友，

你可能是校友，可能不是。但不重要，不是校友也可以读下去。你可能认识我，可能不。但不重要，重要是有一间叫吉华的国民型中学需要你的帮忙。

以前的吉华坐落在四周都是稻田的土地上，那种情景可以用angin bertiup sepoi-sepoi bahasa来比喻（这样子写karangan已经拿到印象分了），禾风阵阵，好怀念。比较起周围的地形，校园的地形明显是比较高。所以一般的下雨不会造成水淹校园的情况。但是近年的米都发展蓬勃，吉华四周的田地已经被雨後春笋般的住宅区取代了，这间接或直接（不是马接）的导致水流不通，一雨成灾。这是问题其一。我想如果我还是学生，我的脚常要穿著被弄溼的校鞋，那种滋味肯定够苦。

问题其二是校园交通异常拥挤。随著学生人数的增加，载送学生上下课的学巴及家长车辆越来越多。每天上午班放学前（也就是下午班陆陆续续到来学校之时），学校前面地“椰林小道”还有礼堂前面仅有的一块“周会小地” 都堆满著这些车子及学巴，当然还有下车的学生们。其实，驾驶技术不太好地话，也还真难把车驾到裏面去，然後U-TURN 出来。这种情况是可以威胁学生安全的。我有深刻的体会因爲我每个月都会有一两次到学校载小妹回家。第一次看到那个拥挤的情况时，我是目瞪口呆。

校方希望尽速解决这两个问题。所以近日董事会发起了广招赞助人一事（经已发了几次新闻稿），希望在六月尾之前能招到至少1000名赞助人，每名赞助人的赞助额为至少RM1000，多多益善。这些筹到的钱将会作爲他日购买校园外右手边的一片田地来扩建校园以解决这两大问题之用。详情请参閲下面的通告。





1000个赞助人说多不多，说少又好像不少。不过若果每个人都认爲别人才有能力出钱（还是出力），那麽到底谁能站出来出钱出力呢？而且，其实那片地的市价为叁百五十万，1000个1000块也不过一百万，前方显然还有一段路。

如果不能以个人名誉捐赠，大家可以用团体名誉捐赠。比如1995年5a3班。应该也是可以。聚少成多，衆志成城，只要大夥儿热烈响应，我相信叁百五十万也应该没问题。

如果你或你的团体有意思成爲赞助人，可以跟我拿表格（还是到学校或校友会拿表格），自己填妥后把支票及表格交给校方。你可以联络04-7722053（学校电话）了解更多详情。校友会的电话是04-7331410。

前人种树，後人遮荫。我们曾经在前人种过的树下遮荫，现在应该也轮到我们为“後人”种种树了。

谢谢大家。

P/S: 不是校友当然也可以成爲赞助人。。。

For a slightly related English translation, do read it here. I am looking at donating some money, so I will contact my parents and see what I could do about it. For those who are in Malaysia now, do join your force and grab the golden chance to repay our alma mater!

Leaving

A 7000-km journey
I am leaving tomorrow morning from Penang to KL and from KL to Melbourne. Thanks for all the memories in Alor Star and KL, I cherish them wholeheartedly. I am sure I will miss my family and my nieces. :) I initially thought of not coming home end of this year, but now that I'm leaving, such a decision suddenly seem too hard to make.

Melbourne, this time I am going back with more vigour and a refreshed outlook. I look forward to more challenges in the coming year. There could be a rough path ahead of me, but I will tread each step with care and confidence.

Stupid JPJ

Warning: This extremely long post consists of a string of rants and nothing else. But it is a story about what every Malaysian loves to hate - the inefficient government agencies. So you have it there, reader's discretion is advised.

******

In my recent encounterS with JPJ, I am forced to reach an unkind conclusion: 做鬼作怪，无影无迹

Here's how the story goes. I study in Melbourne, Australia, and sometimes I need to drive when I want to go on road trips. According to what I have heard, in order to drive legally in Australia, I need to have some documentations from JPJ in order to prove that I am a holder of a valid driving license. But I am not sure about the details, so I decided to go to JPJ to ask for more details.

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First Visit to JPJ - One Day in December

In a lovely afternoon, a very excited me embarked on the journey to JPJ after asking for directions from my parents. I wanted to renew my license anyway, so it's a journey with two purposes. I was filled with joy in anticipation of my new license and the needed documentation for me to drive in Melbourne.

My sense of direction was proven not so bad as I reached JPJ without much trouble. When I reached there, naturally the first thing I did was to look for somewhere to park. Public vehicles aren't allowed inside the JPJ compound, so I had to look for some where else, preferably on the roadside nearby. Left, right, left right. It was a very remote road, the road was very wide, and there was no traffic except JPJ visitors. Everywhere I laid my eyes on, there was no place for parking on the road. No, you got it wrong if you guessed that it's because the roadside was fully parked - it's almost empty. There was no place because someone put up a sign that says "no parking" along the whole length of the road. Yes, no parking on the broad daylight although it's a damn broad road with no traffic.

All right then. Obviously there must be some where I could park my car, right? Yes of course. A huge empty space was conveniently located opposite JPJ, and of course you guessed it right, a money collecting booth was conveniently located at the entrance of the space. Okay, okay.. no problem. Just pay for it, just this ONE time. Someone politely asked for "seringgit dua", and I politely paid it.

So, maintaining a joyous mood, I went out of the parking lot and proceeded to the JPJ office. I got to the right building after asking for direction, and patiently I waited for my turn. It was not long before I got called. For the part of renewing license, it was swiftly processed, and their speed was pretty fast, which I presumed was because that's their routine work. Now come the tricky part - asking about driving in Australia. The friendly counter abang told me (not in exact wording):

Kalau nak pandu kat Australia ada dua cara.. Yang pertama itu dapatkan IDP (International Driving Permit) la, kalau tidak boleh tulis satu surat rasmi ke JPJ, katakan nak memohon bagi memandu di Australia, dan kemudian masukkan alamat JPJ di Australia, alamat kamu di Australia, dan sebagainya. Bagi jugak fotostat dokumen-dokumen itu lah, dan serah dua puluh ringgit. Kami akan keluarkan satu surat dengan butir-butiran lesen kamu lah, dan bila kat Australia gunakan surat itu sahaja

Wow that was a fair surprise for me. I could actually get it done for twenty ringgit, instead of paying one hundred and fifty ringgit every year for the International Driving Permit. Since I need to prepare the official letter and the photocopies, I went home so that I could apply on another day.

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Second Visit to JPJ - 23 January

Alright, I admit that I am a procrastinator. I didn't visit JPJ again until 23 January as I went to KL, was busy online and so on and so forth. But all in all, yeah, I procrastinated until 23 Jan.

Yippie, I thought, I could get the whole thing done on that day! Painstakingly I prepared a formal letter, printed it in a shop, and photocopied all the relevant documents. And I went to JPJ again.

And yes, I paid 1.20 Ringgit for the parking again. I was starting to get annoyed with the daylight robbery, but it's okay, that was the LAST time I was going to pay it. Fine.

I repeated the whole process - going to JPJ office, getting a number, waiting for the call. So the PA system announced the sweet number, and I presented to the counter with the documentations. It was a different guy from the first encounter, and then came the moment of truth:

A Receptionist: *Flip flip flip* *Read read read* *Double check with another receptionist* Eerr... Adik, ini tak boleh buat lah... Kami tak buat macam itu bagi Australia. Bagi Singapura boleh lah buat surat macam ini, tapi... bagi Australia, perlulah beli IDP. Yang Singapura itu kami ada buat perjanjian boleh gunakan surat bagi konvert lesen, tapi Australia itu tak ada perjanjian...

What the ****?!!

After the previous trip, the whole shebang of printing and photocopying process, now they were telling me this whole thing didn't apply for Australia? All right all right. Fine. I would just accept the fate that I couldn't drive in Australia, since 150 ringgit per year is too expensive for me. I have wasted all the parking fee, photocopying and freaking expensive printing all for nothing. FINE.

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After the Second Visit

I was discontented. Boh Siok. I went online to look for more info, and with the help of Chang Jie I managed to find the VicRoad page with the information for a foreign driver. Basically it says that for an international student, if I have a valid overseas license, I can actually drive in Australia as long as that license comes with an English translation. So that means just make an English translation for my Malay license, I could already drive in Victoria (the state Melbourne is in) legally.

It was such a good news for me. No extra charges, no 150 ringgit, no formal letter. I just needed to print out an English translation, get JPJ to certify it, and I was good to go!

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The Third Visit to JPJ - 24 January

It was not as easy as I thought to translate a small piece of license, but I managed to do it anyway. I paid for the printing again, and off I went to JPJ, again in a relieved mood. Of course I was fairly positive about the trip despite it being the third trip, as I was going to end the whole ordeal.

At the parking lot, I grudgingly paid for the parking for the third time. I almost wanted to punch that collector lady when she nonchalantly called out "Seringgit dua!" Alright. Three ringgit and sixty cents, that's all you were going to get from me, greedy parking lot!

All right, let's cut the redundant part and get straight to the office. So I went to the counter with that translation, and the receptionist asked me to deal with the more "tua liap" people inside the office.

I presented the translation and asked whether she could translate certify it for me.

Tua Liap Officer: *Read read read* Yang ini, kamu buat sendiri kah?

Sei Liap Me: Ya.

Tua Liap Officer: Aiyorr, tak boleh buat macam itu. Kami tak boleh sign la macam ini. Kamu mesti tulis satu surat, katakan mau memohon JPA keluarkan satu surat rasmi dengan butiran lesen kamu, dan... [blah blah blah, the same things the guy told me in the first visit]

TULAN. (Visit this Kennysia post for more visual effect)

I was sure my face must be as black as a charcoal when I heard that. Yes, it's a bit vulgar, but no other word could describe my feeling better. They went on pressing on how illegal it was to have them sign that and how I did not "follow their ways". Alright, I told the officer about what happened in my previous two trips. She didn't seem very apologetic about it, and went on lecturing me what I should do. At the end I think she must have seen my face colour, because she eventually said "Sorry la kena datang berapa kali".

At least she apologised at the end. Okay. I was magnanimous.

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Fourth Visit to JPJ - 25 January

Okay la this was the last time liao. The real last time. I had a weird feeling that it's not going to be a smooth day, but that's impossible, I thought.

This time I was smart, I parked on a roadside a bit further from JPJ, where there was no sign but a faint yellow line on the road. That was a bet, of course, 1.20 Ringgit vs. an offence summon.

I entered the office by myself as the officer told me the previous day, and gave her the letter.

Tua Liap Officer: *Read read read* Adik, perkataan atas surat itu tak begitu tepat ni... Kamu kata "pengesahan untuk memandu di Australia", kami tak boleh mengesahkan, kami hanya boleh mengeluarkan butir-butiran kamu sahaja.

I must consider myself to be very civilised as I didn't burst out in the office. That was just way too much for anyone to bear. What, the wording in an official letter? It's just for the purpose of archiving applications, now you were telling me that my wording was incorrect, on my fourth visit? (Update: Read my p/p/s for this event)

Another Not-So-Tualiap Officer: Eerm kenapa tak apply IDP?

Tulan Me: *Black Face* IDP mahal lah, seratus lima puluh ringgit setiap tahun!

Another Not-So-Tualiap Officer: Kamu belajar kat luar negara, mesti ada duit itu...

Tulan Me: *Black Face*

Another Not-So-Tualiap Officer: Okay la macam itu. Saya bagi satu kertas putih, kamu tulislah satu surat baru mengikut format dia.

I settled for a neatly handwritten letter at the end. After four visits, twenty ringgit and half an hour, they finally got me the precious official document that I asked for. Reading the motto of "Kedah Maju 2010" and "Mesra Cekap Telus" in the document, I had a mixed feeling.

******

Seriously, what the heck with all the red tapes and the bad attitudes? Why can't they improve the whole process to this work flow:

1. Visit JPJ one day with my license, passport and its photocopies.
2. Ask at the counter about driving in Australia.
3. Fill out a form so that they could archive the application, and pay the money.
4. Wait for their processing.
5. Get the document.

Wouldn't the world be a better place? I think Pak Lah needs to pay a visit to JPJ Kedah one day. The last I heard, since he paid a surprise visit to Immigration department a few years ago, the department has become super efficient. He should pay more visits to all the other departments, seriously.

He might want to visit the parking lots and the "no parking" sign too.


p/s: After the whole incident, I am suspicious that they purposely made it hard to apply for that particular document. It's obviously a valid procedure, as they did show me many other similar applications when they showed me "the right way" to write that official letter. I suspect that they might make it hard for people to apply for it, you know, so that people apply for the more expensive IDP instead. But of course it's not for sure lah, it's just a guess. So don't sue me for defamation.

p/p/s: I just realized that I remembered wrongly. I actually wrote "memohon kebenaran daripada JPJ untuk memandu di Australia" instead of "pengesahan". But that doesn't detract from the "ketulanan" of the other events.

Be a Voter!

Be a voter! Do the right thing!

That is, if you are a Malaysian and you've turned 21. I went to the post office a few days ago and registered as an official electorate in Malaysia. It's like a piece of cake:

1. Go to your local post office.
2. Enjoy your (preferably short) queue.
3. Ask the staff "Boleh daftar menjadi pengundi pilihanraya tak?"
4. Show your IC, and with a smile tell the staff "Ya betul, saya sudah 21 lah..."
5. Wait for 5 minutes while the staff looks for that particular alphabets while poking around on the keyboard.
6. Sign on a piece of document.
7. Done!

It's our responsibility to be a voter in Malaysia - there's no use in empty talks, it's our votes that will walk our talk. We decide our own future, and let's all begin our first step by becoming a voter!


p/s: I made a few changes to my blog interface, namely deleting the "peek-a-boo comment preview" feature (it's slowing the overall loading speed of my blog) and adding "instant messaging" feature on the sidebar. Basically, from now onwards, if you see me online while you are browsing my blog, you can talk to me in real time.. That's just way cool and convenient.

Life

Almost certainly, the only times people talk about life is when deaths occur. And when life occurs, no one would ever give a thought about death.

Life is 100% fatal, but that is one of the reasons we cherish life so much. We all know that there's an expiry date for our organic bodies, but nobody knows whether their due dates are 50 years, 10 years, 1 year, 1 week or 1 second from now. Actuaries may look up tables to calculate your statistical odds of living to a particular age, but for practical purpose death, or life for that matter, is a sheer uncertainty. It's this very uncertainty, however, that gives us comfort, that confers us with the precious hope and bright outlook on life, that propels us to live life to the fullest. We know that hopefully, there is a long way ahead of us, a life akin to a box of chocolate. So we live, knowing that when we close our eyes every night, we will rather certainly wake up the next morning and live for another day.

But life is never fair. Some of us are unfortunate enough to be robbed of the hope of uncertainty. For some, what dawns upon them is the certainty that their loved ones would be gone in a year or two, as their bodies are rummaged by rebellious cells that won't give up dividing or attacking other cells. No, no soap drama is required to learn more. Just imagine having to prepare for your imminent death in a few months from now. Imagine the fear of the knowledge that you will lose your loved one any time from now. Imagine losing your closest one tomorrow morning. Imagine feeling your body fail you. I wouldn't even allow myself to linger in such thoughts for an extra moment.

Death is debilitating, more so to the people around the deceased. As we go through the cycles of live, we relish, relieve, relive and finally relinquish. The dead will not come back to life, but who are we to say that their lives only lived on their bodies? Gone are their breaths, but their souls are within us, their spirits live on.

Through deaths, we strive to see more in lives. I dedicate this to my bereaved friends. May they gain more strength through the difficult moments.


p/s: I wanted to post more on my birthdays and new year, but due to recent events I had to delay those posts.

Speed Dial

Speed dial is a handy feature that comes with most cellular phones. Let's say you call Ah Bee and Ah Tu very often with your mobile phone, and you want to cut the hassles of finding their names every time. It's easy, after some simple steps, you can set Ah Bee as no. 2, Ah Tu as no.3, so next time, just press and hold number 2 for Ah Bee, or number 3 for Ah Tu. Light and easy.

Despite the ease-of-use, this feature does suffer from a major drawback. Just imagine remembering 2 for Ah Bee, 3 for Ah Tu, 4 for Ah Meng, 5 for Ah Chen, 6 for Ah Xing, 7 for Ah Chua, 8 for Ah Kau and 9 for Ah Pek. Seriously, there isn't any good connection between the number and its corresponding person, unless you plan to stick something on top of every key. Just look at the picture on your right, and let's just recall, what number is Ah Xing again? See, you can't remember right? That is not my idea of convenience.

But my mum manages to find some good use to the numbers. Well, instead of saying "find some good use", I should say it was the most natural thing that came to her: there are 7 siblings in my family! So as the youngest child, I am honoured with the lucky number 7, my youngest sister get the runner-up 6, the one elder get 5, 4, and so on. And up to my brother, who gets the special number 9. Why? Because 1 can't be set to speed dial number, it's by default the voice mail number.

Another reason of having 7 children.

Going Home

I am leaving for the airport in 30 minutes.

Bye Melbourne, hello Alor Star!

I Can See My House!

I guess almost everyone who has used Internet long enough would have known the existence of Google Earth, and its sister project, Google Maps.

Basically, these two are the whole-earth satellite images that are free for public access. Last year, I enthusiastically tried it out in my Melbourne apartment and "visited" a few places such as Melbourne, University of Cambridge, University of Surabaya, University of Michigan and most important of all, my home.

For the first few maps, the map resolution (the clearness of the fine details) are superb - I can see every single car and house clearly. But for my home in Alor Star, I was utterly disappointed. Despite my very best effort, all I saw was a fine water line which I recognized as Sungai Kedah, and a glob of indiscrete houses which I barely recognized as "housing areas". And I couldn't even estimate where my house was, not to mention to pinpoint where it is.

I gave it up since then, and I thought probably Alor Star just wasn't a city important enough to feature a high-resolution map.

Today, however, Michelle amazed me with her post about her hometown. I thought, eih, Michelle came from Kuching right, how come she can see so many high-resolution pictures one? To quench my curiosity, I decided to have a look on the Google Map, to see what's happening to Kuching map and Alor Star map.

I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw it. I could see it - *my house and *my school! Yes, it is shown with amazing details, and for the first time I realized that the roof of my house is U-shaped! *Yee Pin, I can see your house too! *Winson! The biggest surprise - the *St. John Garden in my school!! I have yet to find other's house like Xuan Ni's yet, KL is too complicated for to search... :P

Haha, thanks Google Maps, you made my day!

*Note: In the links, the said structure is in the middle of the map.

My Idea of Holidays

It seems inappropriate to write this at the very end of my 3-month holiday, as my idea of holidays hold no more purpose by now. But since the blog looked empty and people have commanded me to update it, I think I might just conclude my holidays with how I actually anticipated the very holidays.

My idea of holidays

• ...is spending quality time with people I love, bereft of culinary and academic responsibilities.
• ...is learning everything I wished I had time to learn, like chess, programming language, flash animation, swimming, English, general knowledge, ways to light up a girl's day etc.
• ...is to have a day off, lying on bed doing nothing.
• ...is to become fit as I exercise hard.
• ...is to rekindle and reinforce friendship bonds.
• ...is to read all the books I have missed throughout my life.
• ...is to watch movies which were undeservedly forgotten.
• ...is to write a blog about the difference between Malaysia and Australia.
• ...is to write many blog articles about thoughts and reality.

But I failed miserably.

I have a lot of ideas about holidays, but reality always strikes before I know it. Holidays have taught me that a resolution is only as good as the determination and perseverance. In any holiday, the temptation of lazing off is always greater than the resolution to do good things. So here I am, packing my luggage while leaving a lot of wish items unchecked.

Good bye, my holidays, my family, my friends and my hometown. I will head back to Melbourne tomorrow with rejuvenated spirit, and a new resolution which can't be shaken. The path of the future I will tread with an exulted spirit.

p/s: Note that I have changed my address. You can find my contact details here.

Puppies (2)

The puppies grew up very fast, capitalising on the abundant milk supply from their "lovely" mum.. :P I didn't expect them to be so bouncy and boisterous, after only one and a half month into their life in my house. Sadly, one of the puppies were already given away a few days ago, and the rest are to meet the same fate soon enough.

Yesterday, I decided to record some of their mischievous acts in their territory - my house compound. Regrettably I didn't get to take the picture of their constant fall in the drain and their cries for help.. ;) Enjoy the pic!

There, a new food to help wean myself...

Ahhh!! Ambrosia...

Eeerr... How to climb the stairs arr?

Haha, stupid dog, let us show you the way!! (Wait, what's the lazy dog doing up there? :D)

Light and easy as it might seem, it was in fact quite hard to take the pictures of the puppies (and their lazy mum). They were constantly running around, and it's virtually impossible even to lock the focus for a second. One moment you thought you got the precious moment and pressed the shutter release, the next moment the pictures came out blank and showed only the tails or just plain green. :P Those pictures in my puppy collection were actually a selection among hundreds other failures. So thanks for dropping by, and hope you have had a feast of eyes and tons of amusement!

Birthday and 2006

At the end of every year, people around the world throng to their local shopping complex or the tallest building to count down for the coming year. 31 December of every year marks the end of the year - to augur for a new beginning, and a new hope.

Despite the glory and resplendence of 31 December, a quiet day before that, 30 December remains a inconspicuous date that not many would notice. For me, I have been quietly celebrating the special date of mine for the last 20 years. Most of the years, I would stay at home, have a simple dinner with my family or a small celebration with close friends. Turning 20 this time, the whole event doesn't change by much, but I have to say that it was the best birthday I have ever had in my lifetime. All thanks to you, Miss "Anonymous"! I could never be as meticulous as you when it comes to preparing presents. You made my day, on each day in fact, but I just can't get over the overwhelming feeling when I opened the present(s)... Thanks a lot, it is the most wonderful present in the world.

I would also like to thank all other friends who have made my day, by sending me wishes via dinners, SMS, phone calls or online messages.

• My dearest family - for the lighthearted wishes.
• Friends and friends' friends at Salam's Corner, Ipoh - for the night's birthday song.
• Ka Lip - for the thoughtful present.
• Chong Chyn and Sheik Yan - for the cute present.
• Heng Liang - for your call which was 49 minutes late. :P
• Wee Loon - for your message greeting.
• Swee Sing - for your sms (despite my late wish for your birthday).
• Li Enn - for your sms greeting.
• Chin Fei - for your naughty yet appreciated greeting. =D
• Cheok Quen - for your morning call which woke me up (which was nevertheless sweet).
• Jie Ni - for your birthday greeting (which was a record 14th from you).
• Alvin - for your purposefully late greeting.
  
• Yoke Mei - for your friendster greeting.
• Sze Mei - for your friendster message (hey I didn't snatch your husband, it was a mutual thing. .:P).
• Jian Wey - for your lovely message.
• Hui Hoong - for your phone call at midnight.
  
• Chin Yaw - for calling all the way from United Kingdom to my mobile phone.
• Friends who organized the steamboat dinner - for the wonderful and unforgettable moments.. I will always remember the cake facial treatment!
  
• Joanne - for your cute message and special MSN screenname.
• Jasmine - for your email greeting.
• Nooi Hoay - for your letter in a brown envelope!
  
• Seok Kheng - for your e-greeting in my blog.
• Carmen - for your early hi5 greeting.
• Zhe Jin - for your birthday wishes.
• Eleen - for your birthday card.

I wish nobody's slipped my mind due to Alzheimer's, but if I have missed out your name, do give me a hit on my head and I will put it on. Thanks to all again, and happy 2006!!