0 Impression and Expression

So let's talk about impression and expression. I think everyone enjoys music. Doesn't matter whatever genre that you like, there is always reason why you like that kind of genre. As for me, I go for ballad, rock ballad, pop and r&b. Ever since I started learning music, I couldn't help but to find out what kind of genre that particular is in.


I've been getting a lot of comments from my family bout me listening to chinese radio (ONE Fm is my favorite). Well yes, I wanted to improve my mandarin through listening though I still find it hard to understand. My mandarin is not yet at the stage where that word can be processed instantly when I listened to it. But let's leave it to that. The main reason I've been listening to chinese radio is because of the songs.


Chinese songs, when I listened to most of them in One Fm fits in the genres I like. Of course, other artists are just as talented. But as I try not to flame our local artists, we can produce better music. I've always liked Ombak Rindu. It is one of the best malay songs ever produced.


However, that very difference is that, almost, almost every chinese song that I like have this very beautiful lyrics. Beautiful lyric that even one touch trying to translate it into another language would ruin the song. That's the strong side of it. As of now, this element has started to fade out from our local industries. We're losing this beautiful lyric, to the point that, if the song is composed with beautiful lyric, that song would sound very odd to listen to.


And as I go deeper into music, I started to notice that, I started to give more attention to this so called expression. It is something that only happens when you throw yourself inside the song. I've started to judge every singers I listened to base on that. If I'm watching the music video, I will close my eyes to reach the song. If I got goosebumps, then the feeling reached me well and that also portrays how the singer has thrown himself/herself inside the song.


But of course, judging is extremely easy. Because you can just enjoy and judge whatever people are doing because you are not standing at their very spot. Regardless I think, for a singer to give the expression of the song is not that hard. Because I know as I am doing something harder.


At least, singers have the song lyrics that will help you to interpret the music. That actually helps them to understand that song even better. Imagine if what you are playing is just a piece of music sheet, without lyric, with just that bulat-bulat thing and the bulat thing with tail. Na zenmeban? (aha one malaysia kan? zheli you quanbu de yu. yang aku tahu je).


If you ever read piano sheet, then you can see there's an indication by every composers, on how to play that part. But the hard part is to get into the song that you don't know how you are supposed to express. Just based on the part of either it is forte or whatever, you are going to play it, giving the dynamic and expression of the song.


I notice how hard it is when I try it but yes, because you experienced, you are longing for more expressions and more emotion when you listen to someone singing. I had a talk with my fellow "singers" friend (well we were in the same group back then). He asked about someone that sang on youtube channel for some sort of competition.


I simply put, he got good voice, amazing vocal control, but he failed the emotion. I can't feel it. As the emotion started to build up, it went down. And I think the minus for that video is that he used too much, err well, what do you say it in english, well whatever. Its arabic now: burdah. Aha! Well burdah is some sort of vocal shake, I guess I can say that. It works very well in Qasidah, Nasyeed, Irama Asli. But as you sing other kind of song, adding burdah actually could drag down the song. Forget about originality, yes, you are giving your new breath to it, but it doesn't goes well with every song. Keep it moderate, and it'll be better.


I used to sing with burdah myself because I was in nasyeed and my teenage years was filled in with nasyeed songs and I used to learn Qasidah for Al-Quran recitation. So my vocal was pretty much build up to carry burdah to the point that I used to sing Melly Goeslow song Ku Bahagia with burdah and one of my friends told me not to ruin that song.


So yeah, I started to adjust to it because not every song will sound nice with burdah. Now I removed burdah from singing and only use during Al-Quran recitation. Just keep the song moderate and stay as it is. Ad lib is okay but not burdah. But make sure you made a good ad lib though.


P.S.: Its hard to give the emotion

0 Historical Drama

Ahoyy~~ dah lama xupdate blog ni sejak zaman pilihanraya hari tu. Jadi hari ni terdetik nak update. Sebab-sebab terasa nak update:

1. nak study, mood tgh tak sync padahal exam lagi 2 hari ~_~;;
2. nak maen game rasa bersalah, jadi update blog. hahaha

Jadi hari ni, masa tengah lunch td kt rumah, bukak 8tv. Letih la kan dok tgk citer indon tv3. Berjela2 panjang setiap episod, cam org ckap tak tahu bila nak berenti. So tadi bukak 8tv ada historical drama china. Ak jarang tengok pn. Tgk gitu2 je. Td je melekat jap. Dan sambil tengok terfikir dan compare. Yup, otak memang kena slalu berfikir sbb satu english proverb ada ckp, "an idle mind is the devil's workshop".


Drama ni drama raja dulu2 la kan. Konflik istana semua etc. Apa yg buatkan aku terfikir, drama lama-lama camni sbenarnya sangat bagus sbb salah satunya, dia bwk mesej kpd golongan yg kita sbut sbgai "decision maker". Masa tengok td, maharaja tu ckp kat anak dia, "Raja ibarat matahari kepada rakyat jelata. Kalaupn matahari tu terbenam, ia akan terbit semula. Raja perlu menyayangi rakyat, tak kisahla siapa pn yg jadi raja." Bu guan shui shi dawang, bla bla bla. haha, ok ak xdgr sgt ayat dia, abaikan broken mandarin tu.


Bila tengok part tu, aku terus rasa, kita sepatutnya ada lebih banyak drama seperti ni. Mengingatkan kita sbg rakyat, kita perlu tahu ciri bagaimana pemimpin sepatutnya jadi. Bila aku biarkan tergantung camni, nnti ada cakap, kita patut contohi Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. dan para sahabat. Ye, aku xnafi. Tapi berapa % orang yg nak baca tu. Sebab media tu sebagai satu medium sekarang, kita boleh guna medium tersebut untuk menyampaikan mesej sebegini.


Mungkin golongan yg memerintah tak menonton, tp in case, secara tak sengaja, tertonton, diorang jugak akan menerima energi daripada cerita sebegini.


Soalan paling mudah, bila kali terakhir, produser filem kt malaysia, menghasilkan drama bercirikan sejarah camni? Jujur ayat aku, kita xperlu pn nak buat drama berdasarkn fakta ataupun mitos yang dah sedia ditulis macam Puteri Gunung Ledang, Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, etc. Bukannya semua drama yg diorang hasilkan tu berdasarkan fakta.


Imaginasi melebihi fakta yg ditulis. Tak cukup kreatif kah pengarah kita untuk hasilkan drama bercirikan sebegini? Jujurnya aku bosan dgn drama "tipikal" melayu yang berlonggok-longgok kat tv tu. nak terus buat? fine teruskan. Tapi cuba hasilkan kembali drama zaman dulu-dulu. Jujur aku cakap. kali terakhir aku tengok cerita berlatar belakangkan zaman dulu2 kt tv, drama melayu, masa aku sekolah rendah. Tu yg terakhir. Aku ingat lagi citer tu pukul 9 kt tv2 hari jumaat. Cerita persilatan.


Kalau nampak silat terbang2, org kata tipu sebab ni drama melayu? so what? teknologi dah advance, idea pengarah je yg makin mundur. Teduhan kasih la, pa pe lagi tah, aduhaii. sadis la. aku geli la tgk drama-drama cmtu byk sgt. nak muntah pn ada, cam xberkembang.


Alright, pe kata kita compare dgn drama-drama korea? diorang buat drama cinta, diorang buat drama air mata, tp dalam masa yg sama, diorang jugak menghasilkan drama sejarah yg berkualiti malah ada yg cukup power untuk tenggelamkan drama-drama cinta laen. Sekarang, Gu Family Book highest rating setiap minggu. drama The Moon That Embraces The Sun, drama Jang Ok Jung, drama Horse Doctor, drama Mandate of Heaven, Jeon Woo Chi, Bridal Mask, The Great Seer, Arang and The Magistrate, etc etc.


Banyak giler nak list smua, tp sepanjang menghasilkan byk giler drama cinta yg digilai ramai org2 (muda), diorg hasilkan drama-drama macam ni dengan idea yang tercetus. Apakah pengarah kita tak cukup kompeten untuk menghasilkan drama sebegini? Ke sebab kita ni dah tak cukup sangat penulis skrip yang mampu menulis skrip dalam bahasa klasik? Sadis kan. Dah lama sangat bercakap I, U dalam drama tetiba buat drama camni kena ckp hamba, tuan hamba, gerangannya, istilah shahtiayat yang mulia dan sebagainya. hahaha.


Bahasa klasik aku pn dah berkarat tp sekurang-kurangnya, masih mampu mengerti kalau dengar. Pecahkan la bekas tipikal tu dan cubala hasilkan drama camni drpd asyik drama, kena dera, menangis, laki tak suka jadi suka, suka itu, suka ini, mengumpat itu dan ini, benci sebab pmpuan tu suka laki yang dia suka. Ak dah nak termuntah dengan drama camni. Aku lagi respek sapa tu yang buat filem pasal hubungan homo tu sebab berani pecah bekas tipikal tu. Kalau akhir cerita yg "taboo" bagi masyarakat tu bwk mesej yg baik apa salahnya? daripada terus-terus kena sumbat dgn drama cam yg ada skrg.


P.S: buweek, nak muntah jap.

0 Midnight Post

So yeah I'm writing this during midnight. I figured that I should take a break from writing any politic related issue for a while as I have much more concerning matters. World is a better world with clean politics but that is just a hope, embraced by everyone but the politicians. Some of them.


Well let's just leave it at that. Master degree has started to strike me very hard. I think I had much of, well maybe we can say honeymoon? During my first semester, I guess I had a wrong impression towards Master. I gotta say, first semester was an easy ride. Not the exam, in terms of assignments. Yes it was an easy ride. For one whole semester, I only had one assignment. But yes, this semester, it strikes me very hard that it reminded me, I am now doing Master. It is not gonna be the same as doing degree.


For some reason, I was also reminded, how my other friends are doing with their Master. My class only kicks in during weekend. Saturday and Sunday. I had plenty of time I must say. But the rest of them, at other university, the class goes on for several days in a week. I'm grateful to be honest that the class only during weekend. Because when the real Master degree assignments kicked in, you don't even have time for other things. You will end up browsing the net for journals, references and whatever materials you can dig in for information.


Doing Master is definitely not the same. If I was back then, doing assignment by just going through the net for 1 hour and I can finish several assignments, right now, even the assignment felt different. No matter how hard you try to search, you might get the info, but you can feel it that it is not enough and you are definitely concern that it is not enough.


Back then during degree year, we would go on labeled some people as perfectionist. Of course, being a perfectionist is not even a bad thing. It is a good thing, it ensures that you are giving your best at your work. But for certain people, working with a perfectionist is tiring because they require you to do your best, to give your work on time, to give sufficient info in assignments, to inform them fast enough if the assignments are done, and the list goes on and on.


I was one of those certain people. Just like how my final year project supervisor once told me. Final year project for degree is a stepping stone to shape your mind. Yes it shapes your mind to prepare for the tougher world outside. It shapes your mind to prepare yourself for much more head shattering things in the future.


Slowly and slowly, I have turned into the kind of person that I was once tired off. As I keep progressing in my master, I can't help but notice, me, too, have slowly, changed into someone that goes for perfection and quality.
I can't help but feel flaws when I do my assignments
I can't help but thinking about my assignments even after I have finished it
I can't help but to re-check the assignment questions over and over just to make sure I have actually answered what was asked
I can't help but not being satisfied with ideas that being poured out by colleagues sometimes unless it is really undeniably brilliant
I can't help but get angry if my colleagues didn't reply about the assignment when I already send my part
I can't help but wanting a response about the progress of the current assignment


And yes, I shouldn't list all. I know its not a bad thing but yes, because the way you think have changed, it changed the way you behave. It makes you concern over things and I must say, I felt the pressure of doing assignments now more than I ever felt when I did my final year project during degree. My head hurts so much that I had to rest more, I got angry over small things, I can't think carefully and my judgement was so clouded that I can't think and judge things carefully for few days.


Now that I have learned to understand it's not gonna be easy, I should work harder to pursue the remaining semesters. Wish me all the best and I hope your prayer will be with me, pray for my strength, success and the best. Thanks :)


P.S: Listening to After Break Up (rough chinese translation of  分开以后), hen haoting ruguo ni xianzai ting yi ting. at wee hour :)

2 Malaysia: Post Election

After the election period was over, citizens of Malaysia were left with dissatisfaction. There were videos spread everywhere, exposing about a fraud election going on in Malaysia. The world is watching and if this claim is actually true, Malaysia has taken one step closer to list herself among the country that held fraud election, giving bad names in the world point of views.

History has finally been broken, when the result of this year election was the late-st to be released. Previous election result were revealed around 11 pm that night while for this year election, it has been dragged up till 2 am. If you are in your right mind, with this basis, you can actually questioned the result. Why did it takes too long to do it this time?

Yesterday, one of the local newspaper headlines stirred up racism among Malaysian, which brought rage towards the government, which everybody knows, is controlling the media. As a Malaysian, I could not ignore the fact that, all this, should stop. Malaysia needs to be a better place to live by everyone. When I mean everyone, it doesn't matter who you are, what race you are, as long as you are a legit citizen of Malaysia, then Malaysia is the place you should called home. And home is somewhere you feel secured, loved and never get betrayed.

I came across several Facebook pages and read several comment regarding how Malay should protect their rights etc etc. Let me get this straight. What with all this with being Malay stuff? What give you right to deny the rights of the other races? The fact is, Malay, Chinese, Indian, we are all immigrants. The only people that have their rights to claim in Malaysia is the aboriginal that currently most of them are living in the forest. They are, the real citizen of this land.

I have to say, let's stop with all this Malay stuff. Because the more you talk about it, the more you are sounding like an Israeli. Why am I saying this? Now, listen. Malay, is a race and so is the Israeli. Israeli thought themselves to be the superior race among others to the extent that whoever stands in their way, you deserve to die. Of course, the Malay does not go to that extent. But something similar here is that, Malay is having the same thought as the Israeli. The thought of being a superior race. If the thought that you should protect corrupted government even though you know that they are corrupted in order to protect your right, what do you call that if its not trying to maintain your race's superiority?

Now the question? What rights, do Malay have, to think that Malay is superior compared to other races? Let me tell you something. Israeli, have this thought of superiority because Allah, once favored them. A lot of messengers of Allah are Israeli. Israeli, in the past, prayed to Allah and asked for food and Allah graced them food from heaven. Which other races in the world have ever received that? Which other races in the world prayed for food and Allah ever graced them with food from heaven? Its only the Israeli. I am not supporting Israeli. I'm just showing you the point as to why the Israeli have the thought of them being superior compared to others.

But Malay. What do Malay have to act superior? Exactly none of that happened to Israeli happened to Malay. So what rights do you have to think that you are superior? Think again my friend. Islam never teaches us to be racist. In fact, in Al-Hujurat:13, Allah even said that He created mankind from all sorts of races, different colors and languages so that we will get to know each other and befriend them. Islam never teaches us to mistreated anyone, so why did we do that?

Muslim in Malaysia is so particular about drugs, alcohol and halal food and drinks. Unfortunately in Islam, that is not all. If you are just going to be concerned about what you eat and drink and then perform solah, then no, I'm sorry, you are not yet fully Muslim. Allah also said in Al-Quran, that if you want to be a Muslim, then be the real one (Dan masuklah kamu ke dalam Islam secara seluruhnya). There is no partial Muslim.

I am a Malay and I am also a Muslim. To end this I would love to quote this again. If you are Malay then it is only right you are racist. If you are really a Muslim, then it is only right that you are not racist because Islam never teaches you that way. So Malay, please be Muslim instead of Malay.

P.S: Please be real Muslim.

0 Malaysian Politics, General Election and My Stance

The moment I write this, it is less than 17 hours left before Malaysian General Election gonna take place. I must say, that this is the most anticipating general election in Malaysian  history ever since it was first took place in 1955. For 55 years, the country was ruled by the very same political party. And because of that, most of our veteran citizens have grown to be very dependent towards the very same political party.

I was trying to stay neutral as much as I can throughout the year the election took place. And given that I am not yet a registered voters, I should stay as neutral as possible and sit back to watch the result of the general election tomorrow.

I read an article before about a Turkey prime minister that chose to step down after winning for three semesters of general election. I respected him for his word. He said that  three semesters were long enough. He don't want Turkey to be called a nation of his own. Turkey is not his, it is the citizens. When the citizens grew attached to him too much, they will worship the leadership a lot. That is something that shouldn't happen. A thirst for power.

Different views are actually colliding in Malaysia. While in Turkey, the prime minister itself step down, in Malaysia, the current government party still thirst for power. Everything is done, every single method, to win over the heart of the citizens.

I believe, that the current government is the idea of the old generation. The day when Malay Land was upside down. Those idea were carried forward up until today. Saidina Umar ra once said, "teach your children for their generation, not yours."

What we are witnessing today is the old generation are educating the current children of Malaysia with the idea of their generation. However, the level of education of Malaysian has drastically increased. Most of them knows what is right and what is wrong.

Instead of saying that the younger generation today have forgotten their roots, we should instead say, the younger generation today has found their own roots. The trees usually disperse their seed for the saplings to grow on their own and not grown attached to the parent tree. Hence today, those "saplings" have grown up and standing on their own roots. This does even once means that they forgot what the older generation has done, the sacrifice that made Malaysia a better place to live. This is, however, to show respect towards our future generation by providing them a better future. What past is past. Stop holding the younger generation with the haunt of the past. Past will be a remembrance of how we used to be and future is a hope that in the future, the past is never bound to repeat.

As in today, I witnessed a very disgusting sight in my whole life ever. A sight of pitiful, desperate and power madness people, still, at the very end, allowing their hands to be touched by the non-mahram in order to pass on the so-called "please-vote-us-money" aka bribe.

And, I, at that very moment, in my WHOLE life, felt my utmost regret for not being able to register as voters on time. I want a better nation for my children and for the whole Malaysian. This is not what I want to see happening in my beloved country. I sincerely apologize to the whole nation for not being able to vote on tomorrow's election but if Allah's will, for the next general election, I will join you guys. I shall pray for the victory of a better qualified candidates during this election.

And I, hereby, revealing my political stance for the first time.

P.S.: Ini Kalilah!

0 This Evening, The Rain Drops

Aiseh tajuk nak bunyi cam tu jugak. haha. xkesah la. Memandangkan sekarang demam pilihanraya, jadi mana-mana pegi pun orang akan cakap pasal pilihanraya. Tak kira la siapa pun, di peringkat umur mana pun, rasanya semua nak cakap pasal pilihanraya.


Kelmarin masa kitorang pegi lunch ramai-ramai lepas kelas pun, kitorang xdapat tidak, tengah sembang2, masuk jugak bab politik. Member aku pn cakapla, "aku xsuka dengar yg lagu yg kluar kat tv sekarang tu. tah pa pe je."


Ye, aku pun meluat dengar. Geli dan nak muntah lagi. Sebab tu aku lagi prefer dok depan laptop ni drpd tengok tv. Jadi aku cakapla, media sekarang dikongkong oleh sebelah pihak, jadi maklumat yg sampai xkan penah telus.


Tak yah cakapla kenapa aku cakap camtu. Dah sememangnya jelas. Kalau media tu bebas, kenapa ada lagu satu pihak je kt tv tu. Kenapa yg buruk parti sana je yg dicanang merata? Perfect ke yg sebelah sini?


Dan paling aku xpuas hati bila kelantan disebut-sebut beberapa kali nak dibandingkan dengan negeri-negeri lain. I lived in Kelantan for 4 years.And it opens my eye on a lot of thing.


Satu soalan yang aku gemar-gemar sangat tanya masa jadi fasi kat uni kelantan. "Apa pendapat korang bila korang dengar universiti malaysia "kelantan"?" Dan macam-macam jawapan yang aku dengar. Hakikatnya, apa saja jawapan yang diberi masa tu adalah bagi orang yg cuma dengar nama negeri tu dan tak pernah menjejakkan kaki kt sini.


I, too, share the same thought before I even walked on the place called Kelantan. But what you need to do is experience it, understand it, learn their nature, know their culture and you are pretty much ready to go outside and tell outstanding things bout it.


Aku btol2 minat dengan satu kata-kata ni, "We fear what we don't know and what we don't understand." That is indeed our greatest fear. Sebab tu dunia punya prasangka terhadap Muslim. sebab diorang tak faham dan tak tahu perkara sebenarnya dan hanya disogok dengan media.


Begitu juga kita. Sebab kita tak tahu, kita jadi takut dan menghukum dengan perasaan takut atau mungkin aku boleh kata perasaan paranoid. Sebelum kita menilai, pastikan kita tahu tentang benda tu secara jelas.


P.S.: Cam xde orang baca je blog ni. hahaha. Xpe luah perasaan.

0 That Spring, The Wind Blows - To Taiwan

Hellozzzz. Orait, sekarang aku dah sihat daripada sakit korea bagai. Haha gilor apa. Sebenarnya bukan sakit pe pn, cuma layan citer dgn lagu2 ballad korea je. xde masalah pun. Lumrah manusia aku rasa (ke aku je), suka bermonolog. Jadi kadang2 bila bermonolog, dalam bahasa melayu, kadang-kadang dalam bahasa inggeris, kadang-kadang dalam bahasa mandarin.

Yang jadi problem dgn aku sekarang, sebab gilor byk mentelaah citer korea, kalau bermonolog dalam bahasa mandarin, jadi rojak dengan bahasa korea. Dah mula cam gila. Jadi aku pun telah berjaya meyakinkan diri aku. Aku cakap, "xpayah nak merajinkan diri belajar bahasa korea tu, xde pekdah nye. baik aku trus improve aku punya mandarin yg dah makin lingkup sbb tgk citer korea."

Jadi atas inisiatif bagi mengelakkan lingkupnya bahasa mandarin aku haha, aku telah berjaya men"delete" minat dgn citer korea. Terer tak? haha. Sbb exposure kat citer korea byk sgt menyebabkan aku laju je merojakkan mandarin + korea. jadi Mandarea? haha bunyi cam pandaria dah.

Jadi sekarang, segala urusan citer korea diberhentikan (download tak berenti, tgk je berenti. haha). Skrg aku tengok citer Taiwan demi nak mengasah balik bahasa mandarin aku. Dengar camne diorang cakap dan cuba tangkap.

Setakat daya mendengar mandarin aku masih lemah. Sangat kot. Dalam kelas dulu pun nak tangkap senang sebab diorang cakap slow, sekarang kalau dengar, laju giler diorang ckp. jadi ambik masa. kadang2 dah dgr, tgk subtitle baru paham, ow, menda ni aku paham. Dan kadang-kadang, aku cuba jugak tgk character chinese tu tapi sakit kepala aku la. hahaha.

Aku masih cuba improve dgn cuba cakap mandarin dgn member2 yg reti mandarin dan jugak dgn mendengar lagu mandarin dengan bangganya. haha. Last paragraph kita guna mandarin ye.

Xianzai shi er dian le. Wo yingai shuijiao. Mingtian you shangke. wu xiaoshi de shangke suo yi wo xu yao shuijiao. haode nimen, wan'an!

p.s: style x? haha. buat ayat pendek boleh la kan???