Death of a Baby

On April 26 the country was shocked by the death of Noriszyani Amilya Ahmad at age 2 (the victim's first name has also been spelled as Norishzyani, Norizayani, Norizyani and Norishszyani - I have no idea which spelling is correct). The cute toddler was abused to death.

As far as I know, up until now no arrest has been made and the police are still investigating the case. Early newspaper reports seem to try and put the blame on a maid that took care of the baby for about a week. But I saw a report on TV3 recently which mentioned that the maid had actually quit her job three days before the baby died. I knew immediately that it couldn't have been the maid - the baby was in a terrible state when she died. If those bruises were already on her before the maid left, the parents wouldn't have waited THREE DAYS before sending the baby to the hospital would they? Newspaper reports after the autopsy confirmed my theory - the doctor who performed the autopsy dismissed the "done by the maid" theory.

Who could have done it? One report suggested a mystery abuser. I don't think it's such a big mystery - nobody else seemed to have access to the child besides her family. I'm not sure who else lives in the house with the baby's family, but whoever the abuser may be, that wretched person (or persons) live in that house. I saw the baby's parents sobbing on TV when they were interviewed after Noriszyani's funeral - but my gut feeling tells me they murdered her and I have no sympathy for them. Even if they didn't do it themselves they helped in murdering her by not stopping the person (or persons) who abused her.

How can you not notice bruises on your own child? Don't her parents spend time with Norizyani at all? She was only two years old - somebody had to change her, bathe her, feed her - how can they not notice the bruises?? Even their neighbours have reported seeing Norizyani playing in her front yard with bruises on her body! If people living next door can see the bruises, how can the parents - who LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE with the baby fail to see them?? Must have lived in a really dark house. Heck, a family member was even investigated by Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat several months ago for suspected child abuse! Plus, Noriszyani was sent to the hospital not twice but THREE times prior to the abuse that killed her. How can her parents honestly say they don't know?? THEY ARE LYING.

Al-Fatihah for Noriszyani. Rest in peace - you'll be happier in heaven with God, sweetie :ox

Blog Spring Cleaning

For the next few days I'll be reorganizing this blog of mine so I guess there won't be any long entries (unless something comes up and I feel like pouring my heart out in here).

I'll also be reviewing and editing my old posts, especially those imported from my old Blogger blog. Most of the links I put up in those posts are just useless dead links now. I've started working on the categories by deleting some, renaming others and leave the rest as it is.

I wonder how to get my site listed on the "Recently Updated Blogs" section of the Weblogs.us index page - do I need put in some sort of code into my template or something? And am I the only one in the entire Weblogs community whose blog still on runs on Movable Type version 2.64?

Guess I'm gonna have to ask the site administrators about that when I have the time :)

Akademi Fantasia 2, Malaysian Idol & Bintang RTM

Looks like lots of stars will be born this year!

Akademi Fantasia 2 (AF2) starts next month. I read somewhere that Astro will be announcing the host, staff and contestants of AF2 by the end of this month. It would be interesting to see this year's contestants. I have a feeling their attitudes would be a bit different from the 1st season contestants because they KNOW what's waiting for them after the show ends even though they have no access to the outside world while they're in the academy. We'll see. I wonder if there will be more non-Malays on the show.

But the non-Malays seem to be more interested in Malaysian Idol (based on MI posts on a BlueHyppo forum). I'm not sure when Malaysian Idol (MI) starts but the online application form has been available for quite some time now. I am rather disappointed though because I won't be able to watch the show LIVE since MI will be shown on 8TV, a channel that is currently not available in Sabah (or any other East Malaysian states). Sure, I can watch the repeats on TV3 but where's the fun in that?

The winner of MI will be competing in World Idol later this year. I'm not sure what the judges will look for when choosing MI contestants but among other things, I strongly believe the contestants must be able to understand, converse and sing well in both English AND Bahasa Malaysia. Why did I include BM? Because at the World Idol - regardless of the winner's race - if he or she wants to sing in a language other than English, the song should be in BM. Not fair, I hear some of you say. Why not? It is fair because Bahasa Malaysia IS the national language of this country and the winner will be representing Malaysia - not China, India or some other country. Besides, a true Malaysian Idol shouldn't have problems singing in the national language.

Surprisingly, not many people seem to be interested in the only star-search competition that is currently going on - Bintang RTM. I'm mainly interested in it because one of the contestants was my junior in high school - but after two shows he still hasn't performed yet. I've been watching the show for the past 2 weeks, and yes, it is quite a bore - some of the contestants so far are alright but most of them seem to share the same hair colour, the hosts babble endlessly and find everything they say funny for some unknown reason, and the new format is rather ridiculous. Frankly speaking, the new Bintang RTM format is an obvious attempt at pocketing the viewer's money.

Here's how it goes. It's kinda confusing so I'm pasting everything from the Bintang RTM website. However, I've edited it a bit and everything in [square brackets] were added by yours truly for added clarity or to simplify sentences:

Each week, 8 contestants compete for the Top 5 positions. Securing [a] position would allow the contestant to proceed into the second week [where] 3 new contestants will join the Top 5 to compete once again. This trend will go on for 8 weeks, after which, 8 will be selected for the finals. Selection will be based on accumulated points.

The 3 [contestants] who [are not in] the Top 5 position each week will not be shown the door yet. They stand [a] chance to re-compete in a special programme [in the 9th week], should the home audience feel they should be given a second chance. Home audience will decide the fate of the 3 by voting for them via SMS. Only 1 out of the 3 will be welcomed back. So, for 8 weeks, 1 contestant will be welcomed back, making a total of 8, and these 8 will compete in the special programme. For this special show, home audience can help their favourite contestants by voting them live via SMS. Their votes would contribute 30% of the overall marks of the night. The top 2 contestants with highest marks will be selected for the finals.

RTM welcomes public support through the implementation of SMS. It is a move to allow public participation in choosing contestants. However, public judgement via SMS would only be limited to giving the contestants a 'second' chance and voting their favourite performer during the finals. Weekly judging for the Top 5, and judging for the positions during the finals will still be conducted by industry professionals.

Really, RTM. I applaud the effort to make changes but PUH-LEEZ, if the professional judges have already rejected those three contestants, tell me why I am suppose to waste my money on them each week? If only standard text messaging charges applies (like on American Idol) yeah, perhaps I'll vote once or twice (emphasize on the word "perhaps", please) in the 9th week (yes, ONLY in the 9th week). But at RM0.50 per vote for contestants who couldn't impress professional judges - I'll pass.

From what I've seen this past 2 weeks, the judges are doing a good job by themselves - the bottom three are always made up of the pitchy, boring ones. I'm sure they can pick the right persons among the eight rejects in the 9th week as well. And that Sharon girl (from the first week) who gets a chance to re-compete - she was terrible! I can just hear Simon Cowell saying "You can't sing, you can't dance, so what have you got to say for yourself?" to her. Yes, it's nice to see a Chinese girl singing Siti Nurhaliza's songs but there was this 11-year-old girl who performed "Bukan Cinta Biasa" during my brother's Majlis Anugerah Cemerlang last year and the kid was a hundred thousand gazillion times better than Sharon! She should have chosen songs that suit her voice better - after all, Bintang RTM is not like AF where the students don't get to choose their own songs.

Continuing my discussion on Vince's album...

Moving on to the track reviews now!

Track 01 - Tak Ingin Kehilangan Mu
The new song that Vince had to sing in the Akademi Fantasia finals. This one is mixed MUCH, MUCH better that the one available on the AF Finals CD, where the music seemed to have drowned Vince's voice a bit. I've always loved this song - very catchy and easy to sing along to. How come this song never gets much air play? It's a good song.

Track 02 - Mimpi Yang Pasti
The Malay version of "Hold on To Your Dreams", a song composed by Vince - AF fans might remember it from the final episode of Diari AF. Vince also wrote the lyrics for the English version but Habsah Hassan (famous Malaysian lyricist) wrote the lyrics for this. Very nice and you get to hear Vince play with his vocals on this one.

Track 03 - Mengapa Harus Cinta?
Vince's first single from his debut album. I didn't quite like this one when it was first released - I guess I expected Vince to release a catchy tune for his first single. But the chorus really sticks to my mind for some reason (kind of like Spoon's "Rindu Serindu-rindunya" - I didn't like the song but there's no escaping the chorus, know what I mean?)and I end up liking it a lot. Very melodious and I think most people would be able to relate to the lyrics (by M. Zulkifli). Really love the way Vince sang on this track.

Track 04 - Dugaan Cinta
This is a duet with Nur Fatima, whose hit single from her latest album is Hanya Kau (Only You). This is my absolute favourite song in the whole album! I think this is the only new song in the album that I fell in love with the second I heard it. The song opens with Beethoven's beautiful piece, Fur Elise, which is also mixed into the song's melody towards the end of it. The Vince-Nur Fatima combination is definitely a good one - their voices complement each other perfectly. If you liked "Dilema 03" by Vince and Nora, "Dugaan Cinta" is a thousand times better. And I like Nur Fatima - she co-wrote the lyrics of this song, and she's a (rather) new artist who can sing in English very well - go and make the Malays proud, girl!

Track 05 - Ku Kembali
A nice, romantic ballad. Song composed by Vince and the lyrics by Nur Fatima. A good song for couples who have to spend some time apart. Dedicate it to your girlfriend/boyfriend/fiancee/fiance/wife/husband while you're away from her/him. To my AYANG who's in Brunei at the moment - HINT, HINT! ;)

Track 06 - Andai Kau Mengerti
Another ballad. Starts off bit too boring for my liking but the song picks up right after the first verse and gets better and better as Vince sings towards the chorus. I love the guitar solo on this one. Very, very nice song - just don't listen to it if you're feeling down because your heart's been broken (unless you feel like crying, of course).

Track 07 - Lepaskan
Nice R&B track. Vince plays up his vocals in this one. If you're in a dilemma whether to stay in a relationship or back out of it, but don't feel you have the strength to get up and leave, this song would probably give you something to think about."Kadangkala tak disangka, terperangkap hinggakan terlupa...cinta sebenarnya indah."

Track 08 - Pernah
This is a duet with Ferhad. I believe this song is from Ferhad's second album and Vince sang it during the AF finals. I've always loved this song - I can relate to the lyrics, y'know - and this is a Very nice rendition. Simply beautiful.

Track 09 - Hold On To Your Dreams
This is much more up-beat than what I remember from the final Diari AF episode but it has turned out very nice. Absolutely love the chorus!

Track 10 - Killer Smile
This is a rather fast tune...very danceable. I'm not very good at categorising music according to genre. It's in English, Vince composed the song and wrote the lyrics, and he performed this with Reefa. When I first read the title I thought it was about Vince's "cari makan" smile but it's not. Nice and catchy.

Track 11 - Mengapa Harus Cinta? (Akustik)
Acoustic version of Vince's first single. Vince singing, diiringi petikan guitar. Nicely done but there's this one part when Vince sang the chorus which reminds me of the his most frequent mistake while in AF - lupa lirik. I don't think he forgot the lyrics but the way it's the way he sang it - he did the "ooohs" instead of singing the words - which gave the "lupa lirik" effect.

Track 12 - Ku Kembali (Akustik)
The acoustic version of Track 05. Vince is accompanied by piano music instead of a guitar in this one. Very nicely done.

Overall, it's a very good debut album. I've noticed that with Vince's songs, you don't love them straight away. But after listening to them several times, the melodies and the lyrics make their way into your head and tends to stay there. I know some people (not counting me) who didn't like his first single "Mengapa Harus Cinta" much at first but after it received frequent air play (not as frequent as Khai's "Dambaan Pilu" in its heyday but still frequent enough for you to actually fall in love with the song), they would burst into it's chorus every now and then.

If you're a Vince fan, this is a must buy. If you're not, Vince's album worth your money if you like this kind of music.

Vince's Debut Album

I bought Vince's album some time in March. I believe it was released in late February 2004. Yeah, this is a late review I guess but hey, it's my blog ;)

There are 12 tracks in the album, 5 of which was composed by Vince himself. Vince said in a recent TV3 interview that he wrote 6, which is true IF you count "Mimpi Yang Pasti" and "Hold On To Your Dreams" as two songs. But I'm considering them as one song since if you take out the lyrics, they are one and the same :) He also wrote the lyrics for two of the songs in his album - "Hold On To Your Dreams" and "Killer Smile". In Malaysia, not many singers actually compose songs for their their debut album so Vince's effort should really be applauded. Being able to compose your own songs is always an advantage - look at KRU, M. Nasir and Yassin. I like Yassin's songs a lot but I don't really like him for some reason - I guess it's the impression he gave when we boarded the same plane years ago. He was still with the nasyid group Brothers then (I sat next to two of its members and didn't even know it!)

Where was I? Oh yeah, Vince's album. During the TV3 interview I mentioned earlier, Vince also said that his album is available in two covers. One is of him doing his "thinking" pose and the other one is of him standing, clad in white (like the CD that I bought). Sadly, song lyrics are not available. Are there any plans to put them up on Vince's website or something? Does Vince even have a website yet? I'm sure his peeps are planning to put one up.

The CD jacket has several more photos of Vince - but really man, less make-up please! I've noticed from several TV-appearances that make-up artists are REALLY over-piling the cake on Vince. And if you must make him wear red lipstick, choose a lighter shade of red...or some other colour that suits a guy better. The one Vince had on looks so weird on a guy, know what I mean? I know make-up is necessary for TV-appearances, photo shoots and stuff but hey, we liked Vince well enough without make-up on Diari AF so I'm sure there's no need to put too much make-up on him.

I really like the photo collage of Vince in the back in-lay card of the CD - you can see everyone there! AF stars, Vince's family and kiddie pics, Nemo, even a pic of Vince in baju Melayu and songkok! Never seen him wearing a songkok before - he wore baju Melayu for the Hari Raya program but I don't remember him wearing a songkok. And before some ignorant Malays make a big deal out of that fact, please realise that the baju Melayu and songkok are not religious articles of clothing and were never meant to be worn exclusively by Muslims. And for ignorant non-Muslims, no, wearing the baju Melayu and songkok does not converts you into Islam so don't be afraid to give the national costume a try some time - it's part of the fun living in a multi-racial society.

Anyways, you also get a little autographed bookmark with the CD. No, not personally signed by Vince of course but nice enough ;) And if you like listening to CDs on your computer, don't worry if you don't have a player (although I'm sure EVERYBODY has at least one media software that would let them listen to CDs!) because the CD comes with its own player. When I saw the computer-compatibility specifications on the back of Vince's CD I thought it was an enhanced CD with video clips or something but no such luck this time around. Maybe on your next album, eh Vince?

Track reviews in my next entry - don't want this one to be too long! ;)

Continuing my discussion on language...

Yeah, I can't seem to get this topic out of my head. I'm all for upholding the national language but unlike some people, I'm not stupid enough to think that our language in its present form is perfect.

I was reading through some old newspapers (well, not really THAT old - maybe from a couple of weeks back) before my brother takes them to his school for recycling and I came across a Harian Metro article in which the lyrics of Anita Sarawak's "Diva" was discussed.

According to the Pengarah Urusan Rancangan RTM, the term "standing ovation" which was translated into "ovasi berdiri" in Diva sounds funny. I quote his exact words - "Istilah ovasi berdiri melucukan". I find it important to stress that fact since I intend to discuss funnier Malay terms which are ACTUALLY in Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka's English-Malay dictionary!

I took the trouble to look up the Malay translation of "standing ovation" in my copy of Kamus Inggeris - Melayu Dewan (1st edition, 1992) published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). I'm not sure if there are newer versions of this dictionary, nor am I sure if the translation has changed since the first edition but here's what it said on page 1091:

Standing ovation = berdiri sambil memberikan tepuk sanjungan.

What a mouthful! And no, there are no one or two-word translation of "standing ovation" in Malay. On the other hand, Malaysia's Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister translated "standing ovation" into "penghormatan berdiri". Sounds funny too if you ask me, memandangkan "penghormatan" yang berdiri, bukan penonton. Besides I think that term is too general and does not truly express the exact meaning of a standing ovation - it does not imply a thunderous applause for one thing, the "major ingredient" of a standing ovation. Try translating the following sentence using DBP's, the Minister's and KRU's translations without changing its form:

Her performance received a thunderous standing ovation.

The term "ovasi berdiri" doesn't sound so funny when used in a sentence compared to the other two translations. And PUH-LEEZ, there are sooooo many Malay terms in the dictionary which sounds so funny (especially the direct translations of English words) but nobody bothers about them (until somebody uses them in a song I guess). There are so many common English phrases that do not have an appropriate Malay translation. For instance, the aforementioned dictionary translated "business-like" as "cekap dan sistematik". But business-like can mean practical and unemotional too. Translate the following sentence into Malay using "cekap dan sistematik":

Our conversations are always dull and business-like.

Sounds weird doesn't it? And how about the Malay translation for "field marshall" - it's "fil marsyal". Doesn't that validate "fil" as a Malay word for "field"? I guess that makes "fil bola" a valid word for "padang bola" doesn't it (although it sounds weird)? Enough on funny Malay translations for now though - check out DBP's English-Malay dictionary for more and let me know what you think.

Moving on to the ongoing debate about how the word "Seksis" is not a valid Malay word. By pure chance, I discovered that the term has actually been used years before Edry wrote the song for Anita Sarawak! My search for the song's lyrics surprised me with this research paper written in 2000 (it's a PDF document) by Dr. Hashimah Nor Jalaludin! And what's even more ironic, the paper is actually available from DBP's website! The paper's reference section even include a Malay journal article published in 1998 in which the term "Seksis" was used. So how come nobody bothered before? And why wasn't any of those self-appointed "pemartabat bahasa" aware of this?

Jawab DBP and RTM, jawab ;D

"Seksis" Issue: Think OUTSIDE The Box!

Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) recently banned Anita Sarawak's hit single "Seksis" and another song of hers, "Diva". The reasons? According to RTM, the ban is due to "penggunaan bahasa rojak" in both songs. I have never heard "Diva" yet so my comments would mostly be based on the song "Seksis".

According to songwriter Edry (of KRU - yeah, the three-sibling group that was formed during the 4U2C era and actually made it until now! Bravo!) in an interview with Berita Minggu published on April 18, the ban has been lifted. But my Internet search provided me with this Bernama article dated April 20 that says the ban has not been lifted yet because the recording company has failed to change the lyrics. Why should the lyrics be changed?

Seriously, people. I just don't get it - why the hell should the song be banned? I REFUSE to accept RTM panel's stupid reasons for banning the song! So what if the word "Seksis" doesn't exist in Bahasa Malaysia (BM) - IT SHOULD! The closest word available in a BM dictionary is "Seksisme" and that word refers to a completely different meaning. Another point of argument is the use of the phrase "lady driver" - like, hello? This is not the first song in Malaysian history to use BM and English in its lyrics! I was karaoke-ing the other day and I noticed that one of R. Azmi's song had lyrics that went something like "...semua makanan sudah ready". And my parents mentioned that even P. Ramlee sometimes use both BM and English in his lyrics - but apparently RTM's rules excludes P. Ramlee's songs as they are categorised as classics.

The critics are constantly talking about "memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia" but is banning songs with good messages a way to do that? Kalau macam tu, nampak gayanya industri muzik Malaysia selamanya akan diwarnai dengan lagu-lagu jiwang orang putus cinta! If these people really want to "martabatkan Bahasa Malaysia", why not start with the comic books that many Malaysian children are reading, like Doraemon and DragonBallz? The standard of BM in those comic books are HORRIBLE! And how about the many entertainment and humour magazines that constantly use slangs as its "bahasa pengantar"?

And while they're at it, please BAN the use of "bahasa" as an abbreviation or short form for Bahasa Malaysia (especially among non-Malays). For instance, "Should I do my assignment in bahasa or in English?" or "I don't speak bahasa very well". I've even seen it used in such way in English newspaper articles! It is incorrect and IT IS SO ANNOYING!! Please, my fellow Malaysians - don't be stupid lah. I'm sure each and every one of you out there know that the word "bahasa" simply means language. It does not - and will NEVER mean - Bahasa Malaysia, even if you capitalize the letter "B". Therefore it shouldn't be used to refer to Bahasa Malaysia. If you must use a short form, please use BM instead. I'm sure everyone can pronounce the letter "B" and "M" so it shouldn't be difficult.

Back to Seksis, Edry actually wrote a long explanation about his choice of words for the song in response to critics. Our Menteri Penerangan himself agreed that there's nothing wrong with a song that uses both Malay and English in its lyrics, as long as the song "tidak ada unsur lucah". Kalau nak cerita pasal unsur lucah, kebanyakan lagu-lagu Inggeris yang diluluskan untuk siaran radio dan TV semuanya mengandungi unsur lucah, cuma orang Melayu saja tak berapa faham agaknya! Remember "Sweat A-La-La-La-La-Long" - it was such a hit in the early 1990s and that song was all about sex! Lyrics have gotten more and more lucah since then of course.

And the message of a song is what the RTM panel should be considering when deciding whether or not a song should be banned. Think outside the box for once, and look at the big picture instead of debating over perkara-perkara remeh seperti penggunaan frasa "lady driver" dalam sebuah lagu! If songs like Seksis, Tipah Tertipu and Alhamdulillah (all banned by RTM) can get a good message accross to listeners, why not? After all, people respond to the things that they can relate to. Pengarah Urusan Rancangan Radio RTM in his statement (as reported by Bernama) mentioned that "Seksis" also contains "beberapa istilah tidak tepat dan perkataan konotatif lain yang membawa makna negatif dan tidak elok". I've listened to the song and failed to see his so-called "perkataan yang membawa makna negatif dan tidak elok". Edry was thorough in explaining his lyrics therefore the RTM panel should be thorough in explaining their controversial decision as well, not just make vague statements.

Terimalah hakikat bahawa masih banyak perkataan yang BELUM WUJUD dalam Bahasa Malaysia - try doing a thesis on any information technology subject in BM and you'll see how difficult it is to find the right words! And that's only one field of study, belum lagi bidang-bidang lain. Sometimes one word in English needs two or three BM words in order to translate the word correctly, which is highly impractical. Bahasa Malaysia needs development and I believe creativity should be encouraged, don't you? By the way, how come nobody said anything about "memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia" when Coke decided to use "Cuba Try" as its tagline?

Sarah Marbeck: Malaysian-born hooker?

Malaysian media never gave a damn about Sarah Marbeck's place of birth even though she's supposed to be a model of some sort. Obviously she was not worth their pages. Not until recently, that is.

Amidst claims by Rebecca Loos, Sarah chose to announce to the world that she too had an affair with football heart-throb, David Beckham. Malaysian media immediately shone the spotlight on her previously unknown "connection" with this country. These days Sarah's name is ALWAYS preceded with the title "model kelahiran Malaysia" or "Malaysian-born model". An article in Berita Minggu on April 18 even went as far as dropping the term "model kelahiran" and proclaimed Sarah as "seorang model Malaysia"!!

PUH-LEEZ! I doubt Sarah has ever thought of herself as Malaysian! Why even bother highlighting the fact that she was born in this country? She had an affair with Becks and suddenly she's worth the front page of every local paper? Is getting laid by Beckham an achievement that Malaysians are supposed to be proud of or something? In their eagerness to share Sarah Marbeck's limelight, the Malaysian media failed to highlight the fact that Sarah Marbeck has also been reported as a high-class hooker.

I wonder if the Malaysian media knows that Sarah's father is supposedly a devout Muslim? Sarah's father does look Malay-ish. Or perhaps it is just another "blame it on the Muslims" attempt because another article in the same newspaper mention that Sarah's parents are devout Catholics. Not that it really matters. What she did was immoral, regardless of her faith.

Anyways, this "menumpang nama" habit has got to stop. Remember the genius with a Malaysian mother, Sufiah? Born and bred in the UK, never even considered herself Malaysian and yet (if I remember correctly) she received a scholarship of some sort from the Malaysian government. She was on the front page of every local paper as if she was a Malaysian genius. And what did she end up doing? Went off and ran away with a boyfriend! Sure was a stupid thing for a genius to do. And what did Malaysia get in return? ZILCH! And there was that Mahsuri descendent from Thailand, Aishah. Senang-senang dapat tempat di IPTA just because her ancestor's a legend! What would her contribution be to our country I wonder?

Our deputy information minister mentioned in a newspaper interview that he is disappointed with local newspapers that have highlighted Sarah Marbeck's scandal as if it is the nation's pride for a local to sleep with a celebrity. Same here, YB! It's totally embarassing and she WAS NOT even a local!

Template Updated!

Well...I've FINALLY updated my template. Yeah, I know it's so simple anyone can do it, but at least it didn't give me much headache like the one I originally worked on (which I will attempt on finishing someday - if I feel like it!).

Final tweaks done...except on the comments template. Looks okay to me but I've only tested it on 1024x768 and 1152x 864 screen resolutions, using Internet Explorer 6 and Mozilla 1.6. I'm not sure how the template looks like on other screen resolutions and other browsers but I hope they turn out readable at least. I think I need to change some font colors but this will have to do for now.

In case anybody's wondering, the image header is a composite of Dara Naga images. No, not Daranaga the blogger but Dara Naga the character that inspired my nickname. Dara Naga is a character from my favourite comic "Teman Pendekar Helang Sakti" (TPHS) by Tony Wong. Other people might know the story as "Legend of Condore Lovers" and there's an anime of the same story that goes by the title "Legend of Condore Hero". The character Dara Naga is known as Dragon Girl in the anime, and I guess that's a fair translation. I wonder what the character's called in Chinese, its original language? If you know, leave a comment and share your knowledge okay? :)

And since my XSzone blog (Daranaga's Lair) no longer exists, I figured this site would be my new lair - hence the name change. Not that anyone cares, really. As for the tag lines, I believe they're pretty much self-explanatory ;)

Welcome to my home on the web, folks!

Wow, 1st entry in MONTHS!

Lots have happened since. I voted in my first election, bought Vince's album, discovered a site that linked to an entry of mine, bumped into an old crush whom I haven't seen since my Unitek days, et cetera et cetera et cetera...and 3 PCs, 1 laptop and 2 PDAs later, here I am again :) I've missed blogging. *sigh*

I'm in the process of uploading my new template. The template I originally worked on was too complex for my easily-stressed mind - guess I need to polish up my skills. So I came up with something more simple which enabled me to experiment with Photoshop. I started from scratch so it still needs lots of tweaking before it becomes the template for my main index. For one thing I just can't seem to get my menu bar to stay next to the blog entry area!

It's nice to read some of the comments that have been put up here since my absence. I'm glad somebody found my review of Incredimail as useful. And an SKTM graduate seemed to have experienced the terrible-ness of UMS KK's staff as well :) By the way, I was in SSIL and the UMS-KAL staff are soooooooo much nicer!

I also see that some people are still trying to preach to others on how everyone shouldn't dislike Rosma. Not just here but on some other blogs with AF-related entries as well. I guess they just can't accept the fact that EVERYBODY is entitled to their own opinion and blog owners do have a right to voice out their opinions on their own weblogs. You might agree or disagree with them but it's what they say that really matters on their blog, not yours. Here's an idea - why not start your own blog, and comment on the entries that you disagree with on other people's blogs? That should be interesting :)

Sing the lines below to the tune of "It's My Party":

It's my weblog,
I can write what I want to,
Praise who I want to,
Dislike who I want to,
You can do it too if you have a weblog!

Cheers! ;)