Confuzzliness

If you feel my blog's been too convoluted and meaningless recently, take heart. All that's bound to change in the month of October, maybe! Yeah. Yeah.

Matthew

Driving leisurely onto the craggy dirt path, Matthew is heading toward a research outpost. Eric is in tow, and he occupies himself by clicking his ballpoint pen and minutely adjusting the radio frequency to vary the static it was playing. The only thing on Matthew's mind was the wind blowing his hair out of place, as he drove on blankly.

They've both shared so much time together that their car rides last way longer than their conversations. Of course, it is always because they were hours in to a long distance drive to where ever they were needed. Today, it was five hours through the countryside hills.

They come across a small wooden unit hosting only a door, and roll to a stop.  Eric flips out his phone and rings a number on speed dial. They get out immediately, and he puts the phone back in his pocket as they lean against the metal of the car. They both stare at the odd structure in front of them. The shapeless yet functional woodwork behind the building reveals its purpose as access to an underground facility.

As if by magic, it opens and Sarah flashes them a bright smile. Her white coat contrasts their dull v-necks and jeans. "So which one of you is coming in?" she enquires. Eric nods at her, lifting his weight from the body of the Honda. Matthew smiles back at Sarah and gets back in the car, heading back down the road.

The sky is a bright orange, and the deep sun refused to set, popping in and out of the cover of the hills they were going through. They both pulled down the sun visors earlier, and the vanity mirror is exposed. "Why the hell did they even make this car with that mirror on the wrong side?" he thinks. He looks over to the passenger side, as if the damned mirror would switch back to its natural place. He and Eric have spit out various insults at the intellect of the guy who decided how the visors would turn out. He smiles, remembering them as they repeated those so many times.

Back there at the outpost, two other men drive up to the outpost just as Eric and Sarah are done with their small talk. Out of the car comes two men, one with a pistol aimed at Eric that fires half a dozen rounds at him. His body goes down to the ground before his assailant is done firing. "We're the ones who are coming in today," says the gunman as he tosses his gun into the car casually.

-TBC-

Music & Genres

Adrian: There are so many genres of music out there (blah blah blah conversation idea generating stuff)
Abel: Hey, why not invent a new genre?
Adrian: I think all the genres have already been invented lah, this and that, from Rock to Jazz, Dubstep, Space Rock and whachamacallit.
Abel: Yeah, Rap, Electronic Dance Music, Indie, right. They've bloody made everything.

*a moment's pause*

Abel: How about you make HDM?! Hydroelectric Dance Music. We need renewable sources of music. Solar Powered Dance Music? Geothermal Dance Music?

---[End of civilised discussion]

A Flash

He's on a manhunt, chasing a black sedan on his motorbike. The wind shows up the full length and thickness of his hair, he hadn't any time to put on a helmet. All he hears is the roar of the engine at full throttle, pitching up and down as he twists and turns through the small roads. The colour red is just another shade, as they blatantly flout every traffic rule there is.

As he pulls off his sixth apex turn at top speed, the rubber hits the kerb. The back tire squeals in the air for a second, and he leans forward to get it back on both wheels. He smashes down on the gas immediately, the car being all that's on his mind.

He sees her get out at the train station. A few hundred people amble about, and she loses him in the crowd. He is running round stationary trains to find her, carelessly jumping onto the tracks. He turns left and right, but he doesn't see anything. "A few more rounds, she has to be here," he told himself. But all he sees are nameless faces.

Reaching the opposite station entry on right side, he sees a face he recognises. It's not her, it's an old acquaintance. He mouths the question, he responds with surprise on his face. He knows that he hasn't seen her. His heart ramps up a gear.

He scans the horizon for her, but he sees nothing, except a hand coming in to grab him by the throat. He's pinned against the wall, with her left hand pushing his right onto the same brick surface. Despair crosses his heart, as his eyes meet hers. The pale, white face he looks at is accompanied by a pair of vicious looking eyes. Even in death, his heart skips a beat for her.

But without a thought, he instinctively pulls out a gun, firing at the side of her chest. Their interlocking fingers loosen. As she falls, he grabs her around the waist, and her lips fall on his. Her weight soon breaks his limp hold on her, and she slumps to the ground in a crumpled heap.

It is possible she doesn't die, I hope as I awaken from my dream.

July

It's the month of June. A beautiful month, no doubt. There are the new revelations of life, the happenings to be happy about, the feelings to enjoy.

Of course, everything had to be interrupted by the haze. It brought a narrower horizon and many problems to everyone. #&$!* corporations scrimping on land-clearing costs.

And in the midst of everything happening, there's ____________ _________ _______ ______ ______

(Fill in the above story yourself lol).

And that's it. June was happening, wasn't it?







I need a journal, where I can write the narrations of life.

Writing On Stone Tablets

You know that feeling? When you transition from here to there. I mean,

Say you return back to your home from school, university, whatever for a holiday. Or you go somewhere special with people who are special to you FOR that holiday. It's a few days, a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two even. When you get to the end of it, it feels like forever since your holiday started, but only a short time of your holiday actually happened.

Then, it disappears into the past. Like the miles gone by. Like the waves into the shore. Like the sound of birds from the concrete jungle. Like the rush you get from your five seconds of fame.

Thank you for nothing

Cause there's nothing left to lose

Thank you for feeding us years of lies

Thank you for the wars you left us to fight

Thank you for the world you ruined over night
But we'll be fine

Yeah we'll be fine.

-

Sometimes I sit down here and all that comes to me is the sound of an imaginary object bouncing about the emptiness between my ears.

Sometimes, this happens in the middle of an exam paper. Usually, it's accompanied by the feeling of being cold, sleepy, or maybe some variety of bodily pain. Thankfully for me, it never lasts too long.

To break whatever's been happening above, I think I'll write about all the series I've watched ever in a few posts coming up. Brilliant, no? *shines laser into your eye*

Defunct

Hey guys, guess what. This blog's not in the loop any more (not implying it has ever been). So I guess you shouldn't bother check for updates, or anything for that matter. Just check on my Twitter to see me trying to be cool. Yeah. It's my initials btw. "K.L.".

Characteristics of a Democracy

A very dry essay pushed upon us in the guise of 'coursework'. For your information, I didn't bother passing it up. 400 words, no conclusion.

One of the main traits of the word "democracy" is that it is an ideology. That is to say, it is abstract; it is hard to define or set in stone. The greek word which democracy comes from can be literally translated as, "rule of the people". It is impossible to completely execute a pure democracy, but governments throughout planet Earth have come close to emulating democracy's key traits.

Before we look at the characteristics of a democracy we must note the general form of democratic governments. Firstly we must note that the most common interpretation of democracy is one that uses representatives, elected by the people; and those voted into power will then be involved in decision making and seek to best represent their electorate.

The cornerstone characteristic of democracy is the rule of the majority. The government must always seek to satisfy the needs of their people and protect their interests; listening to the people's woes and requests with due consideration. This can be accomplished in many ways, one example would be the upholding of the petrol subsidy in Malaysia to reduce inflation and cost of living. The democratic government must also uphold law and order in the country to protect its people's best interests.
 

We can examine the Malaysian political system as one that shows the characteristic of the rule of the majority. The Constitution of Malaysia requires a general election to be held at least once every five years. This is to give voters the opportunity to elect the 222 members of the Malaysian Parliament, 

While democracy means rule of the majority, the rule of the majority does not necessarily mean a democracy. An important part of the democratic rule of the majority is that the majority must not oppress the minority. Extensions to the law must be made to guarantee basic rights of minorities and treat them fairly. It is important for the government The rights of many types of minorities - race, religion, and language must be taken care of; in turn they will reciprocate with trust in the government. This will allow them to fully participate in the country's democratic institutions.

Another trait of the democratic system is pluralism. In a democracy, government is only a single thread in the social fabric of many kinds of public and private institutions, legal forums, political parties and associations.

No One

When I have no one to talk to, I sometimes talk.

To my blog.

In a language you probably wouldn't understand.

A Little Too Late?

It always seems like we only seem to appreciate things after they're gone, or after spending a ridiculous amount of time having it in our clutches. What a silly bear you are.

It always seems like we only seem to think about things that are pleasing to us, when all we need right now is to clear that glistening hurdle in front of us. What a funny boy you are.

It always seems like we only seem to get what was blindingly obvious, laying right in front of our eyes waiting to be discovered. What a damning piece to the puzzle you are.

It always seems so easy.

Maybe it is?

Memories

“Sometimes," he sighed, "I think the things I remember are more real than the things I see.”

- Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

There's Nothing On My Mind

It's another nondescript Wednesday morning. I wake up to the sound of my morning alarm, only to snooze to oblivion. Turning it off, I finally get out of bed an hour later after inadvertently going back to sleep. Then, my day begins. And then.

There's nothing on my mind. Nothing.

I mean, why is there nothing on my mind? No pertinent issues, no dates and deadlines creeping up on me, no drive to achieve. The problem is, there are pertinent issues, dates and deadlines creeping up on me, and I need a drive to clear all these things. So, why? Why am I so apathetic to my own situation? Seriously, why?

I need to find a way to understand, to comprehend my situation. A way to understand what surrounds me, and why I don't seem to bother about what surrounds me. Pen and paper would help, but isn't our generation getting worse at jotting notes down with physical ink?

I don't know, but maybe that's just what I want.

I know for certain, what I need right now is a place to rest my head.

A elaborate introspective.

Written to, figuratively, put pen to paper so that I can think.

Thanks Yap!

Thanks to Adrian Yap, I now have 3 hits from Laos in the past week! Given the technically-abandoned state of my blog, it's quite a big contribution to my hits, you know.

Here's some absolutely unnecessary stats :

I really don't know about the hits from Russia though :S. Anyone care to leave a comment to tell me who are you guys?

A Moment of Thought

I was just thinking through everything that I've been thinking about (redundant?) and one of the things I've stumbled upon is this thing called euthanasia.

My school once required us to host a series of debates, and one of the more contestable issues was the legality of euthanasia. This practice is basically allowing a person in great pain or suffering to die, through whatever means allowed such as administering lethal medication, withholding medication, or "pulling the plug" as the famous phrase goes. The first being active euthanasia and the other two passive methods of the same.

Now, passive euthanasia is generally viewed as acceptable around the world, of course with necessary consent from the patient. Any other methods is obviously frowned upon and such.

Active (intentional) euthanasia has already be legalised in three countries, namely the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. It is the provision of lethal drug prescriptions or an injection combination that would induce death. (article continues)

Okay, so what about euthanasia that makes it so tricky? It's the fact that lines of potential abuse may open up and weaken the whole procedure that's the issue. Where voluntary euthanasia has been legalised, it has led inevitably to involuntary euthanasia, regardless of the intentions of the legislators.

There's also the matter of the inefficiency of euthanasia methods - 23% of self-conducted euthanasia with the physician-prescribed drugs failed. The details of these are slightly technical are pretty scary, you can read them here.

It also provides a somewhat legal means of allowing doctors to send their patients to death early based on what they advise. There's nothing worse than this, putting such a responsibility on to the shoulders of people in an already nerve-grinding profession. Isn't their job to take care of the patient's health primarily, and not their feelings?

Let's look at it this way.

A patient on his deathbed would obviously not be in a perfectly clear state of mind. He may not appreciate the time people spend around him as much as he should, the love that people still have for him. His mind is likely set on the belief that he is a burden to everyone around him - a doctor who may prefer a quick case might stoke these emotions to an already emotionally-torn person. Relatives might even give passive pressure by accident, and all these factors must be taken in to account.

Or even better, don't take them in to account. How about just keeping it safe and keep this decision away from the people. This is, after all, one of the hottest issues on the bioethics scene. Let's put it to rest.

ps. The writer's views are obviously one-sided, and may be due to a religious upbringing that teaches the value of life. An article on the opposing view can be examined here.

Nothing Important Really Matters

"It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important."

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Time Has Tided Me Over

It's been a long time living on the earth for me already. Without a doubt, getting stuck here in Ipoh for A-Levels has been the right pathway for me before I head out into the even more diverse universe of tertiary education.

To be honest, I was a truly terrible student in my Secondary days. I'm not the kind who claims I barely study and then gets straight A's, because 'barely study' is an exaggeration, and I don't have no straight A's! Nowadays, I'm surrounded with a small bunch of studious peers who imbue me with a very good kind of peer pressure.

Oh, also. I've learned most of the Ipoh roads already. Bar Menglembu, Chemor, and Ulu Kinta (and such), I'm pretty much able to not get lost in my city. Quite a good thing.

Moving on.

I'm really grateful that I have my future set out for me. Uni isn't going to be a hassle, accomodations have dropped from the sky (or something like that) and I've already built up an idea of my Uni life activities. Exercise is gonna be really convenient - food 

It's not for me to publish my plans out here (you can always enquire on FB or here if you actually know me). But I'll tell you this, that I'm happy with it.

Flemington

Just came back from my church camp in Flemington Hotel, Taiping. It's a cosy place that my church has been to before. I definitely have some things to learn about vision, where I want my life to be. I've never really planned much out before - that is something I should change..

Anyway, I'll be working on a list of bands/artists that, if they come to Malaysia, are to die for. At least for me. I'm sure I'll be awestruck by the list :)

A Soliloquy

It's amazing. How I've been enjoying the most part of eighteen-odd years and months alive on this planet Earth. All the time I've spent, all the dreams that were never meant to be make me who I am today.

It's amazing. How I've been given so much, that I may give freely unto those I know. That I've been cultured with morals and beliefs in a very unorthodox way, Granting me the strength to live life without any regrets.

It's simply amazing. How I've been to more than enough places to be proud of my life to myself, holding many achievements in my heart. It's been a long journey through life, and I intend to make the most of what I have still.

Still, I have my kryptonites and fights (mentally executed, philosophically orientated). I am still human. I still am.

I'll end this with a very thought-provoking note I pilfered from this really good blog.

“When you hate someone, take a piece of paper and draw a line down in the middle. 

On the left, list down all the reasons you hate them and why they should not be forgiven. On the right, list down all their good values and why they are worthy of your forgiveness. Now, tear the piece of paper down in the middle throw away the one on the left. Now, should they be forgiven?”

A Soliloquy - An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, 

Do You Remember?

Do you remember the day? In your childhood friend's house, playing with toy soldiers.

Do you still remember the day? On the bicycle, when you learned how to cycle by yourself without support.

Can you remember the day? At the nanny's, watching movies with your sister to pass the evening.

Will you remember the day? Hanging with your uncle's Schnauzers and Dalmatian.

Won't you remember the day? Playing with your cousins in the field.

Yes Abel, you better not forget your childhood. You were once a child. Always be.