Saturday, 25 February 2012

Title Found! :D


Hey Guys! After weeks of soul-searching for my script-writing project, i have finally found the most suitable title of my new book...Ladies, and Gentlemen, I'm proud to present to you, ELEMENTAL! :D This is the official start of my writing career! May this be the turning point and a stepping stone for my glorious love towards English language and literature in general. The Genre? Why don't you guess...fine, it's a lil mix of science fiction, historical events, fantasy, action, and mystery...or whatever wild imagination and ideas that comes across my mind..I guess I grow up being overly exposed to SciFi movies and TV Series which I love so much, which explains my tendency to use scientific terms and approach..not to mention being a science-stream student once..the reason behind the name is simply because, life is made of infinite elements...soon enough, you'll understand why..trust me. Hope you enjoy reading it. XOXO :D
-Shamil-

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

New Series...coming soon...

I'm thinking of starting to write a story, more like a fiction...the piece of writing (screenplay, fake autobiography...call it whatever you want) will be updated occasionally by chapters and volumes. Not to say that I aspire to be the next J.K Rowling or anything, just to fill my pastime. Kinda like my personal project for the whole year, since I won't be using a lot of English this year. This is to prevent my linguistic prowess from deteriorating, but primarily because I have a wild imagination and nowhere to channel it into :) Once I find a suitable title, I'll start right away and will let you know...toodles! ;)

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

99 questions, 1 answer, and infinite random ramblings...

Hi...it’s been a while. My apology for not writing for so long...to my friend Aliah (also known as ‘Dalia’ nowadays...hahaha :D), sorry that this piece of writing took almost 2 weeks to be published.  Well, my laptop is still broken, so i don’t really have any other electronic devices to type my entry. What a mess. But now that Naim’s in da house (yeah, you heard me right...he’s home), it’s a Full House back again in the Zulkipli-Zainiah residence! Woohoo! So under his courtesy, i get to use his laptop till 20th February which the last day of his holiday. Thanks a lot bro.

doubts???
possibilities???
Also, not writing for so long, it has something to do with being generally hated right now. But i figured since quite a few moons has passed already, now that the hatred has somewhat subsided (i assume), i can continue writing back! J To rationalize the topic at hand, have you ever noticed that sometimes (in my case, most of the time), questions are more powerful than answers? Contrary to what answers do which is providing us comfort and self-pleasure in knowing, a simple question on the other hand possesses the ability to cause doubts, breed possibilities and not to mention, amplifies curiosity. We seek answers all our entire life-what were we born for, how are we going to survive, how to solve this, how to get that. The ones I keep asking myself are like, “Why me?”, “What have I done?”, or “How could I be so studid?”..Once we find the answer to our questions, we indirectly find happiness. Thus we make decisions and choices in life, and the choices that we make define who we are. We observe, and we perceive. Our perception which are mostly based on our observation up to the present time, defines the truth, a.k.a facts...and we label them reality. But consider this for a moment...what if the reality that we believed in so much is actually wrong? What if the truth is actually different from what we believe in? Let me give you one simple example. A decade ago, Pluto is still considered as a planet (I still remember a page from my childhood primary school science textbook which support this argument)...however, in the late years of last decade, the International Astronomical Unit has voted to exclude Pluto from planetary body status, and now we only have planets from Mercury to Neptune in our solar system...haha..still can’t get rid of the habit of talking bout science and stuffs.my bad...my bad...

My point is, get the whole truth and double confirm it before you judge. I guess “Cest la vie” - it means “that’s life” in Spanish. It is so full of questions that the journey to seek for an answer seems like it’s taking forever, as if we’re making no progress at all. I have came across numerous life metaphors...the most cliché among them is like “life’s like a wheel-sometimes you’re up,sometimes you’re down”...they always say this in Malay drama...pfft...can you believe it? But to me personally, i think life is both an experiment and a game. It’s an experiment because it has a goal and purpose-an objective. There are just way too many variables involved, actions and reactions to be expected, forces to deal with and be dealt by, and at the end of our lives, we draw a concrete conclusion to sum it all up. And being a person who loves video games so much, I of all people can see the symbolic representation of life in game. Of course, you can cheat your way out in a game, you know  like infinite health or all weapons unlock in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The only difference is, in life, we play to win no matter what the cost, but don’t expect to get away with everything every now and then. Though it’s a serious game, i took it lightly...which led me to a catastrophic disaster. This is my story, and that is how this chapter begins...
A tragedy befell me quite some time ago...due to my own stupidity, immaturity and being selfish for a second.  What I did was definitely wrong, no argument from anyone can change the fact otherwise. I wasn’t thinking straight and took matters into my own hands. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I have a certain disregard for the law...okay, maybe not to the level of a supervillain or a convict, but i do wear jeans to class (black to be precise, but most people didn’t notice :P)  For the first time ever, I experienced a gianormous amount of agony, pain, regret and anger towards myself, all at the same moment in a split second. It all happened too fast, and it was unbearable.

But that was then, now’s a whole new chapter is about to begin. Though i had to learn it the hard way, I can safely say here that i’ve learnt my lesson well. The unbelievably long holiday created a window of opportunity for me to actually consider what have happened so far. I really gave them a very deep thought as if my thoughts are like a bottomless abyss. There was once, in a single moment that i thought “maybe i am a bad person after all, maybe  there’s really nothing good left inside me, and that is particularly why i’m being punished with all these”. 1 year suspension-that is the price that i’m paying for my crime in cash. But then, a thought came to mind...i suddenly recalled a line from a Harry Potter movie, HP and The Order of Phoenix...Harry said that maybe he is a bad person, maybe he is becoming Lord Voldemort but Sirius Black convinced him with something like this "You are not a bad person, you're a good person who bad things have happened to". That particular line gave me a wake up call. Frankly, I can continue to feel sorry for myself, and let the anger, hatred, disappointment consume me and drag me down into the darkness again. But the cognitive side of my head told me otherwise-that i should not let something bad that happened to me be a barrier or obstacle for me from achieving greatness in life. '11 might not be all "bed of roses", surely there be hiccups along the way...but that's no reason to stop 2012 from being awesome...i feel like rocking the Year of Dragon! :D
Dragon Rocks!

Perhaps there are silver linings around the clouds that i have encountered so far after all. People say that there’s always two sides of a coin, same goes with a story. It’s all boil down to a single thing- a change of perspective. Well, one way to look at it is as a form of punishment..but another way look at it is as a window of opportunity. 1st, i’ve been given a chance to work my ass off for an actual job! I can temporarily enter the workforce and get some nice handsomely-paid salary instead of allowance to be spent...ain’t that just cool or what! 2nd-ly, I get to spend more time with my family-especially my little brother Naim which i can hardly see nowadays and my parents whom i love so much. 3rd, this occurrence have created an opportunity for me to do the things i’ve always wanted to do, which due to the restrictions as a student, made me unable to do them previously...like travel the world (not really planning to go overseas cause you know, i don’t have a passport yet and all...pfft), go sightseeing...basically adventure and fun and stuffs. This country (Malaysia, not America) has lots to offer and wide selection of places of interest...this might just be the break that i’ve always needed from all the studies that i have done or the academic pressure that i have felt so far as a student (which sometimes makes me wanna kill myself literally)


..kind of a sweet escape from all the assignments, datelines, exams, studying, files and folders don’t you think? Boy you have no idea how terrifying those things are to people like me J
But of course there’s a downside to it. To be frank, I miss my classmates and my close friends a lot. When i say a lot, i mean it in a way that is incomparable to the normal condition when you miss someone. Like it has been a lifetime since i last met them. Not because of loneliness or solitude, but because i have grown some sort of liking and deep personal attachment to these people in the 1.5 years duration that i’ve known them-which i can not literally describe in words. I like them a lot...why? Because they rock! I don’t think I will be able to find the same set of friends with the same level of craziness, kindheartedness and creativity. That’s what makes them so special and irreplaceable to me. By ‘they’, i mean all my favourite and beloved lecturers as well. God bless them all. Amen J
*sound effect-party rock anthem by LMFAO*

All of them was very kind to me, they’ve helped me countless times during my PPISMP years (for those of you who are not familiar with this term, replace it with foundation programme/years). I’m not exaggerating when i say i would not have passed my foundation with the result that i got if not because of them. Those who are close to me might know some of my famous traits as a student-handing in assignment late (or probably last minute work), plagiarism...groupwork is my favourite, it’s a pleasure working with my them. Thus, i would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to all my classmates...being the eldest in the class, i should have set a good example and be a role model to all...but i did not. Instead, I brought shame, been a disappointment and inflicted pain and damages to the people that i care so much about. To my family especially my parents, I know I’ve been the black sheep for quite some time now. Looking at my little brother Naim, I can’t help but thinking that he should be the ideal big brother instead of me. I mean, why the hell not? He’s super-smart (more like brainiac genius), kind, athletic, and most of all, he has the ‘Damon Salvatore’ charm no chicks and gals can resist. Haha. But i promise this-from this point onwards, I will be your source of pride instead of disappointment, I’ll replace those weeps  of sadness with tears of joy. I’ll make you proud once more.
So, what have I been doing up until now? (Another question) To summarize it in the least number of words possible: Job Hunting! As exciting as it sounds, it took lots of my time and energy- checking out job opportunities geographically and the ones advertised in the printed and electronic media,writing and sending resumes, attending interviews..i’m also helping my mother run her extra classes by lending her an extra hand and teaching assistance. Leisure time? I guess now you can say that I’m a part-time maid at my own house. Fetching/sending Hana to and from school, giving free tuition to Balqis and Ilma ( those are my younger sisters who are standard 5, form 3, and form 5 respectively-2 of them will be facing PMR & SPM this year), do the laundry, do the dishes, cleaning-all sorts of daily household chores in short J

That’s the end of this chapter i guess. It’s now safely imprinted in my memory book of experience, all jammed into a single page. Time to flip a new page, turn over a new chapter of my life, to find the single answer. The journey towards the ending of my book still has a long way...and the rest is still unwritten! I pray everyday that I’ll be a better man in every way, so that i can turn over a new leaf and start over, just like when I first stepped into King Melewar Educator Training Institute. Till next time! ;)

p/s: thanks a bunch for stopping by...stay tuned for more upcoming entries and updates!

Thursday, 6 October 2011

Busy Business

1. What? Debate. To be precise, Debat IPG Piala Timbalan Pengarah Peringkat Kebangsaan 2011, which will be held from 9-13 of October at IPG Tuanku Ampuan Afzan, Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
2. Why? Training, discussions, wardrobe/outfit/attire checking, skipping classes...perhaps i spent too much time on this that i forgot about my other priorities...

Friday, 23 September 2011

CQ40 + 21 + ♥ = Upd8s!


It's been a while (more like forever actually)...hahaha. FYI, CQ40 is the name of my beloved laptop (which also has other nicknames like lappy, alienware and Sabrina) it's a Compaq Presario CQ40 model, bought in the year 2007. It's not that I don't want to update this blog with any new entries, it’s just that my laptop is having a problem right now called ‘system freeze’...yeah, just like the name suggest, it will freeze every now and then due to hardware failure- the screen will have no display whatsoever (black screen, but still projecting lights), the system just won’t respond no matter what button you press. Urgghhh...it’s literally killing me, with all the assignments (yeah,right...), folders, presentations, video editing and debate research that I need to do. The timing couldn’t have been more right ain’t it? Hahaha...serve me right.

A few weeks ago, on September 14th 2011, was a very big day for me...why? I’m pretty sure most of you already knows...it was my 21st birthday celebration! Hahaha...as usual, the night before, I was busy replying birthday wishes on my wall and mobile. I slept very early (at 10pm!) in Faiz’s room just to make sure nothing ‘bad’ will happen to me that night...hahaha.talk about being paranoid. :p
The next day, all my friends and classmates sang the birthday song to me in class...trust me, I was soooo touched and happy at that particular moment. Then they were planning to have this kinda celebration dinner at Alees Restaurant located in the kingdom of far-far away in Sikamat...another touching moment was that every single one of my classmates have expressed their interest in attending and celebrating...oh gosh. I told Asyraf (the event planner/mastermind/Class Rep/my brother/classmate/friend) that they shouldn’t be doing this coz I think it’s not fair to the others...well, you know, being the only one celebrated in such a big celebration might cause others to feel unimportant and timid because during their birthdays, nothing like that was organized...but Asyraf convinced me that this is a very significant celebration, coz it is my 21st birthday...the number 21 signifies a total freedom in the eyes of the law (as in I can have a credit card, change my statuses as a Malaysian citizen, entitlement to any property and all sorts of stuffs...), a benchmark of adulthood and...the appropriate age to vote! Hahaha. I can now choose my preferred government.muahaha.

It did not simply end there. That night, all my classmates were there, except for Neoh and Jason coz they went out with a bunch of guys for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I was very shocked (and happy too!) to see everyone there. We combined four tables in a row to fit all 23 of us, crammed next to each other like tuna in the can, and one-by-one ordered our dinner, beverages, snacks and desserts...surely enough, it took almost an hour ++ for all the menus to be prepared, given the number of people ordering.haha. Once everything was finished, I started to sense something was wrong...the event planner (Mr. Asyraf) disappeared into thin air all of a sudden, and I know something is definitely wrong about this whole picture...I was right.
*(pictures will be included here later)*

All of a sudden, from the back (kitchen) of the restaurant, there he was, carrying a very tasty-looking chocolate moist cake with three candles on top of it, unlighted. In synchronized chorus and harmony (hahaha), everyone started to sing! “Happy Birthday to you (2X), Happy Birthday to Shamil, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!” Only God knows how I tried my level best to contain and suck up all the tears that was starting to crystallize both my eyes...as the hydro pressure started to build up inside my optics, amplifying its volume by the time, the candle was lit in front of me-2 big candles and 1 small one representing the number 21...oh i soo adore the idea. Without further ado, I blew the candles and made my wish as the infinite flashes of the camera started to blind my sight. The sound of thousands of hand clapping and the views of familiar faces smiling were caught by my senses.

Then we all had our lovely dinner, Fera had to leave early...bye3 Fera...and we all went back safely...wait, SAFELY? Hmmm...I was not as safe and sound as i thought that night. On my way back to my block, accompanied by my lovely friends, little did I know that there were more to come, a series of unfortunate events were lying in wait for me. For starters, as we were about to enter the IPG entrance, I was FLOURED!! Yup, literally floured to the point that all my black outfits turned as white as the snow.  Damn you Asyraf...hahaha...and here comes the best part. Without me realizing (and I was absolutely helpless at that time), I was carried by Adri, Afiq, Asyraf, Haziq and Tamil, by my hands and legs to the field where muddy waters were everywhere due to heavy rain earlier that afternoon. They dumped me onto the mud! (luckily all my precious belongings were saved beforehand...phew...) YUCKS....and there I was, covered with a thick layer and mixture of water, soil, flour and mud (and some other micro-organisms attached to those stuffs)...as I was about to clean myself inside the groundfloor’s toilet, Haziq offered me shampoo...or so I thought. When I opened the door, I was splashed by a homogenous mixture of 2-weeks old rendang, cigarette, and some alien-looking liquid (perhaps Maggi Curry?) all over my face and upper torso. Curse you Haziq! It took me approximately 1 hour to clean up my body with all sorts of foul odour/smell/aroma. And that was how my birthday celebration goes. Funny huh? That my dear readers, was the most memorable birthday of my life :D Best party ever!

On a side note, I received presents from my parents, Naim (my little brother), Putra, Haziq and some of my friends. Thanks for all the cards, presents and wishes!

The final topic is what makes me really blush...it’s happening for real!....again!!!! Oh God...save me. The symbol ‘less than’ (<), combined with ‘the number three’ (3), will make the shape of a  horizontal heart --> <3...rotate that 90 degrees anti-clockwise, it will become like this -->
Sorry, but that is all that I can reveal for now...I myself am soooo confused. This just happened quite recently, it happened so fast it even caught me by surprise! Hahaha. At least this will help me forgetting something else. Oh well, cest la vie (‘that’s life’ in French). Let’s just hope good things will come out from this.
That’s all for now...thanks for your time...bye! :)
XOXO
-Shamil Usrah-

Sunday, 11 September 2011

Splashing Water Havoc!

playing beach volley!
today we (Mail, Afiq, Haziq, Bedil and me) went for a 'you could say a recreational trip' to....guess where?? ....Port Dickson!!! yeah sure, it's not as beautiful as langkawi or tioman island with crystal clear water and all, but it's still a beautiful place to hang out. Well, initially, we planned to go to Jearam something, somewhere near Pantai, Seremban...but since we're not very familiar with the place (and none of us knows how to get there), we went for the beach instead. As soon as arriving, we unplanningly (without planning) bought a beach volleyball worth 25 dollars (that's expensive!) some swimming, some water polo actions, beach soccer, photography session, then we're set to go.

beach marathon!

sand / land crocodiles...haha

bieber on the beach

amphibious creature

-0-

alia's epic pose
 after that we all went to Haziq's aunts' house for lunch...dude, i'm telling you her aunt's cooking is so damn good, i even had a third plateful of rice. I even gave Ipat (haziq's cousin) a five dollar note as duit raya (also, since we all didn't bring anything beforehand...) then all of us went back...effing tired.

Thursday, 1 September 2011

3rd Raya 'Aidilfitri - The API & BMI Index

Do you know that according to a report from MMD (Malaysian Meteorological Department or Jabatan Meteorologi), the API also known as Air Pollution Index of rural / village areas have increased dramatically from 1.6 to 5.8 over the past few days? They compared the API for big cities in Malaysia like Kuala Lumpur with low-developed area (like in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan) and they found out that the village area have been producing triple the amount greenhouse gasses they usually produce across the country. The big question is, WHY?

Well, to me, it's not a mystery at all. As a world-renowned  detective, I've solved the case and I have identified several major causes..haha. In one of my science classes (also from the movie '21'), my teacher kept reminding us in every experiment, "always account for variable change". That means, we have to consider all factors and variables before we hypothesize, do observations and make conclusions. The first thing to consider is migration and immigration rate of the general population. A majority of people from the city celebrated Hari Raya at their respective hometowns (grandma's house, relatives house, in-law's house...blah3) Therefore, the population density of people is higher in villages compared to the metropolitan area- causing the village area to be more polluted than ever with more garbage and energy consumption...during Raya time (or other festive season for that matter). Imagine all the traffic jams full of automobiles in the city transported to the village...that's the amount of gasses from cars that we produced.
The next factor is I think the most responsible for the high API index. Just consider all the burnings required/done from making the 'lemang', open burning by common villagers behind their residence (they still think it's not wrong to do that) like what my uncles did at Kuala Pilah, the burning which occurs underneath the big skillet (kuali/kawah) for making 'dodols' and 'wajiks' & 'rendangs'-both rendang ayam & rendang daging (traditional Malay cuisine) which most of them use coals/charcoals...don't you think all that leads to massive emission of CO2 & other hazardous gasses? I do. Not to mention, all those BANG!! & BOOM!! from the infinite supply of firecrackers & fireworks like what me & my cousins play on the night of 1st Syawal..*sound effect-Firework by Katy Perry* 
Even when I want to sleep late at night in my village, I feel like I'm in one of the war zone in Afghanistan or conflict region in Bosnia Herzegovina (do i spell that right? i hope so...reference: Social Studies class) with non stop explosive action surrounding our village.hahaha.
and that is why ladies and gentlemen, the village recorded one of the highest API of all times. There are times when the pure village is more polluted than the city area. Don't compromise / sacrifice our mother nature just to celebrate Raya in our modern way (I am an environmentalist...what can I say...) With that, I rest my case...thank you...

Hey, why so serious? I was just kidding-lah! ....Actually, all of the textual evidence from the introduction was a lie...it was fabricated, the MMD has never released such a report. I made it up just to inform you of my Raya experience in my village, Kampung Parit located at Kuala Pilah...hahaha.sorry! :p


Today is the third Raya, and I'm sitting in my room in front of my Alienware laptop (as if...) wondering about the other index that I want to talk about- the Body Mass Index or BMI. It is a generally accepted fact that those who were fasting during Ramadhan will gain weight when Raya comes...with all the mouth-watering dishes like kuah kacang, rendang + ketupat, lemang (made of coconut milk or santan, mind you) which are high in cholestrol, plus all the Raya cookies-kuih badam, tart nenas, biskut cornflakes...you name it...it's extremely impossible for you not to gain weight especially if you visit all your relatives, family and friends house to house. And that is exactly what's happening to me. I've gained like 3kgs in just a few days!! what the ....talk about unhealthy diet...pfffft..the worst part is, unlike in IPRM where I can exercise and play tennis or basketball or jogging, I can't do all that here! (reminder to myself: shed some extra weight after this okay...resist...food...temptations...) Eat right people...we are what we eat after all.


Well, that pretty much concludes this entry for now...later.adios. 
To all, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri Maaf Zahir & Batin ;)

 happy eid mubarak to everyone!