Making Things Up As You Go Along

Its been too long

2011-03-08T19:10:00.001+08:00

There was a man who had a life,

and then he found debate....

and now he barely has one.

Spend the last few days in Malacca, rockin' it at MDO :)

Just so this doesn't seem dead

2010-09-03T20:36:00.001+08:00

Shalt be posting on a social theory regarding parents!

n00b Confessional

2010-08-17T21:24:00.000+08:00

Been a while hasn’t it?

A trend I’ve noticed when it comes to my blog’s and I:

Posts are scarce and at best irregular
Most of them end up with “Been a while hasn’t it?”

Frankly, I do have stuff to write on, but for some odd reason that’s as far as it goes, it’d be like “Now this is something interesting to write about” and I draft whatever it is I want to say in my head, and halfway thru my train of thought, it’d be stored in a corner somewhere in that maniacal processing unit I have which is capable of remembering the oddest details and yet never seem to remember anything of great significance, I could tell you how much it the Galilean Proceedings cost the Catholic Church and yet couldn’t for the love of God remember your name.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been all the way down to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johore for Iskandar-Debating 2010 (The name still cracks me up) as and adjudicator, and last week was at the International Islamic University Malaysia in Gombak for the IIUM Debate Open.

Yes, it seems apparent that debate has finally taken over, and it may be postulated that my social life is about to go downhill. It may further be deduced that I shall at one point in life have nothing else other than a bunch of “intellectuals” who constantly argue seemingly as they have a stand on the issue -whereas in fact they’d just as well be arguing for the other side, and that their beliefs on the issues being debated is determined by the tabs - on issues as if it would actually make a difference. If you had such thoughts forming in your head, this would be our reply “Slippery slope argument, SHAME MR SPEAKER!” :p

That being said, here’s what I’ve picked through the two weeks I’ve spent being at debate tournaments,

A n00b’s commentary on debate:

The thing I learned as an adjudicator is the fact that there is no one way of debating, and that you have to adapt your debating style to suit your adjudicators, some would be swayed to give the win to debaters with awesome manner (such adjudicators are scarce) others weigh their decisions based on role fulfillment, others - the ones who you never look you in the face, and are constantly writing the stuff you say word by word - these ones are the matter-heavy adjudicators. A common misconception is that so long as you are not a spectacular debater, you shouldn’t even think of dabbling in adjudication, though it may be true up to a certain extent, the one thing one appreciates as an adjudicator is the importance of a good argument and almost always not to come up with borderline ridiculous arguments. I now vow to almost always try to make sense during debates

Lesson learned: Read your adjudicators and give them exactly what they want.

For IIUM Debate Open, being placed in team 4, the team which where not much thought was put into, was initially paired with MC Stiff, probably because we were sitting next to each other, and was then paired with Atiq. Feeling like some abandoned child whose parents didn’t put much thought into (dramatic much? :p) paired with Atiq’s constant pep-talks meant to put some fight into this old jaded soul - being a social retard meant a permanent inability to respond to such social stimuli - team actually broke and was served an ass whopping by 2 relatively experienced debaters :p in the quarters. Most important lesson learned was; keep it real, always substantiate your arguments with on-the ground illustrations, something people almost always overlook. Keep it cool, as scary as Hafiedz may be jumping up and down trying to POI in your seven minute speech, which seemed like ages, keep calm.

Lessons learned : Keep it real, stay calm and collected. Life ain’t as crappy as you think it is :p

I have also embraced “Obama” and shall have to live with it

People say that perfection is impossible, I say screw you just watch me try ;)

A lil leisure reading

2010-05-07T19:25:00.003+08:00

There is little need for a believe in a Supernatural source of Evil; Men are capable of every form of wickedness

Joseph Conrad

It's Us and the Rest of The World

2010-05-03T19:54:00.001+08:00

I remember back in the day, walking thru the halls of my Alma Matter, head high, proud, ready to take on the world, completely convinced that nothing is unattainable, that there ones abilities would stretch beyond the various limitations that other lesser beings imposed upon themselves. The few of us - conceited as some would claim - who believed that we are bound by no rules, that the gravity holding us down is a mere state of mind, one we could overcome and achieve what not many thought they could, we thought of ourselves as Gods walking the earth blessing these lesser souls and the earth we walk on with our ideas and ideals.

Humanity, unfortunately has never taken an form of change as a positive sign in which there is the alleged “change we can believe in.” Never once has a transition ever been made easy. Humanity has always never failed at uncovering the root cause of our inherent problems - take the energy crisis for example - but another thing we’re really good at is of our ability to shift the blame and divert attention away from the problem at hand - apparently the risk of accidents in nuclear power plants regardless of the advancements on cooling technology post-Chernobyl is still troubling your Senators - to which the problem remains unsolved.

The ones who see beyond the limitations society has imposed over themselves has more or less suffered the insufferable wrath of society as they zealously impose their beliefs. The Galileo Proceedings have always been a personal favorite to illustrate how misguided humanity can be. The most expensive legal proceedings in Vatican history simply because the Vatican was unhappy with the fact that the Galilean Model of the Solar System in which he placed the sun to be the centre of our solar system didn’t go in line with the much preferred Copernican model in which God placed humans in the centre of His universe. The genius was placed under house arrest, and was never allowed to publish another paper. The irony of it all is the fact that he was right all along. Probably he probably did an “I told you so, dumbfucks” in his grave. Don’t even get me started on the “alleged” Great Castration 1857. Such zealots, and yet they have been allegedly pushing under the rug issues pertaining to their special “interest” to boys.

Fact therein remains that humanity has never been open to radical ideas in which would change how they view their much “celebrated” existence. In which individuals like us have never been generally accepted by society. They suffer our presence simply because they have yet to find a way to legally justify their way into taking us out of the picture in which they would if the could, I refuse to get started on the issue of Preventive Detention. To which they are honour bound to suppress our ideals and put up various claims which would inherently contradict our beliefs - Look at the global warming arguments - and preserve their beliefs which exist in within their own comfort zones. Yet we stand with our beliefs and continue to contradict the various norms society has set upon itself, and as you try to convert us and our beliefs, rest assured that we won’t go down without a fight

On a completely unrelated note, I find it amusing as to how I strongly feel against any form of Affirmative Action and yet my placement has been of great irony. To which I am of very much a walking example of inherent contradictions and oxymorons.

It is of no secret that I am Racist, in which I am eternally prejudiced against the Human Race and its ability to err.

This One Is For You

On education

2010-04-23T17:15:00.000+08:00

For some odd reason, I find myself in an odd situation in which I apparently must write about.

The past two weeks have been anything short of educational for me, started off two weeks back in Universiti Putra Malaysia of which I had unknowingly volunteered myself for a public speaking competition to which I figured out how bad ONE wrong turn on the roads of KL can go and eventually lead you straight to KL Central in your pursuit of some McDonald’s fries, of which in the oddest of places do you actually find remarkably odd sources of inspiration (afflatus: new word picked up by Ain and I courtesy of MC Stiff), moving an hour down the time line, you are at no point in time to ever ask any of our pool of immigrant workforce - doing the menial jobs which we Malaysians are of the opinion that it is beneath us, and we move to complain on our unemployment rates - for directions, the individual may look Malay, Indian or Chinese, but the moment you realise that they are not, immediately walk the other way cause the moment you say “I think I’m lost how do I get to UPM?” all you’re gonna get is a blank face for five seconds or so, and he’d say “UPM??? Tada” and shake his head.

A few hours later, as I was presenting my second speech (and the last) I realised another aspect in my development as an orator, never try to be something you’re not, or in my case, don’t even try to be funny cause you’re only gonna come off lame, and the fact that i really need to slow things down, learned that the hard way, and yeah, the best kind of education is the one that gives you a slap in the face”

Moving on past that weekend, on Friday, I finally fulfilled my quota of which that every driver should get himself into at least one road accident, (in my terms traffic collision, owed to the fact that I do not believe in fate, coincidence or accidents) the one thing one learns is that one should always have a stash of money to pay for the damages incurred, keep a cool head when you’re lost, and that when shit hits the fan, you just have gotta be man enough to clean up the mess.

Further on was when dealing with the relatively underpaid University Security Officials (how I enjoy putting pretty labels on inherently insignificant titles). The fact remains that no form of generalisation would ever work for any part of society and that we’re all inherently unique and that there are the ones with insecurities and would do anything in their “power” to cause inconvenience on your side just to show that they are inherently superior, relatively speaking. When faced with these individuals, do as they’d have you do just to appease to their dire need for self augmenting, but if possible, do it in a way to get under their skin, I know I did :)

Odd thing happened, as i got on the U80 to find my way back to UiTM for a session with my academic advisor (sounds so much better in English relative to their title in Malay). It amused to to see how on the rapidKL busses (after getting on it for 5 mins) the bus barely moved and two scrawny looking men came on and went checking tickets. Need I highlight the fact that there was barely any need for tickets to be checked when you board the bus at the terminal station of which people generally can’t get away with not paying for their tickets, but the part that really amused me was the fact that on these scrawny men’s uniforms was the tag “enforcers”. Its amazing how one can be so insecure and how he littlest things make them feel better about themselves.

More fascinating is the fact as to how I wrote this post at Central Market and that how I’m now done with it and I’m already in Shah Alam. I shall now put on my game face and meet my Academic Advisor.

*In light of recent examination stress, the author has put forth the writing on The Wall*

2010-03-13T16:22:00.003+08:00

What makes one do the thing he does?

I can't be the only exception...

If I turn out to be nice, it's YOUR fault

The IRONY of it all

Maybe there is hope for humanity yet

Of Malaysian Scholarships 2010/2011 AND Actually Securing Them

2010-03-11T18:57:00.003+08:00

The following shall be a public service post :)

With the SPM results finally out in the open, it is without a doubt that students from various fiscal backgrounds would be going after the various scholarships being offered, these students with various qualifications, some just below the requirement bar drawn, the in-betweens and then we have the bunch of overachievers, the small bunch that the majority will always secretly resent simply because the whole world thinks their better than the rest of us, simply because they have more A’s or did a tiny bit more with their co-curricular activities then the rest of we average reasonable person.

IN which these various corporations who will have a vested interest in acquiring the best and the brightest for them to invest in to further develop their human capital in which at the end of the quarter will be reflected in their respective fiscal reports. There corporations want nothing more than the best of the best. Yardstick they use to quantify their applicants is via the various qualifications required to meet their needs and when they’ve shortlisted the thousands who have achieved the desired requirements; they pit us against each other as how we would see people do in cock-fights only difference is, they put us in a battle of wits. It is in this moment that they segregate us and determine which of us they will invest in.

The following will be several tips as to how a person is to prepare for the forthcoming battle of wits – in less pretty terms; the interview – which many of us dread.

Pre-Interview

In preparing for the interview it would be advisable for the particular prospective scholar to have a vague idea as to what that entity stands for. It is a mere sign of respect at the fact that you are aware of the entity of which you are practically approaching and asking for their money to pay for your tertiary education. Acknowledging their goals, visions, mission, and what the entity stands for enables you to show how you as an individual maybe able to contribute to the respective entity.

That and the fact that assuming they ask you “what do you know about [name of entity]?” You won’t come off as a total prat when you say “I don’t know” with that sly grin plastered over your face. Never bite the hand that feeds you.

On the night before the interview, I’d usually recommend a night of doing the one thing that you enjoy the most. For undergraduate applicants who are of legal drinking age, if you enjoy spending your nights getting drunk and puking the following morning, then it is my advice to you that you disregard the above advice and proceed with something boring like going to bed early. If the shit you enjoy is somewhat boring like going to the nearest sports centre and kicking the futsal ball around, of blowing up the heads of various aliens with a well placed shot in between the eyes, then by all means go ahead and do the shit you enjoy.

The logic behind this is for you to avoid your nerves to get the best of you. The last thing you’d want if for you to be tossing and turning trying to fall asleep. So do what you wanna do, increase your endorphin level, and go to sleep feeling happy.

Interview

Get up early, some people would advise for one to go for a good breakfast, I say the only thing you have to do to make this morning different than others is for you to wake up early, and proceed as you normally would. Do not attempt to do things you don’t usually do simply because it’ll only make you dread what’s to come.

Spend a good time in front of the mirror, DO NOT START BEING VAIN, instead talk to yourself, convince yourself that you can do what is required of you and also that you will be able to perform those acts, and that you’re not gonna need a miracle to get thru the day, you just need to be yourself.

At the interview, NEVER are you to proceed in a way in which you SPEAK TO HIGHLY of YOURSELF or of that ENTITY of which you are hoping would sponsor you. Nobody likes a suck up nor an arrogant scum, hence, it is advisable for you to be realistic and not set idealistic goals that you would achieve assuming they take you in as a scholar. For there is a clear line between being a suck up and being a down-to-earth individual who has come to realistic terms with his abilities. Only the empty cans make the loudest noise.

Be humble, pleasant and smile. Even if you fear that you may spontaneously combust at any moment.

With the Bank Negara Malaysia Scholarship Award 2010/2011, the floodgates have been opened, expect hours of swimming through the web filling in online application forms.

Live long and Prosper :p

DISCLAIMER:

The author is a Yayasan Sime Darby scholar, who is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Legal Studies in University Technologi MARA, Malaysia. Spends half his time wandering about campus trying very hard to keep a low profile and not end up in unnecessary conflicts. It is without surprise that he is facing difficulties in doing so. The author shall not be made liable regardless of any circumstances which may lead to you receiving that scholarship from that sponsor that you have always wanted :)

Fuck the odds, do what you gotta do

Izzat F.

2^nd Malaysia Debate Open 2010

Humanity and Anthropogenisis

2010-03-10T19:36:00.003+08:00

I am of the belief that humanity is one that is not susceptible to change. I believe suffer from irreparable stubbornness in our constructs.

The belief that Anthropogenises has made us better beings compared to the apes of which we once were is an issue to which one may be sceptical about. That underlying fact that we have developed frontal lobes – crucial to our ability to choose between good and bad – relative to that of the Pleistocene of which we are supposedly to have evolved from. This attribute is apparently what differs us from the apes, the fact that our frontal lobes have given us the ability to decide the social norms and repress our carnal inhibitions.

Load of bollocks if you ask me. Admittedly the fact that our frontal lobe development has changed the way we conduct ourselves in society – not to mention that it has given us the ability to form a society – but have never changed nor moved anywhere near to being better individuals. What evolution has given us is not a moral stand, what it has done for us is give us the ability to indulge with our inhibitions in a more sophisticated yet savage manner.

Our ability to think has made us sophisticated apes. The concept of sins was introduced and imposed towards society in an attempt to subvert our carnal desires. We are threatened with damnation if we succumb to our darkest needs and desires. Yet even then, we indulge with the sweet evils of life though we no longer make it apparent and advertise the fact to society. We have always found a better way to steal from another, we have always found a more savage way to rape another, we have always somehow manages to come up with an alternative to effectively take the life of another. Evolution has changed us and made us into better beings, we are no better then what we once were. Every morning as we wake up, as we do the things that we do, we always find a way to better ourselves, we find a way to do better than the person next to us, we try to shape ourselves to being the alpha-male in the society we live in regardless of our gender.

Survival of the fittest, co-existence has never been a part of our construct. We accept the people around us simply because we have to, not because we want to, we force ourselves to adhere to social norms and we know we would gladly walk the other way.

Humanity has no morality, what we have is a sense of conformity, we do not conduct ourselves as things were right or wrong, we weigh the risk and proceed on a balance of probabilities. So long as society remains ignorant of our sins, we indulge in them. We are no better than the animals, we are merely more sophisticated.

But then again, due to the fact that we have drawn lines to guide our social conduct and the fact that more than half the time we want nothing more than to walk across that line is the crux to which I’d actually have a fair prospect at getting a decent job. Score one for humanity.

There is little need to look for a supernatural source of evil, for humanity is more than capable of its own evils

- Joseph Conrad -

Pronography

2010-02-18T12:20:00.002+08:00

The internet...

Humanity's greatest achievement...

The last bastion for freedom of information...

Which also stores the largest collection of pronographic material...

Humanity, upon receiving constructs with great potential,

We simply have the gift of perverting its potential,

that and killing each other...

Quod Erat Demonstradum... Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and yet we're still striving for an alternative energy source.

We really are retarded aren't we....

Yayasan Sime Darby Scholarship Awards Ceremony

2010-02-10T00:07:00.003+08:00

I ought to come up with a more interesting title...

Ah well...

Finally a sponsor for my undergraduate program, giving me space for a breather and to not worry with regards to the "fiscal feasibility" (love using that in debates :p) of my plans...

The Yayasan's CEO commented on how I was indifferent with regard to the whole procession...

and then it struck me, half the time, when I'm on the receiving end of some award or another, be it best speaker awards during debates, winning State for Debate back in 2006, winning State for Drama in 2007, wrote the best script for that same drama competition and also receiving the best actor award in that same competition. I have always been composed in such a way that I don't seem to be all hyped when receiving those awards. The emotional roller-coaster people go through as they receive such awards, I experience wayyyy later... practically hours later, in this case, I only had them at 2200 hrs the same day, after I had a good loooonggg nap xD, and boy am I grateful, not to mention excited :)

One thing is for sure though, good things in life, they never come easy, and getting the scholarship was not a stroll in the park. Of the few things that happened on the day of the awards ceremony was the fact that we got lost on our way to the convention centre (cause I was of the firm belief that I knew a faster alternate route to get there, Was practically the last person to leave the Convention Centre due to Contractual issues in which my name was apparently "Izzat Fauzan" it was amusing seeing my dad explain to me how the contract would be not be executable because they didn't get the name right, and he was explaining this to a law undergraduate who dreads going to his Law of Contract classes and equates every case to the case of Donoghue v Stevenson... at the same time was left wondering what Helmi Ibrahim, moi Law of Contract lecturer would have done... Memang KAW-KAW punye xD

and those hiccups were the ones which happened on the day of the awards ceremony, let's not even get started on what happened way before I actually got the scholarship xD

Lesson learned : Good things in life don't come tumbling down onto your lap, you gotta work you @SS of for em :p

In a vain attempt to make this blog more reader friendly, and conform to the demands of society, I shall continue with the posting of photos from the awards ceremony.

NAHHH... I enjoy being different :p

and oh, I googled Yayasan Sime Darby, and the hits were the Yayasan's website and this blog xD

A warning:

Third speakers such as himself should indeed be locked away in a cage only to be let out for the 7 mins of speech that is required of him to present, and that at no point in time should he ever be left to freely speak to members of the press :p

God-like

2010-02-06T19:25:00.004+08:00

Just only found out that the SEA Forensics Tournament has actually been going on for the past 3 days, made me grab the car keys and drive casually (in my terms) to ISKL making sure I made it to the closing ceremony...

Car's parked, rushed straight in to the hall...

an inadvertently took a stroll down memory lane...

the time spent back in St John's, the years being an impressionable youth,

a talented one amongst his peers of individuals just as talented...

How intoxicating it was, the feeling of immortality, behaving recklessly, toeing the line that separates right and wrong (occasionally stepping over it when we thought no one was watching), willing ourselves to do what we wanted with the talent bestowed upon us.

It was liberating, walking down the corridors of St John's made one feel like a God, filled with potential, and the world was our oyster.

"I come here today, offering my services to the school"

Let's see what we make of this

Once a Johannian, Always a Johannian.

Fide et Labore

MLS :)

2010-01-25T03:23:00.002+08:00

I am of the belief that I have read what I should have for MLS...

Let us now cuddle up on bed for a few hours worth of sleep...

MLS oh MLS,

Let's be nice to each other now shall we? :)

I'll read your MLS textbook, and you be nice and let me understand what I'm reading :)

Izzat is too MLS for MLS... sh*t

2010-01-25T02:40:00.003+08:00

This is Izzat,

and I'm still awake...

I have my Malaysian Legal System textbook propped up in front of me...

I really think I should read it...

This is me 5 mins later...

and I'm still convincing myself that I should read that textbook of mine...

maybe I will...

Class at eight tomorrow...

I really think I should post pictures on moi blog, that ought to make it seem more humane...

Post-Sime Darby Undergraduate Scholarship 2010 Final Interview

2010-01-20T13:09:00.003+08:00

Awesomeeee...

Rocked the house I did :)

Went well, many thanks to those who wished me the best, spared a few prayers, and I thank God for giving me the gift of speech :)

Yayasan Sime Darby Undergraduate Scholarship 2010

2010-01-20T01:24:00.002+08:00

Been a while hasn't it?

OK, lets rephrase that, been a loong looong loong while hasn't it....

Ever since my last post, I've kept myself occupied with debate tournaments namely the GSD and the annual VC Cup, I've also been working part time back in the much loved Apple Store up in Pavilion, and now I'm back in UiTM finally doing my degree in law...

Long story short of what has happened so far:

Debate: ALMOST broke in GSDC, made it to semis in the VC Cup, awarded top ten best speakers, back in the debate club in Shah Alam, so let's see what real training and funding and tournaments can do to meself...

Work in EpiCentre : Working never is fun is it? don't we all do it for the money anyways? Finished the whole sum of my paycheck getting myself UiTM stuff, i.e. books and such

Degree in Law : Placed in LWB01A, a class which has been supplied with a whole bunch of whacked lecturers all of which with the own unique personality which make them uniquely awesome in a very whacked way :)... [Best Law School in Malaysia... whoot whoot]

I should most definitely be going to sleep at about now, leaving to the Sime Darby Convention Centre tomorrow morning for the Final Interview for the Yayasan Sime Darby Undergraduate Scholarship... Wish me the best :)

As of the interview tomorrow, I'll let you in with a couple of secrets as to how I'll run tomorrow's show...

What one needs to make things work is, a whole load of confidence, backed up with necessary achievements and qualifications, bunch that with prayers to the Almighty and we're set to rock the house...

Let's rock this house :)

Results

2009-11-14T01:27:00.002+08:00

In which I personally have gone through many changes throughout my short stint in UiTM Kedah, and now that the results are out mark, I shall honour those memories by acknowledging the one significant change I went thru... My proficiency in the Malay language, in which I shall further continue this post in my mother-tongue...

Keputusan perperiksaan sudah keluar kawan-kawan, syukur kepada yang berjaya, kepada yang gagal, cuba lagi tatkala anda mengabil perperiksaan anda dua minggu dari tarikh ini...
Nak baca post yang lebih panjang tentang apa yang sudah ku lalui? Lain kali sahajalah, saya sudah mengantuk malam ni...

Salam :)

Kekok giler tulis dalam bahasa ibunda ku ini xD

Of Ability

2009-09-05T05:18:00.001+08:00

To which we discover that various inabilities to which we have, leads to the acquiring of other abilities in which we use to compensate…

Being of the belief that we are born the same faculties as the person next to me, sends shivers down the spine at the thought of not being able to do anything – be it on par or better – than the person next to me.

Yet after close examination of various test subjects, I am somewhat uncertain with regard to my stand ability. Having lived by the maxim “try not, do or do not.” I am of the belief that no man is better than the person next to you. That everyone is just as capable as the other. What I believe separates those who manage to achieve goals set by society, is the amount of effort one puts into working towards such goals.

To which the focus of the observation was moved from the various achievements of these test subjects to the various efforts they put towards achieving these goals to which the society deems to be of vital importance (the fact that it may seem trivial to others is out of the question). Herein we see that as we move from a subject of observation to the next, different subjects put in varying degree of effort as compared to the other.

As observed in examinations to which as the examination approaches, we observe students who have been single-mindedly conditioned to believe that their lives depend on performing their level best cram in information to which is to be regurgitated during a two hour exam. In this attempt to achieve a goal which society has set upon these poor souls, we observe varying methods to which one prepares for these exams. Some take a month to read up and re-read their notes, other prefer to study early and as the examination approaches, goes about to play games with various other individuals who may or may not have prepared for the exams, others are simply nonchalant towards the forthcoming examinations and go forth with their lives as they always have. The results which ensue these varying degrees of effort are that of the varying degrees of success to which society decided upon.

Quod erat demonstrandum. We observe that though those who take time off to work their sore asses off may not be as successful as those who may have behaved in a nonchalant manner. Hence we can postulate the fact that the varying degrees of effort in which one needs to put in differs. Which makes it unreasonable and somewhat for us to put ourselves next to another for comparison.

Quod erat faciendum. In which upon realizing the varying degrees of effort we come to accept these as inabilities. Herein is which dictates how ones future unfolds. It is how we choose to compensate for our various inabilities. Denying that we are weak is not exactly a forte, what is to be done instead is for us to overcome what we observe to be as our shortcomings.

Though I may have shown that we are not built the same way as the person next to us, I am still of the stubborn belief that we are capable of achieving what we want to achieve.

The Only Absolute in Life is That There Are No Absolutes

of Secrecy

2009-08-23T04:31:00.001+08:00

Keep your cards close to your chest, for so long as you keep them guessing, you'll always have the upper hand...

An Unjust Law is No Law at All...

-St Augustine

Which means I have the right, a duty even to resist, with violence or civil disobedience...
You should pray i choose the latter

Of Law and Malaysia's Northern Hemisphere

2009-06-22T23:38:00.005+08:00

Much have been said with regard to the Bi-annual elections... mudslinging, defamatory comments, to what may seem significant to one yet ridiculous to another... to an observing individual who chooses to remain neutral, who also happens to be a stakeholder in the situation... I feel that the situation is one that is unbecoming which should not be allowed to escalate... I do not believe that the reason to which my current disposition is to promote unity amongst members, instead I feel that I am placed here merely to ensure and facilitate that activities planned go on as scheduled, and that everybody has a heck of a time nothing exciting or of great intellectual merit...

Heck... I bet in two years time, there ain't gonna be a single soul who'd be wondering who was the President of the Law Soc in Kedah back in 2009, or that who won the second Bi-Annual election of 2009... So the candidates have each said their five minutes worth, some less, we shall now let democracy play itself out, and just let it be... Look at it this way, who ever gets selected, will have to do a helluva load of work to do over everything else... That person is gonna be stuck with me, and 5 other unstable individuals whilst you get to go to Central Square Sg Petani, and enjoy a good movie, or you could be snoring away in your room without a care in the world...

With regard to the things I said tonight, I believe that it was about time I put my foot down concerning involvement with the societies activities... and statements made regarding your transfer to Shah Alam, is true, 3.00 GPA and MUET Band4, one shot is all you're gonna get in life... Why bother yourself with petty issues when there are bigger things to focus on...

Special thanks to Muhaimin for performing for us that lil stunt post-speech, and relentlessly grabbed on my favourite jacket... That managed to take a lil venom outta that lil speech I was forced to make...

See You On The OTHER Side
Semper Fi

Shortcomings of Humanity

2009-06-21T13:21:00.003+08:00

Protests in Tehran claimed 19 lives, so far, with estimates putting it at 150... The belief in playing fair is one which I feel is idealistic and irrational... For no sane living being would risk so much and play things fair for the sake of sportsmanship... the one thing that humanity has been incredibly apt at for scores of years is by means of eliminating the competition... hence, the arms race, the bow an arrow once the pinnacle of weapons technology, today the world has turned towards nuclear proliferation... in a more subtle facet, we see accounts of defamation and character assassination committed towards prominent figures, we observe how the media has been perverted into providing a means for humanity's need to have leverage over another in any situation regardless, in cyberspace we observe mudslinging between parties...

What comes to question here today is why bother promote sportsmanship when humanity has proven itself over again that it does not have the capacity to do so... Call me fascist scum if you'd want, but due to such shortcomings, sometimes, a totalitarian state ought to be the way to go...

With regard to the coming elections for the Pre-Law Club in UiTM Kedah, I feel that there is no need for any form of mudslinging or name calling, no need for defamatory blogposts or text messages of any form, if you can stand up in a crowd and proudly claim the various feats that you have accomplished, I say you ought to have just as much guts to conceed to the various downs you have had your share in... So I say, let Monday come and hear them out and leave democracy to work itself out, even if good ol' Winston Churchill called it a whole load of bollocks...

Win Like A Man, Lose Like A Man

Semper Fi

Ramblings

2009-06-20T14:16:00.002+08:00

Is severely bored...

Managed perform stylishly bad during the ICRC IHL Debate Tournament...

Found out how much he LOVES the Kelisa...

Had an orange Lamboghini Gallardo overtake him on the highway back to Shah Alam...

Keeps falling asleep in some empty room...

No longer has to drag himself to class...

Believes that his final semester in Kedah is going to be all about academic writing...

Is amazed by his law lecturer...

Needs to get himself back to KL

Is in love with Myra and would very much like Liya to take pretty pictures of us with her pretty camera :P

If You Are Going Down,

Don't Drag Anyone Else With You,

Just Do It With Style

Recent Happenings

2009-06-04T19:11:00.003+08:00

Been away in UiTM Arau for the past week, attending the Arau Open International Debating Championship...
Managed to quash the rumours that the Kedah Debate Society is withering, that was how good we performed yet it just wasn't enough...
Spent half the time with Jean who was annoyingly supportive :P
Stayed for an additional 2 days to attend the Australs selection... failed to make the cut, with regard to the controversial system of selection.
Currently back in Kedah, pondering on resuming duties as the President of the Law Soc, looking forward to the ICRC Debate tourney in Shah Alam on the 12th-14th...

Incoming Curve Ball? Hit It As Hard As You Can In The Opposite Direction
Semper Fi~

Pre-Law MARA University of Technology, Kedah

2009-05-22T17:16:00.003+08:00

Having received confirmation from out programme coordinator, contradictory to what as been posted on the website, our registration for our coming semester will be on the 30th of May 2009, and class will proceed on the 31st of May 2009...

I shall now leave you to enjoy the remainder of your holidays while i leave to pack as i shall be heading up north at midnight tonight...

Semper Fi

You Petty Fools

2009-05-17T22:25:00.001+08:00

More than often do I consider myself to be relatively open minded and a catalyst for change in Malaysia’s obvious racial differences across the board, but today, as I was having my dinner in my usual fancy roadside Thai food stall, and was allegedly forced to watch the news, and the issue which was brought up here was to make subtle changes in the examination format which one has to undergo in order to obtain a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) license. The issue was that due to racial differences, certain applicants are shorthanded due to their lack of proficiency in the national language. These applicants, which was stated to be educationally impaired are not proficient in the national language. So, a review is currently be made towards the current curriculum in order to attend to these impaired applicants. In the few moments to come, an issue was highlighted that a certain political party are currently helping these educationally impaired applicants by giving them English lessons in order to increase their proficiency in what has been often mistaken as the most widely used language in the world – English. The reason to which was used to support this move was in order to save face when dealing with foreign visitors and that if these individuals are not to be proficient in the English language, they would bring shame to the nations name, an admirable move and I applaud the political party which has taken the initiative.

But what discomforts me is that how they are complaining that they are incapable of mastering the national language, hence further claiming that the curriculum should be reviewed because of such, yet they are having English classes in order to attend to the fact that they are incompetent in English. Would the logical reason to be to have similar classes in Malay instead of complaining and demanding that the curriculum ought to be revised, after all are PSV’s not meant to serve the public – for that is implied in the name does it not? “public service” – and does the public not consist of Malaysians who speak the national language? So would it not actually be beneficial for these impaired applicants to be able to comprehend, if not be completely fluent in the national language?

I may not be a patriot, I may not be one who would stand up and defend Bumiputera privileges till my last breath, but sometimes, the fight to be on an equal playing field for all Malaysians seem petty and just plain stupid…

Semper Fi

Life's Lessons

2009-05-13T02:08:00.002+08:00

It has been a while since I've rambled about practically anything at all....
Writing about the past year at year's end has been something of a habit of mine...
All this while it has been a review of the things I did and did not manage to do, toes I've stepped on, the usual...
Lets have a semester review shall we?
The only difference, lets not review what I've done or achieved, that'll take to long of my precious time, lets just go through the things I've learned instead

December - May 2009

1 - Politics = Unnecessary, ridiculous, good excuse to waste precious time, and intellectually irrelevant
2 - Being a 100% committed is irrelevant so long as what needs to be done is done
3 - The ends justify the means.
4 - Being a classic narcissist isn't as bad as people make it sound
5 - Hustling is apparently a skill I'm born with
6 - I read you people like a book, and I'm not quite sure I like it very much
7 - Miracles aren't that miraculous after all
8 - Happily ever after? not that outlandish after all
9 - Keep your friends close your enemies closer? Time consuming, intellectually unchallenging
10 - Good and evil is irrelevant , we walk amongst demons, and we battle our own demons at every breath
11 - Absolute truth is non-existent
12 - With great power does not come great responsibility, what does come is a whole load of bollocks
13 - Growing up is overrated, so is being responsible
14 - Age is irrelevant numerics, what makes you grow old and wise is the amount of sh*t you were forced to put up with
15 - Play your cards close to your chest, and cheat

I'm tired, guess I'll continues my ramblings in my sleep...

Better be off,

Things to see people to do, yet so little time, what a pity.

Semper Fi

Of Hope

2009-04-10T16:48:00.002+08:00

Hope is light at the end of the tunnel...
Hope is what drives you to do the things that you wouldn't normally do...
Hope is what makes you hold on to what is dearest to you...
Hope is what makes you fight against the odds...
Hope is what makes you strong..
In the darkest hour of despair, hope shall shine its light over you...

Yet if you keep your hopes up... you will be sorely disappointed...
And today... Disappointed I am...
Should never have had my hopes up...
Bummer

Of Blogs

2009-04-08T17:49:00.000+08:00

Izzat is amused…

It was brought to his attention that his writings have caused a stir…

Mum was right

Izzat is amused…

Very amused

We shall have a blog post concerning blog posts

Blogs ARE the way to go, or at least that’s what everyone claims it to be. The question is, like all mediums of literature, what merits a blog post? Should there be a certain level of etiquette? A certain class as to how one writes in ones blog?

I believe not. I have been an advocator for freedom of speech for as long as I can remember, me being everything from a classic narcissist to the pretty boy next door would do anything and practically everything ‘cept for betraying my beliefs, and my belief of the right to express themselves freely is one I hold dear to. Hence, I shall now blatantly state that I believe that everyone has the right to post almost anything they want about everything that they want. You can have a post about your stand on the current turmoil faced by the country or you can have a post about you walking around a shopping mall wearing a shirt with the price tag sticking out from the back of your shirt, and you can have everything else in between.

The question of credibility arises, would someone who posts views about current issues be more credible than another who expresses his desire for designer handbags on their blogs. I put it to you.

Blogs is for us to shout out to the world with our insignificant voices. For me, I love being descriptively abstract.

Virtous et Honor

Semper Fi

Izzat is amused indeed

Blurbs

2009-04-07T12:42:00.000+08:00

When you’re on top, the only place left to go is down.

Mum’s right, politics ain’t my game.

Most people are slackers, others just appear to be doing something when in actual fact they aren’t, some who do something for their own interests, and then there are people like us.

There are the ambitious who’d do everything to get what they don’t deserve, there are the capable ones who shy away from responsibilities, and then idealists who take things one step at a time.

When you have everything, best to hold on to the one thing you hold dear to and let go of the rest.

We are different, we have no care for what others think, we do what needs to be done, and the only people who’d understand are the ones who love us.

There are two kinds of people, the ones who go to you when they are in need, and the ones who stay with you regardless

Izzat is hungry…

Maybe he should get some food…

Would you believe me if I told you I’m engaged? :P

Democracy is the worst form of Government, except for all the other forms

- Winston Churchill

Out of Boredom

2009-04-01T09:37:00.003+08:00

the author is...

Narcissist
Type-A Personality
Easily bored - Sensation Seeking Behaviour
Needs to be intellectually challanged

I need to get out...

Classic Aggressor

Yet you bring out the best in me

Semper Fi

Of Education

2009-03-30T16:07:00.000+08:00

The pursuit of education is an endless one. The purpose of education is to enlighten the human mind. To allow the mental faculties of humanity adequate space to be creatively simulated allowing it to further its growth

In order for this to be achieved education on its own must be captivating and appealing to the minds in which it wishes to shape. Admittedly academia is a venture not many pursue for its pleasures, in actual fact, we are forced and coerced into it, regardless of what the motivating factor may be. Yet we secretly find it pleasing to know that we have learned something new.

The problem that arises is that the curriculum in which education is tailored to cater to the masses. Idealistically, education should be tailored to the specific individuals and targeted to enhance their strengths to compensate for their shortcomings, yet the current status quo is the most realistic venture possible. So now I wonder, what are we to do with those who are a cut above the rest, what are we to do with those individuals whose intelligence quotient is a tad above the rest. Are we to bore them due to the fact that the system fails to stimulate their minds, hence retarding their intellectual growth? Is it their fault that they do not pay any attention in class and we accuse them of ego-centrism. For in the current system we hear child prodigies who slowly disappear and fall into the abyss over time.
What are we to do?

When Death Comes Calling, Make Your Last words Count

Out Of Love

2009-03-29T23:05:00.000+08:00

Life is nothing more than a stage

-William Shakespeare

All that lives life must face certain death; a norm of life in which we have learned to accept albeit man’s pursuit of immortality, be it Nicholas Flamel’s Philosopher’s stone or modern advancements in health care. Yet Death saunters about taking each and every one of us into his cold embrace. If we are to die eventually, why do we bother with life? Is there anything in life that is truly real? What gives life meaning if everything we have is to be eventually taken away by Death? Fiscal solidity which we have dedicated our lives to slowly build and maintain, the social ladder in which we zealously climb day after day, all of this become insignificant the moment Death takes us away, so what is it that we really have.

Choice

That is the one aspect of our lives that we will truly have. It is the choices that we make which affect the how we live our lives and how people will remember us as Death takes us away on our final adventure. It is by choice and choice alone can we stay true to ourselves and not lose out on the external factors as to what life put against us. It is by mere choice that we dictate how we live out the few moments that we have in our life. Never should you let another make a choice for you, never should you ever let another tell you what to do, you may seek out advice, but you must always be the one who has the final say in the course of which your life’s path, for choice is what separates us free men from the rest. For those who have are not given the luxury of choice are those who are oppressed and subdued, and nobody least of all you, should ever be stripped of your right to choose. You should always be given a choice, and so you should always give others the same luxury of choice.

So choose

Be strong, choose, and know that nothing in the world will go wrong, so long as you have the one thing you hold dear to in life.

Of Religion and Belief

2009-03-11T09:30:00.001+08:00

I speak when there is a need for me to,
Other times I just sit and observe.

Something was brought to my attention recently, the concept of a singular good in a singular world. What was preached was not aimed at propagating the true religion, but instead they were propagating the fact that though there are numerous religions practiced throughout the world, they all promote the same beliefs, the fundamental concepts are that of the same. That all these religious teachings propagate a moral life and that we should do no harm to another person and other things as such.

I am of the opinion that the statement is partially true, I agree to the fact that the fundamentals of which these religions were built on are morally upright and that they preach for the betterment of humanity – the more modern and contemporary of religions I believe are rather focused on a more hedonistic aspect of life whilst teachings in which I consider to be archaic I see to be the vain attempts of men to immortalize themselves and to be remembered.

The fundamentals of what religion preaches, what I believe, is one of a universal concept, but I am of the belief that these religions are not one. The main reason to me believing such is that as much as we would like to believe that religion is one of a universal nature, it is still culturally affected. The concept of morality is one that is tangible and subjective, it differs demographically, hence our believes are shaped to conform to our cultural aspect of life. The belief that religion is a universal constant is an idealistic one to say the least, what happens is that the fundamentals of these religious teachings are preserved yet the fidelity, and the level of rigor in which we follow the doctrine differs demographically.

Such a phenomenon can be seen in various states, when you carefully observe the more rural and conservative states, such doctrine is followed almost closely to the letter, whilst in more urban areas, religion has turned into no more than an all you can eat buffet where you have the luxury of choice as to what you want and don’t want to do, and there is always the extremists in which they practice for more than what is expected of them.

Yet these religions are one and the same, regardless of which religion we are discussing, this is a common phenomenon.

SO are all religions one and the same? I put it to you

Being At Home

2009-03-06T01:41:00.005+08:00

Once more at home, doing the one thing I do best,

Busying myself with trying to look busy,

Its easy really, once you've gotten the hang of it,

Now with regard to my personal style of writing,

Long story short,

Narcissus saw his own reflection as he was drinking by the river, he saw his reflection and fell in love with it, in the attempt to capture his reflection, he drowned.

The vanity of men.

The birth of a narcissist.

And a narcissist I am, so I ask you to not take every word I say seriously, the trick is to differentiate the things that I say between what is meant to be taken literally and what is not, the problem is I play my cards so close to my chest you can't even tell if they're cards at all...

Bummer huh?

And for the highlight of my Social Psychology Assignment on Aggression

Convincing eh?

Semper Fi

Virtous et Honor

Absolute Ramdomness

2009-02-27T21:35:00.002+08:00

India.Zulu.Zulu.Alpha.Tango

India.Sierra

Sierra.India.Charlie.Kilo

Oscar.Foxtrot

Sierra.Tango.Alpha.Romeo.Romeo.India.November.Golf

Alpha.Tango

Sierra.Oscar.Charlie.India.Alpha.Lima Papa.Sierra.Yankee.Charlie.Hotel.Oscar.Lima.Oscar.Golf.Yankee

Sierra.Hotel.Uniform.Tango

Uniform.Papa

Alpha.November.Delta

Golf.Echo.Tango

Bravo.Alpha.Charlie.Kilo

Tango.Oscar

Whiskey.Oscar.Romeo.Kilo

India.Zulu.Zulu.Alpha.Tango

Whiskey.Oscar.November.Delta.Echo.Romeo.Sierra

Whiskey.Hotel.Yankee

India.Sierra

Hotel.Echo

Foxtrot.Alpha.Lima.Lima.India.November.Golf

Foxtrot.Oscar.Romeo

Hotel.Echo.Romeo

Virtus et Honor

Of Technology and Finances

2009-02-27T20:30:00.000+08:00

Izzat Fauzan and Amirul Syameer from this point on shall be conducting laptop services.

We provide standard maintenance services and reformatting of laptops, we also install specific software as requested.

We charge RM20 for every standard maintenance and RM40 for reformatting. For software installation we charge RM10 per-session for an unlimited number of software installations.

For laptops which we reformat, we provide options as to which Operating System you would prefer, you can choose between Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3, Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit, and Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit. All laptops which we reformat, we will install additional:

· Microsoft Office 2007
· Anti-virus software
· Yahoo Messenger
· Windows Live Messenger
· Mozilla Firefox
· Java
· WinRAR/ WinZip

All services conducted as subject to a 2 week warranty, assuming the problem persists, we shall take in the laptop in question and shall conduct services free of charge.

Virtus et Honor

Semper Fi

Making Sense Out Of Nonsense

2009-02-25T09:19:00.002+08:00

The art of saying lots of things without saying anythin in particular...

Lets put things into prespctive...

I am currently in class...
And obviously I am paying no attention at all to what is going on in class...
Then someone decides to call me up and give a talk...
So how do you go up there (without paying any form of attention before hand)
And talk...
and continue talking
and talk...

The trick is... to close your eyes... take a deep breath... and start talking...

Believe in what you say and have absoloute confidence in yourself

Virtus et Honor

Semper Fi

Of Cars and Speed

2009-02-21T15:37:00.002+08:00

Being 18 and still without a licence...

One has little choice except to drive without one...

LOL...

Here it goes,

Izzat drove around Kedah in a manual Kancil...

and he just realized something,

He is one hell of a speed demon

Virtus et Honor

Of Leaders and Social Psychology

2009-02-07T20:18:00.000+08:00

In a day an age where money object of worship

An age where currency is god

An era of capitalism

An age where humanity’s morality and courtesy is reduced to dollars an cents

We turn to each other.

Regardless, we still need a form of government,

An administration to lead us in our crooked lives,

We select one amongst us.

With lives stained with sin, they try to convince us that their moral compass is pointing due north.

Fact of the matter is: humanity is fundamentally corrupt.

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Hence we opt for one who is less corrupt than the other, it is but choosing between the lesser of two evils. You may cry for unity, you may cry for democracy, yet deep down you are just as rotten as the person next to you.

I call it the “Mr. Hyde” affliction. The norms of a “modern” and “developed” society which is supposed to be ethical and humane. We’re all socio-centrics. Society suppressing the darker side of humanity, will only make things worse

There is no need to believe in supernatural evil, for humanity is capable of evil on its own

Social Psychology, with soap.

Discounting Method

You are out of soap, you’re used to using Soap A, and you head out to the mall to purchase a bar of soap, when you eventually get there, you stumble upon Soap B, which apparently has a 10% discount to it. Even though you’ve used Soap A all your life, familiar with its fine and delicate scent, you decide – with no inclination as to its scent – to purchase Soap B because it has a 10% discount.

Augmenting Method

You are once more out of Soap, and head out to the mall again to get another bar, by now you ought to have realized to buy more than a single bar of soap. Having bought soap B previously, you seek it out, and at the aisle, as you’re picking out the bar of soap, you stumble upon another - for no reason to be intellectual – this time its soap C. Soap C is going at 50% off. Yet you still opt to purchase soap B, due to unprecedented reasons.

Recent Occurances

2009-02-07T19:29:00.000+08:00

Failed to switch to a google account using my old url...

So here we go again