1Malaysia is not something new

Actually, 1Malaysia has been around for the past 20 years. It's just that, only lately, the Gov has decided to put a name on it. Apasal? Tak percaya ka?

We all know that the identity for a country is its language. Tamil is the identity for India, Mandarin for China, English for Sallehland and Bahasa Melayu is for Malaysia. But 1Malaysia is a concept of uniting all those and others into 1. And that would basically means having 1 language of its own.

So, to prove that 1Malaysia has been around for the longest time, ladies and jantanmen, presenting... the B1... or Bahasa 1Malaysia!

1) Tong-tong | To share.
Our forefathers believed that this came from a Chinese word. Whatever lah, as long as it sounds fun. There are those from the big town who prefer to use English to 'jaga' status, but being 1Malaysia, so they say... (see next word)

2) Share-share | as above.

3) Tani | Drink session.
A word popularized during the samsu-haram era. It innocently means, 'let's have a drink.' But of coz, with its origin in mind, it has the widest scope and might confuse people over the venue and drink selection as it can be from a teh tarik stall to a make-believe Cognac made from coconut.

4) Mapley | Teh tarik stall.
A direct tribute to the person who created 'teh tarik', Encik Maplei Tanimalai. Anyway, saying "jom - mapley - tani" is way cool than "mari ke gerai minum".

5) Jom | Ayuh, or let's go!
Used to perfection (see example at no. 4), this word managed to trick all the smart asses in TV3 to think that it's a proper vocab from the dictionary. This word is used extensively. Some believe that it will slowly 1Malaysianize and replace the word 'bye'.

6) Tapau | Takeaway
Extremist would want this to be spelt Da-bao. But it would sound too much like the guy from Pasukan Badminton Negara China. By the way, tapau is used by all from the rich to the cheap.

7) Brader | Dude!
Some thought it came from the English word 'brother'. What were they thinking?? Of coz it's 100% pure Malaysian, just like oksigen. Anyway, used by the whole nation as a reference to men.

8) Boss | Sir
Only in Bolehland. This, ironically, is to describe the mutual respect that every man in Malaysia have towards every other man in Malaysia. You call the Mamak 'boss'. You call the Bangla guy 'boss'. You call your dad 'boss'. Your boss calls you 'boss'. Everyone is 'boss' in the 1Malaysia.

9) Kak | Ma'am.
While the English refers all ladies as 'Ma-am' to revert politeness, Malaysian calls them 'Kak' to up-a-level by making them feel young and somewhat available. However, variations are used to stress the 2 elements; such as Kak Long, Kak Chik, Kak Oi, Kak Hhang and etc.

10) Syiok| To express pleasure.
Syiok is good. You know it when you need to use it. If it's really good, then its 'manyak syiok'. You just know it.

11) Chun | Great!
The 1Malaysia vocab goes as far as importing a word from Japan. Though this one is believed to be Chinese, just that no Chinese has heard of it. But used expansively by 1Malaysia to good effect to descriptively describe 'chunness'. If the food is good, you say 'chun!'. If not so good, you look down but still say 'chun!' to the missus. If your friend just bought an iPhone, you say 'chun!'. And it goes on and on... *to fade...

12) Giler | To the max! (Part 1)
To express maximusness. This is like ajinamoto to cooking. It's used to enhance every word. For example: 'Chun' is beautiful. But 'chun giler' is Megan Foxyful.

13) Kaw-kaw | To the max! (Part 2)
Malaysians love to exaggerate. Everything is 'meletup'. Even when ordering a cup of coffee, they want it 'exegarrated'. But saying exagaratted is as hard as it is to spell it. So... kaw-kaw it is. For example; "raining cats and dogs" means heavy downpour. But "raining cow-cow" means "downpour kaw-kaw".

I think, the list goes on and on. But before I end, the most common identity for a 1Malaysian is the 'lah' word. If you hear a man ending every sentence with a 'lah', that's the 1Malaysia DNA barcoded on the tongue.

So I hope it's enough to prove that 1Malaysia has always been around and not such a new thing after all.

Jom.

English Premier League Snippets

Courtesy of http://gunnerblog.com

It's Week 43 and we've seen EPL going on for a max of 9 games now. As of the results now, it looks like we're going for the most exciting season for the longest time. For the past 10 - or 12 years, it has always been MU and Arsenal or MU and Chelsea. And of coz, flashes of the 'Big Four'.

But this season, the title race is as open as the ovulation process. Any of the current top six could make it there. Where previously it was the case of who wins the most, this season is about who loses the least.

In such early stage, we've seen Chelsea & Arsenal losing twice. ManU lost and drew once while ManCity lost once and drew twice. Villa and Spurs lost twice and drew once, edging Liverpool who already has lost 4 times. Even then, wins by Chelsea and ManU were hardly convincing. Definitely not a scene we're used to for the longest time.

So in this situation, where all teams were almost technically & motivationally 'equal', the team who has the strongest 'character' will win the title. And the most important person in the team who is responsible for that will be... the manager.

To me, this season is set to be very different.

This season, it's all about the manager.

Google Chrome

http://www.onecomics.it

I recently downloaded this. Sebelum download, I was thinking, how can this be better than Firefox? Lepas download.... damn. Google Chrome is blazing fast... macam lalat!

I'm not sure of the security features. Pasal salah satu kelebihan Firefox is the features to protect you. Hopefully Chrome is somewhat similarly designed.

Impression Day 1:
Wow. Very fast! And I love the simple outlook.

Impression Day 2: updated 18/10/09
It's amazing that you can just 'search' by typing at the same place where you type the URL . So far, all other functions that I use from Firefox is present in Chrome. Beginning to really like this metal.

Impression Day 3: updated 20/10/09

OK. I'm sold. I was a pinch close to downloading Chrome into my company's laptop... but didn't. Anyway, back at home, to sum up, when asked 'Make Google Chrome as your default browser?', I clicked YES.

Oh, trivia! Ever wondered where Google got the idea for the logo?

http://dailycontributor.com

Note: I don't use Microsoft IE because it's crap, so no Chrome comparo.

80% Of Twitter Broadcasters R Narcissists!

http://www.fastcompany.com

Previously, I blogged about Twitter. I said that it's not a micro-blogging tool. Rather, it's a self-broadcasting tool.

There are 2 types of Twitter broadcasters. Organizations and individuals. For organizations, the tweets are of the latest buzz, news, promotions and etc. For individuals, the tweets are about... well, that person.

Now that the hype is gone, I know that I suck at tweeting. My tweets are boring.

I'm much more of a 'twittee'. The recipient of tweets.

I love reading tweets. Armed with a Blackberry (and TweetDeck for my Desktop), I receive latest local and global news via Twitter by following Newsweek, Staronline, KL News and etc. I get the latest score and news on football via Skynews, EPL, Arsenalmania etc. I even get daily dosages of tips on parenting and Blackberry, as well as dirty jokes, daily chillies and many more info via Twitter too.

So, to me, Twitter rocks. In between meetings, I'll be on my phone reading the hundreds of tweets that keeps my on top of the latest buzz. And it's FREE!

Ahh... isn't life sweet with a Blackberry? *free ad for BB hehe*

Anywayyyyy, tho Twitter is good (for me), it has its share of criticism. And its mainly due to unwanted broadcasting from spamming-organizations and boring-uncreative-spamming-individuals.

In fact, an interesting read from Fast Company (the oh-so-cool lifestyle and business magazine), says that 80% of Twitter broadcasters are narcissists, y'know, those 'me! me! me!' kinda people.

I for one, find the article to be very true. I'm saying it coz I think at times, I'm contributing to that 80%. And the regular squint-eye look I get from the missus, followed by a soft murmur that sounds like 'nasisis', probably confirms that.

But as a twittee, the remaining 20% are feeding me with good information. And as long as I lift a leg up from that spamming 80%, I'm vroom-vrooming all the wayyy with Twitter. Rock on!

Link to Fast Company here.

Link to Wikipedia on narcissist here.

A Compact With A Big Heart: Leica X1

This baby has a sensor BIGGER than Canon 50D!

http://www.photographyblog.com

Following the breakthrough trend of digital imaging in 2009, things are looking to be more interesting than ever.

The current kapow! as I've mentioned before, is making the mirrors in SLR looking like a disgusting piece of useless junk. The tech of feeding images direct on the sensor 'live' has evidently made us rethink of how imaging tool should look like.

The interesting bit is, who's bold enough to redefine it?

Most traditional camera makers are... well, traditionalist. What keeps them selling is their heritage. And they would not be willing to risk losing that by offering groundbreaking breakthroughs. As such, their approach will always be baby-steps of improvements as well as keeping up with the current needs by deploying existing available technologies.

So, the answer to above is: makers that has NOTHING to lose.

Enter mediocre or niche manufacturers. Makers such as Olympus, Panasonic, Leica and Sigma in particular. For 2009, they are truly the leaders in redefining how future cameras SHOULD look like.

A Small Man, With A Big Heart (and no mirror to speak of too)

Sigma was among the first to put this principle to the mass market. In a compact form factor, they deployed a DSLR sensor. But due to exploration stage, the DP1 had a lot of rough edges. But, it was a step in a special direction. Their forthcoming DP2 is set to be a success.

Olympus followed suit armed with their existing 4/3 technology. With ques from the classic PEN series, the E-P1 was a phenomenal success. Panasonic too joined the fray and produced the awesome GF1 (earlier, there were G1 and GH1).

And the next maker to join the party is one that makes my heart melt. Leica, a niche imaging specialist, has produced a truly special compact camera with a 1.5x DSLR sensor.

Go to www.dpreview.com for more images!

I'm planning to get the GF1 next year. And the Leica X1 probably... ermm... in my dreams.

Kulim Di Serang

Ya, berita gempar. Kulim diserang.

Perkara ini sebenarnya telah berlaku secara perlahan-lahan sejak beberapa tahun lagi. Namun, berbekalkan dengan radar canggih tahun 70-an, ianya tidak disedari oleh para pemimpin kita.

Sejak setahun lalu, serangan ini telah menjadi amat jelas. Namun, perhatian kita semua telah dikaburi oleh mekanisme kerajaan seperti Enjin Pangkabur Rakyat CSL (Chua Soi Lek) dan pengulangan melampau iklan MyeG.com.

Apa yang haram-jadahnya ialah, semua ini ialah penyerangan red-carpet. Yakni berpunca dari sikap pemalas dan tidak endah rakyat pemimpin-pemimpin.

Sungguh sedih walaupun rakyat telah membayar segala jenis cukai di bawah matahari seperti pendapatan, tanah, jalan, tingkap, pintu, jamban di samping eksais kereta (atau dikenali sebagai subsidi rakyat untuk kerajaan), tol lebuhraya, duti servis dan RM1 untuk setiap borang kerajaan yang bernilai 5sen.

Memang Bolehland betul, dari ertikata; Boleh Blah!

U-turn kembali ke topik, secara khususnya, pemimpin telah gagal untuk melakukan tanggungjawab asasnya, yakni memastikan kebersihan demi rakyat. Dan ini telah melemparkan red-carpet untuk penyerangan sejenis spesis terhadap Kulim; iaitu LALAT.

Maintenance sistem kebersihan sampah, longkang dan kawasan terbiar amatlah sedih mendayu-dayu bagaikan kisah hidup Zaiton Sameon. Ntah-ntah, sistem pun takde.

Jika tanggungjawab asas pun gagal, yang lain tak tahu lah. 1Malaysia konon. Kedah Maju podah! 2020 prak!

Secara logik, jika kebersihan prak, kesihatan pun prak. Kesihatan prak, hospital pun prak. Hospital prak, kadar kematian dan ponteng sekolah dan kerja pun prak. Productiviti prak, pelaburan asing pun prak. Dan kadar jenayah terus naik bagai nak rak. Wawasan 2020 ntah kemana, 1Malaysia ntah kemana. Time tu, dah habis profit taking, BN pun dengan happynya handover negara ke BA.

Saya melihat kadar kenaikan lalat dan kualiti iklan MyeG sebagai indikator bahawa negara menuju kemusnahan.

Jadi, jika pemimpin boleh menyedarkan diri dari keadaan mabuk duit dan kuasa, dan menjalankan tanggungjawab asasnya, mungkin ada peluang untuk Malaysia menjadi sebagai sebuah negara yang dihormati bukan kerana kemegahan sintetik materialnya seperti KLCC, Litar F1 dan Sunway Lagoon, tetapi kerana mentaliti rakyat dan pemimpinnya.

Bey Bey Emm (BlackBerry Messenger): The Painful Truth

That's how the Indonesian call it, BBM, short for BlackBerry Messenger. Its an IM service exclusively for BB users. But however cool it is, I still think it's very primitive.

And compared to YM, Windows Live Messenger or Google Talk, BBM is a freaking dinosaur.

Why?

One HUGE mother reason. PIN. That is the defining method to recognize a particular user. For example, my name is Iffil. And for you to add me in your BBM, you have to know my PIN, which is XXXXXX.

And the sad part, PIN is device dependent. So if I change device, say I upgrade my aging BB to a newer model, I'd have a different PIN. And I'd lose all of my BBM contacts. And my contacts will lose me.

In fact, if I sell off my old device, someone else will be walking around with my old PIN (wth?).

In comparison to YM, for example, I can log-in into any computer in this world via my username or email, and I will still have my contact list, intact.

So, for BlackBerry, please change your BBM system. Let us log-in via our BlackBerry email account, which is NOT device dependent. Using PIN is sincerely... plain stupid.