Flying Made

IMG_3916
Originally uploaded by made.adi

Political campaign in Singapore is "illegal", do you know that?
Well, legally, you can do that, but at this place called Speakers' Corner - a place where your voice would be unheard. A little bit of Googling would tell you that there's only few number of speeches held in that "deaf corner".

On top of that, gathering more than a number of people (I think it's 5) without any Police License is illegal. Surprise... surprise...

Press and news are really controlled until there's virtually only one news company operating, Singapore Press Holding.

Anyone tell me, how can I reach the crowd? How can I let my opinion be heard.

Because of this and the sensitivity of the issue of "demonstration", we design a marketing activity that looks like a demonstration. Shouting out to people that "The end is Near".

People are a little bit skeptical when they saw our placards waving in the air,... but hey... we do no harm ;).

Speaking about general consensus, we all agree that love is universal. Why? Because everybody understands love and the feeling of it is almost the same for everyone. Love is easy to understand. A Malaysian can fly to Tanzania and fall in love with a Tanzanian. How the Malaysian expresses it? Just by giving "that look".

Deriving from that, I have a strong argument that English shouldn't be an international language. The reason is because English is hard to learn. There is grammar, tenses, gender-dependent subjects, gerund, bla bla bla.... For people who are not familiar with this, it would take them a donkey time to learn to express themselves to people in other countries. Must a universal language be that difficult, the answer is NO!

Here is one encounter that I have today that looks silly. It is the result of poor mastery of English. There was this lady in my office building whom I always exchange a smile with every time I bumped into her (a pretty nice lady, eh). I didn't know her name and I didn't know what her job was. So my knowledge about that lady was only limited to that smile on her face. So, I bumped into her again and trying to be nice I said:

Me: "How are you doing?"
Lady: "Finance, and you?"

I was tempted to say, "I am doing good, business is picking up". However, that would make the situation awkward, so I replied:

Me: "Sales"

Okay... that's not correct, but that makes the atmosphere a little bit convenient =). Not the right answer and I wouldn't receive 100 mark on the exam. However, it was right one given the circumstances.

If I am to put a finger on whom to blame, I would straight away point to English - the most overrated language that climbed the universal ladder because England's era of colonialism.

Hypocrisy (or being a hypocrite) is the act of pretending to oppose a belief or behaviour while holding the same beliefs or behaviours at the same time (source: wikipedia).

I was intrigued when reading one of Nubeals (my friend from Pakistan) controversial post mentioning his thoughts about Ramadan. For those of you who do not know, Ramadan is the month when Muslims fast. On top of that, according to the teaching, one would receive multiple blessings when one does a good deed during this month.

In his post, he starts with:

The month where all hypocrites come out and practice being Muslim or trying to be Muslim has arrived.

He continues with interesting arguments and closes the post even with a higher note:

So what's this rant about then? Well firstly, I want to wish all Muslims (hypocritical and those who are not) a very blissful Ramadan. And secondly, to announce that I will not be a hypocrite this Ramadan; hence I will not fast this 9th month of 1429, Islamic year.

Coming from someone with a strong Pakistani background, that whole post strikes me like a lightning.

You are the man, bro, and I agree with you. Indonesia is full of religious conflicts and I am fed up of that. Laskar Jihad, Islamic Defender Front, the Christian extremists, etc who think that their way is the right way should use their head more. Why would they fight against each other and educate innocent children to hate their neighbours?

To FPI, Laskar Jihad and all the religious extremists in Indonesia, don't talk about peace when there's no food. Don't talk about harmony when there's no peace. And don't talk about progress when there's no harmony.

I hope in this fasting month you would sit down and hold your hose for a while. Then, we can think of the way for our country to move forward by leaning towards each other.

There is something like that exists on the web. The difference is that, the presenter doesn't look around for cars, but your average pictures. He brings your picture to a "garage" and 3 days later it will come out stylish and trendy. Finally, they presenter says, "You've officially been Phokki-ed".

iPhone on my table

Exactly one year ago. I thought I would end up at Rotterdam university's Erasmus Business School. Now I'm still in Singapore and in the mid of preparation to fulfil my long time ambition to study in the united states.

It is funny to see how last year I was so mentally exhausted and now I find myself like having the time of my life. Very much excited with things around me and my partner. The amount of experience that I learn in my company, the friendship which teaches me how to better to relate with people, and the challenge to find a new school.

Last year I was on the brim of packing my bag to take a very extreme decision to leave Singapore.

Thank you for those who've stood by me when I need companionship or someone to talk to. Thank you doe those who told me that I could sustain at any kind of weather. Thank you for those who kept me engaged instead of lost. And finally, thank you for those who are making my life exciting at the very moment.

Hey, there. I love your hair!