From The Eyes of An Observer

Someone recently has been a big jerk lately. Why is that so? Because that someone has been selfish. And because of his selfishness, it clashes with my plans made a month ago! All because he didn’t read my mail about my plan on the New Year 2010. Then this other jerk forgot about my plan either and persuades the rest to go ahead with the other jerks plan.

And in the end, the plan never did materialised. Why? Their selfishness took over them. In the end, a movie is more important than visiting a friend who has just recently gave birth. And so, in the end my plan is still alive but to my utter disappointment.

Heck! When the plan was conceived, the nature of selfishness is already asserted in it. I know that jerk too well. He only plans when he can make it and if we planned it, chances are 50-50 that he can only make it. That’s why when you see the way he plans this outing, it was not about which activity is the most important for all of us. It was what activity would suit him the best.

Imagine that you wanted to visit a friend, you would usually tell your friend in advance right? But they didn’t even told our friend that we would be visiting her. And when I reminded one of them, he sounded like he was pissed off. WTH was that? It’s a courtesy to inform our friend that we are visiting them. But for you to call them up on Christmas day and told her ‘Hey, we are coming over tomorrow’? What was that? And you are pissed off with me because of your shallow and selfish thinking?

It’s Christmas holidays! They have a few days off and most likely they might be spending the weekend at the in-laws. And it will be only disrupting other people’s plan with last minute planning.

By the way, what’s with the call at 12.30 in the morning and the SMS at 2 in the morning? Yes, you might be practically not be sleeping at that time. But others would already had. Hence, please be reasonable with the timing.

Now, I’m very afraid of them. I’m afraid that these two friends will be disappoint me when I needed them most. And it all because down to their selfishness. Hey, who knows? I CAN be not as important as a new movie release. Imagine that one of them comes all the way from JB to watch a movie and gives up on a friend visitation. So for now, I shall not put high expectations on them if I ever need their help. From this scenario, I can know who I shall not depend on.

**Pardon for the delay in this particular post. I was tired the other day and didn’t manage to cough up straight my arguments. Hence, I’m now continuing with the post.**

Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3709630

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 11/18/2009

Malaysian minister says English at work 'weird': report

Malaysia's deputy education minister has said that speaking English in the workplace is "weird" and harmful to the nation's culture and identity, a report said Wednesday.

Mohd Puad Zarkashi said employees in the private sector used English 99 percent of the time and should switch to Bahasa Malaysia in order to show pride in the national language, the New Straits Times reported.

"This also occurs in government-linked companies where we have this weird culture of people speaking to each other in English instead of the national language," he said at the launch of a linguistics seminar.

"We are polluting our own culture and identity as a nation," he said.

"It would be difficult to strengthen the position of Bahasa Malaysia if this culture continued," he added, urging Malaysians to emulate the French, Japanese and Koreans, who stuck to their own language.

The New Straits Times said Mohd Puad also criticised young people for using a mix of English and Bahasa Malaysia in SMS text messages and on the Internet.

He called on the nation's leaders to use Bahasa Malaysia for all meetings and events and said that when he receives letters in English he returns them and asks for them to be written in the national language.

English is widely spoken in Malaysia, a multicultural nation where the population is dominated by Muslim Malays but also includes large ethnic Chinese and Indian populations.

Many Malaysians speak several languages including English, Bahasa Malaysia, and Chinese and Indian dialects.

Honestly, this is a statement that was made by someone who has no proper understanding of the negative effects that it will create. Yes, I do agree with him that it is frustrating that we as Malaysians are not promoting our national languages. However, to compare our language with the other countries that he mentioned are totally wrong when this fact settles in: Japan and France are in Top 10 of global economic ranking (ranked according to GDP (Gross Domestic Product)) while the Republic of Korea ranked 15th. (Note: the link that I gave was directed from the World Bank). Hence, they have a bargaining power not to speak English as everyone would want to trade with them as they are a very big market.

Hence, our economy is not that big enough to warrant international recognition that we are a global economic power. When that happens, they wouldn’t want to take the opportunity to learn our language. To global exporters or businessmen, our country’s economy are just a small piece of the economic pie. Hell, a USD 5 trillion economy (Japan) is much more attractive than a USD 200 billion economy like Malaysia.

In fact, many countries likes to set up businesses within our country because we know English. In recent years, Malaysia has become a hub for shared services because our work force can speak fluent English. As such, large MNCs who have operations in a global scale would like to set up a shared service centre here in Malaysia. These MNCs have provided us with large employment opportunity and helps in generating our country’s economy.

That’s all I have to say at the moment on that particular subject. As usual, any comments would be appreciated.

My friend and I were engaged in a pretty interesting discussion this afternoon. But before I jumped into the topic, let me tell you that what I did was both nasty and kind at the same time. What did I do? Well, I asked her whether she wanted to meet a guy friend of mine whom I know in my previous company. Both of them are same age (late twenties) and both of them are still single. (Don’t cross the border and ask me ‘When is your turn?’.)

As we were at the middle of the topic, she said that it all depends on fate. But isn’t it fate that I’m trying to hook you up with a guy? (Hey, I’m not forcing. But I just feel that her philosophy about fate was somewhere way off and childish. In fact, I think what she wanted was a Miracle, not Fate.) Isn’t it fated that I’m giving her an opportunity? Why she just didn’t grab the opportunity and make it her fate to meet him up?

Then, while I was in the cab today on the way to dentist, I just started to think about the term that they call ‘The One’. The person who fully completes your life. The person that would make your life complete. The one that you will fall head over heels with. The person who has what you wanted the person to have so badly (charming personality, handsome, rich and famous, etc.).

You gave your hope in search for The One so high that you totally blinded with the presence of that kind hearted man who helped an old lady cross the street nor the charming lady who was always beside you helping you whenever you are in need. In pursue of those fairy tale love, you just neglected a love that is realistic and simple.

How many times have I heard a love story that could sell off as a NY Times Best Seller book and with the word “A True Story” on top? I’ve heard of plenty of friend’s story of how they met their spouse. An architect fell in love with an office colleague because she touches his heart with her caring and kindness. An architect who met his wife who worked at a call centre office. An accountant who met a reception in accommodation rented by his company. A young naive girl who knows that the guy is the one when he gave some of his portion to her. They are so ordinary. But they are realistic and they are living happily now. Why? Because they never thought about ‘The One’. Nor did they mistaken Fate for Miracle. All they did was just living their life in a simplicity manner and they let their heart take them whenever they want to go.