Haunted by an Angel

Correction pen issue

2009-08-15T18:22:00.004+08:00

Why can't we use these during exams?

Smoke and Sneezes

2009-08-07T15:36:00.004+08:00

Wow! It feels like such a long time since I let my fingers touch the computer keyboard to blog. Yes, it's the time factor-too little time on my hands actually.

It's been so long already and the haze is still this bad. On some days, it looks a little better but if it doesn't rain for some time, this is the picture you see out your window. So much for sunshine on your face when you get out of bed. Sigh. It's been going on for some time already. I think this alone is a good reason for someone to have his/her face mask on.

Not to mention the Influenza A (H1N1) issue, on Wednesday morning, my dad was pleased that there was very light traffic when entering the school. I thought I was late. Then he realised the strange atmosphere as if he was the only one going into the school compound. I went up to class only to find many of my classmates absent. Why? In fear of the H1N1 virus. Because of that, we only did lots of revision instead of getting lessons on as usual.

Let's hope everything goes back to normal next week.

Woman in red

2009-08-01T18:58:00.002+08:00

It seems like I getting familiar to pinks. Pinks make girls look young but I like deep and dark reds. Hmm...maybe I'll finally come to terms with the standard of a typical young girl by liking pink. Oh, what am I saying?? I'm should be happy being myself and not compare. Haiz... It's not like I have anything against people who like pink. I'm just saying that I'm becoming more feminine than I used to be.

Other than the black and white neutral choices, reds normally give women the elegant look and suits mostly any skin colour. It looks stunning on girls with fair skin and it really brings out the womanly figure and adds contrast and colour on the darker-kinned.

You know what's the next best thing about reds? No matter what age or size you are, it suits.

I kinda observe that older women wear lesser bright colours especially when it comes to shocking barbie doll pink. They normally go for those dark reds and darker shades. Wonder why.

The Pianist

2009-08-01T18:21:00.003+08:00

Director: Roman Polanski

Writers: Wladyslaw Szpilman (book)

Ronald Harwood (Screenplay)

Full summary of the plot:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/plotsummary

Full synopsis (spoiler): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/synopsis

Released on the 3rd of January 2003 in the United States, this movie has bagged 3 Oscars, another 44 wins and 42 nominations (check out more here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/awards )

Due to the outstanding performance by such a wonderfully big number of the cast, I'd let you check it out yourself: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/fullcredits#cast

Also Known As (AKA)

El pianista
Argentina / Peru / Spain (Catalan title) / Spain

Pianisten
Denmark / Finland (Swedish title) / Norway / Sweden

Pianista
Czech Republic / Poland / Slovakia

Der Pianist
Austria / Germany

Le pianiste
Canada (French title) / France

O Pianista
Brazil / Portugal

Пианист
Russia

A zongorista
Hungary

Il pianista
Italy

Pianisti
Finland

Pijanista
Serbia

Piyanist
Turkey (Turkish title)

Her say: At first when my friends brought it for the class to watch it, I thought it was a strange movie until I saw the plot. I love the stories of the musicians of that era. What they went through which is expressed in their music pieces. Wonderful production team. Excellent plot. It is a MUST-WATCH. It made me reflect back on what history was really like. Probably the uncensored truth. Definitely not for those who can't take war movies.

God-given e-mancipation

2009-07-25T19:29:00.002+08:00

No, not at clubs or bars. Not in any superstar concert. I don't know why. Everytime I close my eyes and listen to music, my mind starts choreographing the show. However, when I listen to christian music, it makes me act and choreograph at the same time. That's the only time I can actually let go and just burst out doing what I want for the Lord. It's different. Way different in a way. Freakish you might think. But I think it's the best blessing.

Wierd looks

2009-07-25T19:03:00.003+08:00

Girls, have you ever walked down the street and have some people riding on motorbikes or perhaps cars whistle at you? I have. It really ticks me off. They whistle or they'll call "Ah moi" or some of them give you those stares and I feel vulnerable some times. I get that a lot. They're annoying.

Just today, I went to this restaurant I usually go to every Saturday for lunch. There were 2 men sitting at the table across mine. They were pretty old. You know those typical old men who go to kopitiams a lot. Yeah, like that. One of them seem to be staring at me and with his eyes wide open. I pretended not to notice. He called me and then he told me " You Melayu tak boleh makan sini. Sini makan babi punya." That raised my eyebrow. Then he continued "You bukan Melayu ka?" I shook my head. Then he named all sorts of different countries and races, pronouncing them inaccurately of course, to try to guess what race or where I come from.

"Australia"
(shook head)
"Indonesia"
(shakes harder)
"Sabah"
(Shakes lightly)
"Sarawak"
(Shakes and giggles)
"Malaysia"
(nods)
"Melayu"
(shakes)
"Cina"
(nods)

His eyes went bigger as if he can't believe that someone who looks Malay would be sitting in a chinese restaurant. No, I am Chinese. A chinese brunette. I laughed and told my mum about it. She laughed too. We're chinese la.

Pink Panther 2

2009-07-22T17:01:00.003+08:00

Boy am I slow! I just catched Pink Panther 2 last night watching it on dvd with my sister. The movie was great. I can't wait if there ever is a Pink Panther 3. However, if this movie goes on to maybe Pink Panther 4 or so on, I'm afraid that it might bore some of us as the story revolves mainly around the Pink Panther diamond and about it being lost and found again by Inspector Clousseau. Unless it can change the subject and yet maintain the significance of the movie title "Pink Panther"; but hey, it's possible....

Personal recipe

2009-07-15T18:26:00.007+08:00

You know, I always believe that dried seaweed always goes well with anything. That's the main thing I look forward to in a sushi dish anyway.

So, how do you like a spoonful of pasta, vege, meat and seaweed at one go?

Lookin yummy?

Here's how the entire meal is laid out.

Yes, here's the pasta. Yummy. My favourite form of carbohydrate.

The delicious self-invented soup.

Here are the ingredients:

2 tomatoes
1 carrot
chicken pizza sausages (any other type of chicken sausage works fine too)
1 egg
chopped garlie
chopped shallots
a little bit of pepper
salt (for taste)
button mushrooms
peeled and chopped prawns

And of course, not forgetting, dried seaweed.

How about this for a meal?

Audition smiles

2009-07-15T18:10:00.002+08:00

Phew! The audition's over. Finally I can focus on the performance.

I went on audition on Monday after school. I was pretty unsure of the results as the face on one judge was emotionless and the other was smiling softly, the other was looking at me with a raised brow. They stopped me half way and they told me I was okay. Despite the 'okay', I wanted to reaudition until I put a good smile on their faces. They told me I lacked showmanship.

Just this afternoon, one girl pulled out. When I went to the audition hall, I found that a few pulled out! I was like "It's so scary. People just pull out after one audition and say that she doesn't have any talent???" My goodness, bringing one's person confidence down.

So I worked on the showmanship last night and I came out with some choreography and I kept it low. Then, it was presentation time. Today, was my reaudition. I got the smiles, the claps, the cheers and the good comments. I prayed a lot, practiced a lot and did lots of work behind to produce this short piece. Therefore, I have no right to be proud. God is good aye. The results are anticipated this friday. I'm excited!!

I just hope that if I win, it would add to a bonus to my cert because I'm keen to do performing arts after highschool. For those people who take this too seriously, I tell you "Don't" because they are judging based on impression. They are not professional judges. There's still many opportunities out there only if you look for it.

Rude cab

2009-07-13T19:21:00.003+08:00

I just got back from school after an audition. Just a few hours ago, I was outside a university (opposite my school) waiting for a taxi. This taxi stopped and the man asked me where I want to go. I told him where I wanted to go and then he said he didn't know the way and asked if I could give him directions. I agreed so I hopped onto his taxi. When reaching a junction of whether to go straight or go onto the highway or the road below it, he turned left almost onto the highway. I told him that he should have gone straight but told him to take the lower road below the highway. After that, there was a junction to either turn right, go straight or turn left. The destination I wanted to go to was on the right. He insisted that the place I wanted to go to was straight up ahead and then said he wanted to turn left. (For some person who said he didn't know the directions, he suddenly tells me he knows where I want to go.) I insisted strongly to turn right. Instead of turning right, he went straight and when I kept on insisting that it's the wrong way and he should turn right, he stopped me at the roadside opposite a mosque.

He stopped and then he yelled at me to get down and said I was being rude to him at such a young age. He even told me he didn't want the money. Truth was, I suspected something amiss and that he could drive me to somewhere I don't know. That was why I insisted for him to turn right. I got down and walked all the way here. I happily had lunch before I came on this pc. I only told him nicely that it's the wrong way. Thank God, I got down. If not, it could have been the END of Jenny-Kate.

Girls, be careful when you take a cab. You may meet some people like that.

Power failure alert!!

2009-07-08T19:31:00.002+08:00

There will be power cut (2 - 14 hours) for tenaga to do some maintenance work, from today till 8th Aug 09. Whole M'sia affected except Putrajaya. Pls check this website for the time & your area :
http://www.tnb.com.my/tnb/power_alert.php

Fashion cruelty

2009-07-08T17:51:00.003+08:00

Long, long time ago, people hunted animals down for their skins. It was a necessity as it was the main source of fabric to make clothes. With such a wide variety of fabrics and materials to choose from, is that the statement now in this century? I think not. Animal skins have been gracing the fashion industry for too long. It takes too many animals to die for the sake of fashion which is not worth it. Now, the skins of these animals are usually worn as a mark of status, that boasts about wealth.

Many a time, we just don't know how people got these skins. We thought it was a simple process. However, this should reveal the painful truth to you that every snake has to go through to get you to clear a space in your closet and for it to fit well on your body.

Would you want to buy animal skin products ever AGAIN???

Hooked!

2009-07-08T17:25:00.002+08:00

What a sudden change!! I started reading magazines and I found myself reading it regularly. Okay, okay. I know it's a normal thing to read magazines. It's just that magazines used to be a no-no for me. I used to perceive people who read magazines really 'girled up' and I barely thought men would be interested in them other than those that talk about men stuff like cars and photography.

I'm starting to read those girly magazines most girls my age usually read. It's so weird. Not me. Maybe I'm just growing more and more feminine. Hmmm.... Magazines that feature teenagers and young adults of my age as well as magazines that talk about history, culture and the environment are something I'd get every month.

~~She's growing up ain't she.....

SPM-must choke

2009-07-07T12:38:00.002+08:00

Aargh!!!! SPM is really choking but what can I do when the choke is a must? I have to blog slowly and I rarely spend time with my own interests. I remember the last time I sat at the piano....that's 8 months ago. No thanks to SPM.

However, I think it's a must for the sake of good carreer opportunities. Sigh. Maybe things would be better after SPM. For now, my head's stuck in my books and my blogging is limited. I don't know if anyone really reads my blog though. =(

Happy studying for SPM. We've got less than 150 days to go. Just push through it and we'll taste sweet freedom for a few months. Oh great! =)

Old blog deleted

2009-07-03T18:22:00.004+08:00

Aargh! I just got up from a 2-hour nap. Feels like I woke up from the first part of my sleep after a hectic week. It just feels so stressful at this time. Times are going to get tough, so the tough gets going. I just wonder how long I'm going to survive as the examination floor heats up. I'm going to have to blog a lot slower but since I'm here, I won't do it. No books XD.

After comtemplating to delete it for so many months, I finally did it. Woohoo! I thought I'd lose some important things in there but I'm just ready to turn over a new leaf in my life and I found my current situation has provided the suitable conditions for this to take place. So that Haunting Angel blog is history. (Psst. Everything I write here is history =P). I hope you enjoy this blog as much as the previous one.

Happy Zombie

2009-07-01T19:28:00.003+08:00

I'm so glad to have good and humorous classmates and wonderfully supportive friends in class. It's so different than SMSM.

First of, I had unexpected compliments during progress report day (just a fancy name for report card day). Usually, SMSM would ask us, "What do you want us to say to your parents?" or "Anything nice you want me to say to your parents?" Of course, no one would respond to that question.

This was really unexpected because compliments are rare. Not to say that I'm rebellious or anything but because it's just rare. I'm usually quiet and I had to hide my outspoken and expressive side to myself.

Wow.

I have a lot of homework and studying to do. The next exam is in 2 months time. The competition ground is heating up. Til the next time I blog. =)

Puteri Gunung Ledang

2009-06-26T16:42:00.004+08:00

My Malay language teacher brought it to school and we watched the entire movie in class. So cool.

DIRECTED BY SAW TEONG HIN, PRODUCED BY SHAZALLI RAMLI, STARRING TIARA JACQUELINA, M. NASIR AND ADLIN AMAN RAMLIE.

______________________________________________________________________________________

This film is based on the traditional folk tale of 'Puteri Gunung Ledang' (Princess of Mount Ledang). The theme of this story is the sacrifice of love.

The story talks about a princess who longs to follow her heart and find true love and a warrior who falls in love with her. Her brother goes to the sultan of Malacca and to arrange a marriage between the Malaccan king and the princess to save his country from a fierce attack. She refuses but she deviced a clever plan to make the sultan refuse. (In those days, if the lady refuses the sultan's proposal, she would be killed as disobedience to the sultan and the country.) Her conditions to marry the sultan were these:

A bridge made of pure gold from Malacca to Mount Ledang;
Another bridge made of pure silver from Mount Ledang to Malacca;
Seven trays (dulang) of the hearts of mosquitoes;
Seven trays (dulang) of the hearts of the germs;
Seven jars (tempayan) of the juice of young betel nuts (Note: Young betel nuts do not have juice);
Seven jars (tempayan) of the tears of the virgins
One bowl of blood from his fondest and only son, Sultan Ahmad.

The sultan refused her and planted a curse that whoever who sees the princess from the next sunrise will die coughing out blood. The warrior meets her. The ending is unknown. A definite question mark or dots (.......).

* I would like to highlight this music video played at the end of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InybtuiPmRA

This is the most successful marriage of traditional music and hip hop I have ever heard. It still keeps the originality. Finally, the efforts to marry these two have paid off.

ADAPTATIONS FROM THE TRUE STORY
The Legend of Gunung Ledang is set during the rule of Sultan Mahmud. At this time, Hang Tuah was already an old man at the end of his career, for he had begun his royal service during the reign of Sultan Mansur, who was Sultan Mahmud's grandfather. The film modifies this by making Hang Tuah still a physically capable man.
The most notable change to the film is that the original legend does not feature any romantic relationship between Hang Tuah and the Princess of Gunung Ledang. In some versions of the tale, Hang Tuah did not even make it to the peak of Mount Ledang, for he was already ailing in health. The man who made it to the peak and presented the proposal in Hang Tuah's stead is a young warrior named Tun Mamat. The Puteri was also never subject to any curse from the Sultan, for she was the one who rejected him, not the other way round as depicted in the film.
Relatively minor changes are that the Princess is a Majapahit human princess with supernatural abilities, while in the legend she is not of this world.

AWARDS:
Tiara Jacquelina won the "Best Actress" category at the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival, as well as the "Best Producer" award at the inaugural Asian Festival of First Films in Singapore (2005).
This film was selected as Malaysia's official entry for the 2005 Academy Awards, and was in the running for the Best Foreign Film Award.

EVER WONDERED WHY THIS MOVIE DIDN'T HAVE VERY GOOD PUBLICITY?
They passed censorship but received not very support from UMNO due to some history book changes.

Sources:

Wikipedia, youtube, the film.

One's loss, Another's gain

2009-06-26T15:32:00.002+08:00

Wow, God is really blessing me. He's making the things I have never dreamt, thought or imagined to reality. They are all too good to be true. Honestly, one of the most frequent prayers was not to find true love, not to have the best exam results nor anything like that. True, I have prayed for such things but none more frequent than the prayer to end highschool in one piece and be happy after all the miserable years at SMSM.

Amidst those grey clouds there, there are silver linings. Those silver linings were like rewards, like light at the end of a dark tunnel. I pressed hard. Now, those silver linings have moved over to my side. The blessings of God are truly wonderful.

I realise that SMSM's good teachers are living and coming to SSG. I never asked for this nor ever thought of such a thing. This is something I have no control of. Not just that, that Gossip Girl in SSG is powerless over me now. No one likes her. I'm off her leash. Not to mention wonderful friends.

Thank God for them.

Taylor's Tour

2009-06-25T17:18:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow, we are going to Taylor's College for a tour. For me, they don't have a course that interests me. However, I'm just tagging along.

Attitude

2009-06-23T12:39:00.002+08:00

Yes, I believe this is something that our generation lacks of - attitude. It's not that we don't have attitude but rather the kind of attitude we wear.

What do we need to be respected, to have a clean image, to be accepted, to be successful not just in profession but in life itself? What comes first? It all boils down to attitude.

Attitude is what gives us the image. It gives a lasting impression on people. It tells people who you are and where you come from. It is the branding.

Everything has a brand. Say, Gucci. When people hear that people know it's a good brand right? The same goes for us. It's all about quality. All about attitude.

Malaysia on the rise

2009-06-19T15:59:00.004+08:00

So, it all started out with this guy.

P. Ramlee

Then, later came Siti Nurhaliza. Sorry, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza.

After that,

We have our very own famous supermodel, Amber Chia...

And today, we have Liang and people like Caprice (pic)

And not to forget, our famous first ever Malaysian Idol...

The wonderful pop metal 'Estranged' with hot drummer Andy there. Yes, they certainly did tell me I'm beautiful with their old song "Itu Kamu"

And lastly, the local sensation of today-the melodic indie group "Estrella".

These are wonderful talents and Malaysia is just starting to build its own local entertaintment industry. Isn't it great? Parents have long thought that this industry didn't bring any contribution to society besides noise. Besides that, they worry about the income that they get and how they get it. Some parents especially fathers think that its the next dirty buisness after politics. These people have contributed to the growth of our local entertaintment industry. However, it takes two hands to clap. They need our support too. Who makes the music that comes out of the radio in your car in a traffic jam and when we do homework? Face it, some of us can't study without the radio on. Who makes tv interesting and who voices out the thoughts of the people for the public to hear? Who creates the atmosphere of an era?

Is it not they? So, support our local acts. I'm not trying to say that I like everything that they produce but at least I do watch them.

Suit yourself (SG's new skin)

2009-06-19T15:22:00.003+08:00

Before I say anything....

HAPPY BLESSED AND BELATED TEACHERS DAY!!!

.............I doubt any of them read my blog =(

During our principal's speech, he revealed the new school uniform and got a few of the students to model it on stage for everyone to view the sample.

For boys:
YELLOW TOP.
BLACK PANTS.

For girls:
YELLOW TOP.
BLACK SKIRT!!!

*THE REST OF THIS POST IS ENTITLED TO MY OPINION.

That combination is so so ~~HIDEOUS,UGLY~~ definitely not good at all compared to what we are wearing now. He added that the material used to make this school uniform is not available elsewhere and it is specially made by the manufacurer for SSG. Yea, it's obviously hard to find the same material even with the current uniform.

The only good thing about this uniform is that you don't have to tuck in your shirt, it's way cheaper, more affordable and available directly from the school book shop. We don't need to have it tailor-made like the current uniform. However, I find the uniform really ugly. When the uniform was revealed, I saw negative faces as well as people laughing at the models. People also clapped their hands at the end of the speech not because it was a good speech or a regular applause at the end of a speech but instead, in the reason that our principal has been the least long-winded during this ONE special occasion. (Unlike in the past when he would be VERY long-winded be it a regular school assembly or a special occasion.)

Think rationally. All current students of SSG are already wearing really expensive school uniforms. I don't think I want to trade my school uniform (made of material from overseas and tailor-made) for the new school uniform just because it's cheap and it's the new look. Very often, the prefects change into the new suit first. This would probably create a kind of peer pressure for the rest of the student body to change into those new designs. No. Not this time. I'm not trading my expensive suits which I think match the school badge better than the new school uniform. What's gone wrong with their fashion sense? Anyway, it's still a matter of opinion. Suit yourself. You're the one wearing it. I'll be the odd one out being a good consumer.

I had the priveledge of trying out the new school skirt a day before our 2-week school holiday. Guess what? I got better pockets in my current uniform and it's a BOXER SKIRT! Which means, most probably no shape for us ladies. I ain't trading my quillotte skirt for something less. That's definite.

Singing Sweetheart?

2009-06-17T16:38:00.002+08:00

Okay, okay. No bragging. I've been training since I began highschool. I stole some lessons from my mum and went through her little notes and worksheets (which she obtained from her vocal teacher) when she's not at home and worked on it in my room singing to myself and my Father. Performing is something I have done before but have abandoned after circumstances deterred me to concentrate on my studies and grades.

I'm confident on my singing skills and I know I have a good voice. The judgement on my singing is not subjective. However, my voice is. If people find my voice pleasant and good, I count myself blessed. If people only have negative comments on it, it's fine. There's no perfect voice. There's always going to be some people who would like and not like it according to their respective views and perspectives. I respect that.

Yes, after Zhao's long request, his long awaited wish come true materialised. After such a long time not performing and being a member of the floor eversince hitting my head on my books, I did my private performance just among my classmates. They darkened the room to nightblind my eyes so that I could see only the audience. They didn't do quite a good job on the lighting though. The sunlight pierced softy through the curtains of our classroom and the light from outside shone through the glass on the door, highlighting their faces.

My voice was jerky. After such a long time not practising, that's how it turns out. But I'm happy and so is everyone else.

Holidays over

2009-06-13T19:38:00.005+08:00

=( So soon. 2 weeks. We have only one more day to enjoy not being in school and that is tomorrow. Sigh. Honestly, I hate school. There's just something about it which I don't like. It's just that maybe SSG isn't as bad as the living nightmare SMSM gave me.

I don't believe in documenting every single day I spent over the last two weeks here in this blog as I don't believe in using it in such a personal way. So I'd rather put up the events that were special to me.

31/5 Sunday

My mum, her friend and her son went to Cineleisure at Damansara. It was the first time my mum and I went there. I live far away from Damansara so we seldom go to such places. We did more window shopping than really buying stuff honestly. One of the surprises my mum's friend gave us was that we had a swedish meal for dinner. That was our first time. It was great, not to mention having that wonderful pasta (my favourite) in spaghetti tomato sauce (without cheese) for only RM5 and a bowl full of french fries for only RM4. It's really worth. Every bit of furniture there were from Ikea. Therefore, it's really comfortable. The lights were pretty energy-saving and there are no waiters(self-service). It's the recession so by holding RM 5 in your hands and getting a plate of cooked pasta is really a wonderful treat during a hard time like this. At the end of the day, we managed to go to Coldstorage at a shocking 10PM to get the ingredients I budgetted and listed to make a cake. This was also the first time when we stayed up so late that we almost got locked in a mall. To make things worse, my mum's friend who drove us here couldn't find her car but she found it in the end of course.

1/6 Monday

The cake was baked but it wasn't a success. =(

8/6 Monday

I got away for not bringing my tuition card. lolx. XD

11/6 Thursday

Joshua came over to my place. It's our first arranged meeting. We didn't bump into each other or just call or 'accidentally' press the 'call' button on the cellphone to 'coincidently' to each others' numbers.
I some of the ingredients along with the reminder ingredients from the last cake to give it a second try. It was a success. The neighbours loved it but I left Joshua a little jealous since he didn't have his share of the cake.
However, I made his heart burn with even more jealousy when I sent him this picture. It's the cake I baked with the help of my friend who's also our houseminder.

Phone-less

2009-06-13T18:49:00.002+08:00

It's not that I lost my phone. It's just that my phone rebelled against me and wouldn't even charge its battery =(. I took it to the shop and they said it's going under warranty and I won't have my phone until next week. To make matters worse, I lost all my contacts as well as my back-up manual phone book. (Duh, it's back-up. I barely use it. Of course I can't remember it. Conclusion, I misplaced it.) So please send your phone numbers to nightdance_hauntingangel@hotmail.com

Thanks.

It all began when I wore the theme my dear Joshua gave to me during our date. Then, when I got tired of it and wanted to put on my old previous favourite theme, the phone suddenly said that it was 'corrupted'. In such cases, I reset the settings of my phone. After that, I couldn't enter my contact book and my phone couldn't recognise my battery. As a result, I couldn't charge my phone. I just took it to the shop and he said it'll take 5 working days to get it fixed.

I'm not so much afraid of losing the phone. I'm more concerned about losing my contact list. So please send me your phone numbers. Thank you. God bless.

You don't want 10 bucks??

2009-06-08T21:31:00.003+08:00

Today, I totally lost my entrance pass to my tuition centre. So, I prepared my RM 10 (it's the fine for not bringing the card). As soon as I reached, I went to the counter and asked for the slip to fill in and to give my RM 10. The guy said "Today's just additional class. So no need. Nevermind." I said "Are you sure?" as I waved the 10 ringgit note in front of him. He said "No" and I got away without the pass. Wow.

Sweet Nothing In My Ear

2009-06-08T19:26:00.007+08:00

One of my assignments of my sign language course this year is to do a movie review covering a deaf issue. So, I bought this DVD from my lecturer. This movie is really good. You can say 90% of this movie is in sign language (American Sign Language) but accompanied with speech for those who do not know sign language. I can understand because our Malaysian sign language is very similar to that of the American sign language because they taught us, Malaysians to sign and recognised the deaf community in our country.

The story revolves a family in which two of its members are deaf. It all began when Dan Miller, a hearing man who works in a big company as the PR man, married Laura who is a deaf teacher of a deaf elementary school. As a result, they had Adam who was born hearing but lost his hearing at age 4.

On Adam's eigth birthday, he trips over a bicycle wheel and is sent to the hospital by his father. The doctor suggested the idea of getting Adam a cochlear implant so that Adam would be able to hear again. Dan said 'no' but contemplated in his mind to have a cochlear implant (if you don't know what's a cochlear implant, scroll to the bottom of this post) for his son. He discussed the matter with Laura who totally disagrees because she worries that if Adam gets his hearing back, she might lose her connection with her son.

After the couple visits the experts and professionals to find out more about the cochlear implant, Laura insisted on her refusal but Dan went on with the procedures to get more information and was determined to get a cochlear implant for Adam without taking Laura's refusal into consideration.

Dan often thinks that Laura's father who is also deaf prejudices him because he is the only hearing man in the house. On thanksgiving day, during dinner, Adam suddenly spoke. At that moment, Dan thought all his effort in trying to get Adam to speak despite his deafness paid off. Laura on the other hand was not happy and left the dinner table followed by her deaf parents. During the conversation between Laura and her parents, her father confesses that she was born hearing and that they were relieved when her hearing slowly went away.

At the next scene (the courtroom), Dan and Laura was legally separated and was in a custody hearing. There, the main focus was. The arguments of deafness at the hearing people's perspective ( deafness being treated as a handicap, therefore, making them disabled; the depth of a hearing father's love to his deaf son; how he shows affection to his son; and the desire for his son to hear sounds) as well as the deaf people's perspective (deafness being normal and that deafness is not a handicap but a course of the natural; and that they are not anything less than the hearing to achieve what they want and be successful, to be who and what they want to be). The custody hearing is to be continued.

Dan feels the pain of having a broken home and Adam not knowing a thing about his. Finally, Dan makes up with Laura. The story ends with a question mark for the ending.

**A cochlear implant

First says

2009-06-08T19:07:00.003+08:00

I know I don't reveal much of myself. Actually, I'm agreeing to move ahead with the contemplation of deleting my old blog. I know the satisfaction of blogging. Unfortunately, it's the time factor as well as the availability of a computer and internet connection that restricts frequent updates of my blog. Therefore, I may blog slowly. However, I would not let these things restrict me completely from having fun by blogging.

SPM is important. I need to spend a lot of time hitting the books. The clock is ticking. So why aren't I studying now? O, that's simple, I just finished my long-houred tuition which started in the morning straight down to the evening.

Busy. busy.