Flash floods (Week 3)

Across the news, be it from newspapers, and even to the radio, there were emergency news flashes regarding floods. Affected areas are Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Northern Sabah and other areas but primarily Johor was affected with harsh flash floods. And to add on with the whole situation at hand, its heavily affecting those who are celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations. Locals are in need of ways to transport themselves to and from for the upcoming celebrations but are put to a halt because of the flash floods. To add on to the loss, even shop owners are facing a heavy loss due to the damage caused by the floods, and not to mention, the loss of sales also due to the floods as well. Other than Johor, other heavily struck areas are Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Johor and Melaka with a total loss of 4 lives so far. The last victim in record was a man who was found in Negeri Sembilan. With much sorrow and anticipation for any form of updates, all prayers and hope goes to affected families and affected locals who arent able to celebrate the upcoming celebrations. All we can do is hope for the floods to subside so that affected parties can get on with their prosperous celebrations and celebrate it with joy instead of sadness.

Mubarak To Step Down (Week 4)

The President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak will step down shortly and transfer the authority to the Egyptian Higher Council of the Armed Forces, a senior Egyptian official confirmed to to Fox News on Thursday. The group group is comprised of the minister of defense, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi -- who stands atop the military hierarchy -- along with the military's chief of staff, the chief of operations, and commanders of the Army, Navy, Air force and Air defenses. The source pointed out that the transfer of power will occur outside of the constitutional framework because under the Egyptian constitution, Mubarak's resignation ordinarily would mean that the speaker of the house would become President, and the elections would be held within 60 days. In this case, the Military council will not be governing under the constitution of any legislation, the source noted. "So, they will have to define the format under which they are taking power.

As a case in point, the official cited the committee to amend the constitution that had been formed, including with opposition membership, and which he said had agreed swiftly on the six article of the constitution to be reformed.

The residents of Egypt have been celebrating in the streets of Cairo and other cities after hearing news that president Hosni Mubarak is stepping down. However, some of the Egyptians who supported Mubarak seems to be very disappointed.

Big fuss Over Valentine's Day (week 4)

Valentine's Day is celebrated on the 14th of February every year. This tradition has been carried on by people for the past centuries. It's a celebration of love,celebration for a saint named St.Valentine. On the very day itself, young people would exchange gifts or the guy would get roses,chocolates or even jeweleries for their loved ones. The gifts somehow represents a token of love and appreciation towards each other in a relationship. However, in Malaysia (only in Malaysia), the celebration of this joyful day which is arriving soon, has been conquering the media for the past week. Apparently, some Muslims, especially those who are from an Islamic party, namely PAS, are not very happy with Valentine's Day celebration. PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hasan At-Tantawi reportedly said the sate governments is Kedah, Kelantan and Selangor had directed the local authorities to work closely with the police and Rela to check on immoral activities that day. This movement is however disagreed by the SIS, (Sisters In Islam). Yasmin Masidi stated that this moves violates personal dignity and privacy. In another act to go against Valentine's Day, The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) is launching an anti-Valentine's Day campaign. Besides that, there's is also a video circulating in Facebook and Youtube. This video is about a Ustazah giving her debate on why Muslims should not celebrate Valentine's Day and she urge all the Muslims to say no to any invitation to parties on Valentine's Day. It so said that most of the baby-dumping case is caused by Valentine's Day as the young people go 'wild' on that very night.

I don't understand why they (the PAS leaders) making such a big fuss over Valentine's Day. All the bannings, playing moral police are not at all necessary. What makes them think that young people out there only carry out immoral activities during Valentine's Day? There are 365 days in the year and they are making such a big deal about ONE day. In my mind, is it the celebration of Valentine's Day they are worrying about or they're just merely pointing fingers at other religion to express their unsatisfaction? Plus, as state government, don't they have something else more important to worry about? So again, why the big fuss???

Asia's Top Soap Opera (Week 2)

A billionaire from Macau, Stanley Ho, built up a lucrative gambling empire in the former Portuguese colony over nearly half a century. Stanley Ho accused family members of seizing his stake in Asia's biggest casino empire, plunging ownership of the gambling business into dispute. A bitter feud among his three surviving wives and 17 children over the family empire burst into the open this week and has become Asia's top soap opera. Stanley Ho who is now 89 years old may take deep action to keep the ownership over the casinos in Macau. The transfer of most of Ho's casino holdings were against his wishes and the actions of his family members will be taken to court. Oldham, his lawyer, told the media by the phone, "what really upsets him is dead he's not even dead yet, but in the twilight of his life his second and third families appeared to be squabbling and pinching it for themselves. There's no doubt that he has all his faculties".

From an outsider's point of view, this is very similar to a typical Hong Kong drama series where the family members would fight against each other over the family's property. These are likely to happen to those families who are wealthy. As they said, MONEY RULES! This might be an interesting 'life drama' to watch but at the same time, it is also very saddening to see the family members fighting among each other and push aside all the good values of a family member and surrender them into selfishness for the sake of monetary benefits. I believe that Stanley Ho, although he's very very rich, may not live a peaceful life and have a good time spending his money happily due to the family conflict which is happening now. Things will get worse as time goes by when all these conflicts are to be taken to courts. Not only that they have to deal with their own family members. They have to also deal with the media and the public. This is not what a happy family should do. They should be enjoying their wealth happily with each other instead of having this soap opera. I do hope that Stanley Ho and his family will come to wake one day and realize that MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING. 

Justice For Sushi (Week 2)

A video leakage on the internet about a man abusing a dog has caused a heated response from the canine dog lovers on Facebook. The man, who is believed to be a chef from Malacca is seen abusing his poodle when he was attempting to get the dog to stand up on only two legs. The abuse lasted for about 15 minutes long. Thousands of animal lovers were shocked and angered by the man's act and they demanded for the man to be arrested immediately. Other effects after the video leakage, many dog lovers also created pages on Facebook for the purpose of giving a justice for the poodle. It is also believed that the poodle is now dead due to the man's actions.
In my personal view, I really hope that a fair justice will be given to Sushi, the abused poodle. I am wondering why is there such people who would behave in such way. It is even worse for the lady who believed to be the man's wife, who recorded the entire process of the abuse. The dog was also a creation of God. They should be treated with humanity, not by acting cruel on it. I hope the authorities will give a great deal of lesson to the man and woman involved in this abuse.

My Life As A Media Consumer

                I grew up in rather a conservative Chinese family since I was born. I remember, I was around 4 years old when I was being exposed to this electronic box called television. The moment my father switched on the television, I was so amazed that I could hardly speak. Well, that was what my father told me. From day to day, once I got back from school, the first thing that I would reach for is the television’s remote control. My parents are okay with me watching the television. But, whenever there’s kissing scene being showed in a movie, either my father or mother would sternly told me that it is not at all suitable for me to watch those kind ‘things’. Sometimes they would quickly switch it to the other channel. By that time, I have no idea why my parents wanted to do that. As years went by and I grew older, I slowly get it. There are some kinds of restrictions that every child should follow if they are to watch the television. But, things changed when I grew older. The restrictions aren’t that strict anymore. I was allowed to watch anything and everything which is being aired on the television. Now, my parents  no longer filter what I am watching.

                As for the newspapers, both my father and mother are Chinese-educated. Therefore, they only subscribe to Chinese papers every month. I didn’t  bother to read it because I don’t understand a single word from the Chinese papers. They sent me to an English-medium school after I finished my kindergarten years. That is why I don’t really have the habit of reading newspaper since I was young. But, things slowly change after that. In secondary school, they allowed the students to subscribe to English papers. I would sometimes borrow the papers from my friend and I started off with going to the comic section first, followed by the entertainment news. I didn’t really care about what is really going on in my country or the world, thinking that those news are irrelevant to me. Not only after the Tsunami that occurred in year 2004 changed my behavior towards newspaper-reading. I started following the headlines and the important news and it was really an eye-opener for me.

 The internet connection back in the 90’s didn’t really work that well. Even if it worked well, I wouldn’t even get the chance to explore the world wide web. I was not allowed to surf the internet by my father. He thinks that the internet would only drift me away from my studies because he read too many news on how people got addicted to the internet so much to the point that they would not even want to get out from the house. Fearing of the same thing that will probably happen to me, my father did not bother to teach me anything about the internet. Sad case right? That’s how conservative my father was. But, everyone is going to grow up someday. At the age of 15, I would go to a friend’s house and surf the internet. Again, I was so amazed by the wonders of the internet. I secretly created my first e-mail address then. I also created my ‘Friendster’ account which was quite popular a few years ago. From there, I realized that my social circle went uphill. I started befriending the people that I barely know but of course, I have certain restrictions for myself too. When I turned 19, my father gave me full freedom regarding the usage of the internet. That was when I got my first and very own Maxis broadband. I would explore everything on the world wide web into late nights. Still, my father would not say a thing about it. As for now, I am not ashamed to admit that I couldn’t live a day without the internet. Basically, 40% of my life is there. Things regarding my college, assignments, friends, relatives, shopping, emails, you name it. Even my father himself is on Facebook now.

                So, that is how I had lived my life as a consumer of media throughout the years and I believe that, things will not stop changing as we all live in a world with almost nothing  is impossible now.

Flood in Australia

A flood which happened not long ago is still the main news that the world is following. In Brisbane, for weeks, the flooding in eastern Australia has been a slow-motion disaster. After the flood, the effects slowly start to take its toll on the country. The drenching rain devastating wide swaths of farmland and small towns. Now rivers are rising in Brisbane, the country's third-largest city, forcing people to evacuate the both suburbs and skyscrapers. The flash flood killed 10 people in one day and left 78 missing. That raised to 20 the number of confirmed death in all the previous weeks from high water. Brisbane Mayor, Campbell Newman said authorities were preparing for flooding affecting about 15,000 people. The City is protected by a large dam built after the 1974 floods. But, the reservoir was full and a water release that would cause low-level flooding was inevitable, Newman said. As for the Malaysians who are living in Australia, they are reported safe although the city has been cut off and is facing food shortages as a result of the flood disaster. Australia is the driest continent after Antarctica and recently was in the grip of the worst drought in most of the centuries. But, 2010 was Australia's third wettest year on record, despite the country's drought-stricken region enduring the its driest ever year. Our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has sent his message of sympathy to the victims of the flood.