The Leverage

We all have to admit it, our inability to become an ‘all rounder’ is just too frustrating, or much too sore to mention. So, perhaps, with much denying we resorted to leveraging the weak, towing it with our strength.

It is no shocker, we sees company like Apple tying its strong product like the infamous iPod to iTunes. In Apple website, it is made clear that these two products tightly integrate with each other forming a single entity of ‘iPod+iTunes’. Apple made virtually everyone in this planet that uses the iPod to also use the iTunes, thus leveraging the latter to a better and higher level. At first, I personally think that iTunes is a weak media player that wouldn’t become my preference, if not because of iPod.

Alternative software to load music into iPod is scarcely available. They are reluctantly supported by the music players, providing more trouble than solution. Until today many companies were trying to seek an anti-trust action against Apple Inc. for their monopoly in chaining iTunes with iPod

Geography wise, Putrajaya, when it was established as Malaysia administration centre had directly leveraged Puchong and Balakong ( now renamed to a subtly, and beautifully sound Seri Kembangan ) into a better place. Last time, these places just happens to be in the outskirts of urbanized Petaling Jaya/Subang and local council had just given up the land for landfills. Nowadays, concept housing estate spurn just like mushroom ( For example; Taman Equine, the concept of riding horse as your weekend activities ). Puchong has become a full fledge commercial center bustling with businesses and office building.

In real life, I witness people applying the same strategy, in order to maintain a clean and capable look. You may call it compensation or balancing-up; it all has the same mechanics of the strong tethered and trying to pull the weak into a much leveled field. We seek to make friend with popular, influential and outspoken people, in the sense, we might be endorsed by these people. The sayings of ‘friends forever’ being made motto of much people that I had stumbled upon are merely sayings that were picked up from Hollywood teleseries when indeed it boils down to popularity and influence.

Realistically, we all have to swallow it no matter how distasteful that we get lost without testifying to people an impressive list of ‘I know whom’

Sometimes, leveraging happens within social circle. It’s similar to doing a favor where a well-known person tries to bring another lesser known member to a better position. This is when the popular Malay saying of “ budak baru nak naik” applies. It’s a situation when a young person seems to become fascinated with the things surrounding him/her. As a result, they took a particular thing very seriously with much enthusiast.

Some even had resorted to ‘whatever happens, happens’ method where they struggled to be good in a single particular thing with the expectation that when they had reached the superb level, other aspect of life can be leveraged too. Such as trying luck in reality talent shows, where chances are there.On the other hand, parents reminded us that the only effective and reasonable leverage transporters are to graduate and finish our studies as quickly as possible. In short, social mobility where the leverage factor would be knowledge.

In politics, Tun Dr. Mahathir, which stills a fair amount of influence and followers, had leveraged the newly installed Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Tun Razak. Tun Dr. Mahathir had openly gave his endorsement towards him, and also his deputy, Muhyiddin Yasin. Datuk Najib, not to say weak, but had a gargantuan task of recovering the National Front from its trauma of political tsunami. Added with the much talked about the killing and exploding of Mongolian woman allegedly linked to him, it seems that Datuk Seri Najib had inherited so many problems. Whether he seeks it or not, a leveraging from renowned statesman like Mahathir seems to do as much as little to regain people trust.

In entertainment front, we see subscription based television channel had been doing heavy leveraging tactic. Overnight celebrities like Mawi were asked to act in lame dramas and host programmes, when he was originally auditioned for signing talent. He would become one of the overexposed faces that majority of the society never get bored to look at. When the company realized that he can such a great asset, they never hesitate to ‘perah habis’ before his fame flame lit out. This would be the finest example of how strong elements within an organization were mobilized to aid the weak elements. Well, nothing much can be said or done, after all, he is an entertainer.

Let’s move to the west. Movie studios across Hollywood tries to rope in established directors to direct movie title which they had rights upon. With superheroes movies are somewhat smeared with ‘boring and common’ label, studios which had purchased rights or made a joint agreement desperately needed to squeeze money from it, let alone, avoid loses. So they roped in established direction with intention to increase fanfare and leverage things up.

The reason I’m pointing this out is just to articulate matters that popped out of self-conscience. Whether it is wrong or right to tether ourselves so that the strong can pull us, that is not within my prerogative and broke neither any general rules nor principles. Possibly, if we are the influential person considering to do a big favor and tether someone else into the mainstage that we had enjoyed big audience, it is up to them too. In short, leveraging would be a subjective matter.

The Mysticus

The current hysteria that swept the school kids had people like me wonder, does the spirits/jins and ghosts goes marauding according to seasons?

Downtown KL, a club with gyrating bodies dancing and prancing are filled with smell of cigarettes and booze. Amidst the rapid beats and body-shaking house beat, a young 20 something Malay girl took a slow sip of alcoholic beverage with intention not to get very drunk or else someone car interior would be spilled with vomit. Occasionally, smoking a stick of freshly lit cigarette. Barely touching the edge of lips to achieve that ‘carburetor’ smoke and air mixture. Exhale into the air as moment past it disappears into thin air. A man walked up the aisle and offered drink; perhaps a better, expensive and classier variant of booze to excite the 20 something girl about the meaning of taste. A simple chat started and the man had visions of whats next, ultimately he charted his journey through the night as a wild suave stud ending messily on a sea of blankets next morning bare naked. Perhaps, a simple contact trade will do if magic does not happen as expected.

A Malay girl somewhere in a small town in Pahang sits in front of the television while doing her homework recently given by her add maths cikgu Roziah. Question is quite tough and she keeps scratching her neck. She looks on at the iron board that sits near the television. A kain tudung ( veil ) has yet to be iron out to get rid of the wrinkles for sekolah. Still, she is stuck with the add math single most mind boggling question which failure to answer might land her in danger zone if cikgu calls her forward.

Ayah is busy reading through the newspaper with headlines about Anwar and his big win. Nah. Politics never capture a chunk of her brain quadrants. Emak is busy cleaning the clothes to be hung early in the morning tomorrow. A sense of loneliness is felt. But yet, the television is turned on and playing hantu serial. All images of long haired creature inside a white veil and green eyed biawak-like humanoid make the basis of these hantu serial drama. Ah. Its something that captured every quadrant of this girl brain quadrant. She then paid attention to the drama hantu.

Simple imagination takes place. She wonder what jampi/mantra will her dad cast if a green-eyed toyol encroached into her house through the front door? Because ayah seats near the door. And the door is wide opened to let the wind in.To cool interior. Her imagination extended to kilometers away outside of her door. Reminiscence of how her geography teacher told that Pahang is rich with timber. The jungle outside there sort of become a kingdom for all sorts type of ghost, jin and spirits than wander amongst themselves.

Downtown KL, the kingdom that a sweet petite 20something girl wander were filled with bright neons and bursts of loud laugh of fellow girls which had their partners visiting clubs, pubs and bistros. She made a stop to a mamak stall with her mates. She scratches because she is sweating. Of course, she did dance for a couple of minutes recently with that unknown guy. But, his suave confidence saw attempts of him landing his palm in few ticklish and sensitive areas. She is not in the mood, so she politely pulled out. The girl seating opposite keeps telling about the bitchy is her housemate. She tells about which shop to get good dresses. She tells about the cocktail parties, and whom is invited or associated.

Can I assume the hysteria sweep is just the collective-belief atmosphere that influences them?

Back in the Pahang smalltown, ayah started his Honda Petak. The engine started abruptly, moments, it sounded like the engine might gone dead. Thin white smoke coming out of the exhaust. No helmet is worn since the school is situated a few kilometers. No JPJ would want to conduct an operation as its still early in the morning. They would probably be busy humping their wives or enjoying teh-o-kaw with two half-boiled eggs. Emak, as expected, are carefully hanging the clothes which she manually washed last night. Water can still seen dripping onto the earth. Sun has not fully revealed itself. The grass is thickly covered with embun – or dew. It left a trail as ayah motorcycle went on top of it.

As ayah went through the kampong road, the girl adjusted her tudung, so that it would not fluff too hard. Luckily she managed to iron it, but the add math sum is still left in limbo. She had to find her smarter classmates to sort things out before double-period add maths come after recess. As ayah Honda petak passes through a thick jungle and improperly managed bushy FELDA lot on the right, with hill backdrop things begins to get a little gloomy. The girl remember the drama hantu which long haired in white cloth would partially reveal the face behind the old trees. Fear begins to grip. A loose grip because her worries is still focused on the unsettled Add Math sum. Cikgu Roziah will sure get mad.

Morning in Klang Valley, the 20something Malay girl start to get out of bed. She had to get to college. Media studies class will begin in matter of minutes. Mass communication is what she always wanted to do. The expressway are really busy with vehicles lining up to get their tolls paid, she can see it through her apartment bay window. She is worried about the clothes which she is going to wear. A pair of heels which she bought last week was not opened yet as she finds no matching clothes. She felt lazy, but she must go to her college. She noticed her saliva still had that booze smell. SMS inbox were filled with messages inviting her to check out new clubs,bistro or just simple hanging out spot. Mr.Suave which bravely laid a few of his fingers on her petite curves last night had send a message too. Two actually. She honestly felt not in the mood to give it a ‘go’.

The Honda Petak arrives safely infront of sekolah. She kissed her dad hands and proceed to the school compound. She quickly enters the class although there is merely only 10 minutes before the assembly bell rings. Like mentioned earlier, the add maths sum bothered her. She needs to sort it out before Cikgu Roziah stepped into the classroom. Inside the classroom, she met Latifah. Her ayah is a rubber tapper and emak is a nasi-lemak and kuih-kuaci maker cum seller. Latifah seems to partially complete the add maths sum. She proceeded to copy her work. At least cikgu roziah might realize her effort. Latifah is then joined with Syahirah and Rohaizatul. They talked about the breeze that moved branches visible from their classroom and strange sounds of bird outside. She begins to remember the dramahantu she saw yesterday. The black hairy inside white veil that barely walk but float. The green-eyed lizard like humanoid that colours matches the lush timber landscape of inner Pahang.

She begins it with precursor words like “ takut, sejuk, pelik “ ( scary, cold and unusual ). With Latifah, Syahirah and Rohaizatul that had witnessed the drama hantu the night before, they begin to think differently about the nature works surrounding them. Making things worst, Latifah uncle is a bomoh (shaman). Syahirah grandfather was a former ketua-kampung (village chief) and Rohaizatul brother-in-law is a penggali kubur (undertaker). Their work are not necessarily mystical, but their weird ‘carried-forward’ stories made these girl lend their ears with total concentration.

All of sudden, Latifah, the daughter of the rubber tapper, screamed and shouted with a strange loud pitch that broke the silence. She later fell to the school cement floor and twitching continuously. Her body bend and twisted. The other girls ran outside the classroom. Leaving the boys looking curiously at Latifah. Moments later, an English teacher came in to monitor the situation. Minutes, ustaz came in to control the situation. By this moment, the other girl had told the other school mates about the strange occurrence. A special assembly is held at the field. Students were wondering what really happened. As one person tells another, the story gets spookier. The 5th person tells about Latifah screaming like a crow and by 10^th person, Latifah screamed like a crow because his rubber-tapper ayah were interrupting the crows habitat. The other three girls were left fear as they would be next to be attacked by the ‘thing’. Because they seems to felt the same emotion moments before the freaky thing occurred: “takut, sejuk, pelik “. They all have heard what mother always said; be sure to take care of your hygiene as during PMS, ‘things’ easily comes to haunt.

Suddenly another girl screamed and dropped to the assembly field twitching. Two down, two more to go.

Klang Valley, the 20something sultry girl had gone to college and gathered at a plaza with shining tables and chair made of aluminum. One girl told about how lucky she got to hook up with this anak datuk which had splurged her with joy and materials. How this anak datuk had networks of friends consisting of artists and KL young high-profilers. While the other had just dumped his boyfriend. He is a player. The 20something then just felt the thrill and odds of finding interesting people amongst the 2 million plus Klang Valley citizen. Mr.Suave and 20something petite girl meet up somewhere and had a fun chat. Sundown and both find things lots in common. Deeper into the night, Mr.Suave got his wild imagination come through. His palm got an ‘’unlimited-unrestricted all-access’’ through 20something topographies. When Mr.Suave reaches the rubber in a pack, 20something quickly took it away and throw it outside the window. Asked why; she naughtily replied PMS just ended a week ago. She twitched too, but not because she was haunted or hysteria. Just euphoria.

Perhaps, its all in the mind ?

The Frail Upperhand

The recent government announcement to precede with the reduction of bumiputras scholarship quotas is an impressive and bold move. It reflects government, particularly ruling party commitment towards bangsa Malaysia and multiracial spirit, not forgetting, same field competition. Bravo.

Some may speculate UMNO had a hideous ploy to punish Malays for voting the PR. Well, this must be a sore loser’s revenge when bumiputra terms covers the indigenous Ibanese, Melanaus, Kelabits and others which resides here earlier and longer than any of us. Perhaps, the most important and basic thing is, the JPA ( equivalent to Public Service Department ) scholarship should be never looked as a racial matters. In the spirit to forge the ‘bangsa malaysia’, there should never be this kind of quotas imposed. It is time to consider abolishing the race query inside the JPA forms and instead SPM grades shall be placed at first and foremost pages of the request form. This to make it clear, the highest numbers of A’s shall receive the merit; like one of the outspoken short-tempered UMNO bald-headed warrior said “ …yang dapat 13A, kita pejam mata bagi biasiswa”. It must be a pleasant view to see the outspoken of UMNOs to make such a statement. A calming breeze that runs through the veins and cavity of a worried heart.

Speculation based on racial stance also arises when Peraks’ Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman rises from his seat and stirred a turbulence in the parliament hall about his disagreement towards the rearranged JPA quotas. Crises and taunts are bouncing off everywhere. He became absolutely mad till he had furiously expressed his disagreement with whatsoever compromising changes made at the cost of Malay rights. He even challenged anyone who refuted his statement to leave the parliament, so he can prove himself right with four eyed meeting at the lobby at instance. He is fighting two evidently different sides when he also find utterly disgusting to raise his hands in approval for suggestions made by his party. He sure felt disgruntled to be in UMNO, as its fundamental role to protect and preserve the rights of Malay. A risky proposition for Datuk Tajuddin as BN who lauded ‘democracy’, would impose disciplinary action to any members whom decided against any of their proposals. E.g, the 2 Gerakan MP’s regarding PORR. A glimpse of revelation, reveal a crack of UMNO battered first line barrier. Pasir sudah menyalak!

The time might come, to actually loosen perks enjoyed by bumiputras. Considering that, we are not hit exactly on the Achilles’ heel. Yes, education offers social mobility, every Asian (not only Malaysian), emphasize them first and fore mostly. 55/100 is still an upper hand figure, although quite feeble. There are still options. There is still MARA to lend money and opening up chances on quality education, thus producing credible, educated, culture-rich Malays. There are nine sultans offering scholarship and their offerings can be found on newspapers, if not found, perhaps it has been snatched by ‘insiders’, I guess. There are GLC’s like TNB, TM, Petronas etc. etc. It is time for the Malays to impress different and various scholarship-giving bodies or companies. The possibilities of missing JPA blessings is a big loss, due to the ballooning and squeezing, yet the getting accustomed is rather more important now. Even, the dinosaurus extinct due to their inability to get accustomed with the harsh cold weather due to some hypothical huge meteor impact on earth.

Also, it is time to consider that oversea education is not that glamour anymore. Overtime, we had the ability to match those of theirs. We shall offer competency. And should we instill trust in local education syllabi. Our universities, some established as early as pre-independence days are probably capable to producing people with knowledge par with oversea universities? We can afford multi-million lab too, we can brain-tap best lecturers, 100acre building complexes… only the weather is a bit hot here. The number of straight-A’s is increasing; would the oversea accommodate us most of the time? If they did go, to which government did they pay their income tax as they work? Ironically, the sky is the limit when you are successful. That’s a promise. Government may had a futile attempt in rewriting the books.

Of course, speculation must be filtered many times before we believe. But there is one thing which we often heard in people’s mouth. A simple short thought and we knew it’s a fact from the start. When this kind bargaining UMNO, it’s a clear sign that UMNO is weak.

Let’s take a break on the JPA issue for a minute.

Imagine yourself walking through a Sony boutique. Sony is relatively famous for their fabulous end consumer electronics. Their presence in the digital related world is everywhere. Their arm reaches from into the niche market of thin profile digital cameras to professional studio-grade visual device. From mobile MP3 players and surround audio speakers. From funky and snazzy mobile phones, to glossy LCD panel that made TV watching experience a fantastic visual feast sensation. Never forgetting, the PS3, that plays Blu-Ray till you can brag to your friends that you were amongst the first in the neighbourhood to acquire the Blu-Ray technology which is second to none, even if a dozen of DVD9 disc fused together in somekind of Jimmy Neutron particle accelerator gun rays.

We pay extra for Sony’s. We do pay them without hassle or regret. Because it’s a Sony! And this brand comes with premium.

What If Sony cannot produce great products? They are unable to create snazzy mobile phones? High capacity DVD’s? Envy-triggering slim digital cameras? Advance LCD/Plasmas? Worst, other competitors like Panasonic, Philips and Samsung have overtaken them in terms of research and innovation? What if Sony is not worth competing with those top brass digital device players? . Magazine would not even compare Sony LCD with, say, Samsung LCD’s, because its like comparing a Mitsubishi SpaceBox a.k.a Proton Juara with Porsche Cayenne Turbo. Sony last ditch before completely throwing the towel would be competing through price front. Their device can be purchased at bargain price. You’ll get their LCD for hundred ringgit less due to backward technology they applied. 

The way I put this way, shall be inappropriate yet it the position of UMNO itself which is weak. Not only the Achilles’ heel is broken, splintered and splattered, but also tendons, joints and areas related. All we see here is not irrelevancy of the party which is just the scenery, but a leadership crisis. The non-confrontational style of current leader which some quarters regards as sopan-santun and budi bahasa has been practiced in wrong places and has taken its toll on us. The transition of power dragging on for further 2 years, while present leaders just looks on watching pending damaging decisions and understanding being forged. Maybe Ku Li, Muhyiddin Yassin or Rais Yatim should forget visions of being a PM due to burden of todays’ terrible decision may linger till their estimated premiership period. The future bapa pembangunan insan, who insanely drops quotas and talks about Tun Mahathir paradigm shift is nothing more than possible.

Maybe this time around, it has been more difficult/incorrect and sinful to defend rights and showing love towards one race in such manners. Standing up in parliament and speaking up. They are regarded as Nazi-esque , racist, intolerant, selfish, noise-maker and monkey. Its been a long, lonely and painful quest for Datuk Tajudin, he is like a lone soldier which platoon had diverted their path avoiding enemies, yet, this one acts like a nut to defend the receding control border. Yes, in the war, he is the frontline. It reminds me of a Malay proverb (in times where all things Malay seems degrading and conservative, felt like telling this though) “ kalau hidup tidak berbudi, umpama pokok tidak berbuah “ ( living without serving, would be similar to trees without fruits)

Who can expect something than has been given away today shall be taken back tomorrow?. We are infact being stripped away from the previledges which we had. Previledges that were never been in question or doubted before. Never questioned/rarely objected because of our strenght and resilience towards dissident urges and irrational bargaining. The party was an agent of change that clearly explain word-by-word that quotas were something to helping the weak. To help people remain calm. The key of it all, the party was ( used to be ) solid and strong till those whom challenge shall look like a fool standing on a chair during a major examination where everyone remained sit and quiet. But, today, under the pretext of equality, human rights, open-competition, similarities and whatsoever; the quotas seems like a heideous, wrong, revolting ,monstrous; while the basic fundamental, is to help the weak majority. Those who wished to abolish it seems more heroically better than right, while those defending it will sound more terribly worst than wrong. When UMNO is weak, the bargaining is on. 

We are looking at UMNO opening up its bargaining counter. They have lost the ‘political premium’ which nobody dared to question last time. It is time to seek survival and relevancy in the stormy political arena, and UMNO had to resort in terms of bargain. A losing bargain to remain in the game. Who are being bargained/compromise/traded off? It’s the people who thought UMNO were all this while is seriously fighting for Malays. 

The Ego Strafe

“I’m Sorry”. This innocent word we were taught to say as early as pre-school is costing more these days.

Some may delve that “sorry” is a word used by someone that is powerless, weak or had no option. For instance, when someone met a sultan in all situation, then you will see them profusely asking for forgiveness. Even, at the very beginning of sentence they would start off with: “Ampun, beribu beribu ampun “ ( Apologize me, a thousand apology ). I did not have any hypnosis power to read into these people mind whether they are seeking apology because they had disobeyed royal protocols laid by the istana or broken any rules of religion or morals proclaimed by the God.

Through Islam perspective, forgiveness should be sought from Allah S.W.T. As we were thought that all mercy and forgiveness belongs to Him. As one of ninety-nine gracious names of Allah goes by Al-Ghaffar which in Arabic means the Ever Forgiving. The daily affair of our life is bounded by the rules fundamentals laid out by the Quran. A holy scripture that is being brought down to Prophet Muhammad for over the period of twenty two over years (22 years, 2months, 22days precisely). Being a wrongdoer means break any of these rules. Naturally, when you broke any rules, it made you viable and justified for punishment. When we say ‘sorry’, we are seeking to nullify these rules, In other sense, we seeking to brush aside the ruling, by promising that we won’t repeat again. So only God has the right to give the green light whether it is possible to brush aside, get exempted from the ruling. For all that, it shall remain the fair judgement to stipulate based on situation and condition that we faced. Wa’ullahualam.

While reminding myself and not being holier than thou, the above mentioned statement does not mean we should hinder ourselves from saying sorry amongst our friends, family or others and leave it to His Most Gracious Allah to judge. There are some portion in the teaching that regulates forgiveness amongst ourselves through conscience responsibility, rationality and morality. Although forgiveness is the absolute prerogative of His Most Gracious Allah.

Once my ustazah reminded that we should sought forgiveness from the victims of our wrongdoings while it is still possible to see them face to face. Failure to do so means that we had to bore the brunt of looking for them during the ‘final assembly’ day. A day which Allah rises those all of his creations from the dead and assemble them for ‘judgement’. She reinstated: “ Bukannya kecil padang mahsyar tu…”. Seeking a single person amongst the crowd of six billion people is no funny business. Even, we have trouble finding a missing kid in Malaysia 22million citizen alone with a synchronized effort.

Strangely, the mechanics of Karma at least never find its way here. As a young boy ( until now ), I am always reminded by wisdom rich old kampong folks and serban donning ustaz about the positions of those affected by our wrongdoings. “ Doa orang teraniaya itu sentiasa dimakbulkan Allah S.W.T “ ( The prayer of those suffering/affected/incapacitate by our wrongdoings shall be granted by His Most Gracious Allah ). From my interpretation, for instance, sorry it has to be politically related; If Anwar Ibrahim really finds himself being victim of a highly raunchiest slender during the 1998 allegation of sodomy, then, he may pray for Tun Mahathir hairs to falls off or his gums recede till he look ridiculous. But this kind of ‘what goes around comes around’ thing are open to such interpretation which made everyone talks like Madam Zorra.

If tomorrow, Tun Mahathir falls from a horse, people may interpret it as an omen which God responded to Anwars’ prayer. Even, last year Tun Mahathir admission into IJN can be interpreted as answered Anwars’ prayer. Yet, looking into different dimension, Tun Mahathir remaining fit, vocal and mentally sharp in his 80’s may be seen as Anwar mercy of not praying for his former boss for shameful downfall. Or indeed, Anwar has prayed and the omen is beginning to take its shape before the house of cards crumbles. Finally, Anwar might had really done those nasty stuff?. In short, yes, this kind of talk really branches out into various interpretations. I believe it has triggered the Cluedo inside your mind too.

Saying ‘sorry’ too many times also discredits us. Like a merit system on individual trustworthiness, the more you say sorry, it means you are prone to mistakes. And each time when you wanted to give a suggestions or opinion, you may be back-referenced to the amount of ‘sorries’ that you have pledged. Does saying sorry also means that we are incapable?. Perhaps, earlier on when it is devised that ‘sorry’ might be said by those who are weak is making sense. Due to social structure, wealth, popularity and influence, someone may be asking for apology and back-out after seeing to bleak outcome. Sorry may be for the losers? Maybe or perhaps?

Would sorry be the word for those who are weak and without option?

Some may assume saying sorry as a kind of drag. Saying sorry means the victim whom we seek forgiveness has some sort of bargain power, or at least criticize us. In the highly competitive world nowadays, everybody wanted to reach the zenith of success as quickly as possible without a long bereavement. We stumbled upon motivational mottos like “Never say no! Action is power!”, indeed, its good for us to have all these sorts of firm and assertive living mottos, yet, the zealot nature of some human being made them act like a racing horse on Super Sundays lottery strike. Eyes covered by a piece of rubbery leather so that it would not look elsewhere. Instead going forth as quickly as possible, completing the circuit no matter how crooked it may be. No matter how many shoulders and legs we may trip. Hell, it may become a stampede. Never says sorry, because it may cause a drag.

Ironically, life science mechanics mimics the actual physics. When we push something forth, friction will appear. In million of matters needed to be settled, saying sorry means giving the victim a bargain. It means time to listen to their frustration and keeping our heads low. Dragging costs time. Time means money. Courtesy should be sidelined. Sorry may be history.

In this very competitive world too, where citizens have become more aware of their rights, a simple sorry may be never enough. Malaysia, day by day is becoming more of a law/legal-concerned society. You called someone a katak, they would saman malu (defamation suit) you. And because you called someone a katak in front of a third party, the one you call katak may sue you for the lack of sleep he get due to the utter shame. Hell, you might end up paying for his wages which appeared as the katak is unable to go work because the employer thinks that the same way too. Worst, you end up paying his lawyer fee. The accumulated money resulted handsome slap of money on the face to shut the katak out. I always have a thought of having a pre-law girlfriend so that in the future, if everything goes smoothly, she may back me up when Malaysian becomes overtly assertive law-abiding society. Come to think again, if she turned the table around; can be real painful eh…?

In this competitive world, where most of the thing must be done in textbook way, people with professional practices like doctors, architects, accountants and lawyers are susceptible to being sued due to malpractice. Wrist being injected in wrong manner, and causes gangrene which leads to amputation. Buildings constructed with sub-standard low quality material collapse and injure people. I don’t really know how the other two can negatively affect the life of people they serve, yet, this all means a simple sorry has no value since people life has been deeply affected.

In my humble opinion, Sorry is a significant word, which usage has been limited due to the complexity of our rationality and judgment. Sorry can be looked through different lights. It means courtesy. It can also mean shame. Sorry can be a menacing word which keeps reminding us. Like: “better safe than sorry”

The Stepping

Kids, teen and adult. Like a rule of thumb, the stepping of 7,14,21 are the important ages of which every level, the treatment and relationship with parents took a drastic turn.

I used to listen to one tazkirah ( preach ) by an ustaz regarding family management ala kursus kahwin ( marriage course ). Ustaz was really serious at the time as his mood swings from light sarcastic to seriously sharp eye stare. I almost felt like a sharp beam of radioactive laser pierced through my retina as he stared at me and everyone else in the surau. He mentioned about the gift of child by god is a rahmat ( blessing) and we were given the amanat ( responsibility/accountability) to grow the child up into a useful and resourceful person. He simply referred a child has three stage of growth and each stage has its individual style

Lifting his thumb into the air, all of us stared at his thumb like he is going to cast sprites of Magical aura. Instead, he mentioned a thing which I still vividly remember till this moment:-

" Children, should be well taken care and given the attention he/she needed. At times, the children can be pampered accordingly. Do not hit them as they are too young to accept punishment as method of teaching. They should be fully guided and supervised in almost everything they do to avoid damaging mistakes”

Then, he raised his forefinger joining the thumb, he later explained: “ When a child has grown older, till his/her age made them eligible to perform prayer ( usually at the age of 7 for boys, when menstrual cycle start for girls ) , then, parents should teach them in a strict manner. A child at this age shall be hit or punished in whichever way as long as it does not cause injury or handicap. Advice should be given to them as much time as possible to ensure they internalize the moral and civic values which the family stood for all this while. Guidance and supervision is still given but gradually lessened to ensure learning has taken place. So does the environment of being pampered must be reduced to an intermediate/minimal amount “

Later, he proceed and lifted the middle finger in a combination of gapless three finger arrangement and says: “ Sampai takat ni, buat macam kawan saja la…” (At this level, then a parent shall treat their children as friends ). Everybody was either half nodding, full nodding or just looking at their friends followed by occasional laughter. It was a clear indication that at that level means any parents intervention on decisions, stance and thinking is ineffective or non-compulsory as at that age, rationality had reached to a maturity level. In short: Independence of thoughts.

It was on my 21^st birthday a month ago when my dad dropped by in KL. I fancied myself with the ‘best meal in the world’ at a hotel in Jalan Sultan Ismail, when dad mentioned something ‘out of this world’. A word which is very eerie eversince I was whispered by his azan when I was still an infant.

“ Now that you have grown tall and big, you can think on your own, make decision on your own and choose paths that’s really fits you well… You are on your own “. My eye become extremely rounded, rounder than that eye-of-Malaysia, that I thought that his words immediately means I need to pay the rent of the apartment room. The whole rent, electric, water and internet bills?. Worst my college fees. My heart skipped triple beat. It sounded like he is leaving everything down to me, cutting all ties. Along the way to Cyberjaya, I knew that his advice were more of deeper meaning that he wanted to convey, which he wanted me to realize that at 21, I should be in a way or another capable of making the best choice for myself. He had put much hope that with this kind of liberty, I would lead myself to someplace better and would not get too drunk in liberty since it can be damaging when not exercised properly.

Then, I realized that the moment has come when a big change has occurred. I recalled, that when I entered primary school, my dad always hit me when I did something wrong or inappropriate. All the privilege which I used to have when I was still a little tot are gradually lost and never ever felt again. At 14, it became more frequent that I’m being severe punished. Felt like life is dwindling into a world of invisible ‘curfews’ for almost everything. I’m not wrong this time that liberty is fully mine at 21^st , perhaps, as property planned by my parents, are the time when I shall be decide freely without much ‘veto-rization’.

Tomorrow I received a call from mom informing me that I have gotten the ‘kunci’ (key) in which she will never again interfered my decision, action and thoughts. She mentioned about reduced nagging session which made me smile a bit. She repeatedly mentioned ‘The key is all yours’. How should I respond? Yahoo! at the top of my lung? No. Infact, Worry irks me.

I admit, it was the best birthday present to be able becoming the sole-pilot of myself. Not much obstruction or interference from this moment on. It is a transition which I had anticipated for the past decade of my life. It is the perfect time to move on as how much longer would I be stuck with the ‘rules and regulation’ and time-consuming parental advisory, yet, there is serious doubt that I can handle this liberty very delicately as it demands. For surely, I lacked of brotherly figure to give views relevant to generation similar to mine. When a fatherly figure has decided that its significant power to intervene to be drastically reduced/withdrawn, I probably become virtually lost, in terms of guidance. It is like a leap of faith similar to that acrobat jumper which is thrown without anyone to grab. Which will be my prerogative of how should I grab the next rope, which hung is not covered by safety net.

As for now, I do not rely on single person for self-benchmarking. I had multiple friends which project qualities in different fields. Like the Malay sayings ambil yang jernih buang yang keruh ( Take the good, put away the bad ), I had observed them as an exemplary. Do I follow them?, honestly, it is not my way of doing things according to other people, but I had adjusted and indeed I did look them as mentor with many of them not realizing it.

It is a Malay proverb which really stirs the conscience to be less egoistic such as ‘ Sudah bodoh tak mahu diajar, sudah pandai kedekut mahu mengajar’ , in times like this the cold-harsh bit of reality has fully become the disciplinarian. Punishment of reality is sometime very shocking and tragic to bare. Like proposal to couple-up with an uptown girls being squarely rejected? . Nevermind, multiply it by seven.

As what precisely kind of treatment I will get, shall remain questionable as I have not back since PAS took hold of Kedah in March this year. Politics has nothing to do with parents-child relationship, yet the family institution is the smallest institution to govern, and there are style dealing with the various paradigm of family

One of the paradigm is the reality of the 7,14,21 stepping. I have reached the end of the stepping and wandering: What Next? The number 28 seems to echo a call for another commitment of a new dimension. And the 7,14,21 cycle would start all over again perhaps?

The Clockwork

Situation 1:A Singaporean clerk earns 2000S$ and their petrol costs RM5+.
Situation 2:Our clerk earns RM2000 and our petrol costs RM2.70.
Telling people that a tonne of feather is heavier than a tonne of steel is silly, yet,ministers were screaming that our petrol is the lowest in the region.

I’m always having trouble with precise timing. I often discussed it with my mom over the phone, the deal is, when class starts at 3pm I’m supposed to be at the bus stop as soon as 2.40 as busses comes around 2.45pm ( Go to hell with the RapidKL 15mins interval ‘Tempatan’ routes statement, they indeed come every 45+ mins ). My mom said that if that happens, then leave the apartment as early as possible. Probably 2.30, so, I’ll be doing exposed to radiant heat and staring at strings of big-sunshade wearing college girls which indeed have ugly eyes.

Doing architecture, every minute is very vital. The trouble and hustle of writing a 2’’x7’’ name tag on six days and six night’s model really worth taking . Without a tag on your hard-to-made model simply means a refusal to grade the model, not even look. Every minutes is tried as hard as possible to not to be wasted on hasty unproductive things, thus, making the act of walking down to the bus stop 30minutes early as virtually unviable solution.

Yet, with an intention of precise timing, I did reach the bus stop before my 3minutes before my forwarded clock strike 2.45pm. The estimation of time which the bus should have/will appear. Shockingly, as I arrived at the bus stop, I notice there was only a person there. Perhaps he wanted to go to the college too, as the way he casually dressed, does not look like he is going to drop by KL. I was becoming increasingly nervous as I approached the little stop with a person underneath it.

As my clock strikes 2.45pm, I stood still for another 4 minutes before proceeding to ask the only breathing person that exist there besides me “ Where is the bus? “ (Inappropriate question which that person too has got to ask), then he started explaining that he misses that last bus which arrived on 2.30pm. Yup, he is the first victim and I’m a poor man to join him in the statistics. Quickly I did a brief calculation in my brain which forwarded 45minutes from the previous bus passes and it will definitely arrive no sooner than 3.15pm. Yes, 15 minutes of doing nothing. Adding the ‘sweetness’ would be a sight of architecture student carrying boxes no smaller than a CPU casing ( ATX precisely ). Sitting, waiting and wishing upon the scorching heat of sun for the RapidKL busses to arrive early.

Still doubtful, my late attendance is obviously noted by the lecturers, but the nightmares of Rapid drivers going for some coffee breaks and perks has flooded my thoughts with possibility of waiting the bus as long as 3:45PM, Worst 4pm. Completing the 1-Hour cycle of nothing but bus-waiting. It would be unwise to walk back and climb up to the 11th floor of my apartment with the huge boxes I'm carrying.

This kind of situation, being retold to mom through the marvel of cellular network reaching hundred kilometers away to Sg.Petani is being treated with such a saddening explanation. I’am regarded as putting/shifting/transferring the blame on RapidKL instead of disciplining myself.

Who can tolerate this type of inefficiency and incompetency in Malaysia? Pak Lah who is vying to become and would mostly be nominated for ‘Bapa Pembangunan Insan’ through his cliché of Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang has made something contradictory? What has become of his word to improvise the public transportation system? Perhaps the lackluster of today Malaysia can be blamed on Tun Mahathir exhausting national reserves on megaprojects. The failure to eradicate corruption and ‘yes-man’ syndrome was blamed on Tun Mahathir whom planted the seeds of corruption and cronyism in the government, perhaps, in his 5th year at helm, Pak Lah can blame Tun Mahathir for triggering rapid urbanization and industrialization which reduces the hectares of rubber plantation vital for making tires of public transportation buses. Ironically, the nature of blaming 'legacy' problems fits the requirement for our current PM to step down and be replaced with someone really competitive like Muhyiddin Yassin, Rais Yatim or mostly Najib Tun Razak.

Do not forget the recent hike in petrol prices may have a very big impact on students like me. Indeed, I never drove any car yet at the moment, which means I heavily relied on busses and taxies to get to my college which is situated a little less than 4kilometres from my apartment. The case of unreliable busses leaves me with no option but to cling onto another alternative which is the taxis. Probably, it is too early to tell whether they are increasing the non-metered flat-priced journey fare, but it seems they will do it. The chain effect of fuel hike will see the immediate increased price of daily goods. They, the drivers, had to do something to earn extras in compensating with their rising cost of living, which means increasing the current fare. The victim: us, students.

There is always a very cynical solution amongst the less-constructive thinking people who might suggest me to quit studying in Cyberjaya. It may sound deeply rhetoric like “Why study in Cyberjaya when you start to see the costs is unbearable?” or “if you wanted to avoid pricey items and higher cost, then study elsewhere”. I assume this type of rhetoric is rather creating another barrier/problem on top of existing problem. Same goes to the present administration which had been cleverly rhetorical on Malaysian way of life. Instead of moving forward, they urged the rakyat to live more frugal; to the extent of driving less than 100kmph. The speed limit in Malaysia topped at 110kmph

But there is no rhetoric when facing Pak Lah and his league of capable cabinet leaders. The reason I say that is when UMNO and BN is blessed with abundance of economists, entrepreneurs, financial advisers, which knowledge had been garnered from various prestigious and established school of respective matter, yet, the failure to formulate an effective and well-conceived policy has hampered us as rakyats.

These heavily knowledgeable people inside BN/UMNO can make a lot of difference. They may follow the footsteps of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Tun Daim Zainuddin which are regarded as the economy architect of modernized Malaysia during the Mahathir-era. Situation may be different 20 years back then and now, yet it has been a long way which Malaysia economy has been battered with the uncertainties of global economics, and believe me, we have learned a lot. But lessons have been wasted as none of these highly capable economists have debriefed Pak Lah on the cause and effects of actions. Perhaps Pak Lah himself is not interested in overlooking and making checklist to determine the implementation went well or not. I used to hear stories of Tun Mahathir overseeing the Twin Tower construction as if it’s a government building when its just an office spaces and shopping complex. Perhaps for Pak Lah, he is just interested in seeing paperwork reports that is submitted to him every week or so.

I guess, this is what happened to his noble intention to ‘improvise the efficiency of public transport’. The report that arrives on Pak Lah desk says that our public transport is at satisfactory level while the rakyats like me bore the brunt and went through hell of incompetent public transport. The newly established Rapid Penang suffered a huge blow as users and commuters complained about the bus inconsistency ensued with its bus drivers strike on some disagreement with the operators. Who to blame now? Fingers keep crossing here and there. Are the users not disciplined expecting to see busses arriving at their disposal? Or are the drivers were taking too much perks and time off? Or does the operators are doing some mission impossible stuff by pushing their drivers into doing long routes within a ridiculously short time span?

My opinion, neither government nor the opposition, cannot avoid the spiteful decision of increasing fuel price. But, at this dramatic 78cent level is somewhat painful to take, still, there is a logic in making this one-time decision. If the rakyat dragged this matter to the streets of KL into violent prolonged demonstration, worst case scenario, government would lower the hike to 50cent ( to RM2.42 per litre), prior to their lowest option to increase fuel price of 50cents, 78cents and 1ringgit . The best the government can show their lauded ‘concerns’ for the rakyat is to seriously improvise and consolidate the reliability of public transportation. Today, the public transport has become chronically less preferred (for various reason) even the college girls here are seeking boys with their own vehicle as perquisite to date them. This casts a serious doubt over my aim to end single life by October this year.

Yet, there is no need to have highly intellectual intelligentsia think tank persona to revamp the Malaysian public transport system ( perhaps all the intelligentsia were leased to the judiciary reform task, anti-inflation committee and EPU's ), well then, lets just have a highly motivated operation managers that would debrief Pak Lah on a concrete roadmap. Get Pak Lah himself to do a checklist on the progress. Checklist that he himself fill/ticks, strictly no more report prepared by kaki-bodek. It’s the least he can do if had lost checklist counts for his 5 bombastic corridors. Lets make public transportation as a preferred choice. Lets make it convenient and easy . If it happens, then Pak Lah is partially eligible to claim his ‘Bapa Pembangunan Insan’ title.

The Mayday

Labourers. They thrive, drive, spurs and stirs the economy. Their brute strength and service is compensated with wages. Which will eventually be spend and spread to the different branches of the economy.

Looking back at the Sejarah Tingkatan5 textbook, you’ll notice that the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States is more than a show-off of advanced weaponry or spy versus spy duel. It was more likely a war of ideology. It begun during a kitchen exposition in Moscow when the Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev bravely pointed his finger “we will bury you” (My vas pokhoronim!) towards the capitalist-based western world, particularly the United States. Nations which practices socialism and communism formed a coalition so-called the communist-bloc. The 1957 Malaysian Independence was partly due to the swift wind of anti-colonialism brought along with communism. The British feared it would consume and win the-hearts-and-mind of Malaya citizen. Even, the opportunistic Lee Kwan Yew realized the threat of communism towards his political career, party and Singapore when he proposed the nation-state count into the formation of Malaysia. In the textbook, we were made known that communism is bad since it never allowed its patron to practice religion. Mind you, Iran and Egypt sided with the communist bloc/eastern-bloc. Personally, communism was not that bad at all. The holiday declared on 1^st of May is a legacy left by communism itself.

Diving back further into history, when France was declared as a republic, there are groups of people which declared themselves as the ‘bourgeois’ in the heavily structured social fabric. In Malaysia, the bourgeois class person would be equivalence to the middle-upper class who cari makan through their connection with people of higher places. This class of people disgust the absolute power of royal monarchy and collectively supplanted them. They positioned themselves as people with influence and capable of pointing fingers towards a desired direction where the nation should leads. They maintain close relationship with the ruling/high class. They assume themselves as the crème-de-la-crème and have some sort of bargaining power with the ruler in term of taxes and fine. Burgoise people owns guilts,factories, smelters and plants which employ the proletariats.

Standing below the bourgeois class, are the proletariats. These people are also known as the working-class. They worked in the factories, smelters and plants owned by the bourgeoisies. They are the one who demanded the increase of pay, better allowances and a higher pay for their labor. Hence putting the relationship into a dilemma since the bourgeois are concerned in putting their cost as low as possible and pushing the workers to the extreme limits. With working hours spanning from daybreak till sundown. Women were forced to work under harsh circumstances and children as early as 8years old doing labor are rampant. The bourgeoisies were nothing but filthy rich people putting ruling government on leash made of money.

Karl Marx regarded the bourgeois as people who exploit the proletariats. In our terms would be making money atas angin (out of other work). The bourgeois would be paying a small/minimal sum of money as wages for the proletariats’ labour and sell it for a higher price. This gives them extra income which would be divided into two major portion; first, as for private profit taking and the other part for buying raw materials in order for their work and production to continue. Karl Marx lambasted this idea of socio-economic arrangement as a promotion of master and slave cum exploitation situation. He lauded that the working class are more eligible to determine their wealth distribution.

Communities were preferred rather than selected few, thus the commune lend the origin word for ‘communism’. The hammer and sickle was a sign of power which belongs to the working class.

The proletariats are not uneducated bunch of plebs. They are capable of getting organized created a uniform partisan that reject the bourgeois class. When the proletariats upraised, socialism is effectively in action. Thus, when the bourgeois don’t exist who would own and runs the factories, plants and production facilities? They all become the property of the state. This means the proletariats earned their living straight from the state government. That is why in communist country, celebrity businessman like Donald Trump virtually don’t exist. These countries qualify ‘socialism’. The nation which pretty much opposes the communism-bloc was distraught by this awakening thus making rooms for creation of labor unions and extra provisions in labor rights. Socialism was as strong as a male goose, and all of the capitalist nation could do is allowing the emasculated/downgraded form of socialism fused with democracy in their political scenario. For instance, the current ruling Labour Party of UK headed by Gordon Brown.

Some people said that you cannot drive without looking at the rear view provided by the side mirror or the rear-view mirror. History has taught us that any country in this god green earth could never function with an income gap that is tremendously visible. On the current situation where Malay special right are highly debated and youngsters being hummed to the music of ‘equal opportunities’ and playing-on-the-same-field, they should be made known that the consequences of high differential income among citizens are real and dangerous.

Government interventions in implementing ‘affirmative actions’ to ensure Malays were not lagging in economy should be looked in positive light as a mechanism to close up the income gap/margin. A study conducted reveals that for every RM1 the Malays earned, the Chinese earns RM1.25. Although this income gap is considerably harmless and relatively small, it may take another 100over year to reach income parity between these two races. Yet , the effort to speedily narrow down the income margin would be futile if the mechanism employed were being abused to feed the already fat and rich ‘select-boirgeois-Malay’ whose sons and daughters zooms through the LDP on full pedal while donning their expensive overgrown DKNY/Gucci/Bvlgari/Ray-ban overgrown shades and regards the fuel price increase as a mozzie bite.

The Second International meeting was held in 1910 where representatives of labour and socialist met in Paris; apparently the place where the word ‘bourgeois’ originated. They have declared 1st of May as the official labour day and the legacy continues till today. Personally, I'am neither a proponent of communism nor opponent of capitalism. Both has its pros and cons. Yet,both can never escape the wrath of corruption. But communism made it clear that it is not about restriction on religion freedom ugly face which we see in textbooks, but rather to equality of wealth and balanced social fabric it has offered. Still much had to be learned. I’m just plain glad to usher May with a holiday!

The Resilience

Spice Girls, a relic of pop-culture for the 80’s baby. These girls have long broken up. But their lines: “If you want to be my lover, you gotta get wif my friends“, has got the brain juices flowing.

While flashing back neatly a decade into the past, I am looking forward to a big change in terms of relationship somewhere around October this year. At times, I have been preparing a rock solid foundation which I expect of sustaining a long term relationship rather than flings and scandals. I have to admit it, having short lived relationship is rather frustrating, time wasting and worthless in terms of experience. At normal pace, next October is simple date set to anticipate a big change.

There have been countless self reflection or rather post-mortems being done on why have I failed miserably in previous relationship. As I am committed to create a better and firmer relationship. Those horrible mistakes in the past shall not be something which I can easily regard as ‘Oh! I was young and dumb’, and start a brand new so-called clean slate for the newly found relationship.

Along the way, I have found things that I regretted for not doing or doing. There are miscalculations which had been the obvious reason that led to the collapse of relationships. There are threats and challenges which have not been handled with absolute caution. Time constraints and weaknesses which have been poorly compensate with something that is rather mutually beneficial. And the magic of relationship just enters into the pungent air of uncertainties and confusion before falling like durian luruh.

One of my weaknesses of which I had noticed is my affinity of striking things out in openly manner. For instance, if I disagreed with some of my girlfriend colleague, I shall voice it out or have shown it in somewhat noticeable ways. This type of thing have and often led to arguments which put my partner in a dilemma of jeopardizing the long made friendships or souring the sweetening couple mood.

So there I am with the proposed solution of ‘100/100’, in which I may not interrupt my girlfriend when she is meeting her girls and she will not be involved in any of my social circle gatherings. This is to ensure that she had 100% of space amongst her friends, which on my side I’ll have my share of time to enjoy with my friends too. Some conversation and PDA (public display of affection) can be a bit unsuitable and quirky for fellow friends, plus boys conversations is frankly dirtier than any could ever imagined. There are also concerns of ‘stolen attention’ during my presence amongst her friends. So, In this 100/100 way, I rather have a segregated friendship circles of mine and hers The other 100 would be the 100% absolute focus between each other when we dated without friendship matters coming along the way.

Surely, I am not a big proponent of friendship segregation, so do double standardizing of friends (top friends? Where do the un-top friends fit?) . Eventually, there will be a merge of these social circles, which will take place step by step without urge to rush.

No doubt friends can be very supportive in times when we need them. They understand us well. But there are subliminal ways of friends abusing this specialty when the girlfriend is highly dependent upon them. Perhaps, it has got to be a female trait of maintaining a good vibe around them; they would love to hear the nicest things said about them, so, in an event of which ,I, as a boyfriend, being heavily criticized the relationship might experience an uncomfortable position. I may be shied away or given a cooling-off period of dateless weeks. A collective anticipation amongst her friends to witness the relationship failed can be troublesome and unpredictable. The talks just slipped into the air, and turned out to be strong hope. Applying pressure on the guilt stricken girlfriend which is constantly losing side.

Some did it in a very faint manner of match-making our girlfriend with some guy. Like waiting bait to be captured by prey, the current relationship which eventually fall were ushered with celebration. I even witnessed a situation when a girl gets attached to a man when her friends kept calling this man a leng lui (handsome man in Chinese). This kind of talk cheers and boost up the confidence of a girl. Indeed, it can be real danger when used the opposite way. Surely friend-lover interest needs a skillful balancing act like a trapeze walker. We can just pray and hope, in the unexpected world of human behavior, her friends shall never neglect these support to a form of damage-inflicting blackmailing instrument.

There is nothing wrong for my future girlfriend to have lots of friends. I’ll be glad and would be very pleased to know each and every one of them. Its totally absurd to put someone on a leash, blinding or deafening them from hostile voices in the air. I personally belief, certain quarters of friends can provide support in situation argument happens. They provide a far of better channels for girlfriend to voice out their tribulations regarding relationship rather than ending up a relationship in a bitter third party sympathique tactic manner. I trust that a good friend listens and understands well, yet, there are limits of stories that shall encroach into the insecure public air.

Some relationships are subject to under a great deal of influence by friends/peeps/clique of our girlfriend. Worst come to worst; vital decision has to get their consent. Like a senate hall or something, all the words mentioned to your girlfriend have been illicitly passed to her friends in order to get the majority approval. How can we justify situation like these, when a relationship which are built on trust demands a certain level of secrecy has been broken. Until what level shall a person like me remained ‘accommodating’ towards the voices of these ‘intruders senate’ suggesting this and that? Do this and that?

Since we cannot possibly shut the mouth of our girlfriend peeps/friends/clique, plus its their claimable rights for free speech. I expect certain level of mantle, strength and resilience from my future girlfriend, apart from clever balancing act. While on my part, I’ll ensure that I maintain a positive relationship vibe between me and her social circle. Some may argue that I should have taken it easy. But irony seems to find its way in fate, and facebook is very generous to include ‘it’s complicated’ for the status box.