malays are lazy - from the movie Sepet

I was supposed to post this blog last Saturday but had been busy with other stuff.

Yasmin Ahmad, a reputable director, was in UM for the screening of the movie Sepet. Actress Sharifah Amani was present as well. It was my first time watching the movie and I would say that it's just mediocre. Perhaps I had a high expectation on this movie. After all the movie did win at the International Festival of Women’s Films in France and a couple of other special mention at international film festivals.

It's not really the movie that I want to talk about but rather the reaction from the audiences. As quoted from the movie itself, the character Orked (played by Sharifah Amani) said that Malays are lazy. Of course, it puts the Malay audiences into a very uncomfortable situation during the show. Even myself as a Chinese was a bit shock and I was hoping there was no big reaction from a couple of Malays sitting in front of me. To be honest, it is pretty normal for other races to label Malays that way but we definitely won't say that in front of them.

After the show, the Malay girls sitting in front of me left and did not came back for the conversation between Dr. Wan Zawawi and Yasmin Ahmad. So, there was this Malay guy taking over the seat. During the Q&A session, this Malay guy was so fired up and he expressed his dissatisfaction about the remark that Malays are lazy to Yasmin.

Dr Wan Zawawi mentioned that the movie was debated in the Dewan Negara and was labelled as unpatriotic. From my perspective, I believe this movie can be improved through better scriptwriting. The racism issue in this movie was not well addressed and tackled. However, I hope to see more of her movies in the future.

finally I've decided to give up AF3 for Malaysian Idol

I have made up my mind! I'm going to stop watching Akademi Fantasia 3 and go for the real talents instead. Yes, despite all the bad things I've said about the judges and hosts on Malaysian Idol, I promise to spend my Friday night watching the idol wannabes on 8TV.

It is sad because AF3 has a better format compare to MI. However the fanatic fans on AF doesn't believe in real talents. Contestant like Idayu was kicked out from the competition although she has proven herself as the best singer among her peers. Chatters in Astro Channel @15 even said AF is not a place for talented people like her and she should have join MI instead.

The judges on AF make no difference at all. Despite all the sincere and wise comments, even Shafinaz (no doubt, one of the best judges on AF) got booed by Mawi's fanatic fans last week. What a shame!

Hopefully things will be different on Malaysian Idol. We definitely don't want to see contestants being vote for nothing. We want to see real talents. We want the real deal! Please, no tv shows that suck money from voters and certainly not fanatic fans that monopolize the whole show.

even Prince William studied geography

So, why geography is not made a compulsory subject in the SPM level?

In the Chinese education, geography is said to be one of the most important subject. It teaches you about the relationship and impact between people and its environment.

Now we see Prince William graduated with a master of arts degree in geography. Then I came to know this quote by Albert Einstein, the greatest scientist ever. Here's what he said about geography:

"As a young man, my fondest dream was to become a geographer. However, ... I thought deeply about the matter and concluded it was too difficult a subject. With some reluctance I then turned to physics as a substitute." ~ Albert Einstein

He must be kidding, wasn't he? Perhaps this is the reason why our ministry of education only make it an elective subject in the SPM level.

so, all the top scorers are doctors?

It seems that all our top scorers only see medicine as the only choice for them. I really don't understand why they have to limit the sky and opportunity in other fields other than medicine?

Are our top scorers only a bunch of nerds who are only good in memorizing medical terminology but not good enough to make millions of ringgit in the business world?

There are variety of careers out there. Besides being a doctor, wouldn't it be great if we have some of the brainiest people to be the best archeologist who made important and historical discovery to our country or to the world? Or perhaps becoming an economist who win the first Nobel Prize for the country? Or even a geologist who constantly appear in National Geographic to share his expertise?

In the end, it really makes no sense to me that top scorers only wants to be doctors.