making money out of AF3 fever

Last night, the number of pelajar was down to 12. I'm a fan of the reality show since I was introduced to AF 2 last year by my Sis. No doubt the show is better than Astro Talent Quest (Chinese), Malaysian Idol, Audition or Mentor. I do watch all these shows to be in position to comment on this. However I'm not going to comment about the quality of the shows or even compare them.

I must salute to the people at Astro. These people really know how to generate money. Last season, AF charged 50 sen per sms/vote but this year they increase it to 65 sen per vote which is an increase of 30%. All the mobile service providers already lower their sms rates to as low as 1 sen per sms. Even Astro Talent Quest still charge 50 sen per vote. I really pity the voters and chatters at Channel @15 for being so fanatic about the show and they wouldn't mind spending hundreds of ringgit (this information was obtained based on my observation on channel @15). There was even this funny guy who say something like this in the chatroom: "Bini tak mau bagi wang. Aku gadai motor. Sekarang ada kredit RM1000 untuk AFundi."

Astro is so smart that they bring back Mawi, the pelajar that generate the most income for them. He was not chosen in the initial stage but because of the big demand from the chatters, the number of students were increased to 14 pelajar just to accomodate the request from AF fans. The other pelajar chosen to join back AF3 is Marsha. This Mawi guy was so phenomenal that even the host Aznil called him TsuMawi (originated from a chatter @15). He has his fan clubs all over Malaysia and they are ready to spend hundreds of ringgit each just to make him a winner at AF3.

I don't know what so great about Mawi. Some chatters say it's his aura. Some say it's his great voice (with some nasyid touch). But I only hear mediocre singing. He even constantly forget his song lyrics. What I see in those fans is they are trying to realise their dream by turning a kampung boy into a popstar just like in movies. These fans are fanatics and some even says that they are going to vote even if he doesn't sing. Another Carrie Underwood in the making I think.

Despite other talents like Idayu and Felix or even Amylea, Mawi is going to the AF3 champ this year. Trust me because the fanatic fans already invested a lot of money on him. But the BIGGEST winner here is none other than Astro.

I'm starting to get sick of these singing competitions that involves voting system. This is even worse than gambling. At least in gambling you still have a slight chance of winning money for yourself. I suggest AF3 fans or even the coming up Malaysian Idol fans to buy 4D or Jackpot instead of wasting money voting.

working 5 days

Thanks to CUEPACS and now it's a dream come true for the civil servants to work 5 days a week starting July 1. I'm not really against the civil servants (no I don't envy them) just because most of us including myself work like a dog in the private sectors. I'm viewing this in a perspective of a taxpayer.

Each year CUEPACS just can't stop asking for more. Bonuses, increments, better benefits, shorter working hours/day, etc. Everyday we have to deal with the people of the servicing department and yet, they never increase the standard of the services. We talk about our teenagers having to go through the National Service to build their characters. And I suggest the government department have all the civil servants to go for a boot camp to build their character as well.

Instead of working selamba (as if there are no long queues waiting for them), going for breakfast and tea break and no teamwork (if an officer is away for a break or watever reason, don't expect her colleague will take over and attend you), civil servants should show more enthusiasm and responsibilities in their job. I don't mean to sound racist (I'm not one) but I've even seen the non-Malays are not proactive and just mind their own business just to fit in to the group (Rule #1 for non-Malay working with the government: Don't pandai-pandai want to show off that you are hardworking).

Whatever it is, the 5 days work is going to be a reality. I just hope our beloved PM will emphasize more on the productivity and upgrade the standard of the servicing departments within the government. By increasing the working hours from 8 hours to 8 1/2 hours definitely will not increase productivity. Again, I really hope CUEPACS will not fight for 4 working days (so that the civil servants can off on Friday) in the future because that will definitely decrease the productivity of the country.

goddess jolie

Finally I went to watch Mr and Mrs Smith last night. I have to admit that I'm a big fan of Angelina Jolie (and I used to like Brad Pitt a lot when he was first featured in the movie Thelma and Louise many many years ago).

Mr and Mrs Smith was indeed a movie with a simple story line that intend to sell the two sexy hot stars. However, the real star in this movie is Jolie. She simply outshine Pitt himself. She again proves herself as one of the Hollywood A-list action star. Mr and Mrs Smith is indeed a Jolie movie.

However, I still miss the old Jolie. Remember her movies such as Foxfire, Hackers and Gia whereby her characters are much deeper (and often androgynous which is simply nice to watch). Nowadays her films are too commercialise. I wish to see her in dramatic movies that will show more of her acting skills (which she has) and of course earn her an Oscar.

Mr and Mrs Smith is not really my cup of tea although the movie done fairly well. The night before I was at the AEI, UM to watch a rather moving movie called Central Station. It was a 1998 Brazilian movie by the director Water Salles. The best things about watching this movie was I don't have to pay a cent and don't even have to line up to get a ticket (there's even refreshment provided). Central Station was an award winning movie that express the triumph of the human spirit.

The story is about Dora, a single and lonely elderly woman who earns her living by writing letters for illiterate customers at the Rio de Janeiro's Central Station. Things however begin to change when she reluctantly befriend a homeless orphan, Josue. She agrees to help Josue search for the father that he never known. The journey becomes a quest for their own identities, a boy who search for his father and a woman who search for her heart. Indeed a movie with a big heart!

Think I will spend every Wednesday watching movie at AEI rather than trying hard to get tickets at TGV (and M-Cinema doesn't even work at all).

counting down to wimbledon 2005

After recovering from the clay courts stretch and the less exciting warm up matches on grass courts, we are just 5 days away from the Grand Slam in Wimbledon.

Again we have Roger Federer and Andy Roddick as the top two seeds. French Open champ, Rafael Nadal, is seeded forth. Although he was knocked out in the first round at Halle right after his winning in Roland Garros, I believe he will fast regaining his momentum for the upcoming Grand Slam and perform even better than last year (he crashed out in the third round).

However, my main focus in Wimbledon is definitely Maria Sharapova. Nothing is sweeter than to see her retaining her championship here. She proves that she is the princess of grass court recently by winning the Birmingham title. Her toughest competition in Wimbledon is none other than Justine Henin-Hardenne. Somehow I just feel that Justine is on the verge to regain her top ranking although I wanted badly Sharapova to hit the #1.

My bet for the men and women singles this year got to be Federer and Justine (although my ideal champs are Rafa and Sharapova).