Here’s my take on how to successfully execute a lift in dance :

1. Trust - both partners must trust that each will do their part in executing the lift (i.e. both must do the work and not rely on the other to do all the work)
2. Take Decisive Actions – execute the necessary steps to perform the lift with confidence. Don’t rush but don’t be unsure either. You need to be sure of yourself.
3. Follow Thru – don’t hesitate in the middle of the lift because this might throw you off-balance and cause a fall. Just do it (of course, make sure you know the proper steps first) and follow thru till the end.

And TA DAAAAAAAAA!

We learnt this lift at MSF 2007. I still remembered how to do it!!!
Learnt another lift in this year’s MSF. Need to get the pics from Sam.

“The Malays and bumiputeras do not want to be given only table scraps. We also want the main course of the economic stake,” said the veteran politician.

So says the Perkasa dude who seems to be completely off his rocker, based on the pictures that are published of him in the media. Seriously, have you seen pictures of him? He looks deranged!

First and foremost, I think the usage of the bumiputera term is grossly inaccurate because based on reports, it seems that the REAL bumiputeras have not been getting what they are entitled for. And personally, being Malay doesn’t automatically qualify one as bumiputera, if you go by the pure meaning of “sons of soil.”

And, if you want the main course, WORK for it! Isn’t it enough that so many ‘privileges’ have been and still are being handed to your people (since you want to play the race game) on a gold platter for years?

What? Scared that your ‘special privileges’ might be taken away? Scared to have to actually WORK to get what you want? Time to join the real world!

If you want something, you can bloody well put in the hard work to get it like the rest of the world and stop whining all the time! I’m so sick of reading/hearing about them crying and yelling whenever someone mentions anything about the NEP! Like, “Don’t you dare question the NEP because you are not Malay nor bumiputera.” *pukes and barfs* HALLO?! It is MY hard-earned tax money that is being used to support some of the likes of you lazy $#@%!!!

Gawd, sometimes I just feel like slapping these people.

Disclaimer : I’m totally aware that this doesn’t apply to ALL Malays. Unfortunately, the majority shouting the loudest seem to be coming from this incompetent bunch, and it doesn’t help that their voices are the ones being headlined in the news almost everyday.

UPDATE

Was relating this story to Mich during lunch and ranting, and she told me to let it go, he’s an arse. Why? Because he cancelled his MC gig at her friend’s event TWO hours before the event was to go on.

Cancelling TWO hours before the event?! How unprofessional is that?!
It doesn’t matter if there was a valid reason for cancelling; he should have gotten a replacement if he really couldn’t make it for a good reason. But no, Mich’s friend had to end up scrambling to look for another MC at that last hour.

~~~~~

Some time down the road, I’ll probably look back at this incident and reflect on the hilarity and absurdness of the whole situation but right now, I am downright incensed by it all.

At this year’s Malaysian Salsa Festival, I was assisting the Hubs to take some close-up shots of the performances. On the last night, we set up at our usual spot which was in the center back of the room together with James, slightly diagonal from the DJ/audio console.

So we were standing around there, waiting for the event to start (this was before doors were opened for people to take their seats). In strides this local celebrity who was MC-ing the event.

Almost from the start, he was barking orders at people…. “Where’s my mic? Where’s my mic?” I heard from where I was standing. I was thinking to myself “Wow, your parents didn’t teach you how to say ‘please’, is it?” James muttered “You mean you didn’t get the memo to bring your own mic?” LOL! So funny!

Then Local Diva went towards the stage and proceeded to test his mic(s). One of the first things he said was “Is this a bharatanatyam event? Welcome to Temple of Fine Arts” blah blah blah because a lot of the ground crew were Indian. I was thinking, and getting more annoyed at this point “Is this dude kidding? What the hell IS his problem?” He probably thought he was making a smart joke but unfortunately for him, no one was laughing. What a racist arse!

I was, at this point, standing with my back facing the stage because I was already annoyed by his diva-ness and lack of courtesy to the ground crew, and since I know the muka tahi I can have when I’m around people I don’t like, I thought it was best I didn’t show my face.

So there I was minding my own business and fiddling with the camera, not listening nor paying attention to what was going on around me coz it didn’t have anything to do with me and I couldn’t be bothered, when I caught some snippets of “…perempuan yang pegang kamera tu, dia orang Malaysia ke?” and in a condescending tone at that. It didn’t register to me immediately that he was talking about me so I still continued facing the back for a while then I turned around to face the stage (and Local Diva).

Here’s the exchange that happened next (I’m not proud of how I reacted but that was the only thing I could think of at that very moment).

Local Diva : Hey you, girl with the camera. Are you Malaysian? (in the same condescending tone he used earlier)
Me : What do you think? (in the most sarcastic tone I could muster coz the first thing that came to my mind was “Why is this silly man being so rude to me, I didn’t do anything and I have no idea what he’s talking about!)
Local Diva : I don’t know, there are so many internationals here. Why are you so snotty? Malaysians are polite people. (the nerve of this idiot! HE was racist and rude right from the beginning!)… *and he stalked off*
Me : *speechless* (coz I was really speechless, dunno how to react coz he was rude to me in the first place!)

I was fuming by then because not only had he insulted me, he had insulted me with his mic on in front of a whole bunch of people! I continued fuming throughout the night and it totally ruined my mood.

Much later, I learnt that while he was testing the mic, he was asking “Can you hear me” but no one responded to him. That was when he made the comment in Malay about the “perempuan pegang kamera”. I don’t know why he picked on me because there were so many other people there whom he could’ve pick on. Maybe because I had my back to him and him being a celebrity, my theory is that he can’t bear NOT having the full attention of every single person in the room. Or maybe coz I was the only female there who looked like a crew (perempuan pegang kamera ma) so he thought he could pick on a female?

Anyway, when I found out about this, I fumed even more because hello?! How the hell was I supposed to know you were talking to me, you imbecile?! I was not facing you and it wouldn’t have mattered if I were because the room was dark and I couldn’t see nuts, you didn’t specify “Hey camera person, can you please let me know if you can hear me” (I would’ve been willing to help if he had asked politely). Most of all, the audio people were in the room so why the hell didn’t they respond to his highness?! Instead, they just stood there, mute and acting dumb, while I had to take the rap. Argh!! Such incompetence!!

You know what, I was there as a full paying participant and helping a friend out by unofficially assisting to photograph their performance. I wasn’t there as a sound crew NOR did I sign up to get publicly insulted by some local diva aka former newscaster nincompoop.

In hindsight, I reacted rather than responded (we covered this during our teambuilding) and this part I’m not proud of but at that moment, I felt like I was being attacked so my defenses went up and unfortunately, I didn’t handle it as well as I’d like to have imagined. Note to self : Work on responding, not reacting.

Now I know which events to boycott because I know this imbecile will most likely to be invited to MC. Guilty by association, so too bad, I’m not attending any more events by this organizer. If this organizer chooses to get divas to MC their events, they better learn how to manage them.

In conclusion, this is the 2nd unintentional case study of myself that proves I will not “give face” to anyone, I don’t care if s/he is a celebrity or some titled person, if I find that the person is not behaving with integrity and doesn’t show common courtesy to others.

It also strengthens my perception of the rich and famous thus far i.e. they think they are all that just because they have money and fame and expect everyone else to serve them.

The recent trainings/teambuilding events that I’ve attended for work seem to have been somewhat of a soul-searching trip for me because the activities/teachings made me learn more about myself.

Like, for example, how I am a very high C personality (as per my previous post on my DISC personality assessment).

Ever since I can remember, I get very annoyed when people cannot follow simple rules/regulations and instructions, such as not running red lights, queueing up to wait for their turn, not bringing in outside food into the cinema, silencing their phones in the cinema, not throwing thrash out of their cars, not switching off meeting room lights when they are done using the room, and not cleaning up the board when they are done with the room, to name a very few.

I also get very pissed off when people don’t practice what they preach. Like, in the last organization I was attached to, the company was forever preaching their core values like respect for the individual and best people. However, in my last assignment, the partner who was heading the program was one of the main culprits who yells at team members in public and belittles them in full view of others. I remember on several occasions, hearing him berating his managers and senior managers in their weekly status meetings, and this was behind closed doors! Can you imagine how loud he was?! Although I didn’t get ‘hit’ directly by this partner, I couldn’t stand his treatment of the others and this was one of my main motivators of leaving the firm. (Side note : I recently found out that to-date (from April 2009 till now), 72 people have resigned from this project. And this is not including those who resigned when they found out that they were assigned to this project i.e. prior to even commencing work on the project. The attrition rate should count towards the management KPI. Best people? Yeah right. Where are their best people now?)

The most recent experience I’ve had was with the world’s local bank. They sold me their credit card by promising to waive the RM50 govt. fee if I made a minimum of 5 transactions on the card within the month. I transacted 5 times, didn’t pay the RM50 when it was charged to my bill and when they called up to chase for payment, I told them that they were supposed to waive it because I met the requirements. They told me to call up the call center to get it waived, which I did. And the call center agent kindly informed me that they cannot waive fees charged by the govt. Which utterly pissed my off because that was what they promised me in the first place. If they are not allowed to waive govt. fees, then don’t bloody offer it to customers! I am more than willing to pay the fee if they didn’t promise to waive it. Since they informed me that they cannot waive it, I am planning to close all my accounts and terminate any dealings with the world’s local bank. I really hate it when companies promise the sky just to get a sale.

When things like these happen (e.g. organizations or people who do not keep up to their promises), I will do whatever it takes to disassociate myself from them because it disgusts me to be linked to them in any way. I don’t care if the organization is an established one or the person is a well-known/older/more experienced person; I will not ‘give face’. Actually, it’s even more shameful and disgusting that an established organization or a well-known/older/more experienced person would commit something like this because they are supposed to know better!

Now that I know I’m a high C personality, it makes more sense why I cannot tolerate situations like these i.e. non-compliance and lack of integrity.

Back to practicing what we preach. Before I complain about something or someone, I will make sure that I myself don’t do the thing that I am complaining about e.g. if I don’t like people cutting queues, I will make sure that I myself don’t cut queues. What really irks me is that when people complain about something or someone, sometimes I’ll find that they are committing the exact thing that they complained about! Isn’t that like, double standards? If you don’t like it, then don’t do it. Else, you have no right to complain when other people do the same.

Another thing I’ve observed about myself is that when in a group, I will always consider my actions based on the collective good of the group (not sure if this relates directly to my high C personality). For example, if I went on a white water rafting trip with my friends and there are 7 of us in total but the raft can fit max 6 people, I will willingly offer to join another raft so that my 6 other friends can be on the same raft together. I don’t think this is a noble gesture; I think it’s just a logical thing to do to ensure minimal
impact to the group. It’s a simple thing to do but you would be surprised, not many people would offer to do it. Years back, someone mentioned to me that I would be a good hiking team member because I wouldn’t keep my team members back if I were to get caught in a dangerous situation.

There are so many instances I’ve come across where people don’t take responsibility and accountability for their actions, both in and out of work. For example, why do people throw thrash out of their cars? If they can keep their car clean, why not extend it to the roads? Why do people not park within their alloted parking spots? Don’t they realize that when they are out of their box, they are reducing the no. of parking spots for others because the next car won’t be able to park in the next lot? To me, these types of behaviors show one’s selfishness and immaturity.

Ultimately, my principles and values center around integrity, honesty, responsibility and accountability. And not to leave out humility as well. I can be flexible in other aspects but I will not compromise on these.

Took Nessa for her regular checkup today and found out that she might have borderline diabetes

Hope it’s just a bladder infection, which was what the vet confirmed, but will check again in 3 weeks after a course of antibiotics.

Poor Nessa, am praying hard she doesn’t have diabetes coz she’s been through enough. Sigh…

~~~~~

When I was paying for the meds, this man came in with a cat in a cage. He was telling the staff that it’s a stray cat that’s been around the back of his house for a year and he wants her to be put down coz she’s been bothering the neighbors.

According to the man, the cat was abandoned by her owners when they moved.

What’s really sad is that the cat is really pretty, quite similar to Trixie (my sis’ cat) in in color and fur. The man said she couldn’t get along with his cats and also he’s already got a number of cats at his house.

Every so often, I have to keep telling myself I can’t save them all because if I don’t, I’ll get consumed by guilt and probably drive myself insane. But it’s really heartbreaking to see such a pretty and healthy (I’m assuming, from her appearance) cat be put down thru no fault of her own.

I hope her previous owners, whoever and wherever they are, will burn in hell for just abandoning her like that, and now for getting her killed.

“Aiyaaaa… what la you, babe”

That’s what Sophie says… dunno why it came into my mind today, hehe…

I’m down with flu bug…. “Aiyaaaaa… how come you like that ar”…. I can just imagine Sophie saying that, LOL!

Clearly my mind is not in its right place at the moment.

o_O

Update : Just realized that I read an email wrongly (read too fast) and volunteered to take up something which I wasn’t even required to do. Ugh! Such dumbness!

~~~~~

It’s been a busy few months and things look like they’re gonna get busier.

Busy is good, as long as it’s manageable.

But I’ve been having many questions in my mind; my whole life seems to be made up of questions. Ugh.

I think the hectic weeks are taking its toll now *cough cough*

I recently understood something about the male brain. Understood, but not accepted.

I never understood how men can have sex with women they don’t even like. I can’t imagine myself doing it with a man I don’t like in that way. Grotesque. *shudders*

So one of the books I’m currently reading explains about evolutionary biology and psychology, and how male brains are structured. Apparently, male brains are made up of compartments with no relation between each compartment. So sex to them is just the act of doing it. And the reason why they can stomach doing it with someone they don’t even like is because their emotion compartment is in another part of their brain. The driver of this is so because males’ ultimate goal in life is to pro-create and to spread their seeds as far as they can sow. Back in the Neanderthal days anyway.

NOW I understand why they can do it. But I don’t accept it because accepting it kind of absolves them of this type of
behavior, doesn’t it? Sure, this is how males operate but no, it is not acceptable. At least, not to me.

*Back to the book to find out more interesting bits*

I’m usually awake by 6:45am on weekdays. By the time I’m ready to leave for work, I would’ve completed the following chores :

Sweep floor.
Put the laundry in the wash.
Boil water and fill up the thermos.
Feed cats (food).
Feed cats (pills).
Clean cats’ litter pans.
Hang up laundry.
Have breakfast.
Shower.
Dress for work.

All the above, save for the laundry, is done on a daily basis.

~~~~~

It never fails to astound me how some people can be so devoid of initiative… in normal day-to-day tasks as well as life-changing / big decisions. Sometimes it amazes me how they get to where they are today and how they continue living their lives. Sometimes I feel like giving them a good shake and say “Life will be over before you know it if you don’t start getting off your butt.”

I guess it usually takes a life-altering event (like having a brush with death) to motivate one to take action. That is, if one is lucky enough to survive the event.

Sometimes I feel like I get taken for granted.

Usually when someone asks me to do something for them, if I am able to do it, I normally wouldn’t say no.

But sometimes, I just wish people would put in a little effort to try to sort their tasks themselves before asking me to do it for them, especially when the information is readily available and all they need to do is put in a little bit of effort to digest and make sense of the information.

I find that a lot of people would just look at a task on hand and immediately say “I don’t know how” before trying to dig a little deeper to find out the details and how to go about completing the task. And mind you, this is not only work-related. And it bugs me because when they ask me to do it and I find the information so easily on how to complete the task, I’m like “Did they even try?”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy to help someone out, especially if they are having problems or incapacitated to perform their tasks. But it annoys me when people, who are perfectly capable of carrying out their tasks, don’t make the effort to do so before asking someone else to do it.

You are busy, I am busy, everyone is busy. Although I am happy to help you out, it would be helpful if you put in some effort and try to do your homework to complete your task before giving up and asking me to do it.

I should learn how to say ‘no’ sometimes. Because trying to juggle my work and schedule, AND worrying/thinking about other people’s tasks is just too much.