Weekend Away: Warwick '05

Weekend Away: Warwick 2005 was held on 18-20 February, 2005. Actually, that's just the name I gave to my short excursion to attend Malaysia Night 2005 at the University of Warwick. It was a good opportunity to continue the ongoing effort to meet up with old friends and see the other universities in the UK. I put up with Azmir a.k.a. dx-antagonist a.k.a. tukang karut dikir Warwick, for the duration of the weekend.

The University of Warwick is a 20 minutes' bus ride from the town of Coventry, which in turn is accessible by bus or train from London. Kinda like how KMYS is separated from Tanjong Malim. The similarity is all the more heightened by the University's pristine, countryside setting - a far cry from the hustle and bustle of London. There is certainly no major town or city of Warwick in the vicinity; buses serving the University pass from Coventry to Leamington Spa, with the campus located in the middle of the route.

The modern facilities and peaceful surroundings of the university was very impressive indeed. Using my University of London card I managed to gain access to their well-stocked library, which even has an array of daily newspapers from the UK and continental Europe (which does make me a bit jealous, having to fork out 20p each day for my own copy here cos we don't have anything like that). The campus is well-signposted, such that even when I was exploring alone there was never any serious difficulty in finding the way. The whole thing is like the feel you get in Malaysian IPTAs like UM, USM and UPM, a nice neat campus atmosphere. Azmir's room, like the others in the aptly-named Lakeside Residence, is very well-furnished - with en-suite bath and shower and a kitchen overlooking rolling expanses of grassland just like what you get in Enid Blyton storybooks.

There are no problems of supply (jargon for difficulty in getting affordable basic groceries) at all, since there is a well-stocked Costcutters' within the central campus and a shopping complex at Cannon Park within easy walking distance. Housing a giant Tesco besides Iceland, Boots, the DIY store Wilkinson's and even a bargain fruit shop among others, Cannon Park leaves practically nothing to be desired by the average student shopper. Tesco shopping carts in fact appear at certain curious places on campus. One was spotted lying at the bottom of a shallow river and another was wheeled by unseen (backstage) hands onto the stage of the Malaysia Night play. =P

The Malaysia Night itself was a great performance and the Malaysian students of Warwick have certainly succeeded in portraying the richness and diversity of Malaysian culture at its best. The event kicked off with a series of Malay, Chinese and Indian dances followed by the main play, titled "Which One Are You?" After that was an array of solo and not-so-solo renditions of songs and acrobatic stunts. The stirring finale of the night was a dikir barat performance by about 60-odd students. One could really see the spirit and enthusiasm brimming in the participants as they rendered the traditional Wau Bulan and Dikir Puteri. It was absolutely magnificent.

At this point I will say a little about the play, "Which One Are You". Fair warning was given over the PA system that this was meant to make us "think a little", and indeed what ensued was an intriguing piece of realist, reflective drama. I am not very certain that this level of dramatic depth is most suitable for an event such as Malaysia Night, but then again I am sure the directors and organisers had considered this at length before deciding to proceed. My reading of the play's message is this: like it or not, in life we are constantly being expected to fulfil certain roles in a way similar to how actors are expected to fulfil their roles in the script. If we come to "realize" this, there is a real risk that we will soon tire of the futility of it all. Yet if we don't, we just continue performing the same role day after day, and over time the roles of people in society become classifiable along the lines of certain stereotypes - hence the title "Which one are you?" That of course is strictly my own perception of the play (which invokes memories of the days I was reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for my A-Levels in Literature, when the message was rather similar), and I am sure many members of the audience formed different views of the whole thing.

On the overall it was a great Weekend Away, indeed I could not have asked for better hosts or better company over the weekend. I even managed to get my hands on "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", which I had been in search of for some time, at the university bookshop so there you are.

It was an icy Sunday on which I travelled back to London, via Birmingham, and on the long journey my mind went back to the time of UCAS applications. Although Warwick was the first university to send me their prospectus, I never seriously considered them - partly because I was quite set on coming to the University of London. As it turned out Warwick is a very nice place after all, I thought. =)

Dominant Intelligence - DI?

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Came across this while surfin' through friends' pages and thought it might be nice to try out for fun. Oh well. I'm already doing a Law course ... though not that I'm fantastic at it - certainly my current grades aren't =P

Makan @ Mawar

On 19 February 2005, some 45 ex-KMYS/KYUEMians descended on Mawar Restaurant, Edgware Road for a night of reunion, frolicking and good ol' Malaysian food.

Organised by the Alumni Kolej Yayasan UEM (AKYUEM), this event managed to bring together a significant number of former KMYS/KYUEM students who are now pursuing further vistas of excellence in universities across the UK.

Although the overwhelming majority of those present are currently based in the London universities of LSE, King's, Imperial College and UCL, a contingent from Southampton was also spotted at the event. Also present was Nizatul Laili, who endured an eight-hour bus ride from the University of Glasgow to attend the event ... well done!

The dinner provided an excellent opportunity to meet up once more and catch up on each other's developments since moving on to study in the United Kingdom. The steaming nasi campur and authentic Malaysian curry was also a welcome relief from the somewhat bland local cuisine and the perfect escapade from the chill of the British winter. In no time at all, we the guests at the dinner were moving around chatting up friends and seniors. There were even "couples' tables" where some familiar pairs were blissfully seated to enjoy the night. A great many photo sessions were also held, with the usual dose of humour from Iedil, Shahmeen and Co. It was a whiff of the old days once more.

Two college alumni, Azlan (Abn) and Zaid Waqiyuddin (Waq) celebrated their birthdays in conjunction with the dinner. Nik Nazmi (Budu), the AKYUEM president, also informally addressed the gathering about the planned Konvoi back to Lembah Beringin for KYUEM Alumni Nite 2005 this summer. It is hoped that an even more encouraging turnout will be recorded for that rendezvous this year.

In retrospect, Makan @ Mawar (as it was called) provided a great opportunity for the alumni of KMYS/KYUEM to gather and enjoy the company of old friends once more. The turnout was overwhelmingly from the batch of 2002-2004, though our immediate seniors managed a contingent of about 10. Perhaps with a greater "diversity of batches", such gatherings could be made even better still in future. But all the same, it remains a night to remember for all who were there.

Chinese New Year Open Room

Dear friends,

The Chinese New Year begins on Feb 9 this year, which is this first day in the Year of the Rooster. On the evening of Feb 8, many Chinese families around the world will be having the traditional reunion dinner, held to symbolise the coming together of the family at the close of yet another year.

This Chinese New Year, you are very welcome to visit me at Frances Gardner House, London. I will be around during the customary Chinese New Year celebration period of 15 days, except for the weekend of 18-20 Feb. Do feel free to drop by and spread the cheer.

Lessons will go on during the period, however, so the best times to drop by are after 4pm each day, except weekends when I'm usually free after midday.

Juz give a call to confirm the time you're coming. No mandarin oranges required. No ang pows given, either. =D

"Xin jia ju yi"

Happy Chinese New Year 2005

Angry and disappointed (reposted again)

Let me make this clear. Posting my view on what I felt to be an unjustified interpretation of the recent tsunami tragedy (below) was not an invitation for the attaching of links to pages making all sorts of wild allegations about who is sponsoring which terrorist organisation.

It has very recently come to my attention that following the post, a reader has placed a link in the Comments section. I have read the page to which it connects. It contains a variety of serious, false and unsubstantiated allegations about so-called "links" between Malaysia and the international terrorist network. There are indeed many such websites floating in the anonymity of cyberspace nowadays.

I strongly disapprove of this page and the allegations it contains. I will not accept the making and dissemination of false information maligning the reputation of Malaysia. As Malaysians abroad, I believe that it is our duty to maintain and justify the good name of the country in words as well as deeds.

For these reasons, although I have no control over what one may choose to tack on as "comments" to my posts, I have blocked that particular "comment" and disallowed any further commentary on that post. If one wishes to gain access to such baseless and inflammatory vitriol it will not be through my site.

One only needs to look at the breakdown of social and moral ethics, rising intolerance among youngsters and institutionalised prejudice (to name a few) that exist in the West to realize that Western culture and values are far from being a bed of roses. Before climbing on their self-proclaimed pedestal to preach to countries like Malaysia, Western critics would do well to take a good hard look at the flaws of their own society first.

The Month That Was

Finally got my flight ticket home ... after a period of uncertainty, I settled on a Malaysia Airlines deal including an extra leg to Sydney, Australia. The package set me back (or rather, is going to set me back since I've not already paid) some 560 pounds, inclusive of all taxes and visa costs.

So 25 May is the date to look forward to then ... not bad timing since I will be exactly 21 years and 2 months old on that date =) Will be off for a short holiday to visit Ben in Sydney in early July, before returning to the UK on 24 Sept. Exactly 4 months of summer break, which is nice considering that UCL gives us so much to do in the first two terms and relatively shorter breaks in between.

Booking of the flight was THE event of the last week-and-a-half for me, a week which was otherwise dominated by work, work and guess what? more work.

What a month it has been. The relatively successful elections in Iraq, which saw millions of Iraqis defy the extremists by turning out to play a part in determining that country's future, was a most welcome development. Indeed, although the individual winners of the election may not be known yet, the election has clearly produced a victory for the people of Iraq, who now have another reason to believe the worst days are over. No doubt there will be many more extremist attacks in the days to come, but the failure of the terrorists to induce a postponement or even cancellation of the election has meant a giant step on the road to the ultimate withdrawal of allied forces and restoration of sovereignty to a democratic Iraq.

It was also refreshing to read about our Deputy Prime Minister reiterating the Malaysian viewpoint on global terrorism at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He spoke of "the factors that do not justify terrorism but are driving it.”(The Star, 30 January). In saying this, he was urging the West to neutralise "the issues that are being exploited by the al-Qaeda, the al-Qaeda network and the al-Qaeda inspired terrorists to gain sympathy and support." I agree with his statement. There is a need for a serious effort by the world powers to resolve issues such as poverty and the Palestinian Question that are turning many young minds to the warped teachings of extremists. In the long run that is going to be the way to ensure the security of the West itself, and their leaders recognise this. But it is also right to identify organisations like al-Qaeda as terrorists, and to clearly demarcate between support for the resolution of those socio-economic problems and support for the terrorists themselves. Al-Qaeda is rightly termed a terrorist organisation. In its world view no pluralist, democratic form of government is safe, and the Malaysian Government rightly recognises this.

Speaking of the resolution of Third World socio-economic issues, it was also interesting to hear the Bush-Condoleeza Rice team talk about bringing democracy to a whole new list of countries, including Burma, Zimbabwe, Venezuela etc. You'd have thought that getting bogged down in one military quagmire (Iraq) would be enough even for a country like the United States. Apparently not for a guy like George W.Bush.

My view is that US action against any of these "regimes" at all is not going to happen, which is why the list was rightly not afforded much publicity in the press. Because the Administration's biggest foreign policy problem in the new term (besides Iraq) is going to be Iran. It will be credit enough for Bush if he can achieve any sort of resolution in that affair, let alone try to get involved anywhere near Rangoon in the short term.

Why? Because Iran is building The Bomb. The Iranians are restricting international monitoring and announcing a resumption of their "peaceful" nuclear programme. The US is mighty afraid of that. Not afraid that a bomb is going to be officially launched by the Iranian government against what they call the "Great Satan", since by way of retaliation the US has enough nukes of its own to blow the world to bits. The real fear is that an Iranian bomb will find its way, with or without official complicity, into the hands of organisations like al-Qaeda. When a dirty bomb goes off in LA, Washington or London the consequences are going to be many times worse than September 11, even too macabre to contemplate.

Therein lies the problem. Iran is not another Iraq; it has a stronger military, vastly bigger population and rougher terrain especially in the north. Having so underestimated the task in Iraq, it would be disastrous for Bush and his clique to make the same mistake in Iran. So it has a big dilemma here. Short of military intervention, it could try and mount covert operations (note however the disastrous failure of US Special Forces to rescue American hostages in Iran during the 1979-1981 crisis). It could let the Israelis do the dirty work, as it did over Osirak in 1982. But the global and regional response to this might be very different from what the US anticipates. So to conclude, the security dilemma posed by Iran is going to be the biggest challenge to the Bush, Cheney, Rice and Co. over the second term. How they respond to this is for time to tell.