Suarakami is where we feature you, young Malaysians, and let you answer silly questions. This week, staff writer Syarifah Hadli talks to Pana from Universiti Putra Malaysia. Check her out!

1. What’s the weirdest thing you find about Malaysians?

I don’t know… I’m also a Malaysian…and I’m not weird… Hehe

2. Malaysia’s achievement that you’re proud of.

Abang Sheikh Muzaffar’s accomplishment!!

3. Name one song recommended for the depressed.

Splender, “I think god can explain”

4. Best hangout place in Penang.

Anywhere will do as long as with my friends.. Terharu tak korang?

5. If you get to be the PM for one whole day, what do you want to change?

I want to change my identity.. Oh and transfer all the money to my mummy’s account.. That’s all Ngee

6. Name one rule that you want to slip into AUKU.

Please slip into this rule to be the last one.–> All of the above rules have been eliminated. Do what ever you want to.. Thank you and get off!!

7. Recommend a movie that changed your life & most likely to change others too.

Buli

8. If Siti Nurhaliza summoned you to join in a peaceful rally, would you say yes?

Yes, I love peace

9. One should never kill animals on the road while driving because everyone else will want to kill animals on the road too? Wth?

Tengku Farhana or also known as Pana, is one crazy chick who plays the bass whenever she jams with her friends. Currently an undergraduate at UPM Serdang, majoring in Sains Instrumentasi, she is also a member of RANtai, a group that initiate an art event in KL on yearly basis. 20 years old and she is still (ahem) single and available.

By Syarifah Hadli

It was one of those normal nights where I happily surfing the net and at the same time busy managing my personal blog when all of the sudden an uncivilized person, a man, I believe, left me a very disturbing and petty sexist slur. I was taken aback by it. It’s not as if I am not used to dirty words or whatsoever. But the fact that I have left this childish name-calling game years ago about the same time I left my pre-puberty days, made me feel like soo old fashioned when an incredibly anonymous man came in and posted a sexist slur that includes the female private part. Anyways, you are not really anonymous lah Mr Babisayang (as he named himself and no I didn’t make this up). I know you’re from some ceruk in Puchong, Selangor. 60.48.186.# is your IP address and (smirk) guna dial-up ke bang? Pathethic. Thank you technology. Anyways, I gotta thank him for being childish because if he didn’t, I will still be scratching my head right now, wondering what else to write for kasikampus.

This occurrence really makes me wander, how far can a person go in harassing us, sexually. Does sexual harassment means something only when verbal touches are involved? What about the non-verbal ones? What about making funny mouse-like sound every time a girl passes by? What about commenting about the voluptuous figure of an unassuming passer by out loud? What about winking endlessly to a woman who looks terribly have zero interest at you? On a more personal note, as long as a woman is offended and felt extremely uncomfortable by your actions, you have committed a sexual harassment towards her. You may think there is no harm in calling her sayang or adik manis when she’s obviously not related to you in any way, but she might not feel the same. She might think it’s completely not okay for you to call her sayang unless she’s married to you. Women have the right to feel free and at peace whenever she steps out of her house and into the real world where various type of people lurking at every inch of this world. I know not one woman that feel honored when she was given the lustful stares and dissipated smiles from strangers who looks like he is more than eager to strip you down that instant and what more if you are called names.

I think our people are still not aware that they are offending women everyday in their sad lives. They are unaware that their actions are much loathed by women. Funny thing is, we women are helplessly succumbed to this kind of harassment, verbally or non-verbally. We never lash out to those men who downgraded us. We chose to be silent and stick to the “tidak apa” attitude. I mean, I know you are offended, big time, when those guys with brain smaller than their d*** started to make that annoying smoochy-kissy sound in hope that you will throw a glance at them. Some of you might turned you head in their way automatically only to see them smiling with their wide icky teeth sticking out like disorderly Popsicle sticks, because your head is programmed to turn your head in respond to that kind of sound. Some of us might resort to technology to ward off unwanted harassment. For instance, I plug my ears with earphones and setting the volume of my CD player at the max every time I walk out of the door. Nothing beats the feeling when I successfully ignored any stranger trying to pick me up with silly pick up lines. If I were to walk alone sans my CD player, I’ll be dead halfway through. Yes. I am guilty for being ignorant towards the harassments. What can a girl possibly do? Make a police report every single time when she was stared or every time she feels annoyed or harassed? The only thing that I am sure the police officer might offer her is to tell her to go back and straighten up her PMS. Who would take us seriously?

When it comes to sexual education, we Malaysians are a badly informed lot. Sexual education does not necessarily mean to show our children how to do it. And if we didn’t educate them about sex or even sexual intercourse, they will eventually learn it the easy way, the DVD way. And I guess that’s where 99% of Malaysian population learns what and where to insert whatever it is to be inserted. Sex education is more than that. It is more than penis and vagina. Telling what part is okay to be touch by people and what part are strictly off limits is one of the early sex education that we can give to our children. I am not being oh-so-modern shits and all but, I wonder why we are so afraid of the word sex. It’s a taboo to speak openly about sex. Yes, we are the eastern people living in the east where the most polite people on earth are claimed to be, living in this piece of land. Tell me, if we are so polite, then why are kids being kidnapped, raped and eventually killed? Why do our so-called educated menteri uses the F word in the parliament? If we are so polite, then why Kempen Budi Bahasa is necessary? Isn’t it ironic?

Any person who fights for sex education to be inserted into the syllabus as a part of the education will be considered as insensitive and critiqued as being slightly too western-thinking. We Malaysians claim ourselves to be the oh-so-advanced-and-the most-open-minded-people-in-the-east, but still, we can’t even tolerate Faizal Tahir’s infamous shirt off incident and what more sex education being introduced to the youngsters. It’s proven. We are not so open-minded after all.

I’m rooting for a change. Are you in?

By Syarifah Hadli

While reading a column published in a daily Malay newspaper last Thursday, my mind marveled for quite some time before I was able to finish reading up the whole column. I don’t know who the *fish* wrote that column and one word that best describes that specific column is: shallow.

The column is mainly about the remarks or the observation that the columnist had based on this year’s Chinese New Year advertisement. If I get to be invisible for a day, I would really like to go to this columnist’s house, mess with her coffee maker, throw away her entire wardrobe and pee on her laptop or PC, whichever she use to write, just so that she won’t write anymore. Oh, plus, I would really love to smack her on her head.

Now what have she wrote that made me soo wanna do the actions I suggested above? Well, based on her oh-so-great observation on the CNY advertisement this year, she saw something that is invisible to us MALAYSIANS. The first part of her column mentions all the shit about multiracial Malaysia, how harmonic Malaysians are, the great level of tolerance we had towards each other and bla-bla-bla. Typical, I know. Moving on to the second part of her column, she touches on the insensitivity of a giant company that comes up with a CNY ad that recruits its CEOs and all the big shots of the company to offer greetings to Malaysians for its CNY ad this year. Well, what this columnist saw is what we MALAYSIANS doesn’t see. She complained that the ad is in English. And some Mandarin. And she started to preach about the extinction of Bahasa Melayu. I was like, come on.. Is this some kind of joke? Okay ma’am, not funny. Now write something more mature and objective, please.

I am not saying she’s a bad columnist but what I can conclude from reading her column is makcik ini sangat emo orangnya. Can you believe it? She actually complained about Bahasa Melayu is under this immense threat and this particular advertisement is one permanent proof that Bahasa Melayu is under attack. What the *fish* woman?! FYI lady, the ad is in fact targeted for Malaysians who celebrates CNY. So, the fact that the ad doesn’t have any of them big shots speaking in Malay does not suggest that Bahasa Melayu is under attack. What a schmuck! I guess she is half sober when she wrote that. She mentioned in the article that she felt as if she is in another country because everybody in the advertisement is speaking in English and a tint of mandarin. Then how do you explain the widespread use of English language in our daily lives lady?

Another hysterically funny part from her writing is, she criticized the much loved Petronas CNY advertisement this year for only featuring only 2 out of 3 main races in Malaysia. Once again, I laugh my heads off. Then, I felt disgusted by her thinking box. Can a writer be this shallow god? Goodness gracious. I swear my niece can write better than her. Is there any way she can write without being obviously biased to her own race? I mean, if she criticize the ad for not including Malays in it, then I wonder what she got to say about the gazillion advertisements nowadays that only use one particular race (Well, Ding-Dang ads only uses one race what..) or even advertisement that uses the so-called Eurasian faces just so that their products are marketable locally or internationally.

If she can flash back to 2 years ago, the Hari Raya advertisement for that year only features her race. I bet she can recall the advertisement where Sharifah Amani is the leading lady. She went to a stall situated alongside a road with her dad and there she saw a guy patiently nursing his ailing dad. She ends up marrying that guy. If you can still visualize the advertisement, can you tell me, is there any other races featured in the advertisement other than Malay? No right? Did any other races make a fuss out of this advertisement that doesn’t feature them? No right? Then what right this lady has to say that Petronas CNY advertisement this year, “…seolah-olah mahu melenyapkan kewujudan orang Melayu di bumi Malaysia”. Talking about being racist! (Read: Racism refers to the belief that one racial category is superior or inferior to the another. In this case, it’s the former.) Heck if anybody wants to make a big fuss out of this advertisement thingy is the races back in Sarawak and Sabah! The percentage of their races to be featured in advertisement is super low. Proof? Easy. Name me one advertisement featuring the Ibans. Well, the Ibans are Malaysians indeed, right? Did they give a damn when each and every Petronas’ does not include them in the advertisements? Heck, they even enjoy the advertisement without fretting the absence of their faces in the advertisement.

I believe true Malaysians don’t give 2 hoots whether the Petronas CNY advertisement this year doesn’t include the Malays in it or not. What lie beneath the advertisement is the essentials. I question the intention of the crappy columnist for being such a pain by bringing up the issue of the absence of Malays in the advertisement and the link between it and the demolition of the Malays in Malaysia. One word: SHALLOW.

Whether you like it or not lady, we are increasingly comfortable in using English language daily. As a post-colonial country, we are prone to use the language not because we want to show off or whatever the *fish* it is. The globalization of the entire world is one of the many causes that explain why we use English. But still, Bahasa Melayu is our official language. Again, FYI lady, Bahasa Melayu is no longer the lingua franca like you want it to be anymore. This is not the Kesultanan Melayu Melaka era. Like it or not, we are in it together lady. You cannot run around and tell everybody who is comfortable using English that they are a traitor to Malaysia just because they speak little Malay. What right do you have to judge people by the way they speak and their chosen language? She or he might be more Malaysian than you think you are, lady. Narrow thinking certainly doesn’t help in our constant struggle to unite the people of Malaysia. This kind of thinking, for me, is crushing any hope of building bangsa Malaysia, if there’s any.

I leave you with the excerpts from a book that I helplessly forgot the title of it. It goes: “A race is a category composed of men and women who share biologically transmitted traits that are defined as socially significant. There are no biologically pure races. Race is significant concept chiefly because most people consider it to be such.”

Think, Malaysians.

By Syarifah Hadli

After writing a piece that provoked much attention from various people, I have decided to write about more simple things in life. Well, most of my writings are based on that. Right? Now, how many of us have heard the orang minyak story? I don’t know about it until a good friend of mine, Yee Wen sent me a message yesterday that pretty much serve as a warning to us girls about the rape cases that have been lingering around campus for the past week, without anybody knowing the validity of the story itself.

I mean, orang minyak? I am not being arrogant, but I am skeptical. I mean, if there’s anyone to be blame for the so-called rape cases that is said happening around the campus, orang minyak shouldn’t be blame. A human should be blame. I don’t understand people nowadays. No matter how educated or rich you are, you still believe in mythical things like orang minyak, orang halus, orang ghaib and orang-orang. I mean, hello people?! We are living in the so-called modern Malaysia and still, we have people with this kind of attitude. Believing in something that you yourself do not know of.

Now, on to the serious issue, how can the women population of this campus can feel safe again? We have been bombarded by several rumors, some of them are true, but some of them are fake. 2 weeks ago, my room mate who seems to know every hot gossip in the campus told me a really good bedtime story. She told me about the peeping tom. And quite surprisingly, this time around, the peeping tom is like, unstoppable. He’s been everywhere! From Aman Damai to Bakti Permai, everyone seems to know about this particular peeping tom, but still, why does that lucky bastard get away with his crime every single time. It’s like, this pervert is invincible.

We have a great amount of guards guarding us (or rather, the gate) day and night, rain or shine. But still, we women feel insecure being around campus with this kind of rumors still flits around our ears. It seems like, the dudes in the blue uniform fails to complete his job and task to protect us. I wonder why the h*** they got 2 to 4 guys hanging around the stadium gate every single night, doing nothing. Every time I pass by the guard house usually after midnight, I only saw them sitting on a chair, with a pen on his hands and scribbling something down in a book like it’s really important. I just pass him by. He doesn’t even care. I mean, who can blame the so-called orang minyak (whom I believe is actually, 100% human being. No such thing as orang minyak) for being able to sneak into campus. With guards who are more than happy to doodle in a book rather than making rounds around the whole campus on bike or doing the simplest task, checking out who the heck passed by the darn gate, I believe, orang minyak is here to stay.

Now what can we women do? Our pihak atasan will tell us it’s our fault. Why do girls go out at night? What are you doing at 1am in the morning? Well, if the wireless connection in our rooms are not that sucky, maybe we will not risk our life walking all the way to Istimewa and only remember to find our back home only when the mamaks there started to make strange noises and started to annoy you by staring at what is written on the screen of our laptop. We will not risk ourselves, walking to the DK Foyer from Cahaya Gemilang or Indah Kembara only because we need connection to the internet. Now don’t get me wrong (as most of you always do), I am not saying that that is the only reason for the so-called rape cases (I am using the term ‘so-called’ because I cannot validate the rumors about girls being raped in campus). I am not blaming the sucky internet connection. Some of us go out to hang with our friends and all. And we only want to go home once we finish our third round of teh tarik. Some conservative people might say, girls who are out at night are asking for trouble therefore, they deserve it (getting raped). Is having a social life makes a girl, a slut? I mean, who wants to be raped? Pffftt.. Stop blaming us. We don’t need your opinion, save it for yourself. We need a solution.

So what do we need to do? Stop hanging out with our friends? Stop walking like a pig to Istimewa just so that we can surf the darn internet happily? Stop having a life? What next? Stop getting out of our bed? We need to feel safe. And that kind of protection is lacking these days. We do not feel safe anymore. For instance, I can’t be in peace every time I hit the showers. I kept on looking up and down, right and left, just to make sure there are no hidden cameras that will catch me in the ‘action’ (I often korek hidung in the shower).

So what? Dialogue, now.

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Editor’s note: Have you seen the orang minyak in USM? Do you know him? Do you know of someone who’s “had contact” with this thing? Do you have any idea how we at Kasikampus can get in touch with one? What can I do if I want to turn into orang minyak? Tell us in the section below!

By Syarifah Hadli

Is it true that youth today are being neglectful towards their surroundings? The current situation that revolves around them, the issues brought up by either the public or the government, the rights that has been violated, the struggle of certain class of the society—all of these important occurring. Do they even give a damn?

I ran across an interesting comment on somebody’s personal page about an hour ago. (Yes. I love page-surfing. I might even read yours.) She and her friend is discussing about the youth and their place in the society. She was saying something that triggers me to write this piece. What I read was how she believes that youth nowadays are being ignorant and turn to hedonism as a form of escapism from the suppressing state we are in today. Now, is that true?

Look, we are living in a ticking-bomb country where anything involving the words ‘race’, ‘religion’, ‘rights’, ‘freedom’ and even the word ‘Allah’ might set off the darn-old bomb, crushing us to pieces of meat, ready to be thrown into a bowl of ingredients of a delicious meat-pie. We are forever in denial of this situation. The Malaysian youth, are we really that stupid? Are we not smart enough to see what is happening in our society today? The answer is no. We are not stupid. We are just soooo damn lazy to think about the serious stuff. We are occupying our brain with not-so-important stuff such as places to bring our so-called future husbands/wives on the next date, the new body-surfing style to display at the next gig, the latest Datuk Yusof Haslam movie and the list goes on. For this once, free some space in your brain for this piece to stick in your brain and remains in there for as long as you live.

Yes. We are a bunch of ungrateful monkeys who are totally unaware of our surroundings. But there are also some newspaper-reading monkeys who are concerned about the current situation but are totally helpless. This bunch of people wanted to do something about it. They wanted to take action. They have ideas. They have the energy. But to whom should they go to? To whom they could pour out their energy and ideas to help with the situation? They are clueless. These poor souls’ high spirit and tendencies to help with revolutionizing the society tends to decrease and fade away once “Heroes” is aired on the free-to-air channel. I mean who could blame them? “Heroes” equals fun, equals lesser-brain-activity. Participating in, let’s say, a peaceful demonstration on an issue that they believe in equals possible police detention, equals a night in the jail, equals furious parents equals, equals, equals and equals. It’s a simple mathematic. “Heroes” is a safe bet. So that is why youth are more interested in knowing what is Hayden Panettiere’s bra-size rather than what the heck BERSIH is all about.

The media, not to mention, is only interested in maximizing its profit rather than educating us. And like most of us know, the media conglomerate that is conquering almost 90% of the free-to-air channel in Malaysia is none other than Media Prima, a conglomerate that is somehow linked to the ruling party. We might not notice this but, don’t you guys think that all of those interesting, newly-imported TV series from the US is somehow a diversion. It distracts us from seeing the real issue contaminating our society today. We are so busy being a couch-potato. That’s exactly what they wanted us to be. They don’t want us to think. They don’t want us to use our brain to its full potential. (Besides, it’s not that hard to figure out what Panettiere’s bra-size is.) We (youth) are the prime target because we have the voice. The voice, if correctly used, will crush any distorted, corrupt ruling party. If (the voice) correctly used, might promise us a better Malaysia. Sadly, that doesn’t happen. So, the ever-conquering ruling party and its alliances came up with this subtle idea of diversion; as long as they entertain us with all of this so-called cool TV series, they are safe. The youth won’t care about the newspaper headlines. They won’t bother about the politics. They don’t even care about the current, sad state that their own country is in. Oh admit it already! The first thing you flip through when you got hold of a newspaper is the entertainment section-TV programmes-movie listings.1-0. I won.

Now, we move on to the next subject: demonstrations. Do we, youth, have the guts to join in a rally that represents our principle, whatever it is? Do we dare to march, be it rain or shine, just so that our voice is heard? Do we dare to face the consequences? If your answer is yes, then, how immersed are you in the focus of the groups’ struggle? Do you understand what is being fought by the group? Do you understand what are they struggling for? More importantly, do you believe in their struggle? Some cynics might say that youth are eager to participate in rallies just because they wanted to have that sense of belonging. I mean, of course. Youth are always on the search to belong to a particular group, whatever it is they choose. Don’t blame them for something that is only natural for a teenager like them to do. But please Miss-Know-It-All-Cynic; please do not underestimate them just because they marched with other 60,000 people on that day where you were stuck in the jam, swearing endlessly towards the jam-packed road. I mean, who marched that far just so they look cool or they can brag about it later at a mamak stall with his bunch of friends? I mean, who wants to brag about himself being attacked with tear-gas or acid-laced water cannons? No sane man will do that. (Or at least that’s what I believe.) If he desperately wants to be “cool”, he’ll be in the next Akademi Fantasia audition. Or posting comments like “Korang cool-lah. Bila nak turun Kuantan?” or “You guys are soooo kewl. I minat sangat dengan u all..” or “I lah yang tegur u all masa u guys turun stage hari tu. Ingat tak? Yang pakai baju kuning tu. Remember?” in the comment box of the most sought after Myspace band today, Hujan, complete with self-captured photo. Now THAT is a classic desperate attempt to be cool. Oh admit it already! I knew you posted that comment. 2-0. I won.

Do we really care? Some of you might say, “Yes, I do care.” But forget all about it half-an hour later. We had it easy. That is probably the reason why we are being ignorant all these while. We didn’t go through the hard times. We didn’t go through the painful process of independence that our ancestors did. We don’t give a damn about independence because we are born into a country that has already achieved its so-called independence. We don’t really care what’s in the history textbook. We don’t really care about our history. How the country is made up with such way. How the country got its colorful and diverse people. I was very ignorant. I hate reading up anything. I hate books. Well, having said all that, I hate, almost, everything. Up until today, I realize that I haven’t done anything that I can be proud of. Nothing. And as I grew older, I get wiser. Well, although I am not as brainy as that girl who got 17 straight As in her SPM, I can safely say that I can tell what’s right and what’s wrong. (Though, I am still trying to instill some love for books.) We have to have that interest that will prompt us to find out more, dig up more, read up more about what actually happened and is happening to our beloved Malaysia. And that interest can actually be drilled and infused in ourselves. We might say that history and politics is not our cup of tea, but we cannot deny the fact that politics do affect us in our daily lives, one way or another. We just chose to shut the f*** up and turn a blind eye to this matter. We can’t choose the same path forever. And we totally can’t avoid our voting rights all of our lives, can’t we? (This also applies to me, who happen to swear never to vote.) Politics have become a filthy word and many chose to shy away from anything related to politics without realizing that their participation and having their say in this matter is important to build a peaceful, diplomatic nation that is not only for them, but for their next generation, their kin. I admit; I don’t understand politics. But that doesn’t keep me from learning what is actually going on in the politic world and studying Communication here in USM really opened up my eyes to what I perceived as “a whole new world of deception and sham”. And now, although I got C+ for a particular paper that I have so much confidence in, I grew up, intellectually. The grades are not important; it’s the knowledge we gained that matters. Alamak, lari topic.

So, are we really THAT ignorant? I’m pretty sure the “fun” people and the social-bugs will hate me after reading this, saying shits like, “Alah..minah ketat!” or “Ek’eleh, minah takde social life”. (Mind you, I do have a social life, although not as colorful as yours do, I cherish it okay..) I am not what you think I am. I am much like you, the people who went to gigs, who sweat like a pig in MCPA Hall last 2 weeks, who bought shirts from independent labels. We are of the same crowd. It’s just that I am not ignorant anymore. I can safely say that I am more politically aware. And if you’re still reading this, I believe, you are also on the same track as I do. We are inching towards being the attentive citizens of Malaysia. The youth no longer go to gigs and left their brain behind just to enjoy some mindless fun. We bring them along to the gigs. Having fun is not a crime. Being ignorant is.

By Syarifah Hadli

Independent scene is encompassing an evolution. A new breed of fashion conscious tee makers is making the headlines in the independent scene, predominantly in KL. Although we in Penang might not feel the impact that these young, talented and promising batch of people have towards the youth in KL, but soon, you too will be wearing their hand-painted or stenciled shirt in no time. KL has witnessed the growth of a bunch of creative heads that are determined to change the way Malaysian youth dress. This blooming phenomenon has taken KL by storm and the most apparent fact that can be seen by this particular phenomenon is the healthy involvement of youth.

Through my observation for the past 6 months, I knew that this new T-Shirt craze is not dying anytime sooner. The fact that the designs are different and more Malaysianized contributes to the highly accepted stencil rage. Also, through my small-scaled research, I found out that this rage started when a bunch of kids gets tired of wearing the same, overpriced shirt that they bought at the same place and end up wearing the same shirt as their friend does. So what do they do? They create their own shirt of course. They came out with the designs, and voila! A t-shirt that represents what they think is produced. So they wear it everyday, and people noticed. And when there’s a demand, there will be a supply. This is a simple economic theory. So, long story cut short, some kids finds it (T-shirt designing) as an alluring and profitable rabbit hole to jump into. So that’s how they get into the business.

Some of them accidentally became tee makers. What started off as a friends-only affair turns out to be a lucrative business for them. That is the case for Kurasa Raksasa. Kurasa Raksasa consists of 5 brainy, still-in-college and not to mention, artistic youth who at first were just toying around with the idea of making shirts mainly for themselves and their friends. People notice their talent and the cool monster-printed shirts and the rest is history. Producing accessories is high on their list nowadays as they desire to move past the shirt. Kurasa Raksasa is now a power brand in their own league which is the KL independent scene. Judging from the Kurasa Raksasa craze that has been roaming around KL recently, we can safely say that Kurasa Raksasa is here to stay.

Some of them who are born with pure artistic talent will manipulate their talent for “good cause” which is, reaping profits from it! Raeesa, a young, bubbly, 18-years old girl from KL started her own label, Ladyesah. She paints and designs the shirts on her own without any help from anyone. Now, that’s impressive considering the fact that she is just an 18-years old girl with nothing to lose. Her designs is cheery and cute with the main character in every shirt is a blonde, pig-tailed girl and sometimes cats and multicolored spots. She also designs by demand. People who love her designs will demand her to wave her magic wand on to almost everything namely, their stinky sneakers! Yes. She will go through the painful process of hand-painting your smelly shoes just so you can show off your newly renovated shoes to your group of friends. And mind you, her range of clients includes 8TV Quickie hosts!

A more patriotic group of tee makers decided to honor the 50th celebration of Merdeka by producing shirts with various cool designs. My personal favorite would be the yellow and red one with the number 50 and our “Bapa Kemerdekaan” in red, featured in the number zero. This particular shirt was once featured in the uber-cool TV Series KAMI on 8TV, wore by Abu, the character played by Nas-T. Popmalaya shirts do not go through the process of stencil or hand painting as the designs are done using the oh-so-modern technology. Popmalaya shirts embedded “Jawi” or Arabic characters and the colors used are bright. Popmalaya has a sister brand which specializes in girls’ clothing. Poprina creates a line of girly clothing that caters to only girls in contrast to their big brother which specializes in shirts for the boys. But Poprina is more than tops. They have skirts, cardigans, sweats and so much more.

There are also other brands such as Dotiro which specializes in tote bags, Bangkit Clothing, Dirt Tee Clothing, Defy, il’etrik, iheartkl, Devotee, Molek, Suicidal Clothing, Ribut Clothing, EVOL, Cekodok, Di-mana-mana Clothing and so much more that only signals nothing else than a revolution in the clothing world in Malaysia. What amazes me the most is the solidarity that these independent movers and shakers of the independent scene have with each other. They, the independent bands, movie makers, tee makers, poets, fanzine makers, come together and support each other. For instance the indie-bands collaborated with the various shirt makers in order to produce the bands shirt. Now how cool is that! Some of the collaboration is, Hujan-DTG, Hujan-Defy, Tugu Drum Circle-Kurasa Raksasa, Free Love- Popmalaya, Tempered Mental- Plastic and many more. Neglecting the fact that they are actually competing with each other, the shirt makers come together as a group under Angkatan Baju Malaya.

To say this bunch of young people is revolutionizing our closet will be an understatement. They are more than that. They are the ones we should look up to and realizes that we, youth still have hope. We are not a bunch of retards that lounge around and do nothing but waste our parents’ hard-earned bucks. We can actually make our own fortune. Heck we can change the world if we want to! We’re just too lazy to start something. To these young independent artists, you have my utmost respect and endless support. Hail to the independent art!

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Editor’s note: We’ve been silent for long. Say something.

By Syarifah Hadli

Yes. It’s the season to be jolly, again. The sales are back. The frantic Hari Raya songs is in the air, in every mall you stepped in. I bet you are reading this from your home. You lucky, lucky people. I am still here in USM. Typing this silly posting, for your pleasure. Well, actually, not really. It’s only if you find reading through my writing is pure bliss, which I doubt.

I sincerely don’t know what to write. There’s nothing left for me to write. My subject matter(s) have gone back to their respective kampong leaving behind me and my disheartened life that I dedicate to bitch about people around me. Yes. You people. How can you leave me here? Alone and desperate.
Well, I don’t know why, but as I grew older, I became numb. I am totally numb to my surroundings, to the people around me, to the things that revolve around me, to almost everything. Hari Raya is one of the events that I am not really fond of nowadays. And I believe this “sickness” started when I didn’t get duit raya on Hari Raya anymore. And that was a few years ago. Boy, I have a great grudge towards my brothers who didn’t hand me the angpow packet last 2 years. Give me a break!  I am the youngest! Give me some of your wealth! I am sick of Hari Raya. Especially the songs. And the annoying TV programs on the first day of Raya. More Raya songs sang by the repulsive bunch of over reacting singers? Pffftt.. I’ll pass.

Owh, and the RELATIVES.. Don’t you just hate them? They stop by at my home just to get a taste of my mum’s irresistible Laksa and Mee Kari that she never fails to come up with every single year. Yes, of course, along the process of stuffing their stomach with delicious free foods, they will throw in some questions to me, just to be nice to the person who will be serving them their food. God, save me. I’d rather be in the kitchen, drinking buckets and buckets of Sunquick Orange Juice and end up peeing most of the times just to run away from them.

Hands up if you bring your books or notes home with you with the intention of reading it over the weekend. Hands up who do bring back the book but didn’t even bother to take out the book from your bag. Okay. Now hands up to those who really read the books, notes and whatnots. Okay. No hands.
*High Five* I am not reading any materials for my finals. I will bring my laptop home but not the notes. The notes are heavier than my laptop. Plus, I can’t read my own handwriting.

So, yeah. This is it. This is where I stop and let you guys to continue to read your notes on communication technology or *whatsthatsubject* where the exasperating-plus-snobbish-tutor grade your group poorly and you have to study real hard to push your grade up. Owh, my holiday is getting better and better.
Good luck and goodbye.

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Editor’s note: Please feel free to leave your comments in the sections below. It’s not all doom and gloom lah.  I heard there’s one snobbish tutor who decided against giving any grades, after all.  Touched by the diligence of his “students”, he felt it was only deserving that everyone got 10/10.  I doubt that it will be of much help, anyway.

By Syarifah Hadli

“Broooooooooooke!!!” I screamed as I opened my wallet, which is filled with receipts in the first place anyways. The only Ringgit bills that were left in my wallet were the bills with number 1 stamped on it. RM1 times 4. And that makes RM4. At this point, my not-so-beautiful-moment in my life, I look back and tried to track back where the heck does my Ringgits flow into.

Opening of the new semester: Cool. Everyone seems gleaming with happiness. I can see people dancing once the ATM machine heaved out their PTPTN money. Lining up for an hour ahead of what it appear as, hundreds of other PTPTN monger, seems like nothing because they know what’s in store for them. Because once they have their hands on the sweet smelling bills, they high up above the sky, dancing with the birds, stomping on clouds. Okay, I’m exaggerating. But don’t you just feel like dancing once your bank account is loaded with taxpayers’ money? I don’t know about you but it sounds excellent to me!

I love money. I know you guys do to. And stop telling people around you that money is not everything just so that people will look up to you. Screw you people who think they could live without money and claiming to survive only with looove. Total BS. In today’s materialistic world, everybody is after the same thing: fame and fortune. Fame and fortune comes hand-in-hand. With fame, comes fortune. And the other way around. Yes. The world today is expensive for us to live in.

Admit it, even though you grumbled at the so-called high price of food in campus, you will seek for alternative, when all this while, you knew, the alternatives are expensive. Out there, you won’t mind paying high for your food and beverages. Here’s when the “fame and fortune” theory applies. Okay, since I’m in a good mood today, I won’t take other people as example. Take me for example, I knew I cannot afford to dine in high-end eateries. But still, the urge to waste money emerged, as I knew I am still loaded with my PTPTN money. So in I go to the damned Starbucks, elegantly ordered for a cup of the goddamned Frap, looking around while keeping a straight face, searching for faces that I knew, hopefully they saw me buying the frap and end up paying RM12.50 for a cup of some ice-blended coffee disguised with a fancy name. Yes. The Starbucks coffee is fame, you handing over your money to pay for the coffee is fortune. People seeing you, spending your so-called fortune in some fancy place, will bring you to fame. Well, at least in this case, a small-scaled kind of fame. See how the theory applies? Need I explain more? While my hands are trembling, handing out the red notes, I keep my cool but deep down inside, I screamed, “Stupid fancy coffeeeeeee!!” Yes. I blame the coffee. Who would want to blame themselves for their stupidity right?

Now why would I want to do that you ask me? Don’t you dare come up to me, acting all self-righteous and tell me that you never ever, EVER, in your whole depressive life, felt and acted the same way as I do. People wanted to be associated with fame. Only when you are eminent, you are considered important. I knew you dreamed of being the rich and the famous. For us, the ordinary ones, we can only dreamed about it. That is the closest we can ever get.

So here I am, a kampung girl with PTPTN money in my hands, facing the material world. What a girl can think of is only one thing: shop! No matter what type of girl you are, you tend to shop. Some girls even deny that they love to shop. I mean, which idiot with money in his/her hand won’t shop? Plain BS, I say. Shopping here does not suggest the stereotype “shopping” that the giggling girls with heels on does. For me, I shop for cameras. I have just realized that for the past 2 semesters, I have been buying cameras. I realized it just now when my mum pointed it out to me. So yeah, I now figure out why I am broke at every end of the semester. Darn it. I can’t sell them back. I became attached to those machines. I even sleep with them.

Why do we become so very unrealistic when it comes to money and our status as a student? We splurge on items that we know we can’t afford and end up starving ourselves so that we can cover up for the money we lost. We tend to think that we manage to pay for everything when we got our PTPTN money. At that point in time, everything looks as if it is important and a necessity when it is actually not. By the end of the semester, when you’re broke, you even label your basic necessities such as food is not a necessity anymore and gorged down a cup of instant noodle instead of the nutritious food. Yes. We are all guilty for playing rich-kid.

End of the semester: Broke. Everyone is. You, me, him, her, she, he, everyone is broke. The dance routine turns sour. Lining up to a machine that only permits you to withdraw RM50 because your balance left is RM 73.80 brings much anger and you started to feel like killing the next person you saw laughing out of happiness. No more cloud stomping. No more dancing with the birds. You might even want to strangle the birds that chirp that day.

So what are we going to do to solve this mad, mad situation? What do we need to do to prevent us from being a bird-strangler? Saving up for rainy days? Opening up a new bank account? Working part time, scooping ice-creams? Be easy on the daily expenditure? Ask mummy and daddy for money? Steal it from someone who looks kinda rich because you thought he/she wouldn’t mind? Selling back those, gulp, cameras? There are almost 1001 solutions to your monetary problem. It depends on how smart (or stupid) you are. You are, in fact, an “intelligent” university student.

So I’m ditching the bad habit of buying stuff I don’t really need. I now realize that money is not everything. Love is. The love for money is everything! Hahaha! God, I am shallow!

By Syarifah Hadli

I was late again. At times like this, I wish I can operate TB 2828 and stop relying on others to bring me around in their car. I hate waiting and this is what I’ve been doing for the past one month. Waiting. And waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. So, I was walking faster than everyone else. I knew I missed it, I missed the opening of the Freedom Film Fest. Darn. I can’t blame out chauffeur for the day, can I? Anyways it’s not my car, so I can’t bitch. Period.

I arrived with a wide grin but my Julia-Roberts-smile is greeted with cold stares from some of the fest organisers. One of them even eye-f***ed me. I was like, whatever maaan! Shouldn’t these people be welcoming us instead of making us feel like we were so, err, unwelcomed. F*** ‘em. Still grinning widely, I went to the counter and to our surprise (duh), it was full house. What did we expect being 40 minutes late?

Fortunately, a friend Li Ying was there volunteering for the organisers and her “larger than life” smile gave me a sense of relief. I was at ease again. So, we spoke for a while and forgot the misfortune of having our seats given to others who made it on time. Having a conversation with Li Ying can be pretty daunting. Not that she is bad (she’s sweet), but it’s because she is a person you don’t want mess up your English in front of. I consider myself a bad speaker and am will get the shivers when she’s around as I found myself lost once I tried to say anything.

Okay, language problem aside, we were fortunate enough to catch one of the winning documentaries of the festival this year – “10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka” by Fahmi Reza. I found the short documentary very thought-provoking, funny, smart and cool. Very, I must add, educating as well. Oh man, the songs in 10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka are super fine! First impressions first, I was tempted into thinking mthat this short docu-film is written and directed by some old guy who has a potentially damaging grudge and hatred towards the government. But actually, Fahmi Reza is a bright young dude with extraordinary vision. Certainly not the norm in the so called pool of “useless” young generation today. Plus, he’s cute! Extra points awarded!

Through this short film, I realised that the times I spent in my secondary school history lessons were totally well spent! I have the tendency to fall asleep in my history class even before my history teacher sets foot in my the classroom. Coolness. And after watching 10 Tahun, I am actually proud to say that I got 6C for SPM History. In our history books, so many things were left out and are being hidden from the real Merdeka achieved 50 years ago. Who would have thought that people at that time, colour blind as they were, were actually against the Federal of Malaya Constitutional Proposals (FMCP)? And this led to a Hartal, to display the protest the whole nation were mutually agreed upon. Not many of us today know what the FMCP is. It could be either because you dozed off while your history teacher talked about it or because your teacher had a “meeting” and missed some of of your classes. Why didn’t we talk more about the Constitution in school? Well, I am not the right person give you a lecture about history. So, according to the leaflets that were given, here is what “10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka” is all about:

“Unknown to many, October 20th, 1947 was an important and historical day in the people’s constitutional struggle for independence from British colonialism. This documentary chronicles the events that culminated in the Malaya-wide “Hartal” day of protest (a form of non-violent protest) against the undemocratic Federation of Malaya Constitutional Proposals devised by the British Colonial Government and the UMNO. This was the rise of people’s democratic movement in Malaya, ten years before Merdeka.”

In my lame-o opinion, these unsung heroes by the names of AMCJA-PUTERA, API, GERAM and other respectable movements should be given due attention, if not more, in our history books rather than over glorifying the right wing “pejuang-pejuang kemerdekaan.” Just because they’re leftist doesn’t mean they were trying to destroy the nation for their “own interest.” They just wanted to make sure the democracy that UMNO was negotiating with the British at that time stands for all people of Malaya. Sadly, the democracy and the liberation that we have achieved were not what the people of Malaya communally agreed upon. The peoples’ constitution was rejected and thus, the people of Malaya at that time were disgraced by this rebuff.

Hartal, a word that you will not see in the history text book and never will if you don’t google it, is something that people of Malaya did just so that their voices could be heard. But, as was (and still is) the case, the peoples’ voices were often ignored. I am amazed at how brave people were back then to do such acts for the nation and the fact that they bonded together regardless of race or ethnicity. It just blew me away. They came together as a union of the people of Malaya who actually cared about their country. Today’s generation have a lot to learn.

I agree with the girl who suggested during the short discussion sessions after the screening that 10 Tahun be screened in our schools so that these unsung heroes will get what they deserve – recognition. We have no idea what the people faced in those times just so our “pejuang” today get what they get. “Merdeka!” The one night they celebrate every year with their face up in the air, watching those breathtaking fireworks in the sky after a ridiculous countdown to midnight, shouting “Merdeka!” without even knowing history itself.

Trust me, there is no chance this documentary is going to bore oblivious kids to death. The songs help. Fahmi Reza is one brilliant dude. He knows how to attract his target audience, which is youth. He uses the right songs, the right medium, the right expressions, the right mood and everything else. I know he worked hard to make this 30-minute documentary. The facts, figures, journals or memoirs of prominent figures back then and also newspaper clippings from the archives. The editing is fantastic!

If you missed the Freedom Film Fest this year, well, screw you. You just missed the most honest documentary on Malaya’s independence. Kudos to Fahmi Reza for making a history lesson less boring, less painful and cool for the first time in my life. Please log in to his website or blog at http://10tahun.blogspot.com/ for more info and details on the documentary. I think Fahmi Reza is totally brilliant and cute =p

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Editor’s note: Please feel free to leave your comments at the section below   Do you want to watch 10 Tahun?

By Syarifah Hadli

To know that your writing will be the first to be published here is nerve-wracking. And that is exactly how I felt throughout the course of writing this up. I was supposed to write about our campus or anything that our campus can relate to. Gosh. There are so many things to write about, but I cannot, for some reason, seem to find one.

Screw it! I’m going to write anything that I want to. So here goes nothing.

How many people are in university for the right reasons? I know I’m not. The sole reason I’m here in Universiti Sains Malaysia is because I hated to be asked about my status of education every time my relatives came for a Hari Raya visit. I will shy away from them because they are so annoying, flashing their sons and daughters’ status of education to every single person in the room. I mean, who cares if their daughter is reading law in Universiti Malaya? I know I don’t. I used to be a diploma student in a small, insignificant college in Bangi doing the most underrated subject (Business) of all and for the longest three years in my life, I had to face my relatives, and answer their silly questions, which they tend to repeat every single year.

“Where are you studying Sity?”

“Ermm.. in Bangi,” I would reply reluctantly, but it doesn’t end there.

“Oh, UKM?”

“No. Kolej Poly-tech Mara,” I could say I’m a little less than proud.

The conversation does not usually go far beyond this as I shall be greeted with puzzled looks, I turn into a stranger all of a sudden.

“Oh…”

They certainly had no idea where the college is and they might not even know the college existed. So this year, for the second year in the row, I can proudly say I’m a university student!

People enter university for various reasons. Ask anybody, and they will give you different answers why. But there is a big chance the people you approach will give you reasons more common than the rest, which generally are:

1. To be an educated person
2. To get good jobs after graduating.
3. To help ease their families’ economic situation once they graduated.
4. To achieve their long-time dream of becoming ______ (fill in the blank with your chosen dream job).
5. To be head-over-heels in love (because everybody they knew met their potential life partner in university).

I am not in here because any of reasons stated above. I am here because I am sick of people’s perception towards poor souls like me who were unfortunate enough to be rejected countless times by our public universities. I know that might not be a right reason for me to be here. But for myself, that is the least of dignity I can still hang on to.

I know people who are in here for the right reasons but end up forgetting all about their dreams of being an educated person once they get to know new “friends”, namely: Zouk, Heineken, Laundry Bar, Martell and so forth. Although it is not for me to judge them, I cannot help but to think how sorry I am for these people who worship hedonistic pleasures more than anything else. Just take a look around you. I believe you recognise some friends who transformed into a completely different person as compared to their innocent little faces when they first came to USM. So what is the right reason to be in here? Is there one?

If I can give up my spot here in USM to a poor guy/girl with good exam results and a burning desire to pursue his/her studies but didn’t get the chance to because of the ridiculous bureaucracy, I will. I’m more than willing to. Some of us don’t even know why we are here. Do we not know of people who, despite their bad exam results, got enrolled after mum or dad got “help” from friends who have important positions in the university? Now, while their parents brag about their child studying in university, their beloved son is probably driving around town, searching for the best club with the hottest chicks in it, with the intention of scoring some, ermm, chick’s phone number. Trust me, some chicks let you score more than phone numbers.

Of course, not all people are the same. There are people who stay true to their principles and stick to their main reason for their being in a university. These people will spend every minute of their lives realising their dreams. The urge to stray from the norm will end automatically, every time, when the little voices in their head, which sound similar to their parents’, ask them to study hard, yada yada yada. Kudos to you. I salute you.

I am not trying to be a moral guardian or something equivalent to that. Heck, I don’t even give a damn if you want to be in here solely to escape from your parents constant nagging. I’m just writing this down to remind myself of the reason for me to still be here, in spite of the fact that my reason probably remains unacceptable to some, with hope that this article will reminisce the reason for you to still be standing here in USM.

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Editor’s note: Please feel free to post your comments here, click on the comments section of this post.