Quotable Quotes

"Don't be defeatist, dear. It's very middle class."

- Dowager Countess Violet Grantham to Lady Edith when she voiced out her belief that she would end up as the maiden aunt in the family, Downton Abbey, Season 2.

A meaningful Aidilfitri

Come any festive season, local training company Zubedy Sdn Bhd will always remind us the true meaning of any religious/cultural/national occassion through their advertisements. In the ad, the company would usually quote a prominent figure to drive the message home. For Aidilfitri this year, the company quoted Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub. Below is an excerpt from the ad:

"Choose the middle path: The end does not justify the means."

- Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub - Saladin (1138 - 1193); the gentlemen warrior who was noted for his chivalry, magnanimity, compassion and sensibility even during times of war.

Conflicts exist in the realm of politics, business and personal interactions. There must be certain rules of engagement in dealing with dissension. We must learn how to disagree and yet, respect each other.

Saladin, in motivating his army, did not condemn the opposing side. He pointed out the virtues that make their opponents strong, honoured and made them an example. He was a true leader.

Unlike Saladin, many of our leaders and their supporters play the zero-sum game and push things to the extreme. This gradually creates a divisive “I’m right and you’re wrong” gulf, leaving no room or possibility in seeing the good in others. This is poisonous.

We need to better our rules of engagement.

We need Malaysians:

Who know how to balance ambition and courtesy.

Who know how to compromise and yet stay true to their core values.

Who know it is vital to find a win-win situation.

Who engage each other in a civil and gentlemanly manner.

Who can disagree while respecting the other.

Who believe the end does not justify the means.

When we have better rules of engagement, we will have a positive culture to pass down to our young. We will create a nation that encourages courtesy, civility, thinking in our discourse and articulation.

Our legacy is to create a nation who believes in winning with honour and not to sacrifice the means in achieving the end.

Have a meaningful Aidilfitri.

Cat Commentary - Post-op

Cookies and Arrow had their spaying operation a week and a half ago and I brought them home last Saturday. Unfortunately, they still had their cones on (to prevent them from licking their stitches) and the lady at the vet said they should wear it for one more night. I was a bit distraught because they looked really uncomfortable with the cones on and I couldn't just leave them outside where they might not be able to properly defend themselves. So my sis and I thought of keeping them in the indoor garden for the night.

It seemed like a good idea until Cookies went to a corner and stayed there the whole time. We were getting a bit worried and when my sis went to check her out through a window in the store room (connected to the indoor garden), she saw how sad Cookies looked. I saw her expression as well and it was heartbreaking. Then we decided to get our sis-in-law (who's a doctor) to check their stitches. She had a look and said that it wouldn't make a difference if they were confined for another night because the stitches were already dry. That was the best news I heard that day. My sis and I promptly took off those bothersome cones and set the two free.

I was still a bit apprehensive though; after seeing the sad expression on her face, I was worried that Cookies would run off. Later that night, I found Cookies outside the door, waiting for supper.

Grade 5 Theory - done!

I feel so happy that I actually sat for my Grade 5 Theory exam last Saturday. I've been diligently doing the past year papers last month but haven't done any the last two weeks due to work, mostly. Due to this, it almost made me feel like not taking the exam. Anywho, I finally did and glad I did because it wasn't as hard as some of the past year exam papers! I hope I get good marks :D

The Green Rider - review

After reading the awesome Dance of Dragons by George R.R. Martin, any other book I read would pale in comparison. Boy, was I right. The book in question is The Green Rider by Kristen Britain. If memory serves me right, I had wanted to read this since my uni days but never could find it or never got around to it. I saw the books recently; I think it’s a new reprint with a beautiful cover of a winged horse. I must say the cover attracted me more than anything else this time around. Perhaps it was all the good reviews placed at the start of the book or the fact that it says "New York Times bestseller" on the cover, my expectations were high. It was a little naïve on my part. I mean, we all know bestseller doesn’t equate to a good book, just like blockbuster doesn’t necessarily mean good movie.

The book starts off by introducing its protagonist, Karigan G’ladheon who had just run away from school after beating silly a boy from an aristocrat family. She then stumbles upon a dying Green rider, messenger to the king. He asks that she deliver his crucial message to the king for there are others desperate to waylay him. Not knowing what else to do, she accepts the message and inadvertently accepts the quest put upon her. The starting is interesting enough but I just didn’t feel anything from the book. The descriptions of the towns and the country of Sacoridia could be any medieval city in any fantasy book. The characters themselves could be any generic fantasy character. The Merlin TV series have the same generic setting but the chemistry between the characters make up for that. As for George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire, the description of the characters and places are very distinct and real. You can almost smell the stink of the city when he describes King’s Landing or similarly, when Discworld author Terry Pratchett describes Ankh-Morpork.

Since I had already bought the 2nd book, Rider’s First Call (I bought it before I found the first book), I decided to read it even though my impression of the 1st book was pretty average. The writing has improved and there is more going on BUT there were too many elements taken straight out of Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings (the 1st book had it too). I wanted to pull my hair out when Karigan found herself among elf-like beings (called Eletians in the book) and was given a bowl of water to gaze into what was, what is and what may be. It’s Frodo and Galadriel all over again! That’s not the only LOTR element I found in the book but I won’t delve further. I speed read whenever I came across any of those scenes.

I also felt that the author wrote from the point of view of too many characters. This doesn’t give you much time to get to know the characters, so you end up not caring much whatever happens to them. In Song of Ice and Fire, Martin focusses on a few characters in each book. It may be frustrating when you’re desperate to know what happens to a character that will only appear in the next book, but it allows you to empathise with some of the characters and understand the real story behind their motivations. With too many characters, you just don’t know who to root for. I suppose in Rider's First Call, we’re supposed to root for Karigan but a lot of the time she gets help, so it seems like all she’s done is not through her own effort. I prefer reading about characters who really struggle and work hard to achieve what they want.

Nonetheless, I still want to read Rider’s First Call till the end since I bought the book. It wasn’t money well spent but it could be worse. I would say the 2nd book would be much better than the first if not for the many LOTR references used throughout the book. I know no one can write anything purely original but there are ways to make it your own. Clearly, that wasn’t the case in this book.

I guess overall the books are okay, there are some interesting bits. I like the idea of Green riders, they're kinda like Heralds from Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series. I might have liked it more if I read it during my uni days though (and if it had less LOTR elements).

Closed

How do you know when to give up? What would you do when all you've worked for is out of your grasp? What would you do then? One of the paths to achieve one of my dreams have been closed and I don't know whether to give up or not. I told myself earlier that if this didn't work, I would give up. Yet, I'm not sure I want to. I'm not sure if I want to continue either. I'm getting older and pursuing this dream may even be irresponsible. I should focus on settling down and do financial planning for the future. I should but there's always that lingering thought at the back of my head saying, 'What if you regret it? What if years later, you regret giving up now?'. Arghh, too many what ifs. Pondering on what ifs never did anyone any good and yet they still do it anyway, just like what I'm doing now. It's just that when you give up working towards something, especially when you've been working at it for the last few years, suddenly your life seems aimless. You feel lost. Suddenly all the noise has gone down and there's only the silence greeting you. My question again, is, 'How do you know when to give up?'

Grade 5 Theory

Last week, I almost quit my piano lessons. I haven’t gone for classes for roughly two months and I felt reluctant to start again as I haven’t really been diligent in practising my scores. Nonetheless, I still decided to go to class. I would let fate or whatever I’m feeling when I discuss with my teacher decide whether I would really stop or not. When I got there, she asked me to go inside the classroom first while she settled something. I went in and started to play the sonatina I had sort of practised a few days ago. To my utter surprise, it sounded not as bad as I expected and I actually enjoyed playing. I didn’t even tone down the volume like I usually do because I don’t want other people hearing (kinda hard to achieve in a music school). My teacher came in a few minutes later and she summed up my playing in two words, “Not bad.” Then I asked her if she’s okay having a student like me who always couldn’t come to class either due to work or family gatherings. She said its okay; she’s used to it :P She also mentioned I’m not the only student who comes to class with not enough practice. That decided it - I shall continue. I felt relieved after that.

A week after that, my teacher asked me if I wanted to take theory exams this August. I do want to take it eventually and August is a bit early but I thought better take now than later. No matter how much time I have, I will still end up studying last minute anyways :)