Finally, the moment that all Malaysians have been anticipating for months and months has materialised.
Pak Lah has just passed the baton on to Najib. This makes Najib the 6th PM of Malaysia, taking over the country in the most vulnerable, volatile political, social and economic situation Gen-Y Malaysians have ever endured.

Even though I could see this coming, I was actually relieved when it happened. To be honest, most Malaysians, including myself included have very low faith and confidence in our ex PM, Pak Lah. Yes he was a man of integrity, and his modest, humble and clean image made him known as "Mr Good Guy" or "Mr Clean" but there just seemed to be something that he lacked. That leadership spark, the ability to movitate, lift and influence his fellow cabinet members and the people was just not there. Maybe MM himself chose Pak Lah as his successor because he thought that Pak Lah would carry on and implement the mega projects and visions that he had for Malaysia during his tenure as the 4th PM. He thought that Pak Lah was a straight person, simple minded, nice and accomodating so much so that he would not try to have his own say in how the country is run but would just continue with what MM had left behind.

But no, Pak Lah abandoned the so called mega projects, gave the press much more leash that it has ever had (it was never 100% free), 'sweeped clean' the corrupted and then led the Barisan Nasional to its worst ever general election in 2008 after such a promising start in 2004.
The reason being; 4 years into his time as PM, people could see that Pak Lah just didn't have that leadership quality in him. He was always wavering in his decision making, never precise and always came up with reasons when things did not go according to plan. As far as I can remember, he never put the blame on himself. It was always because of something else, either too much corruption, or bad press (ironic, as he himself gave the press the freedom), or peoples' biasness towards MM.

Although, it would also be fair to say that Pak Lah was just the wrong person to lead Malaysia at the wrong time. Oil prices went up, inflation soared, the world economy came crashing down, many jobs lost and markets were so bearish that people start blaming the government and ultimately, the PM.
In tough times, it takes one hell of a tough person to get things in order, to get thing under control. And Pak Lah was just not cut out for this situation. He was not firm in what he said, and what he did, and who could blame him? While he was handpicked by MM himself to be the successor, he was not MM.
MM was in the same situation in 1999, and he came out with guns blazing. He stuck by his decision to shun the help from the IMF and thus isolate Malaysia from the global economy, and it proved to be a success. And because of that, MM is a legend, up till today. He single-handedly turned Malaysia's economy around. He took the risk (which was calculated), and he won.
The ability to take calculated risks is one thing that Pak Lah lacks. Pak Lah is a person who plays it safe, who takes easy way out. And most of the time, too easy means mediocrity.

And now, Najib moves into the spotlight. It has been a good start so far, with MM and family rejoining UMNO and freedom for those detained under the ISA. Only a couple of days in his new office, Najib has indeed gained many friends. But it's still too early to say whether he will be as great a Prime Minister as his father, the late Tun Abdul Razak. Coming from a political blue-blood family line has its advantages, but ultimately he will be judge based on the present and the future instead of his history. 

But, in my opinion, the timing is just right for Najib. World leaders at the G20 summit announced over a trillion dollars would be spent on reviving the world economy and surely, after months and months of economical mayhem, it can't possibly get worse.  With the economy improving, and the opposition in fits of internal problems,  he hasn't got much risk to take, and not many problems ahead. He just has to play his cards right.

Because the only way from here is up, and it will only get better. The tide is in Najib's favour, and all he needs to do is sail with it.

omg this is drop dead funny. seriously.

somehow they look like indonesians hahaha.

advise: watch the original cadbury eyebrow dance commerce first before you watch this one. it's in the previous post. enjoyy =)


  

Speaking of randomness, the australian entertainment/television industry has some of the most random and enjoyable ads ever.
Back home in Malaysia, the ads on tv are usually so straight forward that we would already know what is it about (even if we're viewing it for the first time) before it ends.
In the land down-under however, we (referring to the group of international asian students) need like a minimum of 2.1078 seconds after the ad to figure what is it about. Ads on aussie tv are more complex, more random and much much more entertaining than those in asian countries. And usually random ads leave a significant inprint in our memory. Viewers don't remember ads that are as straight forward as ABC. They tend to remember the random ones, which usually forces them to think and process before being able to interpret what the ads are about.

The reason of difference between the quality of asian ads and western ads might be down to the humour, which is significantly different between asians and caucasians, or it could be due to the difference in culture, or the vast gap in technology and resources required to produce an ad. Whatever it might be, based on the countless hours watching ads on australian tv, (without any sense of biasness whatsoever; hey i love malaysia!) it's without a shadow of a doubt that the creativity of the ad industry in the western world far outweighs the one of its asian counterparts.

Two of the best ads that i've watched on tv so far have entertained and thrilled me so much so that i don't get sick watching them again and again and again. It's tantamount to a classic movie that never bores you and gets you every single time. loveit,loveit,loveit,loveit,loveit.

iPod Touch Ad from USA. Great music and a great start to the ad.
   



Cadbury Chocolate Ad from Great Britain. Just awesome and super random. 

   



Latest Cadbury Ad. Totally wacky and as good as the gorilla ad.

   

Fact: over 1000 students with straight A1s for SPM 2008.

Straight A1s, not straight As. Either the students are getting smarter, or the cut off point to get an A1 in a subject is being lowered drastically. You make your call.

The days when getting straight A1s puts you among the cream of the crop are over. Now everyone seems to be getting straight A1s, not to mention the number of students getting straight As.
How then can we differenciate between the best and the mediocre?

I've seen many straight A1 students going into universities and failing big time. SPM should never be an indicator of how good a student is.

Form 5 students are spoon-fed by teachers in schools, tuitions, extra classes, workshops etc. The students are trained to answer questions which are similar to those in the exam papers. Most of them just budge their way through, memorising answers and important points. Only a select few try to understand the concept, but then again never try to apply it.

TBC

20 years of life.
I've been through success, i've been through failures
I've experienced love, i've experienced sorrow
I broke hearts, and i've been heartbroken
I once lost God, and then found Him again
I've made plenty of friends, and i've lost plenty of them

The ups and downs of life makes it a bittersweet experience. It is never bland, never boring.

As i close another chapter of my life, i welcome a new one with my arms wide open.
Time doesn't stop ticking and no matter what happens, it will still be a Monday tomorrow.

And though i will miss Sunday and the days, months and years before, i know that time will heal, emotions will fade and people will forget. Or so they say.

will there be an indian summer in the middle of this winter?

May God grant us all the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference.