revenge of the nerds..

I like this title very much. This is the same title used in the summer of 1984 movie, "Revenge of the Nerds" starring David Carradine and few others. The plot was simple, this whole bunch of  nerds tired of being bullied by the footballers who belong to a certain fraternity in their college, started plotting their own revenge against their tormentors. They, not only managed to beat those guys in their own games but to add insult to the beefy guys, the nerds also managed to conquer the guys' girlfriends. This movie would be more interesting and dramatic if  the poster boy of everything nerd, the one and only Bill Gates was to be featured as one of the character in the movie.

Nerds are roaming the earth in big numbers nowadays and i believe there are more nerds now than the so called macho guys in this world. We , for once, might have belong to the nerd groups in school. This is the result of the current education system and the expectation from the society for us to perform well academically. Most of the schools in Malaysia do not put heavy emphasis on other activities except for academic related activities. It was quite obvious as observed in the recent sports day of my children's school in which i could easily mistaken it  with a telematch events.


During my primary school days, school sports day was one the premiere event for the year beside the speech day for the academic achievements. The whole town folks would turn out to watch the sports day and other schools in the vicinity would also participate in the invitational 4x400 relays. That was the pinnacle for an athlete's career in primary school because everybody would be cheering for you. I will touch this issue in my separate writing.




Nerds are always being presented in a negative way as you can see in movies and televisions. It is presented in a negative intonation like, Eee, You Nerrrrd!!! The "Fonz" of The 1970's TV series, "Happy Days" was quite successful in playing down the nerds with his trade mark sneering tone on nerds. Thanks Fonz for those Happy Days.. 

The Fonz of Happy Days

On the other hand, being a nerd has its own reward. On average, nerds earn more than the rest of the guys, thanks to the boom in the ICT industry and with due respect to their academic superiority. Unfortunately, the nerds score low in the department of love and people's management. Nowadays, in recognition of the nerds' talents, most of the big companies have a special grade ie specialist title for these talented but social shy professionals and for them to earn good salary without having to be in the managerial positions that involve managing people.

Nerds are a special breed of people who should be treated with respects. They occupy the top spot in the list of world billionaires and the moment the nerds go on strike, the world will be crippled because we depend too much on their brain and expertise. I hope it's not going to be the same case like the asshole who decided to go on  strike and forced the other parts of the body( who initially laugh at the idea of asshole becoming the leader)  to surrender after many days of asshole shut down including the brain. 


The moral of the story: There's nothing wrong of being a nerd...  

dear Maria....Postcard from Mexico

Dear Maria,


Hola, Como Estas? It is almost 23 years after this postcard reached me in Malaysia. I was rummaging through my personal belongings last week and i found this postcard alongside other old photos and that's when my mind started playing the old tune of the Wham's " Wake me Up before you go go".. So i decided to write to you as i was informed by your sister that you are now married and settling down in Panama with your family. I hope you have nothing to do with the Noriega's family and i wish you a very good health and  a wonderful life. I am not sure whether I had replied to this postcard then but let's assume i did. Damn if I didn't...


Dear Maria,,

i am writing this as a reminder to myself  that i was once a young chico living and studying in America similar to your dream and ambition. The life then was very simple and full of fun and joy. Unfortunately, you didn't stay long enough in the United States because you left for Mexico right after your English course. Before I met you, the "Maria" i knew was Maria Arshad (Malaysia actress in the 80's) and the Black Maria of Pudu Jail, the black van that was used to carry criminals to the court and back from Pudu jail. If people ask me, "hey, what about Maria Carey? she's also popular.." My straight answer is that Maria Carey did not exist yet then and perhaps she was still singing in some cheap pubs  somewhere in the southern states, if my knowledge about her is correct.


Dear Maria,

not Maria, but Loreena..

The first time i set my eyes on you in the late 1985, you were just arriving from Mexico to learn English at the Utah State University. Instinctively, when i met senorita es bonita like you, my Spanish came alive and i was eager to practise my  Spanish lingo. And with you, I thought i could practise my spanish that i learned in my previous university. It was a good fun with my limited spanish when i visited Tijuana and Juarez during the school breaks before. Unfortunately, the language that gave me so much joy is going down the drain..


Dear Maria,

In 1988, i was just starting my career as a trainee executive in one of the global insurance company in Malaysia. I remember that you sent me many postcards from exotic parts of Mexico and i like what i saw in Mazatlan but perhaps because of my ignorance, we lost contacts with each other after i moved out from the Kg Bary address (as how you always wrote it). Just imagine, I used to live next to the house belonging to the mother of one of the richest people in Malaysia but too bad, i didn't get to share his wealth, thus i remained a poor young executive then.

Dear Maria,


Do you still remember Lhong**, your English course mate from Thailand? He didn't talk to me for quite sometime after he discovered that i was going out with you . I didn't know that he got a big crush on you. He came to me saying something which i could hardly understand but sufficient enough to know that he was not happy with me because of our relationship. This issue could have caused an international incident and no wonder until now, the level of trust between Thailand and Malaysia is still at a very low level, perhaps sparking from this incident 25 years ago, 1-0, Malaysia over Thailand , oops..!!

Our three angels

crazy Japanese in front. "madonna" in blue blouse..

And do you still remember all the parties that we used to attend especially the ones hosted by the South Americans? The South Americans gave new definition to partying in the conservative Mormon state of Utah. I wonder if  you still remember the rest of the crazy guys in Logan..Thiep, Katsutaka, Hiroshi, Jasmin, Lisa & Mike, Lorena, and the rest of the gangs.. But things have changed with time. Now, we can only look back and reminisce our good old days, the young and healthy college kids who happened to be in a foreign land and shared the same  idea of studying, partying and staying happy with the hope to graduate with a degree in hands.

Hasta Luego, Mi Amiga!




Regards,


Nick the "D"




* Disclaimer: This is just a semi fiction from the writer, no relation to  anybody alive or death. Or it's up to you to believe....
** Name changed. He is a big shot in Thailand now.

     

Kepupusan ASAS81

ASAS81 includes all former students from Sekolah Alam Shah, Kuala Lumpur who took SPM ( O level equivalent) in 1981 and thus qualifying them as ASAS81 members. And why did I use the word "Kepupusan" which is literally translated as extinction? Please read on...

The boys of Alam Shah School are considered privilege kids who excel in their primary school education/examinations and come from all over the country to pursue their tertiary education here in one of the premier boarding schools in the country. The school used to occupy a beautiful site in Bandar Tun Abdul Razak@Cheras  which is next to few other educational institutions before some high level decision to move the school to another location in Putra Jaya with a pristine new facilities and brand new identity called Sekolah Menengah Sultan Alam Shah.

With the transfer of SASKL to Putra Jaya and the change of name, many of the SASKL Alumni are in the opinion that the spirit of the old school has faded away as it can be seen in the low turn out of certain batches  during ASAS annual dinner. What's left from the old SASKL are only the school badge and certain memorabilias inside the new school galleria.

For the SASKL puritans, the memories of the old SASKL are still fresh in their mind. The gymnasium cum masjid for Jumaat prayer, the Tembusu Camp, the murals on the wall, the isolated Block C, the dining halls, the library, the MPIK track and swimming pool ( not ours but part of our so called heritage) and few others. I could vividly remember the smell, the sound and the atmosphere of the old school at any time of the day.

To understand the Alumni's dilemma, let's look at the initiative to modernize the native people ( orang asli) and to assimilate them into the mainstream population. The native people would be relocated and given brand new houses in a housing scheme with all the modern amenities as a trade off for their ancestral land which could be developed for various reasons. It sounds like a win win situation for everybody, the natives get their dough and the developers get their pie. Buy why complaining?


The new generations of the native people would surely benefit from this re location scheme but these benefits are at the expense of their own cultural heritage. The new generations would slowly abandon their cultural root and the old ones would find it difficult to practice and continue their old life style and cultures. Even the "bomohs" among them find it hard to get the materials to practice the craft when the resources are no longer around them. The young ones would be roaming around with kapcais and jeans but the old ones would be left hanging in the blues ...sounds familiar?

So, when the steadfast SASKL decided to move on with her new life and new identity, the ASAS81 members became more  disillusion and to add salt to the wounds, their old home has been occupied by the brothers from 


different  mother  hopefully the same father. The ASAS81 members were nothing short of achievement during the 1977-81 tenure. Their achievement in the SPM examination 1981 was only second in the nation losing to SSP with far less candidates than SAS.  ASAS81 members were not only synonym with the academic achievements but also excels in sports and other activities during the period of 1977-81. There were achievements in soccer, volleyball, tennis, softball and track & fields in the district and state level. The same year in 1981, we won the PM's trophy for inter boarding school English debate defeating MCKK in the final.


With all the achievements and accolades, ASAS81 started heading their own separate ways. Majority of them ( more than 75% ) went to pursue their studies overseas, leaving only a handful to stay back in Malaysia either to do matriculation courses, continued with lower six or went straight to further their studies in local institutions. They were our only hope to continue the ASAS81 flag in Malaysia. As perfect the plan might be, the ASAS81 members kept on failing to show up and regroup after their tertiary studies. Even a good number of of them in one building ( the tallest twin towers in the world) but none showed up in our last ASAS annual dinner. Perhaps they have changed allegiance to their spouses former schools. If you look at the below picture of 5 sc 2, there is only one  person who did not pursue his overseas education right after the SPM 1981 and  i think you can tell who..

Hence,  I must say with regret that the spirit of ASAS81 can only be seen with only a handful of hardcore loyalists  (less than 15% of the population)  who keep the camaradarie among us alive, the ASAS81 by showing up in the ASAS annual dinner or impromptu gatherings ie: golf or eating outs. Kudos to you guys and al fatihah to two of the ASAS81 loyalists who passed away in recent years, saudara Syed Azis Hashim and Saudara Saifuddin Jabbar. Amin!

stupid "smart tag"

This one really pisses me off long time already. Every time i pass through Smart Tag, i need to almost completely stop before  the bar raises up. Why can't they put the sensor  few meters a head of the bar instead of right above the bar?

The current Smart Tag sensor is no different than using Touch N Go card with the later needs to open up the window. To the Smart Tag operator, please be smart and stop being stupid.

The day our fish dies..

Finally, our fish succumbed to the bacterial infection that ate up its fins and scale and it died early morning yesterday.


Johnny started to have the infection 2 weeks ago



Johnny lying dead at the bottom of the aquarium



It was indeed a sad moment for my kids because the fish a.k.a Johny was practically part of their daily and weekly routine for the past 5 years ie: daily feeding and Saturday outing to the aquarium shop  to buy "ulat" as the feed. The trip to the aquarium shop also exposed my little daughter to many other living creatures that were on sale there.

To honor its contribution to our lives for the past 5 years, we will bury Johnny under the lime tree in our garden and perhaps Johnny can still contribute as the best fertilizer for the lime tree.

Some memories with Johnny as highlighted in my previous posting.

Healthier Johnny 5 months ago.

  

Annoying List & Ego

There are many things in our lives that we can be annoyed with on daily basis ie: people jumping queues ( any queue),  noisy exhaust pipes, body odor in the public, slow drivers in the fast lane, hogging ATM machine or cash deposit machine, double parking's, asking directions at toll booth, high rentals, high food prices, lousy foods in fancy restaurants and etc...

Hell for road hogger

These are the things that you wish the perpetrators will be punished in  hell .

There are also self created annoying list  such as seeing our neighbor bought new Lamborghini while we are still driving old Tiara, seeing ugly men with pretty girls, seeing old men with young women, not getting enough sales for the month, having the stupidest guy in your primary school as your new boss or the company owner and many more jerking situations that you're facing in life.  Unless the person is so naive or dumb, ordinary hot blooded human would feel the challenge and start being grumpy or being in the state of denial, " i think he is with his grand niece,  his dad is rich,  my friend cheated, it's a borrowed car, must be lottery winner or probably that girl has a mental problem and etc...."

Whatever it is, our ego is the biggest enemy in us. Our self annoying list  is 100% coming from our own ego. It is not the two horns Satan who kept whispering to you, but the inborn or so called template ego that makes us self annoyed or what the Malays say , PHD ( Perangai Hasad Dengki). The detractors would say, " No, we are not jealous but we are just purely annoyed because the others are cheating and we are playing by the rules. Now they are getting something that is supposed to be ours!!"  Okay, that's a valid reason to be annoyed but remember, you have to be smarter from these smart Alexs. You will not gain anything by being grumpy, but you will gain if you have proper strategy in life, As for ladies, you certainly have the advantage of being good looking but it's only for a head start and if you are not smart enough, you are just another trophy for some unscrupulous men.

Above all, be thankful and grateful for what you  are now and hopefully the reward will come later in life.



perhaps happy life somewhere in Lebanon...



The Lonely Guys Club

The name of the club was inspired by the 1984 movie starring Steve Martin titled " The Lonely Guy". True to the movie's spirit, this bunch of "gooks" from Utah State University decided to experiment with the concept and started promoting their  house as the Lonely Guys' Club. Decoration ornaments being put up all year round, the music and the atmosphere of the house bespoke the latest trend  during the mid eighties with Duran Duran and Sade 's music took the center stage.

Having a cool DJ like Mr Chong and Thiep, as always,the live wire of any party, the Lonely Guys Club took up the reputation as a cool place to hang out ( BYOB) for friends and other selected guests. Rule # 1, girls can only bring their boy friends with the permission from either one of the Trustees of the Lonely Guys Club. Otherwise, leave your boy friend at home....


To give credential to the club and to protect its safety, we engaged a couple of Footballer friends ( American Footballers Offensive/defensive linesmen are on average 280 lb / 6 feet 5 inches in height) to  frequent the place as our special guests and we also made sure that all our immediate neighbors were in the same wavelenght with us. Rule #2 : No drugs are allowed with the exception of what's coming out from Thiep's little pipe.  

With all the party ingredients in place, any slightest event could trigger endless fun in the club ie: ice cream party during winter, birthday party, halloween party, home coming party, farewell party, end of semester party and etc. The place also became sort of information center for new foreign students and  its reputation benefited us as well. We regularly received home cooked food from our visitors and there was one particular dish that i liked so much, a slow roasted beef from this Japanese girl ( couldn't remember her name)  who was a big fan of  Katsutaka Murakami, the rare Japanese with permed hair ( he replaced Wan Mohd Nor a.k.a Wan Jus as one of the Trustee for The Lonely Guys Club after Wan's graduation). Katsutaka however had a fetish for American girls, specially one high school senior who looked like Madonna the singer. Because of her, Katsuka religiously pumping iron to build his small frame and hoping to impress her.  Long story short, with all the romantic gestures and new macho appearance, Katsuka was heart broken when  Thiep the smooth talker managed to intercept "Madonna" from him and that incident almost brought the halt to the LGC activities.Rule #3 : Do not take relationship seriously and personally especially when it involves the club trustees.  

I can go on and on with the Lonely Guys Club activities, especially with the other characters like Fung Wai Yin aka Jasmine, Alex "the Doc" of HK, our white water rafting trip in Jackson Hole, Wyoming  and loads of  other fun activities during the one and the half year of LGC's existence. Where ever you are guys, especially the founders of the Lonely Guys Club, the experience that we went through made us a better person in life now...