Rowie's Scribbles

Whew! I just arrived at UMP after traveling from UiTM Dungun & I feel great! :D We returned to UMP on the 20th of June to start our debate training. We had 3 rounds per day & our experience at previous PDSZA tourneys helped to select topics that might be covered at the tournament. I'm not affliated with UiTM Dungun so I'll try to provide info about the tournament as best as I could. PDSZA Pertandingan Debat Sultan Zainal Abidin (PDSZA) was held for the 9th time at UiTM Dungun (the host). It invites IPTA's from the east coast of Malaysia (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang) & challenges students to participate in English & Malay debates. The main purpose of the tournament is to provide exposure (especially to new teams) to teams & help prepare them for bigger tournaments, plus build bonds within the debating community.  UMP & PDSZA UMP entered PDSZA for the 1st time in 2006 & won the competition. UMP won it again in 2007, 2008 & today we made histor...

A week ago, the Lite FM deejays had a discussion & people called in to talk about tuition: 1. Why do people go for tuition? 2. Is it necessary? I think I can safely claim that tuition started to become a norm when I was in my teens. Kids would rush from school to tuition centers & come home in the evening. The tuition phenomenon mushroomed during the 1980's, so much so that the Malay translation for the word "tuition" was pioneered, like "tiusyen" & "tusyen". Now the formal term is "tuisyen". It was initially introduced as support classes for weaker students. However it is now a mere money-making machine: Background Malaysia's education system is exam-orientated. The focus of many is on the national examinations, namely UPSR (Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah, taken at Standard 6), PMR (Peperiksaan Menengah Rendah, taken at Form 3), SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, taken at Form 5) & STPM (Sijil Tinggi Pendidikan Malaysia, take...

Frankly I can't be the only one annoyed with all this talk about using English vs mother tongue for Science & Maths, right? I did an article about that previously.  All this talk is starting to piss me off. Why? Apparently many Malaysians are freaking ignorant & plain DUMB. I sent a letter to the Star explaining my stand on this issue, so I'll put it here (I don't know if it'll be published but frankly, enough is enough): "Hi I'm writing in response to the letter by CONCERNED CITIZEN on 18 June in the Star "What about English in Accountancy". My sister studied in form 6 arts stream, now she's studying accounting at a private university; although her major subjects were taught in Malay at form 6, she had no problem switching to English at the university level. This brings me to my point that the root of the problem is many young Malaysians these days aren't speaking enough English, hence the worry that they can't cope with the chan...

Hey all I made a site yesterday to compile all my music recordings, the link's here As mentioned in the announcement on the left, my music is all over the place so putting them together in 1 place should be a boon! :) It's a really simple site, I think the layout's pretty simple & neat :) So head over & thanks for your time! :)

2 more songs for your listening pleasure :) Konya Tsuki no Mieru oka ni (2nd trial) The Departure (don't mind the mutterings in the background) I am planning to start up a small site to put all my recordings online, easier for me & y'all :p I'll let you know when the site is finished! :)

Music is an essential part of the movies, the Oscar award for Best Original Score recognizes music composed to support the film. I'm sure everyone has a list of their favorite soundtracks so I'm gonna run through mine: The Departure From the movie Gattaca I was encouraged to listen to it by a good friend of mine & I never regretted it. Short fingers makes it difficult to play the piano solo but I'm trying! Star Wars theme Duh from the Star Wars saga Awesome wind music, I hope to get the OG to perform this theme one day! Come What May From the movie Moulin Rouge Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor sung it beautifully, so wistful & longing Star Trek theme From the new Star Trek movie The horn solo in the beginning is amazing The Ride of the Rohirrim From the LOTR movie The Two Towers Amazing build up, you can almost smell the horses & the warriors I'll do this as a series of 5 per entry, stay tuned! :) Feel free to give me suggestions to include in the future!

I was going through a friend's FTP site when I stumbled upon 11 episodes of Beautiful Life, a Japanese drama. I remember watching it in 2000 (I was 14) & boy, it made me weep. Nostalgia had me staying up until 3am downloading each episode & it was worth it. Every tear. Plot Kyoko is a beautiful, cheerful & independent woman despite being confined to a wheelchair due to an illness. Shuji is a moody, attractive & a fiercely talented hair stylist. They started out fighting & quarelling with each other but they began to fall in love with each other. Shuji learns the hardships Kyoko endures as a handicapped person & Kyoko learns to let someone else take care of her. Life is beautiful for the pair but when Kyoko's illness takes a turn for the worse, the 2 of them learn that love is worth any sacrifice & to work hard to be happy together. Cast Takuya Kimura smolders as Shuji; he fits so well with the broody, careless personality of Shuji. Takako Tokiwa is A...

The holidays have put me in a good mood & I've decided to channel the positive energy into recording piano music. My violin skills are below par so not worthy to record (yet!). I uploaded the files on 4shared.com since YouTube & eSnips are a b!tch to handle.  So recorded yesterday 4/6/09: (Click   to download) A Song of Erin                                                    Gavot                                                                 Minuet                                                                I Don't Love You                                              Konya Tsuki no Mieru oka ni (1st trial)   I'll be posting more, feel free to download & I welcome feedback!

I know this will sound funny but I got inspired after watching a recent Oprah episode. The episode discussed physical & emotional issues that women face especially after the age of 45 (due to perimenopause/menopause). The guest speaker was Dr. Northrup, author of the book The Wisdom of Menopause  (remind me to find this book later for Mom). Important issues highlighted in the show (well what I could remember): Dr Northrup & Oprah Winfrey 1. Cut down the caffeine People tend to take caffeine to keep awake throughout the day. Caffeine hinders production of insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar level. With insulin absent, blood sugar level increases & your cells become energized, you will feel more alert. However when the blood sugar level drops, it'll be LOWER than when you initially started. This cycle, if repeated, will take a toll on your body & the fats you want to abolish won't be able to get out. Below is a diagram I did to illustrate the effect of...