People Inspire People.

Oscar Pistorius. Image courtesy of wjla.com.

If one were to go around looking for inspiration these days, they probably wouldn't have to look much further than the Olympics. From 15-year-old Katie Ledecky winning gold, to Usain Bolt becoming the first man to retain both the 100m and 200m sprint titles, and amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius making the 4x400m sprint final - the list goes on.

However wonderful these and many other stories from the 2012 Olympics may be, I recently found inspiration from a rather different source.

On Thursday, my Foundation in Science (FIS) April Intake class had an English class, as we usually did. However, this one was different. Our juniors, the FIS June Intake had to deliver their presentations for their own English class, so our two classes merged. We, the April Intake would serve as their audience. Of course, we had no problem with this as (a) it meant no studying and (b) they had been the audience for our own English presentation during our first semester.

As it turned out, a third class would be joining in as well, also serving as audience members - the Certificate in English (CIE) international students. These guys came from such countries as Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan and even Myanmar.

So anyway, the presentations soon began. To be honest, not a single one of them really caught my eye. The topics were dull, the presenters had neither charisma nor confidence. Sure, there were a few exceptions – some did appear to know what they were actually doing – but even then they failed to impress me, and dare I say the watching lecturers as well.

But then one Indian kid, who appeared to be around my age, stepped up. Just like most of his classmates, he had a lot to learn about presenting. What really set him apart from the others, though, was his topic – terrorism.

He then started talking (mumbling?) about what terrorism was, what kind of activities were considered as terrorism, and of course, the various terrorist organizations. The moment I saw the words Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden on the screen, I knew there was bound to be some controversy. His presentation went by mostly without incident, but nobody foresaw what would happen afterwards.

Right at the end, during the so-called Q & A session, the Pakistani from the CIE class stood up. He then proceeded to give a speech about how not all Muslims were terrorists and how the Western media manipulated information to fit their own agendas. He also said something about how his people (Pakistan is where Bin Laden was allegedly killed) were working hard all over the world, although I can’t remember how that was related to the main part of the speech. But still, it was a good speech. He was applauded by the whole room when he was done.

I was awestruck. That was quite frankly the best speech I’d heard all day. I was amazed by the man’s guts to stand up and defend Islam just like that, especially since I knew I couldn’t have done it myself. The whole suddenness of the speech made it seem even more amazing.

I could have cried. It seemed as if the poor kid presenting the topic might have, though. Of course he hadn’t meant to call all Muslims terrorists, and perhaps the Pakistani might have overreacted. The kid did apologize to him afterwards.

Anyway, the short speech made me think about a few things. First was that people were being cruelly killed and tortured all over the world, and a large number of people were unaware of this due to the way the media manipulates and twists the truth. Sure, a man who blows himself up in an American subway is called a terrorist, but there’s nothing wrong with certain global superpowers going to war with Middle Eastern third-world countries? Come on.

Also, I realized that it was kinda true that Pakistanis were working hard all over the world (In 2009, around 600 000 Pakistanis went to work abroad). These people leave their families to work in far-off countries and for me, this just shows their admirable work ethic. Here in Malaysia, we Malays are generally much less hardworking, as we hold ‘special rights’ in this country. Well, what happens when those special rights are abolished? What then? Hmm.

*****

When I think about it, I would probably have never seen anything like the Pakistani's speech had I gone to  KMS or UiTM. It seems to me that enrolling in a public institution, where Malays are the dominant race, would be like going to an SBP all over again - quite frankly a dream world. On the other hand, my time at Nirwana has exposed me to many facets of life - cold, hard truths, if I may - that I might never have experienced in an IPTA. As time goes on, my choice of Nirwana seems to become increasingly more justified.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with public institutions. Everything has its pros and cons. I'm just taking everything in my stride, looking on the bright side every time. God knows what's best for each of us, and I'm just going with the flow.

Going for the Gold.

I clearly haven't written anything in this blog for a while. However, I won't resort to the cliche of calling this blog 'dusty', 'full of cobwebs', or things like that. Yes, such phrases are only meant to have figurative meanings rather than literal, but I am a realist and prefer not to call a virtual collection of thoughts and experiences things that it is not.

Okay, rant over.

So anyway, my second semester at Nirwana College recently kicked off, as did the holy month of Ramadhan. One thing these two have in common is that both haven't exactly been particularly interesting or eventful for me. But these are still early days, and hopefully things will get fired up pretty soon. My results for my first semester are due to be released later this week, and maybe that could be just the thing I need to get going.

Also, the London 2012 Summer Olympics started a few days ago, on the 27th. I didn't watch the opening ceremony live on TV, so I looked it up on Youtube, where I viewed it in bits and pieces. It was fairly spectacular, but with humans being humans, there were more than a few people on the internet complaining about how the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics was better. Well, I didn't catch the Beijing opening ceremony, so I can't really say too much about the matter. But I'm pretty sure Beijing didn't have the evergreen comedic genius that is Rowan Atkinson.

Comedy is a funny thing, and I don't just mean that in the obvious sense.

What some people find to be funny, others don't. This is just one of the facts of life that everyone seems to take for granted and, as far as I know, hasn't been explained by science.

This is why it's hard to be a comedian. It's hard to make everyone laugh. And yet, here is a middle-aged man playing a piano, making millions of people all over the world cachinnate without even saying a word. What's more remarkable is that he's been doing this sort of thing for years. That, my friends, is pure ability. And all those years' practice being a comedian helps, too.

And that's what the Olympics is supposed to be about - ability and hard work. Only the best of the best, the ones who put in the most effort, can win the gold, and that's how it should be. The Olympics teaches us that only the strongest, toughest and most persistent deserve to be champions. Values such as these we should be imparting into our own lives.

That being said, I should probably take my own advice and strive for excellence during this second semester. All those extra minutes freed up by not having to go for lunch this Ramadhan I should be putting to good use, instead of wasting them playing computer games.

Four-flats are definitely a possibility. Only through hard work can they be an inevitability.

Holiday Mode.

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."

- Robert Orben

On the 30th of April 2012, I went for the first day of my Foundation in Science course at Nirwana College. On the 11th of July 2012, I sat for the final paper of my final exam for the semester. As of right now, I am currently enjoying my much-appreciated semester break before the second (and final) semester begins next Monday.

My classmates and I had been given the week before the exams off, a so-called 'study break'. Of course, being me, I had already gone into 'holiday mode' before the study break had even started. The three-day exam was, in my mind, merely an inconvenience that was interfering with my vacation. I barely studied throughout the week, and only really pushed myself on the night before the exam was due to begin.

After I had finished my last paper, I left the college as soon as I could. This was an attempt to make myself feel happy at the fact that I was finally free from the shackles of any sort of formal education for the next eleven days. However, my efforts were futile - I was already on holiday mode, and I was already as happy as I could get.

Back in my school days, I had never really liked school holidays. I would much rather go to school where I could meet my friends, play football and basically have something to keep myself busy with. At home, on the other hand; boredom, chores and often-annoying siblings would await. It was clear to me which place was the more enjoyable one.

My perception towards holidays have changed now that I've left school. I definitely prefer the holidays more. I have more freedom now, as well as a driver's license. Boredom is still inescapable, but no longer in abundance. Plus, now that I don't see my school friends every day anymore, going to visit them will be more meaningful.

As for college, well, it quite simply can't hold a candle to school in terms of enjoyment. You can't even afford to not do your homework anymore. 'Nuff said.

So, what have I been doing since my semester break started? Apart from sleeping, watching TV and surfing the Internet, I also managed to spend the weekend in Subang Jaya.

Casa Subang. Image coutesy of the Internet.

On Saturday afternoon, I drove myself in my rusty, 15-year-old Iswara to Subang Jaya to meet a couple of friends there. Being students at Taylor's College, Subang campus, they were staying at the grandly-named Casa Subang. I'd already checked out the location on Google Maps earlier, but that still didn't stop me from getting lost in the area's unfamiliar streets. I did get there eventually, of course.

The apartments units were, as expected, economical (read: small). There were maybe about seven students per unit, and not necessarily ones from the same course or batch neither. Well, at least they were all the same gender.

I spent most of Saturday night out on the road. Driving on unfamiliar streets at night, guided only by signboards, phone-relayed instructions and a guy in the passenger seat who only knows the area slightly more than you do is never easy. It just so happened that Saturday night coincided with the MTV World Stage concert-thingy at Sunway Lagoon, which just happened to be in the Subang area. That did not help the traffic flow. Nevertheless, it still turned out to be an enjoyable night. My friends and I finally got back to the Casa at one in the morning.

Sunday was highlighted by an outing to Sunway Pyramid, where my friends and I watched The Amazing Spiderman (which was pretty amazing, might I add), followed by pizza for lunch. After all that was done, it was finally time to go home. We said our goodbyes and I set off on what I expected to be a long drive home.

The drive turned out to be pretty short, in the end. There was considerably less traffic on the road than I had expected for a Sunday afternoon.

So, what now for the rest of the week? Well, I have two or three more road trips planned out, so this semester break promises to be one of the more eventful holidays I've had in a while. Anything is better than lazing around like a sloth all day, I suppose. At least when the new semester starts, I won't have to look back on my holidays in regret.