.: Talentime :.

A Yasmin Ahmad Film.

• Sepet :: One Chinese boy, one Malay girl, one unforgettable love story.
• Gubra :: Why do we hurt the most, the ones we love the most?
  
• Mukhsin :: Everyone has a first love story to tell.
  
• Muallaf :: It is in forgiving that we are forgiven.
  

"First love has always fascinated me because it happens to you at a time when you have not yet learned to lie to yourself. With first love, within five minutes, you accept the other person for everything that they are, warts and all. I believe that our first love is the truest love of all. Unfortunately, most people I know do not even believe there is such a thing as "true love" . It's important to note here that the last thing I wanted was to make the central crisis in "Sepet" a racial one. I have never believed that race was ever a real issue when people hated one another. I have always found, without fail, that racism was just surface stuff. When I scratched that surface and went just a little deeper, I invariably found that that prejudice was rooted in more basic human weaknesses like Fear or Greed. I also wanted "Sepet" to be about first love.. They remind me of the last words in a poem by Wislawa Szymborska. "Let the people who never find true love believe that there is no such thing. Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die."

Yasmin Ahmad, The Storyteller

Official Website

"Jikalau dalam Sepet, kita jatuh cinta dengan Jason, dalam Mukhsin kita jatuh cinta dengan Mukhsin. Dalam Talentime, bersedialah anda untuk jatuh cinta dengan Mahesh."

If in Sepet we fell in love with Jason, in Mukhsin we fell in love with Mukhsin. In Talentime, be prepared to fall in love with Mahesh.

I've only caught snippets of her movies, developing not as much impact on me, by this I mean the controversial issues portrayed are certainly predominantly familiar. Perhaps I should not give this latest installment a miss, especially when it may be an avenue to cut loose from the unsightly commotion happening around here these days.

Feels like I've been walking barefoot on burning embers
Feels like I've been growing up among total strangers
O beloved, take me away to your destiny
This blind, narrow-minded world is my enemy

Amazing whenever you feel like the whole world is crashing down against you, something suitably crops up and gets you back on track, no matter how insignificant that thing may be.

___________________________

Happy Monday! ^^

5.43pm Malaysian Time

.: Mendelssohn :.

The day Venice came to our shores.


Kuala Lumpur, has recently enjoined itself with Bangkok as the Venice of the East.

Photo source:: Bernama.


Chaos as flash floods hit city.
Thousands caught unawares as 2m-high flash floods hit KL.

I never experience flash floods. On that day, while taking an alternative mode of transportation, I witnessed it first hand. Kuala Lumpur submerged under 2metres of water. Friends have likened it as our eastern version of Venice. I beg to differ. It was nothing like it. In replacement of the romantic atmosphere of gondolas and gondoliers in half-unbuttoned white/striped shirts, sleeves rolled up, with a hat and scarf twirled over their necks fantastically serenading Italian love songs to the passengers, all I saw were people trying to get to the safest place as quick as possible. Faces filled with humor, amazement, confusion and sheer horror.

Note:: The description of the gondoliers were based on the accounts I had 10 years ago.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Current local headlines are overflowed with the fiasco in relation to morality, the constitution and ethics. This piece of news adds further to it. Much to be thought upon the unaddressed ones i.e. the Orang Asli community. On another scale, a friend has returned to his homeland. I took the interest to read about his country, relying on the net as it apparently does not count as 'news' here. I may have sidetracked a little, reading more on the casualties at the bordering areas. Quite a number of sisters and brothers have highlighted it in their blog, offering their thoughts. As I am not there, nor have I been there, I dare not start a dialogue based on my perspective. The issue I brought up is the one in Swat Valley, Pakistan.

The winds are blowing.

5.23pm Malaysian Time

.: Compensation of desire :.

Central Market.

Auntie Rizwana Iqbal

Totally destroyed the sling bag my cousin bought for me when she was at Mysore City, India. After continuous attempts in finding the replacement, letdowns one after the other, I managed to find one similar to it in this shop. A little on the pricey side but in view of the bag, being hand-stitched by ethnic girls in Pakistan and the pleasant shop owner responding patiently to each of my queries along with allowing me to go rampant with the camera shots, I just had to have it. :)

Constant perseverance pays off.

2.47pm Malaysian Time

.: 10 random facts :.

About Me.

Tagged by ipv6. I indulge you, in some rubbish about myself. :P

1. Six names you go by:

1. Hajar.
2. Haja.
3. Hajjar.
4. Hajah.
5. Aja.
6. Ja.

People often have problems pronouncing @ remembering @ writing my name. It gets worse when they try to write it in Arabic or Jawi.

2. Three things you are wearing right now:

1. Hijab.
   
2. Pashmina.
   
3. Baju Kurung.
   

3. Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. Can I stop here?
   
2. Like really, can I end the tag like right now?
   

4. Three people who will do this:

1. Ms. Unique
2. Sketchedsoul
3. Miss Ash

5. Two things you did last night:

1. Cooking.
   
2. Sleeping. :P

6. Two things you did today:

1. Cramping @ cramming engineering jargons.
   
2. Due dilligence.
   

7. Two Things you ate today:

1. Nasi Lemak. [Rice cooked in coconut milk, normally eaten with anchovies, sambal *chilli paste*, cucumber and boiled egg] - I need the fat.
   
2. Tang Yuan. [Glutinous rice ball in sweet soup] - I need my sugar.
   

8. Two people you last talked to on the phone:

1. A brother from Al-Diwan. *Arabic classes postponed to next week*
   
2. My former colleague.

9. Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

1. Insya'Allah, going over to my cousin's place for a get together with family prior to her brother's wedding ceremony.
   
2. Feign ignorance when relations speak of marriage. *coughs*
   

10. Favourite beverage:

1. Lukewarm plain water.
   
2. Hot plain water.

.|.

Over at Kak Chik's place a short while ago. Apparently, she thinks my blog is fab, hence I'm accepting her award. Gratitude by the masses goes to her. :)

In conjunction to this, I'm giving this award to the other lovely blogs on my blog roll. Every single one is distinctively remarkable, whereby listing them all here will only exclude the noteworthy mentions for the future ones.

Thus the tag ends.

10.34am Malaysian Time

.: Spiral of recollection :.

Scene 1.

OMG! What do I do? What do I say? Do you think she’ll understand us?

It sounds way hilarious in Malay, so here’s the version for the Malaysian readers.

Ei! Nak buat ape eh? Ape nak cakap? Agak-agak dia faham tak? Cam mane ni!

Occasionally when I’m dressed up like any other average kid on the block, I’ll get mistaken as a foreigner. It may have to do with me blabbing in English *I’ve been told I have the American accent, I do have an accent though it’s unlikely to be American*, taking shots like an eccentric Japanese tourist or that I take so much interest in the surroundings as if it’s a totally alien environment.

Because of that, I have encountered several side-splitting treatments, divided into several categories. These presumptions are based on the times I had with Malaysians that have difficulties in expressing in English.

1. The helpful ones :- They’re willing to go all the way to help you by getting someone proficient in English, sign-language, win-lose-or-draw, charades etc. I’m dead serious on this.
2. The freaked out ones :- "Me speak no English. Bye." Else a wave, smiles, walks off. They’re not being rude. They don’t know how to react. At least they have the courtesy to acknowledge your existence.
3. The no-clue-what-to-do-but-wanna help ones :- Please refer to the panic attacks in scene 1. They’ll speak frantically to one another deciding on how, what to do often ending up stuttering, blushing and that’s pretty much it. These are generally the animated bunch.
4. The rude ones :- They’ll ignore you. Either they freaked out or are just rude. I retract my words. They’re just plain rude.
5. The blur ones :- They’re not sure whether you’re talking to them. Subsequently, they may fall anywhere in category 1-4.
   
   

Most of the time, I’ll encounter the ones in the 3^rd category. I never mean to mislead them, but I find it hard to burst their bubble. *with the eagerness splashed on their faces, "this foreigner spoke to me! Gya~!"* By now, I’ve acquired a knack to contain the chuckles. However, every so often I’ll submit to it, so seeing me laugh made them laugh as well. The laughs are purely because I find it really sweet that they’re trying their best to help out, sandwiched with the witty antics. I'll bail them out when things go out of control.

And after a long day in KLCC with my sis *we spent half a day at Kinokuniya bookstore*, the ticket man at the LRT gate greeted us with …"Thank you for shopping with us. Do come again!"

Me:: Cool~ Now they’ve started such a practice.
Sis:: I think he only said that to us. Do you think people think we are Indonesian?
Me:: That’s a loaded one.
Sis:: Oh yeah. You get this all the time.

Not so Malaysian after all.

9.59 Malaysian Time

.: Drizzly existence :.

Over the periphery.

Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Things are a little weary over here, but I’m far from getting all worked up over it as the last few days I had one of the rare mornings when I got to see a brilliant rainbow after a drizzle. With the massive amount of rainfalls, I'm also having a blast of a time galloping in the puddles.

Hope all of you will have good days ahead. :)

10.57pm Malaysian Time

.: Masjid Negara :.

The National Mosque.

A while back, I went to the Islamic Arts Museum, Malaysia [IAMM] to view their showcase on Divine Inspiration: Seven Principles of Islamic Architecture. Close by is the National Mosque, in which every Friday, the national television channel will broadcast Friday prayers held there. The closest I’ve ever been to it then was seeing it in the telly.

For further info, click here; in Malay.

3.44pm Malaysian Time