HATE ME 'COS I'M FAMOUS!

 Greetings people!


Yes, THE AQUINAS knows that he has not been updating thehornbillspeaks for what, 5 months? Guess what, he won't be dishing out excuses to justify his absence like Oprah Winfrey giving away Volkswagen New Beetles, instead he would attempt his best to write an entertaining post for the reading pleasure of anyone who comes across this blog of his (THE AQUINAS himself included).

As the title suggests, THE AQUINAS is interested to address a contemporary trend, whereby hatred, disdain and disgust could as well be one's ticket to fame and most probably, even success. It is somewhat a 21st century "thing" to be well-known just because one becomes a magnet of disgust and ill-feeling. THE AQUINAS opines that there are several reasons leading to this trend. To make things interesting, THE AQUINAS shall disclose the reasons in the form of real life personalities! That would illustrate things better, don't they?



CASE-IN-POINT ONE : Thou shall become the object of hatred because thou attempted to sing, even though thou cannot do so.

Picture courtesy of http://www.simonhar.com/2011/03/rebecca-black-friday.html

Picture courtesy of http://www.sodahead.com/fun/why-do-so-many-people-hate-justin-bieber/question-948598/

Youtube Autotune sensation Rebecca Black gained mass attention and of course, notoriety over her Ark Music Factory produced music video, Friday. There you go Mr Patrice Wilson, another free "honourable mention" for your enterprise. The Friday music video reached the 100 million views benchmark, just several months after its release with a significant amount of "dislikes". Well, who could blame the dislikes if you had watched the music video. THE AQUINAS hates to admit this, but he was among the first few viewers of her video. This happens despite of her inept ability to belt out a decent tune and ultimately, ridiculous lyrics. To put it up a notch, Friday was dangerously catchy. (THE AQUINAS could even sing the lyrics while writing up this post. Bad news). Come on, where else can you find a singer having a hard time to choose a seat in a car? This ain't RapidKL.

Miss Black exploded ever since, having appeared in Katy Perry's Last Friday Night music video. This is somewhat of a rubber stamp, not yet a cornerstone of how big she really is - all thanks to her rise as an object of hatred. Her latest music video, My Moment was in fact quite decent compared to her initial track. Well, at least there are now two words in her chorus. *APPLAUSE


CASE-IN-POINT TWO:  Thou shall become the object of disdain because thou assumed a foreign fad, claim as it thou own and pray to become notorious for it.

Korean pop, or better known as Kpop has spread seen its popularity, or frighteningly, its influence across the Asian continent. To be honest, THE AQUINAS in not a fan of this particular genre. THE AQUINAS finds it hard to celebrate a genre which has its myriad of songs that sound pretty much similar to one another, same dance moves in one video to another, the hospital scenes, the rain, the leaves that fall from a random tree to a random street and so forth.

The worst of all possible outcomes has now come upon us: we now have our very own Kpop band - enter Max 24:7 and Gula-Gula. The former is a 12-member boy band who had themselves publicised as "12 jejaka kacak". To see them for yourself, search Anti 24:7 on your facebook. You'll love what you see. The latter, on the other hand, is a 6-member all-female band, who made a name for themselves mostly via late morning talk-shows (and even danced in one. It was scintillating).

People,

Both Max 24:7 and Gula-gula has grown into a target of disdain. This is due to the notion that they are trying to replicate themselves after the Kpop boy-bands and girl-groups - and attempting to project themselves as an instant favourite among local music aficionados. To these people, it is similar to force-feeding oneself with kimchi fried with sambal. How's that for a combination?









Alright THE AQUINAS admits it, he was not at all sincere with the "scintillating" part. In his opinion, these two groups should go back to the drawing board. As a performer cum entertainer, a perfect entertainment that is worth your audience's money and time is something that we expect from you. THE AQUINAS could forgive the singing (who sings well nowadays anyway) since you have Autotune at your disposal. But could you please work on your entertainment value, let's say your dance, for instance? Have you ever heard of choreography? Heck, THE AQUINAS is not even sure whether these two acts will have that much of a staying power. To add insult to injury, they are modelling themselves after a genre that does not have a staying power in our local scene itself. Remember the reality-TV fad, circa 2000-2006? Remember FO-3, Bayu etc?


CASE-IN-POINT THREE:  Thou shall become the object of hatred, disdain and disgust for whatever reason that might be.

A picture says a thousand words.

Picture courtesy of http://dailyskoop.blogspot.com/2010/10/justin-bieber-looks-so-gay-with-makeup.html

THE AQUINAS has spoken.

DISILLUSIONED MUCH?

Once again, THE AQUINAS is right back here, at thehornbillspeaks after such a long hiatus. No thanks to his lack of effort his maintaining his online presence. Much blame could be put on his real life workloads (again), the only reason THE AQUINAS feels that he should come back to this weblog of his is that he needs an outlet to pour his thoughts out, after months of tense and (un)voluntary accumulation.

Lo, let the pouring begin!

THE AQUINAS now thinks to himself, is he currently disillusioned with life at law school? Don't make THE AQUINAS start with the law subjects. Yes, THE AQUINAS finds that the study of law is interesting, to him at least it is, but as time passes he finds that such interest is getting difficult to sustain. The thought and the act of picking up a book on law is already depressing, in its natural sense. Thanks to mooting, there is actually a practical application of the study of law, although it does not reach the threshold of "practising" law. That would certainly kick in some sense and perhaps "excitement" to such field that THE AQUINAS indulges himself in.

Picture courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/

People,

They say that there will be a time when one would discover that who are his/her real friends and who are not. THE AQUINAS would like to rectify this saying; if he may be. There will be several occasions, before one could discover who are his real friends, and those who are not. Honestly, THE AQUINAS is not really a big fan of the age-old saying " a friend in need is a friend indeed". Well, this saying makes sense IF you are the  one on the "in need" end of any difficult situation. What if you find yourself standing at the end whereby you are needed to help your friend who happens to be "in need"? THE AQUINAS wishes to point out that, you do not have to be in a situation of need to tell who your real companions are. You need to ascertain these people from the situations that your circle of friendship happens to be in.

Why bother blending in if you're meant to stand out? Picture courtesy of http://elpalaciodemusicalatina.blogspot.com/ 

Situations, may of course vary among individuals. This pretext also applies to THE AQUINAS himself. The best indicator whether one or a group of people are your friends may come from trying or difficult situations. Again, the age-old saying mentioned earlier could be true. However, it strikes THE AQUINAS that such indication would be stronger if it is based on the aftermath of those difficult times. Let THE AQUINAS put this finding on a perspective: what are the chances of your friends sticking with you during difficult times to continue to do so after an outcome of such situations? A benefit of the doubt could be given to the so-called friends who were never with you from the starting line. Could the same be said for those who were running the race with you? Depending on the result of such outcome, one could surely tell. To THE AQUINAS, at least. Sometimes, THE AQUINAS feels that things could have been looked at in a bigger picture. Just saying.

As the situation stands, THE AQUINAS really wishes to avoid being disillusioned, as to whom are his real friends?

People, this edition of THE AQUINAS' rambling stops now. Gonna go all out to celebrate the great Reds' victory! Long live King Kenny!

Picture courtesy of http://www.polovision.co.uk/

THE AQUINAS has spoken.

VIVA LA LIBERTAD DE INFORMACION !!

In recent times, the freedom of information is essentially an agenda (or an idea, for the matter) is a lot to be desired with. Regardless whether one wishes to view it from the macro or micro outlook on it, the idea of free and uninhibited dissipation of information is intriguing to our modern intellectual groups of the global society (In blunt words, to those who finds it more beneficial to keep up with current events, rather than investing their time on MTV-Bieber-Taylor Swift-Harian Metro-Kosmo-Mastika nonsense).

With that in mind, the world braces itself for the advent of a ground-breaking, no less provocative and eye-opening source of media - a source that contains and boasts classified governmental documents, which may (not exhaustively) debunk all of these mainstream news information that the global community received thus far. Dear readers, does this ring a bell?

Lo, here cometh Wikileaks!

                                                Picture courtesy of wikileaks.org/

WikiLeaks, which operates through its web domain wikileaks.org/, is an international media organisation that circulates previously classified governmental and high-end corporate documents, all thanks to anonymous contributions or leaks - hence giving its the name.

Make no mistake however, contrary to the popular belief out there, Wikileaks is in no way related to Wikipedia - a statement issued by the Wikipedia main man Jimmy Wales. Rest assured readers, the word "wiki" is not a brand name, so you may use the name for whatever purpose you seek. And no, you cannot use Wikiporn, as it is already taken.

Back to the topic of information freedom, Wikileaks is seen as an alternative, yet revealing source if news, as it publishes never-seen before leaked documents concerning governmental conducts in recent world events. Take the US-led invasion in Iraq and Afghanistan for instance. This exposure of information has certainly landed the White House and Downing Street top brass in hot soup, as calls for the arrest of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks become increasingly vocal.

                               Dear imperialists, here's your new war cry. "Yes We Can" is so 2008.

Being casually intrigued by this finding, THE AQUINAS is curious to find out more about the leaks.

Only to find that the website is apparently blocked on campus grounds.

Freedom of information has got to be inside someone else's rectum right now.

THE AQUINAS has spoken.

It's About Time. Really. Part II - GLOBAL YOUTH SYMPOSIUM 2010 PROMO

HOLLA!

It has been QUITE A WHILE since THE AQUINAS has updated this blog of his - owing to the usual and blogspot-overused excuse of being occupied, committed to real-life commitments, competing priorities etc etc. Therefore, THE AQUINAS thinks that he should at least one post before this wonderful year of 2010 ends.

                          Talking about self-explanatory. Picture courtesy of  http://www.cartoonstock.com/

Since THE AQUINAS mentioned "real-life commitment" at the top of this post, he will tell his dear readers out there what he is so committed to this past few months - among a few other commitments, one stands out - The Global Youth Symposium 2010.

The Global Youth Symposium 2010, or the GYS'10, is student-driven international event where students from all around the world converge and voice out their thoughts and opinions on the pressing global issues affecting our world today. This ambitious movement sets out to gather the views of young people from all around the world and ultimately put these important views together into a significant document called the GYS'10 Declaration - a significant document containing roadmaps, suggestions and solutions to these global issues.

That is just not all about it, dear readers. We are stepping it a notch, whereby this Declaration will be subsequently sent to government leaders worldwide as a form of positive pressure and youth activism. In other words, this GYS'10 is like the mini-UN. How's that for young people running a global show, eh?

                                                                        The GYS'10 Offcial Poster.

Back to the early mention of commitment, this is the cause that THE AQUINAS has been committed to, and still committing himself to, for the past few months. That is because yours truly, THE AQUINAS is the Director of this ground-breaking initiative of the young generation of today. THE AQUINAS truly feels more than grateful for the opportunity of holding the mantle and pedestal, leading a team of talented young people in making this event a great success.

The GYS'10 si just around the corner - and THE AQUINAS means it literally. The GYS'10 will be held from the 16-20 December 2010, and he hopes that this Symposium will serve as a beneficial and fruitful platform in realising the true objective of the GYS'10 - that is to promote youth activism and leadership, a cause that is dear to his heart.

It is also, realistically, a yardstick and field test for us the Organising Committee, to see how far we have come and achieved, considering the amount of dedication and effort we have collectively put together for these past few months.




P/S: The time where this generation faces the task of fixing the s**t that the previous generations had made; has come.

THE AQUINAS has spoken.

It's About Time. Really.

THE AQUINAS was scrolling through the array of online news portals just moments ago, and he happened to stumble upon this : the possibility of the introduction of minimum wage in Malaysia.

SAY WHAT?

Why create the hoo-ha now? By the reasonable standards of a developing nation currently pursuing the objective of becoming a high-income nation, we should have this in our blueprint A LONG TIME AGO.
Yes, for some quarters, regardless of which side of the political divide that they might come from, this is a much-welcomed move. That is IF this plan is put into serious implementation. Added with the cut in subsidies and the journey towards economic recovery, the enforcement of a minimum wage legislation, or even a policy to say the least, should in some way or another ease the economic burden of the lower-to-middle income society - who happen to make up about 60% of the Malaysian working demography.

Achieving happiness at the workplace without minimum wage. BLAH. Picture courtesy of stevenaitchison.co.uk

The lower-to-middle income group are arguably the driving force of the nation's economy. These group of dedicated people also happen to be the main engine constantly revving up to ensure the top notch performance of this fine vehicle called Malaysia (no offence to Proton, that is). However, we, as a collective nation are actually not doing these group of people any favour - since their employers are still able to issue them any amount of wage as they please, while seeking refuge behind the curtains of a demand-and-supply economy. This is all due to the absence of a minimum wage cap.

For the benefit of THE AQUINAS' readers out there, there was this National Employment Return study conducted last year, there is a staggering amount of 1.3 million workers, or 43% of the Malaysian workforce, who were earning less than RM 700 per month. RM 700 per month? What are these people going bring to their dining table? Just mere kangkung for every meal? To make things worse, this is actually lower than the national poverty line of RM 720 per month!

And according to the World Bank (whose credibility and impartiality THE AQUINAS doubted to a certain extent, but chose to quote here anyway), the yearly salary increment in our beautiful Malaysia for the last 10 years stands at a mere 2.6%, a stark contradiction with the 10%-15% increase in the cost of living within those years.

As you can see, people, you do not need actuarial science Mathematics to appreciate these figure (NERDS..).

                                                  Picture courtesy of untoldentertainment.com

And this is one of the many reasons why THE AQUINAS contends that we are not doing justice to the group of people who are busting their bones not only to make ends meet for themselves, but also significantly contribute to the ongoing progress of the nation's economy.

However, it is important to note that any implementation without intense pre-planning and detailed scrutiny will eventually lead to the failure of the policy itself. We are all too familiar that the Government has this penchant of diving into the ocean of policies without knowing its depth and the problems they might face undersea. It would only be a question of time as to when their oxygen supply runs out. Remember what happened to the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English policy? We might even end up by scrapping this whole policy altogether, not surprisingly only months after its celebrated debut. At the end of the day, we will have people feeling the pinch of we resort to that. And THE AQUINAS is referring to the lower-to-middle income group, of course.

Let's not have this dedicated people eat nothing but kangkung for their meals.

                                               Picture courtesy of asrichascroesus.blogspot.com

THE AQUINAS has spoken.