For the main opposers of my cause

When it came to creative projects, there was always a known intellectual war which everyone could see. It was a was between a teacher and a trainee. A war between Cikgu Dzul... and me. We were creative equals, making wonders in our own right, but where I couldn't chip in, he grabbed the upperhand and made Alpha Company win. Where I could chip in, I made sure to crush Cikgu Dzul's half once and for all.


The vid right below features the banners of the Alpha classes - 1 and 2 under Cikgu Dzul, and 3 and 4 under Cikgu Hafiz. The more notorious of the two were 1 and 2, as they were out to demolish every effort of mine. One trainee in particular, whom I nicknamed Alizée, was out to patronise our finished work of art. Unable to contain my fragile emotions, I lined up an explanation of each symbol and a defence ready, after hearing from someone that we were supposed to explain the symbols of our banners. It rained that afternoon and it obviously looked like there wasn't going to be any presentation. But defence or no defence, they failed to demolish us anyway.


As for Alpha 3 and 4, Cikgu Dzul did turn the least of banners into a great work of art with those pics *salutes*. Bahliya tells me that she was the one doing all the work... though I saw other people helping out in the colouring.





Why I actually managed to write this much about the Alpha classes, rather than Charlie or Delta, was because Bravo 1 and 2 - my coalition - managed to keep a tab on the Alpha classes. They were the ones posing the real threat to us, and neither Charlie nor Delta were that tenacious. And, ironically, many of the people who supported my cause were from the Alpha company. Whilst they asked me about my work, I asked them about theirs. I disclosed what I was colouring, as well as my concept, though I did not disclose any further information because I knew they weren't gonna go easy on me with whatever they were doing.

I think these shots were taken by Cikgu Dzul, as Cikgu Hafiz is pictured doing up the banner for Alpha 3 and 4. And Cikgu Dzul's camera images always have the prefix DSC_____ (Cikgu Hafiz's camera uses IMG____). Anyhow, I must say, Alpha put up a good fight for this one... a credible fight. Because for a few seconds there they made us feel threatened. But cause toujours, gros pleins de soupe ! - the war between the teacher and the trainee was finally won by the trainee.

The poisoned parcel

Not sure if I wrote about the poisoned parcel day, but it was there that we urged everyone to break their fears and start doing what they were asked to do...... ^_^

Delta 1's Banner

This was Juliane's class banner. I may not have been there to witness their efforts first hand, but what I do know is that they were having fun with glitter and whatever else they could get on their hands. An idea we didn't think of...

For all members of the Charlie company

I managed to dig up some pictures of Charlie's efforts for the banner competition. And today being Cikgu Ai's birthday, it's a good time to pay tribute to her and her underlings ! ^_^

A walk into remembrance

This Photo Story was made to show that sometimes, even the worst of enemies can be the best of friends, even if it's just to take a picture together.

I could easily say there's a degree of humanity left in all of us.

Most of us, if not all of us back there, were ready to mix regardless of ethnicity and background. I know most Malaysians, if not all, would do the same.

But what I truly want to point out is that a few of the people you see in this Photo Story were rivals of mine once. They did everything they could to bring me down. And how I suffered ! Yet, for those few golden moments of truth, they decided to walk together with me, hand in hand.
I wanted to point out that sometimes, the worst of enemies can redeem themselves and become the best of friends.

The pictures you see in this Photo Story were not of any particular category. They were just taken "for the memories", I'd say. Whenever I had my phone with me, I would take pictures of my friends. I did this with the hopes that someday I'd be able to share this with you and say "See, these are among the people who have become part of my wonderful story" - and I'm doing it today. Not only did I take pictures of my friends and teachers, I also gathered pictures from my friends' and teachers' phones and cameras. Then when the time came for me to transfer all these pix, I put them under a folder Visages, meaning "faces".

The faces of National Service 6 Series Group 3.
The faces of solidarity and unity.

I know, this particular Photo Story paints an idealistic picture of what National Service really is. It does not come with the grit and the suffering of standing up for what you want to defend, and who you want to be. But sometimes, we have to cherish these sweet memories - the ones that give us hope against all hope. After all, in the words of Yunalesca in Final Fantasy X, hope is comforting.

If the advertisements for National Service paint a pretty rose-tinted picture of the youth emerging as heroes and heroines, the actual situation is somewhat reverse, especially if you happen to be in the third batch, because this time they did not select amongst school leavers. But the smiles on the trainees' faces whenever they meet their friends, whenever they are among their favourite group, whenever their companies win a competition... these are the smiles that can pierce through the gloom and darkness of National Service.

Appreciation of the Arts, part 2

Here's the Photo Story of the full show, including pix of these performances (in order) :

- Introduction

- Seloka Pak Pandir

- Anak Jiran Tionghua

- this was the one where we sang as a chorus, and my timing was out.

- Jalur Gemilang (Chorus)

- this was the one where I sang to my heart's content, and the floor joined me in song too.

- Bahtera Merdeka

- Nazam Kasih Ibu & Ayah

- Dekon "Keranamu Malaysia"

- the climax of Patriots' Night, this one featured poetry recitation, a patriotic chant, a silat and tai chi performance, and a sketch.

This whole thing took me ages to assemble, and resulted in fits of anger. Sixteen minutes in total. Three songs. 81 megabytes (beat that !). One memorable Patriots' Night. Enjoy !

New Photo Story added !

Appreciation of the Arts Programme (Program Penghayatan Sastera dan Budaya, PPSB) - Before the show began.

Banner Competition: Bravo 1 & 2

The second of my Photo Stories, featuring preparations for the 1Malaysia Banner Competition in my class, Bravo 1 (which combined with Bravo 2).

We Are The Heroines

This is the first Photo Story I thought I'd make, and it features some of the female trainees in full combat uniform, just a day before we had to submit those uniforms. Now everytime I replay it, there's a sense of pride. ^_^

Everyone ! The photo story of the 5U reunion is up !

This is the photo story of our reunion two days after Christmas 2008. I combined the photos I had, along with Vivian's photos and those taken from my classmates on Facebook. The song I used is Gourmandises by Alizée – and the reason being this – “gourmandises” means “delicacies” in French. Also, the original Gourmandises video involved a picnic, just like ours !


Talk about long upload time ; this is the first time I'm using Blogger Video. I used to post every single video I had on YouTube, in order to save me the trouble..

And here's a video which was supposed to be uploaded LAST year, but didn't turn out right...

Imagine, it finally got uploaded on YouTube THIS year. If you're reading the parts with text, read fast. I don't know why Photo Story 3 makes the text segments so short that you have to read at the speed of electricity (note : speed of electricity, not speed of light) to get the entire message without rewinding. But all the same, I just love those days where I was Ressonnant's photographer.




(At least mom got to see this when it was created.)