Flip Flops

The university’s dress code, particularly the tudung, is the most talked-about of all universities in Malaysia. Which other university’s dress code make national headline and got debated in Parliament? My rant today however, has nothing to do with the tudung but the flip flops, or selipar jepun, our male students wear to class.

We’ve already established that I’m partial to shoes when it comes to footwear. Even without the dress code, the choice of footwear when going to class should be a no brainer. They should have already been conditioned on this small piece of etiquette through the 11-12 years of school plus 1-2 years of matriculation. Yet, these monkeys – yes, I’m calling them monkeys – are wearing selipar jamban to class.

If only this is a simple matter of choice of footwear, but how hard is it to find and wear a proper pair of shoes? Perhaps I should throw them out of the class or write them a ticket. Oh yes, writing them a ticket like some badass traffic cop would be totally awesome. They’ll definitely hate me then if they haven’t already, but at least it will spare me the eyesore.

Ethnocentrism

eth•no•cen•trism (ˌɛθnoʊˈsɛntrɪzəm)
–noun

1. Sociology. the belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture.
2. a tendency to view alien groups or cultures from the perspective of one’s own.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

This is a word I think I never came across before in the form of a noun. I’ve seen it in the form of an adjective – ethnocentric – but it was quite a lifetime ago. In high school, I think.

The question was to illustrate tradeoff in relation to government spending on national defence and social programs on the PPC, and one student wrote that the government spending more on national defence (at the expense of social programs) could lead to increased “ethnocentrism and patriotism” in youths.

Ethnocentrism and patriotism.

:P

Heartbeat

Just a song I was listening while marking some test papers.

The Week

I
My new J!NX t-shirts arrived on Thursday! They also sent me a bunch of stickers I don’t know what to do with for being such a good customer. The delivery took only one week compared to the typical two to three weeks with Amazon purchases, which, I think, is impressive. Now, if only Amazon too offers free delivery for international orders...

II
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was almost three hours long but I really enjoyed it throughout. My brother said that the generous exploitation of Brad Pitt’s good looks made the movie seemed almost like a very long commercial, though in a good way; but Benjamin Button was indeed very beautifully shot, an ode to The Big Easy. The whole movie actually reminded me of Forest Gump, to which I now finds out it shares the same screenplay writer, and Big Fish.

III
My mobile buzzed while I was in the cinema. After the movie I saw that it was from Razlan; he’s getting married in March. Congratulations. I doubt that I’d actually drive up to Pasir Puteh for the wedding, though. On the other hand, I just might do. I’ve never actually been to Kelantan so the road trip could be interesting.

IV
Suapi laughed at me either because my passport expired last September or my passport expired last September and I didn’t know it. Or because my passport expired last September and I didn’t know it because I used it last in 2006. Anyway, now I have to apply for a new passport.

Book Report, February ‘09

While I’ve read about Robert Heinlein, I’ve never actually read any of his works. Or maybe I have, one of Abang Aziz’s old books, I don’t know. Anyway, I bought Requiem at MPH some time ago to get myself properly introduced to the man, so to speak.

Requiem is not a novel but a collection of rare works and speeches of the Grand Master, plus tributes by some of today’s foremost science fiction writers. Though known for his science fiction works, two of the short stories here were written for young girls; I really like The Bulletin Board in particular. However, my favorite are Heinlein’s three WorldCon guest-of-honor speeches delivered in 1941, 1961, and 1976 respectively, for his interesting worldview and vision.

I skipped the tributes.

Meanwhile, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother is the most exciting books I’ve read lately, and definitely one of the most exciting ever. Read it. Here’s what it’s about:

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works – and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

Don’t worry if you’re too cheap to buy yourself a copy of the book, since it is available online, for free, here.

T-shirts

Shopping for a T-shirt is impossible! I’ve been looking for a white T-shirt but couldn’t find one in stores I like.

I saw some interesting prospects online, though. There are a few designs from Threadless I really like, but while I contemplated making my first purchase from them, good ol’ J!NX has this “free shipping for orders above $40” offer, so I ordered three.

I bought T-shirts from J!NX before. It all began with a hoodie. I was looking for one during winter 2004/2005 when I saw J!NX on The Screen Savers. The rest, as they say, is history. This time around I wanted to buy the totally awesome WoW Arthas T-shirt but it was out of stock. Of course, it isn’t the only design I’m interested in ;-).

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PICTURE from top to bottom: J!NX Never Feed a Zombie, Jester, and Way of the Warrior T-shirt designs.