KEMAS - 'Getting To Know ICT' Lecture

On the 16th May 2009 I was invited by KEMAS to give a lecture on 'Getting To Know ICT' to young students in a small town in Batu Pahat, Johor. It was a full day lecture in Bahasa Malaysia and that was tough, Not just because of the duration but also the language medium especially when it has to be formal. Not to mention that I was on medication because of the allergy attack I had few days ago. It was quite a trip not only because of the drug but also reminiscing about on how ICT was inspired by the generation of the 60s. From the movie '2001: A Space Odyssey' , Douglas Engelbart -the inventor of the mouse, Intel chip 4004 - First commercial microprocessor, the Altair 8800 that sparks the personal computer revolution, Microsoft and Apple, the Amiga, the first Mac, IBM PC, the first Windows and finally Windows XP in 2001.

As a kid who grew up in the 60s I thought 2001 and beyond was like the sci-fi movie. But there I was standing at the podium in 2009 talking to a generation of my future who has little knowledge of the magic in their hands. The magic that was inspired by a colourful generation. So I asked them "What will you give to your future generation?" I looked into their eyes for some answers. Like I was when I was a kid their age, I had no idea what would the future brings.

In 2001 I was in in L.A. attending the computer graphic conference 'Siggraph 2001'. I had a chance in meeting the futurists of the 60s in a special session reflecting the time when '2001: A Space Odyssey' was screened. We remembered the Vietnam war and the protests. Yet during those troubled times there was hope for a better future. Man landed on the moon the next year and many other events followed. In the following photo in front of the L.A Convention Center I felt that I finally arrived. It was the end of a revolution and a dream. A rainbow's end in la-la land.

I hope the kids that I spoke to will arrive at their own dreams. I hope they don't waste their times on the internet and computer games. We will be arriving in 2010 soon. It was also a Space Odyssey about it but it is not the same. Dreamers are too few nowadays. It is just about getting bigger or smaller, better and faster and cheaper in China.

The 3rd Year in Incubation @ MSC Cybercentre

This is my third year working and living in the incubator at MSC Malaysia's Cybercentre in KL Sentral. A business hub which is designed to be bomb and earthquake proof. A perfect place for an Incubator. I had wasted the first year because of other distractions. It was a two year contract so I had requested for another year extension. MSC-MDEC was kind enough to extend my stay. It is nice to have people believe in what I do though it may seems crazy sometime but it is an organized madness. I had traveled a long journey for this and deep in my heart I am sure this is my destiny. There will be many more lonely nights but in my mind I am in a retro future.

Sometime I have to come down to earth at the CIC(Creative Innovation Centre) located at the ground floor. The above photo was shot at the display area where you can see my work 'Palestine 3000 A.D.' is displayed. In United States probably some people may shoot me for doing this and perhaps Big Brother is watching me.

Here is the CIC's control centre that manage the CIC and also the incubator. I call it 'Ground Control'. Beverly the lady in black is 'the mother' that manages the centre. In this photo she looks pretty busy preparing the paper work for the new batch of 'freaks' that will be joining us soon. Well I hope they are. Life can be boring when it become too sane. We need to loose ourselves sometime.

After what been said MSC Malaysia is not a looney institution. It has helped many technical and creative innovators, not just Malaysians but also foreigners like me who are based here. Ideas can be worth more than gold or oil. It is a little diamond that shines in the human head. It can be on the left or right. But this centre is strictly for the right brain people. One thing for sure I know I have come to the right place.

Tanjung Piai - At The Tip Of Asia

Last Sunday I traveled south, really south to the southern most tip of the Asia continent to a remote place called Tanjung Piai. The first time when I was there it was ten years ago. I remember that the weather was wet then and it was wet again last Sunday. It is a kind of chill that you'll feel near Bermuda Triangle. Rumour has it that Tanjung Piai shared the same mystery. But if you disregard all that Tanjung Piai can be a tranquil place to get away from it all.

It is also a rustic fishing village where time stood still and you don't feel like getting older. Everyday is just the sky, the sea and the clean air that you breathe. It is not National Geographic but it can be unreal to be there. It is not the DVD, it is real life

Things have improved much since my last visit. The resort has a proper entrance without the toilet by the side to welcome you. I was there with my sister to meet with a motivation group to discuss some travel business plan. It is a new area of market that we are developing. Travel business in Johor is not the same as in Kuala Lumpur or other big cities. There are many unexplored areas that you can go and staying away from the usual tourists hotspots. Though it can be rustic and remote but it can be a perfect place to conduct workshops at an affordable price and stay focus.

Beside the old dorms that they have the resort has build a new extension on the south side with more decent rooms. If you are into fishing you probably can bring your fishing rod and fish from your bedroom window. But one experience that I had last Sunday that I can't get at Disneyland is the full double layered rainbow. It was a complete arc end to end cradled on the horizon facing the equator. It was so huge that the top was around 11 o'clock high. It was impossible to capture the visual with my camera. I probably need a super wide angle lens or a fish-eye. The full arc lasted around 5 minutes. Looking at it straight I really felt that I was looking at the gateway to another dimension. For a momemt I was lost.

My name is Palestine - اسمي فلسطين

In my life I have never done much work in the real world. All my creative works in the past were all done in the comfort of my studio clattering the keyboard and pushing a mouse. Looking through a liquid crystal window and creating virtual imageries and sound. Fantasies to be admired, to entertain and to sell. It made a lot of people happy. Sadly all our laughters had deafen our ears to realities and blinded our eyes to sufferings. We became mute to all things that are going on around us. But in silence our conscience still can hear the cries. The cries that are so deafening even from thousand of miles it can make our hearts bleed.

Now for the first time in my life I am working with something that is real. It is so real that every word that I wrote and every stroke that I drew about Palestine 3000 A.D. seems parallel in Gaza at this very moment. Though nearly a thousand years apart the state of mind remains. In empathy I am at war. This current episode is scheduled to be completed in March-April. But the war in Palestine seems to have no end.

3000 A.D. is an expression of time. If the world just stood and watch the war in Palestine it may continue for the next thousand years. The Zionists must really think seriously about the future especially the future of their children. From the way things are going the Zionists are actually creating a living hell for their future children. The children that they have lied to. Robbing someone else land is a crime and a sin. The promised land is no more on the very day they broke their covenant with God. They will not be around to protect their future children. Nothing last forever. You can kill people but you cannot kill the hearts and minds of the people.

No man ever so mighty could be immortal. No matter how mighty they became but eventually they will surrender to the ground. There they will lay and decay helplessly. So are the mighty weapons and machines that they had created and idolized. They all will return to the ground. Lying there rusted and twisted without any might and gently beaten by the wind and sand. All of their great names will be dishonored. The ones that remained honored are the righteous. For that name is Palestine.

Palestine, my name is Palestine
I wrote my name at all fields with a unique font greater than all titles
The letters of my name, the letters of my name, live inside me, feed me, spread the soul and fire inside my body
The mountains of the river, knows me well I spent all my power and ask my nation help
And Saladin was calling, calling inside me
And my Arabian root is asking me for freedom and revenge
And those flags which were folded at the battle of Hatiin
And the caller of Al Aqsa Masjid is calling for help
And thousands of prisoners are calling for help
Calling the greater nation and calling for millions
Go to Jerusalem, to a war where the oppressed are, to stop the injustice of the Zionism, and raise the flag of Palestine
My words will remain the same Palestine, Palestine, Palestine

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Che Guevara, Malcolm X, Obama & Me

Some people said before that Barack Obama will look odd on the dollar bill. But the President-elect seems to be a popular icon nowadays after he won the election. I couldn't remember when was the last President of United States was considered an icon especially to the world. What kind of President he will be is yet to be seen. Accepting the task as a President to cleanup all the mess that George W. Bush had left behind is just too much for one man and by itself deserve a praise. He is the new hope for America and also to the world. Hope he will learn from history and be more empathetic towards his 'enemy'. The rest of the world may not think the way Americans do but do not demonized them. Different cultures with different ideals but with a common goal of freedom, peace and happiness.

Obama had inspired America. Uniting the Red and the Blue. Inspired the world and hopefully uniting people at war and promoting a lasting peace. The message looks so good on print. Great speech writers and great artists all worked together and created an icon. I love those red and blue posters. It has that radical look, strong and persistent. But will Obama iconic figure be legendary as Che Guevara or Malcolm X? That is yet to be seen. What I can see is in Photoshop. I spend the whole Saturday compositing those iconic figures together and included myself in just for the fun of it and having the chance to put on my beret again.

The base picture is of Che Guevara, the hair and the beret. Then I took a photo of myself with the same pose and layered it over. Converted both to grayscale image and then filtered it down to five shades of gray. The edges were cleaned up to achieve a more graphic look. Then I took the glass frame of Malcolm X and replaced mine. Then I separated the 5 shades of gray to different layers in Photoshop. Each layer was then converted to different colours of red and blues. I gave the highlights a yellowish retro look. But where is Obama? I just copied the word 'HOPE' from one of Shepard Fairey's poster on Obama and pasted it on my design. 'Hope' is what Obama is all about. People are hoping for a real change. The 'O' was changed to a crescent moon and star symbolizing a new hope to the Muslim world. Hoping Obama will improve the American foreign policies which is the real enemy for many decades. The peace in the Middle East will resonate a global peace. God bless America and hey why not the world too?. For God's bounty is unlimited which spans beyond the universe. He is Most Gracious and Most Merciful.

Update: 7th October 2012

After 4 years in office, President Obama hasn't done much for change or hope. That righteous image has turned into 'the lesser of the two evils'. But evil is still evil, lesser or greater. How could God bless America when Americans have lost their sense of righteousness. Money is the new god which favors the rich more than the poor. Yet the poor are fools that fell on false hope. For the fools, 'the lesser of two evils' look more sane than Mitt Romney, 'the greater of the two evils', aka Bush 2.0.
What America really needs is a totally new 'Operating System' and not the illusion of choice. The power needs to return back to the people. It should be 'By the people and for the people' and not the privileged few. Republican and Democrat belongs to the War Party. We need a peace maker. For making peace takes a lot of patience and intelligence. For many years the U.S. Presidents are lacking of it. Nothing more than a puppet on a string manipulated by corporations.

Swatari & Eid @Dewan Perdana FELDA

Last Sunday evening I was at Dewan Perdana FELDA attending a graduation ceremony of Swatari Dance School an annex of Pak Ngah Production owned by my celebrity friend Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Zain. Since it is still Shawal we also had an Eid dinner. In Malaysia Eid is celebrated for the whole month. Here are the family members of the students:

Food may not be the highlight of the evening but I would not miss out on traditional Malay food. There was no real rush because it is free-flow throughout the evening and everybody took their time and enjoying the show.

Though Eid is in its third week but it is nice to see the traditional ketupat, lemang and rendang being served. My tummy probably got tired of it but my eyes still like to have a feast. It is reassuring that I am in Malaysia and it is still Eid.

Though the dress code that evening was Malay traditional but there is always a guy who missed on crucial information. There he is my friend Syed Hassan in his maroon jacket and dark polo shirt together with his family and the famous Pak Ngah or officially called Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Zain.

Majority of the Swatari students are young children. They learn the many disciplines of Malay traditional dance and also get the chance to travel overseas for some cultural exchange. They may not be sharp with their moves but Swatari stresses much on discipline.

There is also a group of Japanese students who studied Malay traditional dance under Swatari. They stayed in Kuala Lumpur for two years. With their full Malay traditional dress I didn't realized that they were Japanese initially. Their movements were graceful and it is hard to believe that they spend two years just to learn Malay traditional dance.

The Swatari group visited Japan mid this year and they were well taken care off. The children enjoyed themselves and learned much from the trip.Here is the top Japanese official receiving a token from Pak Ngah for her dedication and the hospitalilty.

Here is the young teen group displaying their flare in Zapin style and a mix of Silat. It is quite breathtaking to see they flipped and turned in mid-air and yet moved gracefully to the Zapin music. Incidentally the music was remixed by me with new rhythm arrangemnent of Arabic Darbuka and Indian Tabla. The piece actually was part of the music lesson I conducted at Pak Ngah Production last year. Nobody told me that they were going to use it for the show. They also brought the music to Japan. The Japanese seemed to like it very much.

The Swatari students who have graduated could joined the Swatari professional group if they are good enough. The Swatari group won a Gold Award for the best performance at the Asian Youth Arts Festival this year in China. They really deserved it for their dedication and hard work. For this group of young students their future in Malay traditional dance is about to begin.

Eid Fitri 1429

Ramadhan 1429 though over but it is still close in my heart. It was like a friend who came for a visit and kept me company through the days and nights. Though alone in a big city but I have never felt lonely. It was sad to see it left but it was time to go. After nearly a month of fasting I felt weak. The train terminal is just next door and so I pampered myself and bought a first class ticket home to JB. Through the window I could see the bright city lights finally faded behind and the country sides passed by like postcards with kerosene lamps around the houses ushering the coming of Eid. What a wonderful sight to see while having sahur.

The long awaited day finally came. Eid Fitri greeted me in the morning. Here I was again in Masjid Jamek Bandar Baru UDA in JB. I always miss this place. It gave a special meaning to be home. Though many things have changed but this place remain the same. Shukur alhamdulillah. More than glad to hear the takbir again.

I felt that there was a fewer crowd this year. Lesser traffic and less colourful. Perhaps it was the gloomy economy but Eid is not about economy. We should always be grateful for what we have or even for what we don't. There is always a wisdom to every circumstances. It is the fitrah that Allah gave for without it life will be without balance. Let celebrate the fitrah.

Eid came with a special prize. My niece Sofia is one year old this Eid. Sometime I wonder where was she all this time. She really changed my life. Now my shirt is always creased and sometime wet. Lost the freedom. Lost much sleep. Lost the 'eligiblity' though still eligible. But it worth the sacrifice. Nothing else can compare. It is just sheer bliss. May your Eid be blissful too.