Politics: What and why does it matter

Politics in general

Do you consider yourself as someone who is prone to politics? It is understandable if you are not, but I believe it would be beneficial if you start weighing in, in political issues now. Not just when it's near election, or when you're trying to make nice conversations with your future in laws. I believe everyone should at least know what's currently going on in politics. 

Speaking of politics, of course our minds will directly interpret to who's ruling, who's exercising rules and who's the opposite of the political party that's governing. Well, if you look up the literal definition it goes; 

Politics is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status

 Literal definition is so boring... like where's the flavour?! So I asked my friends what politics mean to them; 

"It's like a public toilet, the Malaysian ones are always the dirtiest"  - AHR

Supposedly formed to improve citizens' lives in a unified ruling but leaders take advantage of it" - NI

A famous scholar; Heidi Klum, once said one day you're in the next day you're out" - MR

Well said to describe of what's happening in here. 

Election stats

According to The Star, as for GE-14, out of 32.45mil Malaysians 19.94mil participated in voting. As we can see from registered voters statistics, it increases annually without fail. It is something to be proud of, however since population of Malaysia also increases yearly we can just say it's simple math; More people? More votes. 

Quite frustrated sebab some celebrities didn't use their privilege to advocate people to vote, and some siap post gambar diorang kat overseas (iykyk). 

I was just googling around about election statistics and I found this study by R.Hirschmann titled 'Intention of voting in the next general election in Malaysia 2020-2021' and the survey asked participants "If Parliament is dissolved and a general election is called, are you going to vote?" and the graph shows a decline pattern. I personally rasa sebab orang dah hilang rasa keyakinan in voting. Dia dah macam "what's point of all this? Nanti yang ada power makin abuse power, yang miskin makin ditindas"

Nyways I can't download the research paper nor ss the bar graph bcs I don't wanna pay the website, and I couldn't  find the researcher herself. Tak banyak research papers related to this topic. Sorry tsk tsk 

I read this tweet long time ago that researchers actually tak profit pun from publishing research papers kat websites and they're more willing to give people for free. I taknak menyumbang dekat capitalism, unless it's... cute... clothes...  jk. 

I would like to use this opportunity to remind my peers to register voting ya! Hope when it's election time, statistics of people who participate in voting will increase, we elect dedicated politicians and things will get better.

Why does it matter

Politik memang penting dalam hidup. Ini no brainer but in case you still can't understand why, it's simply because politics ni associated with almost everything in life. Anything planned and decided by government will affect many lives. Bayangkan harga barang dapur macam sayur pun boleh naik turun sebab politik, belum sebut minyak and nilai mata wang lagi.

There's no perfect political parties, yang ada hanyalah lesser of two evils. Mana-mana pihak pun mesti ada pros and cons. Hence why kita tak boleh taksub with whichever party pun. Diorang buat benda bagus? Applause. Diorang buat kerja tak bagus? Criticize. Not because you're ungrateful not because you're bitter, because it's your job as citizen. Faham tak politicians' literal jobs are fighting FOR rakyat and not WITH rakyat? 

Politics pun boleh tunjuk dah haluan negara ni macam macam. Kita tengok government, kita tengok pembangkang. Kalau masing masing focus dekat kesejahteraan ramai and future plans untuk negara inshaAllah la elok masa depan. Cuba tengok video parlimen New Zealand, pasal isu 'Karen' pun diorang bahas with professionalism. Takda name calling takda degrading.

I couldn't stress how chaotic our political dramas I swear. Kadang-kadang tu I need a good laugh on Twitter tapi bukak-bukak je terus marah sebab banyak sangat benda nak dimarahkan. So I switch to TikTok tapi bila bukak-bukak keluar ni zzzzz

Remember "Cekik saya abah" era? Cancelled. Tak pernah wujud. 

******

Side note: Change is the only constant. So tak perlu la kita question kenapa certain orang berubah pendapat tentang politik. "Eh haritu kau mat sokong X harini kutuk pulak" 

Dah tu???? 

Politics ni bukan pasukan bola sepak dari kecik Liverpool sampai tua Liverpool. 

Ps: ayah I masa muda MU dah tua Liverpool I question bout his loyalty like every day

Toxic Positivity: Let People Grief

 Hi, readers!

As some of you may have witnessed, a very well known Malaysian eye-surgeon who is also a motivational speaker claimed in a live session that people who have anxiety should just throw out their medications and stop consulting with doctors; instead, we should just recite "auzubillah..." and tell ourselves that we're indeed, fine.

Well, her statement frustrated other medical practitioners as, first, it was out of  her knowledge and secondly, are we really going to invalidate and tell people of how they should feel?

Toxic Positivity 

So this case has reminded me of toxic positivity, a situation where you are facing difficulties or emotional pain, but you are told to just get over it and "stay positive". 

[CAUTION] These keywords may harm you: "positive vibes" "look on the bright side" "it happened long ago, just forget about it already" "at least you're...", etc.

Well, aren't we all guilty of this. I used to think that that was the right thing to say when people told me their stories. Like I should motivate and be their personal Oprah or something. Boy, I wish I was more sensitive and knew better things to say, but it's never too late to learn something.

Toxic Positivity should be defied because it invalidates someone's feeling. Imagine, someone who doesn't really tell people their problem and once they did it *boom* they got lectured about not being positive enough. 

When I was 11, I think, my aunt's husband passed away due to chronic illness. We're very close as we live nearby. It saddens me to remember most of people who visited her (she was in iddah) advised her to just stop crying, there's nothing left to cry about because he's already dead. Instead they advised her to just pray for him. Just let her grief for God's sake, she just lost her beloved husband. 

Negative emotions are not necessarily bad. It's very humanly. Well guess what, negative emotions are also as crucial as positive emotions. Negative emotions also most likely aid in our survival. Bad feelings can be vital clues that a health issue, relationship or other important matter needs attention (Adler, 2013)

Avoiding or denying unpleasant emotions will only make them bigger. According to Dr Konstantin Lukin (2019) this is because when you avoid to feel hem, you tell yourself that you don’t need to pay attention to them. While you are trapped in this cycle, these emotions become bigger and more significant as they remain unprocessed. 

In my own words, emotions are like a set of balloons. There's balloon 'Happy', 'Sad', 'Excitement', 'Melancholic', 'Calm', etc. Now imagine, for all these years, the Sad balloon has been filled with past traumas, shitty days, relapse moments, those random sad feelings. It grows bigger and bigger, you wanna let them go but you can't; because you know, you're so consumed that the only way to feel happy is to whisper yourself positive words. Then one day day it just bursts, and there's no way of going back.

As we all know, there are 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We can't expect for someone to just jump to acceptance without going through some crazy phases. 

In case someone needs to hear this

In this pandemic we can see everyone is adjusting with this new norm. Some picked up new hobby, some lose the will to live. It's ok if you're the latter. It's definitely not a competition of who's the most productive, who uses time efficiently, we're in a pandemic. Things are not the same anymore.

If you have anxiety, it's a very normal response to a very abnormal situation. Take your medications, consult with your doctors. Seek help within your circles and external. Do small things that make you happy. Romanticize your life. Need more time to endure trauma? Yes gurl, go use it. 

We are currently experiencing a shared trauma, it's not easy, but one thing for sure, we're not alone. 

Be kinder, to your surrounding and most importantly to yourself. 

____________________________________________

Experienced some toxic positivity that you can't get off of your mind? Leave in comment below!

Almost Struck By Lightning

Hello assalammualaikum peeps.

"Entah entah kan, kita ni sebenarnya dah mati tapi hidup semula???" - Wana Khamis, 2019

Those were words that came out from her after we discussed an incident happened back in diploma years in Lendu.

It was so weird...

So, as usual, Wana, Ena, Ana and I (everyone who knows our existence would know 4 of us were so co-dependent back then), gathered at Tun Hamzah. Can't recall if we gathered aka lepak to do assignments together or just lepak for fun.

Then at around 12am plus minus, Wana and Ena nak balik dorm diorang la kan. Wana's dorm was at Dang Wangi while Ena's was at Tun Ali. No issue for Ena because our dormitory buildings are just next to each other. But as for Wana, she had to walk through 'Twilight'

dah mintak permission from the person

Why it's called as Twilight? Because the setting is quite familiar macam dalam movie Twilight yang scene Bella kahwin. HAHA. Tu tempat famous students photography buat photo-shoot tu.

So 3 of us waited for Wana to lalu Twilight. You know just to make sure she was safe and all. So we shouted la HATI HATI ke apa tah. Masscomm students are undeniably loud kan.

Then nak dijadikan cerita masa tu memang windy and ada few lightnings. Tapi you know, couldn't care less.

Tapi tiba-tiba, there was a lightning yang DEKAT GILA NAK MAMPOS LIKE SAMA LEVEL ATAP KOLEJ MENYAMBAR AND THEN KILAT TU MACAM HIT TIANG LAMPU ELEKTRIK DEPAN TWILIGHT AND THEN KILAT TU MACAM BERSAMBUNG LAGI AND MENYAMBAR DEKAT GILA DENGAN KITAORANG

and then...

I swear to god, everything went white.


Nothing. but white.


I couldn't breathe and paralyzed for few seconds.


I dah mengucap je. Nak doa pun tak boleh fikir nak doa apa.


At a moment I macam tertanya if we were dead already? Benda ni took place like few seconds je tapi sumpah rasa lama.


Sekali, lepas dapat visions balik, I nampak Wana lari arah kitaorang macam lipas kudung sambil jerit persis ibu mengandung tengah beranak dalam movie movie. Dah lepastu semua pun join dia lari macam lipas kudung back to Tun Hamzah.


Weird thing was that we laughed our lungs out??????? Dia macam reflex tiba tiba nak gelak. Tapi gelak sambil jerit nama Tuhan jugak la like "HAHAHAHA YA ALLAH AKU SUMPAH INGAT AKU DAH MATI"


Then we got into my room pastu semua traumatised. Up until now, I think 4 of us are still traumatised from the incident.

***********

Nyways, just a quick update. Last weekend finally went out with real OG back in diploma. Selalu plan nak outing but it finally happened as we aren't studying in a place anymore. Missing other close friends in diploma years!! :(

from right: Wana, me, Ena, and Mel. 

Ate at Botanica Co. Imma give a little review, the place was breathtaking. All waiters and waitresses were friendly. I was so happy because of the greenery theme they have. The portion was so big that every menu you could share for 2. The taste was rather average. Dessert? Yumz. I gotta be honest on blog so that if any of my readers planning to eat there know what to expect (as if i have many readers hahah)

Then went to MidValley. We ate another dessert at Kakigori. Another moment of 'Yumzzzz'. 

At the end of the day, we've concluded that we dont have to meet every weekends. Just once in 3 months. But that "once" is filled with quality time. Quality over quantity, guys. Tiber

Are parents nowadays keen to choose non-formal education for their children?

None of my business as I don't have kids, but quite interesting topic to think of.

Well, last Wednesday I suppose (hibernation made me losing track and time), I went out with Nik Aimi to grab lunch at one of the most phenomenal shopping mall in Shah Alam; Plaza Masalam. Why did I say so?  Basically, during early 00's I could still recall every weekends, there'll be celebrities and singers (mostly) performed there. Tell you what, Ning Baizura is undoubtedly a HUGE gem to our country. 

Then, when I was withdrawing some cash, I spotted Nik was surrounded by beautiful kids. I joined the group. Turned out, the kids were selling some cards. They were terrific. First thing that caught my attention was, they didn't use any sad stories to sell. Often I find people be telling me their family members have any types of cancer, or they are from any madrasah (no hard feelings) (im just listing)

They're siblings of 4 and call themselves as Wira Usaha. At first we were entertained by Aisyah and Dhija. Then, when people passing by, Dhija, the littlest one approached the strangers without any sign of awkwardness. I was so amazed of how confident Dhija was. During her age, my teachers from school contacted my parents to check if I can speak or not.

I asked Aisyah where they're schooling because mashaAllah they spoke fluently. You know, initially, I was planning in my head to send Adawiyah to whichever school they're in. Hahahah lol kakak kakak kannn

Then Aisyah said that they're homeschooling. First impression? Ain't lie, "Ooh rich kids" 

Then Aisyah said that they were selling cards to build up public speaking skills. I asked if she wanted to be public speaker or perhaps debater, then she said "Aisyah nak kalahkan Syed Saddiq" hahah. I love ambitious kids. 

After saying goodbye and all, Nik showed me their Instagram. Their parents might not send them to public school, but I sensed that their parents' approach was different. There was a video them reciting and memorizing few verses from al-Quran, vids them attending auditions and other stuffs.

While growing up, there were only 3 types of pupils;

• Public school-er = majority
• Private school-er = depends on where you're from. In some places, it's considered normal. In some places, it's not.
• Home school-er = honestly I only bumped into 1 friend who went through it. 

I was in majority group, some of friends went into private schools and as I mentioned only 1 friend of my went through it. Oh, and a kid in Malay drama on TV3 last 2 months i guess. Lol

Tbh it reminds me of some contestants I watched on K-Pop Star Hunt. Some of the contestants even quit on school just to build up career in singing field. Some of contestants said that they wanted to focus on music, nothing else. The judges were supportive, yet still fatherly type. I think it depended on the level of talents from contestants. If their talents were rather on rookie level, the judges would advice them not to quit on school. 

Ok now im rambling about Kpop Star Hunt ahaha sorry guys, it's such a good show and it is also my talent to hop from a story to a different story without finishing the first story

I was googling about homeschool in Malaysia. Then I found an article saying that most of parents who send their kids homeschool have higher IQ, hence, explains why homeschooler are smarter than public and private students. It's mostly genetic. 

Well, future kids, I, for sure would not sign you up for homeschool because Im pretty sure I will spend fortune on facilities, books, gadgets and etc that'd make you guys also smart academically and generally in life.

*****

As the world is evolving, people are more courageous to experiment different paths in life.

Hence, 10 years from now, would homeschooling be mediocre in Malaysia? 

Now that I always hear peers talking about university/college phase is unimportant, (except for professional courses of course. You wouldnt wanna go to dentist knowing s/he didnt attend dentistry school aite).

 I think it's possible.

Not A New-Year-New-Me Blog Post

Hi everyone.

Is blogging still a relevant thing? I can never answer that as I can be irrelevant too. lmao

Some, laughed when I say I still write on this platform, some would ask "How many followers do you have?" Whuttt, do you think it's 2009 where people be competing about followers?

ok I have only 2. HAHAHA

But in my defense, my monthly views  are quite high. Last July, it got 934 visitors. That's quite a number for a girl like me. <- dont ask why I typed like a girl with low self-esteem & has ice cream tub with her. Im just outta words. Also. This is a sign I should read books that'll make me smarter.

Here's a recap of my 2018. It'll be just like the last day of 2018 on Instagram where everyone posted lottttssssaaaa pictures on their Story, except mine is you cant tap to skip. Mine is just... you just ignore this blog's existence in the first place. LOL

2018 really humbled me. I still remember  on the last day of 2017, I'm pretty sure I verbally said that one phrase every optimists would say

"2018 is going to be my year"

It was not. Hahahaha

It was... unique in such way. It made me the happiest, yet saddest.

I had many plans and resolution for 2018, but all of it would lead to a subtle line; making my 21 liveliest as ever.

OOOOH. NOW I UNDERSTOOD. No wonder people say "be careful of what you wish for cos you might get it." I definitely got what I wished.

I lived... af.

On the bright side, I won 2 contests! Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Nights of Fright. Damn. I hardly  win lucky draw.

I also went to classes I've always wanted to join. Highlight: art class. You guys have no idea how much I wanted to join art class. It was soooo good. Also, I went to Aqua zumba, sewing class, etc. (forgotten lmao)

But on the not so bright side... I, for the first time, cried in my class when I was consulting with my lecturer. I dont even have emotions. and for me to cry????? In class???????? with everyone watching me?????????????????? I could say that that was embarrassing as hell.

I mean, I have other sadder things that I could name, like actual SAD sad. But crying in front of people? Unacceptable.

Nyways, moving on, as much as inadequate things happened, hey I'm not gonna lose hope. Nor making resolutions.

 Some hippies-wannabe would say resolutions are pointless because we should live spontaneously, go clean islands, make avocado juice, eat green!!! While pessimist would say resolutions are pointless because you never accomplish it anyway.

I know I'm not the most organized person but I loooveeee making plans. Because by making it, I know what's next. I know where my life is going. Even if it's imperfect.

Here's to one of my long-life plan that I've accomplished!

Still your resting-bitch-face gal

I graduated Mass Comm (Dip). And if you read my older post, the 5th thing is actually about my studies, specifically about my Degree. I was at Starbucks, The Curve, with my Ayah when I realized I wanted (still want) to be a journalist. He was probably bored lepak with me. I mainly went there to download movies. I didn't subscribe Netflix back then.

When I shared about my """breaking news""" last 2 years in my high-pitch voice, he bluntly replied "Ayah dah tahu lama dah," 

Either he saw right through me or he was REALLY bored.

Back to the point, hey, here I am, studying Journalism! Just like I planned. My new mantra is "This is what you planned"

So every time I'm like on the verge of giving up, I'd chant 

  This is what you planned, this is what you planned, this is what you planned,

  This is what you planned, this is what you planned, this is what you planned,

                     This is what you planned, this is what you planned, this is what you planned,

                     This is what you planned, this is what you planned, this is what you planned

So, will 2019 be my year? I dont know. But I'm thrilled!

Stay motivated, weirdos.