I'm Just so sick of...

I'm just so sick of so many things these days I can write a pretty long list, here it goes...

1. I'm just so sick of all the pro-barisan (or anti-opposition) propaganda in our newspapers.
Just flip through the papers every morning and you can see page after page of pro-barisan propaganda. It's everything good about the barisan representatives, but nothing good ever about our dear opposition. Anwar gets bashed every two days or so but do we ever hear any complaints about Badawi or even Samy Vellu in the papers (when you read so much about it on the net)? Its so blatantly done that it's sickening! Can't our national papers can at least have some standards and at the very least try to seem politically neutral?

Flip through the first 10 pages of today's (5th March) Star newspaper and count the number of Anwar bashings and you will see what I mean. Its just too much!

All in a day's Star newspaper!

Why can't they just fight fair? And that leads me to the next thing I'm sick of...

2. I'm just so sick of people (or political parties *wink*) that cheat ALL the time.
If you want to cheat (which I do not condone), at least cheat inconspicuously ya? That's the rational thing to do, isn't it? But some parties these days just think that they're just above it all.

The Malaysian Election Commission has recently cancelled the use of indelible ink in polling citing public order and security reasons this Tuesday, just 4 days before the general elections. For the uninformed, the use of indelible ink was proposed last June to safeguard against multiple multiple and phantom working by marking the fingernails of voters with an ink which would only come off after a few days.

Our dear Election Commission has even had RM2.4 million of this ink all readily purchased and stored for use in the coming general elections but has suddenly cancelled its use at the last minute. What can this mean other than a certain powerful party wanting to use phantom voters to their advantage again?

Even the New York based Humans Rights Watch also said that Malaysians will be denied a fair vote in Saturday's polls! If outsiders can say that about our elections, it really amazes me that we aren't already in the streets calling for the coming elections to be deemed invalid and unjust. Have we really become so desensitized to such nonsense of deceased and unregistered voters casting their votes on polling day that we just don't care anymore?

Note: If you're voting this coming March 8th, please check your registered polling venue online beforehand, as I've recently heard of people who have checked and found that they have been registered to vote in Sabah when they have registered to vote in Petaling Jaya. All kinds of really dirty tricks are being pulled now as the elections draw closer.

3. I'm so sick of people thinking that their vote does not matter.
I don't get it when people tell me that their vote does not matter. Roger recently wrote on his blog:

But we all know that's not how it works here, since democracy in Malaysia is but a tasteless joke - the kind that makes you cringe and sorely tempted to stick an umbrella up the "comedian's" ass and open it.

No, I am not calling on you to vote the Opposition either. True our current ruling party may be rife with corruption, racism, facism, cronism, economic mismanagement, blatant compromising of the judicial system, inefficiencies and a whole lot of other serious problems.

However I have no guarantees that the Opposition once voted in won't be as corrupted, if not more so than the current government. True having a fresh power in office will definitely flush out the corrupted crony networks within the governmental ranks. But doesn't this just open up opportunities for new cronies of the Opposition to take their place?

- Roger

Voting may not seem to count anymore especially when people believe that phantom voters would just drown out their voice, but voting for new leaders we have faith in is one of the simplest ways we can make a difference. If we do believe that the current regime is corrupt and inefficient, voting in a stronger opposition is one of the best ways we can make our government wake up and understand that it shouldn't be us citizens that are afraid of the government, but it is they, the government who should be afraid to answer to us citizens.

Only when our government realizes that we, the rakyat, are not fools that they can so blatantly cheat on, can we begin to properly tackle the problems of corruption and graft in our political system. And that all begins with voting for more opposition in our new government.

Yes, they will still do their best to cheat, but I am confident that if the masses become more aware of the evils of our current system, as well as show those that champion for justice their unwavering support, that vote can make a difference. Let us not be too lazy to do our bit to make that difference.

4. I'm so sick of thinking about how much I'll miss my students when I have to go. ):
It's official, the PIBG of SMKDJ is not increasing our pay and they are taking in guru sandaran (relief teachers) from the government and will be relieving us of our duties soon. The four of us will be leaving soon after the holidays I guess.

Their rationale is that these fresh teachers are more qualified to teach the students of DJ than we are, but I really hope that is the case for my students sake as I have heard so many horror stories of relief teachers from my younger brother recently. I really hope that whoever takes over us really has the welfare of our students close to their heart, and really is passionate about teaching. I can see that the other temporary teachers, Mr. Tysern, Mr. Chuah, Mr. Abel and Mr. Patrick have really given their all in being not just a teacher, but also a mentor the the students in DJ and I can really hope that I have done the same.

It never felt heavy when we had to carry stacks of papers back to mark or to help Mr. Tysern carry his every full box of History notes to his car after school. It was really an honor and privilege to have taught every single one of my students.

Yes, even them.

Trying to look sexy.

Counting balls. One... two!

Too much time for art outside art class...

My students have probably given me back more than I have given to them. They taught me to open my eyes and to see beyond myself, to understand the joy I feel when I help them understand their work, inspire them to see things differently, or just when I share a joke with them.

What's that pink piece of paper above my purple diary?

Told you it's still there! Specially for my candy-cane girls!

Saying goodbye won't be easy, but we still have a few weeks to go. Hope to teach you guys all that I can teach you people. I know I can seem fierce and shout at you guys at times, but I never, never take it to heart. So, please forgive me if you take offense. Its just so hard to keep you opinionated guys quiet at times!

Let's have a last two weeks that we'll always cherish!