FINAL BLOG POST!

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This is it!



It's taken me 2 years to finally realize that this blogging thing aint exactly my thing. So ima put an end to all this... for a couple of reasons i will disclose.

I will also talk about the 2 years of bloggine experience. How I've started, how i got into it in a few burst of times, how i got frustrated and how im finally getting out of it.



The first reason i've decided to call it quits is because im really finding it a struggle to update my blog. Because time aint on my side, firstly. Secondly, less & less time as the years go by - not a good sign at all. Thirdly, because im too lazy to upload & resize all the pictures i take wherever i go. Because of that i dread blogging but i have the urge because my blog's still running - so you know that feeling kinda suck.

Last but not least, more people come to my blog by searching for the word "tee yam", than my own name. And tee yam actually refers to (according to RPK of Malaysia Today) datuk koo tee yam, the triad boss of Malaysia, who the "four heavenly kings" of the Malaysian triad society report to.

One day, i reposted 2 paragraphs from an article from Malaysia Today regarding this person and ever since, his name appeared on this graph everytime i check my analytics. FML

If you haven't also realized, it's not only that. More people ALSO come to my blog by searching for the word "altantuya", than my own name. FAIL. hahahhaha

And just in case you've not spotted"free gay sex"... lol FML

Now the blogging story. How i started blogging was totally from peer pressure, like smoking. Specifically a colleague of mine, Audrey Ooi... and more so Timothy Tiah, someone i've worked very closely with ever since i met him. And speaking about Timothy Tiah, he contributes a quarter of my traffic because he's linked me from his blog.

So early in 2008, when i just got back from a vacation and was still on leave and had a bad hang-over i decided to chill at home ... i started my blog. I think i wrote about 3 blog posts ... and Timothy linked me, so i got some traffic and i was running Nuffnang ads and i made like RM2+ and i thought i was on a journey to make a million bucks, and i suddenly got really busy at work i didnt have time to write genuine blogs i started reposting articles from the net i thought were popular so people would search for them, come to my blog and make me some money. After 2 years, i've made RM102.50

Anyway, if you've not already seen, i started off as "Encounters" and what an influence http://timothytiah.blogspot.com had on me i made my blog my own name too.

Not long after that i got into it for a while when Kenny Sia put my blog link on his short-talk. In that week alone, i got more than 5,000 unique visitors.

So i started writing a few more genuine blog posts to retain the traffic. It wasn't until 3 when i got really busy at work again.

Today, at bad times, i get about only 200 unique visitors on my blog a week. Not even retained 10% ?... lol

Along the last year, i got a few shots of motivation when there were a few strangers (like 2) who walked up to me and said they read my blog. Also had a few friends (like 5 or 6) who told me that they do the same. So i tried... again... and...

Today i thought of just shutting it down but due respect to all my followers (8 to be precise.. lol) i thought i let u know first.

I will however be Twittering still. So you can still follow me at twitter.com/desmondkiu. Much shorter but much more commitment.

Cheers everyone!

The Italian man who went to Malta

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You son of a beach! LOL







Now imagine Rais in Malta.... #yorais



In the morning i go down to the restaurant, i tell the waitress i want "2 pieces of roti"



And the waitress say WHAT?



I tell her i want 2 ROT - TI



And the waitress say fuck off, we dont serve rotten tea.



I say you no understand, i want ROT - TI on my table



And the lady say i no rotten tea you son of a beach



And i say you watch out lady, i will use the ISA against you.

Heineken Green Room @ KL Live feat 2manyDJs

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Heineken pulled off their 4th Heineken Green Room at KL Live yesterday night, in pure electro fashion. Key act of the night was 2ManyDJs - they drove the crowd mad, they made the dance floor crack. They fuckin killed it!!!

If you haven't heard of 2ManyDJs, check out their "5th of Beethoven". On a live set, it was way different, way magnified.


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Before they came on, there were a line of other DJs RT @futuresoundasia: Green Room set times: TAG - 9pm Agrikulture - 10.30pm GXXX 11.30pm 2manydjs - 12.30am Lapsap 2am

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12:30AM:

The crowd got excited. They felt something big. Something that will completely rock the house.

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And they fucking rocked the house. Absolutely love their concept of displaying electro animations on a sceen behind their deck. And they go with the beat.

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This was the best ever Heineken Green Room! And i ain't the only one RT @twilightaction props to @futuresoundasia and @HeinekenMY for the best Heineken Green Room so far - 2manyDJs killed it!!!

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Beethoven apart, Zombie Nation was also a fucking classic. It drilled a million jabs of energy into the crowd that never stopped pumpin

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Jasmine Ho & Huai Bin

Take 2

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The crowd went wild for a solid 1 & a half hours, 2ManyDJs never lost a second.

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2ManyDJs ended with a blast.

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Well done @HeinekenMY ! It was a sick event ! The first ever Green Room, where i stayed till the very end.

Social Media is a Fad

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Think social media (which represents the zillions of conversations on the web) is a fad? I think its far more than a fad,

So much so that my boss uses it to get people, on urgent work matters, she cant using emails.

So much so that if you put all the people in Malaysia who uses Facebook (5.8million - according to ComScore Nov 09) in a state, it will be Malaysia's largest state ahead of Selangor with a population of 5 million.

So much so that China blocked Twitter because it posed a potential threat to national harmony... now isnt that line just so fucking familiar LOL... i guess China is so big they do not want members of their "ISA equivalent" to be chasing Twitterrs everyday

So much so that Malaysian blogspots (not even counting Xanga, Live, WordPress, MySpace) are read by more than 5 million eyeballs, far more than any newspaper in the country. The Star newspaper has a distribution of about 300K.

So much so that in the last general elections, 65% of the voters who switched to the opposition had an influence from blogs (Source: ZentrumFuture)

Fad?

Well whatever you're thinking now, at least its still more fashionable than building a flash website (with an overkill of branding its weaved into the pixels) that hosts a flash game with branding blowing in your face - you need to wear shades - and encourages participation by giving away a laptop with the branding engraved on the screen & battery & charger however you break it, you'll still see the branding.

And if you dont get it right now, you could prolly still sit in your cubicle because we're talking about 20% of the entire market. But in the next 10 years, there is another 33% of the national population - who are now embracing social media like eating chips - who'll lose touch with you.

Take look at this video:

The "Allah" issue, My proposed solution to the Government

Today, ima talk about religion & politics. If its social issues & politics - you call is socio-political, so i don't know if there's such a thing called relio-politics but heck, that's what ima talk about now. Relio-politics.

Recently in Malaysia, there's been some conflict on the Christian usage of "Allah" and its been significantly hyped up by the media. The conflict, in much simpler words, pertains an issue with Roman Catholics calling their God by his name, Allah. In English, it's God, in Bahasa Malaysia, it's Allah, just in case you were wondering. And Jesus is a prophet sent by God/Allah, just in case you were wondering again.

Well it all started from some disgruntled Malaysian Muslims (or Malays) because Christians called their God, Allah, in Bahasa Malaysia. They felt that it was a threat to the Malays because that might confuse the Malays into worshipping the wrong God or something to this effect. They also feared religious conversions because in Malaysia, religion sort of governs the country - they put it above the law - because Islam is the official religion of the country. I mean they fucking threathen to can you if you're a fucking hot Malay chic who drinks alcohol. So that's what im talking about.

As a result of the disgruntled Malays, a ban was imposed on Christians for calling their God by his name... wtf.

Lately, there's been some ammendments. The high court lifted the ban and Christians were allowed to call their God by his name again. It was a great way for many Bahasa Malaysia speaking Roman Catholics in Malaysia to usher into 2010.

As a result of this the Government, via the media (Star to be specific), has claimed that the current situtation is "pressing" and has been "aggravated" and they hope that it will not be "aggravated further" - implying that the Malay sentiments pertaining the issue has been "aggravated".

"I hope the situation will not be aggravated further and the Government does not encourage any demonstration or gathering to be held," he told reporters Sunday after presenting incentives to pupils in the Pekan constituency who excelled in the UPSR examinations last year.

And the Government wishes to ease off the "aggravation" & the "pressing situation" by appealing the court's decision of lifting the ban on Christians calling their God by his name. Here's the article from Star:

PEKAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged Muslims to remain calm over the High Court decision to allow the Catholic weekly, Herald, to use the word ‘Allah’ in its publication.

He said the Home Ministry would appeal the court’s decision and that he would keep the Rulers briefed.

Now, i've spoken to a few of my Malay friends, not representative but a dipstick, and they seem to be happy about the high court's decision of lifting the ban. Simply because it could indirectly lead to unity amongst the religions, a bond that's been torn apart. Because they believe (their 'teachers' even tell this to them at their marriage courses! haha wtf) that Muslims, Christians & Jews worship the same God. 1 boss - God/Allah.

So i do not know why the media (Star to be specific) is playing up the issue of Malays being "aggravated" and the "pressing situation", sorry but why the fucking fuck for? Unless, there's a hidden agenda behind this whole scenario. I mean, I don't know.

So my proposed solution to the government to solve this issue is to explain to the Malays that Christians communicate with God through Jesus & Muslims communicate through Muhammad. Jews communicate through im not sure, but i think Abraham? But they all report to the same boss, God/Allah. It's just like going to Sunway, you can use Federal Highway, or you can use LDP, or you can use NPE - different channels, but same destination.

I give you 1 more analogy, something you can better relate to. You have a ruling coalition called Barisan National (BN). Under this coalition, you have UMNO, MCA & MIC. Different channels, but they report to the same boss, BN. Under UMNO, you have Najib as the leader. Ong Ka Ting runs the MCA business and Samy sits on MIC's throne. So just TRY and imagine that Najib is Muhammad, Ong Ka Ting is Jesus and Samy is Abraham. And so this doesnt go wrong, you need to imagine that Najib doesn't control Barisan National. It's probably an Agong - just imagine ok.

So now, you cannot say that MCA followers cannot call their boss, Agong, because UMNO followers also call their boss, Agong. If MCA followers call their boss Agong, then it might confuse the UMNO followers. Same boss, HELLO?!

And with all due respect, i cant compare God to a boss - simply a terrific understatement but just so we can all relate.

I believe, and i believe everyone will second, that if you are a commited Muslim, or Malay. You can very well differentiate a Bible vs a Quran, a Church vs a Mosque, a Priest vs an Imam to name just a few examples.

So by explaining this to the Malays, they might probably understand the dynamics between these religions because trust me - do not over-estimate them - they might not be aware. And i also refer to alot of Christians in the country. I've heard Christians say that converting to Islam leads you to hell and how all Muslims are terrorist - now fuck that. Same boss my friends, its what you're more comfortable with and how you want to communicate with God. Ultimately, Islam or Christianity of Jew, they worship the same God.

As a concequence, this understanding could potentially evolve into unity amongst the religions in the country as they realize that its fucking stupid to hate each other. This could lead to genuine unity (respect for each others' religions) - what i see as 1 good aspect of 1 Malaysia.

I am not criticizing your decision of appealing the rule but im appealing for your re-consideration of your decision. I am sure you've meant good but as an end-reader, it came across to me as though the Christians have caused "aggravation" amongst the Malays and BN (or more specifically UMNO) is trying to solve the issue, thus being the hero for the Malays. You're not so inhuman to think of such political propoganda right? I trust you're not.
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Signing off,

A humble citizen

Pope knocked down by lady in red, at Christmas mass

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Moments before celebrating Christmas Eve mass, Pope Benedict XVI was knocked to the floor after a woman lunged at him as he walked down the aisle of the main church in the Vatican.
As security men tried to tackle the woman, both the pope and Roger Etchegaray, a French cardinal, were knocked to the floor in the confusion, Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said.

The 82-year-old head of the Roman Catholic church who appeared unhurt, was quickly helped to his feet and resumed the mass at St Peter's Basilica on Thursday, making no reference to the incident as the service started.

Etchegaray, 87, suffered a broken femur bone and was taken to hospital, Lombardi said.
The woman, whom Lombardi described as "unstable", was detained for questioning by Vatican security police.

She was the same person who tried to jump a barricade to get close to the pope at last year's Christmas Mass, the spokesman said.

In his message to more than 10,000 people during the Christmas Eve mass - held two hours earlier than the traditional midnight hour this year to ease the pope's busy holiday schedule - the pontiff urged the faithful to put aside the complexities and burdens of daily life and rediscover the simplicity of the Christmas message.

"We live our lives by philosophies, amid worldly affairs and occupations that totally absorb us and are a great distance from the manger," he said.

"In all kinds of ways, God has to prod us and reach out to us again and again, so that we can manage to escape from the muddle of our thoughts and activities and discover the way that leads to him," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera Agencies

Dear smokers,

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Can you believe how much of an idiot you were when you picked up smoking?

You picked it up just because your friends did, you thought it was cool and you wanted to belong.

Some will argue that they picked it up because they were stressed-up. Fuck you. Did anyone ever tell you that nicotine & tar cures stress - your doctor? your parents? ... or your stupid friend who blamed it on stress just because he didnt wanna sound like a loser for wanting to belong.

And revisiting the cool factor, tell me... how on fucking earth can smoking be cool? You stink like shit, your breath smells like a dead rat, you have undead gums, your teeth turns urine yellow, you pant like a mad dog from walking up a fleet of stairs, girls turn off when you kiss them you dont get sex... COOL?!? lol.. fucking not cool.

But the problem is, and the very problem is, 10 years ago, it WAS cool! So cool that when you're so broke, you still allocate some money for smokes. So cool that sometimes you'll walk miles for a pack of ciggies when you're desperate. So cool that you go through shit just so you can smoke during your school break time. So cool you borrow lighters from strangers on the street just to light up your ciggie. It was that cool! How is that cool? honestly, i still dont know.

And im saying all this because im the exact idiot i was just describing.

Today, after more than 10 years, i realize that its totally not cool. And what took me more than 10 years to realize? I don't know, im just too stupid i guess. But good to know (im just being human) that there are still ppl who think its cool after more than 10 years. hahahha

So this is gonna be one of my new year resolutions in 2010. I've tried quitting for 2 weeks, twice - ended up smoking more. So this time around, I will be more realistic. I will take 1 year to quit, by 11:59:59, 31st December 2010. Any earlier, i see it as bonus.

I've actually started to consciously cut down. And in the process i've realized many things. For example, smoking is not really a physical addiction, even after 10 years. When im with my parents, i dont smoke for a few days and i do not suffer from retraction, from any claimed symptoms of flu or fever. You're just totally OK because when you're with your parents, they're like mental smoke repellants - you see them, you dont think of smoking.

And that kinda proves my hypothesis of it being more of a mental addiction, not totally but more of it. It's things that you do that triggers the brain to tell you that you need to light up a smoke now. Like going to the loo to do the morning business or when you're drinking coffee. And basing it on this claim of mine, i've managed to drop my morning ciggie.

My friends used to tell me that they cant dump without the ciggie. And this statement made me light one up every morning coz my brain has been telling my body that I cant take a dump without the ciggie. In this whole month, ive been taking my morning dumps without needing to light up a ciggie. So again, its a mental thing. Totally mental.

But after a month... im still smoking but at 30 - 50% less now... im starting to realize that its not always a mental addiction. There are 2 ocassions that trigger an intense urge to smoke, and its more than a mental urge... it feels somewhat physical as well.

1. Alcohol. When you start drinking, you body calls for nicotine, your lungs call for nicotine, your blood, your saliva everything calls for it..... When i was with my parents, i dont drink, so i discovered this later.

2. After hours of crunch time at work - you just fucking need a ciggie. And this is the most crucial because for the pass 5 years and for the next 15 years i believe, it will be crunch time every weekday at work. And this is hell something i need to address & overcome. Again, when i was with my parents, i dont work, so i discovered this later as well.

To overcome 1, i might need to quit drinking - which is an alternative im not willing to take yet. So ima try find ways to drink and overcome the urge.

And ima take the next year to think of a solution for 2....

Merry Christmas