31 Dec 2007
Promoting 'Barisan' and unity
While attending the National Christmas Open House on Saturday two questions in my mind were, "is the election coming really soon? (maybe in one or two months time)" and "is our unity seriously being under threat?". I posed these questions because first and foremost, the event comes along with a theme "Barisan Kita, Warisan Kita"! *LOL* Why the word 'barisan'?, I guess "Perpaduan Kita, Warisan Kita" or "Keharmonian Kita, Warisan Kita" sound much better. So you can guess what the theme is trying to tell us. :=). The inclusion of all races and ethnic groups in the performances, is a simple proof by the government that no one is being sidelined (thanks to the turmoil by Hindraf recently). One popular Christmas song was sung in all languages exist in Malaysia and greetings were uttered in all languages as well...(boring!). If I were the MC I would say "please let me know if I miss out one race/ethnic's language!" Duhh! After 50 years of independence, we still need a lot of things to do to unite the people. Maybe some races/ethnic groups in the country are still suffering the syndromes of inferior complexity and anxiety disorders...:=). Perhaps the best thing to do is to join the "line", queue up and wait patiently for your turn to get a better life...*LOL*
I came late in the afternoon (miss out the goodies...erggh!) and not so sure if there was stage performance in the morning. Artistes seen performing in the afternoon are Velvet, Lotter, Abu Bakar Ellah, Clarice, Everistus and the RTM unity group comprising of Achapan, Angeline Tan, Abon etc.
...And now live from Padang Merdeka (versi kucar kacir)28 Dec 2007
When record shop offers CD burning
I went to Centre Point this morning to look for some CDs. I bought two CDs at Leego record shop (a KD CD and an English CD). While paying at the counter, the lady was mumbling something like...."sepuluh lingit saja! tunggu ...3 minit!"...at the same time she showed me a CD-Rom. It took me awhile to capture what she was talking about. When I asked her to repeat, she pointed at the original CDs "sound sama, tapi masuk sini (showing a CD-Rom)...sepuluh ringgit saja..tapi tunggu 3 minit!". Can't she just said "CD-burning" (habis cerita) or perhaps I don't look high-tech enough for her to use such term! I stood aghast for awhile at the terrible discovery before saying "oh lu copy semua lagu masuk sinilah....bolehkah buat itu macam?....polis tidak tangkapkah?". "Manyak olang buat mah!!" she replied. But then I told her I settle for those with proper sleeves, photos and lyrics. She further offered for RM8, but i'm still refused. She looked surprise upon seeing my refusal (as if I'm the first ever soul she encountered rejecting such offer...:=0). *Sigh* In fact I wanted to ask her more, like how long has she been doing this, how's the response like etc.
Wow! Can you imagine, RM10 for one CD burning. They should have earned more by doing this than selling the original CD. I know this is not new at any cybernet where they offer such service. But to discover similar offer also available in record shop is totally a different thing. To me record shop is the place to get original CDs. My sympathy goes to the artistes (especially local Sabahan artistes) who had become victims of this irresponsible conduct. So if you find your album sale not as what you expected, this is probably one of the reasons. Who shall we blame, the 'demander' or the 'supplier'? probably both!
Perhaps...it takes an intellect to appreciate and pay high respect on intellectual properties!...Ehemm! :=)
