Unity

Unity. Racial Integration. Familiar words that ring in my ear this year. The government spending on the oversized billboards, posters and advertisements of the 1 Malaysia catchphrase our "brilliant" Prime Minister has brainstormed.

I've always been blatant on the subject of politics and racial matters. And since I've heard of the whole 1 Malaysia deal, all I could mutter was "It's not going to work." Some tried to prove me wrong, some shrugged me off, some agreed with me. It is now, my dear readers, September 23 of the year 2010. What has 1 Malaysia truly achieved? Has this...."resolution" no wait, that is not the valid word. Excuse me, let me rephrase, this failure of a facade to hide the fires of racial capitalism achieved? Ask yourself that.

I have the most appropriate answer. Apart from the flashy parades and an extra holiday all I can say that it has achieved nothing so far in this country of corrupted politics, nothing. In my humble opinion, 1 Malaysia's slogan "Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan" should be changed to "Melayu Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diabaikan" Because that is all that 1 Malaysia has done. The country playing its' cards like a broken record, Malays get more perks from the government, leaving the other races behind and of course causing more and more arguments, as always.

But dissing 1 Malaysia isn't the main purpose of my being here blogging on this fine night. It is the phrase Divide and Conquer. The British used this method to divide the races and take over Pre-Independent Malaysia back in the Sepia-colored days. And how have they succeed, until our Father of Independence; Tunku Abdul Rahman changed that and made Malaysia a free-country. But today it was a feeling of Deja-Vu, oh yes, there was undoubtedly a allusion of Divide and Conquer in my very own school.

Long story short, since today there were trial exams for the students who are taking Tasawur Islam, Chinese Language and Tamil Language, the remaining students were subjected to "Motivational and Disciplinary" lectures from various lecturers. Sound ordinary? Think again. "May all the Chinese students please proceed to the Hall and the Indian students proceed to the library." As soon as I heard these words, the first that that comes into mind is Divide and Conquer, due to the fact that it was a Malay teacher who said that. How ironic, a miniature version of the old British game plan, mimicked by the people that they revolutionized.

Of course the Chinese students were indulged in Chinese lectures and the Indian students were filled in with Tamil lectures. I was against this whole idea of using mother tongues for lectures. When asked for feedback, all I did was state the fact that the lectures have failed at the aspect fo racial integration. And the reply I've received was "It's good to once in awhile have lectures in mother tongues for the students to feel comfortable amongst their own race. Because we did our subject workshops with everyone already." How good is it to have students curling up in the safety zone of their own race? Are we MalayChinDiaSia? or are we Malaysia? And finally, workshops for subjects are compulsory for all students to attend and it is not a motivational lecture. All I see is a De-motivational lecture today, again to feel safe in one's own race, apart from the content of the lecture itself (Which I found dull, due to the fact that it has been things that I've been counseling my friends about and I have thought myself about). But of course we all know the hidden agenda for these kinds of lectures; Getting Straight As To Ensure A Bright Future, To Honor Your Family, the Asian mindset, if you will.

We were once proud of our multi-racial community, now, it is the shell of it's former self, nothing more. That is what I've learned recently from reading my Mentor; Derek Kok's blog. Especially of the failure in our multi-racial community. Dear readers we are going nowhere if we do not abolish safety barriers between the races so that we can understand each other better. Do we need an event such as the Al-Quran burnings in the USA? Or the repetition of the lawsuit battle between the Muslims and the Catholic church?

I suppose I should quote from a Jedi Master.

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."
____________________________________________________________________

Well that shows you how far we are behind our country's goal. Anyways, Jonathan here, signing out for now.

Ciao~

The Game Of Life

Before I start I'd like to thank Nathalie for the idea of this post, she thought that since I do game reviews I should do one about something else (no spoilers!) So I hope you guys enjoy this one.

P.S. This is going to be a long post.

_______________________________________

For this review I will judge the game on a few different aspects, which are; Story, Gameplay, Characters, Sound and Music, Graphics, and of course the final score for this game.


The name of the game is LIFE. Yes, just 1 word, LIFE. The developers and publishers of this game are unknown as of now. But rumors in the Vatican says that it was by someone named God, and the scientist from various countries claim that it was by Evolution. Either way, let's get on with the review.

LIFE's released date is also unknown, but the synopsis is that you will play as a person who starts off in your mother's womb and from there you will gain control of your character. Basically the goal of the game is to experience life, there is also Online play available, or you can even just stick to the single player mode. Either way, it's your choice. Also LIFE cannot be purchased at any game store, you need to wait for it to be delivered to you to start playing, unfortunately.


Story: The game takes place on our current time line on Planet Earth, each unit of life varies, mine started in 1993. But either way you will start the game inside your mother's womb then after 9 months of loading time, you will finally take control of your character. The game is pretty similar to Fallout 3, where you have to pick choices to shape your own story. After the baby stages, you will advance to childhood stage which is basically playing around all day without a worry, then the youngster period where you begin to go to school, adolescence stage where you continue up to high school, young adult stage where you go to college and adult stage where you get your first official job and then you will see the epilogue in the eyes of the elderly period. Each of these stages will have countless choices to choose from and they will shape the next stage of the story. However, the backdraw of the game is that you can't repeat the choices, the game offers no saving option whatsoever. So pick carefully. But in conclusion I would like to say that the story is full of depth and very down to earth. It totally has everything in it as far as I know (Since I'm still at the Adolescence Stage) It has almost everything, from drama, action, romance, thriller, horror... you name it, LIFE has it! LIFE's story is also so overwhelming that you'll feel attach to it.

Story: 9.5/10



Gameplay: Basically, LIFE is an Action/Adventure Game with a First Person point of view. IT also has Role-Playing Game elements. When you start of you can only crawl, once you've gained enough crawling level you will be able to walk, then run. You will also be able to handle multiple objects like computers, cellphones, even weapons like knives or guns once you've gained enough experience levels and wisdom levels. But the potency of handling these objects are affected by your judgement level. Let's say at one point in your life you are short of money, and you decide to rob a bank, if your judgement level is not high enough, your karmatic level will force you to rob a bank. Or maybe when someone enrages you and your character says he/she wants to slap the offender, if your judgement is not good, he/or she will slap that person with the consequence of losing a social link, or even worse; making enemies.

LIFE takes place on Earth as I earlier stated, you have access to a open-ended world, you can go anywhere you like in later parts of the game, provided if you have enough money. Though for the earlier part you will be forced to go to school to gain more levels in various areas like sports, arts, academics and much more. This will ultimately decide which college or university will go to, hence it will affect your future career choices. Again choice plays an important part in school, you have the choice to doze of during class, do other things or even skip school entirely and going somewhere else to raise your satisfaction bar.

The satisfaction bar fills when you do the things that you find enjoyable, be it from watching a movie to partying in a club, these activities will increase your satisfaction bar, but raising the bar will of course; consume your money, that is why it is important to obtain a job when you reach the adult stage to ensure the financial stability of your character.

Again I stress, you cannot save your game hence you cannot replay the area you've got a Game Over in and it's a single cycle game. If you cannot cope with your Health meter, you will pass away and ultimately ending the game, rendering it unplayable again. So you have to take care of yourself, the risks are always high. Most players die young on the streets, others are kidnapped by other players during online play in the city and then die, some even don't receive their copy of LIFE and they will be registered as dead.

You will also have access to social links, social links, AKA Friends and Family will also affect your character development by tipping your Karmatic meter. Bad influences will turn your character into a villain while good influences will keep your character in his/her hero mode. You will gain access to different social links throughout the game, most noticeably is the Parents social links that you obtain at the very start of the game. This will ultimately tilt your Karmatic meter towards one end, it depends on what kind of parents you get though. But no matter you can work your way to your desired end of the Karmatic meter. Be helping people or taking their life, you hold the choices in your hands.

You will also have a choice to dive yourself into a religion of your choice, in LIFE, you can pick any religion you want, or maybe you prefer to be an atheist? But to sum it all up, if you pick a religion, it will slightly tilt your Karmatic meter to a positive note and it will increase the level of your character's faith which will boost your character's judgement level.

Take note, when you do kill another person playing LIFE, it will not only tilt your Karmatic meter towards the villain side, but also will place you under police surveillance, and that person whom you have just murdered will get a Game Over ending his/her LIFE.

Marriage will also become once you have enough cash and when you have a spouse that you can engage to. Marriage will result in your character marrying another character whom you will live together for the rest of the game. And when you manage to have a family, LIFE copies will be sent out to other people to grant you a baby, thus making you that person's Parent social link.

The length of gameplay varies on how you play the game, some end the game at a young age due to death, some will ultimately finish the game and die of old age. The average game time you'll get is 50 years. Some are lucky enough to keep playing the game for over 100 years. I've also heard rumors that whatever you do in LIFE will affect the sequel that's coming to you called AFTERLIFE. So, with such variety, what more can you ask for with open opportunities of LIFE?

Gameplay: 10/10



Characters: As far as character goes, you build up your own persona during the course of the game and the characters/social links you meet vary depending on which unit of LIFE you get. But here are a few screenshots of the characters that I've met so far into this game:

People who can change the way you think about LIFE:














People who can teach you a thing or two when you play LIFE:












People that help you when you're losing the game:













Or people that makes LIFE seem a little more interesting when you meet them:























With that all I can say is you will meet a variety of people from all walks of life.

Characters: 10/10


Sound and Music: In LIFE, you can customize your own music, which is one of the best features of the game. The playlist available for your music can be changed depending on your mood and as you progress the game, more songs will become available. Currently my Playlist consist of works from Paramore, Jason Mraz and one of the most renowned contemporary composers; SHoji Meguro of his Shin Megami Tensei fame. The overral SFX of the game is superb since LIFE uses a technology ahead of our time to encode the audio.

Sound and Music: 10/10


Graphics: LIFE's graphics are undoubtedly gorgeous. The resolution of LIFE goes beyond your 1080p HD boundaries. The graphics are very realistic. You can see the details of a person's every hair strand even to the finest of wrinkles. Even the environment is beautifully projected with such detail that it can only be the work of one with divine skill.

Graphics: 10/10


I would like to say that LIFE gains a 10/10 from me. It is, by far one of the most exhilarating experiences I've ever had in my life. (no pun intended) For those of you who are reading this, lucky you, you've got your copy of LIFE!

Final Verdict: 10/10 Overall Score
__________________________________________________

And......done, I hope you guys enjoyed this and for those of you who's photos I've taken from your Facebook pages ever so secretly, I'm deeply sorry.

Also, credits for the epic sunset picture goes to Johnathan and his superb photography skill. And the game cover was a photoshop edit done by me.

ALright then, that's it from me for now. Remember, live that life of yours to the fullest.

Being Liberated frOm Generelization

Foreword: I have changed the overall look of my blog, and already got the little piano tune up and running again, hope you guys like it, do leave remarks on the comment box below or just say your say in the chatbox in the doobly-doo to the right of this page. Thank you in advance.
_________________________________________

See what does the 4 capitalized letters become when you turn them into an acronym? It spells Blog. And now I've come to know,after reading the deposit of thoughts of the masses from all walks of life, with different personae I finally realize that a blog is more than just a means to chronicle your life, more than just a personal blank slate for you to type out your deepest most overwhelming emotions in it. Some would write of a country's political flaws, some would write of their angst, some would write of their own beliefs and philosophy. What do these little voices, projected via text in your Google Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer window have in common?

They are free from the limitations of real life, from the generic society, they can be themselves. Hence the acronym; Being Liberated frOm Generalization.

Of course we are still limited from the "Cyber Police" but, ask yourself, in which plane do we have more space to express ourselves without the fear of being shunned upon? Little websites and Blogs, of course. No, I'm not saying that the Internet is a better place than real life, I'm just stating the fact that Blogs are a rather unique read, by which you cannot find at a local bookstore.

A Blog is the place where the artist of words do not fear the censor, the place where they can express themselves with almost boundless freedom. If you are wondering, then head over to my doobly-doo at the right side of this blog and scroll down to my linkage. Some of the most unique blogs I would say belongs to Mr. Derek Kok, my Public-Speaking mentor and attorney-in-training who shares his opinions for a better Malaysia, Lily Tan, a new friend that I've found from Kelantan who writes rather philosophical questioning of the world and tells tales of her loving family.

Of course there are people who misuse these blank slates to fill their dark desires. I'm not sure if my fellow readers who are reading this heard of Gary Ng. He was a notorious blogger who gained fame from posting his private sex tapes with various women in Singapore. A grotesque display of immorality indeed. Fret not, his blog has been apprehended by the admins, his fate in real life is still an enigma for me.

Though I encourage to those of you who don't have a blog to start one, it would be my pleasure to read your thoughts imprinted into a single HTML page.

With this I bid you all a pleasant night.

P.S. To all the SPM candidates, you guys have GOT to take it easy, really. XD