It’s the tenth anniversary of MMU. Pretty big event. There isn’t any shortage of events being held to commemorate it either - nearly every notable club is holding something. Chalk it up to those Entrepreneurship lectures: never miss a possible tie-in for your event!

The Student Affairs and Sports Division (STAD) is going one better though: What better way to celebrate our University than with anti-semitic talks?

[Click the image to view the full-size version with STAD’s endorsement on the bottom and the “a TM university” logo proudly displayed.]

I’d like to take the opportunity here to apologize for not listing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in my previous post about far-out religious theories (though the Illuminati part overlaps somewhat). So for the uninitiated, here’s the lowdown from Wikipedia’s article on the Protocols:

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Russian: “Протоколы сионских мудрецов”, or “Сионские протоколы”, see also other titles) is an antisemitic literary forgery that purports to describe a Jewish plot to achieve world domination.

Basically yeah, every major (bad) event past, present, and future; had/have/will have Jews pulling the strings. I remember once reading a book based on it. Even as a kid I didn’t buy it - actually the only scary part is how much people need a scapegoat for their problems, and how some people will believe anything.

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Remember the Bible Code? The theory was that every important person/event in the world is encoded in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), and can be found by dividing the Hebrew script into columns and searching for phrases in them (so that’s what God was doing on the seventh day!). It was just one of a long line of pseudoreligious theories, e.g.:

• The symbol of the Illuminati is “hidden” in the US dollar bill, a symbol of their conspiracy to take over the world;
• All bar codes actually contain the numbers “666″;
• A “lost day“, corresponding to the miracles requested by Joshua and Hezekiah, found and proven by befuddled scientists;
• Siberian scientists accidentally drilling a well to Hell;
• Various predictions of the world ending at various dates;
• Hidden pentagram and 666 formations in Washington ([pentagram = freemason = demonic] + 666 = very demonic);
• Procter and Gamble being run by Satanists;
• Dungeons and Dragons promotes Satanism and/or will possess you demonically (or Magic: the Gathering, or any game that involves any of the following: magic, spells, rituals, dragons, demons, Persia, witches [who are the bad guys supposed to be anyway?]);
• Harry Potter promotes witchcraft and has resulted in a rise in Satanism among children better burn all those Enid Blyton books too);
• Nearly everything written by Jack Chick. Seriously, that guy is one intolerant, paranoid psycho.

Ok, getting a little carried away there. The point here is that a healthy amount of skepticism has never hurt anyone. And I’ll be the first to admit that when I was younger I believed some of them.

One such hoax that seems to be making its rounds here lately is the “revelation” that various Chinese characters are inspired by Genesis (”Revelation” is relative here; the book that first expounded this, The Discovery of Genesis, was written in 1979. It’s like how we get seasons of Lost late).

It works a lot like the Bible Code, just in reverse. Instead of cherry-picking the Bible for letters and words which match up, you cherry-pick Chinese characters for elements which match Genesis. You can view examples here:

• The Genesis Site
• World Bible School. (Flash needed for this one)
• Answering Genesis.org

As for the rebuttals:

• A point-by-point rebuttal to the Genesis Site version;
• An indignant reaction to the WBS version from pinyin.info;
• A rather hilarious extrapolation.

I rather like pinyin.info’s comparison:

They’re all the equivalent of the folk etymology of the English word assume: “to assume means ‘to make an ass out of you and me.’”

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Popularity: 23% [?]

Found this in today’s Sun, p21:

After a decade of bringing blockbuster movies to people staying on the south west side of the island, Cathay Cineplex in Bukit Jambul Complex will be closed from 5pm next Monday. The closure is in line with the company’s plans to consolidate all its services under one roof at Prangin Mall in George Town. The company’s upgrading work for the cineplex in Prangin Mall is scheduled to be completed in May.

Well… not unexpected (note to self: If you ever open a shopping mall, don’t put shops selling pirated CDs on the 4th floor and the cinema on the 5th). I’ll miss all those times I indignantly say “We could just watch it in BJ!! GSC/Island Plaza is so far away!” when asked to watch movies.

Mega Pavillion - sorry, Cathay Cineplex - used to give out those cards where you get one stamp for every movie ticket and after about 15 or so stamps you get a “free” movie - that is, after no one wants to watch the movie any more, they put it on the free list and you can use your card. Oddly enough, I went to the cinema regularly but can remember getting only one such freebie. The only show on the free list was Love on a Diet starring Sammi Cheng. I sat down in the cinema; there were fewer than 10 people there. I was early because I like to watch cinema advertisements. But nadda. They didn’t even dim the lights. 10 minutes after the show was supposed to have started, the usher came in and told us to choose another show instead - in my case, Jurassic Park 3. Which wasn’t on the free list. Yay.

Is the GSC juggernaut destined to overwhelm all the other players with their caramel popcorn? At least they opened one practically opposite my house…

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Jordin Sparks will win. She’s the most versatile and has the most appeal. If only she could stop being so sickly sweet and giggly off-mike. And she shouldn’t have redone her hair - argh. Every Jane, Jean and Gina has straightened hair.

Melinda and Lakisha are both excellent. But this is not a singing competition, it’s an idol contest - how do you think Daniel won Malaysian Idol? Melinda is going to suffer split votes with Lakisha (previously with Stephanie as well), both of them are too similar.

All the guys suck, except Phil maybe, sometimes Chris Sligh. Blake has the appeal but is highly overrated. Sanjaya is a big joke. The weepy little girl that got zoomed in on all night is the perfect sample of his fan base.

The remaining females are good. Haley sings better and better each week: wears less and less (yay!).

Simon’s right when he says he’s more valuable than Bruce Springsteen. He’s the only reason for sitting through the whole show, rather than skipping through the singers you don’t like. Only Melinda’s been spared his biting tongue so far. I wish they would put Hugh Laurie in-character as a guest judge though!

It’s been said before but Idol is probably the most popular, lucrative TV show ever. Wonder what took people so long to think of it.

[edit] Forgot to add the link to VoteForTheWorst.com, for those who are flabberghasted by Sanjaya’s miraculous longevity.

Popularity: 24% [?]

It’s very rare that I manage to score a copy of the Sun. Because it’s free, copies are usually snapped up quickly. That and the whole stigma of having front-page ads (or should I say ads as front pages?), publishing fewer pages than the norm, and being less “established”.

But hey, quality over quantity; don’t judge a book by it’s cover; youthful energy, all that sort of thing.

With the “mainstream” papers adamant on labelling bloggers as liars, it was a breath of fresh air - or maybe a warming ray of Sunshine - to read the Sun’s take:

Mohan: Sorry, Cikgu. But I can’t agree with what Azman said just now - treat all stories in the blogs and the news websites as rumours.

Zain: Why?

Mohan: Regular surfers of the Internet surely know by this time which blogs and news sites are credible and those they should avoid like the plague. They also know which Internet newspapers are professionally run and those that are merely gossip sheets. So to say that all stories from blogs and Internet newspapers are to be treated as rumours is not being very nice to those bloggers and Internet newspapers editors.

More rants on blogging later - for now, this is to compliment the Sun for their articles.

They dare to question illegal measures taken by UMNO, and you can compare their version of Tun Musa Hitam’s call to drop race quotas to bolster investment in Johor, with other sanitized versions.

In fact I nearly wrote “They are blog-like!”, but then realized it was more that some other publications don’t realize what being a newspaper means.

Unfortunately some articles are exclusive to their Web edition. Suits me fine though. I already get most of my news online anyway and only buy Star for In-Tech and Weekender.

Popularity: 26% [?]

If you’re a subscriber to DiGi - although this should apply to other lines - you’ve probably been receiving spam daily promotional SMSes from DiGi. I can’t give examples because I immediately delete them. But they’re still highly annoying, especially when you’re expecting an important SMS.

Today it got worse though. When I was walking to class (in the rain, I might add) I actually got a call.

A female voice announced that it was a promotional message from DiGi. I was about to complain when she continued:

“Press 1 for English, tekan 2 untuk Bahasa Melayu…” - damn automated calls. I hung up then but was still pretty pissed.

Pissed enough to go to DiGi’s website for the first time. Fortunately they have an opt-out solution:

If you wish to opt out from DiGi’s SMS and MMS Promotional Messages, please send either one of the keywords OUT or KELUAR to 1994.

Talk about fine print…they should have included this in every unsolicited SMS. I hope this stops the calls.

[Update]

It may not have. I got a missed call while out jogging at 7:30ish pm. 2 calls in 3 hours! Same number as before: 016-0160160. Is anyone else getting these calls from DiGi?

Popularity: 17% [?]

Rocky’s bru has a heads-up today on voter registration. According to Malaysia Today, it might be wise to register before 31st March:

“Bagaimanapun, jumlah peningkatan ini belum lagi dapat dipastikan sehingga tempoh untuk semakan semula yang akan berakhir 31 Mac ini selesai. Selepas itu, daftar baru ini akan kita pamerkan di 841 kawasan untuk bantahan dan tuntutan sebelum disahkan dan diwartakan.

“Kita jangka proses ini akan selesai dalam tempoh antara 45 hari dan dua bulan daripada tarikh 31 Mac. Jadi jika pilihan raya ke-12 diadakan selepas Jun, pengundi yang tersenarai dalam daftar baru ini layak mengundi,” katanya.

Beliau menasihatkan mereka yang ingin mengambil bahagian dalam pilihan raya akan datang agar mendaftar segera, sebaik-baiknya sebelum tempoh semakan terakhir tamat hujung bulan ini.

Basically if you’re not a registered voter, it’s best to do it ASAP. The article also states that only 1 of out every 3 eligible voters have registered - that’s 5 million voters, enough to swing any election!

So I registered today :). It’s easy. All you have to do is to bring your IC to a post office (among other places) and ask them to help you fill out the form. The clerk called it the “borang SPR”.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

In MMU every office, lab, and classroom has a code. CLCR2003 for example means Common Lecture Concourse, right wing, third hall on the second floor. ITRA1001 would mean a lecturer’s office, first floor of the IT building. NW0001 would mean the Network Lab, so on so forth. It can get confusing sometimes if you have to attend a class in a new venue.

Today in Compiler Design the lecturer gave us the details for our upcoming midterms.

“Date: 4th April 2007“, he wrote on the whiteboard, followed by ”Time: 8-9 pm“.

After he wrote down the Venue, a girl in the front piped up:

“Sir, where’s TBA?” 

Popularity: 18% [?]

While waiting to take a mid-term test this week, I happened to peer into one of the neighbouring lecture halls and noticed the students dressed up and the lecturers watching. It was that time of year…

About the only time I’ve ever had geniune interest in a subject in my years in MMU was during my foundation year, in English III. Every group has to select from a pool of classic short stories, and produce a 20-minute sketch. Other than contributing towards our final grade, the best sketches would also be narrowed down and IIRC a final ten would be invited to present in the Main Hall.

In our case, the story was “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl - no, he didn’t write only children’s books, he produced quite a few short stories for adults that were appreciated for their dark humour.

For the uninitiated, the story revolves around Mary Maloney, whose husband confesses to an affair. In a fit of rage, she seizes the nearest object at hand - a frozen leg of lamb - and buffets him over the head with it, causing his death. After regaining her composure, she calmly goes to the grocer for peas and potatoes, returns, prepares a supper of roast lamb, and calls the police. Upon their arrival, she feigns grief, the grocer provides her alibi, and the story ends with the police joining her for a supper of roast lamb.

First thing was to replace the “leg of lamb” with a whole chicken from TESCO. Lambs are expensive in Malaysia…
I thought it would be interesting if the whole script rhymed. That took up a lot of effort! But we liked the result.

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Popularity: 31% [?]

I’ll begin with Rehman Rashid’s impossibly wordy piece in the NST on why blogging is bad. Only towards the end does he finally start to make his point:

…The local blogosphere is the domain of life-challenged grumblestiltskins and disenfranchised pundits whose asinine maunderings only show why they should never have had day jobs in the first place.

Rumour, innuendo, half-truths and damned lies are their stock- in-trade, and previously sacrosanct standards, principles and ethics are now laughable.

Are they not entitled to their opinion? Of course they are, as much as everyone else is entitled to ignore them. I would venture, however, that everyone has an opinion and a rectum, and not that many seem capable of telling one from the other.

Before we respond to that I’ll bring up another issue, the one that’s provoked a storm of controversy in the blogosphere.

First we pick up a story from today’s Star, titled “Adnan: I was referring to Indon journalist“:

KUALA LUMPUR: Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has clarified that he did not label all women bloggers as liars.

“In fact, most of my supporters in my constituency are women.”

He said his statement was specifically made in reference to an Indonesian journalist who wrote in her blog about the ministry’s inefficiency.

He was speaking to reporters after announcing the sponsors and prizes of the NPC-Celcom Visit Malaysia 2007 treasure hunt here yesterday.

He was asked to comment about the recent controversy which started when Tengku Adnan allegedly referred to bloggers as liars and were mostly jobless women.

Many women’s groups criticised him for making the statement.

Tengku Adnan said he loved “all women” and was “here because of a woman.”

“In fact, most of my supporters in my constituency are women,” he said.

Reading it carefully, you get the following impressions:

• He “allegedly” made a controversial remark about bloggers and women.
• His statement was actually made specifically towards an Indonesian journalist who criticized his ministry.
  (for the lowdown on that, see Wong Chun Wai of the Star’s editorial, and the journalist’s blog)

To someone who reads only The Star (because seriously, who even looks at NST’s headlines any more?), nothing appears to be out of place. The hardworking minister in charge of VM 2007 has been misunderstood and he’s clarifying things, right?

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Popularity: 12% [?]