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21/1/07, Bukit Jalil GOlf & Country Club, 7.30pm. i will mark this date down in my life, because its the 1st time i attended a chinese wedding. a colleague of mine, just got married n she invited me n other colleagues to attend her wedding reception that nite. so in all, there were 1 table representing the company.

i had no expectations other than to go there to have a dinner and get back to catch the MU-Arsenal match at 12 midnite. wat a pleasant surprise i had, when i was there. to start it off, the journey there was very troublesome due to the very heavy rain, plus the venue was also near the Bukit Jalil Stadium where the Final Anugerah Juara Lagu took place. so it took some time for me to get there.

it was supposed to start at 8am, but like my fren said, no chinese wedding ever start on time. reminds me of the infamous ‘janji melayu’. i think im the only malay and there was another indian couple, then the rest all chinese. i also do not know the correct procedure for the giving of ang pow. only after observing other people, that i know wat to do. then while dinner was waiting to be served, the MC took to the stage to introduce evrybody to the married couple. my colleague also took to the stage to give a speech on behalf of the bride.

dinner was a 7-course set, served with many type of food. by the 3rd serving, i was laid back already due to being so full. remember next time to skip lunch before attending a chinese wedding. ;p

then came the part where the couple go around each table to ‘yam seng’ wif evryone. i learned lotsa new things that day. but i still phailed in using the chopstick, so had to resort to using fork n spoon. i also phailed in initiating or entering into a conversation, mainly due to me not speaking chinese. but sumtimes i feel like i understand wat they were saying, by their intonation, their body language, n i do feel the urge to enter into that conversation, but wat to do. only after they speak english or malay, did i showed a positive response.

i think all the misconceptions that we have of each races, is due to us not understanding each other. once we get to know each other, n we respect each other customs, cultures, religion then i think we all can live forever happy ever after. peace…

-if i fall along the way, pick me up n dust me off n if i get too tired to make it, be my breath so i can walk-

with an ever changing world staring at us, knowledge is becoming a very important part in our life. there’s also a famous saying which goes, "knowledge is king". how very true it is. knowledge empowers a person, a leader, a population, a nation, evrybody to do better in their life, to make the world a better place with new technology in place.

education never really stops until the day that we die. do u still remember the days, when we all learn to eat? learn to crawl? learn to ‘pak tor’? i guess evrybody should be going thru the same phase, while others may not be so fortunate. it is a lifelong journey. we will make mistakes along the way, hearts will be broken, pain n suffering too. but all is not lost. there is always the light at the end of the tunnel.

higher education means tertiary education or advance stage of education, which is not compulsory, in malaysia anyways. it starts from the period which we finish our secondary education or secondary school. college or university is the institution of higher learning for tertiary education. it ranges from a simple certificate, up to diploma and bachelors degree and further until masters or a phd. for higher education, mostly it is attended by young adults in their 20’s, but there are also mature students, who have entered the working force, but still further their studies for many reasons. it could be for personal achievement when someone gains the title ‘dr’ or ‘professor’, or maybe their job requires the scroll for them to get promoted.

in malaysia, greater emphasis has been given for higher education since the launching of e-economy, e-government, e-this, e-that, where there are no limits in doing transaction or business. everything is embracing the way of paperless culture. everything is inside the computers and servers all across the globe which were interlinked to each other. with the advent of the world wide web, resources can be found at the click of the mouse, provided you know where and how to search for it.

ever since the term ‘human capital’ was mooted and widely used by our PM, education is given far greater importance. alliance was made with other nations. for example, cuba which may seems to be a communist and a very unstable country, but they have 1 of the best facilities and r&d in medicine in the world. research is the keyword in becoming successful. when investment comes pouring in for r&d, new products can be launched and new technologies can be used. hybrid cars, bio-fuel, renewable energy source, vaccine, dna mapping, cloning are just some of the on-going research. and once an accomplishment is made in the respective field, it will bring both wealth and popularity to whoever makes the breakthrough. think of viagra and what it does to pfizer.

but then, all this comes at a heavy price for those who misuses it. wars will be waged, in the name of ‘testing’ their new so-called more powerful weapons. biological weapons or unconvetional warfare is used, even more deadlier than conventional guns and missiles, where the effect can be seen in the next generations of humans. hackers can spread virus a lot more faster, taking advantage of the ‘link-up’ of the worlds computers. moral decisions would also have to be made. no more baby born with defects, ’superhuman’ beings with no flaws, cloning oneself so that ‘he’ may never dies. its a scary thought by the looks of it.

back home, malaysia is trying its best to become an education hub in the asia pacific region, if not the world. with more universities and colleges being built and ‘outside’ help with foreign expertise being brought in, the reputation of higher education in malaysia is slowly gaining popularity. most universities and colleges have a tie-up with established and well-known universities abroad. study loans are everywhere, to help people to further their studies. incentives are also given in the form of tax relief for those who wishes to take up tertiary education. so basically, there’s not much restriction for anybody to enter colleges or universities. its just a choice of individual preference whether they want it or not.

-desperate i will crawl, waiting for so long, no love, there is no love, die for anyone, what have i become???-