all-a-buzz over English proficiency, here's my say.

Believe it or not, I learnt English through TV. I seldom read books when I was a child (I know not a good example but bear with me for a bit.)

Now I have to say I am annoyed by the amount of dubbing done to English cartoons/movies/series. To me it is a plague. And with it from my own opinion and observation it acts as one of the reason why the quality of English language proficiency in Malaysia had dropped.  They now had dubbed Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora the Explorer, Diego, (in naming a few) and the worst part they started with SESAME STREET (why oh why?)

I used to remember when the only dubbed TV shows were Japanese drama/Japanese tokusatsu shows/arab series (I still vividly remember the one on Nabi Musa) and the only subbed TV series were the English movies/series on TV and during the age of 4-9 years old movies and series gain little attention from me.

So what else a boy would do? I watch cartoon. I remember during that time the cartoons were only in English and there were NO subtitles. None of it were subbed nor dubbed (YES NOT EVEN SESAME STREET), so there I was, watching what to others seemed like I’m just watching bright coloured moving figures on TV (most adults believed this) but little did they know, I was trying to understand what the cartoons were saying (no one noticed this until what happened next)

Obviously with great cartoon shows come cool toys. And naturally I (well, my dad) bought it.

(This part was re-narration from my mom’s story) 

So the moment the toys got out from the box, to my parents’ surprise, I began to play with the toys in English (My parents do not/NEVER speaks English neither to me nor between them)

So there I was playing and I remembered that I always make it a point to make my toy reenactment of the cartoon episode just like the episode that I watched. So I tried to make sure to play with the toys in English. Often I asked my mom or dad “mama ‘lari’ orang putih panggil apa?”(Mom, what is run in English?)  Or “abah, ‘sembunyi’ orang putih kata apa?” (Dad, what’s ‘hide’ in English?)  And the vocabulary kept growing and growing every time I play with those toys.

Then when movies and TV series began to get my attention (salute to 6million dollar man, bionic woman, manimal, A-Team etc.) I gained more vocabulary by listening to conversations on TV and reading the subtitles to understand the words that weren’t familiar to me then.

Now I’m not saying that it is a foolproof language learning strategy but at a certain level it works.

But my advice is this. Regain control over that astro remote. If your kids want to watch cartoons let them, but DO NOT let them to even touch the Dual Language button.  It’ll save you RM70/month worth of English tuition fees.

 -writer is an English teacher/lecturer and is also an editor for a certain muaythai magazine. 

The Spam that made my day LOL

i received an email from Capt. Steve Rogers.
Who? it's Cap'n America yo hahahahaha

left me wondering though, where did these guys get the idea? and to think people don't know who steve rogers is? (well for those who didn't follow the comic or the movie may not know him, but com'on the reboot one was only 1-2mths old!)

so anyway here's the whole text!
ahahahahahahahhahahahahahahha

from: Capt. Steve Rogers
subject: FOR YOU

With due respect,Pardon me for this letter. This is a genuine matter of utmost importance and immense mutual benefit which must be kept highly confidential.It is with genuine interest and trust that I have contacted you.I know you would be surprised to read from someone relatively unknown to you before now,I have a very desperate need for assistance and have summed up courage to contact you. I found your contact particulars in an address journal,My name is (Capt Steve Rogers),I am an American soldier, serving in the Military with the army's 3rd infantry division and I am seeking your kind assistance to move the sum of Twenty Five million United States dollars ($25,000,000 MILLIONS US DOLLARS ) to you , as far as I can be assured that my share will be safe in your care Until i complete my service here.

This was quite an illegal thing to do, but i tell you what! no compensation can make up For the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell hole, of which my closes friend Was killed by a road side bomb last time in the battle field.One Passionate appeal i will make to you is not to discuss this matter with anybody, should You have reasons to reject this offer, please and please destroy this message as any Leakage of this information will be too bad for the u.s. soldier's here in Iraq. I do Not know how long we will remain here; month of May was the deadliest month for us out Here.


Totally,we lost 127 men and i have been shot, wounded and survived two suicide Bomb attacks by the special grace of god.This and other reasons i will mention later Has prompted me to reach out for help. We plan on using diplomatic means to shipping the money out as military cargo, using diplomatic immunity.This is the reason for contacting you.Once the funds get to you,take your 30% out and keep our own 70%.The only thing we require from you is just for you to help us find a safe place where the funds can be sent to,because Iraq is a war zone. If you are interested get back for more details with the email below,I honestly want this matter to be resolved immediately:steve.rogers@shqiptar.eu



May god bless you and your family,Capt. Steve Rogers.

Me in a zine...and a poster too wohooo!!!!

hard work pays...

thanks boxxtomoi for the chance.

may this be the beginning of all the wonderful things in life Insyaallah.

The Next Muay Thai

i didn't take that much of action pics this time. i've gone artistic (so to speak) for the time being.

this time i focused on muay thai from its artistic facade. to me all martial arts forms has both its brutal and the artistic facade.

from my days in taekwondo i saw people bled too. just as these muay thai exponents did. i say kicks that broke jaw bones. let alone fingers, toes and legs. i saw those in taekwondo. but i wonder why is it there's such a double standard towards muay thai?

gearing up for another bout.

i am currently gearing up for the next muay thai bout tomorrow. to shoot it that is. its still a looong way to till i fight again

by the way there's going an impromptu photography exhibition featuring the past Z1 kedah royal cup.

http://www.boxxtomoi.com/2011/07/fight-card-17-18-july-z1-menara-alor.html

The Best Seat in The House(night 2)

Being this late is unforgivable. I know.
At the beginning of the week i was so slump with work.
Barely have time to catch a breath.

Night 2 was AMAZING. But not too many shots though.
Why? 1 pluralized sweet word.

KNOCK-OUTs baby!!!

Almost all the bouts didn't last to the final bout. It was a knockout galore, fights ended at round 1 mostly, few left standing.

 

The best seat in the house.

muay thai had caught my eye for as long as i remember. 

when i was young it was not so commercialized. no modern gyms then and there were the old kampung style gyms which for a town(not city) kid it was too far away. hence i join one of the more accessible martial art and coincidentally taekwondo has clubs in almost all the schools around town. 

later in my life i rekindled my interest for muay thai thanks to the birth of contender asia and tony jaa and his movies. 

then last year i learnt about this tournament here in Kedah. Last year i couldn't join it because i got something to do but this year i didn't want to let the chance fly by again. I got in touch with Mr. Musaddik from http://www.boxxtomoi.com/ asking him if i can tag along. And he said yes. One thing lead to another i landed myself a spot right at the corner of the ring. And here's some of my haul from night one.

Pekan Rabu.

If you're in Alor Setar, holding a camera, its best for you to head for Pekan Rabu. Showers of colours are waiting for you there. 

You can find almost everything here. Clothes for your loved ones. For any occasions.

 

Handicrafts, souvenirs for your friends back home. 

Even food are colourful here.

Needless to say, the people are friendly here. They don't shy away from a camera that easy.

Now get up, grab your camera go around town, and snap away! 

taking a bite off the press (IMHO)

even to the untrained eye you can see the difference of complexion on the other pic, let alone his mouth. 

I apologize for any discomfort this post may cause. I also apologize to the family of the person whom picture's is used and may widely be found over the net over the past 24 hours.

I am not at all a conspiracy theorist.
This is just my take on the picture that the press claims to be Osama's.
and I am not supporting nor denying whether did he really had passed on.

What I am saying is that it is relatively easy to forge this pic.

I'm just going to comment this from a photographer and his bestfriend; Photoshop point of view.

this is a pic of osama in a 2008 pic

this is a pic of the other guy. and it had looked like a bomb blast did him in

i copied osama's picture from the end of his beard up to his eyebags 

i aligned it to the right size and portion and from here onwards its just a matter of tweaking here and there

let me just stop right here. that's how easy it was, the end result is just as the pic above. 

So needless to say it is still anybody's bet to say he's alive or dead.

Futra+Rafidah@hotel seri malaysia

To tell you the truth, I was worried when Futra told me that his reception is going to be in the hall.
Lightings, speedlights, batteries, iso (you name it.) but, worrying is good; makes you prepare better.

Come the day itself. It was great.

I have heard a bunch of (not so nice) stories about Seri Malaysia (one or two i have had it happened to me) but for this wedding i think that they have redeemed themselves.(or to me at the very least)

I arrived at the Seri Malinja Hall early to have a test shoot for the wedding (to get the right settings for my camera and flash) and when I opened the doors I saw the staff were doing their final touches on the lights for the 'pelamin'. The set up and were amazing. I had very little trouble with my pictures.  

Equally amazing were the lovely newly weds themselves. They were a good sport. Easily posed. And their candid shots are amazing!

I wish them the best. Selamat Pengantin Baru Friends.

 

 

 

 

 

Ops LALANG (not the political one)

Trust me you wont get better backdrop than nature itself. 

It is freakishly hot here in Kedah, but if it means the sky is going to be at its bluest (gee.. the spell check didn't mark it red/ i thought it was not a word) grab your camera and go shoot.  

 

  

Weeds are the most resilient plants you'll ever know. whack it, pour paraquat on it but sure enough it'll be back in a week. 


Although they annoy the best of us but spend sometime with them and they'll amaze you. 


Often we get visitors if you keep a small garden at home. But if if your backyard are filled with weeds, the visitors are of less variety but willing enough to let you take snaps of them. 


So get up, grab that camera, jump into your backyard and go trigger happy.

rate this pic here

Lye Huat Park(Garden).

  

Impromptu de-stress trip I took with my wife and my little girl. It was a hot day but it was needed. 

The park looked dead from the outside (maybe it was because we visited it at 2pm but hey...)

My daughter was picking a fight
with a soldier 

We were greeted by a platoon of terracotta soldiers/or at least Shih Huang Ti's bodyguards (I believe they were replicas though no information plaque were seen anywhere). Which one of the four is Emperor Shih Huang Ti? Its the one with the crown and some green snot  fungus under his nose.

This park is rather easy to locate but it is also the easiest to mistook it for a temple as the entrance looks like one. But it figures though as most of the artifacts are actually from China.

And by the way the park is also a Mini Zoo. I don't for how many animals but it was quite a number.

 I skipped some of the animals, most of the birds were in cages. But I like those that I took of a tiger. I guess it was lunch time for them too. It was actually sitting under the shade when I first stopped at his pen the moment he saw me he actually got out of the shade and started prowling at the edge of the water, and guess what? The pool's width was only about 6 feet between me and the tiger. My wife and my daughter?

10 feet away from me.  better safe than sorry. =)