My Pride and Joy =)

| at 00:26

Ray Cheong

Ray,
I have alot of faith in you..so..

WRITE..!! Write with reckless abandon.
Strap on your guitar, put your hands on the ivories, purse your lips around your horn, and make music. Make music without any rules, precedent or guidelines. Make music to surprise us all. Make music to show us the depth of human emotion. Make music to make us all feel human.
Don’t worry about the man who says that you must write music that can sell, and then proceed to give you a laundry list of things you need in your music to make it sell. This man has forgotten, and will always forget, that the best music comes not from a predetermined formula, but from the inner depths of human experience.
Lock yourself up in a room, away from such interference. They seek only to make money but they always forget that music as a product is not a formula you keep going back to. They forget that the best-selling music will always be something unpredictable, something fresh, something free from previous norms. No matter how many times they are proven wrong, they will not get it, as they do not understand the beauty and incredible commercial value inherent in constantly creating something new and unheard of.
Write music to pander to these marketing folk and you write without any emotion, without any heart. Like a soul-less zombie writing predictable melodies and meaningless words. And nobody will listen to your music. Except maybe these marketing folk, who only listen with an unnaturally forced optimism and excitement, thinking they can actually will people to buy music. Yes, the music might sell, but only for the briefest of moments before its shallowness makes it sink away without a trace.
Write the words that swirl around in your head like a beautiful nightmare and exorcise your demons. Bring us on your journey into the stories of your sensitive heart.
Don’t worry about the man who will criticise your work. Don’t worry about the man who will say your work “does not sound Malaysian” and then refer you to some really old-fashioned melody that was popular when he was younger.
He is trying very hard to hold on to what he knows is safe, forgetting that when he was humming his favourite melodies, the elder generation then was criticising him as well, saying the music “does not sound Malaysian”. Don’t worry about “sounding Malaysian”. Firstly, who knows what that sound really is? The best writers in the world do not wake up saying “I gotta sound American” or “I gotta be British”. They write for the world. They write something the world will love.
Don’t worry about the man who says that you have forgotten your culture. As they falsely believe culture is a concept that doesn’t move and only revolves around the imagery and sounds of a certain narrow time period in past Malaysia. They don’t realise that culture evolves, and will always progress. They perceive culture as something that they only know, forgetting that our culture and our history go hundreds of years back and unforeseen hundreds of years into the future. Who is to say that our culture must be stuck in some time-warp that only a few people understand?
Never fear. Never doubt what you feel inside. Write so that we may all enjoy the beauty of your creation. And for those who only look for works of art to fit into their stereotype of what they want art to be, they are only scared little beings, worried that their safe world is being threatened, and oblivious to the fact that everyone else has moved forward.
So write. Write with the ultimate fantastically incredibly super-reckless abandon. Write about the gut-wrenching journey of life. So we may ride along your magic carpet of truth and emotions, of truth in emotions. Write so we may all be proud of who we really are: a unique collective of ideals, unmatched and finally deservedly revered across the globe.
Ray, you are one of the reasons I am staying strong and playing this phase of life very hard as being around you puts a smile on my face. So never STOP writing.

Love,
Sharm..=)

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Michelle's "Party" (DUBB)

| at 21:57

OhhMiiiGoosshh OMG OMG..!! Its Michelle's birthday next week on the 3rd of Oct..!! What do I do?? What do I do?? We dun have a venue as all the places she likes to go to is either way too far or way off budget..Recession la now..haiya how how how??Die la..!!
She's soooo picky bout what she gets for her birthday..aiyah I know what to give her already la..3 weeks back I went for some blogger's meet and I am so bloody lucky that I manage to get a GIRL vodka "for girls only" bottle absolutely FREE..!! So DONT drink and Michelle's a bloody alcoholic in the making..ALCO is the ideal gift for her and the cheapo me dun have to spend money as I can give her the GIRL vodka bottle..!!
GIRL VODKA
I made her this last year..!!
Last year I gave her an awesome surprise party and the best chocolate cake money can buy..!! I sorta made a promise that I'll make her cake every year if I am around for her birthday. So.....
This year I'll add some bananas and make it look like :
THIS..!!!!! (hopefully la)

Hmm I doubt we'll get to surprise her this year..so if no party plans works out its ok..nevermind la..we can always go to the Digi Ultimate Birthday Bash which is so happened to be on the same day at Barcelona, Sunway Pyramid and its only RM30 per ticket, I get (1) free drink and (1) goodie bag worth RM50..hmm actually kan I think we'll just do the party there la..so anyone wanna join just go there..Easier..dun need to plan plan all..Let people plan for us..!! Hahahaha
*smiles*

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Bugger OFF..!!

| at 00:16

To certain people who dont like reading my blog, one quick advice. Fucking buzz off. No one forced you to come back almost everyday and read what I write. Cuz at the end of the day it doesnt matter what you or anybody thinks. I couldnt care less and I dun give two fucks bout what you or your little-whiny-good-for-nothing-pea-brain has to say.

See this?? See this??

Take that BITCH..!!
Now BUGGER OFF wont ya??
Save your comments and thoughts to yourself or maybe even open up a new blog to be against me. I promise you I'll link it here. If you really have nothing to do, then go screw yourself. Thats all now. Hope you have a great day.
PS : I can see ur bloody IP address on my records everyday. Get a life wont ya??
Thanks and now you can FO(fuck off)
*smiles*

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Ray Cheong & Vandal The Urban Camper in Blue Wednesday @ The Annexe Gallery, Central Market

| at 21:12

Hey guys, as you guys know I have been managing Ray Cheong for sometime now. So come this October 2009, he'll be having his next gig at The Annexe Gallery. Stated below are all the info on his upcoming gig at The Annexe :
Vandal The Urban Camper

Ray Cheong

Host : The Annexe Gallery
Type : Music/arts - Concert
Network : Global
Price : Admission Free
Date : Wednesday, 07 October 2009
Time : 20:30 - 23:30
Location : The Annexe Gallery, Central Market Annexe, Jalan Hang Kasturi, KL

BLUE WEDNESDAY #1:

Ray Cheong + Vandal The Urban Camper Music Performance

FreeBlue Wednesday is a new series of monthly music performances proudly presented by The Annexe Gallery, with the support of Central Market, to provide a platform for music acts to reach out to a wider audience. Every month Blue Wednesday will feature two music acts of any genre, playing a 40-minute set apiece.

For the first installment of Blue Wednesday, we are delighted to present Canadian nomadic rapper Vandal The Urban Camper and Ray Cheong.

+ABOUT THE MUSIC ACTS RAY CHEONG

Ray Cheong has a voice as true as a bell, world-weary as a Charlie Chaplin smile, as broken as a heart. Hailing from Penang, Ray has performed both as a solo artiste and with his band on numerous stages including the “U-Countdown 2007 New Year’s Eve Concert” with famous Taiwan artistes, Project OMG, KL GP Couture and Cusine Festival, No Black Tie and more. Ray was winner of Digi Celebriteen Singing Competition 2006 and was featured as one of CLEO magazine’s 50 most eligible bachelors. His music is a funky blend of bluesy pop rock that has drawn comparisons with John Mayer and Ben Harper.Visit http://amp.channelv.com/raycheong

+VANDAL THE URBAN CAMPER

What do you get when you mix traveling, hip hop and an abundance of great ideas? Vandal The Urban Camper. With his unique approach to musical life Jason, better known as ‘Vandal’, has accomplished a great deal since finding his passion for hip hop during the dawn of the 90s. Vandal’s acclaimed debut “The Nomadic Addict” landed him a distribution deal with EMI Malaysia, was voted a Top 10 album of 2003 by Eye Magazine’s Errol Nazareth in Toronto, and landed him an Asian Tour with DJ Dopey & Symbolik. Vandal formed the collective “The Diplomats International” in Jakarta in 2006 and after the release of 4 Mixtapes has just launched DiploDangerous (’08). The group was nominated for JunkSounds 2008 awards and won Best International Act 2008 at the VIMA awards. Vandal also garnered a spot on the Juice Cool List 2008 and holds a monthly Emcee battle event called Think You Got Skillz. Vandal’s latest release, ‘The Rebirth of a Classic Obsession’, evolves into a complex disc and evokes images of the exotic and the familiar, illustrating cinematically the concept of Urban Camping. Visit http://www.myspace.com/vandigital

So you guys out there who wants to catch Ray's performance again, do drop by and we'll be there to greet you..!! See you all on the 7th of Oct..!!!

*smiles*

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Visionary Reminder

| at 01:39

I came across a very interesting article written by Hussien Hamid. An article that remided me why I always looked up to this man, our former DPM. Here goes...
Anwar Ibrahim was born in August 1947. Me in October 1947. Two months separates us at birth-enough for me to be able to say that he is older, but possibly two or three lifetimes separates us knowing what he has gone through in his life.
I remember the time when I wanted to meet up with him to find out what he was doing with his life. He was then teaching at one of the shop houses along Jalan Pantai – possible with Adabi if I am not mistaken. I did find him and he was indeed teaching and in slippers. At home that evening I casually told my father that I had met Anwar that afternoon. My father was then Director of CID. He stopped, looked at me and said sternly “Engkau tak ada kerja lain?” Whenever my father uses “engkau” when addressing me I knew that he was not amused. And he then went on to lecture me as to why it would be in my best interest to keep away from Anwar!
Then I was away in Australia for a while and he became DPM. I was at Ampang Shopping center with my Family patiently letting my kids wander around Toy R Us. As we walked up to the counter to pay there was Anwar. We hug and he smiled that smile that light up his whole face and then he was gone again out of my life for a few more years. But always the familiarity of old classmates made for easy banter every time we meet.
Then this time he was away for a while – six years I think – as the British like to say – At her Majesty’s pleasure in Sungai Buloh. I was with one of UMNO ex Ketua Bahgian who had joined Keadilan when we heard that Anwar had been released and was at home. My friend wanted to immediately head for Anwar’s house in Damansara to pay his respect. Would I like to come along? He asked. I said ok. We arrived and there were people everywhere. We got into line and waited our turn. We were told that Anwar was not well – that he was sitting down and that anytime he might need to rest. One hour of waiting in line I eventually stood in front of him. He looked up from his chair, again with that smile of his, stood up and gave me a hug oblivious to what pain he must have felt –we talked for a few seconds and mindful of the others waiting to see him, I excused myself and walked on.
The last time I saw him was at a class get together in Bangsar – at Fauzi’s house, a school mate of ours who was the host – a few years back. As always his arrival was greeted with good nature ribbing and for the son of one of our classmates who had not seen Anwar before – that was a real treat. We sat and talked and I could see that age had caught up with all of us – Anwar included. He looked not as robust as I though he would be- after all he has always looked good whenever he was on TV and photographed well. But sitting beside me he looked vulnerable.
Was the pressure of living constantly under public and media gaze getting to him? Was UMNO getting to him? I could not imagine what he had to go through on a daily basis in what he chose to do – POLITICS. It is one thing to be DPM where everything is laid out for you, another to be in the opposition. He constantly referred to Azizah in conversation with us and we could see that Family meant a great deal with him. As we talked I found myself thinking what more has he got to endure before his work is done. I did not envy the situation he was in.
But he had no regrets. No wanting to take his pound of flesh from those that have done him ill. A more spirited discourse came from him when we talked about Mahathir – but either he was in control of himself or that he did not think it worth his while to think to much of times gone by. The present was what mattered.
At 63 I will not run if I can walk. Stand if I can sit. Talk if I can be quite. But Anwar has chosen the path less traveled. This path requires an uncommon resolve to move relentlessly ahead no matter what. He stands in front of crowds everyday. He meets more people then he can remember everyday and all this he does with a willingness that belittle his age. He could be anywhere he wants to be in the world and be welcomed by world leaders and acquaintances. He could be in business and be rich beyond our wildest dreams. Instead he chose to serve the nation. He chose to take us to the next election because if Anwar does not do so, who will take us? I am sure sometimes in his moment of solitude he must question his capacity to physically last the distance but his commitment to our cause is great. That will see him through and he has said that Azizah has done enough while he was away.
This is a good man. As we all know he cannot sing well, neither can he dance well even if his life depended on it but he is decent man. I wish Najib and UMNO will do battle with him on a level playing filed. I wish they could have enough compassion in their hearts to accept that Anwar had gone though more that a baptism of fire – a baptism that neither Najib or Mahyuddin could ever imagine or endure. But then it that would be like asking Bush to go fight Saddam one on one. No shock or awe, no overwhelming force meeting defenseless people, no doctrine of Rapid Dominance, no weapon of mass destruction on stand by just in case they are needed….none of the above. Bush would never survive.
We know that Anwar was with UMNO many years back. We do not know what he will be in the future. But this I know now. He and the other leaders in Pakatan Rakyat are the leaders we now have to lead us to the next General Election and they give us our best hope for a new beginning – without an UMNO that has already abused the trust we Malays placed in them many times over, without a corrupt PDRM, a cowered MACC, without a Government that steals from its people, without a Judiciary that does the bidding of its Political masters, without many of the injustices and unfairness that we now have. Are these not reason enough for us to give them the opportunity to do so?
AND this why we should take chances and let our actions take its cause..!! LOVE YOU, our former DPM who in my opinion should our PM..!!!

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