Written by lainie at 12:03 PM on October 1, 2008.

To my friends, fellow Malaysians, Muslims and everyone else - Selamat Hari Raya. Here's to the kenduris (yeay good food coming!), the clear traffic in KL, the happy times with the people we love.

Also, happy holidays. Non-fasting people can now snack without sneaking out of the office*, or trying to chew biscuits quietly, and for this year, guiltily digging into our dinner or succumbing to wait with the Muslims till buka as they stare at their food, is over!

*I know la we're not supposed to have to do that, but migawd, pressurenye.

As for me, I can stop calling Zal at lunchtime, then (as she claims) melatah in embarrassment when I realise she puasas. Didn't get to buka with her either cause she prays before it. So now I can call my pancakes buddy anytime! And be told to fuck off for different reasons!

I did see her on the last day of puasa though, went for her gig last night (more on that later).

So, anyhoo...feel free to invite me to your house for Raya

Written by lainie at 03:58 AM on October 3, 2008.

Being family means sending Gazel (my sister in Melbourne) a long list of wonderful raya food I've been having, only to have her tell me my efforts are in vain. Our mother beat me to it, having sent a similiar list during Ramadhan.

Gives you some clues about my upbringing, doesn't it?

Random photo yang tak mengena:

At Annexe, for the KAMI booklaunch (where I gave away many plastic bags), some of the cast pimping out the book. I got a free copy of the book, it's a script inside. I actually see the dude on the left in my room everyday, because Zahiril Adzim (Bob) was in Air Con, and I have the poster on my wall . Haven't watched KAMI, but great stuff at Air Con, this Bob.

That's an Amir Muhammad and Liza Manshoor poster print behind them - it's the Wayang Kita-Kita Poster Show, that , so I suppose it's somewhat related to what happened tonight after all, what with all the old film stills they use (there's even a P.Ramlee burger poster).

I just came home from Zal's place. Kat and I were at her place for a movie night. Watched P. Ramlee's film, Ali Baba Bujang Lapok. It's great entertainment, I love the P. Ramlee comedies -at one point, Tei and I used to veg out in front of the tv and watch them back to back.

I have to say, P.Ramlee's bandit-leader character here sometimes looked like a campier precursor to Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow. Even  the 40 thieves he commanded worked like a trade union (Saturday half day, Sunday rest, OT pay and year-end bonuses), very much like the Discworld Ankh-Morpork Guild of Thieves.

[ And I managed to borrow the most recent (am clinging on to hope that this isn't the last) Discworld novel off Zal after our movie night - Making Money ]

I'm not saying the movie was gay.......Really, I'm not.

But some scenes looked like an earlier version of KL's gay night clubbing scene.

This is Leilani, Zal's very, very huge cat. I think she weighs over 5 kilos. Unless I'm mistaken, it's a Maine Coon breed. She's so huge, you don't mess with her. Zal suspects Leilani's learned to slit open bags of snack with just one claw (they found a bag opened, one horizontal slice, and one vertical).

Zal supplied so many chocolates, chips, cookies and caffeinated drinks I couldn't even consider finishing them. The only time I've seen such a huge stash of Halloween chocolates, Godiva and Reese's peanut butter cups nestled together between bags of crisps was.....Okay, never.

I'm actually in the midst of re-encoding a video of Zal's performance (with Zalila Lee and Ywenna) from the night before at A Li Yaa. She usually wags her finger at me when I film her performances (like finger wagging is a good way to ward off lesbians? ) - but I managed to get a few vids anyhow.

There's one of her and Zalila where Nisha is the guest musician on keyboards (hi Nish!), but at 600++MB, tunggu kejap la sebelum video is uploaded. 

Zal does a great cover of Saloma and P.Ramlee's duet, but I don't think I got a video that night. I do, however, have an older performance of it on Youtube. Right before I could request this song, Zal announced they were gonna perform it (slightly kismetic).

I will continue this post tomorrow - the Discworld novel beckons.

Written by lainie at 11:11 PM on October 6, 2008 in Daily Life, Events.

Sigh. I don't mean to announce this every month, but it's quite relevant la. My period is coming.

I'm a ball of emo who's constantly craving food. My mother calls, and it's an instant guilt trip before the conversation even starts. Then we talk, and my guilt trip is piling on like a mini mountain, which makes me snappy, which makes me feel guiltier and therefore snappier.................................

Then I see a picture of seafood paella from what I know is a mediocre Spanish restaurant around town, and the prawns in the picture gleam. I can sense the aroma wafting out, and it smells divine. IwantIwantIwantIwantIwant. My cravings have started.

[ I am lucky this does not extend to other topic matters, only food. ]

I feel like I'm preparing for a battle of determination with my body. 

What I think I'm saying is...

SAVE ME FROM MY HORMOOOOOOOOONES!

I went to Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Ampang last night with Kat. This has a lot of background history, but amongst my friends who do celebrate it, this mostly translates to some joss sticks, vegetarian meals and maybe hanging out at the temple all day / night.

This is my first time at this temple, and the first thing we heard as we got out of the car was an auction going on. Kat told me the festival, especially at this temple, is very commercialised now. True enough, the bazaar there was quite crowded. 

Seriously, with stuff like this on sale next to the stall blasting hip hop music, it was hard not to notice the commercial aspect of the festival.

We were hungry, so the first thing we did was get some vegetarian food. This is a pic of one of the vegetarian stalls there. It was so crowded, and we only arrived at midnight when a lot of the stores were closed (though it'd be nice to return again for some Chinese opera and fire walking performances). 

Where the prayers were held. It was very smokey here, the amount of joss sticks that were lit. My eyes teared, and I had allergy attacks after that. I would have lit some joss sticks as a gesture, but....errr. Well, my hands were occupied with a box of mua chee and a cup of sea coconut drink.

Tortoised-shaped buns on sale, many varieties available. So cute. Used as offerings.

A few Sak Yant (traditional Thai Buddhist tattoo) stalls around - I was quite fascinated, staring so long one of the beggars (and there were many) started laughing at me. 

Very smokey. I liked being there a lot. Left after about an hour, walking by the smelly tofu stall (gag).

Written by lainie at 02:04 AM on October 10, 2008.

The past few days, I've recently been pulled in as assistant stage manager for an event happening tomorrow. It's 1.20 am now, and it's the earliest I've been home to sleep in the past few days of 3-6am. Being part of the crew is always interesting, I like to see what's going on in the planning process.

This is a corporate gig, so things are a bit different from theatre (for one thing, you have to please the clients). It's sometimes hard for me to separate, as I watch rehearsals, the theatre fan from the ASM position. I find myself mentally  reviewing everyone's level of talent, what their strong points are, how everyone is doing their job. The easiest thing to spot is always experience.

We have some really cool dancers onboard - I feel kinda sorry for them cause they were told that their dance is too "modern", so they'll have to change it. The clients couldn't recognise the period the dance was from and thought it was contemporary (it'd actually kinda fit in to the whole Mr Canton Lady Rose musical feel - which is not exactly something you'll see with poplocking going on, yknow).

Ah well, such is workin on corporate events.

Well, I'm updating to say there are some things in theatre you really should try to make it for.

1) Animal Farm, in KLPac (now showing).

Pentas Project is a pretty well knowned theatre group, though if you're unfamiliar with them it could be because they're better known for Chinese language theatre. Some of you may have seen an example of their very good performances as the middle chapter of Kasi Pecah Breaking Ji Poh (also my favourite part - however the play's name is spelled lah), directed by Loh Kok Man.

There was a joke in their Breaking Kasi Pecah Jipoh play, where Tin Tan is talking with the rest of the cast about Teresa Kok's recent arrest. Went something like:

They detained her so many days, but only asked her three questions.

The first was "Apa khabar?".

The second was "Dah makan?"
 

And the others shushed her from asking the third question before she got to the third. Pentas Project'll be taking on the well-known classic of Animal Farm, and I'm sure you guys can apply the relevance to our own state. They have some very good talent there, and I'm expecting this to be worth the time.

Yes it'll be in Mandarin, but there'll also be English surtitles (think subtitles, but above everyone's heads).

http://pentasproject.blogspot.com/

http://www.kakiseni.com/events/theatre/MTEyNjE.html

2) Atomic Jaya, in Sunway College (now showing).

Of the few Malaysian plays that by right need no introduction, Atomic Jaya should make the list. But this is Malaysia, most of you haven't heard of it, so here goes. It's written by Huzir Sulaiman, and you can even buy the book (say, in Silverfish bookstore - titled 8 Plays).

Sunway's theatre kids will be staging a reproduction of this. Now, this works both ways. It's been done to critical acclaim, by talents such as Jo Kukathas and Claire Wong. By itself, the script is well known and admired. So not only will people come to watch this - they will have their expectations. I am unfamiliar with the performers this time around, but seeing a Huzir Sulaiman play should always be worth your while. That it is in Sunway and is Atomic Jaya means you should book your tickets ahead if you can.

http://huzirsulaiman.com/

http://www.kakiseni.com/events/theatre/MTEzNTM.html

3) Emergency Festival

I admit to being quite biased in favour of Five Arts Centre productions, but can you blame me? Look what they have planned here! The emergency fest runs the gamut of exhibition, relevant films, performances, dance and whatnot. My interest is in these:

Theatre Performances:

Thu 16 - Sun 19 Oct 2008 (8.30pm)
Operasi Oktober, directed by Fahmi Fadzil 
Over a series of encounters, four people meet in anticipation of a revolution. But they don't know that it has already begun.

&

Tue 21 - Sun 26 Oct 2008 (8.30pm)
New Village People and Pineapple Rice directed by Hari Azizan 

The lives of two good friends change forever when they are forced to leave everything behind by the British army and start afresh in a New Village during the Malayan Emergency.

This also looks interesting to me, but I'm not too sure when it is (check out the link yourself): 

Playwright Leow Puay Tin curates a selection of texts about Merdeka, to be performed by writers and historians.

http://www.kakiseni.com/events/misc/MTEyNTU.html

complete schedule: http://www.fiveartscentre.org/

4) Instant Cafe Theatre's Comedy Review, in Actor's Studio Bangsar

Okay. I don't know the title of the show, but it's coming end of the month.

Kalau I have to explain who ICT consists of (er..in this production - Jo Kukathas, Edwin Sumun, Jit Murad, Gan Hui Yee (also in Kasi Pecah / Animal Farm), Ayam (also in Kasi Pecah - last vignette), Kam Raslan and many more actors), and why you should watch Comedy Review, it'd probably border on condescension to those who don't know the reasons, and presumptuous-theater-snobbery to everyone else. So how? Can you just be prepared for it?

I'm not sure when the dates are, but it's towards the 25th October or so. If you don't know the names involved - let's just say it should be a bitchy laugh riot. 

http://www.instantcafetheatre.com/html/main.html

Yeah that's about it for now, that I can think of. Of the two, Animal Farm and Atomic Jaya should already be showing by the time you see this, so check it out.

G'nite.

*All sweeping statements to take into account that I need to go to sleep real soon if I'll like to survive tomorrow's morning call.

Written by lainie at 05:45 PM on October 14, 2008.

So what's been up the past few days.

I was assistant stage manager at a corporate event, along with Tei. Kat was our stage manager.  Got to meet Ning Baizura. Ferhad and Mr Mano Maniam (I don't know why, but it seems hugely inappropriate to leave out the "Mr").

I spent about half an hour after the show holding Ning's very heavy costumes over my head because one of the first things you learn in production is that the wardrobe costs more than the person holding it. Was waiting for her, but turns out she dodged the fans through some backstage kitchen way, and we couldn't notice cause of the crowd.

Mr Mano / Ning asked for our numbers in case they need crew in the future, so we gave Tei's number (although I was slightly taken aback when Tei told Ning we "came in a package")

Later, outside her hotel room:

Lainie: We come in a package?

Tei: What?

Lainie: ....(not entirely sure what the issue is)....

Tei: Buy one free one ma...

Met someone about work the other day - he mentioned the magic words, that he was also working with someone he met in Zouk (ding!), who writes for a lifestyle magazine (ding ding!) and went to Sh!tDisco when they were here a few months back (ding ding ding!)

Turns out I know her sister. Oh well, close enough.

I'm actually burning up quite a royal fever, and the moment that happens, I start craving KFC. Kat managed to foresee what I'd do, and told me not to get it for lunch. But now it's dinner....

And my ears are so stuffy it's not like I'll hear anything anyway. Can't breathe much either, and my legs nearly gave way beneath me while walking to get medication. 

Written by lainie at 03:21 PM on October 15, 2008.

I'm looking up new laptop choices (because the one I'm using is near death), and yesterday, Apple unveiled the new generation of Macbooks, complete with glossy screens.

Yeah. What every graphic designer wants to see when they boot up their new Macbook Pro is - that's right - a reflection of themselves. In every shot of the screen, I can clearly see the dude taking the picture! That's ridiculous.

Do I need the MBP to tell me I wake up with massive bedhair everyday? Do I have to rearrange my workstation at home just to deal with the glare? What kind of nonsense is this? I'm so disappointed, and if anything - the glossy screen alienates a lot of designers, which seems to be a weird choice for Apple to make.

I called the Machine shop in Gardens to ask if they know when the new line will be in store, so I could check out the screens, and got this:

Lainie: Hi, I'm calling to ask about the Macbook Pros.

Salesperson: *silence*

Lainie: ...Hello?

[ Scuffling sounds, someone else eventually picks up the phone ]

Salesperson: *silence*

Lainie: ....Hel. Lo.

Salesperson: arh?

Lainie: ...Do you know when the new line of Macbook Pros will be in?

Salesperson: Notchet.

Lainie: When? Roughly?

Salesperson: Dunno.

Damn fail -_-". Guess who isn't gonna be purchasing a Mac from them?

Written by lainie at 01:03 AM on October 16, 2008 in Daily Life, Friends, Arty stuff.

George Orwell's literature classic Animal Farm was first published 63 years ago, in 1945, which is an impressive age to me because that's older than my parents. As far as my world is concerned, my parents existed about the same time primordial soup did.

Some (relatively few) years back, I got my hands on a copy of Animal Farm for the first time. You could say I knew too little then to fully digest Orwell's methodical dissection of the totalitarian regime set up by the pigs running the titular farm.

Now, I'm older, and there is little space in my life for ignorance towards the relevance of this novel - which in my jumbled up memories, may be interspersed with his second novel, 1984. 

I suppose the two most memorable lines Orwell's books left us are "Big brother is watching you" from 1984, and "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others", from Animal Farm.

My memories of Animal Farm are hazy, but I do recall one thing: It started with a revolution.

The animals gained independence from Farmer Jones, and looked like they had everything needed to build a democratic utopia (which some may argue is an oxymoron ). What emerges is that  a new beginning does not necessarily lead to better things.

The pigs, the "brains" of the farm, end up taking power, slowly setting up an oppressive system that not only replaced Farmer Jones', but was actually far more cruel. They also control the propaganda, so the animals don't realise the reality that readers do. All seven commandments set up for the good of the farm are eventually broken by the pigs. Squealer, the pig that controls the propaganda, subtly changes some commandments - to the benefit of  the pigs, preserving the power structure that placed them above the rest.

"All animals are equal" is the initial commandment that was eventually changed to the famous line we now know.

The other animals were ill-informed and had little memory of history, much less the ability to discern the truth from the spin. A lot of the frustration from reading Animal Farm is not only directed at the pigs for their blatant lies and abuse of power, but also towards the animals that are, well, very much like the allegorical sheep in the novel. 

Compliant, ignorant and forgetful - they are large numbers of beings who noisily distract from the important issues, chanting simple summations of the commandments. In the process, these slogans lose much of the important details built into the spirit of the laws. 

This is a big part of the novel: How the animals agree upon a set of laws for the good of all, and how these laws are all eventually broken (and some changed) by the elite ruling class of pigs. It is also a very stark portrayal of how power comes with information, and how important it is for the masses to learn from history (which they clearly don't here).

Not including how propaganda control and power abuse in the novel has its parallels to Malaysia, just take this simple comparison to illustrate its relevance to us:  the Malaysian constitution has undergone numerous revisions (an estimated 650 times, according to Wikipedia), and questionable amendments they were, if the text installation by CIJ in the Black & White Fest was any indication.

When I learned from Kakiseni that a local theatre group I admire, Pentas Project, would be adapting this political allegory for stage, I knew I had to go. I mean, they have a really cool poster (the Animal Farm promotion video isn't bad, but not the kinda stuff that'll attract my attention).

It was advertised as a Mandarin play with English surtitles - necessary for me, as I don't speak Mandarin.

This is part of the beautiful and striking set design by Caecer Chong, built by David Wong:

It's the kinda set design where as you're waiting for the play to start, you think "Shites, this looks like it'll be gooooood". I sat towards the left of the stage with my friends, closer to the surtitle board. Then the cast slowly made their entrance.

Gan Hui Yee, whom I know as Guo, entered as Old Major. Very impressive entry it was too, she got the movements of a powerful, lumbering pig with dignified manner just right - a huge difference from the body language when I last saw her acting as a bustling, fussy Cina shopkeeper in the musical Rose Rose I Love You, or the various cheeky characters in Breaking Jipoh. Not much suspension of disbelief required to see that it was Old Major climbing up the stage at all.

There is a reason those whom I know attend Chinese theatre shows in KL are well impressed by her range as a character actress (as am I), and this play will only serve to further strengthen that image.

I must admit I had been expecting them to adapt this play in such a way that the characters move more like human beings, because my imagination was too limited to picture a credible play where actors are subjecting themselves to animal-like crouches (what can I say, I forgot about Cats).

In this play, I reckon much research has been done on the postures, movements and gestures of the various animals that appear onstage, to varying degrees of success (getting it right doesn't make it more convincing, and you will inevitably be compared to your castmates). It did take me a while to adjust to the irony that we had humans acting like farm animals, talking about their exploitation by humans.

I also thought Tiong Wooi did very well, skillfully portraying various characters like the scheming Moses and vain Mollie - sometimes in succession. Not the easiest thing when the only change to cue the audience on character switching, besides the acting, was to put on her hoodie or take it off.

Of the night I attended, I found these two to be the strongest performers. Very high energy and lots of presence. The rest of the cast certainly had their moments - Chin Lee Ling was stronger towards the second half of the play as Clover, but her role also demanded that of her. Chen Huen Phuei - He did well, but I admit I had serious difficulties reconciliating the fact that the skinniest dude onstage was playing a pig.

While he was screaming away in Mandarin as Snowball, my mind was going:

The skinniest dude = Pig.

The skinniest dude = Pig.

The skinniest dude = Pig.

The skinniest dude = No really, Pig.

A bit distracting la. Problem disappeared when he played Benjamin, the wise donkey.

There were some missed cues during my play, but the flow wasn't much interrupted, and the dialogue resumed as normal. Also, it took a bit of adjusting when the actors switched roles - sometimes I couldn't recognise the animals they portrayed. Is that a duck, a goose, a squirrel (I realise it was probably a mouse), a hen....Eh?

Takes a bit of sorting through memory of Animal Farm if you're like me: not great on picking up physical cues. Mostly minor incidents involving minor characters.

Curtain call. L-R: Chin Lee Ling, Moo Siew Keh, Chen Huen Phuei, Gan Hui Yee, Lim Tiong Wooi, Ling Tang. 

Overall - I liked the cast's performance. There were some average moments, which can be tough when you're performing onstage with very good actors, but overall the acting was still much better and solid compared to the average play (in, dare I say, English language theatre) here.

A bit heavy for subject matter, and my mind can't help but race along with it, placing our own politicians in the place of the characters onstage (Big said that Farmer Jones running away had to be Badawi ).

I liked the direction it took - though I found the ending overdramatised (could have been the sound levels as well, too loud, my mind instantly shut it off), and I wish that more emphasis had been placed on the actual changing of the commandments.

All the translation work, figuring out the politics, and generally keeping up with the play made my mind feel like it'd just sped through the book and still absorb everything - get your coffee before going in, this is entertainment, but not the kind of casual stroll a comedy night will provide. Expect to mentally engage. Then again, you'd have to be seriously naive to expect otherwise from an adaptation of Animal Farm.

I cannot read much Mandarin, so I don't even know if the most famously altered line from Animal Farm about some animals being more equal than others made it into the set design. There is also the question of whether or not the sentence would work in Mandarin in the first place.

Which brings me to the last few points I'd like to raise about this play, done in nifty Q&A format:

It is in Mandarin. Does it work?

Yes. Darlings, the Mandarin language is great here! Perfect for hypnotic, booming voices to go COMRADES, THIS IS FOR OUR COUNTRY! YOUR SACRIFICE WILL BE REMEMBERED! The words almost snake inside your ears and curl around your brain. You can totally see how the Chinese communists happened if Mandarin language was the sole factor responsible for brainwashing.

The English surtitles. Do they work?

Yes.  During the play I listened in Mandarin, interpreted to Cantonese in my head, then translated it back to English. I still kept up with the play just fine, but you don't need to do that. The surtitles aren't as elaborate as the dialogue, but that works better for you as the audience because the less time you spend reading the board, the more time you have to watch the play. 

For me, it was just a quick glance up every so often to check that I had translated it right. Also, I went for the play with friends who don't speak Mandarin, and they understood it just fine (to be fair, they aren't alien to the Animal Farm novel).

The book. I've read it. Is the adaptation very different? 

Not really. Certain concessions have been made for stage. There are only 6 actors, so you're not going to get a herd of sheep anytime soon. And it is rather condensed, but you'll definitely recognise the plot and characters from the book. I personally felt the bit about the self-sabotaging hens a bit too rushed through, but I'm not sure I would have appreciated an extended role for them, really.

The book. I've not read it. Does the play still work? 

Yes (awkward silence as a result of this entire post having assumed you are familiar with the book).

That's all, really. This didn't start off as a review, and it still isn't (apologies for anyone I mislead), just recapping the night I was there.

Animal Farm runs till Sunday, 19th October, here are some links:

Animal Farm 動物農莊 production album (contains photos from the play - worth checking out).

Kakiseni: Animal Farm (ticket prices, dates, address, time, summary by someone actually paid to write it etc).

Animal Farm Promo Video 

Pentas Project Blogspot

 Yknow. After all that theatre about pigs, we made a beeline towards the nearest porky dimsum place we knew of. So salah, but made for great supper. Except the bits where we picked up pieces of dimsum and said Hello Napoleon! Hello Squealer!

 I was taking a break from typing to take a photo of myself due to one reason (and it's hidden in this picture) 

Yesh, I like to work around random junk. It hinders productivity somewhat, but it's great for inspiration. 

Phone call from old Ipoh friend (she's known me since primary school!) that went as such:

Sanjes: Hey, what you doing?

Lainie: About to go for dinner actually.

Sanjes: Dinner, so late?

Lainie: I'm Indian what.

[ I hung out with the girls known as "The Punjabi Girls" when I was in secondary school, and this has given me habits of making more indian jokes than I really should outside of the circle. I sometimes sound like a right racist prat, give me a bottle of alcohol and stick me in Brickfields - you'll totally see it. ]

Sanjes: What's your address?

Lainie: Why, are you getting married?

Sanjes: Haha, no, my sister is.

Lainie: Damn, sometimes I'm good (recites address without hesitation, down to postcode).

Sanjes: Omg you actually remember your address!

[ The last address / postcode I managed to remember is from my home in Ipoh, which I moved out of 7 years ago ]

Lainie: Cause I'm reading it from an envelope

Sanjes: See I know you so well. Hahaha I was so proud of you actually remembering it.

Lainie: Don't say you're going away on Deepavali weekend, I'll be back in Ipoh.

Sanjes: Er, actually I'll be in Australia then.

Lainie: Dammit, why? Prita is going to be in Australia too!

Sanjes is the only person I know whose boobs looked like mine throughout school. Now she's handling correspondence with the alumnae from Main Convent, I think. I could be totally wrong here. But more importantly....

If no one's in Ipoh.......Who am I supposed to hang out with then? Nessa doesn't live there anymore!

Written by lainie at 06:05 PM on October 18, 2008 in Rants, Home, Arty stuff.

There goes our government again, pushing the boundaries of self-satire. I wonder why I'm paying RM72 to watch ICT's Kurang Manis, when the people they satirise do it for free on national news.

Let's see ...In Damansara Jaya, things have gotten relatively safer, not because of increased police presence, but due to the monthly RM80 we pay a private security firm to patrol our neighbourhood.

Why count on the cops, when even the Home Minister announced the cops abandoned the station in Chow Kit because it is dangerous?

As far as you are willing to digest The Star as a source of news, this is what was reported:

KUALA LUMPUR: A police beat base located in the Chow Kit area of downtown Kuala Lumpur has been shut down because the “presence of criminals could make it unsafe” for police officers.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the beat base was located in a dirty area where police faced the possibility of being exposed to contagious diseases.

from The Star (emphasis mine).

Omfg. Should I even bother?

There is also the bit about Jalan Alor being renamed Jalan Kejora.

Apparently, it will still retain "Jalan Alor" somewhere in its roadsign. Because we all give enough of a shit that we'll do that, even if we don't give enough to retain the name.

Dear tourists in KL, this is our not-so-secret secret: We don't actually want you to find anything. Certainly not the hawker food. 

I like how in one move the government has rendered irrelevant certain sections of the Insight Guides KL guidebook I worked on two months ago (with Bernice). I've emailed Bernice the good news (rewriting, whee!), but she is currently in the Ubud Writers Festival, so I won't be seeing her a while yet, I think.

You know, in Ipoh, giving directions to anyone is a bitch. I have a piss sense of direction, and to top it off, the locals usually describe areas along the lines of "near the place with the famous assam laksa stall". I assure you that chances are, the stall doesn't even bear a sign, much less one that says "famous" right above it. 

The alternative is to use road names. Really well-known roads like...Maxwell road. Or Tiger Lane. Not that I know what the roadsigns actually call those roads, since they bear long Malay names that no one except tourists use.

Result: Lost tourists frequently spotted in Ipoh. Unless they're holding a copy of Lonely Planet guidebook, whereby none of the famous hawker stalls are listed anyway, because the food section is absolutely crap .

Last night I went for the Emergency Fest at the Annexe. I like the alternative-history theme the Five Arts Centre people do, and this one seems like a long festival with talks, mass-Wikipedia-ing, theatre, film screenings, dances and all sorts of things related to the first Malayan Emergency*

I managed to catch half of Marion D' Cruz and Elaine Pedley's dance performance, which was being advertised as a recreation of communist dance propaganda.

Elaine Pedley using the stool to demonstrate being restrained. People sitting against the wall (spot the Fahmi!) were reading out names, age, sex and location of people who had been arrested under the ISA. Very long list that was, too.

Marion D' Cruz, reading out names as well (spot the Fahmi!).

At one point Elaine's asking the audience "Are you arresting me?", and Marion just looks up, and says "Yes". The list sounded long and ridiculous. Vegetable sellers detained under the ISA? Cheesin.

Elaine's bandanna doubling up as a blindfold, swaying like a Lalang. On two sides of the room, projections of communist clips on the wall (or rather, one side had an interview I couldn't really see, but the one I could featured video clips of women communists in training, and communist dance performances).

The performance ended with a long read of the ISA detainee's names - Sensing that this would go on, people were starting to leave the performance room. Seemed somewhat symbolic of the interest we can sustain in ISA detainees after awhile, actually.

 The dance was followed by a theatre performance - Operasi Oktober, directed by Fahmi Fadzil.

[ Spoiler Alerts - do not read if you intend to watch the play ]

 Mohammad Hariry mid-pose

Operasi Oktober starts with a warning: Everything you have read about this play may not be true -I'm not sure what happened there, but if they're referring to submitting / publicising a different play than what is performed, to obtain a license / avoid pre-emptive shut down of the event, they probably aren't the first to do so. Perhaps a reference to our own history textbooks?  

Then we see a non-dramatic, casual meet-up of four performers hired to act onstage. This works for me too, because the room isn't that big, so any OTT theatrics can be a bit overwhelming. The languages used were largely a mix of Malay and English.

The "characters" here use their actors' names, so if you're already familiar with who they are it makes it an even more realistic setting. At one point they read something like "Kawan saya Fahmi Fadzil dan bukan Fahmi Reza" - cue muffled giggles from audience, quite a fair few I'm sure had to clarify which Fahmi they were talking about at some point in time.

The employer functions as an invisible hand in the play, sending out emails to hire the actors, providing a (tedious) script on Kem SeMelaya (?), where Chinese people train the Malay people how to fight in the later part of the Emergency (this is presuming I did not eff up what I heard).

The actors are uncertain of the play - how are they supposed to make something so preachy and tedious into a more interesting performance? And what is this Kem SeMelaya anyway? What if the participants of that camp had ideals that conflicted with communism? Could it change? How do they portray these characters they are unfamiliar with? Etc etc etc. 

 Chung Wei performing the Communist manifesto

In terms of entertainment, this part was like awesome, funny and loud. They're taking turns suggesting what to perform onstage, and Chung Wei's picked the Communist Manifesto, stomping around, singing loudly in the style he says is tiru punya. "Everyone in Penang Chinese societies do it like this, didn't you know?" (to which Hariry points out he's Melayu, how the hell is he supposed to know? ).

The characters aren't exactly headless chickens here, but they aren't very sure of what they're doing or whether or not they should be putting all these efforts into playing Communists.

Check out how tickled the audience looks. Impromptu clapping all around when he was done.

 Mislina performing her piece. I think hers was the Baling talks, but it seems damn unlikely she was playing Chin Peng or whatever. My memory is bad for names la. Basically she was doing an irony thing, where she'd make a speech, and intersperse it with side remarks to invisible (dwarves ) people beside her on what she really thought. I like her performance throughout.

The play feels like I'm sitting in the corner of the room, pretending to mind my own business, but at the same time laughing at these bunch of actors rehearsing for a play. If you work in theatre, you'll know all the best jokes - no matter how funny the show is - occurs backstage.

Here, you have a glimpse of why that is so.

 After receiving their "costumes", Mislina holds up a skirt given to them and asks who will masuk hutan and still wear such a thing? They start horsing around with the costumes. Chung Wei puts it on as part of a "new Malay communist costume", and I believe what he is doing here can be referred to as "the birth of communism".

Overall, this is a play that if I spend enough time, will probably be able to figure out. Right now, it's clever theatre, clever in the way plays devised from texts can be, how they move from one scene to another, the humour and conversation...I think there's also a message full of obscure metaphors (or perhaps, there never was one, but the answer feels so frustratingly close that it must exist).

You see, in between scenes where the actors are figuring out their role in the Communist play (which is already a form of metaphor), there are other scenes that could be anything. A stern, soldier-leader commanding his minions to arrange the chairs in a rationale only he sees. Four people, speaking different languages, walking different ways, greeting other people (but not each other) with a forced smile and slow manner that eventually builds up to a frantic run up and down the room shouting these greetings.

There was one scene where they did taichi (to which I had to shut off because my first instinct is to lol at anyone doing taichi). I wonder if that was devised from the video I saw earlier, where the communists did taichi in their training camp.

Did I understand everything that was going on? Nah. Maybe if I watch more theatre, I'll get used to deciphering the clues onstage (it's a bit like looking at a cryptic crossword puzzles, all the clues are there, you just need to think for yourself what it means). Maybe if I knew a bit more about the Emergency period. I think some of my friends felt a bit alienated by the format it took, preferring a more traditional narrative. Still, I liked the performance, and it made for an interesting post-analysis with my friends as we walked to our supper place.

 After the play, throwing about photocopied propaganda material. Check out the stacks of books(?) at the back, which was used to wall off the room for Operasi Oktober. Quite cool la. The walls had lots of communist propaganda stuff on exhibit as well.

I don't really have the time to continue this blogpost (this was supposed to be a short lil thing with some photos, but I do ramble), so yeah.

Rumour has it you should check out the Baling Talks happening on Sunday for the interesting people involved. I'll be watching the next play, Hari's New Village People and Pineapple Rice (Tuesday onwards).

Also, note that Fahmi's follow up to the award-winning, audience wowing 10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka documentary is making its debut soon in the Emergency Festival: Revolusi 48.

For full programme, check out Five Arts Centre website.

*banyak mengarut in this part of the post because I can't figure out where I placed the brochure, I think the cat took it away to play with.

 In other news, the housecat has learned to make her own bed. Out of toilet paper. 

"Whatchu lookin at?"

I believe the cat then casually walked, twitching her tail and thinking to herself "My job here is done".

Will the Home minister like to announce this too?

Written by lainie at 01:49 AM on October 22, 2008 in Daily Life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAL! I bookies yous for waffles and pancakes next week!

All I dread is coming true - I'm going back to Ipoh for the weekend.

Okay I'm exaggerating, I know.

Am missing a plethora of things I'm supposed to be attending - though I shouldn't complain, I'm heading back for my granduncle's birthday dinner, and it's always good to see family. 

I pontenged my granduncle's birthday dinner last year, because it's Rach's birthday too, and I had a very legitimate reason not to balik kampung - had tons of work going on. This year, my aunt (granduncle's daughter) called my mother two months in advance, to say that I'd better make it for the dinner this year.

So, I'd better.

 I'm kinda sad that I don't think my Ipoh friends will be around to celebrate Diwali with me .

I'm delighted - Rach's gonna be (has been) nominated for an anugerah.

I looked around my room the other day and realised it wasn't very "green" in the sense that I couldn't easily switch off all the plugs.

After five hours of rearrangng (plenty of heavy furniture), I now have a new layout that allows me to work with my laptop's back to the window glare, and all switches easily within reach.

Walking space is a lot roomier too, acrobatics no longer required to get from cupboard to bed to table.

Of course, I broke a lamp, a pair of sunglasses, half my set of speakers, a sketchbook (yeshhh, I broke it), and god knows what else in the process of cleaning up, but that was just my natural grace getting in the way.

I also forgot to eat that day, and nearly collapsed in front of the stove cooking an emergency Maggi mee.

Was still so queasy that when I came across something gross later, my gag reflex kicked in and I threw up a bit - which is the closest I've come to bulimia, in that the unnecessary discomfort was caused by myself (to be fair, the gross-out catalyst was supplied by someone else).

Mini up ups:

I gave the lesbo party at Attic a skip.

Instead, I went for the Emergency Fest, again, at the Annexe.

Which meant I accidentally missed the exhibition opening for the show Rach helped curate.

Hung out with Puspa and her friend for dinner at Bau Bau Cafe. Puspa's the lawyer responsible for getting us kids out of trouble with the police if we've been detained for protests / strange demonstrations / waving too many placards / spraying 'seditious or subversive' graffiti. She's also the one who nixes suggested Katagender actions that are more likely than not to land us in legal trouble (can't blame her considering she's the one who has to get us out of said trouble). Puspa for president!

I had loh shu fun for supper, which is like my favourite, with chi too and Mien. chi too was in the play I watched earlier.

I've been answering interview questions - which always makes me feel sorry for the interviewer (as opposed to when I'm conducting the interviews, whereby I feel sorry for myself), because I'm such a distracted person during interviews, and I tend to presume people totally understand what I'm saying.

I have pink eye. As of a few minutes ago.

Oh, and I'm seriously seriously considering a job offer in KL. I'll know by tomorrow. Tallying up monthly bills / earnings now, to see what pay I should request for. 

I'm forgetting something, I know it.

I've work that I want to finish up, but allergies make me very sleepy (and I just had a major allergy attack).

I'm in need of a new laptop.

 I no longer have Girlfriend, the cat, in this house. She actually belongs to Spes. He moved out a while ago but didn't take the cat with him. Now he has taken the cat (though her favourite toys are still in my room because she liked to nest under my bed).

How do I put this. I miss Girlfriend, but I don't miss havng a cat around. And I don't miss people assuming the lesbian in this household owned / named the cat.

It's nice to be able to cook without worrying the cat wants to paw at the wok, boil water without cat wanting to press her nose against the kettle, have continuous sleep without her kneading my boobs (idontknow, idontknow, idontknow), meowing to be let out / into my room, drinking water from my glass, purposefully knocking things over, getting stuck in cupboards, getting pawprints on my bedsheets..

..I don't miss the responsibility of coming home every night to feed someone else's pet, the cat insistnetly sitting on my laptop (she gets jealous of all screens I look at / books I read), that she had learned how to force shut down on my computer if I tak layan  her when she sits on my laptop, and of course - that I'm hugely allergic to the damn cat.

oh, this pic's gonna break my template. -_-". Girlfriend sitting on my laptop laughing at me telling her to get off.

But I do miss her company. She'd recently turned into a lapcat. She liked lying down beside me, sleeping next to me (and meowing in protest if I tersepak her), sitting on my lap while I worked. I liked that I'd trained her not to bite me (or at least, I've trained myself to spot when she's about to do it). I'm still by reflex careful when I walk down the stairs, in case I step on the cat.

So yeah. I miss the cat, but hell, I don't miss having a cat around.

Written by lainie at 03:35 PM on October 29, 2008 in Arty stuff.

The Instant Cafe Theatre Company
presents

INSTANT CAFE KURANG MANIS

After a four year hiatus Instant Café returns with a brand new satirical comedy revue about the Last Days, the New Dawn, the Final Hiccup, the Never-Ending Story.

As Malaysian politics turns into a fantasy adventure cum soap opera full of unbelievable plot twists, the rakyat waits for the next thrilling, explosive installment.

Meanwhile, they indulge in various Malaysian pastimes: shooting crows, playing mahjong, holding candlelight vigils for ISA detainees and bloggers and above all logging onto the internet to find out what's really going on via gossip, rumour, hearsay and conjecture.

I'll be headed there on Thursday (tomorrow night) with chi too. Am very much so looking forward to it, and will tell you asap if the show's good