A Note

Naoto Kan replaces Yukio Hatoyama, likewise for Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd. Abang Syuk's wedding was in March, while Ariff's on 1st of May.

Then only I realise what this blog is for. It's to record the changes in me since I've made a mistake, by jumping unto an unstable platform when I'm already on a secure one. I always thought it's not a mistake after all, no matter how I couldn't explain the heartaches even if I was the one who initiated it. Maybe it is not a mistake. But you're still the man who understands me the most, and I miss being the girl I was when I was with you.

You did break a promise. But that's because I broke your heart first, for too many times that I shall not be forgiven. Yet if there is still forever a soft spot for me in your heart, I'd be forever grateful.

I'm sorry, Lazybud.

Sign,
Lovebud

lungs

THIS weekend had been driving me nuts! Ok, maybe it's exaggerated but I did feel like screaming at times, out of this explosive kind of joy I am blessed with.

1. came back BM with June on Thurs, had a nice time catching up with each other. Really, really nice meeting her again

2. had char koay teow

3. watched World Cup matches with dad and made jokes about vuvuzela

4. brought parents to Chili's in Gurney Plaza

5. mesmerised by Penang Island, again

6. dad bought durians simply because I sorta said "Durians smell good!" That's my lovely dad, always puts us before himself ;-)

7. talked to friends over the phone and actually asking them how they're doing at this point of time. the fact that I actually still have time and the technology to do so whenever I miss them.

8. sleeping and waking up in my own room

And something else which I'm really excited about, yet I'm not making it public yet. Hopefully those whom I revealed it to will keep it with them a little longer, at least till things are finalised and confirmed.

Like, OMG I really feel like screaming my lungs out right now. breathe. breathe. Like, really, scream.

Oh no, bus going back to KL will be departing in 10 hours time :( I'm already missing home.

My Little World in a Cup

No, I'm not a total anti-football person. I wasn't that enthusiastic about World Cup as it kicked off because I didn't have a reliable "sourse" for live broadcast of the games and maybe, not in the mood for it, yet.

But as I reached home on Thurs night, Argentina and South Korea were playing on the field, with a referee from Columbia. Both dad and I were glued in front of the screen.

Me: "Ohh no.. Oh no! He's given a yellow card!"

We watched the Argentinian player trying to defend himself, explaining to the Columbian referee about the situation, but the latter insisted with his decision.

Dad: "I wonder what language do the both of them use to communicate?"

And I bursted out laughing :)

Dinglehopper!

HAHAHAHAHAHA, SERIOUSLY! I can't stop laughing while watching this video clip! It's for anyone who knows the words of The Little Mermaid by heart:

Don't Stop Speaking

In recent years, much has been made of the idea that humans possess a "language instinct": infants easily learn to speak because all languages follow a set of rules built into their brains. While there is no doubt that human thinking influences the form that language takes, if [Nicholas] Evans [of the Australian National University in Canberra and [Stephen] Levinson [of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands] are correct (that language diversity is the "crucial fact for understanding the place of language in human cognition"), language in turn shapes our brains. This suggests that humans are more diverse than we thought, with our brains having differences depending on the language environment in which we grew up. And that leads to a disturbing conclusion: every time a language becomes extinct, humanity loses an important piece of diversity.

***

The more we learn about languages, the more apparent the differences become - "Towel of Babel":

1. Some languages have 11 distinct sounds with which to make words, while others have 144. Sign languages have none. As sounds that were once thought impossible are discovered, the idea that there is a fixed set of speech sounds is being abandoned.

2. Some languages use a single word where others need an entire sentence. In English, for example, you might say "I cooked the wrong meat for them again". In the Indigenous Australian language Bininj Gun-wok you would say "abanyawoihwarrgahmarneganjginjeng". The more we know about language processing, the less likely it seems that these two structures are processed in the same way.

3. Even plurals are not straightforward. The Kiowa people of North America use a plural marker that means "of unexpected number". Attached to "leg", the marker means "one or more than two". Attached to "stone", it means "just two".

4. Some major word classes are not found in all languages. English, for example, lacks "ideophones" where diverse feelings about an event and its participants are jammed into one word - as in "rawa-dawa" from the Mundari language of the Indian subcontinent meaning "the sensation of suddenly realising you can do something reprehensible, and no one is there to witness it".

***

Languages have become extinct throughout history, but today more are threatened than ever. Around 200 are critically endangered, with fewer than 10 speakers. With each one that is lost we lose a piece of human diversity.

***

After reading this article title Talking Heads in NewScientist (vol 206 No 2762, 29th May 2010), I remembered a conversation I had with my Dusun housemate. Being an indigenous resident from Sabah, she was exposed to many languages of other indigenous people when she was back in hometown, such as Kadazan and Lun Bawang. She also can distinguish Bidayuh's from Iban's though both are from Sarawak. But she told me, less people are able to communicate in their mother tongues now, especially those who live in KK, and other big cities. They did have classes for their mother tongues as elective subjects in school. But encouragement wasn't there for students to take up elective subjects like this. And people from West Malaysia brushes everything about them aside with a term "Dan Lain-Lain".

If Mandarin was only an elective subject in my school, I wouldn't have bothered to take it, either, let alone went for tuition for it. Believe it or not, the tuition fee I spent for BM was much more than fees for other subjects, and even though I took Mandarin in SPM, I've never went for tuition for it. Thank God I got an A1 for my BM in SPM (I told myself I'd be really mad at myself if I only got an A2 for my BM, after all the karangan & rumusan I wrote and past years questions and Skor A exercises I did for every week for good five years in high school). And I only got an A2 for my Mandarin paper. Of course, these results will never truly reflect how proficient one is with a language, but at least I went all out to learn this language and surrendered myself to the education (Skor A) system in Malaysia.

One may argue about survival of the fittest. But I feel very sorry to hear what Yvonne has told me. I always feel a light is dimmed whenever I hear how a language is having lesser and lesser speakers as days go by. We in Malaysia have the right environment to embrace or celebrate or at least preserve linguistic diversity. But what have we done, actually?

If you have never own the experience of growing up in a language that is not spoken by the majority, and seeing less people are speaking in it now, how could you possibly understand the pain when the language is lost? One may say, alright, then let no one learns it, so that no one will feel the pain! But an easy way out is not always the right way. The precious knowledge of a language brushes pass you, you missed it and weren't in time to experience it, with this you've lost something worthed more than gold. One may argue that if we live in Malaysia, we should let the national language unites us. But that's how one is missing out the point of being in a multicultural country - and wasting national resources/ human capital. BM is indeed important and has brought us together quite successfully. But it doesn't mean other languages are of no importance should the number of speaker is less insignificant than the major ones.

To most of us, the culture of indigenous races from East Malaysia only exist on the performing stage, in their traditional costumes. In fact, to many Malaysians, culture means dance performance. No. Culture is the way we live our daily lives. Practices. Principles. Moral values and ethics. Languages. Food. and etc. Culture might transform through time. But effort must be made to preserve what is uniquely ours through generations. Start with preserving the languages and hence the uniqueness and diversity of human thought of each speaker. Please.

Princetone Hotelspital

at home

When you're told: "Please make yourself at home.", what do you really wish to do?

I wish I could walk around the house in towel only and get any drinks I like from the fridge.

Well, at least this is my answer for now.

And I'm craving for sparkling ribena now, too :(

:D :D :D :D

I don't know, Lord. I don't know. But I believe it does not happen by chance. Really, it must have been Your mercy.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

SOMEBODY.IS.POSTED.TO.HKL.STARTING.THIS.JULY!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Of all the people, Lord, and of all his choices, or to be exact, his non-choices, him, HKL. 2 years.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. [Proverb 16:9]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I'm sorry but I really find it amusing, my friend :) See you soon!