Enticing Lines & Stunning Acts

Below is Burke's vow for his wedding with Christina during season finale of Grey's Anatomy, Didn't we almost have it all?. The vow was delivered in a surgery room, right in front of Addison, Izzy and nurses, prior to his wedding.

“Christina, I could promise to hold you and to cherish you.
I could promise to be there in sickness and in health.
I could say ’till death do us part.
But I won’t.
Those vows are for optimistic couples.
The ones full of hope.
And I do not stand here, on my wedding day, optimistic or full of hope.
I am not optimistic, I am not hopeful.
I am sure, I am steady, and I know.
I am a heart man: I take them apart, I put them back together.
I hold them in my hands.
I am a heart man.
So this, I am sure.
You are my partner, my lover, my very best friend.
My heart, my heart, beats for you.
And on this day, the day of my wedding,
I promise you this:
I promise you to lay my heart in the palm of your hand.
I promise you ME.”

And Addison said,
"“Well, I think I speak for every woman in this room when I say: dump her, dump Yang, and marry me”.


This is an enchanting jaw between Maximilian and Horst during 3-minute recess in Detention Camp, in Bent (1997). They are standing next to each other and they are not allowed to move or even touch each other, in a freezing Winter, when Horst is having a bad cough.

"I want to make you happy," Max
"Then be gentle with me," Horst

"I don't know how," Max
"Just hold me," Horst

"I'm afraid to hold you," Max
"Don't be," Horst

"I'm afraid. I'm gonna drown," Max
"Hold me, please. Hold me," Horst

"Ok.." Max


"I'm holding you," Max
"Are you?" Horst

"You're here in my arms. I promise
I promise. I'm holding you. You're here," Max
"Touch me. Are you?" Horst

"Yes. Touching," Max
"Gently," Horst

"Touching...Softly," Max
"Warm me,"Horst

"Softly." Max
"Warm me gently." Horst

"Softly. I'm touching you softly.
Gently. You're safe.
I'll keep you safe and warm.
You're with me now
You'll never be cold again.
I'm holding you now.. safe...and warm.
As long as you're here, as long as you're with me, as long as I'm holding you.
You're safe!" Max


These two excerpts are taken from two different mediums of story-telling. One from the sexy-medical drama series, Grey's Anatomy, and another from a critically acclaimed film, starring Clive Owen and Lothaire Bluteau, Bent.
The lines expressed by Preston Burke are eloquently written, that give profound susceptibility in deciphering Burke's boundless love to Cristina. It makes Isiaah Washington's (Preston Burke) job easier in the scene, because the lines itself stand splendidly.
It's not an easy job to both Clive Owen and Lothaire Bluteau to evoke the audiences' emotions to feeling the scene abysmally, with such simple lines. However, Owen and Bluteau's exceptional style in acting bolsters the lines and makes the scene as one of my favorite scenes in most of the films I have ever watched.
The excerpts give me a lesson about good films, dramas or plays. No matter how bad your storyline is, as long as you have blue-ribbon actors and emotionally effective scripts, your films, dramas, or plays, will be satisfying arts.

The Order of The Phoenix

A year ago, I was sitting at the cafe in front of INTEC library with Syafrul, Addin and Saini, enjoying the Abg Indon's ambrosial nasi lemak, but it was ruffled by a conversation between 3 kakak TESL (no offense to any TESLan) who were sitting at the next table.

"You know what..on my way out of the theater, I'd really wanna tell those who were going into the theater, to stop, turn back, return the tickets and use that money to buy a BigMac! " One of the kakaks, wearing a black skirt, stripe black and white blouse plus a white scarf(By that kind of dressing it can be told that she was TESLan), emotionally expressed her feelings about a film she just watched.
"They shouldn't cut off that much from the book, two fabulous chapters of the book!" Another kakak heat up the confabulation to a degree that gave me a sign that they had just seen Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Here came the third kakak, who surprisingly lowered the heat,
"I never read any Harry Potter's book. I walked in with nothing, and walked out with something. I'm happy with it because the film tells me Harry Potter story!"

Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix was released couple weeks ago and it was one of have-to-watch films in my list ("The Namesake" is the best so far!!). Addin, Saini, Alim and I went to Wabash Landing Theater 2 days after the premiere. I'm not into fantasy kind of films, but Harry Potter (and Transformers for this year) has drawn my attention into understanding the guile of fantasy film. Again, the Order of Phoenix didn't disappoint me like others. The Order of Phoenix is well-crafted as the characters evolves, the plots get more convoluted, secrets are unveiled, and definitely, the witchcraft world is being portrayed enthrallingly.

While walking back home with Addin, Saini and Alim,
Alim said "I'm not satisfied!! There should be a scene where Harry uses The Unforgivable Spell to torture Bellatrix Lestrange (Voldemort Death Eater, played by Helena Bonham). They should have that in the film!"

Here's another obiter dictum which has the same premise as the first two kakaks'. This time, I replied "I walked in the theater with nothing except everything I know from previous Harry Potter films, I walked out with something, and I'm happy with it! I don't feel I just wasted $8 because the film tells Harry Potter story!" I used the same premise as the third kakak TESL used. In contrast to the third Kakak TESL, I have read Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix before watching the film, but she never read The Goblet of Fire before watching it.

Nowadays, there's a lot of films made based on novels, short stories, and plays, which are known as adapted screenplay in film language. Some of them are fiascoes and most of them are completely stunning and in Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix, I, personally, put it as brilliantly adapted. The plot flows well as in the book, which means the film tells the story in the book. However, there are some details not included in the film such as the one Alim's complaining about. Can you imagine how hard it is to condense an 800-plus-page tome into restricted-less-than-3-hour film, especially by newcoming director David Yates and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg? Can you imagine how to squeeze everything into a script of 138-minutes film, to tell the tale well? Daniel Radcliffe once apologized for not including some parts of the book in the film, otherwise, the film will be too long. The production does not want to face the same failure as other lengthy-films.

There are millions of Harry Potter's fans who have enjoyed watching the series without having Rowling's works, the same is Lord of The Rings fans who have never read Tolkien's books, so, it is not necessarily a plus reading the books. Still, for the sake of understanding the movie in depth, the knowledge from the books come into its role.

Before sitting in the theater to watch any adapted screenplay films, which I have read the books prior to watch it, such as The Pursuit of Happyness and Harry Potter itself, I would clear all of my thoughts or expectation about the films. I believe that most of the audiences, who have read the books, struggles while watching the films. They try to compare what they have read and what they are watching, whether it is better or worst than the book, even a minuscule detail grabs their attention. In certain extent, they are not satisfied of whatever they have seen and begin to lose their attention. Consequently, they couldn't feel the sensational of the film.

Yasmin Ahmad in her 'notorious' blog, The Storyteller, once noted
"When reviewing a film, it's best to consider its main contention first"
And it came to my realization that the third kakak had a fine review of Harry Potter because it is rooted on its makers intentions, which is to tell Harry Potter tale!

Mesmerizing

Sonnet 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.

  And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

  As any she belied with false compare.

by William Shakespeare

"Aye my love!"

My "opportunity's" poem

"Nothing Twice"
by Wislawa Symborska



Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without chance to practice

Even if there is no one dumber,
if you're the planet's biggest dunce,
you can't repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.

No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with exactly the same kisses.

One day, perhaps, some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as if a rose were flung
into the room, all hue and scent.

The next day, though you're here with me,
I can't help looking at the clock:
A rose? A rose? What could that be?
Is it a flower or a rock?

Why do we treat the fleeting day
with so much needless fear and sorrow?
It's in its nature not to stay:
Today is always gone tomorrow.

With smiles and kisses, we prefer
to seek accord beneath our star,
although we're different (we concur)
just as two drops of water are.

The nature of arts

A great gratitude to Frida Vigdorova, a Soviet writer and journalist, for making a crucial effort by smuggling an eccentric excerpt. The famous excerpt was taken from Joseph Brodsky 'parasitism' trial transcript. Here's the excerpt:

Judge: And what is your profession, in general?

Brodsky: I am a poet and a literary translator.

Judge: Who recognizes you as a poet? Who enrolled you in the ranks of poets?

Brodsky: No one. Who enrolled me in the ranks of humankind?

Judge: Did you study this?

Brodsky: This?

Judge: How to become a poet. You did not even try to finish high school where they prepare, where they teach?

Brodsky: I didn’t think you could get this from school.

Judge: How then?

Brodsky: I think that it ... comes from God.

(The original transcript)

The legendary Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) has introduced me to the pivotal aspect of writings, drawings, paintings, and poetry. The nature of arts comes from God. Often people say that they don't have any sense of arts inside. I believe they lose their bearings in realizing or searching for the correct direction. God always speaks to humans by giving different kind of signs thru everything around us, and it's our job to figure it out, take it, analyze it, and use it as efficient as we could. However, sometimes we are blinded by the things we choose as priorities, putting aside His rules and orders.

"Love heals" - Yasmin

Journey of hope

With Sharifah Amani and a new batch of actors in tow, Yasmin Ahmad heads for Ipoh to shoot her fifth film, Muallaf.

It was the last day of production, and it was going to be a long day. But Yasmin Ahmad looked reasonably happy. The preceding 10 days had been a success as far as she was concerned. The film that she had been talking about for the past one year, Muallaf (The Convert), had finally become a reality. There we were in front of a pub in Ipoh at 2am, and despite the crew rushing to prepare for the scenes, the atmosphere was very relaxed.

It had rained all day just hours before, yet miraculously, the skies cleared just as shooting was about to begin.

The director approached her actors for last minute instructions while the imposing first assistant director Pete Abdullah, affectionately known as Uncle Pete, watched over everything with a keen eye for detail. Executive producer Rosnah Kassim was all smiles, and so was post-producer Elyna Shukri.

Later, before the second scene inside the pub, the sound guy rushed over to adjust the microphone, strung on actress Yeo Yann Yann’s chest.

“Aiyah, still want to adjust cleavage ah? No need lah!” Yasmin quipped.

Four films after she started out, nothing seems to have changed. A Yasmin Ahmad film shoot is still the craziest thing anyone could experience. Her MHz Film “family” remain a close-knit and jovial lot. Their pre-production preparations are almost legendary. Yasmin once told me: “I rehearse with my actors a lot. That’s why when I’m on set, I just lepak.”

And lepak she did. After a scene was shot, there would be either discussions with her assistant director or cinematographer Keong Low over the walkie-talkie, or just one line from her: “I’m happy with it if Keong’s happy with it.”

The one thing about Yasmin that many people know, but is rarely mentioned, is that she is a part-time filmmaker, but a full-time executive creative director with an advertising firm. She has to get official leave from work just to make her films. It is almost like a hobby. Ask her about it, and she will only say she feels extremely lucky to be able to do this and have so much creative freedom in the process, a luxury some full-time filmmakers can only dream of.

Yasmin Ahmad and Sharifah Amani. – Picture by LIM SOK LIN

Muallaf is her fifth film, and fourth theatrical feature (Rabun was a telemovie made for TV3). As with all her previous films, Yasmin entices us with clues and bits of the story but never the whole picture. We know that it’s about two sisters, Rohani and Rohana (played by real-life siblings Sharifah Amani and Sharifah Aleysha), who run away from an abusive father (Datuk Rahim Razali), and meet a Catholic teacher (Brian Yap). We know that it’s about childhood trauma, and hope and forgiveness. But where is the muallaf in all of this? Your guess is as good as mine.

It all might sound controversial, in light of some recent cases involving religious issues. But Yasmin assures viewers that Muallaf is far from controversial. In fact, three personnel from the religious department visited one of the locations at a church but found nothing amiss. Apparently, some people had complained about seeing a group of Muslim students near the church, and this had prompted the religious department to investigate. But Yasmin said they left after finding out that it was only a film shoot.

“It is not a religious story at all,” she said of Muallaf. “It’s about coping with a difficult past, how we all have crap in our lives. It’s about how different people cope with it differently. Some cope by being hateful and shutting themselves in. Some cope by forgiving, others by being brave. This is about how the brave help draw out those who shut themselves in and help them reconcile with their ghosts.”

The pub shoot ended at 6am, and after a few hours’ sleep, the crew was back at it again at 10am, this time at an unoccupied bungalow belonging to Tenaga Nasional Bhd. The occasion was the all-important and much-publicised shaving of Amani’s head. During the ride to the location, I asked Amani how she felt.

“Very nervous!” she said, and she looked so.

It was an extremely long wait for the crew to set up the scene, and an even longer wait for Amani’s hair to be shorn by a barber. No one was allowed upstairs where the shaving was done, but someone reported that she was laughing and crying at the same time. When the scene was finally shot, it was incredibly moving.

Without giving anything away, it is enough to say for now that when audiences finally see the two sisters praying side-by-side, there will be a truly memorable movie moment when Amani removes her telekung.

Amani was already wearing her hair short for the rest of the film, but now with her head completely bald, Yasmin thought she looked even more beautiful.

Asked how she felt putting her actress through such a difficult situation, Yasmin only replied: “She is like my own anak. It hurts me if it hurts her.”

In fact, Yasmin has worked with all of the Sharifah sisters by now, the last one being Aleysha. She admitted that she wrote the character of Rohana specifically with Aleysha in mind. She said all of the sisters are completely unselfconscious in front of the camera.

“I like (the sisters) because I know them and I know their parents,” said Yasmin. “If I have a problem with them, I scold them. And if they don’t respond, I SMS their parents, and their parents scold them! They call me ‘mak’.”

Earlier in the day, the crew shot a scene in the bungalow involving a real-life convert and his family. It was a short scene of them praying, which provides a clue as to what Yasmin is really trying to say with this latest film.

“I know so many muallaf who converted after falling in love with Muslim women,” she explained.

“Many of these muallaf I know who got into the religion because of love became really, really good Muslims. I think God pulls us towards Him whichever way He pleases, and it’s not for human beings to say what is the right way and what is not.”

-Full credit to ALLAN KOAY-

also available at The Star Online

AWOL: Absent Without Leave

After the convocation, stepping out the hall, I saw the clouds, like steam from thermal adorned the Lafayette’s blue sky, indicating the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring. Stored in my “recently added” iPOD playlist, Damien Rice’s “Elephant” has been gone through my ears repeatedly since last week, a month after Elise introduced me “Closer” – a witty, romantic and very dangerous British love story emphasizing a nagging nuance of ‘Strangers’.

“Perfectly suited you,” the blue-eyes and blondy girl told me.

The blandiloquent song and the halcyon day has made me reminisced back my old years at my hometown, Changlun.

I took off my shoes and replaced it with my flip-flops because that was the perfect day to wear it since 4 months of wearing boots. Hours before, while walking out of Purdue Memorial Union’s South Ballroom, after the receptions and convocation for 2007 University Honors Convocation, Jacob complained about wearing formal attire during a 73-degree-Fahrenheit (about 22 degree Celsius) day.

“I knew, I shouldn’t have worn this so-called ‘business’ attire today”.

“Hey, it’s just Spring. It’ll be worst than this next two or three weeks”, like been there longer than him, I replied while taking off my blazer.

I have gone through something worst than that temperature, when I used to walked back home during my high-school-hood. But luckily, Apit asked me taking lift on his bike. We used to go for Al-Bukhary and Darul Bakti tuitions together. Because I have no guts to ride the bike, my school shirts were finely decorated by the bike's 'minyak hitam' coming from the exzos at the back. If I wasn't at the field training for never ending sports events thruout the year, in Pn. Basharah's room - the school's counselor, practicing and memorizing speeches for upcoming debates or public speaking competitions, or hanging out with Fakhrul in 'notorious' computer labs, my parents or close friends would find me with Apit, doing daffy stuffs.

Other than Apit, my life in SMK Changlun has been filling up with tons of noteworthy moments by a group of decent educators. Having all of these hellacious educators, was not only as the mediums to convey all the materials in the syllabus, but they give me life, like fathers or mothers raising up their son, friends hanging out or chatting about teenage stuffs, and the adults talking about the reality of life. These are the people who are responsible bolstering me to shine my lights for all to see.

The serene Pn. Basharah
The adroit Sir Zubir
The loquacious Pn. Aidah
The gorgeous Teacher Sharon
The emollient Pn. Aishah
The genius Mr. Ooi
The esoteric Pn. Fauziah
The beatific Pn. Roziah

When, I am asked by my colleagues, what it takes to become who I am today, a nobody to somebody who has a huge responsibility towards people around him, my answer is always the same. It is my experiences, either the fine ones or the awful ones contributed by the above amazing people, made me stand where I am now.

Vincent Van Gough once said,
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."

And here, Gogh's words precisely depict my journey. And today these people have brought me to the 2007 University Honors Convocation, and also everything is nothing without Him, the most gracious Giver to me.