Don't blame videogames

The article

I saw an article in Harian Metro today and I know I just have to say something about it. It just infuriates me. I thought it was just gonna be another Saturday for me this article is pretty much a flamebait to yours truly.

The front page of Harian Metro today(31st January 2009), is titled, Video games lucah kegilaan budak-budak 7 dosa RM5 (Pornographic video games a hit among childrens 7 Sins RM5). As you all know I'm a gamer and to be seeing such news to published and sold to the masses made me think about the reaction the public will be giving towards videogames that does NOT contain any sexual content. And this was the front page so they are trying to really highlight this thing today. Let's see the title. Wait, video games? Video games??!! It's spelled videogames and minus the 's' if it's a singular.

The game that they're highlighting to contain pornographic material are 7 Sins (thus the headline), Playboy Mansion & The Guy Game. Yes, I wouldn't deny it does contain adult material that wasn't meant for younger audiences. But have you ever heard of ratings? Do you ever notice the little letters below the cover of the game and even for once give a damn what it means? Now, the case as reported in this article talks about kids from primary school which are aged 7 to 12. That means games that are suitable for them would be rated from [E] which stands for Everyone and [E10+] which means Everyone over 10 years old. The ratings are self explenatory but have anyone in Malaysia ever care? Have any parents actually take the time to look at such things before buying such things? Why would you blame the games that you buy for your children that is clearly not meant for your child? And another feud with pirated games in Malaysia is they tend to put and [E] rating for all of their games. That's another problem, but that's where you common sense kicks in. Ever heard of that? Common sense? Looking at the cover of the games and reading the slight description at the back will give you a great idea of what the contecnt of the game will be. Heck even the title could help a lot! For example, 7 Sins. If you are a wary parent and actually know what are the 7 sins in life, you should have known straight away that this game isn't meant for your child (or childish adults). In that case don't buy it! If game ratings were followed thoroughly at the first place and the audience playing it is observed at the first place it this wouldn't be a problem. But in Malaysia, censorship is nothing until something messed up. Do you really see parents restricting their child from watching any 18+ shows on TV? I don't think so. Ok so this problem is not limited only to Malaysia but if you're a good parent and have taught your child why is this wrong and such they would develop a sense of self understanding why this and that. And answer your child if they ask you such questions don't evade it. Be responsible.

Ok back on the article. How come it's now that this thing is brought up? All of the 3 games were released at around the same year if I'm not mistaken which is around 2005. It took them 3 years to see this? You know if this is purely wrong at the first place it would've been banned before it even enters the country. Take for example, Singapore bans Saints Row from being sold for their adult content. So at least they're wary of the hazards earlier but later pulling the ban wagon for reasons I do not know. Oh wait, there are nobody that monitors games in Malaysia. In Malaysia, games aren't being monitored at all. Even if they're the fact billion dollars worth of industry. And I want to quote what's being written by the writer here,"Wartawan Harian Metro yang mencuba ketiga-tiga permainan itu mendapati ia tidak sesuai memasuki pasaran negara ini." Owh so now there are actually someone who controls what games goes in what games goes out of the country? You mean there's actually someone official monitoring what kind of games can be pirated and sold and what games can't? Aaargh I just feel like screaming the heck out of my lungs! Another quote,"Ketiadaan undang-undang khas membendung penjualan dan pengedaran permainan jenis itu membuatkan ia seolah-olah halal dimainkan oleh golongan muda" Owo so now you notice? Only when the games started to spoil people that you want to give your 2 cents about it? How about games as another entertainment industry in Malaysia? We may not be making any videogames anytime soon (although there are actually a few videogame studios in Malaysia) videogames should be stopped taken as a child's play because not all games are meant for them. And don't blame the games for the children being morally worse. Why not blame parental skills? Videogames are just one of the many media that contains negative things but stop saying as if they were the root of evil. It just disgusts me.

Maybe someone from KPDNHEM should consider starting to place videogames on the map in Malaysia. It's not like we won't buy original if it was accessible and easy to find. We wil be saving a whole lot of money if it was locally published too. The problem is original console games costs an arm and a leg. PC Games had a better future in Malaysia though. Although it's still costs a lot and isn't something that we can afford but at least there's a pace. Like it or not, videogames is part of the entertainment in Malaysia although it is dominated by pirated games. Do something. I'm a gamer and I'm sad seeing all the beating received by the games industry. They should be receiving just as much kudos as they received as much thumbs down.

I could go on forverer on this. I think I'll stop here. I'll write more about it later. I'm on a solitary crusade to save videogames. I wouldn't be angered and sadden if the people in Malaysia just react to such problems with better approach rather than just flaming games. Parents do your part. Don't prevent your child form playing videogames if that's their hobby but just keep a close eye on them. But with the current mindset of people, the future of videogames in Malaysia is dim.



Thanks for reading my opinion.

My trip to Malacca (Melaka)

It was the Chinese New Year a few days ago and of course as Malaysian, what better way to show respect towards other people's event other than giving holidays!! Although many of my friends in college had over a week of holiday (including weekends), I've had only 4 days (including weekends). And since it's been a while since I've gone on a holiday with my family, and since my grandma and my grandma's sister are following, I thought I would tag along since I'm kinda my grandma's favorite grandchild :P

We left home on the early noon of last Saturday, packing for just 2 days and 1 night since that's how long we're going to be there. We got straight to Malacca without any stops on the highway. When we got in the city, we went hunting for a place to have lunch. While looking, I found this interesting road name.














but anyways, we didn't take our lunch at Tesco, we went here instead.














and saw a low self-esteem water fountain














and a shop with a sarcastic tagline














anyways, we had our lunch in the food court in there and it took me over an hour to wait for my food! I was starving and that made me a little grumpy. Look at my grumpy face. Well, just a little.














All I ordered was fried rice with omelete. How difficult can that be. After lunch we went around the surrounding areas of A'Famosa to look around the historical monuments and stuffs that Malacca is famous for. There were the trishaws, souvenir shops and all.














Luke, he's not your father.














Bicep tricep! Bones and skin.














Mcm budak2














I also climbed the stairs to the St. Paul's church. Which is on the hill behind the A'Famosa if any of you are wondering. The steps were pretty steep too. Here's the view from up there.














And here's what the St. Paul's church look like from a perspective :P














After the long ascend, it's time for the long descend. Phew haven't had this kinda of exercise in a while now!














In front of the historical A'Famosa














Strolled inside the Dataran Pahlawan for a while when I stumbled upon this on a tourist guide to Malaysia interactive panel. They spelled my name wrong! But it's close enough. Yeah, some people have public phones and nasyid groups, I have an interactive panel! How cool is that?














After all that, we got to our place that we're supposed to spend the night in. It's no hotel, just a service apartment. Better than nothing. Had some fun at the apartment's swimming pool. I don't really enjoy swimming actually but it's not like I have anything better to do.

After the swim, we got ready for dinner at a seafood restaurant famous in Malacca placed in Pernu-Umbai. The place was full of people! All of them tourists of course. Luckily we got a seat. Ordered quite a number of dishes but since there were 8 of us, it didn't take long to finish them all.










































After the dinner, we walked around the jetty for a while and then got to the the city of Malacca for more sight seeing.









































Went back to our place and called it a day.

The next day, the rear left tire of the car was flat. It was caused by a tear on the tyre. So we had to change it of course. Not like we have any choice. So of course this is a mens job. Me and my father changed the tyre.























































After that is done, we went to McD for breakfast. It has been a while since I had breakfast in Mcdonald's. Had Big Breakfast. Oh yeah, on the way there, I found this hillarious stall sign.














And this would be my breakfast














Walked around Dataran Pahlawan again and I bought a book. It was titled "Across the Nightingale Floor" by Lian Hearn. It was used book. I'm not much of a reader but his book seems interesting. I'm giving it a try. Soon, it is past noon and it's now time for lunch. Since Malacca is famous for it's Asam Pedas, we stopped by a food court that has Asam Pedas. I don't eat 'em but my grandma and my parents does.














After lunch, we head for Ayer Keroh since my youngest sister has been wanting to get on a cow cart since we got to Malacca. It was a scorching noon. And maybe that made the smell of the cow even stronger. I don't know. But we got on one. And cows, as naturally as they are, stinks. Anyway, it was a great experience and it would be fun to ride on one with close peoples.














And after the cow cart ride, we strolled around some stalls again. Just like we did in Dataran Pahlawan and in front of Mahkota Parade earlier today. Man this is tiring!














We're heading for home at last!!!! Can't wait to get home. I'm spent. Just when I thought everything's gonna be alright, traffic jam!!! From Dengkil exit until Nilai exit! That is like around 70km of traffic jam! Aargh!














That is a long line. So in order to evade this traffic jam, my father thought he could cut through the LEKAS highway that connects Kuala Pilah with Kajang. I told him that the highway isn't finished but he insisted. Oh well...














And the highway is NOT completed!! But refusing to turn back due to massive traffic jam even in village roads, we went on. We cut through some waterfalls, Kuala Pilah, Tampin, etc etc!!! We were wandering aimlessly for over 4 hours!!! OMG!!! I pity my grandma behind. We had to get lost when she's with us. Of course she's physically exhausted. We got back at the highway at last... BACK IN MALACCA!!! Through the bad conditioned village roads!!! That's a lesson we're not going to forget anytime soon. And owh yeah my phone's battery has been dead since in the jam. Sorry to those people who wasn't able to reach me. After we got away from those intimidating village roads, we thought the traffic jam are over. But we thought wrong...














Wow this is crazy. But it better than being lost in nowhere. We were stuck in the jam until well over 10pm. For about 2 hours I guess. Stopped by Seremban to strecth oursleves and get some refreshment. Sent my grandma home before going back to Kajang. Got our dinner (and supper) at Prima Saujana. Got home and responded to everyone that wasn't able to reach me earlier.

It wasn't a bad trip actually but the part where we got lost for over 5 hours spoilt everything for me. Nevermind. At least I got some holiday. I'm bak at college. Can't wait for the next holiday :P

P/S: I have also attempted on photography while I'm here. Checkout my MySpace photo album and leave some comments!

My JPJ theory and practical lecture

As the title says, I had it today, on a Sunday! Argh I've never had Sunday class before not even for SPM! Well, guess there's the first time for everything. Anyway, for the 2nd day in a row, I had to wake up at 8am on an weekend since I have to be fetched by the IMKEDA branch near my house by 8.30am. Got there on the dot and my transportation arrives a few minutes after. I haven't got enough sleep actually. Last night I slept at 3am for some reason. This isn't going to be helpful. Even in the car on the way to the centre I've been yawning for several times already. Haha this is gonna be tough.

Had to present my e-Driving smart card of course before I can get into class. Scanned my thumb and went to the class. Got into the class arround 9.20am although the lecture starts at 10am. Well being too early has never been a problem I guess. And to sum up the lecture (and the lecturer) will be simple actually; BORING!!! God why does lectures as important as this had to be conducted by someone who has a voice so flat, so uninitiated, so indistinct like that! And it happens with a lot of important lectures! God! I was struggling my best to stay awake although I see some people who doesn't even try to stay awake. Many of us struggled. Yours truly does fell asleep multiple times but I tried my best to stay awake and I'll say that I stayed awake about 85% of the lecture :P He gave us 20 minutes break halfway, supposedly to let us recharge for the 2nd half of the class but looks like it doesn't do good. A drink I bought during that break didn't help much. The same people who didn't even try to stay awake, stay asleep and I was still having a terrible time of staying awake. At 1.10pm, the lecture ended. Thank God!!! It's been excrutiating! Went to the Surau straight away and killed my time there after my prayers.

At 2.30pm, it's time for the next class for today which would be the practical class in which they will teach us the parts of the car. This is an outdoor class activity so staying awake wouldn't be a question. At least not for me. Although I've yet to see people sleeping standing. Maybe there are but it's beyond my knowledge. 2 lecturers were involved in this activity. The first lecturer told us all there is to know about the basic parts of the engine and what to do to maintain it. It was ok and at least it wasn't boring. The 2nd lecturer taught us about tyres, and how to change them. This one is not very long. Finished all of them around quarter past 4pm. Scanned my thumb again before going home. Actually I scanned my thumb 4 times today, before and after each class. Got sent home by the same person. I was so tired that I actually fell asleep in the car. It was a long day after all.

Hey, at least now I'm only waiting for my L! Everything is done! I'm only left with all of the car tests and all and I should be getting a P license after that. Should be getting my L around the next 2 weeks. If it's possible I want to complete everything about my license as soon as possible, so that will be one less thing to think about. I can't wait!

My JPJ computer test day

Yes I know I should have taken my car license last year since I have more spare time then than I am now. College and all is making my schedule full. But I'm taking my car license this year and that's that. At least I'm taking it at last. Persuading my parents to permit me to do such things isn't as easy as it is with many other parents.

Anyway, I had already heard my KPP lecture way back in December. But since I had a lot of things that came up weekend after weekend after weekend (since I'm only free on weekends, weekdays are automatically excluded). I'm registered to IMKEDA driving school. Pretty popular among my peers, but a lot of my friends went somewhere else. The place was packed with people and the centre wasn't big enough that it is comfortable too. And it isn't a place that you can call very clean. I've heard of IMKEDA before but never knew it was in a place like that. Where it is? Well do you know the Lily Restaurant near Simpang Balak? A little more further, and you should see a signboard with the centre's name on it. It was nothing unusual.

Ok back to what I am supposed to write. As you know after the lecture, I'll have to attend the computerized test. Luckily I have a branch of IMKEDA near my house so I've been registered there and on the day of the test, I waited there for someone from the centre to send me. The test wasn't at the same place as the centre. It was in a shop lot near the McDonald's of Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, Cheras. I was going alone (as always) and my name is called after around 30 to 45 minutes of waiting. While waiting for my turn I started to read the book (baru nak bace). There's a funny typo on the card that showed me to the computer I'm supposed to be using. Instead of AWAM it wrote there AWAN so on the card writes,"Bagi pemegang MyKad sila pilih kategori ORANG AWAN MALAYSIA". Ok at least it gave me some lols on that sleepy morning. Answered all of the questions (duh!) and took me around 40 minutes :P Better safe than sorry.

And so I passed the test. Scoring 45/50 which passed the minimum passing marks of 42/50. Meh. Could have scored higher but hey at least I passed. One less thing to do in my quest for a Competent Driving License. And since the test centre is located right beside the McDonald's, I took the chance to chow down on brunch while waiting for the person who is supposed to send me back home to come fetch me. I had a medium Big Mac McValue Meal with my favourite apple pie. (yeah that's my favourite combination if you want to know. apple pie is a MUST!) My chaffeur arrived right after I finished my meal. Got home and had a little rest. I have the theory and practical lecture tomorrow. This one is longer; 6 hours (3 hours respectively) and it's at the actual IMKEDA centre. Had to wake up early again. Urgh. Nevermind. I have so many plans when I get my license. Maybe go somewhere with someone :P

Import games

Geez, Square-Enix. They're famous for Final Fantasy just as they're famous for delays. Final Fantasy XIII will be out in 2009 but exclusively for Japan. English version will be 2010. Meh. Just like FFXII the English version was like over half a year after that. I hate it when some of my "friends" got the import version and then tell you about "ouh i gotz here and pwn thm all!! lolol" when they've played the import version. This goes for all games Japanese in which the English release will most of the time be delayed for some reason. This happens all the time with Naruto & Bleach games. Sure there are more titles. Owh yeah Gundam too. Man. It'll be great if I know Japanese or at least understand some of it. And it's typical for a gamer to say that Japanese is the 2nd most important language to know after English XD

Owh yeah of course. Dissidia! Man the English version has been slated to mid of this year. Urgh. Wanted to play it so badly. Placing FF characters against each other in a game was just our wildest dream. Now it's a reality! But the Cloud Strife in this game is the Soldier Cloud, not the AC Cloud. Nevermind he's still epic. Squall Leonhart of better known as Leon by KH fans receives a fashion update. Villains are also included. And for some reason the vids I've been watching for this game places emphasis on Squall vs Sephiroth. Or is that just me? Hurm nevermind. I have a lot of great western games to fill my time with and my wishlist have been filld with games that got awards. Left 4 Dead is a blast. Simplistic and straight forward at best but it's one heck of an exciting game to play. Especially if you have friends to play with. Friends who don't suck in FPS. There's this little game that won several game of the year awards that I have been very interested to get my hands on. Hint: GTAIV. I wonder if there's anyone who will get me the game :P but be aware though "that game" comes in 3 DVD so the price would be more than usual. Hehe.

And here's a little pic I found. Well its a few months old already but if you still haven't saw it, well behold:


HAHA look at me ranting about FFXIII and Dissidia. AS IF I own either of those consoles. Haha!

Why living in Malaysia is a bliss

Actually there is of course a lot of reasons to it but I would like to press on one reason that is...
We have holidays for every celebration!!!

Honestly guys, since my class started back in December, I have been having as much holidays as I am having classes. And most of the time if the holiday is on a Tuesday or a Thursday, the pupils will request the lecturers to postpone the classes on Monday and Friday respectively to a later date so we can have a longer holiday. This is so great. In this 3 weeks in particular I have been having a total of about 10 days of holiday. Yup. Believe it. If you can see our calendar there should be celebration for everything and since Malaysia consist of 3 major race, we do give respect to them by giving out holidays. Some people told me that countries like England only get 3 days of holiday annually. That's like so sad. In Malaysia I guess there's about a total of almost 20 days of holidays annually, even more if you're still studying.

For now I've been on leave because of new year 2009 and just last week I have got 5 days of holiday because of Christmas. Not that I don't like holidays, I love it! Just wanted to say something about it. Starting next week, everything will start to be normal again. Yup. I'll be going home on Fridays by Komuter again. Until Chinese New Year near the end of January that is! And my Finals for this semester should be in the first or second week of February. And then a month of holiday!!! Oh good gracious God thanks for making me a citizen of Malaysia. I'm lovin' it!!!


Anyways,
Hello 2009! Hopefully it will bring more sweet memories ;-)