No Carbon Colonisation

My mom's birthday is coming up this early February. I have to start saving some money to buy some ingredients to bake a simple cake for her. I would also want to experiment with a vegan/vegetarian recipe. Hmm.. see first lah.

Finally, I’ve moved to Shah Alam. Packed only bags of clothes and books. No furniture yet. Last Friday was a nightmare as the house was flooded with rainwater. The contractors who worked to renovate the house did a lousy job coz they didn’t make a hole on the newly tiled floor on the balcony of the master bedroom on the first floor. The water from the rain formed into a mini kiddy pool on the balcony and had nowhere else to flow except into the master bedroom. It was a disaster! The water came gushing in none stop and we tried to scoop some of it but to no avail as it rained all night long. So my sis and I decided that the situation of the house was not yet fit to live in. There was a waterfall under the staircase!!! So much of the excitement moving into a new house…

The day turned out to be one of those bad days because I had received a letter from the phone company asking me to pay or get my ass sued! The letter was sent to the new house coz I’ve used the new address in my IC. They tracked me until here!! Talk about persistence! Gosh! That was way in early 2005. Where am I to fork up 600 bucks??! God help me!~

On top of that, after we left the house, we had to walk in the middle of the rain to get a cab. The irritating part was that when we finally got a cab an hour later, the cab driver cheated us by taking us for a spin around another neighborhood and told us that he didn’t know the place and that he was running late to pick up his kid. We were utterly speechless.. He dropped us off to take another cab. We paid 5 bucks. The thing is, the place where we wanted to go was very near and yet he don’t know the place and I thought the places in Shah Alam is easy to remember especially when you work as a cab driver. The new cab driver whom we later took said the previous cab was probably a private cab. That’s why he can do that selamba je to us. Hmm.. pening kepala~

Grrr!! We left it at that and went to the restaurant where we had sze chuan soup to fill our hungry stomachs. Nice and hot to fight off the coldness of the rainy night of frustration and anger.

So on Monday, we cleaned the house. The house is near a field with lots of tall shady trees and shops. I like it because it’s closer to my friends so that we can do more stuff togetha! The other day I went on a bus in Shah Alam and spotted a scribble at the back of a chair that wrote “Tambang mahal, jom naik basikal”. I loved it! I knew instantly who had “vandalized” the bus. <3

I’ve really have gotten a bit serious to stencil stuff and compiling articles/data about enviro. Temporary abandonment of craft projects. I’ve also discovered that I like reading articles off the net on the actual paper rather than read them online. That made me have some kind of weird feeling of guilt of using paper and imagined that I could dumpster from recycle paper boxes from offices to print stuff on them.

I’ve been reading stuff about the carbon trading, carbon colonialism and stuff from Copenhagen conference. It was a revelation for me to find out more on what Malaysia have been doing about the carbon market. Every time I read about climate change or see a docu about it, I would get a funny tingling feeling as to what will happen in the near future. It seems so quite here. No real stories or news about this at all. As though we are blinded by the stuff going on at the top there. The only group I know that is “supposedly” take on the issue is Sahabat Alam but when I went to their website, nothing was being posted about the conference and Malaysia’s involvement in it. It is saddening that the groups here have little capability of taking up this issue when they should.

Quoted from the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law
(http://law.nus.edu.sg/apcel/dbase/malaysia/reportma.html)
"The environmental NGOs in Malaysia face many challenges, chief of which is the difficulty in having their standing to sue (locus standi) recognised by courts. In addition, the NGOs are generally viewed with suspicion and distrust over their perceived "anti-development" positions. NGOs also lack financial, manpower and research resources."

In the article also wrote about PROBLEMS IN IMPLEMENTING ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

Many articles that I found that are relevant to Malaysia are from FNBKL’s blog and through search engine. Some info I found from Bernama news:

"According to a new report, UN data shows Malaysia’s carbon emissions in 2006 stood at 187 million tonnes or 7.2 tonnes from each Malaysian. Even though Malaysia’s emission is less than neighboring Indonesia, the world’s third largest emitter with 2.3 billion tonnes or 10 tonnes per capita, Najib has been reported to have said that all nations must contribute."

There were no real feasible solutions from the Copenhagen conference but to keep the carbon emission issue under the carpet so that the corporations can keep their business as usual. Under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) an over-developed country’s corporations can offset their carbon emissions by paying less-developed countries to protect their forests. This scheme is very “licik” as it doesn’t solve the climate crisis but divert it to make it as though the corporations are doing their part.

Dengan scheme REDD, negara membangun seperti Indonesia dibayar untuk menjaga hutan mereka sementara negara seperti Australia (negara maju) boleh meneruskan perniagaan mereka seperti biasa yang mengeluarkan gas karbon pada kadar yang sama. Penyelesaian cara begini tidak berkesan kerana walaupun hutan menyerap karbon tetapi tidak selamanya dan hanya didalam tanah sahaja ianya disimpan selamanya. Proses tumbuhan dan pereputan secara semulajadi melepaskan semula karbon ke dalam atmosfera. Tambahan pula perjanjian REDD akan menguggat kehidupan 1.6 billion penduduk yang bergantung dengan hasil hutan akibat penswastaan tanah pusaka dan sekaligus menafikan hak orang asal atas tanah mereka. Kerana REDD mendefinasikan tapak penanaman mono-culture sebagai hutan, kemungkinan besar meninngkatkan lagi pembalakan di hutan asli dan merisikokan pelimpahan permit offset yang murah ke dalam pasaran karbon yang mana akan melambatkan aksi sebenar dalam usaha menyelesaikan krisis cuaca. Ini adalah dipanggil carbon trading dan sekaligus menjadi carbon colonisation! CRAZY!!!

These are some sites that I found useful to read
http://www.sydney.foe.org.au/news/new-report-released-what-scam-australia%E2%80%99s-redd-offsets-copenhagen (thanks Luka for sharing this link)
http://www.redd-monitor.org/ (thanks Luka for sharing this link)
http://www.anarchiststudies.org/node/309
http://www.walhi.or.id
http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/top-20-greenhouse-gas-emitters
http://mockmeat.wordpress.com/
http://jura.org.au/mutiny
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=463275
http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/atoz/climate.php
http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/23236
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=465537
http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/atoz/greenscared.php
MALAYSIA : http://law.nus.edu.sg/apcel/dbase/malaysia/reportma.html
MALAYSIA : http://en.cap.org.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=3
MALAYSIA bikes: http://en.cap.org.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=197&Itemid=15
http://en.cap.org.my (search for climate crisis / Copenhagen)

Okay totally out of this topic (penat dah). I will write my two cents later.. As I’m writing this, I’ve been spending 2 days at my friend, Hana’s house. We’ve been playing Café World on Facebook. That was really fun. We had decorated my virtual café. It’s called **~Kedai Manis~** (I dunno why I write this here) It was just the things I did today besides reading up on the climate crisis stuff and chilled with my buddy.

Hmm.. that’s all for today. I need to get the leaflet for cyclist done soon. I wish I can do stuff with Photoshop. I need to learn! Can’t wait to see Mono this Saturday!~

Diskustik with The Pips

18.01.10 - Today I woke up quite early unwillingly due to the sweet coldness making me want to pull over the blanket of warmness on my body and slip back to my slumber dreaming away. No. I had 8 hours of sleep. Remembering about yoga topic me and my friends talked about yesterday when we hang out, I figured that I would do some stretching to start off the day. My eyes were still blurred coated with layers of what might have been dusts flushed out of my eye balls. Here we call them "taik mata" - direct translation - "eye poo". My breath didn't smell so bad as I had brushed my teeth the night before. As I was stretching, I tried to apply the things I’ve read in the yoga book which Cem shared with me. Concentrating on the muscles as they stretched. Controlling each inhalation and exhales. Channeling oxygen to muscle fibers that were worked through out the routine. It felt good to connect with the body and its movements. A lot of times during our waking lives, we had fallen asleep. We let a thing which is very close to us to operate on its own without really be in control of it. Daily routines took the priorities of our lives. We do things habitually, forgetting to get in touch with our soul and the body which contains it. The "order" of modern life. We'd always have to catch up. To what extend, I’m not sure. Okay.. stretching those thoughts away with yoga.. Sun salutation......

I went down stairs and mix in 3in1 instant coffee while adding coco powder with it and hot water. Sipping it while chewing some mixed nuts for my breakfast. Took in a couple of Spirulina as supplement before that. It's good for sinus suffers like me. Not that I am a real health conscious type, but when I do have stuff which I know is good, I would treat myself with them. Like when I pass fruit stalls, I would get 2-4 packs of different kinds of fruits as snacks. Today it was just because there was nothing else good to eat. So go nuts with nuts!

I'm thinking about the conversation I had yesterday with my friends about Wojtec and Shaun (our travelling friends from Poland and Britain). Apparently, they eat very little daily. Wojtec ate one big meal per day which is what? 3 pieces of roti canai and teh limau ais (ice lime tea). Yeah the famous roti canai. Trvelling friends from aboard especially vegans or vegetarians dig this stuff! They'll look for roti canai everytime they visit and crave for it when they get back home. Malaysian's roti canai is considered to be the best in Southeast Asia. That's what I’ve heard lah. They're cheap and tasty. Not to mention the dipping dhal sauce that is served with it. This Indian originated meal is a heaven's dish!

This goes to the food topic for the day, me and my friends always cook and eat together whenever we have the opportunity. Yesterday we hang out at Karen’s house which was so much fun! Getting together and cookeat with friends is always fun. Reminds me of those days at FNB's house. We helped cooked Hana's famous fries coated with cheesy vegetarian Bolognese sauce. Yumm! The night before, they had gotten together to cook curry (vegan and chicken) while The Pips practiced for the Diskustik session on Saturday, so there were some left over to add on the menu for the day. Cem cooked delicious fried rice Thai style. Karen’s place was awesome! It was very open and welcoming so much as the house's host being lovely and a goddess as her beautiful singing voice filled the atmosphere with songs from 80's to 90's ballads. And might I add here that she's hot hot as well. (^_^) She's from Sarawak Kelabit descendant. She was very friendly, warm and outspoken.

We gathered at Karen’s house before getting to the discussion session "Diskustik with The Pips" somewhere near Telawi, Bangsar on Saturday. The event was organized by Republic Anak Muda - RAM (Youth's Republic) which comprises of a few groups. I knew one of the organizer there who works with a progressive alternative book publisher Gerak Budaya.

RAM also organized an event called Frinjan. It's held every fourth night at Dataran Shah Alam. There have already been 3 rounds of it. The event has booths selling books, music, and clothes. Bands like Carburetor Dung, Dum Dum Tak, The Pips, and many more had played at the events. Kind of reminded me of Artport that was once organised at Shah Alam too. Artport was a loose collective of artists and friends who got together to gather people and organize shows. It's no more now.

Back to Diskustik with The Pips. They were the first band for the talk series and it was held at the Rumah Frinjan. The space is a double storey house. There were books and CDs that were displayed for sale at the entrance. We came early. Hana, Marr and Cem came by bicycle. We waited for about 30 minutes before the crowd started to show up and fill the hall. A bit intro of the band, then they performed and after that the Q&A session with the audiences. For me being there was kind of like weird as I don't get out much and attend this kind of get to know "artist" event before. It was kind of a good initiative to bridge different groups to "promoting" the bands I guess.

Some of the Pippers thought the questions were kind of strange and alien/laughable as maybe they have never or don’t care/take into account about that stuff like fame/popularity, future mission/vision of the band, go on board the mainstream side. I think for them, music, friends and the journey/process of making and sharing their music was all that mattered. Those alone were no substitute for "stardoom". Ekin commented that their songs won’t make it to mainstream as the lyrics are bound to be censored if they ever get there. It was a bit "funny" when it got to the popularity part. As one of the general objectives of making music is to spread messages, questions like how will the messages get across to wider crowd or listeners irks me a bit coz that was always the issue with the typical music business concept. Okay now that the band has released an album, they better get out there and make their existence known and spread the propaganda now. Some of the band's lyrics contained some stuff like the current political issues and general disgrace of the structural system as a whole. The audience that were there tried to understand and were intrigued at the messages that The Pips trying to voice out.

Maybe a lot of DIY punk bands are struggling to stand their grounds on their ethics whilst spreading their messages of love and hate through their music while rejecting the whole music industry style aimed to fulfill the capitalists aims for profit. Yuen's point about non-partisan and refusal to participate in the music industry profit-driven game generally summed up the whole thing for Pips. Alak and Hana added a few things about environment issues and The Pips' affiliation with other groups in an interview after the session was over.

Sometimes I find this hard to try not to sound like being too righteous or holier-than-thou but I know some may feel that bands that don’t follow the righteous path to a more "worthy" cause are seen as having some kind of "air" or wondering aimlessly and got nothing better to do. I don't know much but I consider myself to fall in between a spectator and a learner trying to "fit in"/be a friend coz I love the gentle people and the angry music. Often misunderstood and denied. For the longest time I still try to get excited about it to know more about the ideologies, ethics, music, art, culture, people, friends that make up the underground scene itself but not confining it to a mere trend and become a separatist. Battling with negative perceptions by parents, the "outside world" or society at large. I think all the people that are in it are trying to do what they love doing which creates moments and experiences that some may or may not understand. It is these moments and experiences that kept everyone together to explore and share more talents/magic, information, opinions, emotions, friendship/bonding and most importantly - RESISTING IDEAS. Wahhhh I’m starting to sound like V in V for Vendetta. Hahaha

Okay lah (I’m dragging it too long), back to the event. "I love The Pips" was the reaction shared by the audience especially Halina who was the only grrrl in the organizer’s team that was present. RAM has a zine call A.Sid which I’ve not checked out yet. The Pips performed twice. At the beginning and at the end with Ekin and Alak on guitar, Yuen and Cem on gembe, and of course our beloved Hana-chan as vox! Yoyo who plays the bass couldn't make it due to personal reasons. Marr, Ekin's sister Diana, and I (the groupies) were there as well to cheer and support them. Some of Ekin's girlfriends came too. A few guys from other bands also came to see The Pips perform that night. There were about 25 people attended the Diskustik. The next round of the Diskustik will be with the band Efek Rumah Kaca. Overall, it was a cozy session lah. It went on great. They loved the song "Ashes in the Wind" most.

We head to Karen’s house after the event and chilled. The next day was fun coz all the cooking and chatting session I mentioned earlier. We felt like staying longer and occupy the space for ourselves but realized that she has to study and that we had to let her with her time. Hehe.. We vowed to come and hang out there again and Yuen was like - don’t steal my friend lah. He was the one who introduced us to Karen in the first place. Him and his Sarawak obsession. Hey kamek suk Sarawak juak! (I love Sarawak too!) So we split around 4pm and that was how the day ended.. or was it just the beginning of a new friendship? Thanks Karen for having us in your house and feed us your food. The ginger snaps and masala tea were awesome! <3

New Year Resolutions

2009 MOMENTS OF IDLENESS
the moment i started to not express and be active. that's when everything stood still. nothing interests me. i didn't care about anything. friends and family seemed to be out of reach. felt like not needing any connection. maybe i needed to pause. a break.

part of OCDness/bi-polar, self fulfilling soul cleansing, reflecting subconcious mind, deteriorating self motivaton, lack of sense of direction. everything felt like it was falling apart! slipping away. even the meaning of love faded.

2010 WILL BE DIFFERENT
everything is ever changing. every day will be different. getting a job and continue to study, starting new projects, cycling, gobble more information, getting excited again, making new friends, get closer to existing friends, go to events, read more, bake more, knit more, more sharing, writting more letters, gardening, helping more, buy more records, download more movies n music, make crafts, share stories, laugh more,love more, understand more, more get togethers, more bondings, more trips!,and to make them special i'll shall write about them. making each moments special and exciting for me to remember and share with friends to read and get to know bits and parts of me.

OTHERS........
change of attitude and outlook on life and living. fresh perspective encumbers old bad habits. cherishing memories, participating, staying awake, resisting together or in my own small ways, breathing, dressing costumes, goofying around, rehydrate, self healing, go for organics, less snacking more vegies and fruits, less oil more raw food, learn to fix bicycle, stencil for joy, collect articles, photos, art, threads, thrash.

TRADE!
i wonder if we ever trade stuff amongst us these days. lets do it!! i've got loads of stuff laying around that has been collecting dusts. from earings to clothes to weird funny funky ornament.

Transition

I've to move my blog today for some weird reasons. Nevermind that. I need to compile stuff that are not necessarily understood and accepted by some readers. I need a space where i can rant things without being cautious of maybe hurting some people. It's hard to live a double life. To really be upfront about what I like and not be judge over them. So what if I still like bikes even though I'm 25 years old and that I'm a grrrl to add to it. Seriously.. Need to gather my stuff here from now.