New year, new experiences

Another year rolls by, and i finally decide to polish up my writing skills which have been neglected for much too long. So i decided to jump onto the great blog bandwagon (pardon the pun). Here's a place where i can put some thoughts that don't really fit elsewhere, don't really make for conversation or just to rant. So there.


2004 in review
2004 has been a year of mixed feelings for me, starting with getting over the breakup, getting a kickass new computer, followed by having my graphic editing and CG modelling skills increase in leaps and bounds, and ended with a regional catastrophe of biblical proportions.
Superstitious folks would say that the number "4" of the year is an omen of death, and indeed it came. The tsunami came as a shock to everyone, the sheer surprise and unlikelihood of such an event. Until now, i always thought that Malaysia was "safe" from such natural disasters. When it first hit the news, the disbelief i felt was akin to how i did when news of the 9/11 incident was reported; it felt unreal, like a disaster movie; only played out in real life, at the cost of real lives. And to those who have lost family, friends or relatives, you have my deepest condolences.

Strangely, even though Malaysia was affected by the tsunami, i've heard surprisingly little news about Malaysians who've been missing in its aftermath, nor any news on the extent of damage it wrought upon Penang and the other coastal areas near the quake's epicentre. Very curious, and disturbing....

Yet it gets even worse; unscrupulous people seek to gain advantage from this.
Just the other day i met another example of the ugly side of humans: a group of so called "charity workers" collecting "donations" for some Tsunami Aid Fund or another. In actual fact, conmen out to take advantage of people's goodwill. I always make a point to question people who collect donations about their organisation before donating, just to be sure the money i'm giving is going to go to the right place. When questioned, this.... person proved unable to answer which organisation the donations are to be channeled toward the aid effort, and the biggest giveaway was not being able to produce a contact number, or even an office address. Realising that the cover has been blown the said persons beat a hasty retreat.
Specifics i will not go into, since i'm pissed off already. The grim reality that people would actually seek to illegally profit from such a tragedy... makes me feel like doing things to them which would be inappropriate to put here hehe.

Another Malaysian journalist has similar suspicions (about possible impostors getting "donations") : http://mggpillai.com/article.php3?sid=2057

But thats enough doom and gloom for now. I just started my new term at Uni just a coupla weeks ago, was really happy to see my friends again, and meeting new people as well, the usual stuff. Tho the workload they're facing really seemed to have taken its toll; the atmosphere was considerably muted than before. And since the Jan intake had alot less people, not to mention the Business and IT students had been relocated, the campus was surprisingly quiet.

Time at uni seems to have passed by in the blink of an eye in 2 short weeks, from being "persuaded" into joining the Talent Time thingy (thanks to Joe :P), and now suddenly deciding to join several activities like the uni debate, our very own "The U" student newspaper..... life seems to have shifted to a higher gear.

Now i'm starting to sound like that "Friends" theme song. Damnit.