Appearance In Rise: Ini Kalilah

-
Rise: Ini Kalilah ending credits. Do you see it?

Tomorrow could be your last chance to see my doublechin on the big screen. Check showtimes here.

Until three weeks ago, I never would have expected to be featured on the big screen. Honestly, I didn't know until Cikgu Dilla tagged me on Facebook. On Malaysia Day, I saw the movie for myself &, although it started out very slowly & was a little thin on character development, I appreciated how it depicted the experiences of many Malaysians globally & abroad. It reminded me of what I personally went through to get my postal vote home to Kuching. There were plenty of moments during the movie when I had to suck the tears back into my eyes & hold my breath to keep from making loud sobs. My waterworks went on overdrive during the father & child scene at the end. Did you have a waterworks moment too? When was yours?


I didn't know about being featured, because the producers forgot to inform me about it. LOL. Thankfully, they didn't forget to include me in the credits. In early August, one of the producers messaged me for permission to use my video. She said that it was shortlisted along with a few other videos, all of which were found via Facebook hashtags & YouTube search. When she didn't get back to me, I thought that they had gone with another video. I think they made the right choice with this cikgu, don't you?

When I saw myself on screen, y'alls, I so sangat bangga tau! Macam glow in the dark dalam cinema gelap tu! I watched the movie with my wife & brother in law. When he saw it, he was like "Wait. That's you!" My wife said it best. She just held my hand & beamed. It was my once in a lifetime opportunity! My literally 3 seconds of fame, so glad I didn't blink & miss it. After the scene where a main character broke down in tears after receiving terrible news, 3 seconds of a Youtube video of mine was played as a transition into the scene where a little girl was watching my video while asking her mother why people went home to vote. It was the Youtube video where I spoke about how global Malaysians were moving heaven & earth to get their postal votes home & the miracle of personally finding someone to bring my postal vote back to Kuching. I also encouraged Malaysians in Malaysia to go out & vote; making their votes count, instead of buang undi or tak undi. If you watched the movie, did you realise that it was me? Did my doublechin-chin freak you out?

I'm so glad that I spent Malaysia Day watching a movie that's not about rampas suami orang, cinta segi tiga, kahwin perogol, gangsterisme, lawak bodoh, kontrak berjuta-juta, datuk-datuk, datin-datin, or hantu. I watched & was part of a movie depicting stories of regular Malaysians struggling to care for their loved ones, make hard decisions, & stand up for what is right. The movie reminds me of, not too long ago, how Malaysians all around the world rose up, banded together & self-organised in order to get postal votes back home. Together, we fought to make our votes count.

We saved Malaysia, but the struggle has only just begun. We need to right many wrongs & ensure that new Malaysia is for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, or socioeconomic status. Tomorrow is your last chance! Experience & reflect on Rise: Ini Kalilah, a Malaysian production worthy of your support!

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th...
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni...
Open Full Post »

Exotic Fruit: Buah Isu

-
Image
I've been teaching in the Iban motherland for more than 1 year now & I have tasted many exotic fruits exclusively available only within these quiet secluded timber forests. Now, don't you smirk at me! You perverted baskets I call friends are thinking about a different 'fruit'! There are no innuendos here. The exotic fruits that I'm talking about are REAL fruits. First, let me introduce you to the cousin of the king of fruits... Buah Isu Buah Isu resembles it's cousin, the Durian , but I was told that it is NOT in the Durian family. The spikes are longer & they are sharper. They are also very much smaller than the Durians. It's about the size of a man's palm. It has a pleasantly sweet fragrance which is not pungent like the Durian's. Because of it's size, it is easily opened with a cleaver. After opening my first Isu, I couldn't help but bounce off the walls in gay laughter. It was all too amusing to me! I though...
Open Full Post »

Tip SPM Dari Pelajar-Pelajar Cemerlang Straight A+

-
Image
This morning, I attended Kapten Talk 2.0: Student Edition. After feeding my baby & tucking him in for his late morning nap, I finally had time to look at my messages. Lo' & behold, a friend sent me a poster about a webinar by straight-A+ students. Interesting! I sheepishly looked at the date, what? TODAY! Heart racing, I quickly glanced at the time, 11 PG. Oh, petang. Wait a minute, MANA ADA 11 PETANG? PAGI LA BODO! My eyes darted to the upper right corner of the screen. 10.45AM! I quickly forwarded the poster + some ulasan to ALL my students' groups as well as to my school staff's chatgroup on WhatsApp. Feeling bad that I gave them so little notice, I knew I had to attend, take notes & share those notes with my students. Since I'm doing that, I might as well share it with everyone. The notes are written in my broken BM to include my lowest-performing students. "How much you achieve is how much you prepare" - Luqman Nawar, 9A+
Open Full Post »