Now

Doctor

I would like to congratulate all my buddies who have successfully passed medical school. It's not easy to get that doctor title and I'm extremely proud of em. If I meet some of you guys in the future I'll remember to place those two nice symbols - Dr - right before I mention your name. Of course, I'll only do that once :)

When I get my ACAS, MAAA please do not hesitate to call me Adam Johari, ACAS, MAAA ok? And when I get my FCAS, MAAA please do not hesitate to call me that too. Just once would be enough ;)

Once I get my titles, say around three years onwards, I'm going to get my car license plate the following: "FCAS 1" & "FCAS 2". Don't copy my idea and start putting "DR 1" or "DR 2" on your license plates.

I hope you guys who have achieved that Dr. title take a good relaxing vacation. You guys should also pat yourselves on the back. Good things don't come easy.

Congratulations! Well deserved.

ps: Shuhud kau skarang Dr. Shuhud ke?

PPSMI

Today, Malaysia has started implementing learning Math and Science in her schools in English, as compared to before where Math and Science subjects were taught in Malay. This new implementation has created quite a stir in the community. Some people are for it. Some are against it (A Samad Said. haha). From my standpoint though, I think that more people are for this new movement, however I might be wrong.

Let's try to access the situation first. First of all, Malaysia is a third world country. OK, some of you people out there are saying "No, we aren't a third world country" and instead consider ourselves a "developing" country. That works for me. When I hear the words "Third World Country" I imagine places like Uganda or Sudan. Anyways, being the "developing" country that we are, we have to be able to be honest to ourselves in accessing our current situation. Today's technology is moving so fast and so rapid that it would be almost impossible for the people in our "developing" country to keep up with it in our own language.

Almost everything technological today from rocket science to using Facebook requires at least the minimum amount of English understanding. However, if you are playing catch-up and you only aim for the 'minimum' in your pursuit, that's all that you will end up with - the minimum. Knowing just the minimum amount of English to get by with technology will mean that we will always be at the back... if not we will probably be mediocre at best.

I believe that is why Malaysia is trying to instill this new thingy called Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) or simply put it "Learning Math and Science in English". To start standing and sitting with the other developed nations in technology at the same height.

Of course, there are always people who are against change. They are called Melayu. Boy, don't we Malays hate change. We don't care if it is good change or bad change or even changing seats, we hate change. Hardwork and Change are the two things that are Kryptonitic to Malays.

I heard that there was a note in Facebook created by some Malays who are studying in Imperial College, England that support the tearing down of the PPSMI. Well, I don't know you guys, but man aren't you guys dumb.*FU*. Haha. Some of you say you feel how hard it must be for the kampung (rural) kids to adapt to English. *awwww. Truthfully? No you don't. Non of you guys who are studying in Imperial even know a kid from a kampung. Nak berlakon sensitif plak. Tak tahan aku. Dah blajar jauh-jauh pun bengong.

I don't understand why that there are people who are against the PPSMI. You go to school... you learn Math (you really don't need English to understand this) and Science (not that much English involved) and that's about it. It's not like you have to write English Literature or compose poems in English.

The PPSMI will help Malaysia in the long run.

Maybe it's human nature to disagree with things. I feel like even if a good idea is thrown at the table, people will still disagree on it.



(Side note: I hate all these buzzwords like "Change", "Akar Umbi", "Democracy", "Hope" etc)

Silly me

I dream of going to Wharton. I know I know, I don't have what it takes. People don't need to tell me that I'm unqualified for it. But man, wouldn't that be a dream? To go to the one school that you always looked high upon? I don't care about the Harvards or the Stanfords or the Cambridges and Oxfords. I've always dreamt of Wharton.

Passing actuarial exams are my main priority. And by the time I finish all of them I'll probably be around my early 30s? By that time I'll be a man with a family and kids and priorities and work. When that time comes maybe my dreams for Wharton would have already vanished...

But not for now.

I got your back bro

I consider myself the defender of my bros. *Haha how bold of me to nominate myself for that position*. Although most of my bros are grounded and can think at the top of their own feet, I feel like the extra support that I give is like a moral booster that makes my bros awesomer.

I've seen my bros go through rough times. Some go through financial problems, some go through family problems, some go through studying problems... but the one that I will absofuckinglutely not let my bros go through alone is when they have problems with women/men (bros are not just for the male gender).

For the ladies who play around with my bros:
I will not let some of you girls out there who think that cause you average around a B+ in looks and that you talk like a freaking cartoon or act all cute that you can play around with my bros' feelings. Some of my bros don't got game, but I am someone who has already won the game so I'll give them my best advice. I will tell my bro to dump your sorry ass. And when you get older (or fat) I'll remind my bro of how lucky he is not to be with the donkey that you are now. Hahahaha.

For the guys who messes with my bro-lady friends:
I was thinking about mentioning pounding you to a pulp... but most of the readers in this blog know that I am a non-violent person. Instead, I will use every dirty tactic that the Malay race is known for. Bad mouthing, town crying, slandering, backstabbing... yeah... I'll use that against you.

Don't mess with my bros. Grrrrr

Danger

Have you guys ever watched Million Dollar Baby? If you haven't, then you should. It is really really extremely awesomely good. Based on the shows that I have recommended to my friends and family, for example - Bolt, Gone Baby Gone, Definitely Maybe, Good Will Hunting, Equilibrium - to name a few, you guys should expect me to be a good 'recommenderer'.

Anyways, the show is beside the point. What I want to talk about here is a character named "Danger" within Million Dollar Baby. Danger is basically a loser. He has the coordination of a person on crack and he is as thin as a stick. In the show he thinks he's extremely talented in boxing, and if given the opportunity to fight anyone he thinks that he could take out that opponent.

Of course, Clint Eastwood as the manager of the boxing gym knows that Danger wouldn't be able to fight anyone and survive. So, under his supervision and Morgan Freeman's supervision, they never allow Danger to go one-on-one (sparing) with any of the other gym members.

OK now I'm going to sidetrack for awhile.

If I were a character in Million Dollar Baby I would definitely be Danger. Except in the real world I am not trying to box but I'm trying to run a 5K run and kick people's asses. All the years of staying unhealthy and eating loads of crap have made me weak and lethargic. In fact, today I got outran by a midget when I was jogging by the lake (true story).

My co-workers are Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. They know my limitations and have told me not to get my hopes up too high. Of course they are encouraging, but at the same time I'm sure they wouldn't want me to drop dead while running. One of my co-worker's mom is also running in the 5K run that I have joined. And I'll tell you guys now, if I like get whooped ass by my buddies mom I think a little piece inside of me is going to die.

Back to Danger....

He gets beaten up really bad by someone in the gym when Clint and Morgan weren't there. What will happen to Adam "Danger" Johari? On April 11th you'll know.

Scholarships...

Sometimes I wish that the Malaysian government would just abolish scholarships. People abuse it so much these days. It's ridiculous that the government spends so much money on our kids' education when some of them don't appreciate it.

Some kids get scholarships and still they aren't satisfied. They look at other scholarships that have better offers and get pissed off thinking they should have got that one. Ingrates.

Some kids are super rich yet they also get a scholarship. For what? If your daddy can pay why do you get a scholarship when some other poor kid misses out?

Some kids are just plain dumb or plain lazy. Those kids do not deserve scholarships the most. If you feel like you are going to play music, play video games, hang out/chilling all the time, even if you pray all the freaking time but you don't study... then don't take the scholarship. You weren't given the scholarship to learn religious studies.

I hate scholarships even though I got one. I'm grateful for it, but at the same time I feel guilty cause I know there are other kids who deserve it as well.

One day if I become rich I won't let my children get scholarships. Even if they are smart and earn it, if I have sufficient money I won't let them take a dime.

SPM Results

Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia is becoming more and more pathetic. During my parents' time it was almost impossible to get all A's. Getting all B's was considered a huge achievement, one that would enable a student to study overseas on a scholarship. Today however, things have changed so much that the SPM has become a joke.

I remember taking the SPM in MRSM back in 2001. Boy that exam was hard. There was so much memorization, so much thinking, and even a lot of guessing involved in taking that exam. These days the SPM is set up in a way where people would just take 20 exams and get 19A's in em.

Ridiculous.

I truly believe that the younger generation is becoming smarter and smarter. No doubt about that. I see some of my juniors at the U of I and I'm proud that they are actually performing extremely well in their studies. On top of that, most of them are also very outgoing and adapt well to their new social environment.

But, I refuse to believe that the marginal increase in intelligence of youngsters today is increasing by such an amount depicted by the SPM. 19 A1's??? Seriously??? What 20 subjects did all these kids take??

Something has to be done to our education system. The memorization has to stop somewhere. Exams should not reflect entirely past papers but should be creative and innovative enough to challenge the young ones.

Every year our SPM results are getting better by a good margin... Should this continue? If I were the minister of education I'd put in a couple of actuarial exam questions in our Ad Math SPM paper.

Then I'd just sit back and see what happens.

Neverending...

I know how some of you guys thought that after college you wouldn't have to ever take an exam again. You thought about how magnificent life would be that you didn't have to learn endless texts of materials, that you could finally get a full eight hours of sleep and that you wouldn't need to drink coffee anymore. All of the exam anxiety would just drift away when you graduated... right?

Wrong.

Not for you actuaries. Not for you graduate students. Not for you doctors. Not for you accountants. *insert other jobs that still have examinations* All of ya'll are screwed.

I am 24 going to be 25 and I feel like I will be taking exams forever. The anxiety will never wither away. There will be days that I have to wake up early, get my morning Gatorade and start revising my articles. And that vicious cycle will continue on forever until the day I die.

An exam is the best analogy of pain that I can think of. You know how life is more interesting when you can feel pain?... That's a lie. Screw that. That's what your mommy tells you to cushion you when you were down at a moment or that you're a loser. You think those fat Sheikhs in Arab land are complaining about how good their oil money is? I don't think so.

On a side note, I'm predicting that people from Brunei and all the Arab nations are going to be useless in the future once they lose their oil. A country is great because of its education. From my observation and understanding, those countries (today) don't invest in their children's education (the children there are spoilt little brats too) and it's only a matter of time before they render themselves useless.

Prove me wrong.

You wouldn't be able to get away with...

1. Asking a lady if she's pregnant when she's not.
2. Accidently using the N word if you are not black.
3. Smile in front of the mirror and someone else notices.
4. Fart in the elevator.
5. Listen to broadway music for guys.
6. Love Barry Manilow, Clay Aiken or David Archuleta for guys.
7. Being Asian and not doing a peace sign in front of a camera.
8. Print comics at the office printer (Naruto is ok. Everyone loves Naruto).
9. Having a blog.
10. Hummmm a song that you acknowledgely told everyone you disliked.
11. Sing incorrect lyrics in front of Ijai.
12. Sing the corus of songs but humm the other parts.
13. Stop looking at eBay.
14. Liking travelling more than gadgets.