...U of M Photography Club?

I joined the club in the Fall of last year. At the time the outgoing president handed the task of organizing the club to two sophomores. One, was a Caucasian girl who was an editor with the Michigan Daily and the other was a Singaporean guy.

I went for the first AGM and was excited that they were offering darkroom facilities to members. I had absolutely no experience in the darkroom, so I thought that it would be a chance for me to pick up some pointers for free. The Singaporean guy was really friendly and was excited to meet a fellow Asian who was really into the art.

Anyway, as the weeks went by, the only thing that the Caucasian girl talked about was the darkroom. The only organized thing we had was the darkroom hours. No outings, no photo critique sessions, zilch. I was getting really frustrated.

On top of that, the Caucasian girl was pretty overbearing and didn’t give much breathing space for the Singaporean to make decisions. Actually they were both equal in rank. More like co-presidents. Another thing about her was that she was so involved with her job at the Michigan Daily, that she didn’t make any effort to organize more activities other than hold dark room hours. She didnt even respond to emails. What a lamer.

Just think about it. How can you go and process prints when you don’t go take pictures? Dark Room processing is only a tiny part of photography. Most professionals in the field don’t even know how to use a dark room. So why was there so much emphasis on the use of the dark room? If there was more emphasis on picture taking techniques and no dark room use, I would have been totaly fine with it. Now it's more like a Dark Room club than a Photo Club.

I was so frustrated with the club up to a point where I even though of breaking off and starting a REAL Photography club.

Anyway, now the Caucasian girl and the Singaporean guy have disappeared and now all of a sudden I’m getting emails from a Caucasian guy who acts like he’s the President. He called for the AGM meeting and he’s been posting up dark room hours. I guess the Caucasian girl must have handed the club to him. The first activity they got to do was? Take a guess….yeah, have a dark room session. From the way things are going, I believe the club is going to be just a repeat of what it was last semester.

My boycott on the club is still in effect.

...MTV in the USA?

I’ve noticed that the local MTV channel is flooded with reality TV instead of real music! And sadly, when there ever is a music video, it’s either rap or hip hop. What’s the deal with that? MTV Asia is really what MTV should be about…Music Videos. After all, doesn’t MTV stand for Music TeleVision?

Turn on the channel and all I see is Laguna Beach, Real World, blah blah. Where did all the music go? There’s enough reality TV already on the Style Network, Fox and VH1. When I switch on MTV I want to see music videos! It was what made MTV really stand out from the other channels. Sad to say, the trend of whetting America’s appetite of reality shows has conquered music television.

Okay, so they wanted to make up for it by coming up with MTV2, which is more music oriented. But really, the artists there are virtually unknown. Most of them haven’t even broken through to the mainstream airwaves. Come on, if you have to have a separate award for MTV2 during the MTV Music Awards, you know that the artists there aren’t exactly from the same basket. Apples vs. Limes?

My conclusion?

Asia: 1, USA: 0!

..The Asian Invasion?

When you mention "asian", most Americans think of those who eat only rice and have yellow skin and slit-eyes. How ignorant. Apparently, there are subclassifications for the Asians in America. Check this out:

Twinkie
Your significant other is not Asian and never has been.
You have few Asian friends, if any.
You are embarrassed at family events because you cannot speak your language and everyone has to switch to English to communicate with you.
You have no idea that the other types of Asians on this list even exist.
You are the only Asian on this list that does not know what Bubble Tea is.
You drive a Ford or some other domestic car and if you drive a Honda, it is stock.

Asian-American
You claim yourself as Asian, but real Asians think you're whitewashed and non-Asians see you as a foreigner. You fit in nowhere.
You have heard of Bubble Tea but have never actually had any.
You are confused about your cultural identity and express this frustration through spoken word performances at your college.
You read A. magazine and think it's great.
You do not know who Leon, Aaron, Sammi, Hikki, or Kangta are.
You are only vaguely aware of the other Asians below.

FOB (Fresh Off the Boat)
You were not born in America.
You know who Leon, Aaron, Sammi, Hikki, and Kangta are. In fact, you have seen them at Atlantic City or Las Vegas recently.
You speak your native language fluently and so do all your friends.
You do not have any non-Asian friends.
Your parents do not speak any English.
When you speak English, you like to make everything plural.
You get extremely good grades in school.
You cannot dance.

SuperFob
Your command of the English language is minimal and you don't care.
You like dim sum chicken feet.
You do not own a single CD, VCD, Video game, or DVD that isn't bootlegged.
Your only hangout is Chinatown.
All the lights in your house are fluorescent.
You dry your clothes outside your window.
You need a haircut.
You either smell like cigarettes or food.

Fobabee
You are an Asian-American or Twinkie who has recently "awoken".
You have a newly found fetish of Asian girls/boys.
You have taken the Asian Studies course at college.
You are trying to learn as much as possible about your culture to make up for your lifetime of trying to be white.

Gangsta Fob
If you are lucky, you will grow to become Fobulous Gangsta Fob.
You have shot another Asian.
Your favorite hangout is a pool hall.
When you talk, you sound like a cross between a Fob and an urban black kid.
Your hair looks silly, but no one will tell you because you'll shoot them.
You have a serious gambling problem.
You are a Rice-boy, but your mods are cheap and are never painted to match the rest of your car.
No one tells you your rice ride looks cheap because you'll shoot them.
You want to have a Tab girlfriend.

Tab (Trendy Asian Bitch)
You shop at A/X, Bebe, Banana Republic and Club Monaco.
You only wear black and will occasionally wear white to "mix it up".
You do not weigh more than 105 lbs.
You have never paid for dinner at a restaurant in your life.
You are a makeup expert, in fact, you appear completely flawless.
You do not smile in public.
You are the object of desire of all Asian men and you know it.
You smoke.
Your cell phone is completely customized.
On the inside flip of your cell phone is a sticker pic of you and your man.
You only date Asian and will only date a boy with a nice car.
You are often seen with Rice-boys.

Hoochie Tab
You are an import car model.
Your boobs are not real.
There are naked pictures of you floating around on the internet somewhere.
Stiletto heels are your favorite.
Your role models are Francine Dee and Kaila Yu .
Your boyfriend is a Gangsta Fob.
You cheat on your boyfriend.
Unlike most Asians, you do not do well in school.

Rice-Boy
You drive an Asian import. Usually a Honda or Acura.
Your souped up car (known as a Rice-ride or Rice-rocket) is unrecognizable from it's original stock form.
Your exhaust pipe is big enough for your head to fit in.
The spoiler on your car looks like it was made by Boeing.
The interior of your car also looks like it was designed by Boeing.
You always drive like you are racing someone.
You are not afraid of dying in a crash, but you are afraid of speed bumps and parking lot on-ramps.
The only other person besides yourself who can sit in your car is your 105 lbs Tab girlfriend. If anyone else sits in your car, the entire bottom of it will be touching the ground.
Even though your car is a Honda, it goes faster and is worth more than a Lotus Esprit.
If you drive a Civic, your dream car is a Supra. If you drive a Supra, your dream car is a Skyline (which you can never have).

Fobulous
You speak perfect English and you are fluent in your native language.
You have Asian friends as well as non-Asian friends.
You listen to Asian pop as well as American music.
You are equally aware of both popular American culture and Asian pop culture.
You are a good dancer.
You date Asian by choice even though you could rock the opposite sex of any other race.
You are a good designer and have superior HTML skills.
You have an Apt107 page AND an AA page and the guest books in both are packed.
For you, FOB stands for Fabulous Oriental Being.
You have lots of Asian pride.

(sourced from:www.yellowbridge.com)

So what sort of Asian are you?

...Malaysian Government's Anti-Piracy Efforts??

And what a lame effort that is. The last time I checked, Malaysia was ranked third, behind Taiwan and China in the list of the Top 10 breeding grounds for piracy. I guess it is part of Asian culture not to pay for something that can be obtained at a lower cost even though it’s downright illegal. Piracy in Asia is so widespread that it’s become part of our culture. Pay US$39.99 for a copy of The Sims and I guarantee you that you’ll be raising a couple of eyebrows.

Now why isn’t the government doing anything about it? Of course they are. In the past couple of years, the Malaysian government has been taking certain measures to curb piracy. Amongst them, are raids and rewarding people who give tip offs. But really how effective are these measures? Would someone want to rat out his reliable source of bootlegged software or movies? Wouldn’t it be like biting the very hand that’s feeing them?

One thing I have to say about the raids is….it’s complete rubbish. The pirates are a lot more organized that they used to be. Now they even come equipped with scouts to look out for possible police raids and even diversions to help them elude getting arrested. Another thing that makes the whole effort fall apart is the amount of corruption that’s prevalent amongst the local officers. Word has it that these pirates bribe some policemen with their own contraband. If you have the chance to drop by an officer’s house, chances are you’re probably going to see a couple of pirated copies of DVDs or CDs.

Another really funny thing that I’ve heard is that sometimes, the directives for raids are so specific that the police are blind to everything else. Ever wondered why while the software shops are closed during raids, the illegal DVD stores are still having business as usual? Apparently it’s because the police are looking specifically for illegal copies of SOFTWARE and NOT illegal copies of DVD videos. Seems that the current target for raids are video CDs and audio CDs. As a result, people selling illegal DVDs are operating in broad daylight. So once you know what they’re looking for specifically, just change the format. No more CDs, but DVDs and you’ll be fine.

The ineffectiveness of the government’s efforts goes beyond slack policemen and corrupt immigration officers. I believe that it’s more than that. By being lax with restrictions on piracy, the Malaysian Government is trying to protect the Malaysian Economy. The legal copies of software stream in through our ports or through our phone lines. It becomes illegal when these legal copies are duplicated and distributed to the masses locally. So there’s only the cost of the first copy that goes to General Bill Gates. The other thousands of copies sold, that could have been profit to Mr. Bill has now, instead gone to the local pirates. The Ringgit stays in the country and Uncle Sam gets jack. The same goes for audio CDs and DVD movies.

Sadly the Malaysian Government as to keep the foreign investors happy. If they’re loosing too much to the local pirates, it’s likely that Microsoft/Sun/BMG are not going to bother distributing CDs here. As a result, the economy suffers too. So what does the government do? Well, look like they’re doing something about it of course! The token “1 million Illegal Copies Seized” headline once in a while should do the trick! As a result, the thugs running piracy rings, the foreign investors and most importantly the Malaysians themselves are happy. End of story.

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...Exceptionally Intelligent People?

I’ve always said that being a university student has been a very humbling experience for me. It’s because I’m not in the small pond anymore, but rather in a huge ocean. I’m no longer faced with catfish and tilapias but sharks and whales. No matter how much of a big shot you were back at home, it accounts for nothing in this playing field.

Also, I’ve come to realize that the world is really pretty fair. The saying “Nobody’s Perfect” is really true, with a handful of exceptions. But generally, no one has everything, and if you are extremely blessed with something, there will be some areas in your life that’s lacking.

I’ve noticed that there’s somewhat of a catch to being really smart. It’s either the person’s really lacking in the (most obvious) appearance department, or has some really disturbing idiosyncrasies. Sometimes both. But I’d rather not take the superficial approach to this issue by harping on how the nerdy look isn’t cool. I really think it is. But there are just a few things that I have found disturbing in this bunch of extremely “gifted” people.

1. Exams are like the 4th of July:
While the normal response would be to groan, their faces light up when the professor mentions the word “exam”. I’ve seen cases where one of them rubs his hands and grins with delight. *Shudder*

2. Destructive Tendencies:
I’ve noticed that a couple of them have penchant for breaking things…namely pencils. Maybe it’s their form of release or something. I’ve even head of cases where they bend forks just for kicks. Oh, and they don’t bend them back.

3. Disregard for Layman Terms:
When asked a simple question, they tend to be circuitous or really flamboyant with explaining methods or using terminology. When asked to explain him/herself, the result would often be the person asking the question just as if not more befuddled than before. Usually leads to the assumption of aloofness.

4. Limited Dress Sense:
You’ll see most of them wearing the same clothes day in and day out. Most of them have no more than three shirts to wear out. Definitely not because of financial constraints. Sometimes they do realize how square they are and try to make adjustments. When they do, you can tell they’re trying too hard.

5. Socially Inept:
Most of them are loners. In most cases, it’s because of others being intimidated. Sometimes, they’re just not fun to hang out with. There also are those who hang out in their “fellow geniuses” social circle. Obviously because it’s where they find the most acceptance.

6. Zero on Street Smarts:
I’ve known a couple of sterling students who have the brains but its use is only confined between the covers of books. Throw them in the middle of the city and they’ll probably not come out alive. There are some who don’t even know how to operate a can opener.


7. Taking Extreme Interest in Trivial Things:
I’ve caught one of these curve-setters admiring his fingers as if they’ve just sprouted from the stump of which we call an arm. He went on to admire at them, looking them from different angles for a good two minutes. Heaven knows what’s going through their mind when strange things like that happen.

8. Eerie Expressions during Academic Lectures:
While in lecture one day, I turned a saw this really peculiar expression on one genius’ face while the professor was giving his lecture. While the other students were frantically scribbling down notes, there he was just looking around the classroom with this evil grin from ear to ear on his face. It was as if he was saying “Man, I already know this. Incompetent mere mortals!”

Note: I do not have anything against these people. I just treat them like another interesting university demographic. I absolutely respect and admire them for their God-given gifts. The purpose of this article is just to share some observations that hopefully most of you can relate to. No offence intended.