aku.kami.semua;-)

Hey guys! Naito here!

So if you know anything about us by now, you'll know that we're ex-STF bandgirls (ahehehehe)... and the band has just finished a round of furious performing on July 5th. NATCOMP!

Izyan couldn't make it, but I made a short vlog about our (my) experience staying with the band as a volunteer so she'll feel like she's right there with us ;u; I've been meaning to do a behind-the-scenes sort of thing involving the band just to give a glimpse of what band life is like - this is a more personal portrayal of what it's like to be an STF Band supporter, out on the field helping the kids get up on their feet and hit the ground running.

Most of the videos are really raw - I didn't cut anything out between clips, so that I could capture the candidness of the atmosphere. This is what it was like to be down there, though my only regret is that I didn't take enough videos, haha. :3

I've had the best two days of my life - and I hope the atmosphere and spirit of the band and its supporters continues to be this strong forever.




And now to the bloggy stuff! Photo time!
(click to see full size)

Painting the Color Guards' flags on the morning of the competition

The band in the holding area, awaiting the go-ahead for rehearsal

0711 volunteers on rehearsal day Mommy Zera and the emergency bassdrum skin

Percussionists!

The 0711 batch reunited

Loyal supporters!

Helpers Zera and Naito

Gemuruh jiwa!

The stadium as seen from our seats

All bands at the stadium, waiting for results

Welcome to NATCOMP/MWBC 2013!

He gave humans two, in fact: one left brain, one right brain. One to handle logic, and another to deal with emotion.
Then He gave humans something other animals did not possess: wit, otherwise known as 'akal'.

Let us ponder this fact for a while. No other animal on Earth has such a thing, this wit. Wit is not "intelligence" - I'm sure you'll agree that birds who can make tools, monkeys who can learn sign language, and dugongs who can blow bubbles in the shape of rings are intelligent. Wit does not mean "emotion", either - cats can feel fear too, as you threaten them with your boot. Wit is an amazing thing - it is our conscience, our logic, our inventiveness. It is what drives the human race to be much more advanced than other animals, what helps the human race acquire civilization.
Question is, why us humans? Why not gorillas, who are much stronger and just as capable as humans in decision-making? Why us, the human race, with our naked skin and soft flesh and laughable teeth and 'claws'? We could easily be bested by other species, given the fact that we have such little protection, not even tough skin or sharper teeth.

When you think about it, there are a lot more other species more worthy of acquiring this wit instead of us. Because, without it, we would already be extinct.

Surely Allah gave us wit for a reason. He wants us to use it. He even gave us the responsibility of being leaders to all other species, of caring  for the Earth. Well, that's quite a big planet, if you ask me; and caring for it is a big responsibility.

Let's come to the present. Mankind invented the Internet, this magical thing that disseminates information like crazy. People from opposite ends of the Earth can reach each other without a problem. Everyone can share whatever they feel like sharing - thoughts, ideas, facts, outbursts, and so on. Stuff that other animals can never even dream of doing.
Pretty amazing, huh?
But there's danger there. Such free trade of ideas can become misleading. Ideas and fact blend together, and pretty soon it gets hard to differentiate what is real and what is not. The loudest people on the Internet become the most influential, even though there are millions others who are far more intelligent and more worthy of being followed, and who are ignored because they do not have a voice as strong. And every lie they spread, every misconception, every false truth, is gobbled up and taken wholeheartedly by those who keep up with these noisy people.

Enter the Information Age. Advances in technology are now being made solely to improve communications on a global scale. Typing on your phone becomes as easy as talking to someone else. You're cool if you know the latest trending videos on YouTube, and you're weird if you still primarily listen to the radio. 'Fitting In' online becomes a desirable thing, something that every person strives for, something so important it starts to replace personal, face-to-face relationships and interaction. And again, the best way to be recognized is to follow the strongest voice you find, even if that voice speaks of lies.

So where are we going with this? You may ask. What does this have to do with anything?

In the light of the spreading of what I call "collective consciousness", I find myself increasingly irritated with the horde of people who just follow what their 'leaders' say, without question, without thinking for themselves. If they support this guy, for example, everything he does is right, and anyone who doesn't think so is lambasted with insults. It's not good for the very human trait that is tolerance, regardless of differences (no, I don't think any animal would accept a member of their kind who has an extra eye, thank you). It's also not good for your brain - because all you're doing is following, none of the two hemispheres of the brain are functioning very much. In fact, I bet it's only the impulsive part of the brain that is activated at all.

What happened to wit?

As I said, Allah gave us wit for a reason, and the reason is for us to use it. There is a reason why He gave us the capacity to form our own personalities, our own opinions, our own values on what we believe is right or wrong. He gave us two sides of our brain so that when we make decisions, we can take into account the logical, 'best' way to make them, and also how we feel about what we are about to do. Pair that with wit, and you've got a being who can make important moral decisions that may possibly impact the way that being lives. And that's what allows humans the strength and capacity to be responsible for planet Earth.

All I'm saying is that every person should remember that Allah gave us all wit for us ALL to use. We should make our OWN decisions, instead of blindly following the crowd. And in making those decisions, we shouldn't rely on just the emotional side of the brain, or just the logical side; in order to make an effective decision, we should use both. Just because something angers you doesn't mean it's wrong, and just because something breaks the law, it doesn't mean it's unmoral.

Before you make your decisions, stop for a while and think. Find out (by yourself!) the truth, the WHOLE truth, from unbiased and clear-cut sources, not the truth as shown through the lens of another individual/group. With what you know, weigh it against your wit and your values, and find out what you feel based on what you have found. Once you've found the whole truth, you might find that killing a cat isn't so wrath-inducing to you anymore; once you know that the cat was ailing and in pain, and it had no family to go to or no way to get better. Still, you might think it is wrong to take a life. And that's perfectly fine - that's your OWN value after all. Some people have different values, and they might think differently.

Just because your decision is unpopular, it doesn't make it wrong. You have your own thought processes, your own values, your own way of looking at things. Never, NEVER undermine your own decisions solely on the basis of what other people think - but at the same time, be open as possible to others' takes on what you view. Never let YOUR voice be drowned in the voice of collective consciousness if you believe you are in the right. But at the same time, do your OWN research and come to your OWN conclusions. Know all the facts before weighing your values and feelings towards something, and never let anything else influence your view on what you know to be the truth.

Long story short, study before you make a decision, and stick to it if you know you're right, even if people disagree. We are all born with wit, and we ALL have the right to use it.

Cheerios,
Hikari Naito

by HikariNaito

So I'm really late on the info portal, I know... (Aina and Izyan are much, much more active than I am, and I believe you already know what's going on in their lives, heh) Anyways, this post is just to inform you guys that I'm currently studying at INTI International University, Nilai, under a MARA scholarship (Alhamdulillah)... If all goes well (Insyaallah), I'll be flying to the United States by August, to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue Software Engineering (well, the course description is officially 'Computer Science', but I know what I really want!).

First of all I'd really like to thank my parents (to no end!) for endlessly supporting me, for helping me out, for kicking me in the ass when I most needed it, for always being there even though I disappointed them on a few occasions... The list goes on forever. I'd take up a terabyte of text just to attempt completing that list, perhaps more.

Next. I'm really, really thankful to MARA for offering me this opportunity to expand my borders. Without the sponsorship, my parents would be forced to use their money on me.... _{and in the process, sell our cars, the beds, the Xbox, the tv, the house itself...} and there wouldn't be any more left for my sisters to continue their education. I may be many things, selfishness being one of those things, but no way in Heaven or Hell could I let my sisters lose out on that opportunity because of me. I'd willingly drop out of university if it means all my siblings could have the chance to do what I'm doing now - chasing my dreams.

And I'd be damned if I put all my countrymen's tax money to waste - by wasting my education, or keeping it to myself. Even if I find that I like living in the States much, much more than living at home, I would come back to Malaysia. Our country needs more educators, more people who can show their fellow countrymen that no matter what profession they're in, they have the power to bring good to the world. And that dreams can really come true.

Aina, for example, dreams of being a psychologist. I honestly don't understand why people say being a psychologist is 'kerjaya picisan', as she put it (in fact, loads of MARA students in INTI want to be psychologists). Psychologists like Sigmund Freud, who was particularly interested in the human subconscious, influenced the Western world and helped that world to advance. Other psychologists, in general, hold noble jobs - they can coax people out of depression, help the mentally ill reconnect with their families (do you know how hard it is to live with a mother who has dementia? Look up The Crooked Man, a Wolf RPG game, on YouTube), and basically improve the quality of life of these people so they can be able to experience happiness.
How on earth is giving happiness to people a lame thing?

Izyan is going to be a French language teacher. So you think that's lame? Well, you haven't been to Paris during winter now, have you? When you learn a foreign language, you're not just learning the words - you absorb their culture, understand their minds, and appreciate the diversity/moral values/beliefs that the speakers of the language bring. She is currently studying the language of an advanced country, whose people are gifted with creativity and really good fashion sense. And when she comes home, she'll be the one spreading the values she learned from the City of Love. She'll be teaching her students a whole new way of thinking, expanding their minds past blind homework and Add Maths (hehe, sorry Pak Yem (/ﾟДﾟ)/ ). Teaching kids to be open-minded is the best thing one could do, no matter what kind of teacher you are.

Me? As I said, I'll be a software engineer. Sounds great, right? Big paycheck and everything? Well, what if I told you that I'm planning to enter the gaming industry?
Elders used to teach their children and grandchildren moral values and life lessons through storytelling. You know never to talk badly of them or disrespect them because they hold wisdom that is many times greater than your own age. People progressed, and invented the radio and television - storytelling mediums that make you laugh, make you cry, make you cower in your beds, and make you remember never to leave your house door unlocked as you go out. More progress - and lo and behold, the console was born.
Now I live with a gamer dad (who taught me how to handle the computer, the PS2, the Wii, and now the Xbox 360) - and based on that you'd probably think, "Oh, of course she's a gamer, her parents play too." Yes they did (Mom loves the Xbox Kinect and Wii!), and supporting my being a gamer is one of the biggest things in my life that I will forever be thankful for. I learned many of my life lessons and formed principles because of the games I played - I used to want to be a policewoman because I believed in protecting justice,  I really value my friends because I believe that friendship conquers all, I believe in outer space and aliens and dragons... ^{oops did I go off track?}... The point is, games taught me a lot of things as I grew up.

Back to the topic. The best games tell a story - ranging from cliches like a warrior saving a princess from timeless evil to more current goings-on like soldiers preventing terrorist attacks that could destroy countries. Sometimes an odd game or two pops up - games about the aftermath of an apocalypse, games where your character is already dead and is fighting to be reborn, games about ancient mythology... the list goes on. All interesting as, let's say, movies on the same topics... but the difference is that, with games, you are the main character. You are the person controlling the story. All those events aren't just happening to the character; in a way, they are happening to you, too. The level of immersion you get with games is what causes you to break down in tears when Lee (from the Walking Dead game) is forced to die, what makes you jump in ecstatic happiness when, finally, Sora is reunited with Kairi (in the Kingdom Hearts series), what keeps you on the edge of your seat when Neku attempts to kill his own partner Shiki (from the NDS game The World Ends With You). Therefore, they are more effective ways to spread moral values and wisdom from expert researchers and old-timers. They let you experience what it must really feel like to fight in a war, for example, and give you a taste of what it's like to put your life on the line for the sake of your family or the ones you love.

I really want to be a part of that. To create game engines like the Unreal Engine already powering many games on the market, or the Crytek engine behind the amazing fluidity and graphics of the Crysis games. Oh, and you know what would be really, really cool? I want to be on the first team to bring virtual reality gaming - real VR stuff, not just a camera like the Kinect! - to the household. To program what you feel in your fingers as you touch something, to immerse you in the sights of a completely different world around you, to give weight to your virtual boots as you trek through the jungles of an Avatar-esque planet. Imagine the possibilities!

Of course, if I could design/get to use a holographic storage device that could read and write hundreds of terabytes of data on a pendant-size crystal, that'd be a big plus, too. I heard Nintendo's going to be the first videogame company to use the technology.

Anyway, this is just another rant. The point is, follow your dreams no matter what!

Geek Naito out!

Assalamualaikum. Salut à tous les mondes

orite, just want to drop by for a while to let out my stress.I just begin my new semestre in my college (pon boleh) and so far berjalan agak lancar.
Not like before, kali ni setiap penuntut semester kali ni diminta memilih tajuk subjek sendiri. So, di sini agak mencabar sedikit sebab sebagai penuntut baru, Yan kene bersaing dengan pelajar yang lebih advance dari Yan yang agak masih merangkak di sini. Alhamdulillah, Yan tidak menjadikan ini sebagai alasan untuk Yan menjadi seperti ikan bilis di dalam lautan yang besar, tetapi Yan menjadikan ia sebagai satu anjakan paradigma untuk terus mencapai cita-cita yang diimpikan.
So, kali ni Yan nak share about satu subjek yang Yan rasa teruja nak share dengan semua orang.

Pratique l'écriture créative. I just love to be a writer but technically for now, so not very convinient mungkin sebab ada lah sikit-sikit ke-khilafan Yan. Insyaallah Yan nak juga at least try . Dalam kelas ni, Yan akan belajar cara-cara membuat penulisan creative but of corse it is in french. Yada2

Now, i just wanna share some poem that i just wrote. I know nobody can understand....but just like i said before, i just wanna share

C’est mon amour  qu’était disparu.....

 

To all children, please appriciate your mother. Without them we are nothing.

Then, respect your father too.

Life is a long way journey......