"Re-cy-cle. That's what we do..."

Putting up a stand-up comedy show is hard. Putting up a stand-up comedy show in Malaysia is harder. Meeting the expectations of the Malaysian audience, much much harder.

Especially when it comes to repeating / recycling jokes.

I can't blame the Malaysian audience. Most aren't comedians or joke writers, let alone be privy to the workings of 'a joke'. As a comedian myself, I'd like to think of jokes as a comedian's children. A joke (usually) starts off as a grain of thought, just like how we human's start off in life as a sperm. This grain of thought, and just like a sperm, will gradually grow, hopefully, into a fully grown adult. But of course, humans reach adulthood in 21 years. Jokes, however, might reach that stage faster and sometimes, slower, depending how dedicated a comedian is. I have been writing jokes for 7 years, and one of my first jokes began it's life as a minute long gag and now, it's has developed into a 8-minute long joke set. I am still developing this joke. Just like how we humans can't top 'developing' as a person.

Developing jokes, from a grain of thought into the perfect infectious laughter trigger, is a lot of work. Somehow, comedians have this habit, this insatiable quest to find the right words, the right tone of voice, or the right pair of shoes to make a joke work, no matter how long the joke is. Sometimes, whilst marinating in a pot of ideas for jokes, one joke occupies our thoughts more than most and we can't move on this one bloody joke is perfected. Such are our ways. And long story short, jokes take time to develop.

So, to assume that comedians are able to churn out joke sets or whole new stand-up comedy shows in a matter a few months is just ridiculous. Ridiculously stupid. Comics don't even shit funny when their stomachs are feeling funny. Comedy is the only form of performing arts where the audience constantly expect something new. No, really. Have you ever been to a Coldplay concert then complain you didn't hear any new songs? As a comedian, I'd like to say sorry for this. We don't have a comedy farm where we can pluck the freshest jokes and throw it away before the joke starts to smell. 

Jokes are much like porn movies - First time, OH YEAH! Second time, not so YEAH more. 


You may want argue that "those Americans, UK, Mozambican, etc are doing it so why not us Malaysian comedians." Well, let's do some simple math. There are around 15 shows in KL in a month and around 25 active performers to rotate from. Now, let's say you watch all the show. Chance are, you may be able to recite some of the jokes as early as week 5, depending on your memory and attention span. In that same period, you might also hear a few new jokes but hey, guess what, those jokes are still at their infant stage.

Oh, why are we so slow compared to the rest of the world? People tend to compare Malaysian comedy with the US, UK, etc etc. Well, they have an industry. An industry that is many years ahead of us, in terms of quality, sustainability (to live as a comedian) and talent. WTF am I saying, we don't even have an 'industry' in Malaysia. We don't even have enough comedians to make a bloody Harlem Shake video.

In the States, believe it or not, some comedians have 5 to 25 writers working for them and all they have to do is to come up with an hour-long HBO Special and BAM! 

"The comedian is suddenly world famous! Loved by all Malaysians! Downloaded by all Malaysians! Malaysian comedy will never be at their level!" 


Hello. They have 51 states to tour and by the time, they are done, a year has passed and one fucking year is more than enough for 25 writers to come up with another HBO Special. How is anyone going to complain about these 'greats' repeat jokes? Unless, you're a roadie. 

We Malaysians only have Kuala Lumpur. That town ain't big enough to escape from recycled jokes. So, if you find yourself allergic to recycled jokes, perhaps you can wait for a year, and I guarantee you, you'll get your own hour-long Malaysian HBO Special.

APA LAGI LU COMEDY FANS MAHU???

I think therefore I am...NOT

You may have heard the statement - "I think therefore I am".  If you didn't, now you do.

And for the more perceptive of beings, you may also know that some French dude came up with this statement as means to proof one's existence; "I am able to form thought, so I must exist". If you didn't, now you do. 

But I really do wonder if this still rings true in this day of age - an age where we have so many levels of existence - the self, the subject, the 'digital' self, etc. If this statement still applies then my thoughts go out the man who died in his office cubicle and was left to rot for 5 days by his colleagues, who never treated him like he existed. I wonder what were his last thoughts and whether he pondered about Descartes' famous statement. Descartes is the French dude, by the way.

And how many people even 'think' nowadays? I 'think' therefore I am? How about 'I assume therefore I am'. That could work, right? I'm sure we all know someone who is convinced that he or she exists in some form of 'assumed existence'.

"Oh, I performed at a 3-minute open mic stand-up comedy show. I'm a stand-up comedian now. I assume therefore I am."

"Oh, I'm an extra in a TV commercial. I'm an actor now. I assume therefore I am."

"Oh, I'm married to someone who is now the Prime Minister of a country. I'm the first lady of this country. But what happens when my husband is no longer the Prime Minister? Will I continue to 'exist' then? 

Oh, fark that shit - I assume therefore I am."

Meh.

 

1st blog of 2012: Retiring jokes

Jokes are like porn videos. They're not as good as the first time you were exposed to it. - me, 2011

Some comedians, like me, retire jokes. Why? Because the jokes have gone stale. Because certain topics - current affairs topics, are not current anymore. Because the jokes do not evoke as much emotion from the audience as before. So, every year, I retire a few jokes and these jokes are mainly not evergreen topics. Topics like:

Joke 1: Malaysian football:

[Wear Malaysian national football team jersey 2010]

You must be wondering why I'm wearing this jersey. It's because it's my most favourite Malaysian jersey. Not because Malaysia won something, it's because this is the most Malaysian of ALL Malaysian jerseys. Look at it -- like some bloody rempit ran over me like that. So Malaysian.

We wore it when we won the Suzuki Cup. The Suzuki Cup. [Do riding motorbike gesture] So Malaysian.

Maybe the players think they can really win motorbike. [Reenact scene]

When we won, we got a public holiday. I didn’t know the Suzuki Cup so important! We didn’t get a holiday when our squash player become number 1, badminton player become number 1. Not one holiday. Half-day also don’t have.

Imagine if we win the World Cup -- whole week holiday! If we ever qualify -- 1 month holiday.

Remember the final when we beat Indonesia 3-0 at Bukit Jalil. Create such a bad PR towards the Indonesians - they send their football team here, we beat beat them. Send their badminton players here, we beat them. [Under breath] Send their maids, also we beat them. This is bad.

And in that match, some smart Malaysians who brought their laser and shot lasers at the Indonesian goalkeeper, trying to blind him. When Indonesia lost, ALL the Indonesians got angry. But why, Indonesians? [WAIT, ARE THERE ANY INDONESIANS HERE? Don’ have right? I know 'cause got no lasers on me.]

So, why you so angry? We just blind your goalkeeper, ONE goalkeeper, all Indonesians get angry. Every year, you send your haze and blind ALL of us, we also not angry!

==END==

Joke 2: Sissy Camp

Heard of the camp in Terengganu for effeminate boys. Effeminate boys means those boys who are very sissy, very girly - I don't [insert victim] told me. [*point at one corner* YOU SEE THAT! Ah, those boys in the crowd who turn their head very fast are most likely effeminate boys, and they are probably folding their arms now. While pouting.]

You see, this camp has 66 boys with effeminate tendencies, who religious teachers claim that they might become full-blown transvestites, cross-dressers or Aznil, if they are given masculine behaviour training.

Masculine behaviour training? What IS masculine behaviour training? Their timetable is how? 2pm: wake up with a hangover. 3pm: get out of bed and have a cigarette for breakfast. 3.10: Check Facebook and Twitter. 5pm: Play DOTA, Left For Dead or Skyrim. Midnight: Sleepy, so check 9Gag first. 1am: Feeling horny so look for porn. 1.05am: clean keyboard with tissue.
WHAT THE HECK IS MASCULINE BEHAVIOUR?

And is this camp suppose to scare effeminate boys? What happens when you tell an effeminate boy that he's going to a camp with other effeminate boys? [Act out: "OMIGOD! I'M LIKE SO GOING THERE! WE'RE GONNA WATCH GLEE, HAVE PILLOW FIGHTS..."]

Effeminate boys in a camp? Haven't they watched Brokeback Mountain? Two boys is enough and they now have 66 boys. Even number some more. And don't think the number 66 look like 2 people spooning?

What's scary to me is, this camp is going after all the effeminate boys in Malaysia. I can't imagine who Malaysia will be without effeminate boys? Who is going to host Akedemi Fantasia? Who's going to teach us how to cook? WHO ARE WE GOING TO SEND TO OUTER SPACE?!

==END==

More jokes to follow this path, I'm afraid. Gotta do more evergreen topics.

Love is like a joke...

Spent the last ounce of my writing mojo rehashing one sentence for the past 4 hours, another writer's block seem imminent. Perhaps, I should just lay back on my chair, pour me a shot of whiskey, light a cigarette and clear my thoughts, but that's not my style. Cigarette smoke makes my curtains smell.

However, it in such moments, something in my head always light up, like a bulb, but a low voltage one since I'm into green technology. And emanating from that light this time is a realization of the co-relation between girlfriends and a joke. In many sense, girlfriends are a joke, but not in a derogatory manner lah.

Also, it's not the idealistic, pure version of girlfriend too but rather, the more 'manufactured' and 'commercialized' version. The one we were all thought or accepted in this day of age, whether you have the propensity or genitalia to be a girlfriend or not. Apologies, that was the Monash Commie side of me talking.

OK, OK, here's what I think. You know how when you tell a joke, it's funny, people around you laugh but there's always this party-pooper at the corner going, "Wait, I don't get it." And after a customary retell of the joke from the joke teller and, if necessary, followed by the voluntary attempts of explaining the joke by those who got the joke, the buffoon at the corner goes, "Oh, I get it now. Means, you're saying Siti Nurhaliza had taken off her tudung before, but in front of another man and not Datuk K, which she is not supposed to do, as an examplary Muslimin. Yup, I get it."

If you happened to be in a similar situation of this buffoon, you ARE a buffoon (too), and that although those around you are, genuinely, grateful that you got the joke, when in actual fact, you did not get the joke at all. You either get the joke once the joke is told or you just don't. You just have to know.

Now apply this to relationships, a girlfriend-boyfriend situation. Girlfriend can't decide on what to have for dinner, boyfriend throws in a few suggestions but nothing tickles her fancy. In the end, boyfriend picks the wrong choice of food and girlfriend ends up silently sulking. Boyfriend asks why she sulks but girlfriend says nothing. Nothing is never ever nothing to a girlfriend. You either get what your girlfriend says once she has said what she said or you just don't. You just have to know.

But in this girlfriend-boyfriend example, Japanese or Korean food would be a every boyfriend's wild card. If not, be it mamak or The Chicken Rice Shop, just take photos with your girlfriend. That'll shut her up. Too.

General Jamban

I like visiting my in-laws but the shit thing is, there is no place to park my car in that neighbourhood except for the neighbourhood’s communal toilet - a grassy patch stretch along the roadside, where all the pet’s from that neighbourhood and other neighbourhoods nearby pay their debts to nature.

You see, that’s okay when the sun is still your visual aid. But when night falls, the moon’s inherent ability as a visual aid pales in comparison, you see.

So, walking back to my car, I have to entrust my Blackberry to moonlight as a torch, which, in this case, provides little reinforcement to er, moon light, to somehow help me through this shit-uation. In a futile feat to navigate a clean path around the faeces convention that is present each night, one only can leave it to luck on whether one will end up with clean soles or unclean soles.

When luck is ditches you, it's better just to have one shitty sole.

Or better yet, one shitty sole that is not smudged on cat poo.

Or better yet, one shitty sole that is smudged on dried out cat or dog poo.

Or better yet, one clean sole but you’re not hopping into your own car.

#3 Comedy in Malaysia today: Same old, same old

"Hey Chi Ho! I was at your show lah last night. Eh, why you tell all your old jokes wan? Cannot make new jokes wan meh?"

"Eh hi! Thanks for coming to my show. By the way, which is your favourite Linkin Park song?"

"Numb lo!"

"Farker, dang old song, right? Ask them to write new song lah. You treat me the very double standard wei."

Yes, we all have double standards when it comes to the treatment of comedians - forcing us to listen to your jokes that we've already heard many times over, not will to date us, among other maltreatment. Most of this negativity is directed to our jokes. Like a good friend once said, "If you go to U2's concert, you want to hear their old songs. Why can't people just listen to (comedians') old jokes?"

Well, perhaps jokes are different from songs. You get a totally different feeling of exhilaration when you hear a joke, as compared to a song. When was the last time you laughed at a chorus and jizzed in your pants. The thrill-factor is much higher in jokes too, hence the exhilaration, though brief, deserts us much more quickly. Like cum.

Speaking of cum, jokes are much like porn movies. Come on, watching the same old porn clip does not work without some extra help from your personal wank-box. I'm talking about your imagination. If a new porn movie takes you to places for the first time, it'll take you there for several more stops before it gets you nowhere, and that new porn movie eventually becomes old. Much like a joke.

Some comedians may write jokes every day, but only some jokes can work on an every day. Though there's a funny side to everything, there are many things to consider when it comes to the formulation of jokes. For instance, should a comedian joke about what happened to Japan? I did but I'm not telling that joke. Why? One man's joke is another man's poison and another woman's perplexity.

I think this assumption that comedians have an arsenal of new material every 24 hours stems from our exposure to comedy, be it from books or the Internet. There are tonnes of jokes, funnies or gags out there, but just because we only like (or know) one (or a handful of) comedians, we assume that that either the hero or the heroine comedian is ever-oozing with new material. It does seem like that in books and the Internet, but have ever you questioned what goes on behind the lives of those few comedians?

They have writers. Lots of them. They have comedy tours. Lots of them. And they don't return to their same spot for almost a year, which gives them time to cook up new funnies. Oh, and for the last 'them', I meant the writers. Of course. So, the next time you hear from this same comedian, "Hey! The dude's got new stuff! Let's download it! How the hell did he came up with shit like this?"

Here in Malaysia. What bloody 'comedy tour' do local comics have? We might travel up north, down south or to some place called Borneo but we're back in the same shit hole (comedy venue) after a month. And within that time, I would say the comics would only have coughed out 5 minutes of new material, depending on how many local scandals unfold within that month and depending on whether they write material or not (Yeah, plagiarism is rampant here.)

Over here, audiences are more used to the anecdotal form of jokes. A long story, followed by a twist then a punchline. Normally, jokes on sex and relationships work best. Somehow, this ritual of telling jokes limits the playing field of local comedians, forcing them through a single chute and in turn, drawing the audience with them. The method and topics become exhaustive and the audience get bored. Another reason to ask for new jokes, I suppose.

But perhaps, we should look into the readiness of our audiences at receiving 'new' jokes. I used to tell one-liners but somehow, I feel that, as a local, you're not allowed to sound smarter than you look. But when some white guy does the same, he's automatically brilliant. At least it explains why we don't look highly at our leaders. Seems to me that we're restricted to our own stereotypes - Chinese guys have small dicks, Malay girls are easy and Indians are just plain problematic.So, how can new jokes creep up from this endless and constrained cycle of rhetoric?

So, before you open that pie hole of yours and complain about local comedians repeat their old material, perhaps one should ask oneself first, "Am I ready for new jokes?" At the end of the day, when a new sex position does not work, don't we all return to a more familiar position to get the job done? Then, aren't we all okay with the same old, same old? So, really, there's double standards on how we treat comedians and jokes.

Damn. I could have written some new material by now.

Smartag? LIke seriously?

Bought my first and very own Smartag not too long ago. Of course, like most (if not all) new Smartag users, we've learned that this contraption, although it provides a more convenient way to leech out our pennies to the myriad thugs (sorry) tolls on our roads, it also provides a cause for concern. While the Smartag is a vice to our bank accounts, it beefs up the bank accounts of the many agents of vices, namely burglars.

You see, my dad got his car window bashed into (on a night he forgot to lock his car) and his Smartag stolen. Having gotten used to it, he unthinkingly bought another. Now, he has to constantly remind himself to keep the thing hidden from burglars but most of the time, the thing keeps itself 'hidden' from him, seconds before he hit the toll barrier.

But I've seen these 'Smartags' before in Australia. It's a much smaller contraption, permanently etched onto the top of car windscreens, hidden away from opportunistic eyes. So why can't we have that here? It was then I realized, that our very own 'Smartag' might fall on a different marketing plan. Allow me to interest you in my assumed findings.

The (mock) Smartag business plan

Subject: Smartag
Marketed Purpose: To be of convenience to unfortunate motorists who use motorways with tolls
Real Purpose: To maximize on profits

Smartag design
Marketed Design: Sleek, futuristic and convenient
Real Purpose of Design: Absolutely clumsy looking and huge so that motorists will find it hard placing it in their vehicle, hence, burglars will be able to easily spot it and hopefully, steal it. Then, the burglary victims will be forced to buy a new Smartag, thus, complying to our Real Purpose: To maximize on profits.

If these victims attempt to hide their Smartags, they will soon realize that the Smartag is not friendly to most door pockets, seat pockets and other storage compartments of their vehicle. Placing the Smartag in glove compartments is not encourage because motorists are forced to look for it when they are approaching tolls. Also, the sleek design of Smartag has no rubber or non-slip panels, which stops the effects of sliding.

So, in order to reinforce the initial Real Purpose, a holder is provided (FOR FREE) and instructions is provided to place the contraption in the most obvious location; on the windscreen. With that, this method will, again, further reinforce the statements made in the first paragraph of Real Purpose of Design.

Safety concerns (classified): Due to various reports, the bulky, heavy and detached Smartags may have caused injuries to motorists during road accidents as debris or blunt trauma hazards, upon impact. However, without sufficient proof of this, even though the possibility of such cases occurring is high, the makers of Smartags have decided to forego this safety issue, in line with the nation's most used motto by services providers - if there's nothings wrong, don't fix it even though you know that something is going to go wrong.

---end---

Had to write. Just had to.

Holy hell! I left 10 months out of my self-review of 2010. Oh well, it's 2011 and the year presents new aspirations, hopes and challenges.

I ended my 2010 having done to many things (mostly for people), made too many promises (except for myself) and helped too many people (who didn't help me in return). So, I'm going to be a little bit stingy this year and help myself more.

With this blog, I think I'll change it's feel a bit and chuck in more jokes. Hopefully, it'll somewhat authenticate the stuff that I did. I always wanted to do a different style of comedy but the anecdotal style of our comedy made it hard for me to break out and also, restrict my comedy in the similar style.

I believe that the three steps to constructing a joke - the setup, the twist and the punch line (the basic formula of joke formation) - can be delivered in just one sentence.

Don't really dig this whole 'joke formula' equation? Here's an example:

'Yo mama so stupid (setup), when she threw a rock on the ground (twist/situation), she missed (punch line)'

Simple right? But the idea of reducing this formula into a sentence or just a combination of a few words, the comedian has to 'incept' one of the three step into the audience's mind, which, eventually, presents the problem of why I was told such jokes won't work - audiences here are not matured comedy audiences.

Say all you want, but most members of the audience need to be fed with punch lines. Any local comedian will tell you this. The joke is not obvious enough, they need to be hinted on what the joke really is. Persona helps and on certain occasions, race too. An Indian comic to do a smart joke isn't really going happen.

Then again, there are many other elements that make a joke work but I think, a big part of it is the audience intelligence and know-how, other than the quality of the comedian. Heck, some jokes don't even follow the formula, which are the type of jokes that I'm used to writing, a lot.

Here are some one-liners designed to make you chuckle.

1) What's amnesia again?

2) Do synchronized swimmers have dry runs?

3) Funny how the first place we all learned to get high is called high school.

4) Being an underaged paedophile is fine.

5) Which dinosaur knows many words? Thesaurus

Won't get a roaring laughter and standing ovation but hey, it made you flex your brain a bit, right? RIGHT?

Two years is nothing...

I came across this by chance (and thanks to one of my most trusted connections).

I got to do a bit of dubbing for a local movie, which, in my mind, is going to be categorised under 'international film' thanks to our hypocritical, Malaysia 'systemisation' of things. The movie is called 'The DVD' (English/Malaysian).

Taking from the some shots of the movie that I had seen, I figured that the movie evolves around a teenager, who chose to make a quick buck from gangsters by selling them pornographic content. Gradually, he started degrading morally and got deeper into the gangsters' ways. Of course, things got out of hand (eventually) but I only know this much.

But what surprised me most was that the movie was shot 5 years ago. 5 bloody years. That's 3 more than The Joshua Tapes (a movie that I was heavily involved in) and, coming to think of it, the snippets of The DVD were better in certain ways - better picture quality, more exciting story line and shittier acting.

Suddenly, it all dawned on me that our local film industry really needs help. Taking five years for a movie (made for the cinema) to reach the cinema is pretty shit. Either that or our producers really need a kick in the butts for procrastinating. I think the motivation should come from the belief that movies are made for the viewers and not for a director's/producer's own fancy. With that, while the journey is in making a movie, the final destination of every director/producer should be the audiences' acceptance/reaction, be it applause or condemnation.

Maybe I should make a movie first before posting this. Hmph.

Life's like this ...

I'm resigned to believe that I'll never find the time to update this blog since getting this/these new job(s) but heck! I might as well put some info up while I'm here.

I now work as a full-time freelancer (yes, that is my OFFICIAL title according to my latest contract) for FHM, where I'm in full charge of the Upgrade section, FourFourTwo magazine, where I mostly do sub-editing, editing and occasionally, some writing.

On the side, I'm promoting two shows: my latest comedy show, alongside Douglas Lim and Kuah Jenhan, called MACC: Internal Affairs and my first full-length feature movie as part of the main cast. The former opens from 24th to 28th August while the latter, will hit cinemas from 30th September in GSC Pavilion, GSC Mid Valley and GSC One Utama (New Wing).

Exciting? Well, all I can see is the amount of work ahead of me. In between, I have other comedy shows (and comedians) to think about, 4 more contracted guerilla-comedy shows I must honour, and figure out how to get more money to fuel the renovation of my new house. Yes, a NEW house.

Will be moving in soon with my wifey soon but only after the dust from the renovations had settled. The estimation of the renovations add up to about RM30, 000 so do expect some red paint graffiti on my front door.

And to top it all up, I'm actually writing this because it need to vent, before I attempt to write an article about Liverpool's past glories. Nice.

Another day, another earthquake ...

Fortunately, this is the only earthquake I've ever experienced. "touch wood"

Earlier today, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit the southern part of Australia. In China, the government announced a national day of morning for the 2000-odd that lost their lives when a quake flattened the county of Yushu just a few days ago. The papers capitalised on the news, as always. But this year, there seems to be a new earthquake almost every other day.

Are we experiencing more earthquakes than usual? According to Wikipedia, "There are around 500,000 earthquakes each year. 100,000 of these can actually be felt." - Felt but not reported. If there are so many earthquakes, which one gets reported? If there are so many earthquakes, why can't there be 5 new news on earthquakes in one day? So why does it seem like there's more earthquakes than usual, especially this year?

My theory is, the world media is riding on our growing-anxiety about what's going to happen in 2012 (You know, the whole 'end of the world' crap). Why? Coz these stories sell papers. I think.

A dimming festival of light....

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in another (what I would call) Chinese gorging fest. In simpler words, let's just call it buffet.

But this was no ordinary buffet. It is an annual fixture that most Sri Paandi fans are familiar to but for those without a clue, Sri Paandi, a Southern Indian food restaurant, offers free food on every Deepavali morning... something those slant-eyed, keen-nosed and sharp-eyed Chinese would not want to miss in their relentless pursuit of 'priceless' luxuries (fuck off to those who think I don't like Chinese people. I was at Paandi's too!).

Well, as one might've imagined, at a typical buffet, hordes of Chinese would mosh their way towards the first sight and scent of food, much like how the Chinese foot-soldiers would overwhelm their enemies to defend their palaces. At Paandi's, add the word 'free food' into the equation and you'll get utter chaos. Human chains as far as the eye can see (OK, this is pure exaggeration but from where I was sitting, its pretty close to the word). Chains branching from every food dispensing counter; thosai counter, curry counter, beverage counter, and the plate washing station as there were insufficient plates.

Hundreds of hands, mostly yellow-skinned, chucked damp plates at the faces of the Indian waiters (whom are the celebrated ones if one might forget) asking/ requesting/demanding for (more) thosai, roti canai, idli, curry, dhall, tea, coffee with no courtesy of a smile, a simple thank you or a wish of 'Happy Deepavali' in return. Yet some of the Chinese there expected butlering services; complaining about slow waitering when the waiters were outnumbered 20 to 1 and requesting for utensils when they can eat with their hands (since its Deepavali and its an Indian restaurant mah!).

But what pains me most was an elderly Chinese lady, waiting in line not far from where I was. and, when it was her turn to be served, she asked for some thosai, of which, the waiter duly served. But she stood there for a bit, her eyes hovering over the steaming thosai on her plate before looking up at the waiter and asked in thick Chinese accent, 'Huh? This is thosai ah? You give me thosai ar, you sure ar?'.

Sigh. That incident underlines how disconnected some Chinese are with non-Chinese traditions and cultures. It underlines how proud and, to an extent, ethnocentric some local Chinese are. These are the same bunch of Chinese who believe in eating only Chinese, that Chinese restaurants are the cleanest and that other restaurants like the Indian, the Malay, and the 'mamak' restaurants are sub-standard in terms ingredient, quality and cleanliness.

And these are the same bunch of Chinese who choose the worst day to visit a non-Chinese restaurant, when the quality and cleanliness pales in comparison to other days. They would flock to Sri Paandi in groups of families and extended families, willing to squirm their way through crowds of sweaty bodies, using partially washed utensils for some mere meal, which they cannot name, and which, would cost them less than five ringgit.

Man, am I proud of my people or what.