FOB in translation

FOB in Translation's new location

2009-06-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Fob in Translation is again migrated to weebly.

It is now http://fobintranslation.weebly.com.

NEW BLOG

2008-11-23T18:29:00.000-08:00

If you are going here to find out what I am doing. I am no longer here.

check out my new blog: http://cafekowloon.weebly.com

Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Sedition Trial

2008-10-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin's sedition trial is postponed to November 10-12. 10 to 13 witnesses will testify when the trial resume in November. Raja Petra tells reporters that he now received better meal treatment and is due for a medical check up for his spinal condition.

Raja Petra was charged with sedition on 6 May 2008 after a investigative officer,Gan Tack Guan filed a police report against Raja Petra for posting an article that suggested the Prime Minister Najib Razak, and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, were responsible for the murder of a young Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu. Gan called part of the posting "untrue and made up" Both the Prime Minister and his wife denied the allegations. According to Associate Press, two policeman are accused of killing the woman and destroying the body with explosives. The prosecution contends that Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib, ordered the killing of Shaariibuu because she pestered him for money after he ended an affair.

He was charged under the 1948 Sedition Act which punishes “incitement to hatred, suspicion or contempt for any leader or government member.” If convicted, RPK could face up to three year of prison.

Raja Petra refused to post bail and was taken to prison in Sungai Buloh the next day. Shortly after, he was released on bail because he reported being threatened by two policemen involved in the Alantuya case. He told RSF that police released him because they could not guarantee his safety in the facility.

On September 12 this year, he was arrested under section 73 (1) of the Internal Security Act (ISA)for acting as "a threat to 'security, peace and public order.'" Raja Petra is ordered to serve two years detention at Kamunting under the ISA, a draconian law that warrant detention without trial. Raja Petra has been in prison since than.

Widely popular in Malaysia, RPK is known and loved by many of his supporters for his continuous effort to expose corruptions and government scandals. Throughout the hearing, Raja Petra's friends, family and supporters were present and showed support by wearing t-shirt that bear slogans such as "free RPK" and "No to ISA"

A candle light vigil was held on October 12 to show support for RPK and other detainee under ISA. A petition urging the Malaysian government to free ISA detainee has also been circulating online and gathering signature from supporters.

His struggle with the Malaysia government go all the way back. I have done a feature on him back in 2007 when he was detained and question for comments on his blog , MalaysiaToday, that are allegedly insulting to the King and Islam. Saying that he had no control to those comments, the police pressed on for the identity of his readers. Though eventually released, he told me that the government want to silence him using the ISA.

Time Line:

April 25: Posted article "Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell."

April 30: Gan filed police report against Raja Petra

May 2 Investigated for Sedition Act over "Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell."

May 6 Raja Petra charged with Sedition

May 7 Raja Petra taken to prison for Sedition

May 10 Raja Petra said he was threatened in prison

July 17 raja Petra charged with three counts of criminal defamation

August 16 Raja Petra refuses to enter plea

August 22 Police raided Raja Petra's home

August 28 ISP ordered to cut access to Malaysia Today

September 12 Raja Petra arrested under ISA

September 23 Raja Petra Kamarudin begins two-year detention under ISA at Kamunting

October 3 Raja Petra Cant stomach smelly Kamunting food

October 6 Raja petra's sedition trial started

October 13 Raja Petra receieve better food and trial postponed

November 10 Sedition trial continues

Final words and random wisdom from the CCNMA job fair

2008-10-10T00:23:00.000-07:00

Always believe that you have an advantage when you seems to have one.
Dont follow the path, go around and get to the guy who will hire you. Especially if you are not confident about some big time companies, you have nothing to lose, your resume will feel better if it were to be tossed away by the bureau chief instead of the HR staff.
Dont linkedin people, coz ppl delete emails when they see invitations, always email

From everyone: YOU MUST HAVE A BLOG OR WEBSITE. LEARN HOW TO EDIT VIDEOS. LEARN AS MANY SOFTWARES AS YOU CAN.

MYTHBUSTERS:

Do employer look at your drunk pictures on facebook?

For online media, maybe, if they are bored and creepy. For most normal people, employer will only check your facebook to verify facts, such as, if your name is Jackie Chan, or Winghei Kwok,
they might look at your facebook to see if you are a guy or a girl. They might verify your school info on facebook. They might refresh their memory of you by finding out how you look like on your profile pics. But anyway, privacy set everything on facebook. Let only your friend see your pictures or notes. Facebook has a block function and you can block people one by one using the privacy setting. If they are persistant enough to work thru that, then they could be some creepy people.

USEFUL SITES:

JournalismNext: job banks for journalist of colors

Knight Digital Media Center: USC media center, contain job
opportunities and fellowship info, online tutorial for online
journalism and other cool stuff.

Interview tips for journalists

2008-10-10T00:19:00.000-07:00

INTERVIEW:
1. Preparation: research on the following:

Latest stories
business situation
who are the big talents in the company
what news things happened in the company recently
information about the interviewer

2. 1st impression:

punctual
professional
confident
sit up
be slightly nervous but not disfunctional ( to show that you care enough to be nervous but good enough to hold it
make GOOD handshakes and eye contact. show that you are secure

3. actual interview:

prepare your answers for questions like :

what are your strengths and weakness?
If you can change something in this department what would you change?
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
What is it about this company that you like or dont like?
Questions about current news topics.

When you have to take notes during the interview, ask for permission.

4. Closing

When asked "do you have any questions?" ALWAYS ASK SOMETHING, such as

Tell me something I should know about you
How did you get started?
What advice would you have for me
What is the next step or how long would the review process be?

5. Follow up

Thank you letter ( prefer letter than note cards)
ollow up if they dont give you any reply within a couple weeks

Bonus:
When you sent in your packages, CALL to make sure that they get the package. Then if possible start a conversation on the phone to reinforce your presence. If it goes to voicemail, leave a voicemail. ( these three panelists say they return calls, not sure about others)

Resume tips for journalists

2008-10-10T00:18:00.000-07:00

RESUME

must be 1 page
preferably 12 point font
must be clean and dont use crazy font or color paper.
list job experience in reverse chronological order, last job first
list references if you have space

Do you include an objective?
Hagihara: Dont, becoz it is often too generic or too specific
Medina: Do, so that she will know what position you are looking for efficiently
Stuart: Do

What about Hobbies?
Hagihara: Do, only if it helps your position, let say if you hold any leadership position in some hobby groups
Stuart: Do, things that reflect your work ethic, organized activity, travel experience and language backgrounds
Diane: Dont care.

The Order of Things:

Start with Work Experience. *If you dont have much experience, list Skills ( like softwares) even before Work Experience
List Education
Then list honor or award at the bottom ( some argue that they are not quite neccessary if they are not that big time, but some say that they could be some conversation starters)
At last list References

Cover Letter tips for journalists

2008-10-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

I joined a panel workshop with LA Times' Randy , VP of ABC7 Diane Medina and McClatchy Newspaper's corporate recruiter Reginald Stuart.

I am willing to post up the actual handout somewhere, either hardcopy at the office or PDFs, i guess PDF is better.

COVER LETTER

it is your first impression

you need to show that you can tell a story.

you must able to string sentences and concept together coherently

use active voice, use strong muscular verb and HAVE A VOICE

tell them your career goal and why are you interested

be specific, dont say that you want the job coz you love to write

tell them what is unique about you that you can put on the table and how you and the company can compliment each other.

have your personal info listed on it, name email address and phone etc.

For traditional media only: follow up with a hard copy package of resume cover letter and work sample. You might end up being the only thing they hold in their hand after your email being forgotten in the pile.

* all three of them like hard copies*

Experimental cover letter is good only when the editor like it, so it is a risk. But if you are thinking of applying something that you probably wont get anyway, do that. When you are doing experimental, stay away from cliche, fluffy languages and dont OD on adjective and
adverb.

But Conventional business format cover letter is perfectly fine. However, would recommend dont go online and look at sample cover letter, those are for accounting jobs. Write an interesting story on your cover letter, get attention.

***MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT COVER LETTER:***
When you are applying for journalism jobs, NEVER EVER address the letter to the hiring manager or to whom it may concern. YOU MUST TRACK DOWN THE PERSON WHO IS HIRING YOU. Reason being that you are a journalist, if you cant even track down your recruiter, you cant track down your sources. So stalk people, or even call the bureau to check,
check with your connection or anything, make sure you send the package to a SPECIFIC PERSON.

Surviving CCNMA job fair

2008-10-09T00:19:00.000-07:00

After two days at the CCNMA job fair, here is what I have learnt and I would like to share with you guys.

1. USC has an amazing journalism program and their internships, networking opportunities are top notch. Instead of going to Akerman Union and getting name cards from HR, their job fair features director level recruiters, such as . My advice is, if you are not from USC, join some organization that give you access to job fair to connection like that, or have some USC friends and make them update you with what's going on in their program.

2. Arrive early. why? a. get your money worth. b. eat their complimentary breakfast, ( again you only get that from USC) c. when it is quieter, recruiter or volunteers has more patience becoz there is no line.

3. Network like you are speed dating. Job fair is always disheartening because you feel that they only have that much time for you. If you are ever shy or not used to promoting yourself, start off with journalism organizations. They are the more friendly, approachable people that you can start with. Practice with them and when you get into a nice conversation and start asking about each other's backgrounds, making jokes and getting more comfortable, you ask them for advices, how to approach those people in the next booth. They will usually tell you. I have two guys looking at my resume and telling me what changes I should made and what strength I have. ( will get into the resume critique later ) You do not get that from UCLA career
center. they dont know journalism.

4. Then you move on to the big time recruiters. Look for the recruiters that are hiring for a lot of publications. Some of the recruiters are corporate recruiters and they hire for a lot of newspaper. They talk to you and they access your strength and then they will decide where to forward you too. These are the people that you can be slightly honest with because they are not your future boss, they just hire and they need to see the real strengths. Tell them your goal and SELL your strength. If you wrote a big story for APA/AM tell them about those story and spend the bulk of your conversation on those experience. i realise that is the time when they really get engaged and take notes about you.

5. By now you should be pretty comfortable talking about yourself. Now you move on to the director level recruiters, the person who is the big boss who actually took the time to come to the job fair becoz of USC! Now that you are not shy anymore. you must ask questions. New York Times editor and recruiter Randy Hagihara said that the most disappointing thing is to see a reporter say that he/she has no more questions. Pretend you are doing a story on the recruiter.

Here are some of the questions you can ask: ( according to Hagihara)

what are they looking for in a potential candidate

How did they started in the industry ( great icebreaker becoz everyone wanna talk about themselves and again, it is better to ask them in the morning becoz by 4 pm they would have told their life stories 50 times.)

What a some advice they would like to give to young journalists like you

6. Here you go, you are pretty exhausted by now. They say that you should network with other students in the job fair, but i don really see that is useful because it is a hyper selfish atmosphere and everyone care a lot about themselves. you make sure that you collect your goodies and souvenir and take a banana home for snack

7. Not over yet. You follow up with all the people you have talked to. Email them a thank you note, restate your interest and include a soft copy of your resume even though you've already gave them one at the job fair.

Sorry I miss out one important point:

things to bring

A lot of resume

name card if you have one

work samples

notepad or paper, you will need them

big bag

girls: suit jacker or sweater ( i was frozen the whole time)

girls: bandaid for your high heels, you dont wanna be limping becoz you have a blister

( i gotta go sleep now) Stay tune for Resume/Cover letter and
interview advices from a panel workshop with McCatchy Newspaper's
Reginald Stuart ( he almost made me cry becoz he is so sweet), LA
Times' Randy Hagihara and ABC News Diversity director Diane Medina.

A review: my blueberry night

2008-04-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

You know that feeling when you were at a party and you are desperately wanting to get drunk. But you didn't so you just keep drinking. Finally you give up, you go home, the alcohol kicks in and you are left hanging, longing for the embrace of a three minute friend, the kiss of a stranger.

You might just really want to write a letter to an old lover.
You might just want to stare at the ceiling listening to jazz.
You look around, and everything is illuminated.
street lamps, light diffuses on cement pavement, her patent leather shoes.
Norah Jones crooning, " it is a story that's been told before...."
We had lived for so long, so long that we forget that we are alive. That we forgot some people who walked out and some people , who we had waited and kept their keys.
We forget our waiting to survive the partings.
Should I not made that journey, to come back and kiss you once more?
should I not linger, and drink myself to pieces, so that you, maybe you will come back and sit with me. Like friends, we will have a whiskey, like strangers, and we will leave each other again.
Had I not broken your hearts, I would not be in pain all this years.
My penance, in the form of addiction.
I promise, honey, this is the last time I drink, and I will let you go tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, I am intoxicated by the colors of the night
The night air smells like rivers, slow streams of dark water silently running across time.

Memory, the aftertaste of your breathe.

you know this country is so much like home.

Does it matters where we are when we look at the same unforgiving landscape through a glass door that never close, yet was never opened?

Does it matter if we deliver our badly scripted lines in Chinese or in English?

Does it matter if I have a different name, live in a different city and speaks a different language?

Footsteps,

the sound of a train thundering pass.

Harmony Gold Screening:I saw Stephen Chow today!!!!

2008-02-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

I made it to a CJ7 screening at Harmony Gold at Hollywood. CJ7 wasn't as good as I expected. Maybe i just expected too much. And some humor just didn't translate when you watch it in an American context and as a long time fan, I am convinced that the Stephen Chow that I grew up with is gone forever. The movie wasn't funny. I guess I only laughed once or twice and there wasn't even memorable moment like the Karaoke scene from Shaolin Soccer or the Roadrunner scene from Kung Fu Hassle. Maybe I was just confused. The crowd were the foreign movie fans/ film students crowd, so they weren't feeling Chow's divine presence. I wish I were at the UCLA screening, but then again, I am glad that I was not.

Stephen Chow actually had a screening at UCLA yesterday. I was being extremely nice and I told the Hong Kong Student Society about it so they could better arrange the situation and avoid some crazed fans being arrested by campus police. The last thing I wanna see on campus is crazy Chinese students stepping on each other and making Daily Bruin headlines. So y being concerned, I basically blew my chance of getting in, (hence, i end up at the Harmony Gold, lucky me.) If Leon Lai was moped at Melnitz couple years ago, Stephen Chow would never make his way to the parking lot. Like me, those kids in HKSS are all gonna have a life changing experience by breathing the same air with the King of Comedy in the same space.

The perks of being in Hollywood is that big star like Stephen comes to America as a nobody, so they become accessible like any up and coming names. In Hong Kong, no kids will ever ever dream of seeing Stephen Chow face to face, let alone a Q&A session. Finally, our international student fees pay off.

their Q&A are pretty similar than the one I've been to. Except the audience at UCLA are probably 99% Chinese student. How FOBulous!

A Shot at Love Spin-offs: That's Amore and Futch.com

2007-12-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

So the shot of love has ended and beautiful angel Dani Campbell is back in the pool available for all crazy lesbians/bisexual women who experience very complex emotion when she graciously walks away from the making out couple. I was disgusted by the manipulating miss tequila, and I was relieved that the beautiful good angel is up for someone normal and more deserving.

A shot at love's finale has scored 6.2 million viewers, making it the second most watched MTV show just short of "The Hills." Also, as many of us already predicted, Domenico, got a contract with MTV and his dating show "That's Amore" will be aired next year in March. I love him, i cant wait to see him talk about American and Italian pubic hair with his contestants.
But what really really deeply touched my heart is Dani. It is the butch woman ,or according to herself, the "futch" woman I have been waiting for. The L Word tried to express butch woman mentality by having Max, only to crush the promisingly positive portrayal of butch woman by turning her into a confused, violent, grotesque partial transexual. Disappoint. Finally, as ignorant in the whole LGBT area as Tila was (she called herself "a bisexual" like a strange species and she was wondering if she should choose a guy or a girl, hello? that is confusion not bisexual) and as exploitative of gender stereotype as the show was, the production crew actually managed to find a perfectly adorable futch woman who is genuinely lovable and keeps her futchness from beginning to the end. They let her makes it to the final 2 and she became the most eligible lesbian in America. GOOD JOB ! MTV!

Not only that!!! the fire-fighter has plans to start her clothing line, called FUTCH, for women like her. I had thought about the same thing when I used to go shopping with Wendy. I know the frustration and how I wish I could just design something, or make a fashion line for woman who doesn't like dresses and tank tops yet still needa go to the girl bathroom unharassed. You might think that why don't they wear men's clothing....
Here is why. Basically men's clothing is cut very differently and they comes in men's sizes. When men try to show off their chest muscle, butch/futch women are not dying to show off their boobs. On the other hand, women's clothing, which focus a lot on curves tends to tighten around the waist and hip and has lower neckline. It usually doesn't flatter a butch/futch woman's body. Not everyone look like Kate Moennig. I have observed that many butch women are more on the heavy side, plus they like to work out their arms and shoulder, thus they tend to be "thicker" then an average curvy/chubby woman. They fall in a gap that no one care to cater to and that they can only pick from the accidental goodies somewhere between the men's and the women's section.

The reason why i spend so long talking about this is that Dani Campbell did everything I have been waiting for. she made a lot of things happened, on TV, in people's mind and in the society(hopefully). The portrayal of her is realistic, genuine and just seeing her break through all drama with only, nothing but only HONESTLY and always keeping a smile, is very heart warming. She is so comfortable with herself, and her futchness and did not get offended when someone is ignorant (so portrayed in the show). I am really glad that we have real futch woman like her on mainstream media, who is not always riding a chopper in flannel shirt and shouting men slur.

Happy lesbian makes me happy. That's why Rosie is Terrifying!!

I wasn't happy and it was a shame. I wasn't tough enough, I couldn't face everything with a smile. My heart breaks at everything and I failed. Loving someone with a broken heart to start with will only leave to a complete shattering of what little you hold precious. There is a saying that goes, you need to love yourself before you can love someone. I didn't understand that until I lose it.

JUNO

2007-12-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

I have added this to be the must watch this Christmas. Rotten tomato has given it a 94.

More importantly, it is the movie debut of Diablo Cody, whose feature on Esquire i had posted on my facebook. Her amazing biography includes being a secretary in the corporate world, a stripper, a journalist and now a award-winning script-writer.

This is my favorite quote from her: "Bringing doughnuts to a bunch of douchebags is far more degrading than giving a handjob or humping a pole." Totally agreed.

I am going to read her book- "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikly Stripper"

WE ARE LIARS

2007-12-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

10-Year Sentence Follows Life of Lies
D.C. Man Attacked Girlfriend in May

Just last night, I was talking to friends about that Chinese fob-ness is all about priviledge. And it all seems to be a rosy picture, even though we know what it is all about. And when we are alone, we find like minded people, we find comfort together doing activities that we will be doing back home, we find the Chinese restaurant that most resembled that in Hong Kong and we live as a parallel with everything American, simply not want to make life more complicated then it already is.

and here I am reading one man's tragedy stemming from lies that we all have told. We all do that, dont we? After a 5 years relationship, my mum told me that finally I met my first boyfriend, this year. I told my cousin's relative I was doing Economics. I once know what I want to do in life, and when it come to telling someone in my family, all of a sudden, my plans diminishes, they become uncategorized junk. They leaves no mark in their mind, and they become non-existent in my mind. Soon, i start telling them I don't know, maybe, that is a better answer than all those things that aren't doctors, lawyers, consultants, business?

I know it is horrible to sit on your girlfriend and smash her with a wok, a wok, picture that! and slashes her with razor blades. I wonder how much lies does someone has to tell to drive a person to such madness. The scary thing is that we have all done this. At least I have and I could relate to that. Many of us could self sacrifice to live a life that is not my own all for family sake. It all comes down to sacrafice isnt it?

I really don't understand why family do that to each other. Cant they just be proud of their son who is the best car mechanic in the Valley. Cant they even be proud of a daughter who is a struggling freelance writer who occasionally break a story? It will touch a lot of nerves if I have to dive into the mentality of Chinese family values. Yes we live for each other, and we have all make sacrifices. Why do we need sacrifice in order to feel love, to love each other? cant we just love each other like we mean it and stop saving faces and living lies?

Maybe it is not all that bad, maybe it is just me. Nobody seems to share this with me somehow and it makes me feel as if I am hallucinating. Why do we Chinese people keep so much secret? Why do we hide like we are being raided all the time by our loved ones? Why the burden? Why do we do things out of obligation but not willingness? We talk about obligation like it is honorable, we never talk about love. We are supposed to say this, but we are never allowed to speak.

Not FOBulous.

POLE DANCING

2007-12-16T23:47:00.000-08:00

I know I have been talking about pole dancing, and I don't remember how it starts.

As we all know pole dancing has become a fitness option and as a quasi feminist, I am more than happy to welcome the process. Women are pole dancing for fun, not for money. And sorry, though it sounds sexist, it just does'nt quite work when man do it. But there are different type of pole dancing:the athletic kind, the strip-club kind, and the really really take your breath away kind.

According to the World Pole Federation, pole dancing might date back to burlesque time when showgirls dancing in tents and showing off their moves on the tent poles. Then it become extremely popular as a regular strip club entertainment roughly in the 70s. And now, woman of all walks of lives are taking pole dancing lessons as alternative to threadmill running and weight lifting.

Crunch Gym apparently offer a cardio striptease class and pole dancing class. It is definitely cardio, weight and resistence training exercise all in one package.

My new fascination has become my new year resolution. As much as I have short attention span, i hope my plan will materialize.

So I have done some research and watch a lot of videos,and i found one that really really moved me. Ya, i was emotionally moved by a pole dancing video. It was not filmed in a yoga studio with sport-bra wearing woman, it was not filmed in a strip club, it was in someone's bedroom, quite voyeuristic, no idea who the person is, but she is AMAZING!!! It is 3am in the morning and my consciousness is working strangely, but when someone is dancing so melanchonicly to Kelly Clarkson's " Addicted" it just makes me hold my breath.

and I would share it with you who read my note:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt4k4kDpPow&feature=related

Cowboy on the Run

2007-12-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

When cowboys drink only milk and use only rubber band for shooting, it will be the end of the war.

It is so strange I don even know how to describe it. You have to see it to believe it. Jay Chou rocks.

Haruki Murakami

2007-12-07T00:23:00.000-08:00

Just finished writing a paper on "Underground," then I realized that I took that class just to write a paper on a Murakami novel.

Somehow the Murakami world is so embedded in my subconscious that sometimes I tend to perceive my world through the tinted lense of "Murakamism." I don't know how to describe that, but it is a detachment, a sense of voluntary suspension for strangeness in life, and most importantly, the desire to cross over to "the other side".

Looking at his universal achievements, Americans love Murakami very often because of its references to American culture and references to Jazz and Rock. At least that was the stigma of it in Japan, Japanese finds it a little too pop, too western. We all know that "Norwegian wood" is a Beatle song,though I could hardly relate that song to the significance of the novel. One New York Times article says that Murakami was not as recognized in Japan as in America. While the Japanese finds his American references as almost a sell out, Murakami appears to me a very nationalistic writer. Projects that he took on revolved around Japanese culture and history; for instances, non-fiction "Underground" and " After the quake" were devoted to represent the Tokyo gas attack and the Kobe Earthquake with the sympathy of a novelist and with the urgency and determination of a breaking news reporter. " The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" explored the Japanese Army in WWII. I imagine it must take immense courage to admit what the Japanese Army did in Nanking and told the story from a Japanese soldier's perspective, while textbooks in Japan still try to cover up the incident.

The fact is that Murakami is recieving the same recognition in lots of Asian countries and even Europe. What that means is that, though Americanized in a way, there is something in his stories that connect to people regardless of one's ethnicity. I did not go into Murakami's novel to pick up references to America. I usually buy one of his book, devote one whole day for it, hopefully it is a rainy day and then curl myself up and read from start to finish, only to find a lost of words in the end, relunctant to be thrown back to the reality. I think what really strike people is that sense of possibility that extraordinary event can happen on an ordinary day and thus change someone's life forever. It all start from an ordinary day, some guy listening to music, some couple cooking pasta, watching baseball. Always an ordinary day, until someone finds the entrance to " the other side."

As developed city dwellers, we are so bored with life that we crave for that "other side, "hoping it will just swallow us up into something fantastic. And we don't care if this dream is nightmarish or erotic, as long as we can just blink and make our office desk or GPA disappear. We hope for a little fantasy that is as accessible as a hot dog stand, who knows, in the Murakami world, that hot dog vendor might be the unlikely bouncer to your subconscious.

And the sex, of course. No one talk about sex in Murakami's novel as if it is not important, even though i knew people who will just skip to those pages. The sex is usually very blatant, sometimes twisted, mostly very confessional and to me, heartbreakingly beautiful and brutal at the same time. I remember being blown away by Miu's hair turning white over night in Sputnik Lover, upon witnessing her husband violently fucking herself in a room. I remember from Kafka on the Shore, a girl spread her legs in front of her late father's shrine, only to show him what she has become because he has a right to know what he had created. Not to forget the vision of a naked woman kneeling at the moon light( it was in Norwegian wood, Kafka on the shore, sputnik lover and I am sure more...). I was always just as puzzled as the character who perceive the sight. It screams something about the subconsciou, but I cant figure that out.

Finally, what was that about Colonel Sanders, Johnie Walker, Norwegian Wood, baseball and Jazz? Sometimes I think the western world forget how globalized this world is. My parents grew up listening to Beatles, Abba,Carpenter, Rolling Stones, you name it. Likewise, American kids grew up with Sailor Moon, Ninja Turtle and Super Mario. And I am pretty sure that kids in France, Germany, China, South Africa know what Ninja Turtle or Transformer are. Culture circulate so fast that sometimes we can hardly claim and allocate an icon to one country. For instance, Transformers, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles were as important to American culture as Spider man and Disneyland. When cultural symbols become so integrated into the national psyche, it is very difficult to claim that Colonel Sanders is strictly American. we share the same cultural experience; my parent are no worse fans of Abba than any one in America. Just because you love sushi doesn't mean you love the Japanese culture, maybe you just like the taste of the vinegar mixed rice, the fresh crisp texture of raw fish and that sting of wasabi. Like wise, just because you listen to "yesterday" ten million times when your girl friend break up with you in the 60s in Singapore, doen't mean you are an American music whore.

My point is that the Western aspect of Murakami's novel is overrated and to me, American critics has wasted too much space to point out American references that I cant help but detect a smell of ethnocentricity in that interpretation. Yes, Murakami admitted that he was disillusioned in the Japanese literary world, and has very strong background in western literature, but that should not undermine his literature as a sell out, or a westerner pleasing product. To me, his novel paint this really distinct picture of Japan as a cosmopolitan, international city with strong cultural background and national pride.

Stephen Chow new movie : CJ7

2007-12-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

This is in fact Stephen Chow's first sci-fi debut. This time Stephen chow stars as Ti, a poor father trying to make ends meet by working at a construction site. His son, Dicky (Xu Jian, who is actually a girl)is the target for bullies at school because of his shabby clothes and dirty shoes. One night, as Ti was going through the junk yard to look for Dicky's new shoes, he stumbled upon a green orb that turns out to be an alien dog with mysterious power. This new pet, CJ7, becomes Di's secret weapon against his bullies at school. Ti had a fatal accident at the construction site and all of a sudden Dicky found himself an orphan. As the movie took an unexpected turn into tragedy, CJ7 is Dicky's only hope for a miracle. In doing so, CJ7 has to make a sacrifice that will end up costing his life.

The fact that it is coming to Hollywood makes me feel that this might be yet another sell-out. Kung Fu Hussle and Shaolin Soccer were not the best Stephen Chow movie and his slapstick is increasing lacking of depth. And if you grow up watching Stephen Chow you know that the quality of his movies is going downhill these days and the bigger the budget, the lamer the jokes. But as long as he is having a premiere in hollywood, I am gonna be tagging along. I would completely faint if he is two feet away from my face!!

The movie is going to have its North America premiere on March 7th 2008.

A shot of Tila Tequila anyone?

2007-10-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

As I was hooked up on " a shot of love tila Tequila", I of course suffer intense guilt and shame about obsessing over a dumb reality show that looks more staged than Divorce Court.

If you don't know who is Tila Tequila, she is the one person who has the most friends on myspace, amounting to about 1.4 millions friends as of now. Her real name is Tila Nguyen, Vietnamese American.

and her reality show is about her choosing a partner from 16 boys and 16 girls, because she is Bisexual.

Asian, bisexual, fight. ambulance, cat fight, dog fight,boobs and asses. P v.s.P ( go figure) formula for an addictive mind destressor right?

So why am I so fascinated? Why am I googling tila Tequila at 11pm?

If you have an open mind, i think finally, finally, we have an Asian American celebrity who can truly transcend their ethnicity and become American American. When you look at Asian actresses, they scream Asian to you, they are chosen, from a lot of other Asian, to be THE ASIAN CHICK on TV. Look at Sandra Ooh, Lucy Liu....they are amazing actresses but do asian chicks all have small eyes like them?

When you look at that Tila Tequila bitch, you think, ya, big tits: maybe fake, bisexual: definitely fake, singing:, really sucks, like a 5 years old faking a chipmunk voice. But afterall, she is not that 'oriental' looking lady with slanty eyes and has a crazy mother or always doing kung fu kicks on screen. She is just a slut, or a smart business woman selling her sluttiness in a very entertaining way.

As I am bombarded by Halloween costume that says "oriental delight," " sexy geisha dream' and "Chinese princess." ( i didn't know that you can go as "asian" for halloween.) I am impressed by the individuality that Tila Tequila brings onto the screen. Those guys and girls in "A shot at love" does not drool over her like she is some delicious sushi bowl...or more precisely, a juicy piece of vietnamese spring roll, but just a (apparently) sassy, bitchy, emotional, narcissistic girl who doesn't give a damn and very generous about clevege publicity. It doesn't occur to me that they want to get her laid because of her beautiful little asian ass but rather, the WAY she shakes her ass.

and that is truly an example of transcendence of one's race. And to see her doing that it means that it is possible. Her personality, or skeptically speaking commerciailly constructed personality raise above stereotypes and prejudice. Asian American artists very often either struggle very hard to assert their American-ness or resort/choose to celebrate their Asian-ness through their art. I am not saying Tila Tequila is an artist, but the fact that she emerged so purely as a person, is amazing, as she does it so effortlessly.

As you know, I like to see things through a racial perspective. Maybe I am a little racist, but WE ALL ARE, just admit it. I am the kinda person who count out the ethnicity on TV commercial and tell you that they are missing a Hispanic person. Yet I am blown away by this stupid reality show in which, no matter how critical I am, I cannot find one trace of racialism or racism in it.

Yet again, how she will be exploited in the future is unknown, and that will be a sad case. Will Play boy make her wear transparent kimono holding a samurai sword? and I heard that she is one of those Asian hooter girls in " I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry", that outrageously racist and sexist movie under the false pretend of celebrating gay rights. In fact, my cynical mind think that is how she would become.

Here she is :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJJAHPg-Des

I now pronouce you racist and homophobic

2007-08-22T00:11:00.000-07:00

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - Movie - Review - New York Times

Sporadically funny, casually sexist, blithely racist and about as visually sophisticated as a parking-garage surveillance video, the new Adam Sandler comedy, “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,” looks, sounds and moves like most Adam Sandler comedies.

So New York Times speak my heart. It was about two straight men making use of the domestic partnership system to ensure kids are fed after their mother died.
Message #1: domestic partnership or gay marriage are made to be abused.

And there was also a car load of Hooter girls coming out from Adam Sandler's bedroom. Surprise, there is Tila Tequila taking the lead and they all go find drinks at the fridge , wriggling their cute little Asian asses.
Message #2: Asian girls are good for orgy because they all look the same.

Nice try, Chuck and Larry. I walked out pretty offended.

Not even Fabulous.

No/So Cal

2007-06-27T00:21:00.000-07:00

Middle age Chinese man wearing a shirt that says "GAYMAN" has no idea what it means, wearing it with pride. There is really no difference between what kind of man you are, as long as you can wear it out loud.

Asian clinic with signs that translate into six languages, counters splits into six countries and a concerto of asian sounds like some weirdly incoherent and harmonious percussion. Black woman walks in feels pretty at home; she walks with her overweight thighs among boney Vietnamese girls. I saw my America.

Ordering Chinese food in cantonese is a privilege. ABC kids writing Chinese vocabulary on practice sheets. It is entirely differently from scribbling the same thing on the greasy table of Denny's. That kid was eating luncheon meat with instant noodle, drinking hong kong style milk tea.

Reading a novel about LA on my way back, a few thousand feet above the dusty yellow fog of Oakland. Suddenly really sick of Hollywood, suddenly really sick of the beaches, suddenly really sick of wealth...suddenly feel totally trapped. A.M. Homes' This book will save your life is depressing. It doesn't read like A.M. Homes' other novel until the point where the son wants to rape the father, until the perfect son turns gay. Rich man becomes superhero, bought a pink beetle for a desperate housewife on rehab, bought a black one for his gay son. Rich middle age white man samaritan, I am just about to say Jesus was a jew. Not a good read; it depressed me.

Oakland...SF...bay area. they have Chinese ads on the bus, next to the Spanish. They have Chinese who lives like they have never leave home. Kids speak better Chinese up there. It is vast, brown and dusty, i miss the sky of LA, dream-like, almost techni-color. One time I drove through Paramount studio's gate, i felt L.A. I felt its pulse beating under the cracked tar surface of the roads, and there was a fake sky right under the real sky. There was no difference, the fake one looks even prettier. You never know when you are going to run into a set; you never know when you are going to run into your life.

So there is a Transformer robot on Broxton and Le Conte. The trucks that took it here disappeared, I think they were the robots themselves. you never know.

2005-10-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

Biography

I was born and raised in Hong Kong, did high school in Singapore and came to the U.S. for college. I spent a year in Bakersfield, a year in the O.C. and I was admitted to UCLA in fall 2006 by the English department. As a transfer student, I started off as a copy writer for Bruinlife Yearbook. The next year I was promoted to managing editor position. At the same time, I write for AsiaMedia, a UCLA based media review daily website. My experience with online publishing has open a whole new dimension for me and I am very convinced that online journalism is the future and that is what I want to do. I got to conduct interview with people I would never have gotten a chance to and research on a diverse range of topic. I specialize in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia media news and I have a special interest in the blogsphere in China, which is a growing social agent that has been shaping the country in ways that no one has ever imagine. Last summer I worked for PriceGrabber.com and I am facsinated by the marketing aspect of ecommerce and what the internet can do for businesses. Now that I am at the beginning of my life, I am open to everything that happens to come my way. At the moment, I am working part time at a nutritionist office, writing health related articles and researching on a variety of health related topics.

Educations:

University of California – Los Angeles Los Angeles, California
Bachelor of Arts Degree in English 6/2006-- 6/2008
Cumulative Grade Point Average: 3.81

Skills:

• Native speaker of Mandarin and Cantonese, fluent in written Chinese (traditional and simplified), conversational French.
• Proficient in HTML, InDesign, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, MS Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Mac, PC and World Wide Web.

Work Experience:

Asia Media (International Institutes UCLA) Los Angeles, California
Staff Writer ,3/2007— 6/2008
• Reported on media related news and created news briefs for East and Southeast Asia.
• Specialized in politics and media culture in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, with emphasis on the blogspheres.
• Conducted phone interviews and maintained contact with sources, including government officials and media experts.
• Post media-related news clips from Asian newspapers on publication’s website.
• Proofread for style inconsistency and edit news clips in HTML format before posting.

UCLA BruinLife Yearbook Los Angeles, California
Managing Editor, 6/2007— 6/2008
• Managed over 40 staff members and facilitated effective communication between staff and editors.
• Coordinated financial activities such as keeping inventories, budgeting, and preparing payrolls.
• Proofread articles for grammatical errors and edit copy format using InDesign.
• Evaluated potential applicants for various staff positions and hire new recruits according to applicants’ strength.
• Created a friendly and positive team environment by organizing social events and addressing staff concerns.

Copy Writer Intern, 10/2006—6/2007
• Authored articles on diverse topics, ranging from sports to arts, personal features to scientific research.
• Researched academic issues and conduct interviews with students, professors, and other related personnel.

PriceGrabber.com Los Angeles, California
Content Support Intern, 1/2008-- 6/2008
• Revived filter system and brainstormed new taxonomy for all 12 of the Home and Personal channels.
• Allocated vendor codes and modified product attributes by writing pseudo codes.
• Proofed images and captions using product content editing software.

Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing
Office Assistant ,6/2006 – 3/2007
• Participate in research projects by taking part in product testing and evaluating process
• Perform administrative duties such as photo copying, filing and data entry using Excel and Word
• Order office supplies and research materials by phone

Writing Samples:

photo page

2004-10-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

FOB in translation

FOB in Translation's new location

NEW BLOG

Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Sedition Trial

Final words and random wisdom from the CCNMA job fair

Interview tips for journalists

Resume tips for journalists

Cover Letter tips for journalists

Surviving CCNMA job fair

A review: my blueberry night

Harmony Gold Screening:I saw Stephen Chow today!!!!

A Shot at Love Spin-offs: That's Amore and Futch.com

JUNO

WE ARE LIARS

POLE DANCING

Cowboy on the Run

Haruki Murakami

Stephen Chow new movie : CJ7

A shot of Tila Tequila anyone?

I now pronouce you racist and homophobic

No/So Cal

CHINA: Bloggers battle Western media over bias

CHINA: ICPC award recipients detained

CHINA: Blogger Conference embraces rise of grassroots media

HONG KONG: CDMA2000 license goes to PCCW

HONG KONG: ATV reinvents its image

CHINA: More rural Chinese go online

CHINA: Freelance journalist formally arrested

CHINA: Government grants foreign and domestic journalists access to factories

MYANMAR: News coverage of fuel price demonstrations curbed

MALAYSIA: Daily terminates two critical columns

MALAYSIA: Blogger's wife questioned by police

Bloggers rally around Raja Petra

SINGAPORE: Blogger reveals Straits Times' error in rental report

HONG KONG: Blogger faces charges for posting, linking to 'indecent' image

photo page