the observatory

 one is a dilapidated school while another is a stylish café that serves MYR16 for a Latte. 

its hilarious when everyone jumped with joy as they see Trump swaying into the tune of Hawaii 5-0 everyone said its soft power at play. Hello....Trump coming ( vacationing ) flying here is simply a lip service to ensure the country gave more than it should even after we got slapped with 19% tariff.  ....and yes ending Thailand and Myanmar conflict with a phone call. https://focusmalaysia.my/tengku-zafrul-mocked-for-his-white-house-jog-after-us-slaps-malaysia-with-1-additional-tariff/#google_vignette FB experts and media celebrating like crazy, calling his dance as a soft power achievement . Trillions of ringgit funded by the citizens given away in a new deal.... anyway  In  politics  (and particularly in  international politics ),  soft power  is the ability to  co-opt  rather than  coerce  (in contrast with  hard power ). It involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Soft power is non-coercive...

“The spectacle is a social relation between people that is mediated by an accumulation of images that serve to alienate us from a genuinely lived life. The image is thus an historical mutation of the form of commodity fetishism .”  ―  Guy Debord,  The Society of the Spectacle

As usual i love multidisciplinary projects, more specifically projects that is hard to categorize and such. So i join in Amir Muhammad's small project.  So myself and others are given liberties of designing cover of a novel by my fav local author, Cikgu Shannon. Cikgu Shannon is one of the no-nonsense and ballsy writer. Entertaining of course besides  knowing how to write, his seminal Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan still remain as my fav while earning my respect by producing Shit in 1999. The meaning of the word PM ( not afternoon ) changed forever.    anyway back to Terdedah. Synopsis: Shahnon Ahmad’s novel Terdedah (1965) has not been reprinted in decades. This rambunctious satire is about a young widow with two lovers. Why hasn’t the book been seen for so long? Did it “dedah” (reveal or expose) too much? not really as the book talks about cinggey janda and becoming a politician.  Amir Muhammad asks seven artists how they would design a cover of Terdedah if it were re...

pretty amazing to see H3R0 flew to Jakarta and now is in the running with several notable exhibits from the European museums. yes, please vote for us. https://www.museumsinshort.eu/partecipanti/dettaglio_video-2025.asp?id=536&idanno=13 H3RO graced the cinema screen in Cilacap, Indonesia on 28th of Feb, and will appear again in the director's cut format in their annual TJIF Fest this 28th to 30th Oct.  Blessed!

only here in Malaysia, we have so many social theorists , experts ranging from gas explosions, normal to semi amateurish policy commenters, arts and film criticism ( who at times i found out that they are between jobs, occasionally begging for national findings  ) , climate experts and now bullying and education matters. excellent in contributing white noises in already noisy world, I have to give them credits for their determination to validify their existence and importance. what makes matter worst is knowing our fourth estate considering their comments seriously. yes.....dont forget to donate to their causes. 

May everyone be free from any physical and mental sufferings, May everyone be free from any harm and danger, And may everyone be well and happy. 

  “Using fraudulent documentation to allow a player to compete constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating , which cannot in any way be condoned. Such conduct erodes trust in the fairness of competitions and jeopardises the very essence of football as an activity founded on honesty and transparency.  - Fifa Disciplinary Committee, Oct 6 Facundo Garces (Deportivo Alavés) Gabriel Palmero (Unionistas CF) Rodrigo Holgado (CD América de Cali) Hector Hevel (Johor Darul Ta'zim) Jon Irazabal (Johor Darul Ta'zim) Joao Figueiredo (Johor Darul Ta'zim) Imanol Machuca (CA Vélez Sarsfield) cut to -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_IC   The country began admitting Rohingya Muslims and Acehnese Muslims in the 1980s. Then in the early 1990s, the notorious  “Project IC” , a project which grants citizenship to immigrants by giving them identity cards, was started. It was secretly hatched during Mahathir’s first stint as premier for 22 years (1981-2003) where immigr...