String Theory.

You know string theory, how everything & everyone is connected by these atomic strings, which vibrate at different frequencies, that result in a universal harmony?

Well, I think I saw string theory in action today.

On my Facebook account, a contact (who's a friend of a friend, really) wanted to swap BlackBerry® PINs after seeing me update Facebook via my BlackBerry® smartphone.

Now here's a gal who studies hundreds of miles away in Perth, Australia.

And by simply exchanging BlackBerry® PINs, I learnt that she actually lives in the same neighbourhood as I do.

Okay, please tell me that isn't amazing.

We spent the entire day on BlackBerry® Messenger, sending messages to & fro for hours. And I think we hit it off.

I'm now one friend stronger. =D

You see, this is string theory in its highest form. What moved her to ask for my PIN? What moved me to start a conversation?

And what on Earth moved us to share so much within a few hours?

After achieving So-Po Blogger status, I have declined many random requests to get to know me. I've become a public figure of sorts, to a point where people shout 'Choco!' in the streets. (This is despite me not actually revealing or posting a photograph of myself).

But I honestly don't know what possessed me to just pass her my PIN without thinking of the consequences.

And you know what the amazing this is? I don't regret it. Not one bit. Because this girl is, by far, the cutest, sweetest thing I have ever come across.

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String theory connects the world, at a sub-atomic level. Whatever happens in the universe actually pulls/tugs/lax-es the strings involved in the event, and thus creates a cosmic reaction.

A bit like the saying that when you sneeze, a tree waves lazily in the wind halfway across the world.

So next time you, say, make a friend, think of the amazing cosmic event that compelled you & your new friend to get together and create a new, lasting relationship.

Because I took a step back to look at the bigger picture. The cosmic picture. And it was awesome.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Letter to the Press, by U-En Ng.

This letter addresses the Star's frontpage headline today (May 2nd 2010)

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Sir,

Has civic responsibility failed to such an extent that we do not recognise the idea of subjecting adolescents to a national curfew, with their identity cards to be checked by "social workers or police after 11pm" (Concern over teenagers hanging out late at night, May 2) as reactionary, authoritarian and unconstitutional?

I should have thought it obvious enough that a parent's duty to his or her child includes educating that child in personal responsibility and safety. To relegate even a part of that duty to the state, beyond national education, is a ludicrous admission that Malaysians are on a very basic level unfit to be parents.

Maybe this is so; and maybe we are so morally feeble that our first instinct when faced with children staying out late is to assume it is a "growing phenomenon" -- some kind of crime or anti-social "indulgence" -- and without really proving our case we react in typical knee-jerk fashion by appealing to some form of sweeping national policy.

Why? Is it because we lack the backbone to stand up as good examples for our own young? Are we incapable of discipline?

And who are we really to demand that our children do as we say when we fail so spectacularly to maintain even rudimentary standards of civil behaviour (let alone serve as good examples) on the road, in shopping complexes, other public spaces and even at home?

Really the only way to "police" minors effectively is to have them do it themselves. They must be taught to tell right from wrong and to choose the right path of their own volition: anything else would be fatuous tyranny that does nothing but ridicule authority in general, and the only way we can achieve this is to act responsibly ourselves.

A chief responsibility right now is to recognise that children will undoubtedly make mistakes, as will we -- such is the nature of being human -- but whatever the case no child should have to fear being shot in the head, no matter what time it is.

Ultimately if we treat the young without respect, we lose all right to expect any in return.

U-En Ng
Kuala Lumpur

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This was originally posted on Patrick Teoh's blog.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone

1Malaysia: Is it truly making a difference?

Salam 1Malaysia.

As I type away furiously on my BlackBerry® smartphone, I observe the conditions here at the New Eve Hair Salon in PJ State, where I am waiting for my dearest Grandma to get her hair done. We've been coming here for years, and she insists that they do it better here than Cut Above.

As in most of these places, there's always lively chatter. People waving magazines and shouting quotes. They all speak the common languages: Bahasa Malaysia & English.

Its always been like this. Before Najib, before Pak Lah. Never changed while the rest of the world did. So has the 1Malaysia campaign made a difference here?

Hell no. What difference is needed here?

Indeed, Malaysia needs to be united. I get nauseous whenever I hear racial slurs or see people treat others differently. I scream when I hear the word 'Keling', in fact (you do not want to know how long I deliberated on whether I ought to type that or not).

I quote my Grandaunt from Kuantan: "Why should Malaysia spend so much on the 1Malaysia campaign? We were 1Malaysia back in 1935!"

Now, as for effects, I so far see none. The Government is, again, wasting taxpayers dollars on senseless expenses. Its not about having a logo, or a tagline. Its about instilling the need & want & desire to be united. Sure, we have Civic Education, but how can we be educated when the teachers are as 1Malaysia as a shellfish?

So, please. Stop wasting our money on unnecessary projects. We need money elsewhere, where poverty is at its highest. Or in our public transport system, to reduce congestion on the roads.

Or better still... nah, I might get arrested for defamation.


Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone