'Tis the east and Juliet is the sun
I pray that my ability to spit out literature is revitalised, which is just a fancy way of saying, dude, I wannna immerse myself in poetry, Shakespeare and classic novels and shit.......
Below is the prologue from Romeo and Juliet. Right now I have these words in my head. But the image that comes to my mind is the "Shakespeare in Love" movie version. You know, when the stuttering tailor shocks everyone when he utters these words perfectly without a glitch. I like saying these words, in the same style as that stuttering tailor.....
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
-----------------------------
Pictures by Gibson Chan
I pray that my ability to spit out literature is revitalised, which is just a fancy way of saying, dude, I wannna immerse myself in poetry, Shakespeare and classic novels and shit.......
Below is the prologue from Romeo and Juliet. Right now I have these words in my head. But the image that comes to my mind is the "Shakespeare in Love" movie version. You know, when the stuttering tailor shocks everyone when he utters these words perfectly without a glitch. I like saying these words, in the same style as that stuttering tailor.....
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
-----------------------------
How do I say this?
I'm being transfered. And I'm being promoted- though ever so slightly upwards. The town I'm going to isn't far away. It's less than an hour's drive north from here. It's a dead town. I deliberately agreed to be transfered. I was given only a few minutes to decide. Of course, I could have asked for time to think about it. But I was OK with making a quick decision.
I don't understand why some people can turn down transfer directives. I thought our contract states that the Company may transfer us to any of its bureaus, complete with disturbance allowance and one-week leave. Oh, well. I try to look at it positively- though I really suck at it!. I've been moping around the house and Penang and on my living room floor for hours.
One thing's for sure: it feels almost the same my previous transfer. I was shocked, I was in denial, I freaked out, I moped around, I felt depressed, I felt spiteful of everything and everyone.
Now, I have a choice. I could let it get to me as with the last time, or grow up and take control of my life- which in my world is a difficult thing to do. I'm 27. I'm sure I can start over anywhere at any time. They're promoting me. Sure the money ain't much. But it'll look good on my CV.
It's been a crazy, confusing, yet sometimes nice two years. I made a few close friends. I joined a theatre group of total Kedahans, and fitted in nicely. I met some nice people. I had fun. I went into jungles, went to Langkawi, staked out late nights in crime cases, I had such a wonderful adventure in Kedah. I fell in love with Kedah...though very reluctantly. Sometimes Kedah can get too much and I get sick of hearing the people's northern drawl. But aside from that, Kedah and Alor Star (the place I've lived at for almost two years) is a-OK.
When they told me I had to go to Kangar, I thought about it for about 10 minutes, and I made a decision. I wanted to move on. I liked Alor Star but I could't possibly live here forever. Of course I'm giving up Alor Star for a place which is much
worse, in terms of entertainment and 'coolness'. But it's important that I move on to a new place, regardless of what sort of new place. I have to move on. I need a change. It's a welcome change. Though I'm not moving back to the sleek modern shopping malls of Mutiara Damansara, but hey, at least I'm getting a change of scene. (notice how I say "moving back" to the sleek shopping malls of KL? Nobody should ever move back. I can't go back from where I came from, metaphorically speaking, lah. It's all uphill from here, man. This year, Perlis. Next year, the world!)
By the way, I get nervous when I go about KL nowadays: the huge shopping malls, the well-groomed faces of men and women, the sheer big-ness and myriad of choices. Golly, it's overwhelming and exciting all at once. And it's crazy everytime I have to drive back (or most times, ride a bus) from all that to ....erm...Kedah. Soon, I'd be driving back from KL to...well...Perlis. Balik Kampung, ah? No lah, I WORK in Perlis! Wah, gitu! Some may giggle when I say that, others would think: "kerja dengan kerajaan ke?" or "kerja cikgu ke?". I mean, who lives and works in Perlis?
I had an eerie premonition that my bosses wanted to station me in Perlis. I had that feeling during an assignment in Kangar two weeks ago. I stayed there the whole afternoon till dinnertime. I talked to our Berita Harian staff who had been stationed there for almost four years. Wow. I asked him how he survived, he said "he just did". He worked and after work he went home. A reporter's life. But in the course of four years, people came and went. Recently he got married to a KL-based reporter. He did the whole long distance thing with the missus: go back to KL fortnightly to be with wife.I guess his life is nice, you know, having someone to lurve... Thankfully BH is transfering him back to KL soon.
I have to figure out what I want. And do it. I must, I must, I must. (note to self: instead of letting the fates steer you every two years, draft out a plan of what you want and execute it) I'm worried that I'm so far away from my parents in Johor Bahru. I have to try to get a job nearer to Johor. I could also try to ask my boss to transfer me to Johor. I pray that I could still go back to Johor every month to visit my parents- they're are getting older every day. The more time passes, the more I miss them. I'm not affectionate or close to them, but I feel, as the youngest child, I must take care of them. Sooner or later I have to return to Johor. I know I'd come full circle someday: I left JB when I was 16. I went to boarding school in Kelantan. I did my matricluation in Pahang. I lived in the Klang Valley for six years: three years as an undergraduate, one year as a partimer and "penanam anggur", and two years at my HQ in Bangsar. And lastly I was in Kedah for two years. Maybe it'll be nice to balik kampung, don't you think?
I know someday I'd have a job that I love, and be able to do things I like; and I'd do all that in Johor Baru so that I can be closer to Mummy and Papa. I pray for that. Amin. Insya Allah.
I'm being transfered. And I'm being promoted- though ever so slightly upwards. The town I'm going to isn't far away. It's less than an hour's drive north from here. It's a dead town. I deliberately agreed to be transfered. I was given only a few minutes to decide. Of course, I could have asked for time to think about it. But I was OK with making a quick decision.
I don't understand why some people can turn down transfer directives. I thought our contract states that the Company may transfer us to any of its bureaus, complete with disturbance allowance and one-week leave. Oh, well. I try to look at it positively- though I really suck at it!. I've been moping around the house and Penang and on my living room floor for hours.
One thing's for sure: it feels almost the same my previous transfer. I was shocked, I was in denial, I freaked out, I moped around, I felt depressed, I felt spiteful of everything and everyone.
Now, I have a choice. I could let it get to me as with the last time, or grow up and take control of my life- which in my world is a difficult thing to do. I'm 27. I'm sure I can start over anywhere at any time. They're promoting me. Sure the money ain't much. But it'll look good on my CV.
It's been a crazy, confusing, yet sometimes nice two years. I made a few close friends. I joined a theatre group of total Kedahans, and fitted in nicely. I met some nice people. I had fun. I went into jungles, went to Langkawi, staked out late nights in crime cases, I had such a wonderful adventure in Kedah. I fell in love with Kedah...though very reluctantly. Sometimes Kedah can get too much and I get sick of hearing the people's northern drawl. But aside from that, Kedah and Alor Star (the place I've lived at for almost two years) is a-OK.
When they told me I had to go to Kangar, I thought about it for about 10 minutes, and I made a decision. I wanted to move on. I liked Alor Star but I could't possibly live here forever. Of course I'm giving up Alor Star for a place which is much
worse, in terms of entertainment and 'coolness'. But it's important that I move on to a new place, regardless of what sort of new place. I have to move on. I need a change. It's a welcome change. Though I'm not moving back to the sleek modern shopping malls of Mutiara Damansara, but hey, at least I'm getting a change of scene. (notice how I say "moving back" to the sleek shopping malls of KL? Nobody should ever move back. I can't go back from where I came from, metaphorically speaking, lah. It's all uphill from here, man. This year, Perlis. Next year, the world!)
By the way, I get nervous when I go about KL nowadays: the huge shopping malls, the well-groomed faces of men and women, the sheer big-ness and myriad of choices. Golly, it's overwhelming and exciting all at once. And it's crazy everytime I have to drive back (or most times, ride a bus) from all that to ....erm...Kedah. Soon, I'd be driving back from KL to...well...Perlis. Balik Kampung, ah? No lah, I WORK in Perlis! Wah, gitu! Some may giggle when I say that, others would think: "kerja dengan kerajaan ke?" or "kerja cikgu ke?". I mean, who lives and works in Perlis?
I had an eerie premonition that my bosses wanted to station me in Perlis. I had that feeling during an assignment in Kangar two weeks ago. I stayed there the whole afternoon till dinnertime. I talked to our Berita Harian staff who had been stationed there for almost four years. Wow. I asked him how he survived, he said "he just did". He worked and after work he went home. A reporter's life. But in the course of four years, people came and went. Recently he got married to a KL-based reporter. He did the whole long distance thing with the missus: go back to KL fortnightly to be with wife.I guess his life is nice, you know, having someone to lurve... Thankfully BH is transfering him back to KL soon.
I have to figure out what I want. And do it. I must, I must, I must. (note to self: instead of letting the fates steer you every two years, draft out a plan of what you want and execute it) I'm worried that I'm so far away from my parents in Johor Bahru. I have to try to get a job nearer to Johor. I could also try to ask my boss to transfer me to Johor. I pray that I could still go back to Johor every month to visit my parents- they're are getting older every day. The more time passes, the more I miss them. I'm not affectionate or close to them, but I feel, as the youngest child, I must take care of them. Sooner or later I have to return to Johor. I know I'd come full circle someday: I left JB when I was 16. I went to boarding school in Kelantan. I did my matricluation in Pahang. I lived in the Klang Valley for six years: three years as an undergraduate, one year as a partimer and "penanam anggur", and two years at my HQ in Bangsar. And lastly I was in Kedah for two years. Maybe it'll be nice to balik kampung, don't you think?
I know someday I'd have a job that I love, and be able to do things I like; and I'd do all that in Johor Baru so that I can be closer to Mummy and Papa. I pray for that. Amin. Insya Allah.
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