A Crying Tear From Huo?

KL has been drenched in rain for the past two weeks, and everything looked so down and gloomy, especially for me.

While I was hanging out in a gym in Chin Woo Athletic Association in Bukit Chin Woo, KL one day, I was told that effective on 1st of January 2008, there will no longer be a gym as it was said to have stood in the way of progress.

For about a year I have found a place in the heart of KL in which I called home. Whenever I'm free, I'll drop by Chin Woo, pump some iron before calling it off as a day,assured that I will wake up with even more vigour and energy the very next day. Located right below a stadium,the small place, about 35m X 15m was infested with mosquitoes and I couldn't even walk straight without touching the ceiling but I didn't mind. I met a bunch of funny men, all of them have great physiques and all of them enjoy talking rubbish, just like me. Charging only a mere Rm12 a month, I thought that I have found paradise.

The gym, a former bathhouse-turned-exercise-facility, owed more of its existence to its members than its administrators. During the hey days of Chin Woo, a few poor bums started a gym by welding each exercise tools, such as benches and racks into place, the steel coming from nothing more than a garbage dump site. In spite of all the deficiency and half-past-six equipments, Chin Woo Athletic Association has contributed a fair share of national representatives of weightlifters and body-builders, my coach being one of them. Hopefully, in the next article I'll show you some pictures.

Nevertheless, due to internal politics and power-mongering individuals that knows how to fight for a post in an organisation but don't know what to do with it, Chin Woo has been losing its shine. The recent act of axing gym from its continuation is the ultimatum that death is knocking on its doorstep.

As you will see, iron weights do not rust easily and the gym has been running over 10-20 years with '0 cost' maintenance. What cost Chin Woo is the electricity bill which is more than covered by the gym membership fees. Undoubtedly, the biggest lost-making asset in Chin Woo is the swimming pool. In fact, according to many sources, everything is making losses and the gym is the most profitable of them all.

So, why the death certificate to the gym? Apparently, the gym has the least participants of all its ongoing activities thanks to the gym being at the back of the stadium and the lack of promotion from Chin Woo's administration. Who will thought of gym when Chin woo is mentioned to them? It was in the hope that sacrificing people like me allows for further developments for the piece of real estate, such as a few more parking space(:s). Since when commercialising is part of Chin Woo's dictum? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the gym is sacrificed to that other activities can be sustained.

As you can see, Chin Woo has lost much of its spirits of sportsmanship. People take charge of Chin Woo just for the namesake and personal gains. People no longer want to put effort into something just for the love of it. Everything must be '$' that comes to mind. For everything else, there are plenty of scapegoats. Anybody here heard of Chin Woo doing promotion and membership recruitment drives in schools and colleges?

Mismanagement has caused Chin Woo a gym. I wonder what will be next. Anyway, the gym will formally cease operation on the 28th December 2007. If you guys want to have a real taste of what it is like, come quick. Opening hours from 5.00p.m. to 8.00p.m., weekdays only.

Toufoo Troopers?

About 2-3 days ago there were big headlines in all newspapers and tabloids, bringing the news of a few paratroopers drowning in Langkawi during a rehearsal for the LIMA show. Apparently there was a gush of wind coming out of the blue and blew them off course, resulting in 3 dead and a dozen injured. There was much grieve in the nation, including me and many accept it as the Act of God.

Out of curiosity, I wonder why there is suddenly so many people become Samyvellu??

IMHO, the government really owe us a good explanation. Either that or I missed out something. We already have graduates who can't speak, police who can't run and now, soldiers who can't swim?? What is the government doing with taxpayers money?

I remembered vividly that during standard 5, I watched a documentary on survival skills that says a parachutist needs to cut of his parachute-line right before his feet hit the water. A still attached chute will drag the person along the current into the deep sea.

If soldiers died as a result of smacking into skyscrapers Tarzan-style then I'll be able to comprehend. But well trained soldiers drown because they hit water!? C'mon!! I'm sure there must be better explanation than that.

Just imagine:

Scenario #1
You are on a plane crashing into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Will you jump out of the plane in a chute or not?

Scenario #2
You are the army commander. Singapore is invading and deploying paratroopers are critical. You need to check the weather around the clock to minimise occurrences of 'Sudden Gust of Wind' and whether the rally point is anywhere near a swimming pool. A paratroop retaliation on Singapore is virtually non-existent because the damn bloody rock is so small the troops probably end up in the water anyway.

Scenario #3
You are a paratrooper.
1) You cannot land into the jungle because your chute will get caught with the branches and you will be dangling like a swing.
2) You cannot land near a pool because you drown.
3) You cannot simply jump off a plane because you need to test the weather before hand. Try shoving off your colleague to test the wind.
4) Preferable destination is an open air-field, no wind and a grand red carpet laid down for you to land on.

Therefore, I hope you guys out there can tell me more about parachuting and this 'sudden gust of wind' thingy because I'm wondering whether the troops are:

1) well trained
2) well equipped
3) too good, so much that there were no rescue boat and first aider around the scene of accident.

Do leave your comments.

A Different Perspective

Recently I was fortunate enough to have an invitation from a close friend of mine to a stand-up comedy in Bangsar Shopping Complex albeit on my own expense. The title of the show was 'Eh, Got Free Ticket ah?' featuring Douglas Lim, Harith Iskandar and the evergreen Jit Murad.

The reason why I went is because I was totally captivated by the front part of her email: 'Eh, Got FREE ticket ah...'with the question mark totally overlooked.

It was a show poking fun of Malaysia's distinctive culture and way of life, and sure enough it was full with political undertones. For those who has no clue of what is stand-up comedy, it is somebody giving a talk on just about anything and issues are brought up in a fun way. A good stand-up comedy does not only leave you in stitches but actually give you something to digest.

I must admit that I've learnt as much as I laughed but the most important lesson of it all was what it takes to be a good stand-up comedian.

Jit Murad

As what Douglas Lim said, it is very challenging for a Chinese to become a comedian. As it is, there are only 2 Chinese comedians in Malaysia, one being him and the other Lim Keng Yaik. I thought all along that an entertainer is a blessed lot, where they can use their inherent traits in looks and voice to charm the audience but the eye-opener that I had recently really opened up my rusty tin can called the Brain.

A good comedian needs more of a good brain that charms to come up with loads of ideas only to condense them to a very few killer-jokes. From these jokes, he has to weed out those that don't send out any positive messages to the public. And then, there is also the question of appropriateness as all the points need to be summed up and weaved intricately into a 30 minute show, one point linking another. After that, comes relentless practice for the very big day. If added on to the effort placed on body-grooming and polishing oratory skills, a stand-up comedy is not really that 'stand-up' after all. Of all the comedians that I met (though very few), all of them can knock the sparks out of a neurosurgeon.

This experience made me appreciate entertainment even more and I hope that my mom can read my blog and understand the values of true entertainers. After that, hopefully she will be very supportive of me going to cinemas and actors studios and provide me 100% subsidy along the way. Fingers crossed.

ps: To a very very sweet girl out there, don't forget you owe me 13 bucks ya!!