Tera-pies

...is such an overly marketed cliche for my generation.


But I find myself in situations where that line makes a lot of sense.

I missed my great grandmother's passing(she was close) because I prolonged my stay in another country to build up my savings.

Today, I just missed my fiance's graduation, even though I actually planned on making the trip 2 months back. But I chose to stay, again, to save up for us.

And then it hit me. The first advice I got from my soon-to-be father in law;
(paraphrasing here)"Don't make the same mistake as I did. I worked so much I didn't get to see them growing up".


I'm a realist though. An optimistic realist.

On one hand, I am severely made aware of the consequences of blindly following my instincts, dropping whatever I'm doing and racing towards the people I care about. It's a noble and admirable gesture, but without money, you can't support them to your fullest extent.

Then again, I also am a firm believer of "money will come, one way or another", and I mean that only in a halal way. Because I've been thought that by my dad, and my friemd's dad too. (Again, paraphrasing)"Duit tu boleh cari bila-bila, yang penting family".


Guess I still haven't quite learn that lesson yet.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

1. Deadly Alliance retcon
Quan Chi is dead. Assuming his character ending is legit, he's now the Elder Gods' bitch anyway("reprogrammed" to kill the now corrupted Raiden).

2. Deception retcon
IF Reptile's ending is canon, it seems he would be too preoccupied with returning his people to the surface rather than unwittingly stumbling into the Dragon King's lair. Likewise, I have a feeling Cassie's ending is canon as well, considering the whole Dark Raiden turn of events(basically, she killed Shujinko, on the orders of Raiden, thinking it was Shang Tsung. Most likely Raiden commanded it on purpose to ensure the Dragon King won't be ressurected).

3. Expressway to Armageddon
Kenshi and Takeda's ending suggested that they stumbled upon the whole Daegon/Taven scenario.

4. Dark Raiden
Pretty much confirmed with the final cutscene, further supported by Raiden's, Scorpion's and Kotal Khan's individual endings. And I got my answer as to what happens to Hanzo and his Shirai Ryu(Scorpion becomes Raiden's personal "anti-Spectre", if you will).

5. Rulers of Netherrealm
Also confirmed in the final scene, as well as Liu Kang and Kitana's character endings(still don't know whattaheck happened to Jade though). Kung Lao and Kung Jin's character endings would also explain why Kung Lao was absent from the Netherrealm ruling committee.

6. A Death In The Family
Sonya and Jax's endings would suggest that Briggs Sr might not make it to the next game, after trying to save the cubs' lives from an Erron Black ambush.

7. Notable mentions
Kano's son would probably be a new character for the next game. Shang Tsung would make a come back(if Ermac's ending is legit), and possibly have a hand in the events of the next game.

*SPOILER ALERT
1. The Cage household
Papa Johnny beat Shinnok(to the point he saw him as a legit threat). Mama Sonya beat Quan Chi. Little Cassie beat "roided-up" Shinnok. Yup. You got Caged, betch!

2. Takeda Takahashi is baus
Son of Kenshi(got daddy's telekinesis), trained by Scorpion himself(to Chunin level), saved Scorpion's life twice in the comics(once, on a "moral" level, which by default, saved Sub-Zero's life in the process), dating Jacqui Briggs(whose dad was a recently ressurected, former servant of Quan Chi, former Special Forces...and let's face it, them bionic arms...that Asian kid's got balls man).

3. The Scorpion-Sub-Zero tea ceremony
Adorable gila babs.

4. Where the fuck is Bi-Han(elder Sub-Zero/Noob) and Jade???
Seriously? Bi-Han is mentioned through out the game, but tak nampak pon batang hidung dia. Same with Jade.

Here's a new segment, if you will. As always, it's a form of therapy for me. You know, the whole "reflecting on thyself" and all that jazz. I'm not here to open debates and start arguments. That's not why I'm here. There are other writers out there who'd be more than happy to accommodate you. These are just MY thoughts on the matter, and thus, shouldn't be taken as gospel/scientific fact/academic reference/argument fodder. I just don't like confrontation, that's all.

1. I'm proud AND guilt-ridden of who I am at the same time
See next point.

2. Uh...yea...The NEP thing
I acknowledge and am very much aware that I'm a product of the NEP...all...the...frickin...time. All of my future achievements in my adult life(heck, even my current and past ones) will undoubtedly come with a catch; "Where would you be without it?", either shot by peers who'd question the validity of my hard-earned success(because I have a "leg up", as they would put it), or my parents/Malay-sympathizers who'd lecture me if I ever bring up the idea of racial equality, and the much-overdue needs-based over race-based policy(this, seems like a frecken no brainer to me, especially to deal with corruption and misappropriation of funds). I am the walking, talking, breathing equivalent of "having your cake and eating it". It's like being the only middle-class white boy in a hip-hop crew from Compton.

3. ...more on the NEP thing
This whole "Malay first" ideology is actually a bad thing, for ALL involved, because the Malays are raised knowing that there'll always be some kind of a safety net for them. Maybe it's just me, but if we're talking about reasons to be proud of one's culture, wouldn't it be better if we were known for being resourceful, adaptable and having a natural competitive edge? The simple fact is, the "Malay first" ideology, with regards to the bigger picture, is actually dulling these qualities rather than honing them.

4. Ultra-melayus and Islamic-radicalism
I am a Muslim, and a Malay, and I am as shitless-scared as the rest of you are of this bunch and what they are capable of. For one thing, it's because I KNOW I'm not a saint, and I'm not living in denial, trying to Arab-icize(is that even a word?) myself. Also, because I love hanging with my "braders" and "machas" as much as I love hanging out with my "members". Life would suck if it was a "Malaysia for Melayus only". You know what? Any form of legislation that's Saudi-based would SERIOUSLY SUCK as well, because most of my friends are women!

5. It's all geography man
When you say "Malay" to me, I think of the whole shabang; as long as you have an ancestral link from anywhere within the SEA region, to me, you're some form of "Malay". It was called the "Malay Archipelago" by the mat sallehs after all(Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian/Phillipino are simply politically-bound labels to me). I'd like to go further and suggest that we might even be closely related to the Latinos(same biological features...heck, same frecken stereotypes too).

After 3 years of to and fro, this place ain't so bad...

...With the exception of two, very simple things.

1. "Ta".
Yup. Exactly how it's spelled. Supposedly it's thank you, in short form(at least that's what I've been told). Except, I find it really, really, really, really...(this will go on for quite awhile)...annoying. It just sounds soooo frickin gedik(also somewhat posh-but-not-in-a-good-way/pretentious as well) no matter who says it. Seriously. I dunno why I hate it so much, but everytime a customer says "Ta" to me, I'm quietly grinding my teeth behind a forced smile. Rasa cam nak "ta"-mpar je sial.

2. Asians speaking broken english, with a thick made-up Aussie accent
Wehhh, aku takleh doh. Can you please just speak with your original accent that you were raised with? It's more natural, and actually more pleasing to the ear. Sebab diorang ni tak pandai nak pronounce or enunciate betul-betul, tapi nak jugak tambah accent ciplak dia kat situ...

*le sigh