Shocked and Bewildered

Man tries to con teacher into having sex
Friday October 16, 2009
Obtained from The Star Online

A temporary teacher with a secondary school in Seremban was almost fooled into having sex with her colleague after he pretended to be an undercover special health officer researching “diseases affecting female teachers.”

The teacher - known only as Hani - claimed that the married man in his 30s had even asked for his undercover identity to be kept from his wife, who is teaching in the same school, and from the school principal.

In a report in Kosmo!, Hani, 24, said the teacher had told her that his research comprised three phases, the first of which would require her to answer questions on the size of her breasts and waist.

She would then be required to get intimate with the teacher in the second phase and finally, have sex with him under the third phase, which was also a “weight test”.

Hani alleged that she had signed an agreement as well as a confidentiality form to participate in the study after the teacher approached her in March.

The “study” then moved onto the next phase, in which Hani said she was told to go to an empty classroom.

“In the classroom, he hugged me from behind before performing other sexual acts on me,” she said, adding that she pushed the man away after suspecting something was amiss.

“The next phase was even worse when he asked me to have sex with him,” she said, claiming that during this time, the teacher was stark naked and getting ready to film the sex romp.

“Frightened, I then fled from the classroom,” said Hani.

Since that day, Hani alleged the teacher has been harrassing her through phone messages, asking her for money as “penalty” for not completing the study and claiming that she could be “sued” by the Education Ministry.

The man even claimed that the Public Services Department could take action against her and her other family members serving in the Government.

“I lodged a police report on Aug 18 after I could no longer take his harassment. I have also filed a complaint with both the Health and Education Ministries and the department,” said Hani.

Read the entire article here.

I wanted to write a real long post about this article. But I guess it wouldn't justify my time for typing word for word, especially when I have so many things to complete. I'll just say it quick and nice: If you were to ask me who was stupider, I'd tell you both the male and female teachers were equally stupid.

What is education doing to our teachers these days. I wonder. And to read something like that about teachers brings much shame to me because I teach too.

You know what this means, folks...

Yes, I Was Here - Ad Unplugged

Click image for larger view.

Horribly interesting, isn't it?

Participants got to brainstorm and work on advertising ideas with some of the main influencers of the advertising creative industry, and I was fortunate enough to work with Jeff Orr, Executive Creative Director, TBWA-ISC\Malaysia.

Here's a simple introduction of Jeff Orr:

Jeff Orr founded Malaysia’s Creative Council that created Malaysia’s first advertising awards, The Kancil. He also has extensive experience in the industry as Creative Director and Executive Creative Director at DDB in Melbourne, and BBDO in Hong Kong and Malaysia. He served as Regional Creative Director at Grey Worldwide and was responsible for Grey’s global brands in countries including Japan, Australia, Philippines and India. He is currently the Group Executive Creative Director at TBWA\ISC Malaysia.

What made Ad Unplugged so interesting was the chance to work with creative directors who are in the advertising industry, who have all the experience, and who are willing to share them. Many of us, students especially, will not even have the chance to speak with these people, let alone brainstorm advertising campaigns with them.

Another reason why Ad Unplugged was so beneficial was the fact that the advices and feedback you get from these creative directors will be firsthand. You won't be getting them from a writeup in some random magazine or hear them from some guy who happened to talk to these directors; you'll hear it for yourself, see the expressions of the directors and get tips from them so that you could improve yourself.

So what who were the creative directors at Ad Unplugged, you ask? They are:

Jeff Orr
Executive Creative Director, TBWA-ISC\Malaysia

Szu Lee
Executive Creative Director, McCann-Erickson

Tan Yew Leong
Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett

Steve Hough
Executive Creative Director, Y & R

Sa’ad Hussein
Managing Director, Executive Creative Director, Creative Juice\Sil

Andy Soong
Executive Creative Director, Publicis

Click here for more information about these amazing people!

What did I learn, you ask?

1. I learned how to effectively come up with an advertising idea before an advertising campaign.
2. I learned the importance on selecting specific mindsets and attitudes to change.
3. I learned how to work as a team (sometimes I tend to think I work better individually, but working individually isn't possible when working in the real world).
4. I understood a fraction of how crazy the advertising world was.
5. I understood what creative directors are looking for.
6. I learned that the experience I have in college, working on a magazine (even if everything is done from scratch), doing my internship in a small firm -- all these don't count.
7. I learned that a few years doing freelance does not mean that I have experience. Far from it. Because I've yet to see the real thing. 
8. I learned that having a degree is nothing. It's just a piece of paper certifying that I've learned theories and scrape through my assignments. 
9. I learned that I have what it takes to start from small, but not enough to be recognized. Hence, the need to come up with my portfolio, because while working on it, I get to 'drill' myself to be better.
10. I learned some strengths and weaknesses of my group members.
11. I learned that I need to start realizing that what I have learned in college is nothing because my knowledge isn't even enough for me to come up with good advertisements. 
12. I realized that my experience gotten from internship was invaluable, especially since I finally learned how to segregate Public Relations from Advertising, and to think of campaigns separately. 
13. And the list continues... 

Need I stress the benefits of  Ad Unplugged again? I suppose not. Oh, and another thing you should check out: Wake Up Lah

I might just post up pictures of the event soon. Or I may not. I've yet to decide. But whatever it is, whenever you come across events like this -- don't stop to think if you should go for them or not. Just do it.

And last but not least, for those who already have their portfolios ready, don't stop working on them. I just found out from Jeff Orr that there was a Portfolio Night this year. Although we may have missed it, there's no reason to stop compiling our portfolios and get ready for next year! So yes, if you don't have a portfolio, start now!

Dear Beethoven

Dear Ludwig van Beethoven,

You are driving me crazy.

It seems as if you are stalking me. First, you made my life miserable when I was in grade 3 for not able to master your Fur Elise, then grade 8 for struggling through your preludes for exams, and now, your oh-so-special Sonata.

Granted, you did compose some of the most beautiful songs, but why do you have to make my life so... miserable? Why on earth did you compose Sonata no. 12 in Ab Major, Opus 26? What exactly were you thinking?

Let's do a trade, shall we? You get to stalk me and scare me with those stupid scales and textures and whatnot, but you have to teach me how to play them. It's no fun seeing you get all the fun while I go insane.

So what say ye? Good to go?


Regards,
Jonathan Chu

Five Current Facts

It's 2.40am, October 6, 2009. It has been more than one week I haven't penned my thoughts here. So many things have happened.

First off, my good buddy's father passed away.

To Hajok,
I do not know how you feel. I do not know how tough it is to live your days realizing that there is no more fatherly support. I do not know how terrible it is to go through what you are going through. And I do not know the right words to say. I can't say "I understand" because I haven't had this experience, and to say so is hypocrisy. But I can say, if you need me to be random, I'll be there for you. Tons of yam cha nights. A promise from me.

Life is so short. Too short. We shouldn't be wasting our time on people who don't matter.

Second off, I have bought so many books from the Penguin and Pearson Warehouse sale. Can't help but grin at my new collections of books. I am so going to start reading all over again. Saw Freakonomics, but didn't like the cover. Saw a tons of other more books on the first day at the first few hours, but when I went back on the fourth day, it's gone. Sob. I'll wait for another two to five more years for another sale. (Jarod, if you need me to get you any books, tell me. I can go again. But I don't know if there'll be any though.)

Third off, my initial plan to be free without having to slash off items from a long to-do list has failed. Why are you and I not surprised? Gee, I wonder. I draw from my experiences in my internship and applied them for The Hailer. And guess what? More items added to my to-do list. Yet, when I think about it, my current lifestyle ain't that bad. I can't imagine when I am trying to climb the corporate ladder - how tough and demanding that job would be. You won't be surprised when you read my tweet saying "I feel like dying" or "stressed", because that time I am so sure I will really be dying or stressed.

Fourth off, I am trying to practice my piano but I can't seem to get my notes right. Gosh, I feel like breaking my fingers and boiling soup. I have this love-hate relationship with Beethoven. While his songs are so melodious, they are almost technically impossible for me. One thing I've realized: many people have gone for their grade 8 practical for piano, but the truth is, they don't know a thing about piano playing; they have also witnessed and experienced the shore of piano playing and not the depth of it. Even the repertoire stage is nothing compared with diploma. It is so much more demanding and crazy - even a phrase has to be played to perfection. Focus and stamina is needed - both of which I am lacking because I tend to let my mind wander when I'm practising my piano, and when I realized it, I would have already made a bunch of mistakes.

Fifth off, I am enjoying designing the new issue of The Hailer.

This is all right now. I will be updating soon. Stay tuned.

I am so happy now!

Need I say more? It's finally back! YAY!!! It's truly shopping spree for me now! Ditch the clothes. Get the books!

Of Edward, Bella, Twilight and Romance

I've never been a huge fan of romance, unlike so many girls and some boys out there. I find romance movies out there fake and unreal, sometimes to the point of disgust. The truth is, I don't find how can Mr. and Mrs. Smith be romantic, how can Hans Solo and Princess Leia be romantic,  how Zorro and his maiden can be romantic, and the list goes on.

Unlike Chevonne who wrote about how much she could identify with Twilight and Bella Swan, and how much she'd like to have a boy like Edward (if possible, that is), I find these kind of stories difficult to identify with. I would watch the movie, all just for the sake of the movie, understanding the technical aspects, and scrutinizing the script; but never for the love.

Yet, the concept of being with someone and refraining from being too involves sticks out to me. Edward was decent looking, in many people's eyes, has these supernatural abilities... I think he's somebody you'd consider perfect. But there is one thing that hinders him from Bella -- his nature. He is a vampire, and vampire can't kiss humans. So, the physical contact is very limited, especially since the basic lingo of being together is kissing these days. If you're a couple, you kiss. That's what you do. Correct me if I'm wrong.

And that's the whole point why I think their romance is somewhat romantic (note the word "somewhat"), somewhat different. Imagine being with a person you love while understanding that your presence would mean harm or even death to the person. Now, this is something more interesting than those romance that couples tell each other, "I can't live without you, babe" or, "I love you, I love you, I love you".

Not that I am applauding Twilight and the series; I was never impressed or dumbfounded at the characters or language. I am only saying that this side of romance is something new, something fresh albeit the other aspects of oh-so-boring romance I have seen.

So what do you think? Edward and Bella's romance -- a total die for? Or is it garish, total trash?