Best quote of the day

""The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam,"

Reported by the BBC.

Full context for Anglophiles here.

A critique on the modern anime fan base

Horse riding is a beautiful sport. The mere fact that you can control a beast at your will makes it such a amazing thing. I’ve met horse riders who share a special emotional bond with their partners. I admit, sometimes I do wish I was younger, lighter and richer, if only to be able to ride a horse for the weekends in the rolling hills. Once upon a time horse riding was a skill teachers taught school boys, and career prospects (in the middle ages at least) were interesting to say the least. For many, it was their only chance to get out of their village. However, in this day and age, horse riding is reserved for the strata of society where their bellies are full, they have a roof over their heads, no mortgage to pay, no loans to settle, well educated, and above all, no bank account falling faster than HDD prices. In short, where once horse riding was a skill needed, it is now the reserve of the rich and the privileged.

As I have written in the past, the anime scene has changed dramatically over the last short four years. I have touched briefly on the factors of this change, namely broadband penetration, improved compression codec’s etc. However, in the greater scheme of things, are these changes for better or for worst?

I’m not what most people would call “old”. I’m no pioneer. However, I am old enough to remember playing with the INT strings of a 33.6k modem (Hyper terminal days), I was there when the 5KB/s barrier was broken. The astronomical cost of downloading a 18MB game demo is seared in my head. The MMX extensions of the K6-2 brought multimedia to me, while I had hours of fun getting a sound card to work under Windows 3.11 and Windows 95 (what ever you might think, PnP was nowhere mature then). Ahhhhh….good old days.

Unlike most of my peers however, Card Captor Sakura and Rurouni Kenshin was not my first induction to the interesting world of anime. More proof, is anyone wants it, that I’m not normal. But it was in those days, where there was a loyal following. We’d “meet” up in mailing lists and newsgroups ( phpBB based forums were still a pipe dream then) and discuss, share fanfics and trade rare images that someone managed to get hold of. Keeping in mind that scanners cost 4 digits at that time and at best had a resolution of 2 MP, there was no wonder that those who provided the images were seen as gods. People set up fan-sites, with their hard labor (WYSIWYG HTML was only starting to mature, push button publishing was a dream, and CMS was something only Microsoft had) shared the love and passion for their anime of choice. These were loyal, true fans, who would dig up every tiny detail, no matter how insignificant, and amazing (and now that I look back, cringe-worthy too) debates would transpire from this. In a way, the comradeship between fans was more tangible and I would argue, lasting.

Fast forward to this day. Anime comes and goes with a frequency of 15648656981 Hz. Everything is now divided into 一月，二月。。。。新番. Fan-sites are now considered passé. The trend now is seemingly blogs and forums, which can crash, fail, or just simply disappear at any time. The popularity of any given anime series falls faster than the RM once it has finished airing. It is almost as it anime has become a commodity, from one to another in quick succession, produced in bulk, with no soul and heart, and to quote Jeremy Clarkson “something to prop-up 3rd world economies”. While Card captor Sakura took 2 years to come down from Japan to Malaysian TV, the plague I call Haruhiism is now infecting the masses (on the same TV station no less) less than a year after it was broadcast in Japan. I can remember running around, shuffling VHS tapes, while this so-called Gen-Y can download a entire series in HD, 1080i, in hours. I thought VHS was quite good, while we have people now moaning that 640 x 480 is no longer sufficient.

I suppose then, that the root of my gripe is that the bonds of loyalty that held us minority anime fans together no longer exists in this modern age thanks to the overwhelming influx of anime immigrants. Back in the days where I still had the optimism of youth, I dreamt of a day where we anime fans would be at least acknowledged, where we wouldn’t be just lumped under “cartoons” and be able to be proud of what we are. A future where manga would be readily available in my local bookshop, and anime easily bought. I saw a future where anime fans would no longer be a minority.

Sadly, as all have seen are people like me become a minority in a minority. Lets face it: for all the advances the anime-fandom has made in the real world, it is still very much a niche market. But like all markets, it got the attention of corporations who, for better or worst, saw the money in anime. It was then inevitable then, that the cases of Fans vs ADV (2002), Fans vs Funimation (2004), Fans vs Odex (2007) and Fansub groups vs MediaFactory (2004) would make real world creep into the underground fandom of anime.

The problem is, people like me watch anime to ESCAPE from real life, NOT see real life reflected! Unfortunately, real life has been encroaching further and further, no thanks to the new influx of anime immigrants who thinks its leet to be associated with “anime”. Simply because of their numbers, coupled with their poor command of the English language, them immigrants have pushed us old-timers who like to stay in the background out. They took our silence as an admission of defeat. So it is now supposedly the “in” thing to be incomprehensible in type, tOtAL aNd w0nT0n abUs3 of thE plAC1ng oF caP1TaL l3TteRs anD nUmb3R5 (I don’t know how people type like that. It took me 4 mins to type that one short sentence; I can bang out a whole paragraph in that same 4 mins) just so these peasants think they’re being 1337, pwning everyone, wanting moar and seeing me phail. I’m sorry, but all I see are disgraceful, ill-educated, narrow-minded and incompetent kids who are full of themselves.

The thing is, if we had left history to the peasants (teenages, kids with goth myspace pages etc), we’d be still in the fields, thinking sliced bread is the best thing since, well, sliced bread. As many countries have learnt (just look at Malaysia), what the masses want is not necessarily a good idea.

So, my responce to TJ Han’s statement: [Are] “Anime Clubs are Horses in the Automobile Age”, I would say, yes. But on the same line, look at who can ride horses in the automobile age. With Proton giving out 4% car loans, anyone can drive, but only the professionals can tame, control and work with a horse.

Suzuka Vol 1 trailer

That is slick.

That is all I can say.

What do we pay our taxes for?

More proof that watching Suzumiya Haruhi makes people unable to spell:



And if you think that is bad, wait till you see this:

"Dragged into Haruhi's distorted world"

"sexually exploited by Haruhi"

On NTV7's website to boot! They've taken it down, but the full archive is here. If this doesn't tell you that Haruhiism is a plague, what will?!

I just have a nit to pick:

"Good looking"?! If she's good looking, then I'm Shun Oguri.

Honestly, what do we pay our taxes for?! This is what the Lembaga Penapis Filem is supposed to stop!

Oh, I know where our taxes went to.

Here.

Something doesn't add up between the NST and the Borneo Post

Sunday, 23 September, from the Borneo Post:

Foul, polluted water!
By Rintos Mail

THE tell-tale signs are evident, especially on a dry day. The residents don’t need to be environmentalists or specialists in water quality to know how polluted the river is.

The unpleasant smell and murky surface of the water as well as the presence of polluted drains and tributaries meandering into the river, are sufficient to let the residents in the know.

thesundaypost, after receiving public complaints, took a trip up to Siniawan Bazaar for a first-hand look at the condition of the water that flows into the reservoir there, and later to trace the possible sources of pollution to the river — the main source of raw water for residents along Bau Road.

The smell and turbidity indicate that pollution in the waters of Siniawan River need urgent attention. The contaminated water appears to have been channelled into the drinking water supply system.

Water is undoubtedly the most precious natural resource but though aware of this, it seems that we still constantly pollute our rivers, lakes and oceans.

So we are slowly but surely harming our water sources, which will eventually affect our drinking water.

The major causes of polluted water are sewage, chemicals from factories, fertilisers from farms, and landfills that leak.

Like those in most other states, rivers in Sarawak are less known for their beauty or cleanliness.

The water from many rivers in the State, especially the major ones, is not fit for consumption before treatment.

What are the causes of pollution in rivers? Who are the culprits? How do these sources of pollution come about?

In some areas, the water used by the people is either discharged from treatment plants, reservoirs or comes from nearby rivers and streams.

The Siniawan River appears a good case in point.

One of the major causes of river pollution, which could also have given rise to serious environmental problems in the area, is pollutants discharged from animal farms, slaughter houses and landfills.

These animal farms and slaughterhouses are pouring organic wastes into streams and drains flowing into the Siniawan River through small streams and drains.

Since organic wastes are decomposed by micro-organisms, much of the dissolved oxygen in water is used up and the waste water tends to stink.

During our visit, we saw an abattoir, two poultry farms and a goat-cum-free range chicken farm located near the area. The wastes from these places are believed to be drained into the Siniawan River through streams and the drainage and irrigation system.

Further in, along Jambusan Road, are at least three pig farms discharging wastes directly into Sungai Sibong and villagers in the area claim the soiled water flows into the river.

Animal husbandry and urbanisation with strong trend towards residential development in the area are believed to have aggravated the quality of the river water.

Aside from water pollution, environmental problems that arise from the livestock industry include the generation of foul odours and the release of ammonia and other noxious gases into the atmosphere.

“The polluted water in Sungai Sibong is obvious during a long drought. The water looks black and smelly. When it rains, the smell is washed away but the water remains turbid,” a resident noted.

Before we reached the livestock farms, about 5km from the main Bau Road, we noticed a dumpsite or landfill opposite Kampung Skiat Lama.

Although there is no evidence the landfill contributes to water pollution, many experts believe dumpsites pollute water, and liquid seeping from the waste can contaminate ground water or nearby streams.

It is said that one third of known cases of polluted groundwater (water entering the ground instead of running on the surface) is caused by landfills.

Other causes, found everywhere, are household sewage, and personal care as well as household products.

Since no one wants to live in a polluted area near a dumpsite or landfill, the waste water and untreated sewage usually find their way into different bodies of water which get polluted.

Shampoos, lotions, moisturisers, hair dyes, bleaches, laundry detergents, fabric softeners and many others contribute to water pollution.

Human waste is not the only thing that goes into sewage. It also collects waste water two contaminate streams, rivers and lakes.

Water pollution becomes most obvious and dangerous when it poisons drinking water or causes the death of a large number of fish or other aquatic life.

This could be caused by sewage. Disposal of wastes into large volume of water could reduce the biological oxygen demand to such a great extent that the entire oxygen may be removed, causing many fish species to perish.

As the water in the river was not clear during the visit, it was impossible to tell whether there were fish in the Siniawan River and its tributaries.

It was also not possible — without lab tests — to tell whether the river water or that from the treatment plant in Siniawan contained health-threatening substances.

There is a standard process to purify water. For example, at Batu Kitang, raw water is pumped from the river to the treatment plant where it undergoes the conventional treatment process of coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, disinfection, flouridation, stabilisation, pH adjustment, and storage and distribution.

Coagulation is done by the alum-lime process and disinfection by chloramines. Flouridation has been practised since 1966, and the fully treated water is pumped to the various reservoirs and service tanks in Kuching for distribution (Kuching Water Board website).

Water purification is the process of removing contaminants from a raw water source. The goal is to produce water for a specific purpose with a treatment profile designed to limit the inclusion of specific materials. Most water is purified for human consumption.

Disinfection is normally the last step in purifying drinking water. Water is disinfected to kill any pathogens which pass through the filters. Possible pathogens include viruses and bacteria.

The most common disinfection method is some form of chlorine or its compounds such as chloramine or chlorine dioxide. Chlorine is a strong oxidant that kills many micro-organisms. Although chlorine is effective in killing bacteria, it has limited effectiveness against protozoans that form cysts in water, and because chlorine is a toxic gas, there is a danger of a release associated with its use.

Chloramines are another chlorine-based disinfectant. Although chloramines are not as strong as an oxidant or are a reliable residual as compared to chlorine gas or sodium hypochlorite, they are less prone to form trihalomethanes or haloacetic acids.

Water distribution systems disinfected with chloramines may experience nitrification wherein ammonia is used as a nitrogen source for bacterial growth with nitrates being generated as a by-product (en.wikipedia.org).

Governments usually dictate the standards for drinking water quality, and there are standards and rules in Malaysia and Sarawak on the supply of water to consumers.

The more relevant ones are the National Guidelines For Drinking Quality 1983 issued by the Health Ministry.

The criteria and standards are generally based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Drinking Water Quality Guidelines, 1982.

Among other requirements, the guidelines state: “Drinking water must be clear, colourless and odourless.

It must be pleasant to drink and free from all harmful micro-organisms, chemical substances and radio-nucleides in amounts which could constitute a hazard to the health of the consumers.”

However, although the water channelled from rivers to our water supply does go through all the standard processes, there are limits to what can be done to purify the water.

thesundaypost made several attempts to contact the authority which operates the Siniawan water supply but all to no avail.

The problem is the water in the drains and tributaries that flow into the Siniawan River, and pumped to the treatment plant, smells. And smell indicates that pollution in the water is at a “serious level.”

Consumers there, therefore, could not help but wonder if their water supply is really safe for consumption.

And 4 days later, spotted in the New Straits times:

Have will, can get clean rivers

28 September, 2007

KUCHING: Sungai Siniawan and Sungai Sarawak Kanan in Bau district have an image to protect - they are considered among the cleanest rivers in Sarawak. Their water is now crystal clear. The pig farms that polluted the rivers in the past have toed the line drawn by the Natural Resources and Environmental Board (NREB).

There are between 20,000 and 30,000 pigs in Siniawan.

Sungai Siniawan, which flows into Sungai Sarawak Kanan, is an example how a river can be rehabilitated. It used to be heavily polluted.

NREB officials took samples of water discharged from Yin Yan Pig Farm into Sungai Siniawan on Monday, and found the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) over five days was recorded at 51.2mg per litre of water. This is well below the maximum 250mg/l under the water quality standard for the country.

The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the samples taken from the river on Monday indicated that it was 299.8mg/l as against the maximum of 1,000mg/l under the Malaysian standard.

The Total Suspended Solid (TSS) was recorded at 141.7mg/l, which was below the 300mg/l permitted by the Malaysian standard.

“Talk that Sungai Siniawan is heavily polluted is untrue,” state government environmental adviser Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit said yesterday.

Samples taken from Sungai Sarawak Kanan also showed that its water was free from pollution.

Results of analyses from samples taken on June 28 at five different points in Sungai Sarawak Kanan showed that the BOD, COD and TSS were below the permitted quality levels.

Dawos, who is the Mambong MP, and some NREB officials had gone to the Yin Yan Pig Farm on Monday to take samples of its discharge.

He said the farm had followed the guidelines issued by the NREB, such as construction of four lagoons and other facilities to keep its premises clean and tidy.

The lagoons are used to separate waste from the water.

“You can see that the water at the fourth lagoon is clear and ready to be discharged into the river.”

Dawos said the state government had realised the need to regulate livestock farms in Sarawak because many of them were found to be discharging waste into the rivers.

As a result, the Veterinary Public Health Ordinance was enacted by the state legislative assembly in 1999.

Dawos said the state government gave the livestock breeders a grace period of five years to meet the requirements and conditions stipulated by the ordinance.

“Although we knew that many pig farms, for example, in Siniawan, were polluting the rivers, we did not take action against them. We gave them time to meet the requirements and, at the same time, we told them what they should do with their farms.”

Nevertheless, he said some farms were fined when they were slow in meeting the requirements.

“Now, however, all of them have toed the line.”

Under Part V of the ordinance pertaining to livestock farming, any farm with 100 head of cattle, pigs or goats and any farm with 1,000 chickens, ducks or geese is required to have a licence issued by the state veterinary authority to operate.

Any person operating a farm without the licence faces a penalty of RM5,000 or two years’ jail or both .

On regulations concerning the environment, the ordinance gives powers to the NREB to act.

Dawos said based on these powers, the NREB required all pig farms to submit a half-yearly report to it pertaining to the pig population, among others.

It's one thing having a lame ass press. Its another thing when the "lame ass press" can't even agree if a river is polluted or not. One says that "[locals] don’t need to be environmentalists or specialists in water quality to know how polluted the [Siniawan] river is", while the other praises it for being "the cleanest rivers in Sarawak".

I'm not pointing fingers yet, in the same way that I don't think Odex got their translations from a third party source, but something is wrong when our papers can't agree on simple issues like if the river is polluted or not.

Brisbane views

We will now (try to) resume normal programming.


Reason #8467843 why you shouldn't use Windows: it can be embarassing



Spotted at the Mater Hill busway station


Spotted at the Garden City Busway station: a visit Malaysia 2007 bus


I'm not sure if it does any good through.


The glorious 4 lane highway heading to Gold Coast. I swear, it looked wider than this picture gives it credit for.


Cloudy sunset, but no rain.


Yes, there is a place called Tanah Merah in Brisbane!


Ikea! Seen en route down to Gold Coast.

School Rumble montage

As per usual, click on the images for the bigger picture.


Ep 5.


I swear, I did not go dumpster diving outside Studio Comet.



Ep 12


What is it with the, um, uniform?

I'd be thankful, but not THAT thankful!


And what is it about 165?!