ONI WAT...

Oni wat ogi nyaa de sape wat tih bih? This is a scenario where a guy is applying for a loan at a local financial institution. Applicant:        Cik , I’d like to make a personal loan…I’ve filled in all the forms Counter Girl:    Ok, you have prepared all your photocopied documents? Applicant:        Already, cik . Everything is in order. Counter Girl:    Great. Let me go through everything first. Counter Girl browses through the documents while Applicant looks at...her…desk (Hehehe, you thought I was gonna to say something inappropriate were you?). Counter Girl:    Ok, encik ...you intend to loan how much, exactly? Applicant:        Oh? It’s written there right? I want to loan RM 100,000. Counter Girl:    Umm…yes it is written, but erm, encik …after assessing your income and your monthly financial commitments…I don’t think that the amount you are as...

Oni wat oku doik tapod suwak do bala de muti? Having a nice public holiday everyone? Well, I hope you all are. This morning I was finally able to browse through the Facebook group page for the band  Projek Tri-Gasi . I recommend fellow readers to try and listen to one of their songs in The Bidayuh Daily Issues Facebook group. The song's entitled Pimonu (The Journey) . I've tried to attach the song directly to this post but somehow it wouldn't load. However, you can just click on the aforementioned song title and the it'll redirect you to the that page. Projek Tri-Gasi consists of 7 members (if I'm not mistaken, coz I think I've lost count, hahaha) and they are friends of mine; people whom I have known for a large part of my life, and people who share many similar aspirations as myself. I am proud that they have grouped together and merge their talents and creativity to create musical fusion. They finally decided to do this...thank goodness. When they defined...

Oni geh wat ya suan-suan koyuh so otto bih? Hey, if anyone noticed – The Borneo Post made a special pullout commemorating Malaysia Day this year. Note that on the last page of this special pullout is a full page article about The 18 Point Agreement , and if anyone remembered; I blogged about it in July! Whoah! They really took the liberty to write about it, but for me; what was written didn’t provide anything WORTH knowing. In fact, they didn’t even list down the entire 18 Points! So picture this: Not many people know about the 18 Points and you acknowledge that in your article. However, you are not writing all 18 Points in that article but you’re stressing how important it is to know all these points. WTF???!!!   Is there anything more contradictory than that?! All they did was collect a set of opinions from people to see if they know about the agreement, and to know if it is important or not for us Sarawakians. But I bet, even before they asked the people they interviewed ...

Oni wat main bol otto skia jorak ya maju bih? Just now at a coffee shop behind my office, I was having breakfast while reading today’s edition of The Borneo Post, and 3 pages from the back was an article written by Bujang Senang Tuah called Same Old Story For FAS . With due respect, Mr. Bujang Senang Tuah could have made 4 or 5 repetitive editions of that article every year because I almost think that the Sarawak football team & FAS has gone through that same cycle since 4 or 5 years ago. But unlike, Mr. Bujang Senang Tuah , I am seeing that Sarawak has gotten much better, especially with the crop of players they have now. It's true that they were up against seasoned players from the Super League and that we were playing most of the time in a state of cultural shock, but the point is we have MADE IT BACK to the Super League this upcoming season. THAT is their opportunity to become seasoned players; by playing in top flight football. Most of these players are really yo...

Oni wat doik tapod bu togan idip miskin? There is a term that I find both appaling and hilarious; and in English, the word is 'hardcore poor'. However, when you read out the Malay word for it, it's called miskin tegar . I don't know if other people see it the way I see it, but I think when you look at the word in the Malay context, it's as if miskin tegar means that you are damned to be poor, all the time . First of all, I must say that almost no one WANTS to be poor, and also, almost no one wants to be poor ALL THEIR LIFE. Most people, want to at least be able to live a moderate life, where you are able to afford food, clothing and shelter for yourself and your family. So to avoid being poor, people do many things such earning money from getting jobs, pursuing higher education to earn better jobs with better income and set up businesses (even small ones). The constant 'reality check' of not wanting to be poor and to be able to earn something for oneself...

Oni wat otto doik kereta opui? I was once interviewed for a government position and it was the one that I didn't get, ahahaha. Coz as of this moment, I don't think I have any speck of interest to work as a government servant anymore. So the interview was in the form of a Structured Interview and it was meant for a **41 level. I was called for the interview about seven months after working at where I am working now. This particular government interview involved 3 session, and it was somewhat like this: Get to know YOU interview (then morning tea break) Get to know WHAT YOU KNOW interview (then lunch) An ESSAY & PRESENTATION session (then afternoon tea break) The total number of tea breaks and the duration of time it took for each tea break was already typical of the government working experience. Hahaha! Here, I'd just like to highlight one particular session, which is the essay and presentation. I was given a series of questions and I was asked...

Oni wat otto tanah urah de wat tih de sikurah? A friend of mine who once taught in a Sarawak rural primary school told me a story about the the school's Sports Day. It is common that the Parent Teacher's Association (or Persatuan Ibu Bapa & Guru ) play a pivotal role in making such an event a huge success and it comes as no surprise that parents more often than not, would jump at the opportunity to participate in this sort of event. I think the enthusiasm from parents for any sports day, whether rural or urban is about the same. But how they go about it...is a totally different story. Let me stress that what I am about to say does not apply to every rural school, but I wouldn't be wrong in telling you that it happens in most rural schools. I'm assuming it could be a fifty-fifty ratio or more. So what happened was, as the school authorities prepares the venue for the event, parents were also helping them out .But as they helpin...

Oni wat manuk-manuk tih obuok tiwas bih?  A band of Angry Birds... Angry Birds is currently the 'IN' thing this year. You go around shops and you see people are selling a lot of Angry Birds t-shirts and merchandise. I doubt most of the people who buy the shirts actually play the game. I personally haven't played the game but when it comes to trends, I'm usually one of the last few people to participate in ot or never participate at all. The last real trend I followed was actually 'grunge'. In fact, that was the only trend I have EVER followed. Hahaha, ala, you guys know la...secondary school, adolescence and teenage angst. I think I had the longest hair in school when I was in Form 5...ahaha, I hope someone from that time and era could support my claim, hahahaha...Kelvin, Ibek..do leave your comments on that one! Hahaha. So if you look at the above, you'll notice a group of Angry Birds right? But to tell you the truth, these don't come close to b...

Oni wat doik sedia bonar-bonar sebelum bertindak? On a cool Thursday morning in the first half of 2001 AD, my usually subtle morning office mood was jeopardized by a disturbing phonecall. I looked at the phone's LCD screen and there was was the name of the company's legal executive blinking with the ringtone. If there's one thing I've learned from past experiences, when the legal people are calling, it is never a good thing (yes, it's true...even the audit guys have a lot more cheerful reasons to call you, like asking you when's the next BPL match, or how nostalgic the new Sarawak football jersey is). Even a call from the CEO might bear some good news..who knows, could be a promotion? Or maybe a lunch treat? Or maybe a sacking?! Hahaha. The 'dreaded' phonecall... I picked up the phone and I as I dreaded, it was bad news (bad news means more work for me!). It seems that some locals have taken the initiative to acquire the services of a law firm to...

Oni wat otto obuoh koduk politik? Several years ago I was riding in a car with my uncle. Where I'm from, whichever younger sibling on both your mother's or your father's side is called tuwak (aunt or uncle la). Hahaha, yes, I know it sounds like a familiar local alcoholic brew but in the Bidayuh tongue, I personally notice that it is pronouced in two separate syllable (as in tu-wa' ) and not one straight syllable as how one would pronounce tuak . We should get some linguistics people to sort that sort of stuff out, right? I think that they might already have, and I am probably the one who is just simply unaware of it, hahaha. Don't we already have graduates who are Bachelors in Linguistics? Coz I think UNIMAS offers that programme. But I better leave this topic for some other post later, hahaha. So this uncle of mine, whom we fondly call Wak D at home (yes, pronounce the letter 'D' as in dee ) brought up the issue of rural road construction and how slow t...

Oni wat otto Dayak wat itih bih? It's been some time since I posted something but I've been busy thinking, reading, and recollecting my thoughts. So for this post I'd like to share with you all a story of my first hand experience of being at the opposing end of Dayak fury. Hahaha, yes it's true and it really pisses me off. One day, I was on a company task to do some reconnaissance at an area somewhere along the Baram river. So for people who are wondering if there were any crocodiles in the Baram, there's a few but there's a lot more where they came from along it's other tributaries (do Google Earth it). Practically 30 to 40 of them lying together sun-bathing along the riverbanks. What's the plural for crocodiles? Do you call them a pack of crocodiles? Or a group of crocodiles? Well, it doesn't matter coz at the time there was a 'school' of them. Why did I say a 'school' of crocodiles? Imagine all the students in SMK Bau put togethe...

Oni wat sirita tih skia steady bih? Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Now there were actually loads of great movies released by the US last year, like The Social Network, Black Swan, Inception (this one was awesome too!), The Fighter, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, True Grit and lots more. These movies, for me - are movies with some of the strongest writing and acting and yes, most of them were Oscar nominees. I have a tendency to buy DVDs in bulks of 3 to 4 movies and then watch all of 'em straight over the weekend. Hahahaha. I know that there are summer blockbuster hits, but to me they aren't movies that are memorable, but most of them are simply visual eye candy (they're still worth watching but, like trends - they usually go as fast as they come).  To me, I have to admit that I might be bias coz I am at times I can be an indie-movie freak...but to tell you the truth, some of the most memorable movies I have watched are those non-big budget summer blockbuster m...