My Generation

Dear reader,








Musical Monday was a big flop, wasn't it? Well...my inconsistency knows no bounds then. Anyway, speaking of music, I love songs that inspire; songs that provoke thought, that are sources for the imagination. Imagination fountains: those are the only things worth listening to--or watching, or reading, or thinking about, for that matter. Sometimes we get caught up in the world, and we lose ourselves and our purity. Now, I'm not saying that people are all worldly, spiritually-depraved degenerates. I'm merely suggesting that there's a lot of unnecessary hanky-panky and silliness going on in this life, and we'd all be better off if we just stopped ourselves from getting involved in stuff like that. 


Paul describes it better than I can. In 1 Corinthians 6:12 he says: "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." 


And he says something extremely similar in 1 Corinthians 10:23; "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." 

When he says 'profitable', he doesn't only mean profit in terms of money. Something that will develop us, help us grow, something positive. He means, pretty much: everything is permissible, but not everything builds us up. How very true. Sleeping in on weekends, watching a movie when we should be studying, badmouthing someone--even if it's done in total confidence--won't kill us, it's all harmless. We justify our actions by saying they won't do us any harm. We always forget that these actions--more often than not--won't do us any good either. If every single person on this earth made a conscious effort to limit their pursuits to purely positive and edifying ones I wonder what the world would be like. On the other hand, perfection tends to get boring after a while, don't you think, dear reader? I wonder if it's a good thing humans can never be perfect, at least not in this life. It's all about the process, after all, not the end product. Well--while we're mortal--we won't ever reach perfection, but the least we can do is to strive for it.

I came across this quote one day...I forget when and where I got it, or what wild Internet goose chase led me to discover it in the first place. I don't even know if it ties in with my current ramblings--refer above--but I figured I'd just throw it in here for some diversity.

A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming. 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

That quote gave me chills. It's a scary thought, don't you think? The thought that 'we are worshipping what we are becoming.'


Anyway. I'm meandering. Very much so. The real reason I'm writing this is to share a song with you, dear reader. The song is called 'Generasiku' and it was sung by OAG, you know, my favourite Malaysian band. It means 'My Generation' in Malay. Oh, this song was on the soundtrack for a Malaysian movie called 'Gol & Gincu' (Goals & Lipstick), which was about a female futsal team, I think. It was an average-type chick flick, nothing spectacular, in my opinion. Anyway, that explains the football elements (or soccer, depending on which side of the Atlantic you hail from) in the music video. So, without further ado...hey, have you ever wondered where the word 'ado' came from? Such a funny little word, isn't it? A-doo. Much ado about nothing. Ah. Doo. If you say it enough times, it starts to sound like a foreign language. Ado. Aaa-do. Ahhh. Dooo. Ado.


Oh, right. The song, Here you go...enjoy!

















'Generasiku'
OAG
Pagi terjaga ku dari mimpi
Terasa hati senang sekali
Pasti dunia ku yang punya di hari ini
Bersama kawan-kawan ku pergi
Ketawa riang senang hati
Indahnya dunia ketika kita muda remaja


[Chorus]
Segalanya dalam genggaman
Walau apa pun tak kan menjadi halangan
Hidup ini sedia menanti
Generasiku bersinar bagai mentari
Oh-oh...


Malam ini bertemu di pesta
Berdebar membalas senyumannya
Manisnya, oh, jatuh cinta kali pertama
Bersama melukiskan impian
Cinta, cita-cita dan harapan
Di usia ini...tiada yang tak mungkin, oh sayang


[Chorus]


Jangan gentar mengejar mimpi
Yakin, berani, percaya diri
Dan mula dengan 'hello'
Oh-oh...


Jangan takut jatuh ke bumi
Bingkas bangun melangkah lagi
Ke depan, lari dan terbang menuju bintang
Hanya kau saja yang bisa menentu
Arah hidupmu yeah...
Oh-oh...


Pagi terjaga ku dari mimpi
Terasa hati senang sekali
Indahnya dunia ketika kita muda remaja


[Chorus] x2
Oh-oh...


Segalanya dalam genggaman (Oh-oh...)
Hidup ini...
Generasiku...

English Translation

'My Generation'

OAG

This morning, I woke from a dream

My heart felt so light

Surely, the world is mine today

With my friends I go

Laughing happily, with a light heart

The world is so wonderful when we're young

[Chorus]

Everything is within our grasp

Nothing can stand in our way

This life is ready and waiting

My generation shines like the sun

Oh-oh...

Tonight, we meet at the festival

My heart beats as I return her smile

It's so sweet, oh, falling in love for the first time

Together we draw out our dreams

Love, ambition and hope

At this age...nothing is impossible, oh [my] love

[Chorus]

Don't be afraid to chase your dream

Confident, brave, believe in yourself

And start with 'hello'

Oh-oh...

Don't be afraid of falling down to earth

Resiliently rise and take another step

Forward, run and fly, heading for the stars
Only you can decide

The direction of your life, yeah...

Oh-oh...

This morning, I woke from a dream

My heart felt so light

The world is so wonderful when we're young

[Chorus] x2

Oh-oh...

Everything is within grasp

(Oh-oh...)

This life...

My generation...

Great song, right? An inspiration fountain if there ever was. The world really is wonderful when you're young. If you try hard enough, you can see the years stretching out in front of you, like a path or a river, and it just goes on and on until it disappears into the horizon. The future is like that horizon in the distance: vague and unknowable at the moment, but you'll get there soon enough.

And on that note, I shall leave you, dear reader. See you round the bend. Til then, I remain...

Yours,

Figgy the Youthful

Musical Monday makes its comeback...

Dear reader,








It's been a while since my last Musical Monday, hasn't it? Alright, so it's been a while since my last anything. It turns out that college life gets pretty busy at times. Who knew. Before I get down to song-sharing business, I have one piece of information I would like to divulge. My father went to Singapore recently. He goes to a lot of places, for his job, you know. Anyway, this otherwise mundane and ritual business trip was heralded by an extraordinary souvenir. He came back bearing gifts. Or, rather, gift. An awesome, awesome gift. The gift in question was a...wait, are you sitting down? I think you'd better sit down. Prepare your mental faculties for the shock of your life. Brace yourself. I'm serious. This is going to blow your mind. Okay, enough stalling. He brought back a--pause for dramatic effect--tablet PC! An effing tablet PC! Can you believe it? Because I can't believe it. I'm still trying to recover from the shock. I'm typing this right now on my brand new, still-has-that-new-electronic-product-smell tablet PC, the one I'm having trouble believing is real. And to answer your unspoken question, my nosy reader, yes...it was extremely expensive. It cost a substantial amount of money, and--from the way my dad tells it--at least one limb. Ah, but it was worth it. So worth it. It has this screen, right, that can swivel all the way backwards and then down, so you can draw on a completely flat surface. And it has a little latch-thingy that makes a 'tch!' noise when you lock it in place, so your completely flat surface doesn't move around or flip open suddenly and hurt someone when you're drawing on it...or whatever. And the keypad is a joy to type on. So big and bouncy and white. It's just so effingly awesome and cool. There are no words to describe just how effingly awesome and cool it is. So I'll just post a picture of it instead.

My life is complete. Yes. If I died tonight, I'd die happy. Okay, so that's a minor exaggeration. But just a minor one. Anyway, since I can already feel scorching waves jealousy radiating off of you, I'd better switch the topic. Don't want to dwell on one subject for too long, it gets boring. Ah, my new tablet PC. Just look at it. Ahhh~




Okay, okay, switching topic. The song! Yes, the song! The song? Oh, yeah. Right, so the song I'm sharing with you today is--yet another--Malay song. This song is actually a great favourite of mine, don't know why I didn't share it sooner. It's called 'Akustatik' by OAG, also known as O@G. It's an indie Malaysian band--you know, muy mucho respect for being independent and all that--and the lead singer is Sarawakian, I believe [woot!] A word about this band: they're really into the whole wordplay thing. Which is one of the reasons I love them so much. Almost all their songs have a punny element to them, either in the title or in the lyrics. This makes them great fun to listen to, but only if you understand both Malay and English. Yup. And it also makes it hard to translate. So I settled for the song that, for me, is the easiest to translate and, as luck would have it, is also one of my all-time favourite songs...of all time. 'Akustatik' is sort of a combination of two things: 'akustik' and 'aku statik'. 'Akustik' meaning 'acoustic', and 'aku statik' meaning 'I am static'. Static, as in, not moving. Stationary. It'll make sense once you listen to the song and watch the video. *gestures flamboyantly in the air* After you, dear reader.










Akustatik
OAG
Seusia malam ku menantimu
Dihembus embun, aku tersipu
Mungkinkah kau lupa temujanji kita
Kau gembira bersama teman-temanmu


Berlari-lari ku mencarimu
Selembut salju musim berlalu
Menapa berubah sekelip mata
Hatiku gundah tiada terhingga


[Chorus]
Kau umpama merpati putih
Patah sayapnya di udara
Kau umpama merpati putih
Patah sayapnya di udara


Merbahaya

Seusia malam ku menantimu

Dihembus embun, aku tersipu

Mungkinkah kau lupa temujanji kita

Kau gembira bersama teman-temanmu

Berlari-lari ku mencarimu

Selembut salju musim berlalu

Menapa berubah sekelip mata

Hatiku gundah tiada terhingga

[Chorus] x a lot of times

Pa, pa, pa, pa...

Seusia malam ku menantimu

English translation:

Akustatik

OAG

I waited for you all night long

Breathed upon by the dew, I blushed

Maybe you forgot about our date

You're happy together with your friends

I run, looking for you

The season passes as soft as snow

Why change in the blink of an eye?

My heart is saddened beyond expression

[Chorus]

You are like a dove

That broke its wing in the air

You are like a dove

That broke its wing in the air

Dangerous

I waited for you all night long

Breathed upon by the dew, I blushed

Maybe you forgot about our date

You're happy together with your friends

I run, looking for you

The season passes as soft as snow

Why change in the blink of an eye?

My heart is saddened beyond expression

[Chorus] x many, many times

Pa, pa, pa, pa...

I waited for you all night long

There you have it. Like I said, fairly simple, translation-wise. Okay, so I tried to get the words in the video to translate them, but the stupid subtitles kept getting in the way. And I couldn't find any other video that didn't have subtitles. I know what he's saying, I have ears. I don't need the stupid subtitles. Anyway, here's what I managed to get. Some of the spelling is old-fashioned, the type used during Malaya's colonial days. I think they did that to make it look quaint and fairy-tale-ish. Nice touch, if you ask me. Here you go.

Pada suatu hari, seekor burung t'lah ditetas ke duniya.
Burung itu menjadi seekor burung yang [...] dan [...]
Dia cuba untuk menjadi burung yang paling hebat.
Puteh, namanya...
Hobinya suka berterbangan di awan biru bersama teman-temannya.
Tiba-tiba Puteh menjadi seekor burung yang ego.
Ibunya selalu berpesan supaya jangan terbang bersendirian.
Puteh tidak pernah mempedulikan nasihat orang tuanya.
Pada suatu pagi, ketika Puteh khayal berterbangan...
Malang tidak berbau...
Puteh telah dilanggar oleh burung besi yang amat besar.

cerita pendek oleh: Radhionazalim

In English: Once upon a time, a bird was hatched into the world.
This bird tried to be a [...] and a [...] bird.
She tried to become the greatest bird.
White, was her name...
Her hobby was to fly in the blue clouds with her friends.
White suddenly became an egotistical bird.
Her mother always told her, don't fly alone.
White never listened to her parent's advice.
One morning, while White was intoxicated with flying...
Disaster struck...
White was hit by a very big steel bird.

a short story by: Radhionazalim

Yay! Footnote time! I realize this is a really long post, so I'll make it short. Just for you, dear reader. I translated Dia to She because, although all the pronouns in Malay are not gender-specific, the song is probably about a girl, so...I decided the story was about a girl dove, too. I don't know if that's what they (the storywriters) intended, but I don't really care. She's a girl. Deal with it. So, the second one: Puteh and duniya. The original spelling for the words 'white' and 'world', back when writing in the Latin alphabet made its big début, along with colonization. It's pronounced that way, so. Poo-teh. Nowadays it's spelt as 'putih' and 'dunia'. And the next one: Malang tidak berbau. This is actually a Malay proverb that means, literally, bad luck has no smell, or is odourless. And it means, figuratively, that you can never tell when disaster may strike. Out of the blue. The last one: Radhionazalim. I think, but I'm not sure, that these are all the names of the band members combined into one word. I know, for sure, that Radhi is the lead singer. So the other two must be Ona and Zalim. And since I'm too lazy to google them, I'll just keep assuming that that's what it is.




And I'm done. Wasn't that exceptionally short and exceptionally sweet, dear reader? Well, I've said all that I wanted to say, so I'll be going now. See you 'round, ta-ta for now, adieu, and all that.



















Yours,






Figgy, the Proud Owner of a Brand New Tablet PC