Categories
Photography Travels

[833] Of Bangkok is city of angels and of Miss Thailand

Through casual observation, Bangkok has a high density of beautiful people . It was unusually hard for me to savor the architectural marvels of Bangkok when there were so many angels walking gracefully on the face of the earth.

Once on a train back to Ratchadapisek – where I was staying – from Siam, Bangkok, I found it extremely hard to remove my attention off a person of the fairer gender of immeasurable beauty. It was extreme delight to set my eyes upon her; she has the perception of sweet innocence. Too alluring in the most innocent sense. I had thought such creatures only dwelled the heaven above.

The only reason she didn’t notice that I was having problem controlling my gaze is the fact that she was sleeping most of the time. But while her eyes weren’t shut, smile her offered to commuters wrecked my sanity. When she was awake, I couldn’t look at her direction – I felt so miserable whenever I couldn’t keep her within my view; I had to be inconspicuous or else, it would have been an embarrassing moment for me. Mind you, it was already an embarrassing moment for me but letting her know was the last thing I wanted to do. Damned if I looked at her, damned if I didn’t. Sigh…

I wish I could go back to Bangkok, get on that train over and over again, day and night until I get to meet her again. All I want right now is to see her again one more time, and maybe another.

But what I felt wasn’t as bad as what my friend had gone through. Or at the very least, wasn’t as physical. A friend and me were walking one of the busier streets in the city when a Thai girl caught my friend’s eyes. His eyes were so attracted to the girl that he failed to watch his steps and unfortunately for him, he rammed into a huge Caucasian male. I could only bursted in laughter.

The next day, while at Vajiravudh on game day itself, the annual Vajiravudh College-Malay College rugby match, just like the city, there were countless angels roaming the College ground. I wish I could point my lens to every angel that I saw but that would take too much courage. Courage is one commodity of dire supply available to me, whenever I find myself in front of an angel, much less in front a cohort of them. But whenever the moments weren’t as awkward as it was on the train, I grabbed the opportunity. One of them that God somehow let loose from heaven:

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

And here’s a cute school girl that was supporting the wrong team. She’s on the left side of your screen, nearest to the camera. And honestly, no dirty thought. Her mom was with her anyway:

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

And, Miss Thailand 2005. Really. No shit:

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

An alumnus of Vajiravudh College introduced her to us during tea time. Bless Vajiravudh!

Another shot of her:

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

I apologize for the quality of the pictures. The environment within the room was too harsh for my good ol’ cam.

Most of the time when she was in the company of Malay College old boys, she looked uncomfortable. Some of the old boys were treating her as if she was an object instead of a person. I was rather offended – quitely and quietly – upon witnessing the lack of decency displayed by us. I shared my opinion with my friends who were sitting at the other end of hall later. After hearing my rambling, a friend of mine told me, she chose that path and nobody could say otherwise. Decency, in any case, is relative.

Categories
Photography Sports

[832] Of Malay College lost to Vajiravudh

I was in Bangkok and had the opportunity to witness the 45th traditional rugby match between Malay College of Malaysia and Vajiravudh College of Thailand. Though MC fought valiantly, we lost 14 – 5.

VC made 3 kicks and one try while MC managed a try. The closest gap occurred in the first half; VC 6 – 5 MC. We could have taken the lead right after gaining that 5 points but the ball flew in the wrong direction and hence, we failed to garner 2 more points. Whatever it was, that one try was pure ecstasy. I shouted so hard that I lost my voice. More importantly, I believe for this particular match, just like others that watched the match on a cloudy Saturday evening, there is no shame in losing.

While there, I didn’t pass on the chance to roam around the magnificent College. And the best thing is – especially for the students – it’s situated about half an hour drive time away from the heart of Bangkok.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

The goal was taken during the duration of the match. More pictures of Bangkok (and Thai chicks! LOL! I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to marry a tree any more. I prefer Thai girls to trees now!) to come throughout this week and probably the next.

Categories
Liberty Society

[831] Of conservatives need to be educated

There have been a couple of interesting rulings that are testing the very fabric of Malaysian society . The latest concerns school attire:

PUTRAJAYA, July 12 (Bernama) — Islam is not about turban and beard, said the Federal Court in dismissing the appeal of three pupils who were expelled from school for refusing to take off their ‘serban’ nine years ago.

I like to recognize myself as a libertarian and so, I disagree with the ruling due to its clash with libertarianism. However, there is a quotable quote as the ruling was read:

“As far as I can ascertain, the Al-Quran makes no mention about the wearing of turban. I accept that the Prophet wore a turban. But he also rode a camel, built his house and mosque with clay walls and roof of leaves of date palms and brushed his teeth with the twig of a plant.

“Does that make riding a camel a more pious deed than travelling in an aeroplane? Is it preferable to build houses and mosques using the same materials used by the Prophet and the same architecture adopted by him during his time?”

Discounting the ruling itself, this quote matches my stance on Arabized Malay; conservative Malays need to learn to differentiate Arabic culture and Islam. They need to be educated on it.

Categories
Photography Travels

[830] Of off Jalan Sultan, Singapore

I’m back from Singapore. Unlike my last visit to the city state some months ago, I didn’t have too much chance to roam the city and take shots. Still, I managed to get a decent picture out of my latest trip:

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

This is an alley by Jalan Sultan. It doesn’t look too different from Kuala Lumpur.

For photos from my previous visit to Singapore, please go to [602] Of Singapore waterfront, [619] Of Singaporean old building and [612] Of Singapore’s pretty much…

Categories
Economics Environment

[829] Of sanitary landfill versus incinerator

From The Edge Daily, earlier this month, concerning cost and benefit of incineration vis-a-vis two other disposal methods :

The Edge, Malaysia. Fair Use.

I apologize for the quality of the document. I scanned the table from the dead tree edition of The Edge