Music Merdeka: Malaysian Boy

"Bawaku ke mana saja kau suka, timur selatan barat atau utara,
Kau ingin aku selalu, you'll be my Malaysian Boy...Malaysian Boy."

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Oh boy, I have wished so many times that some girls would uttered those very words to me (and really meant it). Hahaha ;)

"Malaysian Boy" is a remix of Estelle and Kanye West's American Boy which has been given a Malaysian flavor through a collaboration between Altimet, DJ Fuzz, Ila Damiaa, Point Blanc and Rabbit Mac in conjunction with the Merdeka celebration, as well as a promo for the upcoming Suara Kami 2011 - a massive and not to forget, FREE music festival that is going to take place on 17 September at Stadium Merdeka.

The message behind the song and the accompanying music video is pretty obvious - "unity", as explained by the commentary at its YouTube's page:

"This video takes you on a journey of this beautiful country, from rural to urban, across different landscapes and people. The strong connection between Malaysians of different races and cultures convey a single message of 'united we stand'."

Doesn't matter if it is based on another song but what important, the way they deliver the message pretty JADI and was done so nicely. For example, I felt that Altimet's part of the song mainly described the love of Malaysia:

Keliling dunia dua tiga kali, ku tahu hanya satu perkara pasti,
Selagi bumi di atas paksi, bila tiba masa aku kembali.

I'm sure if I can understand the song's Chinese and Indian lyrics, I would quote them as well. In addition to that, the video was completed within 10 days of its premiere on Astro. Man, the final product certainly did not show that at all. Seriously amazing.

Hope they going to put up the song for download (legally) soon because I really want to rock it hard through my iPod. Can't wait to check out its live performance at Suara Kami 2011 soon!

[Source: YouTube]

Cool Beans: Google's Logo For Merdeka Celebration

So, if you are a frequent user of the always reliable uncle Google and pay attention to its logo, you would realized that on certain day Google would change them to specially made logo that signify important occasion on that particular day. Today, the logo is draped with ketupat and Jalur Gemilang to signify the celebration of Aidilfitri as well as the 54th Merdeka Day.

Yup, that is us on Google's logo. How cool is that? As cool as having two celebrations in the same week. Meanwhile, Happy Merdeka Day to all Malaysians out there and be safe wherever you may be! :D

Music Raya: Hari Raya is Not The Only Thing We Malaysian Have When It Comes To Raya

While the word "Raya" is mainly associated with Hari Raya but truth to be told, there are more to the word "Raya" than just the joyous occasion that we celebrated today. Let uncle Jalil Hamid explain it to you with this classic and hilarious song about the usage of the word "Raya".

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Bila sebut pasal raya
Semua ingat Hari Raya
Tapi jangan pulak kita lupa
Ada seribu satu kata berkait dengan raya
Selain Hari Raya

Kalau banyak harta benda
Orang itu kaya raya
Kalau tempat lalu kereta
Itulah jalanraya
Hentian bas ibu kota
Itu di Puduraya
Di tengah bandaraya

Kalau banyak jalanraya
Dipanggil lebuhraya
Bunga lambang Malaysia
Namanya bunga raya
Tukang menyelenggara, mengawas harta-benda
Jabatan Kerja Raya

Gembira kita di hari raya
Makan kenduri di balai raya
Kalau kita malas nak puasa
Kita sama macam hantu raya

Selamat, selamat hari raya
Mari kita kumpul duit raya
Selamat, selamat hari raya
Kita semua jadi kaya raya
Membeli jalan raya

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Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all that kind enough to read my ramblings here. Enjoy the holiday and all the goodness that comes with it! :D

[Source: YouTiup]

ChapKixView: Nike Sportswear Dunk High AC Premium QS Bronze

This particular Nike Sportswear's Dunk High is not like the usual Dunks that we see at stores. You can say that Dunk High AC is like a combination of Dunk (its top area) and a Blazer (fat Swoosh logo and vulcanized sole). Hence, the Dunk High AC looks pretty old school which not really my thing but this particular one actually looks damn sweet.

Part of the Deconstructed Pack that are scheduled to hit the stores next month, what attracts me to this particular Quickstrike release - originally said to be a Tier 0 release - is the color. From initial photos, I thought it is gold but it actually turns out to be bronze. The color is further complemented by the white sole and black laces which resulted in one hella smooth-looking shoe.

There is also a black version of this shoe but I'm prefer the bronze colorway way more. I dunno whether I will able to cop this up or not but it does rank pretty high on my target list for this year. If you are a kix fiend with an able wallet, the Nike Sportswear Dunk High AC Premium QS Bronze is priced between RM 371 (USD 125) to RM 400 (USD 135) and already available for pre-order at Kix-Files.

[Image Source: SneakerNews.com]

Music Monday: Ramona (Again)

Doesn't matter if I already blogged about Ramona before here - back in November 2010 - but as you can see in the clip above, it is a different song. So, the story goes that yesterday, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was premiered on HBO globally (I think), so the movie became trending on Twitter and subsequently reminded me of the song above. Immediately, I spent few hours trying to learn it.

Composed by Beck specially for the movie, the song is so damn simple but as a musically challenged guy, it's so hard to sing and play guitar at the same time. Haih.

[Sauce: UTiub (heh XD)]

Ada Wang, Ada Cult: Macam Tan Sri Dato' Seri Teh Hong Piow

Frankly speaking, there is nothing wrong with celebrating his + Public Bank's achievements. I mean, look at how the bank progress since he established it back in 1966 but maybe the song was indeed a little bit excessive. At one glance, it might looks like one of those Great Leader songs from North Korea.

Brilliant lyrics though, kudos to whoever came out with them:

Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Welcome Tan Sri Teh
Cheering loudly for Tan Sri Teh
Man of honour, a living legend
Let’s rise up now and sing out loud
He’s our champion
Make us feel proud
He gives us mission, gives us fire
Gives us vision, takes us higher
...

The rest of the lyrics you go watch the video lah ok? Am working hard now so I can have enough moolah to build a cult like Tan Sri Teh. Oooohh oooohhh oooohhhhh.

[Saucecake: YouTiup via @kennleandre]

Music Monday Versi Old Song Is Old: Love Me Butch's Hollywood Holiday

Pretty old release but really, this music video by Love Me Butch is one of the best music video to ever come out from our independent music scene. Enough said.

Meanwhile, I want to go to Hollywood again. A proper trip this time; not just a visit to Universal Studios which I was fortunate enough to visit back in 1996. I want to just roam around in the area; maybe catch a concert, visit a (real) film studio, check out skate spots or something. I don't know...this is just one of my random thought earlier today.

Maybe I just need a holiday. A proper holiday. For myself.

[Source: YouTube]

Because Sports Will Never Say You Can't

...and that's why I love sports.

[Source: Advertising @ chinaSMACK]

Music Monday: With A Little Help From My Friends

Last week, I had a very great weekend. I got to see the yet to be released Street Fighter x Tekken two days in a row; it doesn’t really matter if fighting games were not my forte but what important was that on the second day of the preview, I got to see how happy the selected Lowyat.NET forum members at the event. All thanks to Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong and Sony Malaysia for organizing such a wonderful event as well as giving our forumers the opportunity to check out the game in the first place.

Furthermore, on Sunday, I got to check out quite a lot of hype stuff as I went for hype browsing together with our resident hypebeast, Sexy Lucas Lau just before I went on to do my assignment. Right after the assignment was over, we went for iftar and hangout with few more friends. Of course, not to forget than my lads at Manchester United managed to came back from 0 - 2 deficit and sau Manchester City to win the FA Community Shield.

It was even more amazing that the vibe continued until today when we iftar together (again) just now. Imagine that the iftar session happened pretty spontaneously through Twitter over the past few days and all I know, we managed to get bunch of us together for makan2. Even though we were beat up by the unforgiving beast that is Monday, I believe it was all good at the end of the day.

Hence, this song is dedicated to all my friends...wherever you may be. Past, present and future. Good times. :D

Music Monday (That Is Two Days Late) Ramadhan Edition: Harapan Ramadhan

"Ku mengharapkan Ramadhan kali ini penuh makna, agar dapat ku lalui dengan sempurna."

Without realizing it, somehow Ramadhan has arrived once again. If you asked me a year ago, I couldn't ever imagine the changes and things that I have experienced within the past year.

A year ago, work was tough. Very tough. Still, I got a very loving girlfriend – we were together for the past 7 years - that helped me go through the tough times a lot. Truth to be told, she is pretty much my best friend. I got a bike; it was just a 7-years old 125cc scooter but still, it let me travel around to meet friends and do stuff. The only country I visited outside Malaysia as an adult was Singapore; went there pretty much every year since 2008. My musical instruments seemed to be gathering dust on permanent basis. Financially broke almost all the time.

This year, work is still tough but doesn’t feel as tough as before. They are getting more challenging as our organization is expanding (again) but I believe I’m able to manage things better. The girlfriend of 7 years left me which pretty much means I’ve also lost my dearest best friend as well. My 7 years old motorcycle finally gone for good, so now I’ve to move around using public transportation.

I’ve visited Singapore again few times (it’s my favourite country in the world, after all) but in addition to that, I was fortunate enough to check out Australia and United States as well. I’m now in a band called The Wishing and we just got our first gig few days ago. Still not financially well but I managed to eat fancy better food more often these days.

See, how much things have changed within just a year. I can’t tell you whether things are better or not but I’m certainly know that I’m not happier because I got nobody to share my life with anymore. More fulfilling life is maybe the word but with nobody to share stories on a more personal level, I feel it is pretty pointless. Still, I’m taking things as they come by, one after another.

That being said, Alhamdulillah, between all of these changes, my family and friends - old and newly found - are around to further support me going through these changes; whether in major or minor way. Hence, whenever Ramadhan arrived every year, I prayed and hoped that these great people in my life will be blessed with happiness and prosperity all the time. Of course, I did that every day but I do it more during this blessed month.

So, Happy Ramadhan everyone, may it treat all of you very well. :D