5 ODDITIES ABOUT GOING ONLINE SINCE THE MCO STARTED

Something strange has come over our collective national online experience since the Movement Control Order began. Rumour has it, the internet is not broken, just slightly bent, warped and out there! Read on and see what I mean.

1. Slow Internet

So slow that I had enough time to reminisce internet-dial-up days from the 1990s, repeat every memory twice, blow soap bubbles as I washed my hands to Happy Birthday, and then complete this article in time for Google to load so that I could start researching to write this article. 

2. Aggressive Ads

Websites that used to be classy and chill now throw pop up ads at you like you're the enemy. Pop up ads used to be docile, respectful and dismissible (yep, with that little “x” you could click). That was before. Now the ads don’t hold back. They pop up and make you forget what you were looking for with their violent outbursts. The story goes something like this; At first, you get excited when Google (finally!) survives the slow internet and loads. Then you click a page and, wham! Pop up bars 2 inches thick on the bottom of the screen. On top! On the right hand corner! And this one niggly 2"×3" video overlaps text on the south-southeast border. It has NO “x” to click.

And if you try to close it or be smart about how you scroll through the contents you searched for, the video expands to full screen like a screaming banshee! 

3. Sci-Fi Jobs

New job titles that sound like you’re working inside a Will Smith sci-fi movie story. AI Tech Master, IoT Engineer, Cybersecurity Officer. Notice them taking 70% of your "recommended job roles" on JobLane (not a real jobsite!) when your degree is clearly stated as Mass Communications in the field marked “Education”? Suddenly, boring jobs you never applied for (because your degree saved you from them), sound far more relatable than these “i-Robot” jobs. So now, you're shamelessly winging that Legal Assistant or Finance Associate application, cos you're more likely to land that than Cyborg Site Manager. 

4. Don't Call Me, Maybe

Back-to-back conference work calls that invite everyone and their cat though the discussion relates to all of 3 people from your team of 15. If you do not relate to this problem,

YOU…

…are one of those 3 people, and who ends up inviting us; Do everyone else a favour and pray DON'T INVITE us 12 team members for those 2 hour arias. Frankly my dear, we'd rather be working.

Also, heard of email?

5. Fame is Lame

Influencers and stars look lame and embarrassing posing smugly against their $900 champagne on social media because they are not real front liners as they portray in their films. It is not their fault that they acted so well in your fave movie that you fell in love with Will, I mean ...the actors, in 2004. So yeah - Will Smith today, looks lame in Independence Day in the face of COVID-19, next to Nurse Kiah of Hospital Gomen Kuala Lumpur. 

15 minutes of fame on LinkedIn

Hello, happy surfers, harried researchers and haze sufferers (the last one applies only if you are Malaysian)!

I need to break the silence and scream from the mountaintops (or condo rooftops in my case), that I trended. On a hashtag. On LinkedIn. I typed friggin' LinkedIn and then deleted friggin'. Can you tell?

So as you can see, I was pumped. 

Here's what happened.

I Had Two Problems to Solve

One was that I wanted to put out video content for a while, but was just spoiled for choice in terms of ideas. It comes with the territory when you can sing, act and voice and can use any permutation to get attention on a video. But then you want to make sure you've a point, you're sharing something useful and honest.

The other problem was that people I met at professional events would ask me how my organisation came up with show ideas being one of the biggest creators and curators of Malay content to-date (in Malaysia). They also wanted to know what my particular role was and I started using words like storyteller, creative agency, art director, content writer and more. It was time a video did the talking for me, so I didn't have to explain it all the time. 

The Solution

So I made a video. It was simple - no graphics or effects or inserts or fancy stickers even. I then hashtagged it with a few faves before I uploaded it. 24 hours later, I received a notification that my post was trending on #media in LinkedIn. I have not deciphered the key to that bout of success. So I consulted a couple of guys - one is a super duper copywriter and the other is a social media consultant. But I can say it threw them off a little too. One of them said I'd need around 2000 views to begin trending on a hashtag. But my views definitely did not reach that many. I have a personal counter. I know. 

So that, is a total mystery. But hey, I got a little boost to keep making content. Like this bloggyboo right here. Read:  Like this blog post right here.

I realised the people in my industry who also worked in content development and creation appreciated this. I received public and private message encouraging me to share more. Maybe I will. 

Watch the video and let me know what you'd like to know about the job of a Content Development Writer.

Screaming from condo rooftop? Or on a blog post at least? Done. 

Bloggyboo. 

Just wanted to type that. 

A Letter to My Father 2018

Flight of A Pigeon

DAY 1

"Little baby crow landed in my balcony. Looks sick.. ... This has never happened to me. I don't know how to take care of it. I put some seeds inside tub for him to eat and left water in a little cup inside... but he doesn't move so he does not reach the water. So just took the water out to give him space. Feeling helpless and sad. 😢😢😢😢😢 Anyone know what to do??"

This is what my post said on FB. Comments were many but solutions, none.

DAY 2
I cried over the next three days, starting on DAY 1 and getting worse on DAY 2. In tears, I took the baby bird to the vet (and found out it was a pigeon), and cried while the vet cleaned its wounds, cried while my husband syringe fed it, cried while it chirped for reasons unknown and fell asleep at a moment's instance. While it relieved itself, occasionally palpitated or even if it didn't even move, again I cried! I was clearly terrified of knowing nothing of caring for this baby.

DAY 3"The orphaned/ lost baby pigeon in my balcony ...is not a crow, as confirmed after going to the vet yesterday. Will be taking care of him until he is strong enough to join his species. As advised, we feed him water and mushy oats or rice through a syringe. The vet also made him a nest with newspapers and cleaned wounds. We are giving him vitamins twice a day. **Thanks to all of you who have been advising and checking in on FB**"

As soon as I finished typing up the above message, I read through some of the most heart warming and encouraging messages on FB in support of my efforts to care for baby #Jana. Just after, I got a phone call from an artist friend.

LATER ON DAY 3

"A NEW LIFE
Seeing my posts on FB, an artist friend who loves birds and has been rearing them off and on, reached out to me and offered to care for the bird from now on. My hubby (also a doting dad to the lil fella by now) and I, had mixed feelings at first. It was hard to let the baby pigeon go but I have been crying for 3 days because I didn't feel equipped to care for it as well as a mother bird can. But when artist #heartvasal reached out to me, he put me at ease with his love, feeding technique and his experience with bird-care. This bird will live with a famous artist-cum-birdrearer here on - and maybe even inspire an art piece or two! Who knows! Most of all this #babypigeon will be in good hands and with great hearts❤❤

Hubby and I transported him earlier this evening - nest, vitamins and all, to his loving new Appa and 2 wonderful Ammas. We miss him but we know this move is best for the lil fella. I am touched that the new Appa has named the bird #Jana. I am emotional just writing this. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SHOWED LOVE ON FB. ESPECIALLY TO #HEARTVASAL for his love for orphaned birds!"

And so my journey with baby #Jana takes on a trajectory different from what I initially envisioned. I still cry. Lesser now that I know it is being cared for by experienced people. But I cry because I am not them. And because baby #Jana will not know me when I visit him in the weeks to come. 

XOXOXOXO to baby #Jana! Soon you will fly.

Jamming with Datuk Hattan - Backstory!

14,500 views on Facebook to-date, featured on Astro Gempak and covered by Free Malaysia Today's FMT Ohsem, friends and fans are asking me about how this rock n' raga happened. 

It's a tale of musical experimentation and nothing more:

It was a regular work day. Several projects were on my mind. 

But somewhere in the recesses of my mind, a little explosion of tunes and raga phrases in Purvikalyani Raga and Thodi Raga pre-occupied my thoughts. This is completely normal for me and I think most musicians, even if like me, we love our day-jobs. In fact, though silent, occasionally, when I am brave enough that no one was around listening, I'd up the volume. I always thought the genre I sing in would sound alien and at worst, unmusical to my colleagues. It was the same that day. Hence the deftly perfected volume adjustment maneuver was applied. My colleagues I had always thought, simply humoured my occasional bursts of musical expression with their encouraging quips of " kuat sikit plis" or "lagu mana tu?". 

Anyway, back to the story.

Funnily enough, later in the day I was at the Rockanova set and Datuk Hattan peered over from a little away, when I was pouring over something on my notepad. I was at a quiet corner, so I was in deep focus on work but was aware by the corner of my eye that he had glanced over. Maybe a phrase or two unwittingly escaped my humming lips. Or not. I will never know. 

Next thing I knew, I was summoned to stage where Biso Bonar's chorus was being played. The instrumentalists paused when I walked up the stage, and a few voices from the darkness of the unlit audience and control areas, asked me to prepare for a short experiment; an Indian vocalist is to...

JAM BISO BONAR WITH DATUK HATTAN!

Biso Bonar was a creation of Datuk's from 2013. It had some exotic flavour to it and what made it additionally unique was that the lyrics is in the Negeri Sembilan dialect! I knew the song and some phrases crossed my mind in Nattai Raga - or actually, Nattai plus some phrases and note embellishments borrowed from other ragas to suit the melody. 

I think I may have mouthed the words "help" in silence (hahaha!) when a mic was passed to me. I all of gasped when the first sound of pads came on but I knew I had to switch from work mode to performance mode in a second. I always wondered if I'd be able to switch if that ever was needed of me. Here the moment was. 

And the switch felt completely natural. Thank God it did!  

It was an amazing experience in many ways - I had not practiced or pow-wowed sections with Datuk nor the band I had just been introduced to.  I mean I knew of Datuk Hattan. I knew of Shah Slam. But them knowing me by name, among the many folks on set was amazing. 

I think we all just took off with this song from the first sound, and let it flow from there. Shah and his band mates were awesome to say the least and Datuk Hattan was hands down a rockstar to be reckoned with! Though the lights were on us, through the darkness, I felt all eyes on us - from the make up artistes to PAs to senior production staff.

A moment to remember, savour and share indeed. Soon after, the video was uploaded online and the rest is history.

Looking to do more of this here on. Let's see what roads this leads me to and through. Sometimes, that which you least expect can give you new perspective on life and music. 

Basically, experiments have a way of rocking our worlds. True?

THE COMMENTS AND STATEMENTS OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG POST COMPLETELY ARE HER OWN, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THOSE OF ANY ORGANISATION OR PUBLICATION.