Kenyalang Debate Open 2011

UiTM IV just ended recently and it was a great experience. In my opinion, it was the hardest debate competition I ever joined and it was my worst performance ever in debate. The feel of not breaking into the quarter finals this time is pretty sad. Not to mention, the competition before that, I was in the Grand Finals of Yayasan Sarawak.

Paul and Hando

The UiTM Sarawak teams that joined IV

I still have not receive the money. =__=

IV was pretty tough. To explain how tough was it, on the 1st round we met powerhouses like NUS (National University of Singapore) and UT Mara (They called themselves LawFacc but I still consider them as UT Mara).

Anyway, here are the motions for all the rounds of IV:

Round 1 - THBT AUKU should be abolished

Round 2 - THBT sex trade is a necessary evil

Round 3 - THBT the Church should burn Harry Potter

Round 4 - THBT we should negotiate with the Taliban

Round 5 - THBT welfare payment should be contingent to passing drug test

Semi Finals - THBT Aung San Suu Kyi is no longer relevant

Finals - THBT creators of Wikileaks should be held accountable of their actions

Now enough with Yayasan Sarawak and UiTM IV. Let's move on to my university's debate competition instead. On the 13th of May -17th of May 2010, we from the Debate Unit of UiTM Samarahan will be organizing the Kenyalang Debate Open 2011. This is our 2nd debate competition and this year, we are hoping to reach a bigger audience. This year, we are opening the competition to everyone, regardless they are citizens or not, in other words, we want an international audience this time around.

Here's the facebook event page:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=176060255755345

Go click it, and join. I want you to join!! For those interested in being runners:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=296584108321&topic=73011

I WANT YOU TO JOIN KENYALANG DEBATE OPEN 2011!!!

Halloween

Let's face it. I'm a Malaysian and I don't celebrate Halloween. In fact if I were to, it's too late. It's already the 1st of November. It's already a Monday. Yes, Monday. Then again, who says I can't watch horror movies to commerate this event. Here's a list of movies I plan to watch the next few days (I've seen most of them anyway, just reliving them):

Hannibal Lectre's psychological horror is what is missing in most of modern day's horror movies

I might attempt to watch the whole series


This is the one that I am yet to see. Is the remake as good as the original? Hope it's good.

Now recently, the tv series "The Walking Dead" just aired it's 1st episode on AMC but in Msia, we don't have AMC yet. I was dying to watch the show and I really2 hope that some local station would actually air it on tv here, uncensored. It will be sad if they have to censor the gore etc. Please, can somebody please play it here!!! (or maybe I'll just resort to torrenting.... sigh....) Fuck censorship.

Danzig!!

I don't care what people say. I still think this song is an awesome song. Anyone who denies needs to have their ears checked. No, I won't foot the bill.

Eargasm!!!

Speaking about eargasms, I just remembered this old Simpsons episode where Homer was in this band called Sadgasm. Pretty awesome. Great Nirvanna tribute, lol.



Just a random blog post.

Long time no blog.

I keep on having pauses for my blog. I seriously don't know what to actually talk about on my blog. Blogpost is loosing it's charm day by day. Everybody's moving to tumblr. The cycle goes on and on. I still don't know why the fuck I am here. lol.

Currently I'm having my exams. I've been watching too much "How I Met Your Mother?" recently and I got 4th place in Yayasan Swak Debate Challenge Trophy. My reaction when getting into the finals? :

I felt AWESOME

Anyway, here's a rock and roll history lesson for you people, The Rolling Stone's Ruby Tuesday.

I am on the internet writing about the internet.

The human brain has added the element of awesomeness to the ingenious human creation called the internet. Everyday, we go onto Facebook, Twitter ( I don't have a twitter account fyi) or even blogspot to share to people pictures and ideas (In which they are forced to read because you tag them). Other than that, there are many other websites that reek of awesomeness that I would like to reccommend to people. Click on the pics. :)



6)Bloody Disgusting - All the horror/zombie/gore news you can get all across the internet. Just go visit for more blood.



5)Comicvine (http://www.comicvine.com/) - If you are comic book geek like me and lives in fantasy 24/7. This site reeks of supreme awesomeness. This site is the wikipedia of comics and is even better than wiki at times. Suscribe to their RSS feeds and smell the smell of awesomeness. After finding out the latest comics in the know, visit this site (http://peb.pl/komiksy/) and download but let me tell you, only download if you can't find them. Support the original artist. Use the program Cdisplay to read.



4)Screened (http://www.screened.com/) - Similar to Comicvine but for movies



3)Bleeding Cool (http://www.bleedingcool.com/) - Whilst ye olde comicvine has that childish look and an American attitutde Bleeding Cool plays on the British side of geek culture and comic books. They cover a lot on my favourite writers like Warren Ellis. Anyway, most American Comics were written by Brits anyway; Alan Moore, Garth Ennis etc.



2)College Humor (http://www.collegehumor.com) - CRUDE humor (at least for most of the times. They play racial and sexual cards) for the 21st century generation. Your parents probably won't get the jokes here but for anyone who were born in the 80s/90s and picked up internet culture later in their life, then site is for you. Their satire on modern culture is awesome as it can be.



1)Romantically Apocalyptic (http://www.rom.ac/da/catastrophicthemerc) - Think of those comic strips you see in your news paper. Add up some post apocalyptic spice and childish cute humor juxtaposed onto awesome R-Rated movie-ish art that seem doesn't out of place in an issue of Book of Eli. Excellent for post apocalypse fans. :) - http://www.rom.ac/da/catastrophicthemerc -

Things I learn from the movies

(Anyone who doesn't get the sarcasm in this, GTFO)

There are several things I learn from the movies and several conclusion that get from it. Here are those things.

1)Bullets make people fly backwards:
Everytime when you get shot, expect to fly backwards a few feet. The impact that you get is enough to make you feel the air and lift you off the ground. No matter it's a 9mm bullet or .50 callibre, YOU WILL FLY!

Movies I learned this from: Smoking Aces, Kick Ass, Kill Bill 2, Casino Royale

2) The Japanese have will have gushes of blood when wounded:

What I learn from movies is that, whenever you cut a Japanese person's finger, he will gush out blood like a fountain. I have also learned that, the Japanese have more blood than the average person. Why Japanese instead of Asians in general? This is due to the fact that Lucy Liu did not bleed as much as her Japanese counterpart in Kill Bill Volume 1. The American's blood do not squirt out like Japanese do.

Movies I learned this from: Tokyo Gore Police, Kill Bill Volume 1, The Machine Girl

3) You can always escape explosions no matter what situations are.

Eventhough the bomb is about to explode in 3 seconds, or 1 minute you can always run away from it. There no need in detonating it as it is useless. Everyone would have the speed of a mustang no matter how heavy you are. So next time, when there is terrorist with a sucide belt on him or an IED or even when Lt. Dan just called in airstrike to nape the whole area, just run. You can always outrun him no matter how athletic that person is. You don't need to have special training. No matter what the odds are: JUST RUN!

Movies I learned this from:Forrest Gump, Kick Ass, The Hurt Locker, Shooter, Predator

4) The black guy dies first (or at least always die) and sorry if this sounds racist

When you go out on an adventure with your black friend, take care of him. Due to the fact that from what I learn in movies, the black guy always dies and most of the time, die first. So take care of your African friends. He may have military training, but he WILL die at the end of the journey.

Movies I learned this from: Friday The 13th, Alien, Predator, Apocalypse Now

5) Last and foremost; DO NOT HAVE PRE-MARITAL SEX:

The reason is you are going to get kill or assaulted. Yes, our parents are right, it's bad for you. If you did it before, avoid it in the future or maybe bring your AR-15 or AK-47 along. Make sure you have your eyes on your rifle. Make sure you hear the noises around you because there is always someone ready to kill you.



Movies I learned this from: Friday The 13th, Grindhouse, Shoot 'Em Up, Scream

Those are the things that I have learnt from movies. I have I have "educated" you with these facts.

Being "Normal" is overrated (and just a state of mind).

Last week during Gawai in Saratok, an Aunty of mine sparked up an interesting conversation with a statement of hers. She said that "Schools and university makes us stupid." Mind you, she is an engineer. Her justification is that it confines you to a single idea that is the general consensus of the majority so that the society can keep you aligned with their mode of thinking. It turns you into "normal" people in which people with different opinions get shunned away. They are labelled as stupid or not being able to comprehend "reality" or "truth". People who ask question outside of the norm will be ignored and forced to follow the majority's idea to be deemed normal.

Now, generally school goers and university students tend to fall into the abyss of following and taking what their lecturers say totally. This also includes religious institutions and government controlled media. People swallow the crap given to them without thinking twice. Other opinions are shunned and put to shame, making them labelled as abnormal. We never question as it is in our culture and it is a tabboo. You know what that makes you? A sheep. You are turned into a machine that follows society's rules and regulation. You fall into the abyss where getting a masters is deemed by normal people as an excellent choice careerwise. I have to admit that having a masters, degree or what ever certificate out there helps you get a job in this life but must the society look down onto people who don't have them? Are you looking down onto the people in massage parlors that don't have degrees who probably know more about medicinal benefits of certain items than you degree holders out there. This "normal" conception must be changed in our society.

Our society must have a mental in which we listen to everyone's opinion and allow anyone to question anything because it is the best way for us to progress. Society shouldn't swallow things directly what is thrown at them. I am not teaching you to be paranoid, I am telling you to look what are you putting down you throat before it is encrypted into your brains. Are you willing to go on with what society has to offer just to be deem "normal"? Are you going to stop your dreams of being the 1st person to travel around the world with a boat made out of tin cans (or what ever wild dreams you had when you were a kid)?

Let me tell you a story about a kid who was labelled as abnormal or stupid by his friends.

One day, in a kindergarten, a little boy by the name of Jimmy was colouring a scenery of a clear sky and a scenery of mountains. He questioned his teacher,

"Miss Rebecca, what colour is the sky?"

"Why it's blue my boy. The clouds are white."

"Can I colour it purple?"

Then his friend, Tommy interupted:
"Don't be stupid, the colour of the sky is blue. Face that fact."

Jimmy then replied:
"I don't care, I want to colour it purple."

"Why can't you be like other normal people and colour it blue?"

"You mean colouring it purple will make me not normal? Well, Miss Rebecca, I don't want to be normal like what Jimmy said."

Miss Rebecca then replied "It's up to you."

Class was dismissed and Jimmy continued colouring his scenery with a purple sky and grey clouds. Later that evening, Jimmy and Tommy took a walk at the side of the forrest near the village they lvie in. He points to the sky and the clouds and ask Tommy:

"Tommy, what was the colour of the sky you drew?"

"Blue, why? Don't tell me you colour your sky purple?"

"Well, look at the sky."

The sun was setting and the sky, it actually, was purple. The clouds were grey as it was cloudy, instead of white as what Tommy coloured. Tommy, looked at the sky, dumbfounded.

The question is now, who is stupid, who is smart? Who is normal? Hence, being normal is overrated, it is just a state of mind. Don't dismiss another person's idea as crap the moment you hear them. Maybe that person has a different perspective of life and has his/her own opinion. Don't dismiss a person because he or she knows something from another perspective and tell them they are not normal. Without these "abnormal" people, the world wounldn't advance as there is no one who questions outside the norm of society. Remember, Isaac Newton and Einstein were deemed as stupid at their young age. Not because they were slow learners, but they question a lot in life unlike "normal" people.

PS:Schools/universities should stop using the term subjective question in their exam papers. It makes you look, well, dumb because a real subjective question has no answer but people who mark them have an answer sheet and the answer given must be aligned to the school of thought given in the marking scheme. Subjective questions are meant to be open ended and differs from one person to another.

ACU VS Multicam and my opinion!

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've been truly busy with my work and debating. Just last-last week I was busy with the Kenyalang Debate Open and Arau Open. After flying back to Kuching from Penang Island, I headed for Saratok to celebrate Gawai. It's a 5-6 hours drive from Kuching. However, today, I'm not blogging about that.

Today, I'm going to blog about the Multicam and the ACU (Army Combat Uniform, the pattern itself is refered as ACUPAT). The rival patterns of the US Army and the degree of ridiculousness surrounding the debate. Now before we get deeper into this matter, let's see what's the issue and let's see what's so special about both camos.



The current issue: Last month, the United States Army has just decided to replace the ACU (pictured above on the right) with the Multicam (pictured above on the left). This has been controversial as the ACU has been used for years and the Multicam has been in the civilian market for quite a long time. Not to mention, the Multicam isn't digital camo, in which the American government has spent a lot of money for research on. Changing the pattern back to non-digital seems to make a statement to the American public that sounds like "Hey, we spent the tax payer's money on digital camo research and we have decided to use a private company's pattern which seems to be better. What a waste of tax payer's money!" That is one statement the Pentagon is making towards the genral public. However, the multicam seems to work better as a "universal pattern" more than the ACU which in the 1st place, is claimed as the "Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP)".

To better understand the issue even more, let's dissect what's so special and what's wrong with these patterns.

What's so special about the ACU?


The ACU uses a style of camoflage called "Digi-Cam" in which instead of the typical patterns and shape, it utilizes pixels on it's pattern. The 1st country that 1st used the pattern was Canada with their CADPAT. The American government spent a lot of money trying to emulate the CADPAT for their own purposes. Even the Colombian Army had their own digi-cam for woodland theater of operations. CADPAT came in 2 variants, the woodland variant and the temperate variant. The ACU on the other hand, came out in one variant: GREY. According to some smart-ass general, they claimed the ACU is a UCP or Universal Camouflage Pattern. Now judging from the above, the ACU works well in Mountain Terrains. It also seems to work fine in Urban and Snow terrain. So good in Urban terrain that the Polish's Police Special Forces with BOA, adopted it too. (The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's Commandos aka STAR also adopted it). Due to the fact it is suppose to work well as a universal pattern, it is expected to work well in other terrains too. Then again, it works in Urban, Snow and Mountain terrains.

What's the problem with the ACU?

Now the problem with ACU is that, it does not function it's role as a universal pattern. While it works great in snow, mountains, grey coloured deserts and urban areas it does not blend in other theater of operations (READ: IRAQ AND THE AFGHAN PLAINS). What I mean by this is that Iraq has a tan desert. Using an ACU in such condition would only make you pop up from miles away. This explains why many PMCs prefer the old 90s DCU or it's much more popular name, Chocolate Chip. Not only that, some turn to the British Desert Variant-DPM that has been used by them. On the Afghan plains however, the terrain varies quickly. While one moment a patrol may be working in a snow covered terrain and rocky grounds, another moment, they would end up in poppy fields in which they stand out and become Taliban snacks. This explains why the DEA uses the Multicam in Afghanistan: to hide from the enemy there. It does not fulfill the role of it's so called universal pattern claims. Soldiers then prefer the multicam or 90s BDU/DCU.

Another problem when the ACU was put into service is that BDU and DCUs are not regulated like before. This gives less option for army personnel to choose what uniform to use in the battlefield. In fact, even the National Guard now totally uses the ACU. Most bases dropped the BDUs and DCUs straight away and totally, making it almost impossible to revert back to those uniforms without personnels to purchase it themselves. If they purchase it for themselves, they end up looking different from the crowd.

What's so special about the Multicam?


Multicam is also refered to as a Universal Pattern. It's the pattern that is preferred more compared to the ACU by American Personnel. It works in dry vegetation, woodland and it works in a different method compared to the Digi-Cam. Digi-Cam works by tricking the human eye with the squares and blends into the enviroment. The multicam on the other hand tricks they eye by tricking the eye in terms of shape and volume. The eye works in a way where a small portion of the brain receives colour while the rest is filled by the brain in a process called "filling-in". Multicam takes advantage on this concept by blending a few colours to make a "universal pattern". It uses green to blend in the forest and woodland areas, and tan to blend in the desert. This tricks the eye according to lighting, making it suitable for several terrains instead of just one.


As you can see from above, it works well in both vegetation and desert terrain. This makes it much more effective in terms of creating a universal pattern and that is what the American Armed Forces has been trying to look for.

What's the problem with the Multicam?

From the descriptions and photos I've given above, it seems like the Multicam works as an excellent universal pattern. However, lets dissect this debate and see it from different perspective. While the Multicam seems to work better in vegetation and several other terrains, the ACU works better than the Multicam in areas like snow, urban (still debatable) and mountain terrains. The grey colours of the ACU, blend perfectly in the Afghan mountains to an extend that it is better than the Multicam.

Another problem with the multicam is that, it is owned by Crye Precision LLC. A private entity, not government. This gives an image of the American Army being a body that fails to create their own pattern even with the tax payer's money but going on to a pattern that has been in the market for civilians for quite a long time. Not to mention other countries have been using this pattern with alterations to it. (The Polish Army for example, uses a darker version of multicam). Now the government wants to totally replace the ACU with the Multicam. It just gives a negative image from the Pentagon to the global media.

My proposal:

Whilst American Army generals are busy signing documents for supplies of Multicams to be shipped of to Afghanistan and Iraq, they should have looked at how the Marines manage the uniform. Now the Marines uses the MARPAT or Marine's Pattern. However, they have 2 variants. One for desert and one for temperate/woodland. In fact, they are also created one for snow/urban and mountain terrains.

Snow variant of the MARPAT.

Desert Variant of the MARPAT

Woodland/Temperate version of the MARPAT.

The American Army instead of trying to have universal pattern, they should drop the idea of having one because it's almost impossible to achieve a universal pattern. The best way is to have several variants of uniforms. Below are some suggestions.

Rocky Mountains - ACUs
Temperate - Multicam/BDUs
Green Mountains - Multicam/BDUs
Tan Deserts - Multicam/DCUs
Urban - ACU
Snow - ACU
Woodland - Multicam (Darker Variant)/BDUs/OD Greens (?)/Tiger Stripes(?)

While some may argue this is a logistical nightmare, just look at the Marines. They did it. Look at the Singaporeans, they have 2 variants too or maybe look at the Malaysian Army, they have 2 variants of their uniform, woodland and desert and finally, look at the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, they have 3 uniforms, zebra woodland, CQB Black and ACUs. Even a better example, the Chinese Army has 7 camouflage. Just use all of them. Simple as that.

Feel free to comment.

Edit: For another effective digicam, check out the Singaporean Digicam here: http://randomworksofterence.blogspot.com/2012/01/singaporean-army.html

Edit (2): US Army's newer selection of uniform, post Multicam: http://randomworksofterence.blogspot.com/2012/01/us-army-changing-uniform-again.html