Tagged again?

I've recently been tagged by Philbert. It's called "Three Things". I don't think I need to do an introduction - the title itself says it all.

Three things that scare me.
i) That bloke who taught me the Driver's Education Curriculum. His many parrot-esque "MARI!!!"s are enough to haunt you for endless nights. Nice guy, though. Just...odd.
ii) Cockroaches
iii) That Astro woman. Her voice borders on psychosis-inducing.

Three people who make me laugh.
i) Philbert. One part insensitive berk, two parts pervert, ten parts brilliance.
ii) Top Gear. I know, but putting Clarkson, Hammond and May individually on the list would've filled it up. Besides, they're at their funniest when they're with each other.
iii) Lee Mack. Top-shelf comedian. Go search YouTube.

Three things I love.
i) Cars.
ii) Photography (Yes, I finally have my DSLR!).
iii) My Mac. Yes, my answers are the same as Philbert's. Shut up.

Three things I hate.
i) Horrible advertisements.
ii) Broken language on signs.
iii) That Astro woman.

Three things I don't understand.
i) Additional Mathematics.
ii) Hokkien dramas.
iii) Girls.

Three things currently on my desk.
i) My Mac mini.
ii) My PSP.
iii) My Sony α200.

Three things I'm doing right now.
i) Chatting with Philbert.
ii) Wondering why BMW always has such pretty receptionists at their functions.
iii) Studying for the theory driving test.

Three things I want to do before I die.
i) Go to London to be on the set of Top Gear.
ii) Have a really nice car. Preferably an Aston Martin.
iii) Be a designer.

Three things I can do.
i) Draw.
ii) Take pictures.
iii) Play a piano (vaguely).

Three things I can't do.
i) Play a violin.
ii) Do ballet.
iii) Get 11A's in SPM.

Three things I think you should listen to.
i) Rachmaninov's Prelude in C-Sharp Minor.
ii) Dr. Gregory House.
iii) Your parents.

Three things you should never listen to.
i) Me.
ii) The Government. I second Philbert on this.
iii) That Astro woman.

Three things I’d like to learn.
i) Play a piano. Properly.
ii) Driving (I will be, soon).
iii) Italian.

Three favourite food.
i) Beef noodles.
ii) Grilled Chicken Foldover.
iii) Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

Beverages I drink regularly.
i) Water.
ii) Kickapoo.
iii) Yogurt drink.

Three shows I watched as a kid.
i) Barney. Can't ignore a purple T-rex that is actually nice with kids.
ii) Teletubbies. C'mon, they're cute.
iii) Power Rangers. Okay, now I'm really embarassed.

Three people I’m tagging.
i) Priya.
ii) Suwarna.
iii) My sister.

National Disgrace

The other day I went to the Selangor Registration Department to collect my sister's IC. It was a painless process - take a number, grab the card, leave. Ten minutes at the most.

But it was during those ten minutes that I saw something that drove me up the wall. A sign.

It wasn't actually a sign, just a piece of paper people would usually print a short message on so as to avoid spending a few hundred ringgit on a proper signboard. That's fine. But what really raised my blood level was not the message it conveyed, the gaudy-coloured paper or even the cheap-looking speech bubble shape of the sign. It was how the message was written. I don't remember what it was about, but it started off - bearing in mind we are talking about a message on a sign of a government building in a major city - with this:

"Sekejap aje................."

And then I saw another one at the photo booth reading something like this:

"Semasa ambil gambar boleh duduk diam tak??? Bolehhhh.......hhhhhhhhhh........."

Now, before a Malay starts pointing fingers at me for being racist, I would like to make it clear that I'm fine with people talking like that in everyday life. I even have friends that text to me that way. I may not like that kind of lingo, but if people want to speak the way they want to speak, God has not yet created a creature or force that can stop them.

But this is ridiculous. Putting signs like that in a Malaysian government building is akin to stepping into the Pentagon to find hip-hop language in their signs.

Is this the image we want to portray? That Malay is our national language and even government officials can't use it properly?

We may be way past the age of ties, jackets, tweed hats and meticulously perfect Queen's English, but that doesn't mean we should speak like men in caves in 1325 B.C. At least their language wasn't broken.