The sad treatment given to pets in Japan

Click on the link below to watch the news from CNN.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/11/22/lah.japan.doggie.death.row.cnn

Is this how people treat animals?! This is inhuman. I have two handicapped cats and my family and I still treat them nicely.

I was shocked when I was told of this news. Last week, I lost my dear kitten and she still lives in my heart. Are Japanese pet owners that heartless?

Well, I feel sorry for those who only have pets because it’s a trend or they are cute. And to those Japanese animal lovers, I feel sympathy towards you people, having to know that you are living in such a society.

Animals are like us too. They are living creatures. Why must they be treated this way? These cats and dogs may not be able to speak in human language but if they could, imagine what they will say about how they feel. I was almost in tears when I was told about it.

I think somebody should do something about this. This is just wrong. If you think I am wrong, very well, but have a heart. Imagine if you are in their paws.

Everything deserves a chance. So do these animals. Handicapped or healthy, they are walking and breathing like us.

 

“Mara pays RM42 320 for a laptop” WHAT?!

And it’s an Acer Aspire.

Here’s the article:

Thursday October 22, 2009

RM42,320 for a laptop

By YENG AI CHUN

KUALA LUMPUR: Who in their right mind would pay RM42,320 for a laptop?

Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang not only paid the price but bought two units of the same brand – Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI, at a whopping price of RM84,640, said the Auditor-General’s Report.

In addition, the college purchased 450 units of computer CAD with network card at RM3.45mil for 12 labs. Each 19-inch monitor costs RM8,500 while a 17-inch monitor costs RM7,500.

“A check with local companies showed that the market price for the latest model is between RM5,350 to RM6,500 each. Worse still the computers, Precision 390 Dell, that were supplied are no longer in the market,” it said.

Also purchased were 15 laser printers, Hewlet Packard P3005X, at the price of RM7,722 each when the market price was about RM5,000 per unit.

In reply, Mara said the equipment were purchased in a lump sump and there was no price breakdown for the laptops.

The price breakdown was only done after the equipment was supplied for the purpose assets record and it could not be used as a basis for reference.

“Nevertheless, Mara has created a task force and is conducting a price adjustment for all the equipment,” it said.

The report also stated that the college had paid between RM1,398 and RM2,945 for 204 teaching manuals.

“Checks found that the teaching manuals supplied were bound using comb binding. The teaching manuals obtained at a cost of RM358,476 is a waste because they were never used,” it said, adding that the supplier has been notified to provide the original version of the teaching manual in hard cover.

Mara also spent RM2.08mil buying computer software it didn’t need.

Audits also found many discrepancies in prices paid for the same equipment, including the same LCD projectors that costs RM3,500 and RM8,000 for two different laboratories.

“Swivel stools were also purchased at three different prices – RM340, RM350 and RM450 per unit and they did not even meet the agreed specifications in the agreement.

“Other swivel chairs were bought for between RM810 to RM1,050 per unit when the college had bought the same chair previously at RM336 per unit,” it said.

The report also stated that the German-Malaysian Institute which was picked as the consultant, had proposed a ceiling price of RM84.5mil for the purchase of equipment for the college while the Economic Planing Unit (EPU) fixed the price at RM127.65mil.

“The reason for the higher price was to speed up the process of obtaining the supplies. In the end the agreed contract was fixed at RM112.42mil. Mara had submitted a letter to the Finance Ministry to say that the figure was reasonable.

“Audit found that the agreed price for the purchase of equipment is not reasonable. This is because the approach taken by Mara did not fufill the criteria set by the Finance Ministry, which is to negotiate for the lowest price possible.

Article taken from : the star (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/22/nation/4953964&sec=nation#)

Seriously, this is ridiculous. You be the judge.

Me and Leanette (and some Versailles news)

Leanette….

My piano, my keyboard, my synthesiser, my Leanette Madison…

I want to play the piano. My keyboard is just… the feeling is just missing. How I wish I can go back to piano/keyboard class but my mother is being stingy.

Stingy, stingy, stingy… Don’t tell my mother, yes?

Hmm… my keyboard…

Maybe the keys are too light?

Maybe I think too much?

Anyway, Versailles will be performing in the V-Rock Festival on the 25th of October. Tickets are still on sale. They are finishing up their new album too. Hizaki completing the bass parts and so on.  Kamijo-kun is doing an “important ballad”.

Let’s wait for the album, shall we?

Lunar Rebellion

The sun has sunk, the night has come,
The yearning for blood is very overwhelming,
But now, I will rise against my infernal destiny,
Heaven is the one I wish to save,

The sickening shrieks of dark pleasure
ring through my ears as the night stays young,
My ancestors, forgive me, I wish to repent for our sins,
I cannot allow desire to overcome me anymore,

The moon shines as I free myself from despair,
Committing sacrilege brings me no happiness,
The lunar rebellion I shall lead,
My unholy blood will be my clan’s beginning,

To the moon that glows crimson like a red rose,
My tears shed for our innocent victims,
But now I will turn away my sinful hunger for blood,
The eternal purity of the rose I shall protect,

The moon shines it’s lovely rays in the night,
My dear ancestors, I detest our sins,
The lunar rebellion that I lead
shall be a new beginning,

From here on, my clan of royal descendants
who embrace the cross and roses
shall claim the throne and nocturne will be reborn,

My glorious clan will be born to this world,
My rebellion shall bring us
to the revolution of roses,
Now, rise from the abyss,

The chains of my dark sinful fate,
I shall break them away
and return to the sky’s cradle,

My dear ancestors, to you who have sheltered me,
Forgive me, bear witness this young rebellious child,

I am a child of the night who shall bring
the rebellion of the moon,
My clan’s name shall be remembered forever,
With my blood, the roses shall bloom and adorn this nocturne…

Faith ~In my Powerless Self~

The light that has always been there has faded away
leaving me alone,
Touching and holding onto nothing in invincible air,
I have nowhere to run or hide,

The heat that scorches me as I walk on in this desert
is showing no mercy like me,
As if the whiff of death has caught up with me this far,
I realised I am just as powerless,

No matter how much I have fought, I continued until the end,
All for what I believed in,
Though my prayers remained unanswered, I continued to have faith
in my weak self,
Because that is just who I have always been.

My past keeps creeping back, never letting me out of its grasp,
I cannot escape it,
The skeletons that I have buried are digging out of the grounds
and haunting me everyday,

Day by day, night by by night under the sun and the moonshine
I hoped to return to the past,
Pouring out all my regrets that cannot be changed by anyone,
I can only walk and face myself,

The tides of time and pain will never give way to anybody,
Not even the most powerful,
I will not allow myself to suffer anymore, though I am as weak
as anyone else in this world…

Everyone can deny that they have no suffering in themselves
but I know that is not true,
We all regret something someday somewhere in our temporary lives,
I am not an exception,

The frustrating storm never goes away forever
but I will fight even with my bare hands,
When tomorrow sheds it’s light on me, I want to be able to
put my hands up in the air, push all my fears away
and smile bravely to the endless skies.

Loveless

To the skies, to the winds,
To the moon that stays glorious,
I cannot love another being deeply,

This immortal life that Death cannot reap,
By my hand, my enemies fall one by one,

Cry as I might, my face roars pride and glory,
The emotion that I cannot truly feel is love,
It will always pierce me the longer it stays with me,

Pain is one that steals me away from joy, from comfort,
Here, my fangs hunger for a sanctuary for my beloved kin,
Lost forever was the winds that carry my love,
Nocturne is the only place where my heart eternally belongs,

To my love, to the other world,
My heart is petrified to the core,
My warm blue blood cannot be shed,

Love defeats me, the pain that breaks my abysmal self,
By my blade, these sinners fall one by one,

Scream as I might, my voice reaches  only up to the clouds,
My incomplete broken self is already inhuman,
My noble steed brings me away to the endless war,

Chained to my destiny, the moon glows crimson in my presence,
Here the blood rain will fill my emptiness, one that love cannot hurt,
My wings, now torn, still spread victoriously to the end,
The night shall stay young eternally in my loveless cold heart,

The night I shall reign forever, though love I can never touch.

Love ~äpfel und Plätzchen~

Love ~Apples and Cookies~

What is love? What IS love? … It is an emotion where you feel warm and fuzzy and somewhat miserable inside. It is a very deep feeling. It is something that sometimes you cannot define. It is something that you just… feel. Yes, feel.

Like I like someone. Love is deeper than like. To like something is to have affection. To love something is to have even deeper affection. Like I like apples but I love cookies.

For me, love makes me miserable because I tend to fall for fictional characters… but I cannot help it.

Maybe I am a little obsessed with pain, I don’t know, but I cannot help myself from falling for Mr Sniper. It’s err… a sticky situation. If my mother knows about this, she’s going to say “Are you mad?!”

Psh, I am a little derange here. I think, dream, and every time I listen to music, my imagination will lead to him playing the guitar (I listen to too much rock, so…) and that’s not great… in a way.

Love makes us feel irrational and crazy at times. When the person says he/she hates you or you see him/her with someone else, you will obviously feel sad, angry, and so on so forth. You will start feeling really bad and maybe the big scream “WHY????!!!!!” will be coming out from you.

“Mon amour pour toi…”

Love is something you can’t totally control. Sometimes, you fall for someone for no particular reason, like me. It just happens and it can happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone. Fine, you can contain it but it’s not really easy to get rid of. Even if you slap yourself, it will still be there. But some can wear off in a few days and that’s a crush.

Then there’s this…

WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU HAVE TO THINK THAT IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD WHEN YOU GET HEARTBROKEN?

Well, it’s okay if you think that way for a few days… but don’t ever let it lower your self-esteem.

I have met someone, and he said that he got heartbroken a lot of times and he said he lost his pride and he’s a loser and so on…

Ah, stop whining and get back on your feet!

I hate people like that! It is as if they are special enough to think that they are giant losers. You are human too. There are other people who are like you and there are those that are even more suitable for you than those who broke your heart. You just have to know where to look. Don’t be so vain. If you still think that way, then you just want to stay weak, do you?

Well, nevermind. This isn’t about getting heartbroken. Back to the subject at hand.

I think that love is a feeling that can appear anywhere, anytime and is somewhat unavoidable. Love can also be a deep affection for something or people like your friends and so on. “I love my friends” is an example.

Love makes people miserable and warm though it always manages to hurt me, it’s hard to breathe.

Is it a great thing? Everything has it’s pros and cons, mein Freund.

To some it is great, wonderful and blah blah…
To others or few, it is painful, unbearable, silly and so on…

I think it’s painful. But I’m not afraid of it. Sometimes I get shortness of breath because of love. During those times, I will try not to think of Mr Sniper, which is evidently futile… so I have to live with it, somehow, just hoping that nothing serious will happen to me.

Well, what you think of love depends on you. You may have various conjectures, but it’s your brain, yes?

Ah, no, you won’t die because of love. Nobody dies because of love unless the overwhelming feeling somehow manages to physically affect you, which is a rare case… but love can be a motive. That’s all.

Now, we come to problems… related to love that is.

Eh, well, say A and B broke up but A still loves B…
Say C cheated on D…
Say E got bored with F…
Say G broke up with H for funny reasons…

etc.

Anything can happen. So expect the unexpected. You’ll never know… I think I have stated the obvious.

Oh, I like apples and cookies.

Immature Jealousy ~Demento~

Stay away, come if you dare,
This feeling embraces my soul,
My abyss darkens even more,
The whiteness of it is dirty again,

My head spins uncontrollably,
Sing for me, the song of tears,
No one knows of my darkness,
You and me are now hand in hand,

Now, jealousy is a painful lover,
He creeps to me with his hands on my soul,
My very heart is at its wits end,
Come, now, my anger surges,

The overwhelming heat that despairs my thoughts,
That clouds my judgment is so stubborn,
Take my hand and I might just make you shed your tears,
I feel this way because I am that way…

Jealousy is like a poison,
One that no one can really hide,
He clenches my soul in his arms,
I am falling again into that pit that he created for me.

I can hear you whisper my name,
In your breath, while you hold my heart,
They say that ignorance is bliss,
But you will not let me get away from you,

The density of this feeling is conquering my very mind,
I can turn to no one but myself ,
My head is spinning from misery,
Now he is tearing me away…

Jealousy is like a venom
whose hands do not wish me to go but stay with him.

Somnium Fragminis ~Noctis~

English: Dream Fragments ~Of the Night~

Sleep until the sky turns bright,
when you wake up you will be alone again,
Close your eyes until the sun shines,
when you open them the only thing you see that awaits you is your own shadow.

The colourless fragments
of memories are like old films,
Watch as they become moldy
and forgotten like those who have passed,

Now the time has gone so far away,
You are now tired and sleepy,
In the nights, alone I become,
You cannot hear my tale,

Feast upon what dreams shall offer you,
no one will know your joy when they vanish by daylight.
When you open your glass-like eyes,
it will be time for me to leave for slumber.

Here you are as I sit nearby,
the enchantment of the melody I play echoes through,
Yet you remain still in bed,
my noble violin sings to your deaf ears,

Still, I play, I trill, I fiddle,
Shine, the stars, the moon, so pretty,
Sleep, you, I am watching you,
The memories you collect in your dream,

Now the clock hands strike the hour,
the beginning and ending are clashing.
I continue to play my piece,
after the last note you will awaken from your sleep.

Butterfly ~In your memory~ (Tribute to Jasmine You)

I just found out today that Jasmine You, the bassist of my favourite band, Versailles, has left us all yesterday, 9th April . Hence, all of Versailles plans have been postponed. With hopes that he will rest in peace. Here is a tribute to him. May he live on forever in us.

The flowers spreading its scent across the field,
The butterfly dances in unmatched grace,
Now the butterfly is gone forever,
The flower field is no longer what it used to be,

“Live on, the world watches you,
You who keeps silent while you dance”,
Will there be another that can take your place?
The floraison of roses are now still,

Now the masquerade of beauty is empty,
The ballroom of flowers with the sweetest scents in the world,
The reality so dark feels like a dream,
These flowers are now soaked in tears,

The unexpected pain of your disappearance
spreads away into the lives of those who watch you,
Now that death has claimed his price on your soul,
The world is flooded with sorrow and grief for you,

The butterfly in beautiful colours is no longer here,
Is this just another sad dream?
Everyone wants to wake up from it,

The lights that glitter as your fragile wings cover
the sun that looks so small at a certain angle is pretty,
The smile that cannot be seen by the naked eye
is now so far away, so unreachable to the world,

The unknown, is it to be feared?
The picturesque field of roses is now so plain,
The hearts that have fallen to the ground,
The sadness so profound, their prayers want to reach you,

The time that remains goes on while hearts shatter,
While tears fall from sad eyes, while they mourn for the butterfly,
The butterfly has entered the eternal dream,
Never to return to this world that cries in grief,

The flowers are now crying for the butterfly,
Calling for the butterfly, wondering where did it go,
The memorial of roses for the butterfly is already starting,
Now the pain of death redeems the heartless…

Goodbye, Jasmine-san.