Competitions

Official competitions do not engage me. whether its sports, chess, or academics. To me, lots of people want to win more than to enjoy the game, and to win, they could be really, really nasty.

It wasn't a lie I made up to cover up my weakness, but its based on my past experience.

I did take part in some competitions a few years ago. I didn't participate many because I was also lazy to join any. But there was one event, not a competition but merely a game, that completely changed my perception towards competition-based games.

There was a guy, he was, and is, exceedingly good at playing chess. We were merely having fun. We were just playing a game like usual, and as an ordinary game, they would be win and defeat. In that games, I happened to defeat him once. Because he was such a great player, he didn't receive it well. Frankly speaking, it was just a game. Nothing official. Nothing serious. But when he was defeated, he received it very badly, and was quite.....angry.

He got quite angry as he lost to a person who had no training. So he forced me to play another match with him. I refused to. But he insisted, and he kept insisting me to play another match with him, and he asked me to quite publicly and loudly. I had no choice but reluctantly agreed, and didn't want to even play a serious game. So I lost the match to him, and he was finally satisfied.

Actually, even if I did play seriously, I would still lose to him. He was just too great a player who just happened to make a careless mistake and lost to me. I was, and am, not his opponent.

I remember this event screamingly vividly because this changed my view towards competitions. There are always people who want to win more than to enjoy the game. And I hated it. To me, if you wanna play a game, play happily. Win or lose, let it be. I got into so many matches in so many sorts of games, and I would unashamedly admit that I lost more than I have won, yet I have not reacted the way he had reacted. 

Competitions are good at encouraging improvement, but if to do so I have to sacrifice the joy of games, then I would prefer to withdraw myself from such competitions. A game is meant to be fun, not win. And when you have come across a player who wishes to win more than anything, it simply spoils the mood of playing a game. At least to me.

And my view stays.

STPM 2013 Second Sem Result

My second term result. I won't say it's very good but I think it isn't really bad either.

I didn't expect good results because I knew I couldn't do PA and Chemistry, but surprisingly I got an A- for PA and a B+ for Chemistry.

I don't know what happened to my Physics. I couldn't do only a few questions and I ended up got only a B+.

Anyway, I got a CGPA 3.58 for second term, slightly higher than 3.50 for first term.

Satisfactory. Will strive harder for the last term.

Natcomp 2013 - Grand Final

Natcomp Grand Final ended last Friday. To say the truth, it was a horrible event this year, and the organiser was really horrible in organising this event. They should feel ashamed of their appalling running of MWBC. It's supposed to be an international event but they ended up managed to invite only 2 international bands - one from Indonesia and one from The Phillippines. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Anyway, let's enjoy what's enjoyable. Sultanah Asma, the Malaysian champion, never fails us. Here's the video. Still mesmerising.

SMJK Chung Hwa Wei Sin Band, or otherwise known as Swadaya Band, reused the theme last year "Prince of Egypt", with major modification in their movements and this year they had pitch percussion. Both Swadaya and Asma share the same coach but I find Swadaya's more inferior and a little dull. Their last year's performance, without pitch percussion, attracted me more than this year's version.

Enjoy. 

Cancer

I have just came back from visiting my uncle who has cancer. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment once in three weeks. The cancer isn't affecting him, the treatment is. Chemotherapy brings side effects that literally paralyses him, and the fact that his stomach is the point of damage means he couldn't ingest anything solid and he has been taking fluids for weeks. This has resulted in his extremely emaciated physique and weakness. He's only 50, but looks as old as a 70 year old uncle. His manner of speaking is very soft because he is very weak. He has lost at least 20kg and all his bones are visible due to inability to eat. Like he said, the cancer isn't killing him, the treatment is. He's hardly recovered from the previous chemotherapy and tomorrow he has to go on for another.

Take care of your health, everyone. It will really bring you down and crush your world into oblivion, and even if you survive the ordeal, the effect will most likely be permanent. Take care.

Despicable Me 2

Went to watch Despicable Me 2 today. I had been looking forward to watch this movie for a very long time because I had been attracted by the minions ever since I watched Despicable Me. The minions were simply a piece of beauty, an example of pure talented creation. In Despicable Me 2, Gru had stopped being a villain and had unwillingly worked for the Anti-Villain League. The minions were as cute as usual, but the evil minions were very nasty. Lucy Wilder was a nice new character in this movie and I quite liked it, but like any other movies/dramas, when the story diverts from its main storyline to the love life between any two characters, the movie gets dull. Anyway, Despicable Me 2 is still nice, and I would still rate it 10/10.