2 in 1: Happy 50th and New Piece by Ifo

That's for my country. Happy 50th Malaysia Day! Well, despite that I'm not entirely independent (part of me still colonized, frankly speaking), I'm really proud of being Malaysian. 

Growing up, I feel so proud living in Malaysia. "Malaysia Truly Asiaaaaa....." the radio played. Gorgeous views, beautiful people, SALE, harmonious land where its people of different races, cultures and religion live side by side with each other; the TV showed me. It made me realize how amazing Malaysia is. The text books said so too and well, I see that in school too where kids regardless of race or their skin color, played with each other.

And then I grew up. I saw many awful things. So many racism happening, so many conflicts with the politics, how the government brainwashed us to think that we're perfect, we are ONE, and so on. We have one of the worst human rights issue, we don't recognize refugees and treated them badly, MORE RACISM, we have 1st class infrastructure but 3rd class mentality..the list goes on. 

But don't let me kill whatever love or hope you have towards Malaysia just yet, because despite all these flaws that we face, no countries, even its people, are perfect. Malaysia is not that bad after all. We can praise other countries for their development and crazy technology and kick ass government service, but at the end of the day, home's where the heart is. You can't reject something that you're born into just because it's not 100% perfect. I hate Malaysians who go around talking about Malaysia and praising other countries. Seriously. If you're not happy with Malaysia, migrate, change your nationality, live there, rot there and die there, and then you realize how it's not all perfect there too. It's the whole "grass is greener on the other side" mentality. What you see's not always true.

I love Malaysia. It's not perfect, yes, I have to agree, but it's home and that's the only place where you're treated warmly and with open hands. If you're in other country, who knows what kind of treatment you'd get because well, you're not one of their own. Having said that, it doesn't mean that we can just shut up and go about life as if nothing is wrong with our home. There's a lot of wrongs here and we need to fix it. We must do something to change the future of our nation. So come on, lighten up! Live life to the fullest and stop being such a killjoy! 

And by the way, I'd like to share some pieces by our local talents with you, lovelies. My man, Ifo, has composed 2 new songs entitled Luka and Aramaiti. The songs were sang by our dear friend Rizal and the music's amazingly arranged by Icco, and the whole thing is immensely supported by The Baks. They totally made it! You'll love it, I promise. Enjoy the songs!

LUKA

[Verse 1]

Semalaman ku berfikirkan tentang kita berdua

Ku anggap kau dan aku selalu saling merindu

Purnama takkan berkekalan selamanya

Kita juga begitu

Ku ingin kau tahu

Kau cuba melupa, ku cuba fahami semuanya

Adakah kita kan bahagia seperti dulu?

Segala memori indah kita bersama

Semua menjadi palsu

Ku ingin kau tahu

[Chorus]

Oh

Ku terluka, ku terluka

Melihat kau disana bersama dia

Ku taruhkan, ku taruhkan

Segala harapan kita yang telah kau hapuskan

[Verse 2]  

Ku menangis seorangan, kau gembira bersamanya

Tidak terlintas walau sesaat kau ingatkan ku

Dipukul ombak pilu ku kenang senyummu

Tapi bukan untukku

Apakah kau tahu

[Chorus]  

Ohh 

Apa yang ku lakukan

hanya untukmu sayang

Inikah yang ku trima?

Kau pergi tanpa kata

 Mungkin ini suratan

Ku redha ketentuan

Ku hanya ingin kau tahu sayang

[Chorus]

Ooooooh (3X)

Kau hapuskan

  

ARAMAITI

[VERSE 1]

Ku bangun ku terima mesej

Dari mu kata kau minta putus

Ku terus mandi buat tak peduli

Padahal hati sunggulah sedih

Kawanku datang kerumahku

Singgah pinjam baju

Bilangnya padaku

[CHORUS]

Jangan kau resah

Semua pasti okay

Lupakan semua duka

Kita bersama bergembira, Aramaiti!

Mari kita merasa

Muda selamanya

Selamanya!

[Verse 2] 

Ku ke tempat kerja

Bos terus marah marah

Semua pun tak kena

aku pun boleh gila

Kawanku datang kepejabatku

Singgah hantar baju

bilangnya padaku

[CHORUS]

Hey June

Well, despite the bad start........

Hey June, don't make it bad

Take a sad song and make it better

Remember to let me into your heart

Then you can start to make it better

Hey June, don't be afraid

You were made to go out and get me

The minute you let me under your skin

Then you begin to make it better

And anytime you feel the pain, hey June, refrain

Don't carry the world upon your shoulders

For well you know that it's the fools who play it cool

By making their world a little colder

Hey June, don't let me down

You have found me, now come and get me

Remember to let me into your heart

Then you can start to make it better

So let it out and let it in, hey June, begin

You're waiting for someone to perform with

And don't you know that it's just you, hey June, you'll do

The movement you need is on your shoulder

After All this Time

"I always write from personal experience or things that I see. I don't ever try to write about things I don't know. If asked, I want to speak from a place of knowledge and experience. Or at the very least, I'm learning and I'm interested. This album really reflects where the guys and I have been lately. It's one of the happiest things we've ever been a part of. The sound is a lot more upbeat this time around. I don't think our fans have gotten to hear this side of us, where not everything is so heavy and so detrimental."

- Hayley Williams, 2013

That's what Hayley said during an exclusive interview by Glamour recently. I've loved Paramore since the beginning and they just keep getting better. From emo teen-punk, heavy rock, folky terrain, to now. I love that all of their albums are extremely strong for their own reasons. And I'm loving the more positive, upbeat tone of the new album. The music video of their new song, Still Into You, has been I released and I love it at every bit. Now I have something new to dance to. ^^

Yeah, the song and video are very different from their usual ones and I saw some negative comments about them. Some want the old Paramore, some say Hayley's becoming Katy Perry, some say they sound horrible, blah blah blah. Screw all those craps. That's the example of people who are afraid of changes, living in denial and stuck forever in the past. Move on, peeps! Paramore still rocks.

It's a beautiful song and the video's cute! I'm glad to finally see them being so happy and I think it's my favorite video they've ever done. As much as I love Hayley and I can't get enough of her hair, outfit, makeup and her adorable dance, but I wish the video showed more of Taylor and Jeremy, they crack me up. 

What Hayley said about her pop-culture obsessions:

"I am re-obsessed with the Spice Girls and their Spice World movie. I grew up on that, and I love that right now the '90s are an influence on young people. It seems like 6 years ago, a lot of us were looking back more into the '80s. But the Spice Girls mean so much to people my age and people younger than me. I love the sense of girl power they give to young women. You know, I didn't have that when I was 16 when Paramore started. I wish it was something that I more fully understood. So I'm loving that young women are embracing their femininity, their power, and their strength. I look at my younger sister, and she's so strong and self-aware. I just feel that it's so important, whether it's feminism or feeling powerful for just one day, I'm happy that's back in pop culture. I hope it stays. I'm happy to see strong women."

Oh this is why I love Hayley. ^^

Now, let's enjoy the song!

Still Into You

Can't count the years on one hand

that we've been together

I need the other one to hold you

Make you feel, make you feel better

It's not a walk in the park to love each other

But when our fingers interlock,

Can't deny, can't deny you're worth it

'Cause after all this time, I'm still into you

Chorus:

I should be over all the butterflies

But I'm into you (I'm into you)

And baby even on our worst nights

I'm into you (I'm into you)

Let 'em wonder how we got this far

'Cause I don't really need to wonder at all

Yeah after all this time I'm still into you

Recount the night that I first met your mother

And on the drive back to my house

I told you that, I told you that I loved ya

You felt the weight of the world fall off your shoulder

And to your favorite song

we sang along to the start of forever

And after all this time, I'm still into you

[Chorus]

Some things just, some things just make sense

and one of those is you and I (Hey)

Some things just, some things just make sense

and even after all this time (Hey)

I'm into you, baby not a day goes by

that I'm not into you

P.S: Sill Into You means a lot to me. I know Hayley won't read my blog, but I'd like to thank her for this song. ^_^

Once Upon a Song

I'd love to invite everyone to come to Pertandingan Gema Cipta on 29th September 2012 (Saturday) at Recital Hall, UMS. It's a song composing competition that's opened for IPTA, IPTS and secondary schools, offering prizes as high as RM1,000. 

Ignore the wrong date, it's actually 29 Sept 2012

We're all thrilled for this competition and we need your support because Ifo is one of the contestants! Nah, he's not gonna sing, but the songs that he wrote and composed himself have been successfully selected for the final round. Our dear friend, Rizal, will be singing the songs on the competition. So, these are the songs:

1. Setia Selamanya (song and lyric by Ifo, vocal by Rizal)

2. Panorama (Song and lyric by Ifo, vocal by Rizal)

Such beautiful songs. I wish one of them will be crowned as the winner and beats other songs. Which one do you think will make it? ^^

Anyway, I pray the best for Ifo. Let's come and support!