Now A Theme Park!

Just an add on to my previous post, I am happy to read from an article in today's New Sunday Times that Les Copaque may follow in Walt Disney's footsteps and follow up their cinematic success by opening a theme park, I guess within the Iskandar development in Johor. If true, this would give the announced Legoland a run for their money as that development has been criticised as possibly to be a little lacking in terms of excitement. This is because it has been hinted that this planned Upin & Ipin theme park will emulate Disneyland by having thrill rides based on their cartoon scenes, one of which should be the thrilling upih ride down the hill.

Taken from REEL TIME: Malaysia's Super Twins By : Meor Shariman

" And if things work according to plan, there will also be a Upin & Ipin theme park. Burhanuddin declined to give details except that the park would be located in Johor. "If you watch the movie closely, you will notice that some of the scenes resemble certain thrill rides."If Disney can do it (have a theme park with rides based on their films), why can't we?" I guess parents will now have to start saving money for their kids' "Upin & Ipin" fund! "

If the theme park keeps to such village or Malaysiana premise, I am all for it as an excellent method of preserving our national heritage through fun and I wish it will be a success, unlike previous plans that if I recall correctly includes recreating Lat's Kampong Boy village as a theme park. This may be a good time too if arrangements for a marriage between Kampong Boy and Upin & Ipin can be consummated, as it can give the long established guardian of our older lifestyle a refreshing paint of local contemporaneous to attract a newer audience. This can give our local animators a chance to further develop the concept further than leaving it to foreigners who has actually corrupted the feel and look of Kampong Boy since they have no inkling of our ways and culture. Whatever it is, such a theme park should be throughly supported not only for the sake of our national heritage, but also economically as if it is done right and attracts loads of not only local but foreign visitors, think of how much foreign licensing fees we would save and the receipts we would instead receive.

Nothing Begets Success Like Success

After hitting a collection of five million ringgit with Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula movie and possibly on the way to the number 1 Malaysian film box-office status of all time despite facing cuts in screen time, I am glad to read in the newspaper and their blog that Les Copaque has secured financing for their planned second movie, Upin & Ipin - The Movie. Yes folks, the characters who originally started life as supporting characters in the Geng movie before being spinned off to far greater success as cartoon shorts headliners that became the premier draw for Les Copaque finally get their own movie. This is despite the common perception that Geng WAS the Upin & Movie despite several clarifications by the producers.

Les Copaque's Mohd Nizam Abdul Razak stated in Berita Minggu last week that they have begun planning for the movie with shooting to start in 2010, with discussions on the storyline and the film script started. In addition to the movie while waiting for it to hit the big screen, Upin & Ipin fans can feast their eyes on 42 new episodes for free television series whose commencement will be officially announced soon. Whether these would be full 30 minutes episodes or still short snippets is anyone's guess at the moment. What storyline these new series or even the movie itself would take is still open to conjecture, as the last six episodes of Upin&Ipin has taken a more scientific tone rather than religious instruction of the first two seasons appropriate for their screening during the fasting month, being repackaged into a new Upin &Ipin and friends series. We would all just have to wait and see eh when the series and movie comes out. Just be grateful that the successes of Upin & Ipin and Geng the movies has firmly placed this production house on solid ground to take local animation to higher heights, and hopefully fire up the other local production houses to follow suit. We have many successful local cartoons on tv already, let more of them jump onto the big screen. I too want to see other production houses like Lensa Film's Kacang on the big screen. Upin & Ipin has shown the way.

Post Script : Announcement in Malay about Upin & Ipin The Movie appearing in Berita Harian Dated 18 March 2008

Upin & Ipin The Movie bakal menyusul

SEMENTARA itu, Mohd Anas berkata, populariti watak dua adik-beradik kembar yang comel, Upin dan Ipin dipergunakan sebaik-baiknya apabila diangkat ke layar perak secara khusus menggunakan judul Upin & Ipin...The Movie.

Katanya, keputusan itu dibuat kerana menerima pandangan daripada orang ramai yang tertarik dengan karakter dua budak kembar itu. Malahan dengan garapan yang lebih kemas, pihaknya yakin filem animasi kedua mereka menjadi karya menarik dan cantik. Ketika ini, proses awal persiapan untuk pembikinan Upin & Ipin The Movie sedang giat dilakukan. Ia dijangka mengambil masa setahun untuk disiapkan dan mereka berharap dapat ditayangkan kepada orang ramai pada penghujung tahun 2010.

“Kita mengambil kira pandangan orang ramai termasuk media yang membuat ulasan daripada filem Geng. Ramai yang menyatakan watak Upin dan Ipin dalam filem Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula... terlalu sedikit membuatkan penonton tidak puas menyaksikan telatah mereka. “Buat masa ini kita juga masih dalam peringkat perancangan awal untuk menghasilkan jalan cerita yang lebih menumpukan kepada watak Upin dan Ipin bersama rakannya di sekolah tadika. “Kita juga meramalkan filem animasi kedua ini lebih cepat daripada filem pertama lalu disebabkan segala kelengkapan bagi menghasilkan animasi dan beberapa karakter sudah ada. Cuma kita harus menghasilkan beberapa karakter lagi untuk menguatkan jalan ceritanya,” kata Mohd Anas ketika dihubungi Hip, baru-baru ini. Beliau berkata, pihaknya menjangkakan filem itu yang akan disiapkan dalam tempoh 12 bulan berbanding hampir 48 bulan untuk menyiapkan filem Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula. Selain itu, dengan kelengkapan yang sudah ada, kos penerbitannya juga dianggarkan lebih rendah.

Sambutan yang hangat bagi filem Geng; Pengembaraan Bermula ini berikutan dua watak kembar Upin & Ipin menambat hati penonton yang pernah disiarkan menerusi di TV9 sepanjang Ramadan pada tahun 2007 dan 2008. Bagi menguatkan lagi strategi pemasaran filem Geng, Les' Copaque kini sudah memulakan siri Upin & Ipin musim ketiga yang sedang ditayangkan sejak Februari lalu.

The Original TV Nerd Hero

I have read articles before on how now is the time for the nerds to get their revenge when geeky nerdy guys now frontline as heroes in their own TV series, supposedly spearheaded by the reluctant secret agent Chuck. The fact is I remember growing up watching late night screenings on RTM of a pathologist solving homicide cases, Quincy M.E. The series must have been very good as I made the extra effort to stay awake to watch a nerdy doc solve cases that crosses his examination table. This was in the eighties mind you when TV3 has yet to come to my Ipoh hometown, and Quincy M.E was really a cutting edge series in a TV detective world that consisted of heroic type gumshoes, even for an anti-hero character like the title character in Rockford Files. So even though you are brought into an alien world of investigative science to finger the criminal, you are kept enthralled by the wonder of science being opened up to you when it is used to investigate the crime. I bet this series had created a whole new generation of CSIs everywhere, though then Medical Examiners took the leading role instead of staying in the background like in the CSI series. Nevermind that the new crop of M.E.'s helmed series like Bones and Crossing Jordan feature a more gungho examiner, and heroines at that.

Well what do you expect from these copycats of CSI when other than the original Gil Grissom who studies bugs as a hobby, the parallel CSI series leads are respectively an ex-war hero and ex-undercover cop. Only the Gil Grissom character has managed to maintain a geeky profile despite being given an edge to his geeky persona, and I have yet to see him fire a gun. His main weapon is still his brains, and that is the essence of a heroic nerd. And that is why I am drawn to continue to watch House MD, who uses his observations(usually fortuitous) to come up with the life-saving prescriptions, though he has hit his patients before in order to verify his conclusions. Dr House is not only a geek, but an insular geek that nonetheless enjoys some hotdog lifestyle of riding a sports motorbike and playing a mean guitar or, air guitar with his cane at his office. That to me is the essence of the modern geek, brainy but also knows how to get with it if he wants to. So Chuck my boyo, sorry but to me you are just a softie who tries to play the hero using that world knowledge database that we are expected to believe you downloaded into your brain, just like the old TV series "The Greatest American Hero who got his powers from an alien suit and is not a real geek or nerd who actually has the brains to figure out things on their own. So seriously folks, do try to separate the patsy softie from the geek or nerd, as the geeks and nerds have actually been always heroes in their own right who has managed to solve the myriad world problems and in the course of doing that, changed the world accordingly. You know who they are, whether you like them or otherwise, eitther its Bill Gates or somebody else. And these are the people who were watching Quincy when he was giving geekdom respectablity that time not so long ago.

So What Is Press Freedom?

As there has been a lot of hubris written in the media and by extension blogs too under the ubiquitous banner of press freedom, including outright slander hiding under the Internet anonymity, it is quite refreshing to read a journalist writing on what press freedom is in this article from The Star. I however would just like to make a summary of the article on the important points to ponder about what press freedom is all about, hopefully it will open people's mind when they read what is written either in print or electronically.

In light of recent Malaysian headlines – some voyeuristic, some hypocritical - why some non-issues make the news and why other pressing matters like the recession, are relegated to the second rung.Obviously perversion sells. While for the most part you have to keep an open mind about it, it is difficult sometimes to accept that all reports – including those that have no relevance whatsoever to anyone else except the affected individual – are an exercise in press freedom.

A fair and realistic definition of press freedom by Heribert Prantl who heads the national desk of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany’s largest broadsheet daily) who described it as “... a mighty river … in which not everything that floats in it is clean and not everything which drifts along it is precious.” He added that press freedom “carries valuable and worthless articles, decent and offensive photos, boring and provocative caricatures; and it must also put up with journalists who do not behave in the way one would like someone to behave who claims to be exercising a basic right”.

The German media had vehemently opposed the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) on the invasion of privacy of public figures who ruled “The public had no legitimate interest in knowing where sic"a celebrity" goes on vacations or what she does in her private life.” In other words, “Don’t be so sibuk lah!” Yet, the press countered with an equally valid point. If their right to report on public figures were fettered, they would be unable to highlight how public figures behave, who their business contacts are or who pays for their holidays. (Random examples that come to mind include lawyers holidaying with judges or government officials photographed with shady people). I am all for this argument. For by being such kepoh, incredible scandals have been unearthed.

Yet following the “mighty river” allegory, besides playing check and balance or speculating how some celebrities balance their cheques, there are also “driftwood stories". So, perhaps news is what we each make of it. For as a reader, I have the choice of skipping stories that might be offensive to me or I could read them to get an opposing perspective. I can follow-up on stories that could affect me as an individual, citizen or consumer and I can skim over pieces that either make me go “aww” or “eww”.

But the potent combination of press freedom and the latent sibuk within most of us means there will always be news – good, bad and ugly. Although given this new voyeurism in Malaysia, it now also helps to do all you can to stay out of the news. But if, however, you are unfortunate enough to have come under the media spotlight simply by being at the wrong place at the wrong time with an absolutely wrong person, it might help to adopt Mrs Merkel’s, the German Chancellor's stance when facing such poppycock reporting.

Ignore the drivel and get on with business. And create news.

A Classic Case Of Armed Forces Procurement

Many local defence forums and even defence blogs lament the dearth of defence purchases in Malaysia, worried that our armed forces are not duly armed and capable to meet any possible threats that the nation may face. They nonetheless seem to forget that not all such arms purchases can be announced as a matter of national security, and many who are actually in the know will never disclose such purchases unless given the go-ahead by the highest echelon of the military and the government. Thus it does not came as a surprise to me that the Malaysian Army has announced as per the following article that they will receive a regiment of Astros MLRS II by the end of this year, a purchase many did not suspect or knew about before this. Thus my reminder is simple, have faith in our armed forces as they are professionals, even though they seem to be a favourite target of allegations by our politikus and pundits.

Monday March 2, 2009
Army to get rocket launchers
By LESTER KONG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Army will receive 18 multiple rocket launchers – the Astros II – by the end of the year.
Artillery officers were undergoing operational training, said Army Chief Jen Tan Sri Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin after launching the army’s 76th anniversary celebrations at Kem Perdana Sungai Besi yesterday.
The Astros II were purchased from Avibras Industria Aerospacial International Ltd of Brazil in 2006. The deal was signed by then Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for about RM27mil.

Whatever it is, we should be able to do a more effective saturation firing with the receipt of the second Astros Regiment like shown above after this. So adversaries beware!

Roti Paun Of Cherating

It was in May of 2007 when I first reminisced about roti paun or filled buns that was made by an old man using traditional methods, that is baked using a wood fire oven located by the main road of Cherating that I somehow could not locate again since then. That was a great loss to me as the old man's buns were the softest buns I had tasted for a long time, with fillings that were generous with both taste and authenticity. I am glad to say however that recently while on the road with my driver on the way back from a business meeting, I managed to relocate the old man's house which has seen some renovations, possibly the reason why I missed it before though the hut that passes for the bakery is still as ramshackled as ever. Nonetheless if you see a hut with rows and rows of buns on a wooden table while you are on the Cherating main road, you are on the right track as I am sure you will not even notice the sign board at the back of the hut proclaiming the hut as the roti poun bakery. At least it is still better than the old piece of black board that passed as a signboard the hut had before. I also found out that their roti paun are now sold at local bakery in Kuantan Town at a premium of twenty cents, while it is still sold at a ringgit at the stall though if memory serves me correctly, the buns themselves has lost a row of two buns since then. Nonetheless they are still filled with the most delicious red bean paste and coconut fillings in addition to plain buns, though they are now stingy with the home made kaya I guess due to its high cost. I am sorry the photo I took of the address was blur, but I can tell you that the bakery is located at 23rd mile Kampung Cherating Baru, after the Agriculture Centre if you are coming from Kuantan. Keep a watch to your left for the bakery or you will miss it.

But I must remind you that the bakery only operates in the evenings so if you want fresh baked buns, you must make the extra effort to be there in the afternoon otherwise you will miss out. And what a bakery it is, only using coconut husks as the fuel that gives the buns a nice soft feel. Look at the photos here if you do not believe this, as you can see the buns are actually baked in a metal container that has burning coconut husks on top that basically blackens only the top leaving the bottom part of the bun to cook to a soft texture. The photos shows a baking process of old that requires hard work and time to cook the perfect bun, and I say again here I do not know how long this bakery will last before time engulfs it in the mists of memory. I personally hope to make a return journey soon, but this time I will only buy the red beans, coconut and plain buns, as I can have my own kaya filled buns with the home made kaya from the area. I would also suggest that you also make your way there if you want a taste of the softest buns that you can get anywhere.

Chewy Junior ! So Adorable!

What do you get when you cross a jelly donut and a cream puff? My answer would be Chewy Junior, a new cream puff joint located next to the more famous cream puff purveyor Bearded Papa in Pavillion KL that we accidentally found when we wanted to purchase some snacks to fortify us after the early dinner we had after watching the movies yesterday. They were offering samples that captured the younger daughter's passion for creamy filled chocolate pastries that after comparing the promotion between the two cream puff stand, we decided to give Chewy Junior a try as they were offering a dozen pieces at the price of six pieces, a savings of seventeen ringgit until 9th March. So off we went home with a box of six chocolate covered cream puffs while the other box contained six jelly puffs, that contained chocolate madness, double chocolate crunch and chocolate oreo crunch in the chocolate box while the jelly box had the strawberry dream, strawberry cheese, apple delight, apple cheese and lemon crunch. Mind you these cream puffs are actually quite chewy and reminiscent of a chewy donut actually, so my question in the opening of this post is quite valid actually.

The chocolate versions actually had chocolate cream filling while the jelly tops had a vanilla cream filling instead. I had only a small taste of the chocolate puffs as the kids were fighting over them and I must say the chocolate glaze tasted excellent, better than some of the choc glazed donuts that seems to be the craze nowadays. The cream filling was also delicious, not overpowering with a cocoa taste as the chocolate glaze was chocolaty itself. Meanwhile the jelly tops offered real fruits in jelly, so you get actual cuttings of apple or strawberry preserves as the toppings. For something less sweet, I recommend the lemon crunch as it gave piquant contrast to the creamy filling. For non cheese lovers, please do not fear the creamy cheese as it actually tasted more like whipped cream than cheese, and does not distract from the cream filling. Therefore I can actually pronounce that these cream puffs are really delicious and I have decided to use photos from Chewy Junior's website to give justice to the puffs. I was surprised to find that Chewy Junior is a Singapore creation with only five outlets in Singapore itself, but they are slowly expanding overseas with their first outlets in Malaysia and Indonesia. In addition, I noticed that their original menu also offers savoury puffs and mini puffs, but I guess they did not want to get halal certifications yet for the savoury fillings and still testing the market so still unable to offer the mini puffs, especially since even some sweet flavours are also not available yet. Whatever it is, I wish them well in their venture in Malaysia, as my options for cream puffs has just widened further as when compared to my complaints in my earliest blogs not that long ago.