AT THE SPEED OF NOOR

A long-time friend who knows me better than most people recently told me (as I was writing down our food order) that the way I held the pen reminded me of the way I drew when we were younger, and how she wished she could draw like me. Context: She's a professional painter and has been in numerous exhibitions, so while I appreciated her sweet compliment/gesture, I can't bring myself to believe her. Not because she has ever lied to me or anything — what she said just doesn't make sense to me. I wish my brain wouldn't distort my thoughts and make me doubt the good things people who care about me say about me. This isn't about learning to accept praise. It's learning to believe that you do have value to people who care about you. That some people like you being in their lives, and can accept you as you are even when you are told many times before that nobody would. Now I'm crying again. I'm going to sleep this off tonight.

In February 2020, before the COVID-19 hit Malaysia, KLSketchNation was tasked with painting a 30,000sqft mural at an apartment buidling in Kuala Lumpur.  The project took 12 straight days, and over 20 local artists! The theme is stars, hence the design being based on past and current celebrities and public figures. I only managed to help on my days off, but some of my friends were there on most days. It was tiring, but it was also a pretty fun experience. Check out the process video below to see the before, during, and after! :) Last Updated: 2022-12-01

In Malaysia, there is an initiative called #SIGNON to promote Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM) or Malaysian Sign Language (MSL) . I've been meaning to join one of their BIM introduction classes  which they have monthly for free, but I could never find the time to go/I was worried to go alone. In an effort to be start learning MSL, I decided to invite some friends (which I was too shy to do before), and a few of ended joined me on the first SIGN ON session for 2020!

Artworks by a few KL Sketch Nation members - namely Hakym , Jerome , and Syah Daud - were being exhibited at LOOP Hotel , so as part of the launch, we had a sketchwalk activity around the vicinity of the hotel. Of course, a road trip was in order, so the KLSN team went to see the sights, sounds, and tastes of Penang!

On day 1 of 2020, some  KL Sketchnation  friends and I decided to have a simple picnic to celebrate the new year. It wasn't anything fancy - we were basically just hanging out at the river - but it was the most fun New Year's I've ever had. (Credit: Anonymous child, using Hakym's phone)

Update: As of Dec 2020, Carthreena has disbanded after releasing their acoustic ep of the album, which is available in their Youtube channel. The Basics Band: Carthreena Album: Breathe For Tomorrow Release: 2018 Country: Malaysia Genre(s): Post-Hardcore/Emo Language(s): English and Malay [Credit: The band's Facebook] Two versions of album covers for Breathe For Tomorrow Breathe For Tomorrow (BFT) is Carthreena's first album. 12-song strong with a range of tunes in both English and Malay, it is packed with energy served with a small side of mellow songs to balance things out. Here's the album playlist: The Songs Here are my thoughts for each song based on my listening experience, before I give my final thoughts on the whole album. Note: I also added in comments based on listening to these performed live, for comparison. We begin with ' Visionary Ghost ', which creeps in like a whispering apparition before picking up in intensity, especially t...

Dang Wangi LRT station has two entrances, but only one of them has a 2-way escalator and an elevator, while the other only has an escalator that goes down, to the underground track. Both entrances have stairs but they're not just steep but also a long way down/up. Every workday, I have to use a bridge with stairs to/from this station, because there's a river between that station and my workplace. I have to use the 2nd entrance because it's closest to me. As I was walking back from work today, an old Malay pakcik was struggling to walk down the stairs for this bridge. When I asked if he needed assistance, he didn't say anything, just looked down. I asked again, but he didn't move, so I held his left upper arm gently and asked again. This time, he looked at me, slightly nodded, and looked at his feet. We walked down the staircase together, slowly. I warned him that there are more stairs when we reach the station, and he nodded. When we reached the other set of stairs,...