Aziff Azuddin's Blog, page 3

Jugra

The Federal Highway was empty save for a few cars. This was the second time we were chasing the sunrise, and today, our destination was Jugra. There was not much we knew about Jugra beforehand. Only that it was not widely publicised, and was a former Royal seat of the Selangor Sultanate. Not exactly a best-kept secret but neither had it reached commercial heights so often associated with tourism efforts.

We drove from Kuala Lumpur into Klang, and slowly, skyscrapers turned into suburbia and even...

Postcards: MCO and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has kept Malaysians indoors since the 18th of March 2020. Tomorrow, the “lockdown”, or Movement Control Order (MCO), as it is refered to, will be lifted.

This effectively means that Malaysians have largely been confined indoors for almost three months. These are several photographs I captured from both outside and inside my apartment during this period.

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Postcards: Bedgellert

Wales. The only things I know of it is the Welsh language being almost indecipherable, and its lovely vistas rivaling both the Peak and Lake Districts. It wasn’t until a friend of ours was getting married was when we decided that a road-trip to the West of England was in order. Our friend’s wedding was to take place nearby the small village of Beddgelert.

We drove for almost seven hours – with the final few entering into the mountainous ranges of the Snowdonia National Park. I am a sucker for mo...

Semenyih Dam

It was past 5 am. The uphill, winding road was unlit save for the beam of light coming from the cars headlights. Darkness surrounded us, and the only thing keeping our nerves together was faint music coming from the radio. I couldnt make out the song, but we talked in nervous chatter hoping we dont see anything come to view ahead. It had been almost ten minutes and we were still nowhere close to the Semenyih Dam.

Our pre-dawn adventure was the first time the three of us, the Blind Hikers,...

How will Ramadhan be affected by COVID-19?

Malaysia has extended the COVID-19 movement control order (MCO) for another two weeks. It was originally intended to last until 31st March, but now Malaysians will have to wait until 14th April before the country resumes public life. While the government has steadily announced measures throughout the past week to manage the economic repercussions and financial challenges faced by the Malaysian public, there is a spotlight on how this MCO has greatly affected SMEs and micro-businesses. I will...

The Shame of Sex Education

Years ago, during my undergraduate studies, I remembered a night when my dormitory’s Resident Staff (RS) dropped into one of our bi-weekly daun terup sessions. He had a serious expression on his face and asked us to keep an eye out for any of our female peers who seem like they might be in some form of physical or emotional distress. Just an hour ago, the campus guards found an aborted baby – bloody, lifeless, and stuffed into a toilet bowl in one of the campus bathrooms.

My RS left, and for...

Tokyo: Ramen Past Midnight

I arrived in Tokyo late into the evening. Rush hour. The subway was full of sararimans, corporate workers dressed in suits in varying dark shades, either staring distracted into their screens or blankly at their own reflections against the glass. There was a jingle, then an announcement of the coming station. I only recognised the words I had memorised long before I arrived the city: Shinjuku-Gyoen.

As I stepped out to the pavement above the ground, light shower pelted against my head....

Trust in Modernity

What is modernity? It is a concept that’s grappled many a social theorist and philosopher over the ages. Depending on your time sensitivity, modernity is a concept that exists in a continuum; ever-changing and evolving definitively over time. With so vast a breadth, the frameworks for understanding modernity too, is extensive. Many thinkers have attempted; identity, economics, politics, religion – the list is endless.

Out of the many frameworks, the one I would like to explore in this essay...

The young do read

I write in response to David Christy’s op-ed, Do young people really read? published on 20th October. With all due respect, the columnist’s opinions are emotive and not rooted in proper research of current trends. I speak in my capacity as a former media practitioner in the field. It is curious that he can cite youth news consumption studies in Singapore but is unable to look closer to home.

More detailed research, had the columnist bothered, would have shown that there indeed are several studie...

Merdeka ke-62

For the past three years, I’ve been trying to convince myself that there was something to love about Malaysia. This nation I call home; its people, diversity, history and multiculturalism. This, despite the underlying ethnic and religious tensions. In fact, like many others, I was lulled into a false sense of renewal when Pakatan Harapan took over the administrative reins of the country after the 14th General Election. Here was, it would appear, a new government elected to reject the politics...