On friends who are doing MLM.

To be honest, I find MLM a perfectly normal way to make money. In fact, if the products that are being sold are really good, then it would be a win-win situation for the seller and user. Unfortunately, I find myself annoyed at most of these people who are so relentless in pursuing the goal to get me sign up under them.

Especially when my best friend is involved.

How many times can you hint your friend that you are not interested in joining MLM? Let me count the ways:

1. I don't have enough money.
2. I think I'm ok with what I'm doing.
3. Good plan but I'm not interested.
4. Maybe next time.
5. Let me think about it.
6. I find the products very boring.
7. Why would I want it if I know I don't use the products?
8. PLEASE FUCK OFF..

And there are still more; it's just I can't be bothered to list them all down.

To my friends who are doing MLM, good for you! I do hope that you do well in pursuing this and not just another way to get rich quick. However, for the love of god, please don't take advantage of my niceness because I will smack you in the head.

Love you!

6 years and 75 days.

That's how long I've been in advertising. In the first two years, I was a nobody. Just another young, hungry and wild creative waiting to make it in the scene. Spewing out ideas without even thinking the consequences and the ride that was waiting for me.

Then I started to pick up the game by doing some TVCs, and some advertising awards. Along the way, I was grilled, broken into pieces and brought back to life; all thanks to a couple of people.

Now, with only 290 more days left until I hit the 7-year mark in the industry, my porfolio is starting to look pretty good and solid. Plus, with a better and more decent grasp of the English language ( I think la).

Turning 31 is not that bad after all.

Get lucky.

I've been repeating Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' the whole day today just to remember the lyrics. Cuz  can't be bothered to print out the lyrics. Tryin to save trees ya know?

In fact, we kill trees like nobody's business. If I spit into my drink, trees die. How fuck up is that? Why are we not doing anything about this? Why are we turning into mass murderers? Do we like the idea of becoming a mass murderer?

Barks are spilled. And we quietly continue with our lives by checking out our FB, post tweets, listen to catchy, formulaic songs, sell phones and phone plans. Then we go home and sleep. Sleep until the next day comes and we continue again with our usual things - like killing trees.

I don't know why I'm writing this. Maybe I'm just tired and my eyes are getting blurry. I must've spent too much time looking at the monitor. I need to relax and close it.

On elections.

For the longest time, I've always kept my distance away from politics. After all, the word itself is synonymous with corruption, dirt, dictator and all the evil words you could think of. So it was only fair that I never voted since I registered in 2002.

The fence sitters. That's the label for people like me; and I was fine with it as long as I stay out of politics. Just respect my decision because I respect your decision to be part of Malaysian politics.
Easy.

Recently, the social media has been bombarded with so many political comments, videos, articles, blogs and etc. It was normal to me because people are in the heat of the moment. And like all the great historical moments such as Woodstock, The Million Men March and etc, people want to be part of that and tell their children about it.

But I was not moved at all. It was not another 'Black Swan' moment (a term coined by Nicholas Naseem Taleb for events that changed the world forever). Then one fine day, while chilling on my bed, I heard a talk by PKR candidates for Subang and Bukit Lanjan. Without thinking, I went to see what it was all about.

The talk started around 9.30pm.

I stayed on until 12.30pm.
This event, changed my world forever. It was my 'Black Swan' moment.

Now I understand why people truly want to be a part of this. Because after listening to what these candidates had to say, I realised that my participation in this election could change this nation. Whether it is good or bad, change is the only way to move forward. And that's proven.

Which is why like most Malaysians, I will be at my state to cast my vote for change. This is the big one. And this is a must for all Malaysians to participate. I don't care whether you vote for BN or Pakatan, but the fact of the matter is this; change must happen.

Yes, it would be a nice story to tell your kids. But the morale of the story is this; never turn your back to help those who are in trouble.

This time, Malaysia is in trouble and we have to protect her.

Master of pain.

I've been having back problems recently. And it causes my leg to ache (sometimes it goes numb as well).  So my art director took me to meet this Grandmaster. This grandmaster apparently helped her to conceive her baby - merely by just adjusting and fixing her nerves. So I thought to myself why not give it a shot. Since, I've got nothing to lose and I've been having this back pain now and then.

I went with two other colleagues. So there were four of us including my art director. What I saw in the following hours were *gulp* pure excruciating pain and scream. The Grandmaster knows immediately what is your problem. Other problems that you don't know of. And tells you that it can be fixed. Both of my colleagues were feeling a lot better after a series of battering (yes! the guy hits you with this contraption on your arms or legs until your veins pop up!)

Unfortunately, time was not on our side because we had to head back to the office. So I asked the Grandmaster to diagnose me instead of giving me the full treatment. I screamed and grimaced in pain in the next few minutes. He poked at parts that needed attention. For example, he told me my right nipple is in pain and there is a lump. He poked it and I squealed! But when he poked my left nipple, I was fine.

I went to see him today and I teared up. But my back was fine! He decided not to do more treatment on me because he wanted me to get used to the pain. However, he will whack me the next time I meet him.

I can't wait for the pain. :)

Change (in the house of Rae).

Holy crap. I've been skimming through all my blogticles (blog +articles) and I can see a huge different! I like the old me! The old me was positive and full of life! There were sparks of positive vibes in his writing (bad grammar though). And, and I can see that he was bent on making a difference. Making a change; he was (and still is) hungry for awards. This guy, to me, was cool. None of that aura i-wanna-be-cool-sarcastic-and-shit-to-all-so-they-can-respect me. None of that. He was just being 'real'. He was just being himself. 

And that makes him a beautiful human being. 

So where did he go? What happened along the way? Where is this carefree person? Living the life every second. What changed? Why has he written articles that are a bit morose and morbid? Even sometimes, a tad sarky. 

Something's wrong. Something's bothering this fella. 

Is this what it means to grow up and be 'professional'?

Where is that ballsy, gutsy kid that the late Yasmin Ahmad hired on the spot? 

You are special.

I remember taking a class and part of the training had to do about personal growth. Now personal growth is all about what's on the inside. A discovery of something that you never knew you had it in you. For example, I never knew that I could be a leader because I always see myself as a follower. So that is considered personal growth.

Then I don't know how or why, one of the trainers said that every one in that training was not special. He kept on repeating that to all of us. In my mind, I was thinking whether this was a reverse psychology move to inspire us to be special; but the more he repeated himself, the more I believed in him that I was not special.

It was wrong.

We are special. We are God's creation. And whoever says that to anyone is just plain wrong. I vowed to never ever listen to anyone who belittles people. Maybe this battle cry might work with others, but it doesn't work with me. I'm an avid believer of positive strength. The more positive energy you get, the more awesome you will be.

Yes readers, you are special. And I feel special that you have been reading my blog after 7 years.

On killing your babies.

You've sweat, bled and wasted away your life for coming up with that nice poster idea. You've shared with the Group Heads, Creative Directors and other creatives for opinions. They all liked it (and some didn't know what to say). And finally, finally as you and your art director were about to bring it to life, you discovered the execution had been done! 

The execution had been done for various clients; a chewing gum and PSA ads (public safety awareness).  Damn it all to hell...

So what did I do next? Well I told the art director we should kill it. And he felt uncomfortable as well if he had continued with this execution. Even though a part of me felt disappointed, I had to agree. I was so close to coming up with something nice, but I guess this had to be done. The other executions were so close, you can tell we ripped it from them. 

Having said that, I understand it is tough for creatives to let go of their babies. But trust me, you will come up with something far better. And to cope with the disappointment, here are some tips:

1. Know that you will come up with something better.

As always, the human brain has the capability to create something out of nothing. So rest assured that you have nothing to fret if your old idea sucks balls. Or copied straight from an existing campaign. 

2. Do something else. 

Disappointment is a hard thing to let go. So go on and do something else. Like playing games, go to the gym, go on a date, or whatever it is you want to do. Sometimes, distraction is the best medicine. 

3. Refer to old ideas. 

Sometimes, just sometimes, you can find gold nuggets here and there from your previous ideas. Who knows, you can mould it or make it better. 

4. Research.

Look at other ads beside the topic that you are currently focusing on. See if any executions can be combined into something new. Sometimes that help. 

5. Never give up.

A golden rule. If you believe in it, you don't quit. Keep pushing until you can't push further. The rich Miner is the one that keeps on digging. 

Hope this helps.