Friday, April 20, 2007

V-Tech Massacre

Again, it has been some time since I've last updated (I seem to have a habit of addressing my posts with the same sentence). The post this time round is albeit, a bit more serious, as you can probably guess from the title. I'm sure this is no news to you, a university massacre has taken place this Monday, April 16, in Virginia Tech, United States. The recent school shooting has the highest body count of 33 killed and a 30 more wounded, making it the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history. The gunman? A 23-year-old South Korean, Cho Seung-hui (조승희) .

There has also been some speculation that it's no coincidence that such a thing happened just 5 days before the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre which left 13 killed.

In fact, acording to Malaysia's highest rated paper, The Star (or was it The Sun?), the U.S. schools shooting may be competing for the highest body count. We have the École Polytechnique Massacre, also known as the Montreal Massacre, with 14 females killed (yes, no man. Ahh... anti-feminists...), the Columbine High School massacre with 13 killed, the University of Texas at Austin shooting with 15 killed and now, the V-tech massacre with a body count of 33 currently in the lead.

In the aftermath, many asians, particularly the South Koreans in the U.S., fear that this incident may spark a backlash against them. With their closest ones killed in a senseless bloodbath, they can't help but direct their anger at someone else, so that the sadness of having lost a loved one is not as unbearable. In all honesty, I was left quite shaken by this incident. One of my closest friend here in College, also a South Korean, expressed her disapproval, saying she was quite ashamed that a fellow South Korean was actually responsible for all this.

To the victims of this tragedy, which left not only melancholy and devastation, but also terror and vengeance in its wake, I offer my condolences. I understand the fact that reality spare no mercy. Even if a loved one has passed away, the World still kept revolving, the Sun still rises from the East, and life, still continues.

Now, for something more light-hearted (or not), pray listen to the complaints I have for the Malaysian music Industry. Being a fan of Avril Lavigne myself, I've been eagerly awaiting the release of her latest album, which supposedly, should have been release on April 13, but Noooo!!! The workers in the shop I went to were like, "Is she releasing a new album?" Hah. Nevermind.

I went to visit another music store again on April 16. Here I go thinking, they should have it out by now... The first store I went to disappointed me, they didn't have it. Trying my hardest to think positive, I went off to the next one, no. They didn't have it either. Fine, I'm still not disheartened. I went to the third one, you guessed it, they didn't have it too. Finally getting exasperated, I went to the fourth store, no. The fifth store, no. The sixth store, NO!!! (Yes, the biggggg shopping mall I went to has about 6 music stores.) I mean, What the f***! Normally, I'm qute the mild girl who doesn't swear, this just go to prove how worked up I am over this.

Some might argue that Malaysia is a bigger country, which is why distribution of stocks were less efficient. Mind you, the size of a country does not, in a million years, matter. The bigger a country, the larger the population. Even if there's a lack of workforce (which I'm sure Malaysia don't), there is machines now, to help assist us in our work. Hello! We live in the age of technology!! Therefore, this is no excuse. The blame, I feel, should all lie on the inefficiency of Malaysian workers.

Today, I braved myself for another traumatic disappoinment and visited the music stores again. Thank the heavens, the album is already available in the first shop I went to. Now, the next problem comes in, censorship. Did I ever mention that censorship in Malaysia is a pain in the ass? Well, know that it not only hurts, it irritates the hell out of you as well.

Before I bought the album, I asked for a sampling of the CD. The sample I listened to seem to be Malaysia versioned-free and I'm quite satisfied with it. So, without any delay, I grabbed a new album, paid my cash, and shoots out of the store. Finally... I've got my album. To my unspeakable horror, while listening to it in the car, I found the CD I bought earlier to be one of the 'Malaysian version' albums I fear so much. I know the album has terms like 'motherf*cking' and whats not in there. But the Malaysian government even went to the extent of censoring trivia words like 'shit' with long pauses of silence and totally ruined the whole song.

I. Just. Can't. Believe. Them.

I'm not criticising the Malaysian Government. No, really, I'm not. Really.
I'm just irritated at how the album turns out. I've been waiting forever for this album. So, feeling cheated, I asked my mum to drive back to the mall again and I practically stormed into the music shop. I confronted them about the censorship thing and asked, "How is it that the album I listened to in this shop earlier has no problem with the censorship?" Their answer? "Because that's the sample CD!"

I. Gave. Up.

Without the energy left even to feel angry anymore, I asked for a refund (Luckily they allow refunds) and thanked them for their trouble.

As a result, I may be coming back to Singapore next week to purchase the album. Ahh... The trouble I'm willing to go through for an Avril Lavigne CD. Trust me, it's that good. So while I'm at it, I may go around visiting my friends and be making a trip to Tiong Bahru ^_^.

Sigh... The injusticeness that could happen to an avid fan...