Sabah Labuan Corporate travel bazaar- Cititel Pg.

The tourism industry in this country has become the victim of our political circus. This kind of efforts to promote tourism often fails simply because it is organized by the Federal Government and the State is in the hands of the opposition party.

The turn out for such an event is less than should have been simply because the rest of those involved in the industry are politically own or cater to the opposition rulling party.

Now had the event been organized by the opposition ruling party the turnout would have been better but minus the Federal Government agency that has the clout and financial will to get things done. It is a catch 22 here on the island and what is even more ironic is the fact that both sides are mighty proud about it that they can skewer each other every chance they gat at the public's expense!

So who looses on this deal? The so called Rakyat! Hee hee! The very people who lected both these groups of beureau-rats!
It beings to mind of a srory i once heard, about a very wealthy man who was diagnosed very ill and needed a brain surgery. The doctor told him of the braind available to replace his deteriorating one and the cost. Money was not a problem when he was told of the first choice which would cost him 10,000RM and it belonged to a college professor, money is no problem the man said. The second choice belonged to a rocket scientist and it cost round about 50000RM, the third was the most expensive which was in the range of 1000000RM. No problem the wealthy man said but why so expensive for this one, he asked. Oh it belonged to a bureaucrat the doctor said and never been used!

It is indeed a sad phenomena being stuck with being ruled by the opposition and dependant on the Federal Government it is like being a step child to an unforgiving step parent. You will never know how or when the budget cuts are going to come. (often in the forms of pressure or punishment by whichever side that stand to loose or benifit.)

Butt.. the food was good! And so was the company what more can one ask for and its all still FOC!

I only hope with all that left overs the food will find its way to those who are in need and not dumped nito the dumpster at the end of the day. Yes we are a wasteful bunch and we know it!

Despite of it all we Penangites will survive! So long as we have the good food it does not matter who rules we will still eat better than most other states!

Moral of this story? There is no moral in politics and the most waste are generated by politicians.

Draw and Paint and they will come!!

Freinds come from far and near to visit and to spend time with me because I am an artist and my works have touched their hearts!

This is what I feel the reward of being an artist, it is when someone would go out of the way to come to visit you just because...

This Lovely lady came a long way and made an effort to drop by because she had been following my blog for quite sometime now! What a lovely gesture, one that makes you feel that it is all worth doing.

The two secutiy gaurds will alwys be around whenever they catch me at work and their appreciation of my works i can feel is sincere and genuine.

It is for people like these that i devote my time and energy to keep on being creative even if i live day to day from hand to mouth. Nope dont feel like I am complaining or moaning, neither am I blaming anyone for my state but just stating a fact of life whcih in this case simply is, you cannot have the cake and eat it too!

If i had been financially independant, with a studio of my own and in no need of help from my friends, I would not have these moments in time when I can share and be shared by others.

Yes off course i could do better had I stayed focused more towards making money and gaining recognition but Such Is! Being in my present condition I find the freedom to share and being shared

Getting Ready for the Show

Tha MGTF gallery crew got together to install my works on the walls for the upcoming two man show alongside my friend Najjar Musawwir from Illinois, USA. My works comprises of a few new larger pieces mostly in black and white.

Also to be hung is my 100 feet long sketching of Georgetown an on going project which has been exhibited at two solo exhibitions already so far here in Penang.

It is fun just ti sit and watch the guys go at it figuring out how to get these pieces on the walls and I left it up to them to do the curatorial works themselves whci I find much easier than trying to impose my own ideas.

^The boys seems to enjoy what they do and gave it full attention making sure that no damage doen to the works.

Each has become an expert at what they do and takes pride in their ability to get the job done.

Getting up a 100 feet long art piece on to the wall is no easy feat.

Watch It!!

What are you guys waiting for??!!

Thats it get the measurement right and make sure it is not lopsided.

Sure it takes some doing to paint this large a piece!

Get a haircut you guys!!

Oh yeah! mr. Boss man! It looks great dont it? By the way where were you when they were busy hanging the pieces?

Najjar! The Man!!

When I first laid my eyes on Najjar from the distance at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and watched him lifting his longtime Budyy Hasnul practically off the ground with a bear hug and a loud voice that made everyone at the arrival area stopped in their tracks, he reminded me of Ice Cube, the Afro American actor.
An then when Hasnul introduced us he gave me the same bear hug and I felt the feeling that i had long since forgotten, being an American! That bear hug squeezed out memories of my Amrican buddies when we met eachother it felt genuine something I never realized that I have been missing.
Najjar arrived from Senegal after his trip to Morocco and he will be here for three weeks where he will work on having an exhbition at the MGTF organized by his close friend Hasnul.

It has been a week now since his arrival and he has been whipping left and right getting his show ready which includes the display of headlines from a Newsletter circulation by the Black Muslim Movement of American under the auspicious of the founder Elijjah Mohammad and Malcolm X. He is here to share the thoughts and ideas developed over the years of the African American Muslim movement which to my knowledge is very little understood by the majority of the Muslims in Malaysia.

Najjar Abdul-Musawir is an internatinally acclaimed artist who has exhibited extensively throughout the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe. He currently works as a tenured Associate Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Studies in the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

When he is not creating impressive works of art, or teaching college students; he can be found working with "disengaged youth" and their families helping them to discover their creative voices.

Najjar's work for the community is two- fold, it is an important aspect of his faith as a Muslim but also because it allows him to foster in others, what has helped him survive and surpass "assumed" limitations in his own life.

To any and all who will listen, Najjar will say, "Art saved my life." This come from a manwho at nineteen years of age was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and sent to prison for almost a decade of his life. It was while in prison that his heart was turned to Allah and his salvation was having met a Muslim brother who was wrongly accused and had to spend a short time in prison.

Listening to his life story I felt like it had all the ingridients of a movie in the making with Ice Cube playing Najjar.

I have been assigned to be Najjar's local tour guide and baby sitter, not he need any of it as he does perfectly fine on his own drawing people to him with his typical African American jives and moves making everyone he met here feel totally at ease in his prescence.

Najjar is no doubt an inspiration for me, a breath of fresh air which blew just at the moment when I was about to throw in the towel ofr myself being an artist.

No doubt he has the energy of one ten years my junior but it is not just the age, it is the genuine energy that only those who have been given a second chance in life has that affects me when am with him as I am sure it has the same effect on others too.