Halloween, a historic and a memorable night for Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide Malaysia.

At exactly 11.55pm, Friday, 30 October 2009, I received an sms from an ex-colleague in Dentsu Utama. In the sms it said " LB won Agency of the Year!" I stopped in my tracks and was in disbelief because it was almost surreal; I was with my gf that time and she was freaking out at my catatonic moment.

Congratulations guys. This is for Kak Yasmin and a bright future for all of us who went through the ups and downs. But most of all, to Kak Yasmin and her energy that exists in all of us.

Let's defend this throne in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Alhamdullilah.


p.s

The tribute to her almost got me in tears.

Making small talks ( Or the Idiot's guide to communicating-with-people-so-you-won't-come-off-as-some-arrogant-prick).

All of us have been in that situation; where people are talking and chatting the night away simply about everything. And then there's you. The weird, out-of-place, yet want to be hip person that is struggling to think of a way to get into the crowd. Well have no fear because in this article, I will present you 5 bite sized easy to digest chunks to help you be the center of attention without buying those uber expensive self help books.

1. Listen
Probably the most easiest tip of all. This method has been proven to attract people to you because they simply want to be heard; or they desire to be the center of attention. Plus, add in a little nod here and there to show you ARE actually listening. It gives the talker/attention seeker the feeling that they are important to you. Cool eh?

2. Say "Nice" profusely
If you don't know how to respond to a person that keeps yapping about how important her new car is, or she still keeps in touch with her high school teacher, then just end with a casual " That's nice." It's proven to end the conversation quite abruptly and gets you out of awkward situation or that awkward silence when someone mentions that her husband cheated her and left her with crabs. That's nice.

3. Fake call
This is a no-brainer. If you can't seem to comprehend the person talking, then casually receive a fake phonecall by setting your phone's alarm every 30 minutes or so. Change the alarm with your favourite ringtone to show that it is a genuine call from someone. It works like a charm everytime. Oh wait, incoming call.

4. Toilet break
Need I say more?

5. Religion
Islam, Christianity, Buddhism or Jewism. Just talk about the current situation with religion nowadays and you got yourself a quiet evening without anyone approaching you. This topic is such a taboo amongst Malaysians that it tends to be volatile in the end; especially if someone's been drinking. But If someone overhears the things you talk about regarding religion, it might just get you locked up under ISA. So tread carefully young padawans when using this tactic.

P.s I know this topic is suppose to help you survive and be more normal when communicating at events and parties, but I just can't help to add in some tips on how you can break away from people who talk too much.

Best of luck! Now go and mingle with the crowds!

the awakening

These past few days have been an intense journey for me into discovering how far Malaysia must go to become a harmonious country. With the rising problem of corruption, rempits, rapes, abortion and many more, i can't help but close my eyes and shut my mind from being poisoned furthermore and become a cynic and a hyprocrite. I need to find an outlet to let this out and advertising is just a small part. So, after days of singing with my guitar and listening to Zack's mean rapping skills and words of wisdom, I decided to create tunes, beats or songs to make a change. A change that could move the youth of the nation to reduce corruption, rempit phenomena, rapes, abortion and rise to lead the nation instead.

Because I believe music can change and move the human soul

"Music is the universal language of mankind"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet & Professor.

Pics shown above are my two rap heroes: Zack De La Rocha and Mike Shinoda

Gotta improve on these two things.

I sure hope I've been doing these two things on a frequent basis. Would hate it if I weren't.

2nd Day of Puasa

yes! My second day of Puasa and I'm breaking fast at home! Kuih muihs, fresh orange and tons of food! Ahhhhhh, I can't wait. The first day was with muh homies in Sungai Besi; had a choice to meet up my gf but I wanted to break fast at home since my grandmama didn't see me yesterday. Anyways, selamat berbuka puasa to all! Oh damn, I missed 2 of my sembahyang tarawikh!!

Yasmin made me proud to be a Malaysian.

Here's a little something I like to share when she interviewed me for the first time.


Kak Yasmin was really nice, although I can't help but wonder a comment she said about my name.

Yasmin : Nama penuh ape?

Me: Nama penuh saya Shaikh Muhammad Azraai, Kak Yasmin, tapi kalau pendek Rae.

Yasmin : eh, Nama dah sedap jadi Rae! Bangga tau kalau nama dah sedap macam tu, tiba tiba pendek jadi Rae.

Another Dream of her.

As I'm writing this, I'm trying my very best to remember the details from the dream I had a few days ago. It was just another day in the office, when suddenly an unexpected thing happened! Most of the staff I know gathered at the front desk ( which I don't know why) and suddenly, SHE showed up! She was looking radiant as ever but with shorter hair ( like the one you see in the newspapers). She smiled and teased all of us- me included. For a minute, everyone couldn't believe it but we were so glad that she's back. Her return has breathed life into the office again. Skipping ahead, I found myself wandering around the office. And I saw her about to rush off to somewhere. Her face was a tad serious and she noticed me. She stopped and started walking towards me and said things that I couldn't understand. She said " There's 20 nasi lemak and 20 drinks at the (something) floor. I want you to gather everyone there." At this point, I didn't really understand why but deep down inside of me, there was this huge feeling of sadness and yearning. Tears started running down my cheeks and to my shock, so was she! But she managed to give a faint smile and said "It's all up to you dear." And with those few words, she left. Then the next thing I know, I was at the floor she told me to go and the place was filled with food, music, arts, books and all the people I know from the office. After that I woke up, and it was 5.30am.