A Weekend Well Spent

As a working mom, I always value my quality time with my kids, especially during weekend.

Last weekend, we spent the Friday morning by having breakfast picnic at the park near Masjid Terapung with our friends. We (bought) packed our breakfast and went there at 9.00am. The kids were all excited as they had an outdoor breakfast and they played together; I brought along some of their toys and books and there was a playground near the park. Our friends brought along their portable folding picnic table and chair to the park and we brought along our picnic tablecloth. Perfect morning weekend for us!

Some of the photos taken at our breakfast picnic day :

Outdoor breakfast under the tree; the nature way at its best.

The beautiful Masjid Terapung at the back.

One for the camera! I love this photo so much! Happiness.

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On Saturday, I opened up my art and craft big box and had an outdoor art and craft activities with my lil darlings. I let them chose on the art theme and concept based on their creativity, helped them here and there and we managed to finish the activity together. We had fun making some paper arts, ice cream sticks, drawing and sticker art.

Some of the photos taken during our outdoor art and craft activities :

I love this photo : Khayra was not ready for the camera and Hafiya’s proud reaction (laughing) towards her Kakak’s art. Teehee ;P

 Alhamdulillah for another weekend well spent.

Nothing is what it seems...

- General Nguyen Ngoc Loan Executing a Viet Cong Prisoner in Saigon -

When I first saw this photograph, my first impression was that the man holding the gun is a maniacal dictator S.O.B who executes innocent people simply because he has the power to do so. Merely by looking at the picture, I felt hatred and disgust towards him, with his superior posture - probably thinking that he is God, holding the fate of the man on the other side of the gun.

As I look at the other man, I felt utter sympathy – his fate is sealed; he definitely won’t see the light of day after this photograph was taken. With his eyes closed; his face shows nothing but fear and horror of his imminent doom.

And as I was browsing through the net for more information about the photograph, I found out that it was taken in Saigon by an American photographer, Eddie Adams on 1 February 1968 - during the Vietnam War. The man holding the gun was identified as the South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan and the man he is executing is a Viet Cong officer, recognized as Nguyễn Văn Lém.

Although the photograph won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and a World Press Photo, to my surprise, I found out that Mr. Adams had this to say about his award-winning photograph:

“The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths ... What the photograph didn't say was, 'What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers”

Evidently Mr. Adams regretted taking the photograph – he even apologized to the 'executioner' for ‘giving birth’ to the photograph and destroying his reputation. After going through materials relating to the photograph, I knew why Mr. Adams did so.

It appears that at the time the photograph was taken, General Loan was the Chief of Police and the man executed was the leader of a Viet Cong assassination squad tasked with assassinating not just South Vietnamese police officers, but also members of their entire family.

Just before the execution was immortalized in the photograph, Nguyen Van Lem was apprehended near a site of a ditch holding as many as thirty-four bound and shot bodies of police officers, their wives and their children - some of whom were the families of General Loan's deputy and close friend.

As I was reading about the truth behind the photograph, my view shifted – I no longer felt sorry for the man to be executed... I began to despise him to the extent that I think he deserved to die. As for the General, I felt sheer sadness towards him… for a man to discover a grave, filled with his fellow police officers, who were killed merely because they were carrying out their duties.

I then considered what Mr. Adams said – what would I do in such circumstances; if I was in the middle of a war and I hadjust caught the man responsible for the killing of my friends, their wives, their children… what would I do at that particular time?

As I was pondering the question, I just couldn’t find a definite answer – although I am clear about what I believe in, I understood why the General did what he did – I even tried to justify his actions.

Alas the story did not end there, after the Fall of Saigon in 1975, General Loan fled South Vietnam, with the purpose of a fresh start in the United States. He briefly opened and operated a pizza outlet in Washington D.C. but his identity as a ruthless executioner was publicly disclosed. He eventually died of cancer on 14 July 1998 and Mr. Adams had this to say in memory of General Loan:

"The guy was a hero. America should be crying. I just hate to see him go this way, without people knowing anything about him."

“NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS”…. Regrettably the life of a good man was ruined for the world to learn the meaning it brings…

Not So Happy Endings...

Disney has always been associated with happy endings. Sure, for the prince and princesses, heroes and heroines and even the talking cute animals and wooden puppets. But have you ever wondered how sucked it is to be the villain in a Disney movie? And I’m not talking about movies starring Johny Depp, Nicholas Cage, Jake Gyllenhaal or a lion who incredibly sounds like Liam Neeson...

Not these movies...

I’m actually referring to animated movies – cartoons made for kids. You’re probably thinking; “...well they’re villains, they had it coming…” or “...that’s the whole moral of the story… good triumphs over evil” – ok, but the saying says “TRIUMPH OVER” not “KILL, MUTILATE AND/OR MAIM THEM…”

Roooooyyyaaaalllll Ruuummmmmbbbblllleeee.....!!!

So here are 16 Disney villains who got what they had coming (although didn't actually deserve it):

Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs

Villain: The Queen

Final Scene: Snow White was tricked by the Queen (disguising herself as an old hag) bites a poisoned apple and went into a state of comma. The dwarfs, with the help of cute forest animals, went berserk and chase the Queen up a cliff and was struck by a lightning and fell to her death.

Holding a poison on one hand, and your drink on another may not be the best of ideas...

Post Mortem: Death by unexplained lightning which causes her to fall from a cliff. Seriously, lightning? - The Queen must also had pissed off Zeus at one point of time...

Additional Observation: Although no evidence to prove, Dwarfs and/or cute forest animals may be involved in the Queen's death.

JUNGLE BOOK

Villain: Shere Khan

No... Not this Khan...

... we're talking about this Khan

Final Scene: In the climactic battle of the movie, Shere Khan decides to fight Baloo, nearly killing him. Mowgli finds a burning branch from a lightning-struck tree and ties it to Khan's tail. Khan tried to put the fire out and flees when he fails.

Post Mortem: Tying a burning branch to a tail of an animal….?! This Mowgli boy is a very disturbed boy – even if he was raised in the jungle…

Additional Observation: Although the movie doesn't actually show what exactly happened to Khan afterwards, we presume that since there’s no way an animal (even with a cool name like Shere Khan), can untie something bound to its tail, he probably burnt to death.

Like this... BURN...!

Pinocchio

Villain: Lampwick (the misbehaved and destructive boy Pinocchio meets and befriends on his way to Pleasure Island).

Note: Although Lampwick is not actually a villain, like Monstro the Whale, the Coachman or Stromboli in the movie, what happened to him was too tragic that it was worthy of being included in the list.

What an ass...

Final Scene: Lampwick gets turned into a donkey by the Coachman while shooting pool in Pleasure Island. Although he didn’t actually die or anything, being stuck as an ass (by ass, I mean donkey, you perv!) is a fate worse than death.

Post Mortem: True, he doesn’t die…. yet… but eventually, he’s going to die… as a donkey… sorry kid….

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Villain: Maleficent a.k.a. self proclaimed “Mistress of All Evil”

Final Scene: Maleficent transforms into a gigantic fire-breathing dragon and battles the Prince. When the Prince almost got his “donkey” whooped by Maleficent, he threw his sword, sprinkled with magical fairy dusts and it went straight to Maleficent’s heart. Maleficent, with a sword stuck into her heart, fell from a cliff.

The animation was classified as 18SX as it involves elements of dragon nudity

Post Mortem: Death by major heartache which causes her to fall from a cliff.

Additional Observation: Due to the same M.O as the death of the Queen (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), the Dwarfs and/or cute forest animals are suspected to be some sort of serial killers of villains.

THE LITTLE MERMAID

Villain: Ursula

Final Scene: Ursula takes Triton’s (Ariel’s father / mer-man) crown and trident and transformed into a giant. Just as Ursula is set to use the trident to destroy Ariel, Prince Eric steered his ship towards Ursula and runs her through the abdomen with the ships’s bowsprit, killing her.

Ursula was tipped to be the winner of the Biggest Loser: Atlantis before she died

Post Mortem: Death by impalement by a ship’s bowsprit – you got to admit, this is so far, the most creative way Disney had come up for a villain’s death, producers of Final Destination may want to include this in their next sequel.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

Villain: The Beast… err… I mean, Gaston

"There must some kind of mistake, I didn't come here for the part of the villain, just look at me..."

Final Scene: Gaston attacks the Beast on top of the castle. Beast, of course being the hero (although does not have the looks for the part), won the battle. The Beast, trying to impress Belle, spared Gaston’s life and climbed up to the balcony where Belle was waiting. Gaston follows the Beast, stabs him from behind but loses his footing and falls to his death.

Post Mortem: Death by falling from the top of a castle – although the death does not involve any cliffs, dwarfs and/or cute forest animals are still suspected of causing Gaston’s death.

Seriously Belle? Choosing this thing over Gaston... His name alone should act as a warning...

ALADDIN

Villain: Jafar

Jafar is surprisingly thin for an Arab...

Final Scene: Jafar made his final wish to become an “all-powerful genie” but then realized that genies are bound to their lamps/masters before being sucked into his new black lamp, which was later sent to the Cave of Wonders. So, you may think that being an all-powerful genie isn’t that bad but wait, Disney is not done with Jafar yet… he made a comeback in Aladdin 2: The Return of Jafar. In the final scene of the sequel, the now-genie Jafar attempt to destroy Aladdin and the gang by opening up the earth to reveal a volcanic river. After what seems like a royal rumble between genies, man, carpet, monkey and parrot, Iago (the now-reformed Jafar’s sidekick) managed to kick Jafar’s lamp into the lava and melting it. With a scream of anger, fear, and pain, Jafar fades to a skeletal form and violently implodes into a cloud of dust.

Post Mortem: Death by melting lamp… but at least he survived one movie and got his own self-titled sequel… quite an achievement for a villain in the Disney world.

THE LION KING

Villain: Scar

Final Scene: In the final battle between Simba and Scar, Simba triumphs over his uncle by flipping him over a cliff. Scar survives the fall but finds himself surrounded by the now-resentful hyenas, who attacked and devoured him.

If he had pimples, instead of a scar on his face, would he be named PIMPLES instead...?

Post Mortem: Death by animal attack, specifically hyenas, whom one of them walk, talk and sounds like Whoopi Goldberg. The dreadful part about it is that Scar didn’t just die, he was eaten alive by his own minions… talk about a “dog-eat-dog” world… or in this case “hyenas-eat-lion” world….

Additional Observation: Since Scar fell down the cliff before being eaten to death, it is suspected dwarfs and/or cute forest animals was somehow involved in his death.

The Hyenas would be making the biggest mistake of their lives if they attacked this Scar....

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAM

Villain: Frollo or is it Quasimodo…?

Guys, I'm the hero in this movie... really!

Frollo in disbelief that the hero character is uglier than he is...

Final Scene: Frollo tried to kill Quasimodo by knocking him off the Church balcony but Quasimodo grabs Frollo’s cape and pulls Frollo with him. Long story cut short, Frollo fell from Church after being startled by an glowing orange-eyed gargoyle.

Post Mortem: Death by falling from the top of a Church – Robert "Tom Hanks" Langdon was later called to investigate whether the death was caused by the Illuminati.

MULAN

Villain: Shan Yu

Shan Yu is also a spokesperson for a contact lens company

Final Scene: After a struggle, Mulan eventually overcomes Shan Yu and with the help of Mushu the Dragon, Shan Yu was rocketed by a firework to his apparent death.

Post Mortem: Death by fireworks – this is exactly why the Government is banning firework; if it can cause death to a Mongolian War Lord, think what it can do to you!

Additional Observation: It is highly unlikely that Shan Yu, who survived a freaking avalanche, could die in the hands of Mushu even if did involve fireworks – that would be like Eddy Murphy winning a cage match against Genghis Khan. Suspected involvement of dwarfs and/or cute forest animals.

Bring it on, Mr. Beverly Hills Cop...!


TARZAN

Villain: Clayton

So, do you feel lucky, ape-man...? Do you...?

Final Scene: Tarzan battles Clayton in vine-covered trees. Clayton, in his haste to kill Tarzan, ignores his warning about the vine wrapped around his neck, slipped and subsequently died hanging.

Post Mortem: Death by hanging – better than surviving and living with the fact that he was beaten by a bunch of monkeys.

DINOSAURS

Villain: Carnotaurs

Starring the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park...

Final Scene: The death is simple enough… Aladar (our dinosaur hero) forces the Carnotaur onto a cliff edge that collapses, sending it plummeting to its death.

Post Mortem: Death by falling from a cliff - It’s highly impossible for the dwarfs and/or cute forest animals to be involved in the Carnotaur’s death… unless they could travel through time… damn, these dwarfs are technologically advanced…

ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE

Villains: Commander Rourke and Helga Katrina Sinclair

Death by a blimp... didn't see that coming...

Final Scene: During the final battle, Milo appears on the blimp and fights with Rourke, Rourke decides that the blimp is too heavy so he decides to throw Helga off. Helga, using the last of her strength manages to fire a flare gun at the blimp before she dies. Rourke was then crushed by the blimp’s propeller.

Post Mortem: Deaths by blimp - it’s a wonder that the blimp didn’t get the recognition of a hero status although being the one who eliminated not only one, but two villains.

A BUG’S LIFE

Villain: Hopper

Hopper the Grasshopper... how original...

Final Scene: Flik and Princess Atta lured Hopper towards a bird’s nest. When Hopper corners Flik and starts strangling him, the bird appears, picks up Hopper and feeds him to her chicks.

Post Mortem: Death by animal attack – Similar to Scar, Hopper died being devoured by an animal, but the downside is… he died at the hands of cute BABY birds… that’s like the worse ending for a villain: “Ooohhh, cute little birdies … NGAAAPPP!”

THE INCREDIBLES

Villain: Syndrome

Syndrome... a distant cousin of Goku...

Final Scene: In the final battle, Syndrome attempts to retreat to his jet after failing to take Jack Jack as hostage but his cape gets caught in the jet’s intake and sucked him in. He was apparently killed by either the engine's blades or the subsequent explosion.

Post Mortem: Death by jet engine – very disturbing considering that the whole Incredible family, including baby Jack Jack, were there to witness the dismemberment of a human being, even if he was the villain.

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But despite the above, in all fairness, Disney also screws up the lives of the heroes, princes, princesses, wooden puppets, cute forest animals and even time-travelling killer dwarfs. The most notable and common fate of these “stars” are the fact that they usually come from unstable family backgrounds – either orphaned or have single mothers or no mothers at all. Characters like Aladdin, Lilo, all Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Quasimodo, Esmerelda , Mowgli, Peter Pan, Tarzan and Aurthur are orphans. Whereas characters like Jasmine, Ariel, Belle, Pocahontas, Pinocchio, Jane, Mulan, Nemo Simba and Bambi lacks at least one parent. Even worse for Bambi, Simba and Quasimodo, who actually witnessed their parents being killed.

Quite depressing for the place where Dreams Come True, huh…?