About 96 Hours into 2013.

Prologue: First post of the year. I wonder how my blog's and my own's fortune going to be for the next 361 days.

If there's anything that could be considered as the most inevitable, I would say it's passing of time and sure enough without any chintz and pomps, humanity and me has entered a brand new year of 2013.

This is how New Year looks like from the vantage point of my room. Yes, despite being a public holiday,  I spent most  part of my time on that day inside my room except lunch time + online session outside because campus cafes are closed for the public holiday. Oh, I conjured up a post rife with bad sexual metaphor about equating my 2012 as unconsummated sexual intercourse.

For the rest of the campus (with the exception of research mode postgraduate students), three weeks stretch of final examination has commenced on 2 January (Wednesday) marking the last hurdle for students before wrapping their first semester in this academic year. As typical of any significant university events, there will be exam related banner ranging from the typical VC's message to student about wish for success and strive for your parent, belief, people and country (top) to stern warning by examination section about the abuse of electronic device for the purpose of cheating and plagiarism in "examiniation" (sic, read carefully on the English part. It's rather baffling how spellcheck didn't work on banners.) will lead to suspension/expulsion from university.

Talking about new things that has started in the year 2013, Universiti Sains Malaysia has implemented comprehensive smoking ban across campus for both indoor and outdoor, marking the whole campus compound as tobacco free-zone. Smokers be warned.

Actually when I say comprehensive smoking ban, I meant extensive public relation exercise with vanity banners hanging on ALL lamp post in USM featuring all the "healthy, happy warga kampus" of USM ranging from students happily learning and involve in sports (top row), inspired academic and support staffs (bottom row) and last but not least, the committed top brass of USM leaderships all giving a big thumbs up to the tobacco free campus initiative and lifestyle. I think it's fairly easy to deduce from the banners above which two divisions that spearheaded the CSR campaign hence could afford being on the center stage.  

Of course VC being VC, he will center stage at any university wide campaign by default hence larger banner featuring him together with "warga kampus USM yang sihat dan ceria" informing the public that you're in tobacco free campus. If you squint hard enough, there's a relatively inconspicuous line that declare rather ominously that you'll be liable for fine up to RM10,000 or jail term for up to two year if found breaking the law. Still we don't want to be to hard on you so if you refrain from smoking in campus, we'll say thank you for not smoking/terima kasih kerana tidak merokok as you drove your car out of campus to get your kick of nicotine somewhere else.

The thing that I don't like about public relation campaign featuring prominent people especially if related to CSR is that it's supposed to convey Kepimpinan melalui Teladan/Leadership through Example because punters these days with their Facebook and Twitter and Instagram don't really have the mental capacity or attention span to actually comprehend anything that require 5 seconds or more of reading. The message/issue that is supposed to be addressed to the public has to be whittled down to easy to digest soundbites or buzzwords or BANGWHIZZPOP until the point that one just stick some portrait of prominent and/or happy people doing convincing hand gesture thus conveying some vague sense of the core message somewhat...while the PR people chest bumping with each other thinking they've done something meaningful fulfilling their karma quota for the year.

OK, maybe I am unjustifiably cynical about the whole campaign being essentially a repackaging of what has been around (but not effectively enforced. There are people who smoked in their Desa even though it is explicitly stated that smoking is banned in the guidebook.) for YEARS into a pet public relation CSR exercise for the current USM administration. It's good that the top brass of USM has finally take active interest about the hazard of tobacco and thus initiating concerted effort and investment into making vanity banners Pusat Racun Negara USM, the actual workhorse behind the whole campaign with their smokers rehab hotline at (+604-6572924, Office Hour) as well as Clearinghouse for Tobacco Control with their pilot project of monitoring air-quality in public space. So let's get on with the campaign, people!

Still on the subject of things coming to a start or end (or lack thereof):

This come awfully early this time around. Made my monthly march as usual to BSN to withdraw money from my Mak-Bapa-Finance account to clear my rent...only to discover that my BSN ATM Card actually has an expiry date on it and it has expired...on December 2012. After a gallant service for five years providing timely financial support, my BSN ATM has finally met its obsolescence...which also means that I have been inadvertently cut off from a major source of financial support and I can only renew it with my bank account book...which I left it back in Kuching. CRAP. Have to resort to secondary bank account in Bank Islam with is running low in cash and paid my rent. Meanwhile, I will have survive the next two weeks with the little cash I have in my other personal accounts until I got to go home and change my BSN atm card for a new one.

Last but not least, still desperately trying to kickstart my engine of inspiration while the prolonged silence of my working mailbox is rather disconcerting. That's all I can update. For now.