My 2009 – The Year That Was

I am known for my punctuality *cough* This would explain why I am only posting this list up today, on Jan 3. But I guess it’s still new year-ish, and therefore still appropriate for me to reflect back on 2009.

As a whole, I really shouldn’t complain much about the year. Though it was far from perfect, so many good things happened for me that I am extremely honoured, humbled and most of all, grateful. I can’t thank everyone who has helped me and been there for me the past year personally but I hope you know who you are.

And on to the list!

JANUARY

Okay, fine. So it really isn’t about me. But hey, it was a slow start to the year.

Truth be told, though, Obama’s “Yes, We Can” slogan really set the tone for me this year. It was what drove me. I’m not sure if it’s because of the hype, or that I was determined to be more pro-active this year.

That, and the the fact that I dedicated four blog posts to him (and did my first ever Live Twitter event on my blog), makes his inauguration my moment for January.

Read my blog post here.

FEBRUARY

February was all about my kampung, Perth (blog post here). It was my first return there since 2004 so the trip was indeed a long time coming. I had spent over two years there right at the start of the noughties, and miss it dearly. That said, I don’t think life would ever be the same there again if I ever returned.

The trip was special – I was there for work to cover my first ever Big Day Out (where I got to meet and interview Sneaky Sound System and Cut Copy) but I spent an extra few days catching up with friends, visiting my former university and catch the a Fed Cup tennis tournament.

I had also written about Perth being my kampung for my The Bangsar Boy column, and received hate mail for it. The writer demanded an explanation on why I would consider a foreign country my home (and essentially called me a traitor). I dealt with it the way I always do my hate mail – I ignored it.

MARCH

I discovered a new sport in March! My wakeboarding experience was so much fun that I told myself I’ll keep going back. Er, it’s January now, I’ve not been back since. But I really did enjoy it and I really want to go back. Maybe that should be my 2010 resolution?

In March, I also found out that the one movie that I had done in my life – as a teenager – was an Oscar-nominated film. I kid you not! What happened is way too long to tell so you’ll just have to read my previous post about it. I may have only had a small part, but hey, sure looks good on the resume, no?

APRIL

Theatre isn’t new to me, but Shakespeare was. I’ve not read a single of the Bard’s work before I took part in From The Page and Unto the Floor, an acting workshop focusing on Shakespeare’s works organised by KLpac and run by Jeff Kevins. I really enjoyed our workshop performance as well – me playing Romeo to Davina Goh’s Juliet – that it was no doubt one of my highlights of the year.

In April, I also introduced a couple of social media elements to the way R.AGE, The Star’s youth platform, including our first live blogchat where I did a live review of the American Idol finale. Speaking of American Idol, a few days after the finals, I also got a chance to meet David Archuleta (well, I kind of stalked him as well as it was the first time @thestar_rage was doing a live Twittering session on the go). Since then, we have done several other social media based projects including the new R.AGE blog, our World AIDS Day special and I also help run The Star Online’s Live Chat series of interviews.

MAY

In May, Dato’ Yasmin Yusuff invited me to join her and other local personalities for Relay for Life, in aid of cancer. I was very honoured to be invited and together, we collected over RM20k (just the celebrity gang). It was a great experience, good fun and also poignant as I walked for someone who is close to my family as well. Among the personalities who walked (you can see in the picture above or read and see more pics in my post) include Jaclyn Victor, Samantha Schubert, Hans Isaac, Chelsia Ng, Jehan Miskin and more.

I grew up watching TVB serials. I think it was those shows, and not my mother’s attempts at getting me and my siblings to speak Chinese, that taught me Cantonese (I jest, of course). Well, this year, I finally managed to make a trip for the first time to Hong Kong – the setting for most of those shows – and with my best friend Adam to boot.It was also a continuation of my “Visit Asia” policy where I hope to visit a new Asian location or two each year.

May was also the time when I was invited to be a judge for local social networking site Ruumz’s Most Wanted Ruummate competition. It was the first time I was invited to judge something with this profile (it got media coverage, dammit!) so I was very honoured. Actually there was the Spa and Wellness Awards last year too but that was pretty last minute. It would also be the first of quite a few things I was invited to judge this year.

Yes, I know this is quite a lot of things to feature for one month but I can’t help it. In retrospect, May was probably the month in which things really started happening for me professionally and personally in 2009. One of the events that led to that of course was my article on Twitter on the cover of StarMag. It really increased my profile as a proponent of social media.

JUNE

In June, I gave my first talk as a “blogger”. Public speaking is not new to me – I have been invited to give talks on journalism to college students for many years now – but this is the first time on a social media element. Besides reconnecting with my old uni mate Kenny Sia, the event was also where I met some of my closest friends now including Soon Wei, SmashpOp, Amanda and Rames.

Another first in June! This time, I made my first appearance on television (well, with a credit mention at the end of each episode that is). The show was called Alamak! and aired on Astro Ria. It is a show featuring comedy sketches in Bahasa Malaysia and I feature in six different skits throughout the season.

And woah, it’s taken so long – and I’m only six months in. I guess the second half of the year will have to come in another post. For now, good night folks.

1.48am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

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