Moral Studies presentation video

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For my Moral Studies this semester, my group was required to prepare a presentation on the topic "Homosexuality". Our group decided to create a video depicting the life of a gay - and how it ended in tragedy.

To most of my course-mates in Nottingham University, this might be something you'd seen before, but bear with me because I finally managed to upload this video on YouTube. Hopefully this quality production from us would be worth watching again... and again...


The Video

A word of advice before watching: Due to the lack of narration during the movie, you might not understand what is going on. Feel free to pause the movie and check out the synopsis in the section below before continuing.

The Story

Drew (Kelvin Hiu) was not an ordinary guy. You've guessed it - he was a gay. He even has a boyfriend (Roderick). The story starts with Drew's boyfriend singing in front of his grave, reminiscing the events that led to his death.

Drew's boyfriend is so in love with Drew that he rejected the advances of others, including girls interested in him. Not long after rejecting a girl (Esdelyn), he went to find Drew in his bedroom to have some fun together. Unfortunately, their act was discovered by Drew's father (me).

Drew's parents were concerned about this and went to talk to him in his bedroom, but he was more interested in throwing a tantrum. Over tea, his mother (Sang Huey) asked him whether he is gay. When he didn't answer, his parents decided to bring him to see a priest in a local church.

The pastor (Wei Ping) talked to him and gave him some advice, but this only increases his frustration towards the people around him. The final straw came when he was beaten up by a duo (Sze Wei and Hon Xing) for being gay. He then decided to end his life. Before jumping off a building, he sent a message to his boyfriend, didn't wait for him to arrive.

The story ends with friends and family members visiting Drew's grave. His father hugs Drew's boyfriend, together mourning the death of someone they both love.


Behind the Scenes

Below is another video showing behind-the-scenes footage and the bestowing of self-created awards.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we had a great time making this movie. It would have been better if I wasn't smiling throughout the video... and my voice seem to be drowned by background noise.

As for my opinion on the main issue being discussed, I think homosexuals have the right to live their own private lives. However, they should be mindful of their acts in public as people may find their behavior offensive.


What Others Say

These are blog posts by others involved in the production of this video:

• Of instant stardom and Big, Retarded baby =D by Vivien (Editor)


• Of Homosexuality and Morality by Sze Wei

UPDATE (20/1/2008): Part II (Behind the Scenes) of the video has been removed from YouTube due to copyright issues. It has been reuploaded to Dailymotion.

Cloud, you are busted!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The person implicated in this post has vehemently denied involvement in this matter. Without complicating matters, I urge everyone to end speculation on this issue. Give all parties involved a break, lest feelings will be hurt. Also, before making any judgements, do take into account the implicated person's view in the comments section.

UPDATE 2: Here is another attempt at guessing Cloud's identity.

A mysterious person has been commenting in my Shoutbox under the pseudonym 'Cloud' for quite some time. All the while I was wondering about his (might be her) true identity when the name Cloud appeared.

The first time Cloud appeared was during the end of August.

Cloud I am new to here.I heard other people talked about your blog and so paid a visit. (2008-08-29 2:24 AM)

When asked who he was the first time, Cloud replied:

Cloud Ah ha.Cloud will pass by.See when I will reveal myself.Haha.Just kidding.Maybe some time I will tell you. (2008-09-01 1:14 PM)

Oh, he wants to keep it a secret... So fine, I left it at that. Cloud did not appear in my Shoutbox again... until last week.

Cloud Yaya.You haven't been updating for a long time.. (2008-12-01 11:50 PM)

Before that, I thought that Cloud had lost interest in my blog. When asked of his true identity the second time, he said:

Cloud Still haven't reach the time yet.By the way,chatting with a person you seem not to know.Doesn't it feels better?Though I know a little bit about you, (2008-12-02 5:10 PM)
Cloud I enjoy talking like this to you.Haha.Close yet far.. (2008-12-02 5:10 PM)

Then I asked: When is 'the time'? He replied:

Cloud haha.i also dunno..jz enjoy lo.not bad ma like this.. (2008-12-06 4:51 PM)

This guy really got me burning with curiosity. A la CSI, I found out that this guy is definitely from Nottingham University. Also, I assumed that this person has not commented on my blog using his real name before. And based on the way he speaks, I seriously considered him to be a girl. This got me racking my brains: Which girl in Nottingham reads my blog but never commented using her real name before? The result: Too many possibilities. I can't know each and everyone who visits my blog.

Then on Wednesday Sze Wei asked me via MSN whether I would like to know who is Cloud. 'Sure,' I said. She gave me two suspects; both of them seem absurd at first, as I haven't considered them before. Then she mentioned that the second person had done the same thing on her blog before. This got me down working. Based on the multiple visits of Cloud to my blog, the pattern corresponds exactly to that person!

Armed with that information, I can say with 99.98% surety (0.02% error in respect of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle) that Cloud is...

SPOILER WARNING: Click to reveal

Benjamin Chang
Author of DGS

Nice try, Ben! You would have had me stumped if you didn't impersonate as 'ying' on Sze Wei's blog!

P.S.: Thanks to Sze Wei for the lead!

End of the year, end of the semester

It's approaching the end of the year, but this year, it just doesn't feel like it. For the past 18 years, year end equals to long holidays and long holidays equal to year end. This year is different.


End of the Semester Rush

Although my semester finals are in January, this time is practically the end of the semester where classes end. Yet, mid-term examinations are still ongoing with me having Electricity & Magnetism and Moral Studies exams next week. This means that for some modules, we won't be learning much between these two exams. There is, however, Christmas break between them, before we face the 'ultimate' exam covering all the stuff we learned in this semester.

The end of the semester is also the time where assignments are due. I still have English, IT and Moral Studies assignments to complete, and I'm starting to wonder why do I have to do all these at the last minute. Well, I'm quite used to this kind of situations given my tendency to procrastinate, but I just hope that the current situation permits me to hand up my assignments on time without affecting my exams.


The Weather

Studying in a UK university is no fun without experiencing UK's weather. But in the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, I'm glad to say that I'm experiencing it partially. Take a look at this week's weather forecast for Kajang (the nearest major town):

Source: AOL Weather

I couldn't find a website which offers weather for Semenyih, but I can assure you that the weather here is colder, though not as cold as in Nottingham, UK which is snowing. But then again, we have the equivalent of snow at the Malaysia campus:

(Where did the faraway hills go? Compare it with the last photo in this post.)

Those photos were taken at 7 am two weeks ago. This place could be a resort if without the mounting pressure...

Oral Presentation: SpaceShipOne

Publish at Scribd or explore others: spaceshipone

SpaceShipOne Revolutionizing Space Tourism Outline • What is SpaceShipOne? • History • How does SpaceShipOne work? • Beyond SpaceShipOne The First Non-Government Manned Spacecraft Three-person vehicle for suborbital spaceflight Designed by Scaled Composites, a company founded by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan Funded by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft 1996 - Concept design work and some preliminary development April 2001 - Full development program began in secrecy April 1, 2004 - Scaled Composites received the first license for sub-orbital rocket flights June 21, 2004 - First spaceflight October 4, 2004 - Won the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE White Knight carries SpaceShipOne to about 15,000 meters above the Earth. Accelerate almost vertically at 3 g’s. More than 100 km above the Earth. Speed: 3000 km/h Weightlessness The ship's empennage converts (using pneumatic-actuated 'feather') to a stable, high-drag shape 5 or 6 g's of deceleration Parabolic trajectory Turns into a glider at about 16,000 metres above the Earth. Touchdown at 145 km/h. SpaceShipOne now hangs at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of companies and Burt Rutan are teaming up to create the world's first civilian passenger spaceliner Virgin Galactic, the company that will offer the flights, will launch them from spaceports in the New Mexico desert May begin commercial flights in 2009 Twice the size of SpaceShipOne Can carry six paying customers and two pilots © 2008 WJ. Revised: 2 Dec 2008.

Those were the PowerPoint slides I used in my oral presentation about "an exciting new invention" yesterday during my English class.

I know I had left this blog idle for more than half a month, so hopefully I can provide you with more updates during this long weekend. We will have an extra holiday this Friday to commemorate the death of one of our fellow students from Nottingham University - he was brutally assaulted by a group of parang-wielding men just a few kilometers away from our campus (read more here). May his soul rest in peace.