IPOH TRIP

The first time when I heard about this trip I was like “Seriously? We are going to Ipoh?” while looking at my lecturer with an eyebrow raise. Lecturer said that Penang and Melaka are too common and already been there so many times so why not Ipoh? And so yeah, we are going to Ipoh!

Being a ‘Ipoh mali’ myself, I was actually glad that the lecturers organized this visit as I can really observe the development of this small city myself that I usually don’t. The feeling of guilt happened during those four days and three nights when I was searching for the best food and interesting places to visit together with my group mates which were not from Ipoh. This was another reason for me not to worry because I got the chance to really explore my own hometown this time. It is never too late. The night is still young.

The list of interesting places I been to:

What I observed and my opinions:

One thing I realized was that the development of Ipoh had increased drastically throughout the years. After having meaningful conversations with few of the kind Ipoh folks here, I was actually proud of the development of this small town. One good example was there were a quite number of investors and entrepreneurs who invest in the historical shop houses and convert them into cafes. Each cafes are specially designed with their own specific themes enriched with the historical value of the building itself. Some of the cafes were rented out for visitors to stay over on the first floor as well (homestay) and most of them were tourists who were fascinated by the happenings around the area.

Therefore, property investments are a huge hit recently and especially during Chinese New Year season. Not to mention, the lower cost of properties and an abundant of lands to choose from, made it so ‘lau juak’ (happening in Hokkien) here. Imagine you can get a double storeyed house for RM400K! Recently, Ipoh South Precint (ISP), the largest freehold- titled integrated township, is coming up engaging virgin lands, residential houses, commercial units, retails outlets and infrastructure development.

Ipoh was also known as 'The Town of Retirees' where the younger generation all left Ipoh for the sake of education and work, leaving the old citizens behind. In few years back, Ipoh was considered a ‘developing state’ compared to KL. It is not that Ipoh is useless at all but it takes time to build a successful and productive environment. Even KL takes years to come out with a nice city like what we see today. Development in KL was one level up, hence, producing numerous job opportunities that attract everyone like a magnet. The only time you get to see the most of the younger generation is during festival seasons like Chinese New Year.

However, this trend was slowly starting to make a twist recently where younger generation opts to settle down in Ipoh. Generally, most people just want to lead a simple life- a good job, a car, a house and a happy family; all these might be easily achieved in Ipoh. Ipoh is a quiet and peaceful, leading to a less stressful environment compared to the fast pace and hectic lifestyle in KL. Quality of life is more essential. YOLO!

As Ipoh continues to be developed, the northern and central regions are beginning to see saturation as well. The region is not new as it is (yet), as it has long established neighborhoods such as Pasir Pinji, Gunung Rapat, Tasek, Bercham, Ipoh Garden and Canning Garden, just to name a few, making them the largest suburban areas in Ipoh. Along with existing retail shops, shopping malls, local and international schools, F&B outlets and infrastructure, boosted by its proximity to the North-South Expressway (highway basically) exit at Simpang Pulai, Ipoh South will be very soon be Ipoh’s version of Petaling Jaya and Kota Damansara. Yay!

Ipoh might be a small town but there are still some historical values that are left behind that attract visitors occasionally. The little things which you don't see or enjoy every day: shop houses with British colonial architecture, pomelo plantation, chicken running around the house compound, cow crossing the street, goat eating grass and not to mention, the local delicacies like bean sprout chicken (the beansprouts here are especially fresh and big), white coffee (I’m not a coffee lover but I couldn’t resist Nam Heong coffee at old town), salted chicken, freshly baked pastries and desserts. Therefore, Ipoh is indeed a nice and peaceful place to settle down with no regrets and I hope that the story and value behind the small town would remain and preserved forever. 

Reference:
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2014/02/08/Change-for-the-better-Many-young-people-now-choosing-to-settle-down-in-Ipoh/

Last but not least, some interesting facts to know about Ipoh =):

http://cilisos.my/8-things-an-ipoh-boy-realizes-after-almost-20-years-in-kl/

IMITATION GAME

Imitation what? Imitation Game. Alright, I’m not a gamer myself but I think this is gonna be a cool movie. I could imagine a casino where intelligent people sorting out large deck of cards on the table while a genius poker face played his cards gracefully with hidden tricks and an amateur begins imitating him and finally became a pro with the cards, beating the poker face guy completely. The end. However, it turned out to be nothing that I expected but in a good way. At beginning of the movie, I was sort of blur and slow catching up with the movie because this is not my type of movie and I have to watch it for the sake of assignment.

The movie is indeed vibrant and lively, which I could sum up into three categories: The way the Nazis outwit the rest of the world until Alan Turing came along and stop the war once and for all, how his brilliant invention (which is now the world’s first computer) will work, and what will happen to him and everyone he knows when the truth about him is finally revealed. 

Before that, I have no idea Alan was actually a homosexual until he named his machine Christopher, which was his late childhood friend back in high school. So what? Not everyone is perfect in life. However, back at that time, homosexual acts were a criminal offense. I understand and accept that Alan is surely one of a kind person which we rarely see every day. To me, Alan is not only a genius, but a hero who managed to cracked the Germany WW2 Enigma codes, thus shorten the war by 2 years, means save thousands of innocent lives. Alan’s invention has led to the existence of computer age and to what we have now such as television, tablet, ipad, mobile phones and the list goes on. The main point of this part was that this movie traced back to the origin of digital age which many of us and the future generation do not know about.

However, I was quite sad in the end where Alan committed suicide due to the burden of taking hormones and his suffering of loneliness. He is smart and he could have done better than that. Another thing that I was not happy about was everything about Alan was kept classified for 50 years despite being arrested for indecency and finally been officially pardoned of his offenses by Queen Elizabeth in 2013. It was unfair for Alan to be put in that kind of situation where he instead, should be awarded with a chest full of medals and recognition by the public.

Besides Alan Turing, I also like Joan Clark, the only ingenius female involved in the Enigma project. The part where Joan was allowed to partake the project after succeeded the candidate exam conducted by Alan potrayed women power since women are often looked down upon during that period, what more working alongside with a group of men. Despite being analytical, smart and generous, Joan was accepted warmly by Alan and the rest of the group mates as a team. Joan was understanding where both her and Alan often confided in one another as equals, despite knowing the truth about his secret.

Overall, the movie is complex and fascinating, engaged with ideas and present day implications (digital computers basically) where the scientific part is not too difficult to understand and the emotions of the actors and actress are clear and emphatic. With a rating of 7.5/10, I would surely recommend this movie to everyone.

BEAUTY VS USABILITY (THEORIES LECTURE 1)

In this topic of Beauty vs Usability, I support both due to the importance of user experience. In design field, both beauty and usability are essential to make a product more valuable and worth to be accessed overall. All of us are users and everything that we use daily lives could affect our lifestyle and environment. It is like choosing between a bicycle and a car. Majority would choose the car because it is bigger and trendy (aesthetic), contain more passengers and move faster (function). Driving a car provides shade from the hot sun and rainy day, creating a more comfortable environment compared to a bicycle whereas a bicycle is small and can only be used for short distances.

Based on my chosen article, an experiment is conducted to test whether Beauty or Usability is more important to our daily lives. The ATM machine experiment conducted by was clearly stated that Usability is more preferred by majority due to the easy access of the buttons and screen. The experiment was continued where a good web design does not only consist of the useful contents of the website but the easy accessibility of the buttons and navigation panels and also the background color, texture and font size.

Some people might prefer practicality but with the help of a touch up on the outlook would make the product a complete package. While some might prefer the aesthetic of a product but it would not serve any value if the product itself is not useable. For example, a user comes across between three sofas at a furniture shop. First is a simple one but can only be used for sitting. Second one comes with a foldable bed with an addition of few hundred dollars. Third one is a sofa bed and comes with floral design and same price with the second one. All the sofas are made of the same materials. Definitely, the user is smart enough to choose the third one considering the lifespan, function and beauty of the sofa- where it is all worth with only a few hundred dollars. This is where the evolution of user experience developed to become more advance and efficient-producing a conducive environment for everyone.

or

or

In architecture and interior design field where form follows function is a logical statement as the outlook appearance will be affected by its inner function and purpose; making them a perfect combination. For example, a hotel room with an odd corner and edge will be considered a wasted space although it is beautifully furnished. It would be much better if the remaining space is used for something useful instead and not to forget the attractive and quality finishes.

Beauty and usability does not only imply in design but in human value as well. Any guy would be flattered when they came across a pretty girl at a street. However, the situation will be different if the pretty girl is rude and disrespectful. No guy would want to approach a rude and disrespectful girl as it will be a bad influence to them and their friends and family. Therefore, it is both inner and outer beauty that brings out the good quality of a girl that is admired by majority.

Therefore, Beauty + Usability = Good experience 




Article reference:
https://www.google.com.my/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDAQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mmi-basel.ch%2Fdownload%2Fpictures%2Fcf%2F8682k9s5be3eui6n560befvd7uy0uo%2F2012_tuch_chb.pdf&ei=6ZTkVKniOIyTuAToo4LgBg&usg=AFQjCNEnraJv3cUi3f5AG3IDuMA83phDiQ&sig2=lC9WcsciilVsV8i70SQENw