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You shouldn’t do that

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me dad

My dad is the person that I admire the most. This is not the first time I have written about him – as I grow older, I get closer and understand him even more. As a kid, especially during my pubescent years where I made it my personal crusade to be the most rebellious little shit in the world, he stood by me.

I never understood why.

He believed in me when I went into a period of an intense hedonistic lifestyle of drugs, alcohol and indiscriminate sex. My dad never supported my choices though – I remember the first time I was arrested – I expected him to bail me out of jail, but he didn’t. I was in there for the standard 14 day remand until a friend bailed me out.

…now some of you might think that means he doesn’t love me. No, that isn’t true. It means he loves me so much he wants me to learn. I didn’t at that time but he kept on believing in me and encouraging me to sort out my life.

He would just tell me his personal take on things and advice me on life. I have always hated his advice – advice being the worse kind of vice and all that – but as I grew older, I started to appreciate it.

Now that I’m turning 31 I find myself looking to him for counsel for all the difficult decisions in life.

I wish I had more time to tap into his wisdom and life experience. Sure, there’s a huge generation gap between us but some things in life will always be true. I have learned love from him – and I believe I will be able to provide the same kind of unconditional love – agape – to my future children.

dad me

I really hope he’ll be there to see that and experience raising my kids with me.

I’m trying to live a healthier life and doing what I can to prolong the time we have together. There is a Wellness Profiling Tool which I’m using to find out about the little bad habits that I’ve never really thought about. It’s on the Great Eastern website and they have a motto that really tugs at my heartstrings – We believe that only you can be there for the ones you love.

There’s also an iOS and Android app called Great Eastern 21 days which you can use to break the bad habits that you have. Research suggests that it takes exactly that amount of time to truly stop a bad habit or start a new (good) one.

Surfing through the site made me realize that I’ve never taken a lot of photos with my dad – there is just a couple of snapshots over the Chinese New Year period and I really want to change that. There’s a Facebook contest where you can win a priceless photo shoot by celebrity photographer Russel Wong by uploading a photo and writing about how much that person means to you.

Your photo will join a gallery of Malaysia’s most irreplaceable people. The contest is called There Will Never Be Another You.

That’s exactly how I feel about you, dad. I’m sorry I was such a hard kid to raise up and I hope I’m doing enough to make up for it now, although as you always say, you don’t want any of that…all you hope to see is for me to be a good person. I’m trying every single day. I love you dad.

The Friendliest Day of the Year

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March 17th

I hear it’s being touted as the Friendliest Day of the Year.

people

It’s one of the few holidays that break out from the country of origin (Ireland, in this case) to metamorphosis from obscurity to become something more…something global, something truly epic!

eat play love

It’s St. Patrick’s Day!

st pat 2010

I go every single year. Guinness has held the biggest St Patrick’s Day parties for two years running in Malaysia. I was at the 2010 celebrations in 1Utama.

st pat 2011

I also went to the 2011 street party at Changkat Bukit Bintang where they have all the awesome street performers and even awesomer (spell check just warned me about this word with the red squiggly line) launch with the jugglers and huge motorcycle parade.

I couldn’t get a good shot at the actual event with everyone jostling around but here’s what it looks like – that’s from the preview event and is almost exactly the same. 😀

dancing

It is always a day full of fun, friendship and laughter.

Fun Fact:
A popular Irish toast on St Patrick’s Day is “May the roof above never fall in, and may we as friends beneath it never fall out”.

performers

This year sees a return of the celebrations to Changkat Bukit Bintang! There will be a month full of celebrations starting right about now. Remember when I said March 17th is going to be known as the Friendliest Day of the Year?

Well, there’s this obscure, little book that you might have heard of. It’s called the Guinness Book of World Records. 😉

friendliest day of the year

This is the real thing, the authoritative tome that people refer to when a feat or record is in doubt. It’s no local wannabe, if you’re in it, you know you’ve done something worth writing down for posterity in the entire known world.

parade

Guinness is attempting to set a new Guinness World Record for the Friendliest Day of the Year by getting 1 million people to pledge online at www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia and www.stpatricks.com.my to get into the book. Just click on COUNT ME IN to make it happen! 🙂

st pat 2012

I’m telling you, it’ll be the best fun you ever had. The crowd is always nice and there’s fun and laughter. Get ready for the pure awesomeness that is the main St Patrick’s Day street party:

Date: Saturday (17th March)
Venue: Changkat Bukit Bintang
Time: 6 pm onwards

street performers

There’s even going to be a busker dressed like a court jester. What more can you ask for? 😀

Get more information on the various other parties and promotions being held at www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia.

Walking Like a Dream

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walking like a dream

I always get reminded of my trip to Bali to visit Tanah Lot when I listen to the song. The vocals evoke an emotional response that elevates it from a mere song to something a lot more. Walking Like a Dream is the latest Yuna single – it is groundbreaking in a lot of ways.

yuna sms

I wrote a post about Yuna creating music history by having the first online concert in Malaysia. Well, I was one of the 10,000 who got the SMS invite and I logged on to watch her perform.

yuna media session

It was amazing. There was actually a media event at twentyone.tables+terrace in bsc but I elected to use my home connection to watch it.

yuna new single

In hindsight, I wished I had gone to the media session – for one, the screen is much bigger than my notebook and I bet the sound system is more awesome too.

yuna live

Nevertheless, I had an awesome time watching Yuna perform her new single…

yuna music video

…and after a campaign to get the public to star in the music video via Hotlink Yuna Music Booths nationwide (it was in a lot of cities and towns around Malaysia) the final production is complete!

Her single (which was untitled at the time) was also done the same way – the winning entry (crowd sourcing FTW) turned out to be Walking Like a Dream.

yuna single

It really is a great song, I’m loading it into my iPad when I travel to Thailand. I bet it’ll be amazing to listen to it by the beach in Phuket!

tanah lot

You can listen to the awesomeness that is Walking Like a Dream by surfing over to www.nowyoucan.my/yuna – the music video is also there and if you’re a Hotlink or Maxis user, you can download the single from Music Unlimited and listen to it wherever you go. 🙂

It’s a mellow and chill song that’s perfect for anything from beach vacations to stressful drives during rush hour.

Supermarket trolley skating

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supermarket trolley skating

You can get up to all sorts of fun in a supermarket while doing your weekend grocery shopping. Supermarket trolley skating is one of them. It really makes getting around the large hypermarket a lot easier. The only problem is, it’s hard to get locomotion (unless you’re wearing stilts) and the security guards tend to tell you to stop. 😉

…but look at how fun it is!

push

You wait for an initial push (or you can do it yourself before climbing aboard)

shopping

Navigate the aisles for healthy nourishment (usually instant noodles for me) and then…

checkout

Slowly cruise to the checkout!

(Sword not included)

It got me thinking about how you can go supermarket trolley surfing without:

  • Getting stopped numerous times by the security guards
  • Having proper forward momentum
  • In a relatively safe environment (where you won’t break stuff and run into little kids)

meditation

…and after 3 seconds of meditation, I got the answer.

road curves inclines

I’ll use a Ford Ranger to tow the shopping cart. This would be done in a private cordoned off road which has curves and steep inclines – you can surf down *and* up fast with the towing capacity of more than 3 tonnes. There you go – all three problems solved! 🙂

shopping cart

The Malaysia Ranger Challenge is a simple contest where you can write, photograph or film a short entry about how you’ll put the All-New Ford Ranger to the ultimate test. A team of professionals will help you realize the challenge if you’re one of the finalists and you just might be one of the first in Malaysia to own one!

supermarket trolley surfing

Surf on over to The Malaysia Ranger Challenge to get more details. You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook. BTW, that really was my entry. 😀

How I Met Love-Box

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Okay kids, now over the years you’ve heard me mention several different stories on how I lost my virginity.

Story #1

riccarton high school

I was studying in New Zealand when I was 15 and hooked up with this Kiwi girl called Natalie. This is the generally accepted claim which I documented in my NZ high school chronicles.

Story #2

This is a little known fact that only a few of my closest friends know. I actually didn’t penetrate when I was 15. I had various sexual encounters over the years but never intercourse until I was 17. However, it was with a girl which I would probably never bring home to my family and when the time came (the movie Poltergeist was playing in the background – how’s that for total recall) I semi-penetrated without protection but ended up limp coz I was so afraid that she had HIV.

It’s an irrational fear of mine due to all the STI literature with graphic photos that my mom forced me to read when I was a kid. I tried again the next day with a condom but I just couldn’t get it up.

nye

I finally got over my fear during New Year’s Eve of 2006 when I was at the ripe, old age of 25. My girlfriend at that time was quite puzzled by my reluctance (since the opposite is usually true). We’ve been together for a couple of months and she made me overcome my fear (plus I thought I was way too old to be still a virgin then and it was NYE).

I did make up for lost time though and I can’t even remember how many sexual partners I have.

truestory

One of them is, anyway. 😉

I’ve actually won an award on a piece I wrote on the blog on the importance of HIV testing and it won the RRMA Media Award 2004 which to the best of my knowledge is the first mainstream recognition of blogs as a medium.

rrma

Sex education in Malaysia has always been rather lacking. A lot of people do not know about gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, HPV, HIV and other STIs. According to the Durex Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey 2011, a staggering 40% of Malaysians do not use protection at their sexual debut. That is indeed quite shocking when you combine it with the other bit of information gleaned from that study.

34% of Malaysians do not know the sexual history of their partners.

sex

A bit of a recipe for disaster when you consider the lack of protection and awareness. I can totally understand the second bit – people usually only talk about their sexual history after they’ve known each other for a while. Strangely, the very same people have sex *before* they consider it polite or feel comfortable enough to ask.

Anyway, some of these problems can be addressed by using protection. It’s not 100% effective (nothing ever is) but it’s close enough for government work. You’ll have a better chance in getting hit by a car while walking down the street.

Durex Love Boxes

Durex is coming out with a limited edition product from 1st February onwards. It’s the most trusted brand around so you can’t go wrong with these contraceptives. The Durex Love-Box comes in 8 stylish and cool designs and it’s really a great way to carry condoms around.

Instead of slipping a single into your wallet (which is actually a very bad place to put it – heat and friction) you can put the box into your pants. Hey, with the interesting Durex Love-Box designs, it could even be a conversation starter. 😉

Durex Love-Box will be available exclusively at Watsons. There are 3 Durex Fetherlite condoms in each. Best thing is, you can use the boxes for other stuff when you’re done too. 😀

lovebox contest

In conjunction with the launch and upcoming Valentine’s Day, Durex is having a contest on Facebook where you can win the perfect getaway for 2 to Krabi worth RM 10,000. Just strike an affectionate pose and take a photo – no purchase necessary! Like the Durex Malaysia Facebook page for more details!

Guess what I’m doing?

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ebanking

I’m not chilling at the couch back home. Well, I *am* doing that, and watching TV but that’s not all I’m doing. I’m back home for the holidays and since I nearly missed my flight, I didn’t manage to do all the chores.

There are some things in life where you just have to brave the traffic and parking woes to get done.

There are other things in life which you can do at the comfort of your own home, wearing comfortable clothes and generally being a slob.

slob

E-banking is one of them. I have never gone back once I started unless it’s to cash in cheques or something like that. It’s just so convenient to use a phone, tablet or PC to perform all your banking tasks. I’ve gotten so used to it that if you asked me to physically go and pay bills I’ll probably just terminate the service.

rhbmobilehd

I personally use the RHB Mobile Banking app on my iPad. You can get it from iTunes – it’s a free download and you can perform all the banking related tasks you want from the comfort of your couch. Very convenient stuff. 😀

Anyway, there’s this online game using the Unity engine which is also going to be available from iTunes and the Android Market. It’s called RHB Now Race – Race For a Ducati and you can actually *win* a legendary Ducati bike and other real life prizes from it.

It’s pretty easy to play the game – if you don’t have an iOS or Android phone/tab – you can play the web based version here.

game

You’re in control of a Ducati bike and you need to collect gems for 60 seconds while avoiding obstacles. The arrow keys steer the chopper and the space bar allows you to jump over obstacles.

double jump

Tip: You can press the space bar twice in quick secession to do a “double jump” – twice the height and distance to clear tough obstacles.

It’s fun to play by itself but the best thing about it is that you stand to win a Ducati Monster 795! How cool is that? 😀

All you need to do is to be a RHB account holder registered with RHB Now Internet & Mobile Banking. Just perform any RHB Now transaction and you’re set to win the prizes in the game! There’s a minimum transaction of RM 50 but hey, your power or broadband bill probably tops that easy. 😉

prizes

You’ll need to perform a transaction first to lock in your high score. I did 50k easy on my first run but then again I’m a gamer so these things come naturally to me. Now who’s up for beating my high score? A Ducati Monster 795 and other cash prizes await! Heck, even the *consolation* prize starts at RM 7,000.

Race and win here!

Plans for February and March

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Hello. I’ve waited here for you. Everlong.

ishinha

They say Singapore is the entertainment hub of Asia. For all intents and purposes, it is. Hey, we’ve all flew down to Singapore to catch all the awesome concerts and theater performances that never comes to Malaysia. I watched Ishinha’s When a Grey Taiwanese Cow Stretched last year, all done in Osakan street rap with English subtitles and enjoyed it tremendously.

It’s a good thing it’s not that far away so we don’t miss much. I’ve even driven down to Singapore before.

It’s very accessible, that’s for sure.

There’s several interesting events that’s coming up in Singapore – and it’s all happening in February and March! 🙂

M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2012
Date: 15-26 February
Venue: Esplanade, National Museum of Singapore, The Substation, ION Orchard

Yes, the Singapore Fringe Festival is BACK!

singapore fringe festival

It’s an annual celebration of theater, performance art, film, dance, visual arts, mixed media and music. The Singapore Fringe Festival started in 2005 and has been running every year since. There’s a different theme each year and the 2012 theme is…

Art & Faith

It goes on at various different locations and there are free and ticketed performances from local and international artists.

iraq is flying

One thing that caught my eye is Iraq is Flying – a collection of photographs by Jamal Penjweny. I love stuff like this. It’s one of the free events where you can view pictures of post-war Iraq and the lives of the people living in it taken by a renowned Iraqi photographer. It’s also one of the festival highlights.

Get more details of the listings and at the official M1 Singapore Fringe Festival site.

Mosaic Music Festival @ Esplanade
Date: 9-18 March
Venue: Esplanade

mosaic

The Mosaic Music Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. This is a music festival that knows no genres – jazz, hip-hop, soul, electro, it’s all represented here. The theme this year will be Celebrating Life – The best of the Human Spirit through the Arts and can best be described as a call for peace and harmony.

Just to give you an idea of the wonderful lineup – here’s a couple of acts that will be performing:

  • Stacey Kent
  • OMD
  • John Butler Trio
  • elbow
  • Russian Red
  • Blind Pilot

…a lot of these names will be familiar to music and theater aficionados.

Get the full performance list and details at the Mosaic Music Festival site.

elbow

There are also concerts galore during this period:

Foo Fighters Live in Singapore
Date: 2 March
Venue: The Padang

foo fighters

Yes, it’s Dave Grohl from Nirvana! Everyone said they wouldn’t make it when Kurt Cobain kicked the bucket and Dave went and started Foo Fighters. Their debut album was awesome and Everlong is still one of my favorite songs. The music video for that one is *amazing*.

They’re coming to Singapore for one concert, one night only and it’s the only destination in Asia they’re going to play. BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!!!!!!! 😀

Charice Live in Singapore
Date: 5 March
Venue: Skallang Theatre

Yup, it’s the Filipino that appeared on Glee. Now, she’s appearing on stage in Singapore. 🙂

Duran Duran Live in Singapore
Date: 10 March
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

This is for all the old skool music lovers. They were really huge in the ’90s and now they’re coming back in a big way.

Olivia Newton-John Live in Singapore
Date: 27 March
Venue: Esplanade Theatre

She has over 100 million albums sold so she’s gotta be doing something right. The co-star of Grease, her music will appeal to those who likes easier listening.

Roxette Live in Singapore
Date: 6 March
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

Okay, I have a confession to make. I ADORED them when I was in Primary Six. I had a huge crush on Marie Fredriksson and I know most of the older songs by heart. Instead of discovering them *after* watching Pretty Woman, I *watched* Pretty Woman because one one of their tracks was featured in the movie.

I see the list of songs and it all automatically plays in my mind. That was how much I used to listen to them back when I was a kid. My favorite track? Cinnamon Street.

Just close your eyes and listen to the vocals. That was how music was when I was a kid.

…and I still love them. 😀

Evanescence Live in Singapore
Date: 27 February
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

Amy Lee comes to town to rock your world! I first heard of them when they did a Korn cover. I’m a huge fan of Korn. I guess you know what kind of music I listen to with my enthusiastic proclamations of bands I like.

Their cover of “Thoughtless” is quite different from Korn’s. It’s more mellow and it really highlights Amy’s melodious vocals instead of Jonathan Davis’ more raw expressions.

All my hate cannot be found. I will not be drowned by your thoughtless scheming.

It’s the reason I started listening to Evanescence.

Yup, plenty of good reasons to visit Singapore this February and March. 🙂

A policeman shouts “Stop!” at someone in an airport…

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…what happens next?

Well, usually things like these don’t turn out very well, but in this case it did.

mas flashmob

I was randomly surfing around when I saw a video of a flash mob in KLIA. Dammit, it was on the exact same day I flew back to Sibu from KL for Chinese New Year but my flight was early morning so I totally missed this.

Anyway, this dude walks in with a guitar and one of the policeman on duty runs out and hollers at him to stop.

*cue curious and confused rubberneckers

The guy breaks into song and people started dancing and I realized it was a flash mob.

flashmob mas

However the sheer scale of it surprised me. It comprised about 100 singers and dancers and had scripted events.

It was like a Hindi movie, people were recording and gawking at the performers and it suddenly segued into another song.

It had English songs, Malay songs, Tamil songs, Chinese songs and I found it highly entertaining.

(especially the Hindi movie tribute bit)

smirk

I used to listen to Ah Niu (the local Malaysian singer) – it was one of my ex girlfriends that got me into Chinese music. There was a segment where a group of Chinese tourists came out singing Lang Hua Yu Duo Duo.

mas flashmob finale

It must have taken them a lot of planning – there were MAS cabin attendants joining in at the 200 strong grand finale before everyone dispersed, going their own way.

The original one I saw was a recording a passenger took. The best flash mobs incorporates elements from where you would not expect it – I was surprised to see a bunch of unassuming old ladies waiting outside bursting into song. I finally found the official video for this one, it’s the complete version and the footage is taken from a variety of sources, including the CCTV cameras.

klia flashmob

I know what you’re thinking – flash mobs have been done to death. That’s true, but the sheer quality of this is like watching a musical production – one that incorporates the entire KLIA arrival hall as its stage, with several things happening at once so there’s always something interesting somewhere.

It’s almost like watching an episode of Glee with the Kit Kat Klub as its cast (recognized some of them from the Tapis Rouge launch).

Check it out! 😀

Siri, how long do I have to wait for an iPhone4S?

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queue

Just look at the queue lining up for the iPhone4S!

steph

I’m just glad I’m on the right side of the barrier. Media pass from Steph. 😉

maxis iphone4s

I was at the launch of the iPhone4S by Maxis on the 15th December 2011. The phone is due to be released at the stroke of midnight.

buffet

There was a press conference followed by dinner at the media lounge. Good thing too, haven’t eaten anything the entire day. #storyofmylife

food

I really liked the rice with sprinkles of raisins, bits of meat, veggies and other assorted stuff on top. Oh and if you’re wondering where the smoked salmon went, I ate most of it.

There you go, your burning questions answered. 😉

entertainment

Anyway, I went back out to check on the line and noticed that Maxis had small enclosures to entertain people at various checkpoints. I thought that was an excellent idea!

popcorn

Popcorn machine. Why?

popcorn distribution

They were handing out water and popcorn to the people queuing up for the iPhone4S. Very nice touch, I really liked that. 🙂

counters

Efficient. Counters for payment and collection all set up for the horde.

aud

Aud was there too!

band

We headed to the VIP lounge where there were drinks and performances. The band that was playing was amazing. Hit after hit of cover songs. I want them to play at my wedding.

countdown

Countdown for the iPhone4S launch. I got it at the 1 second point. #champion There were the first 40 people who will be the first in Malaysia to get it and somehow…

first

…we ended up *behind* them and everyone thought we were the lucky 40. There were people cheering at me, taking photos, and giving me high fives.

me gusta

I played along.

violinist

Anyway, Maxis has some great plans for the iPhone4S – you can check it out here. It starts from RM 100 and during the press conference it was mentioned that they have enough units for everyone. Thus, the answer to the post title is – You don’t have to wait.

shin yee

Maxis also has an awesome new iValue plan with the highest combined mobile and WiFi 11 GB data plan for us power users. 😀

Hitting New Year’s Eve 2012 parties

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kit kat klub

Well, this is one holiday which almost everyone celebrates. A start of a brand, spanking new year. The time to make resolutions you’ll break the very next day and all that jazz. smirk

You know, I haven’t had much luck with New Year’s Eve lately. I was on a plane during NYE 2011. Seriously. I was 35,000 feet in the air en route to London. This was the second New Year’s Eve I’ve spent on a plane with dozing fellow passengers as company.

I don’t know about you but that’s not my exactly my idea of an awesome New Year’s Eve.

Anyway, I was at ENCORP Strand a couple of weeks ago for the launch of Tapis Rouge – the new home of the Kit Kat Klub. I was rather impressed with the area – the Red Carpet Avenue seems set to be the latest place to party with the array of prestigious bars, restaurants and entertainment in the area.

encorp strand

Trivia: The Red Carpet is based upon the Golden Ratio divine proportion (look it up, it’s very interesting stuff and can be found all around us in nature) and the inspiration comes from Champ Elysees in Paris.

*cue my favorite band NOFX

Anyway, I’ve been back to Red Carpet Avenue a couple of times since then. I once brought a friend to watch the theater show at Tapis Rouge.

It was pretty good, comes highly recommended to me. I was in love with the production when I first saw it at the launch with Tiara Jacquelina and the old Kit Kat Klub crew.

ENCORP Strand is going to hold an awesome New Year’s Eve countdown at Red Carpet Avenue this year. Instead of getting your car sprayed with foam at Bukit Bintang or getting squashed in Padang Merdeka, I reckon this one would be one of the great NYE parties around.

red carpet encorp strand kota damansara

You remember that episode in the first season of How I Met Your Mother where they had a limo and was rushing to 5 parties to see which one is the best and head there for the countdown?

Well, this one is going to be hard to beat. MYSTICAL EVE 2012 presents:

  • ENCORP Strand building moving, transforming and coming to live in 3D to the beats of music, lighting effects and fireworks – for the first time in Malaysia
  • Laser lights hand-manipulated – bent, stretched and spun before your very eyes by Laser Man
  • Aerialists twirling through space to synchronized music
  • A contortionist pushing the limits of human flexibility
  • Mizz Nina, Pop Shuvit, Joe Flizzow and other local celebrities performing
  • Aurology, Davern & Jee Hoe, DJ Xu spinning the decks and pumping up the music

mystical eve 2012

MYSTICAL EVE 2012 has the theme “Tonight, Extraordinary Works Overtime” and with the lineup of entertainment that they have, I have no doubt that they can deliver. It starts from 6 pm – 2 pm on 31st December 2011 at Red Carpet Avenue, ENCORP Strand. Find out more at the Red Carpet Avenue Facebook page.

Be there and don’t forget Barney’s “Get Psyched” mix during your ride! 🙂

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