2011

Hero of the Year
Tony Fernandes

Love him or hate him, it's hard to understate the impact of Tony Fernandes in terms of putting Malaysia on the map. In 2011, the man added another airline and an English Premier League team to his already impressive portfolio (which includes, among other things, Asia's largest low-cost airline, a telecom company, a Formula One team and an energy drink...)

Honourable mention: The mamak shop downstairs who provided me with so many meals

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Villain of the Year
Khir Toyo

He was naughty. He got caught. He is now paying the price. Nuff said. The less said about Malaysian politics the better.

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Sucker Loser of the Year

Luis Suarez

Quite how the guy manages to get himself into so many controversies at the same time is beyond me. Add to that his imaginary card waving antiques and his rolling-around-the-pitch-like-a-pansy after each tackle (much like the old version of Nani) and you have a worthy winner of this award.
Honourable mention: Khael Malik

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Movie of the Year
No Award
Again, this year I have not watched most of the movies that were "critically-acclaimed". But for what it's worth, the better movies I've watched this year were Rango, Thor, Super 8, Blitz, The King's Speech (the 3/4 which I watched anyway) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Dare I say it, I rather enjoyed some of the chick flicks I watched too, but I shall stop right here and say no more in order to maintain my dignity (or what's left of it, anyway).

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Most Disappointing Movie of the Year
The Green Lantern
Maybe I expected much more of it, but when I came out of the cinema I was feeling distinctly underwhelmed.

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Clown of the Year
DiGi Saleslady

When deciding to get a new phone this year, I was torn between two phones. It was either going to be the Samsung Galaxy S or the HTC Sensation on a DiGi package. At the time, DiGi was only offering the Sensation, so I asked the saleslady if DiGi had any plans to release the Galaxy S2 soon. She said, "no no, the next phone that's coming out is the Sony Ericsson blah, blah, blah..."

That settled it then. Sensation it would be!

Two weeks after buying phone?

DIGI PRESENTS SAMSUNG GALAXY S2 at RM1349.

But having said that, the Sensation isn't too shabby a phone and I quite like it.

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Jabroni(s) of the Year
Tenaga Nasional

After living in Damansara for a few months, I became curious as to why my electric bills never did reach my postbox downstairs. A call was made to TNB, who kindly explained that my apartment's account did not exist. So when my house-mate asked "nak buat macam mana?", TNB's response was "tak tahu lah".

Fast forward a few weeks and tada! We came home from work and found a red notice pasted to our door stating that our electricity supply had been cut.

So, in a nutshell, TNB...

a) Cannot deliver bills to the postbox on the Ground Floor

b) Can paste red notice at your doorstep 23 floors up

And as a side note, it's no fun taking a candlelight shower, as romantic as it sounds... 

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Game of the Year
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I'm not much of a role-playing game (RPG) kinda guy, but Skyrim might just be the game which converts me. When your computer-controlled follower gasps at the magnificent sight of the cavern you have just walked into, he really is summing your thoughts up. That's how visually pleasing the game is.


I also like how the story lines are so diverse in nature. On top of the main quest there are numerous side quests you can choose to complete. The side quests can be as mundane as getting a little girl to stop bullying a boy to something serious like investigating the murder of a woman and her child.


It's just brilliant.

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The Year’s Most Unnecessary Piece of Spending
RM246,000 per horse for 23 horses
The National Sports Institute bought 23 horses worth RM5.66 million without approval from the Finance Ministry and none competed in two recommended international championships.
The Minister says “we will investigate if there was any element of abuse in the procedure”.
RM5.66 million on horses without approval? Still need to bloody investigate if there's abuse? Gawd.

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Most Horrific Injury of the Year
Chris Whepdale (Gillingham FC) - split scrotum

The unfortunate victim

OUCH.
Honourable mention: Scott Dann (Blackburn) - ruptured testicle... What is it with footballers and injuries in "that" area anyway?

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And that concludes this year's review/awards.

Have a great year, people! I hope you lot go on to achieve much greater things in 2012.