Principles of Warfare

Sic vis pacem para bellum.



War. We are always at war, be it times of peace or times of chaos, and we are students of war. We learn, we study, we fight, and only the best survives, or should I say the strongest survives. The victor is the one that gains & benefits from the war, by growing stronger through experience & absorbing enemy sources, at the mean time suffering minimal losses at your own side without needing to deplete huge amount of your own sources & your army.


Sun Tzu's Art of War. That's how he defines a true victor on the battlefield: Achieve victory by utilising your own strength to the fullest to achieve victory over your opponent through clever arrangement of strategies and at the same time maintain minimal losses on your side and the enemie's to ensure a 100% victory.


Need not I remind all of you, we are already in the midst of a massive war, a massacre that knows no limits, just that some of us may not realize it and still think it is such a wonderful world out there. So do we just sit and wait for the enemy to come to us, or should we get prepared and take the fight to the enemy itself?? The answer lies in front of your very own eyes, it is on the floor, it is in the sky, it is in on the table, it is everywhere, the only thing is whether do you want to grab it with your own bare hands.


I have no rights to say this. I repeat, I HAVE NO BLOODY RIGHTS TO SAY THIS. I myself am no where, but somewhere, just not there yet. My skills are inconsiderably poor compared to most of you all, though not the worst in class, but there is still a damn bloody long way to go for me to achieve what the college requires, unlike some of you whose skill is starting to develop according to the college requirements or you have your own style already. You all are not the best yet, that's correct, you all still have to improve more because it is nothing compared to the senior's work. That's a fact. But at least some of you are starting to see the tip of the iceberg. So consider yourself being elevated to another level of awesomeness. Do not deny it. I give the commands. It's an order, not a request. I'm the monitor.


What that fry lala from that AtlanticoPacifiying Ocean said in the previous post has been in my heart for a while. Like I said. I have no rights to say so because I myself have no achievement so might as well shut up. But then again, I have 1 question: Do you need reminders to something that you have already know??? Do you need people to tell you how to wear your underwear when you yourself already know how to wear it?? Do you need people to tell you to go shit when you yourself will automatically do so when the body requires it??? Face it. Ignorance is in all of us. We think the world will spin according to our will. We take the lecturers for granted, we take our assignments for granted, we take our time for granted, we take our youth for granted, we take our parents' money for granted, and most of all, we take OUR FUTURE for granted.


So is this what you want? Is this what we want? You don't need a shellfish from the AtlanticoPacifying Ocean to tell you what to do for this course do you??? I know the answer to my problems and so do you. The lecturers told you the solutions to your problems in your artwork and other problems regarding our course etc, but the truth is no one is taking action. I won't stay out of this. I myself am like that as well. I'm a man, not a saint. That's the problem with humans, they know the problem, but very rare there are those who take the initiative to solve it straight away. That's the case with our very class.


We give excuses. We complain. We rant. We comment. That's fine. Everyone does that. But then before we do that can we find something reflective at least a pool of muddy water or a handphone to look at ourselves: what have we done to allow us to complain etc? We entered the best art & design college in SEA, we have the best lecturers to coach us, we have all the resources to utilise to our maximum needs, we are given guides that previous batches have not gotten before. LAST IMPORTANT POINT: WE PAID A BLOODY RM 50'000 FOR THIS COURSE PLUS OTHER EXPENSES THAT TOTALS UP TO MAYBE ABOUT RM60'000-RM70'000 FOR 3 BLOODY SUFFERING YEARS. Do you get the picture?? But then look at the sorry sight of IL0781. We give up easily, we wait to be spoonfed, we live in our own world, and most of us are not willing to SACRIFICE.


War is about looking at a bigger picture through small details. If killing one saves a thousand, if an exchange of a city can bring about peace, if a slight reduce in profit can bring about good diplomatic relations, then a small sacrifice is nothing compared to bigger good. So goes to us. If we are willing to sacrifice more time for our work, dedicate more time to our craft rather than spend more time on stuff that we know that might not help us develop our skills, I'm 100% sure you will see yourself standing side to side to those of the seniors and be one of the top in the class. Those wahs-woohs-wees-wehs-sogeng-sodampro-isolikehis/herart/i'mafanofhisart/ilikehim/herbecauseoftheirstyle..................all this are total bullshit.BULLSHIT. (I'm a Taurus so I bullshit) What's the point of those if you are not doing anything do hone your craft and skills? You might as well be a groupie or hippie or fangirl or fanboy or whatsoever that makes you happy that goes round telling people what you like but not doing anything to improve your art. Hereby speaking, I introduce you an artist: Christopher Doyle. Or maybe you should call him Du Kefeng, his Chinese name.He doens't paint, but his work are artistic. He is the cinematographer for Wong Kar Wai's films. Try search him up or watch him on Youtube. He is the one who told people not to be fans of his movies, but to make their own movies if they like it.


Seriousness is what this field require. Some of you are not serious and you take people and stuff for granted. I don't give a bloody shit if you have skills as godly as Kinsun or DrewStruzan or DaVinci if you are not serious towards your work, your classmates and most of all your attitude. I don't give a damn to those who only know how to steal references and resources from others but not putting effort yourself when it is obvious that you spent more time on your bloody Youtube then your work.(you know who are those 2 i am referring to). Why do you step on a landmine when you know it will kill you?? This industry is cruel. This society is cruel. This world is cruel. Only the best and the strongest survives. Natural selection & integration. That, is the law of nature. And we have 1 more year left. If the seriousness level doesn't reach to the extent that you are willing to eat & shit & paint at the same time then after you graduate be prepared to squat on the roadside.


You are in TOA. And TOA is just a small battle. If you can't handle a small battle, how are you going to survive in a war? You paid TOA RM60,000, so make full use of their resources while you can, make full use of the lecturers knowledge while you can. You enter TOA because you want to acquire knowledge from TOA, so just SHUT THE HELL UP and learn as much as possible from the college and stop complaining whythiswhythatwhynevercomewhyreject and develop your own stuff later. If not you might as will quit the bloody college and go draw at the roadside. That is the difference between roadside artists and commercial illustrators. You and I know this statement very well. Suffer 1st enjoy later. Suffer this 3 years and it will be a fruitful future for all of us. Do the reverse then you and I shall meet in Petaling Street.


Sic vis pacem para bellum. Latin. A quote taken from The Punisher movie.


"If you want peace, prepare for war."